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#24484 - Unity Is Ours By Faith - Acts 21:26-40 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to a few.
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Places and this. Is where we'll go.
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We'll go. We'll start in Ephesians chapter
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4 and then we'll get into Acts chapter 21 and then we'll land
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in Genesis Chapter 9 and then we'll be in First Corinthians 9
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somewhere. So if you'd like to open ahead,
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you can get to a few of them that'll get ahead.
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But we'll be in some of these and we'll be in all of these
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passages to build a Bible study that I've entitled.
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Unity is ours by faith. Unity is ours by faith.
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We're dropping in Acts 21, where we left off last time, where
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Paul finally made it to Jerusalem.
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And when he got to Jerusalem, he was met by the spiritual leaders
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there to his, the church leaders letting him know, hey, they're
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already talking bad about you. They're already saying you don't
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love the law and you don't love us and you've turned your back
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on God. And so here's what I want you to
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do. There's some people taking a
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vow. If you would just pay their way,
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it would show everybody that you haven't.
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Abandoned the law. That that we as a church know
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that the law is good. It leads us to Christ.
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And that's where Paul is. He's wanting to make and create
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unity. He's wanting to build the unity.
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He's going to celebrate with these men.
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He's going to pay their way so that their vow will be honored
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by the priests at the temple. And he is revealing this section
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of Scripture is revealing to us the dynamic diversity that's in
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the body of Christ even among us today, men and women, boys and
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girls, Jews and Gentiles. It made-up the early church
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then, and it makes up the church today.
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So many people, our own church here right now, such a diverse
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group of people that God has gathered.
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We have come from so many backgrounds and we have so many
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perspectives on life. And the beginning of the church
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started with a group of Jews that were told to reach the
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World. And by the time we come to Acts
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21, the world is being reached. And even here today, you know,
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there's so many things that separate us.
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There's so many things that separated with all the diversity
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that's among us, there are distinctions.
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But I want to remind you today, it doesn't matter what the color
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of your skin is, or the country that you were born or came from,
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or the language that you speak, or the house that you live in,
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or what city you grew up in or any of the things that make us
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individual. Those things, they don't as
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matter as much as your new identity, your new identity.
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The most important part of your life and mine is my new identity
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in Christ. That's what gives meaning to all
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those other identities. Now let me be clear, when I say
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they don't matter, I don't mean that they aren't valuable.
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Oh no, they are valuable. It's amazing what God does when
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He takes us all from all these different walks of life.
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He brings us into the church and makes US1 in Him.
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We're all one in Him and the identity that we get is added to
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us. We don't lose anything.
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So our individuality still is the same.
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The family we came from, the color of our skin, our language,
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everything about that's still the same.
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But what happens is now we have a new identity where we begin to
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love others, listen despite the differences.
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That's a very important principle that we gain in
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Christ. We don't look down on one
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another because of our differences.
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We value them, we enjoy them, we watch how God puts them
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together. We're able then in Christ to
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crucify any prejudice or how we might treat one another because
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we are different. We recognize the differences,
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but we fight against division. Can I get an Amen on that?
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You recognize the differences, but we fight against division.
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We don't allow our differences to put a wedge between us, but
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rather we celebrate them. You know heaven's going to be
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filled with all the diversity. You know that, right?
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Heaven's going to be filled with diversity.
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Let me show you in Revelation chapter 5.
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I'll just read it to you. In verse eight.
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It says now when Jesus had taken the scroll, the four living
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creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each
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having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the
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prayers of the Saints. And then they sang a new song.
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And I love this saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to
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open its seals, for you were slain.
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You have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe,
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tongue, people and nation, and you have made us kings and
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priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.
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And with the diversity, even in our own home church here, you
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have to understand anytime there's diversity, there's
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always the possibility of division.
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The enemy of our souls loves to go after our differences.
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He loves to make them more than they are, so that we're tempted
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to look down on someone else, or tempted to look maybe more high,
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to see ourselves as more highly than someone else.
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You see, the same things that make us unique can be the same
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things that are points of contention between us.
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But ultimately, our true identity will never come apart,
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come apart from a genuine work of the Holy Spirit, which is why
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I asked you to open to Ephesians chapter four.
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In Ephesians chapter 4, if you go with us on our footsteps of
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Paul, Ephesus will be one of the stops.
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And in Ephesians chapter four, we have this instruction from
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Paul, which is interesting because this is the this is the
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place where the greatest riot took place, Ephesus.
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But it's also the place where the greatest revival took place.
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And it's also the place where the Jews that came against him
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are now following him. And we meet in Acts 21 today.
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But notice what he writes to the church.
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He says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beg you to
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have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were
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called, basically saying what I just said, you have a higher
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calling, you have a new identity.
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You are a new creation in Christ.
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So go after it. And he says in verse 2 with
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lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one
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another in love. And then notice verse 3,
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endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
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There is one body, one spirit, just as you were called in one
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hope, 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
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all who is above all through all and in you all.
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You hear the emphasis on 111 unity.
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Unity equals one. And he says, I'm begging you
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guys have a walk worthy. I'm begging you guys to live
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with lowliness and gentleness, bear with one another.
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But then he says in verse three of but this is what I want you
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to fight. I don't want you to fight one
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another. This is what I want you to fight
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for. I want you to fight for unity.
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The unity exists in the spirit. That's what endeavoring.
