1 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:08,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,280 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:30,120 Anyway, moving on to actually what's happening today, I will 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,240 tell you that I think, and I hope you're with me on this, I 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,240 think it has been incredibly fascinating to follow around the 9 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:41,240 Apostle Paul as he navigates mobs and violence and death 10 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:43,400 threats and everything in between. 11 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,880 And now he's in the midst of navigating what I would call a 12 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,080 pretty corrupt trial where his life is on the line. 13 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:54,240 And I and all that's been really kind of cool to watch him use 14 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,280 poise and cleverness and peace in the midst of all those 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,400 things. And somehow he's able to do 16 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:00,880 that. I don't know that I would be 17 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,640 able to manage those circumstances, but through the 18 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:10,040 Holy Spirit, he did just that. Now, as I say that and all those 19 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:11,800 things are true. But as I say that, one of the 20 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,240 things that I wanted to bring about today is the fact that as 21 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,440 Paul is doing this and working and living in this, in this 22 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,480 world that he's, he's trying to get through, it's really all 23 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,160 about Jesus. And you say, Pastor Chris, 24 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,360 that's the most Sunday church line I've ever heard. 25 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,600 And you're right, but I'm also right. 26 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,600 It's all about Jesus because here's the thing, in the book of 27 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,800 Acts, we see what Jesus continued to do and teach. 28 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,360 And you're like, wait a minute, I thought he went up to heaven. 29 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,720 Yes. But what we see in Acts 11 is 30 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,720 that Luke does just that. Because previous to that, he 31 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,520 gave us the Gospel of Luke, which is his account, his 32 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,080 understanding of the history of Jesus Christ walking around and 33 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,640 talking on earth. However, the book of Acts is 34 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,120 what Jesus continues to do and teach. 35 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,000 Now, he's not here physically as he was 2000 years ago, but 36 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,320 through the power of the Holy Spirit, he is influencing and 37 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,039 moving in people's lives. And so therefore, Jesus is 38 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:13,600 continuing to teach and preach and, and move inside this world. 39 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,800 And so that's how I want us to kind of frame and look at this 40 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,880 text today that we're going to, that we're going to kind of go 41 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,960 through is I want us to see Jesus in every step of the way. 42 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,280 And you would think I would want that every week, and I do. 43 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,040 But today I'm just going to make that a little bit more obvious 44 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:30,160 for you. So although we're going to 45 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,560 follow Paul's story, we're really following what's 46 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,720 happening in and through Jesus. So here's what that that's going 47 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,160 to look like. We're going to see how Jesus 48 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,080 stirs up and challenges religious people. 49 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,720 By the way, if you like to take notes, if you get out your phone 50 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:47,520 and you take a picture of that right now, that's fine. 51 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,720 And if you don't take notes, that's fine too, but just don't 52 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:52,160 feel weird. If you need to do that, that's 53 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,040 fine. The second thing we'll look at 54 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,760 is how Jesus stirs up and challenges irreligious people. 55 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,200 So 2 very different groups. And then finally, we're going to 56 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,840 see how Jesus testifies to the hope of resurrection. 57 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,720 Now, I'll tell you that normally, stylistically, what I 58 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,040 normally do is I like to read the entire text and then we 59 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,520 figure it out along the way. However, today I'm just going to 60 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,680 read this in sections. That way we make sure we get the 61 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,800 main points. And so let me preview you as to 62 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,320 where we are in the story right now, in case you haven't been 63 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,240 with us or you're just not familiar with where we are. 64 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,880 Historically. What's happened is Paul has been 65 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,720 obviously taken into custody because of his because of his 66 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,840 preaching about the gospel. And that is stirring up a lot of 67 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,480 people who really do not care for that kind of talk. 68 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,360 And so he's been taken in and there was an attempt on his 69 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,440 life. So he's going to move basically 70 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,560 from where he was in, in, in Israel. 71 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,320 And they're going to move him outwards so he can be tried by 72 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,800 actually like a Roman governor. Well, in the midst of that, 73 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,320 there's a plot and there's 40 people who are going to like, 74 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,520 jump on him while he's moving from one place to another. 