1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:02,200 My name is Carlos. Like Cole said, I'm one of the 2 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:04,120 pastors here. We're going to be in Acts 3 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:08,600 chapter 19 this morning. It's a lot of texts, a lot of 4 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,400 texts. And so instead of me reading it 5 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:13,920 all at once and then us forgetting, we're going to chop 6 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,200 this thing up. And so you're going to be able 7 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,040 to doing a lot of standing and sitting today. 8 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,000 But that's OK because a lot of y'all like me are very tired. 9 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,800 So let me pray for myself and then we're going to jump in. 10 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,200 All right, All right, all right, come on, y'all. 11 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,920 Well, I guess I should mention today's sermon is about work and 12 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:43,640 the secular world's resistance, and it's going to hit on work, 13 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,560 but it's essentially what I'm trying to paint the picture. 14 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,040 What I think God is trying to paint in, in, in Acts 19 is what 15 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:55,160 happens when a group of ordinary people get lit on fire for 16 00:00:55,200 --> 00:01:01,320 Jesus, like what happens when ordinary people hear the gospel 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,040 of the Lord Jesus Christ and not just say yes with their mouths, 18 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:06,840 but they say yes with their lives. 19 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:08,760 That's what we're going to be exploring today. 20 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:16,200 So let me pray, Heavenly Father. Yeah, I kneel before you, Lord, 21 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:24,240 just because I need you. I pray that this is a an example 22 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,440 of what the sermon is. Lord, just me kneel before you, 23 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,520 giving other hungry people the bread that I found. 24 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,400 And so, Heavenly Father, would you use the words of Paul and 25 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:42,640 use the words of the writer Luke to remind us, Lord, that in an 26 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:50,120 age of rage and confusion, you have called us to be a people of 27 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:55,560 peace. Not passivity, not cowardless, 28 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,640 like being cowards, Lord, but a people of peace who look to you. 29 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,520 And so use my words, Lord, to help us become those type of 30 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,759 people in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. 31 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,760 So how do you react? How do you react? 32 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,640 Think about this for a second. How do you react when the thing 33 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:22,400 that you love is threatened? This is the question that we're 34 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,880 going to be thinking about this morning as we look at Acts 19. 35 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,280 And so far in our sermon series, we looked at work and we've said 36 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,400 work is worship. We've looked at work and said 37 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,520 that in our work we should we should use our work to be on 38 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,040 mission. We've looked at what happens 39 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,480 when work becomes an idol. And last week we looked at what 40 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,360 happens when we are lazy in our work. 41 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,520 And this week we will look at what happens when a church 42 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,320 faithfully works and witnesses in the community and the society 43 00:02:55,320 --> 00:03:00,400 around them resists. We will see what happens when 44 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,960 ordinary people like you and I say yes to Jesus and commit to 45 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,440 living this way and how sometimes when we do that, it 46 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,280 might upset the culture around us. 47 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:14,960 And my hope is that after looking at the example of the 48 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,240 Ephesian believers in Acts 19, we, we will be able to, to, to 49 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,160 answer that question, how should we live? 50 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,480 My hope is that we can answer the question, what implications 51 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,120 does this have on our work? But before we do that, I got to 52 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,440 lay the foundation for you because Acts 19 is crazy. 53 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,720 I mean, this will be like an HBO box office film if you had to 54 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,880 had to had to put this on film. So what I'm going to do, my temp 55 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,440 is I, I want to paint a picture of what's going on. 56 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:50,360 And then near the end of my sermon, I'm going to get a 57 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,360 little bit more practical. So I need y'all to just stay 58 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,480 with me. All right, hold on to your 59 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,800 seats. I appreciate you. 60 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:58,600 Hold on to your seats. I appreciate all y'all. 61 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,520 All right, so as we come to our passage of Scripture this 62 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,560 morning, we will see that Paul, he enters a city named Ephesus 63 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,480 and he disrupts the way of many people who are living there. 64 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,280 But to set the context, right, it's not just a city. 65 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,959 This is like a city of cities. Ephesus. 66 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:25,480 You could say it's like New York City, but not just New York 67 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,280 City. This is like Times Square in New 68 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:31,480 York City. Can you picture, can you picture 69 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,960 this place? I imagine that this place was it 70 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,920 was like on and popping, like there was never a restaurant 71 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,720 closed. You could go get, you know, I 72 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,520 could go get ramen at 3:00 in the morning if I wanted to. 73 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,960 This was a a place that was that was that was bustling. 74 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,920 If we were to transport ourselves back to the time 75 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,840 period, we might find ourselves walking down the street and 76 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:57,600 seeing Chariots go back and forth in a feverish pace. 77 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,120 You might see merchants yelling at yelling at you on the corner, 78 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:02,520 being like, hey, I got what you want. 79 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:03,920 I got what you need. Come over here. 80 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,200 Come talk to me. But the most significant thing 81 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,200 that we would notice as we walked around this city is that 82 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,360 we would see that this is a very wealthy and a religious city. 83 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,400 It would become very apparent that this city's wealth. 