1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,120 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,040 We're going to be in the book of Acts. 10 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,080 Turn your Bibles there to Acts chapter 21. 11 00:00:28,750 --> 00:00:33,390 And anytime we do a long study, obviously the sermons build 12 00:00:33,390 --> 00:00:36,030 upon each other and context is key. 13 00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:38,910 And when we come to this passage of Scripture, there's going 14 00:00:38,910 --> 00:00:41,630 to be some things that we have to go back to, to remember. 15 00:00:42,110 --> 00:00:46,270 If you remember back just a chapter ago, Paul was hearing from 16 00:00:46,270 --> 00:00:49,270 all of these people, hey, don't go to Jerusalem, because in 17 00:00:49,270 --> 00:00:51,070 Jerusalem you're going to face persecution. 18 00:00:51,550 --> 00:00:53,870 In Jerusalem you're going to be put in bonds. 19 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,840 And, and in Jerusalem you might be persecuted and maybe even 20 00:00:58,840 --> 00:00:59,320 killed. 21 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,880 And through that we understood that though Paul had a decision to 22 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,160 make, he had a decision on whether or not he wanted to follow 23 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,960 the Spirit or follow the advice of others. 24 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,320 And, and really what happened there in Acts chapter 20 was, and 25 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:17,520 even into 21 was that Paul said, you know what? 26 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,520 I'm bound in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. 27 00:01:21,190 --> 00:01:26,110 And so it was the Holy Spirit that was leading Paul to go to Jerusalem. 28 00:01:26,110 --> 00:01:28,150 He knew that God was calling him there. 29 00:01:28,470 --> 00:01:30,950 And he said, you know what, it doesn't really matter what I faced. 30 00:01:31,190 --> 00:01:33,750 And, and there were people that were concerned for Paul's well 31 00:01:33,750 --> 00:01:33,950 being. 32 00:01:33,950 --> 00:01:36,470 They said, paul, we don't want you to go there because we don't 33 00:01:36,470 --> 00:01:37,910 want you to face that persecution. 34 00:01:37,990 --> 00:01:42,470 And Paul gives that wonderful statement that not to be bound only, 35 00:01:43,190 --> 00:01:47,710 but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of, of the Lord Jesus. 36 00:01:47,710 --> 00:01:50,110 And so Paul says, I've got to go to Jerusalem. 37 00:01:50,670 --> 00:01:51,310 So he does. 38 00:01:51,630 --> 00:01:56,350 And, and we're going to see that he is arrested, he is persecuted, 39 00:01:56,430 --> 00:01:59,950 but we're going to see what Paul does through that persecution. 40 00:01:59,950 --> 00:02:03,310 And I think it's so important to see how we as Christians can go 41 00:02:03,310 --> 00:02:06,110 through difficult things, understand that there's going to 42 00:02:06,110 --> 00:02:08,030 be hardships in our way, understand that there's going to 43 00:02:08,030 --> 00:02:10,830 be pushback, but at the same time, we can be following the will 44 00:02:10,830 --> 00:02:13,760 of God and we can be honoring him and actually pointing other people 45 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:14,800 to him through that. 46 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,320 So we're going to start in verse number 17 to kind of overlap 47 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:18,480 where we left off last week. 48 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:22,040 So Paul goes to Jerusalem and he says, and when we were come to 49 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:22,560 Jerusalem. 50 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,800 In this case, it's Luke and Paul and the rest of Paul's group 51 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:27,120 there. 52 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,560 And it says, and the brethren received us gladly. 53 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,040 So initially the church there in Jerusalem received them gladly. 54 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,880 And the day following, Paul went in with us unto James. 55 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:38,080 James was the. 56 00:02:38,530 --> 00:02:40,130 A leader there in the church. 57 00:02:40,690 --> 00:02:43,730 And it's important to note that here in this case, they receive 58 00:02:43,730 --> 00:02:44,130 him well. 59 00:02:44,130 --> 00:02:45,410 And all the elders were present. 60 00:02:45,890 --> 00:02:49,090 And then it says in verse 19, and when he had saluted them, he 61 00:02:49,090 --> 00:02:51,890 declared particularly, what things God hath wrought among the 62 00:02:51,890 --> 00:02:53,330 Gentiles by his ministry. 63 00:02:54,449 --> 00:02:56,090 So that's the King James way to say. 64 00:02:56,090 --> 00:02:58,690 He gave his report, he gave his testimony. 65 00:02:58,690 --> 00:03:01,450 So it's a biblical thing to give the testimony to other people 66 00:03:01,450 --> 00:03:03,730 about what God is doing in your life. 67 00:03:03,730 --> 00:03:06,730 And that's what Paul does here to the church there in Jerusalem. 68 00:03:06,730 --> 00:03:08,230 He gives them a report. 69 00:03:08,950 --> 00:03:12,590 And the report is, hey, God is doing wonderful things in the life 70 00:03:12,590 --> 00:03:13,430 of the Gentiles. 71 00:03:13,430 --> 00:03:15,430 He's leading these Gentiles to him. 72 00:03:15,590 --> 00:03:18,790 They're coming in faith and they're being saved and they're being 73 00:03:18,790 --> 00:03:19,390 changed. 74 00:03:19,390 --> 00:03:21,270 And so this is all good news. 75 00:03:21,430 --> 00:03:24,150 The problem is though, that there are some Jewish Christians 76 00:03:24,150 --> 00:03:26,830 here in Jerusalem that have a problem with this. 77 00:03:26,830 --> 00:03:29,830 And they hear some things that are being said about Paul and his 78 00:03:29,830 --> 00:03:30,310 teachings. 79 00:03:30,550 --> 00:03:34,360 Essentially, it's this that Paul is teaching these people that, 80 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,160 hey, the way of the Jewish tradition is bad. 81 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,200 They should forget that, they should neglect that and they should 82 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:41,600 embrace the worldly culture. 83 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:43,320 Paul says, no, that's not what I'm doing. 84 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,560 And so in verse 20, and when they heard it, they glorified the 85 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,040 Lord and said unto him, thou seest, brother, how many thousands 86 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,240 of Jews there are which believe, and they all are zealous 87 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:54,760 of the law. 88 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,680 So there's an indication here that even though there are Jewish 89 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,860 people that are getting saved, they're still in their culture, they're 90 00:04:02,860 --> 00:04:06,540 still understanding the ways of, of the, what we would call the 91 00:04:06,540 --> 00:04:07,300 Old Testament. 92 00:04:07,300 --> 00:04:11,140 They, they go back to the law, they go back to tradition, they go 93 00:04:11,140 --> 00:04:13,900 back to all the things of the law of Moses. 94 00:04:13,900 --> 00:04:18,900 And so verse 21, and they are informed of thee that thou teaches 95 00:04:19,380 --> 00:04:23,140 all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses. 96 00:04:23,540 --> 00:04:26,660 And so they're really not so much concerned with what the Gentiles 97 00:04:26,660 --> 00:04:28,020 are doing that are saved. 98 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,400 They're more concerned that Paul, in their minds, this is what 99 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:32,840 they believe. 100 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,280 They believe that Paul is telling the Jewish Christians that 101 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,240 they go the Gentile route as well, just to forget about the law 102 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,000 of Moses, forget about the traditions and it says here saying 103 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,680 that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither 104 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:46,600 to walk after the customs. 105 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,960 And so Paul is learning here about his bad reputation among some 106 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:52,280 of the Christians in Jerusalem. 107 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,300 Essentially, people are talking about Paul's ministry and 108 00:04:55,300 --> 00:04:56,700 they're misrepresenting Paul. 109 00:04:56,700 --> 00:04:59,420 They're misrepresenting him to the point where, you know what, they're 110 00:04:59,420 --> 00:05:00,260 actually lying about him. 111 00:05:00,260 --> 00:05:02,420 Because Paul is not telling the Jewish people to forget about 112 00:05:02,420 --> 00:05:04,980 their ways of doing things, but he is telling them that the only 113 00:05:04,980 --> 00:05:06,460 man saving them is Jesus Christ. 114 00:05:07,100 --> 00:05:09,780 And so we're going to see what, what they do here and how they 115 00:05:09,780 --> 00:05:10,140 respond. 116 00:05:10,140 --> 00:05:13,780 And so the elders in Jerusalem are happy to hear that God is saving 117 00:05:13,780 --> 00:05:14,460 Gentiles. 118 00:05:15,180 --> 00:05:19,020 But there are some people in this community there in Jerusalem 119 00:05:19,420 --> 00:05:24,270 that are valuing the Jewish customs and the Jewish laws more 120 00:05:24,270 --> 00:05:26,950 than the truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ. 121 00:05:26,950 --> 00:05:30,150 And so this Christian community there in Jerusalem, we're 122 00:05:30,150 --> 00:05:33,550 hearing gossip and false rumors about Paul. 123 00:05:33,550 --> 00:05:38,910 They heard that he had become now anti Jewish and was basically 124 00:05:38,910 --> 00:05:41,150 telling these Jewish Christians that they're wrong for 125 00:05:41,150 --> 00:05:42,070 following the customs. 126 00:05:42,070 --> 00:05:46,150 And we, we know that Paul did not have problem with Jewish people 127 00:05:46,150 --> 00:05:48,190 continuing on in their own customs. 128 00:05:48,270 --> 00:05:50,950 If you want to know more about that, you can read Romans chapter 129 00:05:50,950 --> 00:05:53,770 14 and we'll get there in our Romans series. 130 00:05:53,770 --> 00:05:58,530 But essentially, Paul does not condemn certain customs of the Jewish 131 00:05:58,850 --> 00:06:02,090 traditions, but he essentially is reminding them that that's not 132 00:06:02,090 --> 00:06:02,850 what saves them. 133 00:06:03,330 --> 00:06:06,650 And so that goes back to a little bit about what we do even 134 00:06:06,650 --> 00:06:10,890 within our own church, because there are people today that are certainly 135 00:06:10,890 --> 00:06:15,130 based in the gospel, but some traditions sometimes can supersede 136 00:06:15,130 --> 00:06:15,730 the gospel. 137 00:06:16,130 --> 00:06:19,250 And now most of us are not tied down with the Jewish customs 138 00:06:19,250 --> 00:06:19,970 and Jewish traditions. 139 00:06:19,970 --> 00:06:23,450 Like I had mentioned a couple weeks ago when we went to Israel, 140 00:06:23,450 --> 00:06:26,370 there were people that were wearing straps around their hands 141 00:06:26,370 --> 00:06:30,210 with Bible verses and in a box on their forehead with Bible verses. 142 00:06:30,210 --> 00:06:32,490 And they're praying and they're doing all these rituals. 143 00:06:32,650 --> 00:06:35,290 Most of us in this room are not struggling with the temptation 144 00:06:35,290 --> 00:06:39,770 to look to that to save us, but some of us within our own Christian 145 00:06:39,770 --> 00:06:43,450 culture, whatever culture we're from, we can look at certain 146 00:06:43,450 --> 00:06:48,090 things that are not the gospel, as equating that to the gospel. 147 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,560 So, for example, and I, I always use this example and it's 148 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,040 kind of a silly example, but it's a way that I can kind of get 149 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:54,920 my foot in the door here. 150 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,920 But it's the idea that, you know, what if this church does not 151 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,040 have pews, it's not a gospel preaching church. 152 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,320 Okay, well, and I always make a joke. 153 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:03,080 Our church has both. 154 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:04,280 We have chairs and pews. 155 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:07,640 And it's the idea that there are certain things that are not in 156 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,840 any way related to the gospel that have leaked in and equated to 157 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,790 the gospel because it's the tradition of man, okay? 158 00:07:14,790 --> 00:07:16,510 A church has to look a certain way. 159 00:07:16,510 --> 00:07:18,270 A church has to do a certain thing. 