1 00:00:04,167 --> 00:00:06,167 Howdy Mars Hill Church and our extended family 2 00:00:06,250 --> 00:00:08,208 of Mars Hill Global; I'm Pastor Sutton Turner, 3 00:00:08,292 --> 00:00:11,417 your executive pastor here in Ethiopia. 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Some might ask, "What is our extended family 5 00:00:17,083 --> 00:00:18,458 of Mars Hill Global?" 6 00:00:18,500 --> 00:00:23,583 Well, that's 250,000 people that join us by podcast 7 00:00:23,667 --> 00:00:25,667 each and every week! 8 00:00:25,750 --> 00:00:29,333 I want to first encourage you to be a part of a local church, 9 00:00:29,375 --> 00:00:32,458 wherever you are in the world, be a part of a local church 10 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:34,500 and give your tithe to the local church. 11 00:00:34,542 --> 00:00:36,500 Secondly, I want to encourage you to give, 12 00:00:36,542 --> 00:00:39,875 give over and beyond your tithe to Mars Hill Global. 13 00:00:39,958 --> 00:00:43,333 We're planting churches in Ethiopia, India, 14 00:00:43,417 --> 00:00:45,000 and the United States 15 00:00:45,042 --> 00:00:48,458 because we want to see more people be saved by Jesus. 16 00:00:48,500 --> 00:00:50,667 We want to see more people grow with Jesus 17 00:00:50,750 --> 00:00:53,875 and we want to see more people on Jesus' mission. 18 00:00:53,958 --> 00:00:57,250 I pray that you would consider being a part 19 00:00:57,333 --> 00:01:00,083 of the extended family of Mars Hill Global. 20 00:01:00,167 --> 00:01:04,833 Go to marshillchurch.com/global and sign up today. 21 00:01:04,875 --> 00:01:07,875 Jesus is doing some incredible things 22 00:01:07,958 --> 00:01:11,625 and we would like you to be a part of what Jesus is already doing. 23 00:01:19,125 --> 00:01:22,333 Howdy, Pastor Sutton Turner here with Mars Hill Church. 24 00:01:22,375 --> 00:01:25,417 On behalf of Pastor Mark Driscoll I want to say welcome. 25 00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:27,583 Thank you for joining us today. 26 00:01:27,667 --> 00:01:31,375 Jesus is using Mars Hill Church to make disciples 27 00:01:31,458 --> 00:01:33,833 and plant churches all over the world, 28 00:01:33,917 --> 00:01:36,292 and it wouldn't happen without your help. 29 00:01:36,333 --> 00:01:40,500 You're a part of the Mars Hill global family, 30 00:01:40,542 --> 00:01:43,167 our brothers and sisters throughout the United States 31 00:01:43,250 --> 00:01:46,333 and around the world connected to Mars Hill Church 32 00:01:46,375 --> 00:01:50,833 through the solid Bible teaching of Pastor Mark Driscoll. 33 00:01:50,917 --> 00:01:54,500 Today, you have a special opportunity 34 00:01:54,542 --> 00:01:57,167 to support the streaming of this sermon 35 00:01:57,208 --> 00:02:01,125 to our troops in the United States Armed Forces 36 00:02:01,167 --> 00:02:05,167 As we celebrate our country's independence on July 4th 37 00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:10,125 I hope you'll make a small donation to help distribute this content 38 00:02:10,167 --> 00:02:13,500 to men and women who defend our country and our freedom. 39 00:02:13,583 --> 00:02:15,958 Thank you for your gifts and your prayers 40 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,500 to help us send out more pastors and plant more churches. 41 00:02:20,542 --> 00:02:24,000 Right now let's join my favorite Bible teacher, 42 00:02:24,083 --> 00:02:26,292 pastor Mark Driscoll, for today's sermon. 43 00:02:36,833 --> 00:02:41,375 You will receive power. 44 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,667 You will receive power. 45 00:03:18,667 --> 00:03:22,292 You will receive power. 46 00:03:32,042 --> 00:03:34,708 All right, if you've got a Bible, go to Acts 9, 47 00:03:34,792 --> 00:03:36,125 starting in verse 19. 48 00:03:36,167 --> 00:03:38,417 We continue our study of the book of Acts. 49 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:40,500 And if you're new to Mars Hill 50 00:03:40,583 --> 00:03:42,125 or new to Christianity, 51 00:03:42,167 --> 00:03:44,792 the center of the whole Bible is really a person, 52 00:03:44,833 --> 00:03:46,917 and his name is Jesus Christ. 53 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,000 And orbiting around that person, Jesus Christ, 54 00:03:50,083 --> 00:03:53,000 are principles on how to live your life--do this, 55 00:03:53,083 --> 00:03:55,708 don't do that, a lot of wisdom and good advice-- 56 00:03:55,792 --> 00:03:57,333 as well as people. 57 00:03:57,375 --> 00:04:00,083 And the Bible includes the stories of some of the most 58 00:04:00,167 --> 00:04:05,000 amazing, fascinating, life-changing, earth-shattering, 59 00:04:05,042 --> 00:04:07,000 eternity-altering people in the history of the world, 60 00:04:07,083 --> 00:04:09,708 and today we're going to get to know one of them. 61 00:04:09,792 --> 00:04:11,125 His name is Saul. 62 00:04:11,167 --> 00:04:14,625 You may know him a little more familiarly as Paul. 63 00:04:14,667 --> 00:04:19,167 And what you're going to read and study with me is his 64 00:04:19,250 --> 00:04:21,583 testimony, but let me explain how this is different. 65 00:04:21,667 --> 00:04:24,000 In our day, there's a real fascination, 66 00:04:24,083 --> 00:04:27,333 a love for, biography. 67 00:04:27,375 --> 00:04:30,625 And so whether it's a testimonial on a talk radio 68 00:04:30,667 --> 00:04:34,833 or television show, or it's a runaway movie, 69 00:04:34,875 --> 00:04:38,125 or it's a best-selling book, we love biographies. 70 00:04:38,167 --> 00:04:42,125 We love to hear about someone who overcame adversity, 71 00:04:42,167 --> 00:04:44,792 someone who stood in the face of opposition, 72 00:04:44,833 --> 00:04:47,833 someone who was able to pull themselves up by 73 00:04:47,875 --> 00:04:50,333 their bootstraps to do better, to try harder, 74 00:04:50,375 --> 00:04:54,792 to get some great victory, and to emerge triumphant 75 00:04:54,833 --> 00:04:56,208 over their circumstances. 76 00:04:56,292 --> 00:04:59,208 And so our culture is littered with these stories, 77 00:04:59,292 --> 00:05:02,958 and the difference between a biography and a testimony 78 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,125 is this: God. 79 00:05:07,167 --> 00:05:10,083 Because a biography is about what they did and a testimony 80 00:05:10,167 --> 00:05:11,875 is about what God did. 81 00:05:11,958 --> 00:05:14,125 A biography is about how they're a winner, 82 00:05:14,167 --> 00:05:17,875 and a testimony is about how God's a winner. 83 00:05:17,958 --> 00:05:20,375 And a biography ultimately is about my glory, 84 00:05:20,458 --> 00:05:21,875 "Look what I did," 85 00:05:21,958 --> 00:05:23,583 and a testimony is about God's glory, 86 00:05:23,667 --> 00:05:25,625 "Look what he did." 87 00:05:25,667 --> 00:05:29,667 And so, as Christians, we learn from the Bible that we're not 88 00:05:29,750 --> 00:05:31,875 to seek to have a biography, 89 00:05:31,958 --> 00:05:33,875 a story in which we are the hero, 90 00:05:33,958 --> 00:05:35,917 we are the victor, we are the triumphant, 91 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:37,417 we are the glorious, 92 00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:41,083 but have a testimony where God is the hero, God is the victor, 93 00:05:41,167 --> 00:05:45,708 God is triumphant, and God is glorious for us 94 00:05:45,792 --> 00:05:47,583 because he loves us, 95 00:05:47,667 --> 00:05:49,500 because he's gracious, and merciful, and compassionate, 96 00:05:49,583 --> 00:05:53,375 and good, and he's the hero and we're not, 97 00:05:53,458 --> 00:05:56,208 and he gets the glory and we don't. 98 00:05:56,292 --> 00:06:01,167 And all of chapter 9 of the book of Acts is the testimony of 99 00:06:01,208 --> 00:06:03,875 Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul the Apostle. 100 00:06:03,958 --> 00:06:07,208 And so what I want to do today as we study this together, 101 00:06:07,292 --> 00:06:11,500 I want you to think about your own life and ask yourself, 102 00:06:11,583 --> 00:06:16,417 "Am I living for a biography or a testimony? 103 00:06:16,500 --> 00:06:21,208 "Am I living so that others would be impressed with who I am 104 00:06:21,292 --> 00:06:22,667 "and what I've done, 105 00:06:22,750 --> 00:06:25,125 "or living in such a way that others would be 106 00:06:25,167 --> 00:06:29,500 impressed by who Jesus is and what he's done for me?" 107 00:06:29,542 --> 00:06:31,500 And I'm going to ask you five questions, 108 00:06:31,583 --> 00:06:34,167 and those will be the basis for your Community Group discussions 109 00:06:34,250 --> 00:06:36,375 this week. 110 00:06:36,458 --> 00:06:39,917 And I want you to think about your life and how it can be 111 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,833 a testimony, because ultimately a testimony, 112 00:06:42,875 --> 00:06:44,583 it encourages Christians. 113 00:06:44,667 --> 00:06:47,667 How many of you, as Christians, someone tells you their story of 114 00:06:47,750 --> 00:06:51,208 God's grace in their life and it absolutely encourages you? 115 00:06:51,292 --> 00:06:52,875 Like, "That's amazing. 116 00:06:52,958 --> 00:06:56,375 I have so much joy and hope to hear of God's love for you." 117 00:06:56,458 --> 00:06:59,125 It also not only encourages believers, 118 00:06:59,167 --> 00:07:01,542 it evangelizes unbelievers. 119 00:07:01,625 --> 00:07:04,000 And some of you, you may not understand the power 120 00:07:04,083 --> 00:07:05,625 of your testimony. 121 00:07:05,667 --> 00:07:07,333 Revelation says in the face of adversity, 122 00:07:07,375 --> 00:07:09,833 God's people overcame them "by the blood of the lamb 123 00:07:09,875 --> 00:07:12,375 and by the word of their testimony." 124 00:07:12,458 --> 00:07:15,667 Your testimony is powerful because it testifies not just 125 00:07:15,750 --> 00:07:18,333 that God is alive, and loving, and good, and powerful, 126 00:07:18,375 --> 00:07:21,833 and true, but he has manifest that in your life. 127 00:07:21,875 --> 00:07:24,417 And as you share that with others, 128 00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:26,208 you become a living epistle. 129 00:07:26,292 --> 00:07:30,167 You become a story of God's grace that not only encourages 130 00:07:30,250 --> 00:07:32,917 believers, but it evangelizes unbelievers and it makes 131 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,292 the story of Jesus all that more intriguing for them. 132 00:07:37,333 --> 00:07:40,167 And so today, we're going to look at the testimony of Saul, 133 00:07:40,250 --> 00:07:42,625 and I want to start with this question for you. 134 00:07:42,667 --> 00:07:44,375 What were you like as a non-Christian? 135 00:07:44,458 --> 00:07:46,375 For those of you who are non-Christians, welcome, 136 00:07:46,458 --> 00:07:48,375 we love you, we're glad to have you. 137 00:07:48,458 --> 00:07:51,333 We all started where you are, as a non-Christian. 138 00:07:51,375 --> 00:07:53,500 For those of you who are Christians, 139 00:07:53,583 --> 00:07:55,500 what were you like as a non-Christian? 140 00:07:55,583 --> 00:07:58,417 For me, looking back, God saved me in college. 141 00:07:58,500 --> 00:08:01,167 I was very self-righteous, thought I was better than 142 00:08:01,208 --> 00:08:04,667 everyone, very proud, very independent. 143 00:08:04,750 --> 00:08:08,583 And some of you would say, "And what has changed?" 144 00:08:08,667 --> 00:08:12,000 You know, it's still in process, right? 145 00:08:12,083 --> 00:08:14,333 I'm a hard colt to get a saddle on 146 00:08:14,375 --> 00:08:16,333 and Jesus is still working on me. 147 00:08:16,375 --> 00:08:19,167 But for sure, if you would have came along and said, 148 00:08:19,250 --> 00:08:21,167 "So who's at the center of your life?" 149 00:08:21,250 --> 00:08:22,833 I would say, "Well, I am. 150 00:08:22,875 --> 00:08:27,083 I'm my highest authority and everything is about me." 151 00:08:27,167 --> 00:08:30,292 What were you like as a non-Christian? 152 00:08:30,333 --> 00:08:32,917 As we're looking at the story of Saul, Paul, 153 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:39,000 the first half of Acts 19 tells us that he was very religious, 154 00:08:39,042 --> 00:08:45,625 very religious, exceedingly devout, that he was relentless, 155 00:08:45,667 --> 00:08:48,833 that he--if he believed he was on a mission from God, 156 00:08:48,875 --> 00:08:51,708 he could not be stopped. 157 00:08:51,792 --> 00:08:57,583 Now, he was sincere, but he was sincerely wrong. 158 00:08:57,667 --> 00:09:00,750 He was relentless, but in the wrong direction, 159 00:09:00,833 --> 00:09:03,667 for the wrong cause, on the wrong mission. 160 00:09:03,750 --> 00:09:07,000 He was religious, he was relentless, and he was ravaging. 161 00:09:07,083 --> 00:09:08,583 The Bible actually used that word, 162 00:09:08,667 --> 00:09:11,375 that Saul was ravaging the church. 163 00:09:11,458 --> 00:09:15,125 What we learn about him is that he hated Christ 164 00:09:15,167 --> 00:09:16,833 and he hated Christians. 165 00:09:16,875 --> 00:09:19,125 And if you ask the Christians in that day, 166 00:09:19,167 --> 00:09:21,667 "Who is the greatest enemy to Christianity?" 167 00:09:21,750 --> 00:09:24,708 they would have said Saul of Tarsus. 168 00:09:24,792 --> 00:09:29,000 He was the equivalent in our day of a guy who's sort of leading 169 00:09:29,083 --> 00:09:35,000 a terrorist group that is out to assault, and incarcerate, 170 00:09:35,042 --> 00:09:38,708 and execute Christians. 171 00:09:38,792 --> 00:09:42,083 He was that kind of man. 172 00:09:42,167 --> 00:09:44,000 And as a result, he put to death 173 00:09:44,083 --> 00:09:45,708 the early church deacon, Stephen. 