Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "A Study of the book of Acts" by Hiram Kemp - Part 12

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"A Study of the book of Acts" by Hiram Kemp - Part 12 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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There's a few cutting hair and stuff. You'd like— all
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right, well, they didn't give us a bell, but it's 9:30. Um, getting ready to
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start our Bible class. If you got your Bible, be turning it to Acts chapter
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20. Today is the last day of the quarter and the last day of this
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class. Neil and I have been teaching through the book of Acts,
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but not necessarily in the traditional fashion of going textually verse
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by verse. But really trying to cover the book of Acts from the standpoint of
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talking about challenges that the church will always face. And you can
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think about some of those challenges we've talked about from Acts 2 up to this
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point. And I was thinking about this class and this being the last one and
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covering Acts chapter 20 through Acts 28, and this may not be true for you,
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but I thought about it from the standpoint of sermons I've heard, classes I've been
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in and taught. This is probably the section in Acts that's
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least known, or And at least this ground is not traveled
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as much as some other territories. You get to Acts 20, on to the end
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of the book, Paul is in these various trials and he's before various rulers,
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but there's really no establishment of congregations or churches.
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There's not a lot of conversion going on as far as where Paul would go
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into synagogues and teach and preach. And most of the time, from Acts
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21 really on through the end, Acts 28:30-31,
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Paul is in custody, first by the Jews and then by the Romans. So Some
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of this territory may not be as well traveled, but hopefully by the end of
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the class today, as far as we get, we'll be encouraged to see that there
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are still challenges that we face similar to Paul. We may never
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find ourselves on trial or arrested before authorities,
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but a great deal of what Paul undergoes is very similar to what we'll
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see. The other thing I want to say is, as we end this quarter and
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we think about the challenges the church will always face, I hope that this quarter
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your faith has been built up as you see that
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of this has been cyclical. We've talked about evangelism in various aspects and from various
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vantage points as it's been discussed throughout the book of Acts. But the things
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that the church is facing today are things the church has always faced. And as
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long as we're facing those things with the same God, we can be as successful
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as the first century church was in our own generation. So in the time
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we have left, we're going to start in Acts 20. This is where Neil left
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off 2 weeks ago and note a few challenges. I think I have 6.
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6 challenges. If we don't get through them all, I won't say
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next week because this will be the end, but you've got the book of Acts
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and you just read the rest. Okay, that's what we'll do. Let's start. Number 1,
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first challenge, the challenge of fellowship and encouragement.
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The challenge of fellowship and encouragement. Look at Acts chapter 20. I'm going to read
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the first 3 verses. It says, after the uproar ceased, Paul sent
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for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and
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he departed for Macedonia. And when he had gone through those regions and had given
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them much encouragement, he came to Greece. And there he spent 3 months.
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And when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about
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to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
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So, this idea of fellowship, it really runs throughout the entirety
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of Acts chapter 20. But I guess one of the challenges, or you could say
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one of the lessons, is this idea of encouragement. Now,
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Paul's ministry was fraught with difficulty. Throughout Paul's ministry,
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There was hardship. Read 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul had been shipwrecked,
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beaten with rods, bitten by a snake, robbed by individuals.
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And throughout Paul's life, though he faced various hardships, one of the things
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Paul often finds himself coming back to is, how can I
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reach out, build up, and encourage other people? And he does
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this through fellowship, through his participation with other Christians.
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Look at Acts chapter 20 and notice verses 1 and 2. It says, after the
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uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, If you've got the New King James or
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the King James, they go with embrace here or something like that, but other translations
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note encouragement, and it's the same word in both verses. I don't know why the
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New King James and King James family does something different, but in verses 1 and
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2, it mentions both times that Paul encouraged. He encouraged them
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as they departed, and then when he got to the region of Greece, or when
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he got to Greece, he gave them much encouragement. How long was Paul here?
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Look at verse 3. 3 months. I want you to think about
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encouragement in your life and think about people who've encouraged you, and then ask yourself
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this: have you ever spent 3 solid months encouraging anybody?
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You think about 90 days encouraging somebody. Paul stayed here, and really
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the text seems to suggest Paul would have stayed longer had it not
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been for persecution that drove him out. The end of verse 3 says,
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when a plot was made against him by the Jews, he was about to set
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sail for Syria set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
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So Paul is pushed out, but if Paul hadn't been,
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Paul would have stayed. Have you ever spent 3 solid months encouraging anybody?
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What would happen if you did that? And then just
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think about the other side. What will happen if you don't do that? Proverbs 12:25
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says, anxiety in the heart makes it astute, but a good word cheers it up
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and makes it glad. And that's what you see Paul doing. I think sometimes there's
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a struggle in the church. We think about our lives, and you can see various
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people sometimes viewing themselves this way as they try to find their place in congregational
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life. Nobody did anything for me. Nobody built me up. Nobody reached out to
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me. We're kind of like David in Psalm 142:4. David says,
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I looked on my right hand and on my left, and there was no man
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that reached out to me. No man cared for my soul. Most of Paul's
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life, Paul's in prison, persecuted, and on the run. But what is Paul often
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doing to other Christians, even less than he's sometimes receiving it?
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He's making sure he does what? He encourages. He builds other
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people up. And we've said this time and time again, and it bears repeating,
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if we want to be encouraged, then we should reach out and we should make
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sure that we encourage other people. And that's why I would say we need a
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ministry of encouragement. What does a ministry of encouragement look like? It looks like
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noticing those that are overlooked. 1 Thessalonians 5:14
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talks about building up those that are weak and strengthening those that are fainthearted.
