WEBVTT 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:04.000 Hey, I'm going to invite you to Acts chapter 16, where we're going to be together today. 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:05.800 Acts chapter 16. 00:00:05.860 --> 00:00:09.420 Pastor Wayne did a great job in introducing this chapter to us last week. 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:16.740 And I'm going to look at really the tail end of this chapter in connection for our spiritual journeys and what we can glean 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:20.400 from this as Luke records this chapter for us. 00:00:20.540 --> 00:00:27.620 And one of the things I really like about chapter 16 is I think it's it this chapter is a great chapter, especially for the month of 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:28.270 January. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:36.300 And the reason I say that is because I know some of us, we get to January and we like, come alive because some of us are avid skiers and 00:00:36.300 --> 00:00:37.960 we love the mountains and the snow. 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:39.690 And so we appreciate that. 00:00:39.940 --> 00:00:46.540 But I find like there's a good majority of people, when you get to the month of January, you're like a piece of you dies on the inside. 00:00:46.540 --> 00:00:50.760 And because it's because January is the month where the sun goes to die, right? 00:00:50.780 --> 00:00:52.050 It's like it's bitter cold. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.890 The there's not as much light in the day. 00:00:55.160 --> 00:01:02.220 And your body's like telling you need vitamin D and some of you with a lack of vitamin D, your personality 00:01:02.220 --> 00:01:03.800 might change a little bit. 00:01:03.860 --> 00:01:08.340 And some you go from less happy to or more happy to, less happy. 00:01:08.540 --> 00:01:09.600 And in the month of January. 00:01:09.880 --> 00:01:15.080 And so January is built sometimes for people that just that might be on the struggle bus. 00:01:15.080 --> 00:01:22.210 I feel like January is one of those months that reminds us of how much we like creature comforts. 00:01:22.800 --> 00:01:30.100 The reason I say all that is when you get to Acts chapter 16, the apostle Paul in this, in this circumstance is 00:01:30.100 --> 00:01:35.360 certainly also on the struggle bus in some of the experiences that he is having in life. 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:41.240 But he's also doing this in light of God's call on him. 00:01:41.780 --> 00:01:44.800 And, maybe this could be similar for us in our lives. 00:01:44.860 --> 00:01:52.040 And that when you start to follow after the Lord, if you begin to experience some adversity you maybe raise your hand 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:54.440 and ask the Lord God what's going on, right? 00:01:54.440 --> 00:01:56.360 Like, I, I wanted to follow you. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:57.780 I'd give my life for you. 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.360 And all of a sudden it just seems like every corner I turn, it's just. 00:02:01.520 --> 00:02:03.700 It's just trouble and adversity and. 00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:06.280 And you might even begin to ask the question, like, God, are you even here? 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:07.410 Like, what's going on? 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:07.740 Why? 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:08.919 Why would you do this? 00:02:09.100 --> 00:02:16.400 And the apostle Paul is teaching us really about our faith journey in the midst of the struggles we might experience 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.400 in Acts chapter 16. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:25.190 As we've learned together, this is the second missionary journey that is recorded in the Apostle Paul's life in the book of Acts. 00:02:25.720 --> 00:02:29.360 There's three of them that are recorded in Paul's life in the book of Acts. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:33.140 Paul likely went on more missionary journeys than just these three. 00:02:33.380 --> 00:02:40.600 There are some that even continue on after the book of Acts, but Luke records for us three of these journeys and on his second missionary 00:02:40.600 --> 00:02:41.220 journey. 00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:48.560 What we learn about next chapter 16 is he went from Jerusalem back to Antioch, where he was pastoring with Barnabas 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:55.740 and Paul and Silas, then go on a missionary journey where Paul journeys back through the areas that he had previously 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:59.580 been, but then he begins to advance further west. 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:02.240 So he went back through Derbe, Lystra. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:03.700 Iconium, Antioch. 00:03:03.700 --> 00:03:06.040 Those are all areas where he went to preach the gospel. 00:03:06.160 --> 00:03:13.560 Churches were birthed, and even as he went through that region, he traveled further west into the province 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:14.740 of Asia. 00:03:14.820 --> 00:03:18.870 In the first century, Asia was not as big as a continent yet, but it was just a little province. 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.780 And he and he goes on to Macedonia and he goes to Achaea. 00:03:23.540 --> 00:03:30.170 And in each one of those providences where he's going to travel on this journey, he stops off in the, in the capital of each of the providences. 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:34.770 So it's a, it's an area of influence where in Asia he goes to Ephesus. 00:03:35.720 --> 00:03:40.430 In Macedonia, he makes sure he hits the capital of Thessalonica and Achaea. 00:03:40.600 --> 00:03:41.640 He goes to Corinth. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:43.620 And not just the capital cities. 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:46.410 He also goes to other prominent towns and cities. 00:03:46.480 --> 00:03:48.780 He goes to Philippi, which we'll see today. 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:56.940 He goes to Athens and to Berea, all significant areas that he wants to influence for the sake of Christ by declaring the gospel. 00:03:57.020 --> 00:03:59.290 Watch his watch churches be birthed. 00:03:59.540 --> 00:04:06.620 And as Paul's going on and doing this in Acts chapter 16, what we read about in 16 is Paul's journey all the 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:09.610 way to Philippi in his second missionary journey. 00:04:10.320 --> 00:04:17.300 Now, one of the things that makes Philippi unique is that this is the first time we have recorded that the gospel goes to Europe. 00:04:18.320 --> 00:04:25.560 We've looked at together how when the early church started, the gospel was proclaimed in Asia, where in Western 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:29.800 Asia, in Jerusalem, here the gospel is being proclaimed. 00:04:29.880 --> 00:04:36.880 And then we find in Acts chapter 13 that as Paul's ministering in Antioch, there's several leaders named in 00:04:36.880 --> 00:04:37.760 this church. 00:04:37.900 --> 00:04:42.820 And one of the things we highlighted at the beginning of Acts, chapter 13 is a lot of those names were found in Africa. 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:44.630 Some of them were from northern Africa. 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:47.560 There was one, at least, that was from sub-Saharan Africa. 00:04:48.460 --> 00:04:52.980 And so you see the gospel moving in Asia, in Africa. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:00.460 And while Paul is on the second missionary journey towards the tail end of this journey, this is when Thomas, one of the early disciples of Jesus, 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:05.180 takes the gospel as far east as India, where he's ultimately martyred. 