174 00:09:45,792 --> 00:09:47,167 He oversaw his murder. 175 00:09:47,250 --> 00:09:49,125 He murdered a Christian. 176 00:09:49,167 --> 00:09:52,500 The Christians fled, the church was emptied, people scattered, 177 00:09:52,583 --> 00:09:56,417 and he got permission like a bounty hunter to pursue them 178 00:09:56,500 --> 00:09:58,833 upwards of 150 miles on foot 179 00:09:58,875 --> 00:10:01,167 with the right to legally arrest them-- 180 00:10:01,250 --> 00:10:05,500 grandmas, grandpas, kids, women, men, everybody-- 181 00:10:05,542 --> 00:10:07,292 and bring them back for trial, 182 00:10:07,333 --> 00:10:13,417 possibly incarceration, or even execution, bound in chains. 183 00:10:13,500 --> 00:10:15,917 That's Saul of Tarsus. 184 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:22,083 That is who he is and what he is like as a non-Christian. 185 00:10:22,167 --> 00:10:24,500 How about you? 186 00:10:24,583 --> 00:10:27,917 What were you like as a non-Christian? 187 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,000 The second part of a testimony is this. 188 00:10:30,042 --> 00:10:32,000 How did your view of Jesus change? 189 00:10:32,042 --> 00:10:34,833 If you would have asked me before I became a Christian, 190 00:10:34,875 --> 00:10:36,333 "What do you think about Jesus?" 191 00:10:36,375 --> 00:10:39,833 "Nice guy, good platitudes, decent example." 192 00:10:39,875 --> 00:10:41,333 "Is he God?" 193 00:10:41,375 --> 00:10:43,500 "I don't think so." 194 00:10:43,583 --> 00:10:45,833 "Is he your Lord in charge of your life?" 195 00:10:45,875 --> 00:10:47,417 "Not at all." 196 00:10:47,500 --> 00:10:50,500 "Do you live for him or listen to him?" 197 00:10:50,583 --> 00:10:53,792 "No, I don't." 198 00:10:53,833 --> 00:10:55,625 How about you? 199 00:10:55,667 --> 00:10:57,917 For those of you who are non-Christians, 200 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,500 what's your view of Jesus? 201 00:11:00,542 --> 00:11:02,500 What's your view of Jesus? 202 00:11:02,542 --> 00:11:04,333 For those of you who are Christians, 203 00:11:04,375 --> 00:11:06,000 how has your view of Jesus changed 204 00:11:06,083 --> 00:11:08,500 since becoming a Christian? 205 00:11:08,583 --> 00:11:11,625 Well, as I told you, Saul thought that Jesus was 206 00:11:11,667 --> 00:11:15,875 a blasphemer, a godless man who was saying he was the God-man. 207 00:11:15,958 --> 00:11:18,917 He thought that Jesus was perhaps the most ungodly person 208 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,083 who had ever lived, and he hated Christ, 209 00:11:22,167 --> 00:11:25,500 and he hated Christians who worshiped Jesus as God. 210 00:11:25,583 --> 00:11:28,208 And then his view of Jesus changed. 211 00:11:28,292 --> 00:11:33,125 We saw earlier in chapter 9, Jesus comes down from heaven, 212 00:11:33,167 --> 00:11:37,208 and Saul literally has an encounter with Jesus, 213 00:11:37,292 --> 00:11:40,667 and his view of Jesus changes. 214 00:11:40,750 --> 00:11:42,375 And then we read this, 215 00:11:42,458 --> 00:11:43,875 Acts 9, beginning in verse 19, 216 00:11:43,958 --> 00:11:45,292 the second half. 217 00:11:45,333 --> 00:11:47,792 "For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 218 00:11:47,833 --> 00:11:49,792 "And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, 219 00:11:49,833 --> 00:11:52,833 "saying, 'He is the Son of God.' 220 00:11:52,875 --> 00:11:55,292 "And all who heard him were amazed and said, 221 00:11:55,333 --> 00:11:58,500 "'Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those 222 00:11:58,542 --> 00:12:00,792 who called upon this name?'" 223 00:12:00,833 --> 00:12:04,083 Wasn't he killing preachers, now he's preaching? 224 00:12:04,167 --> 00:12:07,000 Didn't he hate Jesus, now he loves Jesus? 225 00:12:07,042 --> 00:12:10,000 What happened to this guy? 226 00:12:10,042 --> 00:12:12,417 How many of you are newer Christians and your friends 227 00:12:12,500 --> 00:12:13,917 are asking you that question? 228 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:15,417 You're like, "I love Jesus." 229 00:12:15,500 --> 00:12:20,125 They're like, "Who are you?" 230 00:12:20,167 --> 00:12:22,333 "'And has he not come here for this purpose, 231 00:12:22,375 --> 00:12:23,708 to bring them bound'"-- 232 00:12:23,792 --> 00:12:25,208 right, arrested, chained, shackled-- 233 00:12:25,292 --> 00:12:26,625 "'before the chief priests?' 234 00:12:26,667 --> 00:12:28,625 But Saul increased all the more in strength,"-- 235 00:12:28,667 --> 00:12:31,125 so the Holy Spirit is working in and through him-- 236 00:12:31,167 --> 00:12:33,625 "and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving 237 00:12:33,667 --> 00:12:36,125 that Jesus was the Christ." 238 00:12:36,167 --> 00:12:38,167 Here's Saul's view of Jesus. 239 00:12:38,250 --> 00:12:40,417 We just learned it through two titles: 240 00:12:40,500 --> 00:12:42,792 Son of God and Christ. 241 00:12:42,833 --> 00:12:45,208 And the important thing with titles is sometimes the titles 242 00:12:45,292 --> 00:12:48,208 in the Bible are different than the titles that we use, 243 00:12:48,292 --> 00:12:50,917 so we can sort of miss the significance of the titles. 244 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,125 But the titles are very important because poured into 245 00:12:53,167 --> 00:12:57,292 them is a lot of meaning--a lot of meaning. 246 00:12:57,333 --> 00:13:01,875 So today, let's say you're in a Muslim country that's ruled 247 00:13:01,958 --> 00:13:06,625 by a royal family and someone says they're a prince. 248 00:13:06,667 --> 00:13:09,083 All right, if you live in that culture and context, 249 00:13:09,167 --> 00:13:12,125 prince is loaded with meaning. 250 00:13:12,167 --> 00:13:14,625 In our country, prince, not so much. 251 00:13:14,667 --> 00:13:17,125 You're like, "Isn't he the little guy that lives in 252 00:13:17,167 --> 00:13:18,708 "Minnesota, wears a raspberry beret, 253 00:13:18,792 --> 00:13:20,417 "goes out in the purple rain? 254 00:13:20,500 --> 00:13:21,833 Is it that?" 255 00:13:21,875 --> 00:13:25,167 You know, we don't--prince doesn't mean as much, right? 256 00:13:25,250 --> 00:13:27,417 So, we need to look culturally-- 257 00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:29,292 what did the titles mean? 258 00:13:29,333 --> 00:13:30,875 How would they have heard it? 259 00:13:30,958 --> 00:13:32,375 So that we can understand it 260 00:13:32,458 --> 00:13:34,125 and get the most meaning from it. 261 00:13:34,167 --> 00:13:36,833 And these two titles are very significant. 262 00:13:36,875 --> 00:13:39,667 He is the Son of God and he is the Christ. 263 00:13:39,750 --> 00:13:42,000 That's what Paul is proclaiming. 264 00:13:42,042 --> 00:13:44,625 That is what he is declaring because his view of Jesus 265 00:13:44,667 --> 00:13:46,333 has been changing. 266 00:13:46,375 --> 00:13:48,708 When it says that Jesus is the Son of God, 267 00:13:48,792 --> 00:13:52,917 this is a direct claim to be God, to be divinity. 268 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,417 See, in our day, we kind of define ourselves 269 00:13:56,500 --> 00:13:57,833 by who our father is. 270 00:13:57,875 --> 00:13:59,583 So it is in the Bible. 271 00:13:59,667 --> 00:14:01,083 There's a lot of genealogies. 272 00:14:01,167 --> 00:14:03,167 So and so, this was their father, 273 00:14:03,208 --> 00:14:05,000 and then their father had this father, 274 00:14:05,042 --> 00:14:07,833 and a lot of it is traced through the family line 275 00:14:07,875 --> 00:14:09,292 through the man. 276 00:14:09,333 --> 00:14:12,792 In addition, in our day, even some of our last names 277 00:14:12,833 --> 00:14:14,167 reflect this. 278 00:14:14,250 --> 00:14:17,125 You meet somebody, Jackson, it means at some point there was 279 00:14:17,167 --> 00:14:21,417 a guy named Jack and he had a son. 280 00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:22,833 Who's that guy? 281 00:14:22,875 --> 00:14:26,167 Well, that's Jack's son, right? 282 00:14:26,250 --> 00:14:27,667 Mattheson, who's that? 283 00:14:27,750 --> 00:14:31,000 Well, that's Matthew's son. 284 00:14:31,042 --> 00:14:34,292 We define ourselves by who our father is, 285 00:14:34,333 --> 00:14:38,875 and we all have sinful, fallen, flawed, earthly fathers. 286 00:14:38,958 --> 00:14:40,417 Jesus comes along. 287 00:14:40,500 --> 00:14:41,833 "Who's your father?" 288 00:14:41,875 --> 00:14:47,000 He says, "My Father is God." 289 00:14:47,042 --> 00:14:51,000 No one had ever said that. 290 00:14:51,083 --> 00:14:53,167 He had an adoptive earthly father named Joseph, 291 00:14:53,250 --> 00:14:56,208 but he's saying that ultimately his father is God the Father, 292 00:14:56,292 --> 00:14:58,917 and that he is not just a son of Joseph, 293 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:03,667 he is the Son of God. 294 00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:06,417 And we use the analogy, the expression in our day, 295 00:15:06,500 --> 00:15:09,917 "Like father, like son." 296 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:11,833 That's why Jesus says, "If you've seen me, 297 00:15:11,875 --> 00:15:13,208 "you've seen the Father. 298 00:15:13,292 --> 00:15:15,833 I and the Father are one." 299 00:15:15,875 --> 00:15:19,708 He's saying that God is his Father and they're equal. 300 00:15:19,792 --> 00:15:24,875 He's putting himself on the same plane as God the Father. 301 00:15:24,958 --> 00:15:28,917 They have the same attributes, the same authority, 302 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,875 they share in the same glory. 303 00:15:30,958 --> 00:15:34,583 If I commission one of my sons on my behalf, 304 00:15:34,667 --> 00:15:37,125 they show up with my authority. 305 00:15:37,167 --> 00:15:41,833 Jesus is saying, "I come with the Father's authority. 306 00:15:41,875 --> 00:15:44,917 I come on his behalf." 307 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,333 Well, those who heard this heard this clearly 308 00:15:48,375 --> 00:15:51,375 as a claim to be God. 309 00:15:51,458 --> 00:15:54,125 And I need you to understand this, 310 00:15:54,167 --> 00:15:56,625 particularly for those of you who are not yet Christians. 311 00:15:56,667 --> 00:15:59,833 And this may be the day that your life goes from a biography 312 00:15:59,875 --> 00:16:03,167 to a testimony, and that's what I'm praying for you. 313 00:16:03,250 --> 00:16:06,500 But they heard this and said, "He's saying he's God." 314 00:16:06,583 --> 00:16:08,000 And you need to know this. 315 00:16:08,083 --> 00:16:14,000 Jesus was opposed, Jesus was arrested, Jesus was crucified, 316 00:16:14,042 --> 00:16:19,000 Jesus was murdered because he said he was God. 317 00:16:19,083 --> 00:16:22,500 And Saul comes along, and he hates Christ because he said he 318 00:16:22,583 --> 00:16:25,625 was God, and he hates Christians because they worship him as God, 319 00:16:25,667 --> 00:16:27,917 and then he meets Jesus Christ, 320 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,333 he becomes a Christian, 321 00:16:29,375 --> 00:16:34,708 and he proclaims that Jesus is the son of God. 322 00:16:34,792 --> 00:16:37,833 Secondly, he says that Jesus is the Christ. 323 00:16:37,875 --> 00:16:39,500 This means the Anointed One. 324 00:16:39,583 --> 00:16:41,708 It's also called the Messiah. 325 00:16:41,792 --> 00:16:44,667 And this is that God the Holy Spirit resides on 326 00:16:44,750 --> 00:16:46,708 and works through this person 327 00:16:46,792 --> 00:16:51,500 in a supernatural, miraculous, inexplicable way, 328 00:16:51,542 --> 00:16:54,500 and that there are people who are anointed-- 329 00:16:54,583 --> 00:16:56,625 in the Old Testament, there are prophets, and priests, 330 00:16:56,667 --> 00:16:58,625 and kings, and the Holy Spirit indwells, 331 00:16:58,667 --> 00:17:00,375 and empowers, and transforms, 332 00:17:00,458 --> 00:17:03,167 and uses them for God's supernatural work on the earth-- 333 00:17:03,208 --> 00:17:05,917 but the prophecies were given and the anticipation 334 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:12,417 was awaiting the coming of one who would be the Anointed One, 335 00:17:12,500 --> 00:17:16,625 unlike everyone else, in a category unto themselves, 336 00:17:16,667 --> 00:17:20,500 the person who would come with God's power and God's authority 337 00:17:20,583 --> 00:17:24,583 on God's mission for God's glory, the Anointed One. 338 00:17:24,667 --> 00:17:26,500 Nobody like them, nobody alongside of them, 339 00:17:26,583 --> 00:17:29,625 nobody in the same category as them. 340 00:17:29,667 --> 00:17:32,500 And Saul is saying that Jesus Christ 341 00:17:32,542 --> 00:17:35,000 is the Anointed One. 342 00:17:35,083 --> 00:17:40,500 He has authority as God and power as God that is 343 00:17:40,583 --> 00:17:44,125 unprecedented, unparalleled, and unequaled. 344 00:17:44,167 --> 00:17:45,625 Do you see this radical change? 345 00:17:45,667 --> 00:17:48,625 How many of you, this has been, to some degree, your experience. 346 00:17:48,667 --> 00:17:50,500 You thought Jesus was a good man, 347 00:17:50,542 --> 00:17:52,208 now you know he's the God-man. 348 00:17:52,292 --> 00:17:53,917 You thought Jesus was a good example, 349 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,667 and now all of a sudden you realize he's Lord, God, 350 00:17:56,750 --> 00:17:58,083 Savior, King, and Christ. 351 00:17:58,167 --> 00:18:01,833 That you're understanding of Jesus has completely expanded, 352 00:18:01,917 --> 00:18:03,583 and changed, and transformed. 