WEBVTT 00:00:00.580 --> 00:00:04.250 I'm going to invite you this morning to Acts chapter 20 is where we're going to be together today. 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:12.620 Acts chapter 20 and this section of the Book of Acts, a beautiful section, very endearing section. 00:00:12.620 --> 00:00:19.860 It's probably, I don't know if I have a favorite section in the book of Acts, but if this isn't it, it's certainly one of the, one of the top tier 00:00:19.860 --> 00:00:21.380 sections for me. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:28.720 And the way that Paul is composing himself in this moment, especially in terms of his relationship 00:00:28.720 --> 00:00:35.920 with the church of Ephesus, if you remember here in Acts chapter 20, he's making his final stop in the 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:40.080 city of Miletus on his way back to Jerusalem. 00:00:40.260 --> 00:00:47.260 And he invited the leaders of Ephesus to join him, visit him in Miletus as he's preparing to go to Jerusalem. 00:00:47.300 --> 00:00:54.480 And so this is really Paul's last stop of his final missionary journey in the in the book of Acts 00:00:54.480 --> 00:00:59.200 and out of his three missionary journeys from this point on, Paul goes to Jerusalem. 00:00:59.540 --> 00:01:05.620 He's arrested and he spends the rest of his time being in imprisonment. 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:07.140 And that's how we end the book of Acts. 00:01:07.180 --> 00:01:12.520 So here he is, the final moments in Acts chapter 20 of his third missionary journey. 00:01:12.520 --> 00:01:15.940 And he's stopping in the church of Ephesus, which we talked about together. 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:22.530 Church of Ephesus was one of the most influential churches in the first century, if not the most influential church. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:30.100 Paul spent more time here in Ephesus than among any other church where he planted churches. 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:34.720 And so this is a very loving church to the Apostle Paul. 00:01:34.720 --> 00:01:36.900 And it's not because it was absent of adversity. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:38.600 He certainly went through some challenges. 00:01:39.740 --> 00:01:42.080 But Paul deeply loved this church. 00:01:42.080 --> 00:01:49.160 And in fact, if I just kind of open this up by sharing with you the very beginning of this section in Acts chapter 17, and then 00:01:49.160 --> 00:01:50.910 we looked at the very end of this section. 00:01:51.080 --> 00:01:58.180 We can just see how endearing this was to the apostle Paul, because it says to us now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the 00:01:58.180 --> 00:01:59.640 elders from the church to come to him. 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:05.380 If you remember, on Paul's third missionary journey, he didn't go visit anywhere new. 00:02:05.380 --> 00:02:12.790 On his third missionary journey, the apostle Paul visited all the churches that he saw established on his first and second missionary journey. 00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:17.120 And now he's coming eastward, back towards Ephesus, on his way to Jerusalem. 00:02:17.860 --> 00:02:24.950 And as he's on this journey, he's just left the region of Macedonia and Achaia, which have the towns of Philippi and Thessalonica 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.260 and Corinth and Athens and some of those cities. 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:33.620 You read, have letters to them in your New Testament letters, like the book of Philippians. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:40.050 The book of Thessalonians has a couple letters, the book of Corinthians, which is from the town of Corinth. 00:02:40.540 --> 00:02:46.180 So Paul is leaving this region, heading back east, trying to get to Jerusalem by Pentecost. 00:02:46.220 --> 00:02:51.090 So he's in a bit of a hurry because his days are numbered before that celebration is about to take place. 00:02:51.420 --> 00:02:55.500 And he stops off at Miletus rather than going to the city of Ephesus. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:02.540 And the reason he does this is because I think the apostle Paul knows if he goes back to Ephesus, he's going to be there a while because he's got 00:03:02.540 --> 00:03:09.560 such such a close friendship with this community and with the church that's there, that Paul knows if he gets anywhere near that 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:11.500 he's going to be he's going to be there for a minute. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:18.980 It's like me as a husband when I when I'm trying to get my wife out of places, I'm like, all right, dear, we go into this, I've 00:03:18.980 --> 00:03:20.700 got to get out of here by 9:00. 00:03:20.740 --> 00:03:21.640 She says, I know. 00:03:21.640 --> 00:03:22.300 Okay. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:24.630 And then it just it just does not happen. 00:03:24.660 --> 00:03:27.540 That's just when Paul knows his departure out of Ephesus. 00:03:27.540 --> 00:03:28.600 I'm not going to go that way. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.440 And so he invites the leadership down to Miletus. 00:03:32.600 --> 00:03:37.500 And then at the end of this, you see how close, how closely connected Paul is with this church. 00:03:37.600 --> 00:03:44.700 Because in verse 36 it says, and when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all, and there 00:03:44.700 --> 00:03:47.580 was much weeping to on the part of all. 00:03:47.720 --> 00:03:50.060 And they embraced Paul and kissed him. 00:03:50.440 --> 00:03:54.200 Now I want you to know, as a church, we don't practice this, okay? 00:03:54.260 --> 00:03:57.560 Like I learned my lesson one time, I started to. 00:03:57.860 --> 00:03:59.440 I started to tease about this. 00:03:59.460 --> 00:04:01.220 The Holy kiss in the New Testament. 00:04:01.320 --> 00:04:06.680 I know some cultures might practice something similar to this today, and we do not. 00:04:06.760 --> 00:04:13.560 Just like I even said to us like I'm good fist bump handshake, we can even come in for a bro hug. 00:04:13.880 --> 00:04:16.860 You know, three pats back away can do more than three pats. 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:24.280 It gets weird when it gets and like, I just shared that with us last time and we talked about a holy kiss and someone took it upon themselves 00:04:24.280 --> 00:04:28.070 to help me experience that it was another dude. 00:04:28.140 --> 00:04:28.770 And they leave. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:29.680 Yeah, yeah. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.270 So I learned I'm not going to, I'm not going to bring this up anymore. 00:04:32.520 --> 00:04:35.400 This is just this is a verse in the Bible, okay? 00:04:35.400 --> 00:04:36.640 But we just don't do that. 00:04:36.960 --> 00:04:44.120 But you see, you see Paul in this passage, he, he's caring deeply for the community that's 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:44.340 here. 00:04:44.400 --> 00:04:51.560 Verse 38, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again, and 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:53.260 they accompanied him to the ship. 00:04:53.800 --> 00:05:01.340 So Paul, here he is saying in this passage that this is the final moment he's going to spend with this church and 00:05:01.340 --> 00:05:02.540 this community. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:04.220 Deeply loved Paul. 00:05:04.540 --> 00:05:08.990 Paul deeply loved them and being one of the most influential churches. 00:05:09.300 --> 00:05:10.510 And we talked about Timothy. 00:05:11.260 --> 00:05:13.910 He was a pastor of the church in Ephesus. 