Podcasts about these jews

Title: Chains and Afflictions Text: Acts 21:27-36 FCF: We often struggle responding well to slander and persecution for Christ's sake. Prop: Because of the offense of the gospel we will be slandered and reviled, so we must be ready to give a defense for the hope we have in us. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 21. In a moment we will read beginning in verse 27 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. Last week we saw the powder keg situation that Paul and his 8 gentile companions walked into as they brought a gift for the Jerusalem church from several churches in gentile lands. Tension between Jews and the Romans continues to mount and along with that the pernicious rumor that Paul is anti-Mosaic law and advising new Jewish believers to forsake circumcising their children and the laws and customs of Moses. The Elders wisely advised Paul to demonstrate that he is not against the law of Moses by submitting to purity rituals with 4 other men who are doing so. Paul humbly discarded any liberty he may have assumed and willingly submitted to help ease tensions between Jewish Christians and the non-believing Jews. But we know the future. It has been confirmed by many witnesses. Paul will suffer with chains and afflictions in Jerusalem. Although it was wise advice and although Paul humbly submitted, we know that things will implode quickly. But even in this difficult situation, we will find vital lessons for we who claim Christ and face uncertain days. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: Mighty God and Lord of Hosts. You are holy, holy, holy. You have sent the Son to claim Your people for Your Kingdom and You have sent Your Spirit to dwell in us and seal us and preserve us until the Day of Judgment. As You are Alpha and Omega, You have written and decreed the end from the beginning. No one can tell You “no” and no one can slap away Your mighty hand from doing as You please. In these truths Lord, we must rest, especially when we are slandered, maligned, ridiculed, reviled, and persecuted for Your name. Without the truth that all this is according to Your Immutable Will, we would surely flounder and fall. Impress upon us, Your Children, the greater truth that when these days of trouble come upon us, we must rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for when we suffer for Your name, we have a great reward in the Kingdom which we will share with a great cloud of witnesses. Help us to see this and be encouraged in this text this morning. And use this encouragement to turn us away from despairing in trouble. Turn us instead to being ready to give a defense for the hope we have in us. We pray this in Jesus' name… Amen. Transition: Let us once again dive right into the text this morning. I.) Because of the offense of the gospel, men will falsely accuse us of evil things, so we must be ready to give a defense for the hope we have in us. (27-30) a. [Slide 2] 27 - Now when the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon noticing him in the temple, began to throw all the crowd into confusion and laid hands on him, i. Ok, so right off the bat there are some contextual clues we need to unravel to understand what is happening here. ii. First, the seven days here is referring to the general process of purification that would need to be endured for these men and for Paul. 1. We aren't exactly sure why these men performing the Nazarite vow were going through purification, because that isn't normally part of it, but the process itself took a week. 2. In that week's time, any seeking purification would have to be ritually washed on the third and the seventh day. No doubt Paul is in the temple on the seventh and final day of his purification. 3. This means that generally speaking, people who had ill intentions toward Paul would know on which day he would be in the temple next. iii. Second, we see that there are Jews from Asia present here in Jerusalem. Well, who are these folks and what are they doing here? 1. We might be tempted to think that these Jews have followed Paul to Jerusalem to harm him. This is possible, but there is a far simpler explanation for why these folks are here. Do you remember? 2. Yep! It is Pentecost, the Jewish feast commemorating the harvest. Shavuot (Sha-voo-ot) is one of the three pilgrimage feasts that are required for Jewish males to attend. 3. Anyone who was a Jew that took seriously the law of Moses would have made every effort to be in Jerusalem for this festival. 4. So, it shouldn't be a big surprise for us to find Jews from Asia in Jerusalem at this time. iv. Third, how would they recognize Paul and what had Paul done that infuriated them so much? 1. Although Luke only mentions the province in which they are from, the capital city of the province of Asia was the great city of Ephesus. A city in which Paul spent three years ministering. 2. Later, we find out that these people recognized one of Paul's companions who was from the city of Ephesus. This almost certainly confirms that these Jews were from or at least very familiar with the city of Ephesus and Paul's 3 year ministry there. 3. So why are they so opposed to Paul? 4. Well Paul preached in Ephesus and many Jews became disciples of Christ. He actually lead them out of the synagogue and took them to the hall of Tyrannus where he continued to teach and preach the gospel. 5. Needless to say, the Jews from Asia were not big fans of Paul. v. In Ephesus and in other cities around the empire, it has been clear thus far that the Jews were not always trusted, liked, or respected by the gentile communities in which they lived. vi. Although their faith was granted a special status as being allowed to be practiced within the empire, it still did not mean that the pagans around them respected them. vii. But here, the non-believing Jews clearly had numerical and ideological superiority over the Jewish Christians. viii. If there was ever a chance to stamp out Paul and his teachings – this is it. ix. So, these Asian Jews take this chance, grab hold of Paul and stir up the crowd against him. x. How? b. [Slide 3] 28 - crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches to everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 - For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. i. These Asian Jews bring two charges against Paul. ii. The second charge is far more inflammatory to the crowd than the first. iii. The first charge is the accusation that Paul teaches against the Jewish people, against the law of Moses and against the temple of Yahweh, and he does so throughout the Roman Empire. iv. Ironically, this was the same charge levied against Stephen which led to his execution by stoning. Paul once saw things the same way these folks did. But for the grace of God yes? v. Such an accusation could be easily explained away. In fact, Paul's very presence in the temple that day going about his sacrifices and the end of his purity rituals would actually serve to counter their claim. vi. But the second charge is what gets the crowd stirred. vii. They claim that Paul has brought Trophimus, a man they would know to be a gentile, into the temple with him. viii. [Slide 4] As we know the temple mount could be entered by Gentiles. They could actually get fairly close to the temple itself. But Gentiles could not pass into the court of women or the court of the Israelites. ix. [Slide 5] Many scholars make much of the archeological evidence, like the sign on the screen, that warned gentiles with death if they entered into the temple grounds. And we even have speeches from Roman officials which seem to have allowed for the Jews to execute people who did violate such laws. x. But as I studied this, my mind wondered what Old Testament teaching or law is in view with the prohibition of gentiles entering the temple grounds. xi. Especially since they are under the impression that doing so would defile it. xii. What Old Testament law do they base this on? 1. [Slide 6] The closest thing I could find is Ezekiel 44:6-9 a. In reading this text, we can see very clearly that God judges Israel for allowing worshippers to come into the temple and even serve as priests who were neither circumcised in heart nor circumcised in flesh. b. God issues a command that no one shall enter His temple who is uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh. 2. [Slide 7] But what do we do with the 5th gospel of Isaiah, who says in Isaiah 56:6-8… a. Here we see… explicitly… that Gentiles should not be strictly forbidden to come into the temple to make sacrifices. b. Why? c. Because God will be the one bringing them to do that one day! 3. So how do we harmonize these two texts? a. How can God bring foreigners into the temple if those uncircumcised in heart and flesh cannot enter? b. How did the Jews of this time harmonize this? i. The Jews of this time, completely ignore the Isaiah passage. ii. Even if a Gentile converted and became a Jew, even becoming circumcised… they would still not be permitted, even into the court of women. c. So how do we harmonize it? i. While we could be accused of exploiting a loophole, the fact of the matter is that there are many prophetic riddles throughout the scriptures. God expects us to think as we read His Word. ii. [Slide 8] What two conditions must be met in order to reject a foreigner from the temple according to Ezekiel 44? They must be both uncircumcised in heart and in flesh. iii. Trophimus was a gentile, uncircumcised in flesh, but circumcised in his heart. Therefore, he does not meet the conditions of Ezekiel 44 but DOES meet the conditions of Isaiah 56. xiii. [Slide 9] Added to this – These Jews raise issue with Paul and grab hold of him and will drag him out and attempt to kill him even though… 1. He is a Jew 2. He is enduring purification rights under the Mosaic Law 3. Even if he brought a gentile into the temple… the Gentile is the one that should be killed according to their law, not him. He would certainly be punished perhaps even severely. 4. But Paul should not be killed for this infraction even if it were exactly as they said it was. xiv. The fact of the matter is, the Jews, because of their national pride and racial prejudice, have so perverted the Word of God that they have determined that the exact opposite of what He has revealed is true. xv. And now they are going to kill Paul, an apostle of their Messiah and Everlasting King, because of their rebellion and their racism. c. [Slide 10] 30 - Then all the city was stirred, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. i. As we pointed out last week, this time period was right in the middle of the escalation of hostility between Jews and the Roman Empire. ii. Although we are still 13 years away from the fall of Jerusalem, the conflict begins in AD 66 which is only 9 years away. iii. Not only that but Festus, a character we will meet in a few chapters, will actually spend two years making peace with the Jews and effectively kick the can of the revolt down the road… iv. Adding all this together we can see that even though the fall of Jerusalem is 13 years away, it is not a stretch for us to consider that at the moment Paul walks in the temple of Jerusalem, the divide between Jews and the Romans was nearing its peak. v. Knowing this, we can see quite easily why the crowd would respond to Paul the way they did. vi. Loyalty to the temple was closely tied to patriotism and Jewish Nationalism. An attack on the temple was an attack on Judaism. vii. And Paul is the lightening rod for all of this. viii. They took him out of the temple, because they could not commit violence and shed blood within the temple courts ix. To avoid this the guards close the doors. x. The temple guards could have stopped the violence. Instead, they closed the doors. d. [Slide 11] Summary of the Point: Throughout the book of Acts Luke has portrayed the Jesus movement as the next step in Judaism. To confess Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah of God and eternal heir to the throne of David is to take the next and final step in the redemptive history of Israel. In Acts we've seen many Jews embrace this New Covenant, which was ratified in the death and resurrection of Jesus proving Him to be the Messiah. He is the Son of Man prophesied in Daniel. He is the suffering Servant prophesied in Isaiah. And yet, as clear as this was to many, it remained repulsive and offensive to many more. The offense of the gospel drives natural man to terrible things. Jesus predicted that the disciple is no greater than the master. Meaning that what they did to Him, we can expect the same to be done to us. Paul is actually living out that experience in the pages of the passage we just saw. They accused Jesus of blaspheming the temple. And here Paul is accused of defiling it. We can expect the same to come to us. If we are to preach the gospel, we should both expect it to be offensive to the world and that we will be falsely accused of doing evil things because of it. So, what is our response? Our text this morning does not include Paul's response to all of this. Mainly because his response is quite lengthy. But generally speaking, we can see as Paul raises his defense of the gospel and his ministry, that we too must be ready to give a defense for the hope we have in us. Transition: [Slide 12 (blank)] But surely someone in the crowd will have the sense to question Paul as to whether these things are true? Surely someone will have the courage to say – yes but Paul is still a Jew and can go into the temple himself. So surely he doesn't deserve to die? Let us see if anyone among them will do this. Perhaps the Romans will if the Jews won't? II.) Because of the offense of the gospel men will revile and persecute us, so we must be ready to give a defense for the hope we have in us. (31-36) a. [Slide 13] 31 - While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 - At once he took along soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. i. Luke doesn't tell us who took the report to the commander. Perhaps one of Paul's companions or the church reported this to the Roman officer? ii. A Roman cohort consists of 1000 men. It is roughly 1/6 of a Roman Legion. iii. Within each cohort there were there were Centuries which would be 100 men, and each of them would be lead by a Centurion. iv. As a Roman officer in Judea, your one job is to make sure that these generally rebellious Jews paid their taxes and didn't revolt. v. During festivals, when Jerusalem was full of Jews on pilgrimage, it would be all hands on deck. vi. We see that this commander wastes no time, at once taking soldiers and their centurions down to where the beating was happening. vii. The Anatolia fortress was located on the Western side of the northern wall of the temple mount. Two stair cases down led to the outer courts. viii. So they were probably there quickly. ix. It is hard to know how many men he took with him, but we can assume at least a couple hundred since he took centurions (plural) with him. x. Assuming that is the case, 200 fully armed Roman soldiers running down the steps to the temple would be quite an intimidating sight. xi. No wonder the Jews stopped beating Paul when they came marching down. xii. But if the relations of the Romans and the Jews are so strained, how would the Roman Commander make sure that this doesn't look like the Romans are once again coming in to tell them how they should practice their religion? b. [Slide 14] 33 - Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. i. The Roman Commander has Paul bound in chains, probably to two separate guards. He then asks who the man was and what he has done. ii. The concept of innocent until proven guilty is not a universal ideal. iii. The Romans certainly did not consider prisoners innocent until proven guilty. iv. In fact, as we've seen in the study of the book ok Acts, their subjects especially those who were not Roman citizens, could be beaten and imprisoned, and in some cases even killed without charge. v. This Roman commander shrewdly assumes that the man being beaten is guilty and asks the crowd for the information regarding his guilt. vi. If the answer he got was that clear – that Paul had defiled the temple – the Roman officer probably would have let them kill Paul. c. [Slide 15] 34 - But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. i. This is the very definition of mob mentality. ii. Most of these people had no idea why they were hitting this man, they just knew that he had done something worth hitting him for. iii. When emotionalism and extreme rhetoric wins, the most natural thing we humans do, is follow the crowd of people who scream the loudest. iv. We'll always find something to be outraged about, and if it isn't what the crowd is outraged about – that's ok – we'll just vent our frustration in the convenient opportunity the mob has provided. v. Like when we burn a city when a football team wins… or also if they lose the big game???? vi. Such in the case here. vii. Seeing that the crowd has no idea who this person is or what he did, the commander chooses to escort the man to safety so that they could interrogate the prisoner himself. Which we will see him attempt to do in a few weeks. d. [Slide 16] 35 - And when he got to the stairs, he actually was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd; 36 - for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!” i. Even today, tactically speaking, stairs are what are called fatal funnels. ii. They are essentially hallways forcing you to change altitude and keeping you from flanking to safety. iii. These stairs are probably the first flight of stairs up to the Anatolian fortress. They would have been quite wide, but would have been difficult to navigate especially with a large crowd of people following them trying to get at their prisoner. iv. The Roman soldiers are forced to pick up and carry Paul up the stairs because the crowd continued to try to assault Paul on the way up. v. They call out “away with him” which is a great literal translation of the words, but idiomatically this certainly was their cry for Paul to be put to death. vi. We are reminded of the crowds call to “crucify” someone after He too entered the temple offering something that no one wanted. vii. Scholars sometimes press the similarities too far, but I think it is obvious that Luke sees the similarity of Christ's experience in Jerusalem during his passion week and Paul's experience here. Although they do not end the same of course. e. [Slide 17] Summary of the Point: Although Luke makes it clear in the book of Acts that the Romans saw no threat posed to the empire by the Christians, we should note that that doesn't mean that the Romans would always ride in and save Christians from persecution. In fact, this particular Roman commander not only arrested Paul without any idea what Paul did, he also, as we will see in the following weeks, intends to beat Paul some more in order to find out what happened in the temple. And these Jews, while not being in agreement as to why Paul was being beaten, all agreed on one thing… he needed to die. Again, we compare Paul's experience to our Lord Jesus'. He too was not rescued by the Romans. And the people cried out for Him to be killed too. Paul is suffering the same way Jesus suffered. If it can happen to Paul, and all the apostles, and countless others throughout the church's history, then it most certainly can… and will happen to us. If we faithfully preach the gospel men will revile us and persecute us. Why? Because the gospel is offensive. But again, what do we do when this happens? We must be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in us. Conclusion: So CBC, what have we learned today and how shall we live? Basic Concepts for Faith and Practice: [Slide 18] The gospel is by nature offensive to natural man. The religiously zealous Jews and the Roman pagans alike, both despise what Paul teaches and seek to silence it. And the world goes about silencing those who speak the gospel in two ways presented in this passage. They falsely accuse those who preach the gospel of evil things. They accused Paul of defiling the temple and teaching against the law of Moses. They will also revile and persecute those who preach the gospel. We see them beat, arrest, and call for the execution of Paul, to silence his teaching of the gospel. What does that mean for us? They will hate us too. Even if we are nice. Even if we are kind. Even if we are loving. They will still hate us. They will falsely accuse us of some of the most terrible things. And they will revile us and persecute us. What then should we do? We must be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in us. Even as they usher us through the door to that hope. These are the basic concepts of faith and practice in this text – but let's us dive a little deeper into them today. 1.) [Slide 19] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that the gospel is offensive to natural man. a. Why is it offensive? b. It teaches that every single person, whether they are moral, immoral, religious, irreligious, wealthy, poor, powerful, powerless, strong, weak, regardless of nationality, tribe, language, political party, every person is spiritually dead in their sin. c. They are… as the bible calls them… children of wrath. d. Slaves to sin. e. Every single person lacks all agency to do anything to save themselves or even to seek God to save them. f. This is what Paul says in Romans chapter 3 and this is what Augustine of Hippo defended in his treatise On Grace and Free Will against the Pelagian heresy. g. Mankind is not naturally equipped in their will to choose God or pursue Him in any way. They are given commands by God but are unable to accomplish them without God giving them grace to do so. h. There are two things I have found in my life that seem to be universally true of we humans. i. We hate being told we are wrong ii. And we hate being told we can't do anything about it. iii. Not only do we hate being told these things… we reject these things entirely. i. But the gospel tells us both and to the most extreme degree. i. It isn't just that we are wrong… we are dead wrong. So wrong that we have committed treason against the highest court of the highest kingdom on whose throne sits the highest God, Yahweh. ii. And we not only can't do anything about it… we don't even want to. Men love darkness and hate the light because their deeds are evil and they want to keep doing them. iii. There are none righteous and there are none who seek God. You are children of wrath of your father the devil and slaves to sin. iv. Just to quote a few j. All of this is the preamble of the gospel. k. It's funny – to the world that doesn't sound like good news at all. l. But to we who have been made alive in Christ… To know we are sinners and deserve nothing but judgment and wrath… That truly is good news. m. Why? n. Because Christ died for sinners! Just like you. Just like me. o. But until God gives a new heart and enables a person to see their own wickedness, they will continue to hate the gospel and fundamentally disagree with its accusations against them. p. As Matthew Henry once said, “Men hate Christ because they love their sin.” q. From our discussion last week – fear that the gospel may be right leads them to hate it. And what do we humans do with things we fear? We either flee them or we fight them. r. And that leads us to something we must deny. A lie we must dismiss especially now in the culture we are in… 2.) [Slide 20] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that religious toleration for the true gospel is normative. a. Although it is a much easier sell today than it would have been a few decades ago, because we still have relative freedom to continue to worship God in the way that He has commanded us to, we tend to find it difficult to connect with warnings about coming persecution. b. One other general human trait that I have observed is that we as humans tend to believe that all of life will continue as it has. We assume that because we live in a country where we are free from constant persecution against our beliefs that this will always be true. c. However, we know from the words of Christ that if we are His disciple then we should not expect anything less than the same rejection He experienced. d. If Men hate Christ because they love their sin – it stands to reason that they will hate any who follow Christ and are calling them to repent of their sin. e. This is why the “God loves you and is just wanting you to love Him back” gospel message is so popular today. Because it doesn't actually call anyone to abandon their sin. Instead, the message conveys the idea that God would be really lucky to have you if you would just say yes. f. And because of this message being out there, the real gospel message of God calling all men to repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord – is reviled and despised. g. And just like Paul was accused of blasphemy against the temple and even betrayal toward his own kinsmen, we too will be slandered. i. We spoke last week how the church is seen as homophobic or transphobic because we agree with God about sexuality and gender. ii. We are accused of hating democracy and freedom because we advocate for our laws to be based on God's moral will. iii. We are accused of intolerance because we believe Jesus when He says He is the only way to the Father. iv. We are accused of hating women because we believe God's word when it tells us of gender roles and authority structures within the home. v. In short, the world will rebrand us as arch villains because we have the audacity to see, through the lens of ancient Scripture, that their cherished practices are sin. vi. And we may, in the most loving and compassionate way we can, call them to repent and trust on Christ for the forgiveness of sin and new life… vii. But remember men love darkness rather than light for their deeds are evil. viii. God must give them a new heart in order for them to receive the gifts of repentance and faith. h. And unfortunately, men's hatred of the gospel and those who preach it will not just stop at slander. As it did with Paul, slander was the vehicle used to harm, revile, and persecute Paul. We too should expect the same. i. It is only a small step from where we are to where many other countries are in relation to persecution. ii. We may be tempted to think that such things could never happen in our country or that if they do, we are decades away. iii. But my friends, it would not surprise me to wake up tomorrow and learn that it is no longer legal to preach certain scripture passages or certain interpretations of scriptures passages. iv. It seemed like overnight governors of states were commanding churches not to sing to God in their services. v. And there isn't a party that exists today that has a biblical worldview. So just like Paul could not look to the Romans to save him, so too we cannot look to the Republicans to save us. vi. We will be persecuted on all sides. Not just from liberals. We will be persecuted by people who call themselves Christians. Perhaps even some in this very room will be the ones turning us in to the authorities. i. I don't know when the hammer will fall. I don't know how long God will allow for us to worship Him in peace with the culture around us. But I do know that from where the country started to where we are – our trajectory is on a nose dive headed straight for persecution. j. It does us no good to put our heads in the sand and continue to deny that such things would or could happen. k. We must even now ready ourselves by counting the cost and whether we are willing to pay it. l. But what is our response to persecution? Should we resist? Should we fight back? 3.) [Slide 21] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must take every opportunity to give a defense of the hope that is in us. a. Interestingly, in this text, there is not a single example positively of what we are to do, nor is there a direct command in this passage associated to what is happening in the text. b. Before the end of this chapter Paul will respond. c. And originally in my sermon planning I did include verses 37-40. d. But in order to understand Paul's response we would need to look into what he says which would mean looking at MANY more verses. e. Paul actually begins his first of 6 defenses of his faith and ministry that are recorded in the last 7 chapters of the book of Acts starting in chapter 22. f. Now without looking at the first defense in its entirety let alone looking at all 6 defenses, we can still draw a very general application from what we know of the remainder of the book of Acts. g. And quite simply that is that we should take every opportunity we are given, in the midst of persecution, in the midst of slander, in the midst of opposition and hardship from all sides, we should take the opportunity we are given to give a defense for the hope that is in us. h. We cannot afford to fight back, resist, or get even when persecution comes. Why? Because we always have a responsibility to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ. i. Paul was gravely assaulted by these people, but he will stand before them and 5 more hostile audiences in the next 7 chapters, and will boldly decare the gospel of Jesus Christ. j. We must do the same. k. And maybe you are thinking… wow. I don't think I can do that. l. That is just not my default setting. Someone takes a swipe at me, my natural impulse is going to be to swipe back. m. So, the real discussion is, how do you fight that natural impulse and do what Jesus commands you to do? n. I think it starts with what Jesus says should be our perspective on persecution in general. 4.) [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must rejoice and be exceedingly glad when we are persecuted for Christ's sake. a. Although you'll have to forgive me for going outside of our text this morning to snag this application, because the scriptures are one, I don't think I am doing any disservice to Luke's account by tossing this little aside in. b. [Slide 23] Matthew 5:11-12 c. After reading this text, tell me you don't see Paul's experience all over Christ's teaching here in the sermon on the mount! d. Paul was slandered. Paul was reviled. Paul was persecuted for Christ's sake. So, what should Paul's response be? What should our response be? e. We must rejoice and be exceedingly glad. f. What? Why? g. Because we are blessed. We are favored of God when this happens. h. How does that compute? How does this comfort us? 5.) [Slide 24] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” Our reward in heaven is great and we are in good company. a. God's kingdom and His righteousness is constantly opposed by a kingdom that is perishing. b. In the Old Testament, God's prophets were treated this way. And time proved that they were right. c. In the New Testament, His apostles were treated this way and time has proved out that they were right. d. My friends, if you are truly slandered, reviled, and abused for the sake of Christ and His gospel… You are blessed. e. You are blessed because your reward will be great in the Kingdom and in that kingdom there will be many, just like you, who were hated for the gospel. f. So, rejoice and be exceedingly glad. g. You are in good company. [Slide 25 (end)] Let me close with a word of prayer from the English Reformer Thomas Cranmer Merciful God, you grant all peace. You are the giver of all good gifts, the defender of all nations. And you desire us to count all people as neighbors, to love them as ourselves, and not to hate our enemies. Rather, you want us to wish them well, and also to do them good if we can. Look down upon us and see this small portion of earth where the name of Jesus Christ is proclaimed. Give to all of us the desire for peace, unity, and calm. Make us weary of all war and hostility, weary of bitterness toward those we call enemies. May we and they praise your holy name with one heart. May we all remake our lives according to your way. Grant, O Lord, that our children's children may know the benefit of your great gift of unity. May you discredit all those who work against it. Diminish their strength and punish those who interrupt godly peace-or rather, convert their hearts to the better way, and make them embrace unity and peace, which will be for your glory. Put away from us all war and hostility. But if we are driven to it, be our shield and protection as we seek peace. Do not look on our sins, Lord, or the sins of our enemies. Do not give us what we deserve, but remember your abundant, infinite mercy. Do this, O Lord, for your Son's sake, Jesus Christ. Amen. Benediction: May the God Who changes not, Who has no shadow of turning, And Whose compassions fail not, Preserve you by His loving kindness, So that you might know, Great are His faithful acts, they are new every morning. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Title: A Time to Reason and A Time to Leave Text: Acts 19:8-10 FCF: We all struggle doing what God has commanded to grow His church. Prop: Because God will gather and grow His church, we must make disciples of those who are willing to hear. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 19. In a moment we'll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting in verse 8. You can follow along in the pew bible or whatever version you prefer. Last week Paul arrived in Ephesus to find Jews whose profession was somewhat questionable. Paul searched for evidence of the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence, and discovered that the 12 men before him were not yet believers in Jesus as their Messiah. After sharing the gospel with these men, they believed and submitted to baptism in His name. The Spirit descended upon them afterward confirming that even Baptistic Jews could become part of the assembly of Christ. Today we will have the first two years of the third missionary journey summarized for us in only a couple scenes. Luke is not recording the book of Acts as an exact history but rather evidence that the faith Theophilus received was genuine and trustworthy. Luke then is describing more how the gospel spread throughout the Roman Empire rather than giving all the details of its expansion. So please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: Sovereign Lord, we approach You today to meet You again in Your word. We ask that You will be with us, and that You will send Your Spirit among us to grow our faith through the means of grace found in Your word preached. We ask that You will show us Your providential control of Your church and our place in its gathering and growth. Help us Lord to play our parts well, not for our glory and not even for the sake of those to whom we minister, but for Your glory and Yours alone. We ask this in the name of Your dear Son… Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] In the game of pool, you use a cue ball to strike other billiard balls into pockets along the table. If after you pocketed a ball, I asked you what knocked the ball in, you could reply in a number of different ways. To some degree you could say that the cue ball knocked in the ball. This is somewhat true, but in reality, we all know that cue balls don't spontaneously begin moving. As Newton observed, objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless an outside force acts upon them. So, you wouldn't be wrong that the cue ball pocketed the other ball – but you wouldn't really be right either. It would be the same if you said the cue stick pocketed the ball. Surely the cue stick and the cue ball played their part, but ultimately, we'd all have to agree at some point that the player… you… knocked it in. We have observed many times in the book of Acts that the Lord is at work to expand and guide His church. We've seen this over and over again, and news flash, we'll see it again today. But alongside that truth we have also seen that God often uses human agents to accomplish His purposes. God is gathering and growing His children and preparing them for the kingdom that is coming. He does this often by using His own people. It may be the player that knocks in the ball, but the cue ball doesn't let that get in the way of doing its job to the best of its ability. Ok, bad example, the cue ball doesn't make choices on its own. But if you understand the analogy – why would we want to be anything else other than God's cue ball… Let's look at verse 8. I.) God is still gathering and growing His church, so we must share the gospel cogently and compellingly. (8) a. [Slide 3] 8 - And after he entered the synagogue, he continued speaking out boldly for three months, i. Luke continues to record the key events that took place as the third missionary journey began. ii. Paul arrives in Ephesus and after seeing 12 men come to Christ from Baptistic Judaism, he immediately goes to the Jew first with the gospel of their own Messiah. iii. He enters the synagogue and continues to speak boldly for three months. iv. There are a number of details we should notice here. 1. First, Ephesus is the capital city of the Roman province of Asia. It is the center for trade in the eastern part of the empire. It boasted around 250,000 citizens, which does not include slaves. Not to mention the number of people who used this city for travel throughout the empire. This was a massive city. At any given time, it would not be a stretch to think there could have been a million people roaming the streets. 2. Paul is said to go to a synagogue, singular. But with a city this large, and if Josephus is to be believed, with such a large Jewish population, it is more than likely that there were several synagogues in the city. 3. Why then would Paul only go to one of them? 4. It is possible that Luke uses the word synagogue to speak of the system itself and not one particular building. 5. It is also possible that Paul only went to the synagogue closest to him. Synagogues tended to divide along certain perspectives on the Jewish faith. It may be that this particular synagogue would have been the one closest to the teachings of Christ and most likely to receive Him in true faith. 6. In any case, Paul goes to this synagogue in the city of Ephesus and speaks for 3 months. 7. This detail in and of itself is an anomaly to all the book of Acts. 8. Paul has never been able to continue long in preaching in the synagogues before he was run out and rejected. 9. 3 months is easily the longest he's been able to continue to speak. 10. And Luke points out to us that it isn't because he was being slow to reveal the truth or softspoken about it either. Instead, he spoke boldly about the truth of the gospel… b. [Slide 4] reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. i. Paul boldly engaged them with the gospel from a logical and persuasive level. ii. Paul, although the first to admit that it is the Spirit's power that regenerates and enables men to receive faith in Christ, does not take that to mean that he can be flippant or unpolished in his presentation of the gospel message. iii. Paul uses logic to assert that the gospel is a valid and reasonable conclusion based on the Old Testament Scriptures. iv. Paul uses sound arguments to prove that this Jesus is the Messiah prophesied of old. v. From an epistemological standpoint, Paul attacks the strongholds of false belief and false thinking while defending the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. vi. Paul is an example to all of us, that though the triune God leads to the conversion of a man's soul – the human agent must be faithful to present a cogent and compelling argument for the gospel. c. [Slide 5] Summary of the Point: If anyone ever had a reason to utterly give up on a people group, it would have been Paul. How many times has he been run out of synagogues? How many times have his own people rejected the gospel? How many times have the Jews chased Paul out of town? Yet here he is, once again, sharing the gospel with the Jews. But the Lord blessed him in Ephesus. Many were persuaded. Many believed what Paul taught about the kingdom of God. Paul didn't give up. Why? Because he knew that God is still gathering and growing His church from all the nations of the earth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. Because he knew this, Paul did all he could to reason and persuade his countrymen of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He gave a message that was cogent and compelling. Not because that is what wins people to faith in Christ… but because that is what pleases our Lord Jesus. To speak well of the hope we have in us. And guess what CBC? God is still gathering and growing His church today. In Columbus, in Michigan, in the USA, and in all the world, the Lord is still gathering and growing His church. We are part of that grand plan. What is our part to play? Well certainly some of our part is to share the gospel cogently and compellingly. We must present a well-reasoned, logical, powerful, and persuasive gospel of Jesus… because that is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is. The gospel itself is well reasoned, logical, powerful, and persuasive. Transition: [Slide 6 (blank)] But this is not the whole responsibility placed on us as God continues His plan to gather and grow His church. We have more to do than simply to present the gospel in a logical and persuasive manner. Let's look at what happens when Paul encounters resistance. II.) God is still gathering and growing His church, we must use our time and energy efficiently for the growth of Kingdom citizens. (9-10) a. [Slide 7] 9 - But when some were becoming hardened and were not believing, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, i. After three months of reasoning and persuading many about the kingdom of God with Jesus as the head of this Kingdom, eventually Paul met familiar resistance. ii. Something is happening here in the text that we need to see in order to really understand what these Jews are doing. iii. In quick succession Luke uses an imperfect passive verb, followed by an imperfect active verb, followed by a present active participle. iv. Perhaps you think I just spoke in tongues