84 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:25,000 It would be very apparent where this city gets its wealth, and 85 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,000 it's from its religion. You see, the ancient Greeks 86 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,120 worship this God named Artemis and it was thought that her 87 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,680 image had fallen from heaven and was housed in the temple that 88 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,800 resided in Ephesus, which by the way, this temple was bigger than 89 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:45,600 a football field. So the question we have to ask 90 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,520 ourselves is how could this unknown nomad named Paul disturb 91 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,720 such a great city? How could one small group of 92 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,160 believers change an entire society? 93 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,520 Well, to answer that, it's simple. 94 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,680 Paul, the nomad that I just mentioned came to the city with 95 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,280 a vision of starting a faith community of word of Jesus 96 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:11,200 worshippers. And the way that he did that, 97 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:16,080 listen, the method that he used the the evangelistic strategy 98 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:24,240 that Paul used was to proclaim the gospel verses one through 10 99 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:25,760 says this. Let's stand for the reading of 100 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:32,160 God Word, God's Word if you can, verses one through 10. 101 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,080 While Apollo's was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the 102 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,840 interior regions and came to Ephesus. 103 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:42,320 He found some disciples and asked them, did you receive the 104 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,840 Holy Spirit when you believe? No, they told him, we haven't 105 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:48,080 even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. 106 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,840 And So what then? Were you baptized? 107 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:55,920 He asked to John's baptism, They replied, Paul said John baptized 108 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,600 with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they 109 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:04,040 should believe in the one who would come after him, that is 110 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,680 Jesus. And when they heard this, they 111 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,160 were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 112 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,640 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on 113 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,000 them and they began to speak in other tongues in the prophecy. 114 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,760 Now there were about 12 men in all. 115 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,600 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of 116 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,360 three months, arguing and persuading them about the 117 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,920 Kingdom of God. But when some of them came, 118 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,320 became hardened and would not believe the slander, and not 119 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,960 would not believe slandering the way in front of the crowd, he, 120 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,960 Paul, withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted 121 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,560 discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannius. 122 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:54,520 This went off for two years. Everybody say 2 years, two 123 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:59,240 years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, 124 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:04,680 heard the word of the Lord. You guys can be seated. 125 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,000 So, as is customary of Paul, when he enters a new city, he 126 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,560 heads down to the synagogue, the Jewish place of worship, to 127 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,440 proclaim that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises that 128 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,240 they search for so diligently. But before he gets there, he 129 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,720 rose up on some of John's homeboys and, and, and they're 130 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:35,200 there and, and, and, and Paul asked them, Yo, have you, have 131 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,640 you been baptized? Paul begins to proclaim to them 132 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,159 the word of God and they come to the true belief of what John was 133 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:45,200 preaching. They get the, the, they, they, 134 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:50,200 they see the, the dots connect. And that was namely that God was 135 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,840 sending a savior. He had sent a savior into the 136 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,080 world. And after that, Paul goes to a 137 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:00,480 synagogue and for three months, faithfully and consistently 138 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,640 preaches the Kingdom of God. Three months, 90 days of 139 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,800 preaching the same message over and over again. 140 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,320 Then after three months, some of the Jews within the synagogue 141 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,040 begin to harden their hearts and begin to try to lead the people 142 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,680 of stray. And so Paul, he bounces, he 143 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:22,160 leaves the city, right? He goes on to another city. 144 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,920 No, that's not what happens. He goes to another area, an area 145 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:30,520 that's mixed with Jews and Gentiles, and proceeds to preach 146 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:37,200 every day for two years, two years of day in and day out 147 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,000 proclamation. And what's beautiful and 148 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,560 important and important for us in our sermon series, that it's 149 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:48,560 most likely that Paul worked during the day and he preached 150 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:54,720 at night and those who followed him worked in the day and then 151 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:56,520 they went and worshipped at night. 152 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:06,480 Meaning that for almost for, for, for over for almost 2 1/2 153 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:11,920 years, for almost 2 1/2 years that Paul was in Ephesus. 