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:12.900 So here you see, early on, the early church is expanding throughout the world with the gospel and watching 00:05:12.900 --> 00:05:18.320 God's Word proclaimed and churches started and lives being transformed. 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:27.340 However, this journey was not without adversity and especially on the 00:05:27.340 --> 00:05:29.980 Apostle Paul's second missionary journey. 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:31.520 He finds. 00:05:31.520 --> 00:05:35.660 This journey begins that this doesn't begin easy for Paul and for Paul. 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:42.160 It would have been very easy for him to just simply raise his hands in frustration to the Lord and start to even question God. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:43.560 Are you are you in this? 00:05:44.580 --> 00:05:50.890 I mean, Paul at the beginning of his life, when he when he came to know the Lord, the beginning of his, of his faith journey, his new life in Christ. 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:53.500 The Apostle Paul. 00:05:53.500 --> 00:05:57.820 It was proclaimed about him that he would go throughout the world and pronounce the gospel. 00:05:57.820 --> 00:06:01.080 And Paul obediently follows after that. 00:06:01.380 --> 00:06:05.840 But yet what we discover is there's many challenges for Paul along the way. 00:06:07.260 --> 00:06:08.800 Does that mean God doesn't care? 00:06:10.200 --> 00:06:14.100 Does that mean God has abandoned him or that God's not in it? 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:20.980 And today, this is what we're going to talk about is three reminders for us in life's challenges. 00:06:20.980 --> 00:06:26.010 And as we look at these three reminders, what we're going to discover is there's something that God does. 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.040 There's something that the gospel does. 00:06:29.840 --> 00:06:32.660 And the third point, there's something that God calls us to do. 00:06:33.880 --> 00:06:35.000 There's something God does. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:38.870 There's something that the gospel does, and there's something that we're called to do. 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:46.340 And when we look at these three reminders, I want you to know that these three reminders are not going to be these this, these profound epiphanies where I'm going 00:06:46.340 --> 00:06:54.200 to tell you something you probably haven't heard before, But rather these are good reminders for us, and that sometimes 00:06:54.200 --> 00:06:59.380 when we go through struggles in life, our tendency is to start to question God. 00:06:59.460 --> 00:07:00.880 Am I on this journey with you? 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:03.580 Do you care about me? 00:07:04.580 --> 00:07:08.700 And it's in those moments of discouragement that we need encouragement. 00:07:09.400 --> 00:07:14.450 And these reminders become important for us in what God has called us to in life. 00:07:15.200 --> 00:07:22.220 In fact, I think this is one of the reasons that regular reading in the Bible is important because when we read God's Word, we start to 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:24.370 discover the promises of God which are true. 00:07:25.080 --> 00:07:32.160 Like, it's true that in Jesus your best days are always in front of you, no matter the struggles this life might give to you. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.580 Because what you have in Jesus endures forever. 00:07:35.440 --> 00:07:37.590 But there's the truth of what God says. 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:40.820 And then there's what we experience in a broken world. 00:07:42.200 --> 00:07:46.760 And we try to understand, okay, how does the truth of what you say God fit with where I am? 00:07:46.760 --> 00:07:52.180 Because sometimes in my circumstance I feel like I'm the only one, or I feel like I'm. 00:07:52.340 --> 00:07:53.060 I'm all alone. 00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:55.460 God, I need to know you care. 00:07:56.280 --> 00:07:58.680 And I need reminded that your promises are true. 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:01.180 I need to know that you're with me. 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:08.400 And when we have hope as people, we can endure some of the most challenging things life can throw at us. 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:12.380 Just because we go through adversity doesn't mean that God's not there. 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:20.320 And so when we look at these words, we're going to talk about this morning, these points that we're going to talk about this morning are not new in and of 00:08:20.320 --> 00:08:27.440 themselves, but rather they're reminders that we learn through through Paul's story in Acts 16 and themes that we learn throughout 00:08:27.440 --> 00:08:28.630 the Bible. 00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:37.039 But point number one in your notes is this God redeems adversity in unexpected ways. 00:08:38.280 --> 00:08:41.880 God redeems adversity in unexpected ways. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:50.420 Paul needs to believe this, and the reason he needs to believe this is if you take time to read the Acts chapter 16, 00:08:50.520 --> 00:08:51.360 you discover the. 00:08:51.560 --> 00:08:55.900 One of the big focuses of Acts 16 is how Paul Paul finds himself. 00:08:55.940 --> 00:09:03.010 He and his friends find themselves beaten within an inch of their life and thrown in prison like they're going through a difficult time. 00:09:03.180 --> 00:09:08.380 And even along the way, they met adversity, and it ultimately culminates in this beating and thrown in prison. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:16.480 And in that moment, you could imagine as a human being, how you might perceive that and some of the struggles emotionally 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:17.360 in your own heart. 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:20.020 If you were to have endured something like that. 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:28.640 And no doubt Paul needs reminded how God can use some of the most difficult circumstances to do some of the most 00:09:28.640 --> 00:09:30.120 incredible things. 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:33.160 And maybe, maybe that's even you this morning. 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:41.280 I mean, I can't help but think in a room with this many people that there there's something that God has called us to, but 00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:48.460 because of struggles that we're going through, we're on the verge of just quitting, and we might know in our mind 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:50.420 that that's not really what God wants. 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:54.960 And God wants me to live the kind of life that he can bless, that he desires to bless. 00:09:55.920 --> 00:10:00.220 But there's a circumstance for which seems adverse for me. 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:02.220 And right now, if I'm being honest, I just want to quit. 00:10:03.640 --> 00:10:11.660 Or maybe some of us are in a position in life where we've realized we did quit, and now we've followed a path that we shouldn't be on, and 00:10:11.660 --> 00:10:13.260 it's gotten us so far from the Lord. 00:10:13.300 --> 00:10:20.340 And now we're in a in a place that we shouldn't be because we doubted the goodness of God and who he's called me to be 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:21.160 in him. 00:10:22.640 --> 00:10:29.920 God redeems adversity in an incredible ways, and when we think about our 00:10:29.920 --> 00:10:36.980 own faith journey and what it is God desires, maybe, maybe for some of us, we have some hopes and dreams of what we want to see God do in a 00:10:36.980 --> 00:10:41.600 circumstance, or maybe what we want to see God do in the life of someone else. 00:10:42.020 --> 00:10:44.540 Like maybe, maybe our approach to God looks like this. 00:10:44.580 --> 00:10:45.490 God, this is hard. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:47.160 I want you to change this. 00:10:47.160 --> 00:10:49.540 So therefore I'm going to follow you so you can change this. 00:10:50.520 --> 00:10:55.220 And when we don't see God change what we want him to change, we start to get upset with God. 00:10:55.320 --> 00:11:01.990 And we don't want to follow God because, well, our real reason for pursuing the Lord wasn't so much about my own faith journey in the Lord. 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:06.060 It was about trying to get God to change something that I wanted in order to satisfy me. 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:13.180 But can I tell you that the primary call of the Christian life is not driven by results? 00:11:14.280 --> 00:11:21.340 The primary call of the Christian life is for you to surrender your life to the Lord and grow in him, like God will take care of the 00:11:21.340 --> 00:11:21.890 results. 00:11:22.040 --> 00:11:22.460 God it's. 00:11:22.560 --> 00:11:24.560 It's God who the fruit is up to the Lord. 00:11:25.760 --> 00:11:30.440 But what God's primary interest is in you and what he desires to do in your life. 00:11:30.800 --> 00:11:33.720 And then through that God works through you to bless others. 00:11:34.500 --> 00:11:35.100 But so. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:42.120 So I would say it like this if you're moving along your Christian life and you're not seeing the results in a circumstance that you want, the goal of the 00:11:42.120 --> 00:11:44.270 Christian life is not primarily about results. 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:45.760 It's about walking with Jesus. 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:53.100 And so what we do is we get up as believers and we continue to follow Jesus because regardless of what people choose to 00:11:53.100 --> 00:12:00.600 do or not do, what I am about as a believer is I want to know Christ intimately in my relationship 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:01.260 with him. 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:08.480 In fact, in the Apostle Paul's challenges, this is one of the things that we're going to discover that the beauty of adversity and a journey 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:13.220 is that God ultimately grows us more than anything in those challenges. 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:20.400 Let me let me just read it for you in Acts 16 verse six, it says, and they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit 00:12:20.400 --> 00:12:21.610 to speak the word in Asia. 00:12:22.300 --> 00:12:25.840 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go in Bithynia. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.120 But the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:29.480 I mean, could you imagine? 00:12:30.020 --> 00:12:37.340 For Paul he would say, man, God, I know that you called me here, but I'm not seeing you move in this way. 00:12:38.040 --> 00:12:41.900 And it tells us that the Holy Spirit forbid him to speak in Asia. 00:12:41.900 --> 00:12:49.000 Like if I if I'm just being honest and I just said to you and if you ask me the question, well, tell me some of 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:50.960 your most frustrating verses in the Bible. 00:12:51.540 --> 00:12:54.020 I would say Acts chapter 16, verse six. 00:12:54.760 --> 00:12:59.560 And the reason for that is it doesn't tell us how the Holy Spirit forbid him, right? 00:12:59.560 --> 00:13:01.080 Like, what does that even look like? 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:01.680 I don't even know. 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:03.460 Luke just tells them that. 00:13:03.660 --> 00:13:04.520 That that's what was happening. 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:07.060 Luke just records it like a statement and moves on. 00:13:07.060 --> 00:13:13.520 He doesn't really explain it to us, which I find incredibly frustrating, especially when you're trying to figure out what it is God wants you to do, right? 00:13:13.520 --> 00:13:16.300 It's like, explain to me how to work through this, right? 00:13:16.300 --> 00:13:23.680 And so here it is that Paul's, he's met some sort of resistance to the point that he recognizes that God's just not working here, 00:13:24.580 --> 00:13:27.180 that the Lord's just not desiring to move in this way. 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:34.360 And so and so, even though he's not discovering what he might want to see, he knows that God is still 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:41.280 desiring to move, because God has called him to be a light in the world for his glory, to the benefit of others, to the blessing of others. 00:13:41.660 --> 00:13:43.180 And so then it goes on, and it says it like this. 00:13:43.260 --> 00:13:45.600 It says verse eight maybe. 00:13:46.680 --> 00:13:48.910 So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 00:13:49.040 --> 00:13:51.280 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:56.280 A man of Macedonia was standing there urging him and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. 00:13:56.400 --> 00:14:03.620 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately he sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:05.500 us to preach the gospel to them. 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:14.920 I'll talk about a vision in just a minute, but let me just say this early in my Christian faith I would 00:14:14.920 --> 00:14:19.260 have found what we described in these verses incredibly frustrating. 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:28.060 Like God, here I am to do this thing, and this isn't working out the way that I want it to work it out, or the way I want to see it work out. 00:14:28.280 --> 00:14:36.480 And I can't figure out God what it is that you want to do because you're not doing what I think you should do, and you get frustrated, but 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:43.480 then you start to learn, out of all the things God could do in your faith journey, the greatest 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:47.220 thing God does is the work that he does in you. 00:14:48.800 --> 00:14:55.940 God can use anybody to do what he desires to do in this world, but the gift that God has really given you is 00:14:55.940 --> 00:14:56.870 his faith journey. 00:14:57.400 --> 00:14:59.840 And his faith journey is that relationship with you. 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:07.470 One of the things that I have grown to find very endearing in my relationship with the Lord is early on what frustrated me. 00:15:07.680 --> 00:15:09.540 I've learned to embrace it as a blessing. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:17.400 And what I mean by that is when we go through seasons where we can't quite figure out, Lord, how is it that you desire to move? 00:15:18.380 --> 00:15:25.680 I find that those are the moments that are sweetest in my relationship with the Lord, because those challenges are what drive 00:15:25.680 --> 00:15:27.140 me to my knees to seek him. 00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:35.470 It's in those seasons that God brings me closer to him as I'm as I'm yearning to honor him with my life. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:42.800 And so for Paul, God is doing this incredible work in his heart as he's seeking after the Lord. 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:49.980 And it's the same for you that God uses adversity to not only not only work through your life, 00:15:49.980 --> 00:15:57.380 but most importantly, work in your life to bring you to that spiritually awakened moment where you recognize 00:15:57.380 --> 00:15:59.860 how you need the Spirit of God. 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:04.880 Because anything that Paul's going to do in this world is certainly that's going to matter anyway. 