1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Amen. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,000 Amen. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Amen. 4 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:29,980 Sing a little louder in the presence of my enemies. Sing a little louder, louder than the unbelief. Sing a little louder, my weapon is amazing. 5 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:59,980 Sing a little louder, heaven comes to fight for me. Sing a little louder, in the presence of my enemies. Sing a little louder, louder than the unbelief. Sing a little louder, my weapon is a melody. Sing a little louder, heaven comes to fight for me. Sing a little louder, my weapon is a melody. Sing a little louder, heaven comes to fight for me. Sing a little louder. 6 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:29,980 I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm. Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar. Up from the ashes, hope will arise. Death is defeated, the King is alive. I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm. 7 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:53,020 In the middle of the storm. Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar. Up from the ashes, hope will arise. Death is defeated, the King is alive. 8 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:26,000 Jesus said, "Who has held the oceans in His hands? Who has numbered every grain of sand?" 9 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:53,000 Kings and nations tremble at His voice. All creation rises to rejoice. Behold our God, seated on His throne. Come, let us adore Him. 10 00:05:53,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Behold our King, nothing can compare. Come, let us adore Him. 11 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:47,000 Who has given counsel to the Lord? Who can question any of His words? Who can teach the One who owns all things? Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds? 12 00:06:47,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Behold our God, seated on His throne. Come, let us adore Him. Behold our King, nothing can compare. Come, let us adore Him. 13 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:43,000 God has felt the nails upon His hands, Bearing all the guilt of sinful men. God eternal, 14 00:07:43,000 --> 00:08:11,000 humble to the grave. Jesus, Savior, isn't now to reign. Behold our God, seated on His throne. Come, let us adore Him. Behold our King, 15 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:39,000 nothing can compare. Come, let us adore Him. You will reign forever. You will reign forever. You will reign forever. 16 00:08:39,000 --> 00:09:07,000 You will reign forever. You will reign forever. Behold our God, seated on His throne. Come, let us adore Him. Behold our King. 17 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Behold our King. Nothing can compare. Come, let us adore Him. 18 00:09:37,000 --> 00:10:05,000 My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame. 19 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:36,000 But wholly trust in Jesus' name. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame. 20 00:10:37,000 --> 00:11:06,980 But wholly trust in Jesus' name. Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong, is Savior's love through the storm. He is Lord, Lord of all. 21 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:36,980 Lord of all. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds thee. 22 00:11:37,000 --> 00:12:06,980 My anchor holds within them. My anchor holds within them. Christ alone, call us Lord. We pray strong in the Savior's love. Through the storm, He shall come. 23 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:36,980 He is Lord. Lord our Lord. Christ alone, call us Lord. We may strong in the Savior's love. Through the storm, He is Lord. Lord our Lord. He is Lord. Lord our Lord. Christ alone, call us Lord. We may strong in the Savior's love. Through the storm, He is Lord. 24 00:12:37,000 --> 00:13:06,980 Lord our Lord. We shall come with trumpet sound. O may I then, in Him be found. Dressed in His righteousness alone. Hold this down, Lord. 25 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:36,980 Stand before the throne. Christ alone. Call us Lord. Weak and strong. In the Savior's love. Rule the stone. He is Lord. Lord our Lord. 26 00:13:37,000 --> 00:14:06,980 Christ alone. Call us Lord. Weak and strong. In the Savior's love. Rule the stone. He is Lord. Lord our Lord. 27 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,000 Amen. 28 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,000 Amen. 29 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:11,000 Amen. 30 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:36,000 Let's pray. 31 00:17:36,000 --> 00:18:05,000 Good morning, everybody. We're going to get started today in our time of worship, and we're going to be continuing on with Paul's conversion and the persecution of the church and the persecution of Paul, which is pretty interesting that the persecutor becomes the persecuted when he decides to follow Christ. 32 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:28,000 One of the people I think of when it comes to those who are persecuted for the church or for following the truth is a guy by the name of Diedrich Bonhoeffer. He was a Lutheran, I believe, preacher during the time of Nazi Germany, and he was very opposed to the Nazis and pretty outspoken about it. 33 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:47,000 And by the end of his life, he was in a concentration camp, and he was actually hung for conspiring to kill Hitler, him and a few other people. And he wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship, and I just wanted to share a quote from that book. And it says, 34 00:18:47,000 --> 00:19:16,000 "To be called to a life of extraordinary quality, to live up to it, and yet to be unconscious of it, is indeed a narrow way. To confess and testify to the truth as it is in Jesus, and at the same time, to love the enemies of that truth, his enemies and ours, and to love them with the infinite love of Jesus Christ, is indeed a narrow way. To believe the promise of Jesus that his followers shall possess the earth, and at the same time, 35 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:45,000 to face our enemies unarmed and defenseless, preferring to incur injustice rather than to do wrong ourselves, is indeed a narrow way. To see the weakness and wrong in others, and at the same time refrain from judging them, to deliver the gospel message without casting pearls before swine, is indeed a narrow way. The way is unutterably hard, and at every moment we are in danger of straying from it. If we regard 36 00:19:45,000 --> 00:20:14,000 this way as one we follow in obedience to an external command, if we are afraid of ourselves all the time, it is indeed an impossible way. But if we behold Jesus Christ going on before, step by step, we shall not go astray. And it's just a, I thought that was just a really good reminder that we can't love our enemies by ourselves on our own. We can't love those that don't like us. We can't want, we don't want 37 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:43,000 to share the gospel with those that are opposed to what we believe in. But through Jesus, we can do all of these impossible things like love our enemies, share the gospel, not judge people because we're no different than them as far as sin. And it's just a really good reminder of without Jesus, we're nothing. And so as we think about these things with persecution and things like that, I was brought to 38 00:20:43,000 --> 00:21:12,000 2 Timothy, and I just wanted us to read these verses together today. So if we want to go ahead and stand, these were words actually written by Saul who became Paul, by Paul, a while after his conversion. And he's just describing if you want to be a Christian, it's not going to be easy, basically. And a lot of times the easy way out is the easiest thing to do. 39 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:41,000 But that's why following Christ is called the narrow way, because it's so hard to do, but it's so easy with Christ. It's very hard to describe. Very hard, but very easy. But with Christ, nothing is impossible, and we were able to get through persecutions, not just from people, but also spiritual persecutions that, you know, the devil doesn't want anybody to follow Christ. And so thank God for Jesus and for the ability and the hope 40 00:21:41,000 --> 00:22:10,000 that we have in Him to do that. And so we're going to read together out of 2 Timothy. We're going to be reading verses 12 through 17 together. And it starts, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 41 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:31,000 But as for you, continue in what you have learned, and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 42 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:52,000 "All Scripture is breathed out by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. 