1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,574 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,702 --> 00:00:06,606 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,718 --> 00:00:09,662 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,686 --> 00:00:10,690 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,990 --> 00:00:14,630 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,670 --> 00:00:16,290 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,750 --> 00:00:20,134 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,182 --> 00:00:21,650 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,590 --> 00:00:25,878 All right, well, we're going to go ahead and get into acts 15. 10 00:00:25,934 --> 00:00:30,298 If you have your bibles, turn to acts 15, and we are going to start 11 00:00:30,354 --> 00:00:32,066 in verse number 22. 12 00:00:32,138 --> 00:00:36,282 Now, if you were not here last week, we covered a lot of ground 13 00:00:36,346 --> 00:00:40,330 last week, and so I'm going to try to recap it the best that I can 14 00:00:40,370 --> 00:00:42,106 without preaching the message again. 15 00:00:42,258 --> 00:00:45,882 If you would like to go back and understand the context of what 16 00:00:45,906 --> 00:00:47,770 we're going to be talking about tonight, I would encourage 17 00:00:47,810 --> 00:00:50,266 you to somewhere on the Internet, find it. 18 00:00:50,298 --> 00:00:51,882 There's multiple places you can find it. 19 00:00:51,906 --> 00:00:55,892 You can go to YouTube, you can go back on facebook, or if you listen 20 00:00:55,916 --> 00:00:59,140 to podcasts, it's on the podcast on our church network. 21 00:00:59,300 --> 00:01:03,596 But I would say it would help to have listened to that sermon as 22 00:01:03,628 --> 00:01:05,132 we come forward and listen to this one. 23 00:01:05,156 --> 00:01:08,228 I'm not saying it's impossible for you to understand this tonight, 24 00:01:08,324 --> 00:01:09,500 but it would give you some context. 25 00:01:09,540 --> 00:01:10,572 It would give you some understanding. 26 00:01:10,596 --> 00:01:12,212 But what have we been talking about? 27 00:01:12,356 --> 00:01:15,160 Well, in acts chapter 15, we've been talking about the law, 28 00:01:16,060 --> 00:01:17,876 liberty, and love. 29 00:01:18,028 --> 00:01:20,176 The law, liberty, and love. 30 00:01:20,248 --> 00:01:22,620 How do those three things come together? 31 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:24,744 Is the law a real thing? 32 00:01:24,792 --> 00:01:25,460 Yes. 33 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:27,200 Is it important? 34 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:28,060 Yes. 35 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,620 But how does the law integrate with liberty? 36 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,120 Do we as christians have liberty, freedom? 37 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:35,860 Yes. 38 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,136 And so then how do those things, the law and liberty, tie 39 00:01:40,168 --> 00:01:41,500 in together with love? 40 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,384 Well, we're going to talk more about that here this evening. 41 00:01:44,432 --> 00:01:47,732 Tonight's more of a transitionary message to get to our 42 00:01:47,836 --> 00:01:48,880 next story. 43 00:01:49,180 --> 00:01:53,428 But here we're going to see that the believers there in Jerusalem, 44 00:01:53,484 --> 00:01:56,012 after the Jerusalem council, are going to send news. 45 00:01:56,116 --> 00:02:00,140 They're going to send a letter back to the gentile believers, back 46 00:02:00,180 --> 00:02:02,636 to the jewish believers at a place called Antioch. 47 00:02:02,668 --> 00:02:05,884 And so they're going to pass along the news of what the conclusion 48 00:02:05,932 --> 00:02:07,204 was at the Jerusalem council. 49 00:02:07,292 --> 00:02:10,212 What was the issue at the Jerusalem council? 50 00:02:10,356 --> 00:02:13,046 Okay, I know this can be a little bit brainy here, but I. 51 00:02:13,068 --> 00:02:14,430 Follow me because this is important. 52 00:02:14,930 --> 00:02:19,666 There were jewish Christians coming from Jerusalem, which was 53 00:02:19,698 --> 00:02:22,506 the capital, which was the centerpiece, which was the heartbeat 54 00:02:22,538 --> 00:02:23,346 of the church. 55 00:02:23,458 --> 00:02:26,690 And they were going around specifically to churches that had 56 00:02:26,730 --> 00:02:27,858 gentile believers. 57 00:02:27,954 --> 00:02:32,150 So you had Jews and gentiles both Christians in the same church. 58 00:02:32,570 --> 00:02:35,234 And what was happening is that there were these jewish Christians 59 00:02:35,282 --> 00:02:38,106 that were going to the Gentile Christians and telling them, you 60 00:02:38,138 --> 00:02:40,842 have to become a jew to become a Christian. 61 00:02:41,026 --> 00:02:45,026 You have to be a Jew to continue to stay being a Christian. 62 00:02:45,218 --> 00:02:48,586 And the issue was that the Gentiles were confused because they 63 00:02:48,618 --> 00:02:51,682 were hearing from Paul and Barnabas and the other people. 64 00:02:51,746 --> 00:02:53,590 No, it was by faith alone. 65 00:02:53,930 --> 00:02:55,426 And so this was confusing them. 66 00:02:55,458 --> 00:02:56,730 This was causing them issues. 67 00:02:56,810 --> 00:02:58,458 This was becoming a stumbling block. 68 00:02:58,554 --> 00:03:03,218 So now it's faith plus doing all the acts of a person according 69 00:03:03,274 --> 00:03:05,350 to the jewish law, the levitical law. 70 00:03:06,050 --> 00:03:07,034 And so they were confused. 71 00:03:07,082 --> 00:03:08,340 They didn't know what to do. 72 00:03:08,450 --> 00:03:11,192 So they went back to Jerusalem and they had this council. 73 00:03:11,376 --> 00:03:17,256 Paul, Barnabas, Peter, James, and many of the other apostles and 74 00:03:17,288 --> 00:03:20,968 the fathers of the ministry there at that point were going to 75 00:03:20,984 --> 00:03:22,016 have this discussion. 76 00:03:22,128 --> 00:03:25,224 And they had two sides, one side, faith and faith alone. 77 00:03:25,312 --> 00:03:28,064 You dont have to become a Jew to become a Christian. 78 00:03:28,152 --> 00:03:31,168 And the other side was, no, you got to adhere to all these things. 79 00:03:31,344 --> 00:03:34,824 And what they came to this conclusion in this passage was this 80 00:03:34,992 --> 00:03:37,568 salvation and sanctification. 81 00:03:37,704 --> 00:03:41,536 So your salvation, that's your transformation in Christ and your 82 00:03:41,568 --> 00:03:44,352 spiritual growth comes from faith and faith alone. 83 00:03:44,456 --> 00:03:48,048 It does not come from the action of following the law. 84 00:03:48,224 --> 00:03:52,544 The law is important to show us what is right and wrong, but the 85 00:03:52,552 --> 00:03:55,420 law does not save us, and the law does not keep us saved. 86 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,064 But there were people that were confused with this because they 87 00:03:59,072 --> 00:04:01,008 were saying, well, why did God give us the law? 88 00:04:01,064 --> 00:04:02,416 And now he's saying that we have liberty. 89 00:04:02,448 --> 00:04:03,902 Do we need to follow the law? 90 00:04:04,056 --> 00:04:07,666 Well, what they came up with was basically a compromise or a list 91 00:04:07,698 --> 00:04:11,970 of rules, basically guidelines for the Gentiles to be able to walk 92 00:04:12,050 --> 00:04:14,190 in unity with the jewish people. 93 00:04:14,570 --> 00:04:16,186 And so what it was, was this. 94 00:04:16,338 --> 00:04:18,202 You have the freedom to. 95 00:04:18,266 --> 00:04:19,626 In this case, it was eat meat. 96 00:04:19,658 --> 00:04:21,030 Sacrifice to idols. 97 00:04:21,330 --> 00:04:24,626 You have the freedom to do these things in your culture, but 98 00:04:24,698 --> 00:04:27,722 your freedom does not trump your love for your fellow brother 99 00:04:27,746 --> 00:04:28,410 and sister in Christ. 100 00:04:28,450 --> 00:04:29,378 And so the. 101 00:04:29,434 --> 00:04:34,628 The pinnacle of the teaching here in acts chapter 15 was unity. 102 00:04:34,684 --> 00:04:35,852 I want you to think about that. 103 00:04:35,956 --> 00:04:36,564 It's unity. 104 00:04:36,612 --> 00:04:40,772 It's not your liberty, it's not the law, it's unity. 105 00:04:40,836 --> 00:04:43,588 So how can we have unity when you have two different groups of 106 00:04:43,604 --> 00:04:45,500 people within the same body of believers? 107 00:04:45,620 --> 00:04:49,284 So let's you say, well, what does that mean for us Jews and gentiles? 108 00:04:49,332 --> 00:04:51,668 Okay, well, we don't necessarily wrestle with Jews and 109 00:04:51,684 --> 00:04:53,080 gentiles within our church. 110 00:04:53,380 --> 00:04:57,000 We might wrestle with people that grew up in a very legalistic, 111 00:04:57,370 --> 00:05:00,522 law abiding church and maybe people that didn't grow up in that 112 00:05:00,546 --> 00:05:01,110 environment. 113 00:05:01,530 --> 00:05:05,242 So how do we with people that are offended by certain things that 114 00:05:05,266 --> 00:05:08,274 aren't necessarily listed in scripture, how do we deal with people 115 00:05:08,402 --> 00:05:10,978 in that regard, with people that come in and say, well, why is 116 00:05:10,994 --> 00:05:12,218 it wrong to do this? 117 00:05:12,394 --> 00:05:15,826 Show me in the Bible where it says that what we see here in this 118 00:05:15,858 --> 00:05:19,338 passage, that there wasn't necessarily a list of rules that 119 00:05:19,354 --> 00:05:21,546 they said you have to do to become a Christian, you have to do 120 00:05:21,578 --> 00:05:22,708 become a church member. 121 00:05:22,834 --> 00:05:27,432 But they said these are things that you need to follow so that there 122 00:05:27,456 --> 00:05:28,576 can be unity in the church. 123 00:05:28,608 --> 00:05:31,664 So my love was my. 124 00:05:31,752 --> 00:05:31,976 What? 125 00:05:32,008 --> 00:05:32,856 It was the focus. 126 00:05:32,928 --> 00:05:35,528 So, my liberty, I want you to think about this phrase here this 127 00:05:35,544 --> 00:05:37,260 evening as we jump into our text. 128 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,136 My liberty as a Christian is limited by my love for my fellow 129 00:05:41,168 --> 00:05:42,420 brother and sister in Christ. 130 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,680 I have complete liberty in Christ, but also my liberty needs 131 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,580 to be thinking about the love that I have for another Christian. 132 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,188 I don't want to be a stumbling block for somebody else. 133 00:05:53,364 --> 00:05:57,652 So I have the freedom to live out in my life, my convictions, but 134 00:05:57,676 --> 00:06:00,268 I don't have the freedom to offend a brother or sister in Christ 135 00:06:00,324 --> 00:06:02,324 to allow them to come to a place of sin. 136 00:06:02,492 --> 00:06:04,956 And so there's a passage of scripture in first corinthians that 137 00:06:04,988 --> 00:06:06,172 talks all about that. 138 00:06:06,316 --> 00:06:09,988 And I think it's such an important verse to understand when 139 00:06:10,004 --> 00:06:12,604 it comes to our christian life and our christian maturity. 140 00:06:12,732 --> 00:06:15,348 This is all I believe, talking about christian maturity, because 141 00:06:15,444 --> 00:06:20,588 when I'm a new Christian, I'm like, you know, very much, what does 142 00:06:20,604 --> 00:06:21,980 the Bible say about XYz? 143 00:06:22,020 --> 00:06:23,596 And that's a good thing to be in. 144 00:06:23,708 --> 00:06:26,140 We should always be seeing what the Bible says about XYz. 145 00:06:26,180 --> 00:06:26,412 Okay. 146 00:06:26,436 --> 00:06:27,724 What does the Bible say about love? 147 00:06:27,772 --> 00:06:29,124 What does the Bible say about sin? 148 00:06:29,172 --> 00:06:30,652 What does the Bible say about this? 149 00:06:30,756 --> 00:06:33,500 But then there's a place in our life where we need to have grace 150 00:06:33,660 --> 00:06:36,292 and patience with other people that might be at different steps 151 00:06:36,316 --> 00:06:37,892 of the path that we are on. 152 00:06:38,076 --> 00:06:40,600 And so it's that unity that we're praying for. 153 00:06:41,100 --> 00:06:41,476 Yeah. 154 00:06:41,508 --> 00:06:44,854 We can exercise our judgment upon people within the church. 155 00:06:45,052 --> 00:06:46,190 Let's be honest. 156 00:06:46,970 --> 00:06:49,618 Let's pick out a person every single week. 157 00:06:49,634 --> 00:06:52,234 You know, we pick out a missionary of the week. 158 00:06:52,322 --> 00:06:55,242 Let's pick out a church member of the week, and let's follow him 159 00:06:55,266 --> 00:06:56,410 around the whole week. 160 00:06:56,530 --> 00:06:57,330 Okay. 161 00:06:57,490 --> 00:06:58,074 And let's. 162 00:06:58,122 --> 00:07:00,634 Let's judge every single action that they do. 163 00:07:00,802 --> 00:07:02,498 Could we find some stones to throw? 