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A ministry of encouragement says, who's being overlooked? And then
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who can I pour into and who can I build up? Sometimes we think about,
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I would really like to be encouraged or accepted into this group or be
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a part of this ministry, but look at all of the untapped places and then
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say, how can I pour in there and what can I do in that place?
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Another thing about a ministry of encouragement is it means speaking good when it's seen.
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Proverbs 18:21 says, death and life are in the power of
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the tongue, and those that love it will eat its fruit. We typically quote Proverbs
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18:21 when we're talking about the danger of the tongue.
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Death and life are in the power of the tongue. But listen to what Solomon
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says, death and what? Death and life. So yes,
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the tongue can do great destruction, but it also can do
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a great deal of good as it builds other individuals up. It means when you
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see good, you should say it. And Paul never hesitated to do
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this. Romans 16 catalogs a long list of individuals that Paul
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saluted and encouraged for the good that they— that he saw them doing.
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It means strengthening those that are discouraged, and that's what Epaphroditus does for Paul
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in Philippians chapter 2. It means restoring people after failure.
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James 5:19-20 says, if any of you do err from the
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truth and one converts him, let him know that he that converts a sinner from
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the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude
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of sins. And then lastly, I would say this, and you can write Romans 12:8
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right next to Acts 20:1-3 as you think about encouragement.
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Encouragement is less about, hey, here's my personality, and it's actually
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a ministry. In Romans 12:8, Paul says, let the one that encourages do
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it with cheerfulness. This zeal is literally a ministry that God wants
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every one of us engaged in, and it's something that the church will find herself
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repeatedly needing to do. Look at verse 1. What does it mean that after
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the uproar ceased, Paul went, sent for the disciples, and did this? What uproar is
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Luke talking about in Acts chapter 20 and verse 1? I'll give
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you a hint. It's right above it in Acts 19. What had just happened to
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Paul in Acts 19 in Ephesus? There was this riot
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and they chanted for hours, great is Diana of the Ephesians. And after that
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uproar ceased, who did they want to destroy in Ephesus? It was Paul. After all
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of that hardship and difficulty, Paul decides, you know what? The next time
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I see other disciples, I'm going to pour myself into them in the ministry of
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encouragement. And we need to do the same thing. The best time to encourage people
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is often after the most difficult times in our own lives. How can we build
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other individuals up, and how can we lift them up and encourage them? So one
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challenge the church is always going to face and need to rise up to is
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the ministry of fellowship, and that's also
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linked to encouragement. I don't think there's anybody in this building,
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I don't think there's anybody in the church anywhere that's struggling with overdosing on
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encouragement. You've never over-encouraged anybody. You've never encouraged a person to the point
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You've never reached out to try to build somebody up and they say,
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oh, no thanks, I didn't need that. I'm already built up enough. That wasn't for
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me. You can give that to somebody else. Most people, about the time you try
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to encourage them, always say what? That's just what I what? You're never
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going to do that and not hear that response because it's always just what we
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need. And in Acts 20, Paul shows us that's what his ministry was about.
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Here's the second challenge, the challenge of fellowship and worship. Acts 20,
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verse 4 down through verse 11 says, Sopater the Berean,
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son of Phyrus, accompanied him, and of the Thessalonians,
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Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy;
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and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. These went on
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ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi
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after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in 5 days we
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came to them at Troas, where we stayed for 7 days.
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On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread,
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Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he
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prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we
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were gathered, and a young man named Eutychus was sitting at the window. He sank
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into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer, and being overcome by sleep,
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he fell down by the 3rd story and was taken up dead. But when
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Paul went down and bent over him, taking him in his arms, he said,
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Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him. And when Paul had gone
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up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while until
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daybreak, And so he departed, and they took the youth away alive,
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and they were not a little comforted. So here's the second challenge of fellowship.
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It's the challenge of worship. So Paul wants to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost,
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but when he gets to Troas, he waits there 7 days so he can be
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there for worship on the first day of the week. Acts 20:7 is a passage
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we often quote about worship because it says, on the first day of the week,
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when the disciples came together to break bread. Sometimes in the New Testament,
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the statement breaking bread just means a common meal. That's Acts chapter
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2 and verse 46. But then there are other times when breaking bread
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is surrounded with these other worship-style elements: preaching,
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singing, prayer, assembling. It's then that breaking of
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bread refers to the Lord's Supper, and that's exactly what you have here in Acts
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chapter 20 and verse 7. Eutychus falls asleep in church and he dies.
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So that's a warning to stay awake, okay? We don't have any apostles that can
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wake you up if you fall out and die. But you're not the first person
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to fall asleep in church, right? Eutychus does. He dies, Paul raises him
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from the dead. Here's what I want to say about worship. Paul shows
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us in Acts 20 not just— and we use Acts 20:7,
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I think it's a great use of this passage, the disciples partook of the Lord's
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Supper on the first day of the week. I think that's important. But Luke also,
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if you just read through Acts 20 through the end, he's showing that Paul is
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hurrying. Paul wants to be at Jerusalem for Pentecost because there are
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a lot of Jews there. It'll be a great opportunity for Paul to reach his
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countrymen yet again. But Luke slows down the narrative purposely
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here. And look at verse 6. We sailed away from Philippi after
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the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in 5 days we came to them at Troas,
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where we stayed for 7 days. And the next thing he says is,
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on the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread.
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Evidently, Paul wanted to be in Troas on
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the first day of the week with these disciples so that he could do what?
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So he could worship and then he could break bread with them.
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There's a need for regular face-to-face gathering with other Christians.