* List of Discoveries Squeezing Evolution: Did you know that dinosaurs ate rice before rice evolved? That turtle shells existed forty million years before turtle shells began evolving? That insects evolved tongues for eating from flowers 70 million years before flowers evolved? And that birds appeared before birds evolved? The fossil record is a wonderful thing. And more recently, only a 40,000-year squeeze, Neanderthal had blood types A, B, and O, shocking evolutionists but expected to us here at Real Science Radio! Sit back and get ready to enjoy another instant classic, today's RSR "list show" on Evolution's Big Squeeze! Our other popular list shows include: - scientists doubting Darwin - evidence against whale evolution - problems with 'the river carved the canyon' - carbon 14 everywhere it shouldn't be - dinosaur still-soft biological tissue - solar system formation problems - evidence against the big bang - evidence for the global flood - genomes that just don't fit - and our list of not so old things! (See also rsr.org/sq2 and rsr.org/sq3!) * Evolution's Big Squeeze: Many discoveries squeeze the Darwinian theory's timeframe and of course without a workable timeframe there is no workable theory. Examples, with their alleged (and falsified) old-earth timeframes, include: - Complex skeletons existed 9 million years before they were thought to have evolved, before even the "Cambrian explosion".- Butterflies existed 10 million years before they were thought to have evolved. - Parrots existed "much earlier than had been thought", in fact, 25 million years before they were thought to have evolved. - Cephalopod fossils (squids, cuttlefish, etc.) appear 35 million years before they were able to propagate. - Turtle shells 40 million years before turtle shells began evolving - Trees began evolving 45 million years before they were thought to evolve - Spores appearing 50 million years before the plants that made them (not unlike footprints systematically appearing "millions of years before" the creatures that made them, as affirmed by Dr. Marcus Ross, associate professor of geology). - Sponges existed 60 million years before they were believed to have evolved. - Dinosaurs ate rice before it evolved Example - Insect proboscis (tongue) in moths and butterflies 70 million years before previously believed has them evolving before flowers. - Arthropod brains fully developed with central nervous system running to eyes and appendages just like modern arthropods 90 million years earlier than previously known (prior to 2021, now, allegedly 310mya) - 100 million years ago and already a bird - Fossil pollen pushes back plant evolution 100 million years. - Mammalian hair allegedly 100-million-years-old show that, "the morphology of hair cuticula may have remained unchanged throughout most of mammalian evolution", regarding the overlapping cells that lock the hair shaft into its follicle. - Piranha-like flesh-eating teeth (and bitten prey) found pushing back such fish 125 million years earlier than previously claimed   - Shocking organic molecules in "200 million-years-old leaves" from ginkgoes and conifers show unexpected stasis. - Plant genetic sophistication pushed back 200 million years. - Jellyfish fossils (Medusoid Problematica :) 200 million years earlier than expected; here from 500My ago. - Green seaweed 200 million years earlier than expected, pushed back now to a billion years ago!  - The acanthodii fish had color vision 300 million years ago, but then, and wait, Cheiracanthus fish allegedly 388 million years ago already had color vision. - Color vision (for which there is no Darwinian evolutionary small-step to be had, from monochromatic), existed "300 million years ago" in fish, and these allegedly "120-million-year-old" bird's rod and cone fossils stun researchers :) - 400-million-year-old Murrindalaspis placoderm fish "eye muscle attachment, the eyestalk attachment and openings for the optic nerve, and arteries and veins supplying the eyeball" The paper's author writes, "Of course, we would not expect the preservation of ancient structures made entirely of soft tissues (e.g. rods and cone cells in the retina...)." So, check this next item... :) - And... no vertebrates in the Cambrian? Well, from the journal Nature in 2014, a "Lower-Middle Cambrian... primitive fish displays unambiguous vertebrate features: a notochord, a pair of prominent camera-type eyes, paired nasal sacs, possible cranium and arcualia, W-shaped myomeres, and a post-anal tail" Primitive? - Fast-growing juvenile bone tissue, thought to appear in the Cretaceous, has been pushed back 100 million years: "This pushes the origin of fibrolamellar bone in Sauropterygia back from the Cretaceous to the early Middle Triassic..."- Trilobites "advanced" (not the predicted primitive) digestion "525 million" years ago - And there's this, a "530 million year old" fish, "50 million years before the current estimate of when fish evolved" - Mycobacterium tuberculosis 100,000 yr-old MRCA (most recent common ancestor) now 245 million- Fungus long claimed to originate 500M years ago, now found at allegedly 950 Mya (and still biological "the distant past... may have been much more 'modern' than we thought." :) - A rock contained pollen a billion years before plants evolved, according to a 2007 paper describing "remarkably preserved" fossil spores in the French Alps that had undergone high-grade metamorphism - 2.5 billion year old cyanobacteria fossils (made of organic material found in a stromatolite) appear about "200 million years before the [supposed] Great Oxidation Event". - 2.7 billion year old eukaryotes (cells with a nucleus) existed (allegedly) 1 billion years before expected - 3.5 billion year "cell division evidently identical to that of living filamentous prokaryotes." - And even older cyanobacteria! At 220 million years earlier than thought, per Nature's 3.7 billion year old dating of stromatolites! - The universe and life itself (in 2019 with the universe dated a billion, now, no, wait, two billion!, years younger than previously thought, that's not only squeezing biological but also astronomical evolution, with the overall story getting really tight) - Mantis shrimp, with its rudimentary color but advanced UV vision, is allegedly ancient. - Hadrosaur teeth, all 1400 of them, were "more complex than those of cows, horses, and other well-known modern grazers." Professor stunned by the find! (RSR predicts that, by 2030 just to put an end date on it, more fossils will be found from the geologic column that will be more "advanced" as compared to living organisms, just like this hadrosaur and like the allegedly 100M year old hagfish  fossil having more slime glands than living specimens.)  - Trace fossils "exquisitely preserved" of mobile organisms (motility) dated at 2.1 billion years ago, a full 1.5 billion earlier than previously believed - Various multicellular organisms allegedly 2.1 billion years old, show multicellularity 1.5 billion years sooner than long believed   - Pre-sauropod 26,000-pound dinosaur "shows us that even as far back as 200 million years ago, these animals had already become the largest vertebrates to ever walk the Earth." - The Evo-devo squeeze, i.e., evolutionary developmental biology, as with rsr.org/evo-devo-undermining-darwinism. - Extinct Siberian one-horned rhinos coexisted with mankind. - Whale "evolution" is being crushed in the industry-wide "big squeeze". First, geneticist claims whales evolved from hippos but paleontologists say hippos evolved tens of millions of years too late! And what's worse than that is that fossil finds continue to compress the time available for whale evolution. To not violate its own plot, the Darwinist story doesn't start animals evolving back into the sea until the cast includes land animals suitable to undertake the legendary journey. The recent excavation of whale fossils on an island of the Antarctic Peninsula further compresses the already absurdly fast 10 million years to allegedly evolve from the land back to the sea, down to as little as one million years. BioOne in 2016 reported a fossil that is "among the oldest occurrences of basilosaurids worldwide, indicating a rapid radiation and dispersal of this group since at least the early middle Eocene." By this assessment, various techniques produced various published dates. (See the evidence that falsifies the canonical whale evolution story at rsr.org/whales.) * Ancient Hierarchical Insect Society: "Thanks to some well-preserved remains, researchers now believe arthropod social structures have been around longer than anyone ever imagined. The encased specimens of ants and termites recently studied date back [allegedly] 100 million years." Also from the video about "the bubonic plague", the "disease is well known as a Middle Ages mass killer... Traces of very similar bacteria were found on [an allegedly] 20-million-year-old flea trapped in amber." And regarding "Caribbean lizards... Even though they are [allegedly] 20 million years old, the reptiles inside the golden stones were not found to differ from their contemporary counterparts in any significant way. Scientists attribute the rarity [Ha! A rarity or the rule? Check out rsr.org/stasis.] to stable ecological surroundings." * Squeezing and Rewriting Human History: Some squeezing simply makes aspects of the Darwinian story harder to maintain while other squeezing contradicts fundamental claims. So consider the following discoveries, most of which came from about a 12-month period beginning in 2017 which squeeze (and some even falsify) the Out-of-Africa model: - find two teeth and rewrite human history with allegedly 9.7 million-year-old teeth found in northern Europe (and they're like Lucy, but "three times older") - date blue eyes, when humans first sported them, to as recently as 6,000 years ago   - get mummy DNA and rewrite human history with a thousand years of ancient Egyptian mummy DNA contradicting Out-of-Africa and demonstrating Out-of-Babel - find a few footprints and rewrite human history with allegedly 5.7 million-year-old human footprints in Crete - re-date an old skull and rewrite human history with a very human skull dated at 325,000 years old and redated in the Journal of Physical Anthropology at about 260,000 years old and described in the UK's Independent, "A skull found in China [40 years ago] could re-write our entire understanding of human evolution." - date the oldest language in India, Dravidian, with 80 derivatives spoken by 214 million people, which appeared on the subcontinent only about 4,500 years ago, which means that there is no evidence for human language for nearly 99% of the time that humans were living in Asia. (Ha! See rsr.org/origin-of-language for the correct explanation.) - sequence a baby's genome and rewrite human history with a 6-week old girl buried in Alaska allegedly 11,500 years ago challenging the established history of the New World. (The family buried this baby girl just beneath their home like the practice in ancient Mesopotamia, the Hebrews who sojourned in Egypt, and in Çatalhöyük in southern Turkey, one of the world's most ancient settlements.) - or was that 130,000? years ago as the journal Nature rewrites human history with a wild date for New World site - and find a jawbone and rewrite human history with a modern looking yet allegedly 180,000-year-old jawbone from Israel which "may rewrite the early migration story of our species" by about 100,000 years, per the journal Science - re-date a primate and lose yet another "missing link" between "Lucy" and humans, as Homo naledi sheds a couple million years off its age and drops from supposedly two million years old to (still allegedly) about 250,000 years old, far too "young" to be the allegedly missing link - re-analysis of the "best candidate" for the most recent ancestor to human beings, Australopithecus sediba, turns out to be a juvenile Lucy-like ape, as Science magazine reports work presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017 annual meeting - find skulls in Morocco and "rewrite human history" admits the journal Nature, falsifying also the "East Africa" part of the canonical story - and from the You Can't Make This Stuff Up file, NPR reports in April 2019, Ancient Bones And Teeth Found In A Philippine Cave May Rewrite Human History. :) - Meanwhile, whereas every new discovery requires the materialists to rewrite human history, no one has had to rewrite Genesis, not even once. Yet, "We're not claiming that the Bible is a science textbook. Not at all. For the textbooks have to be rewritten all the time!"  - And even this from Science: "humans mastered the art of training and controlling dogs thousands of years earlier than previously thought."- RSR's Enyart commented on the Smithsonian's 2019 article on ancient DNA possibly deconstructing old myths...  This Smithsonian article about an ancient DNA paper in Science Advances, or actually, about the misuse of such papers, was itself a misuse. The published research, Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines, confirmed Amos 9:7 by documenting the European origin of the biblical Philistines who came from the island of Caphtor/Crete. The mainstream media completely obscured this astounding aspect of the study but the Smithsonian actually stood the paper on its head. [See also rsr.org/archaeology.]* Also Squeezing Darwin's Theory: - Evolution happens so slowly that we can't see it, yet - it happens so fast that millions of mutations get fixed in a blink of geologic time AND: - Observing a million species annually should show us a million years of evolution, but it doesn't, yet - evolution happens so fast that the billions of "intermediary" fossils are missing AND: - Waiting for helpful random mutations to show up explains the slowness of evolution, yet - adaption to changing environments is often immediate, as with Darwin's finches Finches Adapt in 17 Years, Not 2.3 Million: Charles Darwin's finches are claimed to have taken 2,300,000 years to diversify from an initial species blown onto the Galapagos Islands. Yet individuals from a single finch species on a U.S. Bird Reservation in the Pacific were introduced to a group of small islands 300 miles away and in at most 17 years, like Darwin's finches, they had diversified their beaks, related muscles, and behavior to fill various ecological niches. So Darwin's finches could diversify in just 17 years, and after 2.3 million more years, what had they evolved into? Finches! Hear this also at rsr.org/lee-spetner and see Jean Lightner's review of the Grants' 40 Years. AND: - Fossils of modern organisms are found "earlier" and "earlier" in the geologic column, and - the "oldest" organisms are increasingly found to have anatomical, proteinaceous, prokaryotic, and eukaryotic sophistication and similarity to "modern" organisms AND: - Small populations are in danger of extinction (yet they're needed to fix mutations), whereas - large populations make it impossible for a mutation to become standard AND: - Mutations that express changes too late in an organism's development can't effect its fundamental body plan, and - mutations expressed too early in an organism's development are fatal (hence among the Enyart sayings, "Like evolving a vital organ, most major hurdles for evolutionary theory are extinction-level events.") AND: - To evolve flight, you'd get bad legs - long before you'd get good wings AND: - Most major evolutionary hurdles appear to be extinction-level events- yet somehow even *vital* organs evolve (for many species, that includes reproductive organs, skin, brain, heart, circulatory system, kidney, liver, pancreas, stomach, small intestines, large intestines, lungs -- which are only a part of the complex respiration system) AND: - Natural selection of randomly taller, swifter, etc., fish, mammals, etc. explains evolution yet - development of microscopic molecular machines, feedback mechanisms, etc., which power biology would be oblivous to what's happening in Darwin's macro environment of the entire organism AND: - Neo-Darwinism suggests genetic mutation as the engine of evolution yet - the there is not even a hypothesis for modifying the vast non-genetic information in every living cell including the sugar code, electrical code, the spatial (geometric) code, and the epigenetic code AND: - Constant appeals to "convergent" evolution (repeatedly arising vision, echolocation, warm-bloodedness, etc.) - undermine most Darwinian anatomical classification especially those based on trivialities like odd or even-toed ungulates, etc. AND: - Claims that given a single species arising by abiogenesis, then - Darwinism can explain the diversification of life, ignores the science of ecology and the (often redundant) biological services that species rely upon AND: - humans' vastly superior intelligence indicates, as bragged about for decades by Darwinists, that ape hominids should have the greatest animal intelligence, except that - many so-called "primitive" creatures and those far distant on Darwin's tee of life, exhibit extraordinary rsr.org/animal-intelligence even to processing stimuli that some groups of apes cannot AND: - Claims that the tree of life emerges from a single (or a few) common ancestors - conflict with the discoveries of multiple genetic codes and of thousands of orphan genes that have no similarity (homology) to any other known genes AND (as in the New Scientist cover story, "Darwin Was Wrong about the tree of life", etc.): - DNA sequences have contradicted anatomy-based ancestry claims - Fossil-based ancestry claims have been contradicted by RNA claims - DNA-based ancestry claims have been contradicted by anatomy claims - Protein-based ancestry claims have been contradicted by fossil claims. - And the reverse problem compared to a squeeze. Like finding the largest mall in America built to house just a kid's lemonade stand, see rsr.org/200 for the astounding lack of genetic diversity in humans, plants, and animals, so much so that it could all be accounted for in just about 200 generations! - The multiplied things that evolved multiple times - Etc. * List of Ways Darwinists Invent their Tree of Life, aka Pop Goes the Weasle – Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes: Evolutionists change their selection of what evidence they use to show 'lineage', from DNA to fossils to genes to body plans to teeth to many specific anatomical features to proteins to behavior to developmental similarities to habitat to RNA, etc. and to a combination of such. Darwinism is an entire endeavor based on selection bias, a kind of logical fallacy. By anti-science they arbitrarily select evidence that best matches whichever evolutionary story is currently preferred." -Bob E. The methodology used to create the family tree edifice to show evolutionary relationships classifies the descent of organisms based on such attributes as odd-toed and even-toed ungulates. Really? If something as wildly sophisticated as vision allegedly evolved multiple times (a dozen or more), then for cryin' out loud, why couldn't something as relatively simple as odd or even toes repeatedly evolve? How about dinosaur's evolving eggs with hard shells? Turns out that "hard-shelled eggs evolved at least three times independently in dinosaurs" (Nature, 2020). However, whether a genus has an odd or even number of toes, and similar distinctions, form the basis for the 150-year-old Darwinist methodology. Yet its leading proponents still haven't acknowledged that their tree building is arbitrary and invalid. Darwin's tree recently fell anyway, and regardless, it has been known to be even theoretically invalid all these many decades. Consider also bipedalism? In their false paradigm, couldn't that evolve twice? How about vertebrate and non-vertebrates, for that matter, evolving multiple times? Etc., etc., etc. Darwinists determine evolutionary family-tree taxonomic relationships based on numbers of toes, when desired, or on hips (distinguishing, for example, dinosaur orders, until they didn't) or limb bones, or feathers, or genes, or fossil sequence, or neck bone, or..., or..., or... Etc. So the platypus, for example, can be described as evolving from pretty much whatever story would be in vogue at the moment...   * "Ancient" Protein as Advanced as Modern Protein: A book review in the journal Science states, "the major conclusion is reached that 'analyses made of the oldest fossils thus far studied do not suggest that their [allegedly 145-million year-old] proteins were chemically any simpler than those now being produced.'" 1972, Biochemistry of Animal Fossils, p. 125 * "Ancient" Lampreys Just Modern Lampreys with Decomposed Brain and Mouth Parts: Ha! Researches spent half-a-year documenting how fish decay. RSR is so glad they did! One of the lessons learned? "[C]ertain parts of the brain and the mouth that distinguish the animals from earlier relatives begin a rapid decay within 24 hours..." :) * 140-million Year Old Spider Web: The BBC and National Geographic report on a 140-million year old spider web in amber which, as young-earth creationists expect, shows threads that resemble silk spun by modern spiders. Evolutionary scientists on the otherhand express surprise "that spider webs have stayed the same for 140 million years." And see the BBC. * Highly-Credentialed Though Non-Paleontologist on Flowers: Dr. Harry Levin who spent the last 15 years of a brilliant career researching paleontology presents much evidence that flowering plants had to originate not 150 million years ago but more than 300 million years ago. (To convert that to an actual historical timeframe, the evidence indicates flowers must have existed prior to the time that the strata, which is popularly dated to 300 mya, actually formed.) * Rampant Convergence: Ubiquitous appeals to "convergent" evolution (vision, echolocation, warm-bloodedness, icthyosaur/dolphin anatomy, etc.), all allegedly evolving multiple times, undermines anatomical classification based on trivialities like odd or even-toed ungulates, etc. * Astronomy's Big Evolution Squeeze: - Universe a billion, wait, two billion, years younger than thought   (so now it has to evolve even more impossibly rapidly) - Sun's evolution squeezes biological evolution - Galaxies evolving too quickly - Dust evolving too quickly - Black holes evolving too quickly - Clusters of galaxies evolving too quickly. * The Sun's Evolution Squeezes Life's Evolution: The earlier evolutionists claim that life began on Earth, the more trouble they have with astrophysicists. Why? They claim that a few billion years ago the Sun would have been far more unstable and cooler. The journal Nature reports that the Faint young Sun paradox remains for the "Sun was fainter when the Earth was young, but the climate was generally at least as warm as today". Further, our star would shoot out radioactive waves many of which being violent enough to blow out Earth's atmosphere into space, leaving Earth dead and dry like Mars without an atmosphere. And ignoring the fact that powerful computer simulators cannot validate the nebula theory of star formation, if the Sun had formed from a condensing gas cloud, a billion years later it still would have been emitting far less energy, even 30% less, than it does today. Forget about the claimed one-degree increase in the planet's temperature from man-made global warming, back when Darwinists imagine life arose, by this just-so story of life spontaneously generating in a warm pond somewhere (which itself is impossible), the Earth would have been an ice ball, with an average temperature of four degrees Fahrenheit below freezing! See also CMI's video download The Young Sun. * Zircons Freeze in Molten Eon Squeezing Earth's Evolution? Zircons "dated" 4 to 4.4 billion years old would have had to freeze (form) when the Earth allegedly was in its Hadean (Hades) Eon and still molten. Geophysicist Frank Stacey (Cambridge fellow, etc.) has suggested they may have formed above ocean trenches where it would be coolest. One problem is that even further squeezes the theory of plate tectonics requiring it to operate two billion years before otherwise claimed. A second problem (for these zircons and the plate tectonics theory itself) is that ancient trenches (now filled with sediments; others raised up above sea level; etc.) have never been found. A third problem is that these zircons contain low isotope ratios of carbon-13 to carbon-12 which evolutionists may try to explain as evidence for life existing even a half-billion years before they otherwise claim. For more about this (and to understand how these zircons actually did form) just click and then search (ctrl-f) for: zircon character. * Evolution Squeezes Life to Evolve with Super Radioactivity: Radioactivity today breaks chromosomes and produces neutral, harmful, and fatal birth defects. Dr. Walt Brown reports that, "A 160-pound person experiences 2,500 carbon-14 disintegrations each second", with about 10 disintergrations per second in our DNA. Worse for evolutionists is that, "Potassium-40 is the most abundant radioactive substance in... every living thing." Yet the percentage of Potassium that was radioactive in the past would have been far in excess of its percent today. (All this is somewhat akin to screws in complex machines changing into nails.) So life would have had to arise from inanimate matter (an impossibility of course) when it would have been far more radioactive than today. * Evolution of Uranium Squeezed by Contrasting Constraints: Uranium's two most abundant isotopes have a highly predictable ratio with 235U/238U equaling 0.007257 with a standard deviation of only 0.000017. Big bang advocates claim that these isotopes formed in distant stellar cataclysms. Yet that these isotopes somehow collected in innumerable small ore bodies in a fixed ratio is absurd. The impossibility of the "big bang" explanation of the uniformity of the uranium ratio (rsr.org/bb#ratio) simultaneously contrasts in the most shocking way with its opposite impossibility of the missing uniform distribution of radioactivity (see rsr.org/bb#distribution) with 90% of Earth's radioactivity in the Earth's crust, actually, the continental crust, and even at that, preferentially near granite! A stellar-cataclysmic explanation within the big bang paradigm for the origin of uranium is severely squeezed into being falsified by these contrasting constraints. * Remarkable Sponges? Yes, But For What Reason? Study co-author Dr. Kenneth S. Kosik, the Harriman Professor of Neuroscience at UC Santa Barbara said, "Remarkably, the sponge genome now reveals that, along the way toward the emergence of animals, genes for an entire network of many specialized cells evolved and laid the basis for the core gene logic of organisms that no longer functioned as single cells." And then there's this: these simplest of creatures have manufacturing capabilities that far exceed our own, as Degnan says, "Sponges produce an amazing array of chemicals of direct interest to the pharmaceutical industry. They also biofabricate silica fibers directly from seawater in an environmentally benign manner, which is of great interest in communications [i.e., fiber optics]. With the genome in hand, we can decipher the methods used by these simple animals to produce materials that far exceed our current engineering and chemistry capabilities." Kangaroo Flashback: From our RSR Darwin's Other Shoe program: The director of Australia's Kangaroo Genomics Centre, Jenny Graves, that "There [are] great chunks of the human genome… sitting right there in the kangaroo genome." And the 20,000 genes in the kangaroo (roughly the same number as in humans) are "largely the same" as in people, and Graves adds, "a lot of them are in the same order!" CMI's Creation editors add that "unlike chimps, kangaroos are not supposed to be our 'close relatives.'" And "Organisms as diverse as leeches and lawyers are 'built' using the same developmental genes." So Darwinists were wrong to use that kind of genetic similarity as evidence of a developmental pathway from apes to humans. Hibernating Turtles: Question to the evolutionist: What happened to the first turtles that fell asleep hibernating underwater? SHOW UPDATE Of Mice and Men: Whereas evolutionists used a very superficial claim of chimpanzee and human genetic similarity as evidence of a close relationship, mice and men are pretty close also. From the Human Genome Project, How closely related are mice and humans?, "Mice and humans (indeed, most or all mammals including dogs, cats, rabbits, monkeys, and apes) have roughly the same number of nucleotides in their genomes -- about 3 billion base pairs. This comparable DNA content implies that all mammals [RSR: like roundworms :)] contain more or less the same number of genes, and indeed our work and the work of many others have provided evidence to confirm that notion. I know of only a few cases in which no mouse counterpart can be found for a particular human gene, and for the most part we see essentially a one-to-one correspondence between genes in the two species." * Related RSR Reports: See our reports on the fascinating DNA sequencing results from roundworms and the chimpanzee's Y chromosome! * Genetic Bottleneck, etc: Here's an excerpt from rsr.org/why-was-canaan-cursed... A prediction about the worldwide distribution of human genetic sequencing (see below) is an outgrowth of the Bible study at that same link (aka rsr.org/canaan), in that scientists will discover a genetic pattern resulting from not three but four sons of Noah's wife. Relevant information comes also from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) which is not part of any of our 46 chromosomes but resides outside of the nucleus. Consider first some genetic information about Jews and Arabs, Jewish priests, Eve, and Noah. Jews and Arabs Biblical Ancestry: Dr. Jonathan Sarfati quotes the director of the Human Genetics Program at New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Harry Ostrer, who in 2000 said: Jews and Arabs are all really children of Abraham … And all have preserved their Middle Eastern genetic roots over 4,000 years. This familiar pattern, of the latest science corroborating biblical history, continues in Dr. Sarfati's article, Genesis correctly predicts Y-Chromosome pattern: Jews and Arabs shown to be descendants of one man. Jewish Priests Share Genetic Marker: The journal Nature in its scientific correspondence published, Y Chromosomes of Jewish Priests, by scie

Today we complete reading the book of Acts; Paul finally arrives in Rome and Luke's record of his life ends by stating that he dwelt for two whole years in a lodging at his own expense, he “was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him” [v.6]  Paul “called together the local leaders of the Jews” [v.17] and explained to them the circumstances that caused him to be brought as a prisoner to Rome though “I had done nothing against our people.”   These Jews respond saying, “we have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.” [v.21]   They then say, “we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect (meaning the Christians) we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” [v.22] Many Jews came “to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the prophets.” [v.23]  This shows how the Old Testament is most valuable in teaching Christ's message. The hearers departed “disagreeing among themselves”[v.25] and Paul comments on God's word through Isaiah, that those words “are right in saying to your fathers … This people's heart has grown dull and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed.” [v.27] The prophet's words are equally true today – most do not want to hear or read.  The Bible was the book that transformed the world when it was first printed and available for all to read, it was like the days in ancient Israel when David and Solomon inspired the people to serve God.    But today!!  We can “barely hear” because of all the efforts to teach and believe that there is no God and all that exists sort of created itself, therefore we can live as we please.  Let us make sure our ears can hear – and our eyes can read. 

In this episode, Einat sheds light on "the new Zionists," the wave of young, courageous Jews in the Diaspora who are pushing back against anti-Zionism, the new form of antisemitism. These Jews understand that nothing will ever be good enough for those demanding they give up a key part of their identity. Then, Blake Flayton joins the conversation to discuss the cascading hatred on college campuses after the October 7th massacre and how best to combat it. 

Scripture Reading: Acts 17:1–15 17 After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. 5 But the Jews became jealous, and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason's house, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly. 6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too, 7 and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar's decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus!” 8 They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things. 9 After the city officials had received bail from Jason and the others, they released them. 10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds. 14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. 15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.OutlineThessalonica and BeroeaA tale of two citiesLike Jesus, like PaulThessalonicaThe city's reputation precedes it (for the original audience)ThessalonicaA working missionaryReasoning at the synagogueSome are persuaded, some are threatened, a church formSevere persecutionJason pays the priceJesus and Christians are traitors?BeroeaGetting out of dodgeReceived the message, examined the scripturesFleeing yet again, but this time with company

John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. 31 ¶ Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."   Here we see the final prophecy being fulfilled as Jesus knows all else has been fulfilled, He says I thirst. He has completed everything else He was supposed to do and then He fulfills one last Scripture by saying He thirsts and they give Him the sour wine. He says it is finished and gives up His spirit. It is finished is an accounting term that means your debt has been paid in full. Jesus paid for all our sins on the cross. He suffered 3 hours spiritually when it was dark and He was taking our hell for us as our substitute during that time period. That is why the old song can say Jesus paid it all. There is nothing left for you and I to do but to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Acts 16:31. Have you done that? If not, you need to because no one will make it to Heaven unless they trust in what Jesus did on that cross and add nothing to it to be saved. It was the day before the Sabbath and the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross so that they might not defile themselves. These people cared more about their rituals than about killing Jesus. Lastly we see that the soldiers came and fulfilled two more prophecies by piercing Jesus side and not breaking his legs. We see the water and the blood comes out and it proves without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is dead. To find out about the symbolism behind the water and the blood you will have to listen to the message..   I am amazed at the words of verse 28. Jesus knew that everything was completed. He was no helpless victim, powerless, and therefore subject to the whims of those who had arrested Him. Jesus was aware of every Scripture that spoke of His atoning death as the promised Messiah. In the last few weeks especially, Jesus has been orchestrating events so that His death would perfectly fulfill all these prophecies. In the final moments of His life, Jesus takes note of the fact that every prophetic detail has been arranged for so that He now may proceed to complete His mission, in a way that fulfills the remaining prophecies concerning His death. 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished. Now how did He know that? Why, He knew it because He had omniscience. He knew everything. Jesus Christ was on a divine schedule with an omniscient eye moving step at a time and fulfilling every detail of prophecy. He knew exactly where He was; and He was saying to Himself, Well, I know that all things are now accomplished, except for one Scripture, Then He says at the end of verse 28, "...I thirst," Jesus, in total awareness of every fact in the universe, knew that in God's plan everything was done except one Scripture was left unfulfilled. Psalm 69:21 was that Scripture. Psalm 69:21 said of Christ in His death, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.." He knew that that had not yet been fulfilled. At the beginning of the cross they had tried to give Him vinegar. Really, gall, which is a sedative; but He wouldn't take it so He could suffer without any kind of deadness but suffer the total pain, But now He knows that Scripture needs to be fulfilled, so He says, " I thirst." Jesus refused this because He insisted on drinking the “cup of God's wrath” to the full (John 18:11). Now the soldiers didn't have to respond, they did because they were under divine motivation; God was moving to fulfill the prophecy. 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. Mt 27:48 The hyssop reference may simply be a detail in the testimony of an eyewitness to Jesus' crucifixion. However, 1 Cor. 5:7) it's interesting that hyssop, a long reed with kind of a little more bushy end is what they used on this occasion because hyssop is very famous to all Jews, It takes them immediately back to Exodus 12:22. You remember that the angel of death was going to pass over Israel, and God said to the people of Israel, You take hyssop and take the blood and sprinkle on the doorposts and the lintel. Any time hyssop appears to the Jewish mind it's reminiscent of the great sacrifice of the Passover lamb, How fitting that hyssop should be the tool at this sacrifice of that final and greatest Passover Lamb. So they give Him to drink, and with that Jesus fulfilled every single prophecy. He was in full knowledge of every detail; He was in full control of everything He did and everything the soldiers did The “wine” Jesus now accepts is a cheap wine. It did not deaden any of His pain. Our Lord's thirst and His partaking of this “wine” seems to have served a two-fold purpose. First, it fulfilled Scripture: My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death (Psalm 22:15, NKJV). I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God Psalm 69:3, There's a spiritual thirst.  And I believe this, of course, is what Christ is screaming out and shouting out; that He's thirsting spiritually.  Second, it would seem as though the vinegar-like wine served to help clear the throat of our Lord, so that He could end His life triumphantly, with a shout. So far as John informs us, the “shout” is not, “It is completed,” but rather as Luke informs us, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). These two statements must have come in close proximity to each other, however. The words that John records were no doubt spoken first, and then were followed by the words that Luke records. John simply tells us that Jesus “said,” “It is completed.” Jesus declares that His work is completed, and then He gives up His Spirit. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Joh 17:4 "Papyri receipts for taxes have been recovered with the word tetelestai written across them, meaning 'paid in full. Paul would write in Second Corinthians 5:21, “He became sin for us.  He was made to be sin for us to finish that work.  Nothing more needs to be done.” It really has been completed, hasn't it? Everything for which John has been preparing us in this Gospel has now been accomplished by our Lord. John 1 declares that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who called the world into being. He is the One sent to earth by the Father, in order to reveal Him to men. He is the One who “came unto His own place and to His own people,” and yet those who were “His own”—the Jews—rejected Him. He was “lifted up” so that He could draw all men unto Himself (3:13-18). He came to do His Father's will (4:34) and has now completed it. He came to declare His Father's Word, and He has proclaimed it (8:26-28, 38; 12:49-50; 14:10). He came to glorify the Father, and on the cross, He has done that (12:23, 28, 41; 13:32; 17:1, 4). It truly is finished; His task has been completed. And because all of His prerequisite work has been completed, our Lord can now die. His life is not taken away from Him; He voluntarily gives it up, just as He had indicated earlier: John 10:14-18 - 14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is the commandment I received from my Father” The phrase “bowed His head” is also a marvelous phrase.  It's found in Matthew 8:20 and in Luke 9:58.  The phrase “bow His head,” you go back in your mind when they asked Jesus where He's staying.  And He says what?  “The foxes have holes, the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”  Same phrase.  The one place Jesus found to finally lay His head was on Calvary and He does it willfully, He does it obediently.  He does it in control. The phrase “gave up” I've mentioned to you a number of times as we've gone through John for a deliberate reason.  The word “delivered, handed over” and the word used for Judas when he betrayed Him, when he delivered Him up.  “Delivered, handed over and/or betrayed”:  paradidomi.  Same word Jesus says here.  He delivers up His spirit.  What looks like a betrayal, what looks like handed over to the police, handed over to the Roman guard, handed over to the Jewish authorities.  What looks like He's being delivered up, He Himself delivers up His spirit.  And I believe John uses this to illustrate, again, Christ is in control.  Nobody else is pulling the strings on this deal, Christ is the one who delivers up His spirit.  Notice there is darkness, separation, and intense thirst, these all will be found in hell. Simon Greenleaf years ago wrote a collection called The Testimony of the Evangelists. He was an attorney and, a student challenged him.  He was sort of notorious for vilifying Christians and how stupid they were; and some student challenged him, “Why don't you use the same case law analysis that you teach to prove or disprove the resurrection?” And this was sort of a novel idea and evidently Greenleaf took some time off from teaching, spent two years of his life tracking this thing down; and at the end of it, again, he wrote the book Testimony of the Evangelists saying that if the death, burial and resurrection of Christ was put on trial today there would be more than enough evidence to convict it.  In other words, to prove, that it actually happened and it brought Simon Greenleaf from an antagonistic person toward to Gospel to belief in Jesus Christ.  And there's a Simon Greenleaf School of Law. We have a faith built on the inspired Word of God, notice the prophecies. It is a finished faith;. A cry of victory This set of verses is unique to the fourth Gospel 31 ¶ Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. De 21:23; Mr. 15:42; Joh 19:42 These Jews considered sundown the beginning of a new day. In this case the new day was a Sabbath. This Sabbath was an extra special day because it fell during Passover week. The Jews wanted to get the bodies down off their crosses so they would not defile the land. The Mosaic Law instructed the Jews to allow no one to remain hanging on a cross overnight because this would defile the land. Such a person was under God's curse (cf. Deut. 21:22-23; Josh. 8:29). To allow someone to remain overnight on a Sabbath would be especially offensive. De 21:2 "If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 "his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Time was running out for The Jews. They had been forced to go through the formalities of a trial and to obtain Pilate's cooperation in the crucifixion of Jesus. They were still under great time constraints because this was the day of preparation; they must be done with this crucifixion by evening so they could begin to observe the Sabbath by evening. Normally, death by crucifixion would take much longer, and this was no problem to Rome. While the Romans liked to leave the bodies of those crucified exposed for some time, to serve as a warning to all, the Jews could not allow these bodies to remain exposed after nightfall. The men would have to die more quickly than normal so that their bodies could be taken down. Rome had a solution for this situation.  A heavy hammer was used to crush the bones of the victims' legs. This would make it impossible for those being crucified to push up with their legs in order to facilitate the breathing process. Once their leg bones were broken, the victims died within a short time. The soldiers therefore set out to break the legs of all three. For some reason, they started on the outside, waiting to deal with Jesus last. (Is it possible that having seen and heard the events of that day—such as the three hours of darkness—they were now reluctant to do further bodily harm to Jesus?) When they came to Him, it was apparent that He was already dead. There was no need to break His legs. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 1Jo 5:6,8 One of the soldiers must have wanted to make absolutely sure that Jesus was dead, so he thrust his spear into our Lord's side. Immediately, both blood and water gushed out, a fact to which John gives special significance Ex 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And much is made of this whole issue of blood and water.  Some think it has to do with the sacraments; others see a mystical reference to it.  All sorts of things. I do think the one thing John wants us to know for sure is that Jesus Christ really died. I think, that John evidently intends to describe the incident as something entirely unexpected and marvelous, and that this explanation better suits the solemn asseveration of ver. 35. That the fact had a symbolic meaning to the Evangelist is evident from 1 John 5:6.[i] 6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 1Jo 5:8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. There may also be a symbolic meaning: the blood speaks of our justification, the water of our sanctification and cleansing. The blood takes care of the guilt of sin; the water deals with the stain of sin.[ii] The blood and water illustrate two aspects of salvation: blood to atone for the guilt of sin, and water(symbolic of the word) to wash away the stain of sin. The blood speaks of justification and the water of sanctification. The two must always go together, for those who have trusted the blood of Christ to save them should live clean lives before a watching world.[iii] Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, Tit 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace In the baptism of Christ He identified with sinners, didn't He?  He identified with sinners.  You see, baptism was baptism of repentance.  It was baptism of repentance.  He didn't have anything to repent of.  But there in that most unique way He told John, "You have to baptize Me."  John said no, the reverse is true.  And He said, "No, you have to baptize Me.  I need to fulfill all righteousness."  And there He was in His baptism identifying with sinners and defining the reason He came.  And the Father gave witness, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."  Jesus arrives from Galilee where He's been with His disciples and desires to be baptized by him, by John. Even though there is no sin for Jesus to repent of, and there's no need for Jesus to be washed on the inside, God requires this of all His people and I will do all that God requires.  I will do it in order to fulfill all righteousness.  Whatever it is that God requires of His people, I will do."  He was fully human and He obeyed God's Law in full.  That was the perfection of His life, which by the way, as we know was imputed to our account.  And so He says, "I must fulfill all righteousness. the gospel of John, I always think it's an interesting note, chapter 1 verse 32, "And John the Father says to him, "The one on whom the Spirit descends, this is the one who is coming to baptize with fire."  And the second divine testimony was given at His blood, as it were, or at His death, that at the end of His ministry...at the end.  That too defined His ministry because as He had identified with sinners in going into the waters of a baptism of repentance, He fully identified with sinners at the cross by taking their punishment.  Those are tremendously defining events, two monumental experiences bracketing His ministry of redemption.  And so the Father says, "I gave testimony at His baptism, testimony at His death." Second half of verse 6, quite interesting, just in case you missed it, "This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and with the blood."  Well what a strange thing to say.  Why, did You think we were going to deny the second one?  Did You think we were going to say that You only gave testimony at His baptism, that only at His baptism did You identify with Him?  Only at His baptism was He Your Son?  Only at His baptism did You say, 'This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,' and that You didn't affirm Him, You didn't give testimony to Him, You didn't witness to Him at His death?  Did You think we were going to say that?  And is that why You said, "With the water, not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood?"  Exactly right...that's exactly what I knew you'd say. By the end of the first century when John wrote this, sometime after 90 A.D., a serious heresy had already developed which said that Jesus was God's Son at His baptism, but not at the cross.  That the Christ's Spirit descended on Him at His baptism and left Him before the cross so that Jesus came by water, the Christ's Spirit came by water, not by blood.  That is that His baptism was a revelation that He was the anointed of God but the Christ who was baptized was very different than the Jesus who was killed.  The Christ's Spirit who came upon that man at His baptism departed before the cross and the Jesus who was crucified was nothing but a mere man. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. Purpose is John 20:20-21 1Jo 1:1 ¶ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2Pe 1:16 ¶ For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. Same in 1 John 5 The purpose of God's witness, God's witness through the water & the blood, , the purpose of all of God's witness that essentially is the New Testament, is that you might have eternal life and this life is in His Son.  Go down to verse 20, right toward the end of this epistle, "We know the Son of God has come."  How do we know that?  Because of the testimony of God now recorded on the pages of the inspired Scripture.  "And has given us understanding in order that we might know Him who is true and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life...and eternal life."  It's always about eternal life. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." Ex 12:46; Nu 9:12; Ps 34:20 Once again, John wishes us to see that the things which took place at Calvary were the very things God had prophesied.  Jesus, by giving up His life earlier than expected, was spared from having His legs broken. John sees in this a fulfillment of prophecy. Though the Old Testament text that is fulfilled is not indicated, very likely it comes from Exodus 12 or Psalm 34:20, or both: Exodus 12:43-46, 43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones” Nu 9:12 'They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. Psalm 34:20, He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken (NKJV). 37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." Ps 22:16-17; Zec 12:10; Re 1:7 What a profound prophesy.  They're going to see the Christ crucified, the One they've pierced, the only begotten, the One and only and they're going to mourn.  And then John, when he writes the Revelation writes in Revelation 1:7: BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, . . . every eye will see Him, Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn”. The piercing of the side of our Lord was prophetically necessary, since Zechariah 12:10 refers to the Messiah. And so what John describes is what Zechariah foretold. Everything was truly going according to God's plan. Not one prophecy failed to be fulfilled. I am sure that the events which occurred at the cross had a great impact on those who witnessed the death of our Lord. The centurion was convinced from what he saw that Jesus was the Son of God. Some of those who heard Peter preach at Pentecost may well have witnessed our Lord's death at Calvary. Luke 23:48 tells us that the multitudes, when they beheld this sight, went away beating their breasts. It was a horrible day for those who thought it might be entertaining. I wonder how many of these folks were later saved. If you are a Christian, you should be stirred in your soul every time you read of our Lord's death. We should never tire of remembering Him and His death, as our Lord commanded (see Luke 22:19; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:23ff.). We should take every temptation to sin seriously, knowing what our sin cost Him at Calvary. We should never cease to preach Christ crucified, for this is what the gospel is all about. Thirty years later, on this very spot, judgment was pronounced against some of the best citizens of Jerusalem. Of the 3,600 victims of the governor's fury, not a few were scourged and crucified! Judas died in a loathsome suicide, the house of Annas was destroyed some years later, Caiaphas was removed a year after the crucifixion, and Pilate was soon after banished to Gaul and there died in suicide. When Jerusalem fell, her wretched citizens were crucified around her walls until, in the historian's grim language, ‘space was wanting for the crosses, and crosses for the bodies.' The horrors of the siege of Jerusalem are unparalleled in history. In the Synoptic Gospels, we read a great deal concerning the mockery of the crowds, of the Jewish religious leaders, of the Roman soldiers, and even of the two thieves. But John passes these matters by. Why? I think there is a good reason, one that makes a lot of sense once you stop to think about it—John wants our Lord Jesus to be central and preeminent in his account of the death of the Savior at Calvary. Jesus is center stage in John, as He ought to be. Calvary is about a cross, the cross of Jesus Christ. It is He alone, through His cross, who saves sinners. Let us never lose this focus. We need to see that the punishment that He took is the punishment that we deserved. Totally.  Every time a sacrifice occurred in the Old Testament, even up until Christ's time, I think there's great importance in putting your hand on that animal and slaying him.  That should be you.  It should be your blood.  You should pay for this.  And He did it for us.  Therein is, I think, the compelling part of the human conscience.  Someone else took my penalty. Lu 23:49 But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.        Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?              John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.               “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32             Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.              hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don't go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F             The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions [i] Vincent, M. R. (1887). Word studies in the New Testament (Jn 19:34). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. [ii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Jn 19:31). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. [iii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbe's expository outlines on the New Testament (265). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Title: 3 Strikes – We're Out Text: Acts 14:8-20 FCF: We often struggle recognizing our depraved state. Prop: Because all men need the gospel, we must come by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts 14. In a moment we'll read from the LSB starting in verse 8. You can follow along in whatever version you prefer. We are quickly coming to the close of the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas through Cyprus and Southern Galatia. We've seen the gospel go forward to great success, but more recently we've seen the gospel opposed… violently. In this text the opposition to the gospel will reach its climax. Today we'll see what might seem like a major defeat for the missionaries. Please stand with me out of respect for and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: O Lord the God of Israel, Who is enthroned above the cherubim, You and You alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; indeed You have made the heavens and the earth. Incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. Visit us and move in Your Word today in the name of your son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit… Amen. Transition: A little more to cover today than recent sermons so let's dive right in to it. I.) The gospel is universally necessary because no man is able to save themselves, so we must come by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. (8-10) a. [Slide 2] 8 - And at Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked. i. In verse 6 we learned that Paul and Barnabas fled to the cities of Lycaonia – namely Lystra and Derbe. ii. [Slide 3] Lystra is the first city in Lycaonia Paul and Barnabas visit. iii. Lystra is about 20 miles south of Iconium. iv. It is another city along a major Roman trade route running through Asia Minor. v. Lystra and Derbe are known for resisting assimilation into Roman culture. Indeed, as we'll see later, they even maintained their own language instead of adopting Latin or Greek. vi. Lystra and Derbe are less populated cities along this trade route. And their Jewish presence was a good deal smaller. vii. [Slide 4] We'll read later in chapter 16 that there was no synagogue in Lystra, meaning that the Jewish population was very small. viii. This breaks a bit with Paul and Barnabas' normal pattern. Up to this point Paul and Barnabas had traveled to heavily populated cities with larger Jewish populations. ix. We could conclude that they wanted to change their pattern since they'd been run out of two cities by the Jews… but more likely Lystra and Derbe were simply the next two cities down the road. x. [Slide 5] In this passage, we see some rather striking similarities to when Peter and John met the lame man in the temple in Acts 3. xi. This man from Lystra is described in the same way as the man at the temple gate, in that he was lame from his mother's womb and had never walked. xii. As we pointed out in chapter 3, such a detail is important not just for Theophilus, Luke's intended audience, but even for us two thousand years later. xiii. It confirms that Paul and Barnabas did not do a medical work that corrected the man from something recent. Instead, it was a miracle changing something he had since his birth. xiv. Even to our day, if a person is truly crippled from birth, there is really nothing we can do for them. xv. And that is the spiritual point being made. Like the Jewish man in the temple, all Jews were spiritually unable to stand before God's presence and walk in the His ways. And like the Jews, Gentiles also are unable to spiritually stand and walk in the Lord's ways. b. [Slide 6] 9 - This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, when he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had faith to be saved from being lame, i. Taking the general comment in verse 7 about Paul and Barnabas continuing to preach the gospel and then adding to that that this man was listening to Paul as he spoke, we see that even though Lystra had no synagogue, Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel in Lystra. Perhaps even in the streets or at the city gates. ii. Again, similar to chapter 3, Paul fixes his gaze on the lame man. iii. This seems to be Luke's way of subtly showing us that the Spirit was the primary agent communicating to Paul who he should focus on. Perhaps even giving Paul insight into the man's spiritual condition. iv. Paul in this moment saw that this man had faith to be saved. v. The words “from being lame” do not exist in the Greek. vi. The word for saved can be used generally to speak of deliverance or healing and it can also be used to talk about salvation or spiritual deliverance. vii. So, did Paul see that he had faith to receive Christ? Or did Paul see he had faith to be healed. viii. Virtually every modern translation and commentator goes out of their way to say that his faith was for the healing of his body. However, some grammars and commentators note that they cannot rule out a double meaning. ix. Indeed, as we've said many times, the miracles and healings that are recorded in the gospels and in Acts are physical demonstrations of what happens spiritually when someone comes to Christ. x. As materialists we often try to parse out the physical and spiritual components of things – but perhaps this is a fool's errand. xi. Paul gazes into this man's eyes and sees him attentively receiving the words he was speaking to him. Paul recognizes that faith has come to this man. Faith to heal his body and faith to forgive his sins. Afterall, which is easier to say – your faith has made you well or your sins are forgiven? xii. Certainly, it is easier to say your sins are forgiven for you cannot see it. xiii. It is much harder to say, as Paul said... c. [Slide 7] 10 - said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk. i. Paul, having seen faith in this man, lifts up his voice so all can hear. He is confident the Lord will perform a miracle as a sign of authentication for the message of the gospel. ii. So, in a loud voice he commands the man to stand. iii. The man using His faith in Jesus, the Messiah of God, believed His sent one, Paul, and obeyed the command given to him. iv. He not only stood, he leapt up and began to walk. v. By grace, through faith God enables men to do what they could not do otherwise. vi. Physically and spiritually God makes us whole by grace and through faith in Christ alone. d. [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: As polarizing as the gospel is it is also paradoxically universally necessary. All men, Jew or gentile, slave or free, man or woman, rich or poor, all men are absolutely helpless to stand before a holy God and walk in His ways. All men stand condemned. All men are wicked and deserving of the wrath of God. All men have committed the vilest offenses of treason and do not possess the ability or desire to do otherwise. Just as this lame man in chapter 14 and just like the lame man in chapter 3, all men are spiritually crippled from their mother's womb and have never walked a spiritual step in their lives. Yet they are commanded by God to stand and walk. There is, indeed, none righteous, no not one. There are none who do good. There are none who seek God. But God by grace (giving us power and desire to do what we could not do before) through faith (absolute trust gifted by the revelation of the Spirit through the Word of God) in Christ (only and always in the perfect and perpetual atonement and merit of Christ) has strengthen our crippled legs and made us strong to leap and run for Him. That is the essence of the gospel, both the bad news and the good news. Transition: [Slide 9(blank)] God has authenticated with signs and wonders the truth of the words which Paul and Barnabas spoke. What will be the response of the people of Lystra to such irrefutable proof? II.) The gospel is universally necessary because all men are naturally idolaters, so we must come by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. (11-18) a. [Slide 10] 11 - And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” i. Uh oh. That is not what's supposed to happen. ii. Sign gifts are supposed to authenticate the message of the gospel… not this! iii. Again – Sign gifts are part of the outward call of the gospel. All men still need the inward call from God. We shouldn't be surprised that sign gifts do not always prove the truth to all men. iv. Indeed, even at Pentecost when people heard them speak in tongues… not all believed. Some thought they were drunk. v. And here is the problem unique to the Gentiles. vi. At least with the Jews, you entered on common ground. Jews believed in the Torah and the law, and one true God named Yahweh. They believed in the promise of a Messiah. vii. But these gentiles were pagans. They believed in many gods. They believed that the gods were mostly like humans only with a little more power and a little more knowledge. viii. They believed that these gods were to be served and in exchange the gods would use their power and influence to help the mortals. ix. Even though we know Paul and Barnabas were preaching Christ and Him crucified. Even though we know they were preaching the gospel – this sign did not confirm the message of the truth on all the hearts of those there. x. Instead, they thought that the gods had become men and were come down to be with them. xi. But why would they assume this? b. [Slide 11] 12 - And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 - And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and was wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. i. Ovid wrote about the city of Lystra and recorded a story of Zeus and Hermes, or Jupiter and Mercury, coming to this city and being refused hospitality. They were taken in by a poor old couple and the couple was rewarded for their kindness by becoming the first priests of Zeus and their home being made into his temple. ii. It is possible that with this story in mind, the people did not wish to fail again but extend hospitality to the gods in hopes that they would be rewarded. iii. Zeus being the chief god over storms and rain and Hermes being the messenger of the gods, the people see great similarities between these false gods and Paul and Barnabas. iv. They called Barnabas Zeus, no doubt because he was the older of the two missionaries. v. They called Paul Hermes because he was the primary speaker and was younger. vi. The question is asked, why did Paul and Barnabas not stop them sooner than they did? vii. Well remember the people were speaking in their Lycaonian language. A language that Paul and Barnabas certainly did not understand. And also notice that the Spirit did not enable them to understand the language at this time either. viii. So, this idea about Paul and Barnabas being gods spread so far and got so far out of hand that even the priest of the temple of Zeus came from outside the city and brought the supplies necessary to make sacrifices with the crowds to Paul and Barnabas. ix. These people were about to start a ritualistic parade back to the temple to worship Paul and Barnabas. c. [Slide 12] 14 - But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 - and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, i. Recognizing the pagan ritual parade, knowing the 10 commands. Knowing that God is a jealous God. And believing on Christ alone, Paul and Barnabas were more than distraught when they discovered what was happening. ii. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes, which is a culturally significant act among the Jews to express great lament and anguish. Sometimes of guilt, or fear, or sadness. iii. In this Paul and Barnabas in no uncertain terms rejected worship. And they assured them that they were mere men. Having the exact same nature as them. iv. They were not gods. They were not demi-gods. They were mere men granted power by the Spirit of the one true God. v. Why? vi. SO they could be… d. [Slide 13] proclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM. i. As we have observed in our foundations study recently, from early on in human history there have been false deities, personas empowered by demonic entities who have rebelled due to their desire to receive worship from men and turn them away from the worship of Yahweh. ii. But in all the pantheons of all the peoples down through the ages, the one kind of god that none of them seem to recognize is a creator. A god who made everything. iii. A god who even made the other gods. iv. And if such a god IS considered, he is an enigma. He is an unknown. Or he is disconnected from reality. v. Paul makes it clear, that the gospel they preach is to turn them away from worshipping created things to worshipping the Uncreated Creator. The one who not only made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is within it – but brought it into order and even now controls it. vi. They did not recognize such a God, but it was this God, Yahweh, that Paul introduced them to. vii. But why should they have recognized Him? e. [Slide 14] 16 - “In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; 17 - and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” i. Paul reveals that God permitted all the nations besides the Jews to go their own ways. ii. To follow after other gods. iii. To be led astray. iv. But He did not leave no evidence of Himself. v. He did good to them, giving them rains, and fruitful and happy times. He allowed people to enjoy life and be glad. vi. All of creation and the general pursuit of happiness is an evidence that a creator has made all that is. vii. It is this supreme God, who is so far above all other gods that they are not gods at all. For only He is uncreated. viii. It is this God who has sent His Son to bear the sins of many. f. [Slide 15] 18 - And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. i. Such a summary statement does not do much for us in the way of declaring victory. ii. Indeed, we see that even with a strong defense here and strong refusal, they scarcely were able to keep them from worshipping them. g. [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: Even though the gospel is polarizing we have seen that it also, somewhat paradoxically, universally needed by all men. First, because mankind is unable and unwilling to save themselves. In this second point we see another reason that salvation is needed by all men. Even in the great miraculous demonstrations that the gospel is true, mankind defaults to the worship of created things rather than the creator. Why is that? The Puritan commentator John Trapp said it this way, “Man's nature is marvelous[ly] prone to idolatry and the devil helps after… for he knows that creature worship is devil worship.” Trapp points out that there are two forces at work to keep men from seeking God much less being able to please Him. First, their sin nature which is enslaved to worship anything but God. And second the tempter and his demons who labor to keep men worshipping them, themselves, or virtually anything created rather than the Creator. Therefore, if any man comes to God to be made right with Him, he must come by God's grace, through faith, in Christ… alone. There is only 1 narrow path that leads to life. Transition: [Slide 17(blank)] So we have seen that mankind are their own enemy. They naturally are unable and they naturally are unwilling to serve the one true God and Him alone. They are naturally bent on worshipping anything BUT Him actually. What else can we find out about our natures here in this text? III.) The gospel is universally necessary because all men are easily deceived, so we must come by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. (19-20) a. [Slide 18] 19 - But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning over the crowds and stoning Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. i. We now see an organized effort on the part of Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium to track down and kill Paul and Barnabas. ii. They hunted and pursued Paul and Barnabas and were able to convince the crowd and led them to stone Paul and drag him out of the city. iii. They stoned him to the point that every one there was convinced Paul was dead. iv. Observe, my friends, the hatred for the gospel and those who preach it. v. These Jews had made it their mission, their solemn duty, their holy cause to hunt down and destroy Paul and the message he preached. vi. And they were able to convince people – most of whom were only a short time ago trying to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods – now they have convinced them to murder these men. b. [Slide 19] 20 - But while the disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. i. Filling in the blanks a little here, we can guess that no doubt the disciples were standing around him praying and perhaps even holding some sort of funeral service for him. ii. But Paul stands to his feet, and enters the city again. iii. We have no indication that he went on preaching, nor is there any indication that this is a miracle aside from God's providential preservation of Paul. iv. The next day, he and Barnabas decide to go away again to Derbe, a city southeast of Lystra. v. So, Lystra has proven to be a difficult city with seemingly few coming to Christ. vi. But we know some have come. Here we see some standing around Paul. vii. And from the rest of scripture, we do know of one individual who was greatly impacted by the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. viii. A young man named Timothy is living in this city at this time. His mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois as well. ix. Both Timothy's mother and grandmother came to Christ at this time, and most likely Timothy a short time after. x. Despite the harvest seemingly being few – the Lord has still called His people out from among the darkness to join Him in His light. c. [Slide 20] Summary of the Point: Why do all men need the gospel? We've seen that all men cannot save themselves. Like the lame man they are unable to stand before or walk with the Lord. We've seen that all men are naturally given to idolatry. They are quick to worship created things but slow to worship The Creator. Finally, we see that all men are naturally easily manipulated and incited to oppose God. Here we see that a group of Jews from another city came and were able to turn the whole of the city against these missionaries. To the point of murder my friends. Mankind is prone to mob mentality. We are so easily deceived and so easily manipulated. That is why, in order to truly be a child of God, we must come by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. All other paths look different, but ultimately are lies leading us down the road to destruction. Conclusion: So what have we learned today CBC? How then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 21] Over the last few weeks we have seen that the gospel has a polarizing effect on men. That given an extended period of time where the gospel is accurately preached it will either produce strong and faithful devotion or strong and often violent opposition. We have said that the gospel promises too much to be received casually and it reveals too much judgment and wrath to be rejected casually. Somewhat paradoxically from this, we see today that all men everywhere are equally in need of the gospel message. We are presented with 3 disastrous and absolutely insurmountable reasons for why this is. First, all men need the gospel message because all men are unable and unwilling to please God. Second, all men need the gospel message because all men are naturally idolaters. And finally, all men need the gospel because all men are easily deceived. How does the gospel break all three of these? The gospel is God declaring to men – I have done all to save you! Repent and believe this. The gospel is by grace alone. Meaning that God must move first, for men are unable to do so. The gospel is by faith alone. Meaning that God has done everything necessary, for men are unable to do anything. The gospel is in Christ alone. Meaning that God through Christ has made a way for men to be declared righteous, for men are unable to be righteous. My friends, if you are to hope to stand before a holy God one day and be told, well done my good and faithful servant, your only hope is to rest in the merits of Christ. And your way to rest in His merits is if God opens your eyes to believe and keep on believing in this Christ. Because you can't do any of this… on your own. So let me get practical this morning. 1.) [Slide 22] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that we are naturally unable to please God being habitual idolaters and easily deceived. a. The bible reveals to us that all the pleasing things we do for the Lord are like filthy rags. Used menstrual rags. That is the best we can offer the Lord. b. That is why the Lord utters His frustration with His people declaring I am tired of your sacrifices; I desire a repentant heart! c. Paul describes the law as a great schoolmaster designed to teach that no one could possibly keep the whole law, and how God demanded perfect and perpetual obedience from His people. Therefore, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. d. Indeed, the children of Israel are an object lesson for us. e. Over their history we see the constant battle against being manipulated and deceived and led quickly into idolatry. f. Even people brought up in a theocrasy where God is ruling directly over His people… could not keep His law. g. The whole of the scriptures up to the cross presents a unified theme. One which Jesus taught directly prior to His crucifixion. h. Man is not defiled from without but from within. All the worst sins, including worshipping false gods, comes from within us. And that propensity… that slavery to sin is in each and every human being ever born. i. This is why the gospel is necessary for all of us. For all of us are naturally unable and unwilling to be anything but easily deceived, lawbreaking, idolaters. 2.) [Slide 23] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that reason, logic, miracles, signs, charisma, or any other external means are able to convince men to believe. a. In this text we see a heartbreaking truth. One that we somewhat saw last week too. b. Here in Lystra, they preached the gospel and publicly healed a lame man. Signs are supposed to authenticate the gospel, yes? c. The gospel is authenticated by this sign. d. But it was not enough to topple the idolatry of the people. In fact, it was the catalyst for them to desire to worship Barnabas and Paul as Zeus and Hermes. e. Paul launches into a great and logical defense of the creator God who they all must believe in through His Son. f. But with great difficulty – they kept them from making sacrifices to them. Not to convert them… NO g. With great difficulty they kept them from involving Paul and Barnabas in their idolatry. h. And then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. i. Indeed, they were so successful in this, that they convinced them to attempt the murder of Paul. j. My friends… We need no more evidence. The heart of man is desperately wicked and incurably sick. k. There is no amount of human means or external effort that can be put into it to convince even 1 soul to willingly come to Christ on their own. l. Were we to have the most charismatic, sign working, well-reasoned person on the earth stand before the most amicable crowd, not one soul would come to Christ that day because of the preacher or the hearer. m. The only way any person is received of the Father is by grace, through faith, in Christ alone. 3.) [Slide 24] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must repent and believe the gospel by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone a. Hear me my friends. b. All of us today, must turn from our sin and place all our hope in the gospel… c. That by God's enabling power and passion we have received all that is necessary from God to be pleasing to Him not by sheer declaration but for the sake of and earned by the merits of His Son Jesus Christ who died to save us from sin's penalty, lived to save us from sin's power and will one day return to save us from sin's very presence. d. This is the gospel. It is none of me. It is all of Him. e. He has done this through the work of Christ. He alone. f. Whether it be your first time doing so, or your millionth… g. Turn and keep turning from the sin that made it necessary for Him to come to earth and die for you. h. Believe and keep believing that He alone Has saved you from sin's penalty, power, and will one day save you from its presence. i. Indeed, keep believing to the extent that He is not only Savior but also Lord demanding holiness from His people… not under threat of death for failure, but under grace and love as His beloved child, as bride being prepared for His Son. j. Oh, believe the gospel today my friends. And never stop clinging to it. For it is good news to those who are sinners. It is good news for those redeemed waiting to be made whole. And it is terrible news for those who love their sin and desire to keep it. 4.) [Slide 25] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must stop being easily deceived idolaters. a. It is within our fallen nature to be people who are prone to be easily deceived and idolatrous. b. Certainly, God's true children will be preserved by God from apostasy and judgment – for Christ paid for all the sins of all His people and He has promised to present us faultless before the throne of God. c. Still, we can be deceived. We can be distracted by lesser gods of our own making. d. Living in a 1st world country with various creature comforts, we could easily be distracted and even succumb to outright worship of money and things. i. Whether we chase happiness by the purchase of one more item. ii. Whether we find ourselves choosing to resist the pull of the Spirit because it may cost us some measure of comfort. iii. Whether we solve our problems by writing checks or offering favors rather than trusting the Lord. iv. All of these are signs that we have put our hope and trust in things and wealth. v. But Proverbs 11:28 says “He who trusts in riches will fall but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.” e. Another idol we are prone to worship is one that we saw in the city of Iconium. The Jews instigated prominent God-Fearing women to oppose Paul and Barnabas. And the men were soon to follow. If we are not careful, we can allow relationships to take priority over the Lord – to the point of idolatry. i. Whether we refuse to make God-honoring decisions because it might cross someone we love. ii. Whether we allow the one we love to manipulate us into treating others poorly or to work us up into overreacting or responding with lack of forgiveness, humility or kindness. iii. Whether we allow the one we love to push us into uncomfortable or conscience violating decisions. iv. All of these are signs that we have put an improper amount of love and affection in a person rather than in the Lord. v. But in Luke 14:26 – Jesus says that “if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children. Brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” f. Still another idol we are prone to worship, especially in an election year, is the hope of a human Messiah come to rescue us from the sorry state of our country. i. Whether it is Joe Biden and the Democratic Party or Donald Trump and the Republican Party or some third candidate. ii. Whether it is hope for morality to be legislated that even the ungodly must obey iii. Whether it is resignation to go to war to insure a certain way of life. iv. All of these are signs that we have put our hope and trust in people, and groups of people – and not in the Lord alone. v. Let me read Isaiah 30:1-3 “1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares Yahweh, who execute counsel, but not Mine and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin, 2 who go down to Egypt—But did not ask Me—to find strength in the strong defense of Pharaoh and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! 3 Therefore the strong defense of Pharaoh will be your shame and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your dishonor.” vi. My friends, we look to the hills. Where does our help come from? Our help comes from the Lord the Maker of heaven and earth. vii. And today, especially in light of the Republican National Convention which met this week and all that happened there… I am convinced that to trust in either party is like seeking aid from Egypt against Babylon… viii. Do not put your hope in princes or chariots… Trust only in the name of the Lord Your God. 5.) [Slide 26] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God is still victorious to save His people despite our helplessness. a. My friends… our God is victorious. b. As we already pointed out, a grandma, a mother and her son came to Christ because of this… disastrous visit to Lystra. c. Though we see, what could easily be described as an utter defeat of Paul and Barnabas here… God was still faithful to call His own to His side. d. Even when it looks the bleakest. Even when we are weak. Even when we fail. Even when we are hopeless and helpless… e. Our God rides in with the dawn. He promises a new day where darkness is gone and there is no more night. f. So remember my friends – He is and always will be victorious no matter what. [Slide 27 (end)] Let me close in a prayer by the church father Synesis Christ the Son of God most high, look on us with pity. We come to you as humble beggars. Look on us – will you be disappointed, full of sorrows? In your mercy, let us see you, blessed Jesus. And if someone like us, even we, may appear in your clear glory, in the light you have created, we will worship you in song. Healer of body and soul, in you may we find our rest, with Father and Spirit, blessed. In Jesus name we pray… Amen. Benediction: May the only One Who grants pardon for sin and peace that endures, And Whose own presence guides and cheers, Strengthen and protect you from the evil one. Until we meet again…. Go in peace.

