The Disruptive Nature of the Gospel

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Lord, we say the Bible says that all your promises are yes, and amen in Jesus.

And so when we say that word, we're reminded that you're a God who not only makes promises, but keeps your promise.

We open your word today because it's a reflection and a reminder of your promises to us.

But it's also a reflection and a reminder of the requirement placed upon us.

So we're here to get understanding.

We're not here to get stuff.

We want to understand deeper and more fully, full more fully what exactly the gospel requires of us because it's inconvenient often.

And it shaves off the edges of our preferences.

And that's a good thing.

Because when we give up our preferences, then we can get get begin to live lives that bring you glory and praise.

And so, Holy Spirit, illuminate your word today.

Cause it to make sense such that it shows up in our head and what we think, in our heart and what we feel, in our hands and what we do.

This is our prayer, Lord.

We pray in Christ's name when everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You could have a seat.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take and open up to Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

And uh, if you're our guest today, let me say, uh, welcome.

I'm glad you've come to explore a new church.

You're always welcome here.

If you're anything, if you hear anything today, it makes you kind of go, hey, what's that?

Well, I didn't understand that.

Uh, some of our pastors will be available at the front, conclusion of our service, and that's why they're standing there.

They'd love to meet you, answer any questions.

Some of you may be thinking, hey, what was that thing over there?

That's called baptism.

And basically, baptism is an ordinance of the church.

Think of it like a wedding ring.

I didn't put this ring on until January the 9th of 1993 because I was not in a relationship with my wife until then, okay?

And so when we baptize, we baptize by immersion, and here's why baptism is the symbol of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus.

And when someone comes to get baptized, like Sam and Lexi earlier, what they're saying is the same thing happened to Jesus has happened to me.

And here's another thing, you're like, well, who just who baptized?

I thought the pastors did everything.

We are not here to do everything, the pastors.

We're here to equip you for the work of ministry.

This is what the Bible says, okay?

And so what we ask people when they when they get ready to out themselves as a Christ follower and be baptized, we say, Who would you like to baptize you?

Who's been instrumental in your spiritual journey?

And so Sam's dad baptized him.

That's Blake.

He's our equipping pastor here on our staff.

And then Lexi's friend baptized her.

Okay, it's just like she's like, Oh, yeah, I've got a friend that record that's been very influential in my life.

We say, Absolutely.

And so that's what you saw there.

Now, does that make sense?

Say amen.

All right.

Well, let me just say this, okay?

The task of the uh of the Christian faith is not to know everything.

Okay, so don't feel pressured today, like I gotta get in here and remember everything.

No, the task of the Christian life is not to know everything, but it is to know a few simple, beautiful, life-upending, cultural-threatening, consequential truths, and then let your life be set on fire by them, okay?

This is why you'll see this in the text today.

Paul does never, the apostle Paul, he never goes out looking to get into an experience, get into a disagreement or into a fight or a controversy, but a riot breaks out in the city of Ephesus simply because of what Paul was doing.

He was preaching the gospel.

He was telling people idolatry is not real.

You worship these little shrines, okay?

That's not the real God, all right?

And he's preaching the gospel, and people are turning away from their former life and they're turning to God, and it threatens economically, culturally, politically, it threatens everything.

Which is why I want to talk to you this morning about the disruptive nature of the gospel.

The disruptive nature of the gospel.

If you've ever been to youth camp, say amen.

If you've ever been to a youth camp that had the blob, say amen.

Some of you are like, I don't know what the blob is.

It's a big, it's probably 40 feet long.

It looks like a big pillow full of air.

And then there's a tower that's at the end of it, and some unsuspecting little victim gets on the end of the big blob, and then some fat guy gets up on the tower and jumps off.

And I don't know if it's physics or trigonometry or whatever, but the kid on the end just goes airborne.

The worst one I ever saw, this sponsor.

This kid, he ain't never seen a biscuit he didn't like.

He got up there, he heaved himself off, some seventh grader, maybe 80 pounds, soaking wet.

The kid was on the end, he goes, Are you ready?

And the kid goes, Yeah, yeah, I'm ready.