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Acts— or Hebrews 10:24-25 says,
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let us consider how to stir one another up, provoking each other to
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love and good works. Verse 25, not abandoning the assembling of
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ourselves together, as the habit of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much
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the more as you see the day approaching. 2 John 12 and 3
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John verse 13, John ends both of those books by saying, I can't
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wait to come and see you, so that we can be face to face.
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And the challenge of fellowship and worship is that worship is fellowship. And I
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want to say more about that in a minute, but first let me just say
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there needs to be an importance on what we're doing together today,
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the physical gathering of the Lord's people. There are individuals that are shut
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in that rightly so profit from our services being live streamed,
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but we should never just opt for that willfully to say, you know what,
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I'd just rather not go. I want to be present with the saints. Acts 10:24-25,
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I mean, Hebrews 10:24-25 says don't make that a habit.
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Come together, assemble with the saints. There's something about being physically
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present that you just can't reproduce, even when you can see it at
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a distance. Look at 1 Corinthians 11. Hold your hand in Acts chapter
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20 and go over to 1 Corinthians 11. And this is a passage about the
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Lord's Supper. We're teaching 1 Corinthians next quarter, so I'm not going to spend a
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lot of time on this, but 1 Corinthians 11 is another one of these Lord's
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Supper passages And again, we use it to talk about the manner in which we
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partake of the supper, but I want you to notice how often Paul mentions not
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just partaking of the Lord's Supper, but this statement, when you come
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together. 1 Corinthians 11:17, he says, but in the following
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instructions I do not commend you. But when you come together,
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it's not for the better but for the worse. Look at verse 18, for in
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the first place, when you— what? Come together as a church. He mentions
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this again in verse 20. He says, when you come together. The Lord's
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Supper was the time in which Christians came together to remember
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the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. And it makes
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sense to do it on the first day of the week because that's when Jesus
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rose from the dead, Mark 16, Matthew 28. That's when
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the church was established, Acts chapter 2, the first Pentecost following the
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resurrection. It fell on a Sunday, and Christians have been gathering together on the first
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day of the week ever since. And so one of the challenges the church then
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faced and rose up to, according to Acts 20 with Paul,
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is the challenge of fellowship and the challenge of worship.
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Now, I've been saying fellowship and worship and using those interchangeably. Here's a question.
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How do we learn to see worship as fellowship and less as entertainment?
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I know worship, when you think about worship, and this is right, worship is
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about God. We say that. That's true. Primarily worship is directed heavenward,
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but there is another aspect of our worship that's horizontal toward one
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another. And what can we do? How can we change our view of worship
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And you might be thinking, wait a minute, Hiram, we worship according to the New
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Testament. Lord's Supper every first day of the week, singing a cappella,
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congregational singing, reciprocal one to another, Ephesians 5:19,
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Colossians 3:16, praying. Our worship's pretty simple.
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We're trying to follow exactly what they did in the first century, and rightly so.
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But still, I think there is this challenge to view worship less as
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entertainment and more as about worshiping God and praising him
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for who he is and about fellowship. So the question is, how do
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we learn to see worship more as an opportunity for fellowship with each
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other and less as a time where we focus on being entertained?
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Yeah, so Bill says fellowship, and this is rightly so.
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Koinonia, the Greek word fellowship, it means to share in common. And he's saying we
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don't have that in common with anybody else. It's our special time to be with
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God. And so when we do it, we bring each other together and worship does
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that. Yes, Joey.
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All right.
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Yeah. So Joey's right. Fellowship is more about participating,
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participation. Entertainment is more about being a what?
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Spectator. You're just watching. Sometimes if you're one of
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the men that serve in worship, maybe your mindset is even different, right? You come
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into the building like, well, I don't have prayer or anything today. I kind of
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get to sit back and do nothing. Nobody ever gets in here and gets to
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sit back and do nothing. Not if we're doing it God's way, biblically.
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God wants all of us doing something. Now, we may not be publicly leading in
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worship, but as Joey mentioned, it's a change of mindset. It's a shift in
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our mindset that says, I'm not here to merely be entertained.
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I'm here to fellowship and participate. Anybody else?
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Yeah. Dolores says it's more about family,
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and I think that's the heart of it. It's more about family and less about
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being entertained. And here's where I think that takes us. Stop thinking about
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worship primarily from the standpoint of the performers and start thinking
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about the people. Don't think about how he did today.
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Think about who we saw today, who we didn't see, who we can pour
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into, who we missed. But worship is entertainment. It doesn't matter if we don't have
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lights on the stage and a band. We view worship as entertainment when we
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primarily think about the people. And yes, the men leading us in worship should do
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their best, should be prepared, should seek to honor and glorify God. But if in
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your mind the whole time you're worshiping, you're only thinking about it from a performance
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standpoint, you're at a concert and less at a common communal gathering
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with God's people. You don't go to Thanksgiving and do that. Oh, we're never letting
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Aunt Becky serve the macaroni again. Did you see how she flipped her wrist when
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she did that? You don't do that. You view that— this is a time for,
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hey, family together. We're gathering together. We're in the same
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group. And that's what worship is. It's about God, but yes, it's a time when
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we congregate together. Mike and then Russell, then we'll move ahead.
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We designated the room in back of us where the kitchen
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is as our fellowship room, but God
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designates this room where we are right now as our fellowship
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room. Yeah, that's right. And I think we can fellowship in both places,
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but you're exactly right. It's not just limited there, but it also can and
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should be taking place here. We're singing one to another. We're partaking of the Lord's
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Supper together. Don't view your worship as just about you.
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Yes, let a man examine himself, but we're doing this together communally.
