 Whenever relatives come for a visit at our house, there is inevitably an argument.
Julianna says, “We need to clean up this mess.” I say, “What mess? Looks good to me.” She says, “There’s dog hair all over the floor.” I say, “Define all over.” She says, “There’s dirty dishes on the counter.” I say, “They need to soak.” She says, “There’s Dorito crumbs all over the couch.” I say, “I wonder who did that.” She says, “It’s messy.” I say, “But how messy is it, really?” Today we’re continuing our sermon series called MESSY. We’re going to ask the same question about sin. How messy is it, really? But before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Truth about “Minor” Sin The Scripture today is from the book of James. It’s a letter written by a church leader named James to believers “scattered across the nations.” (1:1). Since we are believed and we are in a nation, it’s a letter written to us. Look at what he encourages us to do: “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show FAVORITISM. (2:1) Favoritism means to give partial treatment to someone at the expense of another. For example, if you are stuck in traffic on I-440, haven’t been moving for minutes and suddenly a car comes from the on ramp and tries to cut in front of you, but before they do you notice a “Go Tarheels” sticker on their back bumper, well… If you’re a UNC fan, you smile and let them in. Favoritism. If you’re an NC State fan, you speed up to make sure that they stay behind you. Anti-favoritism. Another example from James 2:2-4 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes…The original Greek language of this letter actually says, “shiny” clothes. If you’re clothing is “shiny”, you’ve got some money: Jewel-studded Armani, diamond decorated Gucci, or maybe a big old Nike Symbol that glimmers in the sun. And a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. (v.2) He’s got tears in his jeans and a stain on his shirt. He smells a bit stale – of sweat and cigarette smoke. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you…” In fact, take my seat. Let me fluff the pew cushion for you, I’ll go grab a bulletin. Did you want a coffee? Some sugars? Should I run to the store and get you a Frappucino? Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. Just, sit by me. But you say to the poor man, “You stand there.” We need to save the seats for the rich people. Or “Sit on the floor by my feet.” (v.3) You’re dirty already, so a little more dirt shouldn’t hurt. That’s favoritism. Partial treatment to someone at the expense of others. And to be fair showing favoritism is common in this world. Whether it’s favoritism because that person is rich. Or poor Or a man. Or a woman. Or young. Or old. Or white. Or black. Or Latino Or Asian. Or they enjoy a certain worship style. Or they vote a certain way. Or they were cheering for a certain college team yesterday. That’s showing favoritism. Because it’s so prevalent it might not seem like a huge deal. But look what James says next: Have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with EVIL thoughts? (v.4) To put it another way: Wasn’t that favoritism…EVIL? Even if it was just once. Even if it was just a minor case. Even if all that happened was that you took two chocolate chip cookies just to ensure that the person that you like got that last cookie and the other people you don’t favor as much didn’t, the favoritism is still evil. TRUTH: “Minor” sin is a MAJOR mess. It’s true for favoritism. The same would be true for any other “minor” sin. White lies? Evil. A bit of gossip? Evil. Secret racism? Evil. Selfish pride? Evil. Pinching your brother? Evil. “Minor” sin is a MAJOR mess. Here’s some reasons why (1) It Makes a MAJOR MESS of Kingdom Work Look at what James writes next: Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (v.5) Jesus didn’t have favoritism. He chose Bartimaeus, a blind beggar and went out to assure him of God’s love. He chose a Samaritan woman, a non-Jew, non-male, and told her about her Savior. He chose a prostitute, the type of person that no religious leader would ever choose and he told her about forgiveness. Jesus didn’t show favoritism. In fact, it’s because of that reason that you and I are ok. Because God is holy and favors holy things. Yet, he didn’t show favoritism to the “Holy”… (If he that would have been his mode of operation, he would have shown favoritism to no one.) Instead, Jesus showed love to sinners. He showed love to you and me. God’s kingdom doesn’t involve favoritism. And if we, as part of God’s kingdom, show favoritism, then, we’re making a mess of his kingdom work. In fact, if we do any minor sin, we’re making a mess of kingdom work. Because kingdom work doesn’t involve sin. A while back, a first-time visitor joined us for worship. When a visitor does that, I usually follow up with a THANK YOU email. In that email, is a brief survey they can take to talk about their experience. It’s a great way to gather feedback about what first time visitors feel about our worship. And in the comments the person said: “I like the message. I like the music. But afterwards, in the fellowship hall I overheard some people complaining about the type of fellowship snacks available. To be honest, it really turned me off to the church.” Even if the complaining was just a couple of seconds, a “Minor” sin. It still left a big mess of kingdom work. (2) “Minor” Sin makes you a Lawbreaker Our Scripture continues: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. (V.8-9) Check out the word “convicted.” It’s a courtroom term. If you are convicted, then you have been called a lawbreaker. You might be convicted of: speeding, a misdemeanor, fraud, even a felony. Once you are convicted it’s on your record. Employers will look at your record and forever know you as a lawbreaker. When you do a “minor” sin, it isn’t the circuit court convicting you. It isn’t the district court. It’s the county court. It isn’t the state court. The appellate court. Or the Supreme Court. It’s the Divine Court of our Heavenly King. It’s God calling you a lawbreaker. And it’s on your eternal record. (3) “Minor” sin Leaves the Law Broken Verse 10 says it this way: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” It’s like God’s Law is a balloon. He blew it up. Full of divinely inspired air. He gave it to us and said: “Don’t pop it.” You’ll need this law, fully together and not broken in order to enter eternal life. So…be careful. If you commit adultery, Kaboom! If you commit murder, Kablam! If you steal, Kablammo! If you do anything wrong, the law will be broken! And we take the Law. And we don’t commit adultery. We don’t murder. We don’t steal. And we think…you know…just a little bit of about some church members…and…POP!!!! The law is broken. That’s a big deal. (4) “Minor” Sin means Eternal Death Because we don’t have a fully together LAW necessary for eternal life. In fact… Ezekiel 18:4 says, “the soul who sins even a “minor” sin is the one who will die.” Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin any type of sin is death. Matthew 5:19 says, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of my commands…will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” “Minor” sin is a Major Mess. II. Not a Minor Savior Let’s do some math. If you averaged one sin per minute, not unlikely at all. And you lived an average lifetime of 70 years. And for every one sin during those seventy years, you place one inch of manure into a pile. By the end of your life, that pile of manure would be 663 miles high. Which… When you realize that… It can you leave you feeling mighty concerned. Because if “minor” sin is a major mess. If “minor” sin is actual sin. Then, I’ve got a problem! The things that I think… The words that I’m not careful with… The things I don’t without even thinking… I’ve got lots more sin on my heart than I ever imagined. How can I ever be free of this mess? Simple. Jesus. Look at what James says next: Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. (v.12) But…what Law gives freedom? It isn’t the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments just pile up your guilt. Pile up your shame. Pile up with reminders of all your “minor” sin and how major their guilt is. That’s not freedom. The Law that gives freedom isn’t actually a law at all. It’s the Gospel. The Gospel is that Jesus lived perfectly without even a “minor” sin. The Gospel is that Jesus suffered death for your “minor” sins The Gospel is that Jesus resurrected and left that “minor” sin behind. This is good news if you are feeling troubled by your “minor” sin, because… The Gospel includes “minor” sin. It’s not like the visit from the Health and Sanitation Inspector. When they visit, they peruse ever nook and cranny of your building. They rub their white glove for dust. They test waters for PH balance. They look under table, behind doors, and inside locked closets, on the back corner of the highest shelf for any unsanitary practice. God isn’t like that. He doesn’t miss a “minor’ sin hidden in some nook and cranny of your heart. He found it all. He didn’t miss a sin. He didn’t forget to check for “favoritism.” He didn’t accidently leave some “minor gossip” under a rug. He thoroughly cleaned up all your sins. All of your “Major” sins. All of your “minor” sins. All of your sins. And understand: The reason isn’t because the minor sins aren’t a big mess, they are. The reason is that Jesus is bigger than the BIGGEST messes. Even the mess of death. Because crucifixions are BIG messes. Blood everywhere. Sweat dripping on the ground. Dirt & decay stuck to stained pieces of wood. But Jesus was bigger than that mess. He came out of the grave alive. He came out of the grave and left the mess of death behind. He was bigger than that HUGE, VISUAL mess… …and that’s great news. Because it means Jesus is bigger than your HUGE, INVISIBLE mess: In fact, look at verse 13: Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy is Jesus. Mercy is forgiveness. Mercy is God’s message to you right now: In Jesus, you are forgiven. III. What Now? (1) Live as Those Set Free Look at James’ own WHAT NOW. He says, because you are free in Jesus, Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. (v.12) Because it’s so easy to think that these “minor” sins are just part of life. That we are stuck doing them. That we’ll never be rid of them. But that’s inaccurate. Jesus died. Jesus rose. You are free. That means you are free Free from gossip. Free from white lies. Free from occasional porn. Free from complaining. Free from arrogance. Free from favoritism. None of those sins control you. You are free. Free to speak kindly. Free to speak truth. Free to be pure. Free to compliment. Free to be humble. Free to treat all people with respect and kindness. (2) Be Merciful Because we tend to want mercy for our “minor” sins. “I know, I can be grouchy, please forgive me. It’s just a ‘minor’ thing.” “It’s just one lie, please forgive.” But when others do the same thing to us? “He wasn’t polite to me, so I’ll be impolite to him.” “He gossiped about me, so I’ll gossip about him.” “He didn’t save me a spot in church, so I’ll hate him forever.” James writes, “…judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.” In other words: If you want to judge others for their “minor” sins. Then, God will judge you for yours. And the punishment won’t be minor. Instead, be merciful, because God has been merciful to you. He forgave you all your sins, forgive others theirs. Be merciful. It happened at PreK this past week. A friend was riding his tricycle and he rode it directly into another friend’s leg. The other friend began crying, sobbing, screaming. So, the culprit came over. It hadn’t been a purposeful hit. It was relatively minor. Yet he said to his tearful classmate: I’m sorry. The other friend immediately stopped crying and said: “I forgive you.” Moments later they were playing together like nothing had happened. Friends, that’s what God is talking about. Recognizing sin is serious. But recognizing we have a serious Savior. We live freely apart from “minor” sin. We forgive “minor” sins from our neighbors. Amen.
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 Today we are FINISHING up our summer sermon series, as we are FINISHING up summer and the Apostle Paul is FINISHING up his third missionary journey. The last time Paul had been on the continent of Asia, things had ended abruptly. He had been in Ephesus and there had been a riot. People thirsty for his blood had chanted against him for over two hours. For his own safety, Paul left early the next morning. He left the congregation that he had served for over two years very abruptly without any kind of final, farewell sermon.
