How To Suffer Well (From our 8-11-24 worship)

West Side Church of Christ - Elkton Ky

Watch the Video Here: https://youtu.be/xGhzPwbeTy4?si=CjGGMoMG09eVxpxi

Transcription of Episode:
When I say the Watergate scandal, what image comes to your mind? I bet it's something like this, right? Course now, I mean, it's just a freebie, but if you gotta tell somebody you're not a crook, I mean, chances are you done lost that battle, you know. It'd be like me telling somebody I'm not fat, but yeah, Doug, okay, you're right, sure.

Um, and while, yes, he was ultimately in charge, he's not really the person you should think about when you think about the Watergate scandal. You should instead be thinking about this guy. Chuck Clawson. Kinda looks like a Chuck, doesn't he? Right? Chuck was born in 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts. Uh, did a stint in the Marines.

Later on became a lawyer with his own private practice. And all that was fine and good, but uh, old Chuck here, he, he had bigger aspirations than that. He was known to be very active in political circles. in the late 1960s. And in 1969, he was appointed a special counsel to President Nixon. That's a really cool sounding job title, and it sounds all important and everything.

But basically, what that meant was Chuck had an official license basically to be a bully. It's what he was. You see, Chuck was known for being very, very ruthless. And, you know, his dog eat dog style basically wound up making Nixon a crook. And it wound up landing Chuck in jail for his part in the Watergate scandal.

Now, you imagine that when a bully goes to jail, that he's probably not happy about it, right? He'd probably hate to be there, they're gonna be in a bad mood, you know, all these things. But that wasn't the case with Chuck. You know what I mean? You see, Chuck goes to prison for roughly seven months. Okay. Some don't.

That was maybe a slap on the wrist. But while Chuck was in jail, he discovered something. He discovered something more important than all the fame and the money and the power that he had been chasing. He discovered God. A lot of people thought, Well, he's not serious about this. He's just, you know, he got jailhouse religion.

Just to make everybody think that he's a better person, but that's not the case. When Chuck got out, he used his skills before that he was trying to use for bad. He wound up forming what was called Prison Fellowship, which turned into one of the largest prison ministries in the world, and it's an organization still going on today.

His time in jail, he's got a quote and I didn't paste it up here, but basically he said all the awards and all the degrees and everything that I have is not what God used with me. He said he used the fact that I was a convict and a felon. That's what God decided to use with me in my story. And I was thinking about Chuck, you know, you go to jail and, and you don't want to be there, but your attitude completely changes.

And it makes me think about Paul. So that's chapter 16, right? Acts chapter 16, we're going to begin in verse 16. As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.

And this she kept doing for many days. Paul having become greatly annoyed. I'm glad I'm the only one that doesn't ever get greatly annoyed, by the way. Turned and said to the Spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they ceased Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

And when he had brought them into the magistrates, they said, These men are Jews and they're disturbing our city. You see they abdicate custom. They're not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice, and the crowd joined in attacking them. And the magistrates tore their garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

And when they had flicked many blows upon them, they threw them in prison, ordering each other to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them in the innermost prison and fastened their feet in the stalks. And then look what happens in verse 25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Now, we've studied the story of the Philippian jailer, and usually we would go on and talk about what happens next, the earthquake, and the jailer who comes running in, and that's an awesome story, but that's not our lesson today. I want to stop right here at verse 25. And I want to ask you, how did they do this?

I mean, they're in some of the most miserable conditions you can imagine. I was talking to somebody the other day at one of my prison studies. You know, a Roman jail, I said, the jail you're in right now looks like the Hilton compared to what a Roman jail cell would be. They've been beaten. Right? They're cold, they're miserable, they're fastened in stocks, okay?

That's not exactly the most ergonomical thing ever. Right? It's designed to inflict pain on you, actually. They are suffering. Physically. And here they are, singing praises to God, and praying. How do they do that? Well, duh, they're, you know, they're, that's the Apostle Paul, man. He's a, he's a superhero of the faith.

Right? I mean, they were superhuman. Really? Do you really think they were that much different than we are? Do you think when you cut the Apostle Paul he didn't bleed? Do you think when you hit him with something and it laid a bruise on him that it feels any differently than when something hits you and you get a bruise on yourself?

How were they able to do this? I mean, if you and I got thrown in jail over something falsely, I might be mad enough to buy nails into. I'm not being a grumpy attitude. I might say some things out of my mouth that that I would regret. Not Paul and silence. They're singing and praying at midnight. At midnight.

How did they do this? I submit to you that they learned how to do this. They learned how to, what I want to call, suffer well. I hope you understand what I mean when I say that term, suffer well. They were suffering in this moment. But yet they were doing a good job of it. They were praising God, singing.

Right? How did they do that? They learned it. You look at Philippians chapter 4, we're getting to verse 10. I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now, at length, you have revived your concern. for me. You were decent served for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I'm speaking of being in need for. I have learned Paul said he learned, right?

I learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to about in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hungry and abundance and need. Paul said we learn how to suffer. How did they do that? And if they did it, do you think that we can learn the same things?

Well I submit to you they learned it from the scriptures. You say, well duh, duh. Right? Of course they learned it from the scriptures. But where did they learn it from the scriptures? There...