353 00:18:03,667 --> 00:18:06,708 This is one of the ways how we know who the Christians are 354 00:18:06,792 --> 00:18:08,125 and the non-Christians are. 355 00:18:08,167 --> 00:18:10,625 And if you love somebody, and you're talking to them, 356 00:18:10,667 --> 00:18:13,375 and you're not sure if they're a Christian or a non-Christian, 357 00:18:13,458 --> 00:18:15,125 just start asking them this simple question. 358 00:18:15,167 --> 00:18:16,625 "What do you think about Jesus?" 359 00:18:16,667 --> 00:18:19,625 And if they don't say things like, "He's the Son of God, 360 00:18:19,667 --> 00:18:23,292 he's the Christ, he's God," they're not yet at the point 361 00:18:23,333 --> 00:18:25,417 where they are a Christian. 362 00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:27,667 They may be somewhere in the process, 363 00:18:27,750 --> 00:18:29,125 but they don't understand Jesus, 364 00:18:29,167 --> 00:18:30,917 and their view of Jesus hasn't changed. 365 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,625 One of the most interesting questions to ask somebody if you 366 00:18:33,667 --> 00:18:36,125 want to see whether or not they're a Christian is, 367 00:18:36,167 --> 00:18:39,708 "How has your view of Jesus changed?" 368 00:18:39,792 --> 00:18:42,875 And if they say, "It hasn't," "Well, then you haven't met him, 369 00:18:42,958 --> 00:18:44,875 so let's talk about him." 370 00:18:44,958 --> 00:18:47,625 "Well, I used to think this, and now I think that." 371 00:18:47,667 --> 00:18:49,917 "Oh okay, well then maybe you did meet him." 372 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,625 And Saul assuredly met him. 373 00:18:51,667 --> 00:18:53,708 Now, here's the important thing. 374 00:18:53,792 --> 00:18:58,292 What Saul is saying is not important unless it's true. 375 00:18:58,333 --> 00:19:02,333 And if it is true, it's radical. 376 00:19:02,417 --> 00:19:05,500 And what Saul is doing is he is echoing what Jesus 377 00:19:05,583 --> 00:19:07,000 had already been saying. 378 00:19:07,083 --> 00:19:09,208 And if you're here and you're not a Christian, 379 00:19:09,292 --> 00:19:10,625 let me say this. 380 00:19:10,667 --> 00:19:13,333 You may have heard that Jesus never said he was God, 381 00:19:13,375 --> 00:19:15,500 and that over time his disciples wrote some books, 382 00:19:15,583 --> 00:19:18,000 and made some stuff up, and maybe even they were 383 00:19:18,083 --> 00:19:20,500 well-intended, but they made mistakes and they said he was 384 00:19:20,583 --> 00:19:23,292 the Son of God, and they said he was the Christ, 385 00:19:23,333 --> 00:19:26,000 and they said he was the Lord, but that's not really 386 00:19:26,083 --> 00:19:28,208 what he believed and that's not what he said. 387 00:19:28,292 --> 00:19:31,625 I'll prove to you that this is exactly what Jesus said. 388 00:19:31,667 --> 00:19:35,125 He said that he was the Son of God and the Christ. 389 00:19:35,167 --> 00:19:37,917 And so when Saul is speaking, 390 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,583 it is Jesus whom he is echoing, right? 391 00:19:41,667 --> 00:19:44,083 So, Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. 392 00:19:44,167 --> 00:19:47,125 We see this in Matthew 26:63-65. 393 00:19:47,167 --> 00:19:48,833 Here's Jesus. 394 00:19:48,875 --> 00:19:50,500 "And the high priest said to him,"-- 395 00:19:50,583 --> 00:19:52,292 So friends, the context is this. 396 00:19:52,333 --> 00:19:53,667 It's like a trial. 397 00:19:53,750 --> 00:19:55,083 Jesus his been deposed, right? 398 00:19:55,167 --> 00:19:56,833 He's on trial. 399 00:19:56,875 --> 00:19:59,417 Somebody's keeping a record, right? 400 00:19:59,500 --> 00:20:02,167 Those who are going to render the verdict are present. 401 00:20:02,250 --> 00:20:06,500 And the charge is this, "You say you're God. 402 00:20:06,583 --> 00:20:12,208 "Now, we want to give you an opportunity to recant, 403 00:20:12,292 --> 00:20:16,500 "to say, 'Oh, I was misinterpreted, misunderstood.' 404 00:20:16,583 --> 00:20:18,208 "We want you to clarify that. 405 00:20:18,292 --> 00:20:20,500 "We want you to, if you did say it, 406 00:20:20,542 --> 00:20:24,917 "apologize for that and agree never to say it again. 407 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,083 "The issue is he says he's God. 408 00:20:28,167 --> 00:20:32,708 We need to hear from him what he truly believes." 409 00:20:32,792 --> 00:20:35,333 --"And the high priest said to him, 'I adjure you,'"-- 410 00:20:35,375 --> 00:20:37,708 I command you-- "by the living God,"-- 411 00:20:37,792 --> 00:20:39,417 Okay, this is kind of funny, right? 412 00:20:39,500 --> 00:20:41,708 This is like, "Put your hand on the Bible. 413 00:20:41,792 --> 00:20:43,500 Do you swear to tell the truth?" 414 00:20:43,542 --> 00:20:46,208 "Oh yeah, I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, 415 00:20:46,292 --> 00:20:48,208 nothing but the truth, so help me, me." 416 00:20:48,292 --> 00:20:52,125 I mean, it's weird how they're telling God to tell the truth 417 00:20:52,167 --> 00:20:53,917 because God is watching. 418 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,625 And God's like, "Oh yes, I am." 419 00:20:55,667 --> 00:20:58,125 I mean, it's just sort of--anyway, I find that funny. 420 00:20:58,167 --> 00:21:00,375 Okay, "And the high priest said to him, 421 00:21:00,458 --> 00:21:03,792 'I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are'"-- 422 00:21:03,833 --> 00:21:06,000 what are the two issues? 423 00:21:06,042 --> 00:21:09,917 "The Christ, the Son of God." 424 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,167 Sound familiar? 425 00:21:13,250 --> 00:21:17,417 "Yes or no, are you the Christ and the Son of God?" 426 00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:21,625 "Jesus said to him, 'You have said so.'" 427 00:21:21,667 --> 00:21:24,000 "Yeah, you got that right. 428 00:21:24,083 --> 00:21:27,417 Nailed it, bullseye, good job." 429 00:21:27,500 --> 00:21:31,500 "Then the high priest tore his robes and said, 430 00:21:31,542 --> 00:21:34,292 'He has uttered blasphemy.'" 431 00:21:34,333 --> 00:21:36,333 What's blasphemy? 432 00:21:36,375 --> 00:21:41,000 When someone says they're God and they're not God. 433 00:21:41,083 --> 00:21:44,667 If I told you right now, "I'm God," that would be blasphemy. 434 00:21:44,750 --> 00:21:46,625 I didn't say it. Don't Twitter it. 435 00:21:46,667 --> 00:21:49,167 That's not what I'm saying, okay? 436 00:21:49,250 --> 00:21:50,583 I'm not God. 437 00:21:50,667 --> 00:21:52,583 I'm very sure I'm not God. 438 00:21:52,667 --> 00:21:55,000 I don't wake up every morning, look in the mirror, 439 00:21:55,083 --> 00:21:56,417 "Hello, Lord." 440 00:21:56,500 --> 00:21:58,083 I'm for sure. 441 00:21:58,167 --> 00:22:00,583 The closer I get to Jesus, the more I realize 442 00:22:00,667 --> 00:22:05,417 I'm not like Jesus, okay? 443 00:22:05,500 --> 00:22:11,292 To say you're God--people who say, "Jesus was a good man, 444 00:22:11,333 --> 00:22:13,417 he just made a mistake saying he was God," 445 00:22:13,500 --> 00:22:16,792 good men don't make mistakes like that. 446 00:22:16,833 --> 00:22:19,500 Cult leaders do. 447 00:22:19,583 --> 00:22:21,917 Sociopaths do. 448 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,167 People who are insane do. 449 00:22:24,250 --> 00:22:29,167 Good people don't say, "I'm God, worship me, and when you die, 450 00:22:29,250 --> 00:22:31,167 trust in me." 451 00:22:31,250 --> 00:22:33,417 You don't say that if you're a good person 452 00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:36,583 and it's a false statement. 453 00:22:36,667 --> 00:22:42,000 Friends, Christianity comes down to what Jesus said 454 00:22:42,083 --> 00:22:45,167 about himself, and it's true or it's false. 455 00:22:45,250 --> 00:22:48,000 And if it's true, he's God. 456 00:22:48,083 --> 00:22:50,167 If it's not true, he's a blasphemer, 457 00:22:50,250 --> 00:22:52,417 a man claiming to be God who's not God. 458 00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:55,417 And just so you know, there is no other major world religion 459 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:57,917 in the history of the world that has its founder 460 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,500 making this claim, "I'm God." 461 00:23:00,542 --> 00:23:05,333 In fact, we tend to consider those most holy who are clear 462 00:23:05,375 --> 00:23:09,500 that they're unholy, right? 463 00:23:09,542 --> 00:23:14,417 We want to follow someone who knows that they're not perfect, 464 00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:17,417 and Jesus says he's perfect. 465 00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:20,125 So that's either true or false, and this is a magnificent, 466 00:23:20,167 --> 00:23:23,667 extraordinary, unprecedented, unparalleled claim. 467 00:23:23,750 --> 00:23:27,417 And they rightly understand, if he says he's God 468 00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:31,125 and he's not God, he's guilty of what? 469 00:23:31,167 --> 00:23:32,833 Blasphemy. 470 00:23:32,875 --> 00:23:34,500 And the consequence is death. 471 00:23:34,583 --> 00:23:36,208 And friend, if you're not a Christian, 472 00:23:36,292 --> 00:23:39,208 you need to know that's why they crucified him. 473 00:23:39,292 --> 00:23:43,375 Not because he fed people, not because he petted lambs, 474 00:23:43,458 --> 00:23:45,917 not because he hung out with children, 475 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,917 they killed him because he said he was God, 476 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,000 and that's either true or false. 477 00:23:52,042 --> 00:23:53,625 "'He has uttered blasphemy. 478 00:23:53,667 --> 00:23:55,125 What further witnesses do we need?'" 479 00:23:55,167 --> 00:23:57,083 They're saying, "Case closed. 480 00:23:57,167 --> 00:23:58,500 "We had people ready to testify. 481 00:23:58,583 --> 00:24:00,333 "We don't even need their testimony. 482 00:24:00,417 --> 00:24:02,792 "We can make this trial very short. 483 00:24:02,833 --> 00:24:07,875 He just told us he's God, case closed." 484 00:24:07,958 --> 00:24:13,000 "You have now heard his blasphemy." 485 00:24:13,083 --> 00:24:19,875 Non-Christian, who do you think that Jesus is? 486 00:24:22,875 --> 00:24:27,000 And if you are a Christian or you become a Christian, 487 00:24:27,083 --> 00:24:32,292 who you think Jesus is has to change. 488 00:24:32,333 --> 00:24:34,625 Has to change. 489 00:24:34,667 --> 00:24:36,500 It has to change. 490 00:24:36,583 --> 00:24:39,417 Has your understanding of Jesus changed? 491 00:24:39,500 --> 00:24:42,417 Would you now say, "He is the Son of God 492 00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:45,125 and he is the Christ," 493 00:24:45,167 --> 00:24:48,708 or would you say, "He is a blasphemer"? 494 00:24:48,792 --> 00:24:52,333 Truly, those are the only two categories that we have. 495 00:24:52,375 --> 00:24:56,375 And so Saul's view of Jesus has radically changed because he 496 00:24:56,458 --> 00:24:59,125 would have said previously, "Blasphemer," 497 00:24:59,167 --> 00:25:03,667 and now he says, "Lord." 498 00:25:03,750 --> 00:25:06,167 Question number three for discussion 499 00:25:06,250 --> 00:25:08,333 in your Community Group this week, 500 00:25:08,375 --> 00:25:11,333 and you can use these five questions. 501 00:25:11,375 --> 00:25:15,417 What does time alone with Jesus look like for you? 502 00:25:15,500 --> 00:25:17,500 Saul has been converted. 503 00:25:17,542 --> 00:25:19,500 He's starting to proclaim his testimony, 504 00:25:19,583 --> 00:25:22,875 talking about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done in his life. 505 00:25:22,958 --> 00:25:25,625 And in a moment, when we get back into Acts, 506 00:25:25,667 --> 00:25:29,000 you'll see it'll say, after "many days." 507 00:25:29,042 --> 00:25:32,208 So, there's a time gap right here in Acts, 508 00:25:32,292 --> 00:25:36,208 and most Bible commentators believe that that gap is 509 00:25:36,292 --> 00:25:43,125 explained by Paul writing this in Galatians 1:15-18: 510 00:25:43,167 --> 00:25:46,125 "But when he who had set me apart before I was born,"-- 511 00:25:46,167 --> 00:25:50,167 God chose to save him-- "and who called me by his grace, 512 00:25:50,250 --> 00:25:53,583 was pleased to reveal his Son to me,"-- that's Jesus-- 513 00:25:53,667 --> 00:25:56,083 "in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles,"-- 514 00:25:56,167 --> 00:25:58,292 those are non-Jewish folk like you and me-- 515 00:25:58,333 --> 00:26:00,083 "I did not immediately consult with anyone; 516 00:26:00,167 --> 00:26:03,083 "nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles 517 00:26:03,167 --> 00:26:05,292 before me,"-- that's where the leaders were-- 518 00:26:05,333 --> 00:26:08,333 "but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 519 00:26:08,375 --> 00:26:11,875 Then after three years"-- and there's the timeline, 520 00:26:11,958 --> 00:26:14,708 three years-- "I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas"-- 521 00:26:14,792 --> 00:26:17,417 that is Peter-- "and remained with him fifteen days." 522 00:26:17,500 --> 00:26:19,292 Here's what he's saying: 523 00:26:19,333 --> 00:26:21,333 "My testimony is I met Jesus. 524 00:26:21,375 --> 00:26:23,500 "My life, my heart, my mind changed. 525 00:26:23,583 --> 00:26:26,125 "I started talking about him and then God called me 526 00:26:26,167 --> 00:26:29,000 into 3 years of solitude." 527 00:26:29,083 --> 00:26:31,000 And he says he's out in the desert. 528 00:26:31,083 --> 00:26:34,208 The area he is in is sort of the same area where we hear 529 00:26:34,292 --> 00:26:36,708 about Sinai during the Exodus, where Moses received 530 00:26:36,792 --> 00:26:39,083 the Ten Commandments, where Elijah preached. 