164 00:07:02,554 --> 00:07:04,762 Could we find some issues with every single person in this room. 165 00:07:04,786 --> 00:07:07,570 Of course we could, but that's not the purpose. 166 00:07:07,730 --> 00:07:13,276 The purpose is to exercise love in accordance to our liberty 167 00:07:13,388 --> 00:07:18,708 and not allow the law to be a division amongst the believers. 168 00:07:18,844 --> 00:07:20,892 The law is important because the law tells us what's right and 169 00:07:20,916 --> 00:07:24,468 wrong, but the law isn't what we have to follow to keep our salvation. 170 00:07:24,644 --> 00:07:28,340 And so, first corinthians, chapter ten, verse 23, says this. 171 00:07:28,380 --> 00:07:31,300 We're not going to read the whole passage, but I think that this 172 00:07:31,340 --> 00:07:37,356 is a core tenet to living within a church with different types 173 00:07:37,388 --> 00:07:38,120 of people. 174 00:07:38,620 --> 00:07:40,740 It says, all things are lawful for me. 175 00:07:40,780 --> 00:07:43,212 Paul says, I can do what I want. 176 00:07:43,356 --> 00:07:45,348 I have the freedom, okay? 177 00:07:45,444 --> 00:07:47,316 I'm not bound by the law anymore. 178 00:07:47,388 --> 00:07:48,844 Romans talks all about this. 179 00:07:48,892 --> 00:07:50,468 I'm not under the bondage of the law. 180 00:07:50,524 --> 00:07:54,236 I am now under the freedom of forgiveness. 181 00:07:54,388 --> 00:07:57,940 But he says, all things are lawful for me, but all things are 182 00:07:57,980 --> 00:07:59,004 not expedient. 183 00:07:59,092 --> 00:08:00,732 Expedient means beneficial. 184 00:08:00,876 --> 00:08:03,716 There are things that we can do as christians that are not beneficial 185 00:08:03,748 --> 00:08:04,614 for us. 186 00:08:04,812 --> 00:08:05,722 Okay? 187 00:08:05,906 --> 00:08:09,530 And then he goes on to say, all things are lawful, but all things 188 00:08:09,610 --> 00:08:10,714 edify not. 189 00:08:10,762 --> 00:08:13,994 Now, in this case, we could talk about the own edification in 190 00:08:14,002 --> 00:08:15,750 our life, but the edification of others. 191 00:08:16,610 --> 00:08:19,626 So, yeah, could I exercise my freedom in front of a fellow brother 192 00:08:19,658 --> 00:08:20,418 or sister in Christ? 193 00:08:20,474 --> 00:08:23,186 Yes, but that might not be edifying for them. 194 00:08:23,338 --> 00:08:27,242 So I need to choose in my life with discernment the times where 195 00:08:27,266 --> 00:08:30,188 I exercise my liberty and the times where I. 196 00:08:30,234 --> 00:08:33,400 I limit my liberty for the sake of my weaker brother or sister 197 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:34,180 in Christ. 198 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,424 Or my brother or sister in Christ. 199 00:08:36,472 --> 00:08:38,632 That's different than me, that has a different background. 200 00:08:38,776 --> 00:08:41,448 So we don't deal with the Jew and Gentile issues so much in our 201 00:08:41,464 --> 00:08:44,000 church, but we might deal with people that come from different backgrounds. 202 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,440 We might have people coming from backgrounds that are very legalistic 203 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:48,696 or very law driven. 204 00:08:48,768 --> 00:08:50,728 We might have people coming from backgrounds of a. 205 00:08:50,784 --> 00:08:51,928 I mean, maybe a cult. 206 00:08:51,984 --> 00:08:52,816 I don't know. 207 00:08:52,968 --> 00:08:55,488 We have a diverse background, so we have people bringing in a lot 208 00:08:55,504 --> 00:08:58,622 of baggage, and we have people coming in from backgrounds that say, 209 00:08:58,646 --> 00:09:00,622 well, I was at a church that said I could do whatever I wanted 210 00:09:00,646 --> 00:09:01,878 to do and it didn't matter. 211 00:09:02,054 --> 00:09:04,558 And so that, how do we coincide? 212 00:09:04,654 --> 00:09:07,102 How can we live together in peace and unity? 213 00:09:07,246 --> 00:09:11,006 The Bible says it's practicing this liberty, but also in the sake 214 00:09:11,038 --> 00:09:11,934 of love. 215 00:09:12,102 --> 00:09:16,710 So all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. 216 00:09:16,790 --> 00:09:17,918 Beneficial for me. 217 00:09:18,054 --> 00:09:20,702 All things are lawful, but not all things edify my brothers and 218 00:09:20,726 --> 00:09:21,690 sisters in Christ. 219 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,296 So you might say, well, what, what, what does that look like today. 220 00:09:27,488 --> 00:09:28,272 Okay? 221 00:09:28,416 --> 00:09:31,176 So we go back and we look at what the rules were. 222 00:09:31,208 --> 00:09:33,368 Go back to verse number 20 with me in acts chapter 15. 223 00:09:33,424 --> 00:09:36,500 There's a long Runway here, but we're getting there. 224 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,824 He says, but that we write unto them that they abstain from 225 00:09:40,872 --> 00:09:42,096 pollution of idols. 226 00:09:42,168 --> 00:09:46,160 Now, in this case, in the King James, it doesn't clarify this completely, 227 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,702 but this is specifically talking about the eating of meat 228 00:09:48,816 --> 00:09:50,306 sacrificed to idols. 229 00:09:50,458 --> 00:09:51,250 Okay? 230 00:09:51,410 --> 00:09:53,450 Now, I mentioned this last week kind of as a joke. 231 00:09:53,530 --> 00:09:56,226 None of us are going over to each other's house guessing that, 232 00:09:56,258 --> 00:09:57,146 hey, you know what? 233 00:09:57,298 --> 00:09:59,470 I wonder if they sacrificed this meat to Baal. 234 00:09:59,770 --> 00:10:01,386 We don't have to struggle with that, okay? 235 00:10:01,418 --> 00:10:02,810 That's not common. 236 00:10:02,850 --> 00:10:04,714 Now, if we lived in another country, maybe. 237 00:10:04,842 --> 00:10:06,290 Maybe this is a big issue. 238 00:10:06,450 --> 00:10:07,610 But then we see other things. 239 00:10:07,650 --> 00:10:08,938 Now it says from fornication. 240 00:10:08,994 --> 00:10:11,082 Now, we know that fornication is sin. 241 00:10:11,266 --> 00:10:14,306 But in this case, in their society, they practice, in their 242 00:10:14,338 --> 00:10:16,918 culture, marriage, a lot different than the jewish people 243 00:10:17,034 --> 00:10:18,094 practice marriage. 244 00:10:18,262 --> 00:10:21,326 And so for the jewish people, they were looking at the way that 245 00:10:21,358 --> 00:10:24,198 the former pagans were living in their marriages, and they were 246 00:10:24,214 --> 00:10:27,398 like, the way that you guys are married and remarried, and all 247 00:10:27,414 --> 00:10:28,686 of this is an issue. 248 00:10:28,798 --> 00:10:31,902 And so they said, follow the laws of God when it comes to your 249 00:10:32,006 --> 00:10:34,590 eating, it comes to your marriage. 250 00:10:34,750 --> 00:10:36,966 And then it goes on to say, from the things strangled and from 251 00:10:36,998 --> 00:10:39,918 blood, that's talking about eating kosher food, eating food that 252 00:10:39,934 --> 00:10:42,650 was passed by, passed through the levitical law. 253 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,160 So he says, hey, for the gentile believers at this church 254 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,128 in Antioch, okay, and maybe in Corinth and maybe in some of these 255 00:10:50,144 --> 00:10:51,688 other places, he says this. 256 00:10:51,864 --> 00:10:56,352 He says, eat the kosher meat so that you're not an offense to 257 00:10:56,376 --> 00:10:59,660 your fellow brother and sister in Christ, or at least in their presence. 258 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,472 And so what we can see here is this one commentator put it this 259 00:11:03,496 --> 00:11:03,896 way. 260 00:11:04,008 --> 00:11:08,256 Gentiles had the right to eat meat sacrificed to idols, to continue 261 00:11:08,328 --> 00:11:11,256 in their marriage practices, and to eat food without kosher bleeding. 262 00:11:11,288 --> 00:11:13,780 Because these were aspects of the mosaic law. 263 00:11:14,460 --> 00:11:16,880 They were definitely not under the mosaic law. 264 00:11:17,860 --> 00:11:21,644 However, they were encouraged, or even possibly we could challenge, 265 00:11:21,692 --> 00:11:24,540 required from the early church to lay down their rights in these 266 00:11:24,580 --> 00:11:29,200 matters as a display of love to their jewish brethren. 267 00:11:29,740 --> 00:11:31,484 And so the true question is this. 268 00:11:31,612 --> 00:11:36,036 Am I willing to limit my liberty for the sake of my fellow 269 00:11:36,068 --> 00:11:37,140 brother or sister in Christ? 270 00:11:37,220 --> 00:11:39,892 Am I willing to say, yeah, I have the right to do that, but in 271 00:11:39,916 --> 00:11:42,284 this time of my life, I'm going to not do that so I can be 272 00:11:42,292 --> 00:11:43,920 a better example for that person. 273 00:11:44,220 --> 00:11:46,600 Now, again, we talked about this last week. 274 00:11:47,180 --> 00:11:49,388 There are some people that would say, I don't want you to do 275 00:11:49,404 --> 00:11:51,320 that because I don't like you to do that. 276 00:11:52,220 --> 00:11:54,884 Okay, well, just because you don't like someone doing something, 277 00:11:54,932 --> 00:11:55,452 that doesn't mean. 278 00:11:55,476 --> 00:11:57,480 That doesn't give you the right to limit them. 279 00:11:57,860 --> 00:12:00,960 It's specifically in the case of offending them to sin. 280 00:12:01,860 --> 00:12:08,462 So for an example, let's say, you know, let's say somebody had 281 00:12:08,486 --> 00:12:12,766 a background in a certain lifestyle, and me, as a Christian, 282 00:12:12,838 --> 00:12:14,126 I can kind of dabble in that. 283 00:12:14,158 --> 00:12:15,382 Maybe I can say, well, you know what? 284 00:12:15,406 --> 00:12:17,566 It's okay to watch this or listen to that. 285 00:12:17,638 --> 00:12:20,198 And for them, they're like, no, because when I'm around that, 286 00:12:20,294 --> 00:12:22,610 that brings me back to what I used to be. 287 00:12:22,950 --> 00:12:26,630 And please, brother, please don't do that around me because that 288 00:12:26,670 --> 00:12:28,730 causes me to get back into that life. 289 00:12:30,230 --> 00:12:32,776 Now, that's the way it should happen. 290 00:12:32,888 --> 00:12:35,648 Now then it's my job to say, how am I going to respond to that? 291 00:12:35,664 --> 00:12:39,392 Well, who are you to tell me that that's not a problem. 292 00:12:39,456 --> 00:12:41,140 That doesn't bother me at all. 293 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,424 But that, brother, has asked you in grace to say that just around 294 00:12:46,472 --> 00:12:47,728 me, please don't do that. 295 00:12:47,864 --> 00:12:49,100 Please don't say that. 296 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:50,976 Please don't listen to that. 297 00:12:51,008 --> 00:12:51,488 Please don't do that. 298 00:12:51,504 --> 00:12:55,672 And then we can say, okay, now I can then exercise my love for that 299 00:12:55,696 --> 00:12:58,746 person and say, you know what, around you, I will guard you from 300 00:12:58,778 --> 00:12:59,018 that. 301 00:12:59,074 --> 00:13:01,634 That doesn't mean that in my life, I have to avoid everything 302 00:13:01,682 --> 00:13:02,954 that person's conviction is. 303 00:13:03,042 --> 00:13:07,270 But around them, I need to be cautious, and there needs to be dialogue. 304 00:13:07,730 --> 00:13:10,442 And so me sacrifice to idols is not something that we struggle 305 00:13:10,466 --> 00:13:10,578 with. 306 00:13:10,594 --> 00:13:12,106 But there's a lot of things that we struggle with. 307 00:13:12,178 --> 00:13:16,058 I mean, I grew up, I could talk about real practical things 308 00:13:16,074 --> 00:13:18,402 here, and I'm probably going to offend some people tonight, but 309 00:13:18,426 --> 00:13:20,354 these are just things that we have to talk about. 310 00:13:20,482 --> 00:13:23,122 I grew up in an environment that going to a movie theater was 311 00:13:23,146 --> 00:13:23,870 a sin. 312 00:13:24,260 --> 00:13:24,692 Okay? 313 00:13:24,716 --> 00:13:27,084 In their mind, like, you can't walk into a movie theater. 314 00:13:27,132 --> 00:13:30,884 If you walk into a movie theater, you have committed a sin. 315 00:13:31,052 --> 00:13:35,372 Doesn't matter if you're going to watch a kid's movie right now, 316 00:13:35,436 --> 00:13:37,188 is it a sin to walk into a movie theater? 317 00:13:37,244 --> 00:13:37,700 No. 318 00:13:37,820 --> 00:13:40,316 Can it be a sin by going in and watching the thing that you shouldn't 319 00:13:40,348 --> 00:13:40,732 watch? 