1 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:08,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,280 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,400 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,200 Last week we left off on kind of a cliffhanger with the Apostle 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,680 Paul. So to give you a quick 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:37,400 background, he has been told by friends and by prophets like, 9 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,440 hey, you know, if you if you go to Jerusalem, if you, if you 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,880 make this trek, it's going to end in your arrest and probably 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,200 your death. And so Paul is Paul's been 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,160 working his way back up to Jerusalem. 13 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:53,120 And last week where we left off is they once again told him like 14 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,640 they, they know you're here and we just stopped. 15 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,400 So we left on kind of a cliffhanger, but we're going to 16 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,440 pick it up today. But before we pick it up, let me 17 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:04,680 tell you, we're going to skip a little bit and I'll just kind of 18 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,600 preview in on on what we what we missed in the few verses I'm not 19 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,240 going to read. What we missed is the fact that 20 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,480 Paul did go into Jerusalem. And as he goes into Jerusalem, 21 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,920 what happens is he actually does this thing. 22 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,880 They come up with this plan where they're like, hey, if you 23 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,480 go ahead and you, you're going to, you're going to spend 7 days 24 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,600 and you're going to take four people with you and you're going 25 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,200 to, you're going to do all these rights and you're going to do 26 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,040 this devotion. And then the people in 27 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,600 Jerusalem, they won't be able to deny the fact that you are 28 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,640 honoring Moses, you're honoring the law, you're staying within 29 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,160 the customs. They won't be able to deny that. 30 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,520 Well, Paul, even though I, I believe he probably thought that 31 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:45,120 wasn't going to work, he did it anyway. 32 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,600 He appeased his friends and what happens is exactly what he 33 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,400 thought would happen. At the end of seven days, they 34 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:56,640 see Paul and they're like done. So what happens is a mob forms 35 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,080 around him and they they begin the process of beating him to 36 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,640 death. Now this terrible beating that 37 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,320 he's taking, it creates quite a ruckus, quite a noise. 38 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,840 And so a Roman cohort of guards comes and they're like, what's 39 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:13,800 going on? So they kind of break it up and 40 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,160 they try to drag Paul out of the mob, but they can't really do 41 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:18,440 that. So they have to lift him up. 42 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:20,640 They literally have to carry him out of the mob. 43 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,840 But Paul does something really, really special here. 44 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,960 He has the wherewithal, he has the mind and he has the 45 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,640 compassion for these people. And So what he does is he turns 46 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:34,200 to the Roman guards once they kind of get him on back on his 47 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,640 feet and he and he starts talking to them in Greek. 48 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,760 See, The thing is, they suppose that he was this Egyptian guy 49 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,480 that they'd heard about who stirs up crowds and who's 50 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,240 causing all sorts of chaos. They didn't realize who he was. 51 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,560 And so he turns them, talks to them in Greek and asks them, 52 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,920 hey, can I please address the crowd? 53 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,400 I, I mean, really, they just tried to beat you to death. 54 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:58,480 But sure. OK. 55 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,120 The Roman guards like, maybe out of sheer curiosity, they allow 56 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,440 him to do that. Well, what he does is he 57 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,040 switches languages in a moment and he speaks to them in an 58 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,400 Aramaic form of Hebrew, which was kind of a kind of a formal 59 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,320 Hebrew. And so it wasn't what they would 60 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:15,880 speak necessarily on a daily basis. 61 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,400 So people really had to quiet down and they had to listen. 62 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,400 So he's got their attention now and he starts to speak to them. 63 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:26,480 When he speaks to them, he tells his conversion story. 64 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,760 If you remember, if you were here, it's several weeks back, 65 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,360 but on June 15th, we went through that conversion story. 66 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,480 And so he starts to tell his story of how he ended up where 67 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:38,680 he is. But then something happens. 68 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,360 He says just the right or the wrong thing, depending on how 69 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,480 you take that to get them all riled up again. 70 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,280 And now they're ready for blood. And so that's where we're going 71 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,320 to pick it up. We're going to see where it all 72 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,200 went sideways for him when he had their attention. 