75 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:04,840 The Romans catch wind of this plot. 76 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,640 And so they move him in secret. Well, that brings us to where we 77 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:12,680 are today. He is now before his, his, his 78 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,320 governor Felix. And Felix, what's going to 79 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,120 happen is Felix is going to interview him and he's going to 80 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,240 interview basically the prosecuting attorney. 81 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,800 So the prosecuting attorney for the Jewish people is there 82 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,280 specifically to say this is what this guy's done wrong. 83 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:29,760 You need to find him guilty. And that's where we're going to 84 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,400 pick it up today. We're going to pick it up with 85 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,760 the prosecuting attorney talking to the governor Felix. 86 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,320 All right, hopefully that makes sense and we're all where we 87 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:40,720 need to be go. Thank you. 88 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,360 All right, so this is Acts chapter 4. 89 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:45,840 That's where we're going to be this morning through various 90 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:49,760 different kind of spots. And again, we read all this in 91 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,200 Jesus name because it's his word to us. 92 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,720 So verse one through 8 to start. And after five days, the high 93 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,440 priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman. 1 94 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,080 Tertullius. And they laid before the 95 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:04,960 governor of their case against Paul. 96 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,240 And when he had summoned Tertulli, and when he had 97 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:12,280 summoned him, Tertullius began to accuse him, saying, Since 98 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:17,720 through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight most 99 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,520 excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation in 100 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,120 every way, everywhere, we accept this with gratitude. 101 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:27,360 What a line. That's ridiculous. 102 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,600 But to detain you no further, I beg in your kindness to hear us 103 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:33,680 briefly. For we have found this man a 104 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,400 plague, one who stirs up riots among the Jews throughout the 105 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:41,320 world and is a ringleader of a sect of Nazarenes. 106 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,160 He even tried to profane the Temple, but we seized him. 107 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,360 By examining him yourself, you will be able to find out from 108 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,920 him about everything that we accuse him of here in the 109 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,680 reading of God's Word for now. So here's what I want us to see 110 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,840 out of the gate. I want us to see that Paul is 111 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:04,040 going to rightly defend himself from these accusations. 112 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,600 And here's what they are. He's going to rightly defend 113 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,520 himself from these accusations. But I want to make the argument 114 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,720 and I think it's fair that those things that Paul is being 115 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,600 accused of are things that Jesus may have actually done. 116 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:20,200 And you're like, how dare you give me a second to explain. 117 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:23,080 And I'll and I'll, I'll try to win you to my side of this 118 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,120 argument. So first thing, they call him a 119 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,120 plague, they call him a, a disease. 120 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:31,240 Spot on. Their culture. 121 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,880 Is that true? Was he really like that and and 122 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,280 was Jesus like that? Well, it seems obvious out of 123 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:41,120 the gate, but they did this. They did absolutely consider 124 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,080 Jesus a plague of sorts. And what that word means, if you 125 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,800 look it up in the actual languages, it means someone who 126 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:52,160 is a Public Enemy and somebody who is a worthless man. 127 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,360 Oh man, they absolutely found Jesus to be Public Enemy number 128 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,040 one. Let me explain why. 129 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,400 In that culture, when you have the Jewish elite basically 130 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:05,960 running the show, here's what happens. 131 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,960 It's not like you and I where we go to church on Sunday and then 132 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,240 if you want to avoid the pastor and everybody else for the rest 133 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,760 of the week, you can do that and you can go about your normal 134 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,160 life. That was not the case 2000 years 135 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,360 ago in Judaism. What happens is if the religious 136 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,760 leaders don't like what you're doing, if they don't like how 137 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:23,840 you're acting, if they don't think you're following the law 138 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,200 well enough, what they can do is they can just absolutely stop 139 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,640 your entire life. Because that's the thing for 140 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,680 them, their faith, their congregation isn't just a thing 141 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,240 to do on Sundays. It's their entire life. 142 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,240 It's their entire social structure. 143 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,320 So if out of fear mongering and control, they can't manipulate 144 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,080 you the way they want to and you're kind of out of sorts, 145 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,440 they'll just kick you out of the entire community. 146 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,240 And now you have no life, you have no job, you have nobody to 147 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,680 talk to because you've become a social plague. 