320 00:13:40,836 --> 00:13:44,444 Or some would argue you're promoting Hollywood, right? 321 00:13:44,572 --> 00:13:46,924 And we could discuss that, right? 322 00:13:47,092 --> 00:13:49,340 But in and of itself, me walking in there is not a sin. 323 00:13:49,380 --> 00:13:53,236 Now, if someone said, hey, it's a conviction for me not to go 324 00:13:53,268 --> 00:13:54,600 there and to support that. 325 00:13:55,050 --> 00:13:56,978 Okay, well, I'm not going to say, hey, we're going to go out and 326 00:13:56,994 --> 00:13:58,354 have a fellowship and Bible study. 327 00:13:58,402 --> 00:13:59,330 We're going to go to the movies first. 328 00:13:59,370 --> 00:14:01,950 No, I've then offended their conviction. 329 00:14:02,370 --> 00:14:05,698 I've offended their biblical preference, and I'm using that as 330 00:14:05,714 --> 00:14:06,106 an example. 331 00:14:06,138 --> 00:14:08,058 There's a lot of other things that we could talk about, and all 332 00:14:08,074 --> 00:14:09,990 of, you know, these hot button issues. 333 00:14:10,890 --> 00:14:12,874 And a lot of people say, there's no gray in the Bible. 334 00:14:12,922 --> 00:14:13,570 There's no. 335 00:14:13,650 --> 00:14:15,202 It's all black and white in scripture, folks. 336 00:14:15,226 --> 00:14:18,666 There's a lot of things that scripture speaks to, principles about 337 00:14:18,698 --> 00:14:18,890 things. 338 00:14:18,930 --> 00:14:23,492 But the Bible doesn't address 21st century items. 339 00:14:23,556 --> 00:14:26,680 Okay, so, for example, the Bible doesn't mention an iPhone. 340 00:14:26,980 --> 00:14:27,324 Okay? 341 00:14:27,332 --> 00:14:29,020 I've got my iPhone up here reading my notes. 342 00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:30,756 The Bible doesn't say, you know what? 343 00:14:30,788 --> 00:14:32,892 As a good Christian, you should not have an iPhone. 344 00:14:33,076 --> 00:14:36,132 But can an iPhone be a stumbling block to someone who is 345 00:14:36,156 --> 00:14:37,148 struggling with certain sins? 346 00:14:37,204 --> 00:14:37,960 Of course. 347 00:14:38,260 --> 00:14:39,760 Of course it can be. 348 00:14:40,180 --> 00:14:43,108 And so for me, as a Christian, I can't go up to someone and go, 349 00:14:43,124 --> 00:14:44,116 well, you don't have an iPhone. 350 00:14:44,148 --> 00:14:45,076 You don't have a smartphone. 351 00:14:45,148 --> 00:14:47,058 You don't allow your kids to have a smartphone. 352 00:14:47,164 --> 00:14:47,958 Oh, come on. 353 00:14:48,014 --> 00:14:48,974 Grow up. 354 00:14:49,142 --> 00:14:50,046 Come on. 355 00:14:50,198 --> 00:14:51,646 It's the 21st century. 356 00:14:51,798 --> 00:14:52,278 No. 357 00:14:52,374 --> 00:14:54,870 If that's that person's conviction within the church, honor 358 00:14:54,910 --> 00:14:58,598 that conviction for them and respect that conviction doesn't mean 359 00:14:58,614 --> 00:14:59,646 that you have to follow that. 360 00:14:59,678 --> 00:15:02,886 Now, we're not talking about items in scripture that are clearly 361 00:15:02,918 --> 00:15:03,650 stated. 362 00:15:04,430 --> 00:15:06,662 So if someone comes up and says, you know what, pastor? 363 00:15:06,846 --> 00:15:10,686 I really do feel that I can lie and cheat and steal all I want, 364 00:15:10,718 --> 00:15:11,410 okay? 365 00:15:11,710 --> 00:15:13,746 I can be unfaithful to my spouse. 366 00:15:13,918 --> 00:15:14,906 I can do all this. 367 00:15:14,938 --> 00:15:15,738 I can do all that. 368 00:15:15,794 --> 00:15:18,298 And no, no, that's not what that's talking about there. 369 00:15:18,394 --> 00:15:21,630 It's talking about issues that aren't explicitly stated in scripture. 370 00:15:22,010 --> 00:15:26,058 And so what we're seeing here in this case is that they leave with 371 00:15:26,194 --> 00:15:27,030 unity. 372 00:15:27,770 --> 00:15:29,226 They leave an agreement. 373 00:15:29,378 --> 00:15:33,050 Now, we could talk about this a lot more, but we're not gonna continue 374 00:15:33,130 --> 00:15:34,322 on in that mind. 375 00:15:34,426 --> 00:15:39,042 We're gonna leave the Jerusalem council in their answer, 376 00:15:39,146 --> 00:15:42,010 and we're gonna leave to them reporting that back to the Gentile 377 00:15:42,050 --> 00:15:44,346 Christians and the jewish Christians there at Antioch. 378 00:15:44,378 --> 00:15:46,070 So let's pick it up in verse 22. 379 00:15:46,420 --> 00:15:47,280 Okay. 380 00:15:48,220 --> 00:15:54,120 We're going to see the product or the result of unity. 381 00:15:54,500 --> 00:15:59,692 We're going to see the product of love before liberty. 382 00:15:59,876 --> 00:16:04,812 What happens then pleased it the apostles and elders with the 383 00:16:04,876 --> 00:16:05,524 whole church. 384 00:16:05,572 --> 00:16:07,680 Now, this is the church in Jerusalem. 385 00:16:08,140 --> 00:16:09,532 They're in unity here. 386 00:16:09,636 --> 00:16:11,462 They all came in in disagreement. 387 00:16:11,556 --> 00:16:13,162 They're leaving with unity. 388 00:16:13,346 --> 00:16:15,170 This is how it should work. 389 00:16:15,330 --> 00:16:18,698 We come in maybe with different opinions, different thoughts, 390 00:16:18,754 --> 00:16:21,794 different convictions, but we should leave here in unity. 391 00:16:21,842 --> 00:16:23,138 And it says, they leave. 392 00:16:23,194 --> 00:16:28,730 And they were pleased to send chosen men of their company to Antioch. 393 00:16:28,770 --> 00:16:34,030 That's the original church with the conflict with Paul and Barnabas, 394 00:16:34,370 --> 00:16:38,996 namely Judas, surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among 395 00:16:39,028 --> 00:16:39,420 the brethren. 396 00:16:39,460 --> 00:16:41,012 So you say, what's going on here? 397 00:16:41,116 --> 00:16:44,148 Well, they are leaving with unity, and they're excited to report 398 00:16:44,204 --> 00:16:45,920 this back to the church in Antioch. 399 00:16:46,220 --> 00:16:49,212 And I would say that much of the credit goes to these certain 400 00:16:49,276 --> 00:16:52,228 men listening to the spirit of God walking in unity. 401 00:16:52,284 --> 00:16:55,508 They allow themselves to be convinced by the evidence from scripture 402 00:16:55,644 --> 00:16:59,100 and the confirmation of the Holy Spirit, and they're in agreement. 403 00:16:59,220 --> 00:17:00,228 This is beautiful. 404 00:17:00,324 --> 00:17:02,564 I think of the verse in psalm 133. 405 00:17:02,692 --> 00:17:04,412 Psalm 133, verse one. 406 00:17:04,476 --> 00:17:10,882 It says this, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren 407 00:17:10,946 --> 00:17:13,350 to dwell together in unity. 408 00:17:14,130 --> 00:17:17,990 There's something miraculous about unity. 409 00:17:18,330 --> 00:17:21,354 People from different backgrounds, different cultures, 410 00:17:21,522 --> 00:17:24,370 different preferences can walk in unity. 411 00:17:24,410 --> 00:17:27,850 And the Bible says how good and how pleasant it is for brethren 412 00:17:27,890 --> 00:17:29,258 to dwell together with unity. 413 00:17:29,394 --> 00:17:32,476 It is the heart of God for christians to walk in unity. 414 00:17:32,658 --> 00:17:35,072 The reality is, is that there's going to be conflict. 415 00:17:35,176 --> 00:17:36,576 How do we deal with the conflict? 416 00:17:36,648 --> 00:17:39,680 We deal with the conflict with seeking after scripture, seeking 417 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,728 after the spirit, and walking in unity together. 418 00:17:42,864 --> 00:17:47,888 When we leave in unity, when we leave in unity, we leave, as it 419 00:17:47,904 --> 00:17:49,700 says here, with joy and pleasure. 420 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,616 It doesn't mean that we'll leave with our way. 421 00:17:52,728 --> 00:17:55,472 You know what happens sometimes with christians when we 422 00:17:55,496 --> 00:17:56,680 come in with a conflict? 423 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,390 We want to leave the room with our way. 424 00:17:59,730 --> 00:18:02,510 I'm the right one and no one could tell me else. 425 00:18:03,090 --> 00:18:04,882 No one could tell me another way. 426 00:18:05,066 --> 00:18:08,386 The truth is, is are we open to have dialogue with a fellow brother 427 00:18:08,418 --> 00:18:11,350 and sister in Christ and ultimately check it with scripture. 428 00:18:11,690 --> 00:18:13,026 Check it with scripture. 429 00:18:13,178 --> 00:18:14,578 And that's what they did here. 430 00:18:14,754 --> 00:18:16,642 And so they wrote letters, verse 23. 431 00:18:16,746 --> 00:18:20,274 And they wrote letters by them after this manner, the apostles and 432 00:18:20,322 --> 00:18:22,994 elders and brethren saying, greeting unto the brethren, which 433 00:18:23,042 --> 00:18:26,826 are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, for as much 434 00:18:26,858 --> 00:18:27,778 as we have heard. 435 00:18:27,834 --> 00:18:31,554 So they heard the conflict that certain men went out from us 436 00:18:31,602 --> 00:18:32,826 having troubled you with words. 437 00:18:32,858 --> 00:18:34,250 So they're admitting wrong. 438 00:18:34,410 --> 00:18:38,066 You see that there part of joy and unity is admitting, hey, we are 439 00:18:38,098 --> 00:18:39,122 responsible for this. 440 00:18:39,226 --> 00:18:43,786 Some of our own people went out and caused issues, they said, 441 00:18:43,858 --> 00:18:47,130 for certain, which went out from us having troubled you with 442 00:18:47,170 --> 00:18:51,946 words subverting your souls, saying, ye must be circumcised and 443 00:18:51,978 --> 00:18:52,530 keep the law. 444 00:18:52,570 --> 00:18:53,826 So they're admitting they're wrong. 445 00:18:53,858 --> 00:18:56,838 They said, some of us went out to you and said, some of you have 446 00:18:56,854 --> 00:18:58,390 to be circumcised to be saved. 447 00:18:58,470 --> 00:18:59,270 And some of you have. 448 00:18:59,310 --> 00:19:01,934 And all of you have to keep the law to be saved. 449 00:19:02,062 --> 00:19:04,646 And therefore, they're admitting where they fell. 450 00:19:04,718 --> 00:19:07,806 They're admitting where they had flaws and admitted that they 451 00:19:07,838 --> 00:19:09,090 had to get this right. 452 00:19:09,790 --> 00:19:12,846 And they said, to whom we gave no such commandment meaning, hey, 453 00:19:12,878 --> 00:19:15,310 we didn't tell them to do this, but they did this anyway. 454 00:19:15,470 --> 00:19:18,270 It seemed good unto us being assembled with one accord. 455 00:19:18,350 --> 00:19:21,806 So they came together in one accord to send chosen men unto you 456 00:19:21,838 --> 00:19:26,058 with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their 457 00:19:26,114 --> 00:19:27,826 lives for the name of Lord Jesus Christ. 458 00:19:27,858 --> 00:19:31,170 So they said, we're sending real legitimate people to you, real 459 00:19:31,210 --> 00:19:33,746 legitimate missionaries to come to you to bring this important 460 00:19:33,818 --> 00:19:35,314 message, verse 27. 461 00:19:35,362 --> 00:19:38,578 We have sent, therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you 462 00:19:38,594 --> 00:19:39,562 the same things by mouth. 463 00:19:39,586 --> 00:19:41,794 And so they said, we have these individuals that are going 464 00:19:41,802 --> 00:19:44,442 to come and they're going to bring this letter to you and they're 465 00:19:44,466 --> 00:19:45,226 going to explain this. 466 00:19:45,258 --> 00:19:48,810 And so the letter gives the express decision of the Jerusalem 467 00:19:48,850 --> 00:19:51,854 council that the Gentiles should consider themselves under 468 00:19:51,902 --> 00:19:56,742 no obligation to the rituals of Judaism except for the sensitivity 469 00:19:56,886 --> 00:19:58,174 which love demands. 470 00:19:58,262 --> 00:20:04,166 You're not under the law, but love might demand you to be subject 471 00:20:04,238 --> 00:20:08,486 to some of the other people there in your fellowship, that is, 472 00:20:08,518 --> 00:20:11,670 to preserve the fellowship of the jewish and gentile believers. 473 00:20:11,830 --> 00:20:14,966 And so this letter was written specifically to those churches where 474 00:20:14,998 --> 00:20:16,816 Jews and Gentiles mix together. 475 00:20:16,998 --> 00:20:19,880 There was potential tension and conflict with them. 476 00:20:20,220 --> 00:20:24,532 It was not addressed to every gentile congregation because there 477 00:20:24,556 --> 00:20:26,956 were gentile congregations that would have not had this conflict. 478 00:20:26,988 --> 00:20:28,268 They wouldn't have had any Jews in their midst. 479 00:20:28,284 --> 00:20:29,524 So this wouldn't have been an issue. 480 00:20:29,652 --> 00:20:32,400 This was for congregations that were diverse. 481 00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:37,612 And there are a lot of churches in this world today, in 482 00:20:37,636 --> 00:20:41,644 this country today, that everybody in the seats have the same 483 00:20:41,692 --> 00:20:42,612 convictions. 