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:17.260 The Apostle John was here in the church of Ephesus. 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:19.440 There are some traditions that teach. 00:05:19.440 --> 00:05:25.300 Even Mary, Jesus's mother spent her final days in this church, a very influential place. 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:33.460 And it's in the midst of Paul's departure that we're just reminded of the quality of friendship that they 00:05:33.460 --> 00:05:39.610 had, that what they had as a community was tremendously special. 00:05:40.840 --> 00:05:47.880 And even for us, when we see this here in the 21st century, when we look at the influence of the church of 00:05:47.880 --> 00:05:55.080 Ephesus and the wealth of this community and the way they represented Jesus and influenced communities around them. 00:05:55.080 --> 00:05:57.100 We should look at this and think, man, whatever. 00:05:57.340 --> 00:06:04.480 Whatever happens in these final moments, these are these are Paul's final words with this community that he's about to spend time with. 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:06.120 What made it so sweet? 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:08.140 What were Paul's final words? 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:12.980 What is it we can we can learn in these final thoughts that Paul shares. 00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:20.470 And, as you look at this passage, one of the things I think is important is the Apostle Paul, as you read through the book of Acts, 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:27.240 one of one of the things that you discover is most of Acts is written to a about an unbelieving world. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:32.970 How as Peter and Paul traveled around the world, their interaction with an unbelieving world. 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:38.480 And the messages are primarily tailored to how to best communicate with an unbelieving world. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:46.760 But in this particular chapter, this is one of the only sections in the book of Acts, and the longest section in the book of Acts, where 00:06:46.760 --> 00:06:52.160 Paul actually communicates to the believers and what is it God has for us? 00:06:52.280 --> 00:06:52.480 And. 00:06:52.640 --> 00:06:57.320 And seeing the quality of what Paul has here, how do we discover that as a community? 00:06:57.980 --> 00:07:00.450 You know, I recognize the world around us today. 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:07.880 I realize that people are desperate for relationship and quality of relationship that people. 00:07:07.880 --> 00:07:14.420 Today it seems more than in any other time, just feel lonely and lost in that loneliness and longing for more. 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:19.810 And part of the reason we're like that as human beings is because it's the way that God designed us. 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:26.530 Like we're created in the image of God, which says, being made in God's image, we're made for a relationship with the Lord. 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:33.070 But even in that relationship, one of the things we recognize in being made in the image of God is that God is a triune being. 00:07:33.780 --> 00:07:36.860 And from the beginning he's existed father, son, and spirit. 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:40.380 God has existed in community and being made in the image of God. 00:07:40.380 --> 00:07:45.020 We long for community, not just with our creator, but with one another. 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:50.460 And so how do we experience the quality of community like Paul has in Ephesus. 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:53.840 We look at this and we realize, man, this is a very painful moment. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:01.840 And I don't necessarily want to embrace the pain, but I but I do want to experience the depth 00:08:01.840 --> 00:08:07.360 of community and the love for which God has created me to have in this world. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:09.700 So how do I be able to do that? 00:08:09.700 --> 00:08:13.280 And truth be told that, relationships come and go. 00:08:13.280 --> 00:08:17.120 And so if I hurt deeply, it's because I've loved deeply. 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:19.540 And that's par for the course of the world. 00:08:19.840 --> 00:08:27.040 I mean, one of the things that I'm reminded of and look at a passage like this is, when God made Adam and Eve in the beginning of the Garden of Eden, 00:08:27.140 --> 00:08:31.940 there was perfect harmony in community, both with creator and among Adam and Eve. 00:08:31.940 --> 00:08:34.380 But Adam and Eve immediately sinned. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:36.880 And the Bible tells us they run from God. 00:08:36.900 --> 00:08:38.159 They try to cover up their mistakes. 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:45.460 They put on these fig leaves, and it's God who comes to them, and it's God who forgives them, and God who promises them a future and a 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:46.240 hope in him. 00:08:46.880 --> 00:08:49.700 But right after God promises a future and a hope. 00:08:49.800 --> 00:08:52.080 God removes them from the Garden of Eden. 00:08:52.700 --> 00:08:58.000 And from that point forward, mankind became wonders in this world. 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:03.420 Meaning the Bible describes us as pilgrims even in First Peter chapter one. 00:09:03.420 --> 00:09:10.140 That's the way Peter opens up his letter to us and recognizing that we're pilgrims in this world, just passing through. 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:17.460 And so what that means for us is that we kind of walk in this in-between space where we have a future hope in the Lord, 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:19.640 and we know our future is secure in him. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.000 But at the same time, God has a place for us here. 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:28.820 Not, not eternally, not like we ultimately belong here, but in order to connect heaven and earth. 00:09:28.880 --> 00:09:32.480 We're where this go between and representing the greatness of who God is. 00:09:32.560 --> 00:09:39.660 But as we move in this world, we also recognize this world is temporal and this world is broken and this world will have pain. 00:09:40.140 --> 00:09:40.280 So. 00:09:40.420 --> 00:09:47.800 So how do I walk in the midst of this world in order to honor what God has for me, to experience the depth of it, 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:49.960 knowing that I'm just a pilgrim passing through. 00:09:50.280 --> 00:09:52.590 And there's some brokenness that will be made known. 00:09:52.760 --> 00:09:58.860 But no matter how long my days might be, how can I experience the best that God has for me in the here and now? 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:07.060 You know, as I look at this particular passage, one of the things that I'm reminded of is there was 00:10:07.060 --> 00:10:12.200 a time in my life where I took much, much more frequent trips to the East Coast. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:16.380 And, I've lived in Utah for about 20 years now, a little over 20 years. 00:10:17.140 --> 00:10:24.260 And about every year my family, we would go to the East Coast and we would particularly in the area we were from, we would see family and 00:10:24.260 --> 00:10:27.860 friends, but we would speak to several churches. 