1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,980 Oh, my soul, worship His holy name. Sing like never before. Oh, my soul, I'll worship Your holy name. Bless the Lord, oh, my soul, oh, my soul. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:59,980 Worship His holy name. Sing like never before. Oh, my soul, I'll worship Your holy name. Yes, I will worship Your holy name. Lord, I'll worship Your holy name. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Amen. 4 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:43,000 "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He." 5 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:58,000 "Sing a new song to Him who sits on heaven's mercy seat." 6 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:13,000 "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He." 7 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:26,000 "Sing a new song to Him who sits on heaven's mercy seat." 8 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:41,000 "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." 9 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:54,000 "With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything, and I will adore You." 10 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:59,000 "I adore You." 11 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:22,000 "Clothed in rainbows are a living color. Lashes and lightning, foes of thunder." 12 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:50,000 Blessing the dawn of strength and glory and power be to You the only wise King. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, was and is and is to come. 13 00:03:50,000 --> 00:04:06,000 With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything and I will adore You. 14 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:34,000 Filled with wonder, o'er struck wonder, at the mention of Your name. 15 00:04:34,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Jesus, Your name is power, breath and living water, such a marvelous mystery. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. 16 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:30,000 With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything, and I will adore You. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. 17 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:46,000 With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything, and I will adore You. 18 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He. 19 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,000 Oh, Lord my God. 20 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:08,000 I want you to realize that there is a nice community that is a quality that people turn back to the fair side. 21 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:17,000 You can do the wrong part. I do the wrong part. I do the wrong part. I do the wrong part. 22 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:47,980 Thank you. 23 00:07:48,000 --> 00:08:17,980 Thank you. 24 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Hold on. He'll freeze it down. 25 00:08:48,000 --> 00:09:17,980 Oh, Jesus said, "I'm going to take you right out there." I can't let you know this before you go. Yeah, I think so. You are. You look good. 26 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:33,000 You look good, man. Hey. How are you? Good to do that. Really good, really good. 27 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:48,000 Yeah. A whole lot better than I was. 28 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:09,000 I'm short to call them. I'm going to start just calling you every day, and start your head again. 29 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Hey, how are you doing? Oh, hey, they're going to go to my office. 30 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:44,980 Thank you. 31 00:10:45,000 --> 00:11:14,980 Thank you. 32 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:44,980 Thank you. 33 00:15:53,000 --> 00:16:01,000 Let's pray. 34 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:13,000 Let's pray. 35 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:25,000 Let's pray. 36 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:39,000 You're welcome to just shout out the fire exit here. We don't care. 37 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,000 I'm just kidding. We don't care. 38 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:48,000 Good morning, everybody. It's great to see everybody today. 39 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:58,000 We're going to get started in our time of worship, and we're going to be doing warfare things today. 40 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:04,000 And so I've been reading this book by Dane Ortlund called "How Does God Change Us?" 41 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:11,000 I really like Dane Ortlund. He writes really small, easy to read books, big things that are hard to understand. 42 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:17,000 He breaks down really well. So I definitely recommend him. 43 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:26,000 But this book's called "How Does God Change Us?" and there's a section in here about pain and about struggling with sin, 44 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:33,000 and I just wanted to read this last little section that he wrote on that. He entitled it "Fighting is Winning." 45 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:42,000 It says, "Are you struggling with sin today? The struggle itself reflects life. If we were not regenerate, we simply wouldn't care. 46 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:52,000 The longing for Christ, the frustration at our falls, the desire to be fully yielded to God, these are the cries of life, even if immature life. 47 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:59,000 God will not let you go. He will be sure to love you on into heaven. In the meantime, he's teaching you not to give up. 48 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:05,000 Your very efforts to fight your sin distressed Satan. "Fighting is winning." 49 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:12,000 I wrote in a January 1942 letter, and with this is how we'll close the chapter. 50 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:26,000 I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptations. It is not serious, provided, self-offended, petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience, etc. doesn't get the upper hand. 51 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:31,000 No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. 52 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:41,000 We shall, of course, be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home, but the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are airing in the cupboard. 53 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:53,000 The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present to us. It is the very sign of his presence. 54 00:23:53,000 --> 00:24:01,000 And so, I just wanted to share those words as we talk about spiritual warfare today, or as Brandon's going to talk about spiritual warfare today. 55 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:11,000 And so, we're going to go ahead and stand and read our Scriptures together today out of Colossians, the first chapter during 13 and 14. 56 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:23,000 So, let's go ahead and stand, and we'll read those together. And it starts, "He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness, 57 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:32,000 and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." 58 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:40,000 This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Thank you that we're able to gather together today. 59 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,000 We thank you for those that we haven't seen in so long that are able to be here. 60 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:49,000 And we thank you for those that are watching online. We thank you for the promises that you give us 61 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:56,000 and how you are always with us and you never give up on us. And thank you for the reminders that 62 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:02,000 as long as we keep fighting, we're winning. No matter how often we feel like we're failing, we're still winning. 