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Happy Monday, Pastor Matt, 
Pastor Chris, back here with 

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y'all. 
It's a wet weekend. 

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A little soggy A. 
Lot of lot of storms here in the

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DeWitt area. 
I I woke up multiple times 

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because it was so loud. 
What was it? 

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Saturday night, Friday night, 
Friday night, Saturday night. 

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Saturday night. 
Saturday night, it was Saturday.

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Night it was super loud and my 
dog was beside herself really 

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meaning beside me in bed 
cowering in fear. 

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So how did your you've got a 
newer dog? 

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How did how did your pup handle 
that? 

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She's generally fine inside. 
If I, if it's kind of stormy and

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we take her outside and she 
either like sees lightning or 

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hears the Thunder, she'll do the
quick like dodge like, yeah. 

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Dodge. 
Lightning. 

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Yeah, just completely. 
She's still little, though. 

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Yeah. 
And only had one let one child 

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wake up on Saturday actually, so
that was good. 

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Oh yeah, you know, I forget that
people have. 

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Children. 
Who might be affected by that? 

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I instantly thought about that. 
Tells you where I am in life. 

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I instantly thought about the 
dog and not children who might 

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be freaked out by that. 
Yeah, no, it's just very, very 

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like we, we somehow have windows
on all like three sides of our 

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bedroom. 
So like, no matter what way the 

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wind is blowing, there's there's
wind pattering on a window. 

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No, no matter where it's coming 
from. 

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So that yeah, storms are always 
just loud at night for us. 

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So yeah, no. 
Had a wonderful worship 

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gathering yesterday morning as 
well. 

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Full house. 
Great message from you. 

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Continuing on the journey in 
Acts. 

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And this this Governor Felix, 
now that Paul has brought 

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before. 
Yeah, it's just good gathering 

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time. 
Those chairs that that might 

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seem like a minor thing, but 
carpets got cleaned at church 

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this morning. 
Oh my gosh. 

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Those chairs were cleaned out of
that sanctuary in like 5 

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minutes. 
It was impressive because that's

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like over 200 seats. 
Yeah. 

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And I got to tell you every I 
can't remember how often we 

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clean the sanctuary carpets, 
whether it's once every year, 

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it's like a year, two years. 
But when you take all the chairs

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out, you're like, the carpet 
just looks like camouflage 

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because of the number of times 
that any given number of people 

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spill coffee on it. 
We spill a lot of coffee. 

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We spill a lot of coffee. 
I almost wonder if we drink more

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or we spill more. 
I'm really not sure. 

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But they they did a good job 
there. 

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I think they got it all 
fantastic. 

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There's one, there's one that 
like vaguely resembles wine in 

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in the back, right. 
So I don't know if anyone was 

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sneaking a little something 
extra into the communion at one 

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point, but it looks, yeah, looks
like that guy spilled. 

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And there's a reddish stain in 
the back right corner that I'm 

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going to try to work out. 
They couldn't get it out. 

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The the professionals couldn't 
get out. 

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But we're going to give it a 
shot. 

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And if you're the one bringing 
wine into the communion, I'm not

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going to speak against that. 
You're absolutely, that's fine. 

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But I keep it in the cup, I 
guess, yeah. 

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Well, you know we don't spill 
the blood of Jesus, right? 

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Right. 
Don't do that. 

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OK, this is very side tangent. 
When I was when I was a child. 

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Well, I guess I was an 
adolescent because it was 

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actually after. 
Did you ever I've never seen 

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someone spill anything at 
communion and and I always 

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wrestled when I was younger. 
I always wrestled if there was 

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like this supernatural aura or 
like something couldn't go wrong

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during communion. 
And I remember because you hold 

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the elements and wait forever. 
Like I remember, I remember like

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tipping the little cup to see if
the the juice would just like 

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stay. 
And I never got to the point 

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that it actually spilled out. 
But I, I, I don't know, maybe 

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that's just me. 
That's awesome. 

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I remember as an adolescent just
being like, can I actually even 

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spill the blood of Jesus during 
this time or does God just like 

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keep it on the cup? 
I actually, so I know a pastor 

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and if I named him you would 
too, but I won't. 

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But he was, you know, it was on.
So all the communion stuff in 

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this particular church he was 
serving at was on like a 

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three-step stage and the whole 
stage was the steps, right. 

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So it went around the whole 
thing and as he's carrying the 

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communion trays down the steps, 
he totally biffed it. 

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Totally biffed, it fell face 
forward. 

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During the service. 
Yes, totally biffed it. 

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And the communion stuff is is 
gone. 

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Yeah, what? 
Did they do? 

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So I, I mean, you know, when I 
tell you who it is, you'll 

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understand I'll have to do that 
off air. 

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But when I tell you, you'll get 
it. 

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And Yep. 
And it's just wow. 

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OK, so we I. 
Did they just like, did they 

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just skip communion? 
Like what? 

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What's the next? 
I'm pretty sure everybody just 

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waits and we refresh the entire 
thing and then don't let that 

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particular person carry the 
elements downstairs anymore 

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because. 
And I wouldn't. 

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If that ever happened to me I 
would be like, I would be 

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mortified. 
To. 

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Try to ever do it again. 
Oh, I would be so in my head and

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so nervous all the time. 
It would be. 

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It would be terrible. 
But so it can't happen. 

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That is an answer to your 
question. 

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It can happen. 
And I think this, I think this 

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particular pastor, like what a 
good guy, like honestly, like 

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just the nicest guy you could 
ever meet. 

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And you know, it happens to the 
best of us, I suppose. 

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Oh man, Yikes. 
I'm glad though. 

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I'm glad I've never actually. 
We're glad it's not you. 

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Glad it's not me. 
Really glad it's not me. 

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We also, you mentioned it in the
service yesterday, we mentioned 

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it last week. 
We're doing a couple AMA, Ask Me

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Anything episodes coming up at 
the end of August and the first 

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week of September or actually 
the first couple weeks of 

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September. 
That's what it is the first two 

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episodes in September each of 
those Mondays, but we've gotten 

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some coming in already. 
There's the there's the little 

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question jar at the connection 
center at church, but we've had 

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some texted in messaged into 
Facebook as well. 

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And because you actually touched
on the answer to this question 

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yesterday, we're that's going to
be our ice breaker today is 

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actually using one of these 
questions early. 

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The question was just asking us 
to expound on the, the tagline, 

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the meaning of house for the 
broken home for the healed at at

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Emmaus Rd. 
Church. 

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And you, you went over that. 
You explained that yesterday in 

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the sermon briefly, but I just I
thought we'd kind of addressed 

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that. 
And that's the beauty of these 

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ask me anything questions. 
I would not be surprised if you 

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have a question. 
I promise you are not the only 

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person that has that question, 
unless it's like wildly specific

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to something that only happened 
in your life. 

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If if you have a general about 
why we do something this way at 

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church or what this thing means,
I promise you're not the only 

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person that goes to this church 
that has this question. 

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So that's the beauty of it, you 
asking these questions. 

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I bet there's at least ten other
people that are also wondering 

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this question. 
And I always thought I always 

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felt that way in my classroom 
too. 

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So like if I'm explaining an 
idea inside, so I was an art 

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teacher. 
So if I'm explaining an idea and

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there's something about that 
idea or concept you did not 

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understand, there's no way 
you're the only one. 

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The fault is probably on me 
because I didn't explain it in 

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such a way that you could grasp 
it unless you just were straight

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up not listening in, which and 
that does happen in middle 

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school sometimes. 
Sometimes, but yeah, you know, 

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otherwise, yeah, you'll, 
somebody else is going to pair 

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up with you on that. 
Yeah, but we have lots of, we're

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kind of a melting pot of even 
religious backgrounds here too. 

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There there are some people who 
go to church here who grew up, 

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grew up Catholic, grew up to 
Baptist, grew up non 

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denominational. 
I bet there's even some people 

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that go here that don't 
necessarily realize we have like

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Lutheran theology is, is the OR,
or even what I say that and 

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there might be somewhere like, 
OK, I don't really know what 

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that means. 
I don't know like what defines 

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Lutheran theology. 
So we have, we have a background

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of all these things that I, I 
don't assume I, I would assume 

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that other people have similar 
questions to what y'all have 

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about, about church or maybe 
about us. 

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So whatever it may be, this 
question, just expounding on 

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house for the broken, home for 
the the heel, you don't have to 

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say exactly what you said 
yesterday, but just regurgitate 

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a little bit of your explanation
from yesterday. 

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Sure. 
I, I, I believe the heart behind

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that statement. 
It seems somewhat 

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straightforward in terms of, OK,
so every single person who walks

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through the doors of our church,
or quite frankly any church on 

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the planet, is broken by sin. 
What do I mean by that? 

