"A Study of the book of Acts" by Hiram Kemp - Part 12

There's a few cutting hair and stuff. You'd like— all

right, well, they didn't give us a bell, but it's 9:30. Um, getting ready to

start our Bible class. If you got your Bible, be turning it to Acts chapter

Acts 20 · chapter mention

20. Today is the last day of the quarter and the last day of this

class. Neil and I have been teaching through the book of Acts,

but not necessarily in the traditional fashion of going textually verse

by verse. But really trying to cover the book of Acts from the standpoint of

talking about challenges that the church will always face. And you can

think about some of those challenges we've talked about from Acts 2 up to this

point. And I was thinking about this class and this being the last one and

covering Acts chapter 20 through Acts 28, and this may not be true for you,

Acts 20 · chapter mention

but I thought about it from the standpoint of sermons I've heard, classes I've been

in and taught. This is probably the section in Acts that's

least known, or And at least this ground is not traveled

as much as some other territories. You get to Acts 20, on to the end

of the book, Paul is in these various trials and he's before various rulers,

but there's really no establishment of congregations or churches.

There's not a lot of conversion going on as far as where Paul would go

into synagogues and teach and preach. And most of the time, from Acts

21 really on through the end, Acts 28:30-31,

Acts 28:30–31

Paul is in custody, first by the Jews and then by the Romans. So Some

of this territory may not be as well traveled, but hopefully by the end of

the class today, as far as we get, we'll be encouraged to see that there

are still challenges that we face similar to Paul. We may never

find ourselves on trial or arrested before authorities,

but a great deal of what Paul undergoes is very similar to what we'll

see. The other thing I want to say is, as we end this quarter and

we think about the challenges the church will always face, I hope that this quarter

your faith has been built up as you see that

of this has been cyclical. We've talked about evangelism in various aspects and from various

vantage points as it's been discussed throughout the book of Acts. But the things

that the church is facing today are things the church has always faced. And as

long as we're facing those things with the same God, we can be as successful

as the first century church was in our own generation. So in the time

we have left, we're going to start in Acts 20. This is where Neil left

off 2 weeks ago and note a few challenges. I think I have 6.

6 challenges. If we don't get through them all, I won't say

next week because this will be the end, but you've got the book of Acts

and you just read the rest. Okay, that's what we'll do. Let's start. Number 1,

first challenge, the challenge of fellowship and encouragement.

The challenge of fellowship and encouragement. Look at Acts chapter 20. I'm going to read

Acts 20 · chapter mention

the first 3 verses. It says, after the uproar ceased, Paul sent

for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and

he departed for Macedonia. And when he had gone through those regions and had given

them much encouragement, he came to Greece. And there he spent 3 months.

And when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about

to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

So, this idea of fellowship, it really runs throughout the entirety

of Acts chapter 20. But I guess one of the challenges, or you could say

Acts 20 · chapter mention

one of the lessons, is this idea of encouragement. Now,

Paul's ministry was fraught with difficulty. Throughout Paul's ministry,

There was hardship. Read 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul had been shipwrecked,

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

beaten with rods, bitten by a snake, robbed by individuals.

And throughout Paul's life, though he faced various hardships, one of the things

Paul often finds himself coming back to is, how can I

reach out, build up, and encourage other people? And he does

this through fellowship, through his participation with other Christians.

Look at Acts chapter 20 and notice verses 1 and 2. It says, after the

Acts 20 · chapter mention

uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, If you've got the New King James or

the King James, they go with embrace here or something like that, but other translations

note encouragement, and it's the same word in both verses. I don't know why the

New King James and King James family does something different, but in verses 1 and

2, it mentions both times that Paul encouraged. He encouraged them

as they departed, and then when he got to the region of Greece, or when

he got to Greece, he gave them much encouragement. How long was Paul here?

Look at verse 3. 3 months. I want you to think about

encouragement in your life and think about people who've encouraged you, and then ask yourself

this: have you ever spent 3 solid months encouraging anybody?

You think about 90 days encouraging somebody. Paul stayed here, and really

the text seems to suggest Paul would have stayed longer had it not

been for persecution that drove him out. The end of verse 3 says,

when a plot was made against him by the Jews, he was about to set

sail for Syria set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

So Paul is pushed out, but if Paul hadn't been,

Paul would have stayed. Have you ever spent 3 solid months encouraging anybody?

What would happen if you did that? And then just

think about the other side. What will happen if you don't do that? Proverbs 12:25

Proverbs 12:25

says, anxiety in the heart makes it astute, but a good word cheers it up

and makes it glad. And that's what you see Paul doing. I think sometimes there's

a struggle in the church. We think about our lives, and you can see various

people sometimes viewing themselves this way as they try to find their place in congregational

life. Nobody did anything for me. Nobody built me up. Nobody reached out to

me. We're kind of like David in Psalm 142:4. David says,

Psalms 142:4

I looked on my right hand and on my left, and there was no man

that reached out to me. No man cared for my soul. Most of Paul's

life, Paul's in prison, persecuted, and on the run. But what is Paul often

doing to other Christians, even less than he's sometimes receiving it?

