WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:01.360 Morning. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:08.320 Today's text is from the Book of Acts, chapter 8, verses 1 through 8. 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:12.000 And Saul approved of his execution. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:22.079 And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:32.640 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him, but Saul was ravaging the church, and entering the house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.679 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:45.920 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ, and the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him, and saw the signs that he did. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:52.960 For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:55.039 So there was much joy in that city. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:56.399 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:02.159 Good morning. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:03.600 Thanks for joining us this morning. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.079 Whoops, I should put on my microphone. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.560 Make it easier for you to hear me. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:09.680 Good morning. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:10.319 Thanks. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:11.040 There we go. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:12.319 Thanks for joining us this morning. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:13.519 My name is James Rathman. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.519 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.840 It's a joy to gather together with you all. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:27.280 We are actually concluding this portion of our series in Acts for the year this morning. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:37.680 We've been moving through Acts since the beginning of uh 2026, and we are kicking off our summer series next week, and that's called The Christian Home. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:46.319 And last summer we went through uh a series on marriage, which I titled the marriage series, which is a sticky title. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:47.760 Easy to remember. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:49.280 This one's called The Christian Home. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:02:03.760 I thought it would be helpful as we moved uh sort of beyond marriage towards what what type of uh home does uh the gospel establish and and how are we instructed in scripture to raise our children? 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:04.959 What do our children mean? 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:06.159 What is a covenant child? 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:07.120 What does all this mean? 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:08.400 That's what we'll be exploring. 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:20.479 There's uh our our church is um repopulating the earth, and so uh I thought a uh parenting series would be uh helpful and beneficial for us, so that's what we'll be moving into. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:25.439 But today uh we will uh conclude our time in Acts. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:27.120 So let's pray. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:34.159 Holy Father, you are gracious and merciful, Lord. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.039 And you are in your presence, Lord, there is fullness of joy. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:43.919 Father, we pursue joy in all kinds of places. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:50.719 Lord, we we look for it in our possessions, we look for it in security, we look for it in times of rest or times of peace. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:57.599 Lord, we look for it in all kinds of things that we don't have presently now, thinking that joy is just around the corner. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:03.759 But Lord, there is one source of joy, Lord, and that is your Holy Spirit. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:17.680 Father, I pray that you would fill our hearts, Lord, that you would pour your joy into our hearts, Lord, that we might proclaim your gospel, and that we might, you might restore to us the joy of our salvation. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:28.080 Lord, because in restoring to us our the joy of our salvation, Lord, you strengthen us, because the joy of the Lord is our strength. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:38.000 Lord, I pray that you would strengthen us as you strengthened the early church after the martyrdom of Stephen, and as you spread your gospel, that you spread it, and the fruit of your gospel was joy. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:41.120 Lord, we pray that you would do that for us this morning. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.680 Lift us up in Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:55.599 So last week we saw the martyrdom of Stephen after spending several weeks looking at his long speech before the Sanhedrin. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:01.520 And at the Sanhedrin, after he concluded his speech, it's like they they finally snap. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:09.039 The facade that they were wearing of formality that they were hiding behind, it it breaks, and the mask drops. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:14.159 And what's revealed was their true heart towards the proclamation of the gospel. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:30.879 And their true heart was vile and wicked, and they become this sort of mob, uh, ignoring any sort of formality, ignoring any sort of ruling, they take Stephen out of the city and they bury him in a pile of stones as they stone him to death. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:35.680 But this is no place to conclude that story. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:45.759 That's why I wanted to do one more week, because you can't tell the death story without telling the resurrection story, because you'd misunderstand what it all meant. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:54.560 Because Stephen's story, the story of the fruitfulness of Stephen's life, did not end in a pile of stones outside the city. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:57.600 Instead, his fruitfulness was just beginning. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:03.920 There was a glory that was to come from the martyrdom of Stephen, because that is the way that the gospel works. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:14.720 We looked at this last week as we compared the victories in Joshua, the Old Testament book of conquest, to this victory in Acts, which is the New Testament book of conquest. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:24.000 And in Joshua, the enemy king is buried under a pile of stones at the end of the story of the sack of Ai. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:31.759 And because the enemy king is buried under a pile of stones, then that shows that the Israelites were victorious. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:43.360 But in Stephen's story, it ends with, his story ends with being buried under a pile of stones, which is the picture of the enemies of God being victorious over the people of God. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:53.519 But they are not victorious over the people of God, because the fruitfulness of the witness that Stephen bore could not be snuffed out under a pile of stones. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:55.360 Hide it under a bushel? 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:56.000 No. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:57.199 Exactly. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:59.600 You've all been well catechized. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:12.560 So the story continues, and the shape that Luke tells it to us in in Acts 1 through 8, or excuse me, in Acts 8, 1 through 8, is a tale of two cities. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:20.079 There are two cities that have very different experiences of the fruitfulness of Stephen's martyrdom. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:32.079 The first one is Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem, it is a city of mourning and of danger and of attack, but of the stalwart presence of the apostles. 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:48.560 And then we see the story of the next city, which is the city of Samaria, where Philip moves into Samaria, and the way that this story concludes for Samaria is that that city was full of great joy. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.920 This is the fruitfulness of Stephen's life. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:58.959 What we're seeing is that after the martyrdom of Stephen, the church acts like Christ. 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:02.720 We see two pictures of the way that the church responds to Christ. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:10.879 The first picture is in Jerusalem, after the martyrdom of Stephen, the apostles don't leave, they stay. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:22.319 And the reason that the apostles stay is because they have the Holy Spirit of Christ in them, and he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:24.639 And the apostles are willing to do that. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:32.560 The apostles are not hired hands, they don't have the spirit of a hired hand who will flee when danger comes. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:38.480 They have the spirit of our Lord, the good shepherd who will lay down his life for his sheep. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:47.519 And we see that Philip likewise has the spirit of our Lord, because he goes to seek and save the lost. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:53.600 Two pictures of what the church is, two pictures of who Christ is in these two cities. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:55.519 So let's begin by looking at Jerusalem. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:01.120 Acts 8.1 says, And Saul approved of his execution. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:13.680 And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:21.600 First thing to note, Saul, who was introduced to us as the young man who is overlooking the coats of the people who are stoning Stephen. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:26.879 Here we see that Saul approved of the execution of Stephen. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:49.759 What's incredible about this, of course, is that as he stands approvingly witnessing the execution, that this Saul, who will become Paul after his conversion to Christ, which will happen in just the next chapter, that Paul will suffer the same fate by the same hands, by the same spirit that is attacking the church. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:57.120 He will live a life of constant attack from the people who are attacking the church. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.879 He will experience the same fate that Stephen experiences. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:07.039 Right now, he looks on approvingly of the very fate that he will experience. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:17.120 That's an incredible thing, but it's so glorious that we get the story of Paul's life because what we see is the wonder of conversion in Christ. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:35.360 That the thing, the wickedness that we would look on approvingly, that in the blindness of our eyes before the Lord, that the wicked things that we would celebrate, we would one day be willing to suffer the consequences of for the sake of Christ. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.519 And that's what Paul's life shows us, which is an incredibly glorious thing. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:45.759 But Paul becomes one of the leaders of the charge of this persecution against the church. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.200 Because notice when the persecution really develops. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:56.399 It says, and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:12.320 Now you would think that this court that had charged Stephen and then murdered him, charged as overstating it, but had basically lost their minds, and then driven by this madness of sin, they murder Stephen. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:20.639 You would think that after they murdered Stephen, perhaps that they they would have been satiated. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:33.360 They would have thought, we have accomplished the justice that we sought out to accomplish, and that after the trial and after the death of Stephen, that their wrath would be satisfied. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:35.519 But the opposite happens. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.799 Instead, they're like wild animals who for who taste blood. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.679 And as they taste blood, this bloodlust develops in the Sanhedrin. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:48.879 And this is the nature of a false trial. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:11:00.320 The nature of a false trial is that when a false trial concludes and gets what it wants, it is not satisfied by getting what it wants. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:10.000 Instead, it enrages further, it creates a further bloodlust in the people who accomplished the false trial. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:16.879 A just trial resolves, justice is satisfied in a just trial. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:24.799 But in a false trial, like the Sanhedrin placed upon Stephen, in a false trial, they are only inflamed. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:25.840 Now, why is that? 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:37.360 Why were they more greatly inflamed by the murder of Stephen towards greater wrath against the whole church instead of being satisfied by the murder of Stephen? 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.120 It happens that day. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:39.919 That day. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:45.519 They didn't take a break to gather together and say, well, that's Stephen, that's gonna send a message. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:46.879 I think we're fine now. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:48.559 I think this is okay. 