The World Turned Upside Down

[upbeat music]

>> Well, good morning, Springhouse.

I'm not Kevin O'Dea for those of you

who were not aware of that, but I can dance.

Yeah, even at this advanced stage.

[audience laughing]

Yeah.

Today we're going to, actually,

Kevin and I had switched.

He switched it, the weeks that we were doing it.

So last week we did Acts chapter 18.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

This week we're going back to Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

And when we first switched, I thought, oh, great, Kevin.

You're giving me the Sunday when time changes

and it's the Sunday before the election.

And Acts 17, you know, what am I gonna do with that?

But you know, the Holy Spirit tends to come through.

He tends to kind of know what he's doing,

what we should be doing.

So hopefully this will be helpful.

If it's not, you can contact Pastor Kevin

through Church Center and let him know your thoughts.

I encourage you to do so.

Acts chapter 17 covers three stops

Acts 17 · chapter mention

on Paul's missionary journey.

Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens.

And what we're gonna do, I'll let you know ahead of time,

I'm gonna have you stand up three times during this sermon,

because we're gonna visit each one of these places.

And if we read them all now, you'll forget what we read

before we can get to the others.

So we're gonna cover each one.

And let me set this up.

Paul and his companions had gone to Thessalonica

and they'd gone to the synagogue

and they had been teaching for three Sundays.

They had been explaining and proving

that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead.

And that didn't sit too well with some of the people.

And so would you stand with me and let's see what happened.

But the Jews were jealous and taking some wicked men

of the rabble, they formed a mob,

set the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason,

seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

And they dragged Jason and some of the brothers

before the city authorities, shouting.

These men who have turned the world upside down

have come here also and Jason has received them

and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar,

saying that there is another king, Jesus.

And the people and the city authorities were disturbed

when they heard these things.

And when they had taken money as security from Jason

and the rest, they let them go.

Father, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for the life that's in your word.

I thank you for the presence of the Holy Spirit

that brings that life.

I pray that the Holy Spirit would inhabit each heart.

In Jesus' name, amen.

I normally use the NIV, but I didn't today

because of a particular phrasing that is used.

The New International Version says that they came

and complained that these men have caused trouble

all over the world.

And I'm sure that as far as they were concerned,

that was what they were saying

because they were causing trouble for them.

However, what they literally said was these men

who have turned the world upside down.

And when I read that phrase,

I immediately think of Hamilton.

Yeah, and I don't know how many of you have seen that,

but if you haven't, Hamilton is a story

of Alexander Hamilton and part of that story

involves a revolutionary war.

And when they come to the part where the revolutionary war

has ended or effectively ended when Cornwallis surrendered

to Washington at Yorktown, they have this song.

♪ The world turned upside down ♪

And it's a powerful song and it's very haunting

and you think, yeah, man, this changed everything.

Only it didn't.

It did not turn the world upside down.

All it did was sort of rearrange some of the pieces

in the world and the way that things were distributed.

It was an upset to be sure, but not world changing.

Tuesday, we're having an election.

We just heard a little bit about that.

I suspect most of you were already aware

that that was happening and that was going on.

Anyway, let me tell you something.

Tuesday will not change much regardless of who gets elected.

And let me tell you why.

On a micro level, on a personal level,

the people who are racist will continue to be racist.

The people who are sexist will continue to be sexist.

The people who are arrogant will continue to be arrogant.

The people who are addicts will continue to be addicts.

The people who are fearful will continue to be fearful.

The people who are lonely will continue to be lonely.

The people who are broken will continue to be broken.

None of that's gonna change regardless of who gets elected.

On a macro level, the rich will continue

to oppress the poor and exploit them.

The strong will continue to oppress the weak,

the wealthy, and the influential will not be called

to account for their actions.

And the poor and the stranger and the alien

will not receive justice

because that's the way the world works.

And many people, I might even say most,

but many people who are living unfulfilling,

unsatisfying lives will continue to live

unfulfilling, unsatisfying lives.

And perhaps most importantly or most significantly,

people will continue to die

regardless of who gets elected on Tuesday.

The first election that I actually was interested in

was in 1960 when I was 10 years old.

I couldn't vote, but I grew up in a rural,

southern Pentecostal household,

and we just had to stop this Kennedy guy

'cause if he got elected,

the pope was gonna start running the country.