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Well, broken by sin, meaning 
that because of the sinful 

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nature of us, from the moment of
conception with which the Bible 

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talks about, there is not a day 
or a moment that goes by where 

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sin doesn't negatively affect 
our life and our relationships 

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with other people and especially
our relationship with God. 

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And so every single person is 
going to walk through those 

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doors, no matter how good they 
look, no matter, well, how well 

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put together they are, they're 
going to walk through church 

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doors broken by sin. 
And I think that's a really 

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important thing to acknowledge. 
And in some ways going to the 

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Lutheran thing, Lutheran's have 
historically always acknowledged

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the brokenness of sin, 
regardless of how good your life

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looks on the outside. 
And we can point right to Jesus,

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who calls the people who 
followed the law probably best, 

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the Pharisees, whitewashed 
tombs, you know, beautiful on 

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the outside, you got it all put 
together. 

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But on the inside, so we are all
affected by that way. 

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And and and so I, I absolutely 
think that house for the broken 

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is good in that way. 
Additionally, it's good because 

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when we do meet people who don't
seem to fit the quote UN quote 

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church going criteria, they are 
all the more welcome in a place 

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like this because you know, a 
church is never meant to be a 

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sanctuary for the saved. 
It's meant to be a place where 

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we come just like just like the 
Jewish tax collector in Jesus 

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story, we come and we beat our 
chest and say, Lord, forgive me.

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That's that's what that looks 
like when we acknowledge our 

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brokenness and all of us need to
do that. 

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We do that during communion too,
don't we? 

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We pause because the Bible tells
us to. 

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We pause and we confess our sins
and we, as Paul Lang would say, 

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we do our business with God and 
all those are important things. 

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And so just acknowledging that 
we all walk in broken is a 

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really important piece. 
Yeah. 

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And Jesus said I didn't come for
the healthy, but the sick. 

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And that's the first part of 
that statement. 

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A house for the broken is just 
acknowledging that brokenness of

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sin that we all experience, that
none of us have triumphed over, 

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even even clothed in the 
righteousness of Jesus. 

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Something that that he triumphed
over, not that we magically 

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figured out and are now better 
at dealing with or we are now 

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healed from because of because 
of our own doing. 

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So that's that's the house for 
the broken part. 

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Just kind of that openness to 
whatever your hurts or sins are 

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and none of it is too much to 
keep you away from here. 

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We want this to be a house for 
those experiencing A variety. 

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There's many ways the brokenness
of this world can manifest 

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itself across all our lives. 
So those brokenness, those 

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things, those hurts and sins 
shouldn't be the thing holding 

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you back home for the healed, 
though. 

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So there's a there's a second 
part of it. 

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You have to want to be healed 
from your hurt is in and here we

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we believe that that Jesus is 
the way Jesus is the one who 

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heals your hurts and sins. 
So to me, there's kind of A2 

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fold meaning in in a home for 
the healed. 

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Yeah, there's people who call 
this their home church. 

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Or if this is where you 
regularly go to church, like it 

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maybe it maybe it is like that 
makes sense that this church 

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would be your home, your home 
for community, your home for 

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where you come and learn about 
Jesus. 

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More specifically, it's it's a 
home for those that have let 

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Jesus by by his actions, by his 
grace, by faith, heal their 

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hurts and sins. 
So they are healed by Jesus and 

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this place is their home. 
So home is usually something we 

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think of as a as a comfortable 
place right at the place that we

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enjoy going or, or a place that 
we enjoy being a place that is 

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easy to go to. 
Cheers. 

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I don't know where everybody 
knows, everybody knows your name

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00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:36,840
like. 
Jingle. 

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00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,040
That's a really good Jingle. 
So that's Brandon definitely 

241
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gave a message about that. 
I don't know if that was before 

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00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:44,400
maybe you were here. 
I don't remember if it was. 

243
00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:46,680
I don't recall when you were 
here before you were here. 

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00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,160
But yeah, that was that was 
definitely part of it. 

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So if you're broken, fine. 
You're not going to receive 

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judgement because we we all are 
broken. 

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We're still experiencing the 
brokenness of sin. 

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There's a place for you here. 
But you have to want, you don't 

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want to be healed if you keep 
perpetually coming back only 

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marked by your brokenness. 
This place is never going to 

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feel like a home. 
In my opinion. 

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It's it's never going to if if 
you're not healed by Jesus, this

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00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:22,600
place isn't going to feel like a
home. 

254
00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:24,200
It's going to feel like a place 
of judgement. 

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00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,560
It's going to feel like a place 
of shame because you're still 

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letting that brokenness be your 
identity, not the healed son, 

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daughter of God, that you are 
clothed in the righteousness of 

258
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Jesus. 
So if it's it's a House of a 

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00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,720
place of shelter that you can 
come when you're broken, but if 

260
00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,920
you're content to stay in that 
brokenness, it's it's not going 

261
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:52,000
to feel like a home. 
And that's where so we we 

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00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:58,040
believe entering in the the the 
way we set up fellowship or 

263
00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:04,920
ministries or small groups or or
serving or whatever it might be.

264
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:11,720
All of that is to make this be a
place that that is comfortable 

265
00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:16,160
enough to be a home that shouts 
Jesus in, in these halls, for 

266
00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:23,320
sure on the streets of DeWitt 
and and in y'all's lives to that

267
00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,160
he's the one who heals your 
hurts and sins and and then that

268
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,360
way it becomes a home for the 
healed. 

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So. 
And I, you said you put that 

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00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,040
perfectly. 
Let me just add one thing to 

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that. 
Just an idea that has always 

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00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,000
struck me about that. 
So you mentioned like going 

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00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,040
home. 
Well, when we go to our homes, 

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what are we essentially doing? 
We're in some ways and maybe a 

275
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:49,080
positive way. 
I don't mean to sound this 

276
00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,400
negative. 
We can shut out the rest of the 

277
00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,760
world, the the stressful parts 
of work or social pressures that

278
00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:57,400
we feel. 
We can usually shut those things

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00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,560
out when we go home. 
And so I mean, to the same 

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00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,960
degree, I think like if you 
know, a maestro church or any 

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00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:09,200
other church becomes, you know, 
a home for you, that means that 

282
00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,120
those outside pressures and 
worries that you feel when you 

283
00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:16,840
walk out those doors, they, they
get to fall away when you're in 

284
00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:19,080
this space. 
Now, hopefully you can take that

285
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,120
piece and you can take that 
freedom with you. 

286
00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,040
Hopefully that's that's 
something that you can do. 

287
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:30,520
But for sure, while you're here,
you will absolutely hear Jesus. 

288
00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:35,040
And on our best days as a faith 
community, you will absolutely 

289
00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,960
feel loved and supported by the 
community of believers who's 

290
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,080
here. 
And so in those ways, it should 

291
00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,400
feel comfortable to be here. 
Now, if I'm feeling that 

292
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,920
brokenness, then I'm going to 
feel some uncomfortableness. 

293
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,040
But Lord willing, the gospel 
will reach my heart and my head,

294
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,920
and all of a sudden I can let go
of that bondage that makes me 

295
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,480
feel so uptight and so concerned
and worried. 

296
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,840
Yeah, so that's what that's 
where that comes from. 

297
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,960
Matthew 1128 through 30. 
Come to me, all you who are 

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00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:06,839
weird and burdened, and I will 
give you rest. 

299
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,839
Take my yoke upon you and learn 
from me, for I am gentle and 

300
00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:12,319
humble in heart. 
You will find rest for your 

301
00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:14,319
souls, for my yoke is easy and 
my burden is light. 

302
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:16,000
I mean, those are the those are 
the words of Jesus. 

303
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,000
He's the one who heals our hurts
and sins. 

304
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,640
And this is just about being a 
place that isn't, isn't passing 

305
00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,520
judgement upon those, whoever it
may be that enters the doors, 

306
00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:31,080
but also to spur you on, to push
you on to, to want to be healed,

307
00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,760
to want to know Jesus and make 
him known and let him be the one

308
00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,240
who heals your hurts and sins. 
So yeah, that's it. 

309
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,800
House for the broken, home for 
the healed. 

310
00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:46,680
All right, We are in Acts 24. 
You. 

311
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:52,520
Took most of it in various 
sections and, and we're kind of 

312
00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,760
at the point in acts where we, 
we do kind of need to be in 

313
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,360
these different sort of scenes 
to set up contacts. 

314
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:03,040
There's a lot of historical 
political things happening in 

315
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,520
each in each of these different 
accounts. 

316
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,320
So yeah, I liked how you broke 
it down. 