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That's why in everything we do, we should be thinking about others and try not
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to be a distraction, but also to build one another up. We should be singing
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louder because you really can't encourage anybody in your singing
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in your library voice. You can't do it. You can't sing one to another if
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you're not lifting your voice in worship. And according to God, your brothers and
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sisters are dependent on that. I mean, Paul waited 7 days. He was hastening to
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Jerusalem and he wanted to be there to break bread with these Christians. And Russell,
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go ahead. Well, you keep saying entertainment.
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We're not here to be entertained. We're part of the cast.
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It's to worship God.
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It's really primarily
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in my mind and the way I understand the Bible,
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it's to glorify God. And then the runoff of
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that, or the byproduct of that, each one of us support
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each other and fellowship and encourage each other.
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But the prime— primary purpose is to glorify
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God. Yeah, it's not entertainment. That's right.
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Yeah, and the primary purpose is to glorify God. It's not entertainment. And God
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is glorified when we obviously extol him in the avenues he's told
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us, but also when we build up each other. So it's not the case that
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we shouldn't get anything out of worship. It's primarily about God, but God is glorified
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when you build me up. In fact, based on Hebrews 10:24, we're going to Kathy
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and then Kim. You shouldn't leave this building if you're gonna offer up scriptural worship
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to God according to Hebrews 10:24 and 25. You shouldn't leave this building
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until you have purposefully tried to stir somebody else up.
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See, you haven't fulfilled Hebrews 10:24 and 25 just because you came.
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Let us consider how to stir one another up. So when you come in,
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Let's consider how can I stir somebody up to love and good works? Then he
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says, hey, never abandon the assembling of ourselves together. Love,
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25, Hebrews 10:25. But verse 24 says you
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hadn't worshiped, you hadn't come and done exactly what God wanted
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just by merely being marked present. Did you encourage somebody or at least try to?
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They've got to receive it. I understand that. But if you just come sit on
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your pew and at the last amen, you just hit the door, that's not
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necessarily fulfilling God's requirement for worshiping the Lord in spirit and
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in truth and stirring one another, one another up to love and good works.
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And so I'm not saying you've got to be the last person in the building
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to do that, but we shouldn't leave until we've at least tried. That's what God
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wants from us as we assemble. Kathy and then Kim.
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Giving my heart to God or opening up my heart to other people,
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then I find myself just as that, you know, how did everybody do? How did
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the singing sound? Yeah, yeah. And I think this is why Jesus says worship
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has to be in spirit and in truth. We can just focus solely on
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the truth. We got to do the right things. And then it goes to another
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level. You leave your heart at home and we got to do the right things
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the way that who likes them? The way I like them. Do it the way
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I want. Sing the songs I like. Preach the sermons that I want to hear.
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And we can become critics instead of people that are, hey, these are my fellow
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companions, brothers and sisters in Christ, all seeking to glorify God.
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Kim? I was just— I don't know if it was last week or the week
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before, I sat by someone and they were singing with all their heart, and I'm
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saying it's encouraging. Yeah, this person really encouraged me and helped
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me to want to do better. Yeah, and I think that's the way God wires
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it on purpose, that we can worship together and Build one another up.
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Yes, Amanda. Part of that, I know you're focusing on the worship part, but it's
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also about coming in and talking with people. And to be a family,
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you got to know each other. And so that part of that is talking with
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each other, finding out how people are doing, being invested in those people to
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be a family. Yeah, and I think that even starts before Sunday. Like, I don't
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think Paul came to Troas, rented a condo, and said, I'll see you Sunday morning,
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guys. I think he came, He spent time with the people, and then when Sunday
21:39
came for worship, he preached until midnight. So maybe we
21:43
need more of that. Yeah, he preached a long sermon, spent time with them.
21:46
He didn't want to leave. And so you do have to spend time. It does
21:49
involve fellowship and conversation. Different personalities, people are wired differently,
21:54
but everybody's wired for fellowship. That's what we need to remember. Introvert,
21:57
extrovert, that doesn't matter here. God has wired everybody
22:00
for companionship. What does Genesis 2:18 say? It's not good that
22:04
a man should be what? Even if you're an introvert, you need people.
22:07
And God has wired the church that way. If it didn't matter, why come
22:11
together and assemble? It does matter. And everybody in the New Testament that was physically
22:15
separated from people couldn't wait to be brought together again. And that's why John ends
22:19
2 John and 3 John that way, saying, I can't wait to see you again
22:23
and be close. All right. The last thing— oh, go ahead, Bill.
22:28
To get someone's attention. And God's really
22:33
good at that. Yeah, we sometimes aren't, you know, but we need to do
22:37
that. We need to entertain someone's thoughts and motives
22:41
and things like that. So it can be a positive word.
22:44
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Depending on how we view it, it can be.
22:48
All right, last thing I was going to say on this slide, and I'll just
22:50
say it quickly and we'll move on, is overcoming bad habits and getting the most
22:53
out of worship. Some of this we already touched on, but mainly this idea
22:56
of how do I get the most out of worship? I got to do what?
23:00
I got to put something into it. 2 Samuel 24, just go there
23:03
real— really quickly. I know we sometimes go to this passage when we talk about
23:06
worship. Maybe you hadn't gone here in a while, but this is at the end
23:09
of David's sort of kingship. He makes a mistake, numbers the people.
23:12
God tells him not to. And this goes back to Kathy's comment about not
23:16
leaving your heart at home. He makes a mistake, numbers the people. God tells him
23:19
not to do this. David does it anyway. A bunch of people die in
23:23
a plague. God ends up forgiving David, giving him a second chance.