And that guy jumped off.

It was like Godzilla lands on boom! And that kid, he lost all motor control.

Two flips backwards, arms, legs, and then come down, wham, flat on his stomach.

That's what everybody on the shore, whoa! The lifeguards got into Michael Phelps pose, they were ready to dive in.

And the kid came up and I just thought, I think it's time for the camp speaker to go take a nap.

By the way, the gospel is that disruptive.

Sometimes it's hard to get your bearings and say, but there's a joy, there's a thrill, there's this experience, there's this juice, there's this momentum that comes surges to you, and you're like, man, I was made for this.

Acts chapter 19, verse 21.

Acts 19:21

The Bible says this.

Now, after these events, Paul resolved in the spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achai and go to Jerusalem, saying, After I've been there, I must also see Rome.

Uh and having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

About that time, there were no little disturbance concerning the way.

Mark that in your Bible.

Notice how the Bible says that there was no little disturbance.

It's like nowadays no one says you're right.

They go, You're not wrong.

There was no little disturbance concerning the way.

For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsman.

These he gathered together with the workers in similar trades and said, Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

And you see in here that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

And there is danger, not only that this trade of ours may be come into disrepute, but that also the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be disped deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worships.

When they heard this, they were enraged, they were crying out, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel.

But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him.

And when some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.

Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know what they had come to why why they had come together.

Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward, and Alexander motioned him with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.

But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and the sacred stone that fell from the sky?

Seeing that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemous of our goddess.

If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are also proconsuls, excuse me, proconsuls.

Uh let them bring charges against one another.

But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that can we can give to justify this commotion.

And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Now, one of the things you should do, Paul says this over and over, and I said the task of the Christian life is not to know everything, it's just to know a few things and be set on fire by them.

Uh all through the New Testament, Paul says things like, I desire to know nothing among you except Christ in him crucified.

So don't think in terms of behavior, think in terms of belief.

What beliefs do we see in Paul that allowed him to demonstrate the disruptive nature of the gospel?

Let me point out four or five in the text.

The first one is he believed that Jesus Christ is the only way.

Verse 23 says this, and about that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the way.

Now, notice little things when you read the Bible.

Don't always look for big things.

Notice that the word way is capitalized.

Way.

Now, when he says the way, it's not directions to a destination.

Okay?

The word way refers to a course of conduct, okay?

Think uh guidance for how you live here on earth.

Because Jesus, don't think directions to a destination, because Jesus did not come just to get you to heaven when you die.

He came to get you and I to live such a life that brings heaven to bear on earth.

Again, the Lord's Supper, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

If it's only a destination, and you're only thinking in terms of what do I got to do to get a ticket to the destination, then your Christianity will always be about something you did way back in the past, okay?

Think of it like this, men.

How many of you men remembered when you asked your wife to marry you?

Say amen.

Yes, yes.

Now, have you asked her anytime since then?

When you get in a fight with your wife, do you look at her and go, Hey babe, would you marry me?

She'll be like, You idiot, what do you?

Get out of here.

No, no, because you get a lot of people, when it comes to their Christianity, they look back at something they did.

Have I been baptized?

Did I pray their prayer or whatever?

You shouldn't think about it because when you're doing that, you're thinking what you're saying is, I think about Christianity as going to heaven one day.

You're not saying I think of it as the way, a course of life that brings heaven to bear on earth.

And now let me love you enough to tell you this is what Christianity is all about.

It's not just going to heaven because think of it, you're smart people.

If Jesus did what he did just to get you to heaven, then why when you first became a Christian wouldn't you just go to heaven immediately?

The mission's accomplished, but the mission is not accomplished.

Because you and I get to live out what we believe, what the Bible teaches, the disruptive nature of the gospel here on earth.

And so the first thing you see that he just simply believed this Jesus Christ is the only way, not just a ticket to heaven, but a course of conduct.

It informs how I live.

The second thing he believed is that the gospel threatens the status quo.

The gospel threatens the status quo.

We forget that Jesus said things like, I did not come to bring peace but a sword.

And then he gets real personal to us people who live in Fortman County.