Knowing what it’s like to be a pastor. And how easy it is to love a congregation. I’ll bet Paul wished he had that chance. Similarly, I imagine the Ephesians also wanted one more sermon. Because without Paul, ministry questions came to them. Should they keep preaching in Bob’s home downtown or should they move to Bill’s home in the suburbs? Should they serve the community of widows or focus on the community of the homeless? Would their new fellowship hall look better with Neutral Gray or Eggshell White trim? How should we do ministry? That’s a good question. Even for us at Gethsemane Church. Today we’re going to look at Paul’s encore sermon to the Ephesians and we’ll consider his encore sermon to us this summer. Our goal is to learn from Paul some key principles for Gospel ministry in Raleigh, NC in 2019. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Lessons about Ministry The lesson starts with a bit of geography. Check out verse 17: From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. Paul had been up in Troas. He wanted to get back to Jerusalem. An easy route would have taken him right past the Ephesians that he wanted to encourage. But Ephesus was still filled with people who weren’t very welcoming. So, rather than risk a riot, Paul took a trip down around Ephesus to Miletus. It was a city about 30 miles to the Southwest of Ephesus. From there, he sent words for the leadership of the Ephesian church to meetup with him. When they arrived, they hugged. They high fived. They swapped stories about things that have happened without him. Then, Paul got to teaching: You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility… (v.18-19) This is strange. Because by the time Paul had gotten to Ephesus, he had already started over ten different churches. He had preached to thousands of people. He had even begun writing a few books of the Bible. You would imagine that Paul would come to town full of pride. Talking about how impressive he was… …and how the people needed to listen to him for community revitalization, …as he handed out T-Shirts with his smiling face on them. Nope. Paul was humble. Paul reminded people how he was the chief of sinners, How it was Jesus who saved him. And Jesus who worked through him to do anything worthy of praise. Here’s the lesson: (1) Gospel Ministry is HUMBLE. Gospel ministry points people to Jesus. It lowers the importance of self. It gives all glory to God. Because if it doesn’t… I’ve got this long-distance social media friend who recently underwent a bit of a transformation. He had been an alcoholic, now he’s been clean for a couple of months. He was a smoker; now he doesn’t own a pack. He had been drinking three coffees a day and now he drinks one lightly caffeinated tea. He’s been sharing the story and, to be fair, when he first started doing this, he gave a lot of credit to Jesus. Jesus was the one who influenced him. The one who became the purpose behind his life. The one who empowered him to give up his addictions. But it recently changed. His most recent post sounded something like this: “Man, I’m feeling the change. I’m transforming myself. I reached down. I dug deep. I can give up all my vices. It feels good. It feels empowering. I love what I’ve become. If you need help, talk to me. I’ll get you the transformation that you need.” Did you hear it? No Jesus. All about him. If Gospel ministry is about YOU, it’s NOT Gospel ministry. If you tell your family that you’ve been on leadership for years and that’s why Gospel ministry is good at Gethsemane, that’s NOT Gospel ministry. If you tell your friends that YOU have been teaching your kids some awesome values and YOUR devotion is the reason their life will be good, that’s NOT Gospel ministry. If you post on social media that YOUR life has changed since YOU accepted Christ and YOU chose to change your life, that’s NOT Gospel ministry. In those scenarios, there isn’t Gospel ministry going on, because none of those scenarios involve teaching the Gospel. And, (this is a shocker), Gospel ministry involves teaching the Gospel. It points people to Jesus. It points people to their Savior. It points people to the one who lived for them, died for them, and rose for them. You didn’t do that for you, Jesus did. And you didn’t do that for your friends, Jesus did. You can’t save you, Jesus does. You can’t save your friends, Jesus will. Share the Gospel by humbly pointing to Jesus. (2) Gospel Ministry is BOLD. But don’t think of Gospel ministry as this meek, milquetoast thing. (Like the guy at Food Lion who is being forced for donations because his boss told him to. “Do you want to roundup and donate to the local hospital? It’s ok. I totally understand if you don’t. My boss makes me ask.”) Nope. Gospel ministry is humble, but it’s also BOLD. Check out what Paul says next: You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (v.20-21) Think back to some of the ways that Paul was bold on his missionary journeys: In Athens, he preached that Greeks gods weren’t gods at all, to a group of people who had devoted themselves to worship of these gods. In Thessalonica, he taught that people are saved by Jesus and not Jewish customs, to a group of people who were firmly entrenched in the fact that their Jewish customs saved them. In Corinth, he told people that sexual immorality was sinful, in a culture that sexual immorality was what all the cool kids were doing. In Ephesus, he taught that money wasn’t everything, Jesus was; to a group of rioters who were upset that he was costing them money. Gospel ministry is BOLD. In fact, if you look closely at what Paul says, he mentions two different ways that Gospel ministry is bold. First, Gospel ministry BOLDLY preaches ALL of God’s Word. It isn’t like a timeshare salesman. (Ever listened to one of those?) The venue is marvelous. The site is incredible. You’ll have a wonderful vacation and it’ll be so great for your and your family. This week-long vacation at a five-star resort will be yours for only one yearly payment of $500! …Plus, monthly maintenance fees. …and monthly checking fees. …and you’ll probably never be able to book a room when you want. …and you’ll have this timeshare forever. …and we own your soul. Paul wasn’t a timeshare salesman. He didn’t hide anything. If you want to participate in Gospel ministry, you don’t either. And don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that the starting point becomes… “Friends, let me tell you what hell is like.” Nope. But it does mean that we don’t shy away from truth in Scripture, even when it’s difficult to hear. We BOLDLY preach ALL of God’s Word. Second, Gospel ministry BOLDLY preaches to ALL. Again, think of Paul. Some of the people he had to preach to might have been kind of nerve-wracking to talk to. There were the Athenians, whose entire city was so foreign to him. Instead of the familiarity of churches, there were statues of other gods, another religion, everywhere. Paul was bold. Paul preached to them. There were the Jews. People who looked like him and talked like him, but when Paul told them they needed Jesus, they repeatedly persecuted him. Paul was still bold. Paul preached to them. The same is still true today. God is calling us at Gethsemane to share the Gospel with people who look like us, sure. But also… Those who look differently than us. Those who dress differently than us. Those who speak differently than us. Those who cover their heads. Those with tattoos all over their arms. Those with three children from three different fathers. Those who like the sports team that we can’t stand. Those who came from a different state. Those who moved from a different country. Those who have a legal visa and those who don’t. God simply calls us to BOLDLY share Jesus with ALL. (3) Gospel Ministry is DANGEROUS Look at what Paul says next, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (v.22-24) Because when Paul preached, sometimes people didn’t like it. In Philippi, he was thrown into jail. In Thessalonica, his friends were fined. In Ephesus, a riot filled the streets. The truth is that Gospel ministry is DANGEROUS to the sharer. In fact, when we are doing it right by boldly preaching ALL God’s Word to ALL people, there’s going to be an element of danger. Whether that danger is… …Danger of losing a job. “You don’t bring up Jesus at work.” …Danger of losing a friend. “We’re done. Keep your stupid mumbo jumbo to yourself.” …Danger of losing a relationship. “I like you, but if you’re all about Jesus? We’re through.” Gospel ministry is dangerous to the sharer. But before you call it quits and say: “It’s too dangerous! I can’t handle that.” Consider this: It’s even more dangerous if you don’t share the Gospel. That loved one? Is in danger of never knowing God’s love. That friend? Is in danger of a lifetime of guilt and shame. That family member? Is in danger…of hell. Share the Gospel. It might be momentarily dangerous to you. But…it will be eternally dangerous to the devil. When the Gospel is preached, the devil’s stronghold on a person’s heart weakens. When the Gospel is preached, Satan’s hold on a person’s conscience is lifted. When the Gospel is preached, death is defeated. That’s why Paul preached. In fact, look at what he says next: “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Paul didn’t know what might happen next. But Paul didn’t hesitate either. Because God had his back. God also has yours. Don’t hesitate either. II. What Now? These lessons from Paul lead up to a shift in his sermon. First, the sharing lessons from his own ministry and now give straight up imperatives on what to do next. It’s kind of like his own WHAT NOW? section. Secondly, he shifts from talking about outreach to talking about inreach. Look at Paul’s own WHAT NOW’s: (1) Be a Shepherd Paul says, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God. which he bought with his own blood.” (v.28) Understand: Paul isn’t that interested in the Agrarian lifestyle. He doesn’t love wool so much that he wants whatever shepherds are in the congregation to “keep on sheering those sheep!” Nope. This is an illustration of life in a church. Because shepherds care for sheep. They feed the sheep. They give the sheep water. They protect the sheep. They go looking for the sheep when one of them is lost. They comfort the sheep when they are scared. It’s the same way in a church. A pastor (which is the Greek word for “shepherd”) cares for his people. He feeds them God’s word. He gives them the water of life. He protects them from doubts. He goes after them when they are straying from Jesus. He comforts them with God’s promises when they are scared. Here Paul is sharing this with the Ephesian leadership. But it’s also written down. Which means it applies to you. First, shepherd those assigned to you. If you’re an elder in the church, check in with those sheep. If you’re a spiritual mother to someone at this church, care for them. If you have been assigned children in your family, make sure they’re being fed God’s Word. If you are a Garden Kids’ teacher, guide your little ones to the Savior. If you’re a Precious Lambs teacher, keep your Precious Lambs safe. Second, shepherd each other. We’ve got a great opportunity to do that. Back to Church Sunday is coming up next week. You might know someone who had been attending this church who hasn’t in a while. Go after them. Ask them how life is. Tell them you miss them at worship. Remind them the importance of being fed the Gospel. If next week is Back to Church Sunday, consider this: Be a Shepherd Sunday… …and Monday… …and Tuesday… …and…you get the point. (2) Guard against Wolves Paul says: I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! (v.29-31) Spiritual wolves are those who distort the truth. They are those who change the Gospel. Those who feed their pride by leading others away from Jesus and to following them. We need to be on our guard. First, that we aren’t those wolves. Second, that those wolves don’t get us. Third, that those wolves don’t get others. That can be hard. Because sometimes the wolf is in disguise. Sometimes he looks like a lamb. Sometimes the wolf looks nice. But you’ll be able to tell who they are. Based on if they are someone leading you closer to Jesus or away from him. Guard against wolves. A wolf could be a coworker, a friend, a neighbor, even a boyfriend. If they are leading you away from Jesus, be on your guard. (3) Commit to the Word Paul says it this way: “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (v.32) Because if we are going to be shepherds of each other, we need a tool. Just like the shepherd has his staff, you have God’s Word. And…just like a shepherd commits himself to learning how to use that staff to protect his flock, we commit ourselves to learning how to use God’s Word to protect each other. That means more than just being able to conk a spiritual wolf on the head. We learn to graze its pages for spiritual food. We learn to drink deeply from its well of life. We learn to wield its truth like a sword driving away sin and doubt. We learn to dwell within its pages, protect from death itself. (4) GIVE! Look at how Paul ends: I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (v.33-35) Because the main reason that Paul was so involved in ministry wasn’t to get rich. It’s the same for you and me. We don’t participate in ministry so that God blesses us financially. We don’t participate in church so other might bless us financially. We don’t become part of this ministry in order to get something. Because we’ve already got all we need in Jesus. Instead, we GIVE. We give gifts to help others. We give time to help others. We give talents to help others. Ministry is all about giving because the one our ministry is about is all about giving! It’s about God who gave his life. God who gives forgiveness… God who will gives eternal life… After Paul says all of this. He left. But he left with confidence. Because that church was in God’s hands. Friends, we leave with confidence. We are in God’s hands. Amen.  Last week we continued to follow the apostle Paul as he left Athens and went alone on to Corinth. It seemed an impossible task, one man against a city of very devoted sinners. Of course, it wasn’t the first time God sent a man alone against unbelief like that, but it was an intimidating prospect, nonetheless.
But Paul did not stay alone for long. He reached out on common ground, met like-minded people, and before long a small congregation was blossoming. In fact, this pattern repeated most places he went. Even where he was forcibly driven out, he left behind a contingent of the faithful who continued the work after he departed. Though he made his rounds, sharing Jesus, strengthening churches, and moving on, each place he worked carried on the work without him. Today, it is that effect in particular that we want to look at. That from the efforts of one, many can come to faith by God’s power. And each one of those many can reach out to just as many more. Let’s begin by taking a look at our reading for today, from Acts 18: Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. One hates to talk numbers when discussing the church. God wants all people to be saved. He does not measure success in numerical terms. The effectiveness of the Gospel or a congregation should not be measured in numerical growth. It’s a slippery slope to talk numbers. That being said. Foregoing issues of doctrinal divide and incorrect teachings, the number of people in the world with saving faith in Jesus could probably be estimated in the hundreds of millions. The number of people who have passed to heaven in the faith in the last 2000 years makes that number significantly higher. Imagine what that number would look like though, if Paul had been the only one teaching people about Jesus. If everyone who had come to faith by his efforts simply took that faith home and enjoyed it for themselves and that was that? God is all-powerful, but humanly speaking – how fast can one person share the faith with the world? In fact, even Jesus himself said the task was too great. He said the workers were too few and to ask for more workers. He turned to his disciples, told them to pray for more workers that the lost and helpless sheep might get what they so desperately need. And we’ve seen through the book of Acts how desperately people need Jesus. And people haven’t changed much since our time. As we look at the people in Acts who need Jesus, we don’t just see the same people in our world, we even see ourselves. We see either what we once were or struggle every day not to turn into. We saw the group that loved just indulging in everything life had to offer in order to try to find happiness on any given day. Do you know that person? Have you tried it yourself? Or even given into it a little bit? The rush of whatever is great… but at the end you have to face reality. And it’s never the same the second time. You have to go bigger and better. And you get caught in an endless loop of one-upping everything that went before. Doesn’t even have to be a sinful vice. Could just be a hobby or vacation or something. You’re working towards that one thing that you say, “when I get here, I’ll be happy and content and everything will be good.” But it’s a hamster wheel. It doesn’t work. And you just have to do it all over again. It’s a hollow chasing of the wind. We saw the group that preferred to work for satisfaction. That’s just as deceptive a trap. Either you work really hard and end up with a false sense of security from how great you are… or you more likely stumble and make mistakes and end up utterly discouraged that you just can’t seem to get it right. It’s just as bad as chasing those hollow pleasures to think that somehow my life, my worth, my joy has to come from how good I am at something. I can’t stop moving and working because if I do, I’ll realize how empty it really is and it’ll all come crashing down. And the less said about the town of Corinth and their worship of Aphrodite, the better. Sexual sin is some of the most prevalent in our world. We all know someone caught up in it and we’d be utterly foolish to think that as Christian believers we are above it or immune to it. All of these people in our world are people chasing empty lives, knowing on some level that something is missing but unable to fill it. And before we look down our nose, they are exactly what you and I would be except for God’s grace in saving us. They need someone to save them. They need a God who died to make these things right. To give them joy and comfort that lasts, water they can drink and never be thirsty again. They need Jesus to fill that void and calm their desperate pursuits. Just like we needed Jesus to do the same for us. And to help us daily that we don’t go back to those ways. We’re here to plant Jesus in the heart of North Raleigh and beyond…because North Raleigh is full of hurting people who desperately need it. But this is not a job that one man can do. It’s not even a job that a small team of called workers can do. It is the calling of every Christian to multiply the faith wherever you go. Jesus told the disciples to pray for workers and then what happened next? He made his disciples workers and sent them out to work. Paul made friends of Priscilla and Aquilla and before long they were travelling with Paul and teaching other believers And what about that list of people Paul sent greetings to in Rome? You know, at the point Paul wrote that letter, Paul himself had never even been to Rome? And yet he had a laundry list of people he personally knew who had gone there to carry out ministry for Jesus. The mission of the church can be summed up simply in two words: Grow and Go. We are to grow the faith of existing believers and we are to go with that faith to share it with others. If you look at Jesus’ great commission that is exactly the directive you’ll find him giving. But the great way about how God works is that each person the Holy Spirit works on and brings to faith is another person to carry out that same mission. One reaches many, the many reach many more, and on and on it goes. We are a congregation. A gathering. We are very different, with different backgrounds, different attitudes and quirks and foibles. But we are united as a gathering of believers in Christ to carry out his mission. This is not a passive club that we show up to, put our dues in the offering plate and go home with a little bit of salvation. The believers are the church and the church is the believers. Yes, to guide our path we call a man specially trained to lead and shepherd us. Yes, we call teachers to bring up our children. Yes, we appoint leaders to help keep the chaos a bit organized. But you are still the church. And the ministry of the church is more than Pastor Kiecker can do alone. It’s more than the preschool teachers can do alone. It’s more than the church council can even do alone. It’s up to all of us. Every believer working together to accomplish that mission to multiply the church, to share the gospel message, give the Holy Spirit his moment to work and bring others to the faith you know and treasure. We’ve talked about the people who are hurting, we know how badly they need it. We know that could just as easily be you or me. And yes, maybe they’ll reject it. God doesn’t hold us accountable for that. He does hold us accountable if we never speak up. If we never do anything. How can anyone believe if they don’t hear and how can they hear if we don’t speak? Now, I know we’re not all equally equipped. That’s part of the reason we have different roles in the church. We are not all here to do exactly the same things. But we all have gifts that can be used to carry out this ministry. Use them! Maybe it’s not a direct outreach effort, but it’s still work that supports that outreach. Whether it’s helping worship run smoothly for the visitor or keeping our facility beautiful to glorify God or taking some task off another’s plate so they can focus on larger priorities – we all talents and gifts to contribute to the ministry. And let me just backpedal for a second and point out that ministry is not all about outreach, either. Remember I said the mission of the church is to Grow and Go. Becoming a believer means we are saved, 100%. But it’s also not the end of our earthly walk with God. Faith needs to be fed, nurtured, and grown. The ministry to strengthen faith right here in our own midst through regular worship and study and devotion is just as vital as the ministry to reach outside of our congregation. Look at Priscilla, Aquilla, and Apollos strengthening each other through instruction and study of God’s word prior to really tackling the task of reaching out. What are you doing to grow? Are you making a point to attend Sunday bible study or one of the mid-week groups? Do you have a devotional habit to dig into scripture regularly on your own? Do you have someone you can reach out to for help when you wrestle with a difficult section of the Bible? If you don’t feel up to the task of reaching out, then start by reaching in – grow your faith in the Word here and help others do the same. And, if you’re not sure where to start – which is super common, then ask. Ask Pastor Kiecker, ask me, ask the leadership. Any of us can point you in the right direction and give you resources to get started. Brothers and sisters, we are the church. We are the gathering of believers called to do his work. Study his word, learn from him regularly, build yourself up in that truth and then share it out there with those who so desperately need it. Ultimately the work of salvation is up to the Holy Spirit. He is the one who changes hearts and brings people to faith. The success of our mission is in his hands, not ours. But he has chosen to rely on us for the opportunity. Study the gospel, share the gospel, that more can know Jesus, that more can share Jesus, that the most can be saved. Amen.  Throughout our study of ACTS, maybe you’ve noticed something: The Gospel is unstoppable.
