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A dedicated servant arrives in the holy city ready to honor God... only to face wild accusations from the very people he hoped would celebrate his work. What if the violent clash that followed was not a mistake, but the exact path God chose to advance the gospel? Let’s uncover how one man’s obedience amid lies and beatings reveals the surprising way the Lord still works through every hardship we face.
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/lies-that-bind
#mlcc #church #churchonline
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/lies-that-bind
#mlcc #church #churchonline
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LearningTranscript
00:00So when I was running for school board years ago, I can't even remember how many years
00:03ago it was when I was running.
00:04There's three of us in the church that were running, Dennis, I, and Mike Gary.
00:08I learned something about running for office, and that I learned is that people lie about
00:13you.
00:15There was an interview on the Spokesman Review who interviewed a current city member of the
00:19school board who told the Spokesman Review that all three of us from this church were
00:24Christian nationalists.
00:26And I'm thinking, how do you go about saying, I'm not a Christian nationalist?
00:29I mean, I'm a Christian, and I'm a patriot, but I don't believe that this is a theocracy
00:35that we live in.
00:36How do you go about doing that?
00:37Because people believe what they want to believe, even in the face of actual evidence.
00:42And I also learned, learned a lot of things.
00:46Didn't get elected, but I learned a lot of things.
00:48I learned also that if you don't get your message out there and tell people what you
00:53actually think, somebody else will create a message for you.
00:58So, I was at a meet and greet for the people that meet the candidates for the school board,
01:03and this lady walks up to me, and she says, right, she goes, I heard, and I'm thinking,
01:07okay, well, what did you hear?
01:08Because I haven't said anything.
01:09I heard that you want to put porty-potties out in the parking lot at the high school for
01:14all the transgender students to use.
01:16And I said, what?
01:18I would never say anything like that.
01:20That is farthest from my thinking.
01:22I would never say anything like, oh, but I heard you said that.
01:25I could not convince her that I never said anything like that.
01:29People believe what they want to believe, even in the face of actual evidence.
01:34They lied about us.
01:37And then, because I didn't get my story, my truth out there, they created some other story
01:42about me that wasn't true.
01:44And this is exactly what's happening to the Apostle Paul today.
01:47People are creating a story about him that is not true, and they're lying about him.
01:53He's got his message out there, but people are still lying about him and bringing in an
01:58untruth in this situation.
02:00We're going to finish, well, actually, we won't finish all out chapter 21 of the book
02:04of Acts.
02:04So, if you have your Bible, open up to the book of Acts, chapter 21.
02:07We'll continue on a little ways.
02:08We won't finish the whole thing.
02:11But what we're going to see as we look at this, Paul's in Jerusalem now.
02:14He's made a Jerusalem.
02:15We're going to see what takes place, why he's in Jerusalem.
02:17We're going to see that he ends up in a place where they're lying about him and brings
02:22them into conflict.
02:24So, what we see here in the text is God allows conflicts into your life, even when you're
02:30doing the right thing, to further his will.
02:33Now, that one is hard to chew on.
02:36That one's hard.
02:38It's to think that our Heavenly Father, the one who loves us above everyone else, knows
02:44all things, has all power, allows conflicts into our life to further his will.
02:52I mean, can I honestly say, can we honestly say that I believe at all times that God has
02:58my best interest in mind?
03:01Oh, come on.
03:02Let's be honest.
03:03Think about those times of prayers didn't get answered the way you wanted them.
03:06Come on, we're all, the fact is God has my best interest all the time at mind, but often
03:11I forget that, that he has my best interest at mind.
03:15So, he arrives in Jerusalem and the first thing he's going to get together with the leaders
03:19of the church of Jerusalem and he's going to give them a testimony, a feedback of what
03:23God has been doing among the Gentiles in his ministry.
03:26If you look with me in chapter 21, verse 17, this is God's word.
03:29We want to look at it together.
03:30Father, when we had come to Jerusalem, remember he had left Caesarea with a group of people
03:37and they're traveling up to Jerusalem.
03:39When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.
03:44On the following day, Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present.
03:49After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles
03:54through his ministry.
03:56And when they heard it, they glorified God.
03:58They were so excited what God was doing among the Gentiles.
04:02And they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of
04:06those who have believed.
04:07So, apparently there's some great revival going on in Jerusalem right now.
04:10Thousands of people are believing in the Messiah, their Messiah.
04:15They are all zealous for the law.
04:18That is the law of Moses.
04:19And they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles
04:24to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to their customs.
04:30That's a lie.
04:31He never taught that.
04:32What then is to be done?
04:34So, even James has heard this lie told about Paul.
04:38What then is to be done?
04:40They will certainly hear that you have come.
04:42The city will know that he's there.
04:43He's come for the Pentecost celebration.
04:46Do, therefore, what we tell you.
04:48We have four men who are under a vow.
04:50Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses so that they may
04:55shave their heads.
04:55So, this is a Nazarite vow.
04:57They've let their hair grow really long.