23:26
He's going to offer up an offering of thanksgiving. He wants to go to a
23:30
man by the name of Araunah and get his threshing floor so that he can
23:33
offer up the offering. Araunah sees David coming and says, hey, you're the king,
23:36
it's yours, you can have it for free. And David won't accept that. In 2
23:39
Samuel 24:24, David says— well, Araunah comes to the
23:44
king and says no. The king says, I'll buy it from you at a price.
23:48
I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.
23:51
So David brought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of
23:56
silver. But the line I want to focus on, and that needs to be from
23:59
this text, is, I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my
24:02
God that cost me nothing. David was talking financially there, like, I'm going
24:06
to buy this field from you, and I won't offer up God an offering to
24:10
him in sacrifice and worship that cost me nothing. Why do you think
24:13
David said that? This is a very simple answer. Why did David tell Araunah,
24:17
I won't offer up an offering or sacrifice to God that doesn't cost me anything.
24:21
And if you get this, it'll fix your worship and mine. Why does David
24:25
say, I've got to pay you, I can't just take this for free and then
24:28
offer it up as worship to God? Why not?
24:33
It's not a sacrifice if it doesn't— what if it doesn't
24:37
cost something? It's never a sacrifice. Well, that was pretty easy. I just rocked
24:41
in there and rocked on out. It wasn't worship. It's never a sacrifice
24:47
unless it costs something. And you can think about that in every avenue of worship,
24:48
our giving, everything we do. If it doesn't cost, if it doesn't sting a
24:52
little bit, if it doesn't put a little discomfort, it's not a sacrifice
24:57
unless it costs something. Doesn't have to be unpleasant, but it always has to
25:01
cost. If it's going to be worship, it has to cost something. All right,
25:04
challenge number 3, the challenge of false accusation and misrepresentation.
25:08
Now this is where Paul gets into some of his trials. Paul I'm going to
25:12
just kind of walk us up to it and then talk about what happens here.
25:14
Paul's heading back to Jerusalem, wanted to be there for Pentecost,
25:17
wants to talk about his ministry and what has happened on his missionary journeys.
25:20
He's on his 3rd one now, and God's great work with him among the Gentiles.
25:24
When he gets there, Paul meets with James and with the elders
25:27
in Jerusalem, and here's what happens. Acts 21:17-25,
25:31
it says, when we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us
25:35
gladly. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James, and all
25:38
the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things
25:43
that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard it,
25:46
they glorified God, and they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there
25:50
are among all the Jews who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,
25:54
and they've been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among
25:56
the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children
26:00
or walk according to our customs. What then is to be done? They'll certainly hear
26:05
that you've come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have 4 men who are
26:08
under a vow. Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their
26:12
expenses so that they'll shave their heads. And thus
26:15
all will know that there is nothing in what they've been told about you,
26:18
but that you yourself live in observance of the law. But as for the Gentiles
26:21
who believed, we've sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from
26:25
what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and what has been strangled and
26:29
from sexual immorality. So, Paul comes back to Jerusalem And James
26:32
and the elders hear about Paul's work among the Gentiles. They say, Paul, you've been
26:35
doing great work, but we got a problem. You're in Jerusalem, all these Jews know
26:39
you're in town, and it's been noised abroad everywhere that, Paul,
26:42
you really don't like Jews. You don't want people circumcising their children, and you
26:46
don't want them keeping the Law of Moses. If people find out that you're here
26:49
and with us, there'll be a riot in the town. But Paul,
26:53
we got it fixed. We've got these guys here, they're about to undergo a vow.
26:56
Paul, what we need you to do— this is James and the Jerusalem elders saying,
26:59
Paul, Just go do this vow with them. A lot of commentators believe
27:03
this is the Nazarite vow of Numbers chapter 6. Paul,
27:06
just do this vow. Everybody will know there's nothing to what they've heard
27:10
about you, that you love and respect the Law of Moses just like everybody else.
27:14
We already sent a letter, Acts 15:22-25,
27:17
to the Gentiles that they don't have to keep the Law of Moses. But Paul,
27:20
we really need you to do this or else there's going to be some trouble.
27:24
Here's what happens. Look at verse 26. Then Paul took the
27:27
men. The next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple,
27:31
giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented
27:36
for each one of them. So here's a question: was Paul
27:40
right to do this? Like, they say, hey Paul, do this vow, take this,
27:44
offer up this sacrifice with these men, and everybody will know that
27:47
you keep the Law of Moses, that you're okay with the Law of Moses,
27:50
that the things they've heard about you have been false. Was this wise or foolish
27:54
on Paul's part to go through with the offering of this vow?
28:00
Bill said it could have been an expedient. This is Paul probably doing some 1
28:04
Corinthians 9 where he says, I become all things to who?
28:08
All men. Maybe. Yeah, some people believe that Paul's just sort of becoming all things
28:11
to all men. Some people say Paul made a mistake here.
28:15
By this time, Paul had already written Galatians and the book of Romans and
28:19
already taught Hey, nobody's bound by the Law of Moses. You do
28:23
not have to keep the Law of Moses. And I don't know, I'm a little
28:26
uncomfortable with this statement about they offered up an offering
28:29
or a vow. All the offerings in the Old Testament were about like forgiveness
28:34
of sins or justification, but Jesus, he's already fulfilled all of
28:38
the vows. Jesus has already fulfilled all the offerings. Whatever you think about this,
28:42
we're not going to settle it now. People have been arguing about this passage and
28:45
Paul for a long time. 2,000 years of church history. Some people think
28:49
Paul was practicing an expedient. Some people think Paul sinned here.