Rabbi Charles Freshman 1819-1875From Rabbis meet Jesus the Messiah – a collection of 24 biographies and testimonies of Rabbis encounters with Jesus the Messiah© Messianic Good News.Charles Freshman was born in Micklosh, a city pleasantly situated on the river Waag, in Hungary, as the oldest of thirteen children. The parents were strict adherents of Judaism and the father was a business man, not rich, but always honest and well thought of. When but three years old, the boy, who had to be carried to school and back by a servant upon her shoulders, commenced to learn the Hebrew alphabet and the first Scripture lesson (which is found in Deuteronomy 6:4 and is called the “Shema”). The “fringes” or “ tzitzit”, according to Numbers 15:38, were also put upon him. The boy, is spite of his great youth, learned quickly, and when he was about four years of age, his father made a great festival, a Sudah, in his honour. All the friends, relatives, and associates of the child were invited to meet on a certain Sabbath day to partake of a plentiful supply of cakes, plums, nuts and other eatables, together with a. glass of pure grape wine, and to listen to the reading of the Old Testament in the Hebrew language by the child.The whole religious training of the child was strict in the extreme. He was obliged to pray out of the Jewish Prayer Book every morning and evening, and was not allowed to eat or drink anything without first asking a blessing upon it with his head covered.Charles Freshman made rapid progress, and at the age of eight years he could read Hebrew well and translate every word without difficulty, requiring a dictionary but seldom. He could also repeat from memory many choice passages of the Old Testament and whole Psalms in the Hebrew language. Even of the Chaldaic he knew a little, and could read and write the Aramaic language. Being naturally very ambitious and proud, his mind became fully possessed of the one determination of becoming a Rabbi, not an ordinary Rabbi, such as one meets every day, but a great Rabbi, such as those who had immortalized their names and imprinted their thoughts upon the pages of the Talmud. Fired with desire, he studied the Talmud day and night and soon became so proficient in it that he was able to assist his fellow students and thus earn a little money for himself. At the age of eleven he was admired for his astounding knowledge and also for his manifest piety. He used to read and pray a great deal in secret, fast very often, and be very strict and scrupulously exact in the discharge of all religious duties, but alas he was very proud and overbearing, claiming that he knew more than the teacher himself. But “a haughty spirit goeth before a fall”.An unaccountable change came over the boy, now entering upon his twelfth year. He became mischievous and to some extent positively wicked. Prayers were no longer offered; the Sabbath was desecrated; bad books were diligently sought and read; and, grossest of all sins to a strict Jew, an attempt was made to read the New Testament in secret. The words, “I and my father are one,” however exasperated the boy so much that he hurled the book across the room and hated Christianity. He also neglected his books, played truant from school, and finally left school altogether. Then he got into the habits of idleness and distaste for further study and loitered around and got into mischief, no longer desiring to be a Rabbi.But God brought the prodigal to himself. His father met with a misfortune in business which involved the loss of everything. There was hardly bread enough left in the house to satisfy the present demands of the large family. The sudden misfortune and still more the appeal of the father to his boy to help in the work caused Charles to resolve not to be mischievous any more, but to become a pious lad again. He now went to school again and was being prepared for confirmation by a private teacher. But alas, when the time for confirmation came, he could not be confirmed, for the father was again so poor that he could not spare enough money to purchase the necessary phylacteries and nice clothes. The proud boy was extremely humiliated and resolved to leave his father's house and enter some Jewish theological institution in some distant city. With only a few cents in his possession, the boy said goodbye to parents and home and started out into the wide, wide world alone.After many hardships he reached a place called Namensdorf where the Rabbi received him kindly, and after satisfactory examination permitted him to become a student in the Talmudical School. The means of the new student were quite limited, and he often went hungry, but he was comparatively happy and studied diligently. Still, he was no nearer the obtaining of phylacteries and confirmation. Hence he resolved to go to Poland, where famous colleges for the training of young Jews were found. So off he started.In Bialla he found an old friend of his father, who offered to send him to College if he would like to become a Roman Catholic priest. The young Jew refused the offer and turned to go away. Then the man gave him a little money, and Charles Freshman departed in great happiness, for he escaped from being swallowed up by the Christian Church, he thought, and had at last the means of procuring the phylacteries which he had so longed for. He lost no time in procuring them, and then laid out a plan to go to the great Jewish College of Helleshan in Moravia.After five days of weary tramping he arrived at Helleshan and at once became a student in the College. Here he remained over two years, gaining honourable distinction as a student; then he returned to his parents, travelling on foot as usual. He quickly discovered that his parents were not well satisfied that he had left College, but he had no desire now to return to it and for a short time taught at a small school near Micklosh. Then he again left home and resolved to go to the great city of Prague to complete his education as a Rabbi. Again he felt the pressure of hard times as he prosecuted his studies, but he persevered five years, when his education was pronounced complete. He was thoroughly acquainted with the Hebrew language and the Jewish literature, but he had also acquired a good knowledge of other languages, of history, philosophy, and science in general. He received his diploma and other credentials of the highest class, and returned home prouder than ever, because he was now a Rabbi and, in his own estimation, a Rabbi of no mean importance.Instead of looking around for a congregation, the young Rabbi began to look around for a wife, which he found at last. He was married when only 23 years old. Over a year the young couple remained with his wife's wealthy parents, then, instead of looking for a congregation, started in business. Twice he failed, and after officiating occasionally as Rabbi in some of the small synagogues, he was induced to leave his native country for the New World. He came to Canada, accompanied by his wife and five children. Dr. DeSola, the Rabbi of the Portuguese congregation in Montreal, recommended the young Hungarian Rabbi very strongly to the congregation of Quebec, and soon after his arrival in the New World, Charles Freshman was duly installed as Rabbi of a Jewish congregation in Quebec. He at once began to learn the English language, in which he made slow progress however.The congregation in which Mr. Freshman now ministered was composed of mixed nationalities of Jews, but chiefly German and English. He used to officiate in the Hebrew and German languages, and it was not until he had been a long time among the people that he conducted his first service in English. These Jews had little regard for their Sabbath day. Many of them would attend the services of the synagogue and immediately afterward would repair to their places of business or go to the pursuit of pleasures. The Rabbi, strictly orthodox, was horrified at this impiety, and remonstrated with many of them, reproving them severely for their conduct, but he had little or no influence.Slowly the Spirit of God began to work upon the mind of the Jewish Rabbi. Often, as he would pass through the streets and see the large congregations thronging towards the various Christian churches, or returning from the services, his mind would be variously exercised toward them. At one time he would think, “What a pity that such a multitude of people will so easily believe in falsehood, and blasphemously worship a bad man.” But again he would reflect, “Here are men of intelligence, men of education, men of a profound acquaintance with human nature, men who have the Old Testament Scriptures as well as I have, men who are accustomed to exercise their reason and judgment in regard to their worldly affairs, and men who, I am sure, do not place implicit confidence in the Christian religion without some strong foundation upon which to base it. What if, after all, I have only examined one side of the question? What if, after all, they should be right and I should be wrong?”. These kinds of thoughts he usually dismissed without an effort, as a temptation of the devil, but they would frequently recur again, in spite of himself. On one occasion after preaching to his congregation about the restoration of the people of Israel, his mind became more beclouded than ever, and he felt he did not fully believe all he had told his people. In this state of dissatisfaction and perplexity, he went to his desk and carefully unlocked it, and all the while trembling as if he were about to commit a great crime.Hidden in that desk was a neatly bound edition of the Old and New Testaments. Years before that time, during the last years of his sojourn in Hungary, a Jewish missionary of the Scottish Church met the Jewish Rabbi in a hotel in Cashaw and persuaded him to purchase the book. He never looked into it. When he came to Quebec and unpacked his books, he found among them his Bible which he thought he had left in Hungary. He took it and locked it up among his private papers, lest his own wife or children, or some of his congregation should find out that he had such a book in his possession. He felt like a guilty person because he did not destroy it at once, but undoubtedly God directed him to preserve it that He might bring about the final result. For now, in the hour of deepest anxiety and doubt, he unlocked his desk, took out the Bible and went into his library, locking the door securely. Then, secure from all interruption and disturbance, he opened the New Testament, and commenced hastily to read a few pages. After a very short time he threw it away in disgust, exclaiming, “This cannot be”. Soon, however, he took it up again. read a while, and again threw it from him. So he continued for about an hour. At last he became so excited that again taking up the book and reading a while, he threw it on the floor with such violence that several leaves were torn from their places. In a moment he was seized with remorse, and gathering up the loose leaves and placing them in their proper places, he carried the book to its former hiding place and locked it up, firmly resolving never to look into it again.Evening came, but his mind was so greatly disturbed that he could scarcely perform his routine duties in his synagogue. A sleepless night followed, then another day of anxious, perplexing thought, but at last the firm resolution carefully to study the prophets, especially those having reference to the coming of the Messiah.While engaged in this occupation, a Jewish Rabbi from Jerusalem visited Rabbi Freshman, who at once embraced the opportunity to ask the learned man concerning their Messiah. The poor Rabbi from Jerusalem could not answer the questions, and Rabbi Freshman began to think seriously that there was something wrong with the Jewish belief and that the Christians might be right. He even commenced to speak his thoughts aloud to some members of his congregation, and read the New Testament with great care, notwithstanding all his former resolutions. A pious Christian neighbour, Mr. Hinton, spent hours with the inquiring Jew in conversation about religious topics, but the light did not come. Days and nights he searched the Bible, but conviction came not. He remained torn by doubts, neither believing in the Jewish religion fully nor yet being convinced of the truth of Christianity. He wanted to resign his Rabbiship at once, but his good wife was altogether against it, declaring, “I will never become a Christian.”The Jewish Passover was approaching, and the Rabbi had to prepare a special sermon for the occasion. The text he chose was Gen. 49:10 (Genesis 49:10 (TLV) The scepter will not pass from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs will come. To him will be the obedience of the peoples). During the writing of the sermon doubts overcame him so that he determined not to preach it. He called in his wife and told her that he believed in Jesus as the Messiah. She commenced to weep bitterly, and the elder children, learning the state of affairs, joined in with their mother. There was lamentation and mourning, and the Rabbi himself wept. Being unable to endure the sight of misery he had thus brought upon his family, Freshman left his home and repaired to a solitary place beyond the barracks of Quebec. Without human eye to witness his grief and in an agony of soul, he threw himself upon the ground and cried mightily to God. Still, relief did not come, and with a heavy heart he retraced his steps homeward. Without saying a word to his still weeping family, he went into his bedroom where he again prayed and read his Bible.At last after midnight, he became exhausted, and he fell asleep in his chair. Then he beheld in a dream an image of the Saviour on the cross, and over his head were inscribed the words, “I am thy Saviour”. He awoke, firmly resolved to give in his resignation, but again his moral courage failed him and he put it off again.At last, on the day before the Passover, he once more prayerfully pondered over Gen. 49:10, then read Isaiah 53, and suddenly, became fully convinced that Jesus is the expected Messiah. Without the least hesitation he now wrote out his resignation and sent it to the president of the congregation.But now the storm burst upon him in all its new fury. His wife and children wanted to celebrate the Passover as usual, while he had no desire to engage in its celebration. The Jews declared that the Rabbi was insane and dangerous, and tempted his wife and children to leave him. His friends forsook and avoided him, and a story that he had received ten thousand dollars for renouncing his faith was circulated. But, worst of all, Mr. Freshman had not yet full light. He believed in Jesus as the Messiah, but knew nothing of justification or saving faith, and had no clear conception of his condition as a sinner in the sight of God, nor of the necessity of a change of heart. His conversion was of the head, but not of the heart. Many ministers and members of churches in Quebec called on him, but the darkness continued.In this state he continued several weeks; then, while he was listening to a sermon by Rev. Elliott of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Spirit of God commenced to operate on his heart, and he wept, although he could hardly tell for what. He again studied his Bible most diligently, commenced to attend churches of different denominations, and prayerfully sought the Lord with all his heart.One night he was crying to God in deep, earnest prayer and was in greatest agony as he saw himself clearly as a lost sinner, unworthy of anything but condemnation. In very self despair he cried out, “Lord, save me or I perish,” and saw no other hope but Christ. At that moment the shadows fled and the burden rolled from his troubled soul. Prayer now gave place to praise, and a marvellous change was wrought in him. He was born again.Mr. Freshman began at once to show others what God had done for his soul. He commenced with his own family. His wife, though slow of heart to believe, consented to accompany him to church, and the children attended the Sabbath school and read the New Testament, thus imbibing the principles of Christianity. One by one, the members of his family fell in with the doctrines of the cross as revealed by God and taught in the New Testament.Rabbi Charles Freshman, his wife and seven children, were baptized in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Quebec. Ministers of other denominations were present and took part in the remarkable exercises, which were witnessed by a vast assemblage of Christians and by some of the members of the Jewish congregation in which Rabbi Freshman had officiated the three years preceding his baptism.Having spent some time as a lecturer on Jewish subjects, Mr. Freshman was appointed a missionary of the Wesleyan Methodist Church among the Germans in Canada. He was ordained and served the Master faithfully until his death. The congregations which were organized chiefly through his effort were located at Hamilton, Ontario, and in its neighbourhood. Many souls were led to Christ through his efforts, among them several Jews. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit awolinsky.substack.com

Saturday, 29 June 2024   And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Acts 28:29   More literally, it reads, “And he, having said these, the Jews departed, having much disputation among themselves” (CG).   In the previous verse, Paul proclaimed to the Jews who had heard his presentation of Christ Jesus, “Therefore, be it known to you that the salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear” (CG).   Now, Luke records, “And he, having said these, the Jews departed.”   This verse is omitted in some manuscripts, and it is missing from some modern translations because of that (such as the ESV). Doctrinally, it doesn't change anything either way.   However, if it belongs in the Bible, and it seems unlikely that such a verse would be arbitrarily added, it shows that some Jews were convinced of the truth of the matter concerning Christ, or they at least wanted to search out the matter further. That is indicated in the next words, “having much disputation among themselves.”   In this clause is a word found only here in Scripture, suzétésis. It is a noun referring to a disputation or a mutual questioning. These Jews found themselves questioning what Paul had shown them from Scripture and there was not an agreement fully decided among them.   Such a dispute would lead, as it always did, to a dividing of the people. There would be some coming to salvation while others continued on the path to condemnation. As Romans 11:5 says that there is a remnant of Jews saved by grace, and as Romans was written for the maintenance of the entire Gentile-led church age, then it remains true that the Jews have not been rejected entirely.   The dispute among them remains to this day, but the movement of the Spirit among the Jews is expanding almost exponentially. The truth of salvation through the shed blood of Christ is finally taking deep roots among His long-wayward people. Healing for the nation is coming and Christ is coming to reign among them.   Until then, this dispute continues on. Many who come to Christ are shunned by family and friends, but Jesus told them that such a cost was to be expected.   Life application: In a society where Christ is openly accepted, one can expect less trouble coming to salvation through faith in the gospel. In fact, exactly the opposite is the case. When a person makes a commitment to Christ, the family rejoices, but when Jesus is rejected, there is true sadness at the anticipated loss.   However, even in openly Christian societies, there are those who come to Jesus out of Islam or Judaism and the family is often angry. Depending on the family, it may even mean excommunication or death.   Muslims, in particular, have a written code that calls for those who leave the faith to be killed. It is not always carried out, but that is because they are not fulfilling the writings of their own religion. For example, this is what it says in Wikipedia concerning this matter –   “Death penalty is the traditional form of punishment for both male and female apostates for leaving Islam. Jaʿfari or Imāmī school – Male apostates must be executed, while female apostates must be held in solitary confinement until they repent and return to Islam. Apostasy from Islam is considered a hudud crime.”   This leaves people with an obvious dilemma. Will they be true to the false religion they were born into, eventually being cast into the Lake of Fire for rejecting Christ, or will they take the chance of being killed for the sake of Jesus but find eternal life through His shed blood?   Judaism doesn't have any such written code to kill those who depart from their faith, and quite often, Jews don't profess any faith in God at all. And more, Jews can become Buddhists, Muslims, etc. without losing their status as Jews. However, many Jews say that when a Jew converts and accepts Jesus, he or she is no longer a Jew.   This is a problem that must be considered. Messianic Jews, however, say that they become “completed Jews” when they come to Christ. They now possess the fulfillment of what their ancient culture always hoped for. In coming to Jesus, they are reconciled to God and are on the heavenly path to glory.   So, choices must be made at times. But the right choice is always to come to Jesus. Only He is the path that God has given for fallen man to be saved. This is the Christian message because it is the message of the Bible.   But that brings us to another sad development within the broader label of “Christian.” Liberal churches have now largely rejected what Scripture says. They now say that God accepts people from many paths and that Christ is not the exclusive way to be saved.   Unfortunately for them, they are not true Christians who proclaim this. They will find themselves taking an eternal swim in the Lake of Fire along with all who reject Jesus. Be sure to get the boxes right. There is the “Jesus is the way to be saved” box, and there are all others that lead to condemnation. Be sure to find yourself in the right one.   Lord God, You have sent Your Son into the world to bring us back to Yourself. He paid a high price to redeem us. How can we tread upon the precious blood of Christ through rejecting the offer or diminishing the act by saying that there is another path? We cannot! We proclaim that Jesus is Lord and that every knee will bow to Him. Some in salvation and others in condemnation. But we proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord! Amen.  

Paul knows the Gospel crosses every boundary and eradicates racial and ethnic hatred. He's given his life to proclaiming a Gospel that knits Jews and Gentiles into a new "family" rooted in Jesus. And yet, in Acts 21:37-22:22, when Paul tells a crowd of Jews who are zealous for the law that God sent him to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles they shout, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!" These Jews embraced a segregationist theology that told them who was superior and who was inferior based on ethnicity. It's a theology still at work in our country and churches today. Building a multi-ethnic church is an elusive dream. But it's always been God's vision to knit together a multi-ethnic, multi-racial people founded in Jesus. This week Pastor Dennis Allan talks through how the church is meant to be a signpost to the world that, in Jesus, unity and equality are possible.

Some people believe that the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 marked the end of Israel as God’s chosen people. Not so. God has not cast away His people but promised a covenant with them forever. Paul’s conversion was a sign that God had not abandoned Israel and today’s Messianic Jews are a living demonstration of His covenant. These Jews are God’s remnant, based upon nothing more than divine grace. It is a free gift from God. Salvation isn’t a contract but a covenant. Having a remnant suggests the majority of Israel is not saved but blinded. Hardened. The majority, the whole, has failed, but the elect have obtained it. Israel’s belief that they’re the chosen people and are secure in this is their downfall. Are we in that condition? Are our hearts hardened? Do we have sensitivity to the things of the Lord? Is our faith built on anything but faith in Jesus alone?

Romans chapter thirteen is famous for its words relating Christian conduct and human governments. This is not the first place in Scripture we read these things. In Matthew chapter twenty-two we find an interaction between Jesus and a group of men who were trying to trap him. This group was an unusual alliance between two types of Jews. The Pharisees, who represented religious life in the Jewish community, did not like Roman rule. The second group was the Herodians. These Jews didn't mind the Roman way of life. In fact, they supported the Roman government and paid their taxes. These unlikely allies came together in order to put Jesus to the test. They did so with one very clever question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”   If Jesus responds by saying, “No, do not pay taxes to the Roman Emperor,” then he will be accused of being a traitor and possibly an insurrectionist. Rome had no tolerance for men like this. If Jesus says, “Yes, go ahead and pay your taxes to Caesar,” then he will be accused of being a Roman sympathizer by the Pharisees. So it seems there is no way out. Either way, he will be accused of wrongdoing. Jesus' enemies are sure they've got him trapped.   But Jesus responds in the most brilliant way. He says, “Why do you put me to the test, hypocrites?” He's saying they come from a place of moral superiority but he knows their words and deeds do not match up. Jesus replies, “Show me the coin,” and, “Whose face is on this coin?” They said, “Caesar.” Jesus delivers, "Therefore give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God the things that are God's." This is the answer of a genius intellect. On one hand, he is acknowledging the validity of human government. On the other hand, he is putting limitations on it.    Caesar minted the coins and his image is imprinted on them, so in this sense they are his property. However, all humans bear the image of God. Therefore, all humans belong to God. It's as if Jesus says, “This coin has the likeness of Caesar, but you have the likeness of God." This is the most profound political statement ever made. The critics cannot accuse him of being a traitor or a Roman sympathizer. They have nothing to do but walk away. Paul's words in Romans chapter 13 give further expression to what Jesus said to his enemies.    Here are a couple of questions for Christians this election year: How are citizens of heaven supposed to relate to human governments? What kind of citizen is God calling you to be while on the earth?