317
00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,160
We're just going to dive into a 
little bit more of the yeah, 

318
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:18,120
maybe unspoken context or or lay
of the socio political landscape

319
00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:23,600
at the time and mine a little 
extra out of the text here in 

320
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,560
Acts 24. 
So right off the bat, verse one,

321
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,000
oops, I'm in the wrong chapter, 
that's Matthew 11. 

322
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:36,280
Just kidding, we're in Acts 24. 
So five days later, the high 

323
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,680
priest Ananias went down to 
Caesarea with some of the elders

324
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,200
and a lawyer named Tertullius, 
and they brought their charges 

325
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,640
against Paul before the 
governor. 

326
00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:52,640
So this is this is Felix and 
Tertullis pleasantries right out

327
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,320
of the gate, right? 
We've enjoyed a long period of 

328
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,880
peace under your foresight has 
brought about reforms in this 

329
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:00,920
nation everywhere and in every 
way. 

330
00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,360
Most excellent Felix, we 
acknowledge this with profound 

331
00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:06,520
gratitude. 
That's wow. 

332
00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,560
That's insane. 
That is absolute madness. 

333
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:16,680
And if Felix has even a glimmer 
of like self reality and self 

334
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:21,760
analysis of how of what kind of 
a job he's done in that space, 

335
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:27,360
he knows that this guy is just 
like kissing his butt to the end

336
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:29,920
of the day. 
Like, I mean, this is yeah, this

337
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,880
statement is madness, but it but
it goes to show you and we'll 

338
00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:35,400
maybe we can talk about this 
more. 

339
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:40,440
It goes to show you that when 
you know you don't really have a

340
00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:45,680
case via proper evidence, you 
will do anything else you can to

341
00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,120
sway the powers that be in your 
favor. 

342
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,880
And that's absolutely what's 
happening here as this, this 

343
00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,200
attorney, this prosecuting 
attorney is, is just laying it 

344
00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,360
on real thick. 
Buttering up the governor. 

345
00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:04,560
It's crazy. 
But also it speaks to they were 

346
00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,240
bringing out the big guns, but 
the, the religious leaders at 

347
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:12,360
the time between Ananias, the 
elders being there and then this

348
00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:17,520
lawyer who assumedly skilled 
lawyer like you're, you're 

349
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,920
bringing in top notch prosecutor
here against Paul. 

350
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:26,360
They wanted this thing done. 
They, they were serious about 

351
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,240
putting Paul in the ground by 
legal means, because that's, 

352
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,880
that's really what of course, 
they could have, they could have

353
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:36,520
connived. 
They could have done it under 

354
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:41,560
lock and key and probably just 
spurt on more of their belly and

355
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:42,720
right. 
They're, they're trying to go 

356
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:48,720
about this in, in a legal way so
that they can continue to rule 

357
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:50,920
with this iron fist. 
What did you, you said it 

358
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,400
yesterday. 
They want, they wanted both 

359
00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,160
power and control, right? 
And that's, that's a major 

360
00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,600
player in all of this. 
And if you just read just 

361
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,160
between the lines a little bit 
and you can attempt to put 

362
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:08,720
yourself back in that space 2000
years ago, you can see how like 

363
00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,400
it so much benefits the 
religious elite. 

364
00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,200
If we can stifle Paul and other 
people like him, because then we

365
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:21,600
can continue to plague the 
people with these laws and rules

366
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:23,760
and regulations. 
And like I mentioned yesterday, 

367
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,840
you don't toe the line. 
It's not just that they kick you

368
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,880
out of your church or your 
synagogue, man. 

369
00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,320
You're a social pariah now like 
your, your life is over. 

370
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,160
You got to move and you got to 
move and hope that word didn't 

371
00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:39,720
spread from these religious 
elite to other people that when 

372
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,600
you do move somewhere where 
nobody knows you, I mean, that's

373
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,640
the power that they had. 
And they can absolutely control 

374
00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,080
you with that power and that 
fear. 

375
00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:52,760
Yeah, which is ironic in a way. 
You have some of the history on 

376
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,960
Felix here as well. 
He actually began his life as a 

377
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:01,440
slave and somehow, which to my 
knowledge in the Roman Empire, 

378
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,760
like that's, that's pretty wild.
I know we have the gladiator 

379
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:05,640
movies. 
We're like that. 

380
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,280
We can't trust that it's 
entirely accurate. 

381
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:13,600
But like for Felix to begin his 
life as a slave and be able to 

382
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:18,920
rise to this status as governor,
His brother palace was a friend 

383
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,280
of the Emperor Claudius. 
And I guess it's more about who 

384
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:23,840
you know than than what you 
know. 

385
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:29,080
He's he's proving that. 
But Tacitus, the Roman historian

386
00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:33,680
described Felix as a master of 
cruelty and lust who exercised 

387
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:39,040
the powers of a king with the 
spirit of a slave, noting that 

388
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,920
this this slave mentality stayed
with him. 

389
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:46,600
So he see he has the power and 
influence to enact judgement, 

390
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:51,640
punishment, but he has the 
mentality of think of a former 

391
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,680
former slave, former prisoner in
captivity. 

392
00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,800
Like that mentality had to be 
everything that is wrong with my

393
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:02,840
life is everyone else's fault, 
right? 

394
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,600
Like so he's he's mad at 
everyone or every circumstance 

395
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:11,960
is someone else is to blame for 
his misgivings, right. 

396
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,520
So he's basically on a revenge 
tour, right? 

397
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:22,240
As like as as governor, just 
merciless. 

398
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:27,840
He's wrapped up in all these 
different conspiracies and and 

399
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,440
conniving and just he's corrupt,
right? 

400
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:37,440
He's he's corrupt to AT he also 
indulged in every license and 

401
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,920
excess. 
This is this is more from 

402
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,080
Tacitus, the Roman historian, 
thinking that he could do any 

403
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:51,280
evil act with impunity. 
That's just how he he's he's 

404
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:56,760
living in lavish power and is 
above the law and essentially is

405
00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:01,520
above the law because no, it's 
it's going to take Caesar to do 

406
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:03,760
anything to him, right? 
And as long as he's in Caesar 

407
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,240
good races, it doesn't. 
And he'll remain in the Caesar's

408
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:11,800
good graces as long as his 
brother remains best friends. 

409
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,520
And he can say, oh, well, you 
know, it's fine. 

410
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,280
Just you got it. 
You just got to give him some 

411
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,680
space to do these things. 
And he's just he's just handling

412
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:21,920
the people the way they need to.
They need to be roughed up. 

413
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,520
They need to, you know, they're 
not they're not conceding to 

414
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,560
your power, Caesar. 
So Felix is just helping you 

415
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,400
out. 
There's a lot of different ways 

416
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,760
you could spin that to make sure
that Felix stays in power. 

417
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,200
What I think is interesting and 
and somewhat unspoken in this 

418
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,280
text, and it's it's almost more 
something that we should mine 

419
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,600
out of out of the book of 
Proverbs or something. 

420
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,520
This this greeting from this 
lawyer. 

421
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:51,920
Most excellent Felix, your your 
foresight about bringing peace 

422
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,920
and and reforms. 
Felix didn't bring peace or 

423
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,040
prosperity to any this. 
This is not only buttering him 

424
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,280
up. 
It's completely false. 

425
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,800
Like it's it's not. 
It'd be one thing to greet him 

426
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,400
with that. 
OK, yeah, maybe like you haven't

427
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,240
done anything recently, but 
your, your rule has brought 

428
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,400
peace and prosperity. 
It it hasn't, There's there's 

429
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,920
tumult, there's apprehension, 
there's war. 

430
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,800
So it's it's not only flattery, 
it's just straight up lie. 

431
00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:28,720
Yeah, John Stott points out. 
In reality, he, Phoenix Felix, 

432
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,160
had put down several 
insurrections with such 

433
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,520
barbarious brutality that ye 
earned for himself the horror, 

434
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,040
not the thanks, of the Jewish 
population. 

435
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:42,560
In particular, he ordered a 
massacre of thousands of Jews in

436
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,000
Caesarea, with many more Jewish 
homes looted by the Roman 

437
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,480
soldiers. 
There is nothing good for the 

438
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,960
Jewish people underneath this 
guy's thumb. 

439
00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:54,360
It's all going bad for them. 
And again, it goes back to 

440
00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:58,240
similar to the religious elite, 
it goes back to I have all the 

441
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,200
power, I have all the control, 
and if you sidestep me at all, 

442
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:04,880
we're going to have a problem 
and I'm always going to win 

443
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,880
because I have the bigger stick.
So what I think is interesting, 

444
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,960
though, even even within this 
and that's just he ruled with an

445
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:16,200
iron iron fist. 
This flattery from this lawyer. 

446
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,800
We don't we don't often talk 
about that and the and the Bible

447
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,760
calls out flattery. 
There a couple different places 

448
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:28,560
in the in Proverbs, but Romans 
16 for sure. 