04:59Thus, all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that
05:05you yourself also live in observance of the law.
05:08But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter.
05:12That's chapter 15 of Acts.
05:13We have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed
05:17to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality.
05:21Nothing to do with the law of Moses or circumcision is in there at all.
05:25Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went
05:29into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the
05:34offering presented for each one of them, all four of the men.
05:38So, he comes to Jerusalem, and he's traveling together from Caesarea.
05:42Now, if you remember correctly where we left off last week, remember Agabus comes down
05:45and he says, hey, the person who owns this belt, he took Paul's belt and he tied his
05:50hands and he tied his feet and he says, the person who owns this belt is going to be bound
05:54in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.
05:56Paul knows this when he goes to Jerusalem.
05:59He says, I'm all in.
06:01I don't really care what's going to happen to me.
06:02I let the will of the Lord be done.
06:04I am all in.
06:04But on the way to Jerusalem, he knows what's coming, and he's got these people with him
06:09to encourage him, to help him step by step.
06:13As he gets closer to Jerusalem, he knows what's coming, but the people around him are an encouragement
06:17to him.
06:18Paul was encouraged by those traveling with him.
06:22They were there saying, Paul, God's will will be done.
06:25Lord, Jesus will take care of you.
06:27Everything will be all right, Paul.
06:28They just encourage him.
06:30And you know, that is so true.
06:31It's always encouraging to have fellow travelers around us as we walk out our faith.
06:37It's good to know that we're not alone when we're following Jesus.
06:40He's walking up to Jerusalem.
06:41He can feel like he's totally isolated from everyone else because what's coming his way,
06:44but he realizes he's not alone in this endeavor and that there are others that are praying
06:48for him and strengthening him and supporting him.
06:50He's being encouraged.
06:52He's having courage put into him.
06:54He's encouraged.
06:57So we want to let all the believers around us know that we're a fellow traveler with him.
07:01We haven't reached the goal yet.
07:02We're all traveling together toward the celestial city.
07:05We're all traveling to that city whose builder and maker is God.
07:07We're looking forward to that.
07:08None of us have made it yet.
07:09We're fellow travelers together.
07:11So we encourage one another as we're going along.
07:14So he gets a warm welcome from the church.
07:16They're excited about what God's doing among the Gentiles.
07:19They're really excited.
07:20It seems like the apostles must be gone because none of the apostles are here right now.
07:25They must be out.
07:26Some may even have died by this point.
07:28It seems like the elders are running the church in Jerusalem, not the apostles.
07:31They're somewhere else at this time.
07:33It is at this time likely that Paul turns over the special offering that he had for the
07:38poor saints in Jerusalem.
07:40James is the head leader of the church in Jerusalem.
07:43So it makes good sense to turn over that offering to him and he can disperse it to the needy
07:47saints in Jerusalem.
07:48So it's likely he turns over at this time that offering.
07:51Acts 24.
07:53Now, after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation to present offerings.
07:57This is what he's talking about right here.
07:58While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or atonement.
08:03But then we're going to get the rest of that story later on in just a second.
08:06So it's likely he brings the offering and turns it over.
08:09Now he's done his duty and he's turned over the offering for the saints in Jerusalem.
08:14And he meets together with James.
08:16This is not the apostle James.
08:17This is James, the half brother of Jesus.
08:19The apostle James has already been killed by Herod, remember?
08:22This is the half brother of Jesus.
08:24And he's sitting down with James.
08:26And, you know, think about it.
08:28If you sat down with a half brother of Jesus, wouldn't you like to ask him questions about
08:31Jesus?
08:32I mean, think about it.
08:33What was he like growing up?
08:35Can you tell us some things that he said or maybe some things that he talked about God?
08:39And I would have asked him a ton of questions.
08:42I don't know if Paul did or not.
08:43It doesn't say in the text.
08:44But if I had an opportunity, I'd ask the half brother of Jesus tons of questions about Jesus.
08:50So in Acts 15, the elders endorsed Paul's ministry, said, go, we're all for you.
08:55Good job.
08:56God's with you.
08:57And now he's hearing, they're hearing back what God has done among them.
09:00But we have this revival going on in Jerusalem.
09:03Thousands of Jews have come to faith in the Messiah, yet they're still zealous for the law
09:07of Moses.
09:08They're still zealous for the law of Moses.
09:11God was graciously at work among the Jews and thousands have been saved.
09:17Revival was taking place in the day.
09:19It was great.
09:20But Paul's presence now introduces a problem in the believing Jewish community.
09:27They've heard lies about him.
09:29People have told them untruths and they believe it, that he actually was teaching against the
09:34law of Moses or against circumcision for the Jewish people.
09:39Some have made up these false accusations about him.
09:43So James brings up this concern.
09:45That's what some were saying about Paul.
09:47That's in his relationship to the law of Moses.
09:51I wonder when James brings up this concern, I wonder if Paul just looked at him and said,
09:55hey, have you read my letter to the Galatians yet?