Wednesday, 31 January 2024   And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so. Acts 24:9   The previous verse completed Tertullus' words to Felix. With that, it next says, “And the Jews also assented.”   They agreed either collectively or individually, but they stood behind the substance of his words, affirming that Paul was a plague that needed to be eradicated. One can see them seated behind Tertullus nodding in agreement and maybe vocally assenting to the presentation. It is likely that they were all in agreement before they even arrived and were thus satisfied with Tertullus' presentation. As such, they were “maintaining that these things were so.”   A new word is introduced: phaskó. It will only be seen again in Acts 25:19 and Romans 1:22. It is a prolongation of a more common word that signifies to say. Thus, it means to affirm, allege, profess, or something similar. Its use in Romans gives a sense of one of its intended meanings –   “Professing to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22   One can see scientists haughtily proclaiming that the universe exploded itself into existence and man arising over billions of years out of goo and thus proclaiming, “We don't need God. We are free from His rule over us! Look at how wise we are!” God says they are fools.   These Jews had come together, affirming that Paul was guilty and needed to be punished for his transgressions.   Life application: The Bible makes many proclamations about how the world was created by God, is governed by His power and sustaining hand, is guilty before Him for failing to acknowledge Him, and so forth.   Either what it says is reliable and true, or it is not. If the first chapters of Genesis are not literal history, then the rest of the Bible is suspect as well. Jesus cites those chapters and proclaims they are literally true, acknowledging the events really happened.   We cannot allegorize the creation account without falling into great error. If we are saved, we will not lose our salvation. But if we fail to accept God at His word, we will be judged for our lack of faith in regard to what He has proclaimed.   There are abundant videos and teachings available that give reasonable explanations that fully support the Genesis creation account. If you are unsure if the word is reliable in these chapters, test them by watching or reading what is out there. In the end, the Lord asks you to use reasoned faith in your relationship with Him. You cannot do this without checking things out.   Be wise and discerning. What can you skip in your normal routine that will allow you sufficient time to investigate such things?   Lord God, Your word is written, and it makes certain proclamations about who You are and what You have done. Help us to be willing to research and investigate these things and come to reasonable conclusions about the claims that are made there. May our faith be grounded in reality as we seek the mysteries of the world around us. To Your glory, we pray. Amen.

Before diving into Paul's letter to the Philippians, we take an episode to discover what happened when he visited the town of Philippi and learn about all the adventures Paul and Silas had! Enjoy this episode as a prelude to the upcoming series on Philippians. For all other episodes and more, check out our website at thewordonthestreetpodcast.com  Follow Anna on her Facebook Page here Join The Word On The Street Podcast conversation on our Facebook group here Follow The Word On The Street Podcast on Instagram here Click here to leave a review on Apple Podcasts Here is the bible verse quoted in today's episode: Bible Passage: Acts 16:13-40 We spent several days in Philippi. Then on the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to a place by the river, where we thought there would be a Jewish meeting place for prayer. We sat down and talked with the women who came. One of them was Lydia, who was from the city of Thyatira and sold expensive purple cloth. She was a worshiper of the Lord God, and he made her willing to accept what Paul was saying. Then after she and her family were baptized, she kept on begging us, “If you think I really do have faith in the Lord, come stay in my home.” Finally, we accepted her invitation. One day on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl. She had a spirit in her that gave her the power to tell the future. By doing this she made a lot of money for her owners. The girl followed Paul and the rest of us, and she kept yelling, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are telling you how to be saved.” This went on for several days. Finally, Paul got so upset that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I order you to leave this girl alone!” At once the evil spirit left her. When the girl's owners realized they had lost all chances for making more money, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into court. They told the officials, “These Jews are upsetting our city! They are telling us to do things we Romans are not allowed to do.” The crowd joined in the attack on Paul and Silas. Then the officials tore the clothes off the two men and ordered them to be beaten with a whip. After they had been badly beaten, they were put in jail, and the jailer was told to guard them carefully. The jailer did as he was told. He put them deep inside the jail and chained their feet to heavy blocks of wood. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners. When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul shouted, “Don't harm yourself! No one has escaped.” The jailer asked for a torch and went into the jail. He was shaking all over as he knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. After he had led them out of the jail, he asked, “What must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Have faith in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! This is also true for everyone who lives in your home.” Today's Questions: When people hear the good news that Jesus died for their sins so that they can have eternal life, they all have different reactions. Discuss together what Lydia's reaction was, the jailer's reaction and the owner of the slave girl's reaction? What is your reaction? What are your friends' reactions?

Peter has just described wonders and signs of God's coming wrath (blood, fire, & smoke) and immediately tells his Jewish audience the only way of escape is by “calling on the name of the Lord”. But then, without hesitation, Peter explains that the name of the Lord on whom they must call is, in fact, Jesus the Nazarene, whom they crucified! We find here in Peter’s message the parallel truths of man’s responsibility and the definite plan of God. And it doesn’t seem to occur to Peter that the “definite plan and foreknowledge of God” deprived men of the responsibility and consequences of their actions. What happened at Calvary had been God's plan from the beginning for the redemption of mankind. God has not tasked Christians with the task of reconciling this apparent paradox. But He has tasked Christians with the task of being "His witnesses...to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Christian – Church – you have been sent! These Jews saw the cross as an obstacle to belief, but Christians see the cross as the means of their salvation. Death was unable to hold Him because Jesus’ death broke the power of sin. He had not personally earned the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23), but instead voluntarily took upon Himself the sins of others. The main point of Peter's sermon stands - “You have killed Him” Peter says, “but God has raised Him.” We may not have driven the nails, but the blame for Christ’s death falls on me & you. We go our own way, do our own thing, and don’t want to take any responsibility when things go wrong. What should we do? "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [v.38]

Peter has just described wonders and signs of God's coming wrath (blood, fire, & smoke) and immediately tells his Jewish audience the only way of escape is by “calling on the name of the Lord”. But then, without hesitation, Peter explains that the name of the Lord on whom they must call is, in fact, Jesus the Nazarene, whom they crucified! We find here in Peter’s message the parallel truths of man’s responsibility and the definite plan of God. And it doesn’t seem to occur to Peter that the “definite plan and foreknowledge of God” deprived men of the responsibility and consequences of their actions. What happened at Calvary had been God's plan from the beginning for the redemption of mankind. God has not tasked Christians with the task of reconciling this apparent paradox. But He has tasked Christians with the task of being "His witnesses...to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Christian – Church – you have been sent! These Jews saw the cross as an obstacle to belief, but Christians see the cross as the means of their salvation. Death was unable to hold Him because Jesus’ death broke the power of sin. He had not personally earned the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23), but instead voluntarily took upon Himself the sins of others. The main point of Peter's sermon stands - “You have killed Him” Peter says, “but God has raised Him.” We may not have driven the nails, but the blame for Christ’s death falls on me & you. We go our own way, do our own thing, and don’t want to take any responsibility when things go wrong. What should we do? "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [v.38]

Friday, 4 August 2023   Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Acts 19:13   The NKJV is a bit off. More precisely, it reads, “And certain of the vagabonding Jews, exorcists, undertook to invoke over those having evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims'” (CG).   The previous verse noted the healings and exorcisms that occurred when Paul's handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick. Luke next records, “And certain of the vagabonding Jews.”   The introductory words “And ... of (literally from)” are given to contrast what was just stated about Paul. Healings and the removal of evil spirits were brought about indirectly through him as the material cause of God's power. Now, this contrasting account is provided by Luke as an instructional tool.   In them is a new word in Scripture, perierchomai. It signifies “to go about” or “to make a circuit.” It will be seen again in 1 Timothy 5:13 and Hebrews 11:37. As it is in the form of an aorist participle, it should be rendered “wandering,” “roving,” “vagabonding,” “strolling,” etc. In this case, rather than just wandering around their own town, it appears that they are itinerant, going from town to town in a manner not unlike gypsies. Thus, “vagabonding” seems to give a sense of their lifestyle. They are next noted as “exorcists.”   It is a word found only here in Scripture, exorkistés. It is one who casts out evil spirits, adjuring them by oaths and incantations. That is from exorkizó, an intensive form of a word meaning to adjure. That word is found only in Matthew 26:63 –   “But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, ‘I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!'”   That word is then derived from horkizó, which also means to adjure. This word will be used as the verse continues.   These exorcists went from place to place challenging those who had evil spirits, adjuring them to depart from those who were tormented by them. With that in mind, it next says that they “undertook to invoke over those having evil spirits.”   The word translated as “invoke” means “to name.” For example, Simon was “named” Peter by Jesus. In this case, they took it upon themselves to invoke “the name of the Lord Jesus.” What is obvious is that these were not saved believers. Luke does not term them brethren. Rather, they had heard about the healing powers of Jesus' name, and they took it as a sort of verbal talisman to ward off or cast out evil spirits.   They may have heard of Jesus having cast out demons in the past, and/or they may have derived this idea from what was recorded about Paul in the previous verses. Paul didn't even have to go to the place of healing for it to take place. Thus, they assumed that it was simply the name of Jesus that possessed the power. Their error in thinking will reveal them as false exorcists. What they are doing is not unlike what Jesus was accused of in Matthew 12 –   “Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, ‘This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.' 25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.'” Matthew 12:24-28   The Pharisees accused Jesus of invoking Beelzebub as His authority to cast out demons. These Jews are taking Jesus' name and are attempting to do the same, saying, “We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”   Here, they use the word horkizó, noted above. They are attempting to bind the evil spirits by oath while using the name of Jesus proclaimed by Paul. Their assumption is that Paul was likewise invoking the name of Jesus in an incantation.   Life application: What these false exorcists have failed to take into consideration is that the name “Jesus,” even the “Jesus whom Paul proclaims,” is not in and of itself an instrument of power. There must be a valid connection to the Person who bears the name.   This is no different than what people do all the time in Charismatic churches. They claim the power of the name as if the name itself will then cause obedience to their demands, be they for healing, casting out demons, prosperity, wealth, etc. This makes obtaining the outcome for self the final cause of the act.   However, it has already been explained that the final cause of God's acts is that He be glorified. Thus, there is a disconnect in the process, a fault, that cannot be overcome by using the name of Jesus in this manner.   In the case of these false exorcists, or in the case of charismatics who make their claims, the supposed material cause is the claimant, he is the one who attempts to make the thing (like wood in a table) to be. The formal cause, the design, is supposed to be the miracle as it occurs. The efficient cause, what brings it about, is supposedly the Lord's presence working through the claimant's use of the name of Jesus. The final cause, the purpose, is that the claimant or his addressee will be the main beneficiary.   Because the glory of God is not the final cause, the other causes cannot accomplish what is anticipated. Think of these aspects of the process as you consider these words from Deuteronomy 13 –   “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,' 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.” Deuteronomy 13:1-5   Even if the Lord allowed a sign or wonder to come to pass by someone, His glory is what is anticipated as the final cause. This is not what false teachers and false prophets ultimately have in mind. If anything, other than the glory of God is the main result of the process, the process is not of God.   Lord God, help us to properly analyze what is happening when people use Your name in the world today. It is obvious that many do so to profit from it at the expense of Your glory. May we be discerning enough to see when this is the case and turn away  from such people and such false teachings. May we be instruments working to bring You honor and glory with our lives. Amen.

The Book of Esther is about Jews who took over a foreign empire and murdered those they did not like. These Jews set up their own laws and festivals and customs completely outside of the laws and customs Moses handed down. Esther is a whore riding the beast (an empire). Parallels with the Beast and Whore of Revelation. There is no appeal to God, Moses or the Patriarchs in the book of Esther. They are their own people and religion apart from God, living in the lands of others. Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month. . . Esther 3:7 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?'  Deuteronomy 12:30 “But you who forsake the Lord, Who forget My holy mountain, Who set a table for [a]Fortune, And who fill cups with mixed wine for [b]Destiny,  I will destine you for the sword, And all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.” Isaiah 65:11-12    Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” 3 And he carried me away [a]in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and [b]adorned with gold and precious [c]stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, 5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the [d]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered [e]greatly.  Revelation 17:1-6

To the extent that Jews reject Jesus as the Christ, they ARE antichrist. These false Jews are the partner of Satan. As the church is supposed to be the body of Christ, so the Jews are Satan's hands and feet on the earth. Ephesians 5:23 1 Corinthians 12:27. When Christians side with the antichrist (defined as those who reject the Father and the Son) do they not become the very Whore of Babylon we are warned to flee? Rev 18:4 1 John 2:22 Jesus called Jews the devil's children, and the synagogue of Satan. Why do Christians reject what Jesus said? Christians refuting Jesus Christ and siding with the Jews make themselves enemies of God (James 4:4) and put forth their hand to do evil (2 John 11) The world with either serve Satan's proxy, the Jews, or they will serve Jesus Christ. There is no third path. If the devil's biggest deceit was the convince the world that he does not exist, a very close second is to convince the world that modern Jews are "God's chosen people," Nothing could be further from the truth than these two lies. These Jews have become Satan's chosen people, his bride, the devil's partner in mankind. Jesus Christ rejected Satan's offer of power and wealth, just as Abram rejected the King of Sodom's offer for wealth. The Jews accepted Satan's offer. Luke 4:6 Satan grants the Jews the world's power and wealth and in return they implement Satan's plan for mankind -- which is destruction, especially for the children of the Woman (those of us in Jesus Christ). All of Europe was once Christendom -- it is Satan's work to strip Christ from Christendom, the Savior from the white race. Do not be so high-minded as to condemn this concept as "racist," for Satan's minions (the Jews) are they very embodiment of the hypocrisy Christ condemned.  Jews  do what they condemn in others. Jews claim to be "against racism" but they are the very worst at inciting hatred against Christians, whites, and everyone who dissents from their agenda. Every Jewish protestation against's "haters" is pure hypocrisy -- that very statement is designed to inspire hatred toward those the Jews hate.  Christ is right again -- he reviled the hypocrisy of the Jews. Jews condemnin others (hatred) that which they openly foment (hatred)! There could not be a close match to the Jews of Christ's time as there is to the Jews of today (who are not real Jews, but false Jews, of Satan's synagogue). The Church is guilty of siding with the Antichrist, the Jews, Satan, the Whore, and Babylon the great. This is the great dividing line. You are either for Jesus Christ or for the Jews -- you cannot be for both.  Christians siding with Jews have made themselves at enmity with God (James 4:4) and put their hands forth to support evil (2 John 11).  They are not Christians at all, but are Judeo-Christians and equally anti-christ.  This is why Jesus warned to the Church to separate from that Great False Wife -- the false Jews -- the children of the devil. Do your homework. Rev 2:9 Rev 3:9 John 8:44 James 4:4 1 John 2:22-23 2 John 7 2 John 11 Rev 18:4 Luke 4:6 1 Cor 12:27 Matthew 23:15   https://tv.gab.com/watch?v=649392e01f85616036d81ebc&t=1m  

The Book of the Esther is about Jews subverting non-Jewish countries, taking power, and murdering their enemies. Mordecai, the Jew, refused to obey the King. Haman recognized the deceit and disloyalty of the Jews toward the Kingdom and sought to address it. The Jew, Esther, hid her identity so she could infiltrate the center of power and then revealed her Jewishness when she could play the victim. As “victim,” the Jews slaughtered 75,000 people. Not one Jew was killed in the book of Esther. There is no reference whatsoever to the Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. There is no prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. These Jews do not consider themselves sons of Israel, just Jews. There is no reference to Moses or to his Law. Mordecai offers his cousin in marriage to a pagan in order to get close to the centers of power (a follower of the God of Israel would never have done this). The people in this empire greatly feared the Jews. Many non-Jews converted to become “Jews” because of their great power. The festival of Purim celebrates the slaughter of non-Jews and has nothing to do with the feasts of Moses or the Law. The Jews did best in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural empire where they could seize power by getting close to the king, claiming victim-hood, and murdering their enemies. The Book of Esther is the Jewish “how to” manual. For everyone else, it is a warning about the Jews and what they will do to your nation.

  These Jews who rejected Paul (v.8) were the ones who begged to hear more (18:19,20), but evidently they still didn't want to hear the lowly carpenter was their Christ.  So they hardened their hearts (cf.IIChron.36:11-13) against the truth, and … Continue reading →

Saturday, 25 March 2023   Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— Acts 15:24   The previous verse cited the introduction to the letter to the Gentile brethren in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. The main content of the letter begins with this verse. Of note is that some manuscripts (and thus some versions) drop out the highly important words of this verse concerning law observance and circumcision –   “Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions.” ESV et al   “Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law'—to whom we gave no such commandment.” NKJV et al   Although the words are missing here, anyone who reads the full content of the chapter will know exactly what is intended. Whether the words were added by one text for clarity or dropped out of the other for some unknown reason, the intent of the overall passage remains unchanged. Having noted that, the verse begins with, “Since we have heard.”   The council immediately distances itself from any connection to those who had brought the false message of circumcision and law observance presented in Acts 15:1 –   “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'”   The council heard about this but had not directed it. That will be explained more fully as the verse unfolds. For now, the words continue, saying, “that some who went out from us.”   Those in the council openly acknowledge that the source of the trouble was “from us,” but no further explanation is given. In other words, because the letter is addressed to Gentiles within the church, it could simply mean, “from Jews.” That is probably the way it should be taken, meaning in a general sense and not from either the apostles or elders in Jerusalem. Next, it notes that these unsanctioned people, “have troubled you with words.”   These men, whoever they were, did not come with either a letter of authority or with a demonstration of signs and wonders that may have substantiated the message of true apostles. They spoke as if they possessed authority within the church' but their words were not on behalf of the church. Instead, they brought forth doctrines that had no basis or standing within the doctrines set forth for Gentile converts.   In fact, to this point, the matter had not even been established by the apostles and elders. As such, their message was without any basis at all. Because of this, the letter continues, saying that their words were “unsettling your souls.”   Here is a word found nowhere else in Scripture, anaskeuazó, translated as “unsettling.” Of this word, Vincent's Word Studies says –   “Only here in New Testament, and not found either in the Septuagint or in the Apocrypha. Originally, it means to pack up baggage, and so to carry away; hence, to dismantle or disfurnish. ... From this comes the more general meaning to lay waste, or ravage. The idea here is that of turning the minds of the Gentile converts upside down; throwing them into confusion like a dismantled house.”   Where there was order and harmony at the teaching of Paul and Barnabas, there was suddenly upheaval and turmoil because of the false message of these men. This is perfectly evident from the words of Acts 15:2, “Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them.”   The Gentile converts probably stood there watching as the two sides sparred over the issue, which, according to these false teachers, was that “You must be circumcised and keep the law.”   This is the message they carried as was previously cited from Acts 15:1. If their teaching was true, it would mean that salvation was conditional and up to the works of each person. There would be no security in trusting in the works of Jesus. Hence, it would relegate the cross of Christ to a door that He might have opened, but which would need to be kept open by the power of the individual.   And more, if the door was shut again, it would then be up to the individual, not Christ, to reopen it. The utterly ridiculous thought presented by these heretics would mean that “Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21).   Of these aberrant heretics who carried their false doctrine to the Gentiles, the letter next says, “to whom we gave no such commandment.” Again, Vincent's Word Studies provides the intent of the statement –   “The word originally means to put asunder; hence, to distinguish, and so of a commandment or injunction, to distinguish and emphasize it. Therefore implying express orders, and so always in the New Testament, where it is almost uniformly rendered charge. The idea here is, then, "we gave no express injunction on the points which these Judaizers have raised.”   These Jews went forward without any such authority or charge. They had appointed themselves as the arbiter of what God was doing and then they sent themselves out to express their self-appointed authority to others. The council has, through their concise words, completely removed themselves from these false teachers and their doctrine. Their letter, which is now included in Scripture, testifies to the matter as much today as it did when it was written.   Life application: The world is filled with exactly the type of people that are described in the letter from the council. They have a certain genealogy or heritage that allows them to appear as if they are specialists in their field, not because of proper training and endowed authority, but because of who they are in relation to some unimportant aspect of their existence.   For example, a person may be related to a famous preacher or teacher who rightly handled the word of God. Along comes his son, we'll call him Dandy Andy. He does not rightly handle the word and he has never established himself in the manner expected of a proper handler of the word. And yet, because of who he is in relation to his dad, he is given an ear and becomes a famous and yet unsound teacher of the word.   Another example would be someone who is Jewish. For no other reason than that, he is given an ear. He knows just enough of the word to be able to make illogical connections about what is going on in the world. However, he is a skilled writer and so he writes books about world events, tying them in with his unsound understanding of the Bible. Because the books are tingling to the ear, supposedly based on Scripture, and because he is Jewish, he becomes famous and is sought out as a renowned “scholar” of the Bible.   Why do these things happen? The answer is, “Because those who listen to these people are 1) not willing to learn Scripture and find out if what they are being sold is sound or not; 2) starstruck by the figure, joining in to be a part of what is exciting and novel; and 3) find the message pleasing to the ears, sensational, and exciting.”   For these, and certainly other reasons, countless people are pulled away from what is sound. Entire denominations of people have followed false teachers and their false messages have continued on for generations, simply because the word is ignored.   Read the word! Meditate on the word! Be prepared to evaluate the message of those you encounter against the word! In this, you will keep yourself from harm.   Lord God, we are so very thankful to You because of Your wonderful word. It is a guide for our lives, a light for our path, the illumination of Your intent for us, and a solid rock we can stand on against the wiles of false teachers. Help us to treat this word with care. It is what reveals Your heart in the giving of Jesus. That is what we need to pursue. And so, help us to do so all the days of our lives. Amen.

These Jews studied the scriptures, but the word of God did not dwell in them. The love of God was not in them. I was just like them.

John 5:31 "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. 32 "There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33 "You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 "Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35 "He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. In this section of scripture we will begin to see the first three of 5 witnesses to the Fact that Jesus is God.  The Disciple John will speak of Jesus' witness, the Father's witness, and also John the Baptist's witness.  Even though Jesus does not need to prove He is God, He is accommodating us (mankind) because we are so unbelieving and hardhearted.  He wants to give us every chance of knowing the truth so we can believe and be saved.  He also does it so that there will be no excuses when we stand before Him if we have not believed and are being sent to hell.  God says in 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (NKJV) Have you trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  If not, do it today. The word Witness is used 136 times in NT; John uses 77 times, verses 31-39 used 11 times Witness of Jesus 31 "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. The Old Testament law required two or three witnesses (see Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15) for a man to be found guilty of an offense. Jesus has much more testimony than this, but it doesn't matter since the Jewish authorities are determined not to accept it  De 17:6 "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. De 19:15 "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. There is a marginal note in the NASB, which informs the reader that “true” should be understood as “admissible as legal evidence.” ‘If my testimony concerning myself,' says he, ‘is suspected by you according to the ordinary custom of men, let it go for nothing.' Now we know that what any man asserts about himself is not reckoned to be true and authentic, although in other respects he speak truth, because no man is a competent witness in his own cause. Though it would be unjust to reduce the Son of God to this rank, yet he prefers to surrender his right, that he may convince his enemies by the authority of God.” John Calvin, While the Jewish authorities seek to give the impression that they are sticklers for observing the letter of the law, actually they are not. When our Lord stands trial for His life, they employ false witnesses who give conflicting testimony, and yet no objection is raised (Matthew 26:60). The high priest illegally demands that Jesus give testimony about (against) Himself, and then condemns Him on the basis of His testimony (Matthew 26:63). These Jews seek neither justice or truth. 14 So when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone (John 6:14-15). Witness of The Father   32 "There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. The word another means another one just like him (exactly Like) as in John 14:16 where Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit coming and being just like Him. When Jesus says He bears witness, it means it is a continual action according to the Greek. Mt 3:17 His baptism, 17:5, - transfiguration 27; 51-54 –crucified.  All the Old Testament Witness of John - 1:19, 29,  33 "You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. John the Baptist is a very popular fellow, a man many believe to be a prophet (Matthew 11:9; 14:5; 21:26, 46). Jesus reminds the Jewish authorities of their own high regard for John, when they “sent to John” (John 5:33). Initially, I read John 1:19-28 as an interrogation of John by the Jewish authorities, one carried out with considerable suspicion. Jesus seems to say otherwise. His words in our text seem to indicate that their “sending men” to John is their own “testimony” concerning John's authority. In John 1, the Jews are really trying to “put words into John's mouth.” They want John to admit that he is Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet. John is the one insisting otherwise. If I understand Jesus (and John 1:19-28) correctly, for a short time the Jews actually wanted John to be the Messiah. This would explain our Lord's words in Matthew regarding the Jews and John: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12, NIV). The Jews are literally trying to force the kingdom into existence, and for a time they try to force John to become their Messiah. In the very next chapter of John's Gospel, the Jews want to force Jesus to become their king: Late in our Lord's earthly ministry, the Jews challenge Jesus to prove His authority. Our Lord's answer, and the Jews' response, demonstrates the high regard the people have for John: 27 They came again to Jerusalem. While Jesus was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the experts in the law and the elders came to him 28 and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 John's baptism, was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.” 31 They discussed with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?' 32 But if we say, ‘From men—'” (they feared the crowd, for they all considered John to be truly a prophet). 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things” (Mark 11:27-33; see also Matthew 11:25; Luke 20:4).    34 "Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  35 "He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. Ps 132:17 There I will make the horn of David grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed. Witness of Works  Is 35:4-6 Works only Jesus could accomplish Early in John's ministry, the Jews are eager for John to be the Messiah. In our Lord's words, they “rejoiced greatly for a short time in his light” (John 5:35). But when it becomes apparent that John rejects their religious system (Matthew 3:7-10; 21:32; Mark 3:15), and worse yet, identifies with Jesus as the Messiah he promised would come (John 1:29-36), just as quickly they abandon him.  They liked the light; it was the heat of His burning for Jesus that drove them away.      Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?              John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.               “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32             Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.              hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don't go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F             The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions  

Thursday, 26 January 2023   Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46   The previous verse noted the jealousy of the Jews at the turnout that had come to hear Paul and Barnabas speak. With that, they began “contradicting and blaspheming.” Now, a reaction to that is stated by Luke beginning with the words, “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said.”   The Greek contains an aorist participle and only one conjunction. More rightly, it reads, “And speaking boldly, Paul and Barnabas said.” They were not going to take any guff from the Jews who came against the good news of the gospel.   These Jews had heard what occurred, they had been shown right from Scripture that those events were prophesied in advance, and they had rejected what was presented to them. In response to that, both Paul and Barnabas united their voices in agreement, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first.”   Jesus' ministry was to the house of Israel. He stated that explicitly in the gospels –   “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'” Matthew 10:5, 6   That sentiment is repeated in Matthew 15 –   “Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.' 23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she cries out after us.' 24 But He answered and said, ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' 25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!' 26 But He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.' 27 And she said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.' 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” Matthew 15:21-28   It was to Israel that Jesus first came. However, there are times when He ministered to the Gentiles, demonstrating that His word was both intended and effectual for the Gentiles. But there was a priority to be given to Israel as the stewards of the law and the bearers of the name of the Lord. After His crucifixion, He made the inclusion of the Gentiles in the continued ministry explicit –   “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20   As the apostles went forth, they followed this same pattern, first going to the Jewish people as directed by Jesus in Acts 1:8 –   “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”   That set pattern has been meticulously followed in Acts. In two separate instances in Acts 8 and 10, the message has gone directly to Gentiles. But the pattern has been adhered to as the gospel has gone from Jerusalem then Judea, and to Samaria. Eventually, it continued to go further as the apostles have gone out to confirm what the Jews of the diaspora from the various nations saw in Acts 2. The idea of the gospel going to the Jews first is also stated by Paul in Romans 1:16.   This is what Paul and Barnabas have done. They first presented the word to the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia. They will continue to do this as they go from town to town, first seeking out the synagogue. However, in Antioch, those in the synagogue have rejected the word and so Paul and Barnabas continue, saying, “but since you reject it.”   The words are plainly spoken to the Jews so that there can be no misunderstanding. In other words, there is probably as much of an implied questioning of them as there is a statement of fact rendered against them, “You have rejected the word. If we are incorrect about this, speak up now.” With no anticipated argument otherwise, the apostles continue, saying, “and judge yourselves.”   The Jews have rendered their own decision against themselves. Just as was the case in Jerusalem at the crucifixion of Jesus –   “When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.' 25 And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children.'” Matthew 27:24, 25   The nation had called for the judgment of God to be brought against itself because it had made the judgment against itself. Paul and Barnabas are not in Antioch to convert the nation of Israel but to convince those Jews who will accept the gospel to separate themselves from the nation. These particular Jews had rejected their advances and had judged themselves “unworthy of everlasting life.”   The offer was made, it was that of forgiveness of sins through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and – if accepted – it would have moved them from condemnation to salvation. In being saved, they would have received everlasting life. In rejecting this salvation, their condemnation remained, just as Jesus said –   “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:18-21   In having decided this, there was no longer any point in continuing with evangelizing these Jews. But because there was a giant crowd of Gentiles there who were hungry to receive the message, Paul and Barnabas next say, “behold, we turn to the Gentiles.”   They had fulfilled their obligation to tell the good news of Jesus to the Jews first. They had presented Scriptural evidence and the historical account of Jesus' works to them. They had, during their presentation, given them the simple gospel of salvation. Despite their efforts, their message was rejected. And so, to continue with the work directed for them to do in Matthew 28, they would continue speaking their message in Antioch to the Gentiles.   Their words now do not mean, “We only turn to the Gentiles from now on.” Rather, their main focus of attention will be the Gentiles who are so willing to hear their words. When they get to another city, they will again go directly to the synagogue and begin the process again, speaking to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles.   Life application: As can be easily determined from this passage, the gospel spoken to the Jews is the same one that has been (and will continue to be) spoken to the Gentiles. The difference between the ministry of Peter and that of Paul is one of focus, not content. They both have the same message, but Peter's focus was on the Jews, particularly within the borders of Israel, but also in the areas where he traveled (see Galatians 2).   Paul, on the other hand, was skilled in international matters, he was a citizen of Rome, he spoke many languages (1 Corinthians 14:18), and so forth. Therefore, he was selected by Jesus to personally go further than just to the Jews. Peter was not without interaction with the Gentiles, as was minutely detailed in Acts 10, but the primary focus of his ministry was to the Jews.   Understanding this simple precept, and accepting it at face value, will save the student of the Bible from being drawn into truly devious teachings that have crept into the church. Such teachings attempt to divide the offering of Jesus into separate categories with separate messages. These doctrines are heretical because they introduce a false gospel, which is no gospel at all. Be careful to guard yourself against such insidious teachings.   Jesus! It is all about Jesus. The message is for all the world, and it is the only saving message. Hold fast to the gospel that has been offered to Jews and to Gentiles for the saving of the soul and for obtaining everlasting life.   Lord God, how good it is to share in Your offering of Jesus. To think that we were on the path to destruction, and You intervened to bring us back to Yourself. All we need to do is simply believe the word in order to be saved. Thank You for this simple and glorious message of reconciliation. Amen.  

What happens when you sit down some Jews, Muslims, Christians, Agnostics and Spiritualists in a room to discuss interfaith relationships?

Sunday, 6 November 2022   But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. Acts 11:20   The last verse spoke of those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen. They traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. While they went, they preached, but only to the Jews. However, it now says, “But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene.”   In other words, these men had been in Jerusalem, but when Stephen was stoned and the great time of tribulation came against the saints, some of the people who were scattered to the cities previously mentioned were Jews who originally came from Cyprus and Cyrene.   As such, they would speak the native languages and they would be able to effectively relay the word about Jesus to people in those areas. And more, they would be more comfortable having conversations with the native people, including Gentiles. Having noted that, it next says, “who, when they had come to Antioch.”   This is referring to the same location named Antioch in the previous verse. These Jews who spoke either Greek or the native language of the area (or both) had returned home or were in an area where they could easily converse with the local population. With that noted, the next words are highly debated, and the meaning depends on which Greek texts are correct. It says they “spoke to the Hellenists.”   The issue is that some manuscripts say Ἑλληνιστάς (Hellénistés) meaning Greek-speaking Jews while others say Ἕλληνας (Hellénes) meaning Gentile Greeks. As noted, the previous verse said that those scattered spoke to the Jews only. The words of this verse are set in contrast to that thought. And so, it could be assumed that these people were speaking to the Gentiles. This is how Vincent's Word Studies takes it –   “The express object of the narrative has been to describe the admission of Gentiles into the church. There would have been nothing remarkable in these men preaching to Hellenists who had long before been received into the church, and formed a large part of the church at Jerusalem. It is better to follow the rendering of A. V. and Rev., though the other reading has the stronger MS. evidence. Note, also, the contrast with the statement in Acts 11:19, to the Jews only. There is no contrast between Jews and Hellenists, since Hellenists are included in the general term Jews.”   Albert Barnes agrees and even says, “The connection would lead us to suppose that they had heard of what had been done by Peter, and that, imitating his example, they preached the gospel now to the Gentiles also.”   However, this is an incorrect idea because the account is backing up to the dispersion that took place after Stephen's stoning. The event with Peter (Acts 10) came later in time even though it is recorded earlier in this passage in Acts 11. The two accounts are now meeting up after both events have occurred –   Stephen was stoned resulting in persecution and a scattering of the people. After this:   Some of those scattered went as far as Antioch and spread the good news. The events of Chapters 8, 9, and 10 (and Peter's explanation in Acts 11) were ongoing at the same time.   As such, this does not mean that these Jews who were scattered didn't speak to the Gentiles, which is the matter in question, but that the reasoning used by Barnes is incorrect.   John Gill, on the other hand, says, “which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians; or Hellenist Jews, who were born and brought up in Greece, and spoke the Greek language; though the Alexandrian copy, and the Syriac version, read ‘Greeks', as if they were native Greeks, and properly Gentiles, to whom these ministers spoke the word of the Lord; but the former seems most likely.”   A logical argument is made for either rendering, but it appears that without the knowledge of Cornelius' conversion, these Jews would have been unlikely to speak to Gentiles directly. In fact, Paul is sought out by Barnabas in Acts 11:25. From there, he and Barnabas travel quite a bit as is recorded in Acts 13, but nothing is said of preaching to Gentiles until Acts 13:42. Before that, only interaction with Jews is made. It is in Acts 13:44-48 that this is recorded –   “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us: “I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.”' 48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”   As this is the case, the most likely translation now in Acts 11 is that this is referring to the Greek-speaking Jews, not the Gentiles. In other words, the Jews are given every chance possible to come to Christ as a nation. The majority of those in Israel had rejected the word. From there, the account will show that the majority of Jews outside of Israel will also reject the word. At that time, the account will show that the Gentiles, in contrast to the Jews, will come flooding to the good news of Jesus, setting up the Gentile-led church for the long period that has continued since. As for now, the verse finishes with the note that these people of the scattering caused by Stephen's stoning were “preaching the Lord Jesus.”   The words more precisely read, “proclaiming good news - the Lord Jesus” (YLT). The word is going out from Israel to the Jews of the diaspora. This appears to be the main point of the narrative at this time.   As noted above, it is believed by many scholars that this is speaking of a conversion of the Gentiles, and that is a possibility. However, the internal markings of what has occurred and what will continue to occur appear to show that it is only the Greek-speaking Jews that are being referred to at this point. Either way, the main point is that word is going forth outside of the borders of Israel.   Life application: One of the key things to take away from these words is that God used the stoning of Stephen to expand the preaching of the gospel. Surely Stephen would approve of this, knowing that the ending of his life would be a way of bringing many others to a saving knowledge of Jesus.   We should be willing to have this same heart for the lost. How far are we willing to go in order that others might be saved? This is something we should ask ourselves. Our temporary afflictions, whatever they may be, can be used for great gain in the spreading of the gospel. So, let's look for ways to have this come about. It is the most important thing that can occur in another person's life. Without this good news, there is only bad news ahead for them   Let us consider this always. Stephen would certainly agree. He would tell you, “Don't worry about this life. God has a plan that is so marvelous you just won't believe it. Trust Him and He will do great things with you and for you.”   Lord God, use us now while we are here! May we be vessels ready to be poured out in whatever way You choose for the furtherance of Your good news. Help us to see the lost and to have pity on them. And then prompt us to act so that they might hear and respond while there is time. To Your glory, we pray this. Amen.  

Saturday, 5 November 2022   Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. Acts 11:19   With the matter of Gentile inclusion clearly established and settled based on Peter's words to those in Jerusalem, the narrative now takes on a new and significant direction. The direction and focus of Acts will now begin to head out into the world beyond the borders of Israel and, eventually, the gospel will predominantly be seen to go forth to the Gentiles. In order to reveal this, the account will also go back to events that occurred in previous chapters so that the narrative catches up with events that occurred there, such as in Acts 7, 8, and 9.   With that understood, the words begin with, “Now those who were scattered.” This takes the reader back to Acts 8:1 –   “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”   This was referring to the events that took place among the Jews and it occurred “after the persecution that arose over Stephen.”   This goes back even further, to Acts 7 and the account of Stephen's stoning. The persecution that is recorded in Acts 8:1 is based upon that. Also, rather than “persecution,” the Greek word here signifies “tribulation.” It is a wholly different word than that used in Acts 8:1. The persecution led to tribulation. Because of this, these Jews were not only scattered within the borders of Israel, but they continued on and “traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch.”   The first location, Phoenicia, is introduced here. The name is believed to come from the Greek word phoinix, meaning a palm tree, most especially the date palm. Albert Barnes describes the location, saying, “Phoenice, or Phoenicia, was a province of Syria, which in its largest sense comprehended a narrow strip of country lying on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, and extending from Antioch to the borders of Egypt. But Phenice Proper extended only from the cities of Laodicea to Tyre, and included only the territories of Tyre and Sidon. This country was called sometimes simply ‘Canaan.'”   The next location, Cyprus, is also introduced here, although the name of the inhabitants was mentioned in Acts 4:36. The origin of the name is uncertain. Again, Barnes describes it, saying, “An island off the coast of Asia Minor, in the Mediterranean Sea.”   Finally, this is also the introduction of Antioch. Albert Barnes again describes the place, saying, “There were two cities of this name, one situated in Pisidia in Asia Minor (see Acts 13:14); the other, referred to here, was situated on the Orontes River, and was long, the capital of Syria. It was built by Seleucus Nicanor, and was called Antioch in honor of his father Antiochus. It was founded in 301 b.c. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but is several times mentioned in the Apocrypha and in the New Testament. It was long the most powerful city of the East, and was inferior only to Seleucia and Alexandria. It was famous for the fact that the right of citizenship was conferred by Seleucus on the Jews as well as the Greeks and Macedonians, so that here they had the privilege of worship in their own way without molestation. It is probable that the Christians would be regarded merely as a sect of Jews, and would be here suffered to celebrate their worship without interruption.”   With these locations noted, the verse finishes with the thought that those scattered were “preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.” Although true to some extent, this is not so much because they “had the common prejudices of the Jews, that the offers of salvation were made only to the Jews” (Barnes), but that they probably had no idea that Gentiles would even be included in God's offer of Christ Jesus.   In other words, it is true that the Jews had these prejudices, but without even knowing something is available to others, those prejudices would not even arise. Peter found out that Gentiles could be included, and he set aside any such prejudices. These Jews were as of yet uninformed as to what God was going to do for the Gentiles. Therefore, they simply went about telling their own fellow Jews that the Messiah had come.   Life application: The narrative in Acts is marvelously structured to show how events unfolded, but the events are placed in a manner that allows us to go forward with certain events and then go back to older events to see how other things occurred while those first set of recorded events were happening.   In this, we can get a marvelous sense of how the narrative is simultaneously unfolding in several directions. As you read Acts, consider such things and think about why each section is placed where it is. Like all of Scripture, God is slowly and methodically revealing to us what His plans are for the people of the world. At the same time, He is showing us why trouble has come upon Israel during this dispensation and where He would lead things during their time of exile.   Everything is carefully and meticulously placed to help us see how the great story of man's redemption through the Person and work of Jesus Christ has come about, is coming about, and will continue to come about. Luke's record of Acts is a wonderful part of this. If we pay heed to how he has laid things out, we can get a marvelous sense of the structure of this beautiful plan.   Lord God, thank You for the careful detail You have placed in Your word to help us know and understand why things are the way they are. You have set a plan for man's redemption, and it is so beautifully and methodically detailed for us to see. Give us insight into Your word so that we can more fully grasp every nuance that You have placed there for us to understand what is going on. Thank You, O God. Amen.