484 00:20:42,796 --> 00:20:44,716 And there isn't going to be a conflict in that, right? 485 00:20:44,748 --> 00:20:48,268 The conflicts come from the color of the carpet, color of the 486 00:20:48,324 --> 00:20:49,452 paint on the walls. 487 00:20:49,556 --> 00:20:51,612 If they're going to have a potluck on the first Sunday of the 488 00:20:51,636 --> 00:20:54,220 month or the second Sunday of the month, those are silly stuff 489 00:20:54,260 --> 00:20:56,644 that we really shouldn't even be arguing about. 490 00:20:56,812 --> 00:20:59,796 But when we have a church like Middletown Baptist church with so 491 00:20:59,828 --> 00:21:02,364 much diversity, I'm going to tell you, I've been to a lot of churches. 492 00:21:02,492 --> 00:21:04,812 There's a lot of diversity at Middletown Baptist church, and we 493 00:21:04,836 --> 00:21:05,796 welcome that. 494 00:21:05,988 --> 00:21:08,588 Sometimes as a pastor, there's a little bit more of a stress than 495 00:21:08,604 --> 00:21:08,960 that. 496 00:21:09,060 --> 00:21:11,512 Okay, so people coming, you know, I was at a part of a church, 497 00:21:11,536 --> 00:21:12,464 or everyone was there. 498 00:21:12,552 --> 00:21:14,560 They were Baptists since they were born. 499 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:15,000 Okay? 500 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:16,640 Everyone's Baptist is just Baptist. 501 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,704 Moved from this church to this church, and everyone's Baptist. 502 00:21:18,792 --> 00:21:20,032 You know, we've had people coming from. 503 00:21:20,056 --> 00:21:22,100 To our church from other denominations. 504 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:23,432 It's like, okay. 505 00:21:23,496 --> 00:21:24,952 And that's scary for me as a pastor. 506 00:21:25,016 --> 00:21:26,896 Someone comes into my front door and they're like, hey, we came 507 00:21:26,928 --> 00:21:29,952 from so and so church across town, or we came from so and so church, 508 00:21:30,056 --> 00:21:31,496 and I'm like, wait, they're not Baptist? 509 00:21:31,608 --> 00:21:33,096 Oh, man, we got to deal with this. 510 00:21:33,208 --> 00:21:35,976 And so immediately the struggle is, okay, we've got to make 511 00:21:36,008 --> 00:21:39,262 them Baptist before they can come into our church and fellowship. 512 00:21:39,286 --> 00:21:41,254 But the truth is, we are a baptist church. 513 00:21:41,422 --> 00:21:44,486 But the deeper purpose is being christians right now. 514 00:21:44,518 --> 00:21:48,854 We're Baptist by conviction, but it's salvation and faith. 515 00:21:48,982 --> 00:21:51,742 And then we show them scripturally why we have these personal 516 00:21:51,806 --> 00:21:53,730 convictions with the way that we do church. 517 00:21:54,270 --> 00:21:56,822 And so what the difficulty is with that is that when we have a 518 00:21:56,846 --> 00:21:59,462 diverse church with different ages and different backgrounds and 519 00:21:59,486 --> 00:22:01,982 different cultures and different denominations, there is 520 00:22:02,006 --> 00:22:04,144 a challenge to have some conflict there. 521 00:22:04,342 --> 00:22:06,164 Why do you have a problem with that? 522 00:22:06,252 --> 00:22:07,340 You've heard that conversation. 523 00:22:07,380 --> 00:22:08,820 But come on, let's be honest. 524 00:22:08,860 --> 00:22:10,740 All of us have had conversations before with someone 525 00:22:10,780 --> 00:22:13,292 else, and they go, well, I was always taught that that was wrong. 526 00:22:13,316 --> 00:22:14,796 Well, why would you have a problem with that? 527 00:22:14,868 --> 00:22:16,260 Well, that's just what I grew up with. 528 00:22:16,300 --> 00:22:23,108 And so instead of just pushing their conviction aside, there's dialogue 529 00:22:23,124 --> 00:22:24,160 that needs to happen. 530 00:22:24,540 --> 00:22:28,052 And maybe that person can grow in that area, or maybe I can grow 531 00:22:28,076 --> 00:22:30,124 in that area because maybe they have something to teach me about 532 00:22:30,172 --> 00:22:32,640 why I'm overstepping in my legalism. 533 00:22:32,940 --> 00:22:35,052 Because, most of you know, I've explained to you before, I'm 534 00:22:35,076 --> 00:22:36,740 a recovering pharisee, okay? 535 00:22:36,780 --> 00:22:40,852 Each day I wake up and my flesh wants to judge and say, we 536 00:22:40,876 --> 00:22:43,340 have to be a certain way, a certain path. 537 00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:44,716 And there's nothing wrong with that. 538 00:22:44,788 --> 00:22:48,460 There's nothing wrong with having our baggage, because that's 539 00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:51,124 actually what we all have, whether we deny it or not. 540 00:22:51,212 --> 00:22:54,316 We all have a preconceived bias when we come into a situation, 541 00:22:54,508 --> 00:22:58,108 but it's understanding that it's the love of Christ and the conviction 542 00:22:58,124 --> 00:23:00,260 of the spirit that should drive us and not our own personal 543 00:23:00,340 --> 00:23:01,160 preferences. 544 00:23:01,300 --> 00:23:03,808 And so they go back and they say, hey, we're bringing stuff to 545 00:23:03,824 --> 00:23:03,928 you. 546 00:23:03,944 --> 00:23:05,680 We're bringing this lesson to you. 547 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,592 And this message is, this lesson is so that the congregation 548 00:23:09,656 --> 00:23:11,380 here in Antioch can have unity. 549 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,352 So remember, it was James, the half brother of Jesus, who voiced 550 00:23:15,376 --> 00:23:16,700 the decision of the council. 551 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:21,672 But the unity behind the decision was one of several evidences 552 00:23:21,816 --> 00:23:23,768 that it was the work of the spirit. 553 00:23:23,904 --> 00:23:27,408 How else could all of these really strong headed Menta in the 554 00:23:27,424 --> 00:23:29,496 Jerusalem council come together with this unity? 555 00:23:29,608 --> 00:23:32,816 I mean, you had Peter in the room, you had Paul in the room. 556 00:23:32,928 --> 00:23:36,024 You had Barnabas, you had James, you had all these other people, 557 00:23:36,192 --> 00:23:38,456 and they weren't yes men, okay? 558 00:23:38,568 --> 00:23:39,776 They went out and did a lot of stuff. 559 00:23:39,808 --> 00:23:41,224 So how could they have left? 560 00:23:41,272 --> 00:23:41,768 With unity? 561 00:23:41,824 --> 00:23:43,184 It's a work of the spirit. 562 00:23:43,352 --> 00:23:47,520 Let me tell you, church unity is a work of the Holy Spirit. 563 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:49,552 That is not something that happens naturally. 564 00:23:49,696 --> 00:23:51,360 It's actually the opposite. 565 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,100 Church unity is foreign to our flesh. 566 00:23:55,590 --> 00:24:01,062 And the moment we divorce ourselves away from the spirit, when 567 00:24:01,086 --> 00:24:03,790 we're making decisions within the church, is the moment our church 568 00:24:03,830 --> 00:24:05,770 unity is severed. 569 00:24:06,510 --> 00:24:09,390 Folks, some of the most dangerous places that we could ever 570 00:24:09,430 --> 00:24:12,250 be is a baptist business meeting. 571 00:24:13,070 --> 00:24:15,414 I've seen some fur fly. 572 00:24:15,462 --> 00:24:17,870 I've seen arrows flown across the room. 573 00:24:17,910 --> 00:24:19,102 Not literally, hopefully. 574 00:24:19,126 --> 00:24:21,210 You've never been to a place where literal arrows are flying. 575 00:24:22,690 --> 00:24:26,778 But the truth is there are going to be conflicts within the 576 00:24:26,794 --> 00:24:27,430 church. 577 00:24:28,730 --> 00:24:34,306 But there's a way to do that in the spirit of unity for the purpose 578 00:24:34,338 --> 00:24:38,154 of the gospel, that we can come together and say, you know what? 579 00:24:38,202 --> 00:24:41,162 We can leave in fellowship because we're in this now. 580 00:24:41,266 --> 00:24:42,322 Are there going to be? 581 00:24:42,466 --> 00:24:44,738 Cause a lot of times people will say, well, I'm in unity, but 582 00:24:44,754 --> 00:24:46,002 the other person is not in unity. 583 00:24:46,106 --> 00:24:48,838 All we can be concerned with is where we stand before God and 584 00:24:48,854 --> 00:24:51,450 how we represent the Lord in our conflicts. 585 00:24:51,790 --> 00:24:54,174 And so in this case, there was unity. 586 00:24:54,342 --> 00:24:56,942 And it was proven by the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of all 587 00:24:56,966 --> 00:24:59,910 these men, so much so that they could say that the decision 588 00:24:59,990 --> 00:25:02,190 was made in the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. 589 00:25:02,230 --> 00:25:04,766 You can see that right there in scripture. 590 00:25:04,958 --> 00:25:08,630 We can see that it actually says there that it was made in the 591 00:25:08,670 --> 00:25:09,410 Spirit. 592 00:25:11,230 --> 00:25:14,846 We can see that he says in verse 40 28, that's right there. 593 00:25:14,878 --> 00:25:20,536 It says, for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon 594 00:25:20,568 --> 00:25:23,860 you no greater burden than these necessary things. 595 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:29,536 So they admit here that this was a decision made by the Holy Spirit, 596 00:25:29,728 --> 00:25:30,940 made by God. 597 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,980 And I'm going to tell you here at Middletown Baptist Church, and 598 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,256 it might not always look this way, but the decisions that are made 599 00:25:38,288 --> 00:25:40,700 for this church are bathed in prayer. 600 00:25:42,210 --> 00:25:44,170 Multiple people look at it. 601 00:25:44,210 --> 00:25:47,818 Multiple people, I hope, will consult the Lord on this. 602 00:25:47,874 --> 00:25:51,138 And the decisions that we make, in my opinion, are led by the 603 00:25:51,154 --> 00:25:52,070 Holy Spirit. 604 00:25:52,410 --> 00:25:52,794 Now. 605 00:25:52,842 --> 00:25:55,162 Now, there are certain times where someone might say, that can't 606 00:25:55,186 --> 00:25:55,986 be the Holy Spirit. 607 00:25:56,058 --> 00:25:56,506 Come on. 608 00:25:56,538 --> 00:25:57,122 What's going on? 609 00:25:57,146 --> 00:25:57,762 We should have done this. 610 00:25:57,786 --> 00:25:58,578 This or this. 611 00:25:58,714 --> 00:26:00,034 I understand that. 612 00:26:00,202 --> 00:26:04,242 And we're not perfect, and certainly we can be making mistakes 613 00:26:04,306 --> 00:26:06,310 within the ministry here in the church. 614 00:26:06,620 --> 00:26:11,452 But I can tell you that the heartbeat of the church is that we 615 00:26:11,476 --> 00:26:12,600 follow the spirit. 616 00:26:12,900 --> 00:26:15,828 There's a lot of things that my flesh wants to do. 617 00:26:15,964 --> 00:26:19,116 There's a lot of things that I want to do in the concept of growing 618 00:26:19,148 --> 00:26:22,876 our church or changing things or moving here or doing that. 619 00:26:22,948 --> 00:26:26,044 But, folks, if the Holy Spirit is not strongly convicting us, there 620 00:26:26,092 --> 00:26:28,120 is a time to say, Lord, it's not. 621 00:26:28,460 --> 00:26:29,212 We believe that. 622 00:26:29,236 --> 00:26:30,020 It's not your will. 623 00:26:30,060 --> 00:26:30,572 We believe that. 624 00:26:30,596 --> 00:26:32,606 This is our fleshly desire to do this. 625 00:26:32,748 --> 00:26:35,122 Until the Lord makes it very clear in our lives, we have to be 626 00:26:35,146 --> 00:26:35,434 cautious. 627 00:26:35,482 --> 00:26:37,002 We never want to get ahead of the Lord. 628 00:26:37,146 --> 00:26:40,506 You can see story after story in scripture where individuals try 629 00:26:40,538 --> 00:26:41,710 to get ahead of God. 630 00:26:42,090 --> 00:26:43,258 Let me give you one example. 631 00:26:43,314 --> 00:26:44,050 Abraham. 632 00:26:44,210 --> 00:26:47,634 Abraham was told he was going to have a son, and God was going 633 00:26:47,642 --> 00:26:48,826 to promise it to me. 634 00:26:48,978 --> 00:26:51,946 And then he was like, well, God, I know he said it, but, like, 635 00:26:51,978 --> 00:26:53,306 let me try to help him out with this. 636 00:26:53,338 --> 00:26:54,790 Let me try to get ahead of him. 637 00:26:55,330 --> 00:26:56,950 And so let me go with Hagar. 638 00:26:57,530 --> 00:26:58,790 Let me go do this. 639 00:26:59,380 --> 00:27:00,900 That's sometimes what we can do in church. 640 00:27:00,940 --> 00:27:02,780 Do we know that God wants this church to grow? 641 00:27:02,820 --> 00:27:03,220 Yes. 642 00:27:03,300 --> 00:27:06,204 But sometimes what can happen is we can say, you know what, God? 643 00:27:06,372 --> 00:27:08,724 It's not happening at the speed I would want it to happen. 