WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.800 Okay, I'm going to invite you to Acts chapter 21 where we're going to be together today. 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:06.340 Acts chapter 21. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.850 And we're in the final section of the book of Acts. 00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:16.710 And in this final section, if you remember, we're coming to the place where Paul has concluded his third missionary journey. 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:19.520 The book of Acts records for us three missionary journeys. 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:21.200 The Apostle Paul went on. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:25.270 And we know in history, Paul went on more than three missionary journeys. 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:33.160 But at the conclusion of his third missionary journey, he comes to Jerusalem and he's arrested and he spends 00:00:33.160 --> 00:00:36.200 the rest of the book of Acts in house arrest. 00:00:36.220 --> 00:00:40.750 He spends a couple of years in Jerusalem or in that region, and then a couple years in Rome. 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:48.480 And in fact, when you read the book of Acts, I think it's important for you to know that this particular book spans about 30 years of history. 00:00:48.860 --> 00:00:54.050 And the book of Acts ends with the Apostle Paul in prison, even though that's not where his life ends. 00:00:54.400 --> 00:00:56.960 He's released from prison and goes on further missionary journeys. 00:00:57.340 --> 00:01:00.550 Now, we might be wondering now why in the world doesn't give us a conclusion. 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.180 It just kind of ends abruptly with Paul in jail. 00:01:03.300 --> 00:01:08.980 And I'll just tell you, you're gonna have to stay to the end to figure that one out, because I'm not I'm not going to share that with you yet. 00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:10.540 But it ends with Paul in jail. 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:15.090 And as he's coming to Jerusalem, we know that he's going to face adversity. 00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:17.940 And the reason we know that is because Paul's already told us that. 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:25.260 And Paul's friends have told us that yet he continues to move forward to Jerusalem for some very specific purposes. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:28.460 And it's primarily about honoring God and reaching hearts. 00:01:28.460 --> 00:01:32.860 That's Paul's interest as he ministers to the church there facing some adversity. 00:01:33.580 --> 00:01:34.180 And we look at that. 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:37.320 We might ask the question, why would someone move forward in that kind of a conflict? 00:01:37.720 --> 00:01:42.180 And realizing, hey, wait a minute, we live in a broken world and we're going to face the same thing. 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:50.320 And so we're going to look at this particular section of scripture and ask the question like, how do we honor God when we live in a culture that doesn't? 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:58.240 And Paul, in living his life in this particular way, in Acts chapter 21, I'm reminded that 00:01:58.240 --> 00:02:00.900 this isn't something Paul just does in this moment. 00:02:01.540 --> 00:02:07.150 This is something Paul emulated through his entire faith journey as he came to know the Lord. 00:02:07.820 --> 00:02:12.820 What does it look like for me to honor God and especially when my culture doesn't? 00:02:13.140 --> 00:02:20.220 And when you read throughout the New Testament, especially the epistles that Paul writes Paul is constantly peppering his letters 00:02:20.220 --> 00:02:21.220 with this thought. 00:02:21.220 --> 00:02:22.340 There's the truth that you believe. 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:24.290 And then there's how we live. 00:02:24.660 --> 00:02:31.560 And sometimes when we take the truth of which we believe, and we try to engage the world in the way that we live, the world doesn't make it easy. 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:38.080 And so what does that look like for us to honor God in a challenging world and the adversity that we might face now? 00:02:38.320 --> 00:02:40.700 I want you to know, if you grab some notes this morning, great. 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:45.000 You might notice that I have some extra verses related to this particular passage. 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:52.180 If you didn't grab a paper copy of her notes, just know on the Alpine Bible Church app, if you open that and click on notes, you get the digital notes too. 00:02:52.220 --> 00:02:54.820 Sometimes it's easier because you can just click on the verse and see it. 00:02:55.200 --> 00:03:02.200 But we're going to be looking at not only this particular passage, but the way that Paul lives in this passage in light of the way 00:03:02.200 --> 00:03:09.340 that he encouraged us to live throughout all of his letters, as Paul thinks about our lives in the midst of a broken world, what does it look like 00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:13.820 for us to honor God in the midst of a culture that may not? 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:21.480 And I'll just dive right into it this morning because we have we have five points in the notes, and I might have to move through this quickly. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:22.800 I was a little worried in first service. 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:24.490 I wasn't going to get through it all, but we did. 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:26.020 And so we have to get through it all. 00:03:26.060 --> 00:03:28.960 Second and third service because I can't like lag our services behind. 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:30.680 So here's point number one in your notes. 00:03:31.160 --> 00:03:32.760 You have to start this way. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:34.260 Rejoice in new life. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:40.800 In fact, honestly, we could just talk about rejoicing, but we absolutely want to rejoice in new life. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:42.660 I mean, it is the lifeblood of the church. 00:03:42.880 --> 00:03:46.960 And just seeing how the Spirit of God continues to move in people. 00:03:47.020 --> 00:03:49.480 And we see new life found in Christ. 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:51.870 And that is certainly reason for rejoicing. 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:57.640 And this is something that has marked Paul's life as is the rejoicing in the way. 00:03:57.660 --> 00:03:59.320 God's hand has moved and. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.640 And even if it's not moving in the hearts of other people, Paul knows the way that God has impacted his own heart. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.430 He still has reason to rejoice. 00:04:05.940 --> 00:04:08.670 And in Acts chapter 21, verse 17, that's how it starts. 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:11.870 And talking about Paul, it says, when we had come to Jerusalem. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.740 So Luke is including himself here with the word we. 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:15.730 We had come to Jerusalem. 00:04:16.440 --> 00:04:18.810 The brothers received us gladly. 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:25.980 On the following day, Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present, and after greeting them he related one by 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.090 one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through the ministry. 00:04:29.460 --> 00:04:31.900 And when they heard it, they glorified God. 00:04:31.940 --> 00:04:34.840 So here they are, just rejoicing over what God's done. 00:04:34.880 --> 00:04:42.300 As Paul went around the world with several people traveling with him and seeing people come to know Jesus, a new life birthed and churches 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:44.440 spreading throughout the Roman Empire. 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:47.280 And then the church in Jerusalem shares what's happening there. 