WEBVTT 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:07.120 Welcome back to the Game of Life podcast. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:13.919 What if the most powerful part of your testimony isn't what you came out of? 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.399 But mention you there. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.640 In Acts 21, 37 through 40. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:27.920 In Acts 22, 1 through 11, the Bible stands before a hostile crowd and does something remarkable. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:30.559 He doesn't try to begin an argument. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:37.280 He builds a bridge, tells the truth about his past, and points everything back to Jesus. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:44.320 In today's message, Pastor Addy says challenges us to remember that we are not called to secret proof people. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:46.880 We are called to bear witness. 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:53.280 Our story should never make much of our past, our pain, or even our transformation. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.960 It should make much more of the grace of God. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:03.200 Paul's testimony reminds us that saving faith does more than receives Jesus as Savior. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.519 It bows to him as Lord. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:11.599 And sometimes the first work of grace is showing just how wrong we have been. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:17.200 Paul didn't either. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:23.760 Faith doesn't require full visibility, it requires trust in the one giving the instruction. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:32.799 So, wherever you are listening from, that's just the same question Paul asked when everything changed. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:33.920 What should I do? 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:44.560 Because the most important part of your story is not where you've been, it's Jesus who has been at the center of it all. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:50.879 Now, here's Pastor Alex for today's message from Acts 21, 37 through 40. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.519 In Acts 22, 1 through 11. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.159 Well, today we are in Acts chapter 21, and we're bridging 21 into 22. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.040 And uh we are taking a look at Paul. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:18.560 Uh the apostle Paul has concluded his third missionary journey, and at this point he is in Jerusalem, and and he has uh well been apprehended. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:22.560 Uh and we'll pick up where we left off uh last week. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:42.479 But in Wednesday night Bible study, we were studying in a book, and the book is uh is called Bible Studies for Life, and this week's lesson that we studied had a very interesting uh statistic in it that I hadn't thought of or I had thought of, but I didn't think it was this large, this number was this large. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:48.960 It said that 72% of Americans have a gym membership. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:57.919 I'm sorry, 72, over 72 million Americans, over 72 million have a gym membership. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:05.680 But over 67 percent of the gym memberships are never used. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.759 I'm not gonna ask you if you're one of those 67. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:28.560 I'm not gonna ask you if you're one who carries one of those, but two-thirds never use their gym memberships, something that they know and believe has the power to transform them, make them healthier, make their lives better, and don't use them. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:30.479 Whole gyms. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:42.400 There's a large gym, a large uh uh chain of gyms, several in Greenville who base their model, their business model is based on the fact that you won't show up. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:46.719 Look at how big they are. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:51.360 They're not big enough for all the memberships that they have, but they know you're not coming. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.039 The problem is millennials and Gen Z, they are coming. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:58.319 And they stay a long time. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.240 They take selfies and get in everybody's way. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:18.399 But anyway, but one of the ways that gym memberships get you and home remodeling projects get you, those DIY shows, one of the ways that they get you is by showing a before and after picture. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:27.920 Here's what something was before, and then there was a change, something happened in the middle, and here's the result. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:30.160 Before, after. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:35.360 Those home improvement shows, they tear down the house to the studs. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:50.560 Before, then magically in 30 minutes, the house is done, complete, and is list priced at a hundred thousand dollars above what the market value was when they got started. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:54.879 Before, something happened, and then after. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:02.319 You know, the Christian life can be summarized in a similar way, can't it? 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:11.040 Before who you were before, something changed. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:13.519 And then after. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:33.439 Before living in sin, dead to God, dead to all spiritual things, before something changed, and then after, spiritually alive, loving the Lord and seeking to please him. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.319 But something happened in the middle. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:45.759 And I want to submit to you this morning that it wasn't something that happened in the middle, it was someone. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:48.160 Anyone know his name? 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:50.399 Jesus. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:06:01.360 Something happened, but it was wasn't something, it was someone, and that someone apprehended you, and your life was not the same. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:08.079 Everyone who professes Jesus as Lord and Savior has a before. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.399 And somebody might say, My dramatic, I have a dramatic before story. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:14.000 Others might say, Well, not so much. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:24.879 Everybody had a before and had a no-business being an after, but Jesus showed up. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:38.800 We're gonna talk about that today as it as Paul, you know, we've seen Paul's uh in chapter 9, we we read, actually, Acts chapter 9, we read about Paul's conversion. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:42.160 Those were in Luke's words. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:51.600 Now, as we look at Acts 21 and into 22, what we'll see is Paul giving his conversion story in his own words. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:07:08.079 And we will see, again, that before, then Jesus, and then after, and we'll find that he is giving it in a very specific way for a very special purpose. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:09.920 Amen. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:10.720 Amen. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:19.759 But before we go into it, let's go ahead and establish our kingdom truth, our theological principle that is going to guide our discussion this morning. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.040 Here it is. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:28.560 Saving faith receives Jesus as Savior and bows to Jesus as Lord. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:30.480 You got it? 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:32.639 Saving faith. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.040 Saving faith. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:38.079 There is a faith that doesn't save. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:47.360 But saving faith receives Jesus as Savior and bows to Jesus as Lord. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:54.000 There's a false teaching that says that you can accept Jesus as Savior and reject him as Lord. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:02.240 A false teaching that says, I believe Jesus died for my sins and yet not bow to him. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:10.480 I can have Jesus and all the forgiveness of my sins, but not make him Lord. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.680 I want to tell you that is false teaching. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:27.199 Jesus is Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all, and you're going to bow now or later, but you have to make him Lord. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:32.159 You have to submit to his Lordship in order to be saved. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:39.360 Saving faith receives Jesus as Savior and bows to Jesus as Lord. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:50.399 We're familiar with some of these passages, Romans 10, 9, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:52.799 Lord means master. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:09:01.440 And if someone is your master, you do what he says. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:04.559 There's no negotiation. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:07.600 Jesus is Lord. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:08.879 You have to confess to that. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:10.240 You have to agree to that. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:12.080 John 1.12. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:22.639 John says, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.399 It's not about just receiving him as Savior. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:30.480 You have to bow to him as Lord. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.120 Here's 1 John 2, 4. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:40.799 John says, Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:54.480 And what that means is someone who consistently lives in sin, yet claims to know him, and there's no transformation, there's no fruit, that person's not saved because they've never made Jesus master. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:04.879 Not talking about stumbling, he talks in the same letter about the fact that you're going to sin, that you sinned, but he's saying sin can't be your lifestyle. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:13.840 And claim Jesus as Lord and deny his spirit that will work inside of you and transform you into his image. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:15.679 You can't be saved and be that way. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:18.399 Jesus is Savior and Lord. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.879 Saving faith requires both. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.120 Paul is an example of it. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:37.759 And today, as we take a look in scripture, we'll see how he made surrendered to Jesus the thing that happened was someone, and that one was Jesus. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:48.639 If you remember last time that we were together, Paul had and his crew had arrived in Jerusalem with a large offering collected from Gentile churches to be given to poor saints in Jerusalem. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.919 A sign that the church is one Jew, Gentile. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.519 The middle wall has been divided. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:11:01.600 There is no racism any longer because Jew and Gentile are together, brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:04.799 That offering would have symbolized that. 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:21.279 And they brought the large offering to Jerusalem and they were informed by uh the leaders there that there had been a pernicious lie that had spread that Paul was going around the world in the diaspora where Jews were spread around the world and telling them not to obey the customs of Moses. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:25.440 Don't circumcise your children, uh, don't observe those different prayer times. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:27.840 You do you have to change and be a Gentile. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.720 And Paul's like, Well, never said that. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:33.279 He said none of those things save you. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:43.919 But he didn't say that you can't use some of those taking vows and things like that as an expression of worship. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:48.720 It's when you make them commands or to or say that they are requirements for salvation. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:56.000 He never said what they said, but it was so pernicious, they said, you have to do something, you just can't argue it away. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:00.639 So he he they they had a plan and they said, make this uh collect an offering. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:26.960 You've got four men who are concluding a vow and and and do their uh a vow, as they're completing their vow, there's a requirement of sacrifices, pay for the sacrifices, do the purification, uh all of the purification procedure, which would have been a seven-day procedure, do all of these things, and everyone will see, not just here, but everyone will see that all those accusations that that you're telling people to do away with the law, people will see that that's nonsense. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:32.240 And Paul agrees. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.240 This is Pentecost. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:45.039 This is around Pentecost, some 25 years after Jesus had ascended and the day of Pentecost, the church was born. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.679 This is about some 25 years later. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:13:02.720 But there are a lot of Paul haters, and Pentecost was a time when all Jews would descend upon Jerusalem, and it was crowded, filled thousands, some say over a million Jews would gather. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:23.120 Paul, as part of this purification uh procedure, he has to go to the temple multiple times, and there one day he's there, and there are some Jews from Asia, Asia where he had preached and taught for several years and made many enemies. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:41.120 Some Jews from Asia saw him and they said, Men, we there he is, he's the one, he's the man, and they formed a mob, attacked Paul, beating him, intending to kill him, because they had a new lie. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.840 He brought a Gentile into the temple. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:50.960 Paul didn't do that, he had his homeboy Trophemus with him, but he didn't take him into the temple. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:56.399 But you tell a lie enough, somebody will believe it. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:58.399 False accusations. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:00.399 We talked about that last time. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.840 Roman commander sees it, rushes in, there's a huge crowd. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:15.519 He has some men with him, he's got beef on either side, and they go in and they get Paul. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:20.720 And the people, all the mob, they just kind of settle down. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:24.879 And the commander's trying to figure out what's going on, what's all this? 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:26.559 And folks didn't even know. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:29.200 They were saying one thing, another, they didn't even know what was going on. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:29.519 Why? 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.039 They were beating the man. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.320 He's within an inch of his life. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.759 And listen, there's a big mob, and then there's one man everyone wants to kill. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:43.279 So the commander said, Let's just get Paul out of the way. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:50.720 So they imagine this, they have to pick him up and carry him out. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:56.240 And now they are getting ready to put him in the barracks. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.360 Because they need to find out what he's done. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.360 They need to do some investigation. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.679 But as we pick up now in verse 37, we see that they've got him. 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:17.519 And it says in verse 37, as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, This that is the uh commander, may I say something to you? 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.279 And he said, Do you know Greek? 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:30.240 Now, first notice, Paul, he's real polite about this, isn't he? 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.639 You know, Paul Paul's first words out of his mouth were not a curse word. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:36.480 He wasn't yelling or anything like that. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:39.279 First thing he said, May I ask you a question? 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:48.159 No, the Holy Spirit will make you composed in the midst of your adversaries and all the others around. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.639 He'd made, hey, he was composed. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.360 And I forgot to tell you this part. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.159 Paul's chains were his deliverance. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:01.200 It was prophesied that he would be bound. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:08.320 Prophet named Agabas, and he was bound, but they say those chains saved him, saved his life. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.440 But can I ask you something? 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.320 Tribune, right away, he's thrown off his game. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:18.720 He says, Do you know Greek? 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.639 He's surprised by that. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.919 Because he had assumed something about Paul. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.720 Are you not the Egyptian then? 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:35.440 Who recently stirred up a revolt and led the 4,000 men of the assassins out into the wilderness? 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.360 See, he had a thought in his mind of who Paul was. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:47.840 And it wasn't, look, it wasn't that Paul uh was you know a scholar. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:52.159 He he hears him speak Greek. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:57.519 And not just Greek, but refined Greek. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:06.319 I mean, he's speaking using five-dollar words, you know, not just 25 cent words. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.039 He's speaking, he's speaking fluent Greek. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:14.079 So look, he he is he is not uneducated, he's not some round, you know, it's just something different. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:16.319 He's already doesn't fit the profile. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.400 But he says, Aren't you that Egyptian? 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.240 That led a revolt. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:23.680 There was an Egyptian man who had a revolt. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:28.240 He said, 4,000 stirred up that 4,000 men of the assassins. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:36.240 If you've played video games, you know of a series called Assassin's Creed, and they would have these little short blades and they'd come up and they'd kill people. 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.640 Well, that's what these group y'all get the visual. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.599 They'd have a little blade, you know, real easily concealed. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:18:03.519 What this group of assassins would do, these were Jewish radicals who would have these little knives, and if they saw someone in a crowd who was a Roman sympathizer, they would sneak up on them and suddenly they just fall out, and no one would know who did it. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:27.680 This Egyptian man led people, he was charismatic apparently, and he led a bunch of them, claiming to have had a word from God, and eventually led them out into a desert, and the Romans tried to find him, and some Jews tried to find him too, because he's they were killing Jews, but he had escaped. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:34.559 The commander thought, as he saw that crowd and people beating on him and everything else, well, that must be him. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.599 He is public enemy number one. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:40.640 Isn't that you? 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:50.880 Paul said, I am a Jew from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:56.160 I beg you, permit me to speak to the people. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:18:59.359 I am a Jew. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:01.680 First laying out, he's not an Egyptian. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.119 I am a Jew. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.920 And not only that says, I'm from Tarsus. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.799 And that was the capital of that region, Cilicia. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:20.559 And Tarsus was a city that was known for wealth and education. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:24.240 It was not an insignificant. 