449
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:33,040
Romans 16 verse 18. 
Actually, I'll start in 17. 

450
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:35,160
Romans 16 is verse 17. 
I urge you, brothers and 

451
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,520
sisters, to watch out for those 
who cause divisions and put 

452
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,000
obstacles in your way that are 
contrary to the teaching you 

453
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,520
have learned. 
Keep away from them for such 

454
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,040
people are not serving our Lord 
Christ, but their own appetites 

455
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:51,560
by smooth talk and flattery. 
They deceive the minds of naive 

456
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,920
people. 
Paul writes against that very 

457
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,760
strongly in in Romans chapter 
16, Jude chapter 1. 

458
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,760
It's the only one chapter in 
Jude, but Jude 116. 

459
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:05,640
These people are grumblers and 
fault finders. 

460
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:07,320
They follow their own evil 
desires. 

461
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,800
They boast about themselves and 
flatter others for their own 

462
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:16,760
advantage. 
I'm not, I know we live in a 

463
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:22,360
Midwest nice sort of sort of 
place and I'm generally a pretty

464
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,240
straight shooter. 
So I, I, I told this line 

465
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,280
between I, I don't enjoy 
flattery for flattery's sake, 

466
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,920
really ever. 
I understand you have to be, you

467
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,200
have to be polite and you have 
to get along cordially with 

468
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,040
people. 
But I told the line so much 

469
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,320
between this, this aversion to 
flattery, but also we're called 

470
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,680
to like speak the truth in love,
right? 

471
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,280
You can't, I understand that you
can't just go up to everyone all

472
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,680
day, every day and just tell him
how it is. 

473
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,400
This is this is truth. 
This is how your reality is deal

474
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,000
with it. 
But I, I get that. 

475
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:05,160
But I also think we we should be
averse to this man flattery for 

476
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:11,840
for flattery's sake or or just 
to simply only to puff up the 

477
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:16,000
feelings or your worst to 
manipulate another by something 

478
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:21,160
that that isn't true. 
I don't know, I'm convicted more

479
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:22,760
often. 
They might, they might need a 

480
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,200
whole dose of truth in their 
life then like. 

481
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:31,520
I, you know, OK, so I want to, 
I'll give a quick example that 

482
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,280
might be relevant. 
Well, I think it's relevant, but

483
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,880
consider this. 
If you, for example, let's say 

484
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:42,840
you're a teacher in a public 
school district, OK, and inside 

485
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:47,240
your classroom is, I don't know,
the child of the Superintendent 

486
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,440
or the child of a school board 
member or something like that in

487
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,560
this particular student is just 
awful. 

488
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:55,480
They're just terrible in your 
class. 

489
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,880
They hardly do anything. 
They they're disruptive, 

490
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:00,600
whatever you want to say. 
But then parent teacher 

491
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,840
conferences roll around and here
comes this really important 

492
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:08,000
person with that student. 
And you know, the truth is you 

493
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,280
need to tell this parent that 
like, hey, your, it's a real 

494
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,560
problem in my class. 
And here's the ten different 

495
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,040
ways that they're disruptive 
every single day and blah, blah,

496
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,800
blah, blah. 
But instead, maybe it's the year

497
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,760
where like the school board is 
going to vote on a pay raise. 

498
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,760
I know, I know teachers are on a
scale. 

499
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:31,160
But let's say, you know, and so 
you choose to just not talk 

500
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,320
about any of the ways that that 
student is terrible in your 

501
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,240
classroom. 
And you're like, Oh no, best kid

502
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,320
ever, love him to death. 
You know, he's just part, he 

503
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,080
participates and blah, blah. 
And why are you doing that? 

504
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,480
You're just, you're just trying 
not to cause any waves. 

505
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,800
You're trying to flatter, you 
know, this person who has some 

506
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,280
level of power influence in your
life. 

507
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,760
And it's just wrong. 
Like that student will learn 

508
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:56,680
nothing. 
They will gain nothing. 

509
00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,680
And quite frankly, they will go 
home laughing all the way 

510
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,400
because they know they played 
you because of who their parents

511
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,760
are. 
And they know you are now weak 

512
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,520
because you can't can't speak 
the truth. 

513
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,440
Yeah. 
And that's, I think that's, I 

514
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,160
think that's really what it is. 
I know we want to be gentle, we 

515
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,200
want to be kind, especially in 
our reaction interactions with 

516
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,440
those that are that are close to
one another. 

517
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:26,280
But if you meet with a close 
friend and they, they have some 

518
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,200
maybe self-inflicted struggles 
that they're just looking for a 

519
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:36,040
way out from, well, at some 
point, yeah, it, it might be the

520
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,520
soothing thing to be like, oh, 
man, yeah, no, it's things are 

521
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,320
going to turn around like 
you're, you're going to, it'll 

522
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:43,480
get better. 
There'll be breaks. 

523
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:48,200
Or it might be, I mean, yeah, 
I'm sorry that this sucks for 

524
00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:52,360
you and you're in a tough place,
but you might need to do 

525
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:54,320
something. 
You, you might, you might you 

526
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,240
don't like your job, Go get a 
different job. 

527
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:03,160
Or, or it might sound crazy and 
we all have bills and lives and 

528
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,760
whatever, but man, this job 
sucks. 

529
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,880
You might just need to quit your
job even without, without having

530
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:10,480
an answer. 
And you obviously you can't live

531
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,120
in that forever without. 
But do something you, you can. 

532
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:19,600
And that might sound harsh and 
that truth might be hard to hear

533
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,120
and they might even be a little 
bit mad at you for it. 

534
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:27,200
But there's a part of me that 
from life experience and even 

535
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,880
how the the Bible talks about 
these things, we're we're 

536
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,840
supposed to speak the truth in 
love. 

537
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,480
It's calling out flattery as 
just something to avoid. 

538
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,960
Don't associate with people. 
There's a verse in Proverbs 20, 

539
00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:46,480
verse 19 says any what do not 
associate with one who flatters 

540
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:52,560
with their lips because if they 
and the other part of it, if 

541
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:58,760
they do it to you or if you've 
seen it doing somewhat like we 

542
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,280
are characters like we have our 
own person. 

543
00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,400
If you if you do one thing to 
one person, you'll do it to 

544
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:09,760
pretty much anyone, right. 
So if if you see someone who 

545
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:13,640
just like if maybe, yeah, maybe 
there's someone in your life 

546
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,600
that just doesn't really speak 
truth. 

547
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,880
It's always just kind of surface
level or it's always flattery or

548
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,560
making light of everything, man.
No, I think we're I think we're 

549
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:28,920
called to more than that. 
It's not just OK, and yet we see

550
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,400
how it works. 
We see the appeal of it as of 

551
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:38,120
course, they butter up Felix 
with lies and with pleasantries.

552
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,880
And if you Fast forward a little
bit, you know, into Paul's 

553
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,040
response, the one thing he 
doesn't do is he doesn't flatter

554
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:47,120
Felix. 
He doesn't disrespect him. 

555
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,280
He doesn't say, hey, your rule 
is terrible. 

556
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,560
But he also doesn't go out of 
his way in any way, shape or 

557
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,080
form to flatter him, him or 
butter him up to get him on his 

558
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:57,760
side. 
Why can he do that? 

559
00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:04,640
Because the prosecution has no 
actual evidential backing for 

560
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:06,920
what they're about to say. 
So they need to do that. 

561
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:12,000
Paul has plenty of evidence, you
know, to prove like, these guys 

562
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,120
are literally making all of this
up. 

563
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:17,520
There's nothing of truth or 
value in their statements. 

564
00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:20,520
Therefore, I don't need to win 
your affection. 

565
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,000
I just need you to think 
logically and look at the 

566
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,080
evidence. 
Yeah, and that's part of the 

567
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:27,440
problem. 
Tortillas didn't have any 

568
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,600
evidence. 
And so he had, he had like a 

569
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:37,560
rumor of a reference of Paul 
being a Nazarene and was trying 

570
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,040
to connect him to this low. 
We were talking earlier how 

571
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,000
Hazarith was just kind of a the 
terrible the, the Cleveland. 

572
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,600
I I said Cleveland. 
I said I well, because I had 

573
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,960
said in our conversation, like 
Nazareth is clearly looked down 

574
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:52,920
upon as the city. 
It's terrible. 

575
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,920
You know, you look at John 146, 
can anything good come out of 

576
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:57,120
Nazareth, All this kind of 
stuff? 

577
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:01,320
So everybody just just hates 
this city and everything that 

578
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,400
comes out of it. 
And I was like, I can't think of

579
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:05,800
a modern day one. 
And Matt's like Cleveland. 