00:10:27.900 --> 00:10:33.370 And the reason we would do that is because there are a lot of churches that have helped us get where we are as a community. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:35.300 We moved out here to start a church. 00:10:35.560 --> 00:10:42.460 Churches got behind us to support that cause, and so we would go back and share with them, and we would report what God was doing. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:43.110 And it was wonderful. 00:10:44.020 --> 00:10:51.160 But one of the things I started to notice as my trips became less and less frequent, is when I would go back to where I was from and 00:10:51.160 --> 00:10:52.360 I would spend time there. 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:54.660 There was this longing in my heart I would think about. 00:10:54.800 --> 00:10:56.540 And being back where I'm from. 00:10:57.140 --> 00:11:03.600 And over time, as I would continue to return, I started to notice that longing was missed. 00:11:04.900 --> 00:11:07.920 And I started to ask myself the question, well, why? 00:11:08.380 --> 00:11:09.680 Why is that happening? 00:11:09.680 --> 00:11:16.220 Like, I would go back and I would visit with people and I would see the people I'm familiar with, but I was why was that longing there? 00:11:16.220 --> 00:11:20.860 That as I would frequent those trips, I would come back and it seemed to be deeper and deeper within me. 00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:23.660 Like it wasn't as satisfying as previous trips. 00:11:24.020 --> 00:11:27.980 And then I began to realize that my longing wasn't just about a place. 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:37.080 It was also about a time that I didn't just miss seeing some things of where I was from, but 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:41.300 I really missed the way that I experienced life in that moment. 00:11:41.920 --> 00:11:49.280 And when I would kind of move from the East Coast out here to the west, in my mind, I knew this is silly to think, but in my mind it was as if I expected 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:51.400 that people would just freeze in time. 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:55.070 And then when I would go back, I would just get to pick up where they were. 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:57.180 But life doesn't stay that way. 00:11:57.780 --> 00:12:05.020 And I started to realize that what I was actually going back for was no longer there and had become a ghost to me because life had moved on 00:12:05.020 --> 00:12:07.480 and things were different and people were different, and people move on. 00:12:08.660 --> 00:12:16.660 And it was in that moment I began to start to really recognize that the best thing I have in life is 00:12:16.660 --> 00:12:17.320 right now. 00:12:18.560 --> 00:12:22.760 Like I know in Jesus, I have a future and a hope, and I do. 00:12:23.040 --> 00:12:28.950 I do want us to know that is critically important for us in everything that we do for the Lord in this world. 00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:36.740 But as we think about living for the glory of God in the promises that he gives to us, the best opportunity I have to do 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:38.520 that is right now. 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:40.570 Now, it doesn't mean I can't plan for the future. 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:43.540 It's important, but I can't live so far in the future. 00:12:43.540 --> 00:12:49.160 I neglect where I'm at, and I can't get so stuck in the past that I fail to see what's in front of me. 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:56.860 And so in order to live life to the best of my ability, it begins to, with recognizing the importance of where I am 00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:02.710 right now and even for your life, like there may be some things in your life right now that you wish were different. 00:13:03.420 --> 00:13:09.310 Some of those things you might have the ability to change, and some of those things you don't always have the ability to change. 00:13:09.520 --> 00:13:13.110 But how do you make the most of what God has given you right now? 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:17.590 And this is what the Apostle Paul is doing with the church of Ephesus. 00:13:18.160 --> 00:13:22.660 And this, I believe, is why the church of Ephesus was such an incredible church. 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:28.690 They learned to embrace the moment in which God has given them to see how the Lord could work through them. 00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:33.520 So when we think in terms of living life well, what does it look like for us as a community today? 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:37.620 As we look at the church of Ephesus here in the first century? 00:13:37.980 --> 00:13:43.880 Well, let me let me give you the first reason and we'll read this passage in just a minute. 00:13:43.900 --> 00:13:47.260 But each one of these reasons, as I give you these reasons, let me let me just tell you this. 00:13:47.760 --> 00:13:49.290 These aren't ranked as. 00:13:49.340 --> 00:13:51.270 This is the first one I'm giving you is the most important. 00:13:51.460 --> 00:13:54.080 And the last one I'm giving you is the least important or vice versa. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:14:01.780 I'm just giving these three points to you as they start to appear to us in this passage of the Bible. 00:14:01.880 --> 00:14:03.730 But I want you to know all three points are interwoven. 00:14:05.260 --> 00:14:09.340 And if I were being honest, the most important point, I think, is the second point I'm going to give you. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:14.810 But all three of these points have a critical place in the life of the believer in order to live life well. 00:14:15.020 --> 00:14:16.720 So what do I need to be able to do that? 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.270 Point number one is this rhythms. 00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:24.140 We need healthy rhythms in our lives. 00:14:25.500 --> 00:14:29.600 And this is what the Apostle Paul says to us starting in verse 18. 00:14:29.660 --> 00:14:35.480 Look what he says when he when he came into Ephesus, he describes for us what his life looked like. 00:14:35.860 --> 00:14:43.040 And get this for the Apostle Paul, it wasn't any different than how he had determined he was just going to live his life in general. 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:50.740 But it says to you in verse 18, when they came to him, he said to them, you yourselves know how I lived among you the 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:51.800 whole time? 00:14:51.800 --> 00:14:54.650 From the first day that I set foot in Asia. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:02.440 Paul was consistent in verse 19, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:04.870 happened to me through the plots of the Jews. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:12.200 How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house. 00:15:13.040 --> 00:15:14.540 I love this about the Apostle Paul. 00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:15.510 He's saying I remain consistent. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:23.480 Now it is important to talk about what consistent means, because I'm not just saying to you, however you've lived your life, continue to live your life that way. 00:15:23.540 --> 00:15:27.180 Because if you lived your life in a terrible way, you shouldn't do that, right? 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:28.660 That's not what we're saying. 