Acts 15:1-5 ESV But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” BEWARE OF FALSE TEACHERS One important reality in our Christian journey is the rise of false teachers. Christ's has warned us, saying, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”[Matt 7:15] They are predators seeking the vulnerable or naïve believers. One feature of these people is that they blend the false with the right teaching. It is easy to detect the black from white but not the gray to white, is it not? These Jews are hardcore traditionalists. They had mixed traditions with scriptures. In most cases, the traditions [good] are given preference over the word of God. As Jesus warned, “ Thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”[Mark 7:13] Moreover, they are pro-active and aggressive. They came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” They just won't keep what they believed upon themselves. Predators do look for prey, don't they? And, they're augmentative. Paul and Barnabas reasoned with them. But, they are there not to learn but to destroy the works of God. Sincere and honest seekers of the truth would ask questions. They want that their questions be answered. But, not the false teachers. They don't seek answers but ask to incite an argument. A situation that Paul and Barnabas couldn't handle so that they went to Jerusalem to resolve the issue. While on their way, they took it as an opportunity to passed by the brethren in Phoenicia and Samaria and encouraged them. We learned here that a major doctrinal issue should be dealt with and resolved among the leadership. That is, an issue that threatens the historical-biblical beliefs revealed in the scriptures, specially the gospel. There is only one gospel. Paul has warned of false teachers introducing another gospel, saying, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”[Gal 1:6-9] The gospel is enough and powerful by itself to save [Rom 1:16], should not be diluted by adding something else, like the Mosaic law. -------------------- Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram

TITLE: What is Baptism? TEXT: Various Scriptures John Piper – “Baptism gets its meaning and its importance from the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in our place and for our sins, and from his triumph over death in the resurrection that guarantees our new and everlasting life. Baptism has meaning and importance only because the death and resurrection of Jesus are infinitely important for our rescue from the wrath of God and our everlasting joy in his glorious presence….We are not mainly talking about religious ritual here. We are not mainly talking about church tradition here. We are mainly talking about Jesus Christ and his magnificent work of salvation in dying for our sins and rising for our justification.” 2 questions to help us understand baptism: 1 – WHAT IS BAPTISM? – Various Scriptures Ephesians 2:8-9 say - “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” What exactly is Baptism? Baptism is… 1A - An Ordinance of the Christian Faith – Matthew 28:18-20 Matthew 28:18-20 – “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'” 1B - A Symbol of Salvation through Water - Various Scriptures Genesis 8:1-3a - “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually.” Exodus 14:21-22 - “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” Joshua 3:14-17 - “So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people… and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water… the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away…And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.” Tim Chester – “John the Baptist has been baptizing people – immersing them in water. We're told he was ‘proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.' Gentiles had not been part of the nation that had passed through the waters of the Sea with Moses, nor through the waters of the river with Joshua. So they had to pass symbolically through the water to join God's people – a kind of accelerated catch-up. But now John is baptizing Jews. These Jews recognize that, in effect, they are like Gentiles. They are wicked. They face God's judgment. They need forgiveness. They need to be re-born by the Spirit through water. They need to reenter a renewed land. Then Jesus steps forward from the crowd… He is perfect, sinless, spotless…He doesn't need to repent. He doesn't need forgiveness. He doesn't need to be reborn. And yet he steps into the water – the water that symbolizes our sin and our judgment. Jesus steps into our mess, our wickedness, our judgment. He identifies with us….Jesus is symbolically engulfed by the waters of judgment. All those stories from the Old Testament were setting us up for this moment. In his baptism, Jesus identifies with his people and expresses his intent to take the judgment we deserve.” Tim Chester – “In the Jordan River, Jesus was symbolically baptized into our sins. On the cross he is actually and really baptized into our sins. He is immersed in our sin – completely covered. He dies and is buried. He bears our judgment in full.” 1C. A Picture of Union with Christ, Death to Sin & A New Life - Romans 6:3-4 Romans 6:3a – “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus…” Romans 6:3b-4a – “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death…” Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Romans 6:4b – “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” 2 – WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED? – Various Texts I must be baptized BECAUSE: - Baptism is Commanded Acts 22:16 - “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” Jesus Sets the Example - The Apostles taught Baptism Acts 2:38 – “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…'” I am not ashamed of Jesus Christ! Matthew 10:32 – “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Greetings! It's good to have you with us as we continue our journey through the book of Acts together, this week continuing to look at Acts 23. If you were with us last week, you'll remember that some unbelieving Jews have just seized Paul and stirred up the crowd against him with false accusations. And that's a common theme we find regarding the unbelieving Jews Paul comes across. They're kind of like atoms. They make up everything. And here that leads to Paul being violently beaten, arrested, and taken into Roman custody in Jerusalem. He has addressed the Jewish mob (giving his first defense); and we know that they listened until he shared with them God's giving him a mission to take the message of salvation to the Gentiles. They react violently to that and he is taken back into the Roman barrack for protection. After that, he is brought before the Jewish governing body known as the Sanhedrin, during which he gives his second defense. But the Sanhedrin is not at all friendly to him. I mean, they had already killed Jesus. And that was a part of an ongoing trend. Jerusalem was one of the first non-prophet organizations, you might say; they killed all those sent to her, as Jesus pointed out. And in the midst of this trial, during which Paul is illegally struck just for saying that he has a clean conscience, he realizes he is probably not going to receive a good verdict from them; and so he, knowing that the council was one part Pharisee and the other part Sadducee (and himself being a Pharisee) emphasizes his having been a Pharisee and that all of this dissension had to do with the issue of the resurrection from the dead, which he knew the Pharisees accepted but the Sadducees rejected. And so an argument breaks out between the two parties and the Pharisees actually end up defending Paul, saying in verse 9 “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” And after this Paul is removed because of how violent things had gotten; and he's taken back to the barracks. Now all of this is incredibly discouraging for Paul, who remember has this deep desire to bring the message of the Gospel to Rome, the epicenter of the empire and a very important strategic target for Christianity. But things are not looking very promising, as he's sitting there in imprisonment. He doesn't know it this point, but he's going to remain imprisoned for the next four years. However that night Jesus comes to Paul and gives him a word of encouragement and a promise. It says… Acts 23:11 (ESV)— 11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” God's Preserving Promise— Now in reflecting on that promise, it suddenly dawned on me that Jesus never promises Paul that he's gonna get through all this unscathed or anything like that. He doesn't even tell him that his endeavors will prove successful. He doesn't promise a great response after he eventually gets to Rome; only that he is going to grant the desire of Paul's heart to do the next right thing. Now that next right thing was pretty big for Paul, because it meant that God was going to keep and preserve his life for the time being. And so, in a sense, Paul was greater than all the gods of the pantheon; because while they could be killed, Paul couldn't. He was more immortal than they could ever be; because the One true God, who has authority over all things, was holding him up. No outside force (no matter how strong) could pluck him out of God's hand or this next step God had promised Paul success in. And you know, that same God holds you and me. Now He may not promise you tomorrow, but He is every bit in control of your tomorrow as He was of Paul's. And He will be just as faithful to help you fulfill His plan and purpose through your life as well. Refocusing on Paul— Now when the controversy between the Pharisees and the Sadducees of the Sanhedrin dies down, we find that they re-focus their attention on Paul. They had gotten to the point where all reverence for God and the desire to do His will and to act in way that was in accordance with His written Word took a back seat to what was really the center of their concern; politics and position. A that being the case, they perceived Paul as being a real threat and were ready to dispense with him. And we will see in our passage today that, just as they had done with Jesus, they begin making plans to murder Paul. It says in… Acts 23:12 (ESV)— 12 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. We'll See— And so we see that hatred and vengeance is eating them up. And that's not a good place to be. Somebody recently told me they felt I have an unhealthy preoccupation with revenge. And I said “Well, we'll see about that.” Okay, kidding. But these guys certainly aren't. They bind themselves with a very serious oath. anathematized— Now the phrase bound themselves by an oath is literally translated “anathematized”, which means to curse or condemn. And so they have invoked divine judgment if they fail in their mission to kill Paul. And we see this thing a number of times in scripture… 1 Samuel 14:44 (ESV)— 44 And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.” 2 Samuel 3:35 (ESV)— 35 Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, “God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!” 2 Samuel 19:13 (ESV)— 13 And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you are not commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.'” 1 Kings 2:23 (ESV)— 23 Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! 2 Kings 6:31 (ESV)— 31 and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.” Serious Resolve— Yikes! Those are some pretty serious threats and curses. And the last is most like the one we find here in Acts 23. These Jews who have set themselves Paul are absolutely determined, which we see in their resolve to engage in a total fast from all food and drink until their mission is complete. And it's not a small group of men either. It says in… Acts 23:13-14 (ESV)— 13 There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Going To The Sadducees— Now note that they do not go to the Pharisees. Why? Well, the Pharisees had just sided with Paul during the trial before the Sanhedrin; and so they have shown their willingness to defend Paul. And so these Jews go to those of the chief priests and elders because (remember) the chief priests and elders are of the other party, the Sadducees. These Jews knew that the chief priests and elders would be more likely to join them in this murder plot. Note also they do not go to the scribes because the scribes also were mostly Pharisees. No, they go to those of the Sadducees. And they tell them of their oath and their fast and then give their request, saying… Acts 23:15-16 (ESV)— 15 Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.” 16 Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul's Family— Now amazingly, this is the only clear reference in the Bible that we have to any of the members of Paul's family. Romans 16:7 and 11 possibly give us a few others, as he makes reference to Andronicus, Junia, and Herodion as being his kinsmen. But there are no other references. Some scholars believe that when Paul became a Christian he was disowned by his family. His father, probably a wealthy person, very likely cut him off and wanted nothing to do with him. Paul may indicate some of this in Philippians 3:8 when he describes how he had suffered the loss of everything for the sake of Jesus Christ. But, you know, that is the case for a lot of men and women who have chosen to follow Jesus. Families do not always understand, which is why Jesus said… Matthew 10:35-39 (ESV)— 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Crucified by Family— And interestingly, that is what Jesus Himself had experienced. His own family was at odds with him. John 7:5 tells us that not even his brothers believed in him. Now that eventually changed, as His half-brother James converted and became a very important leader in the Church. Jude (another half-brother of Jesus) also was converted and wrote the book of Jude. But before that Jesus carried the weight of his siblings' scorn and that enmity against him during much of His life and ministry. And that's a hard burden to bear. And it's interesting that Jesus seems in this passage in Matthew to be equating that kind of familial pain to taking up your cross. And keep in mind, that was before He had been crucified on an actual cross, which leads me to make the assumption that before being crucified in the body on the cross, He had first been crucified in a metaphorical sense by his family. And Paul definitely seems to be bearing that same kind of cross now. Meeting The Folks— I don't know if any of you every brought your boyfriend or girlfriend home to meet your parents, but that can be pretty tense. You're wondering if they are going to like her, And if momma doesn't like her, you're in trouble. But bringing Jesus home to meet the family is often just as hard (if not worse); and especially in Paul's culture. Paul had become an outcast for the sake of Christ. I mean it must have been hard. But if that is what needs to happen for you to follow Jesus, then you have to do it. That is just part of what it means to be a Christian. And if we are faithful to suffer like that for Jesus, we will be blessed. 1 Peter 4:12-14 (NKJV)— 12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. Romans 8:16-17 (NKJV)— 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Sharing in Christs Sufferings & Glory— So let us gladly share in Christ's suffering, so that we also will share in His glory. Let's do so. Amen.

Greetings! It's good to have you with us today. If you were with us last week, you will remember that Acts 21 marks a major transition in the life and ministry of the apostle Paul. Ever since he had been converted all the way back in Acts chapter 9, he has been free to evangelize all over the Mediterranean world. He had been imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:23ff), but only for a very short period of time, as God sent an earthquake that tore the jail apart and set Paul and Silas free. However, in today's passage we are entering into a whole new stage of Paul's ministry, as he is arrested here in Jerusalem and will this time remains a prisoner. From here on out he would be an “ambassador in chains”, as he calls himself in Ephesians 6:20. Finishing The Vows— Now you will remember that Paul has just arrived in Jerusalem along with a group of men from the gentile churches he helped start. And he is delivering the offering collected by those churches to help the needy in Jerusalem. So he does that and tells the elders of all that God had done through them. And there is great joy. However, the elders of the church want to help Paul discredit the false claims of the Judaizers, who claim that he is teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. (21:21). And so they ask Paul to take four men under his wing who are just finishing up a Jewish Nazirite vow and to be purified with them (made ceremonially clean) and to sponsor their ceremony and sacrifices. And he agrees to do that in order to prove that he wasn't suddenly anti-Law.. It says in… Acts 21:26 (NKJV)— 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. Paul Spotted— And so Paul was coming to the end of everything that he had to do as regards these Nazirite vows. But as he was in the temple, he is spotted by some of his Jewish opponents. It says in… Acts 21:27-29 (NKJV)— 27 Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) Asia?— And so we see that Paul is spotted by these Jews from Asia. Now that word Asia doesn't mean China or anywhere like that. It means Asia Minor, where Paul had been ministering. These Jews were most likely from Ephesus, because that is where Trophimus had come from; and they recognize him! And so they stir up the the crowd against Paul and have him seized. Paul Doesn't Lash Back— But you know, that is something that Paul faced all of his ministry; and not just from people who misunderstood, but from men who willfully and deliberately twisted his words or just simply made up stories about him in order to malign and discredit him. But Paul doesn't lash back; he doesn't return hate for hate; anger for anger. He doesn't malign them or even get defensive. He refutes the accusations, but does so in a spirit of love, with gentleness and respect. That is one of the things we can learn from Paul. When we feel hurt or misunderstood at work, at home, or even at Church, it can be so easy to react in a spirit of defensiveness and anger. But when we respond like Jesus did (with that spirit of love and forgiveness) we can often diffuse those situations and (even if still persecuted) be a testimony to the eyes of others who may be watching. A Capital Offense— Now the thing they accuse Paul of is bringing Trophimus (a Gentile) into the Temple. They had seen Trophimus with him at one or more other times and just assumed (because of the false label of law-breaker that they had already put on him) that Paul must have done this thing. Now, if true, that would be a very serious crime, because no Gentile (non-Jew) was allowed within the temple under penalty of death. Now there was an outer court they could go into, but that was as far as they could go. Then further into the Temple complex was the court of women where Jewish women could go, then the inner court for the men. Only priests could go into the Temple itself and only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies. So Gentiles were on the farthest rung out. In fact, for them to go any further meant certain death. In fact, [In the temple, separating the court of the Gentiles from the other courts, stood a wall beyond which no Gentile was allowed to go (note Eph. 2:14). On the wall was this solemn inscription {(in both Latin and Greek)}: “No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught so doing will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” {And they meant it. And whereas normally the Jews were not permitted to execute anyone without Roman consent,} The Romans had granted the Jewish religious leaders authority to deal with anybody who broke this law, and this included the right of execution.] And some of these warning signs have now been uncovered by archaeologists. The Perfect Accusation— Now this was the perfect accusation, because whereas before these Jews could not touch Paul in Ephesus because of the Gentiles, here they have Paul surrounded by Jews. Some estimates run as high as 2 million because of the celebration going on there at that time, which was what, by the way? Pentecost, [the Old Testament Feast of Harvest {also} sometimes called the Feast of Weeks, and sometimes called the Day of First Fruits.] Many of these 2 million Jews had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast of Pentecost. And what did Pentecost celebrate? The giving of the Law by God to Moses {(they believed)} fifty days after the Exodus from Egypt. And so there is a spirit of devotion and love for the Law; a spirit of celebrating the Temple and its sacredness. And so what could be better than accusing Paul of bringing a Gentile into the Temple!!!???; something that would be sure to churn the stomachs of every one of the Jews there! Paul Wouldn't Have Done This— Now Paul of course didn't do that. And that's because he wouldn't undo in one day everything he had done in seven days to show that he still loved and respected the Law of God. Plus, he would never have done that to Trophimus; putting him in a position where he would most certainly be killed. But even if that were true, it wouldn't have been Paul's head, it would have (according to the Law) been Trophimus' because he was the Gentile, not Paul. Paul had ever right to go into the temple and ultimately Trophimus was responsible for his own actions. But of course Trophimus is not the target of the unbelieving Jews; it's Paul who is the target. Three Accusations— Now notice that they level against him this accusation, but also three others. They say in verse 28 that Paul is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place. So they accuse Paul first of being against his own people; in other words, he's anti-Jew. That is a pretty hard claim to make, seeing that Paul was Jewish. But that is what they say. And by the way, this is the same attitude that exists today in the hearts of many Jews in and throughout the world. They see Christianity as absolutely antithetical to what it means to be a Jew; so much so that they will often disown any Jew amongst them who becomes a Christian. And that is because they perceive any Jew who accepts Christ as one who is trying to break with Judaism and their heritage, not realizing that Jesus is the fulfillment of all their Jewish hopes; He's the Messiah!     Now next, the Jews accuse Paul of being against the Law and against the Temple. It is pretty hard to see how they can possibly make this claim because (when you think about it) [all the evidence was against them. Paul had Timothy circumcised before taking him along on that second missionary journey (Acts 16:1–3). Paul had taken a Jewish {Nazirite} vow while in Corinth (Acts 18:18), and it was his custom not to offend the Jews in any way by deliberately violating their customs or the law of Moses (1 Cor. 9:19–23).] Furthermore we see in this very passage that he is willing to come alongside these four men who have undertaken a Nazirite vow, sponsor their practice of the Jewish ceremony involved in the completion of that vow, and himself undergo the necessary rituals in order to make himself ceremonially clean and fit to do so, in keeping with Jewish law. And furthermore, the whole reason he was in Jerusalem to begin with was to observe the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which was a celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses. So their accusations really have no anchor in reality. Became A Mob— Nevertheless, these unbelieving Jews stirred up the whole crowd (v.27). And that word translated stirred up actually means “to confuse”. The crowds were driven into confusion by these unbelieving Jews. And so they become a mob, which (as you know) is a body of people without a head. It is driven by pure emotion, rage, and group-think. It says… Acts 21:30 (NKJV)— 30 And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. Hate By Association— And next week we will find out what happens to him. Now I want to make one observation with you before we close today. And that is this: ultimately it was not Paul on trial, it was Jesus. All these events happened right near where Jesus himself had been tried and then crucified. In fact, in verse 36 they cry out against Paul “Away with him!”, the exact same thing the crowds in that place (27 years earlier) had cried out against Jesus. You see, the two are connected. Paul was ultimately hated because of his association with Jesus. The Jews who opposed him were not doing so because they were offended by Paul. Paul was a very likable guy. He loved everyone tremendously, he gave generously, and he spoke the truth in love (which we will see later even in this very chapter, even after he is beaten nearly to death). No, the people weren't offended by him, but by the NAME he was proclaiming; the name of Jesus. Associated With Christ— And let me tell you, when you get serious about Jesus, you are going to be (in the eyes of the world) guilty by association. People are going to hate you for no good reason. They are going to accuse you of things that have no basis in reality. And that's because of the truth of what Jesus says in… John 15:19-20 (NKJV)— 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. Emboldened— So ultimately Paul is on trial because his proclamation of the name of Jesus is (as Jesus Himself said it would be) an offense to the world. Now did that stop Paul? No it didn't. If anything, it emboldened him. And that is because of what he said back in… Romans 8:16-17 (NKJV)— 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Willing To Suffer— And so let us be willing to suffer for Jesus, sharing with Him in his sufferings so that we also may share in His glory. Let's do so. Amen.

Audio recording Sermon manuscript:Today I'd like to talk about “extremism.” We often hear of extremism and extremists. Extremism is never a good thing. Extremists go too far; they go to the extreme. That's always going to create conflict, because not everyone is on the same page. Extremists are destructive to relationships. The conflict between the extremist and the supposed non-extremist creates violence without fail. That violence might be with words. Some extremists are even physically violent. It would be foolish, and even insane, to want to endorse all extremism. Endorsing all extremism would involve irreconcilable contradictions. Being extreme in one direction means that you can't be extreme in the opposite direction. For example, a so-called far right extremist cannot at the same time be a so-called far left extremist. That would be a house divided against itself. And many kinds of extremism are evil, destructive, hate-filled, unjust, altogether horrible. So extremism as extremism cannot be endorsed. But here is something that we as Christians have to wrestle with: Jesus was and is an extremist. Jesus held extreme views and said extreme things. The Gospels are full of these extreme statements. Jesus says: “Love your enemies, and do good to them.” “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.” “I say to you whoever is angry with his brother is liable to judgement.” “I say to you that anyone who is divorced, except on the ground of sexual immorality, commits adultery if married again.” “I say to you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” And there are many, many more. These statements are extreme because they go way beyond what ordinary folks think. But maybe what ordinary folks think is an extremism all its own. Jesus is an extremist for the glory of the Father, for God's commandments, and for God's will. The great herd has its own commitments too. A while back I spoke to you about the training in covetousness that the ungodly go to the gym in order to exercise. Too much is never enough. More for myself is always better than less. In the pursuit of happiness all that matters is that you don't get caught. You hide, so no prying eyes may see. You lie, so that you won't be held responsible. You're mean, so that nobody messes with you. You manipulate, so that you only have to do what you want. Here, again, I could go on and on. We might sum it all up by saying that it is all selfishness and and self-aggrandizement and self-worship. We can never have too much money or too much power. Nobody can give us too much honor, too many congratulations. Is not this going to extremes? “But,” a person might justifiably say, “everybody's like that. If everybody's like that, then it can't be extremism.” True enough. We are like that. The reason why everybody's like that is because we were all born this way. If we're all born this way then there's nothing we can do about it. Fine, we're extreme in our selfishness, ambition, love of glory, and so on, but it's fine. We're fine. We're just like everybody else, and we're all fine. This is an extremely powerful line of reasoning. It's been powerful ever since the beginning. When Adam and Eve were tempted they ended up getting convinced that they would be fine. God said, “In the day that you eat of it you will surely die,” but the devil said, “you won't surely die,” so who's to say? We'll probably be fine. We're fine. They weren't fine, of course. How can anyone be fine who is living in rebellion against his or her Creator? Adam and Eve sensed this after they sinned, but they couldn't bring themselves to admit it. They just went right on ahead convincing themselves that they were fine. They tried to forget about God, and got busy living. They stitched together some clothes and set about increasing their quality of life. So long as God stayed away they could keep up this fiction that they were fine. And that was quite a fiction, and a deliberate blindness! With the fall into sin Adam and Eve were corrupted in all the ways that we are corrupted. Lusts and greed and perversions were poured into their soul from their new master. Regardless, despite this extremism of theirs, they kept telling themselves that they were fine. The last thing that they wanted to hear was God coming towards them in the cool of the day. That was when the lies collapsed. They weren't fine. They looked for someplace to hide. If there was a mountain available, I'm sure they would have liked to have been covered by it. This was an extremely unpleasant experience for them. It's like when a kid has to get a splinter removed. All that the kid knows is that getting the splinter removed means more pain than what is already being experienced, and so keep that pin or those tweezers away! But that is actually a pretty paltry example. Paul says that it's not just painful. A death takes place. The Old Adam in us must be drowned and die together with all sins and evil desires. You are not fine. It does not matter one bit whether other people are just like you. It doesn't matter whether everybody validates you and celebrates you. No amount of celebrating can stand up against the truth, just as no amount of clothing was able to take away Adam and Eve's shame. As you Christians know, of course, God was not coming just to kill them. In a sense, God really did kill them. That is to say, God killed their hopes and dreams. Realize that before they heard God coming toward them they had been hoping that the devil was right. The devil had said that they wouldn't surely die. “Pretty, pretty please, let's not ever, ever think that we less than perfect.” This had to die. It's not true. But, as you Christians know, God also told them another truth: The Seed of the woman is going to crush the serpent's head. That truth is just as true as the truth that you are not fine. They will be redeemed. Realize, however, that this is not a Hallmark movie. Our sin, our debt, has not just been pretended away. Our salvation is shocking. The Son of God became a curse. The Holy One became sin and died on a cross. God goes to extremes in order to set us free from our slavery to vanity and death and the rotting of our corpse. The world is full of people who find this extremism on God's part to be distasteful. Some feel as though God couldn't die. It's against the rules. Some feel that God shouldn't die. Everybody can see that it's violent. It's bloody. It's dirty. It's extreme. But what is this extremism all in service to? To what extreme is all of this directed? It is directed toward love. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son… God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Jesus says, “I have come that people may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” God's extremism is all for our good, and, at the same time, against all that is evil. So let's acknowledge the truth that the Gospel is extreme. Jesus is an extremist. So also our sinful Old Adam is an extremist. We are extreme about very different things. This contrasting extremism is going to make for some tense conversations. Again, do you suppose the conversation between God and Adam and Eve was intense? That's how it is for every sinner who is saved. We don't just have a splinter that needs to be pulled out of our otherwise healthy flesh. Admitting that you are not fine, having your shameful nakedness exposed, blushing at your extremism for ugly and harmful things—this is not the funnest thing in the world. But it is good. It sets us free from lies. And God does not leave us naked and ashamed just as he didn't leave Adam and Eve naked and ashamed. He forgives us with a perfect forgiveness. He replaces our fig leaves with the righteousness of Jesus. Jesus's righteousness is your righteousness. You have been baptized into Christ. God receives us and welcomes us. He is healing us with our sanctification. One day that healing will be complete. When that happens, and when we see God, for the first time we will begin to understand what Jesus means when he says that he has come so that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly. This is good extremism. But, as a message that is extreme, it is going to strike us as being extreme. In our Gospel reading there is an intense conversation between Jesus and some Jews. These Jews thought that they were fine. They had Abraham as their father. They had never been enslaved to anyone. As for this Jesus, they weren't so sure who his father was, and he was from Galilee. They figured that anyone who would dare to say that they were not fine must be a hater or have a demon. Let me pause to note how this rings true in all times, including ours. Anybody who dares to point out the sins of another is at best socially inept, and at worst vile and evil. Hardly anybody believes in demons anymore, but if they did, they would say the same thing these Jews said to Jesus: You must have a demon! When Jesus responds to the Jews, it is with some heat of its own. He does not have a demon. He is glorifying the Father, while they are dishonoring him. They do not know the Father. He knows the Father. If he were to say that he didn't know the Father, then he would be a liar… Then he tosses in: “a liar like them.” With those last few words, “…then I would be a liar like you,” the referee blows the whistle and throws a flag: “Unnecessary roughness.” Jesus is being inflammatory. He didn't need to call them liars. Violence like that should be condemned. It's totally uncalled for. Otherwise how can we just go on ignoring him so that we go back to making money, watching TV, and buying stuff? Maybe that's why we've all been so thoroughly catechized that extremism is bad. The powers that be only want us to believe that money, winning at sportys, and so on are important. Everything else is unimportant ,and so nobody should ever get too excited about such things. Think about it: if something is unimportant, why would anybody ever get upset about it? Wouldn't it be the height of foolishness for me to get upset about what flavor of ice cream you like? Raking you over the coals for not liking double fudge brownie? That would be ridiculous! That's what folks want to do to religion too. First of all, we're already all fine. Everybody knows that. Second of all religion is just a hobby. Anybody who says it's anything more than that is some kind of dangerous extremist. So be it. Jesus is an extremist. He is extreme about everything that is good, right, and true. It's only natural, then, that he is going to conflict with us who are extreme about selfishness, lying and getting our own way. Jesus's extremism is good. Our extremism is evil. If anybody gets offended at Jesus's extremism, then I say that's a good sign. At least they are paying attention. I, together with the rest of the human race, do not want my nakedness exposed. I want to believe that I'm fine. What God teaches me, however, is that I am not fine. I'm a liar, I'm a thief, I'm a pervert, I'm no good at praying, I'm bored by God's Word. The good that I want to do I don't end up doing. The evil that I don't want to do, that's what I end up doing. I'm not fine. And here is what sets Christians apart from the rest of the human race: We don't, or rather, we shouldn't be offended when we are identified as sinners. It's the truth! We are. But Jesus is the Savior of sinners. That's the truth too.

Thursday, 31 March 2022   Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. Acts 6:9   The previous verse referred to the faith and power of Stephen as he did great wonders and signs among the people. Now, another group is introduced. Luke states, “Then there arose some.”   Because of the wording, one can assume they either have arisen to join, or to argue against, Stephen. Stephen is the main character of the narrative, and these now to be mentioned are brought in to define the narrative further. Those who have arisen are said to be “from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen.”   A short explanation of who these men are is given by Vincent's Word Studies –   “In Jerusalem, and probably in other large cities, the several synagogues were arranged according to nationalities, and even crafts. Thus we have in this verse mention of the synagogues of the Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and Asiatics. Libertines is a Latin word (libertini, freedmen), and means here Jews or their descendants who had been taken as slaves to Rome, and had there received their liberty; and who, in consequence of the decree of Tiberius, about 19 a.d., expelling them from Rome, had returned in great numbers to Jerusalem. They were likely to be the chief opponents of Stephen, because they supposed that by his preaching, their religion, for which they had suffered at Rome, was endangered in Jerusalem.”   However, Albert Barnes provides much more information on this designation –   ----------   The word is Latin, and means properly a ‘freedman,' a man who had been a slave and was set at liberty. Many have supposed that these persons were manumitted slaves of Roman origin, but who had become proselyted to the Jewish religion, and who had a synagogue in Jerusalem. This opinion is not very probable; though it is certain, from Tacitus (Ann., lib. 2:c. 85), that there were many persons of this description at Rome. He says that 4,000 Jewish proselytes of Roman slaves made free were sent at one time to Sardinia.   A second opinion is, that these persons were Jews by birth, and had been taken captives by the Romans, and then set at liberty, and were thus called ‘freedmen' or ‘liberties.' That there were many Jews of this description there can be no doubt. Pompey the Great, when he subjugated Judea, sent large numbers of the Jews to Rome (Philo, In Legat. a.d. Caium). These Jews were set at liberty at Rome, and assigned a place beyond the Tiber for a residence. See Introduction to the Epistle to the Romans. These persons are by Philo called "libertines," or ‘freedmen' (Kuinoel, in loco). Many Jews were also conveyed as captives by Ptolemy I. to Egypt, and obtained a residence in that country and the vicinity.   Another opinion is, that they took their name from some ‘place' which they occupied. This opinion is more probable from the fact that all the "other" persons mentioned here are named from the countries which they occupied. Suidas says that this is the name of a place. And in one of the fathers this passage occurs: ‘Victor, Bishop of the Catholic Church at Libertina, says, unity is there, etc.' from this passage it is plain that there was a place called ‘Libertina.' That place was in Africa, not far from ancient Carthage. See Dr. Pearce's Commentary on this place.   ----------   Whatever the exact meaning of the name, the group was comprised of “Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia”   The Cyrenians are those who dwelt in Cyrene in Africa, a location west of Egypt. This is where Simon of Cyrene, who carried Jesus' cross in Matthew 27:32 was from.   Alexandrians are those who dwelt in Alexandria in Egypt. A great deal of Jews lived there inhabiting large sections of the city. This is the location where the Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint or LXX, came from.   Cilicia was in Asia Minor, a province on the seacoast, located at Cyprus' north. Its capital, Tarsus, is where the Apostle Paul came from – as is recorded in Acts 9:11 (and as is noted elsewhere). As such, it makes it appear likely that Paul attended this synagogue and participated in what will be said in this verse.   Finally, Asia is noted. This is not Asia as we think of it today. Rather, it is the same as was referred to in Acts 2:9. It is a term that may refer to a jurisdiction according to the layout of the provinces of Rome. Of this location, Vincent's Word Studies says –   “Not the Asiatic continent nor Asia Minor. In the time of the apostles the term was commonly understood of the proconsular province of Asia, principally of the kingdom of Pergamus left by Attalus III. to the Romans, and including Lydia, Mysia, Caria, and at times parts of Phrygia. The name Asia Minor did not come into use until the fourth century of our era.”   It is from this synagogue, filled with people from these various locations, that men arose “disputing with Stephen.”   The word translated as “disputing” essentially means “to examine together.” It is rendered as “question,” “debate,” “discuss,” “argue,” and so on. It does not necessarily indicate any animosity, but it can. Or it can be a debate that eventually leads to an argument. It is probable that Stephen voiced his words concerning Jesus and they came back against him in a debate that will eventually lead to the forming of a charge against him. It is to be noted again (as stated in the previous verse) that Stephen was “full of faith and power,” and he “did great wonders and signs among the people.”   This is a key thought that certainly set in motion the debate.   Life application: In Christianity, there are Calvinists, there are Free Grace proponents, there are Baptists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians. In fact, there are so many sects and divisions within the church that it is almost impossible to know them all, much less what they all believe.   Because of this, there are obviously disagreements between them concerning valid points of doctrine. In the end, there can only be one completely correct idea about any particular point. Is Jesus God? Yes or No. Is salvation eternal? Yes or No. Does man have free will to choose Christ? Yes or No. And so on.   The Bible is the source of our knowledge of who Jesus is. It is where we are to build our doctrine from. Anything that is said about our theology and doctrine must find its source there or be in accord with what is said there. If it isn't, then it is something that came out of the head of man.   The more one knows the Bible, the less likely it is that he will be duped into believing something incorrect. It is still possible, but it is less likely. For those who do not know Scripture, the probability is that they will be more easily led astray from what is sound.   Read your Bible. Think about what you have read. Study theology after you know your Bible. And set your doctrine in accord with the Bible. It is important.   Glorious God Almighty, You have provided us with a source of knowledge in order for us to know You, to know what You are doing, and to know why You have done those things. How can we neglect such a great and precious treasure? Help us, Lord, to make Your word our priority all the days of our lives. Amen.