154 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,760 The church was comprised of mainly ordinary Christians like 155 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,600 you and I Paul's strategy for this, What is it? 156 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:26,160 It's God's words proclaimed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, 157 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,720 peeling back the pages of the Old Testament and showing the 158 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,600 people that Jesus is the fulfillment of them all. 159 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,000 And I know what you're probably thinking, because it's probably 160 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,280 the same thing that I thought when I was reading This is why 161 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,360 would Paul use this as a strategy, right? 162 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,200 He's saying the same thing over and over again, like, is this 163 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,880 actually going to do anything? Parents, you know what I'm 164 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,840 talking about, right? You're at the dinner table. 165 00:10:55,680 --> 00:10:57,080 Not just parents. It's Chloe. 166 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:58,960 Chloe's not here, but I was going to. 167 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:00,720 She's downstairs. She's serving. 168 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:01,840 Look at her. Bless her heart, man. 169 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,240 I was going to say to Chloe, you know what it's like as well, 170 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:06,760 right? You're at the dinner table. 171 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,600 You put some vegetables in front of your your kids or your 172 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:11,800 husband, not throwing them right in the bus. 173 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:19,080 Cole doesn't eat vegetables. You throw some, some broccoli, 174 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:21,560 some steamed broccoli. You put some lemon pepper 175 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:23,840 seasoning on it. It's like it's fire, right? 176 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,920 That's a trick to get your kids to eat broccoli, lemon pepper 177 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:32,880 seasoning, going off the rails. You put some broccoli in front 178 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:37,200 of your kids and you say eat, and they look at you like you 179 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,800 just spoke another language. And you do this week after week 180 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,880 after week after week, and they don't do it. 181 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:49,840 And to their credit, to your credit, Cole, there's a good 182 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:51,640 reason why you don't eat vegetables. 183 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,800 The reason why you don't eat your vegetables, the reason why 184 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,560 your kids don't eat your vegetables is because they have 185 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:07,000 not acquired the taste buds for broccoli. 186 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,240 And if you look at our text, you might be tempted to think the 187 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,480 same thing. After over 2 1/2 years of 188 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,840 proclamation, you think Paul would try something else to 189 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:22,640 appease the appetites of these people like Paul? 190 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,720 Haven't you studied the culture? Don't you know that the 191 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:31,480 Ephesians are a post monotheistic culture like one 192 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,480 God? Nah, you know that That's old 193 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:40,400 religion or or does Paul know something that the Ephesians 194 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,880 don't? Could it be that Paul in his 195 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,880 day, Could it be that Paul in his day in and day out 196 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,640 proclaiming proclamation of the gospel knows exactly what these 197 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,680 Ephesians hearts? He he knows exactly what these 198 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:56,440 Ephesian hearts need to change their appetites? 199 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:03,280 Could it be that the Ephesians hearts they they they need to 200 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:08,000 hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in order for their 201 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,560 hearts to salivate after God? It's Paul clued into the fact 202 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,600 that the taste buds of the human heart are changed when the Holy 203 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:21,080 Spirit of God activates the Word of God on the people made in the 204 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,600 image of God. Could it be that Paul 205 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,640 understands what John says in John one that the word was in 206 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,320 the beginning before anything existed that the word was with 207 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,000 God. They're not simply they were 208 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,440 wasn't just chilling with God. He was in deep communion and 209 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:41,640 fellowship with God that the Word actually was God, that all 210 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,040 things, especially the materials and metals that the Ephesians 211 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:49,000 used to build idols, were made by the very hands that he was 212 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,600 proclaiming. Could it be that Paul believed 213 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,880 that the Word was life and light? 214 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,520 Could it be that Paul knew that the Word didn't just stay 215 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,920 abstract and intangible, but the Word took on flesh and subjected 216 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:07,320 himself to oxygen and gravity and dwelt among us in a truer 217 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,520 way than their false God Artemis did? 218 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:16,560 Could it be that Paul knew that the Word being 100% man and 100% 219 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:21,480 God, what's the thing that these Ephesians needed to change their 220 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:27,520 appetites? Well, yes, Yes it could, and yes 221 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,600 it was and yes it is. It's God's word proclaimed. 222 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,280 It's God's word proclaimed that changes our appetites. 223 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:37,440 It's how their taste buds change. 224 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,960 It's the word of God proclaimed in pulpits, but also at dinner 225 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:46,320 tables and in nurseries and in break rooms that change ordinary 226 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:50,880 people into Jesus people. This is what happens when Paul 227 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,920 steps up and and comes to to Ephesus. 228 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,920 And as we work our way through our texts, we're going to see 229 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,840 three things that happen as a result of God's, excuse me, of 230 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,560 Paul's faithful proclamation of the word. 231 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,040 We're going to see three things. The first thing that we're going 232 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,080 to see is we're going to see God's power displayed. 