00:15:28.780 --> 00:15:32.680 He's living his life in a healthy rhythm, honoring to the Lord. 00:15:32.760 --> 00:15:35.830 And he had determined that was the person he was going to be. 00:15:35.920 --> 00:15:43.100 And from the moment he set foot in Asia, he continued to perpetuate living his life this way to the point where he even 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:47.960 says in verse 19 and 20 that it wasn't because it was an easy road to walk. 00:15:49.400 --> 00:15:53.570 Paul lived this life because Paul had determined the kind of person he was going to be. 00:15:53.760 --> 00:15:54.360 Get this. 00:15:54.360 --> 00:16:01.480 Even in the midst of adversity, sometimes we have this tendency to allow adversity to dictate the kind 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:03.780 of person we know we should be in the Lord. 00:16:04.300 --> 00:16:09.140 And Paul is saying for us that this should not be what determines who we are. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.700 Rather, who we are in Jesus determines what we do. 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:18.940 And so Paul's healthy rhythms in his life, living this out becomes important. 00:16:19.380 --> 00:16:26.540 Now, in order to do this in a world full of adversity, we've got to recognize that it takes a supernatural ability, 00:16:26.540 --> 00:16:29.310 which is what's going to make point number two important here in a minute. 00:16:29.800 --> 00:16:36.860 But it is critical to think about the rhythms of your life and what you're filling your life with, so that when you pour your 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:41.650 life out for the benefit of others, that others can see the goodness of who Christ is. 00:16:42.420 --> 00:16:44.840 And so Paul has developed these healthy rhythms. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:50.800 And if you even think about what Paul's life was in Ephesus, it was certainly not easy in Ephesus. 00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:58.280 In fact, on his first visit there became this massive riot that took place in order to try to prevent Paul 00:16:58.280 --> 00:17:01.060 from being who God has called him to be. 00:17:01.740 --> 00:17:06.400 But you see Paul remaining consistent in all of it, and it tells you the kind of life that he lived. 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:09.180 He lived a life in humility and truth. 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:16.579 When the world came around him, trying to pressure them, him to conform to what it is they wanted in his life, he chose to walk a life that 00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:18.480 was transformed in Jesus. 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:26.300 And he lived this in truth and humility and compassion to those around us, and honoring the goodness of God in his life. 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:33.460 And as believers, this is God's call on all of us learning these healthy rhythms that God would fill our lives 00:17:33.460 --> 00:17:38.900 up so that we could pour our lives out for the benefit of others to the glory of God. 00:17:38.900 --> 00:17:46.040 Humility and truth become critical for us because if you lean too far into the other, if you just simply walk in 00:17:46.040 --> 00:17:49.580 the truth, but you leave this humility and compassion behind. 00:17:49.620 --> 00:17:53.740 I'll tell you, the kind of person you're going to be is obnoxious and annoying at best. 00:17:54.620 --> 00:18:01.760 You're going to become irritating to people around you, because you're going to look very pompous in your presentation of yourself, as if you're better than those 00:18:01.760 --> 00:18:02.900 around you. 00:18:03.280 --> 00:18:04.230 Truth is important. 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:05.640 It's critical for us. 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:05.700 We. 00:18:06.260 --> 00:18:09.380 We need to discover who we are in light of the truth. 00:18:10.560 --> 00:18:17.660 But at the same time, to understand that what the truth ultimately does is bring us to this place of humility and recognizing the greatness of God and what 00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:18.880 he's done for us. 00:18:19.600 --> 00:18:26.940 And as we find ourselves saturated in the Lord, we can then live our lives for his glory to the benefit of others, because 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:29.500 we don't need others to tell us who we are. 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:35.480 We already know who we are in the Lord, and therefore can become a servant to the hearts of those around us. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:43.460 And so truth alone can make you obnoxious, but humility alone. 00:18:43.840 --> 00:18:48.700 This idea of servant without the truth gives you no foundation, no basis for what you're about. 00:18:49.740 --> 00:18:54.700 But both of these Paul is saying, this is what my life has been about from the beginning. 00:18:55.140 --> 00:19:02.720 I've had these rhythms, and I know Jesus, and I walk in Jesus, and therefore I share Jesus with 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:03.500 those around me. 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:08.500 I guess it's a good place for us to pause and think about the rhythms of your own life. 00:19:09.420 --> 00:19:11.120 I mean, what are you pouring into you? 00:19:12.100 --> 00:19:14.060 What kind of time do you spend with the Lord? 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:16.760 Why do you even seek after him? 00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:24.940 One of the things I think is important for us to consider in our own faith journey with Jesus is why we follow Christ in the first place. 00:19:25.860 --> 00:19:30.740 You know, sometimes people think to themselves, my life's not gone quite the way I would want it to. 00:19:31.300 --> 00:19:32.500 Right now it feels hard. 00:19:32.540 --> 00:19:33.700 I need things to get better. 00:19:34.140 --> 00:19:35.940 Probably Jesus can help me with that. 00:19:36.460 --> 00:19:39.740 And so they'll go to pursue Jesus in order to make their life easier. 00:19:39.820 --> 00:19:43.560 Because the things that have been they thought would work out for them hasn't worked out for them. 00:19:43.700 --> 00:19:45.190 So they're trying to seek another solution. 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:50.680 But the whole basis for that seeking is simply about making their life easier. 00:19:50.860 --> 00:19:58.340 And I want you to see in the Apostle Paul here, there's far more depth to his relationship in the Lord than just simply making life easy. 00:19:58.520 --> 00:20:05.680 Because you see, certainly in verse 19 and 20, that the pursuit of his life has not primarily been about making his life easy. 00:20:05.780 --> 00:20:12.840 In fact, if anything, following after Jesus has made his life more challenging in an earthly sense, I say all this to 00:20:12.840 --> 00:20:20.090 encourage us to say is like, look, if you know your life hasn't gone the way that you wanted, and you say to yourself, I need to seek something different. 00:20:20.360 --> 00:20:27.420 I'm glad something has motivated you to seek Jesus, but I want you to know if all you're seeking Jesus for 00:20:27.420 --> 00:20:29.850 is simply to make your life more convenient. 00:20:30.360 --> 00:20:32.450 You're not really seeking Jesus. 00:20:32.800 --> 00:20:37.640 What you're seeking is convenience, and you're using Jesus as the tool to get you there. 00:20:37.780 --> 00:20:43.360 And the moment your life might get hard in Christ, you'll abandon Jesus to pursue something else. 