644 00:27:08,772 --> 00:27:09,228 So let's get. 645 00:27:09,244 --> 00:27:10,428 Let's get ahead of it. 646 00:27:10,604 --> 00:27:13,484 There's an issue there, and so we have to be cautious with that. 647 00:27:13,532 --> 00:27:15,956 So it was a spirit led decision. 648 00:27:16,108 --> 00:27:18,684 And then he explains what that decision was in verse 29. 649 00:27:18,772 --> 00:27:23,428 That you abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood and 650 00:27:23,444 --> 00:27:26,972 from things strangled, and from fornication, from which, if 651 00:27:26,996 --> 00:27:30,092 ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well, fare ye well, meaning this 652 00:27:30,116 --> 00:27:32,120 is going to give you unity within the church. 653 00:27:32,660 --> 00:27:33,492 This is going to. 654 00:27:33,556 --> 00:27:38,680 This is going to demonstrate love to your fellow church member. 655 00:27:39,260 --> 00:27:42,732 So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch, and when they 656 00:27:42,756 --> 00:27:45,364 had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle 657 00:27:45,412 --> 00:27:45,988 or the letter. 658 00:27:46,044 --> 00:27:50,000 So they're delivering this letter from the church at Jerusalem, 659 00:27:50,310 --> 00:27:54,610 which, when they read, they rejoiced for the consolation. 660 00:27:56,390 --> 00:28:00,182 There was joy because they were encouraged by this letter. 661 00:28:00,246 --> 00:28:04,550 You know, we would think, you know, the gentile Christians hear 662 00:28:04,590 --> 00:28:08,278 this message and go, what we have to follow these things that 663 00:28:08,294 --> 00:28:09,062 these jewish people know. 664 00:28:09,086 --> 00:28:13,350 They received it, as it says here, they received it with joy and 665 00:28:13,390 --> 00:28:16,062 encouragement, which, when they read, had read. 666 00:28:16,126 --> 00:28:18,162 They rejoiced for the consolation. 667 00:28:18,286 --> 00:28:19,550 It means encouragement. 668 00:28:20,730 --> 00:28:25,282 And so how relieved they were to see that the principle of grace 669 00:28:25,346 --> 00:28:26,990 had been preserved here. 670 00:28:27,850 --> 00:28:32,546 They heard that they were saved by faith alone, and they were 671 00:28:32,578 --> 00:28:36,322 right with God after all, and they had a path to move forward in 672 00:28:36,346 --> 00:28:39,070 unison and in fellowship with each other. 673 00:28:39,970 --> 00:28:46,852 So it says verse 33, and after they had tarried their space, they 674 00:28:46,876 --> 00:28:49,220 were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. 675 00:28:49,260 --> 00:28:57,508 And so we see that the results of this unity is exhortation, consolation. 676 00:28:57,684 --> 00:28:59,964 That's encouragement and peace. 677 00:29:00,132 --> 00:29:06,068 Anytime we see the unity of the spirit within the church and 678 00:29:06,084 --> 00:29:13,690 the spirit's guidance in the church, we see comfort, we see exhortation. 679 00:29:14,390 --> 00:29:21,542 So let's say it this way, encouragement, exhortation, and we 680 00:29:21,566 --> 00:29:22,694 see their peace. 681 00:29:22,862 --> 00:29:24,254 They were let go in peace. 682 00:29:24,382 --> 00:29:26,862 Now, these are all things that we should strive for in our church. 683 00:29:27,006 --> 00:29:29,566 Exhortation is challenging each other, encouraging each other 684 00:29:29,598 --> 00:29:30,710 to love and good works. 685 00:29:30,830 --> 00:29:34,270 The Bible says that's our job within the church, to spur each other 686 00:29:34,310 --> 00:29:35,810 on to love and good works. 687 00:29:36,990 --> 00:29:39,998 You know, I think a lot of times we think in the very western 688 00:29:40,054 --> 00:29:43,246 mindset of, like, I'm an individual within the church, and 689 00:29:43,318 --> 00:29:45,726 I'm doing my thing here and everyone else is doing their thing, 690 00:29:45,758 --> 00:29:47,638 and, you know, just don't get in my way. 691 00:29:47,774 --> 00:29:48,926 That's not what the Bible teaches. 692 00:29:48,958 --> 00:29:53,070 The Bible teaches is that it is the role of the church to exhort 693 00:29:53,110 --> 00:29:55,278 each other to love and good works, to challenge each other to 694 00:29:55,294 --> 00:29:56,370 love and good works. 695 00:29:57,390 --> 00:29:59,286 And that doesn't come with judgment. 696 00:29:59,358 --> 00:30:00,510 That comes with, hey, you know what? 697 00:30:00,550 --> 00:30:01,190 I'm doing this. 698 00:30:01,230 --> 00:30:02,238 Hey, you want to come do this with me? 699 00:30:02,254 --> 00:30:03,094 You want to pray along with me? 700 00:30:03,102 --> 00:30:04,756 You want to do this Bible study with me? 701 00:30:04,878 --> 00:30:07,300 You want to come share the gospel with me? 702 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:08,992 And it goes on from there. 703 00:30:09,016 --> 00:30:11,800 And so we see that there's encouragement, we see that there's 704 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,300 comfort, and we see that there's peace. 705 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,696 And then it says here, verse 34 notwithstanding, it pleased Silas 706 00:30:17,728 --> 00:30:19,024 to abide there still. 707 00:30:19,192 --> 00:30:21,336 And so Silas actually stays there. 708 00:30:21,368 --> 00:30:22,312 Silas says, you know what? 709 00:30:22,336 --> 00:30:23,152 We're going to stay there. 710 00:30:23,216 --> 00:30:27,912 And we actually see that Silas and Judas stay there, and so we see 711 00:30:27,936 --> 00:30:32,730 that they are going to stay, and, well, actually, actually, Silas 712 00:30:32,770 --> 00:30:36,362 stays and then Judas returns, leaving Silas and Antioch for the 713 00:30:36,386 --> 00:30:36,970 future ministry. 714 00:30:37,010 --> 00:30:38,794 So Silas stays there longer. 715 00:30:38,962 --> 00:30:41,082 And so they linger there for a time. 716 00:30:41,146 --> 00:30:42,754 Both of them linger there for a time. 717 00:30:42,882 --> 00:30:44,746 One leaves and then Silas stays. 718 00:30:44,818 --> 00:30:48,082 And I think that we see the heart of Silas here as a heart of 719 00:30:48,106 --> 00:30:50,178 a pastor to encourage and to minister. 720 00:30:50,234 --> 00:30:52,418 And that's really what the church should be. 721 00:30:52,434 --> 00:30:54,682 The church should not just be a place where we give them the truth 722 00:30:54,706 --> 00:30:55,750 and we walk away. 723 00:30:56,740 --> 00:30:57,844 How many times? 724 00:30:58,012 --> 00:31:01,556 Maybe this hasn't been what you have seen, but we've had an event 725 00:31:01,628 --> 00:31:04,044 or an opportunity and we've preached the gospel to people and 726 00:31:04,052 --> 00:31:06,040 then we just let them go and figure it out on their own. 727 00:31:06,340 --> 00:31:08,340 That's not what the church is for. 728 00:31:08,380 --> 00:31:12,040 The church is there to be a long term partner with people. 729 00:31:12,340 --> 00:31:13,684 So I give you the gospel. 730 00:31:13,772 --> 00:31:16,556 But now, as the great commission says, I teach you the 731 00:31:16,588 --> 00:31:17,132 gospel. 732 00:31:17,236 --> 00:31:19,324 I teach you what it means to obey Christ. 733 00:31:19,452 --> 00:31:21,960 I teach you what it means to go through the difficulties. 734 00:31:22,410 --> 00:31:23,138 You know what? 735 00:31:23,234 --> 00:31:26,154 That's sometimes what happens in our society is we have a very 736 00:31:26,202 --> 00:31:30,194 transient society, meaning, like, we're here at a time until 737 00:31:30,282 --> 00:31:32,590 we need to move on and there's no investment. 738 00:31:33,170 --> 00:31:36,138 The average lifespan of a person in ministry is like two and 739 00:31:36,154 --> 00:31:37,178 a half years. 740 00:31:37,354 --> 00:31:38,786 You see that happening so often. 741 00:31:38,818 --> 00:31:41,690 I mean, Middletown Baptist Church has been, has been graced 742 00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:43,882 with longevity, with pastors. 743 00:31:44,026 --> 00:31:46,386 And I'm going to tell you, that's not the norm. 744 00:31:46,418 --> 00:31:49,864 The norm is pastor comes in for two or three years, something 745 00:31:50,032 --> 00:31:51,320 more interesting comes along. 746 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,832 Or maybe God does call them away and we see just a lot of movement. 747 00:31:54,896 --> 00:31:55,920 A lot of movement. 748 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,272 And the truth is, is that that isn't necessarily always what God's 749 00:31:59,296 --> 00:31:59,632 will is. 750 00:31:59,656 --> 00:32:02,016 God's will is that there's long term investment with the fellow 751 00:32:02,048 --> 00:32:03,460 brothers and sisters in Christ. 752 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,456 And so for me, I could say to you, hey, you know what? 753 00:32:06,488 --> 00:32:07,940 Be faithful in the ministry. 754 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:10,872 But if I don't demonstrate to you what it means to be faithful 755 00:32:10,896 --> 00:32:12,872 in the ministry, how can you know what it means to be faithful 756 00:32:12,896 --> 00:32:13,728 in the ministry? 757 00:32:13,864 --> 00:32:15,796 Hey, love your brother and sister in Christ. 758 00:32:15,968 --> 00:32:18,996 But if I'm teaching you and demonstrating to you what loving 759 00:32:19,188 --> 00:32:22,236 my fellow brother and sister in Christ means, and I don't show 760 00:32:22,268 --> 00:32:24,748 that to you, you know, it would be like me, like, yeah, I don't 761 00:32:24,764 --> 00:32:26,940 know if some of you played sports or maybe you didn't play sports. 762 00:32:26,980 --> 00:32:31,772 Maybe you had a, maybe you played an instrument or maybe you 763 00:32:31,796 --> 00:32:34,852 took up a hobby or something and you had a teacher, okay, or a 764 00:32:34,876 --> 00:32:35,468 coach. 765 00:32:35,644 --> 00:32:39,540 And the coach came up to you and said, hey, let's use baseball 766 00:32:39,580 --> 00:32:40,100 as an example. 767 00:32:40,140 --> 00:32:41,300 I grew up playing baseball. 768 00:32:41,380 --> 00:32:42,444 I had a lot of coaches. 769 00:32:42,492 --> 00:32:46,914 My personal coach, my one on one coach, used to play in the major 770 00:32:46,962 --> 00:32:47,434 leagues. 771 00:32:47,522 --> 00:32:49,706 He played for the San Francisco Giants. 772 00:32:49,898 --> 00:32:51,266 Coach, Coach Redmond. 773 00:32:51,378 --> 00:32:52,162 He's an awesome guy. 774 00:32:52,186 --> 00:32:53,706 He taught me a lot about baseball. 775 00:32:53,858 --> 00:32:56,218 But he would sit there with me, and he would say, okay, when 776 00:32:56,234 --> 00:32:57,626 you hit the ball, you need to keep your eye on the ball. 777 00:32:57,658 --> 00:32:58,938 You need to twist your hips. 778 00:32:58,954 --> 00:33:00,266 You need to hit the ball like that. 779 00:33:00,378 --> 00:33:01,698 And I would say, okay. 780 00:33:01,834 --> 00:33:02,850 And I would do it wrong. 781 00:33:02,890 --> 00:33:04,050 And guess what helped me? 782 00:33:04,090 --> 00:33:06,458 When he would show me how to do it, he said, let me show you how 783 00:33:06,474 --> 00:33:06,930 it looks. 784 00:33:07,010 --> 00:33:08,138 And then he would walk me through it. 785 00:33:08,154 --> 00:33:09,796 He would show me every step of the way. 786 00:33:09,898 --> 00:33:12,448 And that meant so much more for me than some of the coaches that 787 00:33:12,464 --> 00:33:13,928 I've had in my life, that, go, come on. 788 00:33:13,944 --> 00:33:14,048 Go. 789 00:33:14,064 --> 00:33:14,960 Hit the ball, son. 790 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:16,224 Well, how do I do that? 791 00:33:16,272 --> 00:33:17,776 We'll just do it. 792 00:33:17,928 --> 00:33:19,300 That doesn't help, right? 793 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,160 And so it's that demonstration of the actual principle being taught 794 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:24,580 that helps out a lot more. 795 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:29,184 And so I would encourage you, as a church member, a ministry leader, 796 00:33:29,232 --> 00:33:35,096 possibly, if you want to be a discipler, demonstrate what it means 797 00:33:35,128 --> 00:33:38,580 to do the things that you're expecting your students to learn. 798 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:44,408 And so, you know, for me, there is that struggle, because I 799 00:33:44,424 --> 00:33:45,780 get to preach to you a lot. 800 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:50,416 And the truth is, is that a lot of times, people get the perception 801 00:33:50,448 --> 00:33:54,384 that pastors are perfect, and we expect you to have perfection. 