43 00:22:52,000 --> 00:23:07,000 God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather today. We thank you for those watching online, and we ask that you allow us to be an encouragement to them as they are to us, and an encouragement to each other here as we gather together. 44 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:22,000 We thank you so much, God, for the gospel. We thank you for Jesus. We thank you that through you nothing is impossible. We thank you that despite persecutions and evil surrounding us, 45 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:34,000 things that seem to go from bad to worse, we can still move through those things through your power, even though it isn't easy, even though many times it's difficult, 46 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:44,000 and we feel so weighed down by the burdens of this world. You're there to help us to get us through those. And we thank you for the hope that we 47 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:54,000 have in you, our hope in our salvation, that one day there won't be any evil and there won't be any bad to worse. It'll just keep getting 48 00:23:54,000 --> 00:24:01,000 better and better. And we thank you so much for that. Be with our service today. Allow it to glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen. 49 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:08,000 Our first Song we're going to be doing today is "Indescribable." 50 00:24:31,000 --> 00:25:00,000 From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring Every creature unique in the song that it sings All exclaiming, indescribable, uncontainable You place the stars in the sky and you know them by name. 51 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:21,000 You are amazing God. All-powerful, untamable All-startly fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim You are amazing God. 52 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:52,000 Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go? Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow? Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light? Yet conceals it 53 00:25:52,000 --> 00:26:18,000 to bring us the coldness of the night? None can fathom. Indescribable, uncontainable, you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name. You are amazing God. All-powerful, untamable, 54 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:44,000 wall-struck, we fall to our knees as we longly proclaim, "You are amazing God." Indescribable, uncontainable, you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name. You are amazing God. 55 00:26:44,000 --> 00:27:09,000 Incomparable, unchangeable, you see the depths of my heart. You love me the same. You are amazing God. You are amazing God. 56 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:28,000 All right. Next, we're going to be moving into our prayer and share time. If you're watching online, there will be a slide up on the screen with a phone number for you to text. 57 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:34,000 If you would like to send your request to that, please do that, and we would love to be praying together with you. 58 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:43,000 We will be muted here during that time, and so just give us a few minutes as we have that time together here, and then we'll be back after that shortly. 59 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:48,000 So, our next song we're moving into is "In Christ Alone." 60 00:27:48,000 --> 00:28:12,000 In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my, my strength, my song. This cornerstone. 61 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:41,000 This solid ground, burned through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights above, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease. My comforter, my whole and all, here in the love of Christ. 62 00:28:41,000 --> 00:29:10,000 I stand. In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless faith. This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save. Till on that cross, I stand. 63 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:31,000 As Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid. Here in the death of Christ I live. 64 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:54,000 There in the ground his body lay. Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day. Upon the grave he rose again. 65 00:29:54,000 --> 00:30:16,000 And as he stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. For I am his, and he is mine. Brought with the precious blood of Christ. 66 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:38,000 No guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commends my destiny. 67 00:30:38,000 --> 00:31:02,000 No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his man. Till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand. 68 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:26,000 You may be seated. 69 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:36,000 You may be seated. 70 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:46,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 71 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:52,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 72 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:58,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 73 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 74 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 75 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 76 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 77 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 78 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 79 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 80 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 81 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:02,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 82 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:03,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 83 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 84 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:05,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 85 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:06,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 86 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:18,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 87 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:19,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 88 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:20,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 89 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 90 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 91 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:32,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray." 92 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:33,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 93 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:34,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 94 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:35,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 95 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:36,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 96 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 97 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:38,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 