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:52.080 What's important for all of us in these healthy rhythms is to understand the central focus of our life in Jesus, 00:20:52.080 --> 00:20:59.420 and to see how Jesus will sustain us, which is what compels us to seek these rhythms in our life, to recognize 00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:01.340 the goodness of who God is. 00:21:01.800 --> 00:21:08.540 And if you even take time to read the New Testament, one of the things that you discover is the New Testament is awfully repetitive. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:16.490 Like if you just open up an epistle and you read the book of Ephesians, and then Philippians and Colossians and Galatians, 00:21:16.860 --> 00:21:21.270 you'll find in each one of those books that Paul says a lot of the same things. 00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:26.980 And get this, the reason he does is because we as people are easy to forget. 00:21:28.220 --> 00:21:35.820 We forget the things God says to us and we need reminded often of the identity, 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:40.080 the rhythms that we're to carry in this world, to glorify God. 00:21:41.080 --> 00:21:44.200 God, fill me up in the richness of who you are. 00:21:44.560 --> 00:21:46.700 There was a famous coach named Lou Holtz. 00:21:46.780 --> 00:21:49.220 I think he coached Notre Dame in the 80s to a ship. 00:21:50.360 --> 00:21:57.830 And one time he said this, he saw his life as one who really tried to help young men succeed as a football coach. 00:21:58.320 --> 00:22:02.400 But he said this, it's never the wrong time to do the right thing. 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:05.920 It's never the right time to do the wrong thing. 00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:13.210 But if you live your life with integrity, if you if you seek to do the right thing, one of the things that builds is trust. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:15.590 People know they can trust you. 00:22:15.780 --> 00:22:18.000 And with trust comes intimacy. 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:22.560 And learning to live healthy rhythms in our life is. 00:22:23.100 --> 00:22:30.240 It helps him build this in community where we learn to trust one another because we know what our life is to be about, 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:36.920 and in that, we develop intimacy in our relationship with one another as we glorify God. 00:22:37.060 --> 00:22:38.870 We need healthy rhythms. 00:22:39.560 --> 00:22:44.530 And through these healthy rhythms, then comes point number two, which I think is the most important. 00:22:44.820 --> 00:22:46.780 We need a reason. 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:55.340 Before you do the rhythms, it's important to ask what is compelling the purpose behind those rhythms, right? 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:59.970 Where if you just simply develop rhythms for rhythm sake, that's empty religion. 00:23:01.120 --> 00:23:04.240 What's important is to ask the question, why would you want to do it in the first place? 00:23:04.340 --> 00:23:09.210 And the answer should be because we want to know Jesus, and I'm wanting to know the Lord. 00:23:09.560 --> 00:23:16.700 We then look for places for those rhythms to help us, help us connect to him, help us walk with him in the Word of God is a is 00:23:16.700 --> 00:23:17.600 a wonderful place. 00:23:18.040 --> 00:23:21.060 Prayer connecting the Lord in a way that we serve with one another. 00:23:21.080 --> 00:23:28.100 We get to Experience the what Christ did for us as we're serving one another, bless others, and glorify God in the 00:23:28.100 --> 00:23:28.720 things we do. 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:28.980 There. 00:23:29.140 --> 00:23:32.520 There are rhythms that become critical for us for the reason. 00:23:33.040 --> 00:23:33.870 And so we should seek. 00:23:34.120 --> 00:23:35.340 Like, what rhythms do I have? 00:23:35.340 --> 00:23:38.170 And what's the motivation that rhythm like? 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:43.020 Is it really this desire to want to connect to God, to know him? 00:23:43.060 --> 00:23:45.820 And for the Apostle Paul, you see these rhythms of his own life. 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:53.000 He says in verse 21, testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:54.930 in our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:23:55.260 --> 00:24:02.340 And now, behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 00:24:02.560 --> 00:24:08.960 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:16.620 Could you imagine that kind of walk in Jesus like, what are you? 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:17.170 I'm a Christian. 00:24:17.320 --> 00:24:18.580 Or really, what's that like? 00:24:18.580 --> 00:24:22.030 Well, for me, it's a lot of affliction and imprisonment. 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:25.470 Do you know how many people would sign up for that? 00:24:25.560 --> 00:24:25.900 Right. 00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:33.340 Like you have to have in your life, like a purpose above all purposes, that you're just longing 00:24:33.340 --> 00:24:39.440 for that even the struggles of life can't surpass this one thing, right? 00:24:39.520 --> 00:24:44.040 As human beings, we'll put up, we'll put up with a lot of things if we have hope, right? 00:24:44.040 --> 00:24:51.230 If we see a reward or we know there's a greater purpose and for the apostle Paul, he has found it in the Lord. 00:24:51.840 --> 00:24:55.240 Like what other reason would Paul want to go through such things? 00:24:55.240 --> 00:25:00.040 And the quality of the depth of his own walk in the Lord. 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:02.890 I'm going to follow this path and it's going to be hard. 00:25:04.120 --> 00:25:05.120 Why would you do it, Paul? 00:25:06.020 --> 00:25:13.740 And Paul's acknowledging it takes a supernatural ability, because the thing that's superseding all these things is 00:25:13.740 --> 00:25:15.680 that I'm constrained by the spirit. 00:25:17.380 --> 00:25:24.800 God is leading me here, And I'm trusting, knowing what's awaiting me, that God will meet me there and 00:25:24.800 --> 00:25:31.880 he will sustain me through it, so that even on the outside, to others, it may look difficult and they may even wonder 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:33.520 how in the world you could go through this. 00:25:33.860 --> 00:25:37.400 I'm telling you, the answer is the strength of the Lord carrying me through it. 00:25:38.840 --> 00:25:44.040 And so Paul is, has found the depth of his own walk in the Lord. 00:25:44.040 --> 00:25:45.420 And he's calling other people to it. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:52.820 He's saying, look, repent, which is saying, turn from anything else you can trust in whatever you've looked 00:25:52.820 --> 00:26:00.400 at to this world, turn from all of those things and rather put your faith in Jesus because he is the 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:03.200 alone one that can sustain you. 00:26:03.280 --> 00:26:07.980 And then Paul helps us in verse 24 to understand where he finds the depth of that. 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:14.440 It says, I do not count my life of any value nor as precious to myself. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:23.710 Here's really what Paul is saying that this first statement he's saying, I have learned the theology of America is bankrupt. 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:32.480 Because what he's saying is like, E it's not just America that's lived this way. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:39.520 It's all people throughout history, but all people throughout history, including our own country, is just saying, you know what the most 00:26:39.520 --> 00:26:42.260 important thing in this world is what you want. 00:26:43.120 --> 00:26:43.680 And you know why? 00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:44.970 That's the most important thing. 