802 00:33:54,552 --> 00:33:57,072 But the truth is, is that we're, you know, when I preach to 803 00:33:57,096 --> 00:33:59,856 you, I'm preaching to myself. 804 00:33:59,968 --> 00:34:00,272 Okay? 805 00:34:00,296 --> 00:34:02,648 When I do my notes in the week, I can tell you some of the 806 00:34:02,664 --> 00:34:06,806 most convicting moments of life is when I'm sitting there planning 807 00:34:06,838 --> 00:34:09,614 my sermons, because I'm sitting there going, wow, it's gonna 808 00:34:09,622 --> 00:34:11,930 be a tough one for me to say, because I struggle with that today. 809 00:34:12,230 --> 00:34:16,230 And so let me tell you, when I'm preaching, if, if, big, if. 810 00:34:16,310 --> 00:34:18,662 If there's conviction in your heart out there from the preaching 811 00:34:18,686 --> 00:34:20,566 of the word, the conviction is also here. 812 00:34:20,718 --> 00:34:21,942 I can tell you that. 813 00:34:22,126 --> 00:34:25,662 And so, so what I want you to understand is that here, as we conclude 814 00:34:25,686 --> 00:34:27,958 this passage, that Silas wanted to stay. 815 00:34:28,014 --> 00:34:29,158 He wanted to be planted in. 816 00:34:29,174 --> 00:34:33,175 And so these certain Mendez who had come from Judea, they were 817 00:34:33,207 --> 00:34:36,743 teaching and preaching, it says there in verse 35, Paul also, 818 00:34:36,791 --> 00:34:39,511 and Barnabas continue in Antioch, teaching and preaching the 819 00:34:39,535 --> 00:34:41,739 word of the Lord with many others also. 820 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:47,351 And so they had a desire not just to give them this message, but 821 00:34:47,375 --> 00:34:51,379 to teach and preach what the word of the Lord. 822 00:34:52,479 --> 00:34:54,059 Paul didn't preach his way. 823 00:34:55,039 --> 00:34:56,735 Paul didn't preach his opinions. 824 00:34:56,807 --> 00:34:58,167 Paul preached the word of the Lord. 825 00:34:58,223 --> 00:35:02,299 So because of the situation and because it was handled correctly, 826 00:35:02,630 --> 00:35:06,830 the christians here were strengthened, and the word of God 827 00:35:06,950 --> 00:35:07,846 pushed forward. 828 00:35:07,998 --> 00:35:10,390 Let me tell you, one of the hindrances to the word of God being 829 00:35:10,430 --> 00:35:12,770 pushed forward is disunity within the church. 830 00:35:13,190 --> 00:35:19,462 If the proper measures are taken to conflict, the word of God 831 00:35:19,486 --> 00:35:20,530 is pushed forward. 832 00:35:20,910 --> 00:35:24,430 That's the best testimony when we can come in with a disagreement 833 00:35:24,470 --> 00:35:25,902 and leave in unity. 834 00:35:26,086 --> 00:35:27,932 And that's what we see happening here. 835 00:35:28,086 --> 00:35:28,896 The word of God. 836 00:35:28,928 --> 00:35:29,576 That's where it ends. 837 00:35:29,608 --> 00:35:33,304 The thought here ends with Paul and Barnabas. 838 00:35:33,352 --> 00:35:37,984 And Silas taught and preached the word of the Lord with many others 839 00:35:38,032 --> 00:35:38,620 also. 840 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,424 And so Judas and Silas came. 841 00:35:41,472 --> 00:35:43,040 These two men served well in Antioch. 842 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:47,640 And after visiting from Jerusalem, Judas returns, Silas stays. 843 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:51,592 We see for a time, Paul and Barnabas stay, and everything seems 844 00:35:51,616 --> 00:35:52,700 to be going well. 845 00:35:53,370 --> 00:35:56,106 And I wish I could tell you that after that first conflict is 846 00:35:56,138 --> 00:35:58,110 fixed, then we're set. 847 00:35:59,450 --> 00:36:05,826 I remember thinking, as a pastor, when's the first problem 848 00:36:05,898 --> 00:36:07,522 gonna drop, okay? 849 00:36:07,586 --> 00:36:08,498 How are we gonna deal with this? 850 00:36:08,514 --> 00:36:11,914 And I remember a problem was there. 851 00:36:12,082 --> 00:36:14,322 And you know what? 852 00:36:14,466 --> 00:36:16,258 I had a pastor friend one time tell me, you know what? 853 00:36:16,274 --> 00:36:17,794 The problem that you're going through right now is not gonna be 854 00:36:17,802 --> 00:36:20,612 the problem you're dealing with next year, okay? 855 00:36:20,756 --> 00:36:23,940 So in my mind, I'm thinking, well, that means that I'm gonna be, 856 00:36:24,020 --> 00:36:26,508 if I get rid of this problem in my life, if we deal with this 857 00:36:26,524 --> 00:36:28,124 problem properly, everything will be okay. 858 00:36:28,252 --> 00:36:30,660 The issue is, is that I realized very quickly within ministry 859 00:36:30,700 --> 00:36:32,596 that after this problem is resolved, there's another problem 860 00:36:32,628 --> 00:36:33,920 that comes right in its place. 861 00:36:34,540 --> 00:36:36,380 And so that's what we're gonna see here. 862 00:36:36,420 --> 00:36:41,524 In acts, acts 15, it says in verse 36, I'm just gonna kind of 863 00:36:41,532 --> 00:36:42,932 whet your appetite for next week. 864 00:36:43,036 --> 00:36:44,508 It says, oh, actually, not next week. 865 00:36:44,524 --> 00:36:45,476 I'll tell you more about next week. 866 00:36:45,508 --> 00:36:49,652 In two weeks says, in some days after, and we don't know how 867 00:36:49,676 --> 00:36:53,596 many days after, you could, you could have your gospel imagination 868 00:36:53,668 --> 00:36:56,996 and think, seven days, 30 days, 50 days. 869 00:36:57,028 --> 00:37:00,564 But, and some days after, Paul said unto Barnabas, let us go again 870 00:37:00,612 --> 00:37:01,880 and visit another brethren. 871 00:37:02,620 --> 00:37:04,316 And, hey, sounds great. 872 00:37:04,348 --> 00:37:06,772 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname 873 00:37:06,796 --> 00:37:07,100 was Mark. 874 00:37:07,140 --> 00:37:09,080 And Paul thought, not good to take them. 875 00:37:09,900 --> 00:37:14,128 And so we're going to see that Paul and Barnabas have a conflict, 876 00:37:14,224 --> 00:37:16,288 and we're going to see how they deal with that conflict, and 877 00:37:16,304 --> 00:37:19,576 we're not going to see necessarily the resolution in this 878 00:37:19,608 --> 00:37:21,896 passage, we're going to see the first part of it. 879 00:37:21,928 --> 00:37:24,072 We are going to see the resolution in another passage of 880 00:37:24,096 --> 00:37:25,312 scripture later on. 881 00:37:25,496 --> 00:37:28,072 And we're going to see that some conflict doesn't get fixed over 882 00:37:28,096 --> 00:37:29,144 a Jerusalem council. 883 00:37:29,272 --> 00:37:34,488 Some conflict takes years and humility and struggles to get fixed. 884 00:37:34,664 --> 00:37:37,568 But what we're going to see here is that there always is a biblical 885 00:37:37,624 --> 00:37:38,350 resolution. 886 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:40,170 Sometimes it's not the resolution that we want. 887 00:37:40,210 --> 00:37:42,522 Sometimes the resolution is, is that we can't be together. 888 00:37:42,666 --> 00:37:47,110 The Bible says to live peaceably with all men if possible. 889 00:37:47,690 --> 00:37:50,458 And so there is a conflict sometimes that we have to say, you 890 00:37:50,474 --> 00:37:51,082 know what? 891 00:37:51,226 --> 00:37:55,386 There isn't unity here, and both sides have to be in agreement 892 00:37:55,418 --> 00:37:57,290 to unity or there isn't going to be unity. 893 00:37:57,450 --> 00:38:00,538 And that's all the more reason why we have to take the responsibility 894 00:38:00,594 --> 00:38:02,670 for ourselves to do the right thing in our place. 895 00:38:03,570 --> 00:38:07,442 And so, you know, sometimes it's the classic example of, well, 896 00:38:07,466 --> 00:38:10,842 I'm in the right place, but it's that person's fault, why I'm 897 00:38:10,866 --> 00:38:11,490 this way. 898 00:38:11,610 --> 00:38:12,290 Well, you know what? 899 00:38:12,330 --> 00:38:13,794 Get where you need to be. 900 00:38:13,962 --> 00:38:15,546 And that's, and that's the best way. 901 00:38:15,578 --> 00:38:17,870 That's the best remedy for peace and unity. 902 00:38:18,170 --> 00:38:20,738 I heard recently there was this individual that they said, I 903 00:38:20,754 --> 00:38:23,230 really want to find a good spouse. 904 00:38:23,730 --> 00:38:24,618 They were single. 905 00:38:24,714 --> 00:38:25,890 It was a young man. 906 00:38:26,050 --> 00:38:28,034 He says, you know, I want to find a good spouse. 907 00:38:28,202 --> 00:38:29,642 I want to find a christian woman. 908 00:38:29,706 --> 00:38:34,162 I want to find a lady who is faithful to me, loving, checking 909 00:38:34,186 --> 00:38:34,722 all the boxes. 910 00:38:34,746 --> 00:38:36,592 And this guy said, okay, I've got some advice for you. 911 00:38:36,666 --> 00:38:38,972 I want you to get a piece of paper out, and I want you to write 912 00:38:38,996 --> 00:38:41,676 down all the qualifications that you want for a wife. 913 00:38:41,828 --> 00:38:43,108 And he's like, okay, okay. 914 00:38:43,204 --> 00:38:46,132 So he wrote down 55 things down on the paper. 915 00:38:46,316 --> 00:38:49,948 He was like, 55 qualifications that I want for a spouse. 916 00:38:50,124 --> 00:38:52,628 And then he says, okay, write your name up at the top of that. 917 00:38:52,684 --> 00:38:53,764 And so he write. 918 00:38:53,932 --> 00:38:55,948 So he writes his name up, or actually, he said, write the name 919 00:38:55,964 --> 00:38:56,396 up at the top. 920 00:38:56,428 --> 00:38:58,348 He said, I messed up the joke, or it's kind of a joke. 921 00:38:58,364 --> 00:38:59,180 It's an analogy. 922 00:38:59,260 --> 00:39:03,134 He says, write up at the top my future wife at the beginning. 923 00:39:03,222 --> 00:39:05,718 And then at the end, when he wrote all the qualifications, he 924 00:39:05,734 --> 00:39:08,542 said, okay, now erase future wife and put your name in the blank, 925 00:39:08,686 --> 00:39:09,370 right? 926 00:39:09,670 --> 00:39:12,598 If you want that type of spouse, you need to be that type 927 00:39:12,614 --> 00:39:15,198 of spouse in preparation for that, you know? 928 00:39:15,214 --> 00:39:17,870 And so, so many times we say, okay, we want good church members 929 00:39:17,910 --> 00:39:18,854 in the church. 930 00:39:19,022 --> 00:39:21,062 And so we want people that are dedicated. 931 00:39:21,166 --> 00:39:22,734 We want people that are faithful. 932 00:39:22,822 --> 00:39:24,822 We want people that are loving, forgiving. 933 00:39:24,926 --> 00:39:25,606 Well, you know what? 934 00:39:25,638 --> 00:39:28,502 If that's our goal for church members within Middletown Baptist 935 00:39:28,526 --> 00:39:31,922 Church, maybe we need to erase that and put our name in the blanket, 936 00:39:31,946 --> 00:39:33,550 say, that's what I need to strive for. 937 00:39:33,850 --> 00:39:37,242 And I think that's something to think about when it comes to conflict 938 00:39:37,266 --> 00:39:38,658 and unity within the church. 939 00:39:38,754 --> 00:39:40,458 Putting the responsibility on ourselves. 940 00:39:40,594 --> 00:39:44,186 Putting the responsibility on ourselves as a qualification to be 941 00:39:44,298 --> 00:39:45,570 that church member. 942 00:39:45,690 --> 00:39:46,950 Desiring unity. 943 00:39:47,450 --> 00:39:51,042 Folks, I'm going to tell you, the average Christian within the 944 00:39:51,066 --> 00:39:53,790 church isn't dwelling on unity. 945 00:39:54,250 --> 00:39:57,380 They're dwelling on what does this mean for me? 946 00:39:57,720 --> 00:39:58,256 How can. 947 00:39:58,288 --> 00:39:59,700 What can I get out of this? 948 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:00,688 And. 949 00:40:00,784 --> 00:40:02,100 And that isn't. 950 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,400 I'm gonna speak in love to you tonight. 951 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:06,288 I hope I've proven to you that I love you. 952 00:40:06,384 --> 00:40:09,440 The Bible doesn't say that that is the first and foremost priority 953 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:10,016 within the church. 954 00:40:10,048 --> 00:40:12,528 The first and foremost priority in the church is unity and 955 00:40:12,544 --> 00:40:14,488 edification and exhortation. 956 00:40:14,624 --> 00:40:17,520 The Bible says that the gifts of the spirit that are given to us 957 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:18,984 are not for our own good. 958 00:40:19,072 --> 00:40:21,340 It's for the good of others within the church. 959 00:40:21,970 --> 00:40:24,058 That shows you right there where the priority is. 960 00:40:24,074 --> 00:40:25,350 The priority is others. 961 00:40:26,690 --> 00:40:29,030 The priority is Jesus others. 962 00:40:29,490 --> 00:40:30,346 And then you. 963 00:40:30,418 --> 00:40:31,922 You heard that acronym, Joy? 964 00:40:31,986 --> 00:40:32,770 Jesus others. 