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You could translate that word endeavoring to work really hard
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for to give a lot of effort to protecting the unity.
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Here at Calvary, we have adopted these axioms to help us
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understand the direction They're in the new believer packet,
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they're online, they're on the app anywhere we can communicate
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them. We want it want you to know them
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so you can see how God's going to help us get to the goal that
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He has. For us, and one of them is.
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This we say. We say that we lock Shields.
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That's our way of trying to communicate this passage, that
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as a church we want to be unified.
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And the idea of locking Shields comes through to us from the
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Roman army, where they would lock Shields and move forward
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together and they would fight together, the real enemy, not
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each other. And I believe that's so
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important for the church to see this today, without minimizing
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the difficulties and without excusing the difficulties, but
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really moving forward in unity together, expressing the gospel,
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the good news that God can bring others in to unity.
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But instead, the church likes to fight one another.
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There's all kinds of division in the church today.
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Denominational structures, we're better.
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We're the only ones that do it right.
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I mean, there's even websites that are designed to promote all
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this division, this division. And it's not God's will for us
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to be all divided because of the differences.
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We should be happy that we're different.
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You should be really happy. Everyone is not like you.
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You wouldn't even like that. You'd come up against, you know,
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the personality quirks and things like, I am glad that not
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everybody's like me. I even as I get to work with
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such a diverse team of men and women, I am so glad.
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They're not like me. I'm so it's such a beautiful
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thing to watch God work all the differences together so that we
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move forward unified even as a church.
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It was AW Tozer that wrote. And by the way, if you haven't
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read, if you need somebody to push you along in your walk, you
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should read something by Tozer. TOZER, one of his most popular
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books is downstairs on our reading list.
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It's called the Pursuit of God. Absolute classic.
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Super challenging. If you haven't read it yet and
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you're looking for something to move you forward, that's a great
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resource. But this is something he wrote.
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He said this and I quote. It is too bad that anything so
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obvious should need to be said at this late date, but from all
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appearances, we Christians have forgotten the lesson so
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carefully taught by Paul. God's servants are not to be
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competitors, but coworkers. End Quote.
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We're not to be fighting or competing, but rather
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complimenting one another. And if I'm going to work, I want
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to work at thinking the best. Of you.
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And if I have to work, I want to work at speaking the best to you
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and I have to work, I want to work at saying the best about
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you. We're brothers and sisters in
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the Lord wanting to accomplish the same thing seeing.
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People's lives changed by the Gospel.
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And unity is already among us in Christ.
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What we're fighting for is to maintain it.
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And the idea behind that is there's always attempts to try
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to drive a wedge in between. US, and how important it is that
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we keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace which
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brings. Us back to Acts 21.
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Now let's pick up where we left off.
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Paul is wanting to do this very same thing.
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He wants to keep the unity, and it says where we left off in
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verse 26. Then Paul took them in the next
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day and having been purified with them, entered the temple to
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announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which
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time and offering should be made for each one of them.
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And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from
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Asia, and again, we'll pause along the way just to give some
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insight. The Jews from Asia are probably
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Jews from Ephesus, where that big riot took place, where
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Demetrius got upset. There were people following
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Paul. These are probably Jews in that
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region, probably from Ephesus. But nonetheless, they're against
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Paul. They want to make his life
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miserable. They want to destroy him,
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destroy his ministry. That's The Who the 8 these guys
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are. They saw him, it says verse 27
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in the temple, stirred up the crowd and laid hands on him,
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crying out men of Israel help. This is the man who teaches all
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men everywhere against the people, the law and this place.
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And furthermore, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has
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defiled this holy place, for they had previously seen
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Trophemus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed
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that Paul had brought into the temple, and all the city was
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disturbed. Let's pause there for a second.
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If you'd like to write in your Bibles in the margin here on the
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side of these verses so far from verses 27 on, I want you to
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write this phrase. You ready?
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Big fat lies, that's what they are.
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That's what Paul's. Facing big fat lies, false
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accusations. What they're saying he is doing
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is the exact opposite. Of what he's.
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Doing Has that ever happened to you where you've done something
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and then an enemy or somebody comes and accuses you of exactly
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the opposite? Of what you have done.
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Just to get under your skin or unfortunately people believe
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that kind of stuff. But you did one thing, Paul.
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He's in the temple with these guys.
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He's paying their way. He's there to be purified with
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them. Why?
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So that he might bring the peace because he honors the word.
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He's not teaching. Again, none of these things are
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true. He's not teaching teaching
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against people. He's not teaching against the
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law. He's not teaching against the
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temple. It's the exact opposite.
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Big fat lies. False accusations.
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Now we may not. Apply big fat lies to things,
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Really. But here's how this works in our
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lives. As we step back for a second,
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another thing you could write in the margins, if you like,
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something that would remind you of the application of this
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passage is gossip, slander, and dishonesty.
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That's what Paul's dealing with here.
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He's being gossiped about. He's being slandered and he's
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being lied about and people believe it because it says in
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verse 30 that they disturbed the whole city.
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Everyone that was in that region and being able to hear and watch
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this were greatly disturbed by these lies.
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And this is very unfortunate because what Paul is doing,
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well, I think he writes about it.
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Would you turn over to 1st Corinthians Now Chapter 9?