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:50.480 You know, this will resolve. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:12:00.879 Everybody's going to understand now the types of things we can say here, and they're gonna be careful about what they say about the temple next time and that Jesus of Nazareth. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.039 They don't have that meeting. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.559 Instead, they just break out in this terrible force. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.000 Why is that? 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:21.919 Because in a false trial, by the lies that they committed against Stephen, by the wickedness that they showed in themselves, because of the false trial, they were revealed. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:24.960 Their lies were revealed. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:29.039 You bring someone on trial to reveal the truth about them. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:37.840 But because it was a false trial, and because of the truth that Stephen bore witness to, the truth about the Sanhedrin was revealed. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:47.360 And this is the nature of the mask dropping for who they really are, who the religious leaders truly were, the mask fell. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:51.679 And that meant that their bloodlust was evoked even more. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:13:03.679 Because in their humiliation, they had to ramp up even further so that perhaps they might get a like response to their own. 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:14.480 What they think is that when they're dealing with the early church, when they're dealing with the church that they're persecuting, they think they're dealing with men like they are. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.080 They think that they're dealing with men like how they think of the world. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.639 How did the Sanhedrin respond to the truth that Stephen was proclaiming? 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:34.559 The scriptures say that they covered their ears and they cried out with shouts as they ran towards him. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:59.679 What they think is that the church is full of men and women who, when confronted with an aggressor who is seeking to get them to turn from the truth, they likewise would be willing to cover their ears so that they would ignore the truth of Christ in order to spare their own skin. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.799 But that is not who they're dealing with. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:10.399 They are dealing with the people of God who hear the shepherd's voice and respond to him. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.919 They cannot unhear the truth. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.320 They have been strengthened with a new spirit that's within them. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:28.480 And so, because of that, they will not meet their violence with a like violence, but they will not cower away, they will not be stopped, they will not be silenced. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:45.759 But let's you can this is a it's a dynamic that it's it's uh maybe maybe difficult to understand in the in the uh you know with with like a religious group and and uh uh it feels like very large scale, I guess. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:54.799 But this situation that the uh Sanhedrin find themselves in, I bet you've done this in a relationship. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.120 Here's here's how you do it. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:07.440 You are in an argument with, say, your wife or a child or a friend or coworker or something, and you you escalate too far. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:13.200 You lose your you lose your cool and you sin against them and it gets exposed. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:25.360 So now there's this moment of humiliation where you realize like I've gone too far, I've I've been cruel, I've been mean, I took out a barb and I used it, and now you have an option. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:27.279 There's there's options on the table. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:32.080 One option is I I went too far, uh, I that was sinful. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:33.279 I shouldn't have said that. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:34.399 I I repent of that. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.039 And please forgive me for for that. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:38.240 That's one option. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:44.879 It's the best one, it's lesser use, but it's the it's the best option. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:16:00.000 The other is you provoke your spouse or child, you continue to provoke them now that your humiliation has been review has been revealed, so that they will join you in the same type of sin. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:06.559 And then once they join you in the same type of sin, you can say, see, it's both of us. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:11.120 I'm not the one who lost it, you lost it too. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:21.759 And so we try and cultivate the sin of the other person that we have exposed in ourselves. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:28.799 I can tell by the quietness of the room that you know what I'm talking about. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:41.600 This is the dynamic that happens here, and it's the dynamic that happens in all kinds of our relationships, the dynamic of a false trial, but it's the dynamic of our sin being exposed. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:48.720 Why does our initial movement into sin and then our receiving the fruits of that not satisfy us? 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:58.240 Because beneath it is a humiliation, a revealing of who we truly are, and we want to hide from that by cultivating it in others around us. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:16.480 The Sanhedrin had covered their ears for the truth because of the pressure that they had experienced from one another, because of the fears of what this truth would mean for their lives, and they think that the early church will do the same thing when they put the pressure on them. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.200 And often it works. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.559 It often works. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:26.319 Satan knows this. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:32.720 That's why he uses the culture to put pressure onto the church. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:38.799 That's why there's this is this is why there's such a thing as terrorism. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:40.079 You know why? 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:42.000 Because it works. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:45.119 Because it w it works. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.000 It makes people stop talking. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:53.599 We will cover our ears to join. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:58.240 I want you to see that this sort of thing, it happens at every it happens at every level. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:09.920 Like, like don't don't think you have to wait until the persecution ramps up to experience this same pattern of sin or to fall prey to this same pattern of sin. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:16.400 You will have an opportunity to experience this the next time that you are in an argument with your spouse. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:32.079 Where you are running an uh an unjust trial, you'll get to say, I better stop this unjust trial, because I know what what it ends in finally in my heart is me blocking my ears to the truth. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:37.920 And me seeking to block the the ears of the person I'm arguing with to the truth. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.240 That's where it results. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:42.319 You should know that this can happen to you as well. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:46.240 You can be on you can be on the victim side of this, like the church is. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:57.839 You know, once once somebody starts sinning against you, you shouldn't think, oh, well, once they get this one sin out of their system, you know, then it then we'll be fine, and then it then it will be good. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:18:59.279 You should not expect that. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:07.839 You should think that once you see the pattern of somebody sinning against you, you should think, this the blood is in the water. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.319 This will continue. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:15.200 I should flee or intervene to try and stop this. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:20.640 You should know that that is the that is the shape of sin in the world. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:24.960 And it's exposed so clearly here in the Sanhedrin. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:32.319 But we're telling this story because the church does not meet them in their sin. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:38.480 The church does not block their ears under the threat of pressure to the truth like the Sanhedrin would. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:40.559 The church was not like them. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:46.079 Instead, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that something glorious happens. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:54.720 And a glory spreads as they remain committed to the very same truth over which Stephen lost his life. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:19:59.440 So we see two responses in the two cities. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.880 The response in Jerusalem is to stay. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:13.599 It says, well, well, actually, it tells us right here in this first verse, which is they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:20.240 So here's the question that I want to pose to us is well, do you stay or do you leave? 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:30.240 Throughout church history, this has been one of the most challenging questions that churches have had to face when times of persecution like this have arisen. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.359 Do we stay or do we leave? 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:47.519 And these are very, very challenging decisions to make that have divided the church in deep in deep ways, even sparking controversies over who should be baptized and who shouldn't be baptized. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:54.319 We all saw the glory of Stephen's martyrdom, right? 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:04.960 So one of the things that we've been celebrating is the truthfulness of what Stephen shared and his willingness to give his life for the sake of that truth that he proclaimed. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.759 So shouldn't we all just seek to be martyrs? 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:10.799 It says that they were all scattered. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:14.480 Now, all means basically all, but there we know that there are people who stayed. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:26.160 So we can there's tons of ink that's spilled on incidents like that in scripture where that I think could be uh handled by a footnote in the bottom of the text that says, you know what he means. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:28.000 You know what I mean? 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.000 Like you know what do you not know about talking? 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:31.680 You don't know how talking works? 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:36.559 That's my you'll get that in my Acts commentary coming out later. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:43.039 They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:49.279 So for for the all who were scattered among the regions of Judea and Samaria, are these just cowards? 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:55.119 Shouldn't they have stayed and experienced a glorious martyrdom like Stephen? 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:56.799 No, no, of course not. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.599 In fact, we could even say they're following the instruction of our Lord and Matthew. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.039 1023, Jesus says, When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:12.559 For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:15.279 That's the instruction of Jesus. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:25.039 But there's also the pattern of Jesus' life, because persecution came for him in Jerusalem, and he didn't flee Jerusalem. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:31.920 He took up his cross, and he went up the hill, and he laid down his life. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:34.480 So which is it? 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:36.000 Which is it? 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:42.319 Well, we see that this is not like some one size fits all sort of answer. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:48.880 Instead, what happens is you must make a decision based on the wisdom that you have. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:53.440 And this is what we see the pattern of the early church doing. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:23:16.000 If you can escape persecution, if there is a level of persecution, which is also a, you know, there's there's levels to this, if there you must be able to discern is this a level of persecution which is it I ought to endure, or is this something which I ought to leave, that it doesn't make sense for me to endure? 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:23.519 You should consider what your responsibilities are in that place and who your responsibilities are to in that place. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:27.440 The apostles don't leave. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.359 Why don't the apostles leave Jerusalem? 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:34.000 Well, the apostles don't leave Jerusalem. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:38.400 Well, one, because I think they understand the optics of that. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:48.160 I think that if they scatter, then the 12 foundation stones of the church have all of a sudden it's starting to rock. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:53.759 And now everybody else who leaves thinks this thing's over, this whole project is over. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:00.640 Secondly, we know that they had people there who they were responsible to tend to. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:09.279 And that they were not willing to leave those that they were responsible for taking care of. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:18.720 If you are responsible for taking care of people in a dangerous place or in a difficult circumstance, you should stay. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:20.160 You should stay. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:22.000 You should entrust yourself to the Lord. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:25.519 And the apostles demonstrate that gloriously. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:36.000 There are other circumstances in Scripture where just the uh leader of the church is under a particular type of attack. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:45.039 So in uh we'll see Paul, for example, be chased out of Damascus, hidden in a basket, snuck out a back window. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:46.799 It's all very cool. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:50.160 You know, the story is, Acts is very exciting. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:55.920 And the he doesn't say, you know what, I'm gonna stick around here in Damascus. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:58.559 Instead, he says, I'm going to save my life. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:03.599 And I'm going to preserve myself so that I might be of greater use to the church later. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:11.599 But he does that because he knows at that time he is able to leave the church in good hands. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:15.920 He is not fleeing the responsibility that he has. 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:30.240 So this is not just like some plain, you know, we we never uh leave or we always uh we always flee in any circumstance. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:37.359 It takes the wisdom of the Lord, and we have plenty of examples throughout Scripture of circumstances which can give us these principles. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:41.279 But one of them, of course, is the sixth commandment, thou shalt not murder. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:49.839 And the larger catechism teaches us that this means that we have a responsibility for protecting our own lives. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:56.559 You should not put yourself in a situation to in which you will insure your murder. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:58.799 That's not what we go out seeking. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:01.519 There are no suicide Christians. 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:04.559 You wonder why we don't have those? 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:13.200 Like why there's why there's not like martyr clubs where you you sign up to go be martyred and you all wear the same Nikes. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:20.000 That's not uh that's not a part of the Christian tradition. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:25.440 Martyrdom is acceptable when it comes to you, but we don't seek it. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.759 You know, you know what we love? 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:29.119 Life. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:31.759 Christians are life people. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:33.200 We like life. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.440 And we like to promote it and to preserve it. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:48.799 But because we like life and the promotion of it and the preserving of it, there are places that we won't leave so that we might promote it, so that we might preserve it. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:27:10.160 I was I was talking with my wife earlier this week, and we were talking about like how like uh how we how we ended up here, how we ended up in Denver, how we ended up in this neighborhood, here in Berkeley, and the uh sort of like the strangeness of what we're trying to do. 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:16.160 Like we're we're trying to establish a church that our grandchildren would come to. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:23.680 And we're trying to raise our children in the Lord so that they they will walk with him. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:35.519 And we're trying to create uh a community of Christians where we we really we really do the one another things that we see in the scriptures. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:38.880 We really love one another, we really care for one another. 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:41.200 We're trying to connect with this neighborhood. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:59.279 We want we want to see this neighborhood transformed so that people come into the church, so that they their lives are no longer seeking useless things, but they're seeking the things that are above, that they're grounded in Christ and that that the Lord will break into a neighborhood like this. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:20.319 And I just think like if we were standing back, like if we were like at a like a blank slate life, we were trying to cultivate that sort of thing, uh when and we were like drawing out places to do this, like it we would it wouldn't be like, what if we picked the most expensive neighborhood in the most one of the most expensive cities? 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:26.240 And what if like the main things that held the city together was gay stuff? 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:31.279 And then what if when that that would be like the key celebration? 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:35.119 And then we would, of course, not like that stuff, so it'd be very hard to fit in. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:42.400 And then when people found out that we didn't like that stuff, it would be like, oh, there you're the worst people that I can think of. 00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:49.039 And then we would try and like gather together friends, and we would say, like, well, you should we should uh uh join together in this. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:56.799 Come move into the highest cost of living you could possibly imagine to come do this with us. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:12.559 You know, and and I I think that there this is like a a type of this is what we're talking about, it's just an ordinary Christian church, just normal, normal Christian church loving our neighbors, loving the neighborhood, uh loving the place that we have been. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:26.160 And if we were to like blank slate that and say, like, well, if we were to try and craft a world around us where we could experience like this wonderful, you know, sort of, you know, whatever it is, then we'd just buy a huge plot of land elsewhere, you know? 