It’s like a locomotive. It keeps going. It keeps moving. (Don’t get in its way). You can’t stop it. It’s like a Boeing jet. It keeps going. It keeps moving. (It travels long distances). You can’t stop it. It’s like a toddler after a bunch of fruit snacks. It keeps going. It keeps moving. (It doesn’t even crash after the sugar rush). You can’t stop it. Will the run of the Gospel continue? Before we study God’s Word, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. When Workers are Few… The lesson comes from Acts 18. Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. (18:1) Corinth was located about 45 miles east of Athens. The best way to get there was a long dirt road. That’s how Paul got there. He walked on his own down a long dirt road by himself. As he approached, he would have seen a grand city. Corinth had one of the largest populations of the ancient world. It contained a large marketplace where all kinds of merchants gathered to sell their goods. It was money driven. People liked the finer goods of life. They were always busy buying and selling. Corinth was also the location of the temple to Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love and sex. Just as the worship of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, influenced the philosophy and wisdom of Athens, the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of sex, influenced the city of Corinth. People were very loose with their sexuality. In fact, it is recorded that once a week, the one thousand priestesses of Aphrodite would come down from the temple. They’d enter the city and “ply their wares.” They’d sleep with men. They’d sleep with women. They’d sleep with a bunch of men and women. If preaching the Gospel in Athens was like talking amongst a large group of philosophy professors, preaching the Gospel in Corinth was like catching a group of porn actors on their smoke break. Put yourself in Paul’s sandals. As he walked towards the city. By himself. On a dirt road. 45 miles. Seeing the city in the distance. He might have thought: So… How am I going to do this? I’m by myself, God! This Corinth? It has over 1,000 temple prostitutes. And you teach that sex is a special gift for one and one woman in marriage. These people? They sleep with one man and one woman before the morning coffee break! (It’s embedded in their culture.) And…how am I going to get throughout the entire city? It’s huge. Markets and merchants everywhere. Where am I even going to stay? The only hotel rooms come with a voluptuous roommate and a red light special? God, is this the end of Gospel ministry? But if Paul had those concerns, God answered Paul. Not with words. With actions: Paul met a Jew named Aquila…and his wife Priscilla. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. (v.2,3) Tentmaking was an important ancient trade. Because people walked from city to city, tents were brought along in case you had to set up shelter and spend the night along the roadway. These tents were generally made from animal skins. Over time, those skins would wear and tear in the wind and grit. A tent maker would prepare the skin for being a shelter, sew it together, and fix up any tears in it. Paul had training in this skillset. Granted, he had been busy preaching the Gospel. He hadn’t used these skills for a while. But as he walked around Corinth, unsure of where to go and what to do, the tentmaking shop felt familiar. Hey guys! I’m a tentmaker, too. I was trained up at Tentmaker Tech in Jerusalem. You? How long have you been in the business? Is that a Craftsman skinning knife in your hands? I love those. Do you have a favorite animal skin? I’m especially fond of North African camel myself. Eventually the tentmaking conversation leads to a job. The job leads to housing. The housing leads to Paul telling them about Jesus. Before you know it, Paul has friends. He has supporters. He has funding. He has a place to stay. He has fellow believers and partners in his Gospel ministry. And the Gospel doesn’t stop. Instead, it spread. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (v.4) TRUTH: When WORKERS are few, God provides MORE. This is something that we’ve seen in the history of Gethsemane church. Gethsemane church started about 47 years ago when a group of people started worship services in their living room. They’d gather the family around one of those big old TV sets, turn off the TV, and put a cross on top. Instant altar. Then, they’d listen to worship cassettes (do you remember cassettes?) of neighboring church services that they had received in the mail. All the while -- they had the hope that God would provide a pastor to help them Plant Jesus in the Heart of North Raleigh. And God did. A guy named Pastor Paul Schmiege who moved to Raleigh and helped plant the very church building that we are blessed to set foot inside of. God provided More workers. And God has kept doing that. When we’ve needed musicians? God provided. When we’ve needed someone who’s good with finances? God provided. When we needed someone who’s good with technology? God provided. When we needed an architect, a construction manager, and data analysts to help build the new facility to reach others with the Gospel? God provided. Really recently – we needed someone to help teach PreK 4 students about Jesus. We sent a request to our church body’s worker training school. Get this -- there were hundreds of requests and only about 1/3 of them would be filled. I even received a phone call from our District President that said “Be prepared. We might not have anyone for you.” And yet – God provided. He gifted us a new teacher (some of you met her last week). The same is true in your personal Gospel ministry. If you’re the only believer… …at work. …in your family. …at the gym. Remember: When workers are few, God provides more. And maybe. Just maybe… You’re the MORE. II. When Some Reject God kept providing more. Weeks later, reinforcements arrived. Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, so Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. (v.5) This was Paul’s normal plan. He’d go to a city. He’d spend time in the local synagogue. He’d meet with the Jews: people who believed in Biblically defined marriage, who read the Old Testament Scriptures, and who were familiar with the concept of the Messiah. This seems like a good plan. Until… It wasn’t. The Jews opposed Paul and became abusive. (v.6) Ok. Enough lecturing us on sin. Why don’t you go out into the world and tell those Corinthians about sin? Stop telling us about a Savior. Have you seen what’s happening out there in sex-crazed Corinth? Get out of our face. We don’t need you. We don’t need the Gospel. And Paul listened to them. He turned around. He shook out his robe. (Just to get the stench of unbelief off it). He walked out the exit. He walked down the dirt path. He turned right. He walked up the entry path to the house next door. In fact, Scripture says this: Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Notice it doesn’t call Titius Justus (let’s call him “TJ”) a Jew. Luke, the author of this book, usually records if someone is a Jew. He doesn’t here. It means TJ wasn’t a part of the Jewish synagogue. In fact, his name is Latin. He’s a Corinthian! And just like most Corinthians, TJ probably had his own sexual history. It could have been: Sleeping with his boss’ daughter. Experimenting with the guy at the bar. Those Saturday nights with all the booze and all the wrong choices. All of it left him feeling unclean. Unworthy. Like there were these awful areas of his life that he couldn’t scrub off his soul. Can you relate? And even though he lived next door to a religious place like the synagogue, they hadn’t let him become a part of it. He wasn’t worthy. He didn’t belong. Until… Paul walked right up to his door. Paul told him about Jesus. About how Jesus lived perfectly, died innocently and rose triumphantly. About how Jesus cleans us from the inside out. About how Jesus transforms people… From unclean to pure. From just a body to an eternal soul. From nothing more than a cheap thrill to a blood bought soul. From sexual sinner to forgiven. Get this: TJ doesn’t just become a believer. He becomes an active partner in the ministry: The Bible says: Crispus, whose name always makes me think of cereal, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. (v7-8) TRUTH: When the Gospel is THROWN OUT, it just goes NEXT DOOR. That means if someone’s sharing the Gospel with you, don’t reject it. Don’t try to stop it. Don’t throw it out the door. Because you won’t be able to stop it. It’ll just move next door. So will the promises of forgiveness, eternal life, and transformation. But if you hold onto it. No matter your past. No matter your sexual past. In Jesus you become pure, eternal and forgiven. If someone’s sharing the Gospel with you, don’t reject it. Cling to it. And if you’re sharing the Gospel and someone rejects it, don’t quit. Just…go next door. A while back, I was walking around the neighborhood, sharing information about our church and inviting them to learn about Jesus. I had been to a couple of doors where they said things like: “I don’t need your religion.” “I don’t have time.” And “Get off my porch step.” After many rejections, I knocked on one more door. It was opened by a large middle Eastern man with some big muscles. He had just moved from Iraq. In fact, he had fought in the Iraqi army. I remember thinking: “This is probably not going to go well.” But…God. So, I invited him to worship. Years later? He’s a baptized member of our congregation. If you’re sharing the Gospel and someone rejects it, don’t stop sharing the Gospel. Just do what Paul did. Turn around. Shake your clothes out. And move next door. To the next cubicle. To the next Facebook friend. To the next, next door neighbor. Keep sharing the Unstoppable Gospel Message. III. When Persecution Happens But for Paul, it all seemed too familiar. He’d had this happen before. He preaches the Gospel in the synagogue. Some believe. Some reject the message. He preaches until… …A riot. …An arrest. …A plot against his life. None of this had happened yet, but based on his experiences, Paul may have been thinking of an escape route. One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” (v.9-10) So, he stuck around. His haters stood in the background glaring, whispering, and folding their arms angrily, but Paul kept preaching. Until one day, The Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. “This man,” they said, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” You do know the Roman law, Roman governor? New religions are illegal. Greek mythology? That’s cool. Roman mythology? Fine. Thanks to your gracious ruling, Judaism is fine as well. But this guy preaches new stuff! It’s illegal. He should be fined and arrested. Maybe killed? As they spoke, I know what I would have been thinking. I would have started wracking my brain about a good defense: How this really wasn’t a new religion. How the Gospel was the real message of the Old Testament. How Jesus was your Savior too, Your Eminency. But before Paul could speak. Gallio frowned. “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law – settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” (v.14-15) And with that – he threw the case out. Coincidence? No. It’s exactly like God said. And here’s the thing. That declaration of Gallio set a precedent. Paul was now free to continue to preach the Gospel in Corinth and there’s nothing anyone could do to stop it. TRUTH: The Gospel is unstoppable because…it’s God. Think about it: God is the content of the Gospel. God is the power of the Gospel. God is the will of the Gospel. God is the promise of the Gospel. God is the deliverer of the Gospel. God is in control of the Gospel. God is the one that makes sure that his Gospel NEVER stops. Because God doesn’t stop. Even when some angry men arrested God. Beat God up. And nailed God hand and foot to the cross. That didn’t stop God. Three days later, he came back to life. And the Gospel spread. If death can’t stop the Gospel message, then nothing will. In fact, look at the concluding verse to the Corinthian account: Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever. (Acts 18:17) The Jews were upset that Sosthenes – the leader of their revolt against the Gospel – did not do his job. Paul wasn’t convicted. The Gospel kept going. Years later, Paul writes a letter to the congregation at Corinth. Years later, He writes to believers to tell them about Jesus’ love for them. Years later, in the very first verse, Paul writes this: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes. (1 Corinthians 1:1) Did you see that? Sosthenes isn’t a very common name. And in Corinth? The Gospel did it again. An enemy of the Gospel. Not only becoming a believer in the Gospel. But joining the movement and becoming a partner in the Gospel. The Gospel doesn’t stop. Join the movement. Hop on the unstoppable train. Amen.  Last week we investigated the very first church meeting in the history of the church. The main outcome of that meeting was that grace means grace. Jewish believers couldn’t make a theological case for requiring non-Jewish believers to follow Jewish customs. Similarly, we shouldn’t make grace difficult for ourselves or others.