160 00:07:18,590 --> 00:07:22,950 And, and for the sake of, of argument, I understand preferences, 161 00:07:22,950 --> 00:07:23,470 okay? 162 00:07:23,550 --> 00:07:26,630 That's why we are the church that we are, okay? 163 00:07:26,630 --> 00:07:29,310 There are certain preferences that we all have, and those are great, 164 00:07:29,310 --> 00:07:30,190 those are wonderful. 165 00:07:30,269 --> 00:07:32,110 And it could be because of my tradition. 166 00:07:32,830 --> 00:07:36,990 I, I admit that the reason why I have certain stands that I have 167 00:07:36,990 --> 00:07:39,310 is because of the church that I grew up in, because what I was 168 00:07:39,310 --> 00:07:42,040 around as I grew up, that's what I feel more comfortable with. 169 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,480 But then if I look at another person who doesn't have the same 170 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:50,320 exact preferences as me, but holds fast to the essentials of the 171 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,680 Scriptures and essentials of the Gospel, I cannot look at that 172 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:55,280 brother or sister and say, you know what? 173 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,600 They're less of a Christian than me because they're different 174 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:58,200 than me. 175 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,520 And so that's a tough thing for us to swallow because we do have 176 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,160 some things that are very traditional. 177 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,000 And again, I will always say that tradition is not necessarily 178 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:06,600 a bad thing. 179 00:08:07,150 --> 00:08:10,070 But if we elevate tradition higher than the gospel, that's when 180 00:08:10,070 --> 00:08:10,710 we have an issue. 181 00:08:10,710 --> 00:08:13,950 And so that's what they're essentially doing here, is that they're 182 00:08:13,950 --> 00:08:18,150 accusing Paul of tearing down tradition because he essentially 183 00:08:18,150 --> 00:08:20,430 is not forcing the Gentiles to become Jews. 184 00:08:20,830 --> 00:08:22,230 You understand what I mean by that, right? 185 00:08:22,230 --> 00:08:23,590 So, so what is he, what is he doing? 186 00:08:23,590 --> 00:08:26,670 Well, a Gentile comes to Christ, he doesn't take a Gentile 187 00:08:26,670 --> 00:08:29,030 and say, well, now you have to do everything that a Jewish person 188 00:08:29,030 --> 00:08:29,390 does. 189 00:08:29,390 --> 00:08:31,590 You have to dress like them, you have to have the same customs, 190 00:08:31,590 --> 00:08:32,990 you have to do all the same rituals. 191 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:35,120 He does have the same dietary laws. 192 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:36,280 He says, and you don't have to do that. 193 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,000 That's what Romans chapter 14 is all about. 194 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,760 But at the same time, Paul is looking at other Jewish people and 195 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,560 he says, hey, if you want to keep the dietary restrictions, fantastic, 196 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:45,040 do that. 197 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:46,600 That's not what's saving you. 198 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,359 That's, that doesn't make you any better than the Gentile Christian. 199 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,720 And so that's the understanding that, that he is teaching. 200 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,840 But what they're doing is they're saying Paul's just anti Jewish, 201 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,040 so he's not a good man, he's preaching heresy. 202 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:00,800 And so what do they do they? 203 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,080 They tell him that he better. 204 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,040 He better answer for this verse, verse 22, what is it? 205 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,120 Therefore the multitude must needs come together, for they will 206 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:10,520 hear that thou art come. 207 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:10,960 So he. 208 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,880 They're basically saying this, Paul, you need to deal with this 209 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:15,680 controversy. 210 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,080 You need to tell people the truth. 211 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:18,560 And. 212 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:19,440 And of course he does. 213 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,200 But they're not happy with the truth because again, you know how 214 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,920 it is sometimes when people are based in a certain thing, you 215 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:26,880 can tell them anything, but all they're going to hear is what 216 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:27,600 they want to hear. 217 00:09:27,860 --> 00:09:30,220 And that's what we essentially see happening here. 218 00:09:30,220 --> 00:09:33,780 So the leaders of the church at Jerusalem make a recommendation 219 00:09:33,780 --> 00:09:34,340 to Paul. 220 00:09:34,340 --> 00:09:37,740 They say, paul, because of this confusion, I think you need 221 00:09:37,740 --> 00:09:38,340 to do something. 222 00:09:38,340 --> 00:09:39,860 So let's see what they ask him to do here. 223 00:09:39,860 --> 00:09:45,060 In verse 23 they said this, do therefore this, that we say to thee. 224 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:50,740 We have four men which have a vow on them and take them, take and 225 00:09:50,740 --> 00:09:55,230 purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them that they 226 00:09:55,230 --> 00:09:59,390 may shave their heads and all may know that those things whereof 227 00:09:59,390 --> 00:10:04,110 they were informed concerning thee are nothing, that thou thyself 228 00:10:04,190 --> 00:10:06,830 also walkest accordingly and keepest the law. 229 00:10:07,550 --> 00:10:08,790 And so what are they saying here? 230 00:10:08,790 --> 00:10:12,670 They're saying that, hey, we want you to sponsor these four men 231 00:10:12,910 --> 00:10:14,350 that have taken this vow. 232 00:10:14,430 --> 00:10:18,190 Essentially what we would understand is the Nazarite vow, okay, 233 00:10:18,190 --> 00:10:20,590 we can read about that in other places of Scripture. 234 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:24,320 But they advised Paul to take these men and actually join these 235 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,040 men in this vow. 236 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:30,160 And so they say, sponsor them and join them in this vow so that 237 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,520 people can know that you're not anti Jewish. 238 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,760 And so the Jewish elders believe that this would convince 239 00:10:36,839 --> 00:10:39,800 everyone that Paul didn't preach against the Jewish customs, 240 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,760 the Jewish laws, and basically that he wanted all Christians to 241 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:44,440 observe them. 242 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,540 And interestingly enough, we see that Paul agrees to do this. 243 00:10:48,700 --> 00:10:51,820 And so this shows that Paul is not against Jewish traditions. 244 00:10:52,140 --> 00:10:54,540 Verse verse 25, or excuse me, verse 24. 245 00:10:54,860 --> 00:10:58,580 As touching the Gentiles, which believe we have written and 246 00:10:58,580 --> 00:11:01,580 concluded that they observe no such thing save only that they keep 247 00:11:01,580 --> 00:11:04,860 themselves from things offered to idols and from blood and from 248 00:11:04,860 --> 00:11:06,620 strangled and from fornication. 249 00:11:07,260 --> 00:11:09,500 So they say, hey, we're not concerned with how you're teaching 250 00:11:09,500 --> 00:11:12,180 the Jews, but how, or excuse me, the Gentiles, how are you teaching 251 00:11:12,180 --> 00:11:12,700 the Jews? 252 00:11:12,970 --> 00:11:14,730 This will prove that you're not against them. 253 00:11:15,050 --> 00:11:20,490 And so Paul agrees to do this basically to demonstrate that he 254 00:11:20,490 --> 00:11:24,810 never taught that the Jewish Christians should forget about Moses, 255 00:11:24,890 --> 00:11:28,170 that they should forget about their customs and their culture, 256 00:11:28,729 --> 00:11:31,090 but ultimately to Teach them that, hey, you can still believe 257 00:11:31,090 --> 00:11:35,130 in Jesus Christ and keep these same convictions, these same preferences. 258 00:11:35,530 --> 00:11:38,250 And so the Jewish elders understood that this had nothing 259 00:11:38,250 --> 00:11:39,370 to do with the Gentiles. 260 00:11:40,140 --> 00:11:42,620 It didn't mean that the Gentiles had to perform these rights. 261 00:11:42,780 --> 00:11:46,060 It was only that Paul needed to teach the Jewish people that they. 262 00:11:46,220 --> 00:11:47,340 They could still do this. 263 00:11:47,340 --> 00:11:50,380 And so Paul would agree. 264 00:11:50,780 --> 00:11:52,660 And why did Paul agree to this? 265 00:11:52,660 --> 00:11:53,900 I often think about this. 266 00:11:54,220 --> 00:11:57,260 I often think, well, you know, he should have just told them, I 267 00:11:57,260 --> 00:11:58,100 don't have to answer to you. 268 00:11:58,100 --> 00:11:59,500 I do what I do in ministry. 269 00:11:59,500 --> 00:12:02,220 And Paul, if anyone had a right to do that, Paul could justify 270 00:12:02,220 --> 00:12:02,860 what he was doing. 271 00:12:02,860 --> 00:12:05,100 He didn't need to prove anything to anybody else. 272 00:12:05,610 --> 00:12:06,570 So why would he do this? 273 00:12:06,970 --> 00:12:10,450 I think that if you understand Paul's heart and go to First Corinthians, 274 00:12:10,450 --> 00:12:15,930 chapter 9, verse 20, we'll understand why Paul agreed to take 275 00:12:15,930 --> 00:12:19,810 this vow with the Jewish young men and actually sponsor them and 276 00:12:19,810 --> 00:12:20,730 walk them through this. 277 00:12:21,449 --> 00:12:24,170 This is not Paul saying, you've got to do this to be saved 278 00:12:24,170 --> 00:12:25,130 as a Jewish person. 279 00:12:25,530 --> 00:12:26,850 This is him saying, you know what? 280 00:12:26,850 --> 00:12:29,370 If this helps me minister these people, I will do this. 281 00:12:29,770 --> 00:12:32,570 And so most of you know this passage in First Corinthians, chapter 282 00:12:32,570 --> 00:12:38,000 9, verse number 20, Paul is speaking to the ministry that he's 283 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:38,920 had to different people. 284 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,560 So he's ministered to Jews and Gentiles. 285 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:42,240 And. 286 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,200 And we know that Paul has a heart for Jews. 287 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:44,840 Okay? 288 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,720 If you don't know that he has a heart for his own people, read 289 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:48,840 Romans, chapter 9. 290 00:12:49,159 --> 00:12:52,200 Romans, chapter 9 is his heart towards his own people. 291 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:53,640 And Paul, Paul is. 292 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:55,560 Paul is a pedigree Jew, right? 293 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:56,400 We understand that. 294 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:57,240 He talks about that. 295 00:12:57,320 --> 00:12:57,840 He goes, I. 296 00:12:57,840 --> 00:12:59,590 I am from good stock, I, who. 297 00:12:59,660 --> 00:13:00,380 I'm all about this. 298 00:13:00,380 --> 00:13:01,820 And so Paul loved his people. 299 00:13:02,140 --> 00:13:05,500 And it said in verse 20, and unto the Jews, I became as a Jew. 300 00:13:05,900 --> 00:13:09,460 Now, if you understand it in context, there, there's more to it 301 00:13:09,460 --> 00:13:10,220 than this, because in. 302 00:13:10,220 --> 00:13:13,380 In the verse right before this, he says, for I be free from 303 00:13:13,380 --> 00:13:17,340 all men, yet have I made myself a servant to all that I might 304 00:13:17,340 --> 00:13:18,140 gain the more. 305 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:20,140 So what Paul is saying here is this. 306 00:13:20,460 --> 00:13:23,100 I want to minister to just more than one group of people. 307 00:13:23,660 --> 00:13:26,640 So he says to the Jewish, I become a Jew. 308 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,960 And he says that to them that are under the law, as under the law, 309 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,720 that I may gain them that are under the law, meaning this, I will 310 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,640 identify with their culture, I will identify with their customs 311 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,800 so that I can win them to Christ. 