98 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:49,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 99 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 100 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:51,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 101 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 102 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:53,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 103 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 104 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:03,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 105 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:04,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 106 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:05,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 107 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:32,000 "Follow me." 108 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:33,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 109 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:34,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 110 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,000 Jesus said, "Follow me." 111 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:18,000 Jesus said, "The mercy is over all that he has made. All your work shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 112 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:23,000 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. 113 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:28,000 The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. 114 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:42,000 The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand. You satisfy the desire of every living thing. 115 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:56,000 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him. He also hears their cry and saves them. 116 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:08,000 The Lord preserves all who love him. So it's just a psalm of just praising the Lord and describing how great he is. And as we move into our time of communion, 117 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:15,000 we're going to be singing together "Shout to the Lord," which is just another way of describing how great the Lord is and all he does for us. 118 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:54,000 My Jesus, my Savior, Lord, there is none like you. All of my days, I want to praise the wonders of your mighty love. 119 00:39:54,000 --> 00:40:19,000 My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you. 120 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:44,000 Shall to the Lord all the earth let us sing? Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of your name. 121 00:40:44,000 --> 00:41:05,000 I sing for joy at the work of your hands. Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand. Nothing compares to the promise I have in you. 122 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:32,000 My Jesus, my Savior, Lord, there is none like you. All of my days, I want to praise the wonders of your mighty love. 123 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:57,000 My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you. 124 00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:22,000 Shout to the Lord on the earth, let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of your name. 125 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:34,000 I sing for joy at the work of your hands. Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand. 126 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:47,000 Nothing compares to the promise I have. Nothing compares to the promise I have. 127 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:57,000 Nothing compares to the promise I have given you. 128 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:25,000 In Ephesians, the second chapter, the apostle Paul gives us a glorious and wonderful and joy-inspiring and hope-producing contrast. 129 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:39,000 And he begins Ephesians chapter 2 by saying, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, and the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 130 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:50,000 Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." 131 00:43:50,000 --> 00:44:08,000 And then Paul will say this, "But God, being rich in mercy and because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, and by grace you have been saved." 132 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:30,000 And then later on in the chapter he will say, "Remember at that time you were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." 133 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:52,000 And a little later he will say, "And he came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near. Through him we have both access and one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers or aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." 134 00:44:52,000 --> 00:45:09,000 And Paul unpacks the glory of the gospel, and then he unpacks the privilege of his ability given by God to preach the gospel. And then at the end of chapter 3, he will say this, "For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father." 135 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:17,000 And when Paul writes that, we think of somebody who bows sort of formally and maybe a little stiffly because it's not something we're familiar with. 136 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:26,000 When Paul says, "I bow my knees before the Father," the picture there is not somebody maybe getting down on one knee in a very dignified way. 137 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:40,000 It's Paul overcome by the glory and the wonder and the love of God, and he falls on his face before God, not in fear, but in worship. And here's why. 138 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:54,000 He'll say, "From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 139 00:45:54,000 --> 00:46:07,000 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, 140 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:16,000 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 141 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:26,000 And this morning, as we gather around this table, as we eat this little bit of bread and we drink this little bit of juice, 142 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:33,000 I want to remind you of what Paul reminded the Ephesian church, and by extension reminds us, 143 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:46,000 that God brings outsiders and he makes them insiders, that those who are separated and sinful and broken are healed and accepted and welcomed by the blood of Christ, 144 00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:57,000 that we're made into one family, that we have hope, that our sins are forgiven, and that we see the love of Christ. 145 00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:02,000 And Paul explains this. He's like, "I want you to know how wide it is, and how high it is, and how long it is." 146 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:16,000 Because the love of Christ is so big and so great that it surpasses all understanding, and the only way that you can even get a glimpse of the fraction of God's love for you is through his power. 147 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:26,000 And so it's my prayer that as we break this bread and drink this cup, as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, who died for our sins, who rose again for our victory, 148 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:39,000 that God in his Spirit would impart to us how wide and how deep and how great his love is for us. And we would be reminded that we are made new, that we are accepted, 149 00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:52,000 that we are brought into a family, that we are heirs with all of those who are Christians. So I'm going to pray and then we'll read from 1 Corinthians as we partake together. 