WEBVTT 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:05.919 Welcome to the Kingdom Life Podcast. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:16.879 What if success in God's kingdom isn't measured by how comfortable your life is, but by whether you finish the race he called you to run? 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:33.200 In today's message, Pastor Alex says takes us through Acts 20, 17 through 27, where the Apostle Paul reflects on a life marked by courage, conviction, and unwavering faithfulness. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:41.759 Even with hardship waiting for him, Paul refused to retreat because he knew his life wasn't his own. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:44.000 It belonged to Christ. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:49.280 This message would challenge you to ask two life-changing questions. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:53.520 Am I faithfully running the race Christ has given me? 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.359 And am I determined to finish it? 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:03.840 You discover that following Jesus isn't about having complete control over your future. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.799 It's about trusting the one who does. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:15.760 It's about living the gospel where people can see it, only proclaiming the truth and remaining faithful no matter the cost. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:23.519 Whether you've been following Jesus for years, or you're simply searching for hope and purpose. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:27.599 This message will encourage you to keep your eyes on Christ. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.599 Trust him with every step. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.280 And remember that the course is worth the cost. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:41.920 Whether you're joining us in Pacifica or somewhere across the world, where you're chosen to spend time with us. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.519 We believe God has something to say to you today. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:48.879 So wherever you are, take a moment to lean in. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:06.000 Now, here's the Pastor Alex as he opens God's Word in Acts 20, 17 through 27. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:10.080 Amen. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.599 Today's uh section, Acts chapter 20, verses 17 through 27. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:33.439 And last time, our student Pastor Jacob brought the word last week from uh chapter uh 20, um, and uh verses 7 through 16 when Paul and his team were in Troas. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:40.080 And today we're gonna pick up from there as we look at verses 17 through 27. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:51.759 Uh but I'm thankful for the good word that he brought, and and I'm thankful for the grace, you know, and and uh just being able to know that the word is being delivered. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:52.479 Amen. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:54.159 Amen. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:56.800 Amen. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:08.000 And he mentioned something though about his his um being in cross-country when he was in high school. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:16.319 And he continues right now even to help with Fountain Inn High School and he's a relationship there and working with the cross-country team. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:23.599 And it made me reflect upon my cross-country career at Oxenhill High School in Oxen Hill, Maryland. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:34.400 I ran cross-country my senior year at Oxen Hill High School for like two weeks. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:40.879 I don't know why I got involved in cross-country. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:51.599 Somebody must have taught me told me it'd be a I don't know how I got conned into doing it, but but I got on the team and I figured, you know, I'm used to running. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:53.599 I like to run, you know, I used to run like that. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:54.400 I'll be all right. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.199 I'll be man, look, the first practice. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.280 They were so far ahead of me, I couldn't even see them. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:05.120 I was like, man, I don't even know where to turn, right or left, didn't know what to do. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:08.400 But you ever have it in your mind, I'm going to finish. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.439 Make it up in my mind, I'm going to finish. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:21.120 And so we had our, I remember our first, our first uh uh you know kind of meet, and it was a home meet, and uh I finished. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.279 I finished. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:30.720 But it doesn't take long sometimes that even though you've made it up in your mind to finish, you're like, I shouldn't be running, I shouldn't be doing this. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:35.920 Ever had a case where you're like, I know I made it in mind I'm gonna finish, but I shouldn't even be doing this. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.920 Well, by the grace of God, at the second meet, I rolled my ankle. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:54.319 Stepped into a hole and just rolled it. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.759 And that ended my career. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:07.839 I had kind of limped my way back and coach, I don't think I'm gonna be able to go any further. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:09.519 It's only the second meeting. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:10.560 I'm done, man. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.000 I'm just so I'm so done, I'm so done. 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:16.079 I shouldn't have been running that race. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:17.600 I shouldn't have been running that race. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:19.519 I shouldn't have been, I shouldn't have been there. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:21.439 Uh lesson learned. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.600 And and the scary part about it is I'm in the yearbook. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:31.519 They took a picture of a team getting ready to run a race, and I'm I'm in the picture. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:33.199 I pulled it out this week. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:34.639 I looked at it. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.279 Y'all ain't gonna see it. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:41.920 No, it's not on the screen, not coming up, but that's I took this. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.000 I said, man, I even did it. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.000 I shouldn't have been running that race. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.040 You know, life is like a race. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.959 The apostle Paul describes life as being like a race. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:04.399 There is a beginning, a journey, and there's an ending. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:15.920 Paul calls it a race, and for believers, you know, he uses that picture, that analogy of the race. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:21.680 Running a race, running to win the race. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:35.040 And at the end of his life, in the last letter that we have, which Paul authored, he wrote an epistle to Timothy. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:36.480 A letter. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:39.040 It's very personal. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:45.199 And um, and he shares, you know, a number of things with him. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:04.800 One of the things he shared in 2 Timothy 4, 7, toward the end of his life, he is in prison. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.399 And he says to Timothy, I have fought the good fight. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:14.240 I have finished the race. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:17.600 I have kept the faith. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:28.079 Literally, it's the good fight I have fought. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.959 The race I have finished. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:33.519 The faith I have kept. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:37.040 The faith I have kept. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:38.319 I have kept the faith. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:40.639 Meaning I I haven't watered it down. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:46.399 I haven't watered it down, I haven't moved away from it personally or in my teaching. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.680 I've never moved away, I have kept the faith. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.000 And he said that I fought the good fight. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:02.560 There's a fight that's good and worthy and worth fighting. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:05.439 That word is where we get agonized from. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:13.040 To fight, to contend, or to strive for victory, figuratively, to persevere in spite of temptation and opposition. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:21.040 There is a good fight, and saints, all of us are to fight the good fight of faith. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:27.360 Because Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6, fight the good fight of the faith. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:35.120 There is, if you are going to finish your race, there's gonna be a fight. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.600 We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, principalities and powers. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:41.120 There is a fight. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:43.679 It's a good fight of the faith. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:45.279 Contending. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.279 He talked about this race that he has completed. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:09:03.360 And the race, it's running, as in running a race, or it could be the place for the running, i.e. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:04.960 the course. 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:16.159 So running but also that same Greek word used to describe the stadium where the race would be held. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:18.159 The track, if you will. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:22.159 Paul says, I finished the race. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:24.960 He has finished his race. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:28.399 How many of you know everyone has a different race? 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:31.360 Your race won't look like my race. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.000 Your race might be shorter or longer. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.720 Your race will take you through different places. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:40.639 But the key part about it is the one who has authored the race is God. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:42.320 He's the one who has laid it out. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:48.000 He's the one who has determined it, and he is the one who's given us the strength to finish it. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:51.519 Whatever that race is, wherever it might take you. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.159 Where does that fit into our text this morning? 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:59.440 I'm gonna leap ahead to verse 24, where Paul says this. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.440 I'll give you the context as we go into the message. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:23.120 But he says this in verse 24 I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.799 A whole lot there that we'll unpack, but you hear his heart. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:30.799 I want to finish my course. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.279 It's the same Greek word, it's race. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:39.360 I want to finish my race, I want to finish the course the Lord has laid out for me. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.200 I want to finish. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.919 And if I could put words in the apostle's mouth, I would say that it's not enough just to finish. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:49.360 I want to finish well. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.799 Now at this point in his life, he's not in control. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:54.320 Like I said, he's in prison. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:55.759 His freedom has been taken away. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:58.399 He can't run to different places and plant churches. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:00.240 That season has passed. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:04.000 That's why he's able to say, I have run the race. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:16.080 But I think a word for all of us would be not just to finish, because we've got so many freedoms, we have so many liberties, we've got so many things that we can do with our time and our money and our resources. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:25.279 But I want all of us to think today am I going to finish well if I keep on this path? 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.000 Will this lead to finishing strong? 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:36.480 I think what all we all want to do who call Jesus Lord is to finish strong. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:46.080 And so there are just two questions I want us to think about and meditate on as we go through the text this morning, verses 17 through 27. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.639 Number one, are you faithfully running the race Christ has given you? 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:53.919 We'll unpack a little bit about that. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:12:00.159 Are you faithfully running the race that Christ has given you? 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:07.440 And secondly, are you determined to finish the race that Christ has given you? 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.080 All right, let's set the scene here. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:24.480 Uh we're at verse 17, and up to this point, this is part of what's called Paul's third missionary journey. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:35.840 And at this point in his third missionary journey, he had spent three years in Ephesus, and he had just saturated Ephesus and all of Asia with the gospel, so much to the point that it affected the economy. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:49.120 People who were in the idol-making trade were seeing their profits plummet because the gospel was going forward, and so many people were believing and understanding that idols are not gods. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.480 I don't need to buy your little trinket, your little idol that you make. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:13:10.639 And so the the industry is beginning to collapse, and a silversmith stirs up a riot, and by God's grace, Paul is protected, his partners are protected, no harm comes to them, but it's time to leave. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.720 That's how he leaves Ephesus. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:20.080 He leaves Ephesus and then goes into a region called uh Macedonia, where there's churches like the church of Philippi and Thessalonica and others. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:20.960 He goes through there. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:29.600 He he he he gets into uh Corinth, he gets into the area they called, you know, Greece, he gets into there and he makes it to Troaz, and he's determined. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:37.440 See, the reason why he was going through all those churches is because he was collecting an offering to give to poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:41.919 And it would be a symbolic act showing the oneness of the body of Christ. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:51.919 That you have people professing Jesus who are Gentiles, but in Christ, they are part of the family of God, like everyone who had been born a Jew. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:14:00.320 There are no more, the middle wall of partition, if you will, the dividing, the divided Jews and Gentiles has been torn down in Jesus. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:25.200 So there's one body, and collecting this offering amongst Gentile churches, many of those who are doing financially better than the churches in Jerusalem in Jerusalem, connecting this, collecting this offering and doing it in a way that was above board and above any criticism, doing it and then delivering it would have made a powerful statement to the Jewish Christians that we have a family. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.320 Because we have saints. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:35.519 We used to call dogs, but now they're brothers and sisters, and look how they're providing for us. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:38.799 That was his passion toward the end. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:41.440 Got to get this offering to Jerusalem. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:46.799 And he wanted to get it at a point, get there where there would be a number of Jews present. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:48.960 Want to get there by Pentecost. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.120 That's what would be on the calendar. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:59.840 So as he leaves Troaz, he's on a boat and he skips over Ephesus because he's going down south. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:03.679 He said, I don't have time to stop there because I might get hung up there. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:10.320 But he stops in a little city, a little town called Miletus, 30 miles south of Ephesus. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:20.240 And verse 17 says that he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:25.919 He calls for the elders of the church to come to him. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:33.200 Now we'll dive in a little deeper on that next week about elders, but think here, you're talking about the leadership in the church. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:39.440 You think about the fact that they they're plural, there are multiple elders at the church at Ephesus. 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:49.360 Elder, you know, you just look at the word, it means older, but by the time it's being used here, it's leadership within the church, mature in the faith. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:16:05.679 We'll talk more about this, about the elders, but just get just the picture is he's he's sent, he's dispatched a messenger to go 30 miles and go to tell the elders at the church at Ephesus, Paul is in my leaders and he wants to see you. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.240 He he needs to see you. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:10.159 Come along. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:22.480 So Paul waits in my leaders for about five days, because that's how long it would have taken them to go, the messenger to go there, and for the elders to make them wet their way to him. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.559 Verse 18. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:36.000 And when they came to him, he said to them, now pause. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.279 This section is unique in the book of Acts. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:46.639 This is the only place where you have the Apostle Paul giving an address directly to Christians. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:49.519 We're gonna have him later as we study Acts. 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:53.440 He's gonna give address to leaders, you know, those who are in authority in Rome. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:59.039 And we've seen him give sermons to Jews and Gentiles and so forth. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:04.720 But this is a message just for Christians and in particular Christian leaders. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:17.119 But he's giving uh Christians, believers, an address, a message, and it's in the format of what's called a farewell address. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:33.519 You see it periodically in the Bible, and and one good example is when the prophet slash judge Samuel gave his last word to Israel, it was in the format of what's called a farewell address. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:47.119 It would have first, first of all, the first one of the first or major points of it is like a a uh retelling of the example that he lived. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:53.119 Kind of like a way, if there anyone who would come along afterwards, again, this is a farewell address. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:18:01.359 If anyone should come afterwards and say something about me, you know how I have lived. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.319 You know how I have lived. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:09.119 A second part of it of a farewell address would be a warning. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:11.039 A warning. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:18.960 Something is coming along around the corner, and you need to be prepared. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:23.519 And the third part would be a charge. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:25.599 A charge. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:30.400 You know, go forth and and and do this. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.880 This is what Paul is giving the church of leaders. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:40.880 I just want to let it drop that in you because so you'll know he wasn't just doing something off the cuff. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:58.720 He he put he wanted this in the in a way that they would get it because they are the leaders of this most this important church, and you could say the most important church in Asia because of so many of the churches they helped uh establish and plan how many believers are hearing the gospel and going forward. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.359 So listen to the the the address. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:06.559 First it begins with you yourselves, i.e., y'all know this. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.000 You yourselves is for emphasis. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:17.839 He could have said you know, but he says, you yourselves know, and then how I lived among you. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:23.519 You know how I lived among you. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:28.160 You have firsthand knowledge of how I lived among you. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:30.160 Now, watch this. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:37.200 When he gives his outline, you know, a reminder of his ministry and so forth, he doesn't call forth the miracles. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:44.799 He doesn't talk about all the great people who uh were healed and the demons that were cast out and all of those things that have happened in Ephesus. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.400 He doesn't he doesn't talk about that part. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:52.720 He says, You know my life, you know how I have lived. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.519 You know that's how you can tell a false prophet. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:05.359 Somebody could give you a little bit of truth, a little bit of a snippet here and there. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:10.079 But also, but times people adulterate the gospel by what they leave out. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:27.599 Because if you leave out the core some core components, such as we've all sinned, such as there's eternal punishment, such such as uh a man's uh sinfulness and can't can't save himself, you leave those parts out, even though you have the other elements. 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:31.119 If you don't put all the pieces together, it's a false gospel. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.160 But Jesus said, watch their fruit. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:39.200 That's how someone lives. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:45.920 If they're trying, if they're greedy or if their flesh is leading in their decision making, you'll see it. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:54.240 You'll see greed, you'll see pride, you'll hear it, you'll see it and be able to know that fruit ain't ripe, that ain't good, no. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:21:04.559 I we eventually there will be something that'll be said or intentionally not said to trip others up. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:08.000 Now, this again, this is consistently the pattern. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:15.039 Paul's point is you know my pattern, how I lived consistently among you. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:17.839 And how long? 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:20.640 Read it? 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:24.240 Your neighbor isn't reading it. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:25.279 Just read it. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:26.400 What does it say? 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:34.720 The whole time from day one that I set foot I set foot in this region. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:40.559 You know how I lived. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:43.519 Because I lived with you. 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.079 Paul wasn't like a a voice from the stage. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:53.039 He wasn't somebody a prophet who just descend and and give a word and be gone. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.960 He he lived with the church. 00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.200 He did life in the community. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:21:59.599 That's how. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.640 They would be able to know how he lived because he lived amongst them. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:11.200 They would know about his work ethic. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:14.559 Because he would he sustained himself. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:17.039 He did so much in his tent making. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:23.440 He would do his labor in the morning, then go to the lecture hall and teach and during the heat of the day. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:25.759 And he they would know his work ethic. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:33.680 And you know, when you're, and I'm sure, because people are people, you know, he's doing this business making tents. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.759 I'm sure he ran across some crazy customers. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:41.119 Folk ain't always. 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:47.839 Some of you worked in retail or or maybe sales or something. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.240 Not all customers are the same. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:53.599 Some are higher maintenance than others. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:58.319 And others, some just are not firing at on all cylinders. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:08.000 Some of the Gen Z folks haven't understood that part yet. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:09.039 It's coming. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.079 You may be at your first workplace, I promise you. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:18.480 As you go on and continue in your work career, same circus, different clowns. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:23.599 Or different clowns, same circus. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:30.400 You begin to see certain personalities and types, and Paul dealt with that. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:38.240 Paul had in the church watched. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:40.319 They watched him have a bad day. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:52.880 They watched how the Jews would would curse and spit and and um um you know criticize him and slander him, and he would show up at that lecture hall the next day. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:54.240 Didn't matter who was there. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:55.759 They would see that. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.480 He lived out that example. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:06.720 He had a visible, he had a life that authenticated the gospel that he preached. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:08.720 Now, this isn't the only time. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:12.400 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 8. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:17.359 This is how he lived amongst the Thessalonians when he was there in Thessalonica. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:26.720 He said, So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:32.559 Because you had become very dear to us. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.640 Now again, this is an address particularly for this is for the elders. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:45.440 And he's saying, you all who are elders in particular know me. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:49.359 Not everybody in the church is going to know. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:59.359 Not everyone in the church at Ephesus was led to faith by Paul or knew him intimately, but those leaders, oh yeah, they knew. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:01.279 They knew him. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:12.319 They could give a testimony to him and how the message of the word was delivered, not just in words, the gospel was delivered also in how he lived. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:34.480 And here is a point to remember is that ministry, whatever it is, not just teaching, not just pastoring or or or uh any just serving in any capacity, doing ministry, is the word of God delivered through a life that people can actually see. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:37.599 I.e. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:41.039 we are the hands and feet of Jesus. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:42.960 He is the word. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:57.839 But I want I wanted to I wanted to bring this part as ministry is the word of God brought out because he is the word, and we are professing that everything is done in the name of Jesus. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:04.559 Everything that we do should be consistent with the word. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:15.359 So if you're serving in pantry, it's ministry, it's the word of God being declared to everyone who drives by and has a need that day. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:16.480 They're important. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.799 Every single person is important. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:29.440 However, it is again you're serving, but it's the word of God delivered through a life that people can actually see a pattern. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:36.000 You know, giftedness can attract somebody for a moment, but character? 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:43.440 You know, people's talent can take them places their character can't keep them. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:52.240 And you see people hit this point in their careers at the dumbest points in their lives. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:27:02.160 Frontal lobe hadn't fully developed, make bad decisions, and end up squandering it, and in their 30s look back and regret. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:08.000 But remember the importance of character. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.039 Paul said, You know how I lived. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:19.839 And and so he influence built by character, by being watched. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:21.200 They could see it. 