09:58Because if you read my letter to the Galatians, we already dealt with this problem with the
10:01law.
10:02And so, read it.
10:04I'm sure he didn't do that.
10:05But he could have.
10:07Could have.
10:09In this case, the believing Jews saw the law of Moses as part of their national identity.
10:14They weren't looking into it for their salvation and they weren't looking into it for their
10:17sanctification.
10:17They were saying, this is what makes us Jews.
10:20This is the Jewishness about us.
10:22The law of Moses was given to the Jewish people.
10:24So this makes us Jews.
10:26And it was a national identity, if you want to say it like that.
10:30And to kind of get a context of what's taking place in Jerusalem right now, it's really important
10:34to know what's happening, why they're acting and why they ask him to do this.
10:38It makes perfect sense once we get the historical background, what's going on right now.
10:42Now, the historian Josephus said, he described this period of the mid-50s as a time of intense
10:49Jewish nationalism and political unrest.
10:53One insurrection after another rose to challenge the Roman overlords and Felix brutally suppressed
10:59them all.
11:00This only increased the Jewish hatred for Rome and inflamed anti-Gentile sentiments.
11:07It was at a time when pro-Jewish sentiment was at its height and friendliness with outsiders
11:12was viewed wrongly or as bad.
11:15Think about it.
11:16Paul just spent the last years among Gentiles.
11:19They're totally about Jewish nationalism right now.
11:22And anything Gentile was to be looked down upon as not good because we're all about this Jewish
11:27nationalism right now.
11:29Here's a guy that spent all of these years with the Gentiles.
11:31There must be something wrong with him, is what they're saying.
11:36Something must have rubbed off on him.
11:37He's just not the kind of Jewish person that we're looking for.
11:44Because Paul had spent so much time with the Gentile lands, he's suspect.
11:48He's suspect.
11:50Can we really trust this Paul guy, is what they're saying.
11:53Can we really trust him?
11:56The context makes everything more understandable as we read this, why they're behaving the
12:01way that they're so Jewish nationalistic thinking.
12:04So, it was well-received by the elders, his Gentile mission, but the regular people was
12:10not so well-received.
12:12This political environment in Jerusalem made it like it was a bad thing that he spent time
12:17with the Gentiles.
12:18Not that they're coming to faith.
12:22The elders rejoiced, but the people did not.
12:24See, Paul had become a liability in the Jewish evangelism.
12:29There's this big push of thousands of Jews getting saved, and now this guy comes and spends
12:34all this time with his Gentiles, and anything Gentile is suspect at this point.
12:38So, we can't trust this guy, Paul.
12:40You're a hindrance now to the revival that's taking place in Jerusalem.
12:44We've got to do something about it.
12:45That's kind of what's going on right now.
12:48There's serious charges to forsake the law, to discourage circumcision among Jewish believers,
12:54and we're not talking about Gentiles, but Jewish people that cut right to the heart of Jewishness.
13:01Paul clearly taught that circumcision does not save a person.
13:05Clearly taught that doesn't make a person a better Christian if you're circumcised or uncircumcised.
13:09He talks about that.
13:11He discouraged the practice among the Gentiles.
13:13You don't need to be circumcised, but he never did that among the Jews.
13:16He never told the Jews, oh, you don't need to be circumcised.
13:18As a matter of fact, you remember when Timothy joined him?
13:21When Timothy joined him, he had Timothy circumcised.
13:24He's half Jew.
13:24Let's read the text, Acts 16.
13:27Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews
13:32who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
13:35So, Timothy is half Jewish, half Greek, and for the Jewish evangelism, he wanted to make
13:40sure Timothy was circumcised.
13:41So, he's not opposed to Jews being circumcised.
13:43Never.
13:44Only the Gentiles.
13:45He never asked that upon us.
13:47He clearly taught that the law can't save anyone.
13:50Only faith in Christ alone is a means of salvation, Acts 4.12.
13:54And there is salvation in no one else.
13:57For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
14:01And these Jews believed that, but there was this nationalism that arose in those days,
14:06and anything Gentile was suspect.
14:09The allegations against Paul by the Jewish Christians were there, so the elders had to
14:14act.
14:14They had to do something about it.
14:17They need to know why Paul came, and they need to know that he's not opposed to them.
14:23They need to do something about this so that the revival can continue on, is the idea.
14:28James was trying to reconcile a perceived error to keep the unity of the faith.
14:34They're excited about the Gentiles getting saved, so they're not opposed to that.
14:38It's just that this Jewish nationalism was opposed to anything Gentile, so they're suspect
14:42to him, and they don't want to hear anything about this Paul guy.
14:44He's lying.
14:45He's telling untruths.
14:48So, Paul is operating under this principle.
14:51All things to all people to save some.
14:55If you go back to the book of Romans, Paul said in Romans, he said this, I'm going to
14:59paraphrase.
15:00He basically said, I'm willing to go to hell if my Jewish brothers and sisters would just
15:05get saved.
