WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:00.260 Okay. 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:04.100 I'm going to invite you to Acts chapter 17, where we're going to be together today. 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:06.300 Acts chapter 17. 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:13.740 And originally we were going to talk about this entire chapter, but this chapter is so unique and a couple of things that it features for us that I've 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:15.460 I've divided it for us. 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:17.400 And we're just going to look at these first 15 verses today. 00:00:18.200 --> 00:00:22.770 And specifically, we're going to look at the importance of your faith journey in the midst of adversity. 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:30.820 There comes a there comes a time in our life where we can find ourselves in a position where we've got to choose between what pleases 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:33.380 the Lord and what pleases people. 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:39.640 And I hope, honestly, that you live your life not to please people, because it's nice to be kind to people. 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:42.510 The Bible tells us to seek good and peace with all people. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:45.520 And that's certainly nice to be kind to people. 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:48.330 But the aim of your life is not about pleasing people. 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:50.760 The aim of your life should be about glorifying God. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:56.500 Now, it's nice when following a road of glorifying God aligns with this world. 00:00:56.740 --> 00:00:58.260 But it's not always going to be that way. 00:00:58.720 --> 00:01:01.560 But sometimes this world is juxtaposed against the Lord. 00:01:01.620 --> 00:01:04.190 In fact, Romans chapter 12 encourages us don't. 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:08.090 Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:11.590 It carries this idea that the world wants to press you into its mold. 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:15.360 But Jesus wants to do something radically different in you and through you. 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:17.600 And that's the idea of transformation from the inside out. 00:01:17.880 --> 00:01:20.240 Jesus turns your world upside down in him. 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:26.240 And so, rather than the world try to force you into something, the Bible calls you to so much more in Christ. 00:01:26.300 --> 00:01:33.670 And it's not until you understand who the Lord is as your life surrendered to him, that you discover who you are and the reason for which he's created you. 00:01:33.860 --> 00:01:37.740 But when your life is given over to that, you have opportunity to live for his glory. 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:44.400 So there's a there's a time in life where there's the purposes that man might have for us, and there's the purpose that God has for us. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:51.580 And when we come to that place, we realize that there might be a sacrifice or even a cost to following after the Lord. 00:01:51.720 --> 00:01:55.540 But that's the reason for which God has created me. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:02.880 And so today we're going to talk about a road few people travel and the reason for that is there's I think there is 00:02:02.880 --> 00:02:09.750 a gap in American theology and our understanding of God, and the Bible speaks to it very profoundly. 00:02:10.300 --> 00:02:12.620 And that gap is found in the idea of suffering. 00:02:13.420 --> 00:02:20.540 And the reason that we have this gap in our American theology and suffering is because we tend to 00:02:20.540 --> 00:02:22.790 follow a God of comfort and convenience. 00:02:24.100 --> 00:02:31.180 And while it's wonderful that we have a God that is certainly there to be our comforter, to encourage us, to enrich us 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:32.580 and the joy of knowing him. 00:02:32.860 --> 00:02:35.530 There's also a cost to following after Jesus. 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:43.760 And some people, when they look at that cost, they will abandon the Lord in order to follow that path of comfort and convenience. 00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:51.440 It reminds me of this passage in John chapter six where the apostle Peter has this one of this moment. 00:02:51.440 --> 00:02:54.740 You know, he has a couple times in life where he says things and he says them. 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:55.060 Right. 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:59.860 And he has a whole lot of times where he says things and probably wishes he didn't say those things right. 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:03.180 He's the guy that always spoke first and then thought about what he said. 00:03:03.820 --> 00:03:11.020 But in John chapter six, Jesus has this large crowd following him and he gives this statement, whoever wants to follow after 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:15.120 me must drink my flesh and or eat my flesh and drink my blood. 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:18.450 And the crowd, hearing that, were perplexed by that statement. 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:20.080 And it says they abandoned him. 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:24.740 And then Jesus turns to his disciples and asks the question, are you going to leave me too? 00:03:25.940 --> 00:03:28.370 And Peter gives this rather profound thought. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:31.780 He says, Lord, where else shall we go? 00:03:31.780 --> 00:03:33.180 You have the words of life. 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:41.860 And Peter is recognizing something significant about who we are as human beings, established in who God is, that there are 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:45.620 circumstances in life may come and go, come and go. 00:03:45.620 --> 00:03:51.950 But the truth of who God is and who we are in light of that, that's what ultimately matters. 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:59.940 That we don't want the we don't want the temporal of this world to dictate what things, what things we might follow after knowing that 00:03:59.940 --> 00:04:02.860 our lives are built for more than just the temporal. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:04.830 That we're made for the eternal. 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.430 And so rather than react to circumstances of life which will come and go. 00:04:09.980 --> 00:04:16.260 To walk in the consistency of who the Lord is ultimately what matters, because that is what endures. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.740 And Peter is teaching us about that. 00:04:19.740 --> 00:04:27.220 Now, in light of Peter, as we look at Acts chapter 17, if we remember for a moment where the Apostle Paul is in this journey, 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:34.600 he's on his on his second missionary journey, going throughout the Roman Empire to proclaim the gospel, the good news, the forgiveness that we 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:37.590 can have in the Lord, and the freedom that we receive through him. 00:04:37.820 --> 00:04:44.580 I mean, we're finding the purpose for our existence because of what God has done for us, and a God who has loved us incredibly by giving his life for us. 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:50.350 You would think, man, if there was a God like that who has made himself known, who is going to such extent for you and for me? 00:04:50.500 --> 00:04:52.200 We should want to know that, right? 00:04:52.340 --> 00:04:52.860 But what? 00:04:52.960 --> 00:04:58.460 What Paul finds is continued opposition, in fact, as he begins his second missionary journey. 