531 00:26:39,167 --> 00:26:43,167 It's desert, barren, wasteland, middle of nowhere. 532 00:26:43,250 --> 00:26:45,000 And he's there for how long? 533 00:26:45,083 --> 00:26:47,167 Three years. Doing what? 534 00:26:47,250 --> 00:26:51,417 Preparing for the ministry that God would have for him. 535 00:26:51,500 --> 00:26:56,792 We see that God's servants often are called by God 536 00:26:56,833 --> 00:27:00,458 to seasons of solitude, withdrawing. 537 00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:03,167 We see this with Moses. 538 00:27:03,250 --> 00:27:04,708 We see this with the prophets. 539 00:27:04,792 --> 00:27:08,208 They lived in exile, oftentimes apart from God's people in 540 00:27:08,292 --> 00:27:10,167 community out in the wilderness. 541 00:27:10,250 --> 00:27:12,167 We see this with John the Baptizer, 542 00:27:12,250 --> 00:27:14,375 the voice of the one crying from the wilderness. 543 00:27:14,458 --> 00:27:16,875 We see this with the Lord Jesus where he gets 544 00:27:16,958 --> 00:27:20,417 40 days in solitude before his public ministry commences. 545 00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:22,500 And here we see it with Saul, Paul, 546 00:27:22,542 --> 00:27:27,000 3 years essentially in isolation. 547 00:27:27,042 --> 00:27:28,708 And let me say this to you. 548 00:27:28,792 --> 00:27:31,875 Solitude is not just running from something, 549 00:27:31,958 --> 00:27:34,875 it's running to someone. 550 00:27:34,958 --> 00:27:38,625 Oftentimes, when life gets hard, things get dark, we are scared, 551 00:27:38,667 --> 00:27:45,375 you know, we just--we run to get away from it or them. 552 00:27:45,458 --> 00:27:49,417 Solitude is where we not only run from someone or something, 553 00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:53,875 we run to Jesus to get time with him. 554 00:27:53,958 --> 00:27:56,125 This is the difference. 555 00:27:56,167 --> 00:27:58,292 If you're always just running from something but you're 556 00:27:58,333 --> 00:28:02,875 not running to Jesus, that's not very helpful. 557 00:28:02,958 --> 00:28:06,000 But if you're running from something and you're running to 558 00:28:06,042 --> 00:28:09,208 Jesus, that can be very helpful. 559 00:28:09,292 --> 00:28:12,125 And so here, his solitude is not to escape all the conflict, 560 00:28:12,167 --> 00:28:14,792 and all the controversy, and all the trouble, and you know, 561 00:28:14,833 --> 00:28:16,792 he murdered somebody, oversaw their murder, 562 00:28:16,833 --> 00:28:21,000 and there's a big blow up, and he's just trying to lay low. 563 00:28:21,042 --> 00:28:22,417 No, that's not it. 564 00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:25,500 He's running to get time with Jesus. 565 00:28:25,583 --> 00:28:32,208 What does time alone with Jesus look like for you? 566 00:28:32,292 --> 00:28:36,792 We can assume, I think reasonably so, 567 00:28:36,833 --> 00:28:39,292 and I'm one who's reticent to infer anything from 568 00:28:39,333 --> 00:28:43,000 the Scriptures, but reading his testimony in Galatians 1, 569 00:28:43,042 --> 00:28:45,167 reading his testimony in Philippians, 570 00:28:45,250 --> 00:28:50,375 reading the account in Acts 9, he knew a lot of Bible, 571 00:28:50,458 --> 00:28:53,875 at least Old Testament, but he didn't know Jesus. 572 00:28:53,958 --> 00:28:55,875 So, he's probably studying the Bible saying, "Okay, 573 00:28:55,958 --> 00:28:58,875 "I knew the Bible, but I don't know Jesus so I don't 574 00:28:58,958 --> 00:29:00,333 "really understand the Bible. 575 00:29:00,417 --> 00:29:03,083 I need to figure out how this all connects to Jesus." 576 00:29:03,167 --> 00:29:05,292 This is time for prayer, talking to the Lord, 577 00:29:05,333 --> 00:29:06,667 listening to the Lord. 578 00:29:06,750 --> 00:29:08,667 This is time for study and reflection. 579 00:29:08,750 --> 00:29:10,583 This is time for journaling, processing, considering. 580 00:29:10,667 --> 00:29:13,208 This is time for repenting, and singing, and worshiping, 581 00:29:13,292 --> 00:29:15,125 and spending time with God. 582 00:29:15,167 --> 00:29:18,667 Jesus is alive and he's very glad to meet with you through 583 00:29:18,750 --> 00:29:22,500 the person, the presence, and the power of the Holy Spirit. 584 00:29:22,542 --> 00:29:25,000 All right, he'll never leave you, he'll never forsake you. 585 00:29:25,042 --> 00:29:27,708 He'll be with you always to the end of the age. 586 00:29:27,792 --> 00:29:30,208 That's what he promised. 587 00:29:30,292 --> 00:29:33,875 And here's what happens, we have three gods in our world 588 00:29:33,958 --> 00:29:36,583 who do not allow us to enjoy the presence of God, 589 00:29:36,667 --> 00:29:39,500 and they are hurry, worry, and busy. 590 00:29:39,583 --> 00:29:43,125 And that false trinity of hurry, worry, and busy, 591 00:29:43,167 --> 00:29:46,500 it absolutely overtakes us. 592 00:29:46,583 --> 00:29:49,833 When's the last time you got some time alone with God? 593 00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:53,000 And I know you're busy, and I'm busy, and we're busy, but man, 594 00:29:53,083 --> 00:29:55,208 if we don't start with time with the Lord, 595 00:29:55,292 --> 00:29:58,375 we'll do the wrong thing in the wrong way with the wrong motive, 596 00:29:58,458 --> 00:30:00,583 and all of our efforts will be in vain, 597 00:30:00,667 --> 00:30:02,583 and that's certainly my experience. 598 00:30:02,667 --> 00:30:05,583 Anytime I thought, "Well, I'm going to go to work and then 599 00:30:05,667 --> 00:30:08,333 ask God to bless it," God's like, "Wrong order. 600 00:30:08,375 --> 00:30:09,708 "Meet with me. 601 00:30:09,792 --> 00:30:12,417 "I'll tell you what to do, and how to do it, 602 00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:14,917 "and prepare you for it, and get your heart ready, 603 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:16,667 and then it'll be to my glory." 604 00:30:16,750 --> 00:30:22,833 If you don't have time for the Lord, something is wrong. 605 00:30:22,875 --> 00:30:25,500 Something is wrong. 606 00:30:25,583 --> 00:30:28,708 Something is very wrong. 607 00:30:28,792 --> 00:30:31,000 Lord, what do you want to convict me of? 608 00:30:31,042 --> 00:30:32,708 How do you want to change me? 609 00:30:32,792 --> 00:30:34,708 What do you want me to think through? 610 00:30:34,792 --> 00:30:37,625 What do I need to study? Where do I need to grow? 611 00:30:37,667 --> 00:30:39,625 How do I need you to comfort me? 612 00:30:39,667 --> 00:30:42,833 What is next for me? Who do you want me to love? 613 00:30:42,875 --> 00:30:48,583 And I'll tell you, in our age, technology unquestionably 614 00:30:48,667 --> 00:30:54,917 contributes to this great problem, amen? 615 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,625 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 616 00:30:57,667 --> 00:31:00,292 beeping, buzzing, ringing. 617 00:31:00,333 --> 00:31:03,958 It never ends. 618 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:08,333 You know, I mean, it should say on our phone, you know, 619 00:31:08,375 --> 00:31:10,208 "This is your lord. 620 00:31:10,292 --> 00:31:14,583 "He controls your life and your destiny. 621 00:31:14,667 --> 00:31:17,500 "It overrules anyone and anything, 622 00:31:17,583 --> 00:31:19,000 and intrudes at any time." 623 00:31:19,083 --> 00:31:21,125 And I'm not saying that technology is bad, 624 00:31:21,167 --> 00:31:24,125 I'm not saying it's good, I'm just saying it is. 625 00:31:24,167 --> 00:31:27,500 Technology, like everything, is an opportunity to either help us 626 00:31:27,583 --> 00:31:34,292 to know the Lord or hinder our knowing of the Lord. 627 00:31:34,333 --> 00:31:37,000 And it's so amazing because sometimes we'll even run, through 628 00:31:37,042 --> 00:31:40,500 our technology, to people when we should run to the Lord first. 629 00:31:40,542 --> 00:31:42,500 You have a problem, it's not like, "Okay, 630 00:31:42,542 --> 00:31:45,208 I've got to talk to the Lord about this," it's like, 631 00:31:45,292 --> 00:31:47,000 "I need to call or text someone." 632 00:31:47,083 --> 00:31:50,000 Instead of praying it through and processing it through, 633 00:31:50,083 --> 00:31:53,083 it's like, "I'm just going to post it in social media 634 00:31:53,167 --> 00:31:55,083 and let everybody get involved." 635 00:31:55,167 --> 00:31:57,708 And then the Holy Spirit shows up an hour later 636 00:31:57,792 --> 00:31:59,625 and you're like, "I was wrong." 637 00:31:59,667 --> 00:32:03,167 I mean, we don't start with the Lord. 638 00:32:03,250 --> 00:32:06,625 We use technology to run to people first 639 00:32:06,667 --> 00:32:09,333 when we should run to Jesus first. 640 00:32:09,375 --> 00:32:12,208 And then we allow people and things to just crash into our 641 00:32:12,292 --> 00:32:15,208 life, even when we're trying to get time alone with Jesus. 642 00:32:15,292 --> 00:32:18,208 And I'm not saying technology is bad. And I have a phone. 643 00:32:18,292 --> 00:32:20,917 Last year I dropped it in the lake 644 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,417 and it honestly felt like I got saved again. 645 00:32:25,500 --> 00:32:27,917 My wife looked at me and she's like, "What happened?" 646 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,417 I was like, "I dropped my phone in the lake." 647 00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:31,833 She was like, "Oh no!" 648 00:32:31,875 --> 00:32:33,333 I was like, "Oh yeah!" 649 00:32:33,375 --> 00:32:35,333 She's like, "What are you going to do?" 650 00:32:35,375 --> 00:32:37,833 I was like, "I'm going to wait a few weeks 651 00:32:37,875 --> 00:32:39,208 to get another phone." 652 00:32:39,292 --> 00:32:40,917 I mean, it literally--it was like--I mean, 653 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,417 if the rapture happened today, I would drop my phone 654 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:44,833 on the way up. 655 00:32:44,875 --> 00:32:46,333 Like, I don't--whatever, you know? 656 00:32:46,375 --> 00:32:47,833 Like, I don't need this anymore. 657 00:32:47,875 --> 00:32:50,500 But what can happen is sometimes we get so consumed by--we're 658 00:32:50,583 --> 00:32:52,583 playing games, we're texting, we're updating, we're reading, 659 00:32:52,667 --> 00:32:55,375 we're surfing, we're wandering, and all of a sudden you're like, 660 00:32:55,458 --> 00:32:56,792 "What happened? 661 00:32:56,833 --> 00:32:58,625 "I didn't get time with Jesus, why? 662 00:32:58,667 --> 00:33:01,333 "All my time was spent doing something that is maybe not 663 00:33:01,417 --> 00:33:04,417 evil, but is definitely not as helpful." 664 00:33:04,500 --> 00:33:08,375 Sometimes, at least for me, you need to just turn the phone off, 665 00:33:08,458 --> 00:33:09,917 right? 666 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:11,417 And sometimes get away. 667 00:33:11,500 --> 00:33:13,708 I mean, it's interesting here that oftentimes when God 668 00:33:13,792 --> 00:33:16,708 wants his people to enjoy solitude, they get away. 669 00:33:16,792 --> 00:33:19,333 The Bible says that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places 670 00:33:19,375 --> 00:33:21,333 to get alone with the Father. 671 00:33:21,375 --> 00:33:23,500 How many of you, you can't really get time 672 00:33:23,583 --> 00:33:25,208 with the Lord at home? 673 00:33:25,292 --> 00:33:27,208 You're like, "I've got to paint that wall. 674 00:33:27,292 --> 00:33:28,625 "That's a lot of laundry. 675 00:33:28,667 --> 00:33:31,417 "My cat threw up. 676 00:33:31,500 --> 00:33:34,125 Those dishes are dirty," right? 677 00:33:34,167 --> 00:33:37,500 And you have a hard time getting time with the Lord at home, 678 00:33:37,542 --> 00:33:40,125 so sometimes it's literally going away from your routine and 679 00:33:40,167 --> 00:33:44,500 turning off your technology so that you can run to Jesus 680 00:33:44,583 --> 00:33:46,167 and get some time with him. 681 00:33:46,250 --> 00:33:48,667 And friend, I would submit to you that these are 682 00:33:48,750 --> 00:33:52,208 crucial times, these are significant times, 683 00:33:52,292 --> 00:33:55,917 these are divine appointment times for reading, for praying, 684 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,917 for journaling, for repenting, for mourning, for singing, 685 00:34:00,042 --> 00:34:04,667 whatever it may be, and God is very glad to meet with you. 686 00:34:04,750 --> 00:34:06,875 And what Saul says is, he says, "You know, 687 00:34:06,958 --> 00:34:09,875 I got 3 years with Jesus before I started doing ministry." 688 00:34:09,958 --> 00:34:12,500 I honestly wish I would have gotten more years with Jesus 689 00:34:12,583 --> 00:34:15,125 before I started this ministry for Jesus to straighten out 690 00:34:15,167 --> 00:34:17,375 some things in my character and my attitude, 691 00:34:17,458 --> 00:34:20,000 and to make sure I was working on a testimony 692 00:34:20,083 --> 00:34:22,125 and not a biography. 693 00:34:22,167 --> 00:34:25,167 And what I love about Paul's example as well is his humility 694 00:34:25,250 --> 00:34:26,833 and his submission to authority. 695 00:34:26,875 --> 00:34:30,000 What he says in this text is, "I spent 3 years with Jesus, 696 00:34:30,083 --> 00:34:33,833 "and then I went to meet with the leaders to tell them my 697 00:34:33,875 --> 00:34:37,083 "testimony and for them to confirm God's calling on my life 698 00:34:37,167 --> 00:34:40,125 to preach the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles." 699 00:34:40,167 --> 00:34:43,000 What he didn't say was, "Jesus came down and saved me, 700 00:34:43,083 --> 00:34:47,500 "set me aside for 3 years, I graduated with honors, 701 00:34:47,542 --> 00:34:49,875 and now I serve the Lord." 702 00:34:49,958 --> 00:34:54,625 He says, "And I submit myself to the leaders." 