15:06That's how much he loved his nation.
15:08He loved the Jewish people.
15:10He was for them, not against them.
15:14These are serious allegations.
15:17But he says, you know, I am willing to do what is necessary to see people saved.
15:24Here's the principle.
15:25It's in 1 Corinthians 9.
15:28To the Jews, I became as a Jew in order to win Jews.
15:33To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law.
15:39In other words, he knew his relationship in Christ.
15:41He understood that.
15:42But why?
15:43That I might win those under the law.
15:45To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of
15:50God, but under the law of Christ.
15:52So, I didn't go out sinning with them.
15:55That I might win those outside the law.
15:58To the weak, I became weak.
16:00That I might win the weak.
16:01I have become all things to all people that by all means, I might save some.
16:07We need to grab a hold of this biblical truth.
16:11We need to grab a hold of this truth.
16:14We're being taught today through the media mostly that we want to put people in groups.
16:20We group them by their ethnicity.
16:22We group them by whether they're rich, they're poor.
16:25And we put people in these groups.
16:27Why?
16:27To divide us.
16:28So that we look at the other group as dangerous to us because they're not like us.
16:33We never want to have that mentality when preaching the gospel.
16:37We want to preach the gospel to people who are not like us.
16:40But people like us, not like us, sometimes make us uncomfortable.
16:44But Paul is saying, listen, I'm willing to do whatever it takes, not to sin, of course.
16:48Not to just go along with their sin or not to condone their sin.
16:51But I will do whatever it takes to reach anybody with the gospel.
16:54Even people who are not like me.
16:57We just like to divide people up and say, well, I can't talk to that group of people
17:01because they're not like me.
17:02I don't have anything in common with them.
17:03Are you a human being?
17:05You got something in common with them.
17:08Don't let the world divide us up.
17:10We have to be willing to reach every group of people with the gospel of Jesus Christ,
17:14even if they don't look like us.
17:20We can never let that happen to us.
17:23We must be willing to tell everybody about Jesus.
17:27Because really, they're not a bunch of groups on this earth.
17:30There's really just two groups on this earth.
17:31Two groups of people.
17:32There's only one race of people, by the way.
17:35Ethnicities, tons of them.
17:36One race of people.
17:37We're all of Adam's race, right?
17:38Adam.
17:39The two groups of people on this earth are those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.
17:44Those are the people still in Adam.
17:46And you say, what's that mean?
17:47I'll explain in just a second.
17:49These are the people who do not believe Jesus.
17:50They're still in their, they inherited everything from their forefather, Adam, that was available.
17:57They inherited sin.
17:59They inherited condemnation and wrath of God.
18:02They inherited alienation from God and separation from him.
18:06All of those wonderful things our forefather, Adam, gave us.
18:09These people who don't believe in Jesus are in that category.
18:12They're in that group.
18:13They're under the wrath of God still.
18:16That's John 3.36.
18:18Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
18:21Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
18:25Those people who don't believe in Jesus are in Adam and they have everything that Adam gave them.
18:31Death, sin, condemnation, wrath.
18:34But there's another group of people.
18:36Those people who have heard the gospel message.
18:38They've repented of their sins.
18:39They believe the gospel message.
18:40They have entered in Christ.
18:43And they inherit everything that Christ has given them.
18:47Eternal life, a new heart, the indwelling Holy Spirit, inheritance in heaven, eternity with God.
18:55All those in Christ have all of these benefits.
18:58So there's in Adam.
19:00That's where we all started.
19:01And then by getting saved, we got placed in Christ and we have all the benefits that Christ has.
19:08But this group that's in Adam are still under God's wrath.
19:16And they need to hear the gospel message.
19:19And I wonder today, are you in Christ?
19:22Have you been born again?
19:23Are you saved?
19:24Have you moved from being in Adam and all the things that we inherit from him to being in Christ
19:28and all the things that he's going to give us by grace?
19:31Which one are you in today?
19:32There's only two groups.
19:33In Adam or in Christ.
19:35So I ask, are you in Adam today under the wrath of God?
19:38Or are you in Christ under the blessings of God?
19:411 Peter 1.3
19:42Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
19:45According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection
19:51of Jesus Christ from the dead.
19:54All of us began in Adam.
19:56Guess what?
19:56That means we have something common with all people on the face of the earth.
19:59We remember what it was like not to be saved.
20:02We were in Adam.
20:03We understand that.
20:05We can begin there, even with people who are not like us.
20:07We have that in common.
20:09We were all in Adam when we came into this world.
20:14We must learn to reach people where they are by becoming all things to all people that by all means
20:20we might save some.
20:22Even people who don't look like us or talk like us or dress like us.
20:28And we'll do this without violating, of course, any God's laws or commands.
20:32To the best of our ability, we identify with them without violating his laws.
20:36We understand that.
20:36We're not going to condone their sin.
20:37We're not going to participate in their sin.
20:39But we're going to connect with them as human beings because they need Jesus.