He says things like, I came to turn a mother against a daughter and a father against a son.

And all the and you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

No, it threatens the status quo.

Now, what he's not saying, students, is hey, I want you to hate your stepmom.

That's in the Bible.

Now, what he is saying is that the status quo is at risk when the gospel shows up.

It's a threat economically, culturally, and religiously.

Because here's the thing: Christianity doesn't just change the hearts of the people who believe it, it changes the culture in which those people live.

Let me say that again.

Christianity doesn't just change the heart of the people who believe it.

This is where we get this false belief that, well, my faith is a personal matter or is a private matter.

No, Christianity in biblical times, it changed the culture in which Christians lived in.

And so it was a threat to the status quo.

Paul understood that Jesus didn't come to baptize our preferences, but instead to alter our reality.

This is what you see in this part of the text.

Look at verse 24.

Let me just point this out for you.

He after he says, For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis.

Now, let me stop right there because we don't understand where I don't get it.

There were seven wonders of the ancient world.

Have you ever heard that phrase?

Say yes.

The temple of Artemis was one of them.

It was one and almost one and a half football fields long and 75 yards wide.

The columns were 60 feet tall.

It was incredible.

And if you've ever been to the Statue of Liberty, you know there's a gift shop right near there that sells little uh miniature statues of liberty.

You can buy them, okay?

They have a bank, they got one's a music box, you wind it up.

Same thing back then.

These silversmiths, this is how they made their money.

So this is like the first union meeting in the history of humanity.

They all get together, he's like, hey, dude, we're crushing it.

We get our wealth from this, and this guy over Paul is telling people that idols made by human hands are not God's duh.

You ever look back and think, these people are stupid enough to believe that?

You ever look back on your own life and think, man, I was stupid enough to believe that?

You ever see people that you used to be in love with and think, I was stupid enough to believe that?

So let's not get righteous.

So I'm saying let's don't get self-righteous when these people go, how could they believe that these little statues, but basically they made miniature versions of the temple of Artemis and they sold them.

And now people stopped buying them because they believe that when you come to faith, you renounce your old way of life.

Remember last week we talked about how they brought all their little magic books and they burned them and it was worth 50,000 day wages.

I mean, it's 50,000 pieces of silver.

And so when I say the gospel threatens the status quo, this is what I mean.

It is the only truth powerful enough to alter all of the spheres of life, financially, emotionally, spiritually, physically, all that.

Now, here's we've lost this sentence because a long time ago, when revival would happen, uh, businesses would shut down, places of sin, they say all the sin businesses would go out of business, okay?

And they would never open again because they ran out of customers.

Now, when revival breaks out, a bunch of college kids get in a room and sing for a long time.

Yeah.

And I'm just saying, we've lost the disruptive nature of the status quo.

We worship a God who is orderly and he's mannerly.

He stands at the door of your heart and knocks.

Not written to lost people.

You see, you gotta be careful, it's hard to grasp the disruptive nature of the gospel when you do not believe in a God that has the power and the capacity and does not await for the permission of man, but he always moves, is moved by the glory of God.

Big difference in these things.

See, they have this cottage industry where they make these little shrines of Artemis, and Paul's preaching is beginning to cut in to their profit.

And so they get together the suppliers, the craftsmen, the silversmiths, the middleman, the distributor, the salesman, and they go, guys, we are losing market share.

We've got to do something.

And their response was just this little phrase.

Again, it's not knowing everything, it's just knowing a few things and holding on to them with your whole life.

He simply says, Gods made with hands are not gods.

This is idolatry.

You'll notice if you read Old and New Testament, the Bible doesn't preach against unbelief.

Even if you don't believe in God, you believe in something.

This is why the Bible preaches against idolatry.

This is why the first two commandments say what they say.

You shall have no other gods before me.

And the second one says, you should not make for yourself a graven image.

Because we try to find something that's more acceptable to us besides God, because God is disruptive by nature.

God doesn't let me do what I want to do.

God doesn't love me and just let me do what I want to do and then forgive me after the fact.

God says to me, No.

God says to me, That's sin.