148 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,240 Look at how that works. Religion throughout all of 149 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:06,520 history, when done poorly, has been used to manipulate and 150 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,360 control and create fear. Jesus was never about those 151 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,960 things. But these guys are now this, 152 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,840 this sense of him being a plague and stirring up riots. 153 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:18,640 I'll give you a couple other fun things. 154 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,200 Jesus was called a king. In fact, he was called the king. 155 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:27,200 He called himself I am, meaning I am God. 156 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,440 So that's another issue that they took with him. 157 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,640 And of course, you know, there's this tricky business about taxes 158 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,640 and render on to Caesar that which is Caesar's render on to 159 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,159 God, that which is God's. And I don't have time to get 160 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:40,720 into the particulars of that today. 161 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,919 But for all these reasons, they looked at Jesus and in some ways 162 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:47,440 they looked at Paul as a plague and someone who stirs up riots, 163 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:48,880 right? You're, you're creating 164 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,840 dissension among our population. And we don't like that because 165 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:53,880 we like control and we like fear. 166 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,080 That's how we keep you under our thumb. 167 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,080 Not helpful, but that's how they lived. 168 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,800 The second thing that they said about him was that he was the 169 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,240 leader of a sect. Now that word sect is not 170 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,560 something that we use a lot, but let me say this to you. 171 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,320 Jesus was in the world, but not of the world. 172 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,040 And the interesting thing is that Jesus calls his people to 173 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,920 be the same way he calls you, and he calls me to be in the 174 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,280 world, but not necessarily of the world. 175 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:26,760 And what happens when you do that? 176 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:28,800 What happens when you take an attitude like that? 177 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:30,920 Well, what's going to happen is you're going to create 178 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,800 dissension because you're going to challenge some social and 179 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:37,000 some cultural norms, and that's going to make them not happy. 180 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,560 That's going to put them in the position again, because they 181 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:42,480 desire control and they desire power. 182 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,440 It's going to put them in the position to squash you or start 183 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,640 calling you names. They're really good at calling 184 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,000 names. Very mature. 185 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,640 Now on this idea of a sect, you can go so far with this word. 186 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,480 Modern day, you'd probably understand that as they're 187 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:04,600 saying, he's in a cult. Have you ever heard Christianity 188 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:06,840 called a cult before? I have. 189 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:12,400 And sometimes when it's been when it's being manipulated and 190 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,040 we're not working out of the Bible, but we're working out of 191 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,880 a sense of a power grab, it does become that. 192 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:21,120 I want to share a story with you. 193 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:26,160 I can't share the whole thing, but the people who started this 194 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:31,880 church, they got told something very similar to this. 195 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,080 You're creating dissension. You're a separate thing. 196 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:40,200 You're not with us anymore. You guys are a cult. 197 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,760 I have so much respect for the men and women who bravely 198 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,440 started this church over 40 years ago because this is a 199 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,080 small town, if you haven't noticed. 200 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,880 And I know they got called all sorts of names and they got told 201 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,600 that they were a part of a cult because they weren't toeing the 202 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,320 religious line. God bless those people. 203 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,000 If you know any of them, go thank them today because they 204 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,520 are the human reason why we get to be here today. 205 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:08,880 But they were persecuted for that. 206 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:12,920 They were persecuted for their belief that God's word is the 207 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,040 rock that we stand on and that we don't mess with that. 208 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,440 We leave that alone. We let God be God. 209 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:22,800 So if you know them, thank them because they went through a lot. 210 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:28,040 The third accusation that they lobby is that he has profaned 211 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:29,080 the temple. What does that mean? 212 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:31,360 It means you made it dirty. It means you ruined it. 213 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,440 Well, how would Paul or Jesus have done that? 214 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,760 That's a pretty severe thing to say about somebody. 215 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:43,440 Oh, I know how you do that. You let those people in. 216 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,280 Nobody likes those people. They're so gross. 217 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:51,800 They don't dress like us. They don't act like us. 218 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:53,400 You know, all that kind of stuff. 