He's making sure he does what? He encourages. He builds other

people up. And we've said this time and time again, and it bears repeating,

if we want to be encouraged, then we should reach out and we should make

sure that we encourage other people. And that's why I would say we need a

ministry of encouragement. What does a ministry of encouragement look like? It looks like

noticing those that are overlooked. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

1 Thessalonians 5:14

talks about building up those that are weak and strengthening those that are fainthearted.

A ministry of encouragement says, who's being overlooked? And then

who can I pour into and who can I build up? Sometimes we think about,

I would really like to be encouraged or accepted into this group or be

a part of this ministry, but look at all of the untapped places and then

say, how can I pour in there and what can I do in that place?

Another thing about a ministry of encouragement is it means speaking good when it's seen.

Proverbs 18:21 says, death and life are in the power of

Proverbs 18:21

the tongue, and those that love it will eat its fruit. We typically quote Proverbs

Proverbs 18:21

18:21 when we're talking about the danger of the tongue.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. But listen to what Solomon

says, death and what? Death and life. So yes,

the tongue can do great destruction, but it also can do

a great deal of good as it builds other individuals up. It means when you

see good, you should say it. And Paul never hesitated to do

this. Romans 16 catalogs a long list of individuals that Paul

saluted and encouraged for the good that they— that he saw them doing.

It means strengthening those that are discouraged, and that's what Epaphroditus does for Paul

in Philippians chapter 2. It means restoring people after failure.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

James 5:19-20 says, if any of you do err from the

James 5:19–20

truth and one converts him, let him know that he that converts a sinner from

the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude

of sins. And then lastly, I would say this, and you can write Romans 12:8

Romans 12:8

right next to Acts 20:1-3 as you think about encouragement.

Acts 20:1–3

Encouragement is less about, hey, here's my personality, and it's actually

a ministry. In Romans 12:8, Paul says, let the one that encourages do

Romans 12:8

it with cheerfulness. This zeal is literally a ministry that God wants

every one of us engaged in, and it's something that the church will find herself

repeatedly needing to do. Look at verse 1. What does it mean that after

the uproar ceased, Paul went, sent for the disciples, and did this? What uproar is

Luke talking about in Acts chapter 20 and verse 1? I'll give

Acts 20 · chapter mention

you a hint. It's right above it in Acts 19. What had just happened to

Paul in Acts 19 in Ephesus? There was this riot

and they chanted for hours, great is Diana of the Ephesians. And after that

uproar ceased, who did they want to destroy in Ephesus? It was Paul. After all

of that hardship and difficulty, Paul decides, you know what? The next time

I see other disciples, I'm going to pour myself into them in the ministry of

encouragement. And we need to do the same thing. The best time to encourage people

is often after the most difficult times in our own lives. How can we build

other individuals up, and how can we lift them up and encourage them? So one

challenge the church is always going to face and need to rise up to is

the ministry of fellowship, and that's also

linked to encouragement. I don't think there's anybody in this building,

I don't think there's anybody in the church anywhere that's struggling with overdosing on

encouragement. You've never over-encouraged anybody. You've never encouraged a person to the point

You've never reached out to try to build somebody up and they say,

oh, no thanks, I didn't need that. I'm already built up enough. That wasn't for

me. You can give that to somebody else. Most people, about the time you try

to encourage them, always say what? That's just what I what? You're never

going to do that and not hear that response because it's always just what we

need. And in Acts 20, Paul shows us that's what his ministry was about.

Here's the second challenge, the challenge of fellowship and worship. Acts 20,

Acts 20:4

verse 4 down through verse 11 says, Sopater the Berean,

son of Phyrus, accompanied him, and of the Thessalonians,

Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy;

and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. These went on

ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi

after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in 5 days we

came to them at Troas, where we stayed for 7 days.

On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread,

Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he

prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we

were gathered, and a young man named Eutychus was sitting at the window. He sank

into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer, and being overcome by sleep,

he fell down by the 3rd story and was taken up dead. But when

Paul went down and bent over him, taking him in his arms, he said,

Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him. And when Paul had gone

up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while until

daybreak, And so he departed, and they took the youth away alive,

and they were not a little comforted. So here's the second challenge of fellowship.

It's the challenge of worship. So Paul wants to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost,

but when he gets to Troas, he waits there 7 days so he can be

there for worship on the first day of the week. Acts 20:7 is a passage

Acts 20:7

we often quote about worship because it says, on the first day of the week,

when the disciples came together to break bread. Sometimes in the New Testament,

the statement breaking bread just means a common meal. That's Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2 and verse 46. But then there are other times when breaking bread

is surrounded with these other worship-style elements: preaching,

singing, prayer, assembling. It's then that breaking of

bread refers to the Lord's Supper, and that's exactly what you have here in Acts

Acts 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 and verse 7. Eutychus falls asleep in church and he dies.

So that's a warning to stay awake, okay? We don't have any apostles that can

wake you up if you fall out and die. But you're not the first person

to fall asleep in church, right? Eutychus does. He dies, Paul raises him

from the dead. Here's what I want to say about worship. Paul shows

us in Acts 20 not just— and we use Acts 20:7,

Acts 20:7

I think it's a great use of this passage, the disciples partook of the Lord's

Supper on the first day of the week. I think that's important. But Luke also,

if you just read through Acts 20 through the end, he's showing that Paul is

hurrying. Paul wants to be at Jerusalem for Pentecost because there are

a lot of Jews there. It'll be a great opportunity for Paul to reach his

countrymen yet again. But Luke slows down the narrative purposely

here. And look at verse 6. We sailed away from Philippi after

the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in 5 days we came to them at Troas,

where we stayed for 7 days. And the next thing he says is,

on the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread.