580
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,000
I don't have any hate against 
Cleveland, I just feel like 

581
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:13,239
I've. 
Just dog in this place so bad. 

582
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,880
People's answers is just 
Cleveland. 

583
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,000
I don't know. 
Maybe it's just sports Worlds. 

584
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,840
I don't know. 
Well, I mean, Oh my God, I'm 

585
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:22,960
sorry. 
I. 

586
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,480
Don't I don't have any personal 
experience for why Cleveland 

587
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:30,080
would be terrible, but I just 
feel like society has inundated 

588
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,960
me to believe that Cleveland is 
not an awesome place so. 

589
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,280
OK, well, if you. 
Have nice things to say about 

590
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,040
Cleveland. 
I would love to hear your 

591
00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:38,239
experience. 
Sure. 

592
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,199
Maybe I mean, what actually what
is there? 

593
00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:45,080
What's What is Cleveland where 
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 

594
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,080
is? 
Yeah, I think it is. 

595
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,239
OK, well maybe they got that 
going for him. 

596
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:51,960
Yeah. 
I mean, if you're, if you're 

597
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,360
into that kind of music history,
I suppose. 

598
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:59,320
Yeah, I mean, there's lots of 
things in Cleveland I'm just not

599
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,280
sure they got. 
They got the Browns and they got

600
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,320
the Guardians and LeBron hung 
out there for a little bit, like

601
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:08,200
I don't. 
Know. 

602
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:09,320
I don't know. 
I don't know. 

603
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,560
I'm sorry. 
That was just, I don't know why 

604
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:14,120
that was my just like 
conditioned answer for that 

605
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,960
anyway. 
Nazareth, Cleveland level 

606
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:20,280
reputation in the Middle East at
the time. 

607
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:27,400
But so he was trying to besmirch
Paul just by saying this guy's 

608
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:29,160
from here. 
He's garbage. 

609
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:33,760
You should treat him like he's 
not a good person because he's 

610
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,120
from here. 
Turtolis gave no evidence 

611
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,680
because there was no evidence. 
There's there's nothing to 

612
00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:42,400
happen. 
And this is this is also why he 

613
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,400
had to rely on flattery because 
he didn't have anything else. 

614
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,720
He didn't have accusations 
backed by evidence. 

615
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:53,080
He didn't even pretend it wasn't
even like he put evidence out 

616
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,120
there that was later dismissed 
as not he. 

617
00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:59,960
He just didn't even present 
anything to Felix as of 

618
00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:03,120
substance as to why Paul should 
be guilty. 

619
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:07,520
Now, some scholars will tell 
you, you know, if these if these

620
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:12,000
guys traveled this far to come 
and have a prosecuting case 

621
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:16,680
against Paul, A number of 
scholars will make the 

622
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:22,000
assumption that this lawyer's 
statement was probably longer 

623
00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:26,800
than what is recorded by Luke. 
And there's good evidence to 

624
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:30,040
support the fact that Luke was 
probably nearby or able to 

625
00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:33,680
listen to the case beyond Paul 
just reporting back kind of what

626
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,680
happened. 
Because no doubt he has been 

627
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:41,160
tracking him and he's been 
taking care of him, you know, 

628
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:43,720
while he's in prison. 
Because again, I mentioned it 

629
00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:48,560
yesterday, if you're in Roman 
prison, know the the prison 

630
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,440
system doesn't provide food for 
you and you have to have your 

631
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,760
friends come and drop stuff off 
in order for you to eat and 

632
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,840
survive. 
So I have very little doubt that

633
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:02,240
Luke is one of those people. 
So Luke may have been right 

634
00:37:02,240 --> 00:37:05,440
there. 
But again, like, we can, we can 

635
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:10,080
potentially assume that he said 
a little bit more, but nothing 

636
00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:15,080
that was recorded gives any 
sense of like, merit, you know, 

637
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,040
and I and I think in any modern 
judicial system that's not 

638
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:22,080
completely corrupt, like the 
judge would laugh these guys out

639
00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:25,440
of the room, like the case would
be dismissed almost 

640
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:27,440
instantaneous. 
Why are you wasting my time? 

641
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,560
Yeah, absolutely. 
But because Felix isn't worried 

642
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,920
about justice, Felix is worried 
about his political power and 

643
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:39,240
his control and all these kinds 
of things, it behooves Felix to 

644
00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:42,600
make the Jewish people happy. 
Because when they get really 

645
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:47,560
upset and angry and they have 
enough pull in society, they can

646
00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:51,080
they can go above Felix in some 
way and start lobbying 

647
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:53,360
complaints. 
And what does Caesar not want to

648
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:54,880
deal with? 
Caesar doesn't want to deal with

649
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,440
the headache of, Oh my gosh, I'm
just, I, I'm inundated all day 

650
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:02,080
with complaints about you. 
Like, at some point, it's just 

651
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,680
not worth it for Caesar to have 
to listen to this garbage day in

652
00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:08,960
and day out. 
And so it, it's beneficial for 

653
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,960
Felix to keep the Jewish people 
happy in spite of the fact that 

654
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:14,680
he's done some terrible things 
to them. 

655
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:16,240
So it's kind of a give and take 
for him. 

656
00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:19,400
Like I'm going to push you hard 
and I'm going to abuse you where

657
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,960
I can. 
But if it, if it's good for me 

658
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,120
to like give you something that 
doesn't affect me, like I'll 

659
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:29,680
keep this guy in prison for two 
years, then like, yeah, he's 

660
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:31,560
going to do that. 
Like he's not, he's not 

661
00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:34,280
concerned with justice. 
He's he's concerned with his 

662
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:37,720
political position. 
Yeah, and despite Paul's well 

663
00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:43,480
mannered logical reasoning, he 
he says verse 14. 

664
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:47,400
Well, his initial defense in in 
10 to 13 is just pointing out 

665
00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:50,120
the errors in Turtelis's 
accusations. 

666
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,240
But then he goes on the 
offensive a little bit here, 

667
00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:56,880
verse 14 this I confess to you 
that according to the way which 

668
00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,960
they call a sect phrasing 
important in litigation, right. 

669
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:01,960
How you how you frame 
everything. 

670
00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:05,320
So I worship the God of my 
father's believing all things 

671
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:08,640
which are written in the law and
the prophets. 

672
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:13,920
Paul made it clear he he was now
arcing back historically right 

673
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,080
that this this is something that
has been taught that has been 

674
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:22,360
documented that we have 
religious backing on and now I'm

675
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,280
I'm living out my life in this 
way following he can he 

676
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,800
continues on there will be a 
resurrection of the dead, both 

677
00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:33,680
of the just and unjust. 
This being so, I myself always 

678
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:36,960
strive to have a conscience 
without offense toward God and 

679
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,760
men. 
He's saying I'm not. 

680
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:44,400
I'm not doing this just to cause
a stir, just to cause rioting, 

681
00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:48,920
to cause chaos. 
I believe there's hope of 

682
00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:54,920
resurrection for everyone, just,
just and unjust. 

683
00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:57,520
He's like I'm I'm here for 
everyone. 

684
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,440
I'm here for everyone's benefit.
I'm not picking fights, I'm not 

685
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,320
picking sides. 
I'm just here to preach. 

686
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:10,640
Well, and you know, as you, as 
you go on in that text, in that 

687
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:15,160
little section, after several 
years, this is verse 17, I came 

688
00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,800
to bring alms to my nation and 
to present offerings. 

689
00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:20,280
While I was doing this, they 
found me purified in the temple 

690
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,960
without any crowd or tumult, but
some Jews from Asia. 

691
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:28,280
And he goes on. 
And so, yeah, he's notating the 

692
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:34,360
fact that when they found him, 
he was just, he was hanging out 

693
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,640
in the temple doing purification
rights. 

694
00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,240
He was not getting any crowd 
stirred up. 

695
00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:43,080
In fact, he was probably not 
talking to anyone. 

696
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:46,560
He was just present. 
There is nothing that he was 

697
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,840
doing that would do anything. 
But you know, these, as Paul 

698
00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,520
would say, these Jews from Asia.
And that's the that's the next 

699
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:57,000
hilarious thing that Paul does, 
which should have had this case 

700
00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,560
thrown out instantaneously, is 
that those people who started 

701
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:05,600
all of this, they didn't even 
bother to show up to accuse him 

702
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:09,920
of what he had supposedly done. 
So there are no eyewitnesses to 

703
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:13,640
any crime that has taken place. 
It is all hearsay. 

704
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:18,400
None of it is valid. 
Again, it's remarkable how 

705
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,840
corrupt Felix must have been not
to just instantaneously say, I 

706
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:23,160
can't believe you wasted my 
time. 

707
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:26,840
Let this guy go. 
Yeah, he had enough evidence to 

708
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:31,520
set Paul free to let him go, but
he did not want to align himself

709
00:41:31,720 --> 00:41:34,200
with the way as as Paul was 
calling. 