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I believe this episode could have very well been in his mind
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as he was writing these words to the Corinthian church in First
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Corinthians Chapter 9 where Paul is making an effort an example
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to us. Of his desire to win people to
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Christ and doing whatever he needs to do without compromise
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to do that. Notice what he says in verse 19
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of Chapter 9. He says for though I am free
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from all men, which basically he could just say I don't care what
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those guys say. I don't care what the critics
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say. I'm free from all men.
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But he doesn't take that approach.
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He says I'm free from all men, but I've made myself a servant
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to all that I might win the more, and to the Jews I became a
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Jew that I might win the Jews to those who are under the law, as
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under the law, then I might win those who are under the law.
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Let's pause there for a second. This is exactly what he's doing.
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He is by nationality a Jew, so he's not going to become a Jew.
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He is one, but he is stepping into their lives to reach them.
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They're still under the law. He's he'll go and do, hey, you
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want me to to pay the vow, pay the money for the vow.
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I'll do that no problem. If it will win somebody to
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Christ, I will do that without compromise.
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That's where he's living here, but he's being accused of the
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exact opposite. Notice verse 21 to those who are
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without the law, as without the law, not being without law
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toward God, but under law toward Christ, that I might win those
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who are without the law. He's basically saying, hey,
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people that aren't believers, I'll become like an unbeliever,
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but not like I'm an unbeliever toward God.
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I'm not going to sin, but I'm going to take into account who
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they are, where they are, and I'm going to meet them where
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they are. That's what Paul says.
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Why? So they might win the more to
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the weak. Verse 22 I became as weak that I
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might win the weak I become all things to all men, that I might
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all by all means save some. Now this I do.
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You got to mark this. This is the most important verse
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in this whole section. Now this I do for the gospel
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sake. That I may be a partaker of it
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with you. I don't have time to develop
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this. I've done this in a different
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Bible study when we went verse by verse through Corinthians.
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But I do think we need to mention it today.
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I believe it's a word for someone to receive it.
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Now, there are many believers that love to use this section in
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First Corinthians Chapter 9 to justify their sinful behavior
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and that is not what Paul is teaching here.
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The simple behavior would be something like this.
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Well, if I want to reach the people that are partying and
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getting drunk, I'm going to go party and get drunk with them
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and I'll reach them. Especially if you were saved out
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from that lifestyle, right? Like this.
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Say it's the club, the club scene, you know God.
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Saved you out of the club. Scene.
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And you were totally in it, man. You were completely in it, a
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part of it. But then God rescued you out of
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it. The idea would be, well, you
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know, I'm just going to go back and I'm going to still be
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clubbing and still be drinking and still, because you know
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what, if I just go back there, who's, how are they going to
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hear the gospel? I'll just go around with a, with
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a drink in my hand and passing out tracks and telling people
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about Jesus at the club. I don't think so doesn't work
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that way. God saved you out of that.
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And if he really gave you a heart to meet them and share the
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gospel with them, it will not be through sinful means.
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You may be able to connect with them.
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You may have some relationships. You may be able to know exactly
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what they're talking about because that's where you used to
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be. But this idea, you know, like
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you come on a Saturday night service, I'm here to worship the
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Lord, but I'm changing clothes and heading to the club right
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after service because I'm going to go share the gospel.
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Yeah, not so much. And so don't use this as an as
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an excuse for sin. It's not or compromise.
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God is not going to call you back to sin in your own life and
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even lay some heavy temptation on you so you can reach that.
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God is going to lead you and guide you where what Paul is
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saying. He's saying, look, I've died to
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myself so I can reach people and I'll do.
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Whatever it takes short of. Sin to reach them and coming
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back. Now in Acts 21, I believe that's
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where he's at, where he goes into the temple.
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He didn't take trophy Trophemus in there.
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I want you to notice a mark this word in Acts 21 because we don't
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use it very often, but we do use another word to describe it.
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Notice again where it says in verse 29 that Trophemus, the
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Ephesians were with them, whom they supposed that Paul had
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brought into the temple. So you know this is a
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slanderous, dishonest statement. Because they supposed it
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happened, they didn't see it happen, which we may not use the
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word. Suppose you know the word we use
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today to describe that, that they assumed that he brought
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them in. Anybody ever assumed something
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and was completely wrong and embarrassed about it?
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Amen. I mean, assuming is a very bad,
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bad thing to be involved in. You should verify before you
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assume anything. But here they are taking
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assumptions. They're lying, slandering,
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gossiping, which stirred up the city, the whole crowd against
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them. It says in verse 30, they seized
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Paul, dragged him out of the temple and immediately the doors
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were shut. Now as they were seeking to kill
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him. So these these slanderous lies
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stirred up the crowd and put Paul's life at risk.
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Don't miss this they were seeking to kill him.
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News came to the command commander of the Garrison that
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all Jerusalem was an uproar, so the commander immediately took
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soldiers and centurions and ran down to them and when they saw
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the commander and the. Soldiers.
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They stopped beating Paul. So they were beating Paul toward
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death. They were pummeling him, hurting
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him greatly. Why?
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He was just in the temple honoring God and paying
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somebody's way. How did it get so bad?
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Because of lies? Because of gossip, because of
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slander. Don't forget that it says as the
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commander came near verse 33 and took him and commanded him to be
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bound with two chains, that he asked who he was and what he had
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done. And some among the multitude
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cried one thing and some another.
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And when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult,
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he commanded him to be taken into the barracks.