Grace means grace. When the decision was finalized by all of the leadership, the next step was to make that decision known. Since this is the 1st century A.D., they couldn’t just tweet out their decision. No email. No texting. They needed to hand deliver the decision to the churches. Paul and Barnabas volunteer to deliver the message. They figure while they’re doing that, they can also visit new places and do some more mission work (Acts 15:35) So… they head home. They pack up extra pairs of sandals. They put on their fanny packs. And meetup at the church to see if there’s any leftover outreach material that they can take with them. Unfortunately, that’s where things go wrong. Barnabas wants to bring along a young man named Mark. Mark had joined them in their first missionary journey, but halfway through, he deserted them. As a result, Paul doesn’t trust Mark. He doesn’t want any wishy-washy folk on his mission trip. He figures that Mark will just do the same thing and won’t be a valuable partner. Barnabas is more forgiving. They discuss. They disagree. They part ways. Which - it isn’t necessarily wrong to disagree. It’s wrong to be jerks about disagreements. And I’m sure that’s what the devil wanted to happen so that the message of the Savior never made it out of Antioch again! But…you can see God’s hand in the midst of the disagreement because now there’s no longer one mission trip, but two. Barnabas and Mark head to the island of Cyprus. Paul and a believer named Silas head to the northern countries of Galatia. The devil loses. God wins. The kingdom is multiplied. The Gospel is above all else. The book of Acts focuses in on Paul’s journey. As it does, it introduces us to a young man named Timothy. He is the focus of our sermon today. Before we dive into his story, let us pray: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Timothy’s Story Acts 16 says this, “Paul came to…Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.” (Acts 16:1) Lystra was one of the cities that Paul visited on his first missionary journey. (Acts 14) If you remember, that’s the place where God worked a miracle through Paul and Barnabas in order to heal a man who had been lame from birth. As a result, many of the people started to worship…Paul and Barnabas. When Paul told them to stop, they tried to murder them by tossing stones at their heads. Timothy was probably not a part of that. He was one of the few that believed what Paul said about Jesus being the promised Savior. In fact, Timothy had a mother who was a believer. He had been raised by his mother to know the promise of the Messiah. His mother took him to their version of Sunday School. His mother read him stories about Creation, Noah’s Ark, and the parting of the Red Sea. He probably did some finger paint art of David defeating the giant goliath. As he got older, he got involved: ushering, saying hi, making the coffee! And when Paul came to town teaching that Jesus was the Messiah… He examined the Old Testament prophecies. He examined Paul’s teaching about Jesus’ life. He listened to Paul’s eyewitness account of the Resurrection. And he changed his faith in the coming Messiah into faith in the Messiah who had just come. And quickly he became a well-liked leader in the church, even as a young person… The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. (16:2) Notice those aren’t just the people in Lystra, but the people in the neighboring church of Iconium as well. Maybe he attended worship in Iconium when he was on vacation. Maybe he helped the people of Iconium run a Vacation Bible School. Maybe he ran a young person’s small group somewhere between the two cities. Maybe he played church softball where he crushed a few home runs but was Christ-filled and polite while he did so. Timothy’s faith was evident in all that he did. Such that Paul wanted to take him along on his journey…(16:3) But the issue was that Timothy wasn’t circumcised. Now, you might be thinking: Why is this a big deal? Wasn’t the whole point of the Jerusalem meeting that we talked about last week – that Jewish traditions were not a requirement for grace? Remember – the meeting in Jerusalem had a lot of discussion. It had a lot of disagreement. It was challenging for the leaders of the church to accept that their longstanding Jewish traditions weren’t needed. If the leadership had a hard time with it, what about the average laymen? It might be similar to you having a bunch of tattoos up and down your arms. One with a big old heart that says “Mom.” You believe in Jesus, but you know that if you head to the local retirement home people might not want to listen to anything you have to say if they see tattoos on your arms. So… Rather than have them miss the Gospel of Jesus…you wear a turtleneck. That’s the same thing Paul is thinking. Rather than have groups of dissenters following and jeering them as “uncircumcised heathen,” Paul said: “Maybe…it’d be wise if…you were circumcised.” And you know what? Timothy didn’t hesitate. Even though he didn’t have to, Timothy was willing to be circumcised in order to remove any obstacles to sharing the Gospel. That’s amazing faith! That’s a mature faith. That’s putting the Gospel above all else. Paul takes Timothy along. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reach by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. (16:4-5) Timothy proves himself so mature that he works with Paul throughout the 2nd and 3rd missionary journeys. Paul even trusts him enough to go to Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 3:2), to go Macedonia (Acts 19:22), and to Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17). Ultimately, it culminates in Timothy being the pastor assigned to the church in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3) Talk about impressive. Timothy is the kind of guy living a faith that any Christian parent would want for their children. That any believer would want for themselves. II. Lessons from Timothy How did Timothy do it? How did he get to such a strong faith? Maybe you’re wondering: What does Timothy have that I don’t have? Answer: Nothing. There’s no Heirloom Greater than Jesus Take a look at what Paul wrote to Timothy, many years later when he was that pastor in Ephesus: I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (2 Tim. 1:5) Have you ever seen Antiques Roadshow? It’s probably the best show to come out of PBS since Mister Rogers. It’s a reality show in which people bring their antiques, heirlooms, and collectables to a panel of experts who examine their piece and give them an estimated value of what their item would bring in an auction. Sometimes it’s more than they expect. Sometimes…a lot less. There was a woman on their recently named Rose. She brought along a painting that had been in her grandmother’s toy room for years. She had always played by it. She had conversed right under it. She had seen that painting in her grandmother’s room for her decades. When her grandmother died, the family was rummaging through some of her things and came across the painting. Rose said that she would take it because it gave her fond memories of grandma. She put it up in her attic. She didn’t even hang it up. But one day as she was cleaning in the attic, she noticed a mosquito on the painting. She swatted at it and as her hand hit the painting she noticed that she could feel the texture of the paint. It wasn’t a copy, but an original. She took it to Antiques roadshow to get it appraised. How much? Close to $300,000. Friends: There is no greater heirloom than Jesus. That’s the heirloom that was passed down in Timothy’s family From his Grandma Lois To his mother Eunice. To him. Friends, you have been given the same heirloom. Maybe it isn’t from a Grandma Lois or a mother Eunice… Maybe it’s from an aunt, an uncle, a friend, or a coworker. Regardless, understand this: (1) There is no greater heirloom than Jesus. Because no other heirloom brings peace with God. No other heirloom brings forgiveness of sins. No other heirloom wipes out guilt. No other heirloom defeats evil. No other heirloom conquers death. No other heirloom gives eternal life. Only Jesus can and does. (2) Fan into Flame This is a priceless heirloom. One that needs to be cared for. That’s the whole point of the next verse: Fan into flame the gift given to you by the laying on of hands. (2 Timothy 1:6) Do you understand that reference? Air is necessary for a flame to grow. It’s why when you’ve got a pile of charcoal and it appears to be going out, you open up the lid of the grill, blow on the embers and they come back to life. In the past, they even had this big accordion-like thing that would blow air on the fire when you pushed it together. It was a safer option than get your face right next to the glowing hot rocks. Paul reminds Timothy to keep fanning into flame the gift he’s been given. And what gift was that? Two scholarly options and both are theologically sound. First of all, the gift of faith. That’s the gift that we share with Timothy. When you come to faith in Jesus, it’s as if a single flame has been lit in the fireplace of your heart. But if you don’t feed that flame, if you don’t tend to it.…eventually it goes out. And, dear brother and sisters, if you don’t fan your faith into flame with the truth of God’s Word, it will fade away. If you stay away from worship…faith grows dimmer. If you stop reading your Bible…the flame starts to flicker. If you drop out of your group study…the flame becomes a lone ember. If you remove yourself from Jesus…the flame may go out. But… When the gentle message of God’s Word comes to your heart again… When you study God’s Word… When you get into a Bible group… When you hear God’s promises of his love. When you meditate on the truth of his sacrifice. When you worship and contemplate the words of praise. That single flame? Returns. Grows. Becomes a roaring fire. A Timothy-like fire. Stoked and ready to serve in His kingdom. Want to be like Timothy? Fan that faith flame with God’s Word. But the gift may also be a reference to the gift of talent. In fact, Paul reference the “Laying on of hands,” which literally means, “laying on hands.” It’s something that the early Apostles did as a way to confer special gifts on members of the church. Timothy had special gifts! He was a pastor. He was outgoing. He was smart. He was patient. He was gifted with the skills to be a pastor. You might not have pastor gifts. But you have some kind of gifts. Music skills. Kid care skills. Carpentry skills. Friend-making skills. Counting skills. Leadership skills. Flower planting skills. Whatever skill you have been given… Recognize it’s a gift from God; Put it to work in God’s kingdom. And fan it into flame. There’s a woman at the retirement home that I serve who loves coloring. Every day I make it there for Bible study; she’s working on coloring pictures. I asked her if she enjoyed doing it and she said that she did. She said that she colors because it’s a way that she can give thanks to God – even if it’s more difficult for her to do much else. And then…she said that she was practicing because she wanted to get better at color choices and shading so that she might give glory to God through her artwork. Friends, that’s fanning the flame… For God’s glory. (3) Be Bold Because it could be easy to be intimidated by all of this Jesus stuff. It would easy for Timothy to feel unqualified or inadequate. To feel uneducated. To feel nervous, anxious and frightened. He might be tempted to be timid. And you might be, too. But look at what Paul reminds Timothy that is also a reminder to you: “The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power…” (2 Timothy 1:7) The Spirit of God is not timid. He made flames appear on the heads of his disciples. The Spirit of God is not timid. He roared like a tornado without an actual tornado. The Spirit of God is not timid. He gave the disciples the ability to speak in languages they have never learned. The Spirit of God is not timid. He worked through fishermen, accountants, political activists…and even a young boy like Timothy to spread the message of the Gospel. And that same Spirit will work through you. Will be with you. Will guide you as you serve in his kingdom. (4) Be Loving Because if the Spirit were only powerful…well… Suddenly evangelism isn’t about winning souls. Suddenly evangelism is about winning… Maybe you’ve seen this in action. Christians head to online forums, find a blog, and spending all day trying to give them spiritual complexes with God’s Word in order to prove that I am godlier than they are! It’s as if we view God’s Word like a chair that we’re slamming onto someone’s head in order to stand over them in superiority. But God didn’t just give us a spirit of power. He gave us a spirit of love. (2 Timothy 1:7) He didn’t crush us with God’s law, but crushed sin with the Gospel. He didn’t dominate sinners, but saved sinners from domination. He didn’t destroy us for our sins, he destroyed our sins for us. We do the same. Empowered by God. Loved by God. We speak boldly. But we speak lovingly. We remember the goal isn’t “to win,” but “to save souls from eternal hellfire.” (5) Be Disciplined That was Paul’s whole point to Timothy. It was his main reason for writing to him. Even though he was no longer a rookie… Even though he was now a long-time pastor… Even though he was a veteran of faith… Paul’s main directive to Timothy was to be disciplined. Because God didn’t give us a spirit of timidity…but a spirit…of self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7) Part of preparation for youth confirmation is memory work. Memorizing passages. Memorizing definitions. Memorizing truths about God’s Word. It may not have always been easy. It may not have always been fun. It may not have always been something you looked forward to. But that’s being disciplined. That’s taking the truth that God loves you. And taking it from the page. Planting it into your brain. Guiding it into your heart. So that… When you kids bully you and you feel unloved, you remember: “God so loved the world (me) that he gave his one and only Son (for me) that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) When you feel confused about what path to take in the future, you remember: “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) When you are tempted by friends to do things that you’ll regret for the rest of your life, you remember: “You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the Light.” (Ephesians 5:8) When you are in college, alone, as if no one will be there for you: Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) Conclusion Paul writes: So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus…(2 Timothy 1:8-10) Do you remember at the beginning we talked about the heirloom of eternity that has been given to you. We said it goes back to your parents. Even to your grandparents. But here…we’re reminded it goes farther. It goes back to the beginning. It goes back to before the beginning. The heirloom of eternity comes from before eternity. Brothers and sisters… Cherish that heirloom. Fan your faith into flame. Be Bold. Be loving. Be diligent. Until God confirms your faith eternally and takes you home to heaven. Amen.  Last week we started our summer sermon series called ACTS: The Early Church Initiative by reviewing the first fourteen chapters of the book of Acts. In it, we learned that a priority for the Early Church was to place the GOSPEL above all else…because in the Gospel, Jesus placed YOU above all else.