710
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,400
He did not want to align himself
with the gospel and Christian. 

711
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,920
So he made no decision and kept 
Paul in custody just kind of. 

712
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,880
All right, well, we're going to 
wait to hear more testimony 

713
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:48,200
until I can make a more accurate
decision. 

714
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:54,760
This is an interesting kind of 
pinpoint here for Paul. 

715
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:59,920
He's relying on the truth, the 
truth of the gospel, the truth 

716
00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:03,720
of this circumstance of of what 
happened. 

717
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:06,640
He believes he hasn't done 
anything wrong. 

718
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:08,640
He's done what God has called 
him to. 

719
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,080
And if we're truly following 
God, the truth and evidence 

720
00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:16,400
should be our friends, not the 
not the made-up stories of 

721
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:19,200
accusers, right? 
And in this situation, what he's

722
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:23,720
facing, yet he still finds 
himself in captivity. 

723
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,640
Yeah. 
And and you know what, here's 

724
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,080
here's the thing that modern day
Christians need to hear too. 

725
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,800
We need, we need to study this 
case and we need to study this 

726
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:37,960
moment particularly because if 
we know and believe that the 

727
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,960
truth of the gospel is on our 
side, and as we speak that 

728
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:47,000
truth, if we somehow believe 
that we will always be treated 

729
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:51,120
fairly based on that truth, 
we've got another thing coming 

730
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,440
to us. 
Now, that's not a conspiracy 

731
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:57,200
theory thing. 
I'm just saying that man's 

732
00:42:57,240 --> 00:43:02,080
version of justice does not 
always align with the truth. 

733
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:06,320
Now, I would love if I had to go
to court and defend myself. 

734
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:09,680
I would love to be able to stand
on the truth and be found 

735
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:13,440
innocent on that based on the 
jury of my peers who can also 

736
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:16,800
see that truth outside of any 
political or religious leanings 

737
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:20,320
I have. 
But honestly, again, we're all 

738
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:25,080
broken by sin. 
We all have these sub, you know,

739
00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:28,720
these sub kind of conversations 
happening in our head and, and 

740
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:31,280
sometimes logic and truth does 
not win. 

741
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:34,200
And so the Christian needs to 
recognize that even if I'm 

742
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:38,520
speaking truth, even if I'm 
defending what is clearly right 

743
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:43,160
in God's by God's standard, that
does not mean I will always get 

744
00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:46,280
justice the way I should. 
That's just how that is. 

745
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:50,560
And it's terrible, it's corrupt,
it's unfortunate, but that is 

746
00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:52,600
the brokenness of the world that
we live in. 

747
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,800
We will sometimes deal with 
things that are wildly unfair, 

748
00:43:57,240 --> 00:44:01,920
but that should not cause us to 
back off of what we know is true

749
00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:05,560
from God's word and what He says
and how we ought to live and all

750
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:09,520
these other things. 
We are still called to speak the

751
00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:14,840
truth. 
Yes, as Paul was preaching here 

752
00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:19,080
as well, he used the truth as 
part of his convincing. 

753
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:24,680
He spoke on righteousness being 
found in in Jesus Christ. 

754
00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:30,240
That was at the at the core of 
his argument here, the need for 

755
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:37,520
self-control and, and something 
a guiding barometer here of, of 

756
00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:41,000
actions and then the judgement 
to come ultimately that there 

757
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,280
would be eternal accountability 
before God. 

758
00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:48,200
This this resurrection of the 
dead or justice for those that 

759
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:51,600
rebelled against God. 
And this is something you 

760
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:53,040
touched on in your message 
yesterday. 

761
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:59,000
These were things that were true
that were the opposite of 

762
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:02,040
flattery, right? 
They were probably not winning 

763
00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:08,280
him points with Felix because he
was calling out Felix on some of

764
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:12,760
these as as being unrighteous, 
as not living in self-control. 

765
00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:19,320
And that he at this point is 
looking to be judged, not saved 

766
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:23,880
at at the eternal coming, right?
Yeah, and The thing is like, you

767
00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:28,400
know, as it, if you look at the 
show notes, I basically I, I 

768
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:32,360
copied and pasted David Guzik's 
notes. 

769
00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:34,240
Commentaries. 
From chapter 24. 

770
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:35,920
So that's what the show notes 
look like today. 

771
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:40,440
But if you look through those, 
he notes that many modern 

772
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:44,120
preachers would avoid speaking 
about, especially in speaking to

773
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:46,680
a high figure like Felix. 
And what he's talking about is 

774
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:48,320
righteousness, self-control and 
judgment. 

775
00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:53,480
So even talking about that 
yesterday, I know that that 

776
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:57,240
makes people uncomfortable and 
I, I don't say things and I 

777
00:45:57,240 --> 00:46:00,560
don't talk about, you know, 
subjects like this just for like

778
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:04,280
shock value or to make people 
uncomfortable or to like get a 

779
00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:06,920
rise out of you. 
We talk about these things 

780
00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:10,360
specifically because that's what
the Bible talks about, right? 

781
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:12,560
So the Bible talks about 
righteousness. 

782
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:15,360
The Bible talks about 
self-control in the Bible talks 

783
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:19,640
about the judgment to come. 
And so like we can do that in a 

784
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:24,360
gentle and loving way, of course
we can, but it still needs to be

785
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:26,920
done. 
Like we talked about earlier, 

786
00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:31,200
like man flattery, this is the 
opposite of flattery, is it not?

787
00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:34,800
The truth is, the truth is 
typically opposite of flattery. 

788
00:46:35,240 --> 00:46:39,520
And yeah, so I mean, I think 
Christians, we we need to have a

789
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:43,440
place to do this. 
And the better and the closer 

790
00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:46,880
you are to somebody that the 
easier you can probably do some 

791
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:50,880
of these things. 
But at the same time, even to 

792
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:56,640
the general world, we need to 
speak truth into that, even when

793
00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:00,600
it maybe makes us less likable 
to some extent. 

794
00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:05,600
But also the truth should always
be, you know, it should be 

795
00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:09,080
salted with the gospel, right? 
The the good news that Jesus 

796
00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:11,640
Christ is the fulfillment of 
these truth claims. 

797
00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,240
He is the fulfillment of our 
shortcomings. 

798
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:18,640
He will cover those things, but 
we have to accept Him, believe 

799
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:22,880
in Him, so we can have His 
righteousness because clearly we

800
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:24,640
are not that on our own. 
Right. 

801
00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:28,160
I think this is a really 
interesting thought from this 

802
00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:30,920
commentary. 
I hadn't seen this, but in 

803
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:36,240
talking about Felix's delay of 
judgement, extrapolating that 

804
00:47:36,240 --> 00:47:40,800
then to Christian and quote UN 
quote faith decision, many 

805
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:43,120
respond to the Gospel in this 
way. 

806
00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:47,440
They they express their 
rejection through delay. 

807
00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:53,800
That's interesting. 
If if you're unsure, undecided, 

808
00:47:54,720 --> 00:47:57,920
that means you haven't decided 
one way or another, neither in 

809
00:47:57,920 --> 00:48:00,320
the positive or the negative, 
right? 

810
00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:06,400
So Spurge Spurgeon, to extend 
this point further, says men all

811
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:09,480
have their warnings and all men 
who perish have had a last 

812
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:12,200
warning. 
Perhaps this is your last 

813
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:16,840
warning. 
We talked about it over the past

814
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,320
couple weeks to like hot or 
cold. 

815
00:48:20,200 --> 00:48:23,840
Pick one, even even back to the 
teachings of Jesus. 

816
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,280
Felix is middling this decision,
right? 

817
00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:29,160
He's being very lukewarm about 
this decision. 

818
00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:32,320
He's not aligning with Paul. 
He's not aligning with the, with

819
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:34,680
the Romans, with the with the 
religious leaders, the 

820
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:39,480
authorities here. 
He's in the middle Paul, even he

821
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,680
brings it up again in this 
passage, same as same as last 

822
00:48:42,680 --> 00:48:45,640
week how he says I've lived in 
good conscience. 

823
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:51,720
He's made a decision and and 
it's a decision that the will of

824
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:57,240
God convicted him towards and 
and that he was in and he's he 

825
00:48:57,240 --> 00:49:01,960
can he can live with it. 
Felix, can you live rightly in 

826
00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:07,360
this corrupt whatever deciding 
you have enough evidence. 

827
00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:08,960
You have no evidence to condemn 
me. 

828
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:15,200
You have enough evidence to set 
me free and you're just not 

829
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:19,000
going to do anything. 
Explain to me how that's in good

830
00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:21,920
conscience for anyone, either 
the eyes of God or the eyes of 

831
00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:22,920
men. 
It's neither. 