312 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:41,960 So. 313 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,200 So Paul was willing to go through all of those customs that 314 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:46,800 they're doing there in the Nazarite val. 315 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,840 But then if you read in context, verse 21 in, in 1st Corinthians 316 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,150 9, it says this did them that are without the law, as without the 317 00:13:54,150 --> 00:13:57,630 law being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, 318 00:13:57,710 --> 00:14:00,550 that I might gain them that are without the law to. 319 00:14:00,550 --> 00:14:04,430 To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak. 320 00:14:04,670 --> 00:14:08,670 And I made all things, all men that I might be all means saved some. 321 00:14:09,070 --> 00:14:12,030 And he says, and I do this for the Gospel's sake. 322 00:14:12,430 --> 00:14:13,750 So what is, what is he saying here? 323 00:14:13,750 --> 00:14:14,430 He's saying this. 324 00:14:14,510 --> 00:14:16,510 I am trying to relate to people. 325 00:14:16,510 --> 00:14:20,310 And so to relate to people, I'm willing to meet them where they 326 00:14:20,310 --> 00:14:20,590 are. 327 00:14:20,830 --> 00:14:23,150 Now, that doesn't mean that Paul sins, okay? 328 00:14:23,150 --> 00:14:25,350 Because a lot of people will take that passage of Scripture out 329 00:14:25,350 --> 00:14:27,230 of context and say, you know what? 330 00:14:27,310 --> 00:14:29,310 To the sinner, I'm going to become the sinner. 331 00:14:29,470 --> 00:14:30,550 No, he's not saying that. 332 00:14:30,550 --> 00:14:34,350 He's not saying that I partake in their sin and be just like them 333 00:14:34,350 --> 00:14:35,270 to win them the Christ. 334 00:14:35,270 --> 00:14:37,470 What he's saying is, is that those people that are. 335 00:14:37,470 --> 00:14:40,670 That are still in those Jewish customs, I'm not going to neglect 336 00:14:40,670 --> 00:14:40,830 them. 337 00:14:40,830 --> 00:14:42,630 I'm going to come to them and meet them where they need that. 338 00:14:42,630 --> 00:14:45,820 So, for example, let's say someone comes into the church and 339 00:14:45,820 --> 00:14:47,700 they're unchurched, okay? 340 00:14:47,940 --> 00:14:48,260 They. 341 00:14:48,260 --> 00:14:50,980 They've never set foot in a church at all. 342 00:14:50,980 --> 00:14:54,260 No less an independent fundamental Baptist church. 343 00:14:54,900 --> 00:14:58,740 I'm going to minister to that person much, much more differently 344 00:14:58,740 --> 00:15:02,180 than someone who's come in, that grew up in a church that has 345 00:15:02,180 --> 00:15:05,140 certain types of customs, right? 346 00:15:05,140 --> 00:15:08,340 Because a person coming in from the streets that has no idea 347 00:15:08,340 --> 00:15:11,940 about this church, has no idea about different elements within the 348 00:15:11,940 --> 00:15:14,550 church and how there's different, you know, stripes and 349 00:15:14,550 --> 00:15:15,350 segments and. 350 00:15:15,350 --> 00:15:16,310 And convictions. 351 00:15:16,310 --> 00:15:18,870 I'm not going to sit there and tie them down with all those things. 352 00:15:19,030 --> 00:15:21,790 Like, for example, I'm not even going to mention legalism to 353 00:15:21,790 --> 00:15:24,030 someone who has never been a part of a church that's experienced 354 00:15:24,030 --> 00:15:25,190 legalism, right? 355 00:15:25,350 --> 00:15:26,950 Because I don't want to tie them down with that. 356 00:15:26,950 --> 00:15:28,550 Like, just teach them the truth of the gospel. 357 00:15:28,550 --> 00:15:29,510 That's a blank slate. 358 00:15:29,510 --> 00:15:30,230 That's wonderful. 359 00:15:30,390 --> 00:15:32,470 But if there's someone who comes in the church that grew up 360 00:15:32,470 --> 00:15:36,110 in a Christian circle that dealt with legalism, I have to address 361 00:15:36,110 --> 00:15:38,470 that and speak to them with language that they understand. 362 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,560 And so that's essentially what Paul's ministry was always in. 363 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,400 It was, where is this person at? 364 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,800 How can I bring the gospel to them in a way that they understand. 365 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,640 So why did Paul take this vow with these other Jewish men? 366 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:50,920 To reach them where they were. 367 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,320 And so that shows that Paul in no way was trying to destroy the 368 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:55,280 Jewish customs. 369 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,720 He was just essentially saying that that's not what saves you. 370 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:03,240 So, so we come here and I'm making this case because we're about 371 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:04,760 to see that they freak out on Paul. 372 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,840 And there's this huge issue that happens. 373 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:07,120 And. 374 00:16:07,190 --> 00:16:10,590 And ultimately Paul is going to be persecuted for even doing what 375 00:16:10,590 --> 00:16:11,270 he's doing here. 376 00:16:11,510 --> 00:16:14,150 And so I think that it's important to understand Paul's heart 377 00:16:14,150 --> 00:16:14,390 in. 378 00:16:14,390 --> 00:16:14,950 In all of this. 379 00:16:14,950 --> 00:16:16,750 So let's look at verse number 26. 380 00:16:16,750 --> 00:16:20,310 Then Paul took these men and the next day, purifying himself, 381 00:16:20,310 --> 00:16:25,150 so he joins in with them, entered into the temple to signify 382 00:16:25,150 --> 00:16:27,430 the accomplishment of the days of purification. 383 00:16:27,670 --> 00:16:30,470 Until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. 384 00:16:30,550 --> 00:16:33,510 Okay, so what he essentially does is he joins in with them. 385 00:16:34,140 --> 00:16:37,700 So Paul could agree to this and sponsor these four men in the 386 00:16:37,700 --> 00:16:38,780 vow of consecration. 387 00:16:39,900 --> 00:16:43,820 It was because he knew their culture, he understood them in every 388 00:16:43,820 --> 00:16:44,140 way. 389 00:16:44,380 --> 00:16:46,140 And so this is what he does. 390 00:16:46,220 --> 00:16:48,620 And by the way, this offering is not for their salvation. 391 00:16:49,660 --> 00:16:51,740 It was not for them to be forgiven. 392 00:16:52,140 --> 00:16:55,900 Paul understood that the only sacrifice that could save is the 393 00:16:55,900 --> 00:16:57,180 sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 394 00:16:57,580 --> 00:17:01,930 So this sacrifice in this case was just kind of filling a place 395 00:17:01,930 --> 00:17:03,330 of thanksgiving or dedication. 396 00:17:03,650 --> 00:17:04,890 So let's look at verse 27. 397 00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:08,130 Let's see the result of this, because there's some Jews from Asia 398 00:17:08,210 --> 00:17:10,290 who stir up a mob against Paul. 399 00:17:10,450 --> 00:17:11,210 Verse 27. 400 00:17:11,210 --> 00:17:14,730 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were 401 00:17:14,730 --> 00:17:18,890 of Asia, because by the way, you understand that the Jews were 402 00:17:18,890 --> 00:17:20,690 not isolated there in Jerusalem. 403 00:17:20,770 --> 00:17:23,330 There were Jewish people basically all over the known world 404 00:17:23,330 --> 00:17:23,770 at this point. 405 00:17:23,770 --> 00:17:27,170 Even Paul was not originally from Jerusalem, which we'll see later 406 00:17:27,170 --> 00:17:27,410 on. 407 00:17:27,410 --> 00:17:29,330 Paul is from actually a Roman province. 408 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:30,600 And. 409 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:32,840 And that plays into the story as well a little bit later. 410 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:33,920 But anyway, verse. 411 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:34,680 Verse 27. 412 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,080 And so after these things happened, there's these Jews of. 413 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:42,040 In Asia, from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up 414 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,200 all the people and laid hands on him. 415 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:45,800 And so they get upset. 416 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,240 They claim that Paul was against the people of Israel, the 417 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,760 people that had held these customs. 418 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,440 And so their accusations are basically disturbed the crowd against 419 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,080 Paul so that they could catch him and stop him. 420 00:17:59,400 --> 00:17:59,880 And we. 421 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:02,160 We find out later that they don't just want to stop him, they 422 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:03,240 want to eliminate him. 423 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:04,000 Verse 28. 424 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,720 Crying out, men of Israel, help. 425 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,800 This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere. 426 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:13,080 Now see how they, you know, again, this is how it works. 427 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,560 When people are slandering somebody, when people are telling 428 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:16,040 lies, they. 429 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,840 They always go too far and too much, and they always make these 430 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,600 generalizations and essentially they're just throwing 431 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,600 lies on top of Paul's testimony here. 432 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,950 So it says this, this is the man that teacheth all man everywhere 433 00:18:27,950 --> 00:18:30,590 against the people and the law and this place. 434 00:18:30,590 --> 00:18:34,230 And further brought Greeks into the temple and have polluted 435 00:18:34,230 --> 00:18:34,790 this holy place. 436 00:18:34,790 --> 00:18:38,070 And so they accused Paul of teaching everybody the same thing. 437 00:18:38,230 --> 00:18:41,990 They, they accused Paul of really making the temple unclean. 438 00:18:42,470 --> 00:18:46,030 And the charges against Paul here were similar to what they were 439 00:18:46,030 --> 00:18:48,870 charging Stephen with back in Acts, chapter six. 440 00:18:49,110 --> 00:18:50,470 Basically, he's. 441 00:18:50,690 --> 00:18:53,170 He's tearing down everything in the temple, verse 29. 442 00:18:53,170 --> 00:18:56,850 For they had seen before with him in the city of Atromus and Ephesians, 443 00:18:57,250 --> 00:18:59,130 whom they supposed that Paul had brought. 444 00:18:59,130 --> 00:19:02,890 You see there it says who they suppose that Paul brought into the 445 00:19:02,890 --> 00:19:03,250 temple. 446 00:19:03,250 --> 00:19:04,610 So again, it was all speculation. 447 00:19:05,010 --> 00:19:07,530 It's like, well, he, he, obviously, if he's joining in with 448 00:19:07,530 --> 00:19:10,530 Gentiles and, and this Ephesian fella, then you know what? 449 00:19:10,530 --> 00:19:12,410 He must have condemned the temple. 450 00:19:12,410 --> 00:19:14,490 He must have done all of these things. 451 00:19:14,490 --> 00:19:17,450 And so at this point in time, they're throwing out lies. 452 00:19:17,450 --> 00:19:18,290 And that's how it works. 453 00:19:18,290 --> 00:19:19,240 And the church. 454 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,320 The church and individuals who serve within the church will always 455 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,000 have people saying that kind of stuff about them. 456 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:24,640 Okay? 457 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,560 So regardless of whether or not we are doing the right thing 458 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:29,600 or the wrong thing, people are going to say negative things about 459 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:29,920 us. 460 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,400 Even if there's a shred of evidence, in many cases there's a 461 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:34,160 little bit of truth. 462 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,240 What people will do, they will link onto that and spin it the way 463 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:38,040 that they want it to be. 464 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,400 So their desire was to get Paul out of there. 465 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,480 And we saw this in the life of Jesus, right? 466 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:44,840 They took something that Jesus did and they tried to spin it to 467 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,760 the fact they call him a sinner, call him a rebel, and that's 468 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:49,200 the case that they're doing here with Paul. 469 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,840 So what I would say here, a lesson that we can learn within the 470 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,120 church, is that it doesn't really matter what other people say 471 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:54,480 about us. 472 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,480 All we need to do is keep our testimony pure. 473 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:57,080 Okay? 474 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,160 We keep our testimony pure and do the best that we can. 475 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:00,480 And that's what Paul is doing here. 476 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:01,920 And so it says in verse 30. 