00:04:58.460 --> 00:05:00.970 You gotta look at this and think he's in the middle of God's will. 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:05.820 But in the middle of God's will, he continues to encounter adversity. 00:05:06.640 --> 00:05:08.400 Remember early in his missionary journey. 00:05:08.400 --> 00:05:15.600 Acts chapter 16, he's going from town to town, but he's not finding the that the Lord desires to work in those particular towns 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:16.560 when he's there. 00:05:16.580 --> 00:05:19.620 And so he ends up going over into Europe, into Philippi. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:22.020 And when he gets to Philippi, here he is in the center of God's will. 00:05:22.020 --> 00:05:24.770 God gave him a vision by the Macedonian vision to go here. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:29.890 He preaches the word in Philippi, and he finds himself beaten within an inch of his life and thrown in prison. 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:38.280 And then after he's thrown in prison, we're going to look at in Acts chapter 17 today he goes to Thessalonica, encounters a similar adversity on to Berea. 00:05:38.280 --> 00:05:39.600 Similar adversity. 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:43.200 I mean, any one of us facing that kind of opposition, we might begin to question ourselves. 00:05:43.580 --> 00:05:45.280 Am I really following the Lord here? 00:05:46.020 --> 00:05:47.580 I mean, is this really what God wants? 00:05:47.580 --> 00:05:52.290 Anytime we face that kind of adversity, we sort of stop for a moment and kind of pose that question. 00:05:52.520 --> 00:05:55.070 And we might even ask the deeper question, why? 00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:56.040 Right. 00:05:56.840 --> 00:06:00.720 Why, God, would you let such difficult things happen to me? 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:01.940 Don't you care? 00:06:01.980 --> 00:06:03.140 Don't you love me? 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:05.140 And we'll talk about an answer to why in a minute. 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:10.460 And so we're obviously we're looking at this themed idea of suffering today. 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:10.860 Right. 00:06:10.900 --> 00:06:16.680 And I know, like, maybe you come into church and you're like, I need I need a little bit of joy. 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:20.590 I did not anticipate, today would be such a heavy topic, but let me know. 00:06:20.880 --> 00:06:21.730 I want you to know this. 00:06:21.840 --> 00:06:25.290 This is really to help Seahawk fans today and what you're about to endure. 00:06:25.460 --> 00:06:29.360 So yeah, you do know your pastor's a Patriot fan, right? 00:06:29.380 --> 00:06:30.020 You just. 00:06:30.020 --> 00:06:31.100 Yeah. 00:06:31.100 --> 00:06:31.560 Yeah. 00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:33.760 I mean, we're not we're not all perfect, right? 00:06:33.760 --> 00:06:37.220 I just, I just Anyway, it's all that aside. 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:40.010 Now that I've lost half of you in this important message. 00:06:41.740 --> 00:06:45.500 Understanding a theology of suffering is critical for the life of the believer. 00:06:45.520 --> 00:06:47.220 And get this, it's not. 00:06:47.460 --> 00:06:49.220 It's not opposed to joy. 00:06:50.020 --> 00:06:51.100 In fact, we're going to look at it. 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:53.670 We're going to look at this verse in a moment at the very end. 00:06:54.020 --> 00:07:01.120 I think it might blow your mind a little bit, But when it comes to the idea of joy as a believer, it's 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:08.340 important to remember that for Christian, joy is much deeper than than the circumstances 00:07:08.340 --> 00:07:09.900 of life, right? 00:07:10.080 --> 00:07:13.690 Like when we go through certain seasons of life, we might have some happiness. 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:20.500 And I hope your life is full of wonderful happiness, but I also hope it's full of something much deeper than just happiness. 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:24.680 Because happiness is temporal and happiness can come and come and go. 00:07:25.700 --> 00:07:29.060 But the joy of a believer endures in all things. 00:07:29.260 --> 00:07:33.180 Because what we have in Christ, we know that we have forever. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:40.960 And the hope that he delivers to us, it gives us a future beyond the circumstances that life might deliver. 00:07:41.900 --> 00:07:46.590 And so we have a God who has come near, a God who has given himself a God who has promised. 00:07:46.780 --> 00:07:52.900 Not only does he walk with us in our circumstance, not only does he forgive us of our past, but he gives us a future in him. 00:07:53.780 --> 00:07:59.370 And with that, as believers, regardless of the temporal circumstances of life, we have a joy that endures. 00:08:00.020 --> 00:08:02.050 And it's critical for us to discover. 00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:09.100 But when we think in terms of what Paul is going through in this passage, we get to we get to look at this road that not 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:16.480 many people desire to travel, especially when someone says to you, well, in your Christian journey 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:22.030 there might be a cost and are you willing to pay that cost? 00:08:23.340 --> 00:08:27.210 What does it look like for us as believers to be solidified in that? 00:08:27.260 --> 00:08:34.460 Now, in mentioning all that in Acts chapter 17, one of the things that makes it unique, and one of the reasons I refer to this as a road 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:38.460 that not not many travel, is because Paul is actually on a road. 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:39.880 Many people do travel. 00:08:40.400 --> 00:08:47.420 He's as he starts this missionary journey, he's what's he's traveling on what's called the Ignatian way, which is one of the most popular 00:08:47.420 --> 00:08:49.240 roads in the Roman Empire. 00:08:49.780 --> 00:08:50.940 And Paul is on this journey. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.220 You can even go find sections of this road still existing today. 00:08:54.360 --> 00:09:00.040 There's a picture on your screen of one of those sections, and it says to you in Acts chapter 17, verse one. 00:09:00.040 --> 00:09:07.000 Now when they had passed through Amphilius and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 00:09:07.040 --> 00:09:10.420 So Paul is doing what Paul typically does when he goes from town to town. 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:12.020 He stops off in the synagogue first. 00:09:12.560 --> 00:09:19.660 And one of the reasons he does that is because he knows there's a biblical foundation in the synagogue for them to be able to understand who the Messiah truly is, and 00:09:19.660 --> 00:09:24.350 it's from the synagogue, then, that the church is birthed and they begin to proclaim the gospel throughout the city. 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:27.060 So here Paul goes on this Ignatian way. 00:09:27.060 --> 00:09:34.220 He's traveling from these cities, and even though he's walking a popular road, he's traveling metaphorically on a road that not many people will 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:34.560 take. 00:09:35.400 --> 00:09:42.460 And he's teaching them about the significance of who Christ is so that we begin to discover a depth to our faith so 00:09:42.460 --> 00:09:44.530 that we are faithful in Jesus, in all things. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.250 So when we talk about a road less traveled, let's let's look at these passages together. 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:50.990 I'll give you verse number one. 00:09:51.060 --> 00:09:53.280 Is this what is a road less traveled? 00:09:53.280 --> 00:09:53.960 Number one. 00:09:53.980 --> 00:09:55.980 The way of a suffering Messiah. 