703 00:34:54,667 --> 00:34:57,833 It's very important after you get time with the Lord 704 00:34:57,875 --> 00:35:01,333 to confirm what it is you believe he has said through 705 00:35:01,417 --> 00:35:03,667 godly leadership because you know what? 706 00:35:03,750 --> 00:35:05,625 We can get it wrong. 707 00:35:05,667 --> 00:35:07,708 We can get it wrong. 708 00:35:07,792 --> 00:35:11,167 And so he comes with the full confidence of Jesus' calling 709 00:35:11,250 --> 00:35:15,208 and the confirmation by godly leadership. 710 00:35:15,292 --> 00:35:20,250 What does time alone with Jesus look like for you? 711 00:35:20,333 --> 00:35:23,750 Question number four, how have you suffered for Christ? 712 00:35:23,833 --> 00:35:25,708 It's interesting because Saul was a guy 713 00:35:25,792 --> 00:35:27,875 who caused Christians to suffer, 714 00:35:27,958 --> 00:35:31,042 and then he's going to suffer as a Christian. 715 00:35:31,125 --> 00:35:33,458 Part of being a Christian is suffering. 716 00:35:33,500 --> 00:35:35,500 Sometimes we suffer because of our sin, 717 00:35:35,583 --> 00:35:36,917 we did something wrong, 718 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:38,542 and we're reaping the consequence. 719 00:35:38,625 --> 00:35:41,083 Sometimes we suffer because someone has sinned against us. 720 00:35:41,167 --> 00:35:43,667 Sometimes we suffer just because we're part of Christianity 721 00:35:43,708 --> 00:35:45,333 and some people don't like Christians 722 00:35:45,417 --> 00:35:47,500 because they don't like Christ. 723 00:35:47,542 --> 00:35:50,583 Here is Saul's suffering. 724 00:35:50,667 --> 00:35:53,833 Acts 9:23-26, "When many days had passed." 725 00:35:53,875 --> 00:35:55,542 So, I think--do you see that? 726 00:35:55,625 --> 00:35:59,333 I think that's the 3 years he talks about in Galatians 1. 727 00:35:59,417 --> 00:36:00,958 I think there's the gap in there, 728 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:02,458 and Galatians 1 fills the gap. 729 00:36:02,500 --> 00:36:04,750 "When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him," 730 00:36:04,833 --> 00:36:08,000 the religious folks, "but their plot became known to Saul. 731 00:36:08,042 --> 00:36:12,292 "They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 732 00:36:12,333 --> 00:36:16,000 but his disciples," a couple guys that were still with him, 733 00:36:16,083 --> 00:36:18,000 "took him by night and let him down 734 00:36:18,083 --> 00:36:22,542 "through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. 735 00:36:22,625 --> 00:36:24,083 "And when he had come to Jerusalem, 736 00:36:24,167 --> 00:36:25,458 "he attempted to join the disciples. 737 00:36:25,500 --> 00:36:29,333 "And they were all afraid of him, 738 00:36:29,417 --> 00:36:33,250 for they did not believe that he was a disciple." 739 00:36:33,333 --> 00:36:37,583 He suffers from non-Christians and Christians, okay? 740 00:36:37,667 --> 00:36:43,000 How many of you know that that's the way it still works? 741 00:36:43,083 --> 00:36:45,708 So, the non-Christians, they cause him to suffer. 742 00:36:45,792 --> 00:36:48,708 They have a plot to kill him, a real plot. 743 00:36:48,792 --> 00:36:50,750 And the way it would work in a fortified city 744 00:36:50,833 --> 00:36:52,833 is there would be a gate, 745 00:36:52,875 --> 00:36:54,708 and you'd pass in and out of the gate. 746 00:36:54,792 --> 00:36:56,042 This is how they could control 747 00:36:56,125 --> 00:36:57,958 who was coming in and out of the city 748 00:36:58,000 --> 00:36:59,708 to keep the people safe. 749 00:36:59,792 --> 00:37:03,042 So, they position guards 24 hours a day at the gates. 750 00:37:03,125 --> 00:37:06,083 This is like you're on the FBI's most wanted list 751 00:37:06,167 --> 00:37:08,625 and you're on the no-fly list, right, 752 00:37:08,667 --> 00:37:13,000 and the Air Marshals are posted at every airport looking for you. 753 00:37:13,042 --> 00:37:15,000 And if they find you, they're going to arrest you 754 00:37:15,042 --> 00:37:16,917 and it's going to go really bad for you 755 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:20,167 because they're going to kill you. 756 00:37:20,250 --> 00:37:23,000 So, he can't get out of town and they're looking for him. 757 00:37:23,042 --> 00:37:24,542 Well, they're going to find him, right? 758 00:37:24,625 --> 00:37:28,042 I mean, it's a town that's fortified walls in a city. 759 00:37:28,125 --> 00:37:31,167 You can only hide in that area for so long 760 00:37:31,208 --> 00:37:33,958 before they find you. 761 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,417 So, the non-Christians are causing him to suffer, 762 00:37:36,500 --> 00:37:38,875 so they come up with a plan. 763 00:37:38,958 --> 00:37:42,750 There's a hole in the wall and we could, you know, 764 00:37:42,833 --> 00:37:45,042 get a rope and a basket, and put you in it, 765 00:37:45,125 --> 00:37:48,792 and lower you down to escape at night when nobody's looking. 766 00:37:48,833 --> 00:37:51,167 This is all going to be under cover of secrecy. 767 00:37:51,208 --> 00:37:52,542 Paul says to the Corinthians 768 00:37:52,625 --> 00:37:55,958 that actually this was kind of embarrassing for him. 769 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,708 This wasn't a real Jack Bauer moment for Saul, right? 770 00:37:59,792 --> 00:38:01,917 It's not like, "I fought my way out!" 771 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,125 He's like, "No, I snuck out in a laundry basket." 772 00:38:06,167 --> 00:38:08,125 This was humbling for him. 773 00:38:08,167 --> 00:38:09,542 How many of you, 774 00:38:09,625 --> 00:38:11,542 you would not want this to be your story, right? 775 00:38:11,625 --> 00:38:13,333 A bunch of angry men came against me! 776 00:38:13,375 --> 00:38:15,333 "What'd you do, Grandpa?" 777 00:38:15,375 --> 00:38:18,500 At night, I snuck out in a laundry basket. 778 00:38:18,542 --> 00:38:20,750 "Oh, not as brave as we were hoping, Grandpa. 779 00:38:20,833 --> 00:38:22,667 We were hoping for a bigger story." 780 00:38:22,750 --> 00:38:24,083 Yeah, it was kind of embarrassing. 781 00:38:24,167 --> 00:38:26,250 It was kind of humbling. 782 00:38:26,333 --> 00:38:28,917 That's what Saul says. 783 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:33,000 He kind of ran for his life. 784 00:38:33,083 --> 00:38:35,833 He was opposed by non-Christians. 785 00:38:35,875 --> 00:38:41,583 So then, he's going to run-- he's going to flee to the Christians. 786 00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:43,042 "These guys hate me, 787 00:38:43,125 --> 00:38:45,250 I'm going to go to my brothers and sisters in Christ." 788 00:38:45,333 --> 00:38:48,208 And they don't want to talk to him. 789 00:38:48,292 --> 00:38:49,667 They're afraid of him. 790 00:38:49,750 --> 00:38:52,000 Now, what we can do is, in hindsight, we can say, 791 00:38:52,042 --> 00:38:54,042 "Well, that's not very loving." 792 00:38:54,125 --> 00:38:56,042 Because we weren't there, amen? 793 00:38:56,125 --> 00:38:57,542 How many of you would be like, 794 00:38:57,625 --> 00:38:59,250 "There was a known terrorist who got saved, 795 00:38:59,333 --> 00:39:00,667 wants to join your Community Group." 796 00:39:00,708 --> 00:39:04,792 You're like, "No, we got other Community Groups." 797 00:39:04,833 --> 00:39:07,917 "No, no, no, he's going to need a place to stay. 798 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,875 He wants to sleep on your couch." 799 00:39:10,958 --> 00:39:12,667 "No." 800 00:39:12,750 --> 00:39:14,125 It comes time, you're like, 801 00:39:14,167 --> 00:39:15,750 "Let's all close our eyes and pray." 802 00:39:15,833 --> 00:39:17,917 "No, I'm going to keep at least one open. 803 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:19,625 This dude's in my Community Group." 804 00:39:19,667 --> 00:39:21,250 "What does he do?" "He blows up Christians." 805 00:39:21,333 --> 00:39:22,958 "Oh, really?" 806 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:24,667 "Yeah, I used to go to Community Group." 807 00:39:24,750 --> 00:39:29,042 You know, you and I, we'd be afraid of this guy, amen? 808 00:39:29,125 --> 00:39:31,083 You're like, "I don't know if I trust this guy. 809 00:39:31,167 --> 00:39:32,417 I don't think he's safe." 810 00:39:32,500 --> 00:39:34,500 So, what do the Christians do? They don't embrace him, 811 00:39:34,542 --> 00:39:37,292 they don't surround him, they withdraw. 812 00:39:37,333 --> 00:39:42,125 So all of a sudden, here's Saul. He's got no team. 813 00:39:42,167 --> 00:39:44,625 The team he used to be on, "Let's kill the Christians," 814 00:39:44,667 --> 00:39:47,083 now he's a Christian, that team's trying to kill him. 815 00:39:47,167 --> 00:39:48,458 Now he's on Team Jesus. 816 00:39:48,500 --> 00:39:50,333 He runs to Team Jesus and Team Jesus says, 817 00:39:50,417 --> 00:39:54,000 "We're not sure about you. We're not ready to receive you. 818 00:39:54,083 --> 00:39:58,000 We're not ready to help you." 819 00:39:58,083 --> 00:39:59,917 How disappointing do you think it was for Saul 820 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,042 when he genuinely loved Jesus 821 00:40:02,125 --> 00:40:04,000 and was trying to do the right thing, 822 00:40:04,042 --> 00:40:05,792 and the brothers and sisters in Christ 823 00:40:05,833 --> 00:40:07,250 are the ones who rejected him. 824 00:40:07,333 --> 00:40:09,333 Have you ever felt that? 825 00:40:09,417 --> 00:40:11,000 You're like, "The Christians rejected me. 826 00:40:11,083 --> 00:40:12,583 "The Christians didn't help me. 827 00:40:12,667 --> 00:40:15,958 The Christians caused me to suffer." 828 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,958 This is part of the Christian life because non-Christians 829 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:24,083 and Christians are both sinners, and sometimes sinners sin. 830 00:40:24,167 --> 00:40:27,333 And I have failed people, and you have failed people, 831 00:40:27,375 --> 00:40:29,667 and people have failed you, and people have failed me, 832 00:40:29,750 --> 00:40:34,083 and some of them belong to Jesus. 833 00:40:34,167 --> 00:40:36,667 How have you suffered as a Christian, 834 00:40:36,708 --> 00:40:39,708 from non-Christians and from Christians? 835 00:40:39,792 --> 00:40:41,250 That's part of our testimony. 836 00:40:41,333 --> 00:40:43,000 Now, what happens when we're suffering-- 837 00:40:43,042 --> 00:40:44,833 I think at least three things happen. 838 00:40:44,917 --> 00:40:48,333 Number one, we learn about Christ. 839 00:40:48,417 --> 00:40:49,750 We learn about Jesus. 840 00:40:49,833 --> 00:40:51,875 You're like, "Jesus, you suffered. 841 00:40:51,958 --> 00:40:54,875 "I mean, the non-Christians didn't love you, 842 00:40:54,958 --> 00:40:58,000 "and even the religious people, 843 00:40:58,083 --> 00:41:00,917 "even your disciples who knew, 844 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,500 "or should have known, who you are, they failed you. 845 00:41:04,542 --> 00:41:07,708 They weren't there for you. They didn't support you." 846 00:41:07,792 --> 00:41:10,167 Jesus knows what it's like to suffer. 847 00:41:10,250 --> 00:41:13,083 And so as we suffer, we come to appreciate Jesus more. 848 00:41:13,167 --> 00:41:14,875 I don't know about you, if I was God, 849 00:41:14,958 --> 00:41:16,500 I wouldn't come down to suffer. 850 00:41:16,583 --> 00:41:20,500 No way. No way. 851 00:41:21,750 --> 00:41:23,708 And I wouldn't have done what Jesus did, 852 00:41:23,792 --> 00:41:26,000 and that is pour myself into people 853 00:41:26,083 --> 00:41:29,833 who then just sort of fail you and disown you 854 00:41:29,875 --> 00:41:33,333 like Thomas, and Judas, and Peter. 855 00:41:33,417 --> 00:41:36,417 I mean, the friends that he had 856 00:41:36,500 --> 00:41:39,125 weren't friends when he needed them the most. 857 00:41:39,167 --> 00:41:42,333 So as we suffer, we learn more and appreciate more 858 00:41:42,417 --> 00:41:43,750 the sufferings of Jesus. 859 00:41:43,833 --> 00:41:48,750 Number two, we become more like Jesus through suffering. 860 00:41:48,833 --> 00:41:51,333 And I don't know about you, I want to become like Jesus, 861 00:41:51,375 --> 00:41:53,167 but I don't want to suffer. 862 00:41:53,250 --> 00:41:55,708 And the truth is, there's no way to become more like Jesus 863 00:41:55,792 --> 00:41:57,167 but through suffering. 864 00:41:57,208 --> 00:41:59,875 Hebrews has a line about Jesus that's sort of a mind-blower. 865 00:41:59,958 --> 00:42:03,167 It says he became perfected through his suffering. 866 00:42:03,250 --> 00:42:05,000 We become more like Jesus 867 00:42:05,042 --> 00:42:09,292 on the path to eternal perfection through suffering. 868 00:42:09,333 --> 00:42:10,958 We become more like Jesus. 869 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:18,000 God takes seasons of suffering to do a work to change us, right? 870 00:42:18,667 --> 00:42:20,875 I'll be honest with you, I'm in a season like that. 871 00:42:20,958 --> 00:42:24,917 Time alone with Jesus listening, hard circumstances, 872 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,375 learning to appreciate Jesus more, 873 00:42:27,458 --> 00:42:29,750 see the ways that I'm not like him, 874 00:42:29,833 --> 00:42:32,917 and ask him to help me to change to become more like him. 875 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,625 And oftentimes, those kinds of things don't happen 876 00:42:35,667 --> 00:42:40,542 unless there's pressure and suffering. 