20:44So, Paul says, okay, listen, I'll pay the vows.
20:48I'll pay the money for these four men.
20:51And by the way, it was not cheap.
20:53It was really expensive.
20:55Check out number six.
20:56The cost to consummate a Nazarite vow was very expensive.
21:00It was very expensive.
21:01For one person, he's got four people to pay for here.
21:04Four.
21:06And what he has to pay for is listed here in number six.
21:10And this is the law for the Nazarite.
21:12When the time of his separation has been completed.
21:15In other words, he's grown his hair super, super long.
21:17He set apart a vow a certain period of time.
21:19He shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of the meeting.
21:22And he shall bring his gift to the Lord.
21:24Here's his gift.
21:25One male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering.
21:30One ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering.
21:33One ram without blemish as a peace offering.
21:36And a basket of unleavened bread.
21:38Loaves of fine flour mixed with oil.
21:40And unleavened wafer smeared with oil.
21:42And their grain offering and their drink offerings.
21:44Times that by four.
21:46That's not cheap to fulfill that.
21:48And Paul said, I don't know if he had a deep bank account.
21:50I'm not sure.
21:51He had enough money to take care of this.
21:53That is a lot of expense to take care of.
21:56He says, I'm willing to do it.
21:57I'm willing to prove that what they're saying is not true.
21:59It's a lie about me.
22:00It's not true.
22:02All of these sacrifices, I'm sure Paul looked at them as memorial sacrifices.
22:06Because he knows that the great sacrifice Jesus has already been offered.
22:09And this isn't an issue of salvation or sanctification.
22:11It's a vow that somebody has took.
22:15Paul never taught the Jews to give up Jewish customs.
22:18Here, taking a Nazarite vow.
22:20As long as they didn't trust in the customs for their salvation.
22:23Or trust in the customs for their sanctification.
22:25Their growth in their Christian life.
22:27Or use their Jewishness as a way to disfellowship people.
22:32Oh, you're not like me, so we can't get together.
22:35Romans 14, he talks about this.
22:38One person esteems one day as better than another.
22:41Okay, let's say the Jewish person wants to keep the Sabbath.
22:43Okay.
22:45While another esteems all days alike.
22:47Another person says, no, I'm not going to keep the Sabbath.
22:49Okay.
22:50Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
22:53The one who observes a day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
22:56The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God.
23:00While the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
23:03Don't make it a means of fellowship.
23:05If you want to keep the law of Moses, you Jewish people, not for sanctification and not for salvation, obviously.
23:10And don't keep it as a test of fellowship.
23:12But that's okay.
23:12You're a Jew.
23:13It was given to you.
23:14It's all right.
23:15We're not going to ask the Gentiles to do that.
23:16But you can do it.
23:18That was just a political move on Paul.
23:21You know, he's just trying to appease people.
23:22Actually, no.
23:23He actually took the vow himself earlier.
23:25Remember?
23:26When we were in Acts 18?
23:28He himself took the Nazarite vow.
23:31After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria.
23:36And with him, Priscilla and Aquila, at Caesarea, Centuria, he had cut his hair for he was under a vow.
23:42This wasn't some political stunt.
23:44He himself had done it.
23:46So, this wasn't something out of the ordinary for him.
23:49He was showing that what people were saying about him is not true.
23:52It's not true.
23:53So, he submitted himself to the ritual purification.
23:56Listen, he spent all this time in Gentile lands.
23:59He's got to get clean from this disgust of dirt of the Gentiles.
24:02Got to cleanse himself.
24:03He purifies himself.
24:04He's getting ready to offer this for the people.
24:07He had spent months in Gentile lands.
24:09So, he needed purification as far as they were concerned.
24:14So, in the Jerusalem Council, it concludes at the end of the section right here.
24:18What they said earlier in the Jerusalem Council is that we're not going to put all this stuff on the
24:21Gentiles.
24:23In fact, in the Jerusalem Council, they did not place the Gentile Christians under the obligation of the law.
24:28It was never put upon us.
24:29This is a Jewish thing.
24:31If you want to, you know, not for salvation, of course, and not for sanctification or not for means of
24:34fellowship.
24:35But if you want to, if you want to do this, it's fine.
24:37It's okay.
24:38It's not going to make you a better Christian than someone else if you do or less of a Christian
24:42if you don't.
24:45So, in Acts 15, we see this.
24:47Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
24:51but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality
24:56and from what has been strangled and from blood.
24:59So, that was never put upon the Gentiles.
25:01And Paul never did that.
25:03But he never said that the Jewish people couldn't do these things.
25:07So, he enters into the temple.
25:09Now, this is where the riot breaks out.
25:12He goes into the temple to fulfill the purification vows and to make sure everything is done according to the
25:18law of Moses.
25:19So, if you look with me in verse number 27, verse number 27.
25:25When the seven days were almost completed, so there's a time period.
25:28Once you make announcement, when the vows are to be ended, there's a time period you have to wait.
25:33When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, that would be the area of Ephesus.