00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:54.640 And it says, and when they heard it, they glorified God and said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of 00:04:54.640 --> 00:04:56.000 those who have believed. 00:04:56.220 --> 00:04:58.560 They are all zealous for the law. 00:04:58.940 --> 00:05:06.160 And so not only are they rejoicing over what Paul had seen take place in his missionary journeys throughout the known world, 00:05:06.200 --> 00:05:09.880 as Paul comes back to Jerusalem, he's finding more and more people come to know Christ. 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:12.680 And so there's rejoicing in that. 00:05:12.760 --> 00:05:19.760 And I, I want you to know that when it comes to rejoicing, it's a wonderful marker to examine the health of the life of 00:05:19.760 --> 00:05:26.880 a person in general, but especially for a believer, because all of us rejoice over something, 00:05:27.700 --> 00:05:28.000 right? 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:33.420 But he's being more specific here and just glorifying God, rejoicing in the things of the Lord. 00:05:33.840 --> 00:05:40.760 And what you rejoice over is really a way of measuring the health of your life in Christ. 00:05:41.740 --> 00:05:48.920 Like what you rejoice over tends to be where you also put your worship and things that give you purpose, identity, and 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:50.260 meaning. 00:05:50.320 --> 00:05:56.010 And so just thinking about our own rejoicing, what causes my heart to rejoice is a place to come back and examine. 00:05:56.700 --> 00:05:58.500 Is it is it really in alignment with the Lord? 00:05:58.520 --> 00:05:59.800 Are they things of the Lord? 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:03.880 Does that really matter to me, and do I rejoice over them? 00:06:04.080 --> 00:06:11.380 And one of the things I think is helpful to remind us as God's people, when we think about rejoicing, is just the gift that it is to know Jesus, 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:13.420 walk with him and honor him with our life. 00:06:14.520 --> 00:06:21.560 Because as you study Scripture, one of the things that you discover is that God honestly doesn't owe us anything other 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:23.980 than his wrath and justice. 00:06:25.200 --> 00:06:28.100 And the reason for that is because he's perfect and you're not. 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:30.500 He's holy in your not. 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:38.880 But rather than leave us in that place, the Bible teaches us about a God who pursues us even while we're sinners and gives his life 00:06:38.880 --> 00:06:45.560 for us, that we could find forgiveness, freedom, a new identity purpose in him. 00:06:46.400 --> 00:06:53.480 It's an absolute gift of God to be able to gather and to be able to seek his face and to have a relationship with him 00:06:53.480 --> 00:07:00.520 and then and then represent him in this world to help other people discover the worth and the 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:01.720 value that they are. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:08.920 And they were intended to have and their creator and find their lives recreated through the cross, through a God who pursued 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:10.040 them and gave his life for him. 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:12.880 Because it's a gift to know Jesus. 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:22.320 And until you recognize that you're not going to want to hunger in your desire to want to know Jesus and walk with him, to 00:07:22.320 --> 00:07:29.440 realize what Jesus has rescued you from, and also realize what Jesus is offering you, offering to you 00:07:29.440 --> 00:07:36.620 in him, a future and a hope, and seeing the grace of God pour out in our life is what 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:41.220 invites us, compels us to him because it's God's love and. 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:42.400 And as we. 00:07:42.640 --> 00:07:45.480 We plunge the depths of who he is and we find the. 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:47.700 The greatness of him made known in our hearts. 00:07:47.700 --> 00:07:50.900 It just keeps churning in our souls to want to know him more. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:57.410 Rejoicing as a as an indicator in the health of the life of the believer. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.630 It's important for us to take a moment just to see God's hand the way he moves among us. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:09.640 Like one of the things I love about our staff meetings we do here on Tuesday and we kick off our time together with that meeting. 00:08:09.640 --> 00:08:16.640 And the first thing on our agenda is to look back, look back at what God has done and just recognize that we talk 00:08:16.640 --> 00:08:23.780 about things that were good things that we can improve on next time, but we just look back at God's hand and even thinking of this 00:08:23.780 --> 00:08:29.020 last year or excuse me, this last month for us as a church, like I just took just a quick minute. 00:08:29.020 --> 00:08:31.540 I'm like, hey, what's happened in ABC over this last month? 00:08:31.960 --> 00:08:34.600 And you know, realizing it's April. 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:37.539 So that's predominantly Easter month for us. 00:08:37.640 --> 00:08:39.919 And our Easter celebration. 00:08:39.980 --> 00:08:42.100 We had some people give us attendance totals. 00:08:42.400 --> 00:08:46.750 And I got to tell you, sometimes those totals are different when you get a big crowd. 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:51.100 So I just know it's somewhere over 700 people in less than a thousand people we had at Easter. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:52.560 But that's a that's a lot of people. 00:08:52.560 --> 00:08:57.680 It takes a lot of work and we baptize more people we've ever baptized at a service with 26 people baptized. 00:08:58.140 --> 00:09:01.160 And on Easter, we sent out two teams that. 00:09:01.280 --> 00:09:07.340 That week we sent one during the service, we sent one to Asia, had a fantastic time in serving the Lord. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:14.520 And then we sent another one down to Torrey, Utah to serve a church in Torrey that not only happens to be the only Bible based church in 00:09:14.520 --> 00:09:15.240 Torrey, Utah. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:19.500 It's actually the only church in the in that county, which is Wayne County. 00:09:19.640 --> 00:09:25.700 Now, there's a part of that that's amazing and saying that's the only church in Wayne County, and there's no part in Wayne County's got like three people in it. 00:09:25.820 --> 00:09:27.040 But that doesn't matter, right? 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:28.460 They still matter to the Lord. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:35.660 Okay, there's actually like 2500 people in Wayne County, but it's amazing to think like during that week, our church just sending people 00:09:35.660 --> 00:09:37.860 internationally and here locally. 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:39.920 And it's just about making a difference in the Lord. 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:44.690 I mean, even here at the church, after the last couple of weeks when services have concluded. 00:09:45.460 --> 00:09:51.440 I've had the opportunity to talk to people that have just said, I'm new in the faith or I'm examining Jesus right now. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:52.760 He seems very endearing to me. 00:09:52.760 --> 00:09:54.260 I want to know more about this Christ. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:00.260 I mean, there's even a few services where after the service, I walk out and get a chance to chat with people. 00:10:00.280 --> 00:10:07.360 And I found myself in multiple circles where different families around me saying, yeah, we all just came to know Jesus or we're all, we're 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:08.560 all investigating Christ. 00:10:08.560 --> 00:10:15.700 Like, I don't know how many times in your life where you've been in this position where individuals come up at the same time and all of them just saying to 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:20.320 you, I've just come to know Jesus, or I'm really looking at Jesus. 