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:35.519 That means as the body, we have to be real with each other, especially in leading, but for all of us, we have to be real with each other. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:41.759 I remember when I got laid off over 20 something years ago. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:45.680 First thing I wanted to do was kind of keep it to myself. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:53.359 Well, when I started to do the job hunt, didn't want too many to know. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:28:00.559 Different seasons in my life where I felt like maybe it was a struggle I wanted, I just wanted to keep it. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:10.400 I robbed the body of that testimony, and I robbed the body of hearing how God brought me through. 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:16.960 When we withhold, we're taking glory away from God. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:24.240 Because someone might think you got yourself together in your own strength. 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:27.440 And people won't know it was God who brought you through. 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:44.000 But if you tell folks from the beginning, from day one, the situation happened, if so, doesn't that be everybody, but you share it, you're being vulnerable, transparent, then you give space for God to get all the glory when it happens to come to pass. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:48.079 And others can imitate that example. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:51.839 So that's how he lived. 00:28:53.200 --> 00:29:11.839 Verse 19, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews. 00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:22.079 You know how I lived, and you know how I served the Lord, meaning the Lord is master and I am the slave. 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:29.759 He is the one who has dictated to me and has governed me and has led me. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:32.880 He is the master, serving the Lord. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:42.240 How I lived and and and how I uh how I walked with the Lord, we weren't as equals. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.319 He was the master and is the master. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:48.799 I'm the slave. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:53.119 You know, somebody is going to control you. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:01.759 It may be someone in your past when you were a kid and told you, spoke some word over you, and you hadn't been able to shake it. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:02.960 You'll never be nothing. 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:04.720 Your family has never been nothing. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:09.039 Your flesh, it could be you. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:11.599 The pursuit of pleasure. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:16.799 Something is going to control and direct your decisions. 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:23.759 If you give that control to people, people will control you. 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:28.240 If you live with the fear of man, the fear of man is a snare. 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:29.119 It's a trap. 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:31.920 You get caught up in that trap, it's hard to get out. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.559 Fear of man, people controlling. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:43.680 If all your life is dictated by self, well, comfort will control you. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:52.640 You'll be like a ping-pong ball, whoever the person is, the places that'll make you feel the most comfortable, you'll bounce from here and there and so forth. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:54.720 Feelings will be your God. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:03.039 You know how serving the Lord and how I served him. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:05.279 How did he serve? 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:06.400 With all what? 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:16.880 Humility and with tears and with trials. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:20.319 Yeah, yeah, much better that time. 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:25.039 Serving the Lord. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:27.599 How did you serve the Lord? 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:29.359 With all humility. 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:34.720 Humility is rightly understanding who you are. 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:38.000 It's not thinking that you're less than everybody else. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:43.759 Humility is having the right view of yourself as God sees you. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:48.319 Not better than anyone else, and not less than either. 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:58.880 So with all humility, not putting on airs, never used his his, uh, never did like like title dropping, and you know who I am. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:00.960 I'm the apostle. 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:05.680 Humility, and he says, tears. 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:10.880 You know, if you read Acts 19, you don't see about, you don't read about the tears. 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:22.240 You hear about the great success and how the word of God spread and and was moving, and God was doing amazing miracles through the hand of Paul. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:26.960 And you read about that, but here he tells about the tears. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:34.240 And I don't care what ministry you are doing for the Lord, there will be tears. 00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:42.880 Because if you're doing it for the Lord, you care, and you care about people, and that makes you vulnerable, and people can hurt you. 00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:52.960 With all of those successes, if you will, the backstory behind it, there was praise, but there were also tears. 00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:54.480 Tears. 00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:59.920 Who for the saints in Corinth who just couldn't get their act together? 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:01.839 He wrote letter after letter. 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:03.279 They couldn't get it together. 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:06.319 His tears, heart being broken. 