Evidently, Paul wanted to be in Troas on

the first day of the week with these disciples so that he could do what?

So he could worship and then he could break bread with them.

There's a need for regular face-to-face gathering with other Christians.

Acts— or Hebrews 10:24-25 says,

Hebrews 10:24–25

let us consider how to stir one another up, provoking each other to

love and good works. Verse 25, not abandoning the assembling of

ourselves together, as the habit of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much

the more as you see the day approaching. 2 John 12 and 3

John verse 13, John ends both of those books by saying, I can't

wait to come and see you, so that we can be face to face.

And the challenge of fellowship and worship is that worship is fellowship. And I

want to say more about that in a minute, but first let me just say

there needs to be an importance on what we're doing together today,

the physical gathering of the Lord's people. There are individuals that are shut

in that rightly so profit from our services being live streamed,

but we should never just opt for that willfully to say, you know what,

I'd just rather not go. I want to be present with the saints. Acts 10:24-25,

Acts 10:24–25

I mean, Hebrews 10:24-25 says don't make that a habit.

Hebrews 10:24–25

Come together, assemble with the saints. There's something about being physically

present that you just can't reproduce, even when you can see it at

a distance. Look at 1 Corinthians 11. Hold your hand in Acts chapter

Acts 20 · chapter mention

20 and go over to 1 Corinthians 11. And this is a passage about the

Lord's Supper. We're teaching 1 Corinthians next quarter, so I'm not going to spend a

lot of time on this, but 1 Corinthians 11 is another one of these Lord's

Supper passages And again, we use it to talk about the manner in which we

partake of the supper, but I want you to notice how often Paul mentions not

just partaking of the Lord's Supper, but this statement, when you come

together. 1 Corinthians 11:17, he says, but in the following

1 Corinthians 11:17

instructions I do not commend you. But when you come together,

it's not for the better but for the worse. Look at verse 18, for in

the first place, when you— what? Come together as a church. He mentions

this again in verse 20. He says, when you come together. The Lord's

Supper was the time in which Christians came together to remember

the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. And it makes

sense to do it on the first day of the week because that's when Jesus

rose from the dead, Mark 16, Matthew 28. That's when

the church was established, Acts chapter 2, the first Pentecost following the

Acts 2 · chapter mention

resurrection. It fell on a Sunday, and Christians have been gathering together on the first

day of the week ever since. And so one of the challenges the church then

faced and rose up to, according to Acts 20 with Paul,

is the challenge of fellowship and the challenge of worship.

Now, I've been saying fellowship and worship and using those interchangeably. Here's a question.

How do we learn to see worship as fellowship and less as entertainment?

I know worship, when you think about worship, and this is right, worship is

about God. We say that. That's true. Primarily worship is directed heavenward,

but there is another aspect of our worship that's horizontal toward one

another. And what can we do? How can we change our view of worship

And you might be thinking, wait a minute, Hiram, we worship according to the New

Testament. Lord's Supper every first day of the week, singing a cappella,

congregational singing, reciprocal one to another, Ephesians 5:19,

Ephesians 5:19

Colossians 3:16, praying. Our worship's pretty simple.

Colossians 3:16

We're trying to follow exactly what they did in the first century, and rightly so.

But still, I think there is this challenge to view worship less as

entertainment and more as about worshiping God and praising him

for who he is and about fellowship. So the question is, how do

we learn to see worship more as an opportunity for fellowship with each

other and less as a time where we focus on being entertained?

Yeah, so Bill says fellowship, and this is rightly so.

Koinonia, the Greek word fellowship, it means to share in common. And he's saying we

don't have that in common with anybody else. It's our special time to be with

God. And so when we do it, we bring each other together and worship does

that. Yes, Joey.

All right.

Yeah. So Joey's right. Fellowship is more about participating,

participation. Entertainment is more about being a what?

Spectator. You're just watching. Sometimes if you're one of

the men that serve in worship, maybe your mindset is even different, right? You come

into the building like, well, I don't have prayer or anything today. I kind of

get to sit back and do nothing. Nobody ever gets in here and gets to

sit back and do nothing. Not if we're doing it God's way, biblically.

God wants all of us doing something. Now, we may not be publicly leading in

worship, but as Joey mentioned, it's a change of mindset. It's a shift in

our mindset that says, I'm not here to merely be entertained.

I'm here to fellowship and participate. Anybody else?

Yeah. Dolores says it's more about family,

and I think that's the heart of it. It's more about family and less about

being entertained. And here's where I think that takes us. Stop thinking about

worship primarily from the standpoint of the performers and start thinking

about the people. Don't think about how he did today.