Today we are picking up where we left off last year. Which was action packed. Last year we heard about: Fire appearing on the disciples’ heads. A paralytic healed. A Jesus-hater blinded. Demons defeated. A sorcerer converted. Thousands baptized into Jesus’ name. And as exciting as those things were, today we’re going to dive into something just as exciting. Something just as thrilling. Today we are going to hear about a marvelous, amazing, incredible, action packed…Meeting. As we go through the events leading up to the first Church Council meeting, pay attention – you’ll see theme of Gospel above all else – running throughout the discussions. Our goal is to learn from that. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Problem The account is from Acts 15 which begins right at the end of Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey. A journey that was successful. They had brought the message of the Gospel to people living in different countries who had never heard of Jesus. And when they returned to their home congregation in Antioch Syria – the congregation that sponsored the mission trip – they shared their success! About Cyprus where the Gospel overpowered the lies of a Satanist. About Pisidian Antioch where they preached on the streets in front of thousands of people. About being chased out of the city, mistaken for God, and narrowly avoiding attempted murder. And about how through it all the Gospel was preached, and hundreds of souls came to faith in the saving message of Jesus. And the congregation was thrilled. High-fives. “Amens.” As the night was winding down, Paul noticed a sign that had been affixed to the congregation’s 1st century version of a bulletin board: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” (15:1) Seriously? He went and got Barnabas. Can you believe what they’re teaching? This is the church that had convinced me it was by God’s grace apart from any Jewish custom that we’re saved. A church sponsored OUR mission trip in which we were told to teach - people were saved by God’s grace apart from anything else. A mission trip on which we taught that people were saved by Jesus apart from anything, anything, anything else. Over the next couple days, there were heated discussions: Paul and Barnabas said the Gospel was all about Grace. The opposing leaders argued that it was about God’s grace…and following Old Testament Jewish Law. A good portion of the people sat back and nodded in agreement with whomever made the last point. Finally, they decided to send this question to the leadership of the Christian movement. “Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.” (v.3) Because the Apostles were the original twelve, they were the men who had followed Jesus. Who had been taught by Jesus. Who had been EYEWITNESESS of the Risen Lord Jesus. Who had been commission by Jesus to preach the Gospel. On whom the Holy Spirit had come in a hurricane like sounded, landed on their heads in tongues of fire and taught them languages they never learned. If anyone knew what the Gospel was really about -- it was them. II. The Very First Council Meeting So, the group set off from Syria and headed south to Jerusalem. As they went, they stopped at other churches where Paul and Barnabas told of the incredible works of God. About the Gospel overpowering the lies of a Satanist. About preaching in the streets in front of thousands of people. About being chased out of the city, mistaken for God, and narrowly avoiding attempted murder. And about how through it all, the Gospel was preached, and hundreds of souls came to faith in the saving message of Jesus. And how all the churches were thrilled! They were excited. High-fives. “Amens.” They were excited with how the saving message of Jesus had made its way even to non-Jewish people. And the excitement continued in Jerusalem. The Apostles welcomed them. They hugged them. They sat down and listened to Paul and Barnabas talk all about their journeys. They smiled. They got teary-eyed. They were ready to sing “Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow” when… Some…stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” (v.5) Because in the Old Testament, God required obedience! Don’t believe me? Read Leviticus. Read Numbers. They had to be circumcised. They had to cover their heads. They had to wear prayer shawls. And that’s our tradition. A tradition added to by great men. A tradition passed down by great men. Traditions not to eat pork. Traditions not to eat shellfish. Traditions not to join in fellowship with anyone who doesn’t follow these traditions. And now… We’re supposed to drop them? Centuries of Traditions, gone? For the sake of some “Dirty Gentiles?” I don’t think so. At this Peter stood up. Peter, the leader of the Apostles…. Peter who had preached a phenomenal sermon on Pentecost: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the Gospel…”(v.7) Do you remember that? I was up on the roof doing some meditation when I went into a trance. In that trance, God gave me a vision of a sheet filled with all kinds of animals. Animals that we TRADITIONALLY don’t eat. Food like pork chops, bacon, and oysters on the half shell. And I said to God, “Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” And God said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (vs. 14-15) And then God repeated this sequence two more times. And right at the end of it, when I was wondering what it all meant, three men sent by Cornelius, a Roman, stopped at the gate of my house. The Holy Spirit said to me, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” (vs. 19-20) I went down to answer. The men were sent here by his master, Cornelius, who had a vision from God – about me being in that house. Wouldn’t I come to tell about Jesus? And…I did. Because that’s was the point of the vision. God’s message wasn’t just for Jews anymore. It was a message of Grace for Gentiles… But you don’t’ have to take my word for it! Because when I was there and when I preached the message of the Gospel. The people believed…Something that only happens by the Holy Spirit. And they began speaking in tongues – a miracle that happens only by the Holy Spirit. A miracle as proof that this was real faith given by the Holy Spirit. Guess what!?! That happened in a home that didn’t have any Jewish traditions. They weren’t circumcised. They weren’t wearing prayers shawls. “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” (v.8-9) “Now then, why do you try to test God?” (vs. 10) Because you might think that you’re testing the Gentiles. You might think that you’re testing their faith to see if it’s real and if they’re willing to become followers of Jesus. But…really… You’re testing God. You’re telling him: “Hey God, I know you said that it’s by grace through faith in Jesus that we’re saved, but…I’m gonna preach the opposite. I want to test how long it takes for you to strike me down with a lightning bolt for teaching the opposite of you.” Because…think about it! You’re putting yokes on the necks of these Gentiles. A yoke just like you put on your donkey. Something that makes general movement in life much more difficult. You’re putting yokes on their necks by demanding that they keep all these Old Testament Traditions… When you couldn’t even keep them yourself. Avram, look at that prayer shawl. That’s not regulation length. And Jeremiah, I saw you last Sabbath. That walk was lots longer than the allotted 3000 steps according to our tradition. And Ezekiel…I’ve got a guy over there who told me that he saw you eating a BLT last week. And don’t even get me started on the lies, the greed, the lust, the moral failures of each and everyone of you. Brothers, for centuries, we were under the yoke of a law that we could not keep. The message of Jesus freed us from that yoke. Why put that yoke on someone else? Why not lift that yoke? We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. (v.7) And then. Silence. Silence…and tension. Until eventually, Paul and Barnabas took the opportunity to tell all about what happened on their missionary journey. About the Gospel overpowering the lies of a Satanist. About preaching in the streets in front of thousands of people. About being chased out of the city, mistaken for God, and narrowly avoiding attempted murder. And about how through it all, the Gospel was preached, and hundreds of souls came to faith in the saving message of Jesus. And… When they were done… James stood up. James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem. James, a Jew through and through. He said: Brothers… We’ve heard from Peter. We’ve heard from Paul. We’ve heard from Barnabas. But perhaps we need to hear from one more witness. A witness that’s Jewish. A witness that’s traditional. A witness that cannot tell a lie. The Old Testament Jewish Scriptures: Amos 9:11-12 says: “After this I will…rebuild David’s fallen tent. …17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name.” (Acts 15:16-17) Therefore. Grace is grace. We can’t force them to be Jewish and we don’t need to. And we don’t need to keep these traditions because Jesus fulfilled them all with His perfect life, death and resurrection. God doesn’t require sacrifices anymore! It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. (Acts 15:19) Brothers and sisters, This is the truth. Grace is grace. It’s a truth that was discussed in Jerusalem. By the Apostles of Jesus himself. They voted. They came to a conclusion. It hasn’t been overruled. It hasn’t been overturned. Grace is grace. It isn’t worked for. It isn’t earned. It isn’t given in response to following Old Testament customs. It isn’t given in response to following human customs. It’s all about Jesus. He lived perfectly when you couldn’t. He died innocently in your place. He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of your sins. Forgiveness is yours. By God’s grace. III. WHAT NOW? Therefore, we follow the advice of James, the leader in Jerusalem. Don’t make Grace difficult. 1) For Yourself How good are you at puzzles? I can usually handle them if they are 20 pieces or less. I’m really good if they have an outline for each shape. I’m especially good at the puzzles for 4 years old and younger. But I have a friend who is so good at puzzles, do you know what he does? He flips the puzzles upside down. He does them cardboard side facing up. Why? He wants to make it more difficult… Sometimes I think we do the same thing with grace. We add in the qualification of “perfection.” We need to be the perfect mom. We need to be a stellar dad. We need to be the best teacher, an incredible provider and the best keeper of Christian customs ever. We tell ourselves that in order to receive grace we need to follow God’s Laws perfectly. And then… just to be sure… …we add in some of our own human customs and laws just to make it really difficult. Stop. Grace is grace. And because of God’s grace in Jesus, you are forgiven. Jesus said this, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30) He said that because by grace salvation is yours. By grace, you don’t have to earn God’s love. By grace, you already have it. 2) For Others I was at pastor’s conference this past week. And I was talking to a pastor who was telling me about something that happened to him recently. He had a gentleman join his worship service whom he had been trying to get to come for a long time. A friend who wasn’t a part of a church. Who didn’t actively worship and hadn’t known much about Jesus. As he finally attended worship, the man was moved by the Gospel. He was emotional as he listened. He even shouted: “Amen,” at the end of the sermon. Afterwards, the pastor was excited, and he went to talk to a member of his to share his excitement. And he said, “Wasn’t it awesome having him join us?” And the person he told this to simply rolled their eyes and said, “You better talk to him and tell him that we don’t shout AMEN around here. Especially if he plans on coming back.” Friends, don’t make grace difficult for others. Don’t add to God’s grace. Don’t require human things. Let grace be grace. Grace for you. Grace for the people you talk to. As unyoked children of God, be in the business of unyoking those with heavy burdens to bear. Because…the Gospel teaches that God placed YOU above all else. And we, as an extension of the early church, need to place the Gospel above all else. Amen.  We are restarting a sermon series that we did last summer. If you remember last summer, we went through a book in the Bible called “ACTS.” Acts is a book that describes the “ACTS of the Early Church.” This, by the way, is the Early Church in which our church finds its roots. The goal of the series was to discover (1) What the Early Church found important to do and (2) Consider how we might refocus on doing the very things that they did.
Because I think it’s really easy for a modern church to get distracted. Maybe you know this, but Facebook knows what you think. Their website records everything you do on Facebook. Then, they distract you with ads for the very things you’ve been searching for on your Facebook profile. For instance, Friday was a teacher workday. The teachers had some food delivered from McAllister’s deli. And even though I wasn’t in charge of ordering that food…my account must have been logged into the computer that was used for ordering and... coincidence? I am getting all kinds of ads for McAllister’s Deli. The same is true for being a pastor. Because I am a pastor, the majority of the ads I see on Facebook are about church from businesses aimed at churches. The ads usually go something like this: “Your Church NEEDS this!” It’ll lead to articles that say things like:
Now these things could be beneficial. But when it comes to what church NEEDS to be doing… I’m thinking the answer should come from God, not the advertiser paying good money to track my internet usage habits. Today we are going to dive into chapter 2 of ACTs and use the story of Pentecost as a base point for review of the last year’s sermon series. (That’s about 14 chapters in one sermon). Our goal is to identify the thing “Above All Else” that the Early Church needed to be engaged in and understand why we need to be doing that same thing. Before we do that, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. God’s “Above All Else” Acts 2 take places during Pentecost. It was an Old Testament festival that occurred “fifty days after Passover.” “Pente” a root form meaning “five.” That’s where we get the word “pentagon,” or “five-sided shape.” “Pente” meaning “fifty” hence, a festival fifty days after Passover. It was a big festival. It happened every year. It drew thousands of practicing Jews to Jerusalem. This year was no different. The streets were filled with people. They were up early shopping the marketplaces and getting the items necessary for celebrating the festival later that day. It was just like every other year. Until… At about 8 o’clock in the morning, there was the sound of a hurricane-like wind. Only it wasn’t coming from the sky, but a small corner house. After that sound was going for a while, out of the house, burst a group of men with what appeared to be flames of fire ignited on the top of their heads. Men who, being from Israel, should not have known the 20-some different languages of the various people there in Jerusalem for the festival. Yet they spoke clearly. Efficiently. Fluently. It was amazing. It was incredible. It was…too good to be true. Someone shouted: “They have had too much wine.” (2:13) Because…getting drunk usually increases your language skills? But the reality was that this was more than a house party. This was more than a regular celebration. This was divine and miraculous. This was God!!! And now with everyone’s attention focused exactly where God wanted it, God moves one of the men, Peter to stand up and speak this message: “15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people…’” (Acts 2:15-16) That’s what’s happening! With the hurricane sound. With tongues of fire. With the different languages. This is God’s way of getting your attention. Because… About 50 days ago. It wasn’t just 50 days until your 50 days celebration. About 50 days ago. You guys killed Jesus. And this Jesus? Wasn’t just some rebel. Wasn’t just some teacher. Wasn’t just some nice guy. He was God. He did miracles exactly like what you’re seeing here today! He didn’t just cause storms; he stopped them. He didn’t just make fire appear; but bread and wine and water. He didn’t just speak different languages, but he spoke to dead people to make them alive. He did the very things that only God could do because he was God Himself. And you killed him. You killed God. But… He’s God. And death didn’t stick. I saw Him. He lives. Now at this point the group that was listening started to get very uncomfortable. Because some of the people who heard this were the very people that had been in Jerusalem 50 days earlier shouting for Jesus to be crucified. And…if this was true… Then, they had sinned. And if this was true… Jesus would be coming back to vaporize them. What shall we do?” They cried. Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. (Acts 2:38) And that’s it. God’s message to the very people who killed Jesus… About how they could get right with Jesus was simply this: Repent. Turn from sin. Turn to Jesus. To turn from unbelief to turn to belief. Their way into God’s kingdom was simply belief in Jesus! And be baptized. To have someone pour water on you in Jesus’ name. And the miraculous God who did these very miracles here today will work through that water to bring you forgiveness. QUESTION: Does that seem too easy for those sinners? Does that seem too easy for any sinner? Does that seem too easy for you, a sinner? Guess what? That’s the main message of the God powered, God inspired Early Christian Church. TRUTH: The Early Church’s main message, also known as the Gospel, places you above all else. It’s kind of like an internet troll. Someone who logs in and gets updates on your social media page or your blog…only because they can’t wait to go on your profile and argue…maybe post an obscene emoji and make you generally angry. Send inappropriate emails to every in your contact list, too. How many of you wake up on a day to day basis and say: “I hope that internet troll guy is doing good today. Hey, maybe I should call him to check in. Better yet…Let me send him some Uber Eatz…what’s his favorite? Chicken wings?” We have rebelled against God. Like a spiritual internet troll to God we have repeatedly gone against him. Consciously or not – when we complain about his rules, sin, do the opposite - we are completely against God. Yet, He still did everything to save us! In fact, he put YOU above everything else. Peter’s words bring that truth to the forefront. (1) Above the Father’s Other Plans Check out verse 23: “Jesus was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.” This Jesus thing wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t an incident that got out of control. It wasn’t an UNPLANNED thing. It was planned by the Father eternities before you were ever you. In fact, God set things in motion from the beginning of time to achieve your salvation, to bring you forgiveness and to connect you to his kingdom. Understand then… God’s ultimate plan isn’t a fireworks celebration for himself. It isn’t millions of people bowing down to him. It isn’t to have his name be the most Googled name of all time. It’s you. In heaven with him. (2) Above Jesus’ Own Life Peter continues, “Jesus was handed over to you…and you put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” (v.23b) Notice the phrase “Handed over.” It doesn’t say, “You actively took him by force,” but he was passively “handed over.” Jesus knew God’s plan was to have him die. And he still volunteered for it. Not because it would be easy. It isn’t as if Jesus said, “You know what would be a lot of fun? To have nails jammed into my hands, to have my metatarsals separated by a spike, to press a crown of thorns deeply into my skull and to hang up there while everyone ridiculed me until my lungs gave up and I died.” Nope. Jesus went to the cross because…YOU. Because He placed you above HIS OWN LIFE. (3) Above the Holy Spirit’s Inconspicuousness Peter continues, “Jesus has sent…the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” (v.33) How much do you know about the Holy Spirit? Briefly: He’s God. One of the three persons in the ONE Triune God. He’s always been around. In fact, he appears at the very beginning of the Bible. In Genesis 1 it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Now…the earth was formless and empty and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” The Holy Spirit is there. But then… He is only mentioned in passing in a few vague Psalms and prophecies. He prefers to do his work in inconspicuous mystery. But then? Pentecost. And the Holy Spirit goes out of his way to draw our attention to his presence. Why? Because…YOU. The Holy Spirit wants you to pay attention. He wants you to see how Jesus’ put YOU above his own life. He wants you to know how God put YOU above his other plans. He wants you to know that the Gospel places YOU above all else. II. The Early Church’s “Above All Else” Fast forward: Now the scene is a courtroom. Peter is there. But this time…he’s in chains. And the people surrounding him are not a crowd of believers. But… Violent angry men. The same violent angry men that killed Jesus. And unlike some of the people at Pentecost, these people want nothing to do with Jesus. In fact, that’s the reason they have Peter arrested! They want him to stop teaching about Jesus. They want him to stop preaching the Gospel. They want him to stop…or else. And Peter looks around. They’re glaring at him. He knows they’re serious. Serious…and blood thirsty. But… He doesn’t care. “We must obey God; rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) In other words: The Early Church would keep preaching the Gospel. They would keep telling people about Jesus. Because they would place the Gospel above all else. This is just one story that illustrates that. Because throughout the book of Acts, the devil does everything possible to try and shove the Gospel to the bottom of the Early Church’s priority list. But the Book of Acts is filled with stories where the Gospel triumphs! Where it is placed above… (1) 1st Century Racial Prejudices Because the Gospel started among the Jewish people. And the Jewish people – they had developed a superiority complex. They thought themselves as God’s special people. Afterall, the Old Testament was all about them. They were God’s special people – to the point that they wouldn’t interact with non-Jewish people. They wouldn’t eat a meal with them. They would definitely not spend time with them unless they were forced to! Enter a guy named Philip. He’s on the road to Gaza. He comes across a man who is an Ethiopian. Normally Jews avoided non-Jews, but the Gospel doesn’t discriminate. “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’” (Acts 8:29) Philip walked right up to the chariot, got into the chariot, sat right next to him in the chariot and shared the Gospel. The Early Church placed the Gospel above Racial Prejudices. This isn’t the only time. Acts 8, says Philip also went to Samaria to continue telling non-Jewish people about Jewish. Acts 13 and 14, chronicles an entire missionary journey specifically to non-Jewish people! At Pentecost itself, the Gospel was presented in languages beyond Hebrew of the common Jewish people! The Early Church placed the Gospel above Racial Prejudices. (2) Social Status This is a big deal. Because at that time, the most common religious entity – the Pharisees—loved rich people. They loved people who could contribute to the upkeep of their gathering spaces. They loved people who could also afford fine jewelry and fancy robes. They loved people who would make them look cool by association. Peter and John? In Acts 3, the very first individual described hearing the Gospel? A beggar. A blind beggar. A blind, homeless beggar. A blind, homeless beggar at the bottom of social status. And yet Peter is sure to bring him the message about how Jesus gives him the status of God’s eternal kingdom. The Early Church placed the Gospel above Social Status. (3) Jewish Traditions To be fair, the Gospel is above any tradition. Specifically, for the Early Church, Jewish traditions had become an obstacle to the Gospel. And some of the staunchest Jewish traditions at that time had to do with food. The tradition was that Jews only ate certain foods. The tradition was that Jews only ate after washing their hands in a ceremonial way. The tradition was that Jews never at in the home of a non-Jewish person. Acts 11, Peter, who is 100% Jewish and 100% a follower of Jewish tradition…receives a vision. In the vision, God tells him to go ahead – to eat meat – from…traditionally, unclean animals. In other words, God tells him to break tradition. Peter refused by saying, “Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” (Acts 10:14) As soon as the vision is over, Peter receives a knock at his front door. It’s a servant from a Roman Centurion – a non-Jewish, Roman centurion – who has invited him over to eat. That’d be breaking tradition…but God had told Peter, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Acts 10:15) Peter went because he placed the Gospel above even his own traditions – all God’s doing. Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” Acts 10:34-35 The Gospel was above Jewish Traditions. (4) Above Personal Vendettas One of the more famous accounts in the first half of Acts is the account of a guy named Saul. Saul, who did not like the Gospel. He did not like Jesus. In fact, he persecuted those who followed Jesus by threatening them, beating them up, and throwing them in prison. Until… Jesus appeared to him. Then he became a believer. In fact, Saul became such a committed believer that he wanted to help the disciples share the Gospel. Acts 9:20, 26-27 “At once he began to preach in the synagogues [in Damascus] that Jesus is the Son of God…When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.” Because it’s not about them and what they feel. It’s about Jesus. We support others who want to share God’s Word They put the GOSPEL above their own personal issues. (5) Above Their Own Safety Back to where we started. The disciples began shouting the message of Jesus… …in the middle of the very streets where Jesus had been put to death. …surrounded by the very people who had supported his death. But they didn’t care. And this continues. In Acts 3, they are put on trial. In Acts 5, they are imprisoned. In Acts 7, Stephen has stones thrown at him until he is killed. In Acts 8, they undergo the aforementioned persecution of Saul. In Acts 12, Peter is put on death row. And at no point do they stop preaching. At no point do they stop telling about Jesus. At no point do they put their own lives above the Gospel. Because the Gospel is about how Jesus put US above his own life. III. WHAT NOW? Consider these two truths: The Gospel places you above all else. The Early Church placed the Gospel above all else. Because of God’s work with the Early Church, you have the Gospel in your heart. A simple What Now? Put the Gospel Above All Else I mentioned those Facebook ads at the beginning. I think the devil works pretty similarly in our lives. He’s smart. He watches us. He knows the things that will distract us. The things that will tempt us to think: “God didn’t love you that much.” And “The Gospel’s not that important.” Rather than the GOSPEL above all else… He wants you to place the ALL ELSE above the Gospel. Don’t let him. Stay focused. PLACE THE GOSPEL ABOVE ALL ELSE! Throughout this summer I am praying that God works in your heart to: (1) understand more fully how God placed you above all else, (2) throw light on areas in which you have placed other things above the Gospel, (3) guide us, as a church, to refocus on placing THE GOSPEL above all else. Amen.  Over this sermon series, we’ve talked a lot about Fighting Temptation. But…How confident do you feel that you can fight temptation and win?
Today we’re going to study God’s Word and my goal is to teach you why you have every reason in the world to Fight Temptation confidently. Before we do that, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Reasons for Lacking Confidence The lesson for this morning comes from Isaiah. He was a prophet who lived around 640 B.C. Mainly he preached warnings about what would happen to the Israelites if they didn’t start fighting temptation. But most people didn’t listen. God, through Isaiah, even predicted that they wouldn’t listen. It’s why he prophesied that they would be taken into captivity. Which…is exactly what happened. In 597 B.C., the Babylonian army ransacked the country of Judah. They destroyed the infrastructure and took hundreds of thousands of Israelites captive as prisoners back to Babylon. It was then, in captivity, that many of the people began to listen. They looked back at the prophesies of Isaiah and discovered sections like this: “Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his law. So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.” (v.24-25) Can you imagine? Being in captivity. And realizing… We sinned. We didn’t follow his ways. We did not obey his law. We are in flames because of our sinful failures! I can’t imagine that the Israelites had a lot of confidence. Just a lot of “if onlys.” If only I’d listened to God. If only I had fought back against temptation. If only I had told that merchant, “No. We don’t need your bejeweled god statues. We worship the one true, invisible God, the Lord.” If only I had told my wife, “No, we aren’t going to teach our kids that worship isn’t important. We’ll tell them that worship is the most important thing to their eternal relationship with God.” If only I had told my friends, “No, I’m not going to get drunk with you tonight…then I never would have done a lot of other things that I wish I had never done.” If only I had told myself, “Get up. Fight these temptations. Stop being complacent and follow your God.” Then, I wouldn’t be in captivity. But now…? It feels too late. I’ve failed too many times. God has abandoned me. I’m alone. Temptation will always win. Can you relate? Maybe your record against temptation isn’t good. Maybe you keep losing in your personal battle against your personal demons. Maybe you have a weakness that you’re so ashamed of – you question if you even belong in this church family. Maybe you feel weighed down by guilt, alone in your battle, like you are in captivity to a particular sin! Maybe you’ve tried psyching yourself up, waking up in prayer, saying, “Today is the day I beat that temptation,” only…to attempt your day…and…lose. Maybe you feel alone like you are the only one who is fighting against a particular sin. And, maybe, all of these thoughts convince you… That you’ll never win. That you’ll always fail against temptation. That you have NO reason to be confident in ever winning again. But… If that’s how you think… You’re wrong. II. Confidence from God Himself Listen to Isaiah 43. It’s written for God’s people. It’s written for God’s people in captivity to Babylon. It’s written for God’s people in captivity to their own sinful choices. It’s written to God’s people – like you. And it’s filled with confidence-boosting statements from God himself. But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isaiah 43:1-3) Look at those words. Do you hear God’s voice? He’s speaking to you. And giving you all kinds of confidence. (1) “You are my Creation.” Look at the first verse. It says, “This is what the LORD says, he who created you, O Jacob; he who formed you, O Israel.” (43:1) It’s not even an actual statement of God yet, but through it, God still communicates something to you. “You are my creation.” Over at Precious Lambs, the kids take their artwork very, very seriously. They are proud of their artwork. They love to show off their artwork. They love to show me their artwork. They love to bring artwork home for mom and dad. And they get really, really upset if they lose their artwork. There was a girl the other day whose conversation with mom went something like this: “Calm down. Honey. What’s wrong!” “You threw my artwork away!” “Are you sure? I just threw some of the pictures with scribbles on them away.” “It wasn’t scribbles. It was a picture of a unicorn!” Kids love their artwork because it’s their artwork. They created it. They put it on paper. Their imagination developed the piece. The same is true with God and you. You come from the annals of God’s divine mind. He thought you up before you ever thought your first word. He knit you together with his own powerful, yet gentle hands. (Psalm 139:13) Do you think God will just leave you to suffer? Do you think God won’t come to your rescue? Do you think God won’t work tirelessly to get you back even after your own sins have left you feeling like garbage? He won’t. He didn’t. (2) “You are Redeemed.” Verse 2 says this, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah 43:2a) Redeem means to “buy back.” To “pay for.” To “purchase again.” And God has redeemed YOU. Because yes! We fell to sin. Yes, we were owned by our guilt. We were owned by our shame. We were owned by our addictions. We were owned by our brokenness. But then… Jesus came to earth. He offered the most precious currency of all: His perfect blood. Jesus bought you. Jesus paid for you. Jesus redeemed you. You do not belong to your addiction. You do not belong to your temptation. You do not belong to your sins. You belong to God! It’s like at Sola café: They have this little card at Sola café that if you remember to have