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And when he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the
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soldiers because of the violence of the mob.
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For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out.
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Away with him, away with him. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
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Very similar words that they used to describe taking Jesus
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away get him away. They went from Hosanna, Hosanna
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to crucify him. Crucify him.
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Here's Paul in a very. Difficult.
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This is 1/6. Time a riot erupts around his
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life and I wonder at this point, I mean, this is fulfillment of
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exactly what they've been telling him.
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Don't go to Jerusalem. Don't go to Jerusalem.
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It's going to be bad for you there.
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I mean, he wasn't even there a couple days before that.
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He's almost dead just like Agabus.
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That's last in our last study we learned about Agabus took off
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his belt, took off Paul's belt, tied his own hands together.
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And so the man that wears this belt, he's going to suffer in
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Jerusalem. And remember Paul said, I don't
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care, suffer like none of these things move me.
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I need to go to Jerusalem and here he is suffering in chains
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because of words. Yes, it's a fulfillment of God's
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word for his life. Yes, it's a fulfillment of
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prophecy. But Paul is close to death
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because of words, because of lies.
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You remember his children. Most of us, many of us were
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taught this little phrase, this little song.
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Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt
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me. It's not true.
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It's not true. At all.
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Words hurt a lot. And they can go deep.
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Some words can even put someone's life at risk.
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Words can ruin families and friendships.
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Words can lead a person to a crisis eternity if they're
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taught improperly. Words can cause deep, deep
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wounds in a child that they'll grow up of and have to deal with
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the rest of their lives. Some of you living out that very
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truth. Words do hurt, and we have an
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example of evil words bringing about bringing about great pain
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in a. Brother's life, word gets to the
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commander, The Antonia fortress is there on the Temple Mount
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area. So word gets to him that there's
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an uproar among the Jews. He rushes down, takes them
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because you don't want to mess with Rome.
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Rome doesn't need another uproar.
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They're they're so close, they're not going to let it
24:18
happen. But I want you to step back and
24:20
understand that God used the Roman government to save Paul's
24:23
life. That's why we need to be praying
24:26
for our leaders in government. You know whether you agree with
24:28
them or not, whether they're the.
24:30
Party you follow or not, the Bible commands us to pray for
24:33
leaders because you never know how God is going to use the
24:36
government to even save a life or open a door for the gospel.
24:39
You don't know, you just don't know.
24:42
That's why when you get at odds with one another and you're just
24:45
always divided, we need to learn how to disagree without.
24:49
Destroying a brother or a sister.
24:52
Because here God is obviously using the Roman government, the
24:56
Antichrist Roman government, to save his life, and he'll declare
25:01
himself to be a citizen and use that to his advantage for the
25:05
gospel. It's all for the gospel, but
25:11
words bring about great pain in his life, which is where I want
25:14
to pause here today. If you'd go to Genesis Chapter 9
25:18
with me, I want to help you to be careful when you hear bad
25:24
news, whether it's true or not. Bad news about a brother or
25:29
sister, what will bring health into your family, What will
25:32
bring health into this church? What will bring health between
25:35
churches? As I wanted you to learn how to
25:37
be careful when you hear bad news, whether it's true or not.
25:42
In Paul's case, it's 100% false. In the story we true story we
25:48
see before us, it's 100% true. Nonetheless, when we hear bad
25:53
news as believers, there's a right way to handle it and a
25:56
wrong way to handle it. Be careful not to think the
25:59
worst of someone because you hear bad news because of a
26:04
supposed weakness or failure or an assumed weakness or failure
26:07
or even a real one. And here's Noah as he finally
26:12
exits the ark with his family. Notice in verse 18.
26:15
Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham,
26:20
and Japheth, and Ham was the father of Canaan.
26:24
These three were the sons of Noah.
26:27
And from these the whole earth was populated.
26:32
Now it begins to chronicle what it's like outside of the ark.
26:35
Verse 20. And Noah began to be a farmer.
26:38
So far, so good. And he planted a vineyard.
26:42
Again, so far so good. Then he drank of the wine.
26:45
Wait a minute, where's this going?
26:48
Where's this? He's tasting of what his crops
26:51
are producing. He drank of the wine and was
26:55
drunk and was drunk. Now he's in sin and his
27:00
drunkenness. Notice he becomes uncovered in
27:04
his tent. Yes, Bible students.
27:09
Noah, the Noah you're familiar with this, Is that Noah?
27:13
Yeah. The one that the Bible describes
27:15
Noah as the man who found grace in the sight of the Lord.
27:18
Yes. It's not Noah.
27:20
Yes, the man who lived an obedient life.
27:23
Who endured all the mockery and all those that were making fun
27:27
of him is he was building this large boat being ready for the
27:32
waters that were promised the flood that God.
27:35
Promised when they didn't even know what rain was yet.
27:38
Yeah, it's not Noah. The the Noah that the Bible
27:41
describes as walking with God. Yes, it's that same man, the one
27:45
that is described as being righteous and blameless, the one
27:50
who is a preacher of righteousness.
27:52
It's that man who fails. This is a great failure on his.
27:58
Part the failure of getting drunk and acting like a drunken
28:04
fool in his tent. Because by the way, drunkenness
28:09
will often lead a person to become a drunken fool and it's
28:14
not God's will for your life. I want you to notice here, this
28:17
is the first mention of wine in the Bible.