73 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,240 We're, we're, we're going to pick it up right there. 74 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,560 So as far as this, as far as this morning, I want to give you 75 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,760 a, a very quick idea of how we're going to look at this 76 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:08,720 text. We're going to see that Paul has 77 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,880 the source of all these things. And I know that we have access 78 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:17,200 to that same source of humility, of courage and of citizenship. 79 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:19,920 But I want to point out how we get these things. 80 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,840 Because The thing is, I, I previewed last week, we are 81 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,600 sometimes we deal with fear and we don't really know how to do 82 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,120 that. Well, not all of us anyway. 83 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,160 We've got all sorts of ways that we try to work through that. 84 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,680 But I'm telling you, we have access to a source that can give 85 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,400 us humility, that can give us courage in the face of no matter 86 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,440 what we're going through. And so that's how we're going to 87 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:43,880 look at it this morning. Gospel humility, gospel courage, 88 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,360 and gospel assurance in our citizenship. 89 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,000 So here we go. We're going to be in Acts 90 00:04:50,000 --> 00:05:00,800 chapter 22 and we are going to read verses 17 through 29, the 91 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,480 word of the Lord. When I had returned to Jerusalem 92 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,440 and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and I saw him 93 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,640 saying to me, make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, 94 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:15,320 because they will not accept your testimony about me. 95 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,560 And I said, Lord, they themselves know that in one 96 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,240 synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who 97 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,600 believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen 98 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,680 your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and 99 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,240 approving and watching over the garments of those who killed 100 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,200 him. And he said to me, Go, for I 101 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,880 will send you far away to the Gentiles. 102 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,320 Up to this word they listened to him. 103 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,760 Then they raised their voices and said Away with such a fellow 104 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,160 from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live. 105 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,800 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and 106 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,280 flinging dust into the air, the tribune ordered them ordered him 107 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:59,080 to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be 108 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:04,120 examined by flogging to find out why they were shouting against 109 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,040 him like this. But when they had stretched him 110 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,440 out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing 111 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,520 by. Is it lawful for you to flog a 112 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,520 man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned? 113 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:21,000 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said 114 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:22,960 to him, What are you about to do? 115 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,200 For this man is a Roman citizen. So the tribune came and said to 116 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:29,640 him, Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? 117 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,200 And he said, yes. The Tribune answered, I bought 118 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,600 this citizenship for a large sum, Paul said. 119 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:41,640 But I am a citizen by birth. So those who were about to 120 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,120 examine him withdrew from him, and it withdrew from him 121 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,160 immediately. And the Tribune also was afraid, 122 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:53,680 for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that they had 123 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,240 bound him. They made a mistake. 124 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,640 So how do we understand this text? 125 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:04,120 How do we, how do we get these things? 126 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,920 How do we get the the access to the source of these things? 127 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,080 Well, let's start with humility, right? 128 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,320 I got to tell you this. Last Thursday was men's night at 129 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,640 Sheldon Kinrade's house. Good time. 130 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:21,280 Yeah, Yeah, good time. And I got to say that I was 131 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,480 humbled there. I really was. 132 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,040 Now here's the deal. I I show up and we play some 133 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,680 bags and it's a good time. Everything's going great. 134 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,360 And as I tend to do, like after bags, I kind of meandered 135 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:35,920 towards the children because I don't know, I find them 136 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:37,280 interesting and they're fun, right? 137 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,360 So like, I watch Ruby, we make some mud pies together. 