965 00:40:32,850 --> 00:40:33,378 You. 966 00:40:33,514 --> 00:40:34,010 It's not. 967 00:40:34,050 --> 00:40:36,890 It's not about you others and then Jesus. 968 00:40:36,930 --> 00:40:37,146 It's. 969 00:40:37,178 --> 00:40:38,490 It needs to be flipped. 970 00:40:38,650 --> 00:40:40,610 And so I would encourage you to think about that within the church. 971 00:40:40,650 --> 00:40:42,930 I would encourage myself to think about that within the church. 972 00:40:43,050 --> 00:40:44,682 This isn't about getting what I want. 973 00:40:44,706 --> 00:40:47,206 It's about getting what the Lord wants and how I can love and. 974 00:40:47,338 --> 00:40:48,614 And sacrifice for other people. 975 00:40:48,662 --> 00:40:50,046 And that's how we have unity. 976 00:40:50,158 --> 00:40:52,702 That's how we can resolve issues within the church. 977 00:40:52,806 --> 00:40:53,270 Well, you. 978 00:40:53,310 --> 00:40:56,838 I can't believe that your family goes here and does this. 979 00:40:57,014 --> 00:41:00,222 Okay, well, let's do a real life example. 980 00:41:00,246 --> 00:41:00,638 I've got. 981 00:41:00,694 --> 00:41:02,502 I've got, like, seven minutes here to the end of the hour. 982 00:41:02,526 --> 00:41:03,478 Let's do a real life experience. 983 00:41:03,534 --> 00:41:03,878 Okay? 984 00:41:03,934 --> 00:41:07,238 So I've got brother a over here and brother b. 985 00:41:07,334 --> 00:41:11,286 Brother a and brother b, brother a goes, I can't believe that 986 00:41:11,318 --> 00:41:12,732 your family does this. 987 00:41:12,886 --> 00:41:13,384 Okay? 988 00:41:13,432 --> 00:41:15,700 We don't do that in brother a family. 989 00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:17,768 Brother B, you're a sinner. 990 00:41:17,904 --> 00:41:23,264 Okay, well, if he has a problem with brother b, his issue 991 00:41:23,352 --> 00:41:26,456 should be, hey, brother a goes, talk to brother b, and we talk 992 00:41:26,488 --> 00:41:26,856 this out. 993 00:41:26,888 --> 00:41:27,592 Why would you do that? 994 00:41:27,616 --> 00:41:29,216 Can you show me in the word of God, why that's wrong? 995 00:41:29,248 --> 00:41:29,776 Why that's right. 996 00:41:29,808 --> 00:41:33,248 Whatever the problem comes is when brother a goes over here and 997 00:41:33,264 --> 00:41:36,736 says to brother c, can you believe what brother b does with 998 00:41:36,768 --> 00:41:37,500 his family? 999 00:41:38,290 --> 00:41:39,290 Oh, you know what? 1000 00:41:39,330 --> 00:41:40,026 He's just. 1001 00:41:40,178 --> 00:41:42,590 He's a second class citizen because he does that. 1002 00:41:43,130 --> 00:41:44,350 But pray for him. 1003 00:41:45,010 --> 00:41:47,890 The problem is, is now brother a has one issue here with brother 1004 00:41:47,930 --> 00:41:50,906 b, and now he's created another issue with c. 1005 00:41:51,098 --> 00:41:54,490 And now there's an issue between a and c and c and B. 1006 00:41:54,610 --> 00:41:56,346 And c and b would have never had an issue. 1007 00:41:56,418 --> 00:41:56,818 Right? 1008 00:41:56,914 --> 00:41:58,538 You see how that goes now? 1009 00:41:58,594 --> 00:42:01,530 And then c over here goes to, I'm gonna go over here to d. 1010 00:42:01,570 --> 00:42:02,394 And then D has. 1011 00:42:02,482 --> 00:42:04,962 You can see how that it's a ripple effect and a poor poison can 1012 00:42:05,026 --> 00:42:05,722 spread. 1013 00:42:05,906 --> 00:42:08,186 But if a says, you know what? 1014 00:42:08,218 --> 00:42:10,258 Brother B has his own convictions, I'm not going to judge 1015 00:42:10,274 --> 00:42:10,890 him for that. 1016 00:42:10,970 --> 00:42:11,830 I won't. 1017 00:42:12,290 --> 00:42:12,786 I don't. 1018 00:42:12,818 --> 00:42:14,870 And then brother B could say, you know what? 1019 00:42:15,530 --> 00:42:18,034 I didn't know that you had a problem with me going here. 1020 00:42:18,162 --> 00:42:19,270 Well, you know what? 1021 00:42:19,610 --> 00:42:20,930 I don't need to do that. 1022 00:42:21,090 --> 00:42:24,378 Or maybe I won't do that around you, or we won't go there 1023 00:42:24,394 --> 00:42:25,074 and do that together. 1024 00:42:25,162 --> 00:42:29,146 Do you see how it's that deference deferring because of my 1025 00:42:29,178 --> 00:42:29,760 love? 1026 00:42:29,930 --> 00:42:30,804 It's not pride. 1027 00:42:30,852 --> 00:42:32,196 It's not, I get to do this. 1028 00:42:32,228 --> 00:42:33,720 I have the right to do this. 1029 00:42:34,620 --> 00:42:38,004 I will be willing to die to myself so that that person can be 1030 00:42:38,012 --> 00:42:38,596 edified. 1031 00:42:38,748 --> 00:42:40,188 Now, there's some silliness with that. 1032 00:42:40,244 --> 00:42:43,720 Like, sometimes we can get silly within the church, okay? 1033 00:42:44,260 --> 00:42:49,420 And the truth is, is that when I'm thinking about myself and myself 1034 00:42:49,500 --> 00:42:54,092 alone, I've got more issues that are going to come because everything's 1035 00:42:54,116 --> 00:42:55,320 an offense to me. 1036 00:42:55,790 --> 00:42:59,654 But when I'm thinking about others, I don't take things as personally. 1037 00:42:59,822 --> 00:43:00,558 Hey, you know what? 1038 00:43:00,614 --> 00:43:01,606 Maybe they're having a bad day. 1039 00:43:01,638 --> 00:43:06,650 I can tell you there have been times where I have had a tough day, 1040 00:43:07,030 --> 00:43:10,478 and in no way was I trying to be rude to somebody, but I came across 1041 00:43:10,534 --> 00:43:11,006 as rude. 1042 00:43:11,038 --> 00:43:11,782 You know what? 1043 00:43:11,926 --> 00:43:14,870 And so what I need to do is I need to assume that in my brother 1044 00:43:14,910 --> 00:43:16,278 or sister, okay? 1045 00:43:16,294 --> 00:43:19,694 The bible says in one corinthians, chapter 13 that true 1046 00:43:19,742 --> 00:43:24,150 agape love does not assume the worst, does not assume evil. 1047 00:43:24,570 --> 00:43:26,098 What happens within church? 1048 00:43:26,154 --> 00:43:31,026 Is this, okay, walking out, someone else says something to me 1049 00:43:31,098 --> 00:43:32,970 or has a bad response. 1050 00:43:33,090 --> 00:43:35,950 Ugh, they must hate me. 1051 00:43:36,450 --> 00:43:36,962 You know what? 1052 00:43:36,986 --> 00:43:38,090 I knew they didn't like me. 1053 00:43:38,130 --> 00:43:39,466 I saw that from the very beginning. 1054 00:43:39,498 --> 00:43:41,386 When they started coming into church, I knew they had a problem 1055 00:43:41,418 --> 00:43:42,490 with me from the very beginning. 1056 00:43:42,570 --> 00:43:44,410 I bet you they're talking about me right now. 1057 00:43:44,570 --> 00:43:47,592 And the truth is, is that maybe they are. 1058 00:43:47,786 --> 00:43:48,580 Maybe. 1059 00:43:48,740 --> 00:43:52,908 But the initial assumption should not be that that is the case. 1060 00:43:53,084 --> 00:43:54,440 That's biblical love. 1061 00:43:54,860 --> 00:43:56,052 Getting to the bottom of it. 1062 00:43:56,116 --> 00:43:57,908 Now, the way you get to the bottom of it is go right up to him 1063 00:43:57,924 --> 00:43:59,364 and say, hey, you know what? 1064 00:43:59,492 --> 00:44:00,252 You did that to me. 1065 00:44:00,276 --> 00:44:00,596 Is that. 1066 00:44:00,628 --> 00:44:01,228 Is that an issue? 1067 00:44:01,284 --> 00:44:02,680 Like, did I do something? 1068 00:44:03,740 --> 00:44:08,244 I apologize if I did, and then go from there, and then the reality 1069 00:44:08,292 --> 00:44:09,852 will come forward. 1070 00:44:10,036 --> 00:44:12,556 Yeah, I do have a problem with you, and I don't like that you do 1071 00:44:12,588 --> 00:44:12,756 that. 1072 00:44:12,788 --> 00:44:13,364 Okay? 1073 00:44:13,492 --> 00:44:16,910 Now we go from that to something else. 1074 00:44:16,950 --> 00:44:18,334 Now we go to conflict resolution. 1075 00:44:18,382 --> 00:44:18,766 Okay? 1076 00:44:18,838 --> 00:44:19,366 And so that's. 1077 00:44:19,398 --> 00:44:20,806 That's how we have to go through these things. 1078 00:44:20,838 --> 00:44:23,038 And so it's like what we talked about this morning. 1079 00:44:23,174 --> 00:44:25,478 Think biblically about something. 1080 00:44:25,614 --> 00:44:27,550 See it through the lens of scripture. 1081 00:44:27,710 --> 00:44:29,734 You ever heard the statement, rose colored glasses? 1082 00:44:29,782 --> 00:44:32,022 Like, you put red glasses on, everything's red. 1083 00:44:32,126 --> 00:44:32,918 Okay? 1084 00:44:33,094 --> 00:44:34,694 See, have your gospel glasses. 1085 00:44:34,742 --> 00:44:35,982 Have your Bible glasses. 1086 00:44:36,086 --> 00:44:38,958 And so see everything through the lens of scripture and say, you 1087 00:44:38,974 --> 00:44:39,610 know what? 1088 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:41,460 It's not about me. 1089 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,936 I am not the protagonist of scripture. 1090 00:44:45,088 --> 00:44:46,016 Okay? 1091 00:44:46,208 --> 00:44:49,912 A lot of times, we think we are the main character of scripture. 1092 00:44:50,096 --> 00:44:52,072 And there's a lot of churches out there that preach that. 1093 00:44:52,096 --> 00:44:53,024 You are the main character. 1094 00:44:53,072 --> 00:44:55,536 Right at the end of the day, you are the main character. 1095 00:44:55,568 --> 00:44:56,376 It's all about you. 1096 00:44:56,408 --> 00:44:57,816 This lesson's about you today. 1097 00:44:57,928 --> 00:45:01,072 And the lesson can apply to me, but I'm not the main character 1098 00:45:01,096 --> 00:45:01,896 of scripture. 1099 00:45:02,048 --> 00:45:03,896 All scripture is given by inspiration of God. 1100 00:45:03,928 --> 00:45:05,808 And we know that it's profitable for all these things in 1101 00:45:05,824 --> 00:45:06,422 my life. 1102 00:45:06,536 --> 00:45:07,794 But scripture is not. 1103 00:45:07,842 --> 00:45:10,630 I'm not the centerpiece of scripture. 1104 00:45:10,930 --> 00:45:11,626 Jesus is. 1105 00:45:11,658 --> 00:45:12,714 We sang a song about it tonight. 1106 00:45:12,762 --> 00:45:14,498 Jesus is that sure foundation. 1107 00:45:14,674 --> 00:45:16,106 Jesus is the centerpiece. 1108 00:45:16,218 --> 00:45:19,306 And so when we fight, you know what the Bible says when we fight 1109 00:45:19,498 --> 00:45:22,538 in the midst of our church, when we struggle within the midst 1110 00:45:22,554 --> 00:45:25,290 of our church, we're actually offending the Lord. 1111 00:45:25,410 --> 00:45:28,762 We're actually causing issues for his kingdom to move forward. 1112 00:45:28,866 --> 00:45:29,990 Not my kingdom. 1113 00:45:30,490 --> 00:45:32,000 My kingdom means nothing. 1114 00:45:32,170 --> 00:45:34,580 My kingdom is zero, zilch, nada. 1115 00:45:34,620 --> 00:45:35,844 Like, I don't have a kingdom. 1116 00:45:35,932 --> 00:45:37,884 And even if I think I have a kingdom, that kingdom is not going 1117 00:45:37,892 --> 00:45:38,300 to last. 1118 00:45:38,380 --> 00:45:41,280 Think about all the dictators that have passed throughout history, 1119 00:45:41,660 --> 00:45:42,100 okay? 1120 00:45:42,140 --> 00:45:43,340 All of them have died. 1121 00:45:43,500 --> 00:45:45,004 All their kingdoms have fallen. 1122 00:45:45,132 --> 00:45:45,636 Okay? 1123 00:45:45,708 --> 00:45:47,348 Think about the greatest ones. 1124 00:45:47,524 --> 00:45:49,780 And the truth is that our kingdoms don't matter. 1125 00:45:49,860 --> 00:45:53,748 And so if we see it from that perspective, we can leave with unity. 1126 00:45:53,804 --> 00:45:57,400 So how does liberty, law, and love mingle together? 1127 00:45:57,910 --> 00:46:01,166 Well, the law is given to us to show us that none of us can meet 1128 00:46:01,238 --> 00:46:02,318 God's standard. 1129 00:46:02,494 --> 00:46:04,038 It shows us the heart of God. 1130 00:46:04,174 --> 00:46:08,294 It shows us how we can follow him to the best of our ability, but 1131 00:46:08,342 --> 00:46:10,690 it also shows us that we need Christ. 1132 00:46:11,110 --> 00:46:15,422 And so liberty is that I'm saved from the bondage of law and 1133 00:46:15,446 --> 00:46:20,630 I'm now in grace, and I can live with freedom to know that I 1134 00:46:20,750 --> 00:46:21,822 am going to fail. 1135 00:46:21,886 --> 00:46:25,810 But my failure is ultimately swallowed up in Christ's victory. 1136 00:46:26,980 --> 00:46:28,588 And so that's my liberty. 1137 00:46:28,724 --> 00:46:30,340 But my love says this. 1138 00:46:30,420 --> 00:46:34,204 Okay, I'm not going to extend the law to someone, but I'm also 1139 00:46:34,252 --> 00:46:37,100 not going to extend my liberty to a point where I limit them in 1140 00:46:37,140 --> 00:46:39,000 their specific spiritual walk. 1141 00:46:39,860 --> 00:46:42,180 And so are there things that you can do as a Christian? 1142 00:46:42,260 --> 00:46:44,028 Yes, you have the freedom to do it. 1143 00:46:44,164 --> 00:46:47,960 Paul says it, all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. 