Foundation Stones (Part 3) – Jesus w/the 12 – The Forgotten Foundation of Christian Life

I’ll talk to you about nothing but what those 12 men learned from living with the Lord Jesus Christ, but I’m not sure you care. I’m not even sure you’re interested, I’m interested, but it’s all right if you’re not interested, that’s okay. Will you please just get one thing clear? They watched Him, watch Him, and after He ascended to the Father, they were still watching Him, watch Him.

That was the foundation of their Christian life. That was the foundation of the church. And that was their preparation for the gospel ministry, toward the gospel. I have to add, because I may not have the chance to do this again. There are a thousand things they learned from Him, but I always want to mention this. Let me tell you what they learned from Him that was very practical. They learned how to be persecuted with dignity.

Now, this has got nothing to do with anything. I just want to throw it in because this is important to every one of you. At some point in your life, you’re going to be abused by someone who’s a fellow Christian. I don’t know of anything that destroys people like being persecuted by a fellow Christian. It’s coming Wilbur, in your life, and it could be me who does it or maybe it’ll be Lance. It’s more likely to be Tom. For all of you, there will come persecution.

I just want you to know that for four years, three and a half or four years, they watched Him get persecuted and they watched Him carry it with dignity. I’m not going into all of it with you, but it didn’t make Him bitter, and it didn’t hurt Him, and it didn’t destroy Him. I’ve asked the question, did you notice after the resurrection how much Jesus Christ damned and spit fumes and bitterness at those who had just three days before killed Him? Did you notice how he talked about Him, and what the dirty things they did, and how they lied about Him, and had Him crucified? It’s not even there. They beheld that fact.

I had the privilege of beholding a Christian, a real Christian, a woman. By the way, I watched her. I wasn’t present when she died, but I watched her die. At the time she died, she was being persecuted. She was 76, as I recall. Surely, if the Lord loved anybody, He wouldn’t be picking on them at that age. It was the worst experience she had ever gone through. It killed her.

We all need a Christian to look at. You know what? We really do. And I’m really going to be practical, we all need a Christian to watch. I hope you get one, but I also want to arm you with watching the Son and watching the Father, beholding them and fellowshipping with them, but it wouldn’t hurt if you also had a Christian thrown in, and I hope you find one. And you know, I know what you’re thinking, Gene, I think I’ll elect you and I’ll watch you. Please don’t. Come back in about 30 years. I think I’m going to make it in about 30 years. I’ll be 83. Oh, I’m sure by then I’m going to be godly, but sure, we need to see people really catch it and not be hurt by it.