28:53
Some people think Paul couldn't have messed up. Here's what happens.
28:56
Paul goes to the temple and does the vow anyway. When Paul gets to
29:00
the temple, guess what happens? The Jews see Paul in the temple and they say—
29:04
Acts 20:21, 27-36. Let's just read
29:08
it. I want you to see what happens to Paul. Verse 27, when the 7
29:10
days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple,
29:14
stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel,
29:18
help! This is the man who's teaching everyone everywhere against
29:21
the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks
29:25
into the temple and defiled this holy place. For they had previously seen Trophimus
29:29
the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul brought him into
29:32
the temple. Then all the city was stirred up, the people ran together,
29:36
they seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the
29:39
gates were shut. You can read the rest of it, but it's ironic Whether you
29:43
think Paul messed up or not, guess what? It didn't work. Paul went in there
29:46
saying, let's please the Jews. You know what the Jews say? Paul defiled the whole
29:49
temple. He brought a Greek in here by the name of Trophimus and defiled the
29:53
whole temple. The reason why I lift this as one of the challenges the early
29:56
church faced is because it's the challenge of false accusation and
29:59
misrepresentation. They think that Paul, because they saw him with the Gentile earlier
30:03
in the week, had brought a Gentile into the temple.
30:06
Guess what Paul was in the process of doing? Undergoing a sacrifice so
30:10
that they wouldn't think he was against the law, and it didn't work. Sometimes as
30:15
a Christian, people are going to misunderstand you. People will say— they said all
30:18
kinds of things about Paul. Is what they said about Paul accurate,
30:22
that Paul didn't care about the Law of Moses, didn't want people to circumcise their
30:25
children and all of this? Is this true? No. Paul said, hey, the law
30:29
fulfilled its purpose, but now we're under the new covenant of Jesus Christ. And this
30:33
idea about being persecuted and misrepresented, It's what Jesus
30:37
tells us we should expect as Christians. Here are some of the passages. You can
30:40
see them. Matthew 5:10-12, blessed are you when you're persecuted for
30:44
righteousness' sake, when people revile you and persecute you and say all manner
30:48
of evil against you falsely for my account. Jesus says that's going to happen.
30:51
Philippians 1:29, Paul says, unto you is given in behalf of
30:55
Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake.
30:59
Listen, the rest of the book of Acts, the rest of it Paul's
31:03
whole life is completely upended. He'll go before Felix and Festus
31:07
and Agrippa. Paul will end up all the way in prison in Rome.
31:10
And when you boil it all down, yes, it's God's sovereignty,
31:14
providence, God's plan. But here's what it really boils down to.
31:17
Paul's entire life, 2 years in prison, is completely
31:20
upended on a false assumption. They thought
31:25
Paul had done something. This is why this whole idea of assuming about people and
31:28
saying things when you don't have all the facts, It's deadly. It upended Paul's
31:32
whole life. Yes, God made great things from it, but here's what happened to him
31:36
because of false accusations and misrepresentations. What are some of the false accusations
31:40
that people make about Christians today? Like, how are Christians misrepresented
31:45
today? What are some things people say about us today or about Christians as
31:49
they might completely misunderstand what Christianity is all about?
31:55
Christians don't love anybody. We don't accept you. They said that
31:58
about Stephen in Acts 6:14-15. The Jews get
32:02
there before Stephen and they say, here's a guy who hates the Law of Moses
32:05
and says, hey, many things against this temple and this place, that Jesus
32:09
is going to destroy this temple and build another. Sometimes people say, hey,
32:12
you're not loving because you don't accept everything anybody— everybody does.
32:15
What else? Judges.
32:20
We're all judging people. I'm going to leave that alone because that's coming up this
32:23
morning. Buckle up for the sermon. Neil's got something to say about judging. But yes,
32:27
you're exactly right. It's a misrepresentation. We judge,
32:31
but just stay tuned in about 20 minutes and we're gonna get more about judging.
32:34
Yes, what else? Tyler. All Christians get
32:38
defense and they don't realize that we know that we're sinners and we know that
32:42
we have struggles that everybody else faces, but we accept those and that's why we're
32:46
here and that's why we follow Christ because we are sinners. Yeah, this goes all
32:49
the way back to the Old Testament in the days of Isaiah. Isaiah 65:5,
32:53
Isaiah says, some people say about the Israelites, you think you're holier
32:57
than thou. That's where that statement comes from, Isaiah 65:5. And people think, you're a
33:02
hypocrite. You think you got your whole life together just because you go where?
33:06
But the exact opposite is true. We don't have our lives together, and that's why
33:10
we come where? But it's a misunderstanding. Yeah, what else?
33:14
Maybe you've heard this one. Members of Churches of Christ, you think you're
33:17
the only ones going where? The truth
33:22
is everybody can go if we simply submit and do what?
33:26
Do what God says. Jesus says, or at least through Peter in
33:29
Acts 2:21, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will
33:33
be what? That's for anybody. Anybody that does that can go
33:36
to— or what about this one? Oh, you got— y'all are no
33:40
music people. You don't like music. You don't want to— you don't care about— love
33:44
music. God's music, love singing, just doing
33:47
it God's way. Or you all don't believe in the Old Testament,
33:51
don't care anything about— all of these are sometimes misrepresentations
33:55
and accusations. But here's what I want us to focus on before we move on
33:58
to the next one. What are some bad ways
34:02
to respond to the misrepresentations? Because see,
34:05
sometimes we fall into this. Okay, we're misrepresented. Paul's misrepresented.
34:09
Hey, you brought a Gentile into the temple and all the stuff you mentioned.