477 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:03,600 And all the city was moved. 478 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:05,560 All the city was moved. 479 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:06,360 This is interesting here. 480 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,560 The, the crowd began to grow. 481 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,400 And the reason being is that we know that this was a feast time. 482 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,430 So there was more people in Jerusalem than, than normal. 483 00:20:15,430 --> 00:20:16,750 So there's people from all over. 484 00:20:16,750 --> 00:20:21,870 And so all the city was moved and the people ran together and they 485 00:20:21,870 --> 00:20:25,190 took Paul and drew him out of the temple and forthwith the doors 486 00:20:25,190 --> 00:20:25,750 were shut. 487 00:20:25,750 --> 00:20:29,270 So this is the fulfillment of the prophecy that all these people 488 00:20:29,270 --> 00:20:32,710 had about Paul, that even Paul himself heard about that when he 489 00:20:32,710 --> 00:20:34,590 went to Jerusalem he would be caught and arrested. 490 00:20:34,590 --> 00:20:35,230 This is where it was. 491 00:20:35,230 --> 00:20:36,310 They lay hands on him. 492 00:20:36,470 --> 00:20:37,750 And it says they run together. 493 00:20:38,310 --> 00:20:38,790 And that. 494 00:20:38,790 --> 00:20:40,670 That speaks to kind of like mob mentality. 495 00:20:40,670 --> 00:20:43,310 Any, anytime there are individuals that are stirring other 496 00:20:43,310 --> 00:20:44,150 people up, it just. 497 00:20:44,420 --> 00:20:46,340 They might not even be highly convicted about something. 498 00:20:46,340 --> 00:20:47,900 But it's just, hey, it's mom mentality. 499 00:20:47,900 --> 00:20:48,900 They're getting upset. 500 00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:50,740 So it says verse 31. 501 00:20:50,740 --> 00:20:51,620 And as they were. 502 00:20:52,340 --> 00:20:53,220 This is interesting here. 503 00:20:53,220 --> 00:20:55,060 It's more than just like they don't want him there. 504 00:20:55,700 --> 00:20:58,340 And as they went about to kill him. 505 00:20:59,220 --> 00:21:00,900 So this is pretty serious stuff. 506 00:21:01,060 --> 00:21:04,420 I mean, we sometimes just read things from passages of scripture 507 00:21:04,420 --> 00:21:07,140 and we don't really think about the implication of what just 508 00:21:07,140 --> 00:21:07,780 was said. 509 00:21:08,180 --> 00:21:10,420 Sound like they're trying to just grab him and throw him out of 510 00:21:10,420 --> 00:21:12,010 town, that would be enough. 511 00:21:12,170 --> 00:21:13,810 But they're literally trying to kill him. 512 00:21:13,810 --> 00:21:16,330 This is a violent mob trying to kill Paul. 513 00:21:16,810 --> 00:21:20,450 Tidings or news came unto the chief captain of the band that all 514 00:21:20,450 --> 00:21:22,010 Jerusalem was in an uproar. 515 00:21:22,730 --> 00:21:26,170 So this is all happening on the Temple Mount. 516 00:21:26,570 --> 00:21:29,650 Now again, if you don't have the geography of the Temple in your 517 00:21:29,650 --> 00:21:31,690 mind, it's really hard to visualize this. 518 00:21:31,930 --> 00:21:35,690 But the Temple Mount is up on a mountain Mount Moriah. 519 00:21:35,770 --> 00:21:36,890 And it's on. 520 00:21:36,890 --> 00:21:38,010 It's high up there. 521 00:21:38,350 --> 00:21:41,310 And all the things that are happening are up there in this big. 522 00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:42,830 There's like a courtyard. 523 00:21:42,990 --> 00:21:45,510 And inside of the courtyard are different levels of the Temple. 524 00:21:45,510 --> 00:21:47,830 So there was the court of the Gentiles, there was the court of 525 00:21:47,830 --> 00:21:48,110 women. 526 00:21:48,270 --> 00:21:50,870 And then of course, you got to the actual Temple itself and you 527 00:21:50,870 --> 00:21:53,150 had the inner parts of the temple there that only certain people 528 00:21:53,150 --> 00:21:53,790 could go to. 529 00:21:54,269 --> 00:21:57,110 So this is all happening in the most public square you can think 530 00:21:57,110 --> 00:21:57,390 of. 531 00:21:57,390 --> 00:21:58,910 This is where everyone went. 532 00:21:58,910 --> 00:22:01,470 This is the capital of the city of Jerusalem. 533 00:22:01,710 --> 00:22:05,090 Every person in Jerusalem would have been centered around this 534 00:22:05,090 --> 00:22:05,410 place. 535 00:22:05,730 --> 00:22:10,050 Now, right in the corner of the Temple Mount, there is something 536 00:22:10,050 --> 00:22:13,650 called the Tower of Antonia or the Antonio Fortress. 537 00:22:13,970 --> 00:22:17,090 This is the fortress that Pontius Pilate would have been sitting 538 00:22:17,090 --> 00:22:17,250 in. 539 00:22:17,250 --> 00:22:19,810 This is where the Romans were basically spy. 540 00:22:19,810 --> 00:22:21,890 Didn't have surveillance cameras back then. 541 00:22:21,970 --> 00:22:25,490 So the way that the Romans would overwatch The Jewish people 542 00:22:25,490 --> 00:22:28,410 was they would sit up in this high tower and they would watch all 543 00:22:28,410 --> 00:22:30,530 the things that were happening because they were trying to keep 544 00:22:30,530 --> 00:22:31,010 the peace. 545 00:22:31,390 --> 00:22:34,110 They didn't really care about the religious aspects of the Jews. 546 00:22:34,110 --> 00:22:36,430 They just wanted to make sure that no one had any mobs and no one 547 00:22:36,430 --> 00:22:37,390 was getting killed. 548 00:22:37,390 --> 00:22:40,190 Okay, so what happens is, is they're up in their tower. 549 00:22:40,510 --> 00:22:44,510 Usually there was more than like 500 soldiers in that tower. 550 00:22:44,990 --> 00:22:48,390 And what would be was actually in the northwest corner of the Temple 551 00:22:48,390 --> 00:22:48,830 Mount. 552 00:22:48,990 --> 00:22:51,790 And they would watch and they would see all these things happening. 553 00:22:51,790 --> 00:22:56,510 So they hear word that there's this uprising in the Temple Mount. 554 00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:58,520 And so what happens? 555 00:22:58,520 --> 00:22:59,240 What did they do? 556 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,400 Well, it says verse 32, who immediately took soldiers and centurions 557 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:04,840 and ran down unto them. 558 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,360 And when they saw the chief captain of the soldiers, they left 559 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,200 beating of Paul. 560 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,840 Then the chief captain came near and took him and commanded him 561 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:15,320 to be bound with two chains. 562 00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:17,840 So two chains meaning. 563 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,040 Now there's a lot of theories about this, but essentially what 564 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,280 would usually happen is, is that an individual who would be caught 565 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,480 in chains and it said two chains, he would have a soldier on 566 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:28,400 each side of him. 567 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,240 So basically he would be chained to two different Roman soldiers 568 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:31,520 here. 569 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:33,400 And so that's where, where Paul is going to be. 570 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,120 So basically the Roman soldiers come and intervene in this 571 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:36,560 mob. 572 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:37,440 And. 573 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,200 And so what we see here is that he's. 574 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:44,640 He's chained up to these two soldiers and a you. 575 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:49,200 Verse 32, basically, who immediately took soldiers and centurions, 576 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:50,080 he came and they took him. 577 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,980 Verse 33, the captain chief came near, took him and commanded 578 00:23:52,980 --> 00:23:56,220 him to be bound to change that demanded who he was and what he had 579 00:23:56,220 --> 00:23:56,380 done. 580 00:23:56,380 --> 00:23:57,460 So they're like, what's going on? 581 00:23:57,460 --> 00:23:58,420 Why did you do this? 582 00:23:58,500 --> 00:24:00,580 What stirred up this kind of riot? 583 00:24:00,740 --> 00:24:01,460 Verse 34. 584 00:24:01,460 --> 00:24:05,500 And some cried one thing and some another among the multitude. 585 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:09,740 And when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded 586 00:24:09,740 --> 00:24:11,100 him to be carried into the castle. 587 00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:12,980 So they said, we can't figure out what's going on. 588 00:24:13,220 --> 00:24:15,620 If you've ever been in a situation where like there's a bunch 589 00:24:15,620 --> 00:24:18,740 of people yelling, I don't really hear that well, anyway. 590 00:24:19,060 --> 00:24:21,220 And then when I have all these people yelling different directions, 591 00:24:21,220 --> 00:24:22,580 I can't make sense of anything. 592 00:24:22,980 --> 00:24:26,420 Today in the fellowship hall, when everyone's in there talking 593 00:24:26,420 --> 00:24:27,820 and fellowshipping, I love that. 594 00:24:27,820 --> 00:24:30,460 But then when someone's trying to talk to me, I just cannot pick 595 00:24:30,460 --> 00:24:30,700 it up. 596 00:24:30,700 --> 00:24:32,020 And so that's exactly what he's saying here. 597 00:24:32,020 --> 00:24:33,220 He says, I don't Know who you are. 598 00:24:33,379 --> 00:24:34,460 I can't understand what you're saying. 599 00:24:34,460 --> 00:24:35,460 I can't understand what they're saying. 600 00:24:35,460 --> 00:24:38,100 Let's just take you into the, the fortress. 601 00:24:38,260 --> 00:24:39,300 Verse 35. 602 00:24:39,300 --> 00:24:41,980 And when he came upon the stairs, so it was so, so there were 603 00:24:41,980 --> 00:24:45,300 these stairs that overlooked the Temple Mount, says, we came on 604 00:24:45,300 --> 00:24:45,700 the stairs. 605 00:24:45,700 --> 00:24:49,180 So it was that he was born of the soldiers for the violence of 606 00:24:49,180 --> 00:24:49,580 the people. 607 00:24:49,660 --> 00:24:53,540 So essentially here that, you know, the, the multitude is crying 608 00:24:53,540 --> 00:24:56,900 out and they're, they're like, hey, you know, you're causing all 609 00:24:56,900 --> 00:24:57,420 this violence. 610 00:24:57,420 --> 00:24:58,020 Verse 36. 611 00:24:58,020 --> 00:25:00,299 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, away 612 00:25:00,299 --> 00:25:00,860 with him. 613 00:25:01,100 --> 00:25:03,380 And when they say, away with him, you know, they want him, they 614 00:25:03,380 --> 00:25:05,580 want him gone, they want him martyred, they want him out of there. 615 00:25:06,780 --> 00:25:07,580 Verse 37. 616 00:25:07,580 --> 00:25:11,020 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief 617 00:25:11,020 --> 00:25:12,220 captain, may I speak? 618 00:25:13,700 --> 00:25:15,540 Who said, canst thou speak Greek? 619 00:25:16,020 --> 00:25:17,140 This is interesting here. 620 00:25:17,380 --> 00:25:23,180 So Paul looks at the Roman soldier here, the leader, and it's 621 00:25:23,180 --> 00:25:25,980 actually the chief captain, the leader of the whole group, and 622 00:25:25,980 --> 00:25:28,340 he says something here which he wouldn't have not expected because 623 00:25:28,420 --> 00:25:29,980 who, who does he think Paul is? 624 00:25:29,980 --> 00:25:33,180 He thinks Paul is just like this guy who's starting a riot. 625 00:25:33,180 --> 00:25:37,220 Probably some criminal, some uneducated guy, some roughhouser. 626 00:25:37,380 --> 00:25:39,020 I mean, actually we're going to see here in a little bit. 627 00:25:39,020 --> 00:25:40,180 They think he's somebody else. 628 00:25:40,750 --> 00:25:44,190 And Paul turns to him and for him to say that he spoke Greek meant 629 00:25:44,190 --> 00:25:48,950 that he was a learned man, he was educated, that he had some status 630 00:25:48,950 --> 00:25:51,430 for him to be able to switch between these different languages. 631 00:25:51,430 --> 00:25:54,710 And so he turns to the Roman soldier and he says, hey, can you 632 00:25:54,710 --> 00:25:55,310 speak Greek? 633 00:25:55,630 --> 00:25:56,910 And this is interesting here. 634 00:25:57,150 --> 00:25:59,910 And the Roman commander was, was shocked because he thought that 635 00:25:59,910 --> 00:26:00,910 Paul was a terrorist. 636 00:26:01,390 --> 00:26:04,350 And now Paul is saying, hey, you know what, I can speak Greek. 637 00:26:04,350 --> 00:26:05,510 I'm not a rabble rouser. 638 00:26:05,510 --> 00:26:07,630 I'm not someone who's trying to cause issues here. 639 00:26:08,050 --> 00:26:11,170 I'm trying to teach you who I really am and what I'm really trying 640 00:26:11,170 --> 00:26:11,570 to do. 641 00:26:11,890 --> 00:26:16,530 Verse 38, the guy says, so Paul says, can you speak Greek? 642 00:26:16,530 --> 00:26:21,090 The guy goes, are not thou that Egyptian which before these 643 00:26:21,090 --> 00:26:23,770 days made us an uproar and led us out into the wilderness? 644 00:26:23,770 --> 00:26:25,570 4,000 men that were murderers. 