63 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:09,000 Thank you for your love and protection for us. Thank you for the opportunity to be delivered from the darkness 64 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:14,000 and to be in your kingdom with you. Thank you for your redemption and your forgiveness, God. 65 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:21,000 Be with our service today and allow it to glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen. 66 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:29,000 All right. As we get started, we're going to be singing "Are God Saves?" 67 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:34,000 Maybe we won't. Here we go. 68 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:43,000 In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Spirit, 69 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:56,000 Lord, we come. We are gathered together. To lift up your name. To call on our Savior. To fall on your grace. 70 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Hear the joyful sound of our offering. As your saints bow down. As your people sing. 71 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:15,000 We will rise with you. Lifted on your wings. And the world will see that. 72 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:34,000 Our God saves. Our God saves. There is hope. In your name. 73 00:26:34,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Morning turns to songs of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Spirit, Lord, we come. 74 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:30,000 We are gathered together to lift up your name, to call on our Savior, to fall on your grace. Hear the joyful sound of our offering, as your saints bow down, as your people sing. We will rise with you, lifted on your wings, and the world will see you. 75 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:58,000 The world will see that our God saves. Our God saves. There is hope in your name. Morning turns to songs of joy. 76 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:26,000 To songs of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. Hear the joyful sound of our offering. As your saints bow down. As your people sing. We will rise with you. 77 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:54,000 Lift it on your wings. And the world will see that. Our God saves. Our God saves. There is hope. In your name. Morning turns. 78 00:28:54,000 --> 00:29:11,000 To songs of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. 79 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:22,000 All right. You can keep standing if you'd like, or you can sit down if you want. We're going to be 80 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:46,000 moving into our prayer and share time next. So if you're watching online, there'll be a slide up with a number to text. If you have any prayer requests or anything you'd like to share with us here, we will do that. And then we're going to be muted here during that time. So just stick with us during that. And then when we get back, we will move into the rest of our service today. So we're going to be singing next, "The Battle Belongs." 81 00:29:50,000 --> 00:30:18,000 When all I see is the battle, you see my victory. When all I see is the mountain, you see a mountain moved. 82 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:42,000 And as I walk through this shadow, your love surrounds me. There's nothing to fear now, for I am safe with you. 83 00:30:42,000 --> 00:31:06,000 So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. 84 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:30,000 And if you are for me, who can be against me? For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you. 85 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:54,000 When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty. When all I see is a cross, God, you see the empty tomb. 86 00:31:54,000 --> 00:32:18,000 So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. 87 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:44,000 Almighty fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. In the shadow, you win every battle. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. 88 00:32:44,000 --> 00:33:10,000 Almighty fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shine in the shadow. You win every battle. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. 89 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:36,000 So when I fight, I'll fall on my knees with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. 90 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:42,000 Oh God, the battle belongs to you. 91 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:27,000 Good morning. I want to thank you for joining us this Sunday morning. This is our prayer and share time, and here at the church we mute our service for those who don't necessarily want their prayer requests shared online. 92 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:34,000 But what I'd like to do with you this morning is share with you some Scripture and then pray with you. 93 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:43,000 And so I'm going to be reading from Philippians, the fourth chapter. Paul says this. He'll say, "Rejoice in the Lord always." 94 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:49,000 And again, I will say, "Rejoice." Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. 95 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:59,000 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 96 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:06,000 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 97 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:12,000 Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the good that you've done in our lives. 98 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:18,000 We thank you for how you have helped us and encouraged us and strengthened us and protected us. 99 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:25,000 I ask for those this morning who are struggling and hurting and uncertain and fearful. 100 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:31,000 I ask for your comfort and your peace that you would hold them up during difficult times. 101 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,000 We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your church. 102 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:39,000 We thank you for your people and how they help us and encourage us. 103 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:43,000 We thank you most of all for Jesus and the good news of the gospel. 104 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:50,000 You have saved us from our sins. Help us to be an encouragement to one another and help us to depend on you. 105 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 106 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:58,000 If there is a specific way that we can pray for you, we would love to be able to do that. 107 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:09,000 You can comment here on the live stream or send us a message, or you can send us a text message at 540-686-1981. 108 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,000 Thank you. 109 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,000 Thank you. 110 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,000 Thank you. 111 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:25,000 Amen. 112 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,000 Amen. 113 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:25,000 Amen. 114 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:50,000 Thanks, Russell. Since Neil is here today, we are going to do his favorite song, because Dee reminded me what his favorite song was. 115 00:42:50,000 --> 00:43:03,000 I remember when Neil first got sick, and Dee was updating every once in a while on Facebook, one of the things she had said about how, I think it was when he was intubated, that he wouldn't be able to talk for a while. 116 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:17,000 I said to Brandon, "What's Neil going to do if he can't talk?" I didn't mean it in a rude way. I meant like, Neil is such a big presence in our congregation, and he's so welcoming, and he's one of those people that can talk about anything 117 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:30,000 and make you feel like he's listening to what you're saying, and all this stuff. So it is really good to have Neil here, and I think, not just Neil, but so many people in our church, 118 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:42,000 we are a small church, but every single one of us here can relate to what this song says in our lives, and you know, big things, little things. 