00:09:57.380 --> 00:09:59.410 It begins with the way of a suffering Messiah. 00:09:59.580 --> 00:10:06.840 Now, this is very critical to understand, because an understanding of the suffering Messiah helps 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:09.740 us in the struggles of our own life. 00:10:09.920 --> 00:10:10.040 Right? 00:10:10.040 --> 00:10:16.260 So he's not indifferent to what you go through because he has walked that road with us. 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:23.360 In fact, he's going to a greater extent than any of us will in recognizing how the father turned his back 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:26.680 on Christ, that Jesus bore our curse, in fact. 00:10:26.680 --> 00:10:29.680 And when you look at verse two, this is how Paul says it. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:37.260 He went in, as was his custom, in the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the 00:10:37.260 --> 00:10:44.420 scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise 00:10:44.420 --> 00:10:45.120 from the dead. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:48.730 And saying, this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you is the Christ. 00:10:48.920 --> 00:10:55.920 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, and as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a 00:10:55.920 --> 00:10:57.510 few of the leading women. 00:10:58.400 --> 00:11:02.610 So here Paul comes into the city and he's proclaiming, he says this interesting phrase. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.170 It was necessary for the Christ to suffer. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:09.090 Now there's a philosophical idea here that's important for us to understand. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:13.550 And then there's a theological teaching here in Scripture that's important for us to understand. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:21.240 Now, if I think in terms of the philosophical idea of Christ's suffering when it says it was necessary for him to suffer, 00:11:21.680 --> 00:11:26.040 we could maybe pose this question who actually killed Jesus? 00:11:27.640 --> 00:11:28.460 Was it the Roman Empire? 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:32.380 Was it the Jews that came against him? 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:35.840 Or was it the father who took him to the cross? 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:38.420 Was it God or was it man? 00:11:38.420 --> 00:11:39.020 Which was it? 00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:42.360 The answer is yes. 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.020 And this speaks to the uniqueness of who God is. 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:54.380 And this becomes important for all of us to understand that there is a broken world that you live in, 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:57.380 and people are responsible for the decisions that they make. 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:05.620 And at the same time, your God is so sovereignly in control that he orchestrates all things according to his 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:09.850 will for your good and to his glory. 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:13.680 How those two fit exactly. 00:12:13.760 --> 00:12:18.300 Let me just tell you this I am not sovereign God, and I don't know. 00:12:18.380 --> 00:12:24.860 My finite mind could ever fully comprehend how the divine hand of God works in such incredible ways. 00:12:25.780 --> 00:12:33.480 But what it does say to us as human beings is that God brings meaning and purpose from our struggle, that 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:40.940 he's not indifferent to it, to the point that he's willing to subjugate himself to the flesh and 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:45.120 take the curse and consequence of sin upon himself. 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:52.240 So philosophically, this is important for our mind to understand that this is not out of the control of God. 00:12:53.500 --> 00:13:00.600 Now, we may not always understand why the particularities of struggles happen in life, but what we're seeing is a 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:06.180 divine hand of a good God who will orchestrate it for his purposes and to your benefit. 00:13:06.880 --> 00:13:13.100 Romans eight tells you that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 00:13:13.140 --> 00:13:18.460 Now, I'll add on to that in a little bit as we get to the end, but I think philosophically it's beginning. 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:20.580 It's good to at least start to shape that in our mind. 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:23.780 And then theologically, I want us to just consider this phrase. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.330 It was necessary for the Christ to suffer. 00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:34.080 Now, could you imagine for a moment that you would be in a room where you might be the only one that follows the Lord? 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:38.540 And now you're going to explain to people the importance of following the Lord? 00:13:38.540 --> 00:13:43.800 Perhaps, maybe in this room it might be made up of an eclectic group of people who follow all sorts of different gods. 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:48.060 And now you're about to explain who you think is the one true God. 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:50.990 And your lead is this My God died. 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:54.800 I don't know about you, but when you're looking for. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.560 For hope that accentuates beyond the temporal. 00:13:58.880 --> 00:14:00.240 Starting with my God died. 00:14:00.260 --> 00:14:02.100 This doesn't just does not bode well, right? 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:08.800 Like, if you're going to put your hope in something, you got to you got to want to put your hope in something that isn't beat up by life, right? 00:14:08.800 --> 00:14:12.120 Isn't it's not meant to their demise by the hands of other people. 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:16.480 You would think that your God would be strong enough to be like, hey, I'm God, you're not going to do that to me. 00:14:17.160 --> 00:14:21.910 But the fact that did happen to your God would raise some level of concern. 00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:29.780 And not only not only in hearing that you would embrace a God that way, but to even think, how could I put myself my hope in something that died, 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:30.020 right? 00:14:30.020 --> 00:14:31.680 That just doesn't make any sense now. 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:39.560 It exacerbates itself when you when you recognize that Paul is not only saying this to people, but he's saying this to Jewish people because 00:14:39.560 --> 00:14:45.770 in Deuteronomy chapter 21, verse 23, it says, cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree. 00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:53.910 And in the Jewish mind, not only are they hearing about a God who died, but they would think to themselves, how could I ever follow someone that's been cursed? 00:14:54.940 --> 00:15:01.620 I mean, God obviously told us this in the Old Testament for a reason, and I think it was a warning so I wouldn't follow something like this. 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:04.580 Cursed is he who hangs on a tree. 00:15:04.700 --> 00:15:06.940 How could God be in something like that? 00:15:09.280 --> 00:15:14.340 And in that moment, Paul would explain, this is exactly who the Messiah was. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:23.360 The Messiah was cursed because he took on the curse so that you could be forgiven and set free. 00:15:24.660 --> 00:15:29.830 Now, it doesn't tell us in this passage how Paul would have gone through this and explained it entirely. 