34:12
People say you're unloving. You judge. You're hypocrites.
34:16
What are some bad ways to respond when we're misrepresented or falsely accused?
34:20
We don't respond. Maybe— Robin says we don't respond. You said we
34:24
shouldn't or we don't? We don't. We just sit there and listen
34:28
to what they got to say. And are you saying that's good or bad?
34:31
I'm saying it's bad. Yeah. We should. Yeah, okay,
34:35
so good. Sometimes we don't say anything, and I think there's a time not to,
34:39
and then there is a time to say something. Proverbs 26:4-5 says,
34:43
answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him. And then
34:46
the next verse says, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise
34:49
in his own eyes. So there's a time to answer and a time not to,
34:52
but sometimes we don't say anything in response, and I think that's
34:56
a problem. What else? Bad responses.
35:01
Bill, sometimes we condemn instead of convict. Yeah, I was thinking about
35:05
what Bill said working through this lesson. Sometimes when people label us falsely
35:09
or falsely accuse us and misrepresent us, we might respond like
35:13
jokingly about their condemnation, right? Like, well, you won't
35:16
be saying that when you— when you're in hell. Well, you're going to be lost.
35:19
That's a bad misrepresentation. You laugh, but I know people— you've seen the Facebook posts
35:23
on April 1st. Even atheists have a holiday, April Fool's Day, and we
35:27
think it's funny. But you know, when people scoffed in the first century, 2 Peter
35:31
3, Peter says there are scoffers and mockers saying, where is the promise of his
35:34
coming? And then in verse 9, he says, hey, God's not willing that any
35:38
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's not a good response to
35:41
mock people about where their eternal destiny may end up if
35:45
they don't repent and if they don't respond properly. It's not a good thing to
35:49
do. In fact, read through the rest of the book of Acts and throughout Paul's
35:52
trials, Paul's trying to build common ground. He never once says, don't worry, you're going
35:56
to get what's coming to you. And I think that's another bad response, trying to
35:59
get even instead of in these moments being even more like Jesus.
36:02
So Romans 12:19-21, dearly beloved,
36:06
don't avenge for yourselves, but instead give
36:09
place to the one that's going to pay back because vengeance is mine, says the
36:13
Lord, and I will repay. I think it's a bad response to mock or to
36:17
judge instead of convict. Anybody else?
36:21
What was that? Our tone of voice. Yeah,
36:25
our tone of voice and how we respond to people. And that's why I have
36:28
this passage up here, 2 Timothy 2:24-26 and
36:32
how we respond to people. Paul says, the servant of the Lord must not be
36:35
argumentative, gentle to all people, able to teach,
36:39
patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,
36:42
if perhaps God will grant them repentance to acknowledge the truth.
36:45
Here's another one. I'll say maybe 2 more and then we'll go on. One of
36:49
the false ways to respond, or the wrong ways to respond, when we're misrepresented,
36:52
when people accuse us and things of that nature, is we start whining and
36:56
complaining about it. You ever notice that? Oh, they took prayer out of our schools,
36:59
took it from us. Well, if we're praying like Jesus, they can never take
37:03
it from us. Where did Jesus say you should pray? Matthew 6, go in your
37:05
where? Go in your closet. People don't have to know you're praying. You can— oh,
37:09
they're changing. See, we start whining and complaining, crying in our suffering,
37:12
and the Bible says don't do that. If any man suffers as a Christian,
37:16
let him not be ashamed. Ecclesiastes 7:10,
37:19
do not say the former days were better than these. Oh, I remember the time
37:22
when— no, every time is our time if we're Christians. Every climate
37:27
is our climate. We want more favorable conditions all the time, and the Bible says
37:30
we should pray for such, but we're never to just start complaining
37:34
as if, oh, all of a sudden the laws,
37:36
society, the gender issue— oh, we're just outnumbered.
37:40
That's talking like we don't have a God in heaven. That's behaving
37:43
as if we're atheists. If God's in control, a wrong
37:46
way to respond to false accusations and misrepresentations is
37:49
to violate Philippians 2:14. And to murmur and complain and to
37:53
talk about how unfair it is and how we— that's not how Christians
37:56
respond. We respond like we know that God's always in control.
38:00
All right, number 4, the challenge of handling rejection.
38:04
Go to Acts 24, and I'm just going to hit these quickly. Here's Paul before
38:07
some of the rulers that Paul encounters, and just
38:12
as you're turning there, just throw some things at me. What kind of preacher was
38:14
Paul? What would you say about Paul? Successful? Good?
38:17
Effective? When you think about Paul's preaching, What kind of things come to your mind
38:20
about the way that Paul preached or the kind of preacher that Paul was?
38:25
Christ-centered. What else? Tenacious.
38:28
What else? Bold. What else?
38:33
Was Paul effective? How do you know Paul was effective?
38:37
He stirred people up. But what else? Paul established many
38:41
what? Churches. Half the New Testament wouldn't be there if Paul
38:45
didn't go to these places. And establish these churches. Paul was a great evangelist.
38:49
He says, woe is me if I preach not the gospel.
38:52
Somebody's like, where was that font size before? Leave me alone. All right.
38:56
Felix's response to the gospel. Look at Acts 24 and look
39:01
at what happens when Paul preaches to Felix. He's an amazing preacher, but I want
39:04
you to see what happens to him when he preaches to Felix. Acts 24:24,
39:08
after some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewish.
39:12
Who was Jewish, sent for Paul, heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
39:17
Paul reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.