119 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:53,000 All of us here have had big events for at least two years. Anyway, we're going to sing this together, and then we're going to move into our time of communion. 120 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:32,000 How great the chasm that lay between us. How high the mountain I could not climb. In desperation, I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night. 121 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:59,000 Then through the darkness, your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished, is written, Jesus Christ, my living hope. 122 00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:26,000 Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin 123 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:53,000 and bear my shame. The cross has spoken. I am forgiven. The King of kings calls me his own. Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever. Jesus Christ, 124 00:45:53,000 --> 00:46:20,000 my living hope. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, 125 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:47,000 my living hope. Then came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim. 126 00:46:47,000 --> 00:47:14,000 Declared the grave has no claim on me. Then came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. 127 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:41,000 Declared the grave has no claim on me. Jesus, yours is the victory. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. 128 00:47:41,000 --> 00:48:08,000 Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. 129 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:35,000 Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Oh God, you are my living hope. 130 00:48:35,000 --> 00:49:04,000 In Malachi, the fourth chapter, as it begins, there is a picture of contrast of the day of the Lord. What happens when God comes? In the first verse of Malachi 4, 131 00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:14,000 is a picture for those who do not believe, and it is terrifying. It starts off by saying, "The day is coming, burning like an oven." 132 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:25,000 And then the contrast shifts in the second verse, and it says this, "For you who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings, 133 00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:33,000 and you shall go out leaping like calves from a stall." And I love that picture, especially now that we're coming into 134 00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:41,000 springtime, and we can occasionally see it around us. On the way to my dad's, there is a flock of sheep. 135 00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:46,000 They've just started having lambs, and if you drive by at the right time, and the lambs are full of energy, 136 00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:56,000 and they're sort of bouncing around the field, just full of life. And the picture for God's people is, that's our hope, right? 137 00:49:56,000 --> 00:50:07,000 That we, in Jesus, who Malachi is speaking of, ultimately have this joy that just overflows out of us. 138 00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:14,000 And as I think about that, we live in a world that, in so many ways, I think is lacking in joy. 139 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:21,000 It's filled with fear. It's filled with uncertainty. We're not sure what's going to happen in so many different ways. 140 00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:28,000 And so, how do we live in light of this truth that we have this joy that just overflows out of us, 141 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:34,000 but then we look at the world around us, and we just see struggles and hurts and difficulties. 142 00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:40,000 In Colossians, the first chapter, Paul will talk about Jesus. 143 00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:46,000 And I think the answer to that question, how do we live in the midst of uncertain times, is found in Jesus. 144 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:52,000 So I'm going to read to you a section of Colossians, and then we will partake together of the Lord's Supper. 145 00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:58,000 It says this of Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation. 146 00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:05,000 For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. 147 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:11,000 Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him, 148 00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:16,000 and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 149 00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:19,000 And he is the head of the body, the church. 150 00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:26,000 He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, everything, he might be preeminent. 151 00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:33,000 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him reconciled to himself all things, 152 00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:37,000 whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." 153 00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:43,000 And then he turns the attention to us, how this impacts us, and he says, 154 00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:48,000 "And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 155 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:53,000 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, 156 00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:58,000 in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 157 00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:02,000 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, 158 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:05,000 not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, 159 00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:08,000 which has been proclaimed in all of creation under heaven, 160 00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:13,000 and of which I, Paul, became a minister." 161 00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:18,000 And what Paul will say as we look at Jesus, we see our hope, 162 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,000 the one who has reconciled us, who has made peace, 163 00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:26,000 not just through his life, but through his death, his burial, and his resurrection, 164 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:30,000 who has reconciled those of us who were enemies of God. 165 00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:34,000 And then he calls the church to continue in the faith, 166 00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:39,000 stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel. 167 00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:47,000 One of the ways for us to not shift from the hope of the gospel is to preach it to ourselves. 168 00:52:47,000 --> 00:52:52,000 Martin Luther once said that it is the most important doctrine in all of Christianity, 169 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:55,000 and it's important for Christians to know this doctrine well 170 00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:59,000 and to beat it into our heads continually. 171 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:03,000 One of the ways we remember the gospel, the good news that Jesus died for our sins, 172 00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:09,000 was buried and rose again for our victory, is through this meal. 173 00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:12,000 When we partake, we are proclaiming the gospel, 174 00:53:12,000 --> 00:53:15,000 not just to those who observe us partaking, 175 00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:20,000 but we're proclaiming to ourselves that Jesus is our living hope. 176 00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:23,000 So let's pray, and then we'll partake together. 