219 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,040 Well, here, here's the deal. If you're in religious power at 220 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,680 this point and somebody is bringing in that person who you 221 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:03,480 think is dirty, who doesn't fit in your little cultural box, 222 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,560 they're going to say you're ruining church. 223 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,240 I would love us to ruin this church with people that we don't 224 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:18,080 think belong here. That would be great. 225 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:26,160 Friends. We call this place a tagline 226 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:27,360 right there. Here's the tagline. 227 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,120 House for the broken, home for the healed. 228 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,080 I guarantee every single one of us that walk through these doors 229 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,720 today is broken by sin. Every single one of us. 230 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,200 And here's the thing, If we say as religious people, if we say, 231 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:43,920 you know what? I really need you to clean up 232 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:45,240 your ACT. I really need you to dress 233 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,040 right. I need you to be morally and 234 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,000 ethically the way I want you to be before you come to this 235 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:50,800 place. Guess what? 236 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,960 This building and every other church on the planet is empty. 237 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,240 They're all empty because nobody is worthy. 238 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:02,440 That's why we call it a house for the broken, because we come 239 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:07,160 broken with sin, but home for the healed because we leave with 240 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,280 the forgiveness and grace of Jesus Christ. 241 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,640 And so therefore we leave. We leave in freedom. 242 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:14,720 So man, make this place your home. 243 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,720 If you know you're broken enough to need Jesus, but you know 244 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,640 you're forgiven enough to have him, that's how this can be your 245 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,040 home. And that's why I want those 246 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,560 people here. I want those people here. 247 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,720 Go ahead and invite them. They may look different, they 248 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:31,280 may act different, they may dress. 249 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,200 Invite them anyway. This place is for them. 250 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,120 So those are the accusations thrown at him. 251 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:45,880 Here's the thing. I want us to see that as much as 252 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,600 Jesus and Paul challenge the religious elite and we can pick 253 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,000 on them all day, they also challenge the irreligious. 254 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:57,160 And here's what that looks like. So after the prosecutor makes 255 00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:59,960 his case against Paul, Paul is going to answer. 256 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:02,440 He's going to defend himself. I'm going to skip over that 257 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:06,080 section for now because what happens is after Paul defends 258 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:09,920 himself, then Felix decides, I'm not going to decide anything 259 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:15,400 right now, but over the next two years, two years, Felix keeps 260 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,600 pulling Paul back into conversations. 261 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,120 Not formal court conversations, but conversations because Felix 262 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,320 is corrupt beyond belief and he's looking for a bribe. 263 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,640 He knows that Paul has these networks all over the known 264 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,080 world where he can get money from people. 265 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,880 And so Felix would love for Paul to bribe him, right? 266 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,800 Well, here's what one of the conversations looked like. 267 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,520 It comes from 2422 and through 23. 268 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,920 It says this, but Felix having a rather accurate knowledge of the 269 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,360 way put him off saying when lice when Lyceus the tribune comes 270 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,160 down, I will decide your case. Then he gave orders to the 271 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,160 centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty 272 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,320 and that none of his friends should be prevented from 273 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,600 attending him. By the way, fun fact, if you're 274 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:03,080 in a Roman jail, they don't provide food. 275 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:06,240 So if your friends don't show up and give you food, you starve to 276 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,120 death in jail. That's how that works. 277 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,200 But keep going. After some days, Felix came with 278 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,480 his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and 279 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,320 heard him speak about faith in Jesus Christ. 280 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,920 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control 281 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:26,440 in the coming judgement, Felix was alarmed and said go away for 282 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,120 the present. When I get an opportunity, I'll 283 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,800 summon you. Here's how Jesus challenges the 284 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,640 irreligious. He challenged them with 285 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:38,360 righteousness and self-control and judgement. 