00:16:04.920 --> 00:16:07.810 It's not going to be by his own strength, but rather by the Lord's. 00:16:08.660 --> 00:16:15.900 And so this challenge of this moment is really what causes Paul to lean deeper into the Lord, to discover how God 00:16:15.900 --> 00:16:21.980 wants to move as he himself is strengthened in the Lord through the circumstances that he's going through. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:28.320 And it tells us in the midst of that moment that the way that Paul finds the answer is through a vision. 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:33.500 Now, I want you to know I'm not like anti vision or anything, okay? 00:16:34.300 --> 00:16:40.430 But the Bible is writing this in a narrative, and a narrative is just saying to you, this is what happened. 00:16:41.060 --> 00:16:42.730 This is not necessarily prescriptive. 00:16:44.260 --> 00:16:48.940 And there's a big difference between understanding how narratives work and prescriptive narratives. 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:52.190 Just describing you as a story prescriptive is saying this is what you should do. 00:16:52.680 --> 00:16:58.550 And the reason I say that is when you look at the word vision in the New Testament, you might read this and think, oh, Paul had a vision, I should have a vision. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.090 And then some people can get Uber obsessive about having visions. 00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:09.940 I think it's important to know that when you look up the word vision in the New Testament, you discover there are a few instances in the book of Acts where that word is used. 00:17:10.020 --> 00:17:17.119 When Peter had a vision in Cornelius, when Paul had a vision, when Jesus visited him on the road to Damascus, here 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:24.160 in this moment with the apostle Paul, and then you really got to jump all the way to the book of Revelation at the very end, where John talks about a vision for 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:24.660 revelation. 00:17:25.660 --> 00:17:32.100 But in between all that, when you look at the word vision in Scripture, you discover really there's one other section that talks about it. 00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:39.480 It's Colossians chapter two, and it warns you about people who boast in visions, as if to say, this 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:45.280 becomes a way people become abusive and manipulating what they claim God wants when it's not what God desires. 00:17:47.020 --> 00:17:53.700 I will remind us sometimes as a church not because not because I hate people, but I just want to know. 00:17:53.700 --> 00:18:00.700 Some of the most dangerous words I think can be spoken is God told me not because I don't think God 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:01.600 can tell you things. 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:02.340 I do think he can. 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:04.000 If you want to know how, just read the Bible. 00:18:04.040 --> 00:18:05.040 He's telling you all kinds of things. 00:18:06.600 --> 00:18:13.640 God can tell you things, but I think sometimes people can use that in a very dangerous way to manipulate what it is they 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:15.860 want rather than what God says. 00:18:17.080 --> 00:18:23.580 Now, having said all that, I think it's important to know what God desires for you. 00:18:24.540 --> 00:18:29.200 And the Bible gives us a plethora of ways of understanding how we discover that as God's people. 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:32.750 It tells us in second Corinthians five seven walk by faith, not by sight. 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.800 So learning your faith becomes critical for us. 00:18:35.860 --> 00:18:40.930 It tells us in Colossians chapter three verse 16, let the Word of God dwell in you richly. 00:18:41.340 --> 00:18:43.180 In Romans chapter 12, verse two. 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:46.270 Renew your mind on the things of the Lord. 00:18:46.360 --> 00:18:52.460 In James chapter one, verse five, seek the wisdom of God and how you carry out the truth of the Lord in this world. 00:18:52.600 --> 00:18:57.380 So important passages in helping us understand what is God desires and is reminding us. 00:18:57.420 --> 00:19:02.420 The Word of God becomes the basis of understanding the will of God as we live for his glory in this world. 00:19:03.320 --> 00:19:10.400 But here comes the Apostle Paul with this idea of a vision and God directing him in this way. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:18.300 And I'll tell you, like I am reluctant when people say, And God told me, I know sometimes we tend some people use stronger 00:19:18.300 --> 00:19:19.800 language than others. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:23.740 I typically say it like this, that I feel like the Lord's pressed this on my heart. 00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:26.260 You know, I feel convicted by this. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:30.060 I feel the Lord burdening my heart this way. 00:19:30.620 --> 00:19:34.740 And sometimes people, when they say God told me, they tend to mean those things. 00:19:34.800 --> 00:19:37.400 I think it's good to clarify what we mean by that. 00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:39.380 And I'm not trying to make you paranoid. 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:42.560 You know, when you talk to me, if you say the word God told me. 00:19:42.580 --> 00:19:42.960 Right. 00:19:43.100 --> 00:19:47.420 But as a pastor interested in what that means, I want to know how God's leading your life. 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.560 More than just simply using a statement like that. 00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:54.560 God, what is it you desire to do through me? 00:19:55.600 --> 00:19:57.880 And God, what is it you desire to do in me? 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:04.720 I would tell you in my own relationship with the Lord when I when I moved to Utah, I. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:06.880 I felt like the Lord wanted me in Utah. 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:13.580 And one of the reasons I, I felt the Lord leading me here was when I came to know the Lord. 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:16.360 My transformation in Jesus was rather radical. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:24.660 I grew up a rough kid doing stupid things, had a very hard heart to religion in general or any belief system. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:29.500 I just thought it was an ignorant guessing game where your belief system you hope was right in the end. 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:36.720 And a lot of things that I'd gone through as a kid that, built, built an angry heart in my soul. 00:20:38.100 --> 00:20:40.840 And so when I came to know, the Lord radically transformed me. 00:20:40.840 --> 00:20:48.100 And when I learned about Utah, I realized, man, with people that don't agree with me, I can be incredibly patient because God 00:20:48.100 --> 00:20:50.140 had been incredibly patient with me. 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:52.240 So anywhere in the world God would lead me. 00:20:52.820 --> 00:20:59.920 I felt like the Lord, Lord could use me because I had been the person that most would think would be furthest from the 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:00.140 Lord. 00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:02.960 God radically transformed my life. 00:21:03.020 --> 00:21:03.420 But there was. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:10.460 There was a moment where I moved here, and I thought to myself, if we're going to start a church, I want to be confident that 00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:12.130 we're going to be able to do this right. 00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:14.600 As much as one can be confident, I want to be confident. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:22.420 And so I took some time to study Utah and started to learn, like what caused churches 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:23.640 to close. 00:21:24.580 --> 00:21:28.620 Like I wanted to know why churches succeeded, but also more importantly, why. 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:30.260 Why churches close, by the way? 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.280 The answer is the Lord always. 00:21:32.520 --> 00:21:36.060 Okay, but what caused some churches to close? 00:21:36.060 --> 00:21:42.460 Because statistics in Utah, especially at this time when I was studying, within five years, 80% of biblical based churches would close. 00:21:43.360 --> 00:21:44.840 And I didn't want that to be. 00:21:44.860 --> 00:21:51.720 And one of the reasons I didn't want that to be is because I know for some people to come to know the Lord here, there's a tremendous sacrifice in that. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.600 Sometimes your neighborhood, your friends, your family can abandon you. 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:02.580 And one thing I didn't want to do as a follower of Jesus is abandon someone else who was seeking new community in Christ. 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:07.520 So how do I know that I can make it here? 00:22:07.540 --> 00:22:14.740 And as I started to study different ministries and why they didn't survive, and sometimes there's good reasons for it, right? 00:22:14.740 --> 00:22:15.980 Sometimes there's things you can't control. 00:22:17.280 --> 00:22:20.540 But a lot of times what I discovered is it was just hard and people quit. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.950 And it was sad to look at over and over again, but repeatedly looking at, looking at it was hard and people quit. 00:22:28.320 --> 00:22:34.480 Like, can I just tell you being a pastor is not easy, right? 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:41.480 And you forsake certain creature comforts and that's even more so in Utah. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:46.940 There are certain things you just know you're going to sacrifice on for the benefit of seeing God's work done here. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:55.120 But one of the things I really, I began to recognize in that is I grew up as a kid with a single mom who had me when she was 16. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:59.210 By the time I graduated high school, I'd lived in 20 different homes. 00:23:00.220 --> 00:23:02.640 Sometimes I lived in homes without running water. 00:23:03.520 --> 00:23:10.660 I had a childhood that was full of some adversity, but also I had an incredible mother, very strong 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:15.640 woman, who demonstrated what it was to work through adversity. 00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:24.400 And when I stood here in Utah and I started to pray about planting a church, I realized God had used my path to 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:27.670 prepare me for things I may not have had the strength to do otherwise. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:30.380 I had walked a difficult road. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:34.540 I know what it was to live in life in some challenging circumstances. 00:23:35.840 --> 00:23:39.880 And I realized God had worked in my life in such a way that incredible things could happen here. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:42.890 I don't say all that to say. 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.260 And look, look at me, I don't that's not the point. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:53.740 But the point is to recognize God uses adversity in our lives in incredible ways, ways that we may not even realize. 00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:59.930 And it might be decades later where you get to look back and you say, and this was what God was doing. 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:05.580 Sometimes we don't even get the pleasure of understanding that until we see him face to face in eternity. 00:24:06.760 --> 00:24:09.810 But God uses our circumstances. 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:12.280 None of what we go through goes to waste. 00:24:13.060 --> 00:24:17.220 And so for the Apostle Paul, he is he's keenly aware of this. 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:20.120 And so God redeems adversity in unexpected ways. 00:24:20.120 --> 00:24:20.900 Let me give you a point, Number two. 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:24.680 The gospel powerfully transforms lives. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:27.400 The gospel powerfully transforms lives. 00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:28.740 And I want to say this quickly. 00:24:28.860 --> 00:24:31.700 And we've seen we're seeing this throughout all of Acts 16. 00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:34.520 And I really just wanted to focus mostly on the latter half. 00:24:34.580 --> 00:24:35.930 So I spend too much time on the front end. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:43.560 But when you think about what happens in the book of Acts, he's reminding us of just how the Spirit of God works and people in different 00:24:43.560 --> 00:24:47.880 places of life where in Acts 16, my gosh, we're going to get a new clicker. 00:24:48.140 --> 00:24:48.340 Shalom. 00:24:49.080 --> 00:24:49.920 Give me, give me a click. 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:55.140 There is verse 13, we meet this lady named Lydia who was a who was a follower of Judaism. 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:58.240 She was a god fear, but she was a follower of Judaism. 00:24:58.780 --> 00:25:02.870 And she's outside of the riverside and with women. 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:08.180 When and when cities had at least ten Jewish men, they would put a synagogue. 00:25:08.360 --> 00:25:11.500 And if they had less than that, then they would have to find alternative ways. 00:25:11.580 --> 00:25:14.000 And this was a customary way the women would worship. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:15.380 They would go out to the riverside. 00:25:16.020 --> 00:25:17.240 And so Paul knew that. 00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:20.650 And because he would typically go to cities and start with the synagogues. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:25.230 He went to an area where the Jewish people were, and the reason he would do this is because there was an Old Testament foundation. 00:25:25.820 --> 00:25:28.660 It's easier to build upon that Old Testament. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:30.800 So he would he would go and find the Jewish people. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:32.120 He would share with them. 00:25:32.120 --> 00:25:36.300 He finds this lady named Lydia, who happens to be a seller of purple goods. 00:25:36.300 --> 00:25:41.350 It tells you in verse 14, and what that means is she is from the upper class of society. 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:44.710 You knew you were bougie when you had purple in the first century. 00:25:44.760 --> 00:25:46.520 That's what that's what Lydia did. 00:25:46.520 --> 00:25:48.930 And so Lydia was more of a wealthy individual. 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:56.580 And so Paul comes to the these Jewish people, he shares the gospel and she comes to know Christ. 00:25:56.580 --> 00:26:00.250 Paul says, look, the Old Testament declares the Messiah, the Messiah has come. 00:26:00.320 --> 00:26:01.100 He's come for you. 00:26:01.100 --> 00:26:02.170 Will you give your life to him? 00:26:02.260 --> 00:26:03.520 And this is what Lydia does. 00:26:03.520 --> 00:26:05.720 She turns to the Lord for her. 00:26:05.720 --> 00:26:07.090 It was an intellectual sharing. 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:10.060 She needed to see how the truth of God's Word connected. 