177 00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:26,000 Father in heaven, I thank you that we have hope. 178 00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:30,000 I thank you that you have sent your Son. 179 00:53:30,000 --> 00:53:34,000 We thank you that he has made peace through the cross. 180 00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:37,000 We thank you that he has conquered the grave, 181 00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:42,000 that we don't have to fear Satan, sin, hell, and death. 182 00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:45,000 And so I ask that you would encourage us in the good news of the gospel, 183 00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:50,000 that we would find our hope in you rather than in ourselves, 184 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:55,000 that we would take this moment to focus our eyes on what truly matters. 185 00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:59,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 186 00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:04,000 Jesus, with the disciples, will take the bread, 187 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:08,000 and he'll say, "This is my body, which is for you. 188 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:11,000 Do this in remembrance of me." 189 00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:13,000 Let's partake together. 190 00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:20,000 And then he will take the cup, saying, 191 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:24,000 "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 192 00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:28,000 Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 193 00:54:28,000 --> 00:54:31,000 And then he will say, 194 00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:35,000 "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, 195 00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:38,000 you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 196 00:54:57,000 --> 00:55:07,000 This morning's reading is from Acts 19, and one of my favorite stories as a child from the book of Acts. 197 00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:13,000 "And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 198 00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:21,000 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, 199 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:26,000 and their diseases left them, and evil spirits came out of them." 200 00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:35,000 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists understood to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus 201 00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:44,000 over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I abjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." 202 00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:55,000 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, 203 00:55:55,000 --> 00:56:07,000 and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered 204 00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:16,000 all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of the house, naked and wounded. And this became 205 00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:24,000 known to all the residents of Ephesus, both the Jews and the Greeks, and fear fell upon them all. 206 00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:32,000 And the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. And many of those who were now 207 00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:39,000 believers came and confessed and divulged their practices. And a number of those who 208 00:56:39,000 --> 00:56:45,000 had practiced magic, arts, brought their books together and burned them in the 209 00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:53,000 sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand 210 00:56:53,000 --> 00:57:00,000 pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and grew mightily. 211 00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:03,000 This is the word of the Lord. 212 00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:22,000 All right, let's pray and dive right into it. Father in heaven, thank you for your word. 213 00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:28,000 We thank you for your church, and we thank you that you have brought us to this place. 214 00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:34,000 I just ask this morning as we consider these events in Ephesus that you would encourage us, that you would convict us, 215 00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:42,000 that you would help us to see your power and your greatness and your strength, that your church would see that in the midst of difficulty 216 00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:51,000 and struggle and sometimes evil opposition, that we are not outnumbered, that we are not under strength, 217 00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:57,000 but that you are greater than anything that we face. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 218 00:57:57,000 --> 00:58:04,000 So it's been said, and maybe you've said it or heard it, that imitation is like the sincerest form of flattery. 219 00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:09,000 And it makes sense because if you seek to imitate something, to become like it, you're saying, 220 00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:13,000 "That is so good, I want to sort of model my life upon it." 221 00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:20,000 And I was looking through some old pictures this past week. There's one of my favorite pictures I love of me 222 00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:27,000 and Evelyn, and we were walking into a restaurant over here. This was probably like seven, probably six or seven years ago. 223 00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:33,000 And there we are, and we're like wearing the same outfit, like same kind of coat, same kind of hat, you know, walking in there. 224 00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:39,000 And it's like she just wanted to be like that, right? And I look at that, and that's heartwarming to me. 225 00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:48,000 But what we find is there are often other motives for imitation besides saying, "This is great, and I want to be like it." 226 00:58:48,000 --> 00:58:57,000 So sometimes people motivate and imitate for profit. I remember in high school, at the end of our senior year in our school, we went on a mission trip. 227 00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:03,000 And so we raised money all year, and we flew out on our mission trip, and we stopped at this little market. 228 00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:08,000 And my buddy and I were walking through this market, and sure enough, there's Rolexes for like seven dollars. 229 00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:15,000 And I was like, "This is amazing." Like, "I'm going to get a Rolex." And then I was great until a day later, and my wrist turned green, right? 230 00:59:15,000 --> 00:59:22,000 And then the watch stopped working like another day later, right? So, imitation, simply to gather profit. 231 00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:29,000 And so what we find this morning in our text, you can divide it into sort of three sections, right? 232 00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:35,000 And in the middle section, one that Brent referred to as one of his favorite stories growing up, 233 00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:42,000 we find a group who seeks to imitate the work in the church. Not because they love the church, they care about the message of the church, 234 00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:48,000 but because they care about themselves. And they're seeking to profit from the church, 235 00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:55,000 either through financial means, by using the fame of the church to boost their demon-casting-out business, 236 00:59:55,000 --> 01:00:01,000 or because they want to be more notorious, which also increases their business. 237 01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:08,000 And what's interesting is this passage in Acts is so very similar to another story in the Bible. 