And he got elected, and I don't know

if the pope ran the country or not,

but anyway,

I actually, the first election I could vote in was 1972,

so this would be my 15th election.

I'll just tell you for those of you who are wondering

about my political affiliation,

I voted for one party eight times,

and I voted for the other one eight times.

So I think I'm an independent.

[audience laughing]

Yeah.

But if I had a nickel for every election

where I heard this is the most important election

in the history of this country,

then after I collect my nickel this year,

I would have 18 nickels.

[audience laughing]

Now, I'm not saying don't vote,

and I'm not saying it's not of any importance.

I am saying if your candidate loses, don't despair,

and if your candidate wins, don't get too over the moon

because nothing much, nothing of real consequence

is going to change.

So let's go to Berea, shall we?

You're gonna get to stand once again in just a moment.

After this riot occurred in Thessalonica,

the believers got together at night

and sent Paul and Silas on their way,

and they went to Berea, and basically,

rinse and repeat, they did what they normally do.

They went and started sharing the scripture

with a little bit different result,

and so would you stand with me once again?

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble mode.

For they received the message with great eagerness,

and examined the scriptures every day

to see if what Paul said was true.

As a result, many of them believed,

as did also a number of prominent Greek women

and many Greek men.

You may be seated.

What is up with these Bereans?

They did something that's rarely done today.

They did some research.

They actually looked into things.

I've got an old college friend

that we've connected a few times over the years,

and recently, he sent me an article about pawpaws,

because I live on Pawpaw Springs Road.

And how many of you even know what a pawpaw is?

It's not your granddad.

It's a fruit.

It's a fruit, and it's actually quite good

if you can get to it before the squirrels do,

but you can't.

Say, well, why don't they sell them?

Well, because they can't really be industrially cultivated.

They're only in the wild.

That's beside the point.

He sent me this article about pawpaws,

and somehow or another, that got us to talking about God.

And I've known this man for over 50 years,

and he's never really expressed any faith in God.

In fact, he is an agnostic,

and so we got to talking back and forth.

He was wondering about what I believed

and why I believed and stuff,

and his belief is that Christianity is basically

just a group of myths that were collected

around this charismatic leader from 2,000 years ago,

and that most of it was plucked from other religions.

And I said, well, why do you believe that?

And he sent me this meme,

and you probably can't read it

because I was afraid that it'd be a little,

but what it basically is saying about each of these guys

is stuff like he was born on December the 25th to a virgin.

He had 12 followers and went around doing miracles.

He was crucified.

He rose from the dead.

And I went, well, that's a little bit disturbing.

And so I thought, well, I need to look something up

about these guys and see where this is coming from.

And I did, and I didn't find anything

to corroborate any of that.

And in fact, from what we actually do know about them,

what I did find basically contradicted all of that.

And I said, I'm doubtful about these facts.

I can't find them confirmed anywhere.

What are your sources?

And a few days later, I get an email back from him,

and he says, well, most of the information

in this meme is absolute BS.

I started saying something else.

(congregation laughing)

Which wasn't actually what he said either.

He said, but it spread like wildfire

among the agnostic community, and it's taken his gospel.

Now, before you begin to think, your friend must be dumb.

No, he's not dumb.

He's a pretty sharp cookie, actually.

Well, those agnostics must be dumb.

Before you jump there, I begin to think,

now, how would this thing spread like wildfire?

How does misinformation spread like wildfire?

(congregation laughing)

Oh, yeah, there you go.

And it's not necessarily about religion.

It's not necessarily about politics.

It can be about anything.

And here's why.

Paul wrote to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 4-3,

and he said, the time's gonna come

when people won't put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires,

they'll gather around them a great number of teachers

to say what their itching ears wanna hear.

If we like it, we don't check it out.

If we don't like it, we just ignore it.

But if we like it, we don't check it out.

Because we're lazy.

Can I get an amen?

- Amen.

- How many of you are old enough to remember

Paul Simon's song, The Boxer?

Yeah, a few of you can, okay.

You're not old enough, but you know the song.

Yeah, you raised your hand.

That guy wasn't even born.

But for those of you who don't know it,

the first verse goes like this.

I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told.