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.799 And uh like that, it would all would all be much it would all be much simpler. 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:38.000 And you wouldn't spend a fortune on old homes, you know, that's sort of that sort of thing. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:42.880 But there's uh uh but so so the question is like, so then do you do you like leave? 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:44.960 Do you no, no? 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:46.640 Don't don't you see? 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:50.079 Like the the Lord has called us to this place. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:52.960 The Lord loves our neighborhood. 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:55.440 The Lord loves the place that He has called us. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:30:03.759 When we when I think of the story of our church and us ending up in this particular place, it's one of my favorite stories. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:10.000 It's one of the best stories I've ever thought to it that I'd ever think to get to be a part of. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:18.079 This like small church, this true this like strange pastoral transition that was like I did not enjoy. 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:37.039 And then uh our c our coming across town into this neighborhood, but then the glorious provision of the Lord for us to come into this building, for uh folks from the neighborhood to begin to gather around, for this place to be such a wonderful uh place to get to connect people. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:41.359 I've got friends at Mob Coffee that I've become real friends, you know. 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:44.640 I've got friends at at the paper store. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:48.480 We have a paper store, which is nice to buy notebooks and pens. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:49.920 Didn't that's a perk. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:52.640 You know, and and there's there's opportunity. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:31:01.839 I I I know so many of you have moved in here and uh the you're the you're the Christian friend that your neighbors have. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:05.759 You are the Christian friend that your neighbors have. 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:08.400 Like, that is glorious. 00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:09.759 That is incredible. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:11.519 So why why was God doing that? 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:19.920 Why was he because he's not he's not worried about these things that we that might cause us to think like, are we just fools? 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.000 Like, are we just a fool for doing this? 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:22.559 No. 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:28.960 The Lord is saying he has called us here, he has called us to a wonderful witness. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:34.400 It makes me think of the end of, it makes me think of the end of Jonah. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:40.559 The end of Jonah, you know, Nineveh repents, and Jonah doesn't like that Nineveh repents. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:52.400 And the the Lord says, Should I not care for that great city where more than a hundred thousand people can't tell their right hand from their left and also all their cattle? 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:54.720 The cattle's, you know. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:59.359 But should we not care for this great city? 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:02.240 We should. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:05.759 We've plainly been called by the Lord here. 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:28.799 And so what I one of the things that I want us to take from this the glory of the apostles staying in Jerusalem is is this picture of the church where there is a part of the church that I think uh I don't want to say always, but almost always, there's a part of the church that must say, I'm not leaving. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:32.799 I love it here. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:37.039 This is this is the place that the Lord has called us to. 00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:42.960 This is the place where we know that we have not this is not the place. 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:48.319 Jerusalem is not the place where the gates of hell will work. 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:56.480 Jerusalem is just another place where the gates of hell will not be able to keep out the power of the gospel. 00:32:58.480 --> 00:32:59.759 Now it's hard to tell. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:02.559 The apostles can't tell that by looking. 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:07.440 They can't tell when they see Saul ravaging the church. 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:12.079 They aren't thinking, you know, that guy is probably gonna be one of our key players. 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:17.440 That's not what they're thinking. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:20.079 But that was the reality. 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:22.400 That was the truth. 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:28.960 You know, there are things that they couldn't imagine, glories they couldn't imagine. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:33.039 That I I they we're there. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:42.640 We're at a place we're we're our our church is at a place where I think there are glories that you can't even imagine that we might get to see. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:55.200 So I want us to take inspiration from the from the persistence of the apostles, saying, we're we're gonna stay. 00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:56.480 We're gonna stay. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:06.880 Now I know that I'm talking about such petty things in relation to the severe persecution of the church that this first century church is experiencing. 00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:10.159 But these are the these are the things that the Lord has given to us. 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:12.400 Praise the Lord that they are not harsher. 00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:14.559 Praise the Lord that they are not harsher. 00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:24.000 But for the for the uh difficulties that that we may experience in this project that that we're in that the Lord has called us to, may He strengthen us. 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:27.840 And may we still take inspiration by the greater stories. 00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:30.960 Praise God that in the scripture they are greater stories. 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:36.079 That way we might look and say, Well, if they can do it in that, then we can do it in this. 