28:21
And the first mention of wine is in connection with a man, and
28:26
that connection is also associated with his drunkenness
28:29
and his foolish behavior. It's a very clear in the Bible
28:35
that drunkenness is forbidden. You know, because of my
28:39
background and what alcohol and drugs did to my family and my
28:42
life. I advocate no drinking
28:45
whatsoever, even though I know the Bible doesn't say you can't
28:48
drink. It just says it's not wise.
28:51
And take it from me, it's not wise.
28:54
Take it from Noah, it's not wise.
28:57
It's just not wise. He was fine planting the
29:00
vineyard. He was fine cultivating it.
29:02
He took his life, took a turn after all those years of
29:05
faithfulness, all those days of faithfulness on the ark.
29:09
Took a turn when he took a bottle and I'm certain you guys
29:14
know. People like this because
29:16
drunkenness just ruins people. It ruins lives, ruins families.
29:20
It absolutely destroys. And I know, you know, people
29:22
like this. I certainly do.
29:24
Where you know, man. That brother, he's so good.
29:26
If he it when he's sober, it's when he's drunk, it's so bad.
29:31
It's when weird things happen and we're really bad things
29:33
happen is when he says bad things and he does bad things.
29:36
I know that people would say. That about me in my past life.
29:39
I know it. You know, Ed was so much better
29:43
when he's sober than when he was drunk.
29:45
And I would say. Every.
29:46
Big problem I ever got into in my life was associated with
29:50
drugs and alcohol, mostly drunkenness.
29:55
I want you to notice this before we move on.
29:57
There is a close. Relationship between
29:59
intoxication and iniquity there is a close association and
30:06
relationship between drunkenness and debauchery.
30:09
And with Noah, it caused him to somehow in some weird way, some
30:15
twisted way to become naked in his tent, which if you Bible
30:20
students know in Leviticus chapter 18, as God is preparing
30:26
the nation. After Noah later on he says this
30:29
in verse six, none of you shall approach anyone who is near of
30:34
kin to him to uncover his nakedness.
30:38
I am the Lord. The nakedness of your father,
30:41
the nakedness of your mother, you shall not uncover.
30:44
She is your mother. You shall not uncover her
30:48
nakedness. This was written years later to
30:54
instruct the nation. How to honor their mother and
30:59
father or someone like this that's drunk and is doing some
31:04
wild naked dance in his tent Well somehow he's drawing
31:08
attention to himself. Notice because it says in verse
31:11
22 and Ham, the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father
31:18
and. Told his two brothers outside.
31:22
So we're going to learn now that there are two ways to handle
31:26
when you hear bad news, when you hear bad news about someone or
31:30
even see something. If you stumble upon someone in
31:34
trouble, someone that's drunk and doing something dumb, or
31:38
when you you have a couple of options.
31:41
Here's option number one. You can see it and you can
31:45
disrespect the person and you can spread the bad news through
31:49
gossip and slander to try to destroy their life and their
31:54
reputation. You could do that.
31:56
That's what Ham does here to his own dad.
32:00
We we know that Ham here is in great sin because he is sinning
32:06
against one of the top ten. He is committing one of the sins
32:09
in the top ten in Exodus chapter 20.
32:12
He is not honoring his father here by involving his brothers
32:18
like this. He saw the nakedness of his
32:20
father and he told his two brothers.
32:22
So option #1 when you see something in someone's life, you
32:25
hear something in someone's life.
32:27
You can either #1 spread it as the gossip and slander it is, or
32:33
#2 notice what the brothers do. Shem and Japheth took a garment,
32:39
laid it on both their shoulders and went backward and covered
32:43
the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away and
32:48
they did not see their father's nakedness.
32:51
So get the picture. You know, they're, they're
32:53
together. They heard the news.
32:55
They can't unhear it. They can't unhear it, but they
32:58
can choose not to see something that they'll never Unsee.
33:01
And so they decide to take a blanket.
33:03
They go back, they're working backwards and they're just OK,
33:05
Dad, it's going to be OK, Dad, it's OK.
33:07
And they wrap him up and cover him so that they won't see
33:10
something that they can't Unsee, honoring and respecting their
33:13
dad in the midst of this difficult situation.
33:16
It's, you know this, you know, he wasn't doing this on on the
33:19
ark. There's no, he wasn't dancing
33:21
naked on the ark. He wasn't doing these types of
33:23
thing. He was living as a man of God.
33:25
And he comes to a place where he failed.
33:29
And one son makes it worse with words and his actions, and the
33:38
other two sons make it better by walking in backwards and
33:44
covering him. You know, I think Ham was happy
33:47
that his dad failed. His dad was a righteous man,
33:51
faithful man. And I think Ham personally had a
33:56
rebellious nature about him and was inflamed by the moral lapse.
34:00
Of his father, it's a lot like. People in our lives where you
34:02
say you're a Christian, you live like a Christian and you make
34:05
one mistake and man, they jump all over that.
34:07
I thought you were a Christian. I didn't know Christian to do
34:09
that. It's the same principle, but
34:11
much worse because this is in the family.
34:16
The two other brothers decide. You know we're going to take the
34:18
High Road here. I don't want to see this.
34:21
It's one of the principles that is one of the principles I share
34:25
with my kids. I was raising them like because
34:27
when you see and hear something like this, you can't unhear and
34:29
can't Unsee. And as I was raising my kids and
34:32
helping them navigate through this difficult world, I would
34:34
always tell them, hey guys, just be careful that you don't do
34:37
something you can't undo. Just ask God for.