645 00:26:26,050 --> 00:26:28,890 So he actually mistakes him for this Egyptian guy who came in 646 00:26:28,890 --> 00:26:31,850 there and stirred up a whole Mess and brought 4,000 people out 647 00:26:31,850 --> 00:26:32,770 there that were murderers. 648 00:26:32,770 --> 00:26:36,140 He, he thinks, he thinks that that's some, that's who Paul is. 649 00:26:36,460 --> 00:26:40,660 And actually this Egyptian was mentioned by another historian named 650 00:26:40,660 --> 00:26:41,340 Josephus. 651 00:26:41,580 --> 00:26:42,700 And what he did. 652 00:26:42,780 --> 00:26:44,500 So the reference to this is so amazing. 653 00:26:44,500 --> 00:26:46,340 And I love how the Bible ties together with. 654 00:26:46,340 --> 00:26:48,860 With history, right, because the Bible is history. 655 00:26:48,860 --> 00:26:51,940 Some people think that the Bible is taking part away from history, 656 00:26:51,940 --> 00:26:52,780 but it's happening. 657 00:26:52,780 --> 00:26:56,060 And we have this Jewish historian named Josephus who talks 658 00:26:56,060 --> 00:26:58,260 about this Egyptian guy who leads this rebellion. 659 00:26:58,260 --> 00:27:02,880 And he led an army of the 4,000 men to the Mount of Olives, 660 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:04,240 which is right outside of the city. 661 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,160 And they made this whole, like, band of an army that declared 662 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,280 that they would come back in and kill everyone on the Temple Mount. 663 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,480 And so this is actually who he thinks Paul is, Which Paul says, 664 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:17,280 no, Paul's going to tell him who he really is. 665 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:18,640 He tells him his identity. 666 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:19,240 Verse 39. 667 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:23,400 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city 668 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:27,790 in Cicia, a citizen of no mean city. 669 00:27:27,790 --> 00:27:30,470 And I beseech the suffer me to speak unto the people. 670 00:27:31,670 --> 00:27:34,270 And so we're going to see here in a little bit that Paul essentially 671 00:27:34,270 --> 00:27:34,670 says, I. 672 00:27:34,670 --> 00:27:35,270 I'm a. 673 00:27:35,990 --> 00:27:37,270 This is in chapter 22. 674 00:27:37,270 --> 00:27:39,030 But Paul says, I'm a Roman citizen. 675 00:27:39,590 --> 00:27:43,030 And what's unique about where Paul is from, Paul is a Jew, but 676 00:27:43,030 --> 00:27:44,790 Paul is where he was born. 677 00:27:44,870 --> 00:27:46,990 He is then adopted as a Roman citizen. 678 00:27:46,990 --> 00:27:49,350 So Paul has essentially dual citizenship. 679 00:27:49,590 --> 00:27:53,030 Paul is, yes, he is a Jewish person of the greatest pedigree, 680 00:27:53,380 --> 00:27:56,340 but he also understands the Roman culture and the Greek culture. 681 00:27:56,580 --> 00:27:59,300 And he was born in an area where there was Roman control. 682 00:27:59,300 --> 00:28:00,380 So he's a Roman citizen. 683 00:28:00,380 --> 00:28:03,460 So when he tells him, I'm not the Egyptian guy, I'm actually from 684 00:28:03,620 --> 00:28:06,900 a city in Cilicia named Tarsus, and I'm a city citizen of, 685 00:28:06,980 --> 00:28:07,780 not Egypt. 686 00:28:07,860 --> 00:28:11,660 Somewhere else he gets a word with him and he says, allow me to 687 00:28:11,660 --> 00:28:12,420 speak to the people. 688 00:28:12,820 --> 00:28:15,540 So Paul says, let me talk to the people that are persecuting me. 689 00:28:15,860 --> 00:28:19,060 Let me talk to the people that are actually wanting me to be killed. 690 00:28:19,710 --> 00:28:20,190 And this is. 691 00:28:20,190 --> 00:28:21,870 This is so interesting how Paul does this. 692 00:28:21,950 --> 00:28:22,910 And I think this is. 693 00:28:22,910 --> 00:28:24,430 This is a lesson for all of us. 694 00:28:24,590 --> 00:28:29,110 And when he had given him license, Paul took on the stairs. 695 00:28:29,110 --> 00:28:32,550 So Paul turns from individually referencing the centurion, 696 00:28:32,550 --> 00:28:35,150 and I'll turn to the people that remember, want to kill him. 697 00:28:35,630 --> 00:28:36,670 These are not his friends. 698 00:28:37,390 --> 00:28:39,710 And he beckoned with the hand unto the people. 699 00:28:40,430 --> 00:28:44,710 And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them 700 00:28:44,710 --> 00:28:46,240 in the Hebrew tongue. 701 00:28:46,790 --> 00:28:49,110 So he goes back and speaks to them directly. 702 00:28:49,190 --> 00:28:51,110 He could have spoken to them in Greek. 703 00:28:51,110 --> 00:28:52,710 He just spoke in Greek to them. 704 00:28:52,710 --> 00:28:55,230 But he says, no, I'm gonna identify with you as as one of you. 705 00:28:55,230 --> 00:28:56,790 I, I, I'm, I'm Hebrew, right? 706 00:28:56,790 --> 00:28:58,270 So he speaks to them in the Hebrew tongue. 707 00:28:58,270 --> 00:29:01,830 And then it ends chapter 21 saying, that's an interesting way 708 00:29:01,830 --> 00:29:02,509 to end a chapter. 709 00:29:02,509 --> 00:29:06,470 And by the way, chapters were delineated later on. 710 00:29:06,630 --> 00:29:08,630 So the story continues in the chapter 22. 711 00:29:08,790 --> 00:29:10,950 So it ends in chapter 21 saying, what? 712 00:29:10,950 --> 00:29:11,630 What did he say? 713 00:29:11,630 --> 00:29:12,110 What did he say? 714 00:29:12,110 --> 00:29:13,330 It's like, dot, dot, dot. 715 00:29:13,330 --> 00:29:14,250 To be continued. 716 00:29:14,570 --> 00:29:16,090 Well, you don't have to wait till next week because we're going 717 00:29:16,090 --> 00:29:18,210 to look at what he says here because this is important to see 718 00:29:18,210 --> 00:29:18,570 what he does. 719 00:29:18,570 --> 00:29:20,090 Because Paul could have said anything. 720 00:29:20,090 --> 00:29:24,530 Paul could have gotten up here in front of them and said, you don't 721 00:29:24,530 --> 00:29:25,530 have any right to kill me. 722 00:29:25,530 --> 00:29:28,330 I'm a Roman citizen, you know, I, I should be protected. 723 00:29:28,489 --> 00:29:30,810 Paul could have gotten up there and claimed that he was a Pharisee. 724 00:29:30,890 --> 00:29:33,010 Paul could have gotten up there and claimed a lot of different 725 00:29:33,010 --> 00:29:35,610 things, that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ. 726 00:29:36,490 --> 00:29:38,730 But what he does actually here is a very interesting thing. 727 00:29:39,090 --> 00:29:43,930 Paul is going to point these people to the gospel by telling them 728 00:29:43,930 --> 00:29:45,810 his story, his testimony. 729 00:29:45,970 --> 00:29:48,450 We talked about tonight about the importance of testimonies. 730 00:29:48,930 --> 00:29:52,010 And the way, and the way that Paul does this is essentially says, 731 00:29:52,010 --> 00:29:53,970 hey, let me tell you who I am. 732 00:29:54,210 --> 00:29:56,410 Let me tell you how I met Jesus Christ. 733 00:29:56,410 --> 00:29:59,810 Let me tell you how he met me and how he changed me. 734 00:29:59,970 --> 00:30:04,610 And he basically is going to go through this whole process of 735 00:30:04,610 --> 00:30:05,650 pointing people to Jesus. 736 00:30:05,650 --> 00:30:09,630 So let's see here in chapter 22 what he does, how he starts this, 737 00:30:09,630 --> 00:30:12,990 because this is important to see, because again, this is his sermon 738 00:30:12,990 --> 00:30:13,630 to the people. 739 00:30:14,830 --> 00:30:15,870 I mentioned this morning. 740 00:30:16,030 --> 00:30:20,110 If someone held me in a place and said, hey, look, you know, you 741 00:30:20,110 --> 00:30:23,670 have a message to tell people, okay, you have a message to tell 742 00:30:23,670 --> 00:30:25,670 the world, or you have the message to tell people that hate 743 00:30:25,670 --> 00:30:26,750 you, what would you say? 744 00:30:27,230 --> 00:30:28,750 Again, Paul could have said anything. 745 00:30:28,750 --> 00:30:30,990 I know what I would have wanted to say to these people. 746 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,640 But Paul comes and he says, men, verse 1 of 22 men, brethren 747 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:39,160 and fathers, hear ye my defense, which I make now unto you. 748 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,600 And when he, when they had heard that he spake in the Hebrew 749 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,120 tongue to them, they kept the more silence. 750 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:47,240 And he saith. 751 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,280 So the reason why they actually give him any audience is 752 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:51,960 because he speaks in their native tongue. 753 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:52,760 Verse 3. 754 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,640 I am verily a man, which am a Jew. 755 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,160 So again, remember, what are they accusing him of? 756 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:03,040 Of hating the Jews, of telling them they shouldn't be a Jew. 757 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,920 And so he says, hey, I am a Jew born in Tarsus a city in Cilicia, 758 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:12,080 yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel. 759 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,480 Now, again, if you don't know who Gamaliel is, Gamaliel was a. 760 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,320 A famous teacher within the city of Jerusalem. 761 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:25,090 Paul speaks as a Jew to the Jews, and he. 762 00:31:25,090 --> 00:31:28,090 And he's careful to lay common ground between them. 763 00:31:28,810 --> 00:31:29,930 And I think that that's important. 764 00:31:29,930 --> 00:31:30,370 And I. 765 00:31:30,370 --> 00:31:33,370 I think that there's a message here in evangelism, specifically 766 00:31:33,370 --> 00:31:35,690 evangelism, of people that are opposed to us. 767 00:31:36,490 --> 00:31:39,570 It's easy to preach the message of the Gospel to people who 768 00:31:39,570 --> 00:31:41,370 are super receptive, and we want that. 769 00:31:41,450 --> 00:31:45,650 I think we all are praying for people to be open to the gospel when 770 00:31:45,650 --> 00:31:46,490 we're sharing it with. 771 00:31:47,210 --> 00:31:50,130 But there is going to be a place and a time in our life where 772 00:31:50,130 --> 00:31:51,430 people are opposed to. 773 00:31:51,500 --> 00:31:52,860 To who we are and what we believe. 774 00:31:53,100 --> 00:31:55,020 And so I think what Paul does here is. 775 00:31:55,020 --> 00:31:59,300 Is wonderful in the fact that he's trying to find some common ground 776 00:31:59,300 --> 00:32:01,420 with these people to get them to the truth. 777 00:32:02,300 --> 00:32:05,020 Now, you might say, I don't know how I can find common ground 778 00:32:05,020 --> 00:32:05,540 with somebody. 779 00:32:05,540 --> 00:32:08,700 I guarantee you, if you ask enough questions and you can read 780 00:32:08,700 --> 00:32:12,260 the room enough, you can understand at least something in 781 00:32:12,260 --> 00:32:14,580 common with someone to get them to a place to understand the 782 00:32:14,580 --> 00:32:14,940 truth. 783 00:32:15,100 --> 00:32:16,420 Now they're opposing him. 784 00:32:16,420 --> 00:32:17,820 And what does Paul do? 785 00:32:18,020 --> 00:32:21,220 He tries to lay the groundwork to say, look, I know who you are. 786 00:32:21,220 --> 00:32:22,980 I'm part of your culture. 787 00:32:22,980 --> 00:32:23,860 I'm one of you. 788 00:32:23,940 --> 00:32:27,460 And so Paul begins telling the story of his life before Christ, 789 00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:30,660 and then he's going to talk about his conversion. 790 00:32:31,140 --> 00:32:35,300 So, so in a very basic way, Paul is giving them his testimony. 791 00:32:35,460 --> 00:32:37,860 This is who I was before I was saved. 792 00:32:38,180 --> 00:32:41,060 This is who I am now after I met Jesus. 793 00:32:41,220 --> 00:32:43,580 And I think this is a great lesson for us when we're dealing 794 00:32:43,580 --> 00:32:46,790 with people that might have some hard questions, maybe even opposed 795 00:32:46,790 --> 00:32:50,950 to who we are, maybe even actually opposing us in a way verbally 796 00:32:50,950 --> 00:32:52,310 or in this case, physically. 797 00:32:52,790 --> 00:32:55,510 What Paul does is he says, hey, look, this is who I was before 798 00:32:55,590 --> 00:32:56,390 I came to Christ. 799 00:32:56,390 --> 00:32:57,430 This is who I am now. 800 00:32:57,910 --> 00:33:02,670 And so he is going to tell the story of his conversion here. 801 00:33:02,670 --> 00:33:05,270 But he says, I sat at the feet of Gamaliel, meaning this. 802 00:33:05,350 --> 00:33:06,630 You guys know who he is? 803 00:33:07,750 --> 00:33:08,950 We don't know who that is. 804 00:33:09,270 --> 00:33:12,480 We don't think of Gamaliel as a celebrity, but for the people that 805 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,200 he's talking to, they would have been like, whoa, you were a 806 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:15,840 learner of him. 807 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:17,760 That, that, that makes some sense here. 808 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,120 And, and taught according to the perfect manner. 809 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:21,080 Of the law of the Fathers. 