it stamped every time you order a drink, the 10th drink is free! Even if you do what I do and order a small coffee, the cheapest thing on the menu, for the other 9 drinks, you can get a large, 6-dollar Caramel Macchiato for FREE. Fully paid for. You have been fully paid for. No matter how much sin you have fallen to. You belong to God – fully and completely. (3) “I know you.” God says, “I have called you by name.” (Isaiah 43:2b) That’ s an uplifting truth. Because it’s easy to feel like you are just a number. It’s easy to feel as if God’s redemptive power is big and great, but not that personal. It’s like calling for tech support. And you say, “Hi! I’m Phil calling from Gethsemane Church” and they say, “What’s your equipment ID number?” And you say, “I don’t know that. But I’m from Gethsemane Church, we have an account with you.” And they say, “Equipment ID Number please.” And you say, “I spoke with you about 15 minutes ago? Don’t you remember me?” And they say, “I remember you. You haven’t given me the Equipment ID Number yet.” God says you are more than an Equipment ID Number to him. You are you. He knows your name. He knows your first name. He knows your last name. He knows your middle name. He knows your nickname. He knows your maiden name. He knows your username. He knows your pet name. He knows your surname. He even knows your Superhero name – that you found out from that one Facebook quiz you took way back in 2014. God knows you. Personally knows you. He knows your struggles. He knows your weaknesses. He knows the things you’ve told your friends. He knows the things you’ve told your counselor. He knows the things you haven’t told your counselor. He stands beside you. And whispers: “You have a new name.” I will call you, “Mine.” This is why he also whispers: (4) “I am With You.” God has Isaiah write this, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:3) This is a metaphor. But…also literal. Because in the Old Testament, the Israelite people had once been surrounded by their enemies and a deep, vast sea. They had no where to go! They were as good as dead. But God was with them. He split the waters and they crossed through on dry ground – fish and sea weed and currents on each side. And again in the Old Testament, some men were thrown into a fiery furnace because they didn’t bow down and worship a giant golden statue of the king. But God was with them. He kept them safe in the flames so that not a hair, not a thread, not even a little piece of beard was singed in the fire. Neither did they smell of smoke. And you…when you are surrounded by temptation. When you feel all alone. When you think there’s no way out. When you are terrified of what’s going on in your life. God is with you. He will keep you safe. He will help you out. He will lead you safely – undrowned. Unburned. Victorious over temptation! And here’s how he does it: (5) “I am your Savior.” God has Isaiah write this, “I am the LORD, your God, the holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (v.3) That same powerful God who defeated split the Red Sea. That same powerful God who kept the men safe in the furnace. That same powerful God who died on the cross and saved you from sin – is your Savior. It isn’t like waiting in the doctor’s office to see your specific specialist about your specific special problem and then someone walks into the room. You don’t recognize them. You look closely at their name badge and it says: “Intern.” Nope. God is your Savior. Not your “might be Savior.” Not your “Try-the-hardest-to-save-but-failing Savior.” Not even “Everyone else’s Savior.” No. Your Savior. Which leads to a very powerful passage. Friends – write this down. Memorize it. Bring it from God’s heart to your heart: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions. I will forget your sins and remember your wickedness no more.” (v.25) God has destroyed your sins so completely that he can’t even remember a single sin. He can’t even remember that you’ve failed. He can’t even remember that you’re a failure. To him. Because of him. In him… You are a winner. III. What Now? And so. Fight like a champion. And let me tell you: Champions don’t come on out and let the other punch first. Nope. They come out swinging. They come out dodging. They come out with a plan. Do you have a temptation that you struggle against? Come out swinging. Come out dodging. Come out with a plan. (1) Come out Swinging Because too often we are reactive against temptation. We wait for it to strike and hope that we can react when it does. It’s like coffee. I drink too much. Maybe…some of you knew that. But here’s the thing…I know I drink too much yet, I put myself in the same situation each day. I stay up later than I should. I don’t have anything to drink until I have my morning coffee. I hang out for the first hour of every weekday – within about 50 steps of the coffee pot. No wonder I keep failing. Why not go on the offensive? Romans 8:13 says: “By the Spirit, put to death the misdeeds of the body.” Don’t just punch them in the mouth or put them in a headlock. The language is stronger. Put them to death! Talking about my caffeine struggle: Why not drink 2 glasses of water before the coffee pot gets put on? Why not go to bed 30 minutes earlier so that I’m not so tired? Why not tell an entire congregation about it so that they can hold you accountable and tell you to drink a bit less? Whatever your temptation is, think about it: how can you attack it? (2) Come out Dodging But there will be times when temptation blindsides you. When suddenly you find yourself in situations in which things don’t look good. When Satan pulls some guerrilla warfare on you. What then? Dodge it. Run. Flee. The Bible tells the story about a guy named Joseph. He worked as a servant in the house of a rich government official. He loved working there. He respected his master. He wanted to keep his job. One day – the government official’s wife – she developed a crush on Joseph – he was young and handsome – one day when noticed him working in the house when no one else is around. She said to him, “Come to bed with me. Sleep with me. No one is around. No one will know. You’ll be all mine.” And Joseph said? “I’m out of here.” Literally – the Bible says that he runs away. He flees. He dodges the temptation. Why not do that? Too often I think we tried to play the hero. We try to put ourselves in situations that we know we fail at – and wait to see if we might beat temptation. The Bible says differently. 2 Timothy 2:2 says, “Flee youthful passions.” Don’t hover over the page with all the scantily clad women -- click the “x” and get out of there. Don’t hang around the coffee pot or water cooler that’s bringing up your favorite gossip. Leave. Don’t sit at the dinner table, getting angrier and angrier ready to blow your top on your spouse – say, “Honey. Give me a second.” Walk away. Cool down. Don’t sin. Dodge temptation. (3) Come out with a Plan I imagine that’s what the final two teams in the NCAA tournament are doing right now. They are planning how to defeat each other. They are coming up with plays, they are coming up with values, they are getting ready to explain to their teams: “When we are in this situation, do this. When we are in this other situation, do this.” It would be ludicrous for a team to be in the finals of the NCAA tournament and have their plan be, “I don’t have a plan. Try to win.” It’s ludicrous for us to attempt to fight temptation without a plan. Proverbs 14:22 says this, “Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.” Friends, champions make a plan. In Jesus, you are a champion. Make a plan to fight against temptation. If you have a sin that you struggle with…repeatedly, why not come up with a plan? Why not take a moment and write it up. Literally write it up in a notebook. Pray about it. Seek God’s wisdom about it. Ask a trusted friend about it. Then, write up your plan. If you need help in this – I will help you. So will the others at church. That’s what I hope you’ll do for others. Because that’s what church is. Our goal is to help out, swing, dodge, and plan for your fight against temptation. Which leads to our final point. (4) View Yourself as the Champ! Because it’s so easy to view yourself as nothing more than a sinner. And to a certain extent that’s important. It leads us to Jesus. But once we have heard the promise of God’s forgiveness and we leave these walls to battle temptation, it is so important that we see ourselves as God sees us – as winners in Jesus. It’s like what happens during a basketball game. If you go into the game thinking, “We’ll probably lose because we are losers,” you’ll probably lose. But if the coach can get you to think you have a chance or even that you’ll win, you have an advantage because you are already in a winning frame of mind. Friend, you are a winner in Jesus. Think of yourself as a winner. Envision yourself squashing the devil and all of his foolish attempts – even if it’s a temptation by which he has squashed you over and over again. Because you are in Christ. Christ is in you. And Christ? He stomped the devil. He stomped sin. He stomped guilt. He stomped shame. He stomped death itself when…three days later… Three days later, he rose from the grave. Friends, as Christ is the winner, you are a winner. Have confidence. Fight temptation. Amen.  Last week, we heard about how the Apostle Peter brought the Gospel to the Jews that lived in Lydda and Joppa. Today we’re going to hear about the first time that Peter brought the Gospel to people that weren’t Jews at all. As we study God’s Word, we’re going to delve into some very important and timely truths about the Gospel and Race. Before we do that, a prayer:
Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Story The lesson picks up right where we left off last week. Peter is still in Joppa. He’s still ministering to Tabitha. He’s still sharing the message of Jesus with people who were quite interested in hearing him, since he just brought a dead woman back to life. But eventually, Peter needs a break. Acts 10:9 says, “About noon...Peter went up on the roof to pray.” Now, you don’t need to picture Peter trying to balance on a 45-pitch roof. (OSHA is not involved with this story). At that time, roofs were mostly flat. Since homes were commonly built in close proximity to each other to maximize space – it was used like a porch. It was relaxing and quiet, a good place for uninterrupted prayer. And there must have been a lot of exciting things on Peter’s mind: He’s thankful the Outreach initiatives that have taken place in Lydda and Joppa. He’s starting to brainstorm for a new group – a Jews for Jesus – outreach group for Jews about Jesus. He’s thinking it might be wise to plan a church outing to the local Jewish Carpenter’s Baseball game. He’s brainstorming how to take my favorite Jewish songs and melodies – and transform them into songs about Jesus. In short, Peter is excited. He’s thrilled. He’s happy to see God work on the hearts of his Jewish compatriots. And he heads to the roof for guidance from God! While he’s up there, praying and praying and praying, he starts to get hungry. But before he can head downstairs to the kitchen, he sees some food…. …Coming down from the sky. Peter saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners…. like a picnic cloth… It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” (10:12-13) And Peter looks at the animals on the sheet. And Peter’s tummy rumbled. And Peter was hungry. And Peter said: “Surely not Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” (v.14) A bit of an explanation. In the Old Testament, God revealed himself through the people of Israel. He chose to interact with them, do miracles on their behalf when they followed him, and against them when they didn’t. God did this – not because he loved the people of Israel more than other people – but because…He needed to choose some group of people to reveal Himself as the true God, lest all worship the sun, the moon, the stars, a pile of rocks, some dead scorpion, or some really bad abstract art. It's essentially the Krispy Kreme Principle. Krispy Kreme lights up its sign to let you know when there are fresh, hot donuts available. The point of the sign is to get you to pay attention to the doughy goodness’ availability. To get the attention of the other nations, God did miracles among the nation of Israel. (He split the Red Sea. He sent bread from heaven. He made the walls of Jericho come tumbling down). God did miracles in the Israelite nation so that people of any nation might see that he is the true God of all nations. When God has the attention of the other nations, what does he want to teach them? Key truth #1: God is HOLY. He is a God who hated sin. A God who loved purity. Why is this God’s number one truth? Because if we don’t realize that truth, we’ll just remain in our sin, blissfully unaware of how far short from perfection we have fallen. When we realize that God is HOLY and he demands HOLINESS and we aren’t HOLY and have zero HOLINESS, we fall to the ground and ask God for mercy – and he granted that mercy in sending a Savior – Jesus Christ. Knowing God is HOLY is important in understanding the need for the Gospel. One way God taught his HOLINESS to other nations was through the Israelite diet. Leviticus 11. It’s probably not a section of Scripture that any of you have memorized. It isn’t a part of Scripture that makes its way to Social Media posts. It doesn’t make for very good Scripture art around your home. But within Leviticus 11, God reveals strict dietary restrictions for the people of Israel. His goal? Make their diet so drastically different from that of other nations that people take notice, ask about the diet, and learn that God is HOLY. Some of the restrictions were as follows: Only finned sea creatures. This allowed for fish. But it meant that you couldn’t have lobster, crab or any kind of sushi. Only domestic birds. Chicken and turkey were cool; pheasant, owl, vulture? Not so much. Only animals that have a divided hoof and chew the cud. Again, beef and lamb are fine, but not camels and (the biggest tragedy of all) pigs. (Understand: NO BACON!) When Peter looked at the picnic blanket from heaven, there were some animals there that would make fine cuisine: Oysters Rockefeller. Buttered crab. Stuffed Pheasant. Bacon Wrapped Bacon! He was hungry, but every animal on the blanket was one of the Old Testament forbidden animals and Peter didn’t want to disobey God’s Old Testament laws, so he replied to God: Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean! And Peter must have felt pretty good about his answer. He had just listened to God’s voice in the Old Testament; He just ignored God’s voice that had just spoken to him in order to do so…but… God responds: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (v.15) At the end of the vision, while Peter was standing there – a bit dumbfounded– and deeply pondering the meaning: Is bacon OK now? Should I stop by the local BBQ shop? A knock came from the downstairs door. Being on the roof, Peter scooted to the ridgeline and peeked over at the visitors. From the third floor he could make out the unmistakable insignia of Roman soldiers. Gentiles. Non-Jews. Non-Jews that currently were enforcing an unwanted rule on their kingdom. Peter’s first thought was to hide. His second thought was “those lousy good for nothing Romans.” His third thought was “I want nothing to do with their kind.” Then, God spoke again: “Simon…Get up. Go downstairs. Go with these men.” (v.19) Remember I mentioned the Old Testament dietary law? It was one of the ways that God impressed his holiness upon Old Testament Israel. There were other ways. They wore certain clothing. They made certain altars. They sacrificed certain sacrifices. And – they worshipped with certain people. To impress His holiness on all people – Old Testament Israelites circumcised their male children. That was different in ancient times. No other nation did it. God had Israel do it, as a symbol of cutting off the sinful nature and being made new in God’s mercy. Since the Jews were circumcised and every other race of people wasn’t, this meant that oftentimes the Israelites did things by themselves. In fact, over time Jewish leadership developed rules that helped to keep people obeying God. They made a rule that you could not eat with anyone who wasn’t a Jew. That you could not have someone who wasn’t a Jew enter your home; that you could not enter the house of someone who wasn’t Jewish, because you dare not spend time with people who were “impure.” All Israel knew that. All Israel practiced that. Peter knew that. Peter practiced that. But God just said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” And God had just told him to follow these men to their home so… Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. (v.23) Peter started