233 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,920 The second thing we're going to see is that as God's power is 234 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,600 displayed, these believers are actually transformed into the 235 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,480 image of Jesus. And the third thing that we're 236 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,280 going to explore, pertinent to our conversation this morning is 237 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:28,320 that social norms are going to be impacted. 238 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:35,760 OK, God's power, people change, the world erupts. 239 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,040 All right, let's go ahead and stand again for the next section 240 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:43,640 of text. We're going to be in Acts 1911 241 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:45,000 through 17. Y'all with me. 242 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,120 OK, let's go. God was performing extraordinary 243 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:55,920 miracles by Paul's hands so that even face clothes or aprons that 244 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,840 had touched his skin were brought to the sick and the 245 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,080 diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 246 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,360 Now some of the some of the itinerant Jewish exorcist also 247 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,640 attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who 248 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,200 had evil spirits saying I command you by the Jesus that 249 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:21,760 Paul preaches seven sons of Sceva God Lee, a Jew. 250 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,040 This is such a crazy story. A Jewish high priest were doing 251 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:30,960 this the evil spirit answer them Can you imagine God Lee the evil 252 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,840 spirit answer them. I know Jesus, I recognize Paul, 253 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:42,080 but who are you hunting? Then the man who had the evil 254 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,600 spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all and 255 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,880 prevailed against them so that they ran out the house naked, 256 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:53,800 butt naked and wounded. When this came became known to 257 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,960 everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they 258 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:58,640 became afraid. And guess what? 259 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,840 Y'all, the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem. 260 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,480 Y'all could be seated, you could be seated. 261 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:07,720 We got one more of those just to prepare yourself. 262 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,640 All right. Now we got to remember, we got 263 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,280 to understand that the, the, the, the church, the, the, the 264 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:20,079 Ephesian culture, they were obsessed with power and magic. 265 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,480 And in this culture obsessed with power and magic, God 266 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:29,320 chooses to display his power in response to his Word being 267 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,600 preached. We see that people are being 268 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,240 healed and evil spirits being defeated by articles of clothing 269 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,640 that touch Paul's skin. God's power is on full blast. 270 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:41,560 There is no way, and this is the point. 271 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,000 There's no way that anybody could deny what's happening. 272 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,800 And like any society obsessed with power, it's no surprise 273 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,840 that someone would come along and try to steal that power and 274 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,720 use it for their own advantage. Right here into the Seven Sons 275 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,760 of Skiva. That sounds like a a metal band. 276 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,720 Great band name, terrible example, but great band name. 277 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,960 These dudes, they, they made a living exercising demons and 278 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,600 they saw a chance to come up. They were like, hey, we're about 279 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,480 to hit a lick. Like we're about to come up and 280 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:20,000 sorry, that's we're about to, we're about to flip this for our 281 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:25,000 own advantage. Hit a lick. 282 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,680 I can't believe I said that. They've probably been following 283 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,480 Paul around and witnessed him using the name of Jesus to do 284 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,680 good things. And in fact, like within this 285 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,480 culture, it's it's not uncommon for workers of magic to use the 286 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:44,560 name of the creator of certain spells to to conjure the power 287 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,880 that they were using. But instead of believing in the 288 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,440 Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, they reject the gospel and seek 289 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:53,360 to use it for their own selfish gain. 290 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:59,400 They go in there and the demon says, hey, I know Jesus, I know 291 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:04,200 Paul, but who are you? Who are you? 292 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:07,440 And then he perceives to whoop their tail. 293 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:12,240 He perceives to jump on them, so much so that the clothes that 294 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,680 Luke describes that they, they, they run out naked and wounded. 295 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:22,400 And as a result of this, what happens, the Greek and the 296 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:23,920 Jewish people, they begin to talk. 297 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:29,680 Word goes on around this, about this, this new God preached by 298 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:35,160 Paul, this new God, he's, he's not like the guys that we know. 299 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,160 This God, he has power. His, his power can't be 300 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,080 manipulated. His power can't be shared. 301 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:45,880 This God is in an entirely new league. 302 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:48,920 When the word of God is proclaimed, God's power is 303 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,880 displayed. And the news about God, it 304 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,360 spreads. It spreads and what is the power 305 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:04,360 of God, by the way, the gospel, the gospel in verses 18 through 306 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:06,520 20, we see this. Let me read. 307 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,480 You don't have to stand for this one because you got to stand for 308 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:10,320 another one. And many who have become 309 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,240 believers, they came confessing and disclosing their practices, 310 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,520 right? As a result of this power of the 311 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,120 gospel being displayed. They came disclosing their 312 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:23,040 practices while many of those who have practiced magic 313 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,120 collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. 