138 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:42,600 That's a real good time. I go and watch her on the 139 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:43,840 trampoline. That's really fun. 140 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:49,200 And I look over and there's Levi and he's pitching at a fence and 141 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,000 I'm like, there's a bat there. I'm going to hit off this kid. 142 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,080 Oh, you bet. I'm going to send this right 143 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,440 into that field way over there. I'm going to call my shop. 144 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,480 So I pick up the bat. I'm like, Levi, why don't you 145 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,120 pitch to me? He's like, all right, so you 146 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,600 know, he starts pitching to me. The first hit I had, I 147 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:11,200 definitely popped out to third base. 148 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,600 Second hit, grounded out to third, third, third time I made 149 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:16,400 contact. I think I grounded out to 2nd. 150 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,200 And then finally I'm like, oh man, I got to go. 151 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,520 Like I got, I got to move and I was like, all right, one more. 152 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,040 And so he gets me to a two and two count 2 balls, 2 strikes. 153 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,280 And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I cannot leave here without 154 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:32,280 hitting this ball into that field. 155 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,400 This is a child. Like I'm a grown man. 156 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:45,320 He throws a high fastball and I just swing out of my pants and 157 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:46,840 I'm and I just have to walk away. 158 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,320 This this young man just struck me out. 159 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:54,120 That was that was an an exercise of humility for me. 160 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:57,920 I walked away and I was like, man, all right, well, you're not 161 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,400 all that. OK. 162 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,000 Well, here's the deal. That little exercise in 163 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,760 humility, although it is true, like that was kind of a humbling 164 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,080 moment for me. It didn't feel that bad because 165 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,360 I recognize man, you're in your like mid 40s, like this kid is 166 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:15,560 just going to throw right past you. 167 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:17,880 It's fine. So it didn't, it didn't bring me 168 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:22,760 down too much, but I think there are universal things that happen 169 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:25,680 to all of us that create a sense of humility in US. 170 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:27,080 And humility is really important. 171 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,240 So let me give you a couple of examples that maybe you've 172 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,760 you've experienced that just help humble you, right? 173 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,920 Well, maybe you're an expert in your field, or at least you 174 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,240 think you are. And then somebody younger and 175 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,640 less experienced comes along and they seem to know more than you. 176 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,880 That's humbling. Or maybe you're used to having 177 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,320 some level of financial independence and through a 178 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,000 series of unfortunate circumstances that you really 179 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,400 can't control, all of a sudden you have to depend on the 180 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,600 generosity of other people. That's humbling. 181 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,920 Or maybe you've you're dealing with some physical things that 182 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,960 are really difficult for you. And so now you can no longer 183 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:13,040 even do basic cares for yourself and you have to have somebody 184 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,680 else help you with that. Man, that's hard. 185 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,800 Or let me give you one more. Perhaps you're in an argument 186 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,800 with a spouse or a friend. Oh, that never happens. 187 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,520 You're right. So you're in this argument and 188 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,920 you are sure you're right. You are dying on that hill only 189 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,440 to find out you were wrong and you have to eat that crow. 190 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,000 It's very humbling. All these are humbling 191 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,360 experiences, but I can tell you, and I, and I really mean this, 192 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,560 nothing will humble you into the ground more and take your ego 193 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:51,600 and put it on life support than the gospel. 194 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:56,240 Let me say that again. Nothing will humble you more and 195 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,880 put your ego on life support like the gospel. 196 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:01,760 Now you might be saying to yourself, but Pastor Chris, I 197 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,080 thought the gospel was here to make me feel better about myself 198 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,240 than to give me Jesus. How is it that it's supposed to 199 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,160 humble me? Let me show you or let Paul show 200 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,120 you, he says. I imprisoned and beat those who 201 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,200 believed in you. I myself was standing by and 202 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,760 improving and watching over the garments of those who killed 203 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:21,440 him. Do you see what's happening 204 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,800 here? Here's what I think. 205 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,520 I can't prove it for sure, but I am willing to bet that Paul, at 206 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:34,040 some point in his 30 years of being a Christian, he met family 207 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,280 or friends or even people that he had persecuted and thrown in 208 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,320 jail or had killed. Can you imagine? 209 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,880 He met them and he had to look them in the face and not just 210 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,400 say that he was wrong, but he had to apologize. 