Today's meditation and retelling is from Acts 16:16-40. Introduction:  I always thought it strange that this demon-possessed girl announced the truth of Paul and Silas's message, and yet the disciples found this troublesome. Why would a demon endorse their message, and if it did, why would that be a bad thing? There must be something we're missing. Perhaps this gave the distinct impression to listeners that Paul and Silas were in cahoots with the demons. Jesus was accused of this very thing, too (Luke 11:15). Also, if this demon-possessed girl bothered Paul (whatever the reason), why did it take him “many days” to cast the demon out? Why didn't he do so at once? We're not told what was going on that would have hindered this solution, so we can only speculate. Andrew Wommack's interpretation is that perhaps the girl had no desire to be free of the demon. If that were the case, as Jesus said, casting out one demon without replacing it with a new Spirit might leave her with more demons than she started with in the end (Matthew 12:44). As a naturopathic doctor, I think of this as similar to a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics. They might wipe out the pathogen, but if you don't repopulate with good bacteria to defend the territory against subsequent attacks, opportunistic organisms may invade instead. The end state of that patient's digestion and health generally can then be worse than it was to begin with. Perhaps Paul and Silas waited to see if the girl might give any indication that she wanted deliverance. But after many days of her presumably hindering their message and preventing others from coming to the Lord, they'd had enough.    Unfortunately, the girl turned out to be a valuable slave, because of the demon. In their anger, her owners dragged Paul and Silas before the magistrates of the city. I'm not sure why Paul didn't tell the magistrates that they were Roman citizens then, since apparently that would have changed everything. Perhaps God told them to keep their mouths shut about that for the time being, though it seems like if that were the case, it would have been recorded. Also, while the apostles were certainly persecuted in many cases for their faith, I can't think of a time in scripture when God explicitly told them to submit to persecution because He intended to use it for the greater good, even though He always did so. God taking evil and turning it for good certainly isn't the same thing as God causing evil and turning it for good. Later in Paul's life, God specifically tried to lead him away from Jerusalem, apparently to spare him persecution (Acts 21:4-11). It therefore seems more likely to me that in the ensuing brouhaha, Paul just couldn't get a word in edgewise.    I love how God redeemed this miserable story, though. Beaten, bloody, in stocks so they couldn't even move, and now thrown into prison, Paul and Silas surely didn't feel like singing. Yet they offered a sacrifice of praise, anyway (Hebrews 13:15). This time, God didn't send an angel, but an earthquake. He needed to make sure the jailer was awake to see Paul and Silas's deliverance. As a result, rather than committing suicide (since the jailer knew that if all the prisoners escaped on his watch, he would be killed for his negligence), he and all his family were saved. Not only that, but the Roman law protected Roman citizens from being punished without a trial (Acts 22:25-29). When the magistrates learned they had thus treated Roman citizens, they were afraid, for their positions and possibly even for their lives. Naturally, word of the scandal  would spread—“Did you hear what the magistrates of Philippi did to two Roman citizens? Yes, and without trial!” The next question of course would be, “What did the men do to deserve such treatment?” And so the gospel might spread even farther than it might have otherwise. Also, magistrates in other cities would be careful not to repeat the offense, protecting Paul and Silas from similar treatment in the future. The story might even have protected other believers from harassment too, as they preached; surely no other magistrates would be in a hurry to repeat the Philippian mistake.    Fictionalized Retelling:  I felt a sinister presence right away, at the edge of our meeting in Philippi. One minute, it felt like I had the crowd's full attention, like they were hanging on my every word. The Holy Spirit was almost palpable. I brimmed with anticipation, eager for the awesome display of the Lord's power that was sure to follow. But then suddenly, the energy of the group shifted, and soured. I didn't miss a beat, and continued speaking, but I scanned the crowd for the source of the disturbance. My eyes landed on the girl at once.  She was dark-skinned, her wrists spangled with bracelets and her head and waist with colorful scarves. These told me her profession at a glance: she was a diviner. All diviners were either demon-possessed or charlatans, so I wasn't too surprised to note the sneer and hollow expression she wore. Demons I could deal with. The problem was the effect she was having upon the crowd.  As I continued preaching, I saw the girl whispering to those around her, though her vacant eyes remained locked upon me. Sometimes the demon-possessed retained some control of their own bodies, but not this girl. She had surrendered herself to it totally. I couldn't hear what she said to the listeners around them, but the effect was like a bucket of cold water upon the Holy Spirit's flame. People began to wander away, before I had even finished. All my hopes for the great outpouring of the Spirit that night evaporated. Finally, I dismissed what remained of my listeners at dusk, urging them to return to hear me speak again the next morning. I caught the girl's smirk of satisfaction as she wandered away, too.  When we were alone again, I turned to Silas in frustration and threw up my hands. “What happened?” I demanded. “Did you feel it too? That shift?”  The younger man nodded, grim-faced. “You saw her?”  “Yes! What was she saying to them? Could you hear?”  Silas nodded again. “It was always some variation of, ‘These men are servants of the Great High God, and they're telling us how to be saved!'”  I let out a grunt of disgust. The words were true, of course, but the effect of the words were proof enough that, coming from her, it would have the opposite effect. There were those who already spread rumors that we performed signs and wonders through the power of the demonic. The diviner girl's apparent endorsement must have convinced at least some of them that the spirit by whom she operated and the Spirit through Whom I did were one and the same.  “Maybe she won't come back tomorrow,” Silas soothed, but I turned a deadpan expression upon him. He gave me a bashful smile and shrugged. “Just being optimistic.” He knew as well as I did that if Satan discovered his tactic had worked to hinder the gospel, he would assuredly double down on it.  I huffed. “Let's just pray that, if the girl herself is still reachable, she'll give some indication of it tomorrow,” I murmured to my protege as I walked into town, toward the house where we were staying for the night. “Then we can cast it out, and turn her distraction to our advantage.”  “We might have to cast it out anyway, whether she wants us to or not,” Silas returned, falling into step beside me.  “I know, but it'll be worse for her if we do it without her consent.” “Why?” Silas frowned.  “Remember the Lord's teaching on this? He said, ‘when a demon is cast out of a person, it goes to wander in a waterless realm, searching for rest. But finding no place to rest, it says, ‘I will go back and reoccupy the body I left.' When it returns, it finds the person like a house swept clean and made tidy, but empty. Then it goes and enlists seven demons more evil than itself, and they all enter and possess the person, leaving that one in a much worse state than before.'” I told Silas, “If I cast it out, I want to be able to replace it with the Holy Spirit, for her sake. If I can't do that…”  “Ah, I see,” Silas bit his lip, and then looked up to heaven. “Lift the confusion and the oppression off of that girl, Lord! Long enough for her to hear that she has a choice, to hear that she can be set free!”  I agreed with Silas in prayer, both of us alternately speaking in English and groaning in tongues as we interceded for the girl all the way to our house for the evening.    But alas, the next day was no different—nor the next, nor the next. The girl turned up every day that we preached, souring the crowd against us and growing increasingly bold. “These men are the servants of the Most High God!” she began to shout over us. “They are proclaiming the way of salvation!” Many would-be listeners seemed to be scared off by her expostulations. Finally after nearly a week of hindrance, I approached the girl, standing right before her, peering into her eyes. I willed her to show me some indication that she was still in there, and that she wanted deliverance—but alas, she was only a shell. Still, I couldn't let this go on.  “I command you in the name of Jesus, the Anointed One, to come out of her, now!” At first, the girl's vacant expression did not change. I turned my back on her and, unhindered, proceeded to preach again to the small crowd gathered. I had to break off, though, because their attention was arrested by the spectacle behind me. Exasperated, I turned to see what had distracted them, expecting the usual foaming and writhing of a demon fighting his eviction.  I saw this, but I also saw a pair of well-dressed, burly men at the girl's side. I suddenly understood for certain what I had only suspected before: she was a slave, and she probably made these masters of hers a great deal of money with her divinations. The girl shrieked, and then went still. I knew she wasn't dead, having been through this plenty of times before, but her masters behaved as though I had killed her.  “You!” they spat, pointing at Silas and me.  My mouth fell open, which was about all the time I had for protest. In moments, the two swarthy men had each chosen a target—one falling upon Silas and the other upon me. When my huge captor got close enough, he wrapped one hand all the way around my skinny upper arm and proceeded to drag me toward the central marketplace of Philippi.  “Don't struggle!” I called to Silas, behind us.  Silas let out a short laugh, which I understood to mean, As if I could!  I tripped a few times as my captor dragged me inexorably along, at his own pace rather than mine. Moments later, we found ourselves before the city magistrates, on our knees.  “These Jews are troublemakers!” Silas's captor announced. “They're throwing our city into confusion. They're pushing their Jewish religion down our throats. It's wrong and unlawful for them to promote these Jewish ways, for we are Romans living in a Roman colony!” This announcement was met with an uproar, from both the magistrates themselves and from the surrounding mob—always ready to be whipped into an emotional frenzy, whatever the cause. I considered retorting that the two men who seized us were really upset that they had lost their source of income from the demon-possessed girl, but it was clear it wouldn't matter. The emotional pitch was too high. The magistrates, feeding off the energy of the crowd, tore their clothes and cried out that Silas and I were to be beaten with rods. Silas caught my eye, looking briefly terrified.  In minutes, both of us were stripped to the waist, tied to a pole, and on our knees, while bloodthirsty soldiers relished laying stripes into our backs. The dull thud of the rod against Silas's flesh and my own made me groan in rhythm with it. Then, some part of my consciousness detached as protection from the pain. I made a song of it. It was, in a bizarre sense, almost meditative. I was with the Lord, looking down at our suffering bodies, bemused. I wondered if this was how we would die.  And then it was over. I scarcely heard the crowd anymore, a dull roar in my own ears. All I saw were the paving stones, slick with my sweat and blood. The tunic was replaced upon my raw flesh. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I winced in anticipation of the moment when I would have to remove it again. I decided that when the time came, I would try to soak the tunic in water so that it would not stick to my wounds when I peeled it off.  These thoughts distracted me sufficiently that I was surprised to find myself on my feet, walking somewhere with an escort. It was bright, and then it was dim, dank, and chilly. We were forced into a cell, and then to our knees. Something wooden slammed across my ankles, hands and neck. Stocks, I realized. Silas received the same treatment beside me, I saw as my eyes adjusted to the gloom. The roar began to fade from my ears, too, and with it, I felt the sting and throb of my wounds begin to return. I could make out the cadence of taunts from our captors, but not their substance. Then the door slammed shut. Silas and I were alone again.  We were silent for some time, probably both regaining our senses after the physical shock.  I was so grateful for shock, I thought. How kind of the Lord, to build in that mechanism to the human body, so that the nerves could not be overloaded with too much pain at once. I hadn't really felt the pain except at the very beginning, and as it crept back to me now. “You okay?” I croaked to my companion at last.  Silas groaned in response. Over the subsequent hours, the pain returned in dribs and drabs, but never all at once. I felt the ache of my stiff, restless limbs, the throb and occasionally the sting of my wounds. I drowsed a few times, but then the discomfort of my position awakened me. I glanced over at the keeper of the prison, whose silhouette I could just make out from where I sat. I could tell the man had fallen asleep from his akimbo position, and his jaw that hung agape. Every now and then he let out a snore.  Eventually Silas said, “So. That could have gone better.”  I started to laugh, but winced from the pain of it. “The Lord has us here for a reason,” I managed.  Silas snorted. “You think so, huh? We're gonna do great things, all by ourselves down here, preaching to the rats?”  I didn't bother to rebuke him. Less than a minute later, he sighed, having apparently rebuked himself.  “I'm sorry,” Silas murmured. “You're right. Of course the Lord has a purpose. He will take what the enemy meant for evil, and turn it for good.”  “Let's praise Him for it,” I said with determination, and began to sing softly, “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious.”  Silas, recognizing the psalm, joined in, “Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.”  “Yes!” I agreed, louder than I meant to. I heard slight creaks and groans from other cells adjacent to ours, and suspected we had roused an audience now. The jailer was still asleep, though. I continued, terribly off-key, “All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name!”  We finished one psalm and went on to the next, and as we did so I felt my spirits lift. I knew Silas's did too. I also felt a sense of anticipation that I could not explain. Neither of us could sing a lick, but our discordant voices blended in joyful noise and occasionally dissolved into laughter. I could see a few of the eager faces of our audience of fellow prisoners though our bars, cast in shadow.  “Keep singing, boys,” said one hoary prisoner, his voice scratchy with disuse. “You're doing it!”  “Doing what?” asked his cell mate.  “I dunno,” said the old timer, “but they're doing something. Can't you feel it?”  I certainly could. I responded with, “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord! He is their strength in the time of trouble.”  “And the Lord shall help them and deliver them!” Silas belted as loud as he could. “He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him—” “Shh!” I hissed. I thought I'd heard a rumble, and wasn't sure what it was. A second later, the rumble grew much louder, and the ground beneath us trembled violently. “Is that—an earthquake?” Silas now had to shout over the din.  As if in response to his question, our stocks—which were locked—rattled open. So did our cell door.  So did everyone else's! “Ha ha!” Silas cried, and then moaned with relief as he straightened and gave his angry limbs a decadent stretch. “Thank You, Lord!” he cried out.  I too straightened, stretched, and couldn't help groaning as my stiff limbs began to move. All around us, I heard the other astonished prisoners doing the same.  “Psst!” hissed one of the other prisoners. “This was your doing, preachers! Where should we go now?”  I glanced at the keeper of the prison, who had startled awake and let out a cry when he saw that all of the cell doors stood ajar. He swore as he scrambled to his feet, and drew his sword. I watched him with alarm, thinking that he intended to attack us, until he turned it upon himself.  “Stop!” I shouted.  I so startled the man that his sword clattered to the ground, and he uttered another cry, as if I were a ghost. I realized that the jailer had seen the open cells, assumed we had all fled, and that he would be executed for failing in his duties.  “Don't do that!” I told him, holding up my stiff hand. “We're all still here! Nobody's run away!”  I could still see only the man's silhouette. He turned to shout to jailer who was out of sight.  “Bring me a torch!” he cried.  In a few minutes our jailer bore a lantern, held it aloft, and saw that indeed, all of the prisoners were still within, though none of us were chained or barred. He re-secured all of the other cells once more, though he did not lock any of the rest of the prisoners back in their stocks. When he got to ours, I expected him to seal our bars as well, and go back to sleep. But when he got close enough, his expression crumpled, and the lantern shook with his trembling. He came into our cell, falling on his knees before us.  “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved?” he begged.  Silas beamed at me, and I nodded at him to go ahead. He told the jailer, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you'll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!” The jailer wiped his eyes as he stood to his feet, though I hadn't noticed that he had been crying before. “Come,” he told us. “Tell my household yourselves!” He turned and whistled for the other jailer who had stood in the shadows watching all of this, the one who had presumably brought him the lantern. The other jailer watched us, wide-eyed, as we walked out of our cell behind our original captor.  “I am Jerome,” he introduced himself. “My wife is Sophia, and our daughters are Alexandra and Katye.”  We did not have far to go, as Jerome and his family lived right by the prison. He called out in a loud voice to rouse his wife and daughters when we entered. The girls were young teens, and they seemed irritable to have been so awakened. Apparently the earthquake had been quite localized, and not even extended so far as to his home. His wife looked alarmed, looking at Silas and me. “Who are these men, Jerome?” she asked in a low voice, not taking her eyes off of us. “They certainly look like the men who were beaten in the square today—” “They are, but just wait until you hear—!” He tripped over his own tongue trying to tell his wife and daughters what had happened in the prison, though he got it all out of order and seemed to forget basic words in the process. At last, Silas and I helped him fill in the details.  “It was a miracle!” Jerome concluded, throwing his hands up. “These men are from God, and they are here to tell us how to be saved! But quickly, we must first attend to their wounds and their bellies. Alexandra, Katye, draw some water, lather some soap, and bring some salve if we have some. I will tend their stripes myself. Then help your mother prepare these men something to eat.”  “Oh, praise the Lord!” Silas uttered as Jerome bathed and applied salve to the raw flesh of his back. When it was my turn, I hissed from the sting but also let out a few involuntary praises as he dressed my wounds. He washed our bloody tunics in the soapy water afterwards and gave each of us a fresh tunic while ours dried. Around the third watch of the night, Sophia and the girls set a meal before us of bread and cold meat. My stomach growled when I saw it, but I knew we must put the Lord's priorities first. The meal was a cold one anyway; it could wait.  So Silas and I took turns telling Jerome and his family about the Lord. We told them about Jesus, His death and resurrection, and about the Holy Spirit He sent at Pentecost. We invited them to be baptized. Jerome agreed eagerly, though the only water they had on hand was now dirty with soap and blood and dirt. Jerome declared that he didn't mind a bit, but Alexandra and Katye did. They dumped the previous basin and drew fresh water, assembled dry clothing for the family to change into afterwards, and then Silas and I took turns baptizing all four of them. As we did so, the Holy Spirit fell upon each of them. Alexandra, the most demonstrative of the family, babbled with tongues while laughing and crying. The others held back, but we could see that their faces were radiant with joy. Both teenaged girls shrieked with combined shivers and giddiness, and ran back into the house to change into dry clothing.  And then, what a meal we shared! I could hardly remember when one had tasted so good, seasoned with hunger and enjoyed with the love of new brothers and sisters.  “I only regret that I have to bring you back to the prison now,” Jerome cast Silas and me an apologetic look. “I know you've done nothing but the Lord's work, and the magistrates only agreed to punish you because you cast a demon out of a valuable slave, and the owners wanted you to pay for it. But still, if I don't return you to your cells, they'll kill me—” “We know,” Silas held up a conciliatory hand. “And the magistrates also know we did nothing wrong. They can't hold us forever.”  It was just before dawn when we followed Jerome back to prison. He pleaded with his eyes for us to forgive him as he locked us in once more. We nodded to him and smiled that we understood.  Silas and I had just finally drifted off to sleep the following morning when the rattle of our cell door jolted us awake.  “The magistrates sent word that you're free to go on your way!” Jerome gasped, beaming at us. “Congratulations! Go in peace!” Silas began to climb to his feet, but I held up a hand to him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, frowning. “We are Roman citizens in good standing, yet they beat us up in public and threw us in jail. And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? No indeed! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.”  Jerome gaped from Silas to me. “You're—Roman citizens?” he echoed. “Why didn't you say so before?”  Before I could answer, the jailer hurried from our cell, leaving the door wide open. He ran outside, presumably to relay this astounding piece of information to the magistrates.  “Why didn't we think to say that earlier?” Silas asked me, smacking his forehead. I shrugged. “Honestly everything was so chaotic at the time that it didn't occur to me. But I think that the Lord wanted us to meet Jerome and his family anyway.”  “And us!” wheezed the old-timer in the cell beside ours. He grinned through the bars, revealing several missing teeth. “Your singing was so terrible it made the earth quake!”  Everyone laughed at this, just as we heard a commotion coming down the stairs. The magistrates followed Jerome, who could barely contain his smug grin. The magistrates themselves were white-faced and flustered.  “You are—Roman citizens?” one cried.  “You should have said—” “We had no idea! Please, forgive us—!” They tripped over one another in their efforts to apologize and beg our forgiveness, and plead with us to leave the city so that the whole affair might be quickly forgotten. Heads held high, we followed the magistrates out in broad daylight, waving goodbye to our fellow prisoners as we went. Jerome did not want to appear overly friendly with us, but his eyes twinkled at us warmly, and we nodded at him before we departed.  “What do you think?” Silas whispered to me as we walked away. “Should we leave the city, as they asked?”  “Soon,” I told him with a sly smirk. “But not just yet. Best not to let the magistrates breathe too easy.”  

# Introduction As one of the shepherds I am burdened for the body, jealous for you against the world's attempts to make you miserable. Within the last ten years—which happen to overlap the years we've been busy cultivating a Trinitarian community of worshipping, maturing disciples who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all the world—the accuser, the devil, the evil one, has been cultivating his offspring into an angry, envious, self-righteous mob. By God's grace, even in and through our liturgy of worship, we do not see the seeds of “woke” sprouting in our church. But, not only do I desire for you to be ready and protected in heart and mind if/when the woke attack, I honestly am doing everything I can to make each of you, and all of us together, a bigger target. We don't have the problem on the inside, but I pray that we would provoke those on the outside. Our pastors considered taking an entire Sunday seminar to talk about wokeness, though again, this is not an error that we see within the flock, so it didn't seem as pressing. But as we take time at the beginning of each year to refresh our understanding of Lord's Day worship, I can't help but think that God is using our liturgy to keep us from going woke. That it isn't critical is not a coincidence. Woke is an exhausting worldview that will get worse in our culture without a gospel revival. Maybe you've never heard the word “woke,” you certainly are dealing with expressions of it, through companies and colleges and Congress and commercials. I couldn't dream of providing an exhaustive explanation or exhaustive examples, let alone a prophetic vision of how much suffering we're in for. But again, I want you to understand how our liturgy of worship is a privilege, with a bunch of sub-privileges necessary attached, and how that privilege is exactly a provocation to many of our cultural neighbors, including, sadly, *many* professing Christians, pastors, and churches. I'm going to start with a part of the Sermon on the Mount, the judgy-pants, plank-in-the-eye part, then define what woke means and demonstrate how wokeness is anti-gospel, and then call all of us to embrace our privilege in worship, which includes confessing our sins and rejoicing in our God-given forgiveness and fellowship and fruit. # Planks and Pigs - Matthew 7:1-6 Maybe Matthew 7:1 is the most quoted verse in the Gospels next to John 3:16. It may also be a 7:1 misuse:use ratio, and that's by both those who profess to be Christians and those who *don't*. That's an important piece: men who don't believe the Bible, but who are familiar enough with it to borrow its morality, use the parts they want in their own defense. The men and women listening to Jesus were culturally saturated in categories close-ish to God's commandments. These Jews conversed in the vocabulary of righteousness, and, following in the path of their teachers, had more problems with *self*-righteousness than unambiguous unrighteousness. They loved to judge by surface standards, which Jesus confronted as missing the heart of the matter (think: anger, lust, loyalties, 5:21-48). Righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and scribes, who were precise and pretentious (5:20). Theirs was for show, so Jesus condemned “practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them” (6:1), whether that was in donating to charity (6:2-4), chanting on the street corners (6:5-14), or in gloomy-faced intermittent fasting (6:17-18). They wanted to be seen, they wanted the reward of a higher social score. At the same time, they were concerned about quality of life, about worldly status, about money and clothes and food (6:24-34). Their treasures showed where their hearts were (6:21). After all that Jesus said, “Judge not that you be not judged” (7:1). As the rest of the paragraph makes clear, this is not about covering your eyes and turning off your brain, but it's about knee-jerk, with emphasis on the jerk part, judgmentalism. It's about being quick to climb the ropes and jump off the highest one with a bionic (or, ironic) elbow of superiority. Verse 2 points out hyper-critical judgments are like a blind man throwing boomerangs; they come back *hard*. Verse 3 points out how ridiculous/laughable it often is: he's got a *log* in his eye. That is a funny picture. A “log” (ESV), or “plank” (NIV) or “beam” (KJV) is a big piece of heavy timber, the kind that holds up a roof, a rafter, that would certainly be bigger than a man's head. The analogy is hyperbole, and humorous. It's a joke. The plank-eyed man is somehow focused on another man with a speck or splinter in his eye. Verse 4 continues the joke, how can you even see around the log? It's funny, and it's hypocrisy. So it's not no judging (see verse 5), but rather it's no judging from self-righteousness. It's no judging others first. If there's self, it should be self-judging, and not second. The hypocrite doesn't get the joke; he *is* the joke. The very next verse may appear to change the subject, but verse 6 applies to the previous five. A self-righteous plank-eyed man, who doesn't see the irony of calling out others for sins he's living in, is a pig that will turn on you if you keep trying to help him see it. > Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pics, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. (verse 6) Just as Jesus is serious about self-righteous, judgy-pants hypocrites who can't recognize themselves, He is serious about others recognizing them and not giving them more material. “But,” sister sentimentalism says, “you're not Jesus. You can't call other people pigs. That's not loving.” And I might say, “Don't judge me.” Or, we could point out, you also aren't Jesus, so you don't get to say that He didn't know what He was doing when He preached this prohibition and acted like it was possible to understand and obey. Do you want to obey Jesus? Love your enemies (5:44), and, don't give pearls to pigs (7:6). Not either/or, but both-and. Don't keep giving holy, valuable wisdom and good news to haters. Don't worry about hurting their feelings. A man who is listening, sure, help him with his splinter, or his log. But a scoffer? Better watch out that he doesn't bite you. # The “Worship” of the Woke Like those in Jesus' day, and actually, even more so, since in our day we actually have Jesus' words, too, we live in a generation of men so familiar with biblical morality that they can't help but use the language to justify themselves and condemn others, mostly to avoid their own hellish guilt. There is nothing new, but at present it's popular again to practice (a kind of) righteousness before men to be seen, liked, and if you're lucky to not have your business burned down. It is full of irony, hypocrisy, wickedness, instability, danger, death, and misery. Unlike a number of labels, “woke” is a self-chosen identity. It's worn proudly, not like the stains smattered from a derogatory tomato. The term gained popularity in the 2010s, and started with concerns about racism, especially in the Black Lives Matter movement. Woke means to be “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),” ([Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/woke-meaning-origin)), which is a definition like a trojan-horse with dyspepsia. It has crept into any discussion about every possible way a person could be *oppressed*. Karl Marx didn't coin the term “oppression,” but he did divide the world into two categories: the economic oppressors and the economically oppressed. Note: those are legit categories. Solomon wrote about men having power over other men to their *hurt* (Ecclesiastes 8:9). But seeing oppression is different than starting with the assumption that oppression must be found, so look harder. Seeing oppression is different than a worldview which says the oppressor/oppressed categories explain *every* relationship. Seeing oppression, even fighting it, is different than committing your life to becoming the (ironic) oppressor of oppressors. Woke is a worldview built on “righteous” resentment of privilege, on envy of another's good(s), and an attempt to find simple, usually surface causes to explain suffering under the sun. It is a worldview that *will* find faults; the cancel part of cancel culture is not merely a stage toward a Kumbaya hand-holding circle of peace. It is a worldview that demands obedience and sacrifice, namely to level/lower all the high persons. Of course this is impossible. First, this isn't how God made the world to be; He made hierarchies. Second, leveling is at best only seen at the exact moment the oppressed pass the oppressors on their way to the top. The “woke” are aware of and even *consumed by* these problems. The woke think everyone should be woke about the problems. If you aren't woke, then you are the problem. Denial of guilt *is* proof of guilt. What do you *do* to be woke? You must admit your “sin” of privilege, whether that's your white skin, that your parents didn't get divorced, that your gender is male, or that you have a job that pays the bills including your (exorbitant) taxes. You must confess whatever they say are your privileges as sin, feel bad about those privileges, and stop supporting the “system” that promotes some to privilege. Then you must demand that others do the same; you must make disciples (albeit twice the sons of hell, as the Pharisees did in Matthew 23:15). What do you *get* out of being woke? You get a sense of satisfaction stepping up to the moral high ground. Of course, you don't belong there, so any satisfaction is qualified and fleeting; your sense of self is Guilty As Charged. You do *not* get forgiveness; your sins are too great to be paid in this life, even though you must try. You do *not* get fruit, because if anything looked like profit that would be privilege which is wrong by definition. You do *not* get genuine fellowship either. At best you are co-belligerents, fighting the same oppressors, a temporary fellowship based on shared grievances. But there is no happy ending. There is no peace. There is no good news. It is *anti-gospel*. Woke is a worldview that comes from different worship. From _Faultlines_ by Voddie Bauchum > this new body of divinity comes complete with its own cosmology (CT/CRT/I); original sin (racism); law (antiracism); gospel (racial reconciliation); martyrs (Saints Trayvon, Mike, George, Breonna, etc.); priests (oppressed minorities); means of atonement (reparations); new birth (wokeness); liturgy (lament); canon (CSJ social science); theologians (DiAngelo, Kendi, Brown, Crenshaw, MacIntosh, etc.); and catechism (“say their names”). (Location 1185) Are there actual racists (those who hate those of other ethnicities)? Are there employers who exploit their employees? Are their political and bureaucratic tyrants? Are there sexual harassers and predators? YES. And these are not splinter size sins. It is also true that many of our Christian fathers did not ruthlessly and honestly confess their sins and turn from them. They covered their sins, they lied, they did what they said to their kids not to do. Of course this has consequences. But, destroying another's property/business/livelihood, physically attacking and beating another man to death, slandering and ruining reputations *in the name of what's right* is all plank-eyed false righteousness. Seeking to establish lower expectations for minority groups, refusing medical treatment to people with the majority skin color, expecting minimum wage laws to fix poverty, these and other examples are more *planks* in the eye. Those with planks are judging based on a wrong sense of self-righteousness, from arbitrary and volatile “laws,” and they are not appeased by Christians feeling bad for them. They are pigs who will turn back to attack you, and then return to wallow in their chaotic mire (2 Peter 2:22). It was the so-called righteous people who demanded the crucifixion, yet they were a crooked generation. # Our Worship Is Not Woke Is it a guarantee that we can always judge correctly who's a pig? No. Can we never know? Then how frustrating is Jesus' sermon? What helps us deal with any size wood in our eyes, and what helps us see clearly and get clean, is the good news of Jesus Christ. It is the gospel of God that brings us together every Lord's Day. We assemble before God, not a mob of men. We submit to an objective standard, not the traditions or feelings of men. We mourn our sins, according to what God calls sin, as we *come to the Savior*, who paid the cost for us, saves us from the due penalty, and by grace cleanses our consciences and gives us His own Spirit to sense the Father's love and peace with us (Romans 5:5). We are brought into fellowship. We are given *more* privilege, *more* blessing. God does not guilt-trip us, as if His goal was to load us up with heavy burdens and cast us into the sea. The Father is *generous*, gracious; His kindness leads to repentance. He gives us pearls of freedom, forgiveness, fellowship, fruitfulness, even fun. # Conclusion The “pearls” are unidentified in Matthew 7:6, but couldn't they include *identity* as His image-bearers (Call), *forgiveness* as His children (Confession), *food* and *light* from His Word (Consecration), *fellowship* at His table (Communion), and *favor* for our weekly work as His representatives (Commission)? He gives us the treasures of mercy, grace, salvation, freedom, hope, comfort, *gospel*. The Father is giving His children great blessing, to make others (such as the Jews, Romans 11:11) jealous. This is not necessarily worldly success, though it is not resistant to visible, tangible, generational fruitfulness on earth (like many of the Psalms and Deuteronomy describe). Blessings are seen in how you succeed, and how you suffer, how you rejoice and weep with others, when you win and when you worship, when you lose something you loved because it was right. When He gives and takes away, and you bless the name of the Lord, you are likewise blessed. To not want God's blessing in order to not be a target of the woke is to be lukewarm at best, which is the vomit-launching position (Revelation 3:16). It is even less safe to say that you know better than the Father how much of His favor you need. He gives you pearls, which makes you jealousable and which makes pig-plankers TURN their heads, either in humility to repent from their own sin, or in rage to attack. Rejoice in your privileges, including the privilege of worship, and be ready. ---------- ## Charge Brothers, do not hide your light under a bushel. Let the blessings of God on and around you shine brightly; put them on a stand in the center of the room. Remember that God has redeemed you from your sin, He is transforming you from one degree of glory to another, and no one gives privileges like He does. ## Benediction: > The LORD bless you and keep you; > the LORD make his face to shine > upon you and be gracious to you; > the LORD lift up his countenance > upon you and give you peace. > (Numbers 6:24–26, ESV)

In this week's study, I begin with verse 9 in Chapter 2, the Church of Smyrna (myrrh). I focus on the ‘synagogue of Satan'.  Now many times you have heard me talk about positives and negatives in Yahweh's Word. Here we see a negative! Keep in mind that as Christians we are a church within ourselves, that ‘ek-kelsia'. We are the Positive! Therefore this synagogue of Satan may be a physical building, but it also can be a spiritual person! People that their desire is to destroy Christianity and Christians!It is very likely that these so-called Jews were the ones who were persecuting the church at Smyrna. These Jews were not people of Yahweh. They may have been circumcised in the flesh but not in the heart.  True believers have first covenanted with Yahshua Messiah and allowed Him to be their Savior and Lord. It is interesting how in the act of the death of Yahshua Messiah, He got rid of the divisions represented in the Temple and Tabernacle.  In the typology of the Temple there was a division between (1) Yahweh and man (2) priest and the people (3) Jew and Genitle (4) man and woman.  When Yahshua Messiah died (1) the veil in front of the Holy of Holies was rent in two thus giving man access to Yahweh Himself (2) He made us all a "holy priesthood" (1 Pet. 2:5&9) (3) since the Temple today is the body of the believer there is no more inner and outer court separating Jew from Gentile -- we can all become children of Yahweh because of Yahshua Messiah (4) instead of only male priests, today men and women are now free to approach and serve Yahweh.Then I go into a rant, showing that there are men within the world that flat out hate Yahshua Messiah and Christians. Men like George Soros. I explain some of the events that Soros is in involved with. And his Love for the philosopher Karl Popper and his book “The Open Society and its Enemies.” Popper proposed an alternative that won over the young Hungarian immigrant: an open society recognizing that no one has sole custody of the truth; others' views must be respected and people must learn to live together. (TRULY THIS IS OF SATAN!)Another man that has a hatred of Yahshua Messiah and Christians is Bill Gates. I explain his comment on how vaccines can control the world population.These examples and so many more are the works of Satan's Synagogue! My intention is to take this study to a deep level. Deeper than most of you are used to! I am asking no one to agree with me; however I do ask that you check every detail that I present out for yourself. Don't end up like those in Hosea 4:6 ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God (Elohim), I will also forget thy children.'But, be like those in 2Timothy 2:15 ‘Study to shew thyself approved unto God (Yahweh), a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.'Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!

Hello and welcome to the show today! In our study of the book of Acts we have just witnessed a Gentile centurion named Cornelius (along with his entire household) coming to faith in Christ after Peter shares with them the good news that God's salvation is available not just to the Jew, but to the Gentile as well (10:35). In Jesus, anyone can become a child of God. As Paul writes in… Galatians 3:26-28 (NKJV)— 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 3 Responses of The Church— And so we are entering into a new stage of the Church. And in Acts 11 we will see the three ways the Jewish Christians responded to these new Gentile believers. And these responses help us also to know how to relate to one another as Christians. Here in verses 1-18 we see that THEY ACCEPTED THE GENTILES. In verses 19-26 we will see that THEY ENCOURAGED THE GENTILES. And in verses 27-30 we will see that THEY RECEIVED HELP FROM THE GENTILES. A Transplant Needed— Just recently I heard the story of a young teenage girl who suddenly out of the blue was rushed to the hospital after suffering serious symptoms, after which she was told she could not leave. And that was because her liver was failing. And because of her age, she was placed as top priority on the transplant list and they soon found her a new liver. And they replaced her failed liver with the new one, which she was very grateful for and even met with the family whose loved one had passed away to thank them for giving her the gift of life; even out of the pain of their own personal loss. It was an amazing story. Failed Transplants— But you know, as amazing as that whole process is, sadly it doesn't always take. Sometimes a person experiences this miracle of modern medicine, is ecstatic at the gift of life that has been given back to them, but then it is discovered that the body's immune system refuses to recognize the new organ and instead attacks it like a foreign objects. Some transplants (unfortunately) don't take. Now doctors can give medication in order to suppress the immune system in order to help the new organ to get established and for the body to accept it, but even then there is sometimes the risk that that may fail. Will God's Transplant Fail?— And you know, this imagery is very helpful in helping us to understand the nature of what was happening here in Acts 11 and throughout much of the history of the Early Church. God had transplanted a new element into the Church; Gentiles (non-Jews). And Romans 11 describes them as being like wild olive shoots grafted into a domestic olive tree. The question is, is this transplant going to take? Is the body going to accept and receive them? Or is the immune system of the Early Church (which is responsible for helping to protect the Body against infection) going to reject the transplant, not recognizing what God (the Great Physician) understands; and that is that the new element is not only not harmful, but will even bring life to the Church? That is the central question of this passage. And it is one that pops up right away. Now news of the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ had spread like wildfire. It says in… Acts 11:1-3 (NKJV)— 1 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” Peter Rebuked— And so Peter returned to Jerusalem and was immediately met by a group of angry church members. And these were church members of the legalistic party in the church in Judea, which is why they are described as those who were "of the circumcision”. And they rebuke Peter for entering into the house of Gentiles and eating with them. Commonality at Table— And the reason it was so offensive to them that Peter ate with them was not just because he was around people considered by the Jews of that time to be unclean (which would have been bad enough), but because in Jewish culture to eat someone was a very intimate and personal thing. You only did that with people you were at peace with, which is why in Jewish culture if there was a grievance between two parties seeking reconciliation, the forgiveness process was never considered complete until both parties had shared meal together. Because to eat with someone was a way of saying (often in a public way) that there is a commonality between you; a mutual acceptance. That is why people were so offended when Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. Remember the story of Zacchaeus in particular and how people reacted to Jesus' going into his home, undoubtedly to eat with him. Jesus was saying that the barriers between he and Zacchaeus had come down. The Church's Immune System— And this is what is happening here with Peter and those of the circumcision. These Jews of this legalistic party in the church in Judea were like the immune system of the Church. They wanted to make sure that the Church was not aligning itself with anything that might pollute it. And so they say exclaim to Peter (and you can really feel the anger in their accusation): “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” Only Half of The Story— Now I find it interesting that that is the piece of information they latch onto and accuse Peter with. Notice they don't say a word about the Holy Spirit's being given to the Gentiles or anything like that. And do you know why that is? Well, in verse 18, after Peter tells them the full story, they seem genuinely surprised and willing to accept what God was so clearly doing. And so what is likely the case is that these men of the circumcision simply did not know before approaching Peter the other half of the story. They only knew the part that would be offensive to them. But why is that? Why did they not know? How is it that they were unaware? Well, it seems that whoever brought the news to them had only given them half of the story; the half that would really make their blood boil. The other part had been left out. And let me tell you, that is how most conflict in the Church starts out; with somebody spreading around something that is only half-true or that leaves out those details that might challenge the views of the person spreading the gossip. Any of you ever witness this before? Sensational Deceit— It's like if somebody were to tell you “Such and such Church member hasn't taken a bath in months.” And that's true. They haven't. Things sound pretty bad until it comes out later that they take showers not baths; and do so frequently.  Okay then, things are not as disgusting as they first appeared. Now you might say there is no way that kind of thing really goes on, but let me tell you, it does. We see it everyday on the news, which is built on sensationalism. News networks want to keep you hooked. And anger is a great way of doing that. And so they so often feed you what are often only half-truths in order to keep you angry; because if they can create that emotional response in you, you will keep tuning in. They know that deep down we crave for justice; and so if they can convince us there is gross injustice, they will excite you (or even incite you). But so often what happens is the full story comes out later and what then seemed like something heinous is seen in its fullest light to be something only moderately bad, somewhat acceptable, or even good; sometimes even great. Dealing With Stories— And so one of the truths we can glean here from this passage is not always to accept immediately as true the stories we hear about other people. And this is something I have tried to be very careful about in my ministry, especially when I am counseling somebody. I try always to remember Proverbs 18:17 says, which says that… Proverbs 18:17 (ESV)— 17 The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. Hear The Other Side— And that is so true. The first person always seems right until you hear the other side; which is why it is so important to forego making a judgment until you are sure that you have all the facts. And this is something these Jews who confronted Peter should have done. Peter Tells The FULL Story— Now Peter deals with the situation remarkably well. Ever since Jesus restored him after his 3 denials (and after Pentecost) Peter has demonstrate a wonderful humility; a humility that makes him such wonderful Church leader. I had a mentor (Roman Miller) who used to tell me numerous times that to be a good pastor you need to have two things: (1) A thick hide and (2) A warm heart. Well, it is clear in this passage that Peter has both. He doesn't show signs of being offended or hurt. He doesn't bite back or pull rank on them, which he probably could have done. No, he calmly and humbly relays to them the full story in its entirety. And all the missing pieces begin to come together for them, which we will unpack more next week. God's View— But as we think about this passage and what it might mean for us, one of the things that jumps out at us is that you and I are called to stand for what God thinks about issues. And ultimately (even though we may see things differently) we need to submit all our beliefs and prejudices to God. Because when you think about it, Peter's racism might have led him (as it did with Jonah) to reject God's call for him to carry God's message to  the Gentiles. At this point Peter was probably more like this group of legalists in his beliefs about the Gentiles than he was like Christ. But nevertheless, Peter was determined to embrace God's view over and against his own; and to take heavy criticism, because ultimately God's way was what mattered to him most. And that is something you and I ought always to apply. What does God have to say about the issue; what is revealed in His Word? Racism and hate has always and will always die and unity and healing will always be found when Christians commit themselves to live according to the way of the Lord in accordance with His Word. It is when we become united with God in His Spirit, sanctified by His Word (John 17:17) that we will consequently become more united with one another and bring true healing to the world. So let us commit ourselves to know and submit to the Word of God. Amen.

Readings for Friday, July 30, 2021 “Young men and women alike, old and young together! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.” -- Psalm 148:12-13 Morning Psalm 88 1 O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, 2 let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help, 5 like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. 6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. 8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O Lord ; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? 11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me? 15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate. 16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me. 17 They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me. 18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness. Psalm 148 1 Praise the Lord ! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host! 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. 6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. 7 Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, 8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command! 9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! 10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! 12 Young men and women alike, old and young together! 13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. 14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord ! Midday 2 Samuel 5:1-12 1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, “Look, we are your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The Lord said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. 6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, even the blind and the lame will turn you back” —thinking, “David cannot come in here.” 7 Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, which is now the city of David. 8 David had said on that day, “Whoever would strike down the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” 9 David occupied the stronghold, and named it the city of David. David built the city all around from the Millo inwards. 10 And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. 11 King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar trees, and carpenters and masons who built David a house. 12 David then perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. Acts 17:1-15 17 After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason's house. 6 When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” 8 The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, 9 and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go. 10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. 14 Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him. Mark 7:24-37 24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. 31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” Evening Psalm 6 1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. 3 My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord —how long? 4 Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame. Psalm 20 1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion. 3 May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. 4 May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans. 5 May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. 7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. 9 Give victory to the king, O Lord ; answer us when we call. You can also find all of today's readings at PCUSA.org. The Daily Lectionary podcast is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Plattsburgh, NY, read by Pastor Timothy J. Luoma.

Scripture Reading: John 7:25-36 The exchange in the temple between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders continues in this passage. The opposition to Jesus is becoming clearer through this conversation and the declarations of Jesus are becoming more piercing. The confusion on the part of the people prompts Jesus to say, "He who sent me is true, and him you do not know" (Jn 7:28). It is a repetition of Jesus' identity, but also a challenge to these Israelites. Jesus is revealing to them that they truly did not know the God of Abraham, though they thought they did. The strongest declaration of Jesus comes in verses 33,34. "I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come" (Jn 7:33,34). Jesus is, no doubt, talking about His ascension into heaven, but what is the meaning of the words "you will seek me and you will not find me"? Jesus says much the same thing to the Pharisees in John 8:22,24. "So he said to them again, 'I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come'" (Jn 8:21). Since Jesus promises that He will not cast away anyone who comes to Him (cf. Jn 7:37), we must conclude that the kind of seeking Jesus is talking about is not the right kind of seeking. These Jews had a "zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (Rom 10:2). They did not pursue righteousness by faith (Rom 9:31,32). There is a self-serving seeking of God that is not an honor to Him and does not lead to eternal life. According to John 8:21,24, someone can seek Christ and die in their sins. It is the broken, contrite heart that God receives (Psa 51:17). This is what the proud person does not possess. This pride keeps people from truly seeking God. There is a seeking that is not a genuine seeking of the living God.