314 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,920 So they calculated their value and found that it was 50,000 315 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,120 pieces of silver. In this way, the word of the 316 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:40,320 Lord flourished and prevailed. We see that as believers are 317 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,960 transformed more and more into the image of Jesus, it's just 318 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,240 not enough for God's power to be displayed. 319 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:53,640 But it also happens that that as people say yes to Jesus and his 320 00:20:53,640 --> 00:21:00,480 message, it's not enough that God's power is simply displayed. 321 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:05,000 It actually transforms hearts in a noticeable way within the 322 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,240 community around them. What we see here is this, this 323 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:13,320 theological term, what we see happening to these believers is 324 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,080 this theological term called progressive sanctification. 325 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:17,400 Let me nerd out for a little bit. 326 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,760 This is the idea that once you're saved by God, God 327 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,360 proclaims you not guilty, right? You're not guilty, but 328 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,800 functionally you still got sin and all the type of stuff in 329 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:29,560 your heart. And what progressive 330 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,640 sanctification is. This is a reality that as you 331 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,280 walk with Jesus, as you, as you walk with him in community, as 332 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,480 you read your Bible, as you, as you meditate on his goodness, as 333 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:43,320 you, as you, as you say yes to the Holy Spirit, what happens is 334 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,080 the gospel of the Lord. It just wrings out your heart so 335 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:51,280 that you actually you actually live the faith that you proclaim 336 00:21:53,440 --> 00:22:00,200 or to buy broccoli analogy, your appetite for God is it. 337 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,160 It actually follows what you confess. 338 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,760 As we look at the cross of Christ through the Word of God, 339 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:08,800 we see that our sins are forgiven, right? 340 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,040 We see our righteousness given freely. 341 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,760 And this makes our true appetites awaken to the delight, 342 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,680 to delight in the things of God and live like it. 343 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,880 And the things that once seemed like cake, we're like, yo, 344 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,760 that's garbage. And the things that once seemed 345 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,760 like garbage, we're like, hey, that's good. 346 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:33,480 It's cake. And this is what happened here. 347 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,720 These believers, they have trusted Jesus for salvation. 348 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,440 They have been redeemed. And as they continue to see 349 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,600 God's power displayed through the proclamation of the gospel, 350 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,040 as they continue to hear God's word proclaimed through through 351 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,320 the mouth of Paul, and as they continue to live their lives and 352 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,160 community together, their appetites change. 353 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,560 And the things that were gained to them, they're like, yo, 354 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,120 that's loss. I want this. 355 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,560 And this is where Acts 19 in our series collide today. 356 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:10,000 Because as Jesus transforms these ordinary working people 357 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,600 into the image of God, and as their their appetites and 358 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,120 affections begin to align with that of God's, their work is 359 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:22,080 impacted. That's what we see happening 360 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,840 here, is it, isn't it? They all begin to take their 361 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:27,920 books and their possessions, their idols. 362 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,880 They're, they're tarot readers, they're crystals, whatever you 363 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:32,840 want to call it. They begin to take all this 364 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,120 stuff and they begin to burn it in the street. 365 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:42,040 This is a public public. This is not rebellion. 366 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:47,040 This is public protests and family. 367 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,960 This isn't just like they're like hobbies, their books. 368 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,200 You know what we see burning in the streets are these they're 369 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,800 idols of wickedness. They're these these things, 370 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,600 these strongholds that they had and many of these people 371 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,840 probably it's probably how they made their living. 372 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:10,440 And this ain't just like spend money, spending money or a petty 373 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,640 cash. I asked Chad GBT. 374 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:21,280 I was like, hey yo, Chad, how much is 50,000 pieces of silver 375 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,200 in today's coin? Anybody want to guess what that 376 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:25,960 is? Casey, you probably know this, 377 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,800 so don't answer. Anybody want to guess, throw it 378 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:29,560 out. You can talk to me. 379 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:33,480 How much? That's not that's low, that's 380 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:43,960 too low, $7.5 million, $7.5 million were burned in the 381 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,600 streets of Ephesus on that day. I might be wrong. 