Think about who we saw today, who we didn't see, who we can pour

into, who we missed. But worship is entertainment. It doesn't matter if we don't have

lights on the stage and a band. We view worship as entertainment when we

primarily think about the people. And yes, the men leading us in worship should do

their best, should be prepared, should seek to honor and glorify God. But if in

your mind the whole time you're worshiping, you're only thinking about it from a performance

standpoint, you're at a concert and less at a common communal gathering

with God's people. You don't go to Thanksgiving and do that. Oh, we're never letting

Aunt Becky serve the macaroni again. Did you see how she flipped her wrist when

she did that? You don't do that. You view that— this is a time for,

hey, family together. We're gathering together. We're in the same

group. And that's what worship is. It's about God, but yes, it's a time when

we congregate together. Mike and then Russell, then we'll move ahead.

We designated the room in back of us where the kitchen

is as our fellowship room, but God

designates this room where we are right now as our fellowship

room. Yeah, that's right. And I think we can fellowship in both places,

but you're exactly right. It's not just limited there, but it also can and

should be taking place here. We're singing one to another. We're partaking of the Lord's

Supper together. Don't view your worship as just about you.

Yes, let a man examine himself, but we're doing this together communally.

That's why in everything we do, we should be thinking about others and try not

to be a distraction, but also to build one another up. We should be singing

louder because you really can't encourage anybody in your singing

in your library voice. You can't do it. You can't sing one to another if

you're not lifting your voice in worship. And according to God, your brothers and

sisters are dependent on that. I mean, Paul waited 7 days. He was hastening to

Jerusalem and he wanted to be there to break bread with these Christians. And Russell,

go ahead. Well, you keep saying entertainment.

We're not here to be entertained. We're part of the cast.

It's to worship God.

It's really primarily

in my mind and the way I understand the Bible,

it's to glorify God. And then the runoff of

that, or the byproduct of that, each one of us support

each other and fellowship and encourage each other.

But the prime— primary purpose is to glorify

God. Yeah, it's not entertainment. That's right.

Yeah, and the primary purpose is to glorify God. It's not entertainment. And God

is glorified when we obviously extol him in the avenues he's told

us, but also when we build up each other. So it's not the case that

we shouldn't get anything out of worship. It's primarily about God, but God is glorified

when you build me up. In fact, based on Hebrews 10:24, we're going to Kathy

Hebrews 10:24

and then Kim. You shouldn't leave this building if you're gonna offer up scriptural worship

to God according to Hebrews 10:24 and 25. You shouldn't leave this building

Hebrews 10:24

until you have purposefully tried to stir somebody else up.

See, you haven't fulfilled Hebrews 10:24 and 25 just because you came.

Hebrews 10:24

Let us consider how to stir one another up. So when you come in,

Let's consider how can I stir somebody up to love and good works? Then he

says, hey, never abandon the assembling of ourselves together. Love,

25, Hebrews 10:25. But verse 24 says you

Hebrews 10:25

hadn't worshiped, you hadn't come and done exactly what God wanted

just by merely being marked present. Did you encourage somebody or at least try to?

They've got to receive it. I understand that. But if you just come sit on

your pew and at the last amen, you just hit the door, that's not

necessarily fulfilling God's requirement for worshiping the Lord in spirit and

in truth and stirring one another, one another up to love and good works.

And so I'm not saying you've got to be the last person in the building

to do that, but we shouldn't leave until we've at least tried. That's what God

wants from us as we assemble. Kathy and then Kim.

Giving my heart to God or opening up my heart to other people,

then I find myself just as that, you know, how did everybody do? How did

the singing sound? Yeah, yeah. And I think this is why Jesus says worship

has to be in spirit and in truth. We can just focus solely on

the truth. We got to do the right things. And then it goes to another

level. You leave your heart at home and we got to do the right things

the way that who likes them? The way I like them. Do it the way

I want. Sing the songs I like. Preach the sermons that I want to hear.

And we can become critics instead of people that are, hey, these are my fellow

companions, brothers and sisters in Christ, all seeking to glorify God.

Kim? I was just— I don't know if it was last week or the week

before, I sat by someone and they were singing with all their heart, and I'm

saying it's encouraging. Yeah, this person really encouraged me and helped

me to want to do better. Yeah, and I think that's the way God wires

it on purpose, that we can worship together and Build one another up.

Yes, Amanda. Part of that, I know you're focusing on the worship part, but it's

also about coming in and talking with people. And to be a family,

you got to know each other. And so that part of that is talking with

each other, finding out how people are doing, being invested in those people to

be a family. Yeah, and I think that even starts before Sunday. Like, I don't

think Paul came to Troas, rented a condo, and said, I'll see you Sunday morning,

guys. I think he came, He spent time with the people, and then when Sunday

came for worship, he preached until midnight. So maybe we

need more of that. Yeah, he preached a long sermon, spent time with them.

He didn't want to leave. And so you do have to spend time. It does

involve fellowship and conversation. Different personalities, people are wired differently,

but everybody's wired for fellowship. That's what we need to remember. Introvert,

extrovert, that doesn't matter here. God has wired everybody

for companionship. What does Genesis 2:18 say? It's not good that

Genesis 2:18

a man should be what? Even if you're an introvert, you need people.