877 00:42:40,625 --> 00:42:43,125 And so suffering is not always a good thing, 878 00:42:43,167 --> 00:42:45,792 but it can always become a good thing 879 00:42:45,833 --> 00:42:47,250 if we take it to Jesus, 880 00:42:47,333 --> 00:42:51,000 and we appreciate it more, and we become more like him. 881 00:42:51,042 --> 00:42:53,042 And thirdly, it becomes a witness. 882 00:42:53,125 --> 00:42:55,500 As we are suffering, how we behave, 883 00:42:55,583 --> 00:43:00,458 it really reveals who we are and who we love, right? 884 00:43:00,500 --> 00:43:03,167 If in suffering, you say, "You know, 885 00:43:03,250 --> 00:43:05,458 "I want to pursue humility by the grace of God. 886 00:43:05,500 --> 00:43:07,958 "I want to grow in godliness by the grace of God. 887 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:09,917 "I want to appreciate Jesus more. 888 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:11,917 I want to become more like Jesus," 889 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,000 that's part of your testimony. 890 00:43:14,083 --> 00:43:15,458 People see that and they're like, 891 00:43:15,500 --> 00:43:19,875 "Wow, that's a unique way to face suffering." 892 00:43:19,958 --> 00:43:22,167 That's a very unique way to face suffering. 893 00:43:22,250 --> 00:43:25,083 That's not how most people face suffering. 894 00:43:25,167 --> 00:43:27,833 They either try to get very strong and conquer it 895 00:43:27,917 --> 00:43:29,750 or they feel very defeated, and deflated, 896 00:43:29,833 --> 00:43:33,542 and overwhelmed by it, and it results in depression. 897 00:43:33,625 --> 00:43:35,958 To instead say, "No, no, I just want to sit in it. 898 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:37,292 "I want to steep in it. 899 00:43:37,333 --> 00:43:38,875 "I want to marinade in this season 900 00:43:38,958 --> 00:43:41,167 "so that I can learn what God wants me to learn 901 00:43:41,250 --> 00:43:44,542 and become more like Jesus." 902 00:43:44,625 --> 00:43:49,250 Well, Saul spent 3 years with Jesus 903 00:43:49,333 --> 00:43:52,542 and then he found that he was experiencing suffering 904 00:43:52,625 --> 00:43:55,208 from non-Christians and Christians. 905 00:43:55,292 --> 00:43:56,667 And you're going to experience suffering 906 00:43:56,708 --> 00:43:59,917 from non-Christians and Christians, 907 00:44:00,042 --> 00:44:02,042 but it's a great opportunity that God gives us 908 00:44:02,125 --> 00:44:04,667 if we will see it as an opportunity. 909 00:44:08,250 --> 00:44:11,000 And number five, lastly, what role does church community play 910 00:44:11,083 --> 00:44:12,500 in your life? 911 00:44:12,583 --> 00:44:14,875 There is no such thing as a personal relationship 912 00:44:14,958 --> 00:44:16,292 with Jesus. 913 00:44:16,333 --> 00:44:19,917 It also includes the rest of God's family, the church. 914 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,708 And so to become a Christian is to be reconciled to 915 00:44:22,792 --> 00:44:24,708 God as Father, but reconciled to other Christians 916 00:44:24,792 --> 00:44:26,125 as brothers and sisters. 917 00:44:26,167 --> 00:44:27,708 That's what the Bible says. 918 00:44:27,792 --> 00:44:31,125 And here, we're going to see Paul's interaction with 919 00:44:31,167 --> 00:44:35,000 the community of the church. 920 00:44:35,083 --> 00:44:38,958 Acts 9:27-31, "But Barnabas took him and brought him 921 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:40,833 "to the apostles and declared to them 922 00:44:40,875 --> 00:44:43,000 how on the road he had seen the Lord,"-- 923 00:44:43,083 --> 00:44:44,750 that's Jesus-- "who spoke to him, 924 00:44:44,833 --> 00:44:46,750 "and how at Damascus he had preached boldly 925 00:44:46,833 --> 00:44:48,542 "in the name of Jesus. 926 00:44:48,625 --> 00:44:51,208 "So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, 927 00:44:51,292 --> 00:44:53,208 "preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 928 00:44:53,292 --> 00:44:55,167 "And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. 929 00:44:55,208 --> 00:44:57,833 "But they were seeking to kill him. 930 00:44:57,875 --> 00:44:59,500 "And when the brothers learned this, 931 00:44:59,583 --> 00:45:01,083 "they brought him down to Caesarea 932 00:45:01,167 --> 00:45:03,208 "and sent him off to Tarsus. 933 00:45:03,292 --> 00:45:05,875 "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria 934 00:45:05,958 --> 00:45:07,625 "had peace and was being built up. 935 00:45:07,667 --> 00:45:10,625 "And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort 936 00:45:10,667 --> 00:45:12,333 of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied." 937 00:45:12,375 --> 00:45:15,208 Here's what it says, that the church was reticent and hesitant 938 00:45:15,292 --> 00:45:19,000 to embrace Saul of Tarsus. 939 00:45:19,083 --> 00:45:23,000 And so it took a mediator, a reconciler. 940 00:45:23,083 --> 00:45:25,417 It took a man of peace named Barnabas. 941 00:45:25,500 --> 00:45:31,833 Barney, okay, literally means, "Son of encouragement." 942 00:45:31,875 --> 00:45:33,625 Jesus is the Son of God, 943 00:45:33,667 --> 00:45:36,667 but Barnabas is the son of encouragement. 944 00:45:36,708 --> 00:45:39,958 This means that he has the gift of encouragement. 945 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,417 We learned two things early on in Acts. 946 00:45:42,500 --> 00:45:45,167 In Acts 5, we learned that Barnabas was a generous man. 947 00:45:45,208 --> 00:45:47,833 Here we learn that he's a gracious man. 948 00:45:47,917 --> 00:45:50,458 And these two things go together, he's a giver. 949 00:45:50,500 --> 00:45:53,333 He gives his money and he gives his love. 950 00:45:53,375 --> 00:45:57,750 In Acts 5, we see that he's a very generous man, 951 00:45:57,833 --> 00:46:00,208 he sells land, he gives a very large gift 952 00:46:00,292 --> 00:46:01,792 to the church. 953 00:46:01,833 --> 00:46:03,917 He's a very generous man. 954 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:07,708 And here, we see his generosity doesn't just include his wealth, 955 00:46:07,792 --> 00:46:09,583 but his love. 956 00:46:09,667 --> 00:46:11,125 His love. 957 00:46:11,167 --> 00:46:12,833 And these go together. 958 00:46:12,875 --> 00:46:16,000 As you and I learn how to give, it transforms us. 959 00:46:16,083 --> 00:46:20,583 As we learn to give wealth, we learn to give all. 960 00:46:20,667 --> 00:46:23,667 And here, what Barnabas is doing is he is taking 961 00:46:23,750 --> 00:46:29,583 a tremendous risk because love is a risk. 962 00:46:29,667 --> 00:46:31,292 It just is. 963 00:46:31,333 --> 00:46:35,125 If you won't take a risk, then you can't love anybody. 964 00:46:35,167 --> 00:46:36,958 And if you're wanting to love somebody, 965 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,708 you have to take a risk that they could betray you, 966 00:46:39,792 --> 00:46:42,708 they could harm you, they could hurt you, they could fail you, 967 00:46:42,792 --> 00:46:44,125 they could attack you. 968 00:46:44,167 --> 00:46:46,333 That's the risk that Barnabas is taking with Saul. 969 00:46:46,375 --> 00:46:48,500 That's why nobody else wanted to take the risk. 970 00:46:48,583 --> 00:46:51,333 He murders Christians. 971 00:46:51,417 --> 00:46:54,833 He's like a bounty hunter who has the right legally 972 00:46:54,875 --> 00:46:56,542 to hurt Christians. 973 00:46:56,625 --> 00:46:58,458 "We're not taking the risk." 974 00:46:58,500 --> 00:47:02,708 Barnabas, he's the encourager, 975 00:47:02,792 --> 00:47:05,833 and he has faith, and he has hope. 976 00:47:05,875 --> 00:47:07,625 "You know what? God could change him. 977 00:47:07,667 --> 00:47:09,125 "Maybe he has. 978 00:47:09,167 --> 00:47:13,125 Let me go talk to him," and Barnabas takes the risk. 979 00:47:13,167 --> 00:47:15,833 For those of you who have the gift of encouragement, 980 00:47:15,875 --> 00:47:19,667 you have faith, and you have hope, and you are a gift. 981 00:47:19,750 --> 00:47:24,917 And part of your ministry is loving first so that others can 982 00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:27,417 be welcomed into the family God and that strained relationships 983 00:47:27,500 --> 00:47:29,417 can be reconciled. 984 00:47:29,500 --> 00:47:33,208 Praise God for those of you who are the sons and daughters 985 00:47:33,292 --> 00:47:34,708 of encouragement. 986 00:47:34,792 --> 00:47:36,250 He's that guy. 987 00:47:36,333 --> 00:47:38,750 And just so you know, everybody loves the person with 988 00:47:38,833 --> 00:47:40,250 the spiritual gift of encouragement. 989 00:47:40,333 --> 00:47:41,958 Who doesn't? 990 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:44,167 And you know who has the gift of encouragement, 991 00:47:44,208 --> 00:47:45,667 because when the worst thing happens, 992 00:47:45,708 --> 00:47:47,333 they're the first person you call. 993 00:47:47,375 --> 00:47:49,167 Something happened, they're like, "You know what? 994 00:47:49,208 --> 00:47:50,542 "It's going to be okay. 995 00:47:50,625 --> 00:47:53,042 "God loves you, I love you, and you're not alone. 996 00:47:53,125 --> 00:47:54,458 "We're here for you. 997 00:47:54,500 --> 00:47:55,958 Let's look on the bright side." 998 00:47:56,000 --> 00:47:58,167 You're like, "You're pouring hope and faith into me. 999 00:47:58,208 --> 00:48:01,708 "I don't have it, and God gave it to you to pour into me. 1000 00:48:01,792 --> 00:48:04,708 "You are an encouragement, you are a blessing, you are a hope, 1001 00:48:04,792 --> 00:48:06,125 you are a help." 1002 00:48:06,167 --> 00:48:09,333 If you know somebody like that, would you do me the favor of 1003 00:48:09,375 --> 00:48:12,333 just encouraging the encouragers this week, thanking them? 1004 00:48:12,375 --> 00:48:14,708 Sometimes they get discredited, "Oh, you're just naive. 1005 00:48:14,792 --> 00:48:16,625 You're just an optimist." 1006 00:48:16,667 --> 00:48:19,875 "No, I'm a Christian and I believe that God can do things, 1007 00:48:19,958 --> 00:48:24,417 and so I take a risk, and I love people, and I see what he does." 1008 00:48:24,500 --> 00:48:26,625 That's Barnabas. 1009 00:48:26,667 --> 00:48:28,375 My natural proclivity is not Barnabas. 1010 00:48:28,458 --> 00:48:30,583 My natural proclivity is like the other apostles, like, 1011 00:48:30,667 --> 00:48:32,000 "Pssh, yeah right, great. 1012 00:48:32,083 --> 00:48:33,417 "Paul's over there? 1013 00:48:33,500 --> 00:48:34,958 Good luck with that." 1014 00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:37,667 You know, like, Barnabas is like, "Hey, welcome! 1015 00:48:37,708 --> 00:48:39,333 "Did you fill out a visitor card? 1016 00:48:39,417 --> 00:48:41,833 Do you want to have coffee?" 1017 00:48:41,875 --> 00:48:44,417 He's that guy. 1018 00:48:44,500 --> 00:48:47,125 But can you see where this risk is real? 1019 00:48:47,167 --> 00:48:49,833 If he takes--Saul shows up like, 1020 00:48:49,875 --> 00:48:52,917 "I want to meet with all the leaders." 1021 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,417 "You killed the last one you met with. 1022 00:48:55,500 --> 00:48:58,250 How about we meet one at a time?" 1023 00:48:58,333 --> 00:48:59,750 You know? 1024 00:48:59,833 --> 00:49:02,125 "No, I want to meet them in a group." 1025 00:49:02,167 --> 00:49:04,625 "What's under the coat? Open it." 1026 00:49:04,667 --> 00:49:06,708 You know, you're like boop, boop, boop. 1027 00:49:06,792 --> 00:49:09,333 Guy with a wand comes out, you know? 1028 00:49:09,375 --> 00:49:11,500 He takes him in to the apostles. 1029 00:49:11,542 --> 00:49:13,667 He says, "You know what? I've talked to him. 1030 00:49:13,750 --> 00:49:15,083 "I think he's met Jesus. 1031 00:49:15,167 --> 00:49:16,583 "I think he's a changed man. 1032 00:49:16,667 --> 00:49:18,083 "I think his heart is broken. 1033 00:49:18,167 --> 00:49:20,292 "I think God has a calling on his life 1034 00:49:20,333 --> 00:49:23,208 and we're here to confirm that," and history is changed. 1035 00:49:23,292 --> 00:49:27,167 And what we learn a lot about is Paul the Apostle, but man, 1036 00:49:27,250 --> 00:49:31,167 a lot of it was made possible by Barnabas the encourager. 1037 00:49:31,250 --> 00:49:33,625 Those of you with the gift of encouragement can be 1038 00:49:33,667 --> 00:49:37,750 significantly used to reconcile relationships so that the gospel 1039 00:49:37,833 --> 00:49:41,125 can be unleashed by people who otherwise may not find a place 1040 00:49:41,167 --> 00:49:42,833 in the church. 1041 00:49:42,917 --> 00:49:45,917 That's the story of Barnabas. 1042 00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:51,250 Well, what happens to the church is--it says this in verse 31. 1043 00:49:51,333 --> 00:49:54,042 "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria 1044 00:49:54,125 --> 00:49:55,542 "had peace, was being built up. 1045 00:49:55,625 --> 00:49:58,542 "And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort 1046 00:49:58,625 --> 00:50:00,542 of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied." 1047 00:50:00,625 --> 00:50:04,333 What the church has had previously in Acts is it had 1048 00:50:04,417 --> 00:50:06,708 some time of peace like around Pentecost. 1049 00:50:06,792 --> 00:50:08,750 Thousands are saved, it's amazing, 1050 00:50:08,833 --> 00:50:11,833 and then all of the sudden, you know, the U.S.S. Jesus 1051 00:50:11,917 --> 00:50:14,042 hits some real storms. 