286 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,040 Well, what's righteousness? I wanted to read this definition 287 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,120 to you because I think it's better than what I could have 288 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,120 said. It comes from a little website 289 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,600 calledgotquestions.org. I think that's a nice little 290 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,280 resource if you do have questions, but bring those 291 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,000 questions to the podcast 1st and then you can go to 292 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,320 gotgotquestions.org. But let me read this to you 293 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,480 about righteousness. The Greek new word. 294 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,240 The Greek New Testament word for righteousness primarily 295 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:07,360 describes conduct in relation to others, especially with regards 296 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,400 to rights of others in business, legal matters, and beginning 297 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:16,240 with relationship to God. It is contrasted with 298 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:19,720 wickedness, the conduct of one who out of gross self 299 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,480 centeredness neither reveres God nor respects man. 300 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,760 Do you see how this definition of righteousness and how Jesus 301 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:32,120 and Paul understood this is, gosh, it's really difficult, 302 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:34,240 isn't it? But it lines up perfectly with 303 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:36,560 the two laws that Jesus said were the most important. 304 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:38,440 Love God, love your neighbor as yourself. 305 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:40,520 That's what righteousness looks like. 306 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,320 Righteousness looks like me putting God first, and I have a 307 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,760 wife and I have kids and I have people I love, but putting God 308 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,160 first and then loving my neighbor as myself, My closest 309 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,360 neighbors, of course, being those people that I mentioned. 310 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,000 And then it goes out from there. That's what righteousness looks 311 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,160 like. That is a challenge to people 312 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,359 who are irreligious #1 because out of the gate, you don't have 313 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:09,240 God, you don't know Him, you don't Revere him, and #2 because 314 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,240 you don't know God, it is highly likely that you are living for 315 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:15,960 you, for what makes you comfortable, for what makes you 316 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,079 happy. That's not righteousness. 317 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,760 Now, again, none of us is righteous perfectly. 318 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:25,000 I often times put myself before my wife, my kids, God. 319 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:29,000 Of course I do that often, but it's a good thing I have Jesus 320 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,320 Christ who is perfectly righteous, who then gives that 321 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,840 to me by his atonement for my sins. 322 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:37,640 That's how that works. Now self-control. 323 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,760 Oh, that's a fun one. That's a fun one. 324 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:45,000 How good are you at that? I mean, honestly, there there's 325 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,080 some things that you're probably really good at self-control and 326 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,280 other things like man, you just blow it every time. 327 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,600 What's in your Oh, I'd love to know what's in your heads right 328 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,280 now. You're like, oh, is Christmas 329 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,360 buying too many presents or? Yeah, no self-control at 330 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:04,720 Christmas. I understand that's a good one. 331 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,960 But here's the thing. I will make the argument that 332 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,000 self-control of the irreligious is all about themselves. 333 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:13,920 Now that seems obvious when I say that, doesn't it? 334 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,800 But let me lay that case out for you from the Christian 335 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,320 perspective. Self-control from the Christian 336 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,920 perspective isn't about me, it's about others. 337 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,640 So I will exercise constraint and moderation as a Christian, 338 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,120 and I will withhold some of that freedom to serve you. 339 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:36,720 I will exercise some of that to serve my wife, to serve my God. 340 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,960 So therefore, self-control for the Christian is never about me. 341 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,320 It's always others based. Here's what self-control looks 342 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,560 like for the irreligious person. Let me give you a fun example. 343 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:49,680 If I'm if I'm somebody who doesn't believe in God and I'm 344 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,080 trying to exercise some self-control with the food I 345 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:53,760 eat, for example, why am I doing that? 346 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:56,120 Why am I doing that? Oh, that's right. 347 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:00,160 I'm doing that so I can look better, so that people are more 348 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,200 attracted to me and they see me and they want to be like me. 349 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,480 That's why I'm doing that. If I'm the irreligious person 350 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,320 and I'm trying to exercise self-control over my finances, 351 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,360 why am I doing that? Because I want to have more 352 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:16,320 money for me. Do you see the difference? 353 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,600 self-control inside Christianity is others based. self-control 354 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,960 irreligiously is me based. Huge difference. 355 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,520 And that's a huge challenge to people who don't believe in God. 356 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:30,200 Third one, and this is the biggie. 357 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,160 Judgement. Judgement. 358 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:35,920 You know what's going to make somebody squirm? 359 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:37,680 Even if they say they don't believe in God? 360 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:39,160 Tell them that they'll be judged. 