238 01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:16,000 In 1 Kings 18, God's people have been chasing after idols, specifically Baal and Ashtoreth. 239 01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:22,000 And so the prophet Elijah comes, and he issues a challenge to the king of Israel. 240 01:00:22,000 --> 01:00:26,000 Send your prophets to the top of the mountain. I'll go to the top of the mountain. 241 01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:30,000 We each bring a bull. We sacrifice the bull. 242 01:00:30,000 --> 01:00:36,000 Whichever God sends down fire from heaven will be the one true God. 243 01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:42,000 And so there are 850 pagan prophets and one prophet of God. 244 01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:44,000 And he says, "You know what? You can go first." 245 01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:48,000 And so they build their altar. They put their cow on the altar. 246 01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:53,000 And then they begin to pray to their God, and it doesn't work, so they get louder and louder. 247 01:00:53,000 --> 01:00:56,000 And they get louder and louder, and they get more intense and more intense. 248 01:00:56,000 --> 01:01:00,000 And Elijah's kind of sitting back on the side, kind of making fun. 249 01:01:00,000 --> 01:01:03,000 "Your God must be on a trip. He can't hear you." 250 01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:07,000 My favorite, he'll say, and sometimes it's translated a little differently, 251 01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:10,000 but the actual Hebrew means maybe he's in the bathroom, right? 252 01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:13,000 God's run to the bathroom, and he can't hear you. 253 01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:20,000 And so eventually they give up, and Elijah comes and very simply builds an altar, 254 01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:25,000 puts his bull on top of the altar, but then he does something strange. 255 01:01:25,000 --> 01:01:31,000 They douse the altar with water, not just soaking it so it's not going to burn, 256 01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:36,000 but they dig a trench around it, and they fill that with water as well. 257 01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:42,000 And then Elijah simply kneels down and prays, and God sends fire from heaven 258 01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:48,000 that doesn't just consume the sacrifice, but it consumes everything. 259 01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:55,000 And in that moment what you find is a very similar picture to what is happening in the middle of our text this morning, right? 260 01:01:55,000 --> 01:02:00,000 Elijah is completely outnumbered, and in the church in Ephesus you find that they are outnumbered. 261 01:02:00,000 --> 01:02:09,000 A town of 200,000 to 250,000 people, a massive city by ancient standards, and a little church. 262 01:02:09,000 --> 01:02:19,000 You find that the false religion is extremely complex, but the Gospel is simple enough to be understood. 263 01:02:19,000 --> 01:02:26,000 False religion gets no results, but the power of God is striking and startling. 264 01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:36,000 And just like in 1 Kings 18, there's a bit of humor interjected into how this all works. 265 01:02:36,000 --> 01:02:42,000 And so while we find that the center of this text is sort of about the imitation of true religion, 266 01:02:42,000 --> 01:02:51,000 the text as a whole, all three parts, are about God sort of drawing a line in the sand in regards to false belief. 267 01:02:51,000 --> 01:03:01,000 And what God is going to do in this text is powerfully demonstrate His strength and His power and bring hope and transformation to this city. 268 01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:05,000 And as we come to it, sometimes these kind of texts for us can be a bit of a struggle, right? 269 01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:10,000 You've got this opening part about these really remarkable miracles. 270 01:03:10,000 --> 01:03:16,000 You have this second part about the supernatural forces of evil, demons and evil spirits. 271 01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:24,000 And for us, it can seem maybe a little strange. And so one of our tendencies sometimes is to become dismissive. 272 01:03:24,000 --> 01:03:32,000 And I don't necessarily mean dismissive about the truth of this, but dismissive about how it applies to us today. 273 01:03:32,000 --> 01:03:37,000 Well, that doesn't really happen. I've never maybe encountered a demon-possessed person, so this isn't really... 274 01:03:37,000 --> 01:03:44,000 This is something for the first century. It doesn't really apply to me. We can become very dismissive. 275 01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:47,000 And we'll come back to that in just a minute. 276 01:03:47,000 --> 01:03:52,000 The second response sometimes we come to with these sort of supernatural things, 277 01:03:52,000 --> 01:03:58,000 whether it's miracles or whether it is this idea of spiritual warfare, 278 01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:04,000 is we can almost become over-enamored, especially with the spiritual warfare picture of it. 279 01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:12,000 And we begin to sort of become maybe unhealthily fascinated with these concepts. 280 01:04:12,000 --> 01:04:17,000 And so we sort of tend to go to two extremes: one where we just sort of ignore it all, 281 01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:24,000 and the other where it sort of all consumes us to the point of missing the point of these kind of texts. 282 01:04:24,000 --> 01:04:29,000 So one of the things I want to address and I want us to maybe think about in regards to our life 283 01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:33,000 is the question we so many times have about these things, like the miracles and the demons. 284 01:04:33,000 --> 01:04:36,000 Do these kind of things happen today? 285 01:04:36,000 --> 01:04:41,000 One of the things I will say is that God, specifically in the case of miracles, is able to do what He wants, right? 286 01:04:41,000 --> 01:04:46,000 The psalmist says God is in the heaven and He does as He pleases. 287 01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:52,000 What you find biblically is that God works in each situation according to what is the need. 288 01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:59,000 For example, these events would seem strange to us, Paul with the handkerchiefs and people taking them and healing people. 289 01:04:59,000 --> 01:05:04,000 It happens two other places in the Bible, once by Jesus with the hem of His garment, 290 01:05:04,000 --> 01:05:09,000 and then once in a similar manner as Peter's shadow in Acts chapter 5 passes around people. 291 01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:14,000 It's not sort of a normal thing. God uses this in specific, special situations. 292 01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:21,000 Not to say that He can't or He won't, but what you find is that God works in the best way according to the situation, 293 01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:25,000 according to what you need, and according to what the church needs. 294 01:05:25,000 --> 01:05:33,000 Just like when we parent our children, right? All our children are different, and what works for one child may be different for another child. 295 01:05:33,000 --> 01:05:40,000 And so, God works in our lives in different ways, depending on what we need. 296 01:05:40,000 --> 01:05:49,000 And so, when God does this remarkable miracle in Ephesus, He's doing it because there is a deep need here in the church. 297 01:05:49,000 --> 01:05:58,000 And so, one of the things we, I think, so often neglect when we ask ourselves about these things is, "What do I need?" 298 01:05:58,000 --> 01:06:03,000 So many times, what we need and what we want are two different things. 299 01:06:03,000 --> 01:06:08,000 The other thing that I think is important to ask ourselves is, "Am I trying to do this in my own strength? 300 01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:13,000 Or am I seeking to depend upon the power of God?" 301 01:06:13,000 --> 01:06:19,000 The other thing, especially when it comes to spiritual warfare, because we may say, "I don't know that I've seen spiritual warfare." 