34:42
Wisdom so you don't do something you can't undo.
34:46
This cannot be undone. What Ham did, it's going to
34:50
cause problems. It's not problems you can't
34:52
overcome and that the Lord can't work in, but it just makes life
34:55
harder, as sin always does. The sin of Ham is that he saw
35:03
that, he rebelled and he told everybody about it.
35:07
Shem and Japheth, they weren't interested in exploiting their
35:10
father, quickly cover him up, respected him even in his
35:14
failure. And Shem and Japheth wanted to
35:16
cover it up, cover up their helpless dad who's drunk.
35:21
It reminded me of a scripture. It probably reminded you of a
35:23
scripture as well in a very literal way.
35:26
Peter would write much later in first Peter chapter 4, verse
35:29
eight. And above all things, have
35:31
fervent love for one another, for love covers a multitude of
35:35
sins. And it does love covers a
35:38
multitude of sins. Now, I want to be clear here so
35:42
that you understand exactly what kind of church you're in.
35:47
Exactly what our desire is here. When you hear the Bible say
35:52
cover sin, it does not mean to ignore it and pretend it never
35:58
happened and sweep it under the rug and then move on.
36:02
That's not the kind of church you're in.
36:04
We take that what exactly what it says and that is in covering
36:09
someone's sin, you're going to help them.
36:12
You're not going to exploit them.
36:15
You're going to help them in love.
36:18
You're in a church that believes in biblical church discipline,
36:22
that when sin occurs in this church, that we will approach it
36:27
and handle it biblically in the wisdom of God the best way that
36:31
we can with the desire to help a brother or sister.
36:34
But we won't just excuse things and we won't pretend they never
36:38
happened, and we won't try to hide things.
36:41
We will to the best of our ability address the issue.
36:47
But when you step back for a moment and you look at Noah here
36:51
with his boys, which ones were, which sons were more effective,
36:56
the ones that walked in backwards and said, Dad, we're
36:58
going to give you time to sober up.
37:00
Then we'll deal with it. We'll deal with it at the right
37:03
time in the right way. But we're not getting involved
37:06
and making fun of you or not we're we're not getting
37:09
involved. We can see it is a problem, and
37:12
we're going to cover you up, Pops.
37:17
There are many hams in the church today, you know, perhaps
37:21
even in ours. They like to gaze upon the sins
37:24
of others and make sure everybody knows.
37:27
Oh, there are websites for that too.
37:29
You know, people that wake up every morning looking for the
37:32
next church scandal so that the whole world can know about it.
37:35
I don't really understand what they think they're
37:37
accomplishing, but somehow they have the motives.
37:39
They think it's going to be helpful.
37:43
And instead of keeping it to themselves and helping, they go
37:46
out and begin to gossip. You know, I think in the church,
37:50
you know, it's sometimes it doesn't come.
37:51
I've got some juicy gossip. But you know, getting involved
37:54
in all the cheese me, you know, and trying to get the gossip.
37:56
It's not that. It's like, hey, we need to pray
37:59
for brother so and so really, what's his name?
38:02
And you give his whole name, address, phone number, Social
38:04
Security, all that. And then you start praying.
38:06
Oh, you know, we just pray for brother so and so.
38:08
He's such a horrible adulterer and I can't believe what he did
38:11
today. And he stole all this and in
38:13
Jesus name we want to help him, Lord.
38:16
And you just defile the person you're praying for.
38:18
You can pray for someone without giving all the information.
38:21
Did you know that we're just going to pray for brothers?
38:24
So and so man, he's struggling so bad.
38:27
And Lord, you know his situation and you're covering, You're not
38:32
exposing, but you're also not ignoring and you're not involved
38:37
in all the gossip or even a source of gossip gossip.
38:43
Hurts. Words hurt.
38:46
It's a sin that brings great destruction and we need to stop
38:50
talking to people about people and we need to start talking to
38:54
God about people in our prayer lives.
38:59
Here's a great verse. The Bible tells us exactly what
39:01
to do. In Galatians chapter 6 verse
39:03
one, it says, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass,
39:09
you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of
39:13
gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be
39:17
tempted bear one another's burdens, and so.
39:20
Fulfill the law of. Christ, I'm not sure how many
39:26
listening to me today have been on the other end of lies and
39:29
gossip and slander, but it is painful and it is difficult and
39:35
it takes up a lot of mind space. I've had my fair share of that
39:38
here, being here in Colorado for 25 years, and the marketplace or
39:43
the temple area is usually not where it happens.
39:46
It usually happens online somewhere, social media,
39:50
Facebook or whatever. Or instead of handling things,
39:54
as we as a church learned not too long ago, handling things
39:57
according to Matthew chapter 18 and resolving it.
40:00
People would rather exploit it or say it or lie or whatever,
40:03
whether it's true or not, and I've had my fair share and we've
40:06
had some pretty serious things happen in our family where there
40:09
have been people taking positions against our family
40:11
that are doing exactly what Paul had happened.
40:14
Like it's the. Exact opposite of what happened.
40:18
And this is where Pastor Chuck Smith has helped me over the
40:21
years. He would teach to my pastor, my
40:24
pastor would teach to me, and now I get to teach to you.