150 00:47:52,000 --> 00:48:07,000 We can't help but be moved to worship as we see the goodness that you have given to us. That you have taken people who are dead in their sins and that you have made them alive. 151 00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:18,000 That you have forgiven our sins and you have done so through the sacrifice of your Son who gave his life in our place. That you have brought us together. 152 00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:28,000 That you have made outsiders family. That you have loved us so deeply that we struggle to understand the greatness of that love. 153 00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:38,000 And so this morning as we break this bread and as we drink this cup, may you instill that love into our hearts and that we may see it and be moved to worship. 154 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:47,000 That we would leave aside the sin that so easily entangles us and through your strength run with endurance the race that is set before us. 155 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:54,000 And may you use this moment to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. 156 00:48:54,000 --> 00:49:05,000 I ask that you bless this bread and you bless this cup. May we proclaim your son until he comes again. It is in his name we pray. Amen. 157 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:16,000 When Jesus, on the night of Passover with his disciples, and they come toward the end of the meal, he will take bread 158 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:28,000 and this is what Paul will say. When he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 159 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:34,000 Let's remember the sacrifice of Jesus together. 160 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:45,000 And then after supper, during Passover, you drink four times from four cups to remember the four promises of God. 161 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:51,000 And the cup after supper was known as the cup of redemption, that God would redeem his people. 162 00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,000 He would bring them out of slavery. 163 00:49:53,000 --> 00:50:03,000 And the disciples didn't realize that Jesus was about to redeem his people, not through a parted sea, but through the cross. 164 00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:08,000 And so for them, it's a promise, and for us, it's a reality. 165 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:14,000 Paul records this in the same way he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 166 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:17,000 Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 167 00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:23,000 Father, I thank you for grace. 168 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,000 I thank you for the gospel. 169 00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:37,000 I thank you for this small moment of bread and juice that reminds us of things that are so big and so wonderful 170 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:42,000 that we struggle to grasp the immensity of what we have just done. 171 00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,000 So remind us of Jesus. 172 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:46,000 Remind us of your love. 173 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:47,000 Remind us of your grace. 174 00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:50,000 Remind us that you strengthen us and help us. 175 00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:53,000 Remind us that you have redeemed us. 176 00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:55,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 177 00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:56,000 Amen. 178 00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:21,000 This morning's Scripture reading is from Acts. 179 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:34,000 For some days he, Paul, was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue, saying, "He is the Son of God." 180 00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:45,000 And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is this not the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon his name? 181 00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:52,000 And has he not come here for the purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?" 182 00:51:52,000 --> 00:52:04,000 But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Dismascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. 183 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:12,000 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill Saul, but their plot became known to Saul. 184 00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:18,000 They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him. 185 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:29,000 But his disciples took Saul by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. 186 00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:42,000 And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was the disciples. 187 00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:59,000 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road Saul had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 188 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:14,000 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him. 189 00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:40,000 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. 190 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:48,000 This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. 191 00:53:48,000 --> 00:54:01,000 Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word, and I thank you for the testimony of Scripture that teaches us and encourages us and corrects us when necessary. 192 00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:08,000 Thank you that you do not leave us alone, but that you have equipped us for the work that you have set before us. 193 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:29,000 And so this morning I ask that you, as we look at the life of Saul, that you would, first of all, encourage us, especially in those times of waiting and in those times of trial, and that you would challenge us, challenge us to be like Barnabas, the encourager, the helper. 194 00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:35,000 Thank you for your good word. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 195 00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:46,000 So when I was in college, one of my good friends bought a motorcycle, and I was excited about it because, you know, in those situations, what's theirs is yours. 196 00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:57,000 And so I won't tell you what happened the first time I borrowed his motorcycle, although it was not as impressive as I had hoped, but that's a story for another day. 197 00:54:57,000 --> 00:55:02,000 And so on this particular day, I had to run some errands, and I said, "Hey, can I borrow the bike?" 198 00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:19,000 He said, "Yeah, no problem. Gives me the keys." And so I, you know, head out the parking lot and head down the street, and there's a little hill going up to a stop sign, and I'm sitting there, you know, the cars are stopping, and then they're going, and it's my turn, just about my turn to go, and the motorcycle just stalls. 199 00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:29,000 And it didn't stall because of something that I was doing. It just shut off. And so, you know, I check everything, I try to start it, and nothing happens, and nothing happens. 200 00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:44,000 And so, really, the only recourse for me was to sort of move off to the side of the road and then onto the sidewalk, and so there I am, who originally started thinking he was really cool because he was on a motorcycle, was now pushing his motorcycle down the sidewalk. 