361 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,960 Tell them that there is a perfect God who judges perfectly 362 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,240 and without Jesus Christ they will die in their sins and they 363 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,360 will be judged accordingly. Tell them that. 364 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:54,440 See how that conversation goes. This is why Felix freaks out and 365 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,920 says, see you later. Because as we challenge the 366 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,640 irreligious with the truth of the gospel, that's hard to hear. 367 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,960 But I, I, I, I want to speak plainly to you. 368 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,000 So let me let me take a moment to do that. 369 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,880 God's judgement is coming. It's real, and it will not be 370 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,920 stopped. It is inevitable. 371 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,760 So therefore, you can take Jesus one of two ways. 372 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,640 You can take Jesus as your Savior. 373 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:32,640 You can take him as the person, as your defense attorney, or you 374 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,840 can cower before him and you can let him be the prosecuting 375 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:37,280 attorney. Which one do you want? 376 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,040 Because it's coming. And I will tell you, I think as 377 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,920 Christians, we ought not be afraid to say that. 378 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:48,720 Now, maybe depending on who you're talking to, you have to 379 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,880 season that a little bit because you want to maintain that 380 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,040 relationship. But I'm telling you that is the 381 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:55,320 truth. And we don't need to be afraid 382 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,000 of the truth. The same way you wouldn't be 383 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,400 afraid if somebody's about to drive off a Cliff, right? 384 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,800 Because there's a lot of cliffs around here anyway, that you 385 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,200 would tell them to stop. It's the same thing. 386 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,480 Don't be afraid of that. So what does all this mean? 387 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,320 These, the religious challenge, the irreligious challenge. 388 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,680 What does all that mean? Well, here's the thing. 389 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:21,120 In light of tight conservative religiosity and in light of 390 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:24,680 liberal secularism, Jesus challenges, and he disagrees 391 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:26,520 with them both. Do you see that? 392 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,400 You can't put him in a box. You can't put him on the left, 393 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:30,840 and you can't put him on the right. 394 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,120 Because anything that doesn't honor and Revere and love God 395 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,200 and love our neighbor Jesus absolutely challenges. 396 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,280 You can't wrap him up. And that's what the world tries 397 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:42,680 to do. The world tries to take the 398 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,120 gospel and they try to wrap it up in this nice, neat little 399 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:51,120 unoffensive package. But the word of God and his 400 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:54,480 people, Lord willing, will not be put in a box. 401 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,000 We will not be packaged into this small, unoffensive, quiet, 402 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,960 scared thing. That is not who we are called to 403 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:03,920 be. We are called to be people who 404 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,240 speak the truth. And quite frankly, we are called 405 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,360 to be people who love the people who don't look like they deserve 406 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:13,040 to be loved and who challenge the people who don't get 407 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:16,240 challenged nearly enough. That's who we're called to be. 408 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:18,560 And you know what's going to happen if you do that? 409 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:22,840 It's going to be weird. You're going to make some 410 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,160 friends you never thought you'd have, and you're going to make 411 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,200 some enemies that you never wanted. 412 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:35,400 Welcome to the gospel. I'm signing up for that all day 413 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:37,520 because I don't want you to put me in a box. 414 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,960 I don't want you to tell me what I have to be or who I need to 415 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,080 talk to. I want to talk to the people 416 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:50,720 that you don't think I should. I hope you want to get weird 417 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,840 like that too, because anything less is not the Christianity 418 00:22:54,840 --> 00:23:00,800 that Jesus did because he is far too liberal for the religious 419 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:05,160 elite and he has far too high expectations for the 420 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,240 irreligious. You can't put him in a box. 421 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,440 Last thing and then we'll we'll wrap this up how Jesus testifies 422 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:20,000 the to the hope of resurrection in this middle section that I 423 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,560 skipped over. Paul makes his defense and I 424 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,840 think he does a great job and you can read the entire thing in 425 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,280 Acts 24. But here's how he here's how he 426 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,400 kind of wraps up his defense. And I'll read that part. 427 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,000 But some Jews from Asia, they, they ought to be here before you 428 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,160 and make an accusation should they have anything against me, 429 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,360 or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they have 430 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:44,680 found. When I stood before the council, 431 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,560 other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among 432 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,680 them. It is with respect to the to the 433 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,480 resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day. 434 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,160 I can tell you with all assurance, because I get to talk 435 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:06,680 to a lot of people, that everybody I've ever, ever met, 436 00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:11,080 when somebody they love dies, they're in a better place. 