00:15:30.680 --> 00:15:37.820 But can I just tell you, when you when you look at the Bible, it is incredible the amount of prophetic understanding 00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:43.320 Scripture gave us to then recognize that this is exactly what the Messiah came to do. 00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:51.560 If you just think in terms of the idea of worship, the whole system of worship that the Jewish people had was 00:15:51.560 --> 00:15:54.860 ultimately a picture of everything Jesus would accomplish for us. 00:15:55.020 --> 00:16:02.200 In fact, I don't think I put this in your notes, but in Hebrews chapter ten, verse one, if you were to look at really the whole chapter of Hebrews, but starting 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:09.400 in chapter ten, verse one, it tells you that the law was a shadow of everything Jesus would fulfill. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:17.720 What it's recognizing is God created an entire system of worship in the practice they would carry out, which was ultimately a picture of everything 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:19.290 Jesus would be for us. 00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:26.320 If I just maybe gave you a few illustrations, if you were to go to the temple to worship in the Old Testament, that was a place God dwelled. 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:33.520 But before you could get to the temple, the object that stood between you and the presence of the Lord was the altar. 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:41.720 And the altar was the place in which an animal was sacrificed as a representation of the one who would ultimately come as a sacrifice for 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:42.140 us. 00:16:43.140 --> 00:16:50.640 And so here you see this idea of God desiring to be near, but God demanding justice on behalf of sin 00:16:50.660 --> 00:16:53.840 that was brought as an affront before him. 00:16:53.920 --> 00:16:57.480 And so sacrifice was made known in order to know the Lord. 00:16:57.540 --> 00:17:04.990 And in fact, when John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world, John chapter one, verse 29, behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. 00:17:05.560 --> 00:17:12.880 He's acknowledging the actual individual who would become the ultimate sacrifice for us, that those animals were a foreshadowing of everything Jesus 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:13.720 would fulfill. 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:18.890 And then if you were to go into the temple, one of the things that you would see in the temple, there are lots of different instruments. 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:26.420 If you're doing our Old Testament reading as we read through the Bible in the year, you read about all the different instruments in the temple, but the 00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:29.330 most significant one was one referred to as the Ark of the covenant. 00:17:31.040 --> 00:17:38.140 And for the priests that were able to go into the temple, inside of the temple there was two rooms, and 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:42.600 the second room was referred to as the Holy of Holies, and only the high priest could go into that room. 00:17:43.260 --> 00:17:50.260 And there was a veil that separated the people, the priests, from the Holy of Holies in that in 00:17:50.260 --> 00:17:53.360 that Holy of Holies room, there was the Ark of the covenant. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:57.400 And so there was this reminder as they drew near to God, that there was still a distance. 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:01.220 And in that ark inside of the ark there was the law. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:08.160 And on the ark that the priest would go in once a year, and he would sprinkle the blood on top of the ark. 00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:10.820 And it was to recognize the need for a sacrifice. 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:14.860 And upon that ark was referred to as the mercy seat. 00:18:15.580 --> 00:18:22.760 And it helped us recognize as God's people that while there was a law, and while we may broke the break the law, that there was forgiveness, and 00:18:22.760 --> 00:18:24.250 God ruled on his throne. 00:18:25.060 --> 00:18:26.900 For mercy, for you and for me. 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:34.920 So here we see an image of everything Jesus would accomplish for us, but not just the foreshadowing of all that Christ 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:35.710 would be. 00:18:35.820 --> 00:18:42.880 There's also prophetic statement throughout Scripture of what Jesus would do for us, so that we wouldn't mistake the curse that he bore for 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:44.630 all of us and our sins. 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:47.770 In Genesis chapter three, the very first book of the Bible. 00:18:48.300 --> 00:18:53.190 God the father is speaking to the serpent after the fall of Adam and Eve when they partook of the fruit. 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:57.540 And the Lord says this I will put enmity between you and the woman. 00:18:58.080 --> 00:19:05.420 And so it's acknowledging, look, there is a kingdom that's opposed to what God desires to do, that the Messiah will be born of a woman, a virgin birth. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:10.680 And he says, between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head. 00:19:10.780 --> 00:19:14.900 So he's talking about crushing the authority and the rulership of the serpent. 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:17.680 But then it says, and you shall bruise his heel. 00:19:18.520 --> 00:19:23.920 Now, I don't know if you know this, but anytime you get bit by a poisonous snake, the end is inevitable. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:25.140 That's what he's saying. 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:26.640 That Jesus is also going to die. 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:31.790 So it's this messianic understanding of what the Messiah would do and crushing the serpent. 00:19:32.080 --> 00:19:34.860 But at the same time, he bore our wounds. 00:19:34.860 --> 00:19:38.970 And Isaiah 53, this is the suffering servant section of Scripture. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:43.160 One of the most detailed passages of the Bible, and what Jesus would do for us on the cross. 00:19:43.320 --> 00:19:47.970 It says he was despised and rejected by men, but he was pierced for our transgressions. 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:51.530 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:19:52.100 --> 00:19:52.640 And look at this. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:54.940 By his wounds we are healed. 00:19:56.140 --> 00:20:00.180 Psalm 22 and they have pierced my hands and feet. 00:20:00.580 --> 00:20:03.000 I can count all my bones and my clothing. 00:20:03.140 --> 00:20:05.060 They cast lots for my clothing. 00:20:05.060 --> 00:20:05.660 They cast lots. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:13.240 Zechariah 12 and I will pour out a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:20.660 whom they have pierced, and I don't know all the things that the Apostle Paul would be sharing with people. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:25.030 But certainly some of these passages were likely included. 00:20:25.860 --> 00:20:27.340 Certainly the system of worship. 00:20:27.340 --> 00:20:29.940 Paul would have said, don't you see God's hand all over this? 00:20:31.040 --> 00:20:39.020 God shared this long ago so that when the Messiah would come, you wouldn't mistake him, because our tendency as human beings would 00:20:39.020 --> 00:20:43.600 be to look at what he went through and think that God had forsaken him. 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:49.210 But the truth be told, he willingly went to the cross and he was forsaken. 