302 01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:23,000 The question I would ask you, "Are you doing anything that Satan needs to oppose?" 303 01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:28,000 Because if you're not doing anything that needs to be opposed, he has no reason to oppose you. 304 01:06:28,000 --> 01:06:31,000 It's like our two dogs, Dodger. 305 01:06:31,000 --> 01:06:35,000 Kaiser is great because he stays right next to you the whole time you're outside. 306 01:06:35,000 --> 01:06:38,000 In fact, he just wants to go back inside, right? 307 01:06:38,000 --> 01:06:46,000 Dodger, on the other hand, looks out the front door and sees the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey and roadkill to roll in, 308 01:06:46,000 --> 01:06:49,000 and he just wants to go out and roam through the neighborhood. 309 01:06:49,000 --> 01:06:54,000 So when we take Kaiser out, he doesn't have to be on a leash, right? Because he doesn't have to be opposed. 310 01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:59,000 Dodger, on the other hand, every time he walks out that front door, is on a leash because he needs it. 311 01:06:59,000 --> 01:07:06,000 If the church is not doing what Jesus called us to do, which is assaulting the gates of hell, 312 01:07:06,000 --> 01:07:09,000 there is no reason for Satan to oppose us. 313 01:07:09,000 --> 01:07:15,000 And I think one of the reasons the church maybe doesn't see spiritual warfare as much 314 01:07:15,000 --> 01:07:21,000 is because we're not doing anything that needs to be opposed by the powers of evil. 315 01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:28,000 And so just thinking about these events in this way begins to convict our hearts a little bit. 316 01:07:28,000 --> 01:07:32,000 Am I seeking the strength of God and the things that he has called me to do? 317 01:07:32,000 --> 01:07:36,000 Are we actually being obedient to what he has called us to do? 318 01:07:36,000 --> 01:07:43,000 What you find biblically is that these kind of things are very real, and God is very much in control. 319 01:07:43,000 --> 01:07:46,000 Let me read to you from Ephesians chapter 6. 320 01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:49,000 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 321 01:07:49,000 --> 01:07:54,000 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 322 01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:59,000 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, 323 01:07:59,000 --> 01:08:06,000 against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." 324 01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:14,000 And what you find is that forces of evil are real, but God is stronger. 325 01:08:14,000 --> 01:08:21,000 Let's take a look at these very quickly, these three scenes in which we see the triumph of God's power. 326 01:08:21,000 --> 01:08:27,000 The first thing that we see is that God is revealing his power to the city of Ephesus, 327 01:08:27,000 --> 01:08:30,000 and God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hand of Paul. 328 01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:39,000 Now, Luke is very clear that this is not Paul doing the miracles, but that God is doing the miracles and using Paul as an instrument. 329 01:08:39,000 --> 01:08:44,000 And I like what he says because he says extraordinary miracles, right? 330 01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:51,000 Isn't a miracle by definition extraordinary? That's like saying, you know, the past history, right? 331 01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:55,000 It seems a little redundant because the history by definition is in the past. 332 01:08:55,000 --> 01:09:06,000 And so, a miracle by definition is extraordinary. So, Luke is saying that what he's doing is he's emphasizing how remarkable these things are. 333 01:09:06,000 --> 01:09:12,000 Here's the miracle. So, that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin... 334 01:09:12,000 --> 01:09:16,000 ...and their diseases left them, and evil spirits came out of them. 335 01:09:16,000 --> 01:09:20,000 And so, the words here for handkerchiefs and aprons, there's sort of two different things. 336 01:09:20,000 --> 01:09:26,000 One is that the handkerchiefs could either be, you know, like we would think of as a towel or a handkerchief, 337 01:09:26,000 --> 01:09:31,000 and you're working, and Paul was a tent maker working, and you get really sweaty because it's hot. 338 01:09:31,000 --> 01:09:35,000 And you wipe the sweat off your head, and you go back to work, and you wipe the sweat off your head, 339 01:09:35,000 --> 01:09:39,000 and then you put the handkerchief down, and somebody comes and steals it and starts touching sick people with it. 340 01:09:39,000 --> 01:09:44,000 The other picture is of a sweatband that you wear around your head to keep sweat dripping in your eyes, 341 01:09:44,000 --> 01:09:49,000 and you take it off, and somebody goes over and snags it and starts rubbing it on sick people. 342 01:09:49,000 --> 01:09:54,000 The idea of aprons would be a similar thing, a towel wrapped around your waist, and as you're working, 343 01:09:54,000 --> 01:09:58,000 and you're working with this leather, and your hands get sweaty, and you wipe it on this towel, 344 01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:03,000 and then somebody steals it and goes over and rubs it on somebody's head, and the demons come out, and they get better. 345 01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:08,000 And we look at it and say, "That's a little weird." If somebody comes to me with a sweaty handkerchief, 346 01:10:08,000 --> 01:10:12,000 and is like, "Hey, I'm going to rub this on you, and your kidneys are going to be great again," 347 01:10:12,000 --> 01:10:15,000 I'm going to be like, "Hmm, I don't know about that," right? 348 01:10:15,000 --> 01:10:18,000 It's a little weird, and it's a lot gross. 349 01:10:18,000 --> 01:10:24,000 Why does God choose to do this? 350 01:10:24,000 --> 01:10:28,000 God takes something small, dirty, 351 01:10:28,000 --> 01:10:32,000 used to try sweat in the midst of labor, 352 01:10:32,000 --> 01:10:38,000 and He uses that small, dirty thing to proclaim the greatness of His power. 353 01:10:38,000 --> 01:10:40,000 Right? It's not about those items. 354 01:10:40,000 --> 01:10:44,000 It's about how God is so powerful, 355 01:10:44,000 --> 01:10:49,000 and you can use a sweatband off your head in this powerful way. 356 01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:52,000 That's how great God's power is. 357 01:10:52,000 --> 01:10:57,000 And these miracles, they're a direct confrontation with the beliefs of the Ephesians, 358 01:10:57,000 --> 01:11:00,000 because the Ephesians believed that if you were going to worship a God, 359 01:11:00,000 --> 01:11:05,000 it had to be big, and it had to be grand, and you had to earn that. 360 01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:08,000 And so they bailed the temple to Athena or Diana, 361 01:11:08,000 --> 01:11:10,000 depending on if you're Greek or Roman, 362 01:11:10,000 --> 01:11:13,000 four times bigger than the Parthenon in Athens. 363 01:11:13,000 --> 01:11:17,000 One of the wonders of the ancient world. 364 01:11:17,000 --> 01:11:21,000 Beautiful, wealthy, and it does nothing. 365 01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:26,000 But here, a sweaty handkerchief is casting out demons to sick. 366 01:11:26,000 --> 01:11:35,000 God is intentionally inviting a confrontation with the forces of evil in Ephesus. 367 01:11:35,000 --> 01:11:39,000 They meet these itinerant, meaning they travel around. 368 01:11:39,000 --> 01:11:45,000 Jewish exorcists, they walk around and they will take some money to cast out an evil spirit, 369 01:11:45,000 --> 01:11:49,000 whether there's an evil spirit or not. Likely these guys never came in for a quote. 370 01:11:49,000 --> 01:11:51,000 It's like, "Oh no, there's not an evil spirit here." 371 01:11:51,000 --> 01:11:57,000 It's always yes, right? Because they want to cast it out, and they want to make some money. 372 01:11:57,000 --> 01:12:01,000 And so they began to do this, seeing that Jesus is powerful. 373 01:12:01,000 --> 01:12:05,000 I adjure you, or I command you, by the Jesus who Paul proclaims. 374 01:12:05,000 --> 01:12:10,000 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 375 01:12:10,000 --> 01:12:13,000 Now this guy is already shady, right? 376 01:12:13,000 --> 01:12:15,000 Luke says he's a Jewish high priest. 377 01:12:15,000 --> 01:12:23,000 Now we have the high priestly records, and we know that there was never a Jewish high priest in Jerusalem named Sceva. 