832
00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:24,920
No. 
Well, and The thing is, I'll 

833
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:28,080
probably mess up this phrase a 
little bit, but it's a fairly 

834
00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:30,200
popular phrase that makes its 
rounds. 

835
00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:34,920
And the idea behind it is when 
good men fail to do nothing, 

836
00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:39,080
tyranny wins, right? 
And so I think that's what's 

837
00:49:39,080 --> 00:49:42,440
happening. 
We, we can, we can stand by on 

838
00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:45,120
the sidelines and we can just 
kind of go, well, I guess that's

839
00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:46,800
their choice. 
Well, I guess that's their 

840
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:48,280
decision. 
They have the right to, you 

841
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:49,640
know, and you can do those 
things. 

842
00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:52,400
And yes, people do have the 
individual right to choose 

843
00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:56,080
whatever, you know, whatever 
that might look like. 

844
00:49:56,360 --> 00:50:00,720
You have that right. 
But we also have not the right, 

845
00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:04,160
but we have the responsibility 
as those who know better to 

846
00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:10,520
speak some life, giving truth 
into people's lives, into the 

847
00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:14,120
the things that is potentially 
killing them and drawing them 

848
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:17,800
away from eternity with God. 
We we do have that right to 

849
00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:20,760
speak into that. 
We've made in, in the West, in 

850
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:25,600
America, we've made faith or 
religion, We've made it so 

851
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:30,480
private that we, we no longer 
even feel comfortable speaking 

852
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:33,240
about it. 
And, and I said this before, 

853
00:50:33,240 --> 00:50:34,960
faith is personal. 
It's not private. 

854
00:50:36,040 --> 00:50:38,440
That's that's how Christians 
ought to act. 

855
00:50:38,440 --> 00:50:41,560
It is deeply personal to me, but
that doesn't mean I'm supposed 

856
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:44,600
to close it up in a box and just
get it out when I come to church

857
00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:47,400
or just get it out when I close 
my doors at my house. 

858
00:50:47,880 --> 00:50:52,120
Like, no, it needs to affect all
parts of my life. 

859
00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:56,240
And that doesn't mean that I run
around, you know, accusing 

860
00:50:56,240 --> 00:50:58,320
people of things. 
And, you know, no, that's not 

861
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:00,200
what that means. 
But it does mean in my daily 

862
00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:03,160
conversations as somebody's 
like, Oh yeah, how was your 

863
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:05,440
weekend? 
I'm like, man, praise be to God 

864
00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:09,400
because like, he did this and 
this and this and whatever, 

865
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:10,720
whatever that looks like, You 
can. 

866
00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:14,680
You can and you should casually 
be dropping these things in your

867
00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:17,680
conversation, giving credit to 
God when things are going great,

868
00:51:17,880 --> 00:51:20,080
giving credit to God for 
carrying you things that aren't 

869
00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:22,640
going well. 
So for example, if you're having

870
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:26,880
a conversation with a Co worker 
or somebody and maybe people 

871
00:51:26,880 --> 00:51:28,720
tend to bring up things that are
hard for them. 

872
00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:32,160
So you know, you might say, oh 
man, you know, I'm really going 

873
00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:34,320
through this thing. 
And so it's, it's pretty tough. 

874
00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:38,560
And, and if a Christian is 
having a conversation like that,

875
00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:42,560
you know, it would only make 
sense that they would say those 

876
00:51:42,560 --> 00:51:45,360
things, but they would also say,
but I know God's got me. 

877
00:51:46,440 --> 00:51:50,320
That's not a hard thing to say. 
And that's not you pressing your

878
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:52,840
faith on somebody else. 
That's just you giving credit 

879
00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:54,920
where credit's due in a casual 
conversation. 

880
00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:58,600
Every Christian can do that, and
every and every Christian should

881
00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:01,520
do that. 
And that's I think I brought 

882
00:52:01,520 --> 00:52:04,760
that up a couple weeks ago in 
the in the message of it's not 

883
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:09,600
Jesus isn't saying great, you 
graduated, you're on your own. 

884
00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:10,880
You can handle it. 
Go do it. 

885
00:52:11,600 --> 00:52:15,480
It's it's alongside and and 
behind and before us, right. 

886
00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:18,920
That's that's all there another 
thought from Guzik here on this 

887
00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:21,080
verse. 
The claims of Jesus are never 

888
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:24,840
convenient for us. 
If we insist on waiting for a 

889
00:52:24,840 --> 00:52:27,560
convenient time, we will wait 
for an eternity, an eternity 

890
00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:31,160
spent in agonizing separation 
from God. 

891
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:38,960
If we put off the truth, we're 
never going to land on it, 

892
00:52:39,160 --> 00:52:41,720
right? 
Like if, if we don't, if we 

893
00:52:41,720 --> 00:52:44,640
don't make a decision for the 
truth, we're never going to be 

894
00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:49,680
living in that truth, right? 
We're we're always going to make

895
00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:55,480
a make an exempt excuse, make an
exemption, make make a 

896
00:52:55,800 --> 00:52:59,520
convenient loophole for some and
we're and we're never going to 

897
00:52:59,520 --> 00:53:02,520
land on the truth. 
That quote you were looking for 

898
00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:05,720
before you paraphrase it. 
Well, but I'm going to read the 

899
00:53:05,720 --> 00:53:07,800
actual attributed to Edmund 
Burke. 

900
00:53:08,280 --> 00:53:12,280
The only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good men 

901
00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:16,400
to do nothing. 
And that's I mean, so that's a 

902
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:21,640
that's a good general statement.
Apply it to neighbors, friends, 

903
00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:23,640
family members, lost, lost 
people in your life. 

904
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,640
The only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil in lost people's

905
00:53:27,640 --> 00:53:32,160
lives is for, and I'll use the 
good in quotes here, for good 

906
00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:36,680
men, good people, righteous 
people clothed in the blood of 

907
00:53:36,680 --> 00:53:39,440
Jesus. 
The only thing necessary for the

908
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:44,240
triumph of evil in the lives of 
the lost is for the good people 

909
00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:48,920
to do nothing right. 
Why did God put us here? 

910
00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:50,840
Why does He have us in this 
space and time? 

911
00:53:51,320 --> 00:53:56,080
So that the good people AKA. 
Again, good. 

912
00:53:56,080 --> 00:53:57,080
Clothed in. 
Jesus right? 

913
00:53:57,080 --> 00:53:58,920
Clothed in. 
Jesus, let's put it that way. 

914
00:53:59,120 --> 00:54:02,080
So that way the people clothed 
in Jesus can interact with those

915
00:54:02,080 --> 00:54:05,640
people who who need that 
righteousness imputed into their

916
00:54:05,640 --> 00:54:10,560
lives. 
And it is crazy how small words 

917
00:54:10,920 --> 00:54:14,520
can create big opportunities. 
Well, yeah, just like I was 

918
00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:16,600
talking about, like you're 
talking about something hard and

919
00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:18,320
whatever, but I know God's got 
my back. 

920
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:23,480
Like, man, that little phrase 
creates such a huge opportunity.

921
00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:26,080
And even if they don't say 
anything to you in that moment, 

922
00:54:26,440 --> 00:54:30,360
I guarantee they're walking away
going, wow, they're they're 

923
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:33,240
really going through some stuff.
But they have this, they have 

924
00:54:33,240 --> 00:54:36,160
this belief that there's a 
higher power, that there's a 

925
00:54:36,400 --> 00:54:38,880
sovereign God who's going to 
take care of them. 

926
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:42,200
I think it would be cool to have
that kind of assurance. 

927
00:54:42,200 --> 00:54:44,960
Maybe I'll go ask them a 
question about whatever that 

928
00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:47,520
looks like. 
But I mean like those little 

929
00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:51,640
drops of the gospel, they can go
so much further than what we 

930
00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:55,200
think. 
That's so good. 

931
00:54:56,320 --> 00:54:59,880
Final thoughts here, the last 
couple of verses, and I 

932
00:54:59,880 --> 00:55:02,440
understand you didn't deep dive 
into this yesterday. 

933
00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:07,360
It's largely procedural, but 
interesting to know verses 26 to

934
00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:10,760
27. 
Meanwhile, he Felix also hoped 

935
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:13,600
that money would be given him by
Paul, that he might release him.

936
00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:16,400
He's looking for a bribe. 
I think the longer he keeps 

937
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:18,240
Paul, the more desperate he's 
going to get. 

938
00:55:18,240 --> 00:55:20,200
These people who are coming to 
bring up Paul's food eventually 

939
00:55:20,200 --> 00:55:22,680
going to be like, OK, we're 
going to bring him money to get 

940
00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:27,840
him out of here. 
Therefore Felix sent for Paul 

941
00:55:27,840 --> 00:55:29,240
more often and conversed with 
him. 