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:53.640 But it was all a part of the divine plan of God for you and for me. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:21:02.080 For Paul, as he's going through his own adversity, this gives him a place of comfort to see that even 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:07.840 despite the struggles he might experience in this world, it's never apart from the Lord. 00:21:08.780 --> 00:21:15.960 And the way he knows this is to see his own God who endured things for him, and now he has the opportunity to honor his 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:20.640 God by walking a similar road so that others may find freedom in Christ as well. 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:27.260 The way of a Suffering Messiah Paul summarizes it like this. 00:21:27.260 --> 00:21:34.380 In Galatians chapter three verse 13, he says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse 00:21:34.380 --> 00:21:35.220 for us. 00:21:35.840 --> 00:21:38.700 For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:46.700 So that verse 14, In Christ, in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might 00:21:46.700 --> 00:21:49.680 receive the promised spirit through through faith. 00:21:51.540 --> 00:21:54.260 Where one person might look at it and think, God can't be in it. 00:21:55.980 --> 00:21:59.270 Paul wants us to understand God's hand was all over it. 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:02.600 So there's the there's the way of a suffering Messiah. 00:22:03.460 --> 00:22:07.070 Number two is this truth over idols? 00:22:08.740 --> 00:22:09.620 Truth over idols. 00:22:10.540 --> 00:22:13.220 As you look at this passage, or as we look at this passage, I want us to Paul. 00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:19.120 Paul's arguing divine necessity and what Jesus is going through. 00:22:19.120 --> 00:22:21.430 Not not a tragic misfortune. 00:22:22.080 --> 00:22:29.320 And the cross was not Rome's idea, but rather, ultimately, it was God's plan to save 00:22:29.320 --> 00:22:30.630 sinners from the beginning. 00:22:31.540 --> 00:22:39.020 And so understanding the significance of that truth becomes critical for us, especially in terms of anything else that we might gravitate into in this world to 00:22:39.020 --> 00:22:41.220 find identity or purpose. 00:22:41.300 --> 00:22:43.000 It's the truth of God that brings us freedom. 00:22:43.780 --> 00:22:47.100 And Paul highlights the struggle that we all have with this. 00:22:47.120 --> 00:22:52.240 It says in verse five, but the Jews were jealous and taking some wicked men of the rabble. 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:54.290 I love those little rabble rousers. 00:22:54.360 --> 00:22:54.700 Right? 00:22:54.780 --> 00:23:01.150 They formed a mob, and they set the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 00:23:01.620 --> 00:23:08.620 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, these men who have turned the world 00:23:08.620 --> 00:23:15.780 upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is 00:23:15.780 --> 00:23:18.220 another King, Jesus, and the people in the city. 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:25.660 Authorities were disturbed when they heard these things, and when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:26.080 go. 00:23:26.820 --> 00:23:27.740 It's interesting to me. 00:23:27.780 --> 00:23:29.440 I want to talk about verse nine for just a minute. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:30.630 I'll bounce back up to verse five. 00:23:31.580 --> 00:23:36.280 But as they're looking for Paul in this passage, they're angry with what Paul is doing. 00:23:36.280 --> 00:23:39.080 They're trying to find the apostle Paul and punish him. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:40.700 They end up grabbing this guy named Jason. 00:23:40.800 --> 00:23:45.600 They throw him in jail and Jason has to pay his bail to be released. 00:23:45.620 --> 00:23:47.120 That's essentially what he's doing in verse nine. 00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:51.690 He's paying a bail, and it's believed that the bail is based on a promise. 00:23:52.560 --> 00:23:58.440 And that promise is they'll get rid of Paul, like, we'll let you live, Jason, but only if you get rid of Paul. 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:03.180 And you'll see in verse ten, Paul and Silas are sent away from the city. 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:10.900 And it's believed that in this verse that part of the promise of not persecuting the church or killing people that belong to Jesus, and this is 00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:15.540 based on Jason saying, on behalf of the church, we'll get rid of Paul. 00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:16.420 Just let us go. 00:24:16.420 --> 00:24:17.400 Please don't hurt us. 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:18.200 Right. 00:24:18.280 --> 00:24:22.840 And then when you go back and you study the Apostle Paul's life, you discover Paul never went to Thessalonica again. 00:24:23.780 --> 00:24:28.280 In fact, it's during this time period, as Paul has, he leaves the city. 00:24:28.340 --> 00:24:32.210 He ends up in Corinth that he writes first and second Thessalonians. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:40.220 So if you've followed along through the book of Acts, as we study this together, there's up to this point now been four books of the 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:41.320 New Testament written. 00:24:41.820 --> 00:24:45.800 The first we looked at was the book of James that was written around Acts chapter 12. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:52.300 The second was the book of Galatians that was written during Acts chapter 15. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:58.040 And now the third and fourth are the book of first and second Corinthians and, excuse me, first and second Thessalonians. 00:24:58.280 --> 00:25:00.660 And this was written around the area of Corinth. 00:25:01.780 --> 00:25:05.100 And so Paul's written three of these letters. 00:25:05.100 --> 00:25:07.520 James, the Lord's half brother, is written one of these letters. 00:25:07.520 --> 00:25:12.370 So if anyone likes to you want to read the Bible in a chronological sense, that's where this would come from. 00:25:12.580 --> 00:25:15.800 But one of the things that Paul says in his letter is a letter is rather interesting. 00:25:16.580 --> 00:25:24.080 He says in first Thessalonians chapter two that he desired to go back and visit the 00:25:24.080 --> 00:25:27.720 Christians in Thessalonica, but he was unable to do so. 00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:32.220 And the reason he said he was unable to do so is because Satan prevented him. 00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:39.900 Now, one of the things that I have found rather interesting with the Apostle Paul is he says this a couple of times. 00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:42.360 He says this first Thessalonians two verse 18. 00:25:42.760 --> 00:25:48.120 He says it again in second Corinthians chapter 12, where he talks about serving the Lord. 00:25:48.120 --> 00:25:52.900 But this thorn, this messenger of Satan, was given to him, and he asked the Lord to take it away. 00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:59.860 And God said to him, his grace is sufficient for him, that his strength, God's strength is made known in Paul's weakness. 00:26:01.100 --> 00:26:08.320 What I what I find interesting about both of those places where Paul is referring to Satan in that instance, as I think in both of those instances, 00:26:08.560 --> 00:26:12.230 the way he's acknowledging Satan is working is through people. 00:26:13.260 --> 00:26:20.460 And sometimes we like to think, if Satan's working, that the way that Paul would obviously know this is Satan appears with pitchfork 00:26:20.460 --> 00:26:22.060 and red horns, right? 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:24.180 But that's not what Paul is saying is. 