25:40That would be Western Turkey today.
25:42Seeing him in the temple, saw Paul, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on Paul, crying out,
25:49Men of Israel, help!
25:52This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law in this place.
25:57In the midst of Jewish nationalism, that's not a thing to say.
26:01Okay, think of it that way.
26:03And against this place, moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.
26:10For they had previously seen Tromophius, the Ephesian, with him in the city.
26:15In other words, in a whole other event, they saw him with this guy.
26:18In the city.
26:19Saw him in the city.
26:22And they suppose that Paul had brought him into the temple.
26:24Again, they're just making up lies.
26:27Then all the city was stirred up and the people ran together.
26:31They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple.
26:34And at once, the gates were shut.
26:37And as they were seeking to kill him, I mean, they're really mad.
26:43A word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.
26:48The century probably saw it from the Fortress Antonio, which we'll see later on here in just a second.
26:54He at once took soldiers.
26:56That's the tribune.
26:57He at once took soldiers and centurions, plural, and ran down to them.
27:01And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
27:05Then the tribune came up and arrested him.
27:08What?
27:09He's the victim.
27:10Why did they arrest him?
27:12I mean, the guys that were beating him should have been arrested.
27:14But they arrested Paul.
27:16They arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains.
27:22Huh.
27:23I thought we heard about that last week.
27:26And he inquired who he was and what he had done.
27:29Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another.
27:32A mob doesn't know what's going on.
27:34And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the
27:40barracks.
27:40And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers.
27:44They had beat him so badly, he could barely walk, staggering around.
27:47So they carry him up the steps.
27:50Because of the violence of the crowd, for the mob of the people followed, crying out, away with him.
27:57Away with him.
28:00So, it's likely that these Jews from Asia could have been from Ephesus because Tromofius was from Ephesus.
28:07So it's possible that they made the connection, that they saw him in the city and thought that he had
28:13brought this Greek into the temple area.
28:15It's possible.
28:16They recognized him.
28:18You say, well, why is it a big thing to take a Gentile into the temple?
28:22I mean, come on.
28:22Isn't this supposed to be a place for all people?
28:24Well, there was an outer court called the Court of the Gentiles.
28:27It was a large section that goes all the way around the temple.
28:30It's called the Court of the Gentiles.
28:32Inside a barrier wall was the Court of Israel or the Court of Men.
28:35And you have the priests and the holy and the most holy place in there.
28:39So the whole outside area, the Gentiles could be there.
28:41But on this inside area, the Court of Israel, they are not allowed to go in there.
28:45As a matter of fact, if they go in there, they could die.
28:49Josephus, the historian, tells us this.
28:52Upon it stood pillars at equal distances from one another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek and some
28:59in Roman letters, that, quote, no foreigner should go within that sanctuary.
29:04For that second court of the temple was called the sanctuary.
29:08Thus was the first enclosure.
29:10In the midst of which, and not far from it, was the second to be gone up by a few
29:14steps, the Court of Israel.
29:15This was encompassed by a stone wall for a partition.
29:19There's a whole other story in Ephesians 2, if you want to read that, about the partition.
29:23A stone wall for a partition with an inscription, which forbade any foreigner to go in under pain of death.
29:30So it was serious.
29:31You don't bring Greeks into the sanctuary area.
29:33That's against the law.
29:34He would never do that.
29:36But they lied about him, just like they lied about what he was doing with the Gentile lands.
29:40They lied about that he brought this guy in.
29:42He did not do that.
29:44The conflict entered in, although he was doing the right thing, and it was God's will.
29:56People will believe what they want to believe, even in spite of actual evidence.
29:59They did not believe him.
30:02And trying to appease the mob did not work, for the mob misjudges Paul's actions.
30:08They totally misjudged him.
30:09They lied about him, and no one was asking him for the, hey, is this really true?
30:13No one even asked him if it was true.
30:15They just started beating him.
30:16They thought he brought a Greek into the sanctuary area.
30:19Of course, he would never do that.
30:24Misunderstanding leads to arrest, which is exactly what the Holy Spirit had predicted through Agabus the prophet.
30:32Exactly.
30:34God allows conflict into our lives to further his will.
30:41Doing good and being misunderstood.
30:43Some of you understand that it's happened to you.
30:46You've been doing the right thing, and people misunderstood you, and all of a sudden, you came into conflict with
30:50something.
30:51Whether your boss, your family, your friends, you were not doing anything wrong, but all of a sudden, you come
30:56into conflict because of a misunderstanding.
30:58You were doing good, but the conflict came anyway.
31:02And I know if we raise our hands, we've all been there.
31:04It's happened to all of us.
31:06You did nothing wrong, but the conflict arises anyway.
31:09The first question to ask ourselves when a conflict arises is not why, but what.
31:18It is not why is this conflict here.
31:21It is not why is this happening to me.
31:24Why me?
31:25Why now?
31:26Why not somebody else?