382 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,680 A million. It's a lot. 383 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:59,160 This amount of destruction to these objects of idolatry in a 384 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,960 city that was made rich off of these idols would have greatly 385 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:05,880 disturbed the supply chain of the day. 386 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,640 OK. It would have greatly caused the 387 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:15,560 stock market to crash because these and and this is the reason 388 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,880 why, because these believers were actually convinced that 389 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:23,360 Jesus was better. They said that Jesus is better 390 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,600 family. What a testimony this would have 391 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,000 been. This type of action wouldn't 392 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,560 have gone unnoticed. The whole city would have seen 393 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:36,760 this and they did, which is why is God's word is proclaimed in 394 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,720 power to ordinary people like you and I and those ordinary 395 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,160 people like you and I say yes to Jesus. 396 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,400 We begin to and we begin to really follow Jesus, like 397 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,880 really, really follow Jesus in a public in our public spheres of 398 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,040 vocation. This we will disrupt social 399 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,200 norms. We will. 400 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:03,120 And this brings us to our final point, right, that when God's 401 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:07,280 word is proclaimed and we say yes to Jesus and have our 402 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:12,440 appetites changed, what happens is that the world around us 403 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,240 erupts. So if you can stand one last 404 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,360 time for me, we're going to be in verses 23 to 29. 405 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,560 About that time there was a major disturbance about the way, 406 00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:34,360 for a person named Demetrius, A silversmith who made silver 407 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,760 shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the 408 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,160 Craftsman. When he assembled them, as well 409 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:45,160 as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, men, 410 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:49,320 you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. 411 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:54,280 You see in here that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of 412 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:58,600 Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled A 413 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:03,200 considerable number of people by saying that God's made by hand 414 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,920 are not God's. Not only do we run the risk that 415 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,440 our business may be discredited, but also, excuse me, that the 416 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,400 temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her 417 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,040 magnificence come to the verge of ruin. 418 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,800 The very one all of Asia and the world worship. 419 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,440 When they heard this, they were filled with rage. 420 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,560 Everybody say rage, rage and begin to cry out. 421 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,120 Greatest Artemis of the Ephesians. 422 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:41,040 So the city was filled with confusion, and they all rushed 423 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:46,880 together into the Amphitheatre and dragging out Gaius and oh, 424 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:55,320 Articaeus, let's go. Articaeus Macedonians, who were 425 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,640 Paul's traveling companions. All right, you can be seated. 426 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:02,800 Thank you guys. Thank you. 427 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:10,160 Now I love social media. I I don't want to share with you 428 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,520 guys what my screen time looks like because I'm going to be 429 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,120 embarrassed, but I love social media. 430 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,880 I love a good TikTok video. I love to get sucked into those 431 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,760 holes that probably have tons of reels that I've sent most of you 432 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,600 all in here. But there was this saying a 433 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,520 while ago on social media that began to circulate and I was 434 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,240 like, I don't know if I like that that and that saying was 435 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,720 this. That saying was that the gospel 436 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,400 and society should stay separate. 437 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:40,800 And to be honest, I get I get what they meant. 438 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,040 I get the sentiment, I get the sentiment. 439 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:49,040 I get that they don't want the pure, the pure gospel gospel to 440 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:54,200 be corrupted, to be perverted. But friends, family, I got to 441 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:58,320 tell you that a gospel that is preached that does not disrupt 442 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,440 disrupt the social norms of the day is a weak gospel. 443 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,960 A telling of the Kingdom of God that only stays personal and 444 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,840 doesn't impact the Kingdom of man is not the gospel that Paul 445 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,800 preached. Just look at our text. 446 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:19,600 The gospel that Paul preached disrupted an entire Society of 447 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,920 the Ephesians. Demetrius is at risk of going 448 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:27,440 bankrupt because Paul preaches that idols made with human hands 449 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:31,360 are not God at all and people are believing him. 450 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:37,840 The gospel has impacted society. And we know what this is like, 451 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,520 don't we? We, we've seen this. 452 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,840 I mean, we haven't seen it, but we've read about this happening 453 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,680 in our society. We've seen this in our own 454 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,120 country, right? Let's say slavery, for instance. 455 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,000 The gospel proclaims that all men are created in the image of 456 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,400 God, that as image bearers of God, it is unjust to still to 457 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,640 own, to beat, to torture and enslave another human being. 458 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,640 And even though slavery was a multi billion dollar industry, 459 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:11,200 the gospel of Jesus Christ in the hearts and mouths of 460 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:16,040 faithful ordinary Christians like you and I, right, was too 461 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:21,040 effective and it dismantled it. Talk about resistance. 462 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,160 There was a whole war, the Civil War about this. 463 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,000 So make no mistake about it, family, the world will resist. 464 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,800 As the gospel changes the appetites of ordinary people. 