810 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:22,120 He says, I, I taught the law. 811 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:26,680 I was a Pharisee and was zealous towards God, as ye all are 812 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:27,440 this day. 813 00:33:27,599 --> 00:33:30,920 So he says, obviously, I see that you're zealous for God. 814 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:34,000 I, I obviously see that you have a passion for him. 815 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:36,080 And he's going to point them to the fact that they're a little 816 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,140 bit, or even more than a little bit misguided because of what 817 00:33:39,140 --> 00:33:40,260 they have their eyes set in. 818 00:33:40,820 --> 00:33:42,300 And, and then he goes on even further. 819 00:33:42,300 --> 00:33:46,500 He's, he's basically telling them his life of sin. 820 00:33:46,500 --> 00:33:52,340 He says, and I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering 821 00:33:52,340 --> 00:33:54,180 into prisons, both men and women. 822 00:33:54,260 --> 00:33:55,900 So what is Paul telling them here? 823 00:33:55,900 --> 00:33:56,740 He says, you know what? 824 00:33:57,780 --> 00:33:58,900 I was one of you. 825 00:33:58,900 --> 00:34:00,180 Because that's what they're doing, right? 826 00:34:00,180 --> 00:34:04,060 They're taking Paul and either trying to throw him in prison or 827 00:34:04,060 --> 00:34:04,580 kill him. 828 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,320 And Paul says, I understand what you're doing. 829 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,160 I was there at one point. 830 00:34:09,720 --> 00:34:11,440 And, and you would say, well, what does that mean for us? 831 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,920 Because we're, we're probably not going to come across people that 832 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,200 were Christian killers or, and neither, probably none of us were 833 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:18,920 Christian killers before we came to Christ. 834 00:34:19,240 --> 00:34:19,880 But you know what? 835 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:22,160 This is something that we can do when it comes to things that maybe 836 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:25,680 we struggle with in our past, not to glorify our struggle that 837 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:28,680 we were in, but if we see someone else in the place that we 838 00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:31,360 used to be, we can come to them and say, look, you know what 839 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:32,000 I used to be? 840 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,480 That, that, that used to be what I went after. 841 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,000 That used to be what I was chasing after in my life. 842 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,520 I, I, I used to be characterized by this, this, and 843 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:39,800 this. 844 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:41,440 And now Jesus changed me. 845 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:42,560 And so what is he saying here? 846 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:44,200 He says, I've been where you have been. 847 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,040 I've been the persecutor. 848 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:47,720 I, I've been the one that. 849 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,320 He says, they're persecuted this way unto the death. 850 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,360 So, so Paul says, I've, I've killed people. 851 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:55,480 I've been a part of this. 852 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,730 Binding and delivering into prisons, both men and hand women. 853 00:35:00,690 --> 00:35:02,210 He's not holding anything back here. 854 00:35:02,210 --> 00:35:05,930 He's showing them his, his dark moments, verse five. 855 00:35:05,930 --> 00:35:10,570 And also the high priest do bear me witness and all the estate 856 00:35:10,570 --> 00:35:13,010 of the elders, meaning, hey, there's people that can vouch for 857 00:35:13,010 --> 00:35:16,090 this, from whom also I received letters unto the brethren 858 00:35:16,090 --> 00:35:20,650 and went to Damascus to bring them which were there bound unto 859 00:35:20,650 --> 00:35:21,810 Jerusalem for to be punished. 860 00:35:21,810 --> 00:35:22,570 So he's telling his story. 861 00:35:22,570 --> 00:35:26,370 He says, I was going to get other Christians to bring them back 862 00:35:26,370 --> 00:35:27,130 to Jerusalem. 863 00:35:27,130 --> 00:35:30,250 So he's going to Damascus to bring people back to Jerusalem to 864 00:35:30,250 --> 00:35:30,930 punish them. 865 00:35:31,490 --> 00:35:34,450 And then here's where the change happens in his story. 866 00:35:34,850 --> 00:35:39,730 And it came to pass that as I made my journey and was come nigh 867 00:35:39,730 --> 00:35:43,850 unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven 868 00:35:43,850 --> 00:35:45,490 a great light round about me. 869 00:35:45,810 --> 00:35:46,770 So he's going to. 870 00:35:46,770 --> 00:35:47,810 What is Paul doing here? 871 00:35:47,810 --> 00:35:51,010 Paul is essentially giving his conversion story. 872 00:35:52,060 --> 00:35:52,260 And. 873 00:35:52,260 --> 00:35:56,700 And again, I can't overemphasize enough the fact that 874 00:35:56,700 --> 00:35:57,260 the best. 875 00:35:57,260 --> 00:36:00,540 I believe the best tool to share our faith with other people 876 00:36:00,540 --> 00:36:02,380 is what happened to us, right? 877 00:36:02,380 --> 00:36:02,940 What I've. 878 00:36:02,940 --> 00:36:04,220 What have I trusted in? 879 00:36:04,700 --> 00:36:06,140 And so he says, this is. 880 00:36:06,140 --> 00:36:07,500 This is what happened to me. 881 00:36:07,740 --> 00:36:08,380 Verse 7. 882 00:36:08,460 --> 00:36:11,820 And I fell onto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, saul, 883 00:36:11,820 --> 00:36:13,900 Saul, why persecutest thou me? 884 00:36:13,980 --> 00:36:16,140 This is the story that's recorded there in. 885 00:36:16,140 --> 00:36:17,340 In Acts, chapter nine. 886 00:36:17,990 --> 00:36:20,150 And I answered, who art thou, Lord? 887 00:36:20,150 --> 00:36:24,310 And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 888 00:36:25,030 --> 00:36:27,910 So the change in Paul's story is not he wanted to become a better 889 00:36:27,910 --> 00:36:28,230 person. 890 00:36:28,630 --> 00:36:30,230 He wanted to clean up his life. 891 00:36:30,710 --> 00:36:33,190 He, you know, just kind of took a different path. 892 00:36:33,430 --> 00:36:36,390 No, Jesus literally comes in and intervenes in his life. 893 00:36:36,630 --> 00:36:40,670 And it's the interaction with Jesus and ultimately his faith in 894 00:36:40,670 --> 00:36:41,830 Jesus that changes him. 895 00:36:42,230 --> 00:36:42,870 Verse 9. 896 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,640 And they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, 897 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:49,200 but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 898 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:50,960 And I said, what shall I do, Lord? 899 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:56,160 And the Lord said unto me, arise and go into Damascus, and there 900 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,840 it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee 901 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:00,320 to do. 902 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,520 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led 903 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,480 by the hand of them that were with me, I came unto Damascus. 904 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:10,220 So Paul obviously speaking up how God worked him to a place in 905 00:37:10,220 --> 00:37:10,860 Damascus. 906 00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:13,420 Now he's going to talk about how God brought other people into 907 00:37:13,420 --> 00:37:14,860 his life to disciple him. 908 00:37:15,020 --> 00:37:15,660 Verse 12. 909 00:37:15,660 --> 00:37:19,260 And one Anias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good 910 00:37:19,260 --> 00:37:22,380 report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me and stood 911 00:37:22,380 --> 00:37:24,980 and said unto me, brother Saul, receive thy sight. 912 00:37:24,980 --> 00:37:27,180 In the same hour I looked up upon him. 913 00:37:27,980 --> 00:37:30,580 So Paul says, this is my conversion. 914 00:37:30,580 --> 00:37:32,540 And this was my first step of discipleship. 915 00:37:32,540 --> 00:37:36,060 God brought a guy named Ananias in my life to let me get 916 00:37:36,060 --> 00:37:38,980 to a place where I could understand the power of God. 917 00:37:38,980 --> 00:37:43,100 And so I think that's so amazing to see Paul doing this, because 918 00:37:43,100 --> 00:37:46,980 I think that this is a great outline for us as the church is like, 919 00:37:46,980 --> 00:37:49,660 my testimony would be this, you Know there was a certain time 920 00:37:49,660 --> 00:37:51,940 in my life where I understood through the preaching of the word 921 00:37:51,940 --> 00:37:55,100 of God that I was a sinner, that I needed to come to a place 922 00:37:55,100 --> 00:37:56,500 of repentance and faith in my life. 923 00:37:56,500 --> 00:37:59,820 And when I did that, I had an opportunity to understand who Jesus 924 00:37:59,820 --> 00:38:01,140 was and what he has done for me. 925 00:38:01,430 --> 00:38:02,790 And I got saved after that. 926 00:38:02,790 --> 00:38:05,070 People came alongside of me and helped me and taught me. 927 00:38:05,070 --> 00:38:06,710 And that's where I what I want to do with you. 928 00:38:06,710 --> 00:38:08,910 And so that's the concept of what Paul is doing here. 929 00:38:08,910 --> 00:38:10,030 And so verse 14. 930 00:38:10,030 --> 00:38:13,550 And he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, and thou 931 00:38:13,550 --> 00:38:17,710 should us know his will and see that just one and should us hear 932 00:38:17,710 --> 00:38:21,270 the voice of his mouth, for thou shalt be his witnesses unto 933 00:38:21,270 --> 00:38:23,830 all men of what thou has seen and heard. 934 00:38:23,830 --> 00:38:28,860 So Paul's command from God through Ananas was proclaiming what 935 00:38:28,860 --> 00:38:29,820 God has done for you. 936 00:38:29,820 --> 00:38:32,260 Be a witness for other people. 937 00:38:32,500 --> 00:38:33,100 Verse 16. 938 00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:35,940 And now why, Terry, is thou rise and be baptized and wash away 939 00:38:35,940 --> 00:38:38,060 thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. 940 00:38:38,060 --> 00:38:41,700 And it came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even 941 00:38:41,700 --> 00:38:45,620 while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance and saw him saying 942 00:38:45,620 --> 00:38:47,540 unto me, speaking of Jesus. 943 00:38:47,540 --> 00:38:52,020 Jesus spoke to him, Make Hasting get the quickly out of Jerusalem, 944 00:38:52,900 --> 00:38:55,780 for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. 945 00:38:55,780 --> 00:38:59,990 So this is speaking of God's provision, so God's salvation. 946 00:39:00,310 --> 00:39:01,910 God sending discipleship. 947 00:39:01,910 --> 00:39:04,590 God sending provision and protection to the life of Paul. 948 00:39:04,590 --> 00:39:06,230 Okay, so he's explaining all this. 949 00:39:06,630 --> 00:39:07,590 Verse 19. 950 00:39:07,910 --> 00:39:11,950 And I said, lord, they know that I imprisoned and be in every 951 00:39:11,950 --> 00:39:14,630 synagogue them that have believed on thee. 952 00:39:14,630 --> 00:39:17,750 This speaks to Paul, recounting back to his sinful past. 953 00:39:18,150 --> 00:39:20,430 Okay, and that's sometimes what happens in our own Christian 954 00:39:20,430 --> 00:39:20,870 life, right? 955 00:39:20,870 --> 00:39:21,190 We. 956 00:39:22,150 --> 00:39:25,070 God calls us to do something, we go, yeah, but, yeah, people know 957 00:39:25,070 --> 00:39:26,070 that I was a sinner before. 958 00:39:26,070 --> 00:39:26,950 People know that I. 959 00:39:26,950 --> 00:39:27,830 I'm not a good person. 960 00:39:29,860 --> 00:39:30,740 This is what happens here. 961 00:39:30,740 --> 00:39:31,260 Verse 20. 962 00:39:31,260 --> 00:39:34,700 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I was standing 963 00:39:34,700 --> 00:39:38,020 by and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of them 964 00:39:38,020 --> 00:39:38,780 that slew him. 965 00:39:38,780 --> 00:39:41,740 And he said unto me, this is what Jesus says back to Paul. 966 00:39:41,740 --> 00:39:43,500 So Paul says, don't you know who I am? 967 00:39:43,500 --> 00:39:44,460 Don't you know what I've done? 968 00:39:44,460 --> 00:39:45,620 Other people know what I've done. 969 00:39:46,100 --> 00:39:47,140 What does Jesus say? 970 00:39:47,140 --> 00:39:47,900 Oh, that's right. 971 00:39:47,900 --> 00:39:48,620 Okay, never mind. 972 00:39:48,620 --> 00:39:50,260 I know Jesus knows, right? 973 00:39:50,500 --> 00:39:51,460 Jesus doesn't tell him. 974 00:39:51,460 --> 00:39:53,020 Well, since you told me that, don't go. 975 00:39:53,020 --> 00:39:53,620 No, what is. 976 00:39:53,620 --> 00:39:54,060 What is it? 977 00:39:54,060 --> 00:39:54,780 What is told to him? 978 00:39:54,780 --> 00:39:55,460 Verse 21. 979 00:39:55,750 --> 00:39:59,590 And he said unto me, depart, leave, for I will send thee far hence 980 00:39:59,590 --> 00:40:00,550 unto the Gentiles. 981 00:40:01,110 --> 00:40:04,950 So Paul's ultimate mission, though, though it is to minister 982 00:40:04,950 --> 00:40:05,590 to everyone. 983 00:40:05,910 --> 00:40:07,910 Paul's ultimate mission was to be a. 984 00:40:08,230 --> 00:40:10,550 An evangelist or an apostle to the Gentiles. 