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:31.660 He's saying that when we interact as people, there is a it's an incredible moment because in our interaction 00:26:31.660 --> 00:26:36.340 there's always there's also something divine taking place there because we're spiritual beings. 00:26:37.120 --> 00:26:40.070 And what we're given over to determines what we're serving. 00:26:40.840 --> 00:26:47.840 And Paul is simply acknowledging that the reason he finds himself prevented is because a spirit of Satan is working in the hearts 00:26:47.840 --> 00:26:52.720 of people to thwart him that has prevented him from being able to visit the church in Thessalonica. 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:56.400 Now, knowing that, let me just tell you one thing not to do. 00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:57.980 Don't go around and tell people they're the devil. 00:26:58.080 --> 00:26:58.520 Okay? 00:26:58.580 --> 00:26:59.980 That's not a nice thing. 00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:01.290 That's not what I'm insinuating. 00:27:02.440 --> 00:27:05.940 But what I am recognizing is that there's always a spiritual battle taking place. 00:27:07.020 --> 00:27:10.560 And what you do in that moment matters whether someone is for you or against you. 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:18.220 In fact, one of the things that should encourage you in is to just remember, if someone is opposed to you, that it's important that you 00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:24.140 learn as a believer not to take that personally, but to recognize there's something deeper happening in that situation. 00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:32.440 And rather than let their actions towards you force you or cause you to react in a way that's not honoring to the Lord, 00:27:33.040 --> 00:27:37.880 you recognize who you are in Christ and how critical it is for the opportunity God's giving you. 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:43.180 This is why Paul says in Ephesians six we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:46.990 Meaning people aren't the enemy, that there's always something deeper taking place. 00:27:47.060 --> 00:27:51.500 And it's our opportunity in this world to represent the Lord and his glory in the way that we do that. 00:27:52.180 --> 00:28:00.180 Now, having said all that and looking at how the Jewish people respond here, it tells you in verse five that they're jealous, right? 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:05.940 And because of that, they give this stirring that takes place and it comes against the Christians. 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:09.520 And it raises this ruckus and some those rebel rousers, right? 00:28:09.520 --> 00:28:16.640 Some terrible things starting to unfold, and it could have ended very poorly, and we could have ended in the loss of life that's already happened for 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:17.450 the early church. 00:28:18.300 --> 00:28:25.940 And we could look at these people and just think how terrible, Jewish people jealous. 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:26.900 And we could throw stones. 00:28:28.600 --> 00:28:36.000 But one of the things I want us to all to recognize is that we all have the tendency to love our idols more 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:36.760 than we love the Lord. 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:43.200 And it uses this word jealousy to help us recognize that meaning. 00:28:45.360 --> 00:28:48.440 We sometimes use jealousy in a very broad way. 00:28:49.170 --> 00:28:53.680 But the way that jealousy is used here, very specific, is important. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.000 Meaning there's a difference between the word envy and jealousy. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:00.160 Envy is this idea of I want what you have. 00:29:00.620 --> 00:29:04.700 We sometimes use the word jealous to mean that, but envy is actually what you got. 00:29:04.700 --> 00:29:05.400 I'm coveting. 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:08.560 I want that jealousy is actually what I have. 00:29:08.560 --> 00:29:09.480 I want to hold on to. 00:29:09.780 --> 00:29:09.920 It's mine. 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:11.040 It's kind of like. 00:29:11.040 --> 00:29:12.660 Think of Smeagol in the Lord of the rings. 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:13.280 Okay. 00:29:13.540 --> 00:29:14.520 My precious. 00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:22.760 The problem with that is that we'll give ourselves to those things so much that we'll abandon the thing 00:29:22.760 --> 00:29:24.390 for which we were created for in Christ. 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:32.480 And rather than give ourselves to him, we'll think that the idol that we're clinging to gives us more purpose and value than the Lord does 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:34.090 who made us for his purpose. 00:29:35.400 --> 00:29:36.600 And so we battle with that. 00:29:36.660 --> 00:29:42.700 And in fact, that's that was the battle of Adam and Eve from the Book of Genesis, and that's been the battle of humanity from the beginning. 00:29:44.100 --> 00:29:49.280 Do you really trust who Christ is and what he's done for you? 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:53.740 Do you think he can he can satisfy your soul. 00:29:56.340 --> 00:29:57.400 Do you think he's enough? 00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:05.020 Because the struggle for all of us, if we're being honest, is we always we fall into the temptation of believing. 00:30:05.020 --> 00:30:06.740 Well, most of the time. 00:30:07.620 --> 00:30:09.260 But sometimes I might know better. 00:30:10.780 --> 00:30:12.740 And maybe we could even ask ourselves in this morning. 00:30:12.840 --> 00:30:14.120 This morning in this room is like. 00:30:16.460 --> 00:30:18.380 Are you putting something before Jesus? 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:27.680 Is there something that, you know the Lord wants you to let go of and just trust him, but 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.020 you're failing to believe that Jesus is enough? 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:39.400 Can I just tell you, I believe the most unhappy person on the planet Is a Christian 00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:45.460 who tries to keep one foot in the world and one foot in their faith. 00:30:47.340 --> 00:30:48.320 Because you weren't made for that. 00:30:50.300 --> 00:30:57.420 The joy of the Lord is discovered when our lives receive Him in His fullness and surrendering ourselves, humbling 00:30:57.420 --> 00:31:00.240 ourselves and saying, Jesus, I believe you're enough. 00:31:02.820 --> 00:31:09.820 There's this tendency in our lives to maybe even in adversity to just begin to 00:31:09.820 --> 00:31:12.540 doubt God. 00:31:12.660 --> 00:31:13.140 Are you there? 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:16.140 God, do you care? 00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:20.720 The Apostle Paul helps us work through that idea. 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:24.720 But you see the response of the Jews in this moment. 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:30.240 They don't like what Paul's saying is because, well, Paul's going to make things different for them. 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:34.220 They like their position, they like their power. 00:31:35.100 --> 00:31:36.760 They like what they've received. 00:31:36.780 --> 00:31:42.360 But to follow this Jesus, they're going to have to lay it all down and find their lives rediscovered in him. 00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:50.660 And they would rather hold on to the uncertainty of temporal things in this world than to let their heart grab the fullness of 00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:52.240 who Christ is. 00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:59.440 And in so doing, you see in this moment they create a mob, which we call today cancel culture. 00:31:59.860 --> 00:32:03.390 And they misrepresent the message of the apostle Paul. 00:32:03.560 --> 00:32:05.540 And they attack the person. 