437 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,240 Rest in peace, they're in a better place. 438 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,960 This could be the most irreligious person I've ever 439 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,680 met, and they all say the same stinking thing. 440 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:21,120 They're in a better place. It's fine. 441 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:27,240 That's normal, apparently, to think that no matter what your 442 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,320 background is, you know what's not normal? 443 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,640 To expect resurrection. That's not normal. 444 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,400 That's weird. That's really strange thing to 445 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,320 do. And here's the thing. 446 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,640 Jesus himself proved resurrection, did he not when he 447 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,560 rose from the dead, presented himself to hundreds of 448 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,760 eyewitnesses? That's the hope. 449 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,280 That's the hope that the Christian gets put on trial for 450 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,040 is I expect resurrection. Now let me tell you something. 451 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,320 I use the word hope a couple times and I've said this before, 452 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,120 but I need to make sure it's clear to you. 453 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,840 When the Bible uses the word hope, it means expectation. 454 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:13,120 That's what it means. So I hope and or expect to be 455 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:18,000 made alive again. I expect to have a life where my 456 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,320 body doesn't hurt and I'm not prone to sickness, disease, 457 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,760 pain, injuries, etcetera. I expect to be able to use these 458 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,800 two arms to embrace my Savior, right? 459 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,680 I expect that because we have a risen Lord and therefore we will 460 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,480 be risen again. What do you expect from God? 461 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,600 He's a big God. You can have big expectations, 462 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:44,880 but your biggest expectation ought to be that you will not 463 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,680 die and stay dead, nor will you float in the clouds as some 464 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:53,600 weird spirit playing a harp. No, God provides resurrection 465 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,120 real bodies. So you can really grab him. 466 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,320 You can really hold him. I expect to be able to hug 467 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,240 people. I expect to be able to eat and 468 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,400 drink, because that's what Jesus does in his resurrected body. 469 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:09,640 Therefore, we can do the same. Let me close with this. 470 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:20,320 I'm aware that some of my words were more than offensive to some 471 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,000 people, maybe not necessarily in this room, but people, you know, 472 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,840 because you could think about somebody like, oh, man, I'm glad 473 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:27,640 I didn't bring so and so to church today. 474 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,080 They would have been like, really uncomfortable. 475 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:34,560 But you can like my words. You can hate them. 476 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,120 You can think about me. You can never think about me 477 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:39,360 again. That's OK. 478 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,160 I'm good with that. Not that I don't love and care 479 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:44,880 about you guys, but I'll, I'll be good with that. 480 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:51,080 Because here's the thing. I don't want to be put in a box. 481 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:52,520 And you shouldn't want to be either. 482 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,480 You should want to be weird. You should want to love people 483 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:01,160 who don't deserve it, and you should want to challenge those 484 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,400 who think that they've got it all figured out. 485 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,160 Do that. Do that, and when you do that, 486 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,960 you can do that in freedom because Jesus Christ who has 487 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,160 died for your sins and has resurrected, and therefore you 488 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,560 know that you are free. You know that you are forgiven 489 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,960 as you believe in Him. You can do all these things with 490 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,400 a good conscience and don't ever apologize for that. 491 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:30,320 Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 492 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,240 you for the challenge of the gospel. 493 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:39,440 It challenges us to love people who seem unlovable. 494 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:45,920 It challenges us to question people who seem unquestionable. 495 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,400 But in both ways, Lord, you give us your truth. 496 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,280 So, Father, I pray that that truth would ring, would ring in 497 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,400 our hearts this morning, would move to our heads, and 498 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,080 eventually move through our mouths. 499 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,560 Lord, I pray that you would do all this through the power of 500 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,400 your Holy Spirit, as you did through the Apostle Paul. 501 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,960 May we be people of truth and love and grace. 502 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,640 And Lord, may those things coexist inside us in such a way 503 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,360 that people start to ask questions. 504 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,440 Lord, you can do it because you're capable, You're able. 505 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,800 And Father, we pray all these things in Jesus name, Amen. 506 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:30,960 Thanks for listening to ERC Sundays. 507 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:34,520 To support the work God is doing an Emmaus Rd. church, visit 508 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,480 emmausrdonline.org/giving.