God says to me, that's wrong.

God does not say to me, look around and see what everybody else is doing, and then just do that.

Give in to get along.

I mean, you got to give a little to get a little.

This morning, a very sweet lady in our church reached out to me and said, Hey, I've got a family friend that had a son that's in a four-wheeler accident.

He's in my moral home in the med center.

Could you go down and pray with him?

I said, Oh, I'd be glad to.

I'll go down after lunch.

A few more texts, and then she said, Hey, my car is kind of on the fridge.

Can I ride with you?

And there I was at the fork in the road.

Am I gonna sound like a harsh jerk?

Or am I just, hey, I have a conviction about this.

I'm kind of like Mike Pence in this.

I do not ride in a car with another woman alone.

I just don't.

And so I had to text back and go, I don't want her to think I'm being a jerk, but I just texted back and said, Hey, out of respect for my wife, I don't ride in a vehicle with another woman alone.

And she was super, she said, I totally understand.

Thank you.

But I'd be lying if I didn't say there's a part of me that's kind of like, I'm gonna sound like a self-righteous weasel.

And the Holy Spirit said, What's the problem with that?

And I thought, I was reminded as I was pouring my coffee this morning, yeah, you really don't care about my reputation, do you?

No, no, I care about the reality of the gospel.

Now, again, the Bible doesn't preach against unbelief.

Because you you'll believe something.

The Bible preaches against idolatry, because when we turn from God, we will turn to something and we will make for ourselves a graven image.

Uh, this is Psalm 115, verse 1.

Psalms 115:1

He says, Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.

For the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness, why should the nations say, Where is their God?

This is one of the reasons idolatry got real popular, because they said the Christians back then, hey, where's your God?

Our God's right here.

This is our God.

Look, our God is right present with us.

Where's your God?

And this is how they responded: Our God is in the heavens.

He does all that he pleases.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

They have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see.

They have ears but do not hear, noses, but they do not smell, they have hands but do not feel, feet, but they do not walk, and they do not make a sound in their throat.

Those who make them become like them.

So do all who trust in them.

Whatever is your idol today, you will become like that over time.

It will just happen slowly, very unaware, but it it will happen.

Here's a third thing we see in the text that the gospel changes what you worship.

This is what Paul believed.

The gospel changes what you worship.

It's verse 26 and 27, where they begin to realize, they said, and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, Paul is persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

And there is danger.

Hear this part, verse 27, and there is danger that not only that this trait of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and all the world worship.

Have you seen the temple of Artemis lately?

Nobody has.

It's gone.

Exactly what they fear has come to pass because the gospel changes what you worship.

If you worship work, the gospel should change what you work.

Men, if you're consistently saying to your wife, I'm sorry, I'm working late, but we've got a nice house and a nice neighborhood, and our kids go to a nice school.

You are worshiping the wrong thing.

Work is an idol to you.

If you worship a little white ball that you hit with a stick, oh, it just got personal.

The gospel changes what you worship.

Let me ask you a question.

Is there anything you used to love that you don't love anymore since you came to faith?

Is there anything you used to love that you don't love anymore since you came to faith?

Or have you turned anybody away from what they used to worship because of what you worship?

See, it's about here you should let me clarify what I mean by worship, because tragically, worship has eroded into singing.

But if you believe the Bible, central to any theology of worship is a deeper, fuller, broader, more consequential definition of worship.

This is Romans chapter 12, verse 1.

Romans 12:1

The Bible says this.

He says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Now, uh you say, what do you mean?

Central what you do with your body.

Present your bodies.

Present your bodies.

Central to any theology of worship is what you do with your body.

Now, we separated that, and the worship gets very popular, and immorality continues to be on the rise on college campuses.

You'll be hard to find a college campus that doesn't have a one-name Bible study where hundreds, if not thousands, of college students get together and they worship and they sing and all and they're earnest and all this stuff.

And I had a conversation a while back with some who led, they they led worship and one of these things.

And they were talking, they were lecturing college pastors about what college students need.

And they were giving all these tips and pointers on worship.

And I just raised my hand and I said, Hey, let me ask you a question.