00:32:05.580 --> 00:32:12.640 And instead of the position that he shares, even though they can't refute his argument, they just attempt 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:15.540 to silence the man and war with him. 00:32:16.900 --> 00:32:19.400 And so it's important for us to think about in our own lives. 00:32:19.580 --> 00:32:25.480 What am I giving over to are their idols that I hold on to? 00:32:26.840 --> 00:32:33.640 Because this journey with the Lord God calls me to lay it all down for the goodness of who he is to get us to. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:40.460 Point number three is this A faith that costs the road that we is less traveled. 00:32:40.460 --> 00:32:42.680 Is a faith that costs us. 00:32:43.660 --> 00:32:46.220 And here you see in verse 11 or verse ten. 00:32:46.320 --> 00:32:50.980 Excuse me, it goes on and says, the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. 00:32:51.700 --> 00:32:54.640 When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. 00:32:55.540 --> 00:32:57.820 Now, these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica. 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:02.640 They received the word with eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 00:33:03.020 --> 00:33:08.600 Many of them therefore believed with not not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 00:33:09.040 --> 00:33:16.240 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the Word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.860 to agitating and stirring up the crowds. 00:33:19.180 --> 00:33:24.420 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 00:33:25.820 --> 00:33:27.300 I mean, could you imagine being Paul here? 00:33:28.260 --> 00:33:29.660 Say, God, I set off on this journey. 00:33:30.660 --> 00:33:35.620 I thought it was in the middle of your will, but I haven't been to a spot where I haven't been persecuted yet. 00:33:37.700 --> 00:33:41.520 Maybe Paul doesn't wrestle with this, but perhaps we would. 00:33:42.840 --> 00:33:43.940 God, are you really in this? 00:33:44.940 --> 00:33:45.630 God, how do I know? 00:33:46.820 --> 00:33:48.100 God, do you really care about me? 00:33:49.140 --> 00:33:49.500 Lord? 00:33:49.500 --> 00:33:49.840 Why? 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:55.820 I mean, the struggles that all of us would come up with in a situation like this. 00:33:55.900 --> 00:34:00.580 Because our tendency is to pursue a God of convenience and comfort. 00:34:02.120 --> 00:34:05.420 And now all of a sudden, when we don't have it, we wonder, God, are you even real? 00:34:06.820 --> 00:34:07.900 God, do you even care? 00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:09.770 But, it's interesting. 00:34:09.960 --> 00:34:17.080 One of the things that Scripture is very clear to us on over and over again is the idea that if you follow Jesus, there 00:34:17.080 --> 00:34:17.830 is a cost. 00:34:19.260 --> 00:34:20.260 It's amazing. 00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:27.260 Like if you're doing a reading through the New Testament, if you're just keeping your mind, how much does the Bible actually talk about paying a cost or suffering as a 00:34:27.260 --> 00:34:27.739 believer? 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:29.150 And it's throughout Scripture. 00:34:29.179 --> 00:34:36.440 Now, in telling you this, I want you to know the assignment when you leave today is to not is not go out and intentionally suffer, 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:36.900 right? 00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:39.239 I don't I don't want that for you. 00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:39.620 Right. 00:34:40.620 --> 00:34:46.699 But can I just tell you, if you look back over your faith and you can't find a place where your faith costs you. 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:48.940 How do you even know it's genuine? 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:52.260 How do you know? 00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:53.800 It's just not words that you share. 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:56.080 How do you know there's real substance to what you believe? 00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:00.860 It doesn't make like. 00:35:01.040 --> 00:35:08.760 It doesn't mean for us that, like, the hard things are opposed to God, or it doesn't mean the other extreme that we need to seek hard things, but 00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:14.290 we can walk in a world that's broken, and God can be completely true and still for you and orchestrate things for our well-being. 00:35:14.740 --> 00:35:16.820 In fact, in the book of John, look at this. 00:35:17.040 --> 00:35:18.000 It talks in the idea of persecution. 00:35:18.420 --> 00:35:19.160 They persecuted me. 00:35:19.160 --> 00:35:20.260 They will persecute you. 00:35:20.260 --> 00:35:21.140 Acts 14. 00:35:21.200 --> 00:35:24.620 Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom all who desire. 00:35:24.620 --> 00:35:29.600 In second Timothy three to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 00:35:29.720 --> 00:35:30.450 First Peter four. 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:32.160 Do not be surprised at the fiery trial. 00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:35.380 What Peter is saying don't let this catch you off guard. 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:37.000 Right? 00:35:37.210 --> 00:35:39.440 Predetermine in your life what you're going to be about. 00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:47.680 That way, regardless of what circumstances arise, it's not going to dictate who you are because you're already confident in who you are, because you know who you 00:35:47.680 --> 00:35:48.940 are in light of who he is. 00:35:49.680 --> 00:35:51.450 So Peter's saying, don't let this shock you. 00:35:51.900 --> 00:35:56.320 This is how the world responds to God because they live for a kingdom contrary to his. 00:35:57.080 --> 00:36:04.480 But this does not dictate who you are because you know who Christ is, and you see how his sovereign hand has worked these things out. 00:36:05.200 --> 00:36:11.350 And so Peter's encouraging us in the midst of tribulation, not to not to just move away from suffering, be like I will deal with that later. 00:36:12.380 --> 00:36:15.980 But to recognize in the life of the believer this is a part of our faith journey. 00:36:16.060 --> 00:36:21.350 But this does not dictate the way I react, because I know who I am in light of who Christ is. 00:36:21.800 --> 00:36:25.000 And therefore I'll continue on knowing that the things of this world are temporal. 00:36:25.280 --> 00:36:27.010 But what I have in Jesus endures forever. 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:34.400 In fact, if I just give you another passage in Romans chapter five, Paul says it in an incredible way. 00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:39.400 He says, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:36:39.570 --> 00:36:40.930 Remember, you can have peace with people. 00:36:41.300 --> 00:36:42.220 You can have peace with the Lord. 00:36:42.660 --> 00:36:44.220 Sometimes they work together, but not always. 00:36:44.640 --> 00:36:46.960 At the end of the day, you should pursue peace with God. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:48.020 Verse two. 00:36:48.020 --> 00:36:55.360 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into his grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:56.140 And look at this. 00:36:56.480 --> 00:37:00.980 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings. 00:37:02.780 --> 00:37:03.700 He's nuts. 00:37:04.640 --> 00:37:05.360 Who does that? 00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:06.540 Right. 00:37:06.560 --> 00:37:09.680 Like if I just asked you this morning, tell me your favorite Bible verse. 00:37:09.680 --> 00:37:11.800 I can tell you I've never met a person on the planet. 00:37:11.820 --> 00:37:13.240 Like Romans five, verse three. 00:37:13.240 --> 00:37:14.340 Give me that one. 00:37:14.340 --> 00:37:15.880 Rejoice in my sufferings. 