378 01:12:23,000 --> 01:12:25,000 So one of three things likely is happening here. 379 01:12:25,000 --> 01:12:31,000 This guy is maybe distantly related to the high priestly family, so he just takes the title for himself. 380 01:12:31,000 --> 01:12:37,000 There's another option is that he's sort of taken Jewish religion and pagan belief 381 01:12:37,000 --> 01:12:41,000 and put it together into sort of his own system of religious belief 382 01:12:41,000 --> 01:12:45,000 and then called himself a high priest in the church of Sceva. 383 01:12:45,000 --> 01:12:50,000 Or there's a possibility he's just making it up because it's a great marketing slogan. 384 01:12:50,000 --> 01:12:53,000 "Jewish high priest comes in and casts out your evil spirit." 385 01:12:53,000 --> 01:12:57,000 Regardless of which option, this guy is a shady dude, right? 386 01:12:57,000 --> 01:13:01,000 And so this guy has seven sons. 387 01:13:01,000 --> 01:13:04,000 They go to cast out the spirit, the evil spirit answers them, 388 01:13:04,000 --> 01:13:07,000 "Jesus I know, Paul I recognize, but who are you?" 389 01:13:07,000 --> 01:13:11,000 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, 390 01:13:11,000 --> 01:13:14,000 mastered all of them, overpowered them, 391 01:13:14,000 --> 01:13:18,000 so they fled out of the house naked and wounded. 392 01:13:18,000 --> 01:13:21,000 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. 393 01:13:21,000 --> 01:13:26,000 Fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 394 01:13:26,000 --> 01:13:32,000 This story, it's remarkable. 395 01:13:32,000 --> 01:13:36,000 First of all, what you see is they're imitating what has been happening in the church, 396 01:13:36,000 --> 01:13:38,000 but not in a good way, right? 397 01:13:38,000 --> 01:13:43,000 So we have people in our family who really, deeply love Dr. Pepper. 398 01:13:43,000 --> 01:13:46,000 So I like to buy Dr. Thunder when they come over. 399 01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:48,000 And it's like, "Oh, you got Dr. Pepper?" 400 01:13:48,000 --> 01:13:49,000 "Oh yeah, here's your Dr. Pepper." 401 01:13:49,000 --> 01:13:51,000 "Well, this is not Dr. Pepper." 402 01:13:51,000 --> 01:13:54,000 "Did Dr. Thunder actually go to medical school?" 403 01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:56,000 "Is he a real doctor?" 404 01:13:56,000 --> 01:13:58,000 And so that's what they're doing. 405 01:13:58,000 --> 01:14:02,000 They're like coming in, and they're trying to imitate the real thing, 406 01:14:02,000 --> 01:14:05,000 and the simple fact is it's not just going to work. 407 01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:08,000 And in fact, it's a common thing in false religion. 408 01:14:08,000 --> 01:14:14,000 And one commentator was talking about how they found all of these different magic scrolls, 409 01:14:14,000 --> 01:14:17,000 the same kind that get burned later in Ephesus. 410 01:14:17,000 --> 01:14:21,000 And they would have these spells where they would just pick names that they thought were powerful. 411 01:14:21,000 --> 01:14:23,000 One of the spells was like this: 412 01:14:23,000 --> 01:14:26,000 "I abjure you by Jesus, God of the Hebrews." 413 01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:27,000 Another one will say, 414 01:14:27,000 --> 01:14:28,000 "Hail God of Abraham! 415 01:14:28,000 --> 01:14:29,000 Hail God of Isaac! 416 01:14:29,000 --> 01:14:31,000 Hail God of Jacob! 417 01:14:31,000 --> 01:14:32,000 Jesus Christus! 418 01:14:32,000 --> 01:14:33,000 Holy Spirit! 419 01:14:33,000 --> 01:14:34,000 Son of the Father!" 420 01:14:34,000 --> 01:14:35,000 And that's what they would do. 421 01:14:35,000 --> 01:14:38,000 They would just say these things without any sorrow. 422 01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:43,000 Names of gods, or names that they thought were important, or names filled with power, 423 01:14:43,000 --> 01:14:47,000 and just sort of say them, and that's what these guys are doing. 424 01:14:47,000 --> 01:14:52,000 And then Luke writes this encounter in a way to be intentionally humorous. 425 01:14:52,000 --> 01:14:59,000 They say, "By the Jesus that Paul proclaims," and the demon responds with, 426 01:14:59,000 --> 01:15:02,000 "Well, pretty familiar with Jesus. 427 01:15:02,000 --> 01:15:03,000 Heard of Paul. 428 01:15:03,000 --> 01:15:04,000 I respect Paul. 429 01:15:04,000 --> 01:15:07,000 But I have no idea who you are." 430 01:15:07,000 --> 01:15:10,000 That's when you know this whole scenario is going south. 431 01:15:10,000 --> 01:15:12,000 And then a fight ensues. 432 01:15:12,000 --> 01:15:17,000 It says he mastered them, overpowered, and they ran out of the house, right, naked and bleeding. 433 01:15:17,000 --> 01:15:20,000 That's how you know you've really lost a fight. 434 01:15:20,000 --> 01:15:26,000 Like, when you don't just get beaten up, but the pants literally get beaten off of you, right? 435 01:15:26,000 --> 01:15:31,000 And when it says they were naked and wounded, right, this is not a wound of the physical body, right? 436 01:15:31,000 --> 01:15:36,000 If you're a man and you lose a fight this badly, this is a wound of the soul, right? 437 01:15:36,000 --> 01:15:40,000 They're going to need some serious counseling after this has happened. 438 01:15:40,000 --> 01:15:42,000 And Luke writes it this way. 439 01:15:42,000 --> 01:15:48,000 He's intentionally making us see the ridiculousness of what they're trying to claim, right? 440 01:15:48,000 --> 01:15:57,000 To help us see that these guys are literally a joke when compared to the power of God. 441 01:15:57,000 --> 01:16:01,000 But I think there's a lesson in this for us as Christians and for the church. 442 01:16:01,000 --> 01:16:06,000 And that is that we don't treat God like a good luck charm. 443 01:16:06,000 --> 01:16:09,000 We don't treat God like a good luck charm. 444 01:16:09,000 --> 01:16:16,000 Or we just kind of do things on our own and hope that, because I have my lucky rabbit's foot, things will go well, right? 445 01:16:16,000 --> 01:16:26,000 What you find is that the picture in this text is that God's power is poured out upon those who love Him and follow Him and worship Him. 446 01:16:26,000 --> 01:16:34,000 And you can't imitate that. You can't make it sort of seem like it's true when it's not. 447 01:16:34,000 --> 01:16:41,000 It's all about the fact that God is the one who brings true change in our lives. 448 01:16:41,000 --> 01:16:50,000 And so one of the things I think that we can learn from this sort of humorous account is to call the church to examine our attitude toward God. 449 01:16:50,000 --> 01:17:04,000 Examine how we view Him and see Him. Do we see Him as holy and powerful and strong and the one who enables and strengthens and gives His power to the church for the good of the nations? 450 01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:13,000 Or do we, like these sons of Sceva, say, "Well, we believe in Jesus who Paul proclaims." Or do we know the Jesus that Paul proclaims? 451 01:17:13,000 --> 01:17:26,000 So God is at work in Ephesus. He's prepared. He's equipped. And now He intentionally, through these miracles with Paul, has brought about this confrontation so that He can bring people to repentance. 452 01:17:26,000 --> 01:17:34,000 This became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Fear fell upon all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 453 01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:48,000 And many of those who were believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together, burned them in the sight of all, and they counted the value of them to be 50,000 pieces of silver. 454 01:17:48,000 --> 01:17:55,000 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. God is at work in Ephesus, both inside the church and outside the church. 455 01:17:55,000 --> 01:18:06,000 Outside the church, Jews and Greeks have now heard about Jesus. Inside the church, there are those who have been maybe similar to these sons of Sceva, who are sort of one foot in and one foot out. 456 01:18:06,000 --> 01:18:14,000 And they come and they say, "We can't sort of meddle around in both sides, but we are all in for Jesus." 457 01:18:14,000 --> 01:18:21,000 And the name of Jesus goes through the town and goes through the church. And in this you see what repentance really looks like. 458 01:18:21,000 --> 01:18:27,000 You see, repentance is more than just being sorry. Our dogs know nothing of repentance. 459 01:18:27,000 --> 01:18:31,000 So one day this week we had Rachel and I were eating dinner. The kids had already eaten. 