Okay, worship 5,000 of you get into Reed Arena and worship?

Uh-oh, I just let the cat out of the bag there.

And they go, Oh yeah, it's awesome.

And I said, Is immorality going down on the AM campus?

Well, I'm going to send you a question.

Why are you getting all offended?

I just asked the question because you're like lecturing us about worship.

What college kids want to worship?

Is immorality going down?

Because if you're going to break away and get your praise on, and then go back and spend the night at your girlfriend's apartment.

I don't believe anything you're saying.

Can you feel it in here?

No whooping going on now.

Come to me.

And I take it on you.

I'll take on my own kids' school.

Last year, Sanford University, where my daughter goes, we love Sanford, okay?

I think it's great.

They said, revival's happening in Sanford.

A bunch of kids in a chapel singing for a long time.

We went, and I was like, now I know it's easy to think.

Who are you to judge that?

I'm just trying to hold on to the word revival.

Okay?

Because we sling it around a lot.

And I just don't think, like Asbury, same thing.

Oh, for 50 days you had revival, and then traffic got bad, so we shut it off.

You don't control.

Revival.

I took a class in seminary called The History of Spiritual Awakenings.

This is what revival sounds like.

Not that I remember, I've got to read it from notes, but an atheist newspaper writer that had a camp meeting where hundreds of people were being saved.

And the Spirit of God was there.

And this atheist skeptic went up there.

He said, I was gonna write a story and balk all these people.

And he said, as I approached the camp, a sense of dread came up over me, which for which I have no words.

I was scared for my life and I fled to the woods to escape this presence again that I had for which I had no words.

I tarried there for the span of three hours.

And then, believing it safe, I came back out only to realize I should have tarried longer.

When I approached the camp, I was struck to the ground and gloriously converted.

That's revival.

Y'all singing for 14 days?

I'm sorry.

Let me say it.

I know I sound like a jerk.

So I've picked on your school, my kid's school that I'm fixing to send a check to.

Or I'm not picking on either one.

I'm just saying that central to any theology of worship is what you do with your body.

So don't tell me how many college kids you can pack into any room.

Tell me, is what you do with your body being affected by the disruptive nature of the gospel.

And if not, you need a bigger definition of worship.

That's all I'm saying.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

If you're visiting that, you're like, I hate this guy.

That's okay.

That's okay.

I'll be fine.

I'll be fine.

Here's my concern.

We worship the feeling we get when we sing the songs we like to sing.

And Paul wasn't surprised by this response when the people said, Hey, you know, the gospel changes what you worship.

The thing about idolatry is that you can control your idol.

You can put it on a shelf, you can move it over here, on the table, you can put it anywhere you want.

And the disruptive thing about God is you cannot control him.

You just can't.

He's not manageable, not safe for the whole family.

Like they tell you on Christian radio, you should turn that off.

Fourth thing, you see Paul believed that the gospel gives me courage.

The gospel gives me courage that I by nature, I would add this, that I by nature don't have.

You say, Where do you get that?

Look at verse 29.

Are you still with me?

Did I lose you back there?

Some of you are like, I don't care about that.

Hey, I'm not ragging on any school.

Again, I'm just trying to hold on to a biblical definition of worship and revival.

I just think those things are those are big words.

Let's be careful how we use them, okay?

When I say the gospel gives me courage, this is what I mean.

Look at verse 29.

This is what's happening, okay?

Uh so the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, who were Paul's companions in travel.

Now, if I'm Paul, I'm thinking, well, better you than me.

By the way, this theater is don't think like uh uh uh the the out here uh 1 Colony 24, the fountains or the one over here on the Grand Parkway.

Think a theater that would seat 25,000 people.

That's how big it was.

Look at verse 30.

But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, just just hang on a second.

There's 25,000 people, they've been chanting for two hours.

Great is Artemis of Ephesus! They see that they got two of your friends.

And Paul's like, this is the captive audience, okay?

I need to get in here.

Now, here's what Paul understood, okay?

He he I say the gospel gives me courage.

Uh, his fear wasn't that he would die.

Hear this.