39:21
Felix was alarmed. If you got the New King James and King James, what do
39:24
you got there? Felix did what? He trembled. Yeah, he trembled
39:28
and he said, go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I'll summon
39:32
you. At the same time, he hoped that money would be given to him by
39:34
Paul, so he sent for him often and conversed with Paul. And when 2 years
39:38
had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus,
39:41
And desiring to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison. Paul preached
39:45
here to Felix. What happened? Felix was alarmed. He trembled and did what?
39:50
Nothing. Nothing. Next, Paul's preaching before Agrippa.
39:55
Acts 26:24. This is what Festus says in the middle of Paul's
39:59
sermon. Acts 26 and verse 24. Just look over one chapter.
40:03
Paul was talking about his conversion, how he became a Christian. Festus cried
40:06
out and said, Paul, you are out of your what? Your great learning
40:10
is driving you mad. He uses the word mania. It's where we get our Greek
40:14
word for maniac from. The Greek word comes from where we get our English word
40:17
maniac. And he's basically saying exactly what you think. Paul, you're crazy.
40:22
Paul tells this whole story, I saw Jesus on the road to Damascus,
40:25
and Festus says, Paul, stuff like that doesn't happen. Paul, you're out of your mind.
40:29
And then here's the last one, and we sing a song about this one,
40:31
and I think Bill mentioned this a moment ago. Or Laura about
40:36
almost persuaded. Look at Acts 26:28. This is what Agrippa says as
40:40
he's standing before Paul hearing this preaching. Paul says, Agrippa,
40:43
do you believe the prophets? I know you do. In verse 28, Paul— Agrippa
40:47
said to Paul, in such a short time you would persuade me to become a
40:50
Christian? Um, the King James has something like almost that
40:54
persuadeth me. Newer translations get this better. Paul literally— or
40:59
Agrippa literally says to Paul, at such a short time or
41:02
so quickly? You want me to become a Christian? Basically, Paul, after one sermon,
41:06
you think I'm going to become a Christian? What do you see in all 3
41:09
of these responses? Felix says, go your way. When I have time, I'll call
41:13
for you. Festus says,
41:17
Paul, you're crazy. And Agrippa says, one sermon,
41:20
Paul? So soon you think I can become a Christian? What does this tell you
41:24
about evangelism and the challenge of being rejected that Paul faced?
41:27
Not everybody's going to what? Become a Christian,
41:30
even if you're who? Paul.
41:33
I've got a friend, his name's Jim Turner. He's 86. He called me this past
41:37
week on my birthday. We were talking. Jim is 86. Jim's still memorizing
41:40
Scripture. He's one of the most evangelistic people I've ever met. And we were
41:44
talking about a couple. He's been working on them since I lived in Florida,
41:47
and they're making progress, but I mean, it's slow. And he was talking to me
41:50
about Bible studies, and then Jim said, Hiram, I wonder what I'm doing wrong.
41:53
These people, they won't become Christians. And I said, well, Jim, why would you assume
41:57
you're doing anything wrong? See, if we don't learn how to handle rejection, we start
42:01
thinking— and I think we ought to try everything we can, hear me well— but
42:06
we start thinking there's some kind of like magical method out there. And if we
42:09
could just get the magical words and the method, and then— that's not how it
42:13
works. And I think this is a challenge the church is always going to face.
42:16
It's interesting, as you press deeper into the book of Acts, the conversions
42:20
begin to decrease. The closer Paul gets to Rome,
42:24
the less receptive the Jews and the Gentiles become. And the
42:29
Holy Spirit, obviously omniscient and knowing all things,
42:32
puts this in here on purpose to show not even Paul batted a thousand.
42:36
Righteousness, temperance, judgment— Felix is shaking. Oh,
42:39
he's coming down the aisle. Paul, go your way. And literally he says,
42:43
when I have time. You know how many times I've heard that? Hey, can we
42:45
study the Bible? When I have time. That's exactly what Felix says to Paul,
42:49
when I get time. That's everybody in the whole world.
42:53
It's not the church. If you don't get this right, you'll start thinking, well,
42:56
I'm not good at evangelism. People always reject me.
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You'll start equating evangelism success with baptisms, which is a
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bad idea. I'm glad when people obey the gospel and are baptized. It's the
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biblical response, but you and I are successful in evangelism
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when we evangelize. They're successful in response when they respond.
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You share the gospel, you succeeded. And Paul
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succeeded. He didn't fail. Felix and Festus and Agrippa,
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they missed out. They didn't shrink Paul's crown one inch.
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It was their loss and not his. Yes, go ahead, Chuck.
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Christianity is not a feeling. It's not a secret society.
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Jesus' life, death, and resurrection took place publicly.
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Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, he wanted
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Agrippa to know, hey, you know the prophets. This information is out there if you
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want to. Now, what happened to these guys, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa? This will be
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the last thing. What happened to them after Paul preached to them? Like, what does
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the history book— what do the history books tell us about them and Christianity?
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Persuaded? We don't know. But here's what we do know: Paul
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succeeded, and every time we share the gospel, we do too.
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This is the end of this quarter. I hope you see our challenges are really
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no different. The last slide in this— I'm just going to say this and we'll
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be done— the last slide was actually called Acts 29 because that's
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where this goes. You love Acts, we love Acts, we love talking
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about conversions and what happened with the early church, but the challenge for us is
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Acts 29. That's not in your Bible. That's in your heart.
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What will the history books record about us as we've sat present
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and been here? What does Acts 29 say about the Cumberland Trace Church of Christ
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in 2026? How do we rise to our challenges?
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And that's up to every one of us. All right. Thanks for a good Bible
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class. Appreciate your time.