00:10:20.420 --> 00:10:27.040 I mean, that's, that is incredible to think about how God's hand is moving and it gives us this place of rejoicing and just saying, thank you, Lord. 00:10:28.580 --> 00:10:30.460 What matters to you matters to us. 00:10:31.180 --> 00:10:38.340 And it's a good way of examining because there's going to be hard days that come in the midst of those trying 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:39.080 times. 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:42.320 The things that cause your heart to rejoice in the Lord are important. 00:10:43.060 --> 00:10:45.480 And it can be, the way God's working in people. 00:10:46.040 --> 00:10:50.010 But honestly, even if that's not true, it's the work that God does in your own life. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:51.600 God. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:52.000 Thank you. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:52.800 You didn't leave me. 00:10:53.760 --> 00:10:54.160 Thank you. 00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:55.220 You offered me your grace. 00:10:56.040 --> 00:10:57.960 I have forgiveness, I have freedom. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:05.700 So not only is there rejoicing in a new life, but then when we grow as God's people in numbers, right? 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:10.940 As we get bigger tends to happen when you have people come to know the Lord. 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:17.920 Like we don't all come to know Jesus and we're instantaneously as mature in Christ as we could be. 00:11:18.740 --> 00:11:22.900 You know, we could say it like this, that when you come to know Jesus, you're instantly perfected in Jesus. 00:11:22.900 --> 00:11:24.040 I'll talk about that in a minute. 00:11:24.580 --> 00:11:28.050 But there's also this place of maturing in your walk with the Lord. 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:34.180 And so it's saying to us, when we come to know Christ, we come to know Christ sometimes half baked. 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.100 I've got to grow in that relationship with him. 00:11:37.300 --> 00:11:44.440 And when we come to know Jesus without even realizing it, we kind of bring our experiences and our past with us, and that's a part of who you are. 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:45.780 That's important. 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:50.740 But some of that is not in alignment with who Christ is, right? 00:11:50.760 --> 00:11:55.560 We kind of just bring some baggage along with us, and God's got to work that out in our lives. 00:11:56.100 --> 00:11:59.540 And what does that look like for us to mature in the Lord? 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:04.620 And point number two is this, that we've got to be patient with maturing believers. 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:13.220 Actually, we could just say be patient with each other because in a way, we're all maturing in Christ, but God's doing this work in 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:13.660 us. 00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:16.620 And so what does that look like for us to mature in the Lord? 00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:20.060 This is why the very bottom of this passage is highlighted for you. 00:12:20.160 --> 00:12:21.770 They are all zealous for the law. 00:12:22.660 --> 00:12:25.490 As the church is sharing and saying, look at all the people come to the Lord. 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:29.610 That phrase is them also saying, and they've kind of come with some baggage. 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:34.680 Paul, you know this is not a healthy thing that they're saying in this passage. 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:37.020 Now there's a place to understand the Old Testament law. 00:12:37.040 --> 00:12:39.010 We'll talk about that in just a few. 00:12:39.420 --> 00:12:46.120 But what they're saying is they've taken this idea of the law and they've run with it to a degree that has actually not been healthy for us as a church. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:54.040 And so they're recognizing that there's this place of maturing that needs to happen in the church, that while people are coming to the Lord, that's amazing. 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:57.340 But while we grow wider, we've also got to grow deeper. 00:12:58.160 --> 00:12:59.720 And so how do we how do we do that? 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:00.490 What does that look like? 00:13:00.640 --> 00:13:07.660 Well, I think it's critical for us to know everyone is being formed in some way. 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:09.350 We're all being shaped. 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:10.450 We're all being formed. 00:13:11.180 --> 00:13:14.580 But the question is, what is forming you? 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:23.040 And the Bible gives us a couple places of helping us realize, like, how do I, how do I work with people whose lives 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:27.220 may not be fully honoring God in the way? 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.980 Will say, someone who has matured in the Lord. 00:13:30.800 --> 00:13:32.100 Like, how do I approach that? 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:37.010 And I would say, really, there's two different types of people that I think are important to understand. 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:43.680 One is an individual who's just new in the Lord, who's really growing in him. 00:13:44.020 --> 00:13:48.420 And then there's another type of individual who is just rebellious. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:49.720 They don't give a rip, right? 00:13:49.740 --> 00:13:51.770 Like there's, there is this Jesus. 00:13:51.900 --> 00:13:54.620 They say they follow this Jesus, but they love the world more. 00:13:54.920 --> 00:13:56.710 Like, how do you how do you approach that? 00:13:56.760 --> 00:13:59.600 Well, I would say for us, there's two different paths there. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:06.600 Like as a follower of Christ, when I see someone whose heart is given over to the world, I want to come alongside 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:09.900 that person and just say, hey, do you recognize this? 00:14:09.900 --> 00:14:10.640 Or are you aware of this? 00:14:10.640 --> 00:14:12.600 Do you see how this is not surrendered to the Lord? 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:18.380 And I want to encourage my brother or sister in Christ to honor God. 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:21.170 What does that look like in the midst of rebellion? 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:27.520 But then there's this other place where you have believers that their hearts are given over to the Lord. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:30.280 And they're just they're just now being shaped in Christ. 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:37.400 And I would say as a pastor or even as a follower of Jesus in general, I would treat that differently And not to say that I 00:14:37.400 --> 00:14:44.640 don't want their life to change, but when your life is given over to the Lord and the Lord is working on that, you just let the Holy Spirit just use 00:14:44.640 --> 00:14:44.920 that. 00:14:44.920 --> 00:14:49.820 Sometimes the Holy Spirit uses us to point a finger on something for someone else. 00:14:49.880 --> 00:14:51.440 And you want to do that gently, by the way. 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:58.430 And then other times it's just realizing, oh, they just need time in Christ and they're going to be, they're going to be maturing in this process. 00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:04.250 So what does it look like for me to be formed, but not just formed, formed in the Lord? 00:15:04.640 --> 00:15:09.500 Well, in Romans chapter 12, and I want to look at verse two, but I'll look at both of these in just a moment. 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:16.920 The apostle Paul says like this when he talks about your forming, don't be conformed or with forming to this 00:15:16.920 --> 00:15:23.920 world, but be rather transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, 00:15:23.920 --> 00:15:26.170 what is good and acceptable and perfect. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.310 So what Paul is saying is like, you got to be mindful of this, that you are going to be formed. 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:34.600 And there's this way the world wants to shape you. 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:40.820 They want to press you from the outside to get you to conform to this box the way they want you to look. 00:15:41.640 --> 00:15:43.760 But then there's what God desires to do in you. 00:15:43.900 --> 00:15:48.680 And rather than modify your behavior, what God desires to do is transform you on the inside out. 00:15:48.820 --> 00:15:50.550 It'll change the way you live. 00:15:50.740 --> 00:15:58.180 But that journey is different because it begins on the inside that God is transforming me new in the identity that I have in him. 00:15:58.520 --> 00:16:01.160 And I learn what that means then to live that out. 00:16:01.640 --> 00:16:08.820 And so when Paul is telling us, okay, when you got a new believer, how do you know the difference between what you should do with someone that's new in Christ 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:13.280 and growing and growing the Lord, but still coming with some baggage or someone that's just walking out, right? 00:16:13.300 --> 00:16:14.060 Rebellious. 00:16:14.760 --> 00:16:19.310 Well, when you've got that new believer in Christ in Romans 12, Paul gives you two markers. 00:16:20.400 --> 00:16:28.080 He's saying, look for these two markers like as a believer this morning, if you have these two markers that God 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:35.240 is going to continue to work in your life to shape you, transform you and to bring you to a place to 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:37.480 reflect the beauty of Christ in this world. 00:16:38.060 --> 00:16:38.880 What are those? 00:16:38.880 --> 00:16:46.120 And Romans one, he says, I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:49.610 a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:55.040 What he's saying is, marker number one is a surrendered life to the Lord. 00:16:55.740 --> 00:16:59.320 It looks like humility, right? 00:16:59.340 --> 00:17:06.859 Out of all the things your life could be given over to Paul saying, I beg you, brothers, that you understand the most important thing your life could be given to is 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:07.359 Jesus. 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:10.040 Are you surrendered to Jesus? 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:15.720 Do you show humility towards Christ in the way your life is given over to him? 00:17:15.800 --> 00:17:17.450 I love that Paul calls it a living sacrifice. 00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:23.740 It almost seems like a dichotomy of words here, because when you sacrifice something, it's supposed to die. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.640 But you're a living sacrifice, meaning you can always crawl off the altar. 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:32.120 So he's saying this needs to be the posture of your heart as you move through life. 00:17:32.120 --> 00:17:33.280 It's not a one time decision. 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:38.540 It's an all time decision that determines the trajectory of your life. 00:17:38.540 --> 00:17:39.670 Do they have the mark of humility? 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.780 And then in point number two, what he's saying here is, do you have a hunger for the truth? 00:17:46.840 --> 00:17:48.980 Do you yearn for the truthfulness of God? 00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:57.780 Because both of those things are saying, look, we might bring baggage with us, but if we're really surrendered to the Lord and 00:17:57.780 --> 00:18:02.280 we really hunger for His Word, God's going to work that out in us. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:04.960 As we're transformed in his image, we're growing. 00:18:05.800 --> 00:18:10.120 You know, I love it when you get to meet new believers and you see they're excited in the Lord. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:16.150 And, they come with all sorts of questions and they're trying to figure out what this Jesus thing looks like. 00:18:16.380 --> 00:18:19.840 And, I can tell you as a pastor in those moments, I don't stress out. 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:24.800 I'm like, they're not, they're not fully there yet, but they're getting there. 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:32.270 And what God desires to do, I mean, Philippians chapter one, verse six, it says, he who began a good work in you will bring it to the day of your redemption, 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:36.300 showing Jesus is journeying with you and all that, and they're just surrender to that. 00:18:36.360 --> 00:18:43.360 And you can just step back and see how the Spirit of God works in his people to bring about his the beautiful picture 00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:44.860 of who he is in their life. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:46.860 He transforms them. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:53.560 Now as we think about what that looks like in our life, I think it's critical for us to think in terms like this. 00:18:53.580 --> 00:18:58.140 There's a I'm going to give you a theological word, and then we're going to probably forget that word. 00:18:58.380 --> 00:18:59.730 But I want to talk about what that means practically. 00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:00.800 Okay. 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:06.000 Theologians have this word that they refer to as progressive sanctification, right? 00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:08.060 It's one that you talk about constantly at the dinner table. 00:19:08.060 --> 00:19:10.280 I know progressive sanctification. 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:18.540 And what it means is this when you come to know the Lord, you are made perfect positionally, instantly. 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:23.360 And when God looks at you, he sees the image of Christ all over you. 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:25.320 He sees the perfection of Jesus. 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:29.420 So when you come to know the Lord, you're instantly perfected in Christ. 00:19:29.820 --> 00:19:32.400 The Bible to describe that uses two words. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:33.620 It's the same Greek word our. 00:19:33.820 --> 00:19:34.850 Our Bible uses interchangeably. 00:19:34.980 --> 00:19:36.700 It's justified and righteous. 00:19:37.580 --> 00:19:37.840 So. 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:38.760 So in Christ. 00:19:38.780 --> 00:19:39.640 Romans five one. 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:42.000 If I give you an example, you're justified in Christ. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:46.740 You're declared perfect because the perfect nature of Jesus has been placed on you. 00:19:46.780 --> 00:19:49.840 What Jesus accomplished on the cross that was for you. 00:19:49.860 --> 00:19:53.290 And so when the father looks at you, he sees the perfection of Jesus. 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:57.600 So there's a sense in our life that when I come to know Jesus, I'm justified, I'm righteous, I'm perfected. 00:19:58.580 --> 00:20:04.400 However, in coming to know Christ, I've also got to grow in my maturity and understanding. 00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:06.040 What does that what does that mean? 00:20:06.040 --> 00:20:07.050 What does that look like in the day to day? 00:20:07.800 --> 00:20:14.800 And theologians refer to that as progressive sanctification growing in the position I've already received 00:20:14.800 --> 00:20:17.660 in Christ as I reflect Christ more in my life. 00:20:18.100 --> 00:20:23.280 Hebrews chapter ten, verse 14 is one of those verses that takes both of those ideas and puts it into one verse. 00:20:23.300 --> 00:20:29.020 I love this verse because this is one of those verses that for people that stress out like, is Jesus really enough? 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:30.780 What happens if I sin again? 00:20:30.780 --> 00:20:32.480 Like, is God really? 