460 01:18:31,000 --> 01:18:35,000 And so I ate my dinner and she was busy. She came and sat down to eat hers. 461 01:18:35,000 --> 01:18:39,000 So she jumped up and then came back and everything was gone. 462 01:18:39,000 --> 01:18:43,000 And there's Kaiser going, "I don't know what happened," right? 463 01:18:43,000 --> 01:18:49,000 Just like right off, like most of the time our dogs don't go on the tail, but this time he was like, "They're sorry. 464 01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:53,000 I really like chicken and I really like french fries and I'm going to have yours," right? 465 01:18:53,000 --> 01:18:57,000 Now he acted contrite for a minute, but I'll tell you what. 466 01:18:57,000 --> 01:19:01,000 If that chicken was back on the table, you know what he would do again immediately, right? 467 01:19:01,000 --> 01:19:05,000 It's like, "Oh, there it is," right? Yeah, sorry for a minute, but I'm going to do the same thing over again. 468 01:19:05,000 --> 01:19:12,000 Real repentance is not just simply saying, "Oh, I feel bad because I have done something wrong." 469 01:19:12,000 --> 01:19:22,000 True repentance is just an attitude, right? It's an action. It's a belief. It's a way of living. 470 01:19:22,000 --> 01:19:29,000 It's a turning around, going in the opposite direction. And notice how these Ephesians demonstrate their repentance, right? 471 01:19:29,000 --> 01:19:35,000 They say, "Hey, we've not been following Jesus." They stop doing it, and they burn their books. 472 01:19:35,000 --> 01:19:41,000 And I think about this because that's a lot of money. We don't...50,000 pieces of silver, that's hard for us to translate. 473 01:19:41,000 --> 01:19:48,000 On the low end, that's like $5 million, maybe a little more, depending on the price of silver this week. 474 01:19:48,000 --> 01:19:53,000 It's a lot of money. Wouldn't the temptation be, "Well, I can sell to somebody else," right? 475 01:19:53,000 --> 01:19:57,000 Maybe I'll hold on to them in case I need to sell them later, right? 476 01:19:57,000 --> 01:20:02,000 It's a shame to get rid of all of this. But notice that their repentance, it's not halfway, right? 477 01:20:02,000 --> 01:20:08,000 They say, "This is where we stand. It's with Jesus. He's our power and our strength." 478 01:20:08,000 --> 01:20:13,000 And they get rid of all the things that are distracting them, right? 479 01:20:13,000 --> 01:20:18,000 They're not just dabbling with Christianity. They're not holding on to what they used to be. 480 01:20:18,000 --> 01:20:23,000 They're not justifying their behavior anymore. 481 01:20:23,000 --> 01:20:27,000 You see, this text also calls us to repentance. 482 01:20:27,000 --> 01:20:33,000 Maybe not burning books, but what is it that we have been sort of half in and half out on? 483 01:20:33,000 --> 01:20:38,000 What is it that you and I have sort of said, "Well, I'm going to hold on to that for a rainy day." 484 01:20:38,000 --> 01:20:44,000 And what Paul says, what Jesus has, what the Ephesian church calls us to, 485 01:20:44,000 --> 01:20:52,000 is that we follow Jesus with our whole heart, even when it's uncertain, even when it's difficult. 486 01:20:52,000 --> 01:20:55,000 I love this picture at the very end, verse 20. 487 01:20:55,000 --> 01:21:01,000 "So the word of the Lord continued to increase, and prevailed mightily." 488 01:21:01,000 --> 01:21:06,000 The clear picture here is the one thing that works in the church is Jesus, right? 489 01:21:06,000 --> 01:21:12,000 Not our strength, not our power, not our plans, but Jesus. 490 01:21:12,000 --> 01:21:15,000 The word of God is what prevails mightily. 491 01:21:15,000 --> 01:21:20,000 It is ultimately about fixing our eyes on him. Let's pray. 492 01:21:20,000 --> 01:21:25,000 Father in heaven, thank you for your word, for your church, for your people. 493 01:21:25,000 --> 01:21:29,000 Help us as we look at this story that maybe seems distant to us 494 01:21:29,000 --> 01:21:32,000 because we haven't maybe experienced these kind of things. 495 01:21:32,000 --> 01:21:36,000 But help us to see your power and how great it is 496 01:21:36,000 --> 01:21:38,000 compared to all the other things that we could hope in. 497 01:21:38,000 --> 01:21:42,000 And help us with those things that we hope in more than you, 498 01:21:42,000 --> 01:21:45,000 that we would set them aside and fix our eyes on you. 499 01:21:45,000 --> 01:21:48,000 That our strength would be in you and not in ourselves. 500 01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:52,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 501 01:21:52,000 --> 01:21:57,000 We're going to stand and sing. 502 01:21:57,000 --> 01:22:26,000 I rest my soul on Jesus when the mountains shake. 503 01:22:26,000 --> 01:22:55,000 I put my trust in Jesus the moment I awake. And when my soul is lost at sea, He will be my rock. 504 01:22:55,000 --> 01:23:24,000 Revision be in Christ alone. This grace is all we've got. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough 505 01:23:24,000 --> 01:23:53,000 to carry me through it all by the grace of God. So I upon His shoulders safely brought this far. Helper of my helpless soul. 506 01:23:53,000 --> 01:24:22,000 The King of broken hearts. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me all. 507 01:24:22,000 --> 01:24:51,000 By the grace of God. You are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. You are the song within my soul. My strength, my hope, my all in all is You. 508 01:24:51,000 --> 01:25:20,000 Jesus, You. When breath grows still and night draws near, I will not be afraid. I know the plans He has for me. Don't finish at my grave. 509 01:25:20,000 --> 01:25:49,000 His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. 510 01:25:49,000 --> 01:26:02,000 I want to thank you all for joining us this morning. We are glad you're here. Whether you're here in person or online, we are thankful for your being here. 511 01:26:02,000 --> 01:26:11,000 We will be back Wednesday night, moving through the end of 1 Thessalonians, talking about the return of Jesus and learning about that. 512 01:26:11,000 --> 01:26:18,000 That's 7 o'clock here at the church. Last week, one of the things we had talked about and asked for were some volunteers to help 513 01:26:18,000 --> 01:26:25,000 with some painting downstairs. We've had several people offer to do that. We've got, I think they may have picked out 514 01:26:25,000 --> 01:26:32,000 or gotten close to picking out a paint color this morning. So we're going to work on getting all that stuff together so we can 515 01:26:32,000 --> 01:26:39,000 begin that project if you're interested in helping. We're not doing it on a specific day, because everybody's schedule is different. 516 01:26:39,000 --> 01:26:47,000 But when we get everything together and talk to you and figure out a time that works for you, if you're willing to help with that. 517 01:26:47,000 --> 01:26:53,000 And we're very thankful for everybody who has volunteered to help with that. 518 01:26:53,000 --> 01:26:59,000 I'm going to go ahead and have a word of prayer. We'll read a Scripture and then we'll sing the doxology. 519 01:26:59,000 --> 01:27:06,000 Father in heaven, I thank you so much for the good that you have brought into our lives. We thank you for your grace. 520 01:27:06,000 --> 01:27:16,000 We thank you that there is hope after this life. I thank you so much for your people. We thank you for the encouragement that we find 521 01:27:16,000 --> 01:27:24,000 in one another as we see you working in our lives. We thank you for these moments to sing and to pray, 522 01:27:24,000 --> 01:27:30,000 to gather around the table together as a family, and to open your word. We thank you so much for all of these things. 523 01:27:30,000 --> 01:27:36,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Paul writes this in Romans, the 15th chapter: 524 01:27:36,000 --> 01:27:44,000 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit 525 01:27:44,000 --> 01:27:47,000 you may abound in hope." 526 01:27:47,000 --> 01:28:12,000 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 527 01:28:12,000 --> 01:28:17,000 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 528 01:28:42,000 --> 01:28:44,000 God, Son, and Holy Ghost 529 01:29:12,000 --> 01:29:41,980 God, Son, Holy Ghost 530 01:29:42,000 --> 01:30:11,980 God, Son, Holy Ghost 531 01:30:12,000 --> 01:30:41,980 God, Son, Holy Ghost 532 01:38:42,000 --> 01:39:11,980 God, Son of God, Son of God, Son of God, Son of God, Son of God 533 01:39:12,000 --> 01:39:30,820 Son of God, Son of God, Son of God, Son of God, Son of God, Son of God, Son of God. 534 01:39:30,820 --> 01:39:32,820 Amen. 535 01:40:00,820 --> 01:40:02,820 Amen. 536 01:40:30,820 --> 01:40:32,820 Amen.