11. Looking beyond the Cross
chapter eleven
Looking beyond the Cross
Samuel lived a comfortable life in South India and made good money at his job. He was a believer who attended church faithfully, read his Bible and prayed. In 1984 when he attended a missions conference, he was challenged to give his life to serve the Lord full-time. There was no question in his mind that this was what Jesus wanted him to do. He went home, resigned his job and bought train tickets for himself and his family to another state. His was not a life he wanted to leave, but he was constrained by the love of the Lord.
Samuel chose one particular region because he had heard that this area was unreached. It was also notorious for being one of the most anti-Christian regions in the nation.
He managed to find a tiny hut they could call home and gradually learned the local language. As his language skills grew, he began to preach and share Christ’s love in the community. One by one, people came to know Jesus. A local church was established and Samuel was able to construct a small building where he and the believers met for worship.
Then came the day when a local religious leader came to the Lord Jesus Christ after speaking with Samuel. As men who lived in a very anti-Christian area, this was a daring move for both of them. Anyone who wants to preserve their life knows better than to share the Gospel with the leader of any religious sect.
The news spread fast that the local religious leader was no longer following his traditional religion but was studying the Bible and sharing the Gospel instead. His own brothers contacted a militant group in the area who are specially trained to persecute those who violate their religion or disobey orders.
The gang reacted swiftly to the news. One Sunday, when Samuel had gathered the believers as usual for worship and teaching, a jeep pulled up in front of the building. A group of angry men walked into the church, right up to Samuel. They beat him viciously with iron rods, smashing his hand and breaking his arm, leg and collarbone.
Samuel’s family and the other believers stood by helplessly, weeping at his terrible pain and the fact that they were unable to help him. Suddenly Samuel’s 7-year-old son ran up to the front.
“Please don’t kill our daddy!” he cried.
The gang leader turned on the little boy and swung his iron rod. The boy screamed in pain as the rod connected with his back and broke it. He fell to the dirt floor like a crumpled rag.
The gang members stepped back from their victims.
“This is only a warning to you to stop preaching this Jesus,” they snarled. “Next time we come back, we won’t leave you alive. We will kill you and bury you in this place.”
They ran out the door, jumped into their jeep and drove off in a cloud of dust.
Samuel and his son were taken to a local hospital where they remained for several months.
A few months after this incident occurred, I was teaching at our local Bible college. I did not know that Samuel had also arrived there to meet with our leaders.
That evening during the prayer meeting, the Lord strongly impressed on my heart to pray for anyone who needed healing. So I said, “If anyone is sick tonight, no matter what it is, I want you to stand up. The Lord has promised us by His Word that He heals—and He will heal you tonight.”
Several in the group stood up. As I prayed for each one, I knew the Lord would heal them.
The next day I found out Samuel had arrived. I asked him to share his testimony during the evening meeting. I knew it would be a challenge and encouragement to the young students at our Bible college who were planning themselves to go to the pioneer areas and tell people about the Lord.
That evening when Samuel stood up, he added something to his testimony I had not expected.
“Last night before I came to your prayer meeting,” he said, “I could not do anything with my hand.” He held up the hand the gang had smashed. “I couldn’t lift anything. I couldn’t ride a bicycle. I couldn’t even wring out a washcloth. But last night, the Lord healed me! Now I can carry a bucket, I can move my hand any way I want and I can wring out my washcloth. The Lord has healed me!”
During those days I spent some time with Samuel. In the course of conversation I asked him, “What do you plan to do now?”
This young missionary looked at me with peaceful determination in his face. “I’m going back. Even if I’m killed, my blood will be the foundation for many more churches.”
A few days later Samuel did go back, and he continues to share the Gospel in the same area. His little son is doing well and attends the local school. Samuel has seen many more come to Christ. And he has been beaten again.
This precious brother has counted the cost and is willing to pay the price. Why? Like Jesus, he is focusing on something else.
“I Looked for a Man among Them”
But before we see what that is, first tell me this: What would you do if you were in Samuel’s place? If anti-Christian fanatics promised to come back and finish you off, would you keep preaching the Gospel?
I can tell you what I would want to do. I would look for a Bible verse to justify my getting out—a verse like, “At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds” (John 8:59). Or, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). An unbeliever? My goodness, I’d better leave this place and take better care of my family. The Bible says so. Jesus left, too, you know!
There must be hundreds of Bible verses I could isolate to justify my rational, sober-minded decision.
My best argument, of course, would be something like this: “I’m only 40-some years old. God wants me to use my brain for His kingdom. With all the investment He’s made in my life since I was 16, it wouldn’t be right for me to be killed by some fanatics next week. I’m leaving this place so I’ll have another 40 years of my life to invest in God’s kingdom.”
But what did Samuel say? “Even if I am killed, my blood will be the foundation for many more churches.” So he went back—no arguments, no excuses, no rationalizations.
In Acts 20 when Paul was headed to Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit revealed to him, as He had revealed to him “in every city,” that “prison and hardships” awaited him (verse 23). Imagine with me a scenario that might have taken place during that time.