40:27
When you're on the other end of being attacked or slandered a
40:31
gossip about you got two choices.
40:33
Personally jot them down #1 you can choose to defend yourself,
40:40
you can choose to defend yourself.
40:43
But if you choose to defend yourself, then you are limited
40:45
by your resources. And.
40:48
I don't know if this ever happened to you before, but if
40:50
people are throwing barbs at you and, and shooting, you know, the
40:52
arrows of the enemy at you and you try to defend yourself, this
40:55
is going to make things worse. It's like, Oh no, that's not
40:58
what happened. And you did this and you did
40:59
that and you're not talking and, and you just jump into the mud
41:02
with them. And when you jump into the mud
41:04
with them, you're going to be just as dirty as they are even
41:07
trying to do the right thing. You can defend yourself, but
41:09
you're limited. You're limited or option #2 is
41:13
you can let the Lord be your defender because God knows all
41:16
things. He has all power.
41:18
He's everywhere at the same time.
41:20
He knows what he's doing in your life and you can trust him with
41:22
your life. It's a far harder choice to
41:27
make, but just to commit your life to the Lord.
41:30
Now, again, there are nuances to this.
41:32
There may be some time where you have to answer for sure.
41:35
There may be some time where you have to share the truth in a
41:38
situation. These aren't exclusive
41:40
categories like, like they're so narrow and rigid, but in
41:44
general, if you try to chase down everybody that's upset with
41:48
you, everybody's saying you're going to be putting out fires
41:50
the rest of your life. And then you're not going to be
41:53
doing what's important. And that is the safe work for
41:56
the sake of the gospel. And then when you just commit
41:59
your life to the Lord at night, you said, Lord, you know what's
42:01
going on. You know more that's going on
42:03
than I even know. You've been so gracious to me
42:05
not to show me everything and I'm just going to bed and I
42:08
trust you with my life. And they can, you know, your
42:13
reputation can be soiled for sure.
42:15
People will believe it. Well, people believe the lies.
42:17
Yes, they do. And I don't know what's worse.
42:20
The person that's sharing the lie or the person that believes
42:24
the lies without verifying them. That's probably more painful
42:31
because I think of those that might have been posting over the
42:33
years, writing stuff about me, all that I think that they know
42:36
where I'm at. My phone number hasn't changed.
42:39
I'm here every service. They can hear, they can come and
42:42
resolve it, but they don't choose to.
42:45
So why would I chase down all the fires when I just got to do
42:48
what God's called me to do? And yeah, your reputation might
42:51
take a Ding here and there, but here's something you got to
42:53
understand. You have to let God.
42:59
Take care of your reputation. You take care of your character.
43:04
You can't do much about your reputation.
43:06
What people think about you, or is what they're going to think
43:08
about you. But you know what you can
43:10
control your character, the kind of person you are.
43:15
Your integrity is under your control.
43:18
Who you are as a woman, as a man, you can do that.
43:22
You can do the right thing even when no one, especially when no
43:25
one's watching. I I think it's something silly.
43:27
You're over at Safeway and you're still, you know, shopping
43:30
with. Cash so you give cash and the
43:32
change that comes back is more than you know you're supposed to
43:36
you see it there it's a few bucks and you're like, oh man,
43:39
look at the Lord's blessed me today yeah, got a few extra
43:42
dollars go get an ice cream or whatever.
43:44
And and you aren't a man of integrity.
43:46
You're not a woman of of character.
43:48
And you keep that money when you know it's not yours.
43:50
You control that. Oh, you know, bastard.
43:53
It doesn't hurt anyone. Well, I mean the woman that's
43:56
going to be counting out their cash store at the end of the day
43:59
and it's short money and the new.
44:00
Policy that just came in is if you're short anything, you're
44:04
fired. You're automatically thought of
44:05
as a thief and you're fired. Well, I think she might get
44:08
hurt. And for what?
44:10
You sell out your you. You get worried.
44:12
You can get worried about so many other things you don't
44:14
control when the things you do control is what eats you up from
44:17
the inside. Come back to Acts 21 now as we
44:21
close the lies and the gossip almost cost Paul his life.
44:28
Church. So of all that might be
44:31
happening out there and around us, let's not be so concerned
44:36
with that as much as we are what's happening in here among
44:40
us, our character and our integrity.
44:44
Let us be one less gossip and one less slanderer.
44:48
Let us verify before we assume. Because it makes sense, doesn't
44:53
it? The Bible says that the first
44:55
one that comes and pleads his case with you sounds.
44:58
Right. That's why people want to get
45:00
your ear fast, because they'll come and their story will be so
45:03
convincing by the time they're done.
45:06
They're like, oh, I can't believe it, let's go and get
45:09
them. But then you hear the other side
45:11
and you go, oh, they didn't tell me that.
45:17
I didn't think of that. And the real question is, why
45:20
are you listening to that to begin with?
45:23
You can stay out of so much trouble if you just mind your
45:27
own business and live a quiet, peaceable life.
45:30
Do you know the Bible teaches that?
45:32
That's not some pastor telling you, that's what the Bible says,
45:36
that you aspire to lead a quiet life, minding your own business,
45:42
making sure that things are taking place.
45:43
Paul here as he's on his way up the stairs and the people are
45:48
crying away with him. Verse 37, Paul was about to be
45:52
LED into the barracks. He told the commander, may I
45:55
speak to you? Can you speak Greek?