His fear was that these people would live with a lie the rest of their life.

So it's not about not having fear, it's just what is your fear rooted in?

His fear wasn't that he was gonna die, it's 25,000 of them.

They're chanting.

I mean, this is like a pep rally for idolatry.

And he's like, Oh, these people, let me let me get in here.

And his friends basically had to stop him.

I just want to say the gospel gives you courage.

Ask yourself today, where do I need courage to manifest in my life?

Do you need courage to end a relationship that you and God both know has come as far as it can?

Well, you just don't want to be alone.

I told some of my friends earlier, I said, hey, listen, they're like 15, 16.

I said, hey, listen, a lot of life is learning to be alone and not feel lonely.

And they looked at me like, you're a strange man.

Yeah.

I said, I spend protracted period of times alone and I can die.

And I want them to know I wasn't endorsing smoking.

I don't smoke, believe it or not.

It's just because if you've always got to be, if you've been diagnosed with FOMO, for you old people, it's fear of missing out, you're always gonna have to be with people.

But if you can get healed of FOMO, you can be alone.

And it's great.

I highly recommend it.

The gospel gives you the courage, not just to break up with an unhealthy relationship, it gives you courage to be alone.

I love what David Prince said.

He says, courage is acting on the premise that there's something more important than fear.

It is not the absence of fear, it's not the absence of fear.

Courage is just, hey, there's something more important than my fear.

It's a Paul's fear, wasn't it?

Hey, I'm gonna die at the hands of 25,000 idol worshipers.

No, he just looked through a different lens and he said, No, these people are gonna live the rest of their life and they're gonna pray and worship a little shrine to a building.

Are you kidding me?

For him, there's something more important.

Just these people that they needed to hear the truth.

Ask yourself this question.

I asked somebody this in council this week, and they said, That's a hard question.

I said, I think it's a revealing question.

And the question is this what is your tendency when you're afraid?

What is your tendency when you're afraid?

I asked this person, and the person's like, Well, I don't know what you mean.

I said, Do you lie when you're afraid?

And they said, Oh yeah, who doesn't?

A lot of people just stop for a minute.

Oh, help me, Jesus.

Uh now this person's crazy just like that.

It was truthful.

Yes.

What is your tendency when you're afraid?

Here's why you should understand that.

Because the enemy, Satan, he will come at you through the avenue of your fears because he knows what you're afraid of.

Whatever you don't want to see happen.

Oh man, I just, if this guy breaks up with me, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

You're gonna be fine.

Here's the last thing.

The gospel gives me courage.

Here's the last thing we see that Paul believed.

The gospel's about God.

The gospel's about God.

It's verse 37.

He says, look at this.

He says, For you have brought these men.

Now, this is this is kind of like uh the the town clerk, excuse me.

This is like like like this is like a politician.

And he says to these people, hey, now by the way, when he talks about the sacred stone that fell from the sky, that's a meteorite.

They were just like, This, look, this is verification that Artemis is really God.

And he says, verse 36, seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought not, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.

Now just take note of that.

We're not sacrilegious and they don't blaspheme our God.

They don't talk about Artemis.

Again, when Paul says, I desire to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified, this is because he believes the gospel is about God.

Don't spend most of your time figuring out what you don't believe.

Figure out what you do believe and go deeper in your understanding of that.

Because the gospel is about God and it produces a people who are about God.

Nobody says anything about Artemis.

They don't slander her, uh, the temple, this false religion.

That's why they can't charge them with blasphemy of their goddess because their focus is on God.

Now, he wasn't an expert on cults, what other people believed.

No, he just resolved this.

I want to know Christ and Christ alone.

And I want to know him with a supreme intimacy that leaves no rival for my affection and no refusal to my obedience.

Again, I want to know this God with a supreme affection.

Think of the greatest commandment: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

A supreme affection.

And I want to love him in such a way that leaves no rival for my affection and no refusal to my obedience.

In other words, there's nothing God could ask you to do that you would just say, okay, I'm tapping out, deal breaker.

No.

God, when I say that God, that Paul believes that the gospel is about God.