out with them the next day (v.23b) Peter arrived at the house of a Roman centurion named Cornelius and he entered the home. (v.25) Did you hear that? Peter just broke hundreds of years of Jewish tradition to follow the voice of God. Then, Peter gets to talking with Cornelius and it turns out Cornelius had a vision, too. God had come to Cornelius and given him specific instructions to send a group of men to Joppa to the exact house that Peter was at and to ask for a guy named Peter. This was no coincidence. So… Peter says this: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.” (v.34-35) And Peter went on to tell these non-Jews people about Jesus. He told them about how Jesus died for them. He told them about how Jesus rose for them. He told them about how Jesus fulfilled God’s plan to save them. He told them about how anyone who believes in Jesus – any Jew – and even any non-Jew – receives forgiveness of sins in His name. (v.36-43) He told them this because Peter now understood this important (and still relevant) truth: God does not have a favorite “race” of people. In God’s eyes, people are people. There’s not a racist bone in God’s body. There’s not a racist tweet in the Bible. There’s not an ounce of racism in His way of thinking. God created every race of people. God loved every race of people. God saw that every race of people had fallen into sin. God sent a Savior for every race of people. God’s blood covered the sins of every person of every race of people. In short, no matter who you are; no matter what race you are; no matter what culture you are: Jesus loves you. Jesus died for you. And no matter who your neighbor is, no matter what race they are, no matter what culture they are: Jesus loved them. Jesus died for them. II. What Now? The point of all this is still relevant today. It means not feeling guilty about a BLT sandwich. Guilty about bacon-wrapped, deep fried, pork chops? Maybe – but the guilt is for other reasons! The deeper truth isn’t about food; but people. (1) Identify Your Own Prejudice (and Fight Against it) Granted. You might be saying: “But pastor! I don’t have any prejudice. I love all people. I love all cultures. I love all races of people.” Fair enough. I would hope that none of you openly confess to hating a certain race of people. If you do openly confess that certain races of people are better than others, repent! That’s sinful. But even if you don’t openly confess it, be careful: Our prejudices can be trickier than that. For example, what if I had started preaching today in a turban? Or what if I had planned for worship only Gospel songs? The ones with lots of clapping and plenty of “Amens.” Or what if the snacks afterwards were nothing but sushi? You might not love it. You might complain about it. You might say, “That’s not what we do.” Friends, that’s prejudice. And we shouldn’t be surprised that all of us suffer from prejudice, because that’s what sin does. Sin selfishly, egotistically focuses inward and says, “I am the best. My culture is the best. My people are the best. God loves how we do it best.” Repent. This is not Godly. Thankfully God doesn’t have prejudice. (not even against people who are prejudiced – aka – all of us). Jesus battled those sins of prejudice for us. Jesus took them to the cross. Jesus died for us and our subtle racism and all of our prejudices. Thanks be to Jesus. Now he asks us to lay them at his go out to fight against them. And we do that by #2: (2) Obey God’s Call The voice from heaven was not the first time Peter learned the less that God doesn’t play favorites. Jesus had taught that, too! He spent time with Samaritans. He spoke to a woman at the well who was a Samaritan. He healed the servant of a Roman soldier. Jesus even ordered Peter directly: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Up to this point, Peter had been thinking that “Go and make disciples of all nations” meant, “Go and make disciples of the Jews living in all nations.” He was wrong. And to his credit, when he realizes this, he obeys God right away. He takes the men into his home. He follows them to their home. He enters and shares the Gospel with them. Do the same thing. God didn’t say, “Go and make disciples of all the white people in Raleigh.” He didn’t say, “Go and make disciples of all the Midwestern transplants in Raleigh.” He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Here’s the thing – when we do that – that kind of love reaches out past racial lines and unites people. Honestly, it’s just like those Old Testament dietary restrictions. Only instead of watching what we eat, we watch how we act towards those who are different. Because the truth is that America is divided by race. Racist pride is touted as desirable trait that leads to more and more divisiveness. The Cross of Jesus is different. The Cross of Jesus unites. The blood of Jesus covers us all. The church (our church) is to be a place where God has brought people of all languages, cultures and backgrounds – together. That’s different. If done correctly, it will stick out like an Old Testament Jew ordering the lamb at a Pork BBQ place. It’ll stick out in a good way. How do we do this? We love one another. We reach out to those that are different from us. We are willing to say, “My desires and my culture are different than yours. And that’s ok. In fact, my desires and culture will take a back seat for the sake of you, my friend, and your culture.” Conclusion: When you do this… When we go to work on the sharing of God’s Gospel with all nations… God blesses it. Look what happened with Peter. In the middle of his speech, The Holy Spirit came upon all who heard his message. (v.44) It was God’s way of saying: “Yes! I approved. I don’t show favoritism. I love all people. And I am bringing this people into my kingdom at the same level as – and at the same equality as – you Jews who are also a part of my kingdom.” God is behind the sharing of his Gospel message. God is behind the sharing of his Gospel message to all people. Let’s go to work. Let’s share the Gospel with all people. Amen.  Review of last week’s lesson. Philip and Simon.
The Unstoppable Gospel does not make its way only to cities. Sometimes it heads to much less populated areas. Today we are going to be following the Unstoppable Gospel on its next stop. But this time, it doesn’t head to a big, populated area like Samaria, but somewhere a little less so. Before we do that, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Story Account starts in Acts 8:26: An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” A couple of notes: “An angel of the Lord.” Incredible messenger! Angels glow. Angels are bathed in clean white. Angels shine like the sun. When an angel appears, it is obvious. Obvious it’s an angel and obvious it is from God. The appearance of an angel teaches us that this is not a feeling. Not a hunch. Not some weird dream. It’s a very clear directive from the angel of the Lord. Go South…towards Gaza. Remember Philip was in Samaria. That was to the North of Judea. Gaza is south of Judea. This is a long journey. 150-mile foot journey to be exact. There would have to be a very impressive destination if I was going to walk 150 miles. (Doritos factory? Super Bowl? Something like that…) Go…to the desert road. A few things make this request a bit strange. The last place Philip went was a city in Samaria. Cities have lots of people. Cities have a lot of opportunities to share the Gospel. Here? The Spirit wants Philip to head to “some desert road.” Isn’t this a strange request? The Holy Spirit wants Philip to walk hundreds of miles in order to get to some unnamed desert road where very few people are traveling. Who would follow such a request? Answer: Philip. He trusts God. He trusts God’s plan. He trusts that if God wants him to walk 150 miles to some unnamed desert road, he should walk 150 miles to some unnamed desert road. As Philip gets to walking. It becomes clear to him why God wanted him to on that unnamed desert road: As he’s walking. As he’s thinking. As he wiping the sweat away from his brow. As he stops to rub his feet – 70 plus miles completed. He hears some noise in the distance. It’s a low rumbling. Maybe it’s thunder. Philip looks and sees a cloud of dust coming his way with a silvery, glistening metal in front. It’s a chariot. The kind of ride ridden by only the wealthiest. As the chariot approaches, Philip notices the insignia on the side of the chariot. It’s a royal chariot. It’s a royal chariot from the country of Ethiopia. The man sitting in the chariot – not the driver – but the passenger in back – looks very impressive. He has royal insignia on his clothing. He has royal insignia on his headgear. He has royal insignia on his jewelry. He’s royalty. Philip steps out of the way. It’s nice to see some other signs of life on this road, but…he’s royalty. I’m not. He won’t want anything to do with me. And…right about the time Philip is ready to let him pass by without so much as a head nod… The Holy Spirit speaks: “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” (v.29) Really? I’m just me. Just Philip. I’m dirty. I’m dusty. I’m a commoner. I am hardly dressed for a meeting with nobility. But… Then again… You are the Holy Spirit so… Philip approaches the chariot. And as he does so, he notices that the man is reading something. He squints at the back of the scroll and notices a title on the seal – to help identify the scroll -- It says, “Isaias.” Isaiah. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” the Ethiopian ruler said, “Unless someone explains it to me.” (v.30) And the Ethiopian ruler commands the driver to slow down. He swings open the door to the chariot. He holds out his jewel studded hand to Philip. “Join me. Teach me. Please.” And Philip did. He taught him about the Scripture in question. He taught him that Jesus was the man the Scripture was talking about. He told him how Jesus was like a lamb who was sent to slaughter. About how Jesus was silent and willingly went. About how he had his glory cut off. About how he was shaved of his joy. About how he was deprived of justice. And about how Jesus did this for the Ethiopian eunuch. About how Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood for his sins. About how the Scriptures prophesied and predicted this. About how the Scripture from Isaiah isn’t the end. About how three days later…Jesus came back to life! About how God loved that Ethiopian Eunuch very much. About how the wealth and jewels and status of this world would mean nothing compared to the incredible riches of God’s forgiveness, eternal life, and peace with God that lasts forever. About how royalty on earth does not translate to royalty in God’s kingdom. About how…faith in Jesus does. And the ruler? He believes. And he says: Look! There is some water. What can stand in the way of me getting baptized? (v.36) And they stopped the chariot. And they got into the water. And Philip poured water into his head and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And the Ethiopian smiled. He had been a part of nobility. He had been a part of royalty. He had been a part of the Ethiopian government. But now… Now he was a part of God’s kingdom. II. The Gospel is Status-Less This lesson is very important to our understanding of the Gospel, because it teaches us a very important lesson about status and the Gospel. If you are successful by this world’s standards, If you think you got there by yourself, If you think you’re super impressive, Do not forget: You still need Jesus. Because all the money in the world, All the accolades at a company, All the trophies from your peers will not stop God from judging your sins. Here’s the truth then: The Gospel is Status-less. No one is above the Gospel Not your boss. Not being cool. Not being popular. Not the president. Not the guy with 2,000 Facebook friends. Everyone needs the Gospel. Everyone needs a Savior. And if you aren’t the boss, If you don’t feel cool, If you aren’t popular, And barely have 50 Facebook friends… You need the same Savior. And have the same Savior. The Gospel is Status-less. No one is below the Gospel Thankfully. When you realize that. When you humble yourself. When you seek God’s mercy, the Gospel bestows on you a status higher than anything you could imagine: You are given the status of God’s eternal child. The Ethiopian eunuch was high ranking. He was used to people doing whatever he told them to do. But…when he hears what God did for him. And what God wants him to do. He listens. He gets out of the chariot. He goes into the mucky, dirty, ‘’some water.” To be baptized. He doesn’t wait for a big celebration. Some impressive looking river. A chance to make a royal show of it. He knows he’s a sinner. He knows he needs a Savior. He humbles himself, believes and is baptized. As a believer, you have that same status. As an unbeliever, God wants to give that status to you. Believe. Believe that the status God gives is the only status that matters! III. What Now? 1. Avoid Same Status Sharing Because our world is very status oriented. Ever play apps like Bejeweled? Or Words with Friends? Or Subway Surfers? They’re just fun little games on your phone – but they have been enabled with the ability to share your status! The ability to put your ranking on Facebook. The ability to let everyone know that – HEY! You might be a C.E.O. at Lenovo, but I just added 12 chickens to my farm on Farmville! Status is so important to this world. And the devil will use this to play tricks on the way we perceive status that will affect the way we share the Gospel. He’ll make us think that person is too far above us or too far below us. Especially in a few areas: Financial Status. This was an issue at Jesus time, before Jesus’ time and it’s still an issue today! It leads people to think things like: It looks like they have a lot of money, don’t bother them. There must be a rich church they can go to. It looks like they are too poor, don’t bother them – they wouldn’t fit in here. UGH! Financial status has nothing to do with whom we share the Gospel with. Jesus told a story about a wedding banquet and how the one who threw the party invited rich and poor alike to his party. The point? Jesus invites all to his party. There is no cover charge. There is no required dress. There is no down payment necessary. Jesus paid our way in. Jesus paid for others too. Jesus wants us to share the Gospel with them regardless of status. Age Status. Sometimes we think: “My kid doesn’t have the status of adult. They don’t have the status of ready. They don’t have the status of old enough to hear God’s Word.” But… Jesus said, “Make disciples of all nations.” Notice there aren’t status qualifications. Are your kids a part of all nations? Yes. Then share the Gospel with them. Tell them of their Savior. Bring them to church. Teach them to be in church. Have them baptized. Give them Jesus and give them the status of being a member in God’s kingdom. Christian Status. This is the most foolish of all. But I think it’s way too real. Because we tend to think about adding to this church – and I know it, I’ve heard it. It’s as if we have this checklist: Are they WELS? I’ll totally invite them to church. Are they Christian? I’ll consider inviting them to church. Are they unbelieving? No way am I inviting them to church. Aren’t we missing the POINT when we think like that? Jesus didn’t say go and hang out with the people that are already my disciples. He said, “Go and make disciples…” The implications? Make disciples of non-disciples. Share the Gospel with those who don’t know the Gospel. The Status of Gospel believer is not a requirement for hearing the Gospel. In fact, the status of unbeliever is all the more reason for sharing the Gospel. 2. Be Confident in Your Status Because you might say, “I’m not impressive like Philip. I don’t have a high paying job. I don’t make a lot of money. I don’t have fancy clothes. I don’t own a 3-piece suit with one of those skinny ties and fancy scarves that you put in the right breast pocket. I can’t share the Gospel!” But you’d be wrong. What qualifies you for sharing the Gospel is not some kind of outward status. It’s the inward promise of status as God’s child. You have that. You have that status as God’s child. You are qualified to share the Gospel. Your status is not what brings people into God’s kingdom. God’s Word does. God’s Word is God’s Word – there is no higher status. You’ve got God’s Word? Then you are qualified to share in the work of the Gospel. That’s what Philip did. He unleashed the Unstoppable Gospel and the Holy Spirit brought the Rich, Ethiopian Ruler to faith. That same Gospel works for you. Amen. |
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January 2021
Pastor Phil Kiecker
and his wife, Julianna love serving the community of North Raleigh.
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