201 00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:57,000 And about then, a couple of friends from college drove by, and they saw me pushing the motorcycle down the sidewalk, and they turned around, not to help, but really just to enjoy my suffering. 202 00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:06,000 And so they are kind of driving along the side going, "You know, there is nothing sadder than seeing a man in a helmet pushing his motorcycle down the sidewalk." 203 00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:22,000 And there are times in life where it feels like that, right? It feels like the thing that we thought were going so well, it just sort of falls apart, and we find ourselves sort of seemingly pushing a motorcycle down the sidewalk. 204 00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:29,000 And when we think of the Apostle Paul, we might be tempted to think of all of the wonderful things that we see in his life, right? 205 00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:35,000 He writes all of these books of the Bible. We think of all the churches he planted. 206 00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:42,000 We think of the amazing testimony that we looked at last week of how God saved the enemy of Christianity. 207 00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:52,000 We might think about how he testifies so boldly before Jewish officials and Roman officials, eventually going all the way to Caesar. 208 00:56:52,000 --> 00:57:01,000 And we think of all of these wonderful, wonderful things. But Paul's ministry doesn't begin like that. 209 00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:07,000 It begins in many ways by sort of pushing the motorcycle down the sidewalk. 210 00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:16,000 So I want to take a look at the beginning of the ministry of Saul this morning, or Paul, and we're going to see that it begins with waiting. 211 00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:22,000 It begins with suffering, and thankfully it begins with the encouragement of Barnabas. 212 00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:28,000 Now, I don't know about you, but I like looking at pictures, especially pictures that sort of remind us of things. 213 00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:35,000 And so one of the things I love about my parents' house is they have like a whole couple rows on a bookshelf filled with photo albums. 214 00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:40,000 And it's great because you can go through and flip, and it brings back all of these memories. 215 00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:45,000 And we tend to do the same thing, right? Especially if you have a phone full of pictures. 216 00:57:45,000 --> 00:57:49,000 And I do this especially when somebody says, "Oh, I have a dog." And I say, "Oh, I have a dog, too." 217 00:57:49,000 --> 00:57:54,000 And then you get out your phones, and you start comparing pictures of your dogs and showing pictures of your dogs. 218 00:57:54,000 --> 00:58:01,000 And so pictures help us understand things we might not normally understand. They help remind us of something. 219 00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:06,000 They oftentimes bring us joy or encouragement or fill us with emotion. 220 00:58:06,000 --> 00:58:12,000 And so in our text this morning, what we're going to see sort of is three pictures. 221 00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:16,000 Paul will preach. That's Acts 9:19-22. 222 00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:22,000 Paul is then going to escape after preaching, right, which is not the thing that any preacher wants to do, 223 00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:26,000 where you have to run for your life because the preaching doesn't go very well. 224 00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:32,000 And then we'll see Paul in Jerusalem. We'll pick that up in verse 26. 225 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:36,000 And so as we look at these pictures, I want to draw three lessons from these pictures. 226 00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:43,000 And the first picture is this, is that God is at work in those moments where it seems like we're just waiting. 227 00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:47,000 And I don't know about you, but waiting for me can be frustrating, right? 228 00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:51,000 We want to be moving. We want to be fast. We want to get about it. 229 00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:57,000 But Paul's ministry in many ways begins with waiting. 230 00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:01,000 From our perspective, it seems like his ministry moves very quickly, right? 231 00:59:01,000 --> 00:59:07,000 You've got preaching. You've got conversion. You've got preaching. You've got this escape. You've got Jerusalem. 232 00:59:07,000 --> 00:59:11,000 You've got missionary journeys, church planning, conflict, letters to church. 233 00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:16,000 It seems like Paul's ministry, from our perspective, it sort of goes really, really fast. 234 00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:20,000 You know, sort of zero to sixty very quickly. 235 00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:26,000 One of the things that I think is helpful to remember is that the book of Acts covers a period of about thirty years. 236 00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:32,000 And these events that we read in chapter nine, they're not happening all at once. 237 00:59:32,000 --> 00:59:38,000 The events in the life of Paul are not happening all at once. 238 00:59:38,000 --> 00:59:44,000 So when Luke writes Acts to help us to see what Jesus is doing in and through the church, 239 00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:49,000 because he covers a portion, a long portion of time, these events sort of get pressed together, 240 00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:55,000 and we forget that there's big spaces of time in between all of them. 241 00:59:55,000 --> 01:00:00,000 So we see these three pictures of Paul in these three snapshots, 242 01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:03,000 but I want to show you what happens in between all of them. 243 01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:07,000 And we pick up in Galatians chapter one in verse fifteen. 244 01:00:07,000 --> 01:00:11,000 Paul speaking about Jesus will say, "When he had set me apart before I was born, 245 01:00:11,000 --> 01:00:15,000 and he who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me 246 01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:17,000 in order that I might preach among the Gentiles, 247 01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:20,000 I did not immediately consult with anyone. 248 01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:24,000 Nor did I go to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, 249 01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:28,000 but I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. 250 01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:33,000 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remain with him fifteen days. 251 01:00:33,000 --> 01:00:37,000 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 252 01:00:37,000 --> 01:00:41,000 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Sicilia, 253 01:00:41,000 --> 01:00:47,000 and I was still unknown to the persons of the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 254 01:00:47,000 --> 01:00:50,000 And then down in chapter 2 of Galatians, 255 01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:57,000 after fourteen years I went again up to Jerusalem with Barnabas taking Titus with me. 256 01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:03,000 So there is a period at the beginning of Paul's ministry, and we see it in our text this morning. 257 01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:06,000 Fourteen years. 258 01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:09,000 Now that doesn't mean that Paul wasn't doing anything. 