And God has wired the church that way. If it didn't matter, why come

together and assemble? It does matter. And everybody in the New Testament that was physically

separated from people couldn't wait to be brought together again. And that's why John ends

2 John and 3 John that way, saying, I can't wait to see you again

and be close. All right. The last thing— oh, go ahead, Bill.

To get someone's attention. And God's really

good at that. Yeah, we sometimes aren't, you know, but we need to do

that. We need to entertain someone's thoughts and motives

and things like that. So it can be a positive word.

Yeah, for sure, for sure. Depending on how we view it, it can be.

All right, last thing I was going to say on this slide, and I'll just

say it quickly and we'll move on, is overcoming bad habits and getting the most

out of worship. Some of this we already touched on, but mainly this idea

of how do I get the most out of worship? I got to do what?

I got to put something into it. 2 Samuel 24, just go there

real— really quickly. I know we sometimes go to this passage when we talk about

worship. Maybe you hadn't gone here in a while, but this is at the end

of David's sort of kingship. He makes a mistake, numbers the people.

God tells him not to. And this goes back to Kathy's comment about not

leaving your heart at home. He makes a mistake, numbers the people. God tells him

not to do this. David does it anyway. A bunch of people die in

a plague. God ends up forgiving David, giving him a second chance.

He's going to offer up an offering of thanksgiving. He wants to go to a

man by the name of Araunah and get his threshing floor so that he can

offer up the offering. Araunah sees David coming and says, hey, you're the king,

it's yours, you can have it for free. And David won't accept that. In 2

2 Samuel 24:24

Samuel 24:24, David says— well, Araunah comes to the

king and says no. The king says, I'll buy it from you at a price.

I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.

So David brought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of

silver. But the line I want to focus on, and that needs to be from

this text, is, I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my

God that cost me nothing. David was talking financially there, like, I'm going

to buy this field from you, and I won't offer up God an offering to

him in sacrifice and worship that cost me nothing. Why do you think

David said that? This is a very simple answer. Why did David tell Araunah,

I won't offer up an offering or sacrifice to God that doesn't cost me anything.

And if you get this, it'll fix your worship and mine. Why does David

say, I've got to pay you, I can't just take this for free and then

offer it up as worship to God? Why not?

It's not a sacrifice if it doesn't— what if it doesn't

cost something? It's never a sacrifice. Well, that was pretty easy. I just rocked

in there and rocked on out. It wasn't worship. It's never a sacrifice

unless it costs something. And you can think about that in every avenue of worship,

our giving, everything we do. If it doesn't cost, if it doesn't sting a

little bit, if it doesn't put a little discomfort, it's not a sacrifice

unless it costs something. Doesn't have to be unpleasant, but it always has to

cost. If it's going to be worship, it has to cost something. All right,

challenge number 3, the challenge of false accusation and misrepresentation.

Now this is where Paul gets into some of his trials. Paul I'm going to

just kind of walk us up to it and then talk about what happens here.

Paul's heading back to Jerusalem, wanted to be there for Pentecost,

wants to talk about his ministry and what has happened on his missionary journeys.

He's on his 3rd one now, and God's great work with him among the Gentiles.

When he gets there, Paul meets with James and with the elders

in Jerusalem, and here's what happens. Acts 21:17-25,

Acts 21:17–25

it says, when we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us

gladly. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James, and all

the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things

that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard it,

they glorified God, and they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there

are among all the Jews who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,

and they've been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among

the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children

or walk according to our customs. What then is to be done? They'll certainly hear

that you've come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have 4 men who are

under a vow. Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their

expenses so that they'll shave their heads. And thus

all will know that there is nothing in what they've been told about you,

but that you yourself live in observance of the law. But as for the Gentiles

who believed, we've sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from

what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and what has been strangled and

from sexual immorality. So, Paul comes back to Jerusalem And James

and the elders hear about Paul's work among the Gentiles. They say, Paul, you've been

doing great work, but we got a problem. You're in Jerusalem, all these Jews know

you're in town, and it's been noised abroad everywhere that, Paul,

you really don't like Jews. You don't want people circumcising their children, and you

don't want them keeping the Law of Moses. If people find out that you're here

and with us, there'll be a riot in the town. But Paul,

we got it fixed. We've got these guys here, they're about to undergo a vow.

Paul, what we need you to do— this is James and the Jerusalem elders saying,

Paul, Just go do this vow with them. A lot of commentators believe

this is the Nazarite vow of Numbers chapter 6. Paul,

Numbers 6 · chapter mention

just do this vow. Everybody will know there's nothing to what they've heard

about you, that you love and respect the Law of Moses just like everybody else.

We already sent a letter, Acts 15:22-25,

Acts 15:22–25

to the Gentiles that they don't have to keep the Law of Moses. But Paul,

we really need you to do this or else there's going to be some trouble.

Here's what happens. Look at verse 26. Then Paul took the

men. The next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple,

giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented

for each one of them. So here's a question: was Paul

right to do this? Like, they say, hey Paul, do this vow, take this,

offer up this sacrifice with these men, and everybody will know that

you keep the Law of Moses, that you're okay with the Law of Moses,

that the things they've heard about you have been false. Was this wise or foolish

on Paul's part to go through with the offering of this vow?