1052 00:50:14,125 --> 00:50:17,042 And God's people are on their way to the kingdom, but man, 1053 00:50:17,125 --> 00:50:20,458 all of the sudden the swells come up, and there's opposition, 1054 00:50:20,500 --> 00:50:23,333 and arrests, and there's the murder of a deacon, 1055 00:50:23,375 --> 00:50:25,667 and the church scatters, and people are fleeing, 1056 00:50:25,708 --> 00:50:31,458 and there's great turmoil, and the church is really 1057 00:50:31,500 --> 00:50:34,833 in the middle of quite a storm. 1058 00:50:34,875 --> 00:50:39,708 That's where we're at, Mars Hill. 1059 00:50:39,792 --> 00:50:42,542 That's where we're at. 1060 00:50:42,625 --> 00:50:45,833 We've had seasons where it was calm, 1061 00:50:45,917 --> 00:50:47,833 then all of the sudden the waves hit. 1062 00:50:47,917 --> 00:50:49,833 And certain people are falling off the deck, 1063 00:50:49,917 --> 00:50:51,833 and others are throwing up over the side, 1064 00:50:51,917 --> 00:50:54,833 and nobody's laying in the lounge chair anymore 1065 00:50:54,917 --> 00:50:57,042 drinking a fruity drink with an umbrella in it 1066 00:50:57,125 --> 00:51:00,125 because it's not that time. 1067 00:51:00,167 --> 00:51:03,083 And the church goes through these seasons. 1068 00:51:03,167 --> 00:51:06,125 And our church goes through these seasons where it's peace 1069 00:51:06,167 --> 00:51:10,792 and smooth sailing, and then it's storm and high seas. 1070 00:51:10,833 --> 00:51:14,333 They had been in a season of great storm. 1071 00:51:14,375 --> 00:51:18,708 And I tell you this because sometimes even 1072 00:51:18,792 --> 00:51:21,833 the cultural narratives that we're so familiar with, 1073 00:51:21,875 --> 00:51:25,000 they reorient our understanding of Christianity in a way 1074 00:51:25,083 --> 00:51:27,208 that is not helpful. 1075 00:51:27,292 --> 00:51:30,208 So, the average Disney story is something like this. 1076 00:51:30,292 --> 00:51:34,750 Having two daughters, I've seen my share of princess movies. 1077 00:51:34,833 --> 00:51:39,250 Not because that's my thing, but because that's their thing 1078 00:51:39,333 --> 00:51:40,750 and I love them. 1079 00:51:40,833 --> 00:51:43,958 Okay, so, I'm going to clarify all my Disney insights. 1080 00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:48,042 But I've watched a lot of princess movies, 1081 00:51:48,125 --> 00:51:50,125 and usually here's how it works. 1082 00:51:50,167 --> 00:51:53,625 There's a princess in distress, and here comes a glorious prince 1083 00:51:53,667 --> 00:51:55,958 to rescue and save her. 1084 00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:57,458 They ride off into the sunset 1085 00:51:57,500 --> 00:52:01,708 and they live happily ever after. 1086 00:52:01,792 --> 00:52:04,375 And we think Christianity's like that. 1087 00:52:04,458 --> 00:52:05,917 The church is a bride. 1088 00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:08,625 She's a princess and Jesus is the Prince of Peace. 1089 00:52:08,667 --> 00:52:10,917 It's in the book, all right? 1090 00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:14,000 And in the end, he's got a kingdom that's safe for her 1091 00:52:14,042 --> 00:52:16,417 where he'll treasure her, and love her, 1092 00:52:16,500 --> 00:52:21,000 and they'll live together forever. 1093 00:52:21,042 --> 00:52:25,167 But we're not there yet. 1094 00:52:25,250 --> 00:52:28,083 In the end, that's how it all works out, 1095 00:52:28,167 --> 00:52:30,208 but we're not there yet. 1096 00:52:30,292 --> 00:52:32,500 In the middle, they're riding through a dark forest, 1097 00:52:32,542 --> 00:52:34,917 and there are arrows flying at them. 1098 00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:38,750 And it's not just, "And they rode off into the sunset 1099 00:52:38,833 --> 00:52:40,458 and lived happily ever after," 1100 00:52:40,500 --> 00:52:42,333 it's that they had a long journey 1101 00:52:42,417 --> 00:52:45,250 to get to the kingdom. 1102 00:52:45,333 --> 00:52:50,750 And I love the honesty of the Bible and the love for 1103 00:52:50,833 --> 00:52:53,750 the church, and here it really talks about the church. 1104 00:52:53,833 --> 00:52:56,042 And up until this point, primarily in Acts 9, 1105 00:52:56,125 --> 00:52:58,208 it's been talking about one guy, Saul. 1106 00:52:58,292 --> 00:53:01,625 "So God loves you, and God knows you, and God cares for you, 1107 00:53:01,667 --> 00:53:03,333 and me too." 1108 00:53:03,375 --> 00:53:05,333 But then it pulls back and it says, 1109 00:53:05,375 --> 00:53:07,500 "Okay, how is this affecting the church?" 1110 00:53:07,542 --> 00:53:10,500 We always need to be asking, how is this affecting the church? 1111 00:53:10,542 --> 00:53:16,000 And right now for us is not calm, it's storm. 1112 00:53:16,042 --> 00:53:17,917 And the first thing people ask is like, 1113 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:19,333 "When's it going to end?" 1114 00:53:19,375 --> 00:53:20,708 I don't know. 1115 00:53:20,792 --> 00:53:24,000 What we can learn is what the Holy Spirit did in 1116 00:53:24,083 --> 00:53:25,833 and through them. 1117 00:53:25,875 --> 00:53:28,333 It says, number one, that the church was built up. 1118 00:53:28,375 --> 00:53:30,000 People got stronger, godlier. 1119 00:53:30,083 --> 00:53:32,583 All right, they started to get their proverbial sea legs. 1120 00:53:32,667 --> 00:53:34,542 "Okay, okay, okay, this is a little difficult 1121 00:53:34,625 --> 00:53:37,500 but I'm going to figure this out by the grace of God." 1122 00:53:37,583 --> 00:53:40,500 My prayer for me, and our leaders, 1123 00:53:40,583 --> 00:53:44,667 and you is that we be built up, we be more godly. 1124 00:53:44,708 --> 00:53:47,750 If we're going to fail, let's not fail in humility. 1125 00:53:47,833 --> 00:53:52,542 If we're going to fail, let's not fail in seeking godliness. 1126 00:53:52,625 --> 00:53:54,333 The church is being built up. 1127 00:53:54,417 --> 00:53:57,042 And for those of you who are newer believers--I don't know 1128 00:53:57,125 --> 00:53:59,042 how many, 5,000-6,000 people have been baptized in 1129 00:53:59,125 --> 00:54:00,833 the last 5 years at Mars Hill. 1130 00:54:00,875 --> 00:54:02,208 A lot of new believers. 1131 00:54:02,292 --> 00:54:05,167 We all need to be built up, including the new believers, 1132 00:54:05,250 --> 00:54:07,375 but me too. 1133 00:54:07,458 --> 00:54:09,708 So, my question is, for myself, "God, okay, 1134 00:54:09,792 --> 00:54:11,708 "as I get time with the Lord Jesus, 1135 00:54:11,792 --> 00:54:13,708 "how do I need to grow in godliness? 1136 00:54:13,792 --> 00:54:15,708 "How do I need to grow in humility? 1137 00:54:15,792 --> 00:54:19,125 "How can I be built up so that out of deep love and affection 1138 00:54:19,167 --> 00:54:20,833 "for your church and your people, 1139 00:54:20,875 --> 00:54:23,083 "I can help the leaders to be built up 1140 00:54:23,167 --> 00:54:26,667 and together we can help the people to be built up?" 1141 00:54:26,750 --> 00:54:30,167 I'd appreciate it if you prayed with me for that. 1142 00:54:30,250 --> 00:54:37,167 It also says that the fear of the Lord increased. 1143 00:54:37,208 --> 00:54:41,917 And when you're in a storm, there's so much to be afraid of. 1144 00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:44,333 This can be a personal storm, a congregational storm, 1145 00:54:44,375 --> 00:54:46,667 a cultural storm, a vocational storm. 1146 00:54:46,708 --> 00:54:48,833 I don't know, but any storm you're in, 1147 00:54:48,917 --> 00:54:52,667 it's so easy to become fearful. 1148 00:54:52,708 --> 00:54:55,750 And what happens is that when we become fearful, 1149 00:54:55,833 --> 00:54:58,417 we become false prophets. 1150 00:54:58,500 --> 00:55:00,875 And what the fear does, it sees the future 1151 00:55:00,958 --> 00:55:03,500 but with no hope or grace. 1152 00:55:03,583 --> 00:55:06,333 And it sees it in cataclysmic, worst case scenario, 1153 00:55:06,375 --> 00:55:08,708 doom and gloom. 1154 00:55:08,792 --> 00:55:13,125 And what happens then is that fear causes us to live without 1155 00:55:13,167 --> 00:55:17,208 any faith, without any hope, and as a result, without much love. 1156 00:55:17,292 --> 00:55:20,208 Subsequently then, we live in anxiety, and terror, 1157 00:55:20,292 --> 00:55:23,083 and fear of the worst case scenario. 1158 00:55:23,167 --> 00:55:25,500 Whether or not it ever comes to pass, 1159 00:55:25,583 --> 00:55:31,417 it robs us of joy and life along the way. 1160 00:55:31,500 --> 00:55:37,958 And in this world, there is so much to be fearful of. 1161 00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:41,625 That's why the number one command of the Bible, the thing 1162 00:55:41,667 --> 00:55:43,750 that the Bible commands more than anything else-- 1163 00:55:43,833 --> 00:55:46,333 if you were God talking to your people and saying, 1164 00:55:46,417 --> 00:55:48,458 "What would I tell them more than anything?" 1165 00:55:48,500 --> 00:55:53,417 He says this about 150 times, "Fear not." 1166 00:55:53,500 --> 00:55:56,167 Because it's--everybody gets afraid, 1167 00:55:56,208 --> 00:55:57,750 and people always get afraid, 1168 00:55:57,833 --> 00:55:59,958 and there's so much to be afraid of. 1169 00:56:00,083 --> 00:56:02,000 But that sounds kind of mean, right? 1170 00:56:02,083 --> 00:56:05,375 It's like if one of my kids in the middle of the night is 1171 00:56:05,458 --> 00:56:07,875 screaming because they're having a nightmare, and I run upstairs, 1172 00:56:07,958 --> 00:56:09,292 and I'm like, "Fear not!" 1173 00:56:09,333 --> 00:56:12,125 and then I go back to bed. 1174 00:56:12,167 --> 00:56:16,917 Okay, that didn't help. 1175 00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:20,500 And I've looked at every occasion in the Bible where God 1176 00:56:20,542 --> 00:56:22,625 says, "Fear not," or something akin to that, 1177 00:56:22,667 --> 00:56:25,667 and then he says something afterward. 1178 00:56:25,750 --> 00:56:27,500 "For I am with you." 1179 00:56:27,583 --> 00:56:32,125 Oh, this is what I would tell my child that was having 1180 00:56:32,167 --> 00:56:36,125 a nightmare, fearful, filled with terror. 1181 00:56:36,167 --> 00:56:39,958 I would come up and say, "Fear not, Dad is with you. 1182 00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:41,542 I'm right here." 1183 00:56:41,625 --> 00:56:44,542 That's where I rub their back, I kiss them on the head, 1184 00:56:44,625 --> 00:56:47,042 I pray over them, I snuggle up next to them. 1185 00:56:47,125 --> 00:56:48,458 "I'm here. 1186 00:56:48,500 --> 00:56:51,250 I'm here." 1187 00:56:51,333 --> 00:56:54,000 That's the Father God of the Bible. 1188 00:56:54,083 --> 00:56:58,458 When he says, "Fear not," he then says, "For I'm with you." 1189 00:56:58,500 --> 00:57:02,167 And it says that they increased in the fear of the Lord, 1190 00:57:02,250 --> 00:57:05,167 and what the fear of the Lord does--you're going to live 1191 00:57:05,250 --> 00:57:06,667 with fear. 1192 00:57:06,750 --> 00:57:08,625 Okay, here's an insight to the human condition. 1193 00:57:08,667 --> 00:57:11,833 You're going to live with fear, and the fear of the Lord 1194 00:57:11,875 --> 00:57:14,125 displaces all other fears. 1195 00:57:14,167 --> 00:57:16,917 That's why Proverbs says, "The fear of the Lord is 1196 00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:18,917 the beginning of wisdom." 1197 00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:21,333 If fear is at the center of your life, 1198 00:57:21,375 --> 00:57:23,500 you're going to do a lot of foolish things, 1199 00:57:23,583 --> 00:57:27,000 but if the fear of the Lord is in the center of your life, 1200 00:57:27,083 --> 00:57:29,167 you'll respond to your circumstances with wisdom. 1201 00:57:29,250 --> 00:57:32,000 So, the fear of the Lord displaces the other fears, 1202 00:57:32,042 --> 00:57:34,458 and the fear of the Lord starts with this. 1203 00:57:34,500 --> 00:57:36,708 "What does God say? What does God want? 1204 00:57:36,792 --> 00:57:38,750 "What does godliness look like? 1205 00:57:38,833 --> 00:57:40,333 "What would honor the Lord? 1206 00:57:40,375 --> 00:57:42,042 "What would give glory to the Lord? 1207 00:57:42,125 --> 00:57:43,542 What's the right thing to do?" 1208 00:57:43,625 --> 00:57:46,667 not "What will give me the outcome I desire?" 1209 00:57:46,708 --> 00:57:49,667 Fear causes us to make decisions to get an outcome 1210 00:57:49,708 --> 00:57:51,167 that we desire. 1211 00:57:51,208 --> 00:57:53,833 Fear of the Lord changes the outcome we desire. 1212 00:57:53,917 --> 00:57:57,833 The desire then becomes, "What glorifies God?" 1213 00:57:57,875 --> 00:58:01,917 not "What gives me the outcome I want?" 1214 00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:03,500 Do you see where that changed? 1215 00:58:03,583 --> 00:58:05,500 And some of you say, "Is that easy?" 1216 00:58:05,583 --> 00:58:06,917 No. 1217 00:58:07,000 --> 00:58:08,667 "Mark, are you any good at it?" 1218 00:58:08,750 --> 00:58:11,667 Psh, no, but I read the book and that's what it says. 1219 00:58:11,750 --> 00:58:13,667 And every time I practice that, it's good, 1220 00:58:13,750 --> 00:58:17,917 and every time I fail to practice that, it's bad. 1221 00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:21,000 The fear of the Lord increased. 1222 00:58:21,083 --> 00:58:23,500 Who or what are you afraid of? 1223 00:58:23,542 --> 00:58:28,417 God is alone to be feared, revered, respected, honored. 1224 00:58:28,500 --> 00:58:31,917 At the center of your motivation is his glory, 1225 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:33,625 not a particular outcome. 1226 00:58:33,667 --> 00:58:36,917 That's what faith is. 1227 00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:39,333 It also says that they experience the comfort 1228 00:58:39,417 --> 00:58:41,333 of the Holy Spirit. 