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:33.380 Can he forgive me? 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:35.200 I've already asked for forgiveness once, but. 00:20:35.280 --> 00:20:38.630 But if I sin again, is Christ going to all of a sudden take my salvation? 00:20:39.320 --> 00:20:46.360 And Hebrews chapter ten, verse 14, it says, for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are 00:20:46.360 --> 00:20:47.460 being sanctified. 00:20:48.460 --> 00:20:55.960 And so he's saying in that idea of sanctification, God knows you're not perfected yet and the way that you live, but because Jesus sacrifice is 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:59.660 sufficient, you've been perfected in who Christ is. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.620 So there is this maturing that takes place in our lives as believers. 00:21:06.320 --> 00:21:07.100 And so how do I mature? 00:21:08.760 --> 00:21:11.000 Well, it's the surrender humility to Christ. 00:21:11.300 --> 00:21:12.900 God, my life was made for you. 00:21:13.260 --> 00:21:13.860 So take it. 00:21:15.100 --> 00:21:20.660 And also there's this hunger to want to know who this God is and what that means for you in light of who he is. 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:24.040 What is your identity become now that you belong to him? 00:21:25.120 --> 00:21:27.430 As long as we have the humility, we have that hunger. 00:21:28.120 --> 00:21:31.100 We walk with Christ to grow in that. 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:36.620 And so I've been perfected and I'm being perfected in the Lord. 00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:39.700 Now one more passage and I move on. 00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:41.980 But in second Corinthians chapter three, Paul says it like this. 00:21:42.300 --> 00:21:49.600 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:52.320 For this comes from the Lord who is the spirit. 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:58.740 And what Paul is saying is like, as you gaze upon the Lord God does that transforming work in you. 00:22:00.120 --> 00:22:04.810 So what you're choosing to form, you will ultimately determine who you become. 00:22:06.040 --> 00:22:09.520 Now, let me just give a little push back here and share with us. 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:17.920 A problem in the life of believers is that Paul often remark in his epistles, and if I give you a verse, I'd even say first 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:25.260 Corinthians chapter three, verse one, he comes to the church of Corinth often to tell them, guys aren't maturing like he 00:22:25.260 --> 00:22:26.680 says to you. 00:22:26.760 --> 00:22:33.260 In First Corinthians three one, you should be eating or eating meat now, but instead you can continue to drink milk. 00:22:34.080 --> 00:22:34.750 You're still babes. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:36.460 You're not growing up. 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:36.960 You're not maturing. 00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:39.720 He encourages him in that. 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:46.740 And I would say, guys, it can it can be the same for us if we're not careful that we don't, we don't unintentionally fall into 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:53.680 holiness, that you've got to make it a pursuit of your heart to want to be more like Jesus and the way that you live your life. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:23:01.920 And if I'm being honest, one of the reasons sometimes Christians don't grow is because all they give to God is the leftovers of 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:02.480 their life. 00:23:04.080 --> 00:23:08.020 If you want to know what's really forming them, it's their phone. 00:23:09.280 --> 00:23:10.000 It's their friends. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:12.080 It's fear. 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:18.360 I guess if I gave you all F's, but there are things that shape who we are. 00:23:19.560 --> 00:23:25.590 And we shouldn't expect that God's really transforming me when all I give to God is just simply the leftovers. 00:23:27.020 --> 00:23:29.510 It's wonderful to know I've been perfected in Christ. 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:33.350 And also, I want to honor Jesus with my life. 00:23:34.300 --> 00:23:39.660 Being patient with those who are maturing is important to understand even in your life. 00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:41.320 Like sometimes we want to grow so quick. 00:23:41.320 --> 00:23:43.140 We're just like why aren't I perfect? 00:23:43.320 --> 00:23:44.260 Why do I keep faltering? 00:23:45.540 --> 00:23:49.330 And I would just say direction will determine your destination. 00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:52.920 Keep surrendering, keep hungering. 00:23:53.280 --> 00:23:55.280 And God will do that beautiful work in you. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:57.960 And one of the wonderful things about that is you. 00:23:58.120 --> 00:24:05.300 You can't claim that it was by your ability that it happened, but simply Christ working in you as your life was surrendered 00:24:05.300 --> 00:24:06.140 to him. 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:14.720 Number three then, is this respectfully approach those in error, respectfully 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:16.300 approach those in error. 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:23.540 It goes on in verse 21 and says, talking about those who are zealous for the law, and they have been told about you, that you 00:24:23.540 --> 00:24:30.600 teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according 00:24:30.600 --> 00:24:32.400 to our customs. 00:24:32.820 --> 00:24:34.760 And this is simply not true. 00:24:34.760 --> 00:24:37.050 And what's being said about Paul. 00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:44.700 And so Paul has an opportunity to right this wrong, to help them in their understanding, not simply because not because they 00:24:44.700 --> 00:24:46.320 have a bad understanding of Paul. 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:47.520 That's certainly a reason. 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:52.840 But also they're just failing to see the importance of the Old Testament in light of the New Testament and how that shapes us. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:53.980 Right? 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.780 Paul would have never taught, what this Old Testament is garbage. 00:24:56.800 --> 00:24:57.160 Throw it away. 00:24:58.520 --> 00:25:05.780 And more than that, what he's dealing with in this particular passage is not only the accusation that Paul is saying, get rid of the Old Testament, but what 00:25:05.780 --> 00:25:13.040 they're really worried about is Paul is saying, get rid of your entire culture right now that you know Jesus, you got to just forsake everything that's giving you a cultural 00:25:13.040 --> 00:25:14.940 identity as a Jew. 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:17.780 And that's just simply not true when you come to know Jesus. 00:25:18.340 --> 00:25:25.600 If you come from some type of cultural background where you appreciate some things of the culture, those are okay to hold on to as long 00:25:25.600 --> 00:25:31.980 as long as they don't walk conflict or contrary with who God is. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:38.000 So there's people in all different cultures in this world, and there's some things about culture that people might find endearing. 00:25:38.300 --> 00:25:45.300 And continuing to utilize those things are fine as long as they don't compromise the truth of what we believe or 00:25:45.300 --> 00:25:47.710 the integrity of the gospel and the way that we live. 00:25:48.260 --> 00:25:52.640 And so for the Jewish people, they're they have this system of worship, but their culture is intermixed with that. 00:25:52.660 --> 00:25:55.230 And they're saying, like, Paul, you're just telling us to get rid of it all. 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:59.580 Like we just lose our identity completely as a particular group of people. 00:25:59.620 --> 00:26:02.100 And they're frustrated by Paul because of that. 00:26:02.300 --> 00:26:05.600 And this is not what Paul taught throughout the Bible. 