It's not a better life, it's not more money, it's not an easier existence, more popularity, more followers.

None of that is the gospel.

God is not a means to an end, he is the end himself.

And I'll close this morning with a quote from a book that's hard to read because this guy's like, he thinks about God in ways that I'm like, hang on a second, John.

The book is called The God is the Gospel, written by a man named John Piper.

And he says this the critical question for our generation and for every generation is this.

If you could have heaven with no sickness, with all the friends you've ever had on earth, all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you've ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ were not there?

And beloved, look at me and I'm done.

My growing fear is that our version of heaven is that Jesus is not essential to it, he's not necessary.

And the reason it got like that is because we have forgotten, we no longer believe what Paul believed is that the gospel is about God.

God is the gospel, it is the good news.

That's what gospel means.

The good news of Jesus Christ.

So if you're like, man, I think that's heaven right there.

Just everything I ever wanted.

Who needs Jesus?

Then that's not the gospel.

Because God is the gospel.

And again, you'll notice if you read the rest of the New Testament, Paul did not purpose to know everything.

He didn't go out and recruit followers.

No, no, no.

He just said, I want to know Christ and Him crucified.

I don't want to know anything else when I'm among you.

I don't care who's doing what, who's most popular, the ladies gossip.

I just want to know Christ and Christ crucified.

And look at me.

When you just structure your life around what you believe and you live that out, people understand that the gospel is disruptive by nature.

But disruptive is not a negative word.

The little kid on the blob swam to the shore before I walked off.

I just watched.

He swam to the shore, climbed out, went and got in line to be blobbed again.

And after he ran, I mean while he was swimming to the shore, 30 other kids ran and got in line.

And I was walking off and I was like, You masochistic pigs, what are you doing?

And look at me.

Everybody longs for an experience for which you have no words.

Everyone in this room, you long for that.

It's not just it's not a feeling, it's a reality.

It only comes from being in a relationship with God that's governed by the gospel.

Let's pray together.

If you're our guests, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and then give you some soul space to think about it.

Some questions come up on the screen as for your contemplation.

We discuss them in our community groups and meet in homes all over our city.

But right now, uh Clyde will come and just play.

And just encourage you just to take a just take one minute and just think about what God said to you today.

Let everything else fall to the wayside.

But let's just go hard after God for this next minute.

God, what'd you say to me?

Where does this where is this rubbing on me?

God, I believe it's the prayer of most of us in this room that we want to make progress in the Christian life.

And one of the ways we do that is by just embracing the nature of the gospel.

It is disruptive by nature, it is life-orienting, life-changing.

It is comfort, but it's also causality.

It is love and it is hate.

Changes what we love and it changes what we hate.

Not who we hate, we don't hate anybody, but there's some things we hate.

We grow in our capacity and willingness and desire to hate sin, to see it for what it is.

So we're not gonna grind the edges off the disruptive nature, the gloriously God-centered gospel.

And we just say, God, you're the treasure hidden in the field.

You're the pearl of great price, you're the one for which there is no sacrifice that's too big.

That's not us.

We're not that valuable.

Only you are that valuable.

And so we want to give you everything that's yours.

So, Holy Spirit, anything you point out in our lives today, we'll do.

This is our this is our confession, this is our desire to be obedient.

We offer it up to you in Jesus' name, but everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest again, I just want to say thank you for being here.

You're always welcome.

Sometimes it's hard to find a seat, and sometimes if you come late, you gotta walk all the way down to the front row with your dad.

So next Sunday, some of you Baptists fill in the front.

So my friends that come a little bit late can just kind of slip in and be left alone, okay?

Uh, and I'm being serious about that.

Uh, if you're our guest today, uh, I just want to say thank you again.

If you all we ask of you is text welcome, that number on the screen behind me.

Uh, we have a record of your visit.

That's all.

We'll shoot you a text back.

We want to help you take the next step, whatever that may be in your spiritual journey.

And it may be, hey, I want to have coffee with you.

I got lots of questions.

I love coffee and I welcome questions, okay?

Uh, we've always got stuff going on in the life of our church, and so we make you aware of that through our video announcements.