259 01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:14,000 We know he ministers in Damascus and in the regions of Syria and Sicilia, 260 01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:19,000 but what it means is the things that we know Paul for, those things that we say, 261 01:01:19,000 --> 01:01:23,000 the big things about Paul, the writing of Scripture, the church planning, all of those things. 262 01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:25,000 They don't happen all at once. 263 01:01:25,000 --> 01:01:34,000 He spends three years in Arabia, eleven years in relative quiet, fourteen years. 264 01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:37,000 You may say, "Why does it matter how long it takes, Paul?" 265 01:01:37,000 --> 01:01:40,000 We struggle to be patient, right? 266 01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:44,000 We struggle to wait for God. 267 01:01:44,000 --> 01:01:48,000 And there's a tendency to want to be fast and to want everything fast. 268 01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:52,000 And I know what I want to do, and I want to do it right now. 269 01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:57,000 And that's often not the case when it comes to the work of God in our life. 270 01:01:57,000 --> 01:02:06,000 If you want some other pictures from Scripture, consider Joseph, who spends thirteen years as a servant in Potiphar's house and in jail, 271 01:02:06,000 --> 01:02:12,000 before ultimately ascending to his job with Pharaoh. 272 01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:16,000 Or Moses, who spends forty years in Pharaoh's house. 273 01:02:16,000 --> 01:02:20,000 And then he spends forty years in the wilderness of Midian. 274 01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:26,000 And by the time God calls him with the burning bush, you know how old Moses was? Eighty years old. 275 01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:32,000 When God finally calls him to the mission, Moses is not a young man. He is eighty years old. 276 01:02:32,000 --> 01:02:39,000 And God has spent eighty years of his life preparing him for what comes next. 277 01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:42,000 Paul has fourteen years of preparation. 278 01:02:42,000 --> 01:02:48,000 And what I would remind you of and encourage you with this morning is that God is at work during those periods 279 01:02:48,000 --> 01:02:54,000 where it just seems like we're waiting. Right? God is teaching us in those moments. 280 01:02:54,000 --> 01:03:01,000 God is preparing us. That's what he's doing with Paul. He's getting him ready. He's teaching him. He's preparing him. 281 01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:08,000 He's getting him ready for the mission. And so I would say this to you this morning: 282 01:03:08,000 --> 01:03:16,000 Don't waste your waiting. Right? So many times we get frustrated that things aren't happening fast enough 283 01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:23,000 or quick enough or big enough for us. Like my kids, when we're in the car going anywhere. Right? 284 01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:26,000 How long till we're there? How long have we been in the car? How much more time do we have? 285 01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:30,000 How many more miles do we have? Right? Many of us are exactly like that, 286 01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:35,000 especially when we're waiting for God. Right? How long is it going to be? When is it going to happen? 287 01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:44,000 And rather than grumbling, complaining, becoming discouraged, ask yourself, "How is God using this waiting 288 01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:50,000 to prepare me for what comes next?" He does it in the life of Joseph. He does it in the life of Moses. 289 01:03:50,000 --> 01:04:00,000 He does it in the life of the Apostle Paul. Do not waste the waiting that God has given you. 290 01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:08,000 Secondly, we see that God works in our suffering. If you remember last week when Ananias gets ready to go to Saul 291 01:04:08,000 --> 01:04:14,000 and tell him about the Gospel. As God is sending Ananias to him, God will say this to Ananias, 292 01:04:14,000 --> 01:04:21,000 "But the Lord has said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles 293 01:04:21,000 --> 01:04:24,000 and the kings and the children of Israel.'" We say, "Well, that sounds pretty good. 294 01:04:24,000 --> 01:04:33,000 Paul's going to do some important things." And then we get verse 16, "For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." 295 01:04:33,000 --> 01:04:38,000 We saw it in our text this morning. When many days had passed, the Jews had plotted to kill him, 296 01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:44,000 but their plot became known to Saul, and they were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him. 297 01:04:44,000 --> 01:04:51,000 But his disciples took him by night, let him down through the opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket." 298 01:04:51,000 --> 01:04:56,000 And I've always wanted to know just a little bit more about this. Like, what kind of basket did they use? 299 01:04:56,000 --> 01:05:03,000 Like, I doubt they had people baskets, right? So this is probably something you would use to carry grain or fruit. 300 01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:09,000 Probably not been load tested for an apostle, right? And they're letting you down over the wall, right? 301 01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:15,000 That has to be a little bit nerve-wracking, but also with the fact there's people looking for you to kill you, 302 01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:19,000 and so you've got to do it quietly and quickly without attracting attention, right? 303 01:05:19,000 --> 01:05:30,000 Paul already begins to suffer. In 2 Corinthians, he lists a big list of his sufferings. He will say this: 304 01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:36,000 "Five times I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes, less one. 305 01:05:36,000 --> 01:05:40,000 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, 306 01:05:40,000 --> 01:05:45,000 a night and day and a drift in the sea on frequent journeys in danger in rivers, robbers, my own people, 307 01:05:45,000 --> 01:05:49,000 danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, 308 01:05:49,000 --> 01:05:55,000 danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst, 309 01:05:55,000 --> 01:06:00,000 often without food, cold, and exposure." Now, we don't know when all of these things happen. 310 01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:03,000 We know where some of them happen, especially like the shipwrecks. 311 01:06:03,000 --> 01:06:07,000 We see them later on in the book of Acts. But specific things, for example, 312 01:06:07,000 --> 01:06:11,000 those three times I received from the Jews forty lashes, 313 01:06:11,000 --> 01:06:16,000 or five times I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes minus one. 314 01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:20,000 There's no real record in Acts when that happens, and it's likely, and most commentators think, 315 01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:26,000 it happens during this period in Paul's life. And those forty lashes minus one, 316 01:06:26,000 --> 01:06:31,000 what would happen is under the Levitical law you could only give forty lashes. 317 01:06:31,000 --> 01:06:34,000 When you beat somebody, you could only hit them forty times. 318 01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:38,000 And so the Jews, because they didn't want to go forty-one, they would only do thirty-nine, 319 01:06:38,000 --> 01:06:41,000 so they wouldn't break God's law when they were roughing somebody up. 320 01:06:41,000 --> 01:06:45,000 And so what they do is take Paul, who's preaching Christ, and they say, "You've got to stop it." 321 01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:56,000 And he says, "I'm not." And so they beat him. Incredibly hard. And Paul suffers. 322 01:06:56,000 --> 01:07:01,000 And you may look at that and say, "Why does Paul suffer?" 323 01:07:01,000 --> 01:07:05,000 In one sense, the suffering of Paul confirms his message, right? 