1229 00:58:41,417 --> 00:58:43,667 The church would have had a season of mourning 1230 00:58:43,708 --> 00:58:45,042 and grieving. 1231 00:58:45,125 --> 00:58:47,542 People are leaving, and fleeing, and scattering, and suffering, 1232 00:58:47,625 --> 00:58:54,333 and dying, and there's mourning, lamenting, grieving. 1233 00:58:54,375 --> 00:58:57,750 God has been showing me this in a profoundly deep way 1234 00:58:57,833 --> 00:58:59,667 in recent months. 1235 00:58:59,708 --> 00:59:03,000 And the Bible talks a lot about grieving, and lamenting, 1236 00:59:03,042 --> 00:59:05,333 and mourning, and the highest category of the Psalms 1237 00:59:05,375 --> 00:59:06,833 are psalms of lament. 1238 00:59:06,875 --> 00:59:09,833 And this is where you see reality but you don't allow it 1239 00:59:09,875 --> 00:59:14,500 to drive you to anger or depression. 1240 00:59:14,583 --> 00:59:17,375 You work it out with the Lord, and it allows you 1241 00:59:17,458 --> 00:59:21,208 to see everyone, including yourself, including myself, 1242 00:59:21,292 --> 00:59:25,125 through the eyes of the Lord, accurately, and soberly, 1243 00:59:25,167 --> 00:59:26,625 and honestly. 1244 00:59:26,667 --> 00:59:28,000 It's a great gift. 1245 00:59:28,083 --> 00:59:32,208 And to emotionally work it out in a healthy way with the Lord 1246 00:59:32,292 --> 00:59:35,833 so that he can comfort you. 1247 00:59:35,917 --> 00:59:37,833 Because sometimes comfort is not in circumstances, 1248 00:59:37,917 --> 00:59:39,458 sometimes comfort is not in people. 1249 00:59:39,500 --> 00:59:42,458 Like Saul, we run to people and they're not there for us. 1250 00:59:42,500 --> 00:59:45,458 We look into the future and it doesn't look good for us. 1251 00:59:45,500 --> 00:59:48,417 We look around us and it's peril that surrounds us. 1252 00:59:48,500 --> 00:59:50,542 You're like, "Where do I go for comfort?" 1253 00:59:50,625 --> 00:59:53,917 So we have comfort food. 1254 00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:57,458 We create whole categories to replace the Holy Spirit: 1255 00:59:57,500 --> 01:00:03,208 comfort food, alcohol, drugs, sexual sin, gambling, 1256 01:00:03,292 --> 01:00:08,542 shopping, spending, freaking out, whatever your thing is. 1257 01:00:08,625 --> 01:00:11,000 What you're looking for is relief. 1258 01:00:11,083 --> 01:00:13,417 What you're really looking for is comfort. 1259 01:00:13,500 --> 01:00:18,250 And so Jesus promised--he said, "I will send you the Comforter." 1260 01:00:18,333 --> 01:00:20,542 That's the Holy Spirit. 1261 01:00:20,625 --> 01:00:23,708 And the Holy Spirit is how God is present with us, 1262 01:00:23,792 --> 01:00:26,042 never leaves us nor forsakes us. 1263 01:00:26,125 --> 01:00:28,833 He is the arms of the Father wrapped around 1264 01:00:28,917 --> 01:00:30,667 the children of God 1265 01:00:30,708 --> 01:00:35,333 as they lay fearful and frightful in their bed because 1266 01:00:35,375 --> 01:00:39,125 their mind is filled with a nightmare that they think 1267 01:00:39,167 --> 01:00:42,333 is real, whether or not it in fact is, 1268 01:00:42,417 --> 01:00:44,833 and he comes to comfort. 1269 01:00:44,875 --> 01:00:46,542 The Holy Spirit is a tremendous-- 1270 01:00:46,625 --> 01:00:50,750 he is a tremendous comforter. 1271 01:00:50,833 --> 01:00:54,167 I'm experiencing him in a way I never have. 1272 01:00:54,208 --> 01:00:58,458 I want you to experience him in a way you never have. 1273 01:00:58,500 --> 01:01:02,000 Because things may not get better, but by God's grace, 1274 01:01:02,083 --> 01:01:07,083 you can get better. 1275 01:01:07,167 --> 01:01:10,917 And then it says that the church multiplied. 1276 01:01:11,000 --> 01:01:13,292 More people met Jesus. 1277 01:01:13,333 --> 01:01:16,000 All right, once we grow in the fear of the Lord, 1278 01:01:16,083 --> 01:01:18,000 we grieve and are comforted. 1279 01:01:18,083 --> 01:01:21,000 Then all of the sudden we're able to stop looking just at 1280 01:01:21,083 --> 01:01:23,208 ourselves and realize there's still people that don't know 1281 01:01:23,292 --> 01:01:28,208 Jesus, that God ultimately wants us to be on mission 1282 01:01:28,292 --> 01:01:30,833 so that people meet Jesus. 1283 01:01:30,875 --> 01:01:33,583 And so the church multiplies, people are learning about Jesus. 1284 01:01:33,667 --> 01:01:37,250 If you're here today, Jesus is seeking you. 1285 01:01:37,333 --> 01:01:39,333 You're here for a divine appointment with him. 1286 01:01:39,417 --> 01:01:42,542 Just like he met with Saul, he's here to meet with you today 1287 01:01:42,625 --> 01:01:45,417 and to flip your life from a biography about you 1288 01:01:45,500 --> 01:01:48,750 to a testimony about him. 1289 01:01:48,833 --> 01:01:54,042 And it says that essentially, if I had to summarize it, 1290 01:01:54,125 --> 01:01:58,542 that the people of God grew in godliness. 1291 01:01:58,625 --> 01:02:01,000 My prayer is that I would grow in godliness, 1292 01:02:01,083 --> 01:02:02,625 that you would grow in godliness, 1293 01:02:02,667 --> 01:02:05,000 that we would grow in godliness. 1294 01:02:05,083 --> 01:02:07,500 That the church grew in godliness. 1295 01:02:07,583 --> 01:02:11,208 It reflected more the person and work of Jesus. 1296 01:02:11,292 --> 01:02:13,417 And that's a testimony, amen? 1297 01:02:13,500 --> 01:02:16,125 That's a testimony. 1298 01:02:16,167 --> 01:02:19,167 What we're going to do now is we're going to respond. 1299 01:02:19,250 --> 01:02:21,833 We're going to respond with our tithes and offerings. 1300 01:02:21,875 --> 01:02:23,500 That's part of our testimony. 1301 01:02:23,583 --> 01:02:26,333 You need to know that giving is part of your testimony. 1302 01:02:26,375 --> 01:02:29,083 It's like, "All that I am and all that I have, 1303 01:02:29,167 --> 01:02:30,500 "it belongs to Jesus. 1304 01:02:30,542 --> 01:02:32,125 See, it belongs to Jesus." 1305 01:02:32,167 --> 01:02:33,708 It's a testimony. 1306 01:02:33,792 --> 01:02:35,542 We're also going to partake of Communion. 1307 01:02:35,625 --> 01:02:38,542 We do this every week as part of our testimony to say, 1308 01:02:38,625 --> 01:02:39,958 "You know what? 1309 01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:43,042 Jesus is the Son of God and he is the Christ." 1310 01:02:43,125 --> 01:02:44,458 Right? 1311 01:02:44,500 --> 01:02:45,958 "And he is my Savior." 1312 01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:48,917 And as we partake of the bread, we remember his broken body. 1313 01:02:49,000 --> 01:02:50,333 We testify to it. 1314 01:02:50,417 --> 01:02:53,333 As we partake of the drink, we remember his shed blood. 1315 01:02:53,417 --> 01:02:54,750 We testify to it. 1316 01:02:54,833 --> 01:02:57,500 And as we partake of it, we testify that we're sinners 1317 01:02:57,583 --> 01:02:59,917 and that our life is not a biography. 1318 01:03:00,042 --> 01:03:02,875 And we're not the hero, we're the villain. 1319 01:03:02,958 --> 01:03:06,083 And that Jesus is the hero and that our life is to be 1320 01:03:06,167 --> 01:03:07,583 a testimony, amen? 1321 01:03:07,667 --> 01:03:09,000 And then we sing. 1322 01:03:09,083 --> 01:03:10,708 You know why we sing? 1323 01:03:10,792 --> 01:03:14,000 We sing as part of our testimony. 1324 01:03:14,042 --> 01:03:16,000 Jesus is alive. 1325 01:03:16,042 --> 01:03:17,417 Jesus is glorious. 1326 01:03:17,500 --> 01:03:18,833 Jesus is worthy. 1327 01:03:18,875 --> 01:03:20,208 Jesus is good. 1328 01:03:20,292 --> 01:03:21,708 Jesus is the Son of God. 1329 01:03:21,792 --> 01:03:24,208 Jesus is the Christ. 1330 01:03:24,292 --> 01:03:28,208 And so we sing and we celebrate who Jesus is and what he's done. 1331 01:03:28,292 --> 01:03:30,708 And we do that individually as part of our individual 1332 01:03:30,792 --> 01:03:33,417 testimony, and we do that congregationally as part of our 1333 01:03:33,500 --> 01:03:35,250 collective testimony. 1334 01:03:35,333 --> 01:03:36,833 All of our voices going together, 1335 01:03:36,917 --> 01:03:40,833 all of our testimonies colliding together to give glory to Jesus 1336 01:03:40,917 --> 01:03:44,333 because he is the Son of God and he is the Christ. 1337 01:03:44,417 --> 01:03:47,042 And it's a great, sweet, wonderful time. 1338 01:03:47,125 --> 01:03:49,667 And then we're going to commission you to go forth 1339 01:03:49,708 --> 01:03:51,500 and tell your testimony. 1340 01:03:51,583 --> 01:03:54,917 And I--honestly, I woke up today with a sense of great enthusiasm 1341 01:03:55,000 --> 01:03:59,042 and excitement because I believe that there are people that Jesus 1342 01:03:59,125 --> 01:04:01,667 has you to talk to. 1343 01:04:01,750 --> 01:04:04,833 There's somebody that he wants you to go be a Barnabas too. 1344 01:04:04,875 --> 01:04:08,000 There are people that need to hear of Jesus' work in your life 1345 01:04:08,083 --> 01:04:10,333 as we're hearing of Jesus' work in Saul's life. 1346 01:04:10,375 --> 01:04:12,833 And God is going to use that to encourage those 1347 01:04:12,875 --> 01:04:15,000 who are believers, even in community group this week, 1348 01:04:15,083 --> 01:04:17,583 and to evangelize unbelievers. 1349 01:04:17,667 --> 01:04:21,167 So I want you to understand the power of the testimony that God 1350 01:04:21,250 --> 01:04:25,625 has given you and how much richer and better it is than 1351 01:04:25,667 --> 01:04:28,125 just having a biography, amen? 1352 01:04:28,167 --> 01:04:31,125 Father, thank you so much that I get to teach the Bible 1353 01:04:31,167 --> 01:04:32,500 at Mars Hill Church, 1354 01:04:32,583 --> 01:04:36,167 and not only that, that I get to learn the Bible 1355 01:04:36,208 --> 01:04:38,333 first for myself. 1356 01:04:38,417 --> 01:04:41,458 And I thank you, Lord God, that your timeless word is always 1357 01:04:41,500 --> 01:04:45,167 timely, and that even, Lord God, when we lay out the preaching 1358 01:04:45,208 --> 01:04:48,333 schedule years in advance as we have with Acts. 1359 01:04:48,375 --> 01:04:51,833 Every week, I get to open it up and just shake my head 1360 01:04:51,917 --> 01:04:56,250 and chuckle because it's perfect. 1361 01:04:56,333 --> 01:04:59,333 It absolutely fits where I'm at, and where we're at, 1362 01:04:59,417 --> 01:05:02,000 and what you're doing to change me, 1363 01:05:02,083 --> 01:05:05,000 and what you're doing to change us. 1364 01:05:05,083 --> 01:05:07,500 Help us to grow in the fear of the Lord. 1365 01:05:07,542 --> 01:05:10,833 Help us to experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit. 1366 01:05:10,875 --> 01:05:15,333 Help us to stay low and grow in godliness. 1367 01:05:15,375 --> 01:05:19,583 And Lord, during this season we find ourselves in, 1368 01:05:19,667 --> 01:05:23,917 please allow us to be Barnabas to one another, 1369 01:05:24,000 --> 01:05:27,125 to put an arm around, to take a risk, to love well, 1370 01:05:27,167 --> 01:05:29,292 to believe the best. 1371 01:05:29,333 --> 01:05:32,333 And Jesus, let our lives be a testimony. 1372 01:05:32,375 --> 01:05:36,542 Rescue me, rescue us from the pursuit of a biography. 1373 01:05:36,625 --> 01:05:39,500 "What we did--" no, it's about what Jesus did. 1374 01:05:39,583 --> 01:05:42,750 "How great we are--" no, it's about how great Jesus is. 1375 01:05:42,833 --> 01:05:46,833 "How we made a difference--" no, how Jesus makes a difference. 1376 01:05:46,917 --> 01:05:50,833 Jesus, we want to have a testimony, so Holy Spirit, 1377 01:05:50,917 --> 01:05:54,958 help us to have a testimony and to share our testimony 1378 01:05:55,000 --> 01:05:57,917 for the encouragement of the believers and the evangelism 1379 01:05:58,000 --> 01:06:00,500 of the unbelievers so that Jesus would get glory. 1380 01:06:00,542 --> 01:06:02,542 In his name we pray, amen. 1381 01:06:03,375 --> 01:06:05,000 Howdy, Pastor Sutton Turner here 1382 01:06:05,042 --> 01:06:07,375 and I want to thank you for joining us today. 1383 01:06:07,458 --> 01:06:08,708 The service has just ended, 1384 01:06:08,792 --> 01:06:12,375 but you can still play an important role at Mars Hill. 1385 01:06:12,458 --> 01:06:16,167 July 4th, America's Independence Day, is almost here 1386 01:06:16,208 --> 01:06:18,625 and I want to ask you to please consider 1387 01:06:18,667 --> 01:06:23,458 making a special gift to Mars Hill in honor of our troops. 1388 01:06:23,500 --> 01:06:26,542 You might not know it, but the same sermon you just enjoyed 1389 01:06:26,625 --> 01:06:29,667 is streamed to our troops around the world. 1390 01:06:29,750 --> 01:06:32,167 They can't get to their home church 1391 01:06:32,250 --> 01:06:34,500 because of their deployment, 1392 01:06:34,542 --> 01:06:38,583 but they can listen to Pastor Mark teach the Bible 1393 01:06:38,667 --> 01:06:40,250 each and every week. 1394 01:06:40,333 --> 01:06:43,833 Your gift helps ensure streaming of this content 1395 01:06:43,875 --> 01:06:45,708 to our Armed Services. 1396 01:06:45,792 --> 01:06:48,917 You'll help ensure any member of our Armed Services 1397 01:06:49,000 --> 01:06:50,542 anywhere in the world 1398 01:06:50,625 --> 01:06:54,042 can learn more about Jesus and live in their faith. 1399 01:06:54,125 --> 01:06:58,583 Your gift also helps plant churches, equip church planters, 1400 01:06:58,667 --> 01:07:02,458 and distribute Bibles and study materials all over the world. 1401 01:07:02,500 --> 01:07:07,833 The impact you'll have on the lives of our service members 1402 01:07:07,917 --> 01:07:11,333 and countless others around the world is eternal. 1403 01:07:11,375 --> 01:07:16,333 Please make your gift today by going to marshill.com/give. 1404 01:07:16,375 --> 01:07:18,667 Thank you and God bless you.