00:26:45.460 --> 00:26:47.140 Because you're the most important thing. 00:26:47.800 --> 00:26:50.360 And if you look deeper in you, you'll discover that. 00:26:51.580 --> 00:26:58.300 And Paul has come to a place where he realize he's saying, I have found out that this way of life is absolutely bankrupt. 00:26:59.360 --> 00:27:06.940 I don't count myself precious in and of myself, but I have found the worth of who I am through something greater, something 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:07.560 different. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:15.680 He says this if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify of 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.080 the gospel of the grace of God. 00:27:20.020 --> 00:27:27.120 He's discovered the quality of who he is through the quality of who God is, and the way that 00:27:27.120 --> 00:27:34.590 God has poured himself out, that Paul could be found in the forgiveness and grace and freedom that only Jesus could bring. 00:27:35.760 --> 00:27:43.100 And so Paul is saying his reason in all of this is not only that his life has been found in this way, but 00:27:43.100 --> 00:27:44.600 that others might discover it too. 00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:53.100 Because what Jesus has offered him, Jesus is offering to everybody that they would be known and forgiven in Christ. 00:27:53.740 --> 00:28:00.800 And there's no greater basis for your life to be discovered than the one who created you and the one who gave his life for you. 00:28:01.660 --> 00:28:09.040 And so rather than surrendering your life to yourself, surrendering it to the one who holds all things in his hands, including 00:28:09.040 --> 00:28:16.760 your soul, Paul saying, that's why the rhythms of my life have been this way because 00:28:16.780 --> 00:28:18.120 Jesus has filled me up. 00:28:19.340 --> 00:28:26.600 So Paul has a reason, and Paul has these rhythms, which then leads 00:28:26.600 --> 00:28:29.030 us to the third point, which is relationship. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:35.010 Paul has relationship and not just any relationship. 00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:37.060 We should say healthy relationship. 00:28:38.380 --> 00:28:45.520 And we see it most here in the struggle of Paul acknowledging to the church that he's not going to be with them anymore. 00:28:46.260 --> 00:28:53.600 In verse 25, it says, and now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming 00:28:53.600 --> 00:28:56.480 the kingdom will see my face again. 00:28:57.960 --> 00:29:03.920 And that's the reality of relationship sometimes is that it's not going to last forever. 00:29:05.060 --> 00:29:12.180 And we're going to go through the difficulty of separation at some point, whether life pulls that apart, or maybe it's the 00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:14.120 Lord leading in different directions. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:15.140 Pull us apart. 00:29:15.320 --> 00:29:18.000 Or maybe it's ultimately death that pulls us apart. 00:29:18.220 --> 00:29:21.460 But we're moving in this world as pilgrims, right? 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:28.580 And so the best we have is how we can honor the Lord right now, in this moment, and seeing the 00:29:28.580 --> 00:29:33.840 importance of the relationships that God has around me, that the goodness of God could be made known. 00:29:33.900 --> 00:29:40.300 And there's probably no time that highlights the significance and importance of relationship than in the pain of loss. 00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:48.140 Every once in a while as a pastor, I, I have opportunity to do funeral services. 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:52.110 And I gotta tell you, it's not something I'm like, I can't wait for a funeral service. 00:29:52.380 --> 00:29:52.820 Right? 00:29:52.980 --> 00:30:00.120 But one of the things I've noticed about doing funeral services is just how sensitive hearts are for 00:30:00.120 --> 00:30:02.900 what God has for us. 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:07.600 Meaning it's in death that we truly recognize that we're made for more. 00:30:08.360 --> 00:30:10.690 It's one of the reasons I think the Bible calls us pilgrims. 00:30:11.620 --> 00:30:14.740 It's like when there's this longing in your heart that can't be quenched. 00:30:15.320 --> 00:30:18.280 Perhaps it's an indication that you were made for more. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:26.260 And it's in death or in separation and relationships that we're reminded of the importance of relationship and 00:30:26.260 --> 00:30:29.300 that we as human beings are made for more. 00:30:29.300 --> 00:30:31.700 We're made for something that lasts. 00:30:31.760 --> 00:30:34.240 I find sometimes as Christians, we. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:36.700 We approach death in a. 00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:38.300 In unhealthy ways. 00:30:39.620 --> 00:30:42.400 Meaning sometimes in death we. 00:30:42.840 --> 00:30:44.340 We look at that moment as if. 00:30:44.560 --> 00:30:51.060 As if, as if it's a moment that we're not supposed to grieve because, well, we're Christians and we have a greater hope. 00:30:51.080 --> 00:30:57.760 And so when someone passes away, we shouldn't weep because their death ended up becoming the best day of their life. 00:30:57.840 --> 00:30:59.700 Which is true, right? 00:30:59.700 --> 00:31:06.420 When we pass, we immediately go into the presence of the Lord, and our passing day is the best day where we get to see Jesus face to face. 00:31:06.620 --> 00:31:09.290 And all the suffering of this world has gone away. 00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:11.040 And so there is there is truth to that. 00:31:11.040 --> 00:31:12.160 And that we do have an ultimate hope. 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:17.880 However, I think it's also important to recognize that it's dishonoring to not grieve. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:25.080 And one of the reasons I say that is like, as human beings, when we grieve, we're acknowledging we're not made for this world. 00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:25.620 We're made. 00:31:25.620 --> 00:31:26.720 We're not made for death. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:28.180 We're made for life. 00:31:28.180 --> 00:31:29.140 We're made for more. 00:31:29.980 --> 00:31:35.320 And when we grieve, we're also acknowledging the beauty of the relationships in which God has given to us. 00:31:36.500 --> 00:31:41.400 That death may have won a battle, but it doesn't get its final victory over us as God's people. 00:31:42.100 --> 00:31:47.980 And so grieving becomes this beautiful opportunity to worship the gift of what God has given us through relationship. 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:52.820 That's why even these final moments, Paul could just say, hey guys, suck it up, buttercup. 00:31:52.820 --> 00:31:54.240 No crying, right? 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:56.150 We're going to see each other in heaven one day. 00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:03.810 But while that is true, there's also a grieving and separation because there's beauty in relationship. 00:32:04.500 --> 00:32:05.480 God made us for that. 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:07.560 And it's okay to grieve in that. 00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:11.210 And it's also teaching us the importance of the quality of relationship. 