Bill said it could have been an expedient. This is Paul probably doing some 1

Corinthians 9 where he says, I become all things to who?

All men. Maybe. Yeah, some people believe that Paul's just sort of becoming all things

to all men. Some people say Paul made a mistake here.

By this time, Paul had already written Galatians and the book of Romans and

already taught Hey, nobody's bound by the Law of Moses. You do

not have to keep the Law of Moses. And I don't know, I'm a little

uncomfortable with this statement about they offered up an offering

or a vow. All the offerings in the Old Testament were about like forgiveness

of sins or justification, but Jesus, he's already fulfilled all of

the vows. Jesus has already fulfilled all the offerings. Whatever you think about this,

we're not going to settle it now. People have been arguing about this passage and

Paul for a long time. 2,000 years of church history. Some people think

Paul was practicing an expedient. Some people think Paul sinned here.

Some people think Paul couldn't have messed up. Here's what happens.

Paul goes to the temple and does the vow anyway. When Paul gets to

the temple, guess what happens? The Jews see Paul in the temple and they say—

Acts 20:21, 27-36. Let's just read

Acts 20:21

it. I want you to see what happens to Paul. Verse 27, when the 7

days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple,

stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel,

help! This is the man who's teaching everyone everywhere against

the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks

into the temple and defiled this holy place. For they had previously seen Trophimus

the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul brought him into

the temple. Then all the city was stirred up, the people ran together,

they seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the

gates were shut. You can read the rest of it, but it's ironic Whether you

think Paul messed up or not, guess what? It didn't work. Paul went in there

saying, let's please the Jews. You know what the Jews say? Paul defiled the whole

temple. He brought a Greek in here by the name of Trophimus and defiled the

whole temple. The reason why I lift this as one of the challenges the early

church faced is because it's the challenge of false accusation and

misrepresentation. They think that Paul, because they saw him with the Gentile earlier

in the week, had brought a Gentile into the temple.

Guess what Paul was in the process of doing? Undergoing a sacrifice so

that they wouldn't think he was against the law, and it didn't work. Sometimes as

a Christian, people are going to misunderstand you. People will say— they said all

kinds of things about Paul. Is what they said about Paul accurate,

that Paul didn't care about the Law of Moses, didn't want people to circumcise their

children and all of this? Is this true? No. Paul said, hey, the law

fulfilled its purpose, but now we're under the new covenant of Jesus Christ. And this

idea about being persecuted and misrepresented, It's what Jesus

tells us we should expect as Christians. Here are some of the passages. You can

see them. Matthew 5:10-12, blessed are you when you're persecuted for

Matthew 5:10–12

righteousness' sake, when people revile you and persecute you and say all manner

of evil against you falsely for my account. Jesus says that's going to happen.

Philippians 1:29, Paul says, unto you is given in behalf of

Philippians 1:29

Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake.

Listen, the rest of the book of Acts, the rest of it Paul's

whole life is completely upended. He'll go before Felix and Festus

and Agrippa. Paul will end up all the way in prison in Rome.

And when you boil it all down, yes, it's God's sovereignty,

providence, God's plan. But here's what it really boils down to.

Paul's entire life, 2 years in prison, is completely

upended on a false assumption. They thought

Paul had done something. This is why this whole idea of assuming about people and

saying things when you don't have all the facts, It's deadly. It upended Paul's

whole life. Yes, God made great things from it, but here's what happened to him

because of false accusations and misrepresentations. What are some of the false accusations

that people make about Christians today? Like, how are Christians misrepresented

today? What are some things people say about us today or about Christians as

they might completely misunderstand what Christianity is all about?

Christians don't love anybody. We don't accept you. They said that

about Stephen in Acts 6:14-15. The Jews get

Acts 6:14–15

there before Stephen and they say, here's a guy who hates the Law of Moses

and says, hey, many things against this temple and this place, that Jesus

is going to destroy this temple and build another. Sometimes people say, hey,

you're not loving because you don't accept everything anybody— everybody does.

What else? Judges.

We're all judging people. I'm going to leave that alone because that's coming up this

morning. Buckle up for the sermon. Neil's got something to say about judging. But yes,

you're exactly right. It's a misrepresentation. We judge,

but just stay tuned in about 20 minutes and we're gonna get more about judging.

Yes, what else? Tyler. All Christians get

defense and they don't realize that we know that we're sinners and we know that

we have struggles that everybody else faces, but we accept those and that's why we're

here and that's why we follow Christ because we are sinners. Yeah, this goes all

the way back to the Old Testament in the days of Isaiah. Isaiah 65:5,

Isaiah 65:5

Isaiah says, some people say about the Israelites, you think you're holier

than thou. That's where that statement comes from, Isaiah 65:5. And people think, you're a

Isaiah 65:5

hypocrite. You think you got your whole life together just because you go where?

But the exact opposite is true. We don't have our lives together, and that's why

we come where? But it's a misunderstanding. Yeah, what else?

Maybe you've heard this one. Members of Churches of Christ, you think you're

the only ones going where? The truth

is everybody can go if we simply submit and do what?