31:27That is not the first question to ask when conflicts come into our life for doing the right thing.
31:33The first question to ask is what?
31:36God, what are you doing in me and through me with this conflict?
31:41Not why, but what?
31:44What should I come out of this conflict with understanding or new wisdom or new direction?
31:49What is it that you want to show me in this conflict?
31:52We've done nothing wrong.
31:53I'm not talking about the stuff that we go out and we sin and we are disciplined for that and
31:56we have to,
31:56there's a bit of discipline.
31:58I'm talking about doing the right thing and suffering.
32:02What am I going to learn from this, God?
32:04What do you want to show me in this conflict?
32:09Here's a couple of Bible verses I'd like to show you.
32:12We talked about one last week.
32:13They all come out of Psalm 119.
32:15The first one is verse 71.
32:17It is good for me that I was afflicted.
32:20Whoa, time out.
32:21I don't like that.
32:22I don't like that.
32:23But it was good for me that I was afflicted.
32:28Why?
32:29That I might learn your statutes.
32:33Verse 75.
32:34I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
32:41Any affliction coming my way must go through the gracious hand of my loving Father.
32:45In your faithfulness you afflicted me.
32:49Verse 50.
32:51This is my comfort in my affliction.
32:54Your promises give me life.
32:56In the middle of my afflictions I look to his word to guide me and direct me and strengthen me.
33:03Let me ask you, are you okay with that?
33:05Those are pretty hard verses.
33:09I'm talking about suffering for doing the right thing.
33:12Conflict.
33:12Could it be God's will?
33:14I'm saying it is.
33:15In this case of Paul, it is God's will, this conflict.
33:18Why?
33:18Because it was prophesied earlier that he was going to be bound in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.
33:23This is God's will.
33:24And sometimes conflict comes into our life, even when we're doing good, to further the will of God.
33:31Are we okay when God allows conflict to come into our lives?
33:35We talked about it last week, and I wanted to revisit what Lewis Berry Schaeffer talked about,
33:40the reasonableness of fully surrendering to God, because I think it ties in right there.
33:44To be okay with the idea that affliction comes my way, even when I'm doing good, and it's God's will.
33:50He said, there were three reasons I should fully surrender to God.
33:54Three reasons.
33:55And he gave them one.
33:56Reason number one, God is all wise and knows better than anyone else what is best for my life.
34:02Now, the question is, do we really believe that?
34:05Do we really believe that God knows what's best for my life?
34:08He's all wise.
34:09He knows everything.
34:10But do we really live day by day believing that he has my best interests in mind?
34:16Reason two, he is almighty and has the power to accomplish what is best for me.
34:21Whatever it is, even in the midst of a conflict, he can give me the strength to endure the conflict,
34:26to persevere through the conflict, and to learn on the other side.
34:30He's powerful enough to accomplish what is best for me.
34:34And the third reason was this.
34:36God loves me more than anyone else does.
34:39He loves me any more than anyone else does.
34:41And if he loves me, he's never going to harm me.
34:43Never.
34:44He's only going to do good to me, because that is love.
34:47He's never going to harm me.
34:50So he concluded, Schaeffer did.
34:52Therefore, the most logical thing I can do is surrender my life to God.
34:56What more can I say?
34:57What more do I need to say?
34:59Are we okay when we do good and conflict enters our life by saying, yes, this is God's will?
35:07That's a tough one.
35:10I just finished, well, actually, I'm still reading.
35:12I'm not quite finished.
35:13About two-thirds away through a book called The Benefit of Christ by a 16th century reformer.
35:19And he was writing about this very thought here.
35:21His name is Juan de Valdez, and he wrote this.
35:25Therefore, when a devout soul anguishes at the bad things that have happened to him.
35:30In other words, conflict is coming into your life.
35:32Okay?
35:33It is not evidence that he is lacking assurance in the providence of God.
35:37So, when I am anguished because of conflict coming, it doesn't mean that I don't believe
35:42God's going to protect me or guide me.
35:43I don't believe that.
35:46He said it simply means that he has not yet brought all his mind to contentment with God's
35:52dealings with him.
35:53Am I content with that?
35:56In addition to the application of self-discipline, the devout Christian must also bring his mind
36:00into conformity with the will of God.
36:03I must be okay by saying, this conflict is God's will for me.
36:09It's God's will.
36:13The will of the Lord be done.
36:16And God uses the misunderstandings of the mob to move Paul eventually to Rome.
36:22He's all got one plan.
36:24And he's getting Paul to Rome.
36:28You want to say, well, how did the guards find out about this?
36:30How did they know what was going on?
36:31Here's a picture right here of, it's called the Antonio Fortress.
36:34This is a, on the left is the, it's a model of the Jewish temple.
36:40And then to the right, on the right corner up there is the Antonio Fortress built by Herod
36:44the Great.
36:45It overlooked the court of the Gentiles.
36:47That's that large area right there you see with the colonnades on the side.
36:50That's the court of the Gentiles.
36:51So, it overlooked that whole temple area.