00:32:12.340 --> 00:32:19.340 And we know that sometimes there's going to be separation, and separation can be painful, that it speaks to the 00:32:19.340 --> 00:32:25.500 importance of what we do as believers, as being done in the supernatural power of the Lord. 00:32:26.580 --> 00:32:27.820 Like God, this is going to be hard. 00:32:29.020 --> 00:32:36.280 Developing relationships, seeing people grow or go as a as a pastor, like sometimes my life feels like I'm 00:32:36.280 --> 00:32:37.830 preaching to a parade. 00:32:38.060 --> 00:32:38.880 Hello, how are you? 00:32:39.020 --> 00:32:39.120 Goodbye. 00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:39.920 Hello. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:40.380 How are you? 00:32:40.460 --> 00:32:40.660 Goodbye. 00:32:41.320 --> 00:32:42.660 Like some people, they'll come to church. 00:32:42.660 --> 00:32:43.000 They come. 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:45.390 One time we had someone at first service say. 00:32:45.580 --> 00:32:47.180 I didn't know this guy was speaking. 00:32:47.180 --> 00:32:48.140 I thought it was a different guy. 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:49.080 I didn't know who that. 00:32:49.080 --> 00:32:50.060 And then they left, right? 00:32:50.060 --> 00:32:51.420 Like, I don't know what that meant. 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:52.260 How do I take that? 00:32:52.260 --> 00:32:53.760 I don't think I'm going to see him again. 00:32:53.760 --> 00:32:55.260 Was this message a bad message? 00:32:55.280 --> 00:32:56.820 I don't know, what does that mean? 00:32:56.900 --> 00:33:03.940 Sometimes I get just one shot with people, and sometimes I get the privilege of a few years developing deeper relationship, 00:33:03.940 --> 00:33:05.060 and then people move on. 00:33:05.540 --> 00:33:07.040 And then I'm sad, right? 00:33:07.150 --> 00:33:08.940 Like, the same is true for you. 00:33:10.300 --> 00:33:12.160 But the best moment we have is right now. 00:33:13.320 --> 00:33:15.860 And what we want to see the Lord do is a beautiful work. 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:21.680 And so in order to do that, the best thing I can do is not lose sight of my reason. 00:33:22.380 --> 00:33:29.500 Because sometimes challenges are going to come and I need to walk in these rhythms that God continues to pour into 00:33:29.500 --> 00:33:30.960 me and fill me up. 00:33:31.720 --> 00:33:38.590 And as he does see the importance of relationship, that I could live out the beauty of Jesus even in difficulty. 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:46.220 Because when I weep in difficulty, it's acknowledging the beauty of what Christ has done, so that at the end of my days, I 00:33:46.220 --> 00:33:47.340 can live this way. 00:33:47.340 --> 00:33:49.460 In verse 26 as the last point in your notes. 00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:53.800 No regrets, no regrets. 00:33:53.800 --> 00:34:01.220 Verse 26, Paul says this therefore therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all. 00:34:01.520 --> 00:34:04.920 For I do not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:10.000 Paul saying, look, circumstances, life, even people try to pressure me to be different. 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:12.580 But I remain consistent in the Lord. 00:34:13.219 --> 00:34:14.540 I didn't shy away from that. 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:19.060 I followed Jesus faithfully and truth humbly in serving others. 00:34:19.600 --> 00:34:21.120 That's what my life was about. 00:34:21.219 --> 00:34:24.460 And because of that, Paul saying, I didn't shrink back. 00:34:24.460 --> 00:34:25.280 Therefore I'm innocent. 00:34:25.380 --> 00:34:26.380 I don't have any regrets. 00:34:27.260 --> 00:34:34.480 And guys, can I just tell you can't change the past, but you can determine today the kind of person that you want to be, 00:34:35.080 --> 00:34:42.199 so that when you lay your head down at night, you're not tossing and turning over any regrets, but rather, from the moment 00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:47.280 you came to know Jesus, or maybe from this moment today, that you knew what your life was going to be about. 00:34:48.139 --> 00:34:55.420 And so as you move through this, through this world, you didn't have anything to lament over as far as a mistake or regret, but rather you 00:34:55.420 --> 00:34:57.600 chose to honor God with your life. 00:34:57.600 --> 00:34:59.380 And in so doing, bless those around you. 00:35:00.340 --> 00:35:02.650 Now, I want you to know this isn't where the passage ends. 00:35:02.940 --> 00:35:06.240 But I got to say all this quickly because we're coming to the end of our time. 00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:11.270 But Paul wants you to recognize, look, guys, what he just shared with us. 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:15.360 Incredibly practical, almost so simplistic. 00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:17.260 We can just treat it as common. 00:35:19.300 --> 00:35:22.170 But Paul is saying no, no, no, no. 00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:25.420 We just kind of brought it down to three points. 00:35:26.030 --> 00:35:33.520 Recognize the importance of what he's saying to us, a reason with rhythms in relationship, 00:35:34.660 --> 00:35:41.700 a reason with rhythms and relationship, because there's also an adversary who wants to destroy the beautiful 00:35:41.700 --> 00:35:43.640 work that God wants to do among you. 00:35:43.680 --> 00:35:50.820 And he says it like this pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of 00:35:50.820 --> 00:35:52.980 God, which he obtained with his own blood. 00:35:53.160 --> 00:36:00.380 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking 00:36:00.380 --> 00:36:03.040 twisted things to draw away the discipline. 00:36:03.100 --> 00:36:03.780 The disciples. 00:36:03.780 --> 00:36:04.020 Excuse me. 00:36:04.140 --> 00:36:04.940 After them. 00:36:05.020 --> 00:36:11.260 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. 00:36:11.300 --> 00:36:12.390 Let me just stop and say this. 00:36:14.240 --> 00:36:17.880 One of the ways that Satan works in this world is through people. 00:36:19.020 --> 00:36:26.220 Now, I don't want to tell you that, and I'll make you paranoid about everyone around you, because Paul's even saying, in the church of Ephesus, if 00:36:26.220 --> 00:36:30.700 you're being honest, these fierce wolves are going to actually raise up among their own body. 00:36:31.560 --> 00:36:34.980 And so there's going to be people that are going to raise up among you that are going to be fierce wolves. 00:36:35.660 --> 00:36:37.210 Now, please don't get paranoid. 00:36:38.020 --> 00:36:38.160 Right. 00:36:38.220 --> 00:36:42.620 But it is important for us to think about like, what is like in a community. 00:36:43.100 --> 00:36:45.010 We talk about fierce wolves in a community. 00:36:45.200 --> 00:36:49.840 You know, when Jesus talked about wolves, he said, beware of wolves who come to you in sheep's clothing. 00:36:51.240 --> 00:36:58.400 One of the interesting things I've noticed just anecdotally in ministry over the years is that when we think about the way Jesus 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:02.700 talked about wolves and coming in sheep's clothing, and that Paul is saying that they're fierce here. 00:37:04.660 --> 00:37:11.680 One of the one of the things that's interesting about a wolf is that a wolf, I don't think really actually knows it's 00:37:11.680 --> 00:37:14.180 a wolf, like it comes to you in sheep's clothing. 00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:18.280 Because I think that a wolf actually thinks it's a sheep. 00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:20.920 In fact, I think a wolf doesn't think it's a wolf. 00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:23.460 It really just thinks it's a misunderstood sheep. 