Let's check those out today.

Here's what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

Ross King will be leading our full service on August 18th.

You will be blessed after experiencing his priesthood.

Midweeks begin on August 27th for our Tuesday women's Bible study, and August 28th for everyone else.

Here are the class offerings.

Spiritual gifts.

Discovering yours and why you have it.

It's a 10-week overview of spiritual gifts to help you discover your unique design.

Taught by Marcy McClendon, Cynthia Jeter, Shelly Johnston, and Elaine Rice.

10 Battles That Shape the Church.

This is a look at the key moments in history that Christians have defended the faith and embrace the doctrines we hold dear.

Taught by Clyde Copeland.

Gospel Fluency.

Believe and speak the gospel in all life.

You will learn how to connect the gospel to all areas of your life and then speak it fluently to believers and non-believers alike.

Taught by Julian Solis.

How God changes people.

Understanding Christian Salvation, a core class.

You will see how God begins a relationship with us and then sustains us all the way into glory.

Taught by Blake Hardcastle.

Life hacks.

Decide now.

Enjoy later.

You will understand how to manage all God has entrusted to you so that you can experience joy and contentment.

Taught by Wade Burgess, there's also engaging programming for preschool through 12th grade.

Hilarious Sunday is on October 10th.

It is an opportunity to be a cheerful giver to the glory of God.

This hilarious Sunday will have an immediate impact on space for our growing bridge and kids ministry.

Finally, here's a message from CrossCon.

This world is filled with millions of distractions.

What happens when a generation is focused on one thing?

One of the things the gospel does is it helps us to live our lives on purpose.

This is the will of God for your life, your sanctification.

To know more of Christ, to make him know.

You want to make your life know.

For something that will last.

Where you need to be for fullness of joy is in Christ.

Where you need to be fulfilled for is in Christ.

Where you need to be for fulfillment of your skin is in Christ.

Go anywhere and do anything.

And we wanna see the glory of God spread around the world.

For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

Yeah, CrossCon is coming up in January.

We're letting all our college and career age people know that we're taking a group.

Uh, you'll hear people like John Piper, the guy who read the quote from David Platt, Eric Mason, incredible, godly, godly men.

Uh, we'd love you to come and be a part of that just for the community, but also the content.

It's incredible, okay?

Uh let me speak to two things.

Number one, Ross King will be here next week.

Uh, this is a fun fact.

Speaking of breakaway, Ross King and Chris Tomlin were the first original worship leaders at Breakaway.

Uh, just a little fun fact there.

And by the way, let me say this also.

I love breakaway.

If you're at AM, you should go to breakaway.

Don't leave here and go, oh, my pastor is again.

No, no, I'm for a God-sized definition of worship and revival.

I'm not against your school or your Bible study.

I'm not against Sanford's thing.

I just think we gotta hold on.

It's kind of like the word awesome.

If everything's awesome, nothing's awesome.

Does that make sense?

Okay, I don't want you to go, man, he's dogging out my.

I'm not.

I'm not.

It's just worship is about morality, not singing.

And we've lost that.

And we've become a group of immoral worshipers.

I'm preaching again.

I gotta stop.

Hey, here's the last thing about next week.

Ross King will be here.

He has a whole service.

He'll sing and just talk, and it's incredible.

You'll hear about 14 little sermons.

But here's what we also do with Ross.

We like to invest in the artist.

One of our core values is blessing.

So next week I'm gonna ask you to bring something folded up in your billfold, and we're just gonna give it to Ross to say, hey, we want to bless you.

So when the next church calls, it's 40 people, you can go.

That makes sense?

So bring a little something folded up, and you'll have the opportunity to bless Ross as you've been blessed by him.

Stand to your feet.

Speaking of blessing, I want to speak one over you.

Hold your hands out.

Your God has big definitions of words like worship and revival.

Because there's so much more for you to experience.

He's a displacing God that demonstrates the disruptive nature of the gospel all the time.

Not because he's mad at you, but because he loves you and wants so much more for you.

The fullness of life that Jesus came to make available.

You can have that.

Depart now and have that.

And in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.