985 00:40:11,030 --> 00:40:12,150 So, so that's what. 986 00:40:12,150 --> 00:40:14,790 So Paul basically summarizes it and outlines it this way. 987 00:40:14,870 --> 00:40:18,710 Who I was before I was saved, how I came to Christ, who came into 988 00:40:18,710 --> 00:40:21,870 my life to help me after that, God's provision and protection in 989 00:40:21,870 --> 00:40:25,430 that time, and God's call for my life, that struggle that I had 990 00:40:25,430 --> 00:40:28,470 with the sins of my past, and ultimately the call that God had 991 00:40:28,470 --> 00:40:29,950 for me to equip me to go and do something. 992 00:40:30,030 --> 00:40:33,710 My purpose, my mission, his mission was to proclaim the gospel 993 00:40:33,710 --> 00:40:34,670 to the Gentiles. 994 00:40:34,910 --> 00:40:37,350 So essentially what Paul's telling them is like, my mission 995 00:40:37,350 --> 00:40:38,590 is to go to the Gentiles. 996 00:40:39,790 --> 00:40:41,030 And so what happens here? 997 00:40:41,030 --> 00:40:41,310 Because. 998 00:40:41,310 --> 00:40:43,630 Because he just gets done telling them, hey, you know what? 999 00:40:44,030 --> 00:40:47,510 I am called to the Gentiles, verse 22. 1000 00:40:47,510 --> 00:40:50,410 And they gave him audience unto, Unto this word. 1001 00:40:50,730 --> 00:40:53,330 So they were listening to Paul all the way through this and giving 1002 00:40:53,330 --> 00:40:53,930 him audience. 1003 00:40:53,930 --> 00:40:56,170 And they were like, that sounds good. 1004 00:40:56,170 --> 00:40:57,290 Okay, I'm hearing you. 1005 00:40:57,370 --> 00:40:58,170 You're a Jew. 1006 00:40:58,250 --> 00:40:59,370 You were persecuting. 1007 00:40:59,370 --> 00:41:00,330 Okay, this, all this. 1008 00:41:00,650 --> 00:41:04,570 The point that got them back to where they were prior to his sermon 1009 00:41:04,570 --> 00:41:06,490 was what he said about the Gentiles. 1010 00:41:07,290 --> 00:41:11,450 Again, that was a sticking point for many people there in Jerusalem 1011 00:41:11,450 --> 00:41:12,410 and elsewhere. 1012 00:41:12,650 --> 00:41:15,690 They said, no, I was going to be okay with everything that you 1013 00:41:15,690 --> 00:41:19,400 said until you got back to that gentile part, verse 22. 1014 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:24,200 And they gave him audience unto this word and then lifted up 1015 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:30,640 their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, 1016 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:33,280 for it is not fit that he should live. 1017 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:35,840 That's pretty, pretty strong stuff. 1018 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:39,600 And again, they were giving him audience until that. 1019 00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:42,480 That teaching of the Gentiles, right? 1020 00:41:43,110 --> 00:41:47,350 And so Paul was touched by God, directed by God to be a minister 1021 00:41:47,350 --> 00:41:48,230 to the Gentiles. 1022 00:41:48,230 --> 00:41:52,470 And so Paul made it clear that it wasn't his plan to go to the Gentiles. 1023 00:41:52,710 --> 00:41:56,590 Actually, if you study the life of Paul, his heart was to go 1024 00:41:56,590 --> 00:41:57,670 to the, the. 1025 00:41:57,670 --> 00:41:58,549 The Jewish people. 1026 00:41:58,549 --> 00:41:58,870 Right. 1027 00:41:58,870 --> 00:42:00,230 Actually, if you see that. 1028 00:42:00,390 --> 00:42:03,270 But God stirred him and changed him and moved him to the 1029 00:42:03,270 --> 00:42:03,830 Gentiles. 1030 00:42:03,910 --> 00:42:06,190 And so he says, it wasn't my idea to go to the Gentiles. 1031 00:42:06,190 --> 00:42:07,190 It was God's idea. 1032 00:42:07,430 --> 00:42:08,550 This was God's plan. 1033 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:12,440 And so he was trying to explain to the crowd why he seemed 1034 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:14,800 so friendly to the Gentiles, because that's. 1035 00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:15,600 That was their Problem. 1036 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:18,760 Why are you buddying up with these people that are different than 1037 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:18,920 us? 1038 00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:21,680 And he says, it's because it's my call, it's my purpose, it's my 1039 00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:22,720 plan, I have to. 1040 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:26,400 And so Paul was simply obeying Jesus and he was saying, you know 1041 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:27,080 what, I'm following him. 1042 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:29,760 And if you guys are believers in Jesus, you'll understand that. 1043 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:33,200 You'll understand my mission, you'll understand my call. 1044 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:37,050 But they listened up to a point. 1045 00:42:38,090 --> 00:42:41,090 The crowd had tried to kill Paul and had listened to him up to 1046 00:42:41,090 --> 00:42:41,530 this point. 1047 00:42:41,530 --> 00:42:44,730 But they erupted over just that one word, Gentiles. 1048 00:42:45,370 --> 00:42:49,450 And so this mob was so outraged that they thought that God's 1049 00:42:49,450 --> 00:42:51,570 salvation could be freely given to the Gentiles. 1050 00:42:51,570 --> 00:42:53,290 And it was so upsetting for them. 1051 00:42:53,370 --> 00:42:55,930 And they were just so upset that they were going to take them 1052 00:42:55,930 --> 00:42:56,330 to death. 1053 00:42:56,570 --> 00:42:58,930 And the fact that they would say, just not like, hey, get out 1054 00:42:58,930 --> 00:42:59,290 of here. 1055 00:42:59,370 --> 00:43:03,100 Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that 1056 00:43:03,100 --> 00:43:03,780 he should live. 1057 00:43:05,300 --> 00:43:08,620 And so in their mind, they were okay with him talking about 1058 00:43:08,620 --> 00:43:09,220 Jesus. 1059 00:43:10,020 --> 00:43:13,060 They were okay with God's power being worked out in his life, 1060 00:43:13,780 --> 00:43:18,620 but they could not stand for the idea that God would save the 1061 00:43:18,620 --> 00:43:21,540 Jews and the Gentiles in the same way. 1062 00:43:21,940 --> 00:43:26,140 They were okay with Gentiles being saved, they were okay with 1063 00:43:26,140 --> 00:43:29,630 Jewish people being saved, but they did not want to equate the two 1064 00:43:29,630 --> 00:43:31,310 as like, hey, it's by faith alone. 1065 00:43:31,710 --> 00:43:35,110 They said the Gentiles can get saved their way, just like the Gentiles. 1066 00:43:35,110 --> 00:43:37,910 By the way, historically speaking, in the Old Testament and 1067 00:43:37,910 --> 00:43:41,390 even into the Gospel period of time, if someone wanted to convert 1068 00:43:41,550 --> 00:43:45,310 as a Gentile to the Jewish faith, they could do that. 1069 00:43:45,470 --> 00:43:48,790 They wouldn't be the same, but they could come and they could convert. 1070 00:43:48,790 --> 00:43:49,150 They were. 1071 00:43:49,150 --> 00:43:51,390 They were basically converted into that. 1072 00:43:51,470 --> 00:43:54,710 And they were able to have some access to God, but not complete 1073 00:43:54,710 --> 00:43:56,430 access because they were not the chosen people. 1074 00:43:57,070 --> 00:44:01,470 But for them, they were always okay with Gentiles having some association 1075 00:44:01,470 --> 00:44:02,110 with God. 1076 00:44:02,510 --> 00:44:05,510 But what Paul was preaching is that the same salvation to the Jews 1077 00:44:05,510 --> 00:44:07,190 is the same salvation to the Gentiles. 1078 00:44:07,190 --> 00:44:09,070 They're saved the same exact way. 1079 00:44:09,710 --> 00:44:12,190 And so that is where there was an issue. 1080 00:44:12,830 --> 00:44:15,270 And so I think that that's so important for us to understand. 1081 00:44:15,270 --> 00:44:18,990 Paul was uncompromising in salvation by faith alone. 1082 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:24,520 Okay, sola fide is the Latin term, faith alone salvation. 1083 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:26,440 And I think that they had a problem with that. 1084 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:27,880 I know that they had a problem with that. 1085 00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:29,800 And there's problem, there's people with that today. 1086 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:30,840 People have a. 1087 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:33,640 I mean, some of us might have struggled with this. 1088 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:36,520 How can God save a person that's done all of this? 1089 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:40,560 Like he can come and get saved the same way that I come and get 1090 00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:40,920 saved. 1091 00:44:41,240 --> 00:44:42,200 I was a good person. 1092 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:43,400 I've always been a good person. 1093 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:44,840 I've always followed the law. 1094 00:44:45,330 --> 00:44:47,090 I, I've never condemned anybody. 1095 00:44:47,090 --> 00:44:48,050 I've done my best. 1096 00:44:48,050 --> 00:44:51,490 And that person can just easily, after years and years of 1097 00:44:51,490 --> 00:44:54,530 sin, can come to Christ just in simple faith and have the same 1098 00:44:54,530 --> 00:44:55,570 salvation as me. 1099 00:44:56,130 --> 00:44:58,810 There's actually a parable talking about that, about the timing 1100 00:44:58,810 --> 00:45:00,490 of the salvation. 1101 00:45:00,490 --> 00:45:02,490 Like he gets the same reward as me. 1102 00:45:02,490 --> 00:45:05,330 Well, not the same exact reward in the concept of blessings, 1103 00:45:05,650 --> 00:45:07,570 but yes, the same reward of heaven. 1104 00:45:07,890 --> 00:45:12,000 And that sometimes infuriates people because, hey, I'm a good person. 1105 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:16,360 But at the end of the day, Jew, Gentile, we're all sinners saved 1106 00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:16,800 by grace. 1107 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:19,040 And so what we have to understand as Christians is that 1108 00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:21,840 yes, there's going to be some people that are led to Christ through 1109 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,480 certain elements of tradition within the church. 1110 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,119 There's going to be other people that are saved through various 1111 00:45:27,119 --> 00:45:28,160 other outlets. 1112 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:30,720 Same gospel message, same faith. 1113 00:45:30,720 --> 00:45:34,680 And the whole goal is to get them back to scripture, get them 1114 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:35,920 back to spiritual growth. 1115 00:45:36,240 --> 00:45:39,490 But the Jewish person, though they came through traditional, still 1116 00:45:39,490 --> 00:45:40,490 was saved through faith. 1117 00:45:41,130 --> 00:45:44,970 So I'm a strong believer in no matter what time frame it was from 1118 00:45:45,130 --> 00:45:50,490 the creation to the end, everybody throughout all of history 1119 00:45:50,490 --> 00:45:52,090 is saved through faith. 1120 00:45:52,090 --> 00:45:53,530 The just shall live by faith. 1121 00:45:53,530 --> 00:45:55,690 That was in the Old Testament and that's in the New. 1122 00:45:56,010 --> 00:45:58,610 There, there is a misnomer that, hey, these people in the Old 1123 00:45:58,610 --> 00:46:01,170 Testament were saved through their works and they did all the 1124 00:46:01,170 --> 00:46:01,850 sacrifices. 1125 00:46:01,850 --> 00:46:03,690 No, read Hebrews, chapter 11. 1126 00:46:03,690 --> 00:46:05,690 It was by faith and faith alone. 1127 00:46:06,090 --> 00:46:08,250 They were having faith in a Messiah to come. 1128 00:46:08,330 --> 00:46:10,970 We have faith in Jesus Christ and what he has already done. 1129 00:46:11,290 --> 00:46:13,330 And so that's what Paul is trying to explain. 1130 00:46:13,330 --> 00:46:14,810 But this is a difficult topic. 1131 00:46:15,050 --> 00:46:18,210 Now sometimes we remove ourselves from this because we are 1132 00:46:18,210 --> 00:46:21,370 not wrestling with the Jewish Gentile conflict. 1133 00:46:21,690 --> 00:46:22,169 Okay? 1134 00:46:22,169 --> 00:46:23,450 We're not living in Israel. 1135 00:46:24,410 --> 00:46:26,170 That's not something that's close to us. 1136 00:46:26,570 --> 00:46:32,900 But we do struggle with issues of preference, tradition and customs 1137 00:46:33,460 --> 00:46:35,620 and, and there's hot button issues that we could point to. 1138 00:46:35,620 --> 00:46:37,220 Again, I'm not going to get into that tonight. 1139 00:46:37,300 --> 00:46:39,700 I frankly don't want to stir that up at 7 o' clock. 1140 00:46:39,700 --> 00:46:43,020 But there are certain things within our church, and I'm not just 1141 00:46:43,020 --> 00:46:46,740 saying this church, I'm saying in general, the faith that certain 1142 00:46:46,740 --> 00:46:51,300 individuals can allow to stir them up that are not essential aspects 1143 00:46:51,380 --> 00:46:52,100 of faith. 1144 00:46:52,660 --> 00:46:55,300 And what we have to do is we have to understand the difference 1145 00:46:55,620 --> 00:46:58,980 between a quote unquote Jewish person following their traditions 1146 00:46:58,980 --> 00:47:02,310 and customs and, and a Gentile person having the freedom in Christ 1147 00:47:02,310 --> 00:47:05,350 to follow the way that they understand it to be in Scripture. 