Isn't it shocking that a mere 40 days after experiencing the most personal and deep connection to G-d in the history of the world, the Sinai experience, they'd throw G-d aside for an idol? How do we make sense of this? These Jews experienced the 10 plagues in Egypt and the splitting of the sea, they must've known that G-d wasn't going to come from the earrings that they took off of their wives? G-d wasn't a golden calf? Join Rabbi Moshe as he suggests an understanding in this difficult chapter of Exodus, applying it back to our world today. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out at thethinkingjewpodcast@gmail.com. Happy listening! Rabbi Moshe Sources: Exodus - https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.32?lang=bi&aliyot=0, Ramban's explanation - https://www.sefaria.org/Ramban_on_Exodus.32.1.1?lang=bi, Rav Hirsch on Exodus - https://mg.alhatorah.org/Full/Shemot/32.1#e0nf To sponsor a podcast or make a tax-deductible donation to support this podcast and DATA of Richardson: https://tinyurl.com/thethinkingjewpodcast

Bible Study with Jairus- Acts 16 The verses of Acts 16 begin with Paul coming to Derbe and then traveling to Lystra where he met Timothy. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium had spoken well of him. Paul intended to take him along on the journey but his father was a Greek (which is the Greek of the Gentiles). He took Timothy to be circumcised for the sake of the Jews who lived in that area before they began their travels. Paul traveled with Timothy and they went to different cities, and they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem for the disciples to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. At this time, the flow of the writing of the Bible had suddenly changed and it began to describe how the Holy Spirit did not allow them to preach in Asia. They had no choice but to go through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. Because many of us are not familiar with the geography of ancient Israel, when we hear these names, we may feel confused or overwhelmed trying to understand the story.  As a result, the names of these places will not leave a deep impact on us. This is one of the difficulties in reading the Bible. We have a relatively poor understanding of ancient geography and historical knowledge, so it causes some difficulty understanding the Bible. When the author of the book was writing these, the original readers would understand these differences, so no special explanation was needed. I studied the map and found when you travel from Derbe to Lystra, you'll be going from west to east, and then north to Iconium. Then from Iconium, you go west before you arrive in Asia. This time, Acts 16:6 says that the Holy Spirit forbids them to preach the word in the province of Asia. The location of Asia is in the south, so this means that the Holy Spirit does not allow them to go south. Then they went to the region of Phrygia and Galatia, which were in the north of Asia, but it's located in the south of Bithynia. They tried to go north to enter Bithynia from the border of Mysia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them to go again. If you are confused, Galatia, Phrygia, and Mysia are lined up from east to west, and north of them is bordered by a place called Bithynia. In other words, Paul and others went from the southeast of Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium to the northwest, and then they tried to go south to Asia until the Holy Spirit forbid them so, they had no choice but to go northeast and go to Galatia, then go west and continue to go to Phrygia, and then continue west to Asia, and then continue to go north to Bithynia, but again, the Holy Spirit would not allow them to. During this time, Paul had a vision, that told him the Macedonians needed them to preach the gospel. Macedonia is closer to the west. At that time, Macedonia was a place where the message of the gospel had not yet reached. Therefore, this so-called "Macedonian Call" is often used in Christian history to describe the call of God to His servant to head to places where the gospel had not yet been preached. Even though we discussed the locations, order of travel, and names of the various places unless you are looking at a map now, it may still be a bit confusing. Because of this we thought of an analogy. It's like Paul went to Washington DC (the capital of the United States) from Florida. But he also hoped to go south to Virginia, which is south of Washington DC, but the Holy Spirit did not allow him. So he had to go northeast to New York and then go west to Pennsylvania (which has the same latitude as the State of New York) and Ohio. Throughout this process, they tried to go north to Canada, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Then suddenly Paul had a dream at night. From the other side of the Pacific Ocean, he dreamt that a Chinese person said, "Paul, we need you to come to China to preach the gospel." My analogy may be over-exaggerated, but perhaps you can understand the difference in this journey. That is, Paul came from the southeast. If you go out to preach the gospel, you may not want to use the original route to come back, so you wouldn't go southeast. At the same time, the road to the south was blocked by the Holy Spirit, and the road to the north was blocked by the Spirit of Jesus. Then he had a dream at night, and a man from Macedonia in the west came to call him to preach the gospel. We should clearly understand what this means now. It is God who wanted them to go to the west of Macedonia. This was an example of the environmental stewardship of God leading them. There was a Pastor who said that God is present in all our environments. If you know God, every tree, wood, and flower has His traces. If you don't know God, you won't recognize Him, even if you see the thorn bush where He appeared to Moses. For you, it's just a pile of thorns. But how to recognize God in an environment, especially in a difficult environment, is not an easy task. Let's take a look at Paul's experience after he came to Macedonia to follow God's lead. They sailed from Troia, and passed through Samothrace, Neapolis, and finally to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district in Macedonia. The transportation during Paul's time was not as developed as it was later on. We're not exactly sure how long it took them to get there. In short, it could have been a very difficult trip. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when Western countries such as Britain and the United States sent missionaries to third world countries, it took about a month for people to sail from the United States to China. After a long journey, many people had still not arrived in China or they'd just arrived in China, and were infected with diseases and died. From this example we can see the challenges that the missionaries faced when going to foreign missions. If this was true in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries we can say that during the time of Paul, it was even harder and the conditions were even worse. When we think that God is calling us to do something, to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel, we're   hoping that just like Lord Jesus entry to Jerusalem, someone will shout: "Hosanna, praise to the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” And lay the palm branches and clothes on the ground to let the colt pass through. Of course, we know that we can't compare with the Lord, but we hope to gain some respect and be well-received.  Many preachers go to work in the mission field hoping that others will praise them as servants or messengers of God. Even if we don't want material blessings and praise from people, we may hope that at least, we can be greatly blessed to be working for the Lord.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was as powerful as when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost and 3000 people were saved? Let's look at Lukes narrative in Acts 16:13 next. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. (NIV, Acts 16:13).   The word "expected" is very interesting. They thought that it was a place to pray, but maybe it wasn't because this is just one of the places where women gathered. They began to talk about Jesus Christ. Lydia, a dealer of purple cloth, who was a worshiper of God and whose heart the Lord opened, had accepted the gospel. In other words, when they arrived in Macedonia, they did not preach in the Synagogue or stadium. They just preach the gospel in the market. This is the “Marketplace Gospel” that is often mentioned in churches now. The "Marketplace Gospel" is very difficult. I'll give you an example and you'll see why. I often take the subway to Washington, DC, and occasionally meet people who preach the gospel on the subway. Once there was a woman who stood up on the subway and said that everyone should accept Jesus Christ or else he/she would face judgment. The tone and the way she talked were very unnatural as if she was memorizing a speech. The people on the subway ignored her and treated her as though she were crazy. Although there was no objection at the time, there was dead silence. I also often see an African American man preaching the gospel at Union Station in Washington, and passers-by seem to treat him the same way. The United States is a Christian country. Street gospel or marketplace gospel is still very difficult. What's more, Paul came to a city where there was little preaching of the gospel.  You can see that Paul's difficulty in preaching the gospel in Macedonia was not much different than someone preaching on a subway. Later, Lydia insisted they live in her house, and then they went to the “Place of Prayer.  They went there because they were still looking for places where the Jews gathered.  These Jews may have feared God, but they did not know Jesus Christ. They had first preached the gospel among the Jews in order to win some converts.  They didn't expect that they would encounter a female slave, who was possessed by an evil spirit, and who shouted all day long: "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." (NIV, Acts 16:17). Paul became so annoyed that he commanded the spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ. What's going on here? Why did they encounter this slave girl who was possessed by the evil spirits? And isn't what the evil spirit said (through the slave) actually   true? They were indeed slaves of the Most High God promoting the way for people to be saved. This problem was very confusing for the members of this meeting. My understanding is this. I said that based on the experience of Lord Jesus' deliverance of demon-possessed people, even a demon-possessed person has a chance to be wide awake; the person could seek help from Jesus. Although this female slave was possessed by evil spirits, it's possible that she hoped to be delivered.  Her repetitive monologue was not necessarily from the evil spirits. Even if this was what the evil spirits said, we should not rule out the possibility that this woman was asking for help. Paul's annoyance was directed at the evil spirit. He was not necessarily annoyed by this female servant. The Bible does not tell us what happened to the woman after the evil spirit had been cast out.  Was she saved or did the story have another outcome? The ending is left to our imagination. I often say that the Holy Spirit is the best screenwriter. When a good screenwriter creates a script, he/she always creates new drama in order to grab your attention. The people here didn't have much time to consider the situation of this female slave before the conflict escalated, and a new contradiction suddenly emerged. Therefore, the dramatic conflict in this chapter had entered a new climax. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized and dragged Paul and the others into prison. (NIV, Acts 16:19). Some of our members asked why these things happened. The reason is very simple. You'll understand when you look at the experience of Jesus. Wherever Jesus went, there was still opposition. Jesus himself said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (NIV, Matthew 10:34).Why? Because wherever there is light, power and the authority of the gospel, darkness, evil spirits, and people's sin will be the exposed. Evil spirits like to act secretly and lurk in the dark. If we go to a place and the evil spirits are still hiding within people, this means that we do not have the light, power, and authority of the gospel. The opposition that Paul encountered here is actually evidence of them being filled with the Holy Spirit. When we talked about this, I mentioned that Paul's experience is actually intertwined with our lives today. The members in our study were confused when they heard this. How can Paul's experiences be applied to our lives today? They didn't see the connection. In my experience every time we read the Bible, it can be applied to our lives because the Word of God is not limited by time. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (NIV, Hebrews 13:8). The Holy Spirit is also with us. He is always ready to shine on us If we read the Bible and it feels like just words on a page that don't stir up our spirits within us, we are missing the Holy Spirit's illumination.  The same goes for attending a Bible study and coming away empty.  I said that I would give you a few examples of this, and then you will understand why Paul's experience can be applied to our lives today. I'll start with an example that I mentioned earlier. During the 19th and 20th century, an American Christian felt that he had heard the call of God and saw the vision of Macedonia. He traveled by boat to China for a month. In the end, he died of illness shortly after landing. Does this help you understand how to apply Paul's experience to our lives today? Our Bible study group still didn't quite understand. Let me give you another example. When Hudson Taylor saw a vision at the sea of England and saw thousands of Chinese people heading for hell, then he moved to the slums of the East End of London. He lived on nothing but bread and water every day and endured a lot of hardships in order to evangelize in China. He also established the China Inland Mission in China to preach in places that were inaccessible. He also called many Christians overseas to participate in the service in China. As a result, many Western Christian Missionaries were killed in the subsequent emergence of the Boxer Rebellion. The vision that Hudson Taylor saw is often called his Macedonian Call.  But what he experienced in China was almost opposite to God's calling to him. He did not understand why God allowed the boxers to kill these dear Christian workers. Sometimes you may feel that you have seen visions and you think that this is the Macedonian Call that God has given you. You may also feel that you're following God's lead to your Macedonia. But you may find that the environment you face is very different from what you've imagined or expected. How would you deal with this? Especially when you experience being locked up in a prison? How would you face this? By this time, our Bible study members began to understand what I meant about Paul's experience being practically applied to our Christian life. I have further stated an example, saying that once we encounter a situation like this, most people's reaction is to doubt whether they have really heard God's voice, or whether they feel that God's leading is really God's leading. Most people begin to doubt. For example, I heard the testimony of a preacher, Benny Hinn, who divorced for some reason and later remarried. After he remarried his wife, he testified that he clearly heard God telling him to marry his wife when he was young. But after the marriage, he was busy with ministry and he had neglected his wife. His wife was then determined to file for a divorce. During the most painful period after the divorce, he often wondered if he had heard God saying that He wanted him to marry his wife in the first place. This is an example of a person who serves the Lord. I have further examples of some circumstances from our Bible study members. For example one Bible study member thought that God was telling him through prophetic words and visions that he would have financial blessings in his business.  Unfortunately, in actual life he experienced customer fraud and payments in arrears quite contrary to the visions and prophetic words. Another lady thought that God promised her that she would marry this year. There was also another woman who had a prophetic dream that her marriage would take place soon, but it has not yet appeared in actual life. This is the difficulty we encountered in real life. This is our Macedonia. When we are led by the Word of God or the environment leads us to some point, we thought that we were riding on the crest of a success or achieving our dreams, but we find ourselves trapped in prison. What should we do at this time? Several Bible study members commented that they didn't feel like they were held in prison today. I told them this. Though we don't have a tangible prison today, we have all kinds of invisible prisons, and we are being held in various invisible prisons. For example, our wrong understanding of God, our misconception about ourselves, and our wrong perception of others are all cages. All of these have locked us up in our invisible prisons. I'll use my personal experience to give an example.  Because I lacked my father's love   since   childhood and grew up in the countryside as a peasant's son, I gradually began to develop a misconception that I was extremely inferior. Whenever I encountered difficulties, I was fearful and ran away from them. Everything was blamed on our background - that I was the son of peasants. But God has made many callings and promises to me. God tells me through visions and touches that He will use me to preach the gospel for His kingdom and bring about the revival of churches. But my actual situation is the opposite. I am full of fear and have low self-esteem. If I can't live out God's great calling for my life, is it because God has not promised me anything or my Macedonian Call is actually false? Or, is my own misperception limiting myself? The issue that I had is called the Orphan Spirit. It's like the Prodigal Son written in Luke 15, who is a typical representative of the orphan spirit. He does not feel that God loves him, so he goes wandering. It's when he is financially destitute that he finds out that Our Father is actually God and He loves him. This led him to return home and repent. I was a person with an orphan spirit, but God has done a lot of inner healing and deliverance in my life. I've broken free from the orphan spirit to a certain extent, and I've gradually learned to enjoy the love of God and rest in the Lord. Another woman in our study had a different situation. In English, it is often called “Performance Orientated”. The reason why she had this issue was because of her experiences as a young girl. When she was young, her mother loved her brother. The family was also poor, so she felt that she could only receive the love of others if she did everything to the best of her ability. Therefore, this type of person is very concerned about the attitudes and praise of others and they live very a tiring life. These people are also weary and burdened. They are like the eldest son in Luke 15, desperately trying to get the praise of his father. When he thinks that he can't get anything, he becomes extremely angry and embarrassed. He doesn't realize that his father has always loved him. You don't need to work hard to get God's love. God has loved you to the point where he gave his one and only son. Many people work to win people's praise. However, a person who rests in God's love does not need it. He doesn't need to be concerned about the praise and denial of others. He is very relaxed in God's love. But there are some who don't know how to rest because they care deeply about what others think of them. These are people who have no experience or who lack the experience of unconditional love. I have analyzed these two situations and showed you invisible prisons that bind us. You may have one of them - the orphan spirit or the spirit of performance. Or your prison could be your unforgiveness towards others. The call of God and the Macedonia Call are the same as the call of God to the Israelites to enter the Promised Land. Both the call and the promise are there, and the Promised Land is indeed the land of milk and honey. But if you don't have the faith when you go in all you see is that the enemy is tall as a giant. Where is the difficulty here? The difficulty lies in our lack of faith. God often gives us a call, a Macedonian vision that takes us to a certain place. It's as if the whole environment is full of our enemies and darkness, and God's presence does not seem to exist. We seem to have been abandoned by God but actually, God did not leave us. God is just hiding to see how we react. If we have faith, it can bring us to the Promised Land. If we are full of unbelief and disobedience, we may die in the wilderness. Let's see how Paul reacts. Paul preached the gospel before the evil spirit had come out of the female slave. Consequently, he and Silas were opposed by people who were stirred up by the evil spirits and unbelievers, and they were beaten and put in prison. But around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God. The question that we discussed in the meeting was how could they still pray and praise in such a difficult situation? My understanding is this. Paul and Silas were able to praise because they really knew God from within. They didn't just see the hardships in the environment, the attacks of evil spirits, and the opposition of the people, but they saw the impact and power of the gospel and the truly impactful power which brought about the opposition from their enemies. Earlier, I said that we will face some difficult situations, but what Paul and Silas have done is actually what each one of us can do. We have God living in us. We have victorious Christ living within us. The key is to release this power through faith and praise. Paul seemed to be stuck in jail. He had only saved one person named Lydia and driven out an evil spirit from another slave girl. Then he brought a jailer and their family in prison to salvation later. This was like a snowball effect. This snowball will just get bigger and bigger. Many times, it's not about what we can do or how much we can do for God. One of the principles of how God works is to allow us to be placed in a difficult environment in order for us to show our true understanding and faith in God. This becomes a powerful testimony that can open our prison, break through all the darkness that binds us, and release the power of the gospel. We may face the same situation as Paul today, but we may not have the knowledge and experience towards God like Paul and Silas, so we may not be able to live out our lives just like the testimony of Paul, and have the prison doors open up for us. We often think that they are able to do this because they are apostles; they are Paul and Silas or Peter. However, the Bible clearly tells us that God is no respecter of persons. The principles established by God are the same. If you have the same understanding and faith towards God as Paul, the prison you are in today, whether it is tangible or an invisible prison, will open itself for you. No matter what kind of circumstances and hardship you are in now, don't be discouraged. Don't feel that God has abandoned you. The darker the times, the more that God will secretly watch you and see how you react. Your unbelief and disobedience will shut you down in the wilderness just like the Israelites. You should know that the Israelites were not able to enter the Promised Land, not because they don't have God's promise. They have God's promise there but they did not go in. If you don't mind the darkness and you put your hope in God, He will treat you in the same way He treated Caleb and Joshua. No matter how hard your circumstances are, how big the darkness is, and how impossible the situation is, God can lift you out of the predicament and let you enter a blessed state. This is how my own experience proves this. I felt that the all of hell was attacking me when I was suffering from ten years of bitter trials of my wife's infertility. Especially the two weeks before we found out that my wife was pregnant with our miracle baby. On one side, I was shedding tears because of the difficult environment, and on the other, I was praising and expressing my earnest gratitude to God. I was shedding tears while I was praising. God then supernaturally healed my wife, gave us a miracle baby, ended the ten-year hard trial, and I walked out of my prison. For more information, please go to the website and YouTube channel of Jairus Bible World Ministries to hear my testimony of the birth of our miracle baby. We will continue our fellowship next time. Thank you for reading and listening.    

The sheer intensity of the experiences of God’s people during the first few months of their return to the Promised Land (Ezra 3) shines through the lines of the text.(1) They are afraid (Ezra 3:3). This is the first hint of the dangers that they face, the source of which becomes clearer in the following chapters. The Persian king Cyrus has granted permission to the Jews to return to their homeland, and even sanctioned certain payments for their support and for the rebuilding of the temple. But the frontiers of the empire are a long way from the center, and in the rough politics of the real world, possession is nine-tenths of the law. These Jews are, after all, a minority surrounded by foes much stronger than they.(2) They are resolute (Ezra 3:3). The opposition understands that the erection of the temple is not only a religious sign but a sign of growing political strength. The Jews therefore would have had some incentive to keep quiet and maintain a low profile. But their resolution at this juncture is admirable: despite their understandable fear, they build the altar of the Lord and re-institute the sacrificial system prescribed by the “Law of Moses the man of God” (Ezra 3:2–6), and then proceed with the first steps of constructing a new temple.(3) They are full of joy and praise (Ezra 3:10–11). The laying of the foundation of the new temple elicits worship and adoration of God himself, who transparently is blessing the endeavors of his chastened covenant community. Here is hope not only for a temple, but for a restoration of the Davidic dynasty, the fulfillment of the glorious promises of hope delivered by the prophets during Israel’s darkest hours of exile.(4) Many weep (Ezra 3:12–13). These tend to be the older ones who can still remember the contours of Solomon’s magnificent temple. The foundations of the new structure seem piddling in comparison. Doubtless these people are grateful for days of small things; after all, they, too, have elected to return. But days of small things are still small, and the intensity of their emotional response is elicited by long memories of things past.At least these people are alive, and getting on with God’s business. Their responses may sometimes be wrenching, full of lows and highs, but they are real, vital, human, charged with life and engagement. Here there is no glum despondency, no cynical reserve, no emotionally flat withdrawal. Here are the emotions of a group of people committed, in difficult circumstances, to doing God’s will. This podcast is designed to be used alongside TGC's Read The Bible initiative (TGC.org/readthebible). The podcast features devotional commentaries from D.A. Carson’s book For the Love of God (vol. 2) that follow the M’Cheyne Bible reading plan.

"For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”' (Acts 2:34-35)Here Peter is talking to the locals in Jerusalem who had just crucified Jesus before He raised from the dead and ascended to Heaven. These Jews revered David and He was their greatest King up to that point. But now Peter saying that there's a better king, an eternal king because after all, David didn't rise from the dead and go sit at the right hand of the Father like Jesus did. In fact, David prophesied about a time when God the Father spoke to the Son, Jesus, telling Him to sit at His right hand. And in this quote from the Psalms, David refers to Jesus as His lord. Peter wants the people to see that David prophesied about the majesty of Jesus. Even a thousand years before Jesus was born. David knew that He is where the joy is!

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption." (Acts 2:29-31)Here Peter is talking to the locals in Jerusalem who had just witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. These Jews revered David. He was their greatest king up to that point. But now Peter saying that there is a better king, an eternal King. After all, David died and did not raise from the dead. They still had his body in the tomb. But Jesus is a descendant of David, and David had prophesied about Him. Jesus is the one whose body wouldn't decay or be abandoned to the grave. Jesus is the eternal life and He is where the joy is!

Today we see Paul's ‘case', which had done nothing for 2 years as Felix was succeeded by Festus, taken to King Agrippa of Rome. Paul has obviously done nothing deserving of death, or any kind of punishment, and the case for that is so clear when this new ‘trial' is put on display for us here in this chapter. Now, tomorrow we will hear from Paul and we'll see where this trial goes, but for today, just a thought that comes to mind as I am reading this. Have you ever had that moment where you thought, right in the middle of what you were doing, “This is kind of stupid.” Or, “This doesn't really make any sense.”...ever had that thought? I surely have. And, when we have that thought, there are typically 2 ways in which we can respond. One is with humility and with the realization that I had gotten swept up in what was going on, I had lost control to some extent, and now I need to step back and clear this thing up. The other is to dig my heels in. Usually, when I get the urge to dig my heels in, the motivation for that is to ‘be right' or to ‘win' ...which is an emotion that is intoxicating, exciting, and also very dangerous. Luke isn't presenting this case to us to make this point, but this illustrates this idea, nonetheless. When we find ourselves working against God in a matter, as did these Jews, and when we sense that the course of action we are taking is against God's will, or simply against the ‘right' course of action, I just pray that I would have the maturity, the clarity, and the courage to pause and consider the alternatives. These Jews were smart people. They were some of the most well-spoken and well-educated folks. They knew where this was going...no where. They were taking a Hail Mary shot at trying to get rid of Paul. I am guessing many realized that there was some to what Paul was teaching and preaching. I am guessing that many were just fearful of being pushed out of the social circle, the ring of influence, and the wealth that was a part of their lives. I pray that I don't illustrate that same fault in my own life. That's my prayer for today.

200405 Palm Sunday Drive in Service 

March 8, 2020 Why do we care so much about what people think of us? We want everyone to like us, and we often try to figure out how much people like us. If someone doesn't talk to us, we assume that they have something against us. If someone says something critical about us, we think that they hate us. If they say something positive, we might blow it out of proportion and let it go to our head. Regardless, we care about what people think, and most of us spend much of our time trying to convince people to like us more than they already do. In the first two sections of Matthew 6, we have seen how we tend to advertise our goodness. After we become more righteous like God, we want people to see that righteousness and praise us for our achievements. Jesus has revealed that giving and praying to be seen by other people will remove any reward that we were expecting to get from God. Our giving and our praying must be done to glorify God and not to glorify ourselves. Today I want us to look at the third section in this series, which is about fasting. As we study this section, I want us to be extremely critical of ourselves and think about how we can overcome this anxiety about other people's opinions. Fasting Matthew 6:16--18 (ESV) --- 16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. In this text, we see that the Jews have mastered the art of fasting. In the first century, they would typically fast on Mondays and Thursdays in addition to the law's requirement that they fast on the day of atonement and possibly at the New Year. These Jews would have seemed extremely zealous as they kept themselves from eating anything from sunrise to sunset one or two days a week. There are many things we can abstain from, but fasting throughout the Bible is always referring to abstaining from eating food. We see examples of fasting throughout the OT in men and women like Moses, Hannah, David, Daniel, Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah. These righteous men and women would refrain from eating, and so the Jews wanted to follow in their footsteps. We might look at someone fasting today and think that they are doing it because it is a popular thing to do. We live in a society that has no shortage of food. People fast to lose weight, save money, practice self-discipline, prepare for sporting events, to feel better, etc. These methods of fasting are purely focused on ourselves, and they often have no spiritual aspect attached to them. In the first century, fasting was probably not for any of these reasons. Fasting always seems to have a religious connection throughout the Bible. People fasted to mourn a tragedy, to plead to God for forgiveness, and to reach out for God's help. Fasting was always tied to praying in order to emphasize the feelings of dire need. It is a way of saying, "How could I eat when this is going on in my life?" So is that how the Jews are fasting? What Are They Doing Wrong? Jesus looks at their fasting critically. He says that they are fasting with faces that are "disfigured," meaning that they are making sure everyone knows how difficult it is for them to go without food. Food is good and it has been given so that we could enjoy it with thanksgiving to God. If we are honest, going without food is not something that we would enjoy. We love our food. Maybe we would sympathize with someone who says that it is difficult and even painful to go without food. We might think that they are just being open and transparent. But Jesus says that they are motivated by that sympathy and by the approval of men. They just wanted to be considered righteous. They aren't really fasting with a desire to grow closer to God or to lay their need before God. The Jews have made fasting a religious ritual that gives them good standing in the community. They fast because that is what righteous people always do, and they want to be recognized as an extremely righteous person so that they can have power and influence. Throughout history, God has always been offended by this type of religious piety. In Isaiah 58, God says, "They seek me daily and delight to know my ways as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God." The Jews are seeking God as though they are righteous. When we see the Jews in the Old Testament, it is essential to remember that they were extremely religious people. They were focused on being religious and doing all kinds of spiritual things. They say, "Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?" But God says, "Behold, in the day you fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers." The same idea is given in Zechariah 7-8, where God says, "Is it for me that you fast?" He would rather they love justice and show mercy than fast because their fasting is all about their own self-righteousness. God is not interested in having religious people who do all kinds of zealous works for him while rebelling against his commands to love their neighbor. Jesus says that those who are fasting for other people to see them fast will receive all of their reward in the form of praise from men. Isn't that sad? How many of us would actually fast knowing that the whole benefit is making people think we are righteous? Don't we feel bad for those who are giving up delicious food? God doesn't even notice that sacrifice when it is homemade ice cream. Fast In Secret Jesus tells those who would fast to do so without letting people see their fasting. They are to get up as they would any other day, wash their faces, and fix their hair so that no one could tell that they are fasting. The goal is to hide their fasting from people and let the fasting be something that is done entirely for God. If they are willing to fast for God only, then God will see their fasting and reward them. He wants his people to sacrifice for him and not for some other benefit. Fasting is supposed to be a supplement to prayer anyway. We aren't supposed to make religious acts serve our physical desires. How Does This Apply To Us? Do We Need To Fast? Well, how does this apply to us? Does Jesus want us to stop eating one day a week? After all, he says, "When you fast." We do see Christians fasting on specific occasions in the New Testament, but fasting is never ritualized because fasting is something that is done on special occasions. It wasn't commanded like singing, praying, and giving as a regular part of worship. Fasting seems to be an appropriate response to certain extreme situations in life. We may fast when we lose someone we love, when we have empathy for someone else, when we feel intense remorse about our sins, or when we are praying for God's help in making a big decision. We see this throughout the New and Old Testaments on occasion. So we don't want to ritualize fasting as the Jews did, nor do we wish to altogether reject it as something that provides no benefit. Jesus says that God rewards fasting in secret, so we believe it. A Deeper Issue There is a deeper issue here than fasting. These first 18 verses of Chapter 6 have been speaking to a more significant issue of religious hypocrisy. People are giving, praying, and fasting to be seen by people as righteous. In all three sections, he is warning against following the path of the "hypocrites." Fasting is an extreme external religious act that shows the magnitude of their hypocrisy. I would like for us to take a second to evaluate our external religious activities. Why are we doing the religious acts we are doing? Why are we coming to church services? Why do we visit the sick, teach the lost, or work on the building? We sacrifice our time and effort to do good things, but why are we doing them? Is it so that other people will think we are in good shape spiritually? Many churches have become clubs where people gather to satisfy that craving for community and approval. Are we here because we want to fit in? Are we worshipping God to convince people that we are righteous? These are all hard questions to answer, but whatever we sacrifice to the Lord needs to be evaluated. Do we have selfish motives? Are we doing these things to be seen by men as righteous? In this section, Jesus shows us that we can be extremely religious and zealous people who do NOTHING out of love for God. That should shock us as we see God looking at our hearts instead of outward appearances. Maybe we started out doing good works for God, but how easy is it to continue those works for man? If we aren't careful, we can be doing the same things that the hypocrites were doing in Jesus' day. We may seem zealous on the outside as we do all of these religious activities, but inside there is no love for God or desire to glorify him. We may just want people to see our good works and glorify us. Jesus encourages us to think soberly about why we are doing what we are doing. Robotically coming to church and being marked as righteous by men is not enough. Nor is it enough to lead the song service perfectly, prepare the best Lord's supper bread, teach the best Bible classes, or give a fantastic prayer. God does not care about us doing our best when our motives are corrupted. If we are the best person at work and we bring up scriptures to teach the lost about Jesus, but we are focused on how people at church will think of us when we baptize someone into Christ we missed the boat. All of that work is for nothing because we are seeking the praise of men. Jesus' words here sound a lot like the apostle Paul's in 1 Cor 13, "If we do many mighty works, but we don't have love, it profits us nothing." The Solution Is The Same The crazy thing about this is that the world around us can see it better than we can. They condemn all church members of hypocrisy. They believe we are just putting on a show. They think we are just actors portraying ourselves as righteous people while actually being evil and selfish like them. Most people, in general, are hypocritical. But we need to fight against these tendencies and become genuine in our devotion to God. Maybe you are hearing all of this and realizing that your motives have been off all along. You have only ever come to church because someone else wanted you to be here. You have only ever worked in the church because that is what righteous people always do, and you want to be seen as righteous. Maybe the only work you have done is seen by others. Now we see that all of that effort was wasted. You could have been enjoying yourself instead of helping those sick people. What should we do now? Should we stop working? Is the solution to hypocrisy to stop trying to be something we are not? That is what Satan would tell us. But Jesus tells us that the best thing we could do for ourselves is become what we are not. We need to submit our lives to God. He wants us to do those external works with pure motives and also start becoming righteous in secret. We need to love God for God and not for men. We want to be so in love with God that our external works reveal that love. So we do outward works like going to church and visiting the sick for God, and we don't care who sees us. Whenever we see a need, we must become people who fill that need without sounding a trumpet, making it obvious, or disfiguring our faces. The Lord's church is ultimately a group of secret volunteers who love God and want to show that love without looking for the approval of men. Conclusion When we stop to think about it, seeking praise from men never satisfies us. It is never really enough. The reward is so small and so temporary that we wonder if it was worth the effort. The truth is that tomorrow, it will not matter how people thought about us today. We will need more approval and more applause to feel good about ourselves. That hunger will never be satisfied by men, and if we make one mistake along the way, that house that we built on sand will crumble. But Jesus wants us to find satisfaction in knowing that God sees everything we do. If we give, pray, or fast in secret, he wants to reward us. He is patiently working with us to glorify his name. He wants to form us into lights for the world to see his glory. Fasting is supposed to represent our hunger for God. Instead, it represented the Jew's hunger for men's approval. Our goal is to escape the hypocritical tendencies inside of us all. It may be that by focusing on God and trying to do his will, we receive praise from men. But we must control our hearts, stop being so revealing about our good works, and long for the praise, glory, and honor that God wants to give to those who love his approval. Jesus wants us to have faith that God will reward us for all of the work we do, so long as we do it for him and not for man.

Apostasy is the act of a professing Christian deliberately rejecting the Gospel. These Jews had been exposed to New Testament truths but had not fully accepted them.

Day 318 of the podcast, reading Acts 17-19 NET, read along at: https://netbible.org/bible/Acts+17-19/ This is day 318 of our journey. Today we read about the daily life of Paul as he traveled from city to city. He would consistently begin his ministry in a new area by speaking in the synagogues, among the Jews. Inevitably, the Jews would reject the truth and begin to cause an uproar so Paul would move out from the synagogue to the streets where he would teach among the Gentiles. He would spend long periods of time in each city teaching and convincing the people there that Jesus is the Messiah. Join me in Acts 17-19 for the many adventures of Paul as he spread the good news. Key verses: Acts 17:11 These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so. Acts 18:28 for he refuted the Jews vigorously in public debate, demonstrating from the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. Acts 19:8 So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God. All Scriptures are from the NET.