465 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,440 The gospel in the hearts of ordinary people like you and I 466 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,560 will disrupt societal structures because we are workers in this 467 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,760 society. The world will resist. 468 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,720 And in our text, we see that it caused a riot. 469 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,720 But in our day, right, it may not. 470 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,040 I mean, I don't know, we might be heading there. 471 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,840 It may not necessarily cause a riot within the seats of the 472 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,360 streets of Des Moines, but it may call you to be called a 473 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,480 loving. It may call you to be called a 474 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,100 bigot. It may cause you to be quote UN 475 00:31:12,100 --> 00:31:15,520 quote, canceled as if you could cancel someone made in the image 476 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,120 of God, but that's a whole another sermon. 477 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:29,960 Oh man, there will be, as our text says, rage and confusion. 478 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,560 The question we have to ask ourselves is how will we respond 479 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:39,040 when this happens? Not if, but when, Especially in 480 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,240 our jobs as people who have heard the proclamation of the 481 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,280 gospel, who have seen God's power, who have burned our idols 482 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:51,640 for King Jesus, and who say that we want to follow Jesus in a 483 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,880 real, noticeable way. How will we respond when we get 484 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:57,880 sucked into the rage and confusion? 485 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:06,120 We add to the noise of the rage and confusion or, or or will we 486 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:11,360 trust ourselves to Jesus and remain as non anxious presences 487 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:16,840 in the culture as faithful gospel witnesses like our boy 488 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:22,400 Gaius and Artichaeus, right? Like do you notice that two of 489 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,320 Paul's homeboys get sucked up into this thing? 490 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:27,440 And if you continue to read, which I'm not because I've had 491 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,320 y'all stand up a lot, right? If you continue to read, they're 492 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:34,000 not mentioned at all. They're just in it, faithful, 493 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:41,440 faithful. The world will resist when in 494 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,440 and when empires of ideology crumble, when industries that 495 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:49,560 feed on the weaker crush, when the the ambitions of the wicked 496 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,560 are destroyed. We must stand firm as unwavered 497 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:57,880 people, unwavered people of peace and certainty in the age 498 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:06,880 of rage and confusion. Family, I I have confidence that 499 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,480 what Jesus said is going to actually happen. 500 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:15,280 And when it does, when, when God's Kingdom descends on the 501 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:19,560 earth through the work of ordinary people, the world will 502 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:24,320 rebel. I I have hope that the billion 503 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:27,360 dollar porn industry is going to get dismantled. 504 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:34,560 I have hope that Lord have mercy. 505 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:40,280 I have hope that the abortion industry that predatorily preys 506 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:43,440 on communities of color will get dismantled. 507 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,880 I believe that systems of economic systems that are that 508 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,720 economically disenfranchise the most vulnerable in our 509 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:54,600 community, they will get dismantled. 510 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,280 And when they do, the world will go crazy. 511 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,760 When people begin to take their work seriously, what happens is 512 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,080 that systems of evil and oppression are toppled. 513 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,920 Or, as I said, right. God's Kingdom comes on earth as 514 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,280 it is in heaven. Rage and confusion will come. 515 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:21,239 And when it does, we we might. My plea to you is that we must 516 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:25,679 be people of peace. Not passivity, but peace. 517 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,080 I mean, we must be people who work as though they know that 518 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:36,760 God is real and that he transcends all of the madness. 519 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:42,600 So as we close and as I continue to plead with you, I just want 520 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:49,440 to show you an example of how of, of maybe some of the sermons 521 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:55,080 that Paul preached to these Ephesian people to help them be 522 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:58,840 people of peace in the, in the sea of rage and confusion. 523 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,600 Can I do that? OK, let me, let's do that. 524 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:02,760 You don't have to stand for this. 525 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:05,360 This is this is my practical application. 526 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:10,520 I'm going to get out your way. OK Paul says this in Ephesians 527 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,280 4. So he, he probably wrote 528 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,960 Ephesians, this is one of his prison letters. 529 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,160 So he's in prison for doing this, the very thing that he got 530 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,040 in trouble with in Ephesus for doing so he's in prison and he's 531 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:22,480 thinking about this Ephesians church. 532 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:26,880 He's he's meditating on everything that he went through 533 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:28,080 there. And this is what he says to 534 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:28,960 them. He says this. 535 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,000 Therefore this is how you, this is how you be a person of peace. 536 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,560 He said, therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth each to 537 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,440 one of his neighbor because we are members of one another. 538 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,440 Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down in 539 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:46,040 your anger and do not give the devil an opportunity. 540 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,600 Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he should do honest 541 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,960 work with his hands so that he has something to share with 542 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,040 anyone in need. Let no foul language come out of 543 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:59,680 your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in 544 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,480 need so that it gives grace to those who hear it And do not 545 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,720 grieve. God's Holy Spirit, you were 546 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:09,800 sealed by Him for the day of redemption, right? 