00:26:10.860 --> 00:26:12.780 And then she embraced it with her heart. 00:26:13.460 --> 00:26:13.620 Right. 00:26:13.620 --> 00:26:17.280 So Lydia becomes an important picture of how God God can work. 00:26:17.280 --> 00:26:19.720 But not only do you find Lydia, but there's also this. 00:26:19.840 --> 00:26:20.800 This slave girl. 00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:28.850 And this slave girl was she was she had the ability to predict the future. 00:26:28.860 --> 00:26:29.560 She was clairvoyant. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.320 And so this slave girl was lower class of society. 00:26:34.320 --> 00:26:36.240 And she was being oppressed by demons. 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:40.740 She's got demonic influence on her life, being oppressed. 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:40.840 So. 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.620 So the Lord meets her in that very practical way. 00:26:43.620 --> 00:26:50.470 In the midst of this oppression, she discovers the power of who God is as Christ liberates her. 00:26:51.040 --> 00:26:56.980 And so you see these two individuals from different walks of life, extremely different walks of life, right? 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:02.780 One upper class, wealthy, an intellectual sharing of God's Word gives her life to Jesus. 00:27:02.800 --> 00:27:09.460 This other woman being oppressed by evil spirits, working as a clairvoyant to make other people wealthy. 00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:11.840 She's being abused, she's being used. 00:27:12.540 --> 00:27:15.910 And Paul comes to her and she's delivered from this oppression. 00:27:16.360 --> 00:27:24.160 Now, let me just say a couple of things about this woman, because anytime I bring up something about demon activity, 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:30.720 at some point someone in one of those services comes up to me at the end and says, I see dead people. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:31.980 Like something like that. 00:27:31.980 --> 00:27:39.120 You know, like something they get, we get sometimes we get really fixated, Uber focused on demonic activity and almost 00:27:39.120 --> 00:27:41.900 like this, where you live your life, you live your life, you live your life. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:47.620 And then all of a sudden, well, bam, you're just demon possessed or oppressed or something like, that's the way they picture it. 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:49.780 But I like to remind us of this. 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:53.260 You're never not in spiritual warfare. 00:27:54.940 --> 00:28:00.140 Every part of your life has some spiritual influence and impact about it. 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:01.860 The decisions you make get this. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:09.660 Everything you do as a human being is driven by a belief, that belief influenced by a spiritual 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:10.610 world. 00:28:11.080 --> 00:28:11.180 Right? 00:28:11.180 --> 00:28:14.140 So you're never not in a spiritual Battle. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:17.700 The question is what you're giving yourself to. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:21.160 Now, I don't say all that to freak you out, okay? 00:28:21.460 --> 00:28:24.540 Because if you belong to Jesus, the Spirit of God dwells in you. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:26.700 You can't be demon possessed. 00:28:27.580 --> 00:28:33.550 And the Bible tells you that God doesn't give you a spirit of fear and Timothy, but of power, love, and a sound mind. 00:28:34.360 --> 00:28:36.130 So I don't want you to obsess every time you turn a corner. 00:28:36.300 --> 00:28:37.260 A demon is going to get you right. 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:41.120 But rather, I want you to understand the power of God that works in you. 00:28:41.780 --> 00:28:48.880 And rather than walk in fear, walk in the hope that you have in Christ, because you know you belong to him and give your life 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:49.200 to him. 00:28:50.360 --> 00:28:57.080 Alright, so here's this demon woman, and her story tells us something beautiful about the way God works. 00:28:57.600 --> 00:29:05.660 And one of the things I think is critical to understand is that God doesn't make new things, but rather God 00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:07.500 makes things new. 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:11.720 And God certainly created in the beginning, and that's important to understand. 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:18.820 He did make new things when he made creation, but since then, God's interest is not making new things, but making 00:29:18.820 --> 00:29:19.780 things new. 00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:27.800 And the reason that becomes important is because at some point in our life, rather than follow and walk after the Lord, we 00:29:27.800 --> 00:29:29.580 walked after things of this world. 00:29:30.420 --> 00:29:32.000 We lived for a different kingdom. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:35.050 That's not Jesus's, and the Bible tells us that belongs to Satan. 00:29:36.260 --> 00:29:38.860 And because of that, the marks of the world are on us. 00:29:39.800 --> 00:29:46.060 Sometimes we can make such terrible decisions in life that we might look at ourselves and think, man, how could God even use me? 00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:48.660 Why would God even care about me? 00:29:49.540 --> 00:29:53.820 I'm just one that God should just throw aside, ignore me, and move on with other things. 00:29:54.820 --> 00:29:59.650 And I want you to know that's not the gospel more than anything. 00:29:59.860 --> 00:30:03.280 If that's what you wrestle with, you need to understand who Jesus is. 00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:06.820 Because Jesus is not about making new things. 00:30:06.820 --> 00:30:08.340 Jesus is about making things new. 00:30:09.740 --> 00:30:14.500 Jesus is about taking what's broken and restoring it in the beauty of who he is. 00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:17.540 And that's what Romans chapter eight says. 00:30:17.600 --> 00:30:22.660 All of creation groans, awaiting for the redemption in Christ. 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:30.460 One of the beautiful things that Jesus is first coming is that his first coming was to restore my soul in him at his second coming. 00:30:30.460 --> 00:30:33.940 His healing hand will be known throughout the whole world as he restores all things in him. 00:30:35.180 --> 00:30:42.240 And in between all that, we get the beauty of representing this gospel, hope that we can have in Christ, that he doesn't make new things, but rather 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:43.520 he makes all things new. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:49.200 And when God recreates the heavens and the earth, he's not blowing it up, wiping it away and starting it over. 00:30:49.280 --> 00:30:52.360 He's taking the brokenness of this world and he's making it new. 00:30:54.460 --> 00:30:55.100 The gospel. 00:30:56.040 --> 00:30:58.740 The gospel powerfully transforms life. 00:30:58.740 --> 00:31:02.110 And the last one that you learn about is the Philippian jailer. 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:05.320 The Philippian jailer was more of a middle class individual. 00:31:06.260 --> 00:31:13.500 He's likely jaded by life he to be in this position as a jailer, he most likely worked 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:20.600 as a Roman soldier, retired, and then, in light of his fulfillment as a soldier, the government gave him this position to guard 00:31:20.600 --> 00:31:27.740 the jails because he would have been familiar with some of this lifestyle as a as a warrior, to be able to serve in this 00:31:27.740 --> 00:31:28.140 capacity. 