I've squandered my resistance on a pocket full of mumbles.

Such a promise is.

All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear

and disregards the rest.

Lie, lie, lie.

Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.

That's truth, people.

That's some gospel.

We hear what we wanna hear and disregard the rest.

I had a guy, back when I was pastoring,

I had a fellow come to me about a business proposition

that had been presented to him.

And he was pretty excited about it.

But he wanted to know what I thought about it.

And so he brings it to me,

well, I'm not really a businessman, but it smelled fishy.

In fact, it smelled several days old fishy.

And I said, well, let's call Sam.

Sam was a guy we both knew,

and Sam's a very successful businessman.

And let's see what he thinks about it.

And so we called Sam up, put him on the speakerphone.

I said, what do you think about this?

And we explained the situation.

He said, no, no, I wouldn't do that.

I said, now that's gonna get you into trouble.

You really shouldn't do that.

And I said, well, thank you for your advice.

And I said, I agree with Sam.

I don't think you should do it.

By the time he got home, and he's not a liar,

but by the time he got home,

he told his wife pastor thinks ought to do it.

You know when people come and ask you your advice

or ask you your opinion, they don't want your advice.

And they're not caring about your opinion.

They're just looking for someone to agree with them.

That's the way that it is.

That's how we do things.

And it's not just secular stuff.

Do you check out your religious leaders?

Do you check them out?

Beware especially of Bible specialists.

(audience member speaks off mic)

Yeah, I'm an end time prophecy specialist.

I'm an Israel specialist.

I'm a faith specialist.

I'm a prosperity specialist.

I'm a healing specialist.

There is no such thing.

And all of those things are not the main thing.

Everything needs to point toward the main thing.

And this is especially true if you're basically

getting your information on a screen.

If you're basically getting your information,

I'm not saying that podcasts and broadcasts

and video blogs, I'm not saying that those are bad,

that they're wrong.

I'm just saying you don't know these people.

So you need to check them out.

You need to check out what is being said.

You know, it's one thing to be in a situation

where you have the opportunity to observe someone's life.

You have the opportunity to feel the texture

of their testimony for Jesus.

You know, that's one thing,

but if you don't have that at all,

then hey, you got a book, look it up.

See if what they're saying is true.

See if it checks out.

Jesus said over in Matthew 24,

false messiahs, false prophecies, prophets will appear

and they'll perform great signs and wonders

to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

And when you read a verse like that,

you're thinking exactly what I'm thinking.

He's warning other people because it can't happen to me.

'Cause that's our default.

That's where we go with things.

These Bereans though, they went,

let's go see if what he's saying is true.

Let's check this thing out.

So let's check me out.

I'm telling you that Tuesday's not really going

to change the world.

So what does the scripture say?

Well, the Psalmist says,

do not put your trust in princes.

And human beings who cannot save.

And you know, I mean, there's some who probably,

well, we're not electing a prince,

we're electing a president.

Duh.

Same thing.

They cannot save.

I don't care how passionate you are about either candidate.

And if they get elected, they're not going to save you.

They're not going to save anyone because they can't.

They can't.

Isaiah says this, stop trusting in mere humans

who have breath in their nostrils.

Why hold them in esteem?

You know, there are reasons to hold some people in esteem,

especially if you know them.

But they just got breath in their nostrils.

You ever met a famous person?

You ever met a real famous person?

Okay, I have.

I don't know what the rest of you guys have been doing.

But you know, if you meet them,

and I don't just mean shake their hand or what,

oh, there he is, you know, or there she is.

But I mean, actually get to know them a little bit.

You know what you discover very quickly?

They're just a person.

They're just a person.

They got the same faults, the same fears,

the same anxieties, the same issues that you have,

or that other people have.

When we were in Zimbabwe back in the '80s,

I remember one of the things that Ezekiel Goudy,

he was a man who led the church there,

would say often that, you know,

he finally said it enough that it got in here,

that it was just simply people are people.

Famous people, obscure people, white people,

black people, yellow people, rich people, poor people,

people are people.

They have the same things going on.

And you say, yeah, but this is for this,

and this is for that, and this is a.

Here's another thing.

They're both on the same team.

First John 5 19 says, we know that we are children of God

and that the whole world is under the control

of the evil one, the world system.