00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:13.920 When he hears his fellow Jews cursing Jesus, all Paul wanted was for them to be saved. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:17.119 Do you know Paul said, I would trade places with them? 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:24.079 You would be willing to go to hell if that would have meant his fellow Jewish brethren could be saved. 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:27.039 The tears. 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:29.680 He says, You know it. 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:31.759 I serve the Lord. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:40.559 And humility, tears, and then the trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews. 00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:47.920 You know, we read about the opposition from the Jews when he first showed up, you know, the synagogue, and they didn't like him, didn't want him, so and so. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.960 But but look, we understand it never stopped. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:55.279 It continued to harass him, continued to threaten him. 00:33:55.519 --> 00:34:14.719 But you know, he says, how I lived, and you know my service to the Lord, how through tears, and how through all the plots of the Jews, and never knowing what was around the corner, I maintained a humility and service for the Lord's glory. 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:28.559 You know all about it, and how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable. 00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:33.760 Oh, he fought the good fight. 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:38.800 There's opposition when you are the Lord's servant. 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:46.960 But he fought the good fight, and he did not shrink from declaring to them anything that was profitable. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:35:02.719 To not shrink, it's a term that uh to haul down lower, referring to a sail, a boat going in a certain direction and then pulling down the sail. 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:05.679 That means to shrink, to pull back. 00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:10.960 Like that's the picture of pulling back, not going forward anymore. 00:35:11.199 --> 00:35:21.679 He says, I didn't shrink, I didn't draw back, I didn't retreat from declaring anything that was profitable. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:26.559 That means anything that could provide an advantage. 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:38.159 I didn't withhold anything that was necessary for you, and teaching you in public and from house to house. 00:35:39.039 --> 00:35:44.239 So we see public and house to house. 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:50.559 As the congregation, the churches, they would, they would didn't have buildings, they would meet in each other's homes. 00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:59.440 He said, I didn't shrink from declaring, and that's to like the same word we get an angel from, to like to declare a message. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.639 I didn't shrink from a hold back from anything that was profitable. 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:28.800 I taught in public, people could see, and then house to house, which means teaching and declaring publicly, maybe that's like uh a preaching kind of exercise where there's a a group, but then having small group discussion at home, answering questions, the dialogue, going back and forth. 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:32.079 He says, You know that I I poured it out. 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:34.079 I didn't hold back anything of the gospel. 00:36:34.239 --> 00:36:35.679 See, I kept the faith. 00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:43.039 Didn't truncate it, didn't tell you a little bit the part that won't make other people mad. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:46.719 He said, I I didn't hold back anything that was profitable. 00:36:48.079 --> 00:37:02.639 Testifying, testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:08.800 I wanted to highlight that right there because that church is the gospel. 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:20.800 He bore witness, and the thought is as a uh someone who is on trial, bore witness to both Jews and Greeks. 00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:27.440 Meaning Jews and Gentiles didn't matter because both are in the same boat. 00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:30.880 All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:36.880 The same message: repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:39.039 It's the same message that we preach. 00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:44.400 It's the same, because the gospel hasn't changed, and man's heart hasn't changed. 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:52.400 So here Paul is saying it doesn't matter someone's background, who were their daddy, and and and who that doesn't matter. 00:37:52.639 --> 00:38:02.880 It doesn't matter if someone's uh religious or irreligious, doesn't matter if someone's moral or amoral, it doesn't mean if someone's educated, it doesn't matter if someone's educated or uneducated. 00:38:03.199 --> 00:38:06.079 I gave them the same message. 00:38:06.880 --> 00:38:07.760 You have to repent. 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:09.119 That means to turn away. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:11.920 Turn away from your sin and turn to God. 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:17.199 It's not enough to just stop doing wrong, it's to turn to Christ. 00:38:18.159 --> 00:38:22.320 It's to acknowledge that you are a sinner and you can't fix yourself. 00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:34.239 And that's that's the repentance and placing your faith, your total reliance in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:36.960 You see there the full, all the titles there. 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:41.199 Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord. 00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:43.199 He is the Lord of all. 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:47.119 Whether it doesn't matter if someone doesn't say they don't believe in Jesus being the Lord. 00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:48.719 The Lord is the Lord anyway. 00:38:50.079 --> 00:38:50.960 He is Lord. 00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:55.679 You make him master and recognize him as being the Christ. 00:38:56.239 --> 00:39:01.920 The anointed one, the Messiah, the one who came to take away the sins of the world. 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:09.360