00:37:15.880 --> 00:37:17.680 Like that's not something we're like. 00:37:17.680 --> 00:37:18.580 You know what I need to. 00:37:18.580 --> 00:37:21.000 I need to explore this and develop strength in this. 00:37:21.120 --> 00:37:23.980 This is not a this is not the most popular Bible verse. 00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:26.800 But then but then he goes on to explain, like, what's the importance of this? 00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:34.000 He says, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 00:37:34.100 --> 00:37:40.410 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 00:37:40.720 --> 00:37:42.470 I gotta do this fast, but let me just say this. 00:37:42.940 --> 00:37:43.580 Here's what he's saying. 00:37:45.260 --> 00:37:47.640 When you go through adversity has this way of refining you. 00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:53.790 And when we go through hardship, sometimes we retract to basically the fundamentals of what is most important. 00:37:54.740 --> 00:37:57.560 What is it I hold to what matters to me? 00:37:58.620 --> 00:38:00.660 It's in those struggles that we really discover that. 00:38:01.740 --> 00:38:02.960 And this is what Paul is saying. 00:38:04.240 --> 00:38:04.990 Is it Jesus? 00:38:06.780 --> 00:38:11.820 Adversity has this place of helping you see what matters more to you? 00:38:13.160 --> 00:38:14.260 Do you cling to your faith? 00:38:15.340 --> 00:38:22.460 It's this place of strengthening you, of seeing that as you walk with the Lord in it that he is, he's sufficient. 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:23.320 He's more than enough. 00:38:23.740 --> 00:38:25.330 He meets you in that struggle. 00:38:25.420 --> 00:38:26.940 He sustains you through it. 00:38:28.100 --> 00:38:35.140 And so the challenges of this life has this incredible way of refining us in the Lord. 00:38:35.200 --> 00:38:42.380 And ultimately it becomes this place of inspiring others to see a God who sustains us and the things that 00:38:42.380 --> 00:38:44.180 we endure and go through. 00:38:44.180 --> 00:38:51.420 And so we might say to ourselves, okay, well, if I want to get to that place of trusting in the Lord in that way, like, how do I do that? 00:38:51.420 --> 00:38:55.880 And can I tell you one of the things that you've already learned is one of the one of the. 00:38:55.880 --> 00:38:56.400 Whoa. 00:38:57.720 --> 00:39:04.660 Will you go back to wherever I was? 00:39:04.740 --> 00:39:05.310 It was seven. 00:39:05.560 --> 00:39:08.200 Chapter 17, verse 11 has the picture of the stone on there. 00:39:08.220 --> 00:39:13.640 Brendan, when we think about Acts 17:11, let me quote it for you. 00:39:14.140 --> 00:39:18.820 It says, and the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica, because they received the word with readiness of mind. 00:39:19.100 --> 00:39:21.900 And they searched the scriptures daily to determine whether or not it was true. 00:39:23.020 --> 00:39:23.720 And here's what they're saying. 00:39:25.320 --> 00:39:28.060 What the church did is they didn't just take someone's word for it. 00:39:29.100 --> 00:39:36.100 They went back and looked at the foundation of the Bible and they found something at the bedrock of who they were as people in a truth 00:39:36.100 --> 00:39:38.590 that God gave them, that endured in all circumstances. 00:39:40.180 --> 00:39:42.880 And it was that truth they used to determine who they were. 00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:47.920 That then led them in this path of life, hardships going to come. 00:39:49.860 --> 00:39:52.440 And the question for us should be, can I sustain in that? 00:39:53.560 --> 00:39:55.260 How do I sustain in that? 00:39:55.840 --> 00:40:03.020 And the answer for the church in Thessalonica was that they found their lives sustained in the truth of who God was, 00:40:03.060 --> 00:40:05.220 because it revealed the greatness of Christ. 00:40:06.220 --> 00:40:07.520 Can you bring up the picture? 00:40:07.780 --> 00:40:08.660 Oh, it's not on the screen. 00:40:09.280 --> 00:40:13.950 Will you bring up the picture of Helen Roseveare for just a moment? 00:40:15.740 --> 00:40:17.270 I need to close with this. 00:40:18.120 --> 00:40:21.240 Helen Roseveare was a lady. 00:40:21.240 --> 00:40:23.180 That was she was a missionary in the Congo. 00:40:23.200 --> 00:40:24.380 She was actually a medical doctor. 00:40:24.400 --> 00:40:25.400 Was a missionary in the Congo. 00:40:26.720 --> 00:40:29.300 And she was captured in the 1960s. 00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:31.080 She died in actually 2016. 00:40:31.080 --> 00:40:32.370 She looks like everybody's grandmother there. 00:40:32.900 --> 00:40:33.820 Everybody's grandmother. 00:40:34.340 --> 00:40:36.560 Granny K, making me some sweet cookies right there. 00:40:37.700 --> 00:40:39.760 But she was actually captured in the Congo. 00:40:40.020 --> 00:40:45.200 And for several months, she faced some of the most horrific torture that I don't even want to describe. 00:40:49.080 --> 00:40:54.580 She was eventually rescued, and she went back to continue to serve the Lord. 00:40:55.640 --> 00:40:58.240 And she spoke to people as to how she was able to do that. 00:40:58.240 --> 00:41:03.420 She wrote books on this, but one of the things she said was this God did not explain my suffering. 00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:05.600 He offered me himself. 00:41:06.860 --> 00:41:08.960 Suffering is not an interruption of God's plan. 00:41:09.620 --> 00:41:11.980 It is often the means by which he accomplishes it. 00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:20.470 When we go through hard things and I got 40s to close with this thought, we go through hard things. 00:41:20.560 --> 00:41:22.400 One of the questions we always ask is why? 00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:25.930 Like, as if we want God to give us a specific reason. 00:41:28.060 --> 00:41:32.330 And you know, you may sometimes you might get a reason explained to you, but not always. 00:41:33.520 --> 00:41:34.320 And can I tell you even. 00:41:34.920 --> 00:41:36.980 Even if someone explains that to you. 00:41:37.820 --> 00:41:44.860 Why, if you get that kind of understanding, can I just say that is not the most comforting thing, because it still doesn't determine that you have the 00:41:44.860 --> 00:41:46.340 sovereignty to do anything about it. 00:41:48.020 --> 00:41:55.280 And so one of the most important things God does for us is rather than give us an answer, he gives us 00:41:55.280 --> 00:41:59.540 the answer, and the answer is himself. 00:42:02.100 --> 00:42:09.110 That in Christianity, we have the opportunity to see a God who loved us so deeply that he endured the worst, that we could have freedom in him, 00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:12.400 and not just freedom, ultimate hope through what he's accomplished for us. 00:42:13.460 --> 00:42:15.980 That more than just an answer to suffering. 00:42:16.520 --> 00:42:18.680 I get a God who loves me, who cares about me. 00:42:18.680 --> 00:42:22.160 Now, for me, it becomes important that I be able to trust that God. 00:42:23.240 --> 00:42:24.040 God, who are you? 00:42:25.240 --> 00:42:25.560 God? 00:42:25.560 --> 00:42:26.420 Do you care about me? 00:42:27.700 --> 00:42:29.720 And as you discover the depth of who God is. 00:42:29.720 --> 00:42:36.980 You realize the grace and gentleness of Jesus in your life is far more important than just simply an explanation to 00:42:36.980 --> 00:42:40.400 a circumstance in life, but rather understanding in this God. 00:42:40.440 --> 00:42:48.120 He is the answer to all things, which is why in Scripture it says in Romans chapter eight, all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according 00:42:48.120 --> 00:42:49.160 to his purpose. 00:42:50.640 --> 00:42:57.600 The answer to suffering is Jesus, and the gift God has given us is himself. 00:42:59.220 --> 00:43:00.380 It is a road. 00:43:00.380 --> 00:43:01.960 Not many people want to travel. 00:43:03.120 --> 00:43:06.880 Not many people, as we talked about with Peter in John chapter six, are willing to travel. 00:43:08.160 --> 00:43:10.500 But because of who Jesus is, we're able to travel. 00:43:11.500 --> 00:43:15.840 A God who meets us where we are, a God who gives us a hope beyond this world.