324 01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:08,000 It's really easy to commit to something when it's easy. 325 01:07:08,000 --> 01:07:13,000 We see this every time that a sports team is going to a championship, 326 01:07:13,000 --> 01:07:18,000 whether it's a Super Bowl or a World Series or a World Cup, all of these things. 327 01:07:18,000 --> 01:07:21,000 All of a sudden, there's a whole bunch of new fans, right? 328 01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:24,000 Because it's easy to root for something when they're winning, right? 329 01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:28,000 And then all the other fans sit back, and they grumble, and they go, 330 01:07:28,000 --> 01:07:32,000 "Well, I was a fan back before, during the bad years and the dark years. 331 01:07:32,000 --> 01:07:35,000 I'm a true fan, and they're a fair-weather fan." 332 01:07:35,000 --> 01:07:39,000 How easy would it be to say that of Paul if he didn't suffer? 333 01:07:39,000 --> 01:07:44,000 Is he really loving the gospel, or is he just doing it because he gets to do all these great things? 334 01:07:44,000 --> 01:07:48,000 But through his suffering, what we see is that Paul really means it. 335 01:07:48,000 --> 01:07:53,000 He's not just there for the good things, but when he is beaten, when he is shipwrecked, 336 01:07:53,000 --> 01:07:58,000 when he's attacked, when they throw stones at him until they think he is dead, 337 01:07:58,000 --> 01:08:04,000 when he is cold, when he is tired, when he is in danger, when he is discouraged, when he is without food. 338 01:08:04,000 --> 01:08:08,000 We see that Paul really means it when he becomes a Christian. 339 01:08:08,000 --> 01:08:15,000 It's not just a fad that he's going through. It's not just when things are easy. 340 01:08:15,000 --> 01:08:22,000 And so one of the things that God does in Paul's life through his suffering is, first of all, he confirms that Paul is serious about the gospel, 341 01:08:22,000 --> 01:08:30,000 and the second thing that I think he does in Paul's life is he strengthens his dependence on God throughout the suffering. 342 01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:41,000 Paul has a lot of successes, right? Churches, books of the Bible, this great influence, these people that he disciples like Timothy and Titus. 343 01:08:41,000 --> 01:08:46,000 And we've all seen it happen, how dangerous success can be. 344 01:08:46,000 --> 01:08:51,000 That success oftentimes can lead us to pride and self-reliance. 345 01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:58,000 And Paul struggles in a lot of the ways. In 1 Corinthians, he talks about how God has given him this thorn in the flesh. 346 01:08:58,000 --> 01:09:01,000 And he says, "God, please take away this struggle from me." 347 01:09:01,000 --> 01:09:06,000 And here's what God says to him in the midst of the struggle, "My grace is sufficient for you. 348 01:09:06,000 --> 01:09:12,000 My power is made perfect in weakness." And Paul says, "Therefore, I'm going to be more glad about my weaknesses, 349 01:09:12,000 --> 01:09:19,000 so that Christ and his power may rest upon me." And one of the things that God does in Paul's life in the struggle, 350 01:09:19,000 --> 01:09:24,000 and in our life in those struggles, is remind us that God is the one who is working, 351 01:09:24,000 --> 01:09:31,000 and that when we are weak, he is strong. And one of the things he does in Paul's life as he struggles, 352 01:09:31,000 --> 01:09:36,000 he increases Paul's dependence on God. And sometimes when we struggle, what God is doing is saying to us, 353 01:09:36,000 --> 01:09:44,000 stop trusting yourself and trust me more deeply. And so just as God teaches and prepares Paul, 354 01:09:44,000 --> 01:09:51,000 he does so for us in the midst of our suffering. He teaches, he prepares us, 355 01:09:51,000 --> 01:09:59,000 and what he does is he attaches us firmly to the right foundation. And I want you to see this morning, 356 01:09:59,000 --> 01:10:04,000 in times of waiting, God is at work. In times of struggle and hurt, God is at work. 357 01:10:04,000 --> 01:10:11,000 And then we come to this place where God encourages Paul, and he does throw in a remarkable way. 358 01:10:11,000 --> 01:10:15,000 When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were afraid of him, 359 01:10:15,000 --> 01:10:20,000 for they did not believe he was a disciple. And so this is understandable. 360 01:10:20,000 --> 01:10:24,000 Paul, who has been persecuting the church, eventually comes to Jerusalem. 361 01:10:24,000 --> 01:10:29,000 Likely this is the second time that he comes to Jerusalem, not the first time where he sort of 362 01:10:29,000 --> 01:10:36,000 quietly meets with Peter and the Lord's brother, and then sort of heads out of town. 363 01:10:36,000 --> 01:10:42,000 Likely, this is the second time, and he comes publicly, and he shows up in the back of church, 364 01:10:42,000 --> 01:10:48,000 and people look at him and go, "Isn't that the guy who a bunch of years ago killed Stephen?" 365 01:10:48,000 --> 01:10:54,000 And it's always awkward, right, to go to a new church, right, because they do things differently. 366 01:10:54,000 --> 01:10:59,000 They sing different songs, you know, there's different people, there's different traditions, 367 01:10:59,000 --> 01:11:04,000 and so it feels weird for us. We're already uncomfortable when we go to a new place or to a new church. 368 01:11:04,000 --> 01:11:08,000 Now imagine you walk in as Paul, and you're excited because you've been serving the Lord, 369 01:11:08,000 --> 01:11:12,000 you've been preaching in these remote places, and you come to the place where it all begins, 370 01:11:12,000 --> 01:11:18,000 and there's these brothers and sisters in Christ, and you walk in, and everybody starts whispering and muttering, 371 01:11:18,000 --> 01:11:21,000 and the preacher gets up and goes, "Church is canceled." 372 01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:24,000 And then they all sneak off to Steve's house and have church without you, right? 373 01:11:24,000 --> 01:11:28,000 That's what's happening to Paul. Nobody wants to be around him. 374 01:11:28,000 --> 01:11:33,000 He walks in, and they walk out. They ignore him. They don't want any part of it. 375 01:11:33,000 --> 01:11:39,000 Can you imagine how discouraging that would be to walk into church and everybody just looks at you 376 01:11:39,000 --> 01:11:44,000 and walks out and goes somewhere else? Look at what God does through Barnabas. 377 01:11:44,000 --> 01:11:49,000 But Barnabas, remember his name means son of encouragement, took him and brought him to the apostles 378 01:11:49,000 --> 01:11:53,000 and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord and spoke to him, 379 01:11:53,000 --> 01:11:56,000 and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 380 01:11:56,000 --> 01:12:00,000 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly by the name of the Lord, 381 01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:05,000 and he spoke and disputed with the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him. 382 01:12:05,000 --> 01:12:11,000 And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 383 01:12:11,000 --> 01:12:19,000 So Barnabas goes, grabs Paul, takes him to the apostles. Now this is dangerous for Barnabas, right? 384 01:12:19,000 --> 01:12:25,000 If Paul really is an imposter, and he's really still seeking to attack the church, 385 01:12:25,000 --> 01:12:29,000 Barnabas is putting his life in danger by bringing Paul to church. 386 01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:35,000 But he does it because he loves God's people, and he wants to encourage them, and he encourages Saul. 387 01:12:35,000 --> 01:12:39,000 And what does Saul do? As the church accepts him, Saul begins to preach even more. 388 01:12:39,000 --> 01:12:42,000 And here's a remarkable thing about how God turns things upside down. 389 01:12:42,000 --> 01:12:45,000 Remember what Stephen was doing before he was killed? 390 01:12:45,000 --> 01:12:52,000 He was preaching in the synagogues of the Hellenists, and eventually they get so angry, they kill him. 391 01:12:52,000 --> 01:12:58,000 And remember who helps in that? Saul, sitting there giving approval to the whole thing. 