00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:12.750 In fact, in your notes, you'll see I give you a reference from Romans chapter seven, which we're not going to look at, but I do want us to take a moment to look at Hebrews chapter ten, 00:26:13.420 --> 00:26:18.930 because Paul really helps us begin to understand, okay, How do you view the Old Testament in light of the New Testament? 00:26:20.340 --> 00:26:22.950 Does that, now that we have a New Testament, make the Old Testament unimportant? 00:26:23.340 --> 00:26:25.170 And I would just say absolutely not. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:31.580 And in fact, it enhances the significance of what the Old Testament was in light of the New Testament. 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:38.780 In fact, in Hebrews chapter ten, verse one, some people don't think that Paul wrote Hebrews, and this is just me being controversial, I do. 00:26:38.780 --> 00:26:45.860 So if I just continue with the theme of Paul, Hebrews chapter ten, verse one, Paul says, for since the law has but a shadow 00:26:45.860 --> 00:26:52.920 of the good things to come, instead of the true form of the realities, it can never be the same sacrifices that are continually offered 00:26:52.920 --> 00:26:56.120 year after year make perfect those who draw near. 00:26:56.260 --> 00:27:01.740 So in one sentence, Paul is really helping us begin to understand, okay, how do we view the Old Testament in light of the new? 00:27:02.080 --> 00:27:05.220 Because Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:08.620 Or another word for that is old covenant, right? 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:12.080 Jesus fulfilled the old covenant and. 00:27:12.320 --> 00:27:18.700 And because of that, we don't wake up as Christians every day saying to ourselves, okay, the old covenant gives us at least 613 commands. 00:27:19.800 --> 00:27:22.020 How can I obey 613 commands today? 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:30.280 We don't wake up doing that as believers because get this on the night in which Jesus gave his life for you and for me, he says 00:27:30.280 --> 00:27:34.580 to his followers in the upper room, a new covenant I give to you. 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:37.380 And in giving us the new covenant, he's declaring us. 00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:40.520 He's fulfilled the old and therefore giving us something new. 00:27:40.820 --> 00:27:47.960 So rather than try to live our lives to obey 613 commandments, what we do now is we walk according to the law of Christ, which is to love God and love 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:52.350 others in the spirit, the fruit of the spirit, as we're surrendered to the Lord. 00:27:53.080 --> 00:27:56.270 And so this is the way we live our lives now and living our lives that way. 00:27:56.540 --> 00:27:58.980 We might we might emulate things of the Old Testament. 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:03.000 And the reason for that is because both Testaments declare the holiness of who God is. 00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:11.220 And in so doing, we walk a path of morality that is symbolic of what the Old Testament represents, or the shadows of the Old Testament. 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:13.780 But our life is about living the New Covenant. 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:16.090 Now, does that make the Old Covenant unimportant? 00:28:16.560 --> 00:28:17.780 Absolutely not. 00:28:18.260 --> 00:28:25.780 And the reason for that is like when you read the New Testament, you see over and over again the writers of the New Testament quoting 00:28:25.780 --> 00:28:27.400 from the Old Testament. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:32.630 And the reason they're doing that is so that you can see the significance of what God has done. 00:28:33.320 --> 00:28:37.520 The Old Testament is a shadow of everything God would fulfill in the New Testament. 00:28:37.600 --> 00:28:42.030 So when you read the Old Testament, you see the promises of God made known. 00:28:42.620 --> 00:28:46.670 And when you read the New Testament, you see the promises of God fulfilled. 00:28:47.580 --> 00:28:50.680 And all of it contains the faithfulness of who the Lord is. 00:28:51.900 --> 00:28:58.860 So that whether you're reading from the old or the new you see this grand redemption story of God told. 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:03.460 And for us, it just gives us reason to rejoice and sing from old to new. 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:08.000 It's been the same story that God has declared through his people and what he desired to do for us at the cross. 00:29:09.340 --> 00:29:15.120 And so this amplifies the beauty of the Old Testament, and it demonstrates all of it coming to fruition in the new. 00:29:16.020 --> 00:29:23.060 But Paul also, in this passage, wants us to understand that it's not the old covenant that saves, but rather the Old Covenant was ultimately 00:29:23.060 --> 00:29:26.140 pointing to you that to everything Jesus would fulfill. 00:29:27.020 --> 00:29:33.410 I mean, when you look at the 613 commandments of the Old Covenant, I think it's important to know God didn't get to 613 and just say, you know what? 00:29:33.600 --> 00:29:34.080 This is it. 00:29:34.120 --> 00:29:37.820 That's the that's how many commandments humanity, humanity needs. 00:29:38.780 --> 00:29:41.000 What he's what he's showing us by giving us the laws. 00:29:41.040 --> 00:29:46.660 And the Old Testament is saying, no matter how many laws you give to us, it can never truly transform the heart. 00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:49.420 It can never legislate what men really do. 00:29:49.780 --> 00:29:57.280 I mean, God could have continued to give laws and it would have never it would have never transformed who we are because the laws 00:29:57.280 --> 00:29:59.320 were intended to recognize that we're all broken. 00:30:00.180 --> 00:30:05.210 And what we need is a radical transformation that only Christ can give, which is why he goes on and says. 00:30:05.600 --> 00:30:11.670 Then he added, he does away with the first talking about the first covenant in order to establish the second talking about the New covenant. 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:18.100 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. 00:30:18.340 --> 00:30:19.180 And every. 00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:26.360 Every priest stands daily in the Old Covenant at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. 00:30:26.840 --> 00:30:31.920 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 00:30:32.300 --> 00:30:36.400 We've already read verse 14, but it's saying the importance in all of it is to point us to Jesus. 00:30:37.600 --> 00:30:42.660 Now the Jews are worried that Paul's just ripping away their entire culture. 00:30:42.660 --> 00:30:48.620 And Paul's saying, no, you don't have to leave your culture, but you do need to recognize the importance of what Christ has done. 00:30:49.800 --> 00:30:50.820 And in that, we never compromise. 00:30:51.360 --> 00:30:51.420 So. 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:58.200 So number four in your notes is this we should then exercise compassion without compromising truth. 00:30:59.300 --> 00:31:01.640 Exercise compassion without compromising truth. 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:03.360 Verse 22. 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:04.470 What then is to be done? 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:06.960 They will certainly hear that you have come. 00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:07.680 Do. 00:31:07.800 --> 00:31:10.040 Therefore, what we tell you we have. 00:31:10.080 --> 00:31:11.880 For men who are under a vow. 00:31:11.900 --> 00:31:17.580 Take these men and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads. 00:31:17.620 --> 00:31:18.560 Thus all. 00:31:18.840 --> 00:31:26.060 All will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance 00:31:26.060 --> 00:31:26.860 of the law. 00:31:26.940 --> 00:31:34.000 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:37.520 from the blood, and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. 00:31:37.580 --> 00:31:41.560 Let me just stop there, because I need to explain this for time's sake. 00:31:41.560 --> 00:31:42.740 I've got to move a little quicker here. 00:31:44.560 --> 00:31:51.220 Knowing that Paul has been misrepresented in more than that they're not truly understanding the New Testament in light of the old. 