If you've been listening to Justin's teaching,

he calls it the beast system,

you know, that's because he lifts weight and stuff.

But you know, I mean, the only reason I kind of want

to go there is because it kind of makes you think

about end times and revelations and stuff.

It's been going on since Cain killed Abel.

The world system, the lust of the flesh,

the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life,

and that's what it's all about.

Red, blue, purple, rainbow, whatever.

That's what it's all about.

They're on the same team.

And none of the candidates are actually looking

to bring the kingdom of God,

because that's not how the kingdom comes.

In World War II, every Nazi soldier had engraven

on their belt buckle, God with us.

The Russian Empire's motto was God with us.

Our motto, a God we trust.

We don't, but it's what our motto is.

[congregation speaking indistinctly]

When Jesus was before Pilate,

and asked about him being a king,

he said, "My kingdom is not of this world.

"If it were, my servants would fight

"to prevent my arrest by the Jews.

"But now my kingdom is from another place."

The world cannot bring the kingdom.

Cannot bring the kingdom.

The kingdom will ultimately be a political entity

when the king returns.

And as I interpret scripture, as I read scripture,

I feel like toward the end times,

not an end time expert, but I've listened to a bunch of 'em,

toward the end times, and as I've read the scripture

for myself, things are gonna get so bad

that the earth itself is gonna be crying out,

"Come quickly, come, we need him."

And I find myself, especially as I get older,

praying that more and more, "It's such a mess, God.

"There's no way we can sort this out.

"We need our king."

And when he comes, then it'll be a political entity.

It'll be manifested that way.

But it is here even now.

It's not out there, it's in here.

The kingdom of God is within you.

Paul says over in Romans, the kingdom of God

is not a matter of eating and drinking,

but of righteousness, peace, and joy, and the Holy Spirit.

That's what the kingdom of God is.

Those are things that the world cannot give.

The world can't give peace.

Look at it!

Seriously.

On the night that he was betrayed,

the day before he was going to the cross,

Jesus said, "My peace I give to you,

"I don't give the way the world gives.

"I give something that's real.

"I give something that can hold on."

When you trust in man, let me just ask,

and I'm not asking for a show of hands,

but when you think about this coming election

and you think about your candidate winning

or the other candidate winning,

does it cause peace and joy to well up inside of you?

Or does it cause anxiety?

It may be fear.

It may be anger.

Yeah, and that's something that we like to grab hold of.

Yeah, this is gonna make it right.

Yeah, we're gonna get this done right this time.

James says this.

Human anger does not produce the righteousness

that God desires.

Never has, never will.

Check me out on that.

Study your history.

Let's go to Athens.

Final stop on this trip.

The Jews from Thessalonica.

You know, the Jews from Thessalonica,

when Paul was in Thessalonica, they were going,

"These guys have caused trouble all over the world."

Well, when Paul goes to Berea,

the guys from Thessalonica come to Berea and cause trouble,

'cause that's kind of the way that works.

But they come and they stir up trouble,

and so the brothers immediately sent Paul on his way,

and he was invited to speak the Areopagus.

These were the leaders there in Athens.

And he gives a rather lengthy exposition,

they can call it a sermon teaching, whatever,

but stand with me last time,

and let's read this part of it.

Therefore, since we are God's offspring,

we should not think that the divine being

is like gold or silver or stone,

an image made by human design and skill.

In the past, God overlooks such ignorance,

but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

for he has set a day when he will judge the world

with justice by the man he has appointed.

He has given proof of this to everyone

by rising him from the dead.

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead,

some of them sneered, but others said,

we wanna hear you again on this subject.

At that, Paul left the council, you may be seated.

In Thessalonica, Paul taught that Messiah had to suffer

and rise from the dead, and that he was accused

of being one of these people

who has turned the world upside down.

In Athens, they were listening to this interesting thesis.

This man seems very learned, very interesting,

until Paul said he has given proof of this to everyone

by raising him from the dead,

and the resurrection of the dead broke up the meeting

because the resurrection of the dead changes everything.

The resurrection of Christ changes everything.

That's what truly turns the world upside down.

We get distracted by all the smoke and mirrors and issues

and things going on, but the power of the resurrection

is the power of new life.

Jesus described it to Nicodemus this way.

