The gospel is costly

“I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me” (Acts 20:23).

Living for Jesus is a costly thing. The gospel costs us something, if we are going to submit to it, live according to it, and attempt to communicate it to others.

Paul knows this. He knows that suffering is part of God’s plan for the church. And he wanted to prepare his people for that. I’m of the opinion that there are a lot of burnt out and disillusioned Christians today, because they were legitimately surprised to find out that after they became a Christian, life wasn’t all champagne, strawberries, and walks on the beach (or beer, pizza, and a ballgame - depending on your preferences). Life is hard. Loving people is hard. Getting the marriage to work is hard. Ministry is hard. And if we’re not prepared for that, and if our expectation is otherwise, then we won’t make it.

Paul knew this. He had read the Old Testament. He knew the servant songs of Isaiah, he read the pain-stricken psalms, he was aware of the accounts of the afflictions of the prophets. But even more, he knew the ministry and example of Jesus Christ himself. Jesus knew that he had to suffer. But he also prepared his followers for the same. “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22).

Paul’s expectations were such that he believed it was normal for Christians to suffer something for the gospel. It was normal for Christians to experience pain in the pursuit of God’s plan for our lives. That’s why he could say “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me” (v. 23). He knew that suffering awaited him in Jerusalem, and still he went there.

This is antithetical to everything our culture would teach us. "Paul, if you know there’s pain in Jerusalem, go the other way. Go somewhere else." But Paul couldn’t, because he was compelled by the Spirit, and because he was convinced that God had other plans for him than a trouble-free life.

The Gospel is costly. If the Gospel has not cost you, cost you big, then perhaps you haven’t been running the race the way God would have us. If the Gospel is not costing you financially, socially, physically – we need ask if we are really pursuing the race that God has set out for us.