211 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,400 That must have felt impossible, and it would be without the 212 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,440 gospel. Now, of course, that's a very 213 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:02,120 humbling thing for Paul, but let me tell you that that's not 214 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:06,080 where he got his humility. He got his humility at the foot 215 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,200 of the cross. That's absolutely where he got 216 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,400 it. And I'll tell you what, let me 217 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,240 let me do an exercise with you. OK, Let's do an exercise. 218 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,920 I'm going to teach you gospel humility in the next few 219 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,200 moments. Derrick Hendrickson did this 220 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,600 with our youth on Wednesday. And I was just like, I don't 221 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,040 know how I'm even going to recover. 222 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,120 So hopefully you recover and I don't lose you after this. 223 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,920 Here's what I'm going to ask you to do. 224 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,400 I'm going to do it too. I want you to bow your head and 225 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:45,680 close your eyes. Now imagine you were on the hill 226 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,040 called Golgotha. And as you look out into the 227 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:53,080 distance, you can see Jerusalem, this great city of walls and 228 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:56,600 buildings and people. But then you focus your 229 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,040 attention on what's right in front of you. 230 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,520 It's 3 crosses and on the middle cross hangs Jesus. 231 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:12,160 Crown of thorns pushed into his head, dried blood on his face, 232 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:20,240 gashes wounds all over the place from being flogged, nails 233 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:28,240 through his hands and his feet. He's gasping for air and you 234 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,000 realize all of a sudden it is your fault he's there. 235 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,640 You are the reason he's hanging there. 236 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:45,610 What do you say to him? What do you say to the person 237 00:13:45,610 --> 00:13:56,570 that you put on the cross? Go ahead and open your eyes. 238 00:14:06,710 --> 00:14:07,830 I don't know what you said to him. 239 00:14:09,430 --> 00:14:13,230 I know what I said to him. But here's the thing. 240 00:14:14,590 --> 00:14:17,070 I want you to hear also what he says back to you. 241 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,400 I love you. You're worth it. 242 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:26,840 I would do this a billion times for you, but it's only going to 243 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,760 take once. So do you see it? 244 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:39,520 Do you see how the gospel can humble you into a healthy place? 245 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,240 But do you also see simultaneously how after it 246 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,880 humbles you into the ground, it brings you to the stars Because 247 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,200 Jesus looks at you and he says, I love you, you're worth it to 248 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,960 me. That's an amazing thing. 249 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,440 And that's what the gospel does, both humbles you and it takes 250 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:03,280 you right up to where you understand that you are so 251 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,400 important to God that he would give his only Son for you. 252 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,240 We hear that a lot as Christians, but I don't know if 253 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,120 we always take it in. Let's keep moving forward. 254 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:20,120 How do we get gospel courage? OK, well, as I mentioned, Paul 255 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,400 spent about 30 years after his conversion proclaiming the 256 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,800 gospel in the midst of death threats and beatings and mobs 257 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,840 and being stoned and all this other kind of stuff. 258 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,840 So, I mean, actually, when we, I, I think when we look at this 259 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:35,240 moment and he's mobbed by the crowd and they're starting to 260 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,920 beat him to death, like this is just another Tuesday. 261 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,440 And that's weird to say, but like, he's used to this. 262 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:46,720 He spent 30 years enduring the fear of what it means to 263 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,600 proclaim the gospel. Now, as I previewed last week, 264 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:54,120 how do we deal with this? Because Jesus Christ is not, 265 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,760 he's not something for us or someone for us to like take in 266 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,200 and keep really personal and and keep tied up in ourselves. 267 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,840 We are called to be ambassadors. But that can be really scary. 268 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:06,400 There's a lot of fear involved in that. 269 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:11,160 And so I want us to understand how Paul gained access to 270 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:15,800 something that a source of power that moved him beyond fear. 271 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,160 OK, this is really important. So I'm going to give you three 272 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,120 ways. First and foremost, we have to 273 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,200 acknowledge that fear is real and we don't banish it. 274 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,240 We don't get rid of it. We don't act like it doesn't 275 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,400 exist. We Simply put it in its proper 276 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,920 place. Let me give you three ways that 277 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,800 we can that that we can do or why that's important. 