1144 00:46:48,380 --> 00:46:51,060 Now, all things are beneficial for your christian walk. 1145 00:46:51,220 --> 00:46:53,840 So if you come up to me and you say, pastor, can I do this? 1146 00:46:54,420 --> 00:46:57,640 You know, like, theologically, my answer to you is, yeah, you can. 1147 00:46:58,660 --> 00:47:00,640 You had the freedom to choose whatever. 1148 00:47:01,100 --> 00:47:04,880 Now some of your choices are going to have really bad consequences. 1149 00:47:05,380 --> 00:47:08,520 You can choose your sin, but you can't choose your outcome. 1150 00:47:09,260 --> 00:47:10,740 But what I will say is this. 1151 00:47:10,860 --> 00:47:12,572 Yeah, you had the freedom to do that. 1152 00:47:12,716 --> 00:47:14,140 Well, am I sinning? 1153 00:47:14,300 --> 00:47:16,380 Well, I can't show you a chapter, verse that you're sinning, 1154 00:47:16,420 --> 00:47:17,916 but let me ask you this question. 1155 00:47:17,988 --> 00:47:20,934 Is this beneficial for your spiritual growth? 1156 00:47:21,022 --> 00:47:24,102 Is this going to hinder your spiritual growth? 1157 00:47:24,286 --> 00:47:28,230 Some things are just going to be neutral, like, okay, me going 1158 00:47:28,270 --> 00:47:29,870 to McDonald's or Burger King today. 1159 00:47:29,910 --> 00:47:32,182 Okay, is that neither one? 1160 00:47:32,246 --> 00:47:34,806 Some of you might say, well, it might hinder you in other ways, 1161 00:47:34,838 --> 00:47:37,958 but the idea is, is that there are some things in our life that 1162 00:47:37,974 --> 00:47:40,598 aren't going to necessarily edify us and build us up to Christ, 1163 00:47:40,694 --> 00:47:43,250 but there are going to be some things that do pull us down. 1164 00:47:43,670 --> 00:47:45,702 There are going to be some things that hold us back from our 1165 00:47:45,726 --> 00:47:46,390 spiritual growth. 1166 00:47:46,470 --> 00:47:48,044 So that first check is this. 1167 00:47:48,182 --> 00:47:51,380 Is it expedient for my spiritual walk? 1168 00:47:51,720 --> 00:47:53,552 And then that second check, is this. 1169 00:47:53,696 --> 00:47:55,504 Is it edifying to the saints? 1170 00:47:55,552 --> 00:47:57,088 First Corinthians 1023. 1171 00:47:57,224 --> 00:47:58,080 Is it edifying? 1172 00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:01,248 Is it building up other christians? 1173 00:48:01,344 --> 00:48:04,560 Or is my decision in my freedom gonna tear somebody else 1174 00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:05,180 down? 1175 00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:08,040 Well, you know what? 1176 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:09,152 They need to grow up. 1177 00:48:09,296 --> 00:48:10,168 Yes, they do. 1178 00:48:10,264 --> 00:48:11,120 Okay, maybe they do. 1179 00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:12,460 Maybe they need to mature. 1180 00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:15,016 But who is going to demonstrate to them that spiritual 1181 00:48:15,048 --> 00:48:16,580 maturity to get to that place? 1182 00:48:17,310 --> 00:48:18,654 And so that's where it's at. 1183 00:48:18,702 --> 00:48:19,798 That's where our christian life is. 1184 00:48:19,814 --> 00:48:21,918 And so, as a servant of the living God. 1185 00:48:21,974 --> 00:48:25,798 We have an opportunity to exercise our liberty, but not at 1186 00:48:25,814 --> 00:48:29,050 the sake of hindering others in the process. 1187 00:48:29,590 --> 00:48:32,398 And so I know that's difficult because it would be a lot easier, 1188 00:48:32,414 --> 00:48:37,318 it would be a lot more easy for me to say, hey, guys, if you're 1189 00:48:37,414 --> 00:48:39,810 a christian, just follow these rules. 1190 00:48:40,350 --> 00:48:41,886 I want it to be that way. 1191 00:48:41,998 --> 00:48:44,102 I want it to be where I can give you a list of rules. 1192 00:48:44,126 --> 00:48:46,418 And if you follow all these rules, you'll be a perfect Christianity. 1193 00:48:46,464 --> 00:48:48,462 But even if I give you the list of rules and you check your 1194 00:48:48,486 --> 00:48:51,542 box, it's not going to be where your heart is in the right 1195 00:48:51,566 --> 00:48:51,894 place. 1196 00:48:51,982 --> 00:48:54,134 It could be, but it might not be. 1197 00:48:54,262 --> 00:48:55,958 We can all follow a list of rules. 1198 00:48:56,094 --> 00:48:58,850 And so the christian life is not about list following. 1199 00:49:00,270 --> 00:49:01,070 You say what? 1200 00:49:01,150 --> 00:49:02,070 I've never heard this before. 1201 00:49:02,110 --> 00:49:02,478 Okay. 1202 00:49:02,534 --> 00:49:03,974 The christian life is not about list following. 1203 00:49:04,022 --> 00:49:06,358 The christian life is about following Jesus. 1204 00:49:06,534 --> 00:49:09,870 And our hearts change to where many of the things that we do because 1205 00:49:09,910 --> 00:49:11,526 of our love for him do align with that. 1206 00:49:11,558 --> 00:49:14,680 Listen, not going to want to say these things anymore. 1207 00:49:15,220 --> 00:49:16,880 I'm going to love my neighbor. 1208 00:49:17,300 --> 00:49:19,460 I am going to live a life of forgiveness and grace. 1209 00:49:19,500 --> 00:49:22,556 But it's not because I'm checking a box to get closer to God. 1210 00:49:22,588 --> 00:49:25,244 It's because he's already shown me the love and I'm reciprocating 1211 00:49:25,292 --> 00:49:25,428 that. 1212 00:49:25,444 --> 00:49:27,364 And that's the natural change that happens. 1213 00:49:27,452 --> 00:49:30,212 Or let me say it this way, better the supernatural change that 1214 00:49:30,236 --> 00:49:33,484 happens in my heart with a transition for loving myself to loving 1215 00:49:33,532 --> 00:49:34,160 God. 1216 00:49:34,740 --> 00:49:37,390 And so a lot of people struggle with that. 1217 00:49:37,460 --> 00:49:39,962 But Romans, chapter six, Paul addresses that. 1218 00:49:39,986 --> 00:49:42,578 Cause Paul gets done with preaching all about grace, and then 1219 00:49:42,594 --> 00:49:45,122 he goes, oh, wait, they're gonna think that they can just abuse 1220 00:49:45,146 --> 00:49:45,634 grace. 1221 00:49:45,762 --> 00:49:46,442 So what does he do? 1222 00:49:46,466 --> 00:49:51,186 He says, guys, don't continue to sin, that grace just abounds. 1223 00:49:51,218 --> 00:49:51,994 Don't abuse grace. 1224 00:49:52,042 --> 00:49:54,938 He says, God forbid, why would you wanna go back to that sin that 1225 00:49:54,954 --> 00:49:56,098 God saved you from? 1226 00:49:56,234 --> 00:49:59,258 And so when you understand God's grace, you don't wanna abuse 1227 00:49:59,274 --> 00:49:59,570 it. 1228 00:49:59,650 --> 00:50:03,122 When I was a young Christian and when someone really sat down 1229 00:50:03,146 --> 00:50:07,678 with me and explained to me grace, I was like, wait, that means 1230 00:50:07,854 --> 00:50:09,630 that I can just go sin and ask for forgiveness? 1231 00:50:09,670 --> 00:50:12,318 And they're like, no, that's not what that's saying there. 1232 00:50:12,374 --> 00:50:13,950 You don't understand grace yet. 1233 00:50:14,110 --> 00:50:19,454 So when you grow in grace, you grow in your understanding of, yes, 1234 00:50:19,542 --> 00:50:23,270 you do have the freedom and God's forgiveness is mighty and vast, 1235 00:50:23,430 --> 00:50:25,210 but you don't want to do that anymore. 1236 00:50:25,550 --> 00:50:27,170 You don't want to do that anymore. 1237 00:50:27,470 --> 00:50:28,810 It's kind of like this. 1238 00:50:29,270 --> 00:50:30,450 I'll end with this. 1239 00:50:31,680 --> 00:50:36,056 When I was growing up with my parents in the house, they had rules, 1240 00:50:36,208 --> 00:50:37,020 okay? 1241 00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:40,940 They had things that they expected me to do and not to do. 1242 00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:43,384 And I felt like it was oppressive. 1243 00:50:43,512 --> 00:50:47,420 Come on, guys, all my friends are doing this and I can't do this. 1244 00:50:47,800 --> 00:50:49,700 And so now I catch myself. 1245 00:50:50,600 --> 00:50:53,112 And the reason why I obeyed them, I'm just gonna tell you the 1246 00:50:53,136 --> 00:50:53,296 reason. 1247 00:50:53,328 --> 00:50:55,360 When I was a little kid and I obeyed my parents was not because 1248 00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:58,218 I love them, because I feared my dad. 1249 00:50:58,354 --> 00:50:58,986 Okay? 1250 00:50:59,098 --> 00:50:59,954 Just gonna be honest. 1251 00:51:00,042 --> 00:51:00,946 I feared him. 1252 00:51:01,058 --> 00:51:03,790 It's like, dad, I do not want to get dad mad at me. 1253 00:51:04,970 --> 00:51:09,482 But as I grew, I started to understand that, that discipline. 1254 00:51:09,666 --> 00:51:12,738 Cause he used to tell me this thing, son, this hurts me more than 1255 00:51:12,754 --> 00:51:13,394 it hurts you. 1256 00:51:13,482 --> 00:51:14,554 I'm like, no way. 1257 00:51:14,682 --> 00:51:16,082 This is so wrong. 1258 00:51:16,266 --> 00:51:20,898 But as I saw his discipline over the years, I saw that it was 1259 00:51:20,914 --> 00:51:21,710 out of love. 1260 00:51:22,020 --> 00:51:24,756 So then after a time, it wasn't so much that I would obey 1261 00:51:24,788 --> 00:51:26,324 him out of fear, it was out of love. 1262 00:51:26,372 --> 00:51:26,996 You know what? 1263 00:51:27,108 --> 00:51:30,200 There was a time where I got stronger than my dad. 1264 00:51:30,660 --> 00:51:33,572 It's like now I can overpower him and I can stop him from getting. 1265 00:51:33,596 --> 00:51:34,348 But then I was like, you know what? 1266 00:51:34,364 --> 00:51:34,612 No. 1267 00:51:34,676 --> 00:51:36,556 Now is the time where I don't want to do that. 1268 00:51:36,628 --> 00:51:38,612 Now's the time where I say, dad, you know what? 1269 00:51:38,676 --> 00:51:39,884 I understand what you're saying. 1270 00:51:40,012 --> 00:51:43,076 And then there was a time when I turned 18, 1920, and I'm not under 1271 00:51:43,108 --> 00:51:43,772 my dad's rules. 1272 00:51:43,796 --> 00:51:45,220 And now I'm saying, you know what? 1273 00:51:45,300 --> 00:51:47,572 He's talking in the back of my mind and I'm going, yeah, this would 1274 00:51:47,596 --> 00:51:49,008 not be wise for me to do. 1275 00:51:49,164 --> 00:51:52,728 And so then it became something that was ingrained in me 1276 00:51:52,744 --> 00:51:55,152 and it was something that I did because I love my dad and I respected 1277 00:51:55,176 --> 00:51:55,968 my dad. 1278 00:51:56,144 --> 00:51:59,552 And that's that progression of maturity in my life where that's 1279 00:51:59,576 --> 00:52:00,440 the same thing as a Christian. 1280 00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:03,864 When we start out, it's like God's going to strike me down. 1281 00:52:04,032 --> 00:52:05,944 And then it gets to the point where knowing that he's not going 1282 00:52:05,952 --> 00:52:09,208 to strike me down, but then knowing that he expects this out 1283 00:52:09,224 --> 00:52:12,840 of me, out of love, and he disciplines me out of love, and therefore 1284 00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:14,248 he doesn't enjoy doing that. 1285 00:52:14,304 --> 00:52:16,928 And let me tell you, the moment that I really realized that 1286 00:52:16,944 --> 00:52:19,576 my dad did not enjoy disciplining me, when I had to start 1287 00:52:19,608 --> 00:52:22,852 disciplining my children, that's when I'm like, oh, you know 1288 00:52:22,876 --> 00:52:23,440 what? 1289 00:52:24,100 --> 00:52:25,484 I know what he was saying now. 1290 00:52:25,572 --> 00:52:29,100 I totally understand this now, but I want to discipline them because 1291 00:52:29,140 --> 00:52:29,876 I love them. 1292 00:52:29,988 --> 00:52:31,160 And that's the process. 1293 00:52:32,060 --> 00:52:36,636 God disciplines us and guides us and corrects us because he loves 1294 00:52:36,668 --> 00:52:37,124 us. 1295 00:52:37,252 --> 00:52:39,548 And it is that love that we can understand in our lives. 1296 00:52:39,644 --> 00:52:41,960 And so we'll end with that. 1297 00:52:42,820 --> 00:52:45,380 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist church 1298 00:52:45,420 --> 00:52:46,226 podcast. 1299 00:52:46,388 --> 00:52:48,930 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1300 00:52:49,310 --> 00:52:51,566 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1301 00:52:51,598 --> 00:52:55,878 or this sermon, you can find us@middletownbaptistchurch.org or 1302 00:52:55,974 --> 00:52:58,170 find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1303 00:52:58,670 --> 00:53:03,878 You can also email me directly@joshmissaroiddletownbaptastchurch.com. 1304 00:53:04,054 --> 00:53:07,542 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1305 00:53:07,606 --> 00:53:10,610 along for future podcasts and updates. 1306 00:53:11,030 --> 00:53:12,126 Thank you so much. 1307 00:53:12,238 --> 00:53:13,070 God bless. 1308 00:53:13,190 --> 00:53:14,270 Have a wonderful day.