547 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,760 Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander 548 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:18,200 be removed from you, along with all malice and be kind and 549 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,320 compassionate to one another, forgiving one another just as 550 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:24,960 God also forgave you in Christ. Do you see Paul leading these 551 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:31,480 people to be to be harbors safe harbors in a in a in a a an 552 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,480 ocean, a wild ocean of rage and confusion. 553 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,760 He goes on to say this in chapter 5. 554 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:41,680 Therefore be imitators of God. I'm not just giving you tips. 555 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:46,000 I'm actually calling you to be like God be imitators of God is 556 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,520 dearly loved children walk in love as Christ also loved us and 557 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:54,120 gave himself up for us a sacrificial and fragrant 558 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:56,880 offering to God. He goes on in verse 15. 559 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,480 Pay careful attention in how you walk, how you live in this this 560 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:04,360 crazy world, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the 561 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,640 most of our time because the days of evil. 562 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:12,280 So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord is, the 563 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:15,760 Lord's will is. And don't get drunk with wine, 564 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,080 which leads to reckless living, but be filled with the Holy 565 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:21,960 Spirit, right? How do you be a person of peace? 566 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:27,400 You, you walk in the Spirit speaking to one another and sin 567 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:31,240 and psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing and making music 568 00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:36,160 to one another with your heart to God, giving thanks always to 569 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:42,200 everything to God, giving thanks always to everything to God the 570 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:45,240 Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one 571 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:54,440 another in the fear of Christ to live as people of peace. 572 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,480 It's to follow Jesus in the midst of the, the, the, the rage 573 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,840 and the confusion. Paul is helping these people 574 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:07,080 live as peaceable people in a, in a, in a world gone mad. 575 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:11,200 He points them to the reality that this, that apart from God, 576 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:13,200 we too, right? This is the gospel. 577 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,880 Apart from God, we too are swimming in the sea of rage and 578 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:22,560 confusion, our appetites of sin. They have caused us to spiral 579 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:25,360 out of control and be separated from God. 580 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:29,400 But the good news says that the love and compassion of God, he 581 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:32,880 loved, that the love of compassion of God moved him. 582 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:37,760 It moved him to take on flesh, suffer and die in our place for 583 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:39,920 our sins, and resurrect from the grave. 584 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:44,840 And because of that, we are given peace, a sure and steady 585 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:47,520 hope. And not only are we saved and 586 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,960 forgiven and given a beautiful inheritance, we are actually 587 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,680 giving new appetites that long for God, appetites that long to 588 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:57,640 grow deeper as we walk with him and with each other in 589 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:02,080 community. And Paul says, because that is 590 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:06,040 your reality As you go out and work, as you go out and labor, 591 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,040 as you go out and be licensed to the world, you can be a people 592 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:16,080 who stand out with peace and steady steadiness and a firm 593 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:20,480 foundation. You don't have to, you don't 594 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:24,320 actually have to respond to the triggering posts on social 595 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,120 media. You can trust yourself to Jesus 596 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:29,400 and actually have the real conversation in life, right? 597 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:33,560 Like people of peace, people of peace. 598 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:40,160 So that's what it means. That's one of the ways that I 599 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:45,600 think it means to, to work in the midst of the secular world's 600 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:50,560 rejection. So let me pray, let me pray, and 601 00:39:50,560 --> 00:40:01,600 then we'll continue to worship. Heavenly Father, the truth of 602 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:09,200 the gospel is that although you could have saved us from the 603 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:16,560 madness, although you could have saved our souls and plucked us 604 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:18,400 up to go to heaven, Lord, you, you. 605 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,320 You keep us here, You keep us here. 606 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:29,640 You say, Lord, that you did not wish that we come out of the 607 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:31,720 world, that, but that we are not like the world. 608 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:38,400 And so as we who have said yes to you live and work in this 609 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:45,360 city, in our vocations, in our homes, I pray that we would be 610 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:50,960 marked as a people full of conviction, but also full of 611 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:55,160 peace. That in an age that celebrates 612 00:40:55,200 --> 00:41:02,760 rage and argumentativeness, that we would be a people, that 613 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:07,160 Frontier Church would be a people marked by their love, 614 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:13,040 unwavering conviction, and be marked as a people who fight for 615 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:18,000 righteousness and justice. And Lord, we recognize, I 616 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,720 recognize that we can only do that by the power of your Holy 617 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:23,760 Spirit. And so we ask Holy Spirit, come 618 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:28,840 fill our hearts, convince us, Lord, that we didn't just make a 619 00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:29,360 decision