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:30.400 He is, when he says it was a no-obscure city, I mean he is understating it. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.319 It's that Tarsus that everyone knows. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:51.599 And where you were born meant a lot in the first century. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:57.759 Told people a lot about who you were and who you may be a descendant of and everything else. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:08.079 And so what Paul has done speaking to him in Greek, explaining where he was from, and notice what he did not say. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.559 He did not say he was a Roman citizen. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.440 He'll play the big joker later. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:22.079 Right now, he's got the king of spades, and he puts that down, but he's saving that big joker for later. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.880 Some of you know spades, some of you badly spades. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:29.440 That's his big joker. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:31.839 But he's keeping that in his back pocket. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:47.440 He hasn't given him everything about his life, but he's given him enough for him to think, okay, what I thought about him is not true. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:58.640 And maybe, okay, I got this wrong, and maybe he has the capacity to disperse this crowd. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.680 They obviously don't know who he is. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.240 They would have stopped all of this if they would have known who he is. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:06.799 I mean, it sounds like he's telling the truth. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:11.839 Maybe he, if he addresses them, all of this can be done away with. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:15.599 Because the folks in the mob obviously don't know who he is. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:20.000 Nobody can give me a I'm getting 500 different stories. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:27.200 All Paul wants to do is to address the people. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:34.319 And when he had given him permission, understand this, all he wanted was to get to that. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.400 The opportunity to talk to the crowd. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:48.559 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:56.720 And when there was a great hush, because this was a sign I get ready to make an address. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.680 So there was a great hush in the crowd. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.119 And then he addressed him in what? 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:06.799 Hebrew language. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.759 How had he addressed the commander? 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:15.119 Greek. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:20.559 He addressed the commander in Greek? 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:25.119 He spoke the language that the commander would understand. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:31.359 And now his turn to the people, and he spoke the home language. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:35.119 He spoke Hebrew, and some say that's Aramaic. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:38.240 But either way, he's talking the language of the people. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:44.880 And he says to them, brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:52.240 And when they heard he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.400 There was a greater hush. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:03.359 Now it's remarkable, first of all, that he begins his address with brothers and fathers. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:10.960 Now, some of y'all, I'm not gonna call any names, but some of y'all wouldn't have started with brothers. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.599 Some of you might have had a holy sanctified. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:18.000 Y'all sorry jokers. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:22.880 Some people might have had an edge to them. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:28.559 But he says, brothers, he's speaking to them as family. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:32.480 We're part, we're all descendants of Abraham. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:49.519 I am a Jew like you, brothers, fathers, older, respected men in the crowd, brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I make before you. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:53.839 Look at that. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:58.960 First, let's appreciate how he had a heart for his people. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:05.119 Romans chapter 10, verse 1 says, Excuse me, 10 1. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.359 Reminds us of this. 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:16.720 There we go. 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:22.240 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for it for them speaking of Israel is that they may be saved. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:24.720 He wants them to be saved. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.000 Hear the defense that I make to you. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:38.799 And that word defense is important in this context because it means, it's the Greek word apologia, which means to give an answer in defense of oneself. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:46.400 Why is it significant? 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:48.079 That word defense. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:55.200 What's interesting and important about that is Paul never answers the charge. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:06.079 In his this speech he's getting ready to make, he never answers the charge of whether or not he brought a Gentile into the temple complex. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:09.039 He doesn't talk about it. 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:15.599 In essence, what he's saying is, my testimony is my defense. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:29.920 Because he's going to share his testimony, who he was before, who he was after, and in the middle with someone, hear this defense. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:38.480 And even though, listen, Paul, what he did, he adjusted what he needed to say, how he said it, depending on the audience. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:44.160 And he spoke, he didn't compromise anything by speaking the language of the people. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:52.079 He was going to give them truth, but he's giving it to them in a way that they can understand and in a correct posture. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:54.079 You know, we're all called for that. 00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:00.240 Colossians 4, 5 and 6, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:02.079 Let your speech always be what? 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.799 Always be gracious. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:08.400 Not just words out of your mouth, that's words that you type. 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:16.319 Anything that you are communicated, let it be gracious, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer each person. 