1148 00:47:05,350 --> 00:47:07,750 Now, it's not two different understandings, it's just simply 1149 00:47:07,750 --> 00:47:08,070 this. 1150 00:47:08,150 --> 00:47:12,190 If a church wants to be a certain way in the way that they 1151 00:47:12,190 --> 00:47:15,230 meet and what time they meet and how they meet and what they do 1152 00:47:15,230 --> 00:47:17,030 when they meet, that's different than us. 1153 00:47:17,590 --> 00:47:22,390 As long as they're not in heresy, as long as they're not teaching 1154 00:47:22,390 --> 00:47:25,710 something contrary to what we are teaching, that person is just 1155 00:47:25,710 --> 00:47:26,470 as saved as me. 1156 00:47:26,470 --> 00:47:26,710 Okay? 1157 00:47:26,780 --> 00:47:26,940 Okay. 1158 00:47:26,940 --> 00:47:28,380 There's no, like, partial salvation. 1159 00:47:28,780 --> 00:47:30,340 You're either saved or you're not saved. 1160 00:47:30,340 --> 00:47:30,860 Okay. 1161 00:47:31,100 --> 00:47:33,620 And, and so what I would try to have you understand is this. 1162 00:47:33,620 --> 00:47:37,500 And when we get, this is a deep topic, when we get to Romans 1163 00:47:37,500 --> 00:47:40,540 14, we are going to talk about some things that probably are uncomfortable 1164 00:47:40,860 --> 00:47:44,500 because essentially they talk about meat sacrifice to idols and 1165 00:47:44,500 --> 00:47:45,300 we talk about that. 1166 00:47:45,300 --> 00:47:47,780 And most of us again are struggling with meat sacrifice to 1167 00:47:47,780 --> 00:47:48,300 idols. 1168 00:47:48,380 --> 00:47:52,540 But there is a principle there of Christian liberty and decisions 1169 00:47:52,540 --> 00:47:53,900 that we need to make in that freedom. 1170 00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:58,760 And so again, there's nothing, nothing that we want to change in 1171 00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:00,960 the concept of what we are doing as a church. 1172 00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:03,920 But what we have to learn from this passage of Scripture is we don't 1173 00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:07,880 want to be the Jewish people that were stuck in their customs 1174 00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:11,520 and put that before the gospel message of Jesus Christ and then 1175 00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:13,440 look down upon the Gentiles when they came in. 1176 00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:16,080 And so Paul says, hey, this is what it is. 1177 00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:17,120 So they want him dead. 1178 00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:19,200 We're going to leave it off at verse 22. 1179 00:48:20,490 --> 00:48:24,130 They wanted him out and we're going to see what the outcome is. 1180 00:48:24,130 --> 00:48:27,330 Actually, believe it or not, this actually looks like the end 1181 00:48:27,330 --> 00:48:27,850 for Paul. 1182 00:48:27,850 --> 00:48:30,210 But most of you know the rest of the story. 1183 00:48:30,210 --> 00:48:31,930 Paul is not martyred here. 1184 00:48:32,650 --> 00:48:37,090 God miraculously intervenes and gives Paul wisdom on claiming 1185 00:48:37,090 --> 00:48:38,410 his Roman citizenship. 1186 00:48:38,730 --> 00:48:41,810 Now we're going to talk about this next week, but there's a, this 1187 00:48:41,810 --> 00:48:44,570 is unique because Paul doesn't always claim his Roman citizenship. 1188 00:48:45,380 --> 00:48:48,900 He, he does hear for the sake of God's direction. 1189 00:48:48,980 --> 00:48:51,780 But in this case he says, hey you, you can't kill me this way. 1190 00:48:51,780 --> 00:48:52,660 I'm a Roman citizen. 1191 00:48:52,660 --> 00:48:53,700 And he claims that. 1192 00:48:54,020 --> 00:48:56,420 And, and so he is put before a council. 1193 00:48:56,420 --> 00:48:59,100 And there's a lot of really neat things that, that happen in 1194 00:48:59,100 --> 00:49:00,500 these next few chapters. 1195 00:49:00,740 --> 00:49:05,100 Paul is able to speak before certain dignitaries and Paul uses 1196 00:49:05,100 --> 00:49:07,780 doors that open for him to present the Gospel. 1197 00:49:08,100 --> 00:49:09,980 And so there's a lot of things that we can take from us in this 1198 00:49:09,980 --> 00:49:12,530 passage, but one of the things that we can take is this, when we 1199 00:49:12,530 --> 00:49:17,090 face opposition, there is I think here a very wonderful biblical 1200 00:49:17,090 --> 00:49:20,730 outline that we can take that we can present what Jesus Christ 1201 00:49:20,730 --> 00:49:21,370 has done for us. 1202 00:49:21,370 --> 00:49:22,810 We can find that common ground. 1203 00:49:23,290 --> 00:49:27,250 You know, for example, like if I'm talking to somebody, let's say, 1204 00:49:27,250 --> 00:49:31,210 for example, someone that I'm, that I'm ministering to, I realize 1205 00:49:31,210 --> 00:49:34,250 that they know nothing about this topic. 1206 00:49:34,250 --> 00:49:35,770 Let's say, for example, it's sports. 1207 00:49:36,650 --> 00:49:39,290 Like they, like, I've never watched sports in my life. 1208 00:49:39,290 --> 00:49:40,650 I've never played sports in my life. 1209 00:49:40,850 --> 00:49:44,050 I'm not going to come to them and give them a 25 point outline 1210 00:49:44,050 --> 00:49:47,170 of how sports relates to the, the Christian doctrines. 1211 00:49:47,170 --> 00:49:47,490 Right. 1212 00:49:47,490 --> 00:49:50,130 We want to make sure that we are careful in how we're communicating 1213 00:49:50,130 --> 00:49:53,970 to people, you know, and speaking the same language. 1214 00:49:54,930 --> 00:49:57,450 And I'm not saying like, hey, if someone speaks Spanish, you got 1215 00:49:57,450 --> 00:49:58,290 to go learn Spanish. 1216 00:49:58,290 --> 00:50:00,810 That would be wonderful, like if we all could just pick up languages. 1217 00:50:00,810 --> 00:50:01,810 That's fantastic. 1218 00:50:01,890 --> 00:50:03,570 What do I mean by speaking that language? 1219 00:50:04,290 --> 00:50:08,960 There are certain ways that we talk within the church that whether 1220 00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:11,600 you know it or not, whether I know it or not, don't make sense 1221 00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:12,920 to people that are not in church. 1222 00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:13,960 Right. 1223 00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:16,600 So it's like the Christian lingo. 1224 00:50:17,400 --> 00:50:21,080 So, so what I would say is really be aware of how you're speaking 1225 00:50:21,080 --> 00:50:22,840 to people that are not part of the church. 1226 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:26,760 Don't, don't hide any truths, but be careful of how you're talking. 1227 00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:28,040 Make sure they understand what you're saying. 1228 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:30,280 Like sometimes I'm up here preaching and right in the middle 1229 00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:32,320 of a sentence I'm like, you know what, maybe there's someone 1230 00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:34,760 has no clue what that word I just used is. 1231 00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:37,920 And, and I want to clarify that and I try to do that the best 1232 00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:38,520 of my ability. 1233 00:50:38,680 --> 00:50:42,000 And so when you're talking to people in the church, you know, for 1234 00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:42,920 example, are you saved? 1235 00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:45,880 Let's say that, let's, Practical time. 1236 00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:48,040 Okay, let's, let's take it out of the theoretical and let's put 1237 00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:48,760 it to practical. 1238 00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:51,240 Let's say you're going to somebody and you say, hey, are you 1239 00:50:51,240 --> 00:50:51,640 saved? 1240 00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:54,280 They might not have any clue what that even means. 1241 00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:55,160 Saved from what? 1242 00:50:55,160 --> 00:50:56,160 Well, maybe I'm saved. 1243 00:50:56,160 --> 00:50:57,160 What does he mean, saved? 1244 00:50:57,640 --> 00:50:59,960 So maybe we need to define what salvation is. 1245 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:02,840 Well, are you a sinner? 1246 00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:06,520 Well, again, they might not know what that means. 1247 00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:09,320 Believe it or not, in our culture, people hear that word sin. 1248 00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:12,200 But that might not equate to what we define sin as. 1249 00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:13,840 Do you believe in God? 1250 00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:15,320 That's an interesting phrase. 1251 00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:17,600 Maybe they do believe in God, but that's not enough to save them. 1252 00:51:17,600 --> 00:51:19,480 We need to talk about what true belief is. 1253 00:51:19,720 --> 00:51:21,560 And so there's all these things that I think that we need 1254 00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:23,640 to take a step further and ask, like, are you sure? 1255 00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:24,960 Are you sure? 1256 00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:26,200 Do you understand what that is? 1257 00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:27,560 Do you understand what this means? 1258 00:51:27,800 --> 00:51:29,920 And I think that that would help us a lot more when it comes 1259 00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:32,920 to finding common ground with people explaining that. 1260 00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:35,480 So Paul spoke Greek to the Roman centurion. 1261 00:51:35,560 --> 00:51:38,280 Paul spoke Hebrew to the people that were speaking Hebrew. 1262 00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:40,920 And I think that we need to do the same thing within our own cultures, 1263 00:51:41,160 --> 00:51:46,320 be able to, and I'm not saying speak poorly in the concept of like, 1264 00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:47,680 well, that person's saying bad words. 1265 00:51:47,680 --> 00:51:49,560 We need to say bad words to join in with them. 1266 00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:52,720 But there is a way that we can try to connect with people on a more 1267 00:51:52,720 --> 00:51:56,330 personal way that I think will resonate better in our society today. 1268 00:51:56,570 --> 00:51:57,650 So, anyway, that's. 1269 00:51:57,650 --> 00:51:59,010 That's all that I have for this evening. 1270 00:51:59,010 --> 00:52:01,650 Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer, and I'll have a few 1271 00:52:01,650 --> 00:52:02,570 announcements, and you'll be dismissed. 1272 00:52:02,570 --> 00:52:04,090 Lord, I thank you for this time that you've given us. 1273 00:52:04,090 --> 00:52:07,850 Thank you for the opportunity to study your word this evening, 1274 00:52:07,850 --> 00:52:11,930 to know what it means to, in the face of danger, in the face of 1275 00:52:12,010 --> 00:52:15,650 conflict, be able to point folks to you, Lord. 1276 00:52:15,650 --> 00:52:18,210 And even though we know that those folks didn't receive that message 1277 00:52:18,210 --> 00:52:21,340 out and out, we know that it doesn't matter how people receive 1278 00:52:21,340 --> 00:52:23,060 the message, we are called to proclaim it. 1279 00:52:23,300 --> 00:52:24,820 And so we thank you for this example. 1280 00:52:24,820 --> 00:52:28,580 I pray that we can take these tools with us into our lives in the 1281 00:52:28,580 --> 00:52:34,260 everyday world and be able to communicate the truth of the gospel 1282 00:52:34,340 --> 00:52:35,940 in a way that's effective in our. 1283 00:52:35,940 --> 00:52:36,660 In our society. 1284 00:52:36,660 --> 00:52:39,900 So, Lord, I pray that you protect us this week, help us sometimes 1285 00:52:39,900 --> 00:52:43,580 just to go back to our conversion, who we were before we 1286 00:52:43,580 --> 00:52:47,540 were believers and who we are now and the change that we have experienced. 1287 00:52:48,020 --> 00:52:52,860 And Lord, I just thank you for saving us, equipping us, protecting 1288 00:52:52,860 --> 00:52:56,420 us, and promising us that beautiful gift of salvation and eternal 1289 00:52:56,420 --> 00:52:56,660 life. 1290 00:52:56,740 --> 00:52:59,300 So what I pray that you help us as we go tonight. 1291 00:52:59,300 --> 00:53:00,220 We thank you and we love you. 1292 00:53:00,220 --> 00:53:01,540 In Jesus name, amen. 1293 00:53:01,620 --> 00:53:02,060 Amen. 1294 00:53:02,060 --> 00:53:02,820 God bless you. 1295 00:53:03,619 --> 00:53:06,180 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1296 00:53:06,180 --> 00:53:06,820 podcast. 1297 00:53:07,060 --> 00:53:09,380 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1298 00:53:10,020 --> 00:53:12,380 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1299 00:53:12,380 --> 00:53:15,820 or this sermon you can find find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1300 00:53:16,140 --> 00:53:18,700 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1301 00:53:19,420 --> 00:53:23,860 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1302 00:53:23,860 --> 00:53:28,340 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1303 00:53:28,340 --> 00:53:31,100 along for future podcast and updates. 1304 00:53:31,820 --> 00:53:32,700 Thank you so much. 1305 00:53:32,940 --> 00:53:33,660 God Bless. 1306 00:53:33,980 --> 00:53:35,260 Have a wonderful day.