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:32.700 And so here he is operating as a jailer, and he's seeing some of the most difficult things in life. 00:31:32.760 --> 00:31:39.800 In fact, he tells you, verse 23, when they had inflicted inflicted many blows upon him, they threw them into prison and the jailer to 00:31:39.800 --> 00:31:40.760 keep them safely. 00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:45.710 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 00:31:46.040 --> 00:31:50.780 About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 00:31:50.820 --> 00:31:51.680 I mean, could you imagine this? 00:31:52.040 --> 00:31:55.920 Paul's, Paul and his friends being beat within an inch of their life, thrown in jail, and then just put in jail? 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:56.830 I mean, they're locked down. 00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:01.960 By the way, this picture is what's believed to be the place where Paul was put in jail. 00:32:02.020 --> 00:32:03.950 This is a remnant of the Philippian jail. 00:32:04.140 --> 00:32:11.760 And when you read the book of Acts, a lot of the places they talk about, you can still go back and see the ancient civilizations that were there. 00:32:11.760 --> 00:32:13.360 And the Bible has incredible archeology. 00:32:14.560 --> 00:32:17.960 But here's Paul thrown into this prison. 00:32:18.100 --> 00:32:25.840 And while they're in this prison, though, they've been treated with contempt, had ill treatment from this jailer, Paul 00:32:25.840 --> 00:32:30.000 and Silas, it tells us in this moments choose to worship the Lord. 00:32:31.300 --> 00:32:33.320 They're just singing, praising and praying to the Lord. 00:32:33.320 --> 00:32:36.480 Could you imagine as that jailer how shocking that would be? 00:32:37.700 --> 00:32:44.260 Here are these individuals having gone through all that and yet they're joyfully seeking after God. 00:32:44.280 --> 00:32:46.640 And then verse 26, it tells us this. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:48.380 It says. 00:32:48.380 --> 00:32:51.850 Oh, I'll tell you about that picture in a minute. 00:32:52.460 --> 00:32:55.910 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. 00:32:55.960 --> 00:33:01.200 And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:06.080 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 00:33:06.280 --> 00:33:07.140 The punishment. 00:33:07.140 --> 00:33:09.920 If you were a jailer and you lost a prisoner, was that you would lose your life. 00:33:10.660 --> 00:33:12.400 And so he's supposing that the prisoners were escaped. 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:13.050 He was going to kill himself. 00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:14.020 Verse 28. 00:33:14.020 --> 00:33:18.260 But Paul cried with a loud voice, do not harm yourself, for we are all here. 00:33:18.380 --> 00:33:24.960 And the jailer called for lights, and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. 00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:26.610 I mean, could you imagine that? 00:33:27.280 --> 00:33:29.720 I don't know very many of us would being thrown in jail. 00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:33.120 We start to pray and we're chained to this jail, right? 00:33:33.800 --> 00:33:38.740 And then all of a sudden there's an earthquake and the jail bust open and your chains fall off. 00:33:38.740 --> 00:33:39.100 Right? 00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:42.440 And if you just spent time praying, I don't know anyone in this room be like. 00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:43.400 And God answered our prayer. 00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:44.960 So we got up and got the heck out of there, right? 00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:46.280 Like everyone would do that. 00:33:46.280 --> 00:33:48.780 I don't know anyone that wouldn't do that, but why? 00:33:49.020 --> 00:33:50.340 Why did Paul not do that? 00:33:50.360 --> 00:33:51.400 It doesn't make any sense. 00:33:51.520 --> 00:33:52.060 Why would Paul? 00:33:52.300 --> 00:33:57.570 Why would Paul not think about himself and run for the hills for his own safety? 00:33:57.920 --> 00:33:59.490 I mean, he's in a place that's not his homeland. 00:34:00.020 --> 00:34:04.440 I mean, he's gone way out of his comfort zone into this new area. 00:34:05.080 --> 00:34:07.720 And now suddenly he's got opportunity for freedom. 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:12.020 And rather than than run into freedom, he chooses to remain in jail. 00:34:12.300 --> 00:34:13.040 Why would he do that? 00:34:14.860 --> 00:34:17.760 Les Paul's interest be about more than himself? 00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:25.980 I mean, could you imagine when this jailer runs into this moment and he would say to them, you, I was 00:34:25.980 --> 00:34:32.159 about to take my life, but you gave up your freedom to spare mine. 00:34:33.460 --> 00:34:34.219 Why would you do that? 00:34:35.600 --> 00:34:42.780 And Paul very easily would have said, I gave up my freedom for your life, because there was another one 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:50.760 who gave his freedom for my life, and because he gave his freedom for my life. 00:34:51.659 --> 00:34:56.820 I've given my life for yours, for this jaded heart. 00:34:58.560 --> 00:35:03.880 The demonstration of that love and grace Radically transforms him. 00:35:05.320 --> 00:35:06.360 So you see, Lydia. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:09.940 Intellectually, you see the slave girl being oppressed. 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:13.480 You see this jaded heart truly seeing the grace of God. 00:35:14.440 --> 00:35:16.940 Now that this has been revealed to you. 00:35:16.940 --> 00:35:19.370 And I ruined my big point here. 00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:24.080 Let me just tell you what Paul is demonstrating is incredible grace. 00:35:25.040 --> 00:35:32.480 One of the things that happened in our country within with in this century, 2006, just outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 00:35:33.560 --> 00:35:40.820 a group of Amish girls went to school one morning and a man entered the schoolhouse, and 00:35:40.820 --> 00:35:47.160 he shot ten young ladies and killed five of them before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. 00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:50.720 Amish people were devastated by that. 00:35:51.740 --> 00:35:54.200 Heartbroken over everything that had taken place. 00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:58.460 But in the midst of their own pain, they did something incredible. 00:36:00.160 --> 00:36:03.890 They said God's word tells them to forgive and to love their enemies. 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:09.220 And so the Amish people went to the home of this lady on the left. 00:36:10.460 --> 00:36:12.260 This lady's name is Terry Roberts. 00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:19.600 She is the mother of the man, Charlie Roberts, who walked into that schoolhouse and shot those children. 00:36:21.140 --> 00:36:28.380 The Amish people went to this lady and they said, we're grieving over our loss and you're grieving 00:36:28.380 --> 00:36:29.400 over your loss. 00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:35.620 There's no sense in us to grieve apart, but rather to grieve together in this tragedy. 00:36:37.080 --> 00:36:39.120 When Charlie Roberts funeral was held. 00:36:40.040 --> 00:36:47.320 They said at his funeral, there were actually more Amish people that showed up to the funeral than anyone else, and they did something 00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:47.870 incredible. 00:36:48.140 --> 00:36:55.320 At the funeral, they decided to take an offering to give to Charlie Roberts widow and his three daughters 00:36:55.320 --> 00:36:56.300 they left behind. 00:36:58.080 --> 00:37:03.220 Here are people in the midst of their pain rather than just focus on themselves. 00:37:03.220 --> 00:37:06.610 They're seeing this as an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ. 