Do what God says. Jesus says, or at least through Peter in

Acts 2:21, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will

Acts 2:21

be what? That's for anybody. Anybody that does that can go

to— or what about this one? Oh, you got— y'all are no

music people. You don't like music. You don't want to— you don't care about— love

music. God's music, love singing, just doing

it God's way. Or you all don't believe in the Old Testament,

don't care anything about— all of these are sometimes misrepresentations

and accusations. But here's what I want us to focus on before we move on

to the next one. What are some bad ways

to respond to the misrepresentations? Because see,

sometimes we fall into this. Okay, we're misrepresented. Paul's misrepresented.

Hey, you brought a Gentile into the temple and all the stuff you mentioned.

People say you're unloving. You judge. You're hypocrites.

What are some bad ways to respond when we're misrepresented or falsely accused?

We don't respond. Maybe— Robin says we don't respond. You said we

shouldn't or we don't? We don't. We just sit there and listen

to what they got to say. And are you saying that's good or bad?

I'm saying it's bad. Yeah. We should. Yeah, okay,

so good. Sometimes we don't say anything, and I think there's a time not to,

and then there is a time to say something. Proverbs 26:4-5 says,

Proverbs 26:4–5

answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him. And then

the next verse says, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise

in his own eyes. So there's a time to answer and a time not to,

but sometimes we don't say anything in response, and I think that's

a problem. What else? Bad responses.

Bill, sometimes we condemn instead of convict. Yeah, I was thinking about

what Bill said working through this lesson. Sometimes when people label us falsely

or falsely accuse us and misrepresent us, we might respond like

jokingly about their condemnation, right? Like, well, you won't

be saying that when you— when you're in hell. Well, you're going to be lost.

That's a bad misrepresentation. You laugh, but I know people— you've seen the Facebook posts

on April 1st. Even atheists have a holiday, April Fool's Day, and we

think it's funny. But you know, when people scoffed in the first century, 2 Peter

3, Peter says there are scoffers and mockers saying, where is the promise of his

coming? And then in verse 9, he says, hey, God's not willing that any

should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's not a good response to

mock people about where their eternal destiny may end up if

they don't repent and if they don't respond properly. It's not a good thing to

do. In fact, read through the rest of the book of Acts and throughout Paul's

trials, Paul's trying to build common ground. He never once says, don't worry, you're going

to get what's coming to you. And I think that's another bad response, trying to

get even instead of in these moments being even more like Jesus.

So Romans 12:19-21, dearly beloved,

Romans 12:19–21

don't avenge for yourselves, but instead give

place to the one that's going to pay back because vengeance is mine, says the

Lord, and I will repay. I think it's a bad response to mock or to

judge instead of convict. Anybody else?

What was that? Our tone of voice. Yeah,

our tone of voice and how we respond to people. And that's why I have

this passage up here, 2 Timothy 2:24-26 and

2 Timothy 2:24–26

how we respond to people. Paul says, the servant of the Lord must not be

argumentative, gentle to all people, able to teach,

patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,

if perhaps God will grant them repentance to acknowledge the truth.

Here's another one. I'll say maybe 2 more and then we'll go on. One of

the false ways to respond, or the wrong ways to respond, when we're misrepresented,

when people accuse us and things of that nature, is we start whining and

complaining about it. You ever notice that? Oh, they took prayer out of our schools,

took it from us. Well, if we're praying like Jesus, they can never take

it from us. Where did Jesus say you should pray? Matthew 6, go in your

where? Go in your closet. People don't have to know you're praying. You can— oh,

they're changing. See, we start whining and complaining, crying in our suffering,

and the Bible says don't do that. If any man suffers as a Christian,

let him not be ashamed. Ecclesiastes 7:10,

Ecclesiastes 7:10

do not say the former days were better than these. Oh, I remember the time

when— no, every time is our time if we're Christians. Every climate

is our climate. We want more favorable conditions all the time, and the Bible says

we should pray for such, but we're never to just start complaining

as if, oh, all of a sudden the laws,

society, the gender issue— oh, we're just outnumbered.

That's talking like we don't have a God in heaven. That's behaving

as if we're atheists. If God's in control, a wrong

way to respond to false accusations and misrepresentations is

to violate Philippians 2:14. And to murmur and complain and to

Philippians 2:14

talk about how unfair it is and how we— that's not how Christians

respond. We respond like we know that God's always in control.

All right, number 4, the challenge of handling rejection.

Go to Acts 24, and I'm just going to hit these quickly. Here's Paul before

some of the rulers that Paul encounters, and just

as you're turning there, just throw some things at me. What kind of preacher was

Paul? What would you say about Paul? Successful? Good?

Effective? When you think about Paul's preaching, What kind of things come to your mind

about the way that Paul preached or the kind of preacher that Paul was?

Christ-centered. What else? Tenacious.

What else? Bold. What else?

Was Paul effective? How do you know Paul was effective?

He stirred people up. But what else? Paul established many

what? Churches. Half the New Testament wouldn't be there if Paul

didn't go to these places. And establish these churches. Paul was a great evangelist.

He says, woe is me if I preach not the gospel.

Somebody's like, where was that font size before? Leave me alone. All right.

Felix's response to the gospel. Look at Acts 24 and look

at what happens when Paul preaches to Felix. He's an amazing preacher, but I want

you to see what happens to him when he preaches to Felix. Acts 24:24,

Acts 24:24

after some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewish.