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:30.000 In 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 15, in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is within you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:35.200 This is important because you can be right but obnoxious at the same time. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:41.279 You can have the right message, but deliver it in the wrong way. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:47.200 And you can win an argument but lose the person. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:53.039 It matters how you communicate truth. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:59.200 It matters what your purpose is when you begin to converse. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:05.920 Paul is trying to lead this assembly of people, this crowd of people gathered on this festival. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:11.599 He is speaking, trying to lead them to Jesus. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:21.119 And that look, that change, that informed how he talked to the commander and how he addressed the people right there in front of him. 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:28.720 And so for a life application, first application is this build a bridge before you make your case. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:36.400 Build a bridge with someone before you build your case that Jesus is Lord. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:41.039 And that belongs to so many different domains, right? 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:42.480 So many different areas. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:44.559 It deals with evangelism. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:52.480 Listen, ask questions and listen to people before you go into your gospel presentation spiel. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:28:03.519 Listen to people before you dive in into all the things they are theologically wrong about, because what you might find out is they don't have a position necessarily. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.079 They have hurt and they have pain. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:14.079 There's so much, sometimes it's not so much, I don't believe in Jesus as much as I got hurt at church when I grew up. 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:23.519 And when you let people talk, sometimes they'll bring you right to it, and oftentimes they will bring themselves to it. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:26.319 I guess I really don't have too much of a problem with Jesus. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:28.720 I guess it was that church I was a part of. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:30.799 Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:35.599 Build a bridge before you build your case. 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:37.200 Build a bridge. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:42.720 If you have someone in your family who is wrestling with faith, listen. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:45.359 Listen to what they have to say. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:50.720 And listen, make sure your posture is such that you are open. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:52.720 You want to understand. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:55.200 You repeat what they're saying. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:58.000 Let me make sure I understand what you're saying. 00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:01.200 That's how it should be in family. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:04.079 It's how it needs to be like in your workplace. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:08.400 It is so good to build a bridge before you build your case. 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:09.680 Listen first. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:14.559 There may just be a breakdown in communication. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:21.119 Sometimes someone chooses a word wrong, or sometimes you hear certain words in a certain way. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:24.000 Check yourself. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:28.079 Hold this pause before you say anything and ask for clarification. 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:30.559 Make sure I heard what you said. 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:36.480 Because what I'm hearing you saying is this is that what you mean? 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:38.640 Oh, and it's so important. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:40.400 So important online. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:44.720 We're not called to win arguments, we are called to bear witness. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.880 So listen, we're not trying to win and win debates. 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:54.240 We are trying to be witnesses of Jesus Christ and what he can do. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:56.640 And that's what Paul is all about here. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:07.359 He enters into his message, and he says, into his defense, and his defense begins with, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:11.680 No, same thing that he told the commander, but now notice how things shift. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:26.319 But brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are today, building a bridge. 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.279 Now, look at how it's listen to the progression. 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.759 He says where he's born, Tarsus. 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:33.680 He's born in the diaspora, right? 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:36.720 He's born in Tarsus, but it is a wealthy city. 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:42.079 He obviously has had great training, education, and then he gets specific. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:45.279 I was brought up in Jerusalem. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:52.880 At some point, as a young boy, his family moved to Jerusalem. 00:30:53.680 --> 00:31:02.000 Which we will see how it makes sense later that his sister is in Jerusalem and his nephew is in Jerusalem, and they're going to help him out. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:12.640 But that he's at some point he moved and he becomes a student of Gamalia, one of the most respected rabbis in the first century. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:18.000 If you were one of his students, that means you were bright. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:19.759 That means you were sharp. 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:23.920 That means that you are the cream of the crop. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:27.839 He sat at his feet. 00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:30.400 And he's gaining instruction. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.240 That's the posture of a student with his rabbi. 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:42.000 According to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, he had a microscopic understanding. 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:45.759 He knew the details of the law. 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:51.680 The law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 00:31:51.839 --> 00:32:11.119 The progression where I was born, way out there, but moved to Jerusalem, right outside of the temple, then right there, trained at the feet of Gamaliel, and then trained, but under the specific instructions of our fathers, and zealous just like all of you, building a bridge just like you. 00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:14.640 I was just like you. 