278 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,920 First of all, fear is necessary. I don't know if you've ever 279 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,120 stood next to a 2000 LB bison, but when I lived in North 280 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,920 Dakota, I was near 1 and I was afraid because it is 10 times my 281 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,400 size. And if he decides that he wants 282 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,680 to run me over, I can do nothing about it. 283 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,320 So in fear, I'm like, we should stay away from this thing. 284 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,520 Let's not pet the pretty animal. Don't do that. 285 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,280 Fear is helpful, friends. Don't act like it doesn't exist. 286 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:05,520 Don't act like you shouldn't have it. 287 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,720 Fear is helpful. God gave you that so that you 288 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,960 wouldn't do something stupid like try and pet a bison, right? 289 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,040 OK, so let's start with that. It's helpful #2 by definition, 290 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:19,760 if we want to talk about having courage as Christians, courage 291 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,760 without fear is, well, it's not really courage, right? 292 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,280 That's just logical. Like that just makes sense. 293 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:29,080 There is no courage without fear. 294 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,000 And then the third thing, and and this is really important, I 295 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,200 think you have to kill part of your heart in order to 296 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,080 completely kill fear. And that's a bad trade. 297 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,720 That's a really bad trade. You should not kill part of your 298 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,680 heart for that. So then we have to turn and we 299 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,280 have to say, OK, well then, Pastor Chris, how do I get 300 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,000 courage? How does that work inside the 301 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:55,680 gospel? Again, two ways. 302 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,280 First of all, we have to cling to the promise of our future. 303 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,400 That will give you courage. In other words, what I believe 304 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,960 about my future should absolutely affect or change what 305 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:11,720 I'm capable of today, right? So let me give you a scenario. 306 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,640 There's two people and they're both working the same terrible 307 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,040 soul sucking job. Maybe you have a job that feels 308 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:22,360 like that, sorry, but one person, they're told, OK, you're 309 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,560 going to make minimum wage, you'll make just enough to get 310 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:27,360 by, you'll pay the rent, and every once in a while you can go 311 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,840 have a good time, right? OK, you know what their attitude 312 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,840 is going to be like at work. The other person doing the exact 313 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,080 same job in the exact same circumstance gets told at the 314 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,720 end of the day, I'm going to give you $3,000,000. 315 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,440 All of a sudden that person is whistling Dixie the entire time 316 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,160 they're working, they're having a great time and they're more 317 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,480 productive than they've ever been and everything is great. 318 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,600 Same job. But what they believe about 319 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,480 their future totally changes how they treat the job today. 320 00:18:55,880 --> 00:19:00,000 And I think that's true for us. You see, the Christian should be 321 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,800 able to and can look at the worst things in this life, 322 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,920 whether it's financial, whether it's emotional, whether it's 323 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,800 social. They can, whether it's death 324 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,200 itself, the Christian can look at all of those things and say I 325 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,600 know my future. It's OK. 326 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,040 I don't have to freak out in this moment. 327 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,760 I can stay calm because I know what God has in store for me in 328 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,200 the future. Now some of you in the midst of 329 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,960 something very difficult right now, maybe you're like, yeah, 330 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,360 but future me, I don't care about that person. 331 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:29,600 I care about right now. Me. 332 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,560 I understand. I really do. 333 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,440 But if you know your future is secure, if you understand that 334 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:42,560 God went to the ends of the earth to make sure that you get 335 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,000 to come home no matter what happens in your life. 336 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,320 Well, what that does is it just tells you that death, the worst 337 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,080 thing that can happen to you or happen to a loved one, it will 338 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,280 only make you better. It'll only make you better. 339 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:02,000 Let me Tim Keller recently pointed out a poem that I 340 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,560 really, really like. I think it's excellent, and so I 341 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,360 wanted to read it to you. It's a poem by George Herbert. 342 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:10,520 It's called Dialogue Anthem. It's pretty short. 343 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:14,680 Basically, it's a conversation in poem form between a Christian 344 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:16,640 and death. Let me read it. 345 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,400 Alas, poor death, where is thy glory? 346 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:25,880 Where is thy famous force, thy ancient sting death? 347 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:30,480 Alas, poor mortal, void of story, go spell and read how I 348 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:35,040 have killed thy king, poor death, and who was hurt thereby. 