Who was Jewish, sent for Paul, heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.

Felix was alarmed. If you got the New King James and King James, what do

you got there? Felix did what? He trembled. Yeah, he trembled

and he said, go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I'll summon

you. At the same time, he hoped that money would be given to him by

Paul, so he sent for him often and conversed with Paul. And when 2 years

had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus,

And desiring to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison. Paul preached

here to Felix. What happened? Felix was alarmed. He trembled and did what?

Nothing. Nothing. Next, Paul's preaching before Agrippa.

Acts 26:24. This is what Festus says in the middle of Paul's

Acts 26:24

sermon. Acts 26 and verse 24. Just look over one chapter.

Paul was talking about his conversion, how he became a Christian. Festus cried

out and said, Paul, you are out of your what? Your great learning

is driving you mad. He uses the word mania. It's where we get our Greek

word for maniac from. The Greek word comes from where we get our English word

maniac. And he's basically saying exactly what you think. Paul, you're crazy.

Paul tells this whole story, I saw Jesus on the road to Damascus,

and Festus says, Paul, stuff like that doesn't happen. Paul, you're out of your mind.

And then here's the last one, and we sing a song about this one,

and I think Bill mentioned this a moment ago. Or Laura about

almost persuaded. Look at Acts 26:28. This is what Agrippa says as

Acts 26:28

he's standing before Paul hearing this preaching. Paul says, Agrippa,

do you believe the prophets? I know you do. In verse 28, Paul— Agrippa

said to Paul, in such a short time you would persuade me to become a

Christian? Um, the King James has something like almost that

persuadeth me. Newer translations get this better. Paul literally— or

Agrippa literally says to Paul, at such a short time or

so quickly? You want me to become a Christian? Basically, Paul, after one sermon,

you think I'm going to become a Christian? What do you see in all 3

of these responses? Felix says, go your way. When I have time, I'll call

for you. Festus says,

Paul, you're crazy. And Agrippa says, one sermon,

Paul? So soon you think I can become a Christian? What does this tell you

about evangelism and the challenge of being rejected that Paul faced?

Not everybody's going to what? Become a Christian,

even if you're who? Paul.

I've got a friend, his name's Jim Turner. He's 86. He called me this past

week on my birthday. We were talking. Jim is 86. Jim's still memorizing

Scripture. He's one of the most evangelistic people I've ever met. And we were

talking about a couple. He's been working on them since I lived in Florida,

and they're making progress, but I mean, it's slow. And he was talking to me

about Bible studies, and then Jim said, Hiram, I wonder what I'm doing wrong.

These people, they won't become Christians. And I said, well, Jim, why would you assume

you're doing anything wrong? See, if we don't learn how to handle rejection, we start

thinking— and I think we ought to try everything we can, hear me well— but

we start thinking there's some kind of like magical method out there. And if we

could just get the magical words and the method, and then— that's not how it

works. And I think this is a challenge the church is always going to face.

It's interesting, as you press deeper into the book of Acts, the conversions

begin to decrease. The closer Paul gets to Rome,

the less receptive the Jews and the Gentiles become. And the

Holy Spirit, obviously omniscient and knowing all things,

puts this in here on purpose to show not even Paul batted a thousand.

Righteousness, temperance, judgment— Felix is shaking. Oh,

he's coming down the aisle. Paul, go your way. And literally he says,

when I have time. You know how many times I've heard that? Hey, can we

study the Bible? When I have time. That's exactly what Felix says to Paul,

when I get time. That's everybody in the whole world.

It's not the church. If you don't get this right, you'll start thinking, well,

I'm not good at evangelism. People always reject me.

You'll start equating evangelism success with baptisms, which is a

bad idea. I'm glad when people obey the gospel and are baptized. It's the

biblical response, but you and I are successful in evangelism

when we evangelize. They're successful in response when they respond.

You share the gospel, you succeeded. And Paul

succeeded. He didn't fail. Felix and Festus and Agrippa,

they missed out. They didn't shrink Paul's crown one inch.

It was their loss and not his. Yes, go ahead, Chuck.

Christianity is not a feeling. It's not a secret society.

Jesus' life, death, and resurrection took place publicly.

Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, he wanted

Agrippa to know, hey, you know the prophets. This information is out there if you

want to. Now, what happened to these guys, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa? This will be

the last thing. What happened to them after Paul preached to them? Like, what does

the history book— what do the history books tell us about them and Christianity?

Persuaded? We don't know. But here's what we do know: Paul

succeeded, and every time we share the gospel, we do too.

This is the end of this quarter. I hope you see our challenges are really

no different. The last slide in this— I'm just going to say this and we'll

be done— the last slide was actually called Acts 29 because that's

where this goes. You love Acts, we love Acts, we love talking

about conversions and what happened with the early church, but the challenge for us is

Acts 29. That's not in your Bible. That's in your heart.

What will the history books record about us as we've sat present

and been here? What does Acts 29 say about the Cumberland Trace Church of Christ

in 2026? How do we rise to our challenges?

And that's up to every one of us. All right. Thanks for a good Bible

class. Appreciate your time.