36:53And I'm sure there's a guard that's looking over the temple, especially when they're getting
36:56close to Pentecost, a festival of the Jews.
36:59They're looking over that area to see if there's any riots.
37:01And so, somebody saw something, told the tribune, he grabbed two centurions.
37:06Each centurion has a hundred soldiers.
37:08So, there's at least 200 soldiers that go down into the temple area.
37:11And they see them, these people beating this guy, Paul.
37:14And again, why did they arrest Paul?
37:16I don't know, but they did.
37:19They come down.
37:20We learn later who the tribune is.
37:23Later on in Acts 23, we learn his name.
37:26Claudius Lassises.
37:28That's his name.
37:28We didn't know it at this point, but later on we were told.
37:31And he's writing a letter to Governor Felix.
37:33So, we found out who this guy is.
37:35Here we're not told, but later on we're told.
37:39Not knowing what was going on and seeing the mob beat Paul, he arrests him.
37:44Crazy.
37:45So, Paul now is bound hand and foot, just like predicted by the prophet Agabus.
37:53Exactly what God's will was.
37:58Acts 21.
37:59We saw that last week.
38:00In coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands,
38:04saying, thus says the Holy Spirit.
38:06This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns his belt
38:08and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
38:11Exactly what God's will was.
38:13Conflict came about not because Paul did something wrong,
38:16but because it was God's will for his life.
38:20Mobs didn't even know what was going on.
38:21One said one thing, one said another.
38:23You never listen to a mob because they don't have a clue what they're talking about.
38:26We saw that in Acts chapter 19, which actually took place at Ephesus.
38:30The riot at Ephesus.
38:31Now, some cried out one thing, some another,
38:33for the assembly was in confusion,
38:35and most of them did not even know why they'd come together.
38:39They had to carry him out.
38:40He's hurt so badly that he can't move.
38:42He can't walk well.
38:44He's staggering, perhaps.
38:45So, they carry him out of the area.
38:48And the crowd, the mob, called out the same words that another mob called out about Jesus.
38:55Away with him.
38:56Away with him.
38:57Luke often shows a kind of a parallel between Jesus and Paul, often.
39:03Just like, away with him.
39:05In John 19, they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him.
39:10And Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king?
39:13And the chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar.
39:16What the wrong thing to say.
39:19Here's something to mark down.
39:21This is the last time we see the temple in the book of Acts.
39:26And the last thing we learn about the temple in the book of Acts is that the gates were closed.
39:32Everything is moving.
39:35It's moving away from a central location where God has placed his name now to people spread around the world
39:41where God places his name on.
39:43We are the temple of God, Corinthians tells us.
39:46You individually and we corporately together are the temple of God.
39:50We don't see the temple anymore in the book of Acts because it's fading away.
39:53Because we are the temple of God.
39:55God dwells in us.
39:58You don't see the temple anymore.
39:59Remember, the last scene of the temple in the book of Acts.
40:04Okay.
40:05What can we see?
40:07First one is this.
40:09Be all things to all people that by all means we might save some.
40:14And I want to say that is not easy.
40:18That's not easy.
40:20People that are unlike us, they frighten us sometimes.
40:23They ought not to, but they do, just to be honest.
40:26They're not like us.
40:27They're different than us.
40:29And I have to be willing to find a way to make a connection to any person I run into,
40:33even if they're not like me.
40:34Because guess what?
40:35They need the gospel.
40:36They need to hear about Jesus.
40:38I have to, by all means, and I understand, I don't save anyone.
40:42God saves them.
40:43You understand?
40:43We know that.
40:44God saves people.
40:46But am I willing to go to people who are unlike me to tell them about Jesus?
40:51I have to become all things to all people that we might save some.
40:55Secondly, is this.
40:56Trust God when conflicts come so that you can confidently say, the will of the Lord be done.
41:03Because God is all-wise, he knows what is best for me.
41:05Because God is all-powerful, he can do what is best for me.
41:08That's right.
41:09And because he loves me more than anyone else could possibly love me, he would never do me wrong.
41:14Can I trust God when conflicts come in my life?
41:18Let's pray.
41:19Father, thank you.
41:20Thank you for Paul.
41:22He is doing the right thing, and he's beaten nearly senseless for it.
41:29Father, I thank you that even when hard times come our way, they must first come through your gracious hand
41:36to us.
41:38Nothing escapes you.
41:39Nothing can come our way unless you allow it.
41:41And I know that you allow sometimes conflicts to come our way.
41:45They're to train us in righteousness.
41:49They compel us to seek your face and to hold on tight to you because in conflict we hurt and
41:56we're unsure and we don't know what's next.
41:59But we know that you are our heavenly father who will never leave us or forsake us, who loves us
42:04with an everlasting love, and we are never separated from your love.
42:08Teach me to trust you even when conflicts come my way, when I'm doing good.
42:14that they are your will for my life.
42:17I thank you in Jesus' name.
42:19Amen.
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