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:56.620 They're trying to ask questions like, what's the best way to honor the Lord in the midst of this? 00:31:56.660 --> 00:31:59.960 Because we have new believers who are being taught something that isn't accurate. 00:32:00.760 --> 00:32:04.600 But then we have a culture that's ultimately opposed to the Apostle Paul. 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:09.380 Two And Paul's going into Jerusalem as now a follower of Christ. 00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:13.330 And the majority of people there are going to be opposed to what Paul represents. 00:32:14.460 --> 00:32:15.420 How do I do that? 00:32:15.420 --> 00:32:19.360 Well, that's the noble question they're asking in this passage. 00:32:20.220 --> 00:32:28.220 And I don't know about you, but have you ever lived in a place where maybe you are a minority in what you believe, and 00:32:28.220 --> 00:32:31.600 then you've got to ask the question, what does it look like for me to honor God where I'm at? 00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:35.520 Because there are certain things about culture that's just indifferent. 00:32:36.780 --> 00:32:41.420 And there are sometimes things about culture that completely conflict with the message of who Christ is. 00:32:42.300 --> 00:32:43.390 And so how do I navigate that? 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:46.250 And Paul's looking for a way to build a bridge. 00:32:46.280 --> 00:32:51.560 And keep in mind he's doing this during time period where the Old Testament temple hasn't been destroyed just yet. 00:32:52.220 --> 00:32:54.430 The New Testament hasn't been written. 00:32:54.620 --> 00:32:55.960 It's still being compiled. 00:32:57.020 --> 00:33:01.000 And so these believers are learning what it means to live in light of what Christ has done. 00:33:01.780 --> 00:33:07.260 And so Paul's taking the opportunity to build that bridge in order to communicate with a believing and unbelieving world. 00:33:07.560 --> 00:33:09.340 The significance of who Christ is. 00:33:10.120 --> 00:33:11.020 It's the same for us. 00:33:11.040 --> 00:33:14.460 We should be able to ask the question, what does it look like for me to honor God in the midst of this? 00:33:14.500 --> 00:33:20.140 And here's the reason why I know this is cultural, not so much a theological debate over the gospel. 00:33:20.520 --> 00:33:22.040 And it's because of verse 25. 00:33:23.020 --> 00:33:27.000 Verse 25 is actually a quote from Acts chapter 15. 00:33:27.040 --> 00:33:33.300 If you remember in Acts 15, the debate was do you have to follow the law and be circumcised in order to be saved? 00:33:34.080 --> 00:33:38.660 In Acts chapter 15, the church clarified in verse one, verse 20 and verse 29. 00:33:38.840 --> 00:33:40.100 Absolutely not. 00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:42.940 But then they turned around to the church and said. 00:33:43.100 --> 00:33:46.340 However, knowing that Jesus alone is what saves you. 00:33:47.040 --> 00:33:53.760 If you want to honor Christ in culture, it tells them to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols. 00:33:54.320 --> 00:33:59.200 And the reason it says this is because the church, they had the freedom to partake of meat sacrificed to idols. 00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:00.320 We'll talk about in a minute. 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:08.040 But the reason they're saying this is because when the early church would go around and they might partake of meat sacrificed to idols, other people 00:34:08.040 --> 00:34:15.120 couldn't hear their message, including the Jewish people, that their actions screamed so loud at them that they couldn't hear the 00:34:15.120 --> 00:34:17.199 message of Christ that gave them freedom. 00:34:18.060 --> 00:34:25.179 And so Paul's encouragement to the believers in Acts 15, and even repeated here, is sometimes we give up our freedom for the benefit of 00:34:25.179 --> 00:34:25.780 others. 00:34:26.580 --> 00:34:29.400 And in fact, this is peppered in multiple places throughout Scripture. 00:34:29.420 --> 00:34:31.639 Galatians five for you were called to freedom. 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:32.179 Brothers only. 00:34:32.179 --> 00:34:36.320 Don't use freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 00:34:36.420 --> 00:34:43.460 First Corinthians eight, verse nine, but take care that the right of the right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:50.449 Meaning in Jesus I have freedom, but in my freedom I might surrender that to the benefit of others. 00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:51.670 What does that look like? 00:34:52.380 --> 00:34:55.980 And one of the things we also have opportunity to do is redeem what's broken in culture. 00:34:56.659 --> 00:35:03.860 There was a few years ago here at church where we had a Christmas or we had a Sunday service on Christmas, 00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:05.520 December 25th. 00:35:05.520 --> 00:35:10.000 And we knew probably we were going to have a lighter crowd, but my wife had fun with it. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:13.420 She decided to dress up like a Christmas tree and which was hilarious. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:21.600 And but we had someone that watched, I don't know, like a 32nd YouTube video and came in and decided to tell us that's not honoring to the Lord because pagans 00:35:21.600 --> 00:35:24.560 use trees to worship pagan things. 00:35:25.240 --> 00:35:28.920 And I love my wife without skipping a beat, just leaned in and go goes. 00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:32.520 But I'm not asking you to worship me like that. 00:35:32.660 --> 00:35:33.280 I thought that was awesome. 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:41.380 And she said, but here's something that I think is important to recognize and important to just think 00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:47.830 in terms of culture is like at some point in history, did a group of people ever bow down to a tree? 00:35:47.980 --> 00:35:48.500 Yes. 00:35:48.520 --> 00:35:51.740 Like people, people do weird things all the time and they worship all sorts of things. 00:35:51.740 --> 00:35:58.940 Like if you read the Old Testament, you'll find that anytime they build idols, they tended to do it under trees, on hills, under trees. 00:35:58.940 --> 00:36:00.350 They would just worship in those places. 00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:03.780 If you ever go to Oregon, people worship those trees all the time, right? 00:36:03.780 --> 00:36:05.480 Like people do that. 00:36:05.480 --> 00:36:12.780 But just because, just because people take things and use it for the wrong reasons doesn't mean you have to look at it and say, well, 00:36:12.900 --> 00:36:14.600 someone did something bad with this. 00:36:14.620 --> 00:36:19.900 We got to just ignore it forever because everything created in this world really ultimately belongs to the Lord. 00:36:20.340 --> 00:36:25.700 And so we, as God's people were called to redeem things for his glory, including maybe even Christmas trees. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:32.880 I don't know, but if you want to know where the Christmas tree tradition came from, it was 16th century by a man named Martin Luther walking in 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:36.940 the woods during during the December Christmas season. 00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:37.820 And he looked at a. 00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:42.760 He looked at an evergreen tree and realized like, here's life in a tree when all other trees seem dead. 00:36:43.040 --> 00:36:44.440 And as he looked at it, he. 00:36:44.560 --> 00:36:48.720 He saw the stars shining through which reminded him of the Star of Christ or the. 00:36:49.080 --> 00:36:49.920 The light of Christ. 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:52.700 So he brought it home, and they used it to celebrate Christmas. 00:36:53.780 --> 00:37:00.980 And even today, like the tradition has continued where usually if you decorate a tree at the top, you put a star or an angel and on when Jesus 00:37:00.980 --> 00:37:05.770 was born, if you read the Gospels, the two things that appeared in the sky were a star and an angel. 00:37:06.580 --> 00:37:07.740 Now it might be. 00:37:07.740 --> 00:37:12.620 You might take a tradition and completely divorce it to the significance of who Christ is, right? 