Paul and the believers are in the middle of a prayer meeting when the Holy Spirit speaks through one of the believers: “This man Paul who is among you tonight will be bound and chained in Jerusalem. He will face afflictions and sufferings.”
A shocked silence follows this prophecy. For these believers Paul is bigger than life. They love him. They are willing to die for him.
After the prayer meeting a group gathers around Paul.
One elder says, “Paul, you know the Holy Spirit spoke to you tonight.”
“Yes,” Paul replies, “I believe it was the Holy Spirit.”
There is a collective sigh of relief among the group.
“So,” the elder continues, “you won’t be going to Jerusalem after all.”
“Now that the Lord has warned you,” adds another, “you can stay away from that city.”
“I didn’t say that,” Paul tells them. “I only said I believe it’s a word from the Lord. As a matter of fact, everywhere I’ve gone the Holy Spirit has said the same thing. But I’m still going to Jerusalem; I must.”
The voices of the believers rise together in protest. “Paul, you can’t go. Please! You’re facing a threat to your life! Don’t leave us. We need you.”
“But I don’t consider my own life dear to me,” says Paul. “How can you kill a man who’s already dead? I love my Lord more than life itself, and there are many who still need to know Him.”
Whether or not the conversations went exactly like this, the conflict was real—then and now. I have the firm conviction that God wants to do something wonderful in our generation with believers who are serious about following Him. He wants to reach every language, every tribe and every nation with the Gospel, and is still looking for those who will share His heart: “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).
I believe right now He is building the foundation of that wall through us, His children.
Looking to Jesus
Recent studies of U.S. highways have shown a surprisingly high incidence of roadside collisions in which drivers collide with cars parked legally on the side of the road. Most of the drivers are not under the influence of alcohol or medication, and most of the collisions occur during favorable weather conditions.
As safety experts studied these statistics and determined to account for them, they came up with a fascinating explanation: the moth effect. Just as a moth is drawn to a flame, so a driver tends to steer his car involuntarily where he is focusing his eyes. Thus, if his eyes lock onto a vehicle parked by the side of the road rather than on the road in front of him, he may collide with that car.
We have to deal with the moth effect in our walk with the Lord. If we look back in our Christian life, or to the right or left, we will not only stop moving forward but will begin to head in the direction we are looking. But if we choose to obey and move forward in faith, looking at Jesus, we will find ourselves drawing closer to Him—and becoming more like Him in the process.
Therefore ... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1–3
Here, then, is the secret that kept Jesus going: the joy beyond the cross. The secret that kept Paul going, and the one that keeps Samuel going, is the joy of looking to Jesus. The Lord may ask us to do something that opposes every grain of logic within us. Our emotions may rise up in protest against it. Those around us may do their best to convince us to look back. The only way we will have the strength to do what God asks us to do is by keeping our eyes on Jesus!
The Christian life, according to the author of Hebrews, is like running a race. We have laid aside “everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1). We have come to the point where we are willing to break from the past and begin a new life in Jesus. As we start our race, we face hardships and distractions. Our enemy knows our weaknesses and tries his best to put us out of the race.
But as we begin the course and strain our eyes down the track toward the finish line, we see Someone familiar: It is Jesus! He has finished His race and is waiting for us. If He has already completed the race, so can we! As we focus our eyes on Him, all the sounds and sights that distract us from the race fade away. We can even forget our weariness as we run steadily down the track, our eyes fixed on Jesus only.
Our race is not yet completed, of course. We face daily, hourly, minute-by-minute choices to keep looking forward. We can be sure there will continue to be difficulties and distractions. Sometimes we stumble and fall and have to repent of our sins. But we can be sure Jesus will be waiting for us at the finish line.
Paul told the Philippians that he knew he had not arrived spiritually.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13–14
This is the secret to accepting the cross, to paying the price no matter how great, no matter what others say. Jesus endured the cross, the pain, the agony, the shame and the suffering, “for the joy set before him.” He looked beyond the cross and saw the joy that was waiting. This is what enabled Him to endure the horrible suffering and death He experienced for us.
What will it take for you to be able to pick up your cross daily and follow Jesus? How can you possibly pay the price that is required of you? You can do it only as you look beyond the cross and see the joy that is set before you—joy that is indescribable and glorious, joy that will make every ounce of suffering and inconvenience worth it all.
I do not know where you are in your spiritual life, but I pray that the enemy will not steal away your affection from the One who has paid with His blood to redeem you. I pray that you will not walk away from Him. I pray that you will be willing to pay the price in order to follow Jesus.
It is for those more than 2 billion souls who have not heard the Gospel that we must live. It is for them that we must give up the comfortable life this world offers us. For them we must be willing to live a life that people misunderstand, willing to walk away from all that we could accumulate on this earth and be content with what the Lord gives us. While you are on this earth, make it your life’s ambition to take as many souls as possible with you to heaven.
God will give you the grace to live this life as He calls you. In the light of eternity, the battle is really not that long. I pray that you will look beyond the cross, beyond the pain and sacrifice, and see Jesus waiting there for you. The joy that awaits you is far greater than any price you have to pay.