942
00:55:29,880 --> 00:55:33,200
But after two years Porsche as 
Festus succeeded Felix and Felix

943
00:55:33,440 --> 00:55:36,400
wanted to do the Jews a favor 
left Paul bound. 

944
00:55:36,680 --> 00:55:40,480
So for two years and and there's
a couple things here. 

945
00:55:40,480 --> 00:55:43,640
Of course he's corrupt and 
looking for the bribe to just 

946
00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:46,160
he's open. 
Paul just shows up with a lot of

947
00:55:46,160 --> 00:55:48,080
treasure, a lot of money pays 
him off. 

948
00:55:48,240 --> 00:55:51,280
Let me out of here until then. 
We're going to keep this trial 

949
00:55:51,600 --> 00:55:53,760
going until until you're just 
desperate. 

950
00:55:54,240 --> 00:56:00,240
Also, by Roman law, this sort of
like judicial custody as the 

951
00:56:00,240 --> 00:56:03,240
trials going on that was not 
supposed to last more than two 

952
00:56:03,240 --> 00:56:05,160
years. 
There's a law for that. 

953
00:56:05,400 --> 00:56:07,720
Like, you can't hold on to 
somebody without a conviction 

954
00:56:08,120 --> 00:56:10,880
for more than two years. 
You can't do that. 

955
00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:14,400
And he just totally jumps over 
that and says, Nah, I don't 

956
00:56:14,400 --> 00:56:15,840
care. 
The law doesn't apply to me. 

957
00:56:16,240 --> 00:56:18,560
Him, me letting him out doesn't 
benefit me. 

958
00:56:18,840 --> 00:56:19,880
Therefore I'm not going to do 
it. 

959
00:56:20,160 --> 00:56:23,080
NT Wright, who has reading this 
week, and I didn't bring this 

960
00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:26,280
out in the sermon, but NT Wright
had this great funny 

961
00:56:26,280 --> 00:56:31,800
illustration of like drains. 
And he he, you know, a drain, 

962
00:56:31,800 --> 00:56:34,840
literally its job is to suck 
everything up, right? 

963
00:56:35,120 --> 00:56:39,320
And so he, you know, talked 
about the fact that you probably

964
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:43,040
have some drains in your life, 
people who even if you don't 

965
00:56:43,040 --> 00:56:46,840
know it totally, they're only 
there to get what they can get 

966
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:49,080
out of you. 
They're not providing anything 

967
00:56:49,080 --> 00:56:50,520
for you. 
They're not giving you anything.

968
00:56:50,520 --> 00:56:53,720
They're not, you know, they're 
only there to get what they can 

969
00:56:53,720 --> 00:56:55,880
get out of you. 
Felix is the exact same way. 

970
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:57,720
He's just there to get what he 
can out of. 

971
00:56:57,720 --> 00:57:00,760
Paul doesn't care about justice,
doesn't care about anything. 

972
00:57:00,760 --> 00:57:03,560
He is a drain. 
Yeah. 

973
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:10,360
And finally he left Paul bound. 
He was, he was not. 

974
00:57:10,600 --> 00:57:12,880
He did this. 
And again, not even really any 

975
00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:18,240
advantage to himself. 
And he even seemingly would 

976
00:57:18,240 --> 00:57:21,080
think that Paul, he knew that 
Paul was innocent, right? 

977
00:57:21,160 --> 00:57:23,960
And in his heart of hearts, 
there was no reason. 

978
00:57:24,200 --> 00:57:25,840
But he did it out of political 
advantage. 

979
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:29,960
Wanting to do the Jews a favor, 
he left Paul bound. 

980
00:57:31,560 --> 00:57:34,200
Guzik's final thought here. 
In a way, people like Felix and 

981
00:57:34,200 --> 00:57:38,000
Pilate are the guiltiest of 
those who reject Jesus Christ. 

982
00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:42,720
They know what is right, but 
refuse to do right purely out of

983
00:57:42,720 --> 00:57:45,600
the fear of man. 
They have an eternally fatal 

984
00:57:45,960 --> 00:57:48,840
lack of courage. 
Eternally fatal. 

985
00:57:49,080 --> 00:57:50,640
Wow. 
Wow, that's heavy. 

986
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:55,320
Yeah. 
Yeah, so we see how this just 

987
00:57:57,880 --> 00:58:03,440
this attraction to flattery, 
this rejection of the truth 

988
00:58:03,920 --> 00:58:06,760
festered. 
I mean, it had festered for a 

989
00:58:06,760 --> 00:58:09,680
lifetime in Felix, but we get 
this two year glimpse at it and 

990
00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:14,160
how how it results in 
destruction in indicate. 

991
00:58:14,160 --> 00:58:18,640
So even in this, even in the 
sufferings of Paul, we see the 

992
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:21,920
picture of someone sucked up in 
the things of this world, 

993
00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:25,520
rejecting the things of Christ 
and where where it ultimately 

994
00:58:25,520 --> 00:58:28,080
leaves them right where it 
ultimately gets them. 

995
00:58:28,080 --> 00:58:32,880
We have this even the gospel 
script that this is, this is 

996
00:58:32,880 --> 00:58:35,760
when, when you reject the 
gospel, this is the life that's 

997
00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:40,560
in store that this life of the 
of the pious, corrupt, terrible 

998
00:58:40,760 --> 00:58:43,200
Felix, right? 
So even in this, even in Paul's 

999
00:58:43,200 --> 00:58:47,160
suffering, even in his trial, we
have the word of Jesus giving us

1000
00:58:47,160 --> 00:58:51,280
this contrast between these two,
these two outcomes, Paul and 

1001
00:58:51,280 --> 00:58:53,240
Felix and their responses to the
gospel. 

1002
00:58:53,320 --> 00:58:54,480
It's cool. 
There. 

1003
00:58:54,680 --> 00:58:58,480
This is as you, if you spend 
some more time in these several 

1004
00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:01,400
chapters, you know, leading up 
to the end of the book of Acts, 

1005
00:59:02,040 --> 00:59:05,920
it's just one wildly frustrating
moment after another. 

1006
00:59:06,240 --> 00:59:10,480
And in some ways, it absolutely 
leads us, I think, to the 

1007
00:59:10,480 --> 00:59:14,600
conclusion that there is no real
justice without the gospel. 

1008
00:59:15,000 --> 00:59:18,760
There just isn't, not for the 
Saints and not for the sinners. 

1009
00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:23,120
Without the gospel, judgment 
cannot properly happen. 

1010
00:59:24,160 --> 00:59:28,480
So yeah. 
All right, Well, it's been a fun

1011
00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:30,920
continuation of the 
conversation. 

1012
00:59:31,120 --> 00:59:34,480
Again, we have some Ask Me 
anythings that we're going to 

1013
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:38,160
pre record and and let out the 
first couple weeks of September.

1014
00:59:38,160 --> 00:59:42,160
So get your questions in by 
August 24th. 

1015
00:59:42,160 --> 00:59:46,400
You can e-mail them to connect 
at emmausrdonline.org. 

1016
00:59:46,600 --> 00:59:49,840
You can message the Facebook 
page or post a comment under the

1017
00:59:49,920 --> 00:59:53,560
under the podcast posts, posts 
on the Facebook page, or you can

1018
00:59:53,560 --> 00:59:58,320
always text your questions, 
563-659-9444. 

1019
00:59:58,320 --> 01:00:00,760
And Chris and I see those, get 
those. 

1020
01:00:00,760 --> 01:00:03,640
We're cataloguing them for the 
shows coming up. 

1021
01:00:03,640 --> 01:00:08,080
So love to have you jump in on 
the Ask Me Ask Me Anythings for 

1022
01:00:08,080 --> 01:00:13,040
those couple of weeks, anything.
Faith, spiritual, church, 

1023
01:00:13,040 --> 01:00:17,040
family, personal, even about, 
like, even if it's just about 

1024
01:00:17,600 --> 01:00:20,520
us, that's not like anything's 
on the table. 

1025
01:00:20,520 --> 01:00:22,720
Even if it's a what's your 
favorite superpower? 

1026
01:00:22,720 --> 01:00:26,080
Sort of like, I mean, yeah. 
I don't find myself all that 

1027
01:00:26,080 --> 01:00:30,160
terribly interesting. 
But if if if you do and you just

1028
01:00:30,680 --> 01:00:32,840
burning question you need to 
know us, sure, go ahead. 

1029
01:00:33,080 --> 01:00:36,880
Yeah, so it's been fun. 
Thanks for hanging out with us. 

1030
01:00:36,920 --> 01:00:38,000
Have a blessed week, Church.