00:37:12.620 --> 00:37:15.220 And that whatever we do, we should do it for the glory of God. 00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:17.980 So just putting a tree up for putting a tree up is just weird, right? 00:37:18.040 --> 00:37:20.190 You drag a tree in your house and just put it up to put it up. 00:37:20.380 --> 00:37:21.120 That's weird. 00:37:21.380 --> 00:37:28.600 But if you're a follower of Jesus, you see, the reason we do that is because of the life that's in the tree and what we hang on the tree, representing the light of Christ, 00:37:28.640 --> 00:37:32.260 and even the star and the angel that represents the story of who Jesus is. 00:37:32.300 --> 00:37:35.220 We can redeem the things in this world for the glory of God. 00:37:35.240 --> 00:37:36.340 Do you have to do that? 00:37:36.600 --> 00:37:37.040 No. 00:37:37.560 --> 00:37:38.660 But culture does it. 00:37:39.220 --> 00:37:41.350 And can we use that within our culture to glorify God? 00:37:41.680 --> 00:37:42.600 Absolutely. 00:37:43.700 --> 00:37:45.800 And this is what Paul's doing in the midst of this moment. 00:37:46.540 --> 00:37:53.900 In fact, if I just highlighted this and moved on, you see the particular topic on meat sacrificed to idols in verse four, he's 00:37:53.900 --> 00:37:56.200 saying, therefore, as the meat of food offered to idols. 00:37:56.200 --> 00:37:59.870 We know that an idol has no real existence and that there is no God but one. 00:38:00.600 --> 00:38:07.780 And so the early church, when they would go to the market to buy some meat, they would realize and go to the market that these idols that these animals were sacrificed 00:38:07.780 --> 00:38:09.820 to weren't even real. 00:38:10.540 --> 00:38:14.400 And the cheapest meat in the market happened to be the meat sacrificed to idols. 00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:18.880 They're like, sweet, I know this idol means nothing and I can get cheap meat. 00:38:18.940 --> 00:38:20.220 This is a win, right? 00:38:20.240 --> 00:38:21.190 So they would eat it. 00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:25.990 But then there came a time where people coming to know the Lord are investigating. 00:38:26.600 --> 00:38:28.000 Christ might have come from that idolatry. 00:38:29.640 --> 00:38:36.900 And they say to the church rather than them partake of it, how about for the sake of someone else's soul, you would be willing just to buy the more expensive meat 00:38:36.900 --> 00:38:41.460 so that you can honor Jesus in their life, because their hearts are weak. 00:38:42.500 --> 00:38:49.640 And so there's a place in the life of the believer to surrender that the gospel could shine more brightly in our lives, even 00:38:49.640 --> 00:38:51.490 when we might have the freedom to do otherwise. 00:38:52.100 --> 00:38:54.320 I'll give you one more example, and I got to give you the last point and close. 00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:59.420 But in Galatians, there's a passage where Paul talks about Titus. 00:38:59.420 --> 00:39:03.240 It says, who was with me was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 00:39:03.380 --> 00:39:10.640 Yet because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that we that they might bring 00:39:10.640 --> 00:39:12.260 us into slavery to them. 00:39:12.260 --> 00:39:16.920 We did not yield in submission, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved. 00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:20.840 So here's Titus, who's not circumcised. 00:39:20.840 --> 00:39:24.920 And the reason he's not circumcised is because this is the debate in Acts chapter 15. 00:39:25.040 --> 00:39:26.610 Do you have to be circumcised to be saved? 00:39:27.260 --> 00:39:28.380 Paul says, absolutely not. 00:39:28.760 --> 00:39:35.800 And to take that stand dogmatically, we're going to make sure Titus is never circumcised, because we don't ever want to suggest that this 00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:41.740 is necessary for salvation, to obey the laws necessary for salvation, to be circumcised as necessary for salvation. 00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:49.440 However, right after that, Paul takes Timothy, and Timothy is circumcised right after this moment, and they go 00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:50.520 on their second missionary journey. 00:39:51.500 --> 00:39:54.060 Now you look at this and think, Why is Titus circumcised? 00:39:54.140 --> 00:39:55.560 Why is Timothy circumcised? 00:39:55.820 --> 00:39:58.570 And why is Paul talking so publicly about private things? 00:39:58.720 --> 00:40:03.360 Could you imagine if you're Paul and Timothy is like, could you could you leave my private parts to myself? 00:40:03.520 --> 00:40:06.260 It's just but this is all about the gospel. 00:40:06.300 --> 00:40:09.710 In one instance, he's saying, this is this would have been gospel compromising. 00:40:10.640 --> 00:40:17.010 But with Timothy, what he's saying is, if this doesn't happen, people in the culture aren't going to listen to you because we're ministering to the Jews. 00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:19.520 So in one way, it's to honor the gospel. 00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:21.000 But he does the same thing. 00:40:21.080 --> 00:40:22.340 He like what he's standing against. 00:40:22.340 --> 00:40:23.960 At one moment he stands for in another. 00:40:24.080 --> 00:40:28.320 And it's simply for the gospel to go forward because it's the same for us. 00:40:28.740 --> 00:40:31.020 It's exercise and compassion without compromise. 00:40:31.080 --> 00:40:33.360 And I got to close the last one. 00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:35.860 So you can have in your notes, recognize not everyone will be for you. 00:40:37.060 --> 00:40:38.760 Recognize not everyone will be for you. 00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:41.160 And even Paul after he goes through this. 00:40:41.260 --> 00:40:45.220 This is where in verse 27, he's arrested, he's beaten, he's thrown into prison. 00:40:46.260 --> 00:40:50.260 And they accuse him of bringing Gentiles into the temple, which he did not do. 00:40:51.220 --> 00:40:58.240 And on the screen is a tablet in the background from the first century, written outside the temple that says, If a Gentile comes in the temple, you will be 00:40:58.240 --> 00:41:00.140 killed or you'll be executed. 00:41:00.660 --> 00:41:03.960 And by accusing Paul of doing this, they're trying to get Paul executed. 00:41:05.100 --> 00:41:07.960 So certainly culture is not always going to stand for us. 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:09.200 But here's what it reminds me. 00:41:10.200 --> 00:41:17.520 There's a Japanese practice called kintsugi where they will take something broken. 00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:25.980 And rather than throw it away, they'll turn it into a piece of art, and they'll even highlight the parts that are broken through this art 00:41:25.980 --> 00:41:33.360 form called kintsugi, where they'll take the cracks and they'll fill it with this lacquer and powdered gold, sometimes platinum, 00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:34.220 sometimes silver. 00:41:35.100 --> 00:41:40.900 But as if to say it's the broken parts that become more beautiful because of the value that's placed in them. 00:41:42.300 --> 00:41:45.100 Because I would say this is exactly what Acts chapter 21 is about. 00:41:46.790 --> 00:41:51.060 Paul's life as a man that was broken, put back together more beautiful in Jesus. 00:41:52.180 --> 00:41:57.160 And as Paul moves in this world because of what he has in Jesus, he looks to do the same in the broken culture around him. 00:41:58.640 --> 00:42:05.740 That the beauty of Christ would not cause us to hide our cracks, but honestly amplify them because Christ has redeemed 00:42:05.740 --> 00:42:06.720 them for his glory. 00:42:07.780 --> 00:42:10.500 In fact, in Ephesians chapter two, it says, you're his workmanship. 00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:17.200 You're his artwork created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared beforehand for you to walk in them. 00:42:18.420 --> 00:42:25.660 God's got a path for you to honor him in this world, the way you humble yourself and hunger 00:42:25.660 --> 00:42:26.420 for his truth. 00:42:27.500 --> 00:42:34.760 Let's the transformation of Jesus be made known that you would glorify him in the midst of culture, even when culture 00:42:34.760 --> 00:42:35.340 does not.