349 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,800 Thy cursed being laid on him makes thee accursed. 350 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:42,640 Let losers talk yet thou shalt die. 351 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,680 These arms will crush thee. Spare not. 352 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,680 Do thy worst. I shall be one day better than 353 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:54,160 before thou, so much worse that thou shall be no more. 354 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,960 What you believe about your future can give you a tremendous 355 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,280 amount of courage today, but if you don't focus on that truth, 356 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,280 you will be wrapped up in fear. Let me give you one more way to 357 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:13,440 gain gospel access to courage. It goes like this. 358 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,800 I'm going to read Hebrews 12/2 to you. 359 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,040 Look into Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for 360 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:24,080 the joy that was set before him endured the cross. 361 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:25,760 And it goes on. Do you see it? 362 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,840 Do you see how you deal with fear? 363 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,960 You deal with fear through joy. You think Jesus was afraid the 364 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,080 night before he he was going to be crucified? 365 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,440 Of course he was. He sweat blood. 366 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,600 That is the man who's afraid. He begged for his life before 367 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,000 his father, and his father said Nope, too bad. 368 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:50,600 He was afraid. But he could access a tremendous 369 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:55,320 amount of courage because of the joy that he knew when he thought 370 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,440 about you. Think about that. 371 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,440 I will joyfully do something that is terrible if it means 372 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,240 that somebody who I love and I care about will be safe. 373 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,520 I can overcome fear. I don't banish it. 374 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:10,720 I don't screw myself up. I don't act like it doesn't 375 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,960 exist. No, I overcome it with the joy 376 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,840 of knowing that somebody I love is taken care of. 377 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:17,960 That's enough. And I'll tell you what. 378 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,400 Look forward again. Think about your future. 379 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,600 Can you imagine the joy of meeting Jesus Christ? 380 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:25,520 I can. I think about it pretty often, 381 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,360 actually. I think about falling at his 382 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:31,600 feet and I think about like climbing up his robe and hugging 383 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,520 him and not letting him go. That's joy. 384 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:38,840 I cannot wait for that moment. I can't tell you that's joy. 385 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,920 That kind of joy puts me on a path in my life that I don't 386 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:47,120 fear very many things because I can't wait for that moment. 387 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,080 I can't wait for it. And it is out of that joy that I 388 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,520 move forward in my life. Even when things are difficult, 389 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,840 find that joy. It's right there. 390 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,680 It's right there. That's how that's two ways that 391 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,640 you can get gospel courage. Let me move on to our last point 392 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:03,840 because we just need to keep going. 393 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,280 Yeah, OK, Very good. I got to tell you guys I brought 394 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,320 something little illustrative point. 395 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,080 I love being a citizen of the United States. 396 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,440 I do. And there's like, weirdly like, 397 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,560 and I mean, I wasn't just doing this as a bit like when I got my 398 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,600 passport, I was like, oh, this is so cool. 399 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,280 Like I love it. And The thing is like, I, I 400 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,720 thought about this a lot and I'm like, I don't know why I love 401 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,920 this thing so much. Maybe it's like the Super fancy 402 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:41,520 official seal or maybe it's just the, the seriousness of this 403 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,720 book and what I can do with it. I, I don't know, I don't know, 404 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,720 It's, it's just so cool. And, and I see stamps and, and 405 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,480 that's cool. Here's what the stamps tell me. 406 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,080 They tell me that I've been somewhere, I've been somewhere 407 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:57,840 different. But you know what this tells me? 408 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:03,240 It tells me where I belong. It tells me where I belong. 409 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:08,440 And because I belong here, I get to own part of this. 410 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:13,240 So do you as an American citizen, you have the right and 411 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,240 the privilege of being a part of this great country. 412 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,080 And, and you own that right. That's, that's such a cool 413 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,480 thing. And, and I love looking at this 414 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,840 because I am reminded of the guarantees that are given to me 415 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:31,480 because of my citizenship. Paul does this really cool thing 416 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,280 here when he talks about citizenship. 