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:42.480 Acts 8.2, verse 2. 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:43.519 I gotta pick it up. 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:49.039 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:55.119 The the men that remained in Jerusalem, they make great lamentation over Stephen's death. 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:59.119 This is uh just a point that I want to make about Christian mourning. 00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:03.039 The the Christians are not stoics. 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:12.320 We're we're we're not uh we're not disaffected by the death, uh by this loss of Stephen. 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:17.760 What they do is they make great lamentation over the loss of Stephen. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:25.360 But they don't mourn like unbelievers mourn, because they don't mourn without hope, but they do mourn. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:26.960 So, do you know what? 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:31.119 Sometimes we have to relearn how to be humans by the Bible. 00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:37.920 I think that's a lot of the Christian project in our modern era, is like relearning how to be humans. 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:41.199 But here's the thing that we do as humans. 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:43.760 Do you know how we feel about sad things? 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:47.840 We feel sad about sad things. 00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:50.239 This is the Christian way. 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:54.400 When something is sad, what you should feel is sad. 00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:55.599 Sadness. 00:35:56.239 --> 00:35:58.639 And then you know what joyful stuff? 00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:00.800 You know what you should feel about that? 00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:03.360 Joy, you should be happy. 00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:04.800 You should be happy about it. 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:07.360 When there's good stuff, you should like it. 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:10.400 When there's bad stuff, you should not like it. 00:36:10.719 --> 00:36:13.360 This is a retraining of our affections. 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:15.920 A retraining of our affections. 00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:24.079 What we tend to do is this strange move where we say when there's good stuff, well, you're starting to like something, don't like too much. 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:26.559 You could become attached to it. 00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:32.239 You know, if you get attached to something, then you could you could have experience pain. 00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:37.760 And so you would be better to experience nothing than to experience pain. 00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:39.599 But like try that with like your children. 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:41.280 You know, it's a very strange thing. 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:44.159 Don't, don't, not too much. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:48.079 What if there's what if they what if one day they move out? 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:50.400 You know. 00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:54.960 So this is the the picture. 00:36:55.360 --> 00:37:00.639 And we should recognize the devoutness and the courage of their lamentation over Stephen. 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:03.360 And even their willingness to be associated with him. 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:08.480 In verse 3, it says, but Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house. 00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:13.519 He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:21.199 Once the uh exposure happens, uh, there's no one that they will not spare. 00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:24.480 They're dragging off men and women to prison. 00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:29.199 Because of their testimony of Christ. 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:43.360 This is the terror that we are not experiencing now because of the gracious restraining effects of our Lord. 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:48.320 Because this is what the serpent always has done. 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:52.400 The serpent has always sought to devour the true seed. 00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:57.599 And the true seed is the church, and Satan has always sought to destroy it. 00:37:57.840 --> 00:38:00.239 And so Satan does the same thing. 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:11.360 When he is fully released, when he is totally unmasked, what he seeks to do is to utterly destroy the church, to remove it from the face of the earth. 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:15.119 That is the desire of Satan. 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:18.480 That is the true face of the enemy. 00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:34.960 But what happens is that by this unleashing of Satan's power against the early church by Saul, which is is just uh uh it's just an amazing story. 00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:40.639 We turn then from that to the story of Samaria. 00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:48.000 Jerusalem is it's it's there's mourning in Jerusalem, but there's stalwartness. 00:38:48.639 --> 00:38:54.000 But the mourning in Jerusalem, it purchases a joy in Samaria. 00:38:54.480 --> 00:39:00.159 In Acts 8, verse 4, it says, Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 00:39:01.360 --> 00:39:03.760 Scattered, it's the word diaspora. 00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:08.960 It's a familiar word to the Jews because they were exiled from their homeland. 00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:16.320 This is one of the most important events in their history, and they knew what it was like to live as people who are scattered from their home. 00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:24.559 But of course, the scattering that took place during the initial exile was because of their inability to honor the Lord. 00:39:24.639 --> 00:39:32.960 It was a punishment because of their sin against the Lord, not living faithfully as the covenant people of God, and so they were scattered away from their home. 00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:35.199 But this is no punishment. 00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:39.760 This scattering is not a punishment for their wickedness. 00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:43.360 It is simply the results of Satan's attack against them. 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:44.960 They did not deserve this. 00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:46.880 This is what they had experienced. 00:39:47.039 --> 00:39:51.760 This is just something that was thrust upon them by Satan. 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:54.800 And this is no punishment to them. 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:58.000