He said, you must be born again.

And Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he said this,

therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.

The old has gone, the new is here.

Before I came to Christ, before I really gave my life

to Christ, before I began to really walk with him

as an adult, my life was a train wreck.

And I didn't know it.

I mean, you know, I thought, boy, I don't wanna give my life

to Christ 'cause that's gonna mess my life up.

Truth of the matter is my life was a wreck.

And then I gave my life to Christ,

and I remember after a couple of years looking back

and going, wow, I don't even know who that person was.

This is something completely new.

The things that had a hold on me before I came to Christ,

and it didn't take a couple of years.

When I came to Christ, the things that had a hold on me

didn't have a hold on me anymore.

Now, I will say that, you know, there've been some things

that he and I've been walking through and moving along with,

and I don't know, it might, it probably take

more than 74 years, but you know,

eventually we'll get there.

But there were other things that just went bam, gone,

changed completely when Christ entered in.

And this, folks, this is truly good news.

Jesus said this, the Spirit of the Lord is on me

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news

to the poor.

You know, the poor don't hear much good news,

but they get it through him.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set oppressed, to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

On a macro level, what the resurrection does

is there is justice for the oppressed.

There is, maybe not in this world,

but there is justice.

There is peace.

Oh my goodness.

You know, once again, I'm not gonna ask for a show of hands,

but just ask yourself, who's been feeling anxiety lately?

Yeah, there's a chorus we used to sing,

and if I start singing it, Alan will join in with me.

Well, a number of you probably would.

It's so simple, so sweet.

♪ Turn your eyes upon Jesus ♪

♪ Look full in his wonderful face ♪

♪ And the things of earth will grow strangely dim ♪

♪ In the light of his glory and grace ♪

And it's true.

It's absolutely true.

The prophet says he will keep in perfect peace.

You will keep in perfect peace

him whose mind has stayed on you.

He brings it.

It's perfect.

No more crying or suffering.

That day's coming.

The first shall be last.

The last shall be first.

That's the world turned upside down.

And even better on a micro level,

the fearful don't need to fear any longer.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

The psalmist says, though the earth shake

and the mountains fall into the high,

the earth shake and the mountains fall into the heart

of the sea, we will not fear.

For God is with us and he is our ever present help

in times of trouble.

The addict, the prisoner is set free.

Whatever the addiction is, it could be alcohol.

It could be drugs.

It could be pornography.

It could be Facebook.

It could be shopping, whatever the addiction may be

that we try to fill that space

that none of those things can fill.

Jesus has come to set us free.

Yeah.

The lonely.

No longer alone.

Oh, I'm with you always, even to the very ends of the age.

The broken hearted are mended.

And that's for death.

That's for death, it's been defeated.

That's some good news.

You know, I said, people will still die

after this election.

You can't go, well, of course people will still die.

Not everybody will.

Not everybody has to.

Because God loved the world so much

that he gave his one and only son

that whoever believes on him,

whoever puts their faith in him will not perish.

That means not die, but have everlasting life.

This really does change everything

and will continue to do so until the end of time.

So think about that when you step into the voting booth

on Tuesday.

And think about that when you're out of the voting booth

and think about that when it seems like,

I don't know how these bills are gonna get paid.

Think about that when it seems like things are against you

and turning against you.

Oh, turn your eyes upon Jesus.

And the things of earth grow strangely dim.

Worship team, you guys can come on out.

(audience member coughs)

Would you stand with me?

Let's stand.

And those who are going to pray for people,

if you'll come down front here.

I think we're doing that same song we did.

We're gonna sing this beautiful song.

You know, I sometimes

almost kind of wish that we could go back

and do all the worship songs again

because the Holy Spirit ordained every one of them.

Sometimes I would let the worship team know

I want such and such a song done,

but they got tired of playing Saved by Bob Dylan.

(audience laughs)

But this week I went, I don't know what they ought to sing,

but the Holy Ghost sure did.

Bam, bam, bam.

If you need prayer for anything,

and I would especially, if there's anxiety in your life

about the future and what's coming up,

doesn't have to be the election.

If there's anxiety in your life,

I'd encourage you to come down

because these guys are qualified

to pray with you about anything.

They'll take it to the Lord.

Let's worship for a few minutes.

[music fades out]