417 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,520 He looks at them and they're going to do the same thing to 418 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:45,560 him that they did to Jesus. They're going to open him up and 419 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,720 then he claims his citizenship. And then all of a sudden, 420 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,720 they're very afraid because they know he has rights and 421 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,200 privileges which cannot be taken away from him. 422 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,840 That's important. That's really important. 423 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,080 But I want you to see that there's something beyond the 424 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,760 surface here of just Paul's Roman citizenship. 425 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:03,440 Let me show you what that looks like. 426 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,040 Philippians 320. Our citizenship is in heaven. 427 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,720 This world is not our home. You are not of this world, but I 428 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:13,760 chose you out of the world. Do you get it? 429 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,360 Do you get the fact that even as an American citizen, that pales 430 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:23,120 in comparison to being called a citizen of God's Kingdom? 431 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,320 What an incredible thing. I mean, we've been talking about 432 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,120 humility and courage and fear. But think about this. 433 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:33,880 You are a citizen of God's Kingdom that gives you certain 434 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:38,240 rights that no human on earth can give to you and no human on 435 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,840 earth can take away from you because Jesus Christ bought your 436 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,200 citizenship at a very high price. 437 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,800 I mean, look at the text. Paul says I was born into this. 438 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:53,320 The Roman guard says I paid a ton of money for this, but God, 439 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,240 he gave his Son Jesus Christ for your citizenship. 440 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,560 That came at a cost that I can't even fully comprehend. 441 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,520 You are a citizen of heaven and therefore you have these 442 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:10,000 inalienable rights. You have the right to not live 443 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,000 in shame. You have the right to not live 444 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,360 in guilt. You have the right to not live 445 00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:17,200 in fear. God has granted all these rights 446 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,960 to you, and ultimately you have the right to go home no matter 447 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,160 what the world does to you, no matter what they say to you, no 448 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,160 matter how it tries to beat you down. 449 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,760 You are a citizen of heaven and you have the right to go home, 450 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,400 and God's going to bring you there as you believe in Him. 451 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,600 Do you believe in Him? I hope so. 452 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,080 I hope so, because that's what it takes. 453 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,760 And I'll tell you what, friends, this, this, this is that 454 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,760 passport that you need because it tells you everything you need 455 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,520 to know to gain access to going home. 456 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,360 Do you know it? Do you keep it close to you? 457 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,920 Because I'll tell you what, I keep my passport really safe 458 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,160 when I'm not traveling. It's, it's, it's, I mean it, 459 00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,640 it's super safe. Do you keep this close to you? 460 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,520 Do you keep it safe next to your heart? 461 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,040 Jesus Christ has stamped your passport book with his blood. 462 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,400 Don't lose sight of that. Don't lose sight of the fact 463 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,360 that you can be courageous and you can be humble because you 464 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:20,160 know where your citizenship is and God is going to bring you 465 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:21,480 home. Amen. 466 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,840 Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, it is so 467 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:33,120 good to be called yours. I wouldn't want to be called 468 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,640 anyone else's Lord. I just want to be yours. 469 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,960 And through faith, you tell us that we can be. 470 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:48,040 Lord, I thank You for the price you paid to buy our salvation. 471 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,680 I pray now that there would not be anybody who leaves this room 472 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,360 without having that assurance that You would use Your spirit 473 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:03,840 and your people to remind all of us that we get to come home. 474 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,880 And that should, Lord, that should evoke so much joy in our 475 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:09,920 hearts. It should change the way we live 476 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,880 our lives. Help us just to do that Father. 477 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:18,160 Give us courage, give us humility, give us strength, give 478 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:21,760 us the assurance of our citizenship with you and Father, 479 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:25,160 as you do that, I know lives will change. 480 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,600 I know communities can change and we can do it all through 481 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,920 your power and your name. So Father, give us that courage 482 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,080 to do that. Today we pray all these things 483 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:43,960 in Jesus name, Amen. Thanks for listening to ERC 484 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,400 Sundays. To support the work God is doing 485 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:51,000 an Emmaus Rd. church, visit emmausrdonline.org/giving.