00:37:08.520 --> 00:37:15.850 Guys, can I tell you more than anything in your country right now, what people need to see are the hands and feet of Christ. 00:37:18.820 --> 00:37:26.380 People are angry, frustrated, feel like they're in the moral right and it seems like want to just cut each other's throats to 00:37:26.380 --> 00:37:28.520 prove and demonstrate how right they are. 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:37.120 I mean, how radical it would be that in the midst of the screaming and division and the shouting, that 00:37:37.160 --> 00:37:41.620 God's people stand in a radical way to love people where they're at. 00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:48.420 Now, I want you to know that when we do that as God's people, we're not saying we agree with what other people done. 00:37:48.420 --> 00:37:51.720 Paul's certainly not agreeing with what the jailer's done. 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:54.640 The Amish people don't agree with what Charlie did. 00:37:57.240 --> 00:37:59.860 But in the midst of that pain, the beauty of Christ is made known. 00:38:01.060 --> 00:38:04.390 And this is how the gospel radically transforms life. 00:38:05.580 --> 00:38:08.420 And when you read what the response was for the jailer, look at this. 00:38:08.680 --> 00:38:12.620 He immediately says, then he brought them out and said, sir, what must I do to be saved? 00:38:13.400 --> 00:38:15.010 And he's thinking like a religious person. 00:38:15.160 --> 00:38:16.230 Give me the task list. 00:38:17.140 --> 00:38:20.930 But then you see in verse 31 they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. 00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:21.800 He doesn't. 00:38:21.820 --> 00:38:27.000 They don't say, look, it's an act that you do, but rather it's what Jesus has already done for you. 00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:28.960 Like trust in this. 00:38:29.020 --> 00:38:32.730 And then he goes on, and they spoke the word of the Lord to him, to all who were in his house. 00:38:32.780 --> 00:38:38.410 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and was baptized at once he and his eldest family. 00:38:38.660 --> 00:38:41.620 Then they brought them out in the middle of the house and set food before them. 00:38:41.700 --> 00:38:45.360 And he rejoiced, along with his entire household that he had believed in God. 00:38:45.460 --> 00:38:48.660 And you see this radical transformation the way it's demonstrated. 00:38:48.660 --> 00:38:54.960 You see this immediate compassion from the jailer, this jaded heart now loving on the people that he beat, washing their wounds. 00:38:55.080 --> 00:38:58.430 And then he starts thinking about community, how to bless others in this. 00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:01.650 I mean, that's the demonstration of life made known in Christ. 00:39:01.740 --> 00:39:08.080 And so let me give you this last point, because I got to end last, is this live for God's glory and trust in him to supply. 00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:10.620 Live for God's glory and trust in supply. 00:39:11.040 --> 00:39:18.120 If the gospel is what radically transforms, if God can do incredible things in adversity, it's 00:39:18.120 --> 00:39:22.280 important for me to just live for his glory and trust God. 00:39:22.280 --> 00:39:25.560 Whatever you want to do, my life is just for you. 00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:29.900 And you see this in the lives of the believers here in verse 35. 00:39:30.020 --> 00:39:34.160 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police saying, let those men go. 00:39:34.160 --> 00:39:38.860 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, the magistrates have sent to let them let you go. 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:40.920 Therefore come out now and go in peace. 00:39:41.040 --> 00:39:47.790 But Paul said to them, they have beaten us publicly condemned men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison. 00:39:48.100 --> 00:39:49.550 And do they now throw us out secretly? 00:39:49.880 --> 00:39:50.440 No. 00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:52.700 Let them come themselves and take us out. 00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:55.450 And the police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid. 00:39:55.540 --> 00:39:56.660 I got to stop there for time. 00:39:56.680 --> 00:39:57.920 But let me let me just say this. 00:39:59.380 --> 00:40:01.420 There's what Paul could have done and there's what Paul did. 00:40:02.040 --> 00:40:05.640 And if this were happening in modern day America, I think it would look like this. 00:40:06.460 --> 00:40:08.470 They were they were treated unjustly. 00:40:09.060 --> 00:40:16.140 And so therefore they used that as an excuse to be absolute jerks on the back end because they had the moral right, and they decided to sue everything for 00:40:16.140 --> 00:40:20.000 what they were worth and get what they wanted, because what they were primarily interested in was themselves. 00:40:21.160 --> 00:40:25.520 Now, I'm not saying when injustice has happened to you that you shouldn't seek legal recourse, right? 00:40:25.520 --> 00:40:26.640 You have law for a reason. 00:40:27.620 --> 00:40:31.940 But I want you to know that Paul's primary interest in this moment is far greater than himself. 00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:36.240 Because what Paul's thinking about the minute I leave is they set me free. 00:40:36.660 --> 00:40:39.630 They're just going to turn and continue to attack the other believers. 00:40:40.700 --> 00:40:44.540 How can I use this moment for the glory of God to the benefit of others? 00:40:45.560 --> 00:40:50.870 And so what Paul does is remind the leaders in that city that he's a Roman citizen, and that they have treated him illegally. 00:40:52.600 --> 00:40:59.660 And what that provides then is an opportunity for the church to thrive, because now they're not going to have to worry about living 00:40:59.660 --> 00:41:05.800 under the threat of persecution, because the rulers in this area know that they have broken the law against these Christians. 00:41:06.720 --> 00:41:09.760 And so rather than make this moment about himself and what he wants. 00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:12.220 Paul uses it for the Lord. 00:41:13.500 --> 00:41:15.720 When you read about Acts chapter 16, it's interesting. 00:41:15.720 --> 00:41:22.800 Out of all the people in Philippi that Paul could have told us about or Luke could have written about, he chooses Lydia, 00:41:23.160 --> 00:41:23.980 the wealthy woman. 00:41:24.840 --> 00:41:29.380 He chooses the slave girl, and he chooses the Philippian jailer. 00:41:30.260 --> 00:41:32.500 Out of all the people he could have told us, told about why? 00:41:32.540 --> 00:41:33.160 Why those three? 00:41:33.160 --> 00:41:35.520 Because those certainly aren't the only three that came to know the Lord in Philippi. 00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:44.240 I think it was because of this in first century Judaism, and even beyond this, and before this, it became popular, definitely 00:41:44.240 --> 00:41:51.840 in the first century that Jewish men regularly would pray, God, we're blessed because you didn't make me a 00:41:51.840 --> 00:41:54.040 Gentile, a slave or a woman. 00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:58.800 God, thank you for not making me a Gentile, a slave or a woman. 00:41:59.280 --> 00:42:02.260 Which if someone tried that today, they would get stoned, I think. 00:42:02.260 --> 00:42:06.720 But in the first century, that was a common prayer for Jewish men to pray. 00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:11.760 But can I just tell you, it's so antithetical to the gospel? 00:42:13.520 --> 00:42:21.320 I think this is exactly why Paul used the people that he used to tell the story, because they are Gentiles, slaves, 00:42:21.540 --> 00:42:21.940 and women. 00:42:23.960 --> 00:42:31.140 God want us to recognize the value of everyone and the power of how he can transform, so 00:42:31.140 --> 00:42:36.950 that we understand as we walk with him, the beauty of what God can do in the most difficult of circumstances.