45:57
Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago raised an
46:00
insurrection and LED the 4000 assassins out into the
46:04
wilderness? But Paul said.
46:06
I'm a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean
46:11
City, and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.
46:15
So not only does God use the government to save his life, but
46:19
God uses the government, or at least a government official,
46:22
government employee, a military man to give him a platform to
46:26
share the gospel. Don't you think Paul's like, I
46:28
can't believe. I mean, he's all beat up and
46:30
bloodied, but he's like, I can't believe this.
46:32
God has opened the door for me. And so it says in verse.
46:36
When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the
46:40
stairs and motioned with his hand to the people.
46:42
And when there was a great silence, that's how fast God can
46:47
silence the critics. You know, that fast we're
46:49
talking that fast, they're just walking up stairs.
46:52
By the time they get to the top of the stairs, it's already been
46:56
arranged by God that He's going to silence the crowd.
46:59
We can just pray that the Lord would silence those that are
47:01
causing us difficulty. Silence their mouth like it's
47:04
that fast. It's so good.
47:06
It's so good. Those of you on the other end,
47:08
because you know, I share my example with you because that's
47:11
the life I live just where I'm at.
47:13
But you know, you have your own story.
47:15
You've got somebody doing something at work behind your
47:17
back, undermining you, wanting to take your job.
47:19
You got a neighbor, you got the HOA, you got whatever it might
47:22
be. There's always those that would
47:24
want to make life harder for you.
47:26
And the key is this. You just keep your eyes on the
47:28
Lord. He's at work, He's got your
47:30
back. Should you speak up?
47:33
I mean, you need to pray about that.
47:36
But most of the time we. Can just trust.
47:38
God with our lives, and he'll sort it out.
47:41
Keep my integrity, keep my character.
47:44
Let my life answer, let my life answer, Let your life answer
47:49
Whatever's going on. Notice, he says, when he gave
47:54
him permission. The crowd is silenced.
47:56
He spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying And don't you
48:00
want to know what he said? I do.
48:02
You have to come back for another service and we'll get
48:05
into that. We'll go right into the next
48:07
chapter. But what an amazing way that the
48:10
Lord would have us to be reminded today.
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Paul's life was almost lost because of words.
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And maybe our words won't go that be that much and some our
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sinful words might not lead to someone's death, you know.
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But maybe we assassinate someone's character or
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reputation in someone's eye and we don't want to be a part of
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that. We're the body of Christ, we're
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not the world. This is the body of Jesus Christ
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bought by the blood of Jesus. So let's live that way and let's
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honor one another. Let's be shut things down before
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they get bigger. Bring in church leadership if
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necessary to sort things out according to Matthew 18.
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But the Lord has an answer that's not sinful slander or
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gossip. Amen, Lord, thank you for your
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word as it speaks to us and just looking at Paul's life giving us
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so much insight on on the. Danger of words, Lord, and.
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And who do we turn to when we're being attacked?
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And you know, whatever, whatever it might be, God, we are open to
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the leading of your Holy Spirit and the necessity of following
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you, knowing that that's the key to follow you.
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And as the church is praying, if you're here today and you would
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say, add, I want to follow Jesus, I don't believe we should
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leave here without giving you a chance to turn away from your
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sin and to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
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And so today, if that's you, you'd say, Ed, I want to follow
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Jesus with my life. Would you just stand to your
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feet? I want to pray with you like
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today, the day of change. God bless you guys.
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And there'll be a pastor coming up in a moment.
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God bless you in the back. If you could stay standing so we
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could just see you, who else would say, that's me?
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This is such a significant thing.
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You know, it's such a hard study, isn't it?
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Because. It hits all of our hearts.
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There isn't one of us that isn't guilty of this sin, some more
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than others, but we're all guilty and God just wants to do
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that inward cleansing. Maybe drunkenness is your issue
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and you're just stuck. You don't need to be stuck.
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You we could walk in backwards and we can cover your life as
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you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
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He can. Your whole life is hinging on
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this decision to surrender. You can't, don't, don't, don't
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just think because you're in church everything's fine and you
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singing the songs, everything's fine.
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It will only be fine if you repent of your sins and ask the
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Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you.
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That's it. There is no other way.
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That's the deliverance from alcohol.
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That's the deliverance from all the bad things that come.
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Let the Lord do a deep work in you and you guys online and we
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obviously we don't see you or on the radio, but God sees you even
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downstairs here in the building, we have pastors down there to
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recognize if you're responding. But even if nobody recognizes
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God sees you. And so those of you that
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responded this tremendous day in your life, I want you to pray to
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God because there's what the Bible says.
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The Bible says that if we confess with our mouth the Lord
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Jesus, and we believe in our heart that God raised him from
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the dead, you will be saved. And so you can confess with your
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mouth right now. I'm going to help you pray to
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God and you can use my words, you can say.
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God, I ask you to. Forgive me of my sins.
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I choose to follow you today and turn away from my sinful past.
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I'm asking you to help me. Live a life.
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That pleases and honors you and Father.
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I know anyone anywhere that would turn their life to you
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today. You will lead them and you will
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guide them. You will help them.
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And for those that respond today, God pour out your spirit
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upon them. We can't wait to see and hear of
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all the great things you'll be doing in their lives in Jesus
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name, Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
52:25
Grace that's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
52:37
online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
52:42
Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.