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:23.759 In Philippians 3, he he expounds on his resume and he says that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee and everything else. 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:28.079 Listen, he had all his resume was stacked. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:34.880 I was as zealous for God as all of you are today. 00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:39.519 Notice he doesn't rip into the crowd, does he? 00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:47.759 He doesn't rip into them, he doesn't criticize them, he puts them, puts himself at their place at the same level. 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:50.000 I there was a before. 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:54.799 And if there's any confusion, he says, I am a Jew. 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:57.680 Evidenced by the fact that he's speaking Hebrew. 00:32:57.839 --> 00:32:59.200 I am a Jew. 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:10.640 So anyone, and why that's important is because there were some who believed that he was a Gentile going out telling Jews not to be Jewish anymore and rejecting all of the law. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:13.119 There was even some lies going around about that. 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:14.400 He says, No, I'm a Jew. 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:17.839 I was raised here and everything else. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:19.839 I had all of this instruction. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:25.279 You can imagine this right there takes the wind out of some of his opponents' sails. 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:29.119 But he's done it in a gracious way. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:32.480 Again, zealous. 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:35.200 You know, he said, I was as zealous as you. 00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:37.119 There's nothing wrong with zeal. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:43.680 He says in Romans 10, 2, I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:46.799 There's nothing wrong with being zealous or passionate. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:49.839 Just understand you can be zealously wrong. 00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:54.640 You can just be passionate and wrong. 00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:03.599 You could find yourself being passionate about your religious practices and opposing the very God you claim to be serving. 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:11.039 Listen, being zealous for your faith, that doesn't mean you're right. 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:15.840 I can be zealous that I am not subject to gravity. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:21.280 I can believe that with all of my heart. 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:24.000 But guess what would happen? 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:32.079 If I took a jump off of a building, they say the Empire State Building, if I took, guess what would happen? 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:34.000 Gravity would win. 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:38.400 You can be zealous, but zealously wrong. 00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:44.800 You search the scriptures, Jesus said, because in them you think that you have eternal life. 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:52.800 It is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:55.760 He had the law, but he missed the Lord. 00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:00.480 He had great passion and great zeal, but he didn't have saving knowledge. 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.599 He had religion, but no regeneration. 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:11.280 Verse 4, I persecuted this way to the death. 00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:17.280 Where I grew up, my background, and here's what I did as an adult. 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:20.159 And I persecuted this way to death. 00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:25.440 This is how zealous he was this way to the death. 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:28.800 That's what believers call themselves followers of the way. 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:33.840 Which means Jesus is not an accessory to anyone's life, he is the way. 00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:40.159 Because he called himself the way, the truth, and the life. 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:42.800 There's no other way to the Father but through him. 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:49.920 And we, he says, I was I persecuted followers of the way. 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:51.280 I harassed them. 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:53.039 I chased them. 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:58.880 That's how I was so zealous and to the death, binding and delivering to prison, both men and women. 00:35:58.960 --> 00:36:07.840 There's no record of him killing anyone, but he would turn them over to those who had the authority to turn people over to be crucified, to be executed. 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:09.760 He said, That's what I was harassing people. 00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:11.119 That was what I was after. 00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:16.960 What I was for delivering to prison both men and women. 00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:22.000 He emphasizes that it's not just the men. 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:28.480 Typically, you know, during these kinds of situations, they would just go after the men, but not Paul. 00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:31.760 Or Saul of Tarsus. 00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:36.880 Hauling men and women into prison. 00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:39.039 He was a terrorist. 00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:41.280 Let's just go ahead and call it what it was. 00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:42.639 He was a terrorist. 00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:50.880 He said he was an insolent, angry, violent aggressor. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:52.960 That was his before. 00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:55.280 That's what his life was before. 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:58.719 And he goes uh delivered into prison both men and women. 00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:03.199 And looking at uh Galatians chapter 1, verse 13, you've heard of my former life. 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:11.840 You've heard of my before story in Judaism and how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:14.159 What is he doing? 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:16.880 Paul is still building that bridge. 00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:18.719 I was just like you. 00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:20.320 I was just like you. 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:25.760 And as a matter of fact, any weapon you would try to form, I already swung it. 00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:35.920 I was more zealous than any of you could possibly imagine or were or could possibly be, because I had direct orders. 00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:37.199