392 01:12:58,000 --> 01:13:05,000 Now what is Saul doing? Preaching in those very same synagogues. Isn't that remarkable? 393 01:13:05,000 --> 01:13:08,000 He spoke and disputed against the Hellenists, right? 394 01:13:08,000 --> 01:13:14,000 The guy that he killed, Stephen, he's now following in his footsteps, preaching in the same places to the same people. 395 01:13:14,000 --> 01:13:20,000 And it's interesting, he gets the same response. They seek to kill him. 396 01:13:20,000 --> 01:13:26,000 But through Barnabas and through the apostles, they get Paul out of town, encouraged. 397 01:13:26,000 --> 01:13:35,000 So one of the amazing things I think that we see about the beginnings of Paul's Christian life is that God is at work. 398 01:13:35,000 --> 01:13:41,000 He's at work in his conversion, and he's in work at what comes after. 399 01:13:41,000 --> 01:13:46,000 You see, God doesn't just bring you in and then leave you. 400 01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:49,000 God doesn't say, "All right, they're in. Now you're on your own." 401 01:13:49,000 --> 01:13:54,000 But God brings you in, and he continues to work. 402 01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:58,000 And he does so in the life of the apostle Paul. 403 01:13:58,000 --> 01:14:03,000 He doesn't just save him, but he continues to be at work in the midst of his waiting and his suffering. 404 01:14:03,000 --> 01:14:07,000 And he does so in part through the encouragement of the church. 405 01:14:07,000 --> 01:14:13,000 And I would add to you those motorcycle moments, right, where everything falls apart and we're pushing our motorcycle down the sidewalk. 406 01:14:13,000 --> 01:14:17,000 Maybe not literally, but in the feeling of how life is going. 407 01:14:17,000 --> 01:14:22,000 It doesn't just happen in Paul's ministry at the beginning as he waits, as he suffers, 408 01:14:22,000 --> 01:14:27,000 as Barnabas has to sort of drag him into church and vouch for him. 409 01:14:27,000 --> 01:14:31,000 You find these moments throughout the entire ministry of Paul. 410 01:14:31,000 --> 01:14:34,000 But in all of these things, God is faithful. 411 01:14:34,000 --> 01:14:37,000 God is working. 412 01:14:37,000 --> 01:14:45,000 And in your waiting, and in your struggles, and in your suffering, God is working. 413 01:14:45,000 --> 01:14:52,000 Even when it seems like, spiritually, you're struggling to push that motorcycle down the sidewalk. 414 01:14:52,000 --> 01:14:58,000 And so Acts chapter 9 is encouraging as we see that God is not just at work in our conversion, 415 01:14:58,000 --> 01:15:04,000 but he's in work at what comes after, even those dark and difficult moments. 416 01:15:04,000 --> 01:15:08,000 And so it's encouraging, but it's also challenging to us. 417 01:15:08,000 --> 01:15:12,000 What are you going to do with what God has done in your life? 418 01:15:12,000 --> 01:15:16,000 Are you going to waste your waiting? Are you going to waste your struggles? 419 01:15:16,000 --> 01:15:24,000 Are you going to waste the opportunity that God has given you to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ who, like Saul, may feel like an outsider? 420 01:15:24,000 --> 01:15:36,000 They may be struggling. And God has given all of us the opportunity that he has given Barnabas to bring others in and to encourage them and to show the love of Christ. 421 01:15:36,000 --> 01:15:46,000 And so we're encouraged by this text because God is at work, but we're also challenged and reminded that in those moments, he's at work. 422 01:15:46,000 --> 01:15:50,000 So what will you do in those moments of waiting, in those moments of suffering? 423 01:15:50,000 --> 01:16:01,000 Will you complain? Will you give up? Or will you humble yourself to the work of God as he works in those difficult moments for your good? 424 01:16:01,000 --> 01:16:11,000 Are you encouraging your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you encouraging those who are outsiders, who may be long like Saul to be brought in? 425 01:16:11,000 --> 01:16:24,000 What are you doing with those gifts that God has given you? This text both encourages us and it challenges us with how we live. Let's pray. 426 01:16:24,000 --> 01:16:35,000 Father, thank you so much for the good news of the gospel. Thank you that you don't just save us, but that you equip us and you strengthen us for work in your church and in your kingdom. 427 01:16:35,000 --> 01:16:46,000 So may we not, this morning, be discouraged in moments of waiting and suffering, but rather we would see that you are at work preparing and teaching us for what comes next. 428 01:16:46,000 --> 01:17:00,000 And would you help us, like Barnabas, to be an encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ, to love them, to accept them, to welcome them, to help them, to strengthen them by your grace. 429 01:17:00,000 --> 01:17:13,000 Help us this morning, as we look at our lives, that we would not waste those seasons of waiting, that we would not waste those seasons of suffering, but that you would humble us and help us to depend deeply upon you. 430 01:17:13,000 --> 01:17:17,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 431 01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:29,000 At the heart of Acts chapter 9 is the fact that God is faithful. He is faithful in calling us to the gospel, and he is faithful in equipping us in the gospel. 432 01:17:29,000 --> 01:17:36,000 So what we're going to do now is we're going to stand and sing about the faithfulness of God. 433 01:17:59,000 --> 01:18:19,000 There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. 434 01:18:19,000 --> 01:18:47,000 Great is Thy faithfulness. Great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hands have provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. 435 01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:51,000 Amen. 436 01:18:51,000 --> 01:19:13,000 Pardon for sin and the peace that endureth. Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. 437 01:19:13,000 --> 01:19:34,000 Bless is all mine with ten thousand beside. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. 438 01:19:34,000 --> 01:19:49,000 All I have needed thy hands hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. 439 01:19:49,000 --> 01:19:58,000 I want to thank you for joining us this morning, whether you are here in person or online. We are glad that you are here with us. 440 01:19:58,000 --> 01:20:08,000 Just a reminder, there is no Wednesday evening Bible study this week. We are out of town Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday camping, so pray for us. 441 01:20:08,000 --> 01:20:27,000 That is probably specifically for Rachel. Yes. So no ladies' class this week either. That will resume first Thursday in August. 442 01:20:28,000 --> 01:20:34,000 And we'll remind you of that as that gets closer. So no Wednesday evening Bible study this week, and no ladies' class this week. 443 01:20:34,000 --> 01:20:42,000 We'll pick those up in the weeks to come. We're going to go ahead and pray, and then I want to read a Scripture, and then we'll sing the doxology. 444 01:20:42,000 --> 01:20:51,000 Father in heaven, thank you for your church and your people and for your word that encourages us and challenges us in our lives. 445 01:20:51,000 --> 01:21:00,000 Help us as we see how you work in our lives to be thankful and grateful for how you have prepared us and taught us. 446 01:21:00,000 --> 01:21:09,000 Be with us as we leave this morning, that we would use the opportunities you have given us to boldly proclaim the gospel. 447 01:21:09,000 --> 01:21:13,000 It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 448 01:21:13,000 --> 01:21:22,000 As we gathered for communion, we read a little bit from Ephesians 2 and 3. I want to read to you the last verses of Ephesians chapter 3. 449 01:21:22,000 --> 01:21:27,000 Paul's prayer for the Ephesian church, and I think a good prayer for us as well. 450 01:21:27,000 --> 01:21:36,000 "Now to him who is able to do abundantly, far more abundantly than we ask or think, according to the power that is at work within us, 451 01:21:36,000 --> 01:21:45,000 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." 452 01:21:45,000 --> 01:21:48,000 Let's sing the doxology. 453 01:21:56,000 --> 01:22:20,500 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures here below. Praise him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.