00:37:24.620 --> 00:37:29.000 And in so doing, what ends up happening is they become divisive to the body. 00:37:29.340 --> 00:37:35.710 And the focus becomes about putting people on my side or their side rather than on Christ's side. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:43.080 And I don't I don't see let me say it like this for all of us this morning, I want all of us to realize that in 00:37:43.080 --> 00:37:45.180 any moment in life, we can become a wolf. 00:37:46.520 --> 00:37:47.670 And here's how it happens. 00:37:48.520 --> 00:37:56.120 When we feel wronged against or something that's happened to us, rather than just handle it with a person that, there 00:37:56.120 --> 00:38:01.630 might have been wronged or some difficulty We start feeling like it's an attack on our character. 00:38:02.680 --> 00:38:04.310 And so we've got to guard our reputation. 00:38:05.340 --> 00:38:12.420 And the way that we guard our reputation is we start asking people, we start advocating for our side and we start asking people, do you agree 00:38:12.420 --> 00:38:13.120 with them? 00:38:13.240 --> 00:38:15.080 Or do you want to just listen to my side? 00:38:15.300 --> 00:38:16.140 Don't listen to their side. 00:38:16.280 --> 00:38:17.700 Just listen to my side. 00:38:17.720 --> 00:38:17.960 Right? 00:38:17.980 --> 00:38:22.870 And we start advocating for us because what's important to us is our reputation. 00:38:23.560 --> 00:38:28.640 And can I just can I just say to you as a pastor, like people have opinions on me, right? 00:38:28.640 --> 00:38:31.260 Like some good, some not good. 00:38:32.040 --> 00:38:33.730 I hear those things all the time. 00:38:34.200 --> 00:38:41.360 But I could just tell you the best thing that you can do in any of those circumstances is 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:45.540 just live with godly character and your reputation will take care of itself. 00:38:46.440 --> 00:38:47.900 Like sometimes arising within me. 00:38:47.900 --> 00:38:49.600 You feel like I gotta defend myself here. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:51.520 My reputation is at stake. 00:38:51.560 --> 00:38:53.060 And you just learn over time. 00:38:53.080 --> 00:38:57.060 Like if you just walk with godly character, reputation is to is take care of himself. 00:38:57.060 --> 00:39:01.720 People are just going to have opinions, regardless of how much you might try to defend yourself or not. 00:39:02.600 --> 00:39:06.980 If you just honor the Lord with godly character, reputation will take care of itself. 00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:11.400 It reminds me of a story of Joshua in the Old Testament, where he's walking around Jericho. 00:39:11.700 --> 00:39:15.740 All of a sudden he comes across the angel of the Lord, only he didn't realize it was the angel of the Lord. 00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:19.760 And he asked the angel, are you fighting for them or are you fighting for us? 00:39:20.160 --> 00:39:22.290 And the angel just says, no. 00:39:22.820 --> 00:39:26.860 Which is interesting, but the angel goes on, he says this, I'm fighting for the Lord. 00:39:27.640 --> 00:39:34.740 And sometimes we get so focused on defending ourselves or standing up for ourselves that we forget to realize, oh, wait a minute, there's three 00:39:34.740 --> 00:39:35.940 sides to every argument. 00:39:35.980 --> 00:39:38.740 There's their side, there's my side, but there's the Lord's side. 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:45.760 And I can get so caught up in trying to represent my side, I just completely miss what the Lord wants to do here. 00:39:47.020 --> 00:39:49.740 And in so doing, we become like the wolf. 00:39:50.540 --> 00:39:52.780 We divide from the body, we pick off people. 00:39:54.300 --> 00:39:58.820 But Paul is saying, here's how you know the difference between a wolf and health, right? 00:39:58.820 --> 00:40:04.160 He's saying the wolf in verse 30, he's saying draws people away from the disciples after them. 00:40:04.160 --> 00:40:08.440 And what he's saying is what a wolf is primarily interested in is themselves. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:10.100 What do you think about me? 00:40:10.800 --> 00:40:12.170 What can I get out of this? 00:40:12.600 --> 00:40:13.900 How does this benefit me? 00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:17.880 But Paul, at the end of the story, he compares and we don't have time to read this. 00:40:18.320 --> 00:40:19.560 But then he talks about his own life. 00:40:20.620 --> 00:40:23.480 And in this passage he says, but I was the servant of servants. 00:40:24.460 --> 00:40:27.100 I used my life not for what I could get out of it. 00:40:27.720 --> 00:40:30.000 I didn't cover all Paul tells you. 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:37.200 And in these closing verses, verse 33, because my interest was in me, my interest was in blessing you 00:40:38.300 --> 00:40:45.410 the way you know a wolf wolf is interested in glorifying themselves, but a follower of Christ. 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:52.320 I don't know why my mic keeps going out, but let me just close with this. 00:40:52.420 --> 00:40:57.980 There was a man in the 1600s known as Brother Lawrence, and Brother Lawrence actually joined a monastery. 00:40:58.780 --> 00:41:02.480 But one of the interesting things about Brother Lawrence is that he never became a monk. 00:41:03.380 --> 00:41:06.560 What he what he did in the monastery was become the servant of servants. 00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:11.830 He spent his entire life washing dishes, making meals, and running errands. 00:41:12.200 --> 00:41:13.660 Never sought the position of a monk. 00:41:14.180 --> 00:41:17.180 Never preached a sermon, never planted a church. 00:41:18.040 --> 00:41:20.280 But he used his life in an influential way. 00:41:21.060 --> 00:41:25.600 And he said, as he served in this monastery, that his goal was simple. 00:41:25.600 --> 00:41:29.280 He just wanted to practice the presence of the Lord wherever he went. 00:41:30.180 --> 00:41:37.360 When Brother Lawrence passed away at the end of the 1600s, he was so influential in the relationships around him that they took the stories and the wisdom 00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:38.620 that he imparted to people. 00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:44.400 And all of his friends compiled it together, and they published a book called practice of the Presence of God. 00:41:45.480 --> 00:41:52.560 And in that Brother Lawrence said this, the more we know him, the more we will desire to know him as love 00:41:52.560 --> 00:41:54.040 increases with knowledge. 00:41:54.380 --> 00:41:56.980 The more we know God, the more we truly love him. 00:41:57.860 --> 00:42:00.600 And he's really in challenging us in your reason. 00:42:01.950 --> 00:42:04.510 When you look at the love of God on the cross and. 00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:12.060 And it invites you in, and as you begin to explore the depth of that love, you realize just how incredible God's love is towards 00:42:12.060 --> 00:42:12.460 you. 00:42:12.620 --> 00:42:19.640 And the more you know this God, the more you fall in love with this God, and the more you want to continue to know this God and honor him 00:42:19.640 --> 00:42:20.260 with your life. 00:42:21.080 --> 00:42:24.360 And in so doing, you crave those rhythms to draw near to him. 00:42:24.840 --> 00:42:28.890 And as he fills you up in those rhythms, you get to pour your life out in relationship. 00:42:29.580 --> 00:42:33.960 And in so doing, you don't only see a healthy life with no regrets. 00:42:33.980 --> 00:42:37.680 You see a healthy church influencing this community in the world. 00:42:38.300 --> 00:42:42.740 This message has been brought to you by Alpine Bible Church in Lehi, Utah. 00:42:42.760 --> 00:42:47.010 If you'd like more information, please visit us online at Alpine bible.com.