Summary: How do we wrestle with the realities and complexities of our family situations today? How do we properly sort through the blessedness and the brokenness? Is it worth it to dig up all the dirt in order to move forward? How do we identify and interact with our biological families and the world given that Scripture tells us that when we're united to God through Christ we become a member of a new family?Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit MosaicBoston.com.Man, it's hard to get up here and preach after Caleb and Pastor Shane pray, basically do a full sermon. Good morning. My name is Andy. I'm one of the pastors here at Mosaic. If you're new to Mosaic, we're thrilled to have you here. In our bulletins, we have a connection card. We want to get to know you. We went to live in community with you and let you know about what we have to offer in terms of community groups, service groups. You can hand those in at our welcome center if you want a special gift.Please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you today with various family backgrounds. Lord, some of us come from brokenness. Some of us know blessedness very well. Some of us it's a mixed bag. Lord, we try to make sense of it of ourselves, and sometimes we identify ourselves too much by the brokenness, too much by the blessedness. We stray from clinging to who we are in you. Lord, we pray, please help us to define ourselves by who we are in your family through our faith in Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to know how to face our families with our new identity, face the world with our new identity. Lord, we pray, help us to lean in to you, the true source of love today.Holy Spirit, please be with us as we dealt into some difficult, potentially painful topics for some of us here today. Let your Spirit comfort us. Let your Spirit guide us. Let your spirit keep our gaze on Jesus Christ, on the cross. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.Today, we're continuing our series. It's called Tough and Tender: Developing Resilience for Life. Despite our personal preferences to choose a side of Jesus that we like, Jesus was a man who came and told us to love our enemy. If he turns and speaks against us or hits us, he told us to give the other cheek, but he was a man who spoke hard and firm truth. He was not one or the other. He split both sides right in the middle. He walked that narrow path in life.We've been talking on some difficult topics to breed resilience in ourselves as Christians. We're trying to give you all a vision for what it would be like if our society was filled with people just like Jesus, tough and tender. Today, we're making sense of our family origins and we're going to be asking how do we embrace the blessedness and face the brokenness. How do we face what's good in the right way, face what's bad in the right way as well?Why bring this up in this series? Why bring this up at this specific moment in history in Boston? First of all, at Mosaic, family or origin issues are the most common issue that comes up. I was in my residency role the past year, and just time and time again so many people come to me and say, "Andy, you don't know just what it was like in my family."We're a young congregation. A lot of us come from brokenness, and we're at the point where we're learning how to move forward from that with our new identities in Christ. Some of us are even scared that we have just those difficult family members, those influential family members, those shepherds of our past that were not good influences. We're afraid sometimes that we're appearing to be just like them.Some of us come from strong families with a good Christian heritage. As we're getting older, we're realizing that our parents are not perfect. The people that once fulfilled your every need that seemed perfect and indestructible, you realize as you come of age that they're not perfect.Even those of us who come from a strong background, a strong family heritage, a strong faith tradition or denomination, it can be even harder for us to see the brokenness in our situation. Today, we need to ... We all come from families. We all have brokenness that we need to deal with.We don't just need to talk about this because we're a young church. God is the creator of the family. There's a lot of therapeutic approaches, a lot of theories going around about how to help people to reconcile both the good and the bad of their past. The Bible is all about a family. God creates Adam and Eve in the garden, and he lives in perfect communion with then before they sin. They sin in Genesis 3, and for the rest of the book, all 66 books, it's a story about God trying to unite his family. Man sins over and over again. God keeps pursuing them, pursuing them, pursuing them. We need to turn to God to enter into this conversation.Just a lot of the therapeutic strategies out there, they harp on the past. They suggest delving into the past. If you take a look back at your life, you can learn more about yourself, and that can help you move forward. If you can find the deficiencies of your upbringing, you can figure out ways to address them and be stronger going forward. If you can shed the influence of your parents and the morality that they introduced to you, you'll finally be free to be great, the great and accomplished person that you were created to be.These approaches in which looking back, they're particularly attractive to those of us with broken family backgrounds. Since the garden, Adam and Eve, when they sinned, what did they do? God came to them acting as if he didn't know what they did, and he asked Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" They both hid. They're trying to hide the shame of their sin. They both point the finger at each other. They're trying to deflect the blame. The problem with some of these approaches that say look back, look back, look back to move forward is that it appeals to that fallen nature within ourselves to cover up, to point the finger, to blame others.Then on the other side, there's a way of looking back at the good things that's promoted using nostalgia. Andrew Abeyta, a researcher at Rutgers-Camden University published an article in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2015 about looking back to move forward. It suggest how one can use nostalgia as a psychological resource for promoting relationship goals and overcoming relationship challenges. It's an interesting article, and it seems that relying on nostalgia can be influential in helping us overcome challenges in relationships, and I think that captures a lot of those people who come from good backgrounds.When things in life get difficult, when we face challenges, when relationships break down, especially for the first time, we cling to the past. We go on saying if things could only be the way they were with my family, I would have peace again. If only I had success in this area, I would just have peace and joy. We're like Bruce Springsteen singing Glory Days over and over again, and we just keep trying to relive them. We go on trying to satisfy our lack of satisfaction in our hearts just by just pursuing and feeding our co-dependence, going to relationship to relationship, church community to church community, job to job, finding friends with whom we can pursue squad goals, but we never get ultimate satisfaction. We never grow substantially, and we struggle to engage in relationships and live in the present.Today, I don't want to argue about the dynamics of modern counseling approaches. I don't want to say don't go to counseling. If you are in a desperate situation, come talk to the pastors. Talk to people in your community group. Talk to pastors. We have our prayer team up here after the service as well. If you just during the week have nowhere to go, pursue that care. But I just want to point out these issues, these treatments, they're mainly forces of nursing. They're only treating minor internal issues. It's like putting a new kitchen in a house when the foundation is damaged.In Christianity, it's neither nature or nurture, nursing nor nostalgia that determines a person's direction in life. It's the nativity that makes people new. As fallen sinners, only faith in Jesus can fix our foundation.Today, I want to talk about in order to face the blessedness and brokenness of our earthly family like Jesus, we should embrace a new family identity, face family as a lamb, face family as a lion, face family with God. Obviously, I'm keeping, if you've been with us, with the lion and lamb imagery, but I promise that I won't have 10 sub points in this sermon. I really wanted to, but I want to sit on some of this other stuff today.Where do I get these instructions from? Embrace a new family identity, face family as a lamb, face family as a lion, face family with God. I get this from James 1:1 to 5. Please listen along as I read God's Word. "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 disciples in the Dispersion: Greetings. scattered among the nations: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."Embrace a new family identity. If any of you know the book of James, as I'm sure many of you do, and just listening to this text, you learn that this is not a book specifically about family. It's not about how to deal with your family brokenness and blessedness. Some of you might be asking, why are we here?What makes this text relevant is who James is talking to. Verse 1, "James, a servant of God," he's speaking to the 12 tribes of the Dispersion. That's he's speaking to the Dispersion. That's language in reference to just the Jews. They were spread throughout the region. He's calling them my brothers. He's writing ... James is the brother of Jesus. He's writing to Jewish brothers, Jewish Christians.Just what's so important to emphasize here is this audience. Like we think we have it bad in Boston. Like we face some intellectual persecution. It's hard to find a Christian date or partner, because there's so few Christians here. Raising a kid here, we think it's difficult, like fighting the squirrels away in the Boston Common. We think like we have it tough, but first century Jewish Christians had it really tough.This is something that a lot of us, it doesn't make sense. Christianity seemed to have taken off at Jerusalem, but you have to remember the Christians of this day, they were mainly in lands occupied by Roman pagan soldiers. These soldiers did not, and the rulers, governors didn't hesitate to rule with an iron fist if they didn't like someone, didn't like a group.But just with that lingering potential persecution, the Jews had to deal with persecution from other Jews. We think of the apostle Paul when he was Saul, just pursuing them jealously. But not just in public, but they faced persecution within their own families. You have to think like for a Jew to leave their family, a cult steeped in tradition, we're talking about people who knew their family heritage. They should state it orally going back hundreds and hundreds years. Like this, becoming a Christian in that day was the ultimate betrayal.We think of a Red Sox fan switching to the Yankees, Barcelona fans switching to Real Madrid, a modern Democrat switching to Republican. I'll stop. Juliet Capulet marrying Romeo Montague. Forgive my French. More seriously, like an orthodox Jew or devout Muslim becoming Christian today. These Jews were people that would've had to scrounge to survive. When they gathered for worship, they would have been on the lookout for zealots. They would have been on the lookout for the Roman authorities.Just scriptural support from this comes from Galatians 2:7 to 10. "On the contrary." This is the apostle Paul talking about some of his early interactions after his conversion. "On the contrary, when they," the church in Jerusalem, "Saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised, and when James, and Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."The poor that Paul's talking about in verse 10, these are Jewish Christians. When you read through the book of Acts and Paul's other writings, you find that you on his missionary journeys traveled across the region towards Europe to collect money, hundreds of miles of travel, and take it back to the Jews in Jerusalem, because in such a heavily populated Jewish area they were the poorest Christians. They were facing really difficult circumstances.Therefore, the book of James, it's not specifically about our earthly family, our biological family, but it's a book written by a pastor with a congregation full of people who had extreme family issues. If they weren't steadfast in their faith, they were always wavering over whether to continue to face the potential persecution and abandonment for the sake of Christ, or they could return to their families where they had heritage, they had peace, they had comfort.This is specific advice, and this begs the question, why would these Jewish Christians leave their families? Why would they risk this persecution and this abandonment? Some of them did choose to leave. Others were kicked out.Obviously, I mean most people are logical. They don't just leave something just because. They typically choose something because it's better than the previous option. Scripture talks about believers in Christ, they have a place in the kingdom of heaven. "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and tells all that he has and buys the field." These early Jews believed that, Jewish Christians.The early church heeded the words and took these words literally. "And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands for my name's sake will receive 100-fold and will inherit eternal life." They believed that, and following Jesus Christ they had a means of salvation of peace before God, but also an eternal inheritance.They also believed they're joining a new family with access to a father. Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also give him ... how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" They have a new heavenly Father that will never fail them.Finally, in Ephesians it talks about they're joining this line with all the faithful saints and prophets of old, united by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."These people, these are benefits that the early Jewish Christians just saw and they wanted to ... They took them up. They left for the better option, but they also would have known the scriptures. Just when you read through scripture, again it's about a family.I just want to take you through the brokenness presented in Genesis, and these Jewish Christians, they were the ones, not their families who stayed devout Jews, these were the ones who knew that Jesus was the Messiah. He was just the figure they looked for all along.You think of Adam and Eve. They immediately disobey God in the garden. Their firstborn kills his younger brother. Abraham and Sarah, who received God's promise, because of infertility, Sarah gives Abraham and concubine and then gets mad and jealous when she gets pregnant. Lot, Abraham's nephew, gets drunk. His daughters get him drunk, they seduce him, commit incest.Isaac and Rebekah, Isaac, Abraham's son, they play favorites with their twins, whose sibling rivalry becomes one of the worst in history. That's Jacob and Esau. Esau has no discernment, sells his birthright for a bowl of soul. He marries a Canaanite woman. Jacob, he manipulates Esau to give him his birthright. He shows extreme favoritism to one child, Joseph.Uncle Laban, he deceives Jacob at one point. He makes Jacob work for years and years and years to offer him Rachel, the beautiful daughter, but he gives him Leah. Jacob's daughter Dinah is raped by a pagan, and then her brothers go and kill a whole village. Jacob's oldest son Reuben can't resist his incestuous desires. He sleeps with his father's concubine, the mother of some of his brothers. Ten of Jacob's sons, they plan to kill their brother, but instead they decide to sell him into slavery.Judah, one of Jacob's sons, as a widower he frequents prostitutes. This is the one who's Jesus ... who started the line towards Jesus. This occurs frequently enough that his daughter-in-law Tamar, whom he had dishonored, knew that she'd disguise himself with one. He slept with his daughter-in-law and got her pregnant.That's Genesis, but the list just begins. It's blunder in the Old Testament, blunder after blunder by the priests. Lots of false prophets. King David, a man after God's own heart, commits adultery. Solomon, after David unites the kingdom, he unwisely marries 1,000 women.I'm going, I'm going, but you read the Bible and a lot of Christian traditions talk about the Old Testament figures as heroes, and in many senses they were heroes in the sense that they pointed to Jesus Christ, but it's a whole story of brokenness. For the Jews of Jerusalem, the Jewish Christians of the early days, they would have been starving. They had read the scriptures. They studied them. Jesus was the fulfillment. He was finally that perfect figure, the one who fulfilled the Law, the second Adam that did not sin, the Christ, the Savior to whom all the prophets ... about whom all the prophets spoke of.These Jews, they were standing on a rock. They had a foundation. Were they to dwell on what they left behind? Are we to dwell on what we leave behind? Do we dwell on the good things, the bad things?The apostle Paul just captures the spirit of the mindset that Christians are supposed to take as they go forward. Philippians 3, "But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained."2 Corinthians 2, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Colossians 3, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."I hope I'm getting redundant here. This is a little bit in counter to the movement, the tendency not just of our current day, but of our flesh to want to look back to find excuses for our state of trouble, our state of pain, our state of affliction. In Christianity, it's a forward looking mindset.A lot of Christians, they never grow. They come to faith. They love the gospel. It brings joy to their soul and peace to their hearts, but a lot of them are like the lead character of The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes, the lead character. He's unjustly framed and thrown into jail, a medieval jail, and he's there for years. He sleeps on a dirt floor, just in isolation for years. After several years, he escapes and he righteously comes upon a great fortune, a buried treasure. He buys himself a great estate with a mansion and he tries to create a new identity as the Count of Monte Cristo. He has everything he ever dreamed of while living in his jail cell, but he can't completely shake his old identity. At one point, his servant discovers that despite his lavish mansion and bedroom, despite the comforts, the count still sleeps on the floor at night.That's a lot like us. We come to faith in Christ. We're privy to God as Father. We're privy to forgiveness. We're privy to the means of sanctification and grace, but we're still sleeping on the floor. We aren't owning our new identity. We're defined by our family background, both good and bad.What did those members of the early church dwell on and meditate on daily to walk forward? What news powered them each day to face the hardship that they faced? They had family wounds lingering. They had temptation to go back to the comforts and the traditions.At the heart of Christianity is a Savior who is both born into both blessedness and brokenness. Jesus was conceived out of marriage in a day and culture when it was socially and religiously preposterous. When he was brought to the temple, his parents gave the payment that was paid by the poorest of the Jewish community. He could have let his circumstances and dishonorable nature and birth define him, but he didn't.Jesus could have swung the other way. He was after all the Son of God. He could have proudly used his prodigious knowledge of the scriptures as a means to build us his title within the community. As the chosen one, the son whom the Father sent, the Son of David, Jesus could have used his powers and authority to garner earthly acclaim. Could have denied the cup and established an earthly kingdom, but he didn't.Jesus had every problem to wallow, every reason to wallow in the brokenness or to cling and bask in the pride stemming from his gifts and calling, but instead was a man whose entire identity was built on who he was in relation to his heavenly Father. When Jesus said, "Into your hands I commit my spirit," he experienced ultimate abandonment, despair, excruciating pain at the hands of his Father. He relinquished ultimate power, pedigree, wealth, acclaim. He offered himself completely to God and his purpose. He knew that his Father had the love and power to redeem such a tragic moment. He's wiling to set aside all vendettas and potential momentary exaltation for our eternal exaltation.We need to follow in the steps of Christ. We need to embrace our new family identity. We cling to our family, this new family identity. If you're not, this is waking up each day grounding yourself saying, "Lord, I am satisfied in you."But how do we interact with our earthly family? Are we to leave them, to break all ties with them? Matthew 19:29, are we to literally leave houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father and mother? We don't take that part literal. In some cases, yes. If they resist us and prevent us from worshiping God, we might have to take those steps, but it's the principle. Trust in God first. Follow God first. Be willing to give all of your life, even the slowest relationships with the people closest to you to follow him.If we are to continue to interact with them, how do we face them? This is point two, face family as sheep. This comes from James 1:1 again. Sorry. My favorite preacher can do like an hour with two words. "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." We get this just face family as sheep just by thinking about who James is.James is a man who could have pulled rank. James is the brother, the earthly brother of Jesus. His parents, Jesus' parents were Mary and the Holy Spirit. James's parents were Mary and Joseph. Look what he calls himself here, "James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ." This word for servant, that's doulos, servant, slave. Like he's saying I'm a slave of God and Jesus Christ, my brother who I grew up with. James in that day, he could have pulled rank. He's the pastor of the church in Jerusalem.Then in verse two, he calls his audience brothers. James has a lamb mentality. Even though Jesus was his earthly brother, James knew that Jesus was the Savior, and that just humbles him.This is the part of the sermon where I really could just give you 10 practical points of how do we face our families as humble lambs, humble sheep, but I think ... and giving you those 10 sub points. But I just want to pause here. I don't want to be too firm, but I just want to ask some pointed questions. Some people come to church week after week for year after year. They're scribbling down the 10 sub points every week. They're at community group. They're giving faithfully, but there's heartache tied to family brokenness that they can ignore for decades.Just thinking about James, a man, a pastor, Jesus' brother, well studied in the scriptures, lots of wisdom, he shows his humility. He doesn't pull rank. He united himself with his congregation. I ask, who in your family could you pull rank on? Who are the people you're pulling rank on? By that I mean with whom do you have the high moral ground? Have you forgiven them? Have you pursued reconciliation?Who in your family has sinned against you? Who's that person that you're avoiding just because the history is too complex? Who are you tempted to blame for the many problems in your life? What are you doing to pursue that person's salvation? What are you doing to pursue that person's sanctification if they are a Christian?Colossians 3 says, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."Luke 6:27 to 31. "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them."A lot of Christians love these verses, and like a lot of you who will hear this, shake your head. This sounds great, but there's often that one person or those few people in everyone's life for whom we make an exception to these verses. The wounds, the bitterness that we carry from not pursuing reconciliation, from not forgiving, man, they're obvious to everyone but you.It doesn't have to be a family member. It doesn't have to be. It could be a friend, a schoolmate, a whole race of people. Who do you need to forgive? A lot of people when I counsel, I can sit with people and meet with them regularly for a year, and they try to act like I don't notice, but I can meet with them once a month for a year, I never hear about that estranged mother. I never hear about that estranged father.A lot of those people, you might be thinking, "You don't know my situation. You don't know what I've been through." Like that's ... you're right. I honestly knew I was born into blessing, born into a Christian home, raised in the church. I was trained to thank God for that. Like my compassion, I'm so thankful that I didn't have to deal with some of the trauma, some of the pain, physical and emotional, that a lot of you had. But I don't know it, but the Lord does. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."Forgiveness, faces your family members as a lamb, it doesn't mean trusting the person. It doesn't mean becoming best friends with them. It doesn't mean letting them back in as if nothing ever happened. It doesn't mean that you don't put up boundaries upon reengaging. It certainly doesn't mean that you put up with physical abuse. At Mosaic, we do not support that. If anybody is experiencing that, if anybody is facing that, let us know. Let us know how we can help you do whatever you can to get out of your situation.Forgiveness means committing in your soul to leave a situation in God's hands, to trust that he will ultimately bring justice, and therefore that you won't hold a sin against the person anymore. You commit not to bring the sin up, not to dwell on it in your heart, not to let it fester and stir up bitterness and self pity. Some people who are victims of just traumatic assault and tragedy, you don't take on the burden for the wounds afflicted against you. We all born in the image of Adam are sinners. We have to turn to Christ in faith to deal with our sin, but we don't ... you are not responsible for that sin.Brandt Jean, a young African-American man, made an amazing courtroom statement a few weeks ago to a former white female police officer, Amber Guyger. Amber shot his brother. In the statement, Brandt told her that he forgave her. He wanted her to go to God with her guilt to ask for forgiveness. He told her that the best thing he thinks she could do was to give her life to Christ. He told her that he loved her as a person, told her that he didn't wish that she served time, and he wanted to hug her.That was just an extreme, beautiful example of forgiveness, but we don't have to use his specific language. We don't have to want to hug them. We don't have to wish that people don't serve proper and just legal time or face proper civil punishment. But we're called to be good stewards, not just of our finances as we learned last week, but good stewards of God's love and grace.1 John 3:16 to 18 says, "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth." James is also famous for saying, "Faith without works is dead." If you know God's love, you're a steward. You share it. You give it to others.What's at stake when we don't cling to our new identity? What's at stake when we don't face our families, family members like sheep? We go back to James and talk about facing family as a lion. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."James tells his brothers to count it joy. That's what's at stake when we're not clinging to our new identity, when we're not facing our family as lambs. We're losing out on joy. Additionally, we're losing out on steadfastness that leads to perfection that leads to completeness that feels like we're lacking nothing, a perfect soul satisfaction.Throughout the book, again it's a book specifically about family, James lists many trying situations as tests, poverty, suffering, sickness. It also lists many good situations as tests of faith. Are you wealthy, healthy, in a new job, in a new city, in a position of authority? He's saying, "Surely you're going to face trials in this life," but we can apply that and say you are going to face trials in your family life.James kind of has a madman's mentality. We don't just ... A lot of people go through that honeymoon phase and you're just shocked when that first trial comes upon us, upon you. But he says count it joy. That trial, especially those within our family, that's a stamp of God's love on your life. We think of this as awful. Like the last thing that I want to do when I see my family is dig up the dirt, bring out the areas where there isn't reconciliation, bring out the areas that have just not been addressed for years.I heard a song on the radio somewhere in the low 90s, where you never know what you're going to get. It was a country song by Uncle Johnny and the Bullfrogs. No, it wasn't actually called that. I heard ... It was on like the scan mode. I heard one line, and it said, "You want the spark, but not the burn." That's a lot of us in relation to our families, and even in our Christian life. We want the good things.When I see my family, like I'm tempted to visit. I just want to visit nice places, eat, drink, turn on the TV, avoid, do all that I can to avoid those difficult conversations, reminisce, and avoid that conversation of, "Mom, dad, are you going to church? Mom, dad, are you pursuing your relationship with God? Siblings, where are you on your faith?" We want the spark. We want the good things, but we don't want the burn. If you do family right, in the church and in your nuclear families, like there should be some burn.That's the benefit of family. By your connection through blood, you have a naturally stronger connection. You can risk hard conversations. You can risk poking and nudging, and they are still tied to you, whether they like it or not. Of course, pursue them in gentleness, love, respect, but take advantage of the fact that your family, whether they disagree with you or not, like they have to stay connected to you. It's just that intimacy that you have just in being fully known yet fully loved that we experience in family that points to the love that's complete and perfect in God.Just in scripture, this 1 Corinthians 7, Paul tells his audience stay where you are in many situations. We need to ... The first instinct is to book it from our families, but we have to take advantage of the roots and connections we have with people. Show them you've changed. How can you convince the people in your life that you've changed through your relationship with Jesus if you're never around them, if you don't even know them beyond a shallow level?This is hard. When you're living far away, like many of us here, whether you're a single or a young couple living away from family, or whether you're parents here living away from your children or parents, it's really hard to do this from a distance, but you need to be creative. Be practical. How can you engage your family members? As a church plant, we really want you to stay, but we need you to invest.Why do we do this with our family? Why do we pursue them with zeal? It's out of response, out of love, out of gratitude for Jesus, for God who continued to pursue us and pursue us, pursue his people over and over again. I went through the Genesis sin trail just to illustrate man's brokenness. God pursues us as a good shepherd seeking that one lost sheep out of the 99.Why do this in our family? James 5:19 says it's good for them. "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from ..." This is the last words of the book. "If anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."That family member that hurt you, just that person I asked you to think about or those few people, do you really want them to have eternal separation, eternal condemnation from God? When God pours out his wrath on the world, do you want them to taste that as Jesus once did?Also, why pursue our family with zeal? Why not just sit back and relax with them all the time? It breeds steadfastness, perfection, completeness. You learn it's more blessed to give than to receive. It's more blessed to be a blessing. Your tastes and desires change from things that you like to things that are good and godly. You go from drinking coffee with sugar to drinking black coffee, drinking soda to water. Do you really want full soul satisfaction? Pursue the salvation of those people around you, the people who you are most naturally connected to in this life to bring about salvation, to be used to bring about salvation as your earthly family.It's painful. Count it all joy when you receive kinds of various trials. I hate trials. In my own marriage, I hate when Joyce and I have a disagreement. It's not just an argument. Any form of disagreement I want to avoid, but by God's grace I've learned the benefit. I've learned the joyful part of it. She's often just like spewing truth after truth after truth at me, and I don't want to hear it, but in the back of my mind ... Sometimes I'm spewing out bitterness, saying, "No, no, no." At the back of my mind though, I'm learning to say, "Yes, yes, yes. This is rooting out the impurities of my soul. This is good for me. This is good for our marriage. We are growing here, and I want more of it."I'm calling you to face your family as lions. Facing family as a lamb, that's the heart that we have. Face your family as lions, pursue their salvation with the zeal of the lion going after its prey.Now, face family with God. We're not alone in doing this work. Clinging to your identity in Christ just daily, that's difficult. Pursuing those family members with the heart of a sheep, those people that you don't want to pursue and just being constant in it like a lion, it's tiring, it's confusing, often don't know what you want to do. James 5 gives us some comfort. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him."James wrote for this people about church problems, but we certainly need to ask God for wisdom in engaging our families. For many of us, we'll find satisfaction with the words that we can pursue God without reproach. He's a Father that's never going to tire of us coming into his presence to ask for wisdom, ask for discernment, ask how to navigate the situation.Why is that the case? Like there's a connection when we do that, when we humble ourselves to the point that we say, "God, I need you. I needed Jesus to go to the cross to die for me, to save me from my sin. I need your help right now in this moment to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. I need your wisdom to deal with this difficult family situation right here." That's a correction. That's a recalibration of who we are before God. That's the position we were originally created to be.Adam, his first relationship was not with Eve. It was before God, having peace with God. Adam walked in the garden, tilled the garden. He named the animals with God. He always needed God to guide him and to be submissive to him. We are creatures. God is the creator. When we're in this position properly, when we see our need for God, we're able to see our family situations properly. Just notice, if any of your lacks nothing at the beginning of the verse, like this is saying God offers us everything. We see family properly.Some of you are expecting too much from your families. Some of you place way too much pressure on your fathers and your mothers, whatever were those primary figures in your life, those shepherds. You want them to fill the ... those old shepherds to fill the role that only the one great and true shepherd could fulfill. Family is designed in this life to not fully satisfy. It's only when we're in relation to God, submitting to him, turning to him, being reliant upon him that we are in our proper place, that we can have full satisfaction, that we can have peace, that we can feel fully secure, that we can see, just understand, make sense of the blessedness that we've tasted, not make idols out of that, and make sense of the brokenness. God, how are you using this brokenness that I've experienced for your glory? It doesn't make sense, but I trust you.To close, I just want to read Isaiah 58:9 to 11. This is the prophet Isaiah. "Then you will call, and the Lord will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, 'Here am I.' If you do away with the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones. And you will be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."Do you want that? Just turn to him, position yourself properly before the Lord. You'll know how to make sense of your family situation. Please join me in prayer.Lord, we praise you that we don't have to be people that look back. We don't have to be constantly searching for a new identity. Lord, we have a sure foundation in you. You're a good Father that loves his children, and pursues them, and pursues them, and pursues them even when they sin against him, and yet you still offer eternal riches. Lord, we just pray that we would cling to you, cling to who we are through you, and that would give us a heart to pursue our families, a heart to pursue them with the proper heart of humility, with love, with grace, with gentleness, and also a zeal to be constant in the pursuit.Lord, we pray, help us to find rest, find peace, find completeness, perfection, full soul satisfaction when we pause to turn and gaze upon you and ask you for guidance as we just wait upon the day that you return. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

In the American Jewish imagination, the story of Israel’s founding is a story of East European pioneers, socialist kibbutzim, and a Jewish state rising from the ashes of the Holocaust. And all of these things are indispensable elements of Israel’s early history. But they are not the whole picture. After the founding of the state, Israel absorbed a massive influx of Jews from Middle Eastern lands—Mizrahim—who came from a society and culture vastly different from that of their East European co-religionists. These Jews are also part of the story of the Jewish state’s beginnings; today they represent over half of Israel’s Jewish population, profoundly shaping the culture, religion, and politics of 21st-century Israel. In 2014, author and journalist Matti Friedman penned an essay in Mosaic titled, “Mizrahi Nation,” in which he tells the story of these Jews from Arab lands and explains how one simply cannot understand contemporary Israel without understanding that it has been profoundly shaped by the Mizrahim. Israel, Friedman argues, is a much more Middle Eastern country than many Jews in the West imagine it to be. In this podcast, Friedman joins Jonathan Silver to reflect on his essay. They discuss the long and remarkable history of Mizrahi Jews, how they have shaped the Jewish state, and how understanding their role in Israel’s past and present can give us a clearer picture of the nation’s future. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble, as well as the original Broadway cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof and "Above the Ocean" by Evan MacDonald.

I. The Warning: Israel’s History of Privilege and Sin Turn in your Bibles to the text that was just read for us, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1-13, and as you've heard these words, and as we look at the seriousness of what was said, we realize we're coming to a very serious warning passage in Scripture. And that the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul, has given a timeless warning to Christians. Now, as I was contemplating this warning passage, I was thinking about the usefulness of all warning passages in Scripture, and how can we hear them properly, how can we hear this warning properly? There is no doctrine that is as sweet and encouraging to Christians, as the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. Commonly, we speak of once saved, always saved. You can't lose your salvation. And there are so many scriptures that testify to the truth of that comforting doctrine. Jesus said of all that the Father has given Him, He will lose none but raise them up on the final day. He's not going to lose any of them. He'll raise them all up on the final day. And that He has a grip of grace on them, that His sheep have come to him, and no one can snatch them out of His hand, and His Father who has given them to Him is greater than all. And no one can snatch the sheep out of the Father's hand. "I and the Father are one." The Apostle Paul himself wrote many comforting and assuring words to Christians, that we cannot lose our salvation, that He who began a good work in us will most certainly carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. And that the sovereign God has a plan, that He's working out here in space and time. And He is orchestrating things for the benefit of His chosen ones. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. " All of it spoken in the past tense, as though it's a done deal. And at the end of that marvelous chapter, Romans Chapter 8, he asserts very plainly that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. And yet, here we have this morning, a very serious warning given from the Apostle Paul to a Christian church. We need to find a way somehow to harmonize those, to have a sense of the absolute security of our position, if we're in Christ. But to know as I pray that we're constantly in danger, we're in enemy territory, that we're assaulted, our souls are assaulted every moment by the world of flesh and the devil, we are assaulted. And we're in danger and the only safety for us is a healthy fear of sin, a healthy fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. And as we have that healthy fear, we're able to understand the Apostle Paul calling on us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose. He's at work in us. And part of that work He does in the genuinely converted is to give us warnings like this, we need to heed them. The healthiest thing we can do is say, "This warning was written for me, and it was written for my brothers and sisters here at First Baptist Church. I need to be constantly vigilant over my own soul. I need to be vigilant over the souls of my brothers and sisters. We're not in Heaven yet, we're not out of danger yet." And that's the way we should hear this warning. Well, let's try to understand the context. The Corinthian church that Paul is writing to here, was the church that was richly blessed, but also deeply dysfunctional. Richly blessed, but deeply dysfunctional. So the Corinthian church have been lavishly blessed, with the greatest spiritual teachers the world had ever seen. The Apostle Paul planted that church, also Apollos, who was eloquent in doctrine, a solid brother. Even it seems the Apostle Peter in some way ministered to them, don't know if he was there but maybe they got hold of his writings or some of them are following his doctrines, but all of them were below the greatest teacher that has ever lived, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so, they had received the teachings from Christ, mediated through these great human teachers. And so they were blessed, they were blessed doctrine. They're blessed with every spiritual gift. There was a super abundance of spiritual gifts in that Corinthian church. And many of them had attained a very high level of doctrinal proficiency. They understood doctrine, very well, they had a lot of knowledge. But for all of that, they were deeply dysfunctional. They were divided. There are factions and divisions, among the Corinthian church. Some of them were indulging in sexual immorality, even visiting temple prostitutes, and other forms of sexual immorality. And worst of all, they were very proud of themselves, they were a proud Church. And Paul knew that this gifted, talented, sinning church was actually in great danger. And he wanted to warn them lovingly, about their danger and to call them to constant vigilance over their own souls and the souls of their brothers and sisters. And that's the purpose of this text. Paul's most recent assertion has to do with his own fear about himself and his own vigilance over his own life, and his body. Paul himself had been lavishly blessed by the Lord Jesus Christ, three times, Paul had seen the resurrected glorified Lord, three times. It's incredible. He had been spared death on the Damascus Road, and then he had been miraculously healed from blindness, by Ananias who laid hands on him. And he had been given this incredible ministry, what a privilege. He was called the Apostle to the Gentiles. He learned the Gospel directly from Almighty God Himself without any human mediation. God Himself, taught him the gospel. He was caught up to the third heaven, caught up to paradise, and heard inexpressible things. He was raised from being stoned perhaps even to death. And then went on with his courageous bold energetic preaching ministry. He heard doctrine directly from God, through the Holy Spirit, and wrote down 13 epistles that make up the bulk of our New Testament. He wrote the Book of Romans. Paul was lavishly blessed by God. He had been empowered by the spirit to perform signs and wonders, healings even raising the dead. He had preached boldly, in city after city. Everywhere he went it seems he planted a church. Perhaps thousands of people owed their salvation to hearing the Gospel from the Apostle Paul. Certainly from those that Paul also trained, he was a leader of leaders, a disciple of church leaders. And he was clearly beloved, and dearly beloved by churches everywhere. But he lived in fear in a sense. Look again at 9:27, what we just covered last week, he said, "I beat my body and make it my slave, lest after I've preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified from the prize. For I do not want you to be unaware brothers," goes right on into this warning. You see, it's tied together. As Paul was concerned and he's applying the warnings to himself first, but then to them, the Corinthian church. Paul was afraid that his own body, his own flesh, his sin nature, would drag him off the path of Christ, off the path of holiness, with the result of him being disqualified from the prize of first and foremost being a faithful servant a fruitful servant of Jesus Christ. He'd be disqualified for ministry. Now, he knew his own weakness, how horrible that would be, how devastating it would be to the church as if he fell into sin, and was evicted from the ministry by a Holy God after he preached the Gospel in so many locations. So he beat his body, he said, he made it his slave. Now, this is the fear as I said last week that I have as well and should have, it's healthy for me to have it. All pastors should have it. Richard Baxter, in his classic, Reformed Pastor, said this to his brother pastors, he said, "Take heed to yourselves lest you live in those sins which you preach against in others." Will you preach Christ's laws and willfully break them? If God's threatenings be true, then why do you not fear them? And if they be false, then why are you needlessly troubling men with them and put them into such frights without a cause? "So take heed to yourselves brothers pastors." Richard Baxter, would say, the Apostle Paul would say in Acts 20. "Take heed to yourself." The Great Danger: Privileges Can Lead to Complacency, Pride... and Sin But it's the same warning given to all Christians, not just those in vocational ministry, it's given to all of us. We all need to take heed to ourselves, to our souls, the great danger here is that spiritual privileges, great spiritual privileges can lead to complacency and pride and sin. God gives to sinners lavish blessings of His grace. We sinners, we deserve to be condemned eternally to hell for our sins. But instead, God because He's rich in mercy covered our sins with the blood of His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And furthermore, once we have come to forgiveness of sins, He is incredibly patient with us day after day with all of our sins. He continues to forgive us our sins, whenever we confess them to Him. We sinners we deserve to be excluded from the presence of God, instead God has reconciled us to Himself, and this is incredible, He has actually adopted us as His sons and daughters, to be in his family forever. But we sinners deserve to waste our earthly lives in frivolous pursuits, to spend our whole lives storing up wood, hay and stubble that'll just get burned at the end. Instead, God has richly blessed us with spiritual gifts, and has actually gone ahead of us, to repair good works in advance that we should walk in them. Now, beyond all of this, God has lavished so many other spiritual blessings on us, and I want to say specifically here in our American church context, incredible spiritual resources, seminaries that teach true doctrine, authors that write excellent books that help us in our Christian lives. Christian media making sermons and podcasts and other resources available to us constantly. Beyond that, there's just material blessings, ample food, clothing, shelter, for us, myriad luxuries, myriad pleasures, Common Grace blessings, beautiful scenery, stable government, good economy, peace, the blessings go on and on. And for us, specifically at this church, First Baptist in Durham, we have been so blessed by the spiritual gifts of other brothers and sisters. It's been going on for years. My family and I've been blessed for almost 21 years by a river of blessings that have come from the spiritual gifts of other brothers and sisters in this church. There's a heritage here of faithful gospel ministry has been going on for a long time. We have a strategic location, we're surrounded by good places of employment. The areas attractive to people. People are pouring in here, we have open doors of ministry opportunities here, lots of people who need to hear the gospel. So we are lavishly blessed. So, the danger is clear. I've already set it up, you understand what it is. These blessings, this river of blessing that's come to us by grace can make us complacent, can make us lazy. And actually bold in sin, presuming on God's patience and grace. Jesus Himself said in like 12:48, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." And we've been given much brothers and sisters, we've been given much. Now, Satan can use our blessings to lull us into carnal ease and arrogant over confidence, and we can relax our spiritual vigilance, and we can start playing with sins and with worldliness, and little by little become corrupt, and worldly ourselves. And by these devastating processes, Godlier and more gifted men than I have been disqualified from ministry. By this devastating process, Churches bigger and more lavishly blessed than ours have become corrupt and eventually Christ has removed the lamp stand. Key Command: Verse 12 So the key command is in Verse 12. Look at it if you would, "Therefore, but anyone who thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall." That's the warning, that's the central warning in this text. If you think you're standing, you better watch out, you better take heed lest you fall. So the Scripture is a clear warning and it's a warning given to Christians, it's a warning given to spiritually blessed people, to Christians everywhere, in every generation for 2000 years, it's a warning to all of us, that we should live in a healthy fear of sin, that we would respond to the danger that every generation faces with the same kind of vigorous holiness and commitment to the Apostle Paul used to pursue his own race, "I beat my body and make it my slave, lest I will be disqualified." Israel’s History of Privilege and Sin And in order to make this point, and drive it home, Paul reaches to the history of Israel, the Jews, and Israel's history of spiritual privilege and their history of sin. So he's broadening this, now, the Corinthians were gentiles, so they might not have known Israel's history, as well as Paul did as a Jew. Paul then lists out Israel's lavish spiritual blessings in part, their spiritual blessing, but he does so remarkably using Christian imagery Christian language. Look at verse 1-4, "For I do not want you to be ignorant to the fact brothers that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea, they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, they ate the same spiritual food and they drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the Spiritual Rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." So, just walking through it, He says, "I don't want you to be ignorant, I want to instruct you or remind you about some things from Jewish history." Our forefathers, when Paul writes that he means our Jewish ancestors. So Paul was a Jew so they were definitely his ancestors, but they were also the Corinthians' spiritual ancestors. Because we find out in other places in the Scripture, we who are believers in Christ are actually honorary sons and daughters of Abraham. We're honorary Jews. We, who are wild in nature and grew up in some wild olive tree, were cut off and grafted into a cultivated olive tree, a Jewish olive tree. And we derive life-giving sap, nourishing sap from this Jewish foundation of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Jewish heritage. So we are honorary Jews and we're drinking in that heritage. So it's your heritage too if you're a Christian. And notice the word, all, he emphasizes the word all. He says, "They were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea and they all were baptized in the Moses in the cloud and the sea, and they all ate the same spiritual food, and they all drank the same spiritual drink." In other words, this wasn't a special privilege class of the Christians all of them had, or the Jews, all of them had that experience, all of them did. Universalizing it. Under the Cloud And then he says, they were under the cloud. So what that means is talking about the pillar of cloud, remember that went ahead of the Jews and led them and guided them where they should go. Pillar of cloud. And he says, they passed through the sea, this is referring to the Red Sea, which God miraculously opened up for them. So they passed over on dry ground when Pharaoh's army, the most powerful on earth at the time, pursued them the water crashed in and they drowned and they were destroyed. But Israel passed by in safety. And they were Paul says, baptized into Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. The word baptize means to be immersed. They were plunged in the Moses. They were immersed in Moses the leader, his leadership. They were immersed into his ministry, they were immersed into Moses's laws, they were immersed into the common experience of a super natural deliverance from Egypt and from bondage. They were immersed in that, they were baptized into it. And he says, they ate the same spiritual food. That is the mana, the bread from heaven that God provided for them every day in the desert. There was no food in the desert and God miraculously fed them with mana, the bread of heaven. And they all ate it. Eating Spiritual Food And he says, they drank the same spiritual drink, that was the water that flowed from the rock miraculously. There was no water for them to drink in the desert. And so, Moses struck the rock with his staff and the water just flowed and they drank from that rock. Now, Paul Christianizes these experiences using the word baptized into Moses and ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink, like the Lord's supper, so he's I think bringing it over into Christian language, for their purpose. And he emphasizes that all of these spiritual experiences, the Jews went through were foretaste of Christ. Actually, he says that rock was Christ. So the Jews in some sense, partook in Christ at that time, Christ was the Angel of the Lord, who led them by the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. God sent His angel, the angel of Lord ahead of them to leave them where they should go, that angel was Christ. And the one delivering them truly was not Moses, it was Jesus Christ. And Christ is the accompanying rock and He never changes, He's the same yesterday, and today and forever. He is the unchanging rock. Christ was alive back then pre-incarnate, He was saving his people from slavery in Egypt, He was their salvation. Now, these experiences were told, they're types and shadows, they're acted out prophecies. The living prophecies of the salvation that Christ would bring in the new covenant. So the Jewish nation that were brought out of slavery in Egypt experienced amazing things, they saw the 10 plagues, miraculous plagues on all of Egypt, they saw it with their own eyes. They saw the awesome Red Sea miracle, I think the most spectacular miracle God has ever done in history, just in terms of spectacle and the massive force needed to do it incredible. And they saw God descend in fire on Mount Sinai, and they heard the actual voice of God speaking the 10 commandments. Nevertheless, what a terrifying word that is? Nevertheless. Despite all of those blessings, nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, their bodies were scattered all over the desert. God killed them all, except Joshua and Caleb, that generation, He killed them all. That whole generation of Jews ended up being scattered throughout the desert over 40 years. They did not die all at once, but God killed them off little by little, allowing their children to grow up in their place, and to them, He would give the promises of crossing the Jordan and inheriting the promised land. They themselves died in the desert because they refused to believe God and trust Him and cross over in the time of the 10 spies. And they did not trust God and so God judged them and their bodies were scattered in the desert, He was not pleased with them. This is terrifying. And so, the apostle Paul is taking this terrifying history of the Jews and pressing it on to the conscience of Christians. Israel’s History of Sin Presented as a Direct Warning to All of Us Look at Verse 6. "Now, these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did." It's why it happened, God orchestrated this history and wrote it down through Moses, so that we could read it and take it to heart. Look again in Verse 11, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come." Look what Paul specifically said about them. In other words, we are reading Old Testament history to learn spiritual principles for us today as Christians, and part of that friends is warning. Part of what we get out of reading the Old Testament is warning. Look what he says about them. They set their hearts on evil things. All sin begins with lust, an evil desire that leads us astray, James says in James 1:14-15 "Each one is tempted by his own evil desire, lust, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full-grown gives birth to death." Our hearts are prone to wander. And the same lust pull on our hearts is on theirs. These Jews lusted after sexual immorality, and they lusted after food and the pleasures of this world. So at this moment, you just have to stop and say, "Oh God, this is for me. This sermon is for me, this moment is for me, what is enticing my heart right now? What lusts are assaulting me? What is having an in-road into my life right now? What do I need to fight God? What areas of my bodily life do I need to beat down and enslave to Christ?" It's what we need to do, all of us. Secondly he said they indulged in idolatry and sexual immorality. Verse 7, "Do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." So idolatry is not just bowing down to a golden calf as the Jews did, it's living for any created thing, any creature of God. So at that time when Moses went up on Mount Sinai and he was receiving the 10 commandments engraved with the finger of God and tablets of stone, they made a golden calf and they were feasting and getting drank and getting up from the feast to have an orgy. Exodus 32:6 literally says, they got up to play. And the word play there in the Hebrew is the same thing that Isaac was doing with his wife Rebecca, it's definitely sexual in nature, he's playing in that sense. And so they were just running wild in that play, sexual immorality. And then Paul makes it very clear in Verse 8, "We should not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in one day, twenty-three thousand of them died." The same desires assault our souls as well. They're a deadly danger now as much as they were then, God is no less holy now, the same God that killed 23000 of His own people then, He's just as holy now. He's just as against fornication now, sex outside of marriage, as He ever was then, He hasn't changed, He's the same God. And He killed people for those sins. Thirdly, these people tested the Lord. Look at Verse 9, "We should not test the Lord as some of them did and they were killed by snakes." This means to test God's patience, to provoke Him to His face, to be arrogant and push hard against God's laws, and challenge His authority and presume upon His grace. God sent poisonous snakes and many of them died. And they tested him again and again. Now some of you, I don't know who, I don't know who, but some of you may be living bold lives in sin right now, you may be pushing hard against what you know God has forbidden. And you are trying His patience, you do not realize that God's patience is meant to lead you to repentance. It says, concerning the symbolic woman, actual woman, but symbolically named Jezebel. And her followers, they were being led into sexual immorality in the Book of Revelation. The Lord says, "I have given her time to repent but she is unwilling." There is a time to repent, and you're putting God to the test. It's time to repent. Fourthly, the people grumbled against the Lord complaining about His provision for them. God supernaturally fed them with manna and they complained, they were sick of eating the manner, "We despise this loathsome food," they called it. This grumbling and complaining against the Lord's provision is a root issue, there's a roaming discontent that seizes our hearts and leads us into covetousness, and leads us into lust and into other things. We're not satisfied with the boundaries God has set for us and what He's given us, and so we roam and look for something else. So Paul cites this terrible history to prove that the spiritual privileges that we receive in Christ are no protection from the warfare we must fight. There are no protection from the holiness of God if His privileged people indulge in the same pattern of sin. Look again in Verse 6, "These things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did." Again, look at Verse 11, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come." II. Our Greater Privileges and Greater Danger So let's consider our greater privileges than the Jews, and our greater responsibility and our greater danger than theirs. Paul speaks of those on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. He's referring to the fulfillment that Jesus, the mediator has brought to us in the new covenant. This is the fulfillment of all the types and shadows and images of Israel's history. Jesus is a superior mediator, superior to Moses and to the angels, the author to Hebrews tells us. And this superior mediator has brought us a superior covenant, the new covenant superior to the old, a better covenant. And by that new covenant our sins are actually forgiven. Because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. This is a better covenant. And it should result in a superior life, a life of faith as the author to Hebrews gives us. A life of obeying and following Christ by faith. So a superior mediator brings us a superior covenant resulting in a superior life. That's what it means to be those on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. Now, because our privileges are greater so is our responsibility from whom everyone has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. So we're going to be asked for a lot on Judgment Day. God expects us to live at a higher level than the Jews of the old covenant. We have the example of Jesus Christ, the only perfect man that's ever lived, we have the actual finished work of Christ on the cross, His blood has been shed, it's not prophesied now, it's reported as Biblical history, it's occurred. He actually has been bodily raised from the dead, it's testified to in the four Gospels and in the Epistles. He's been raised from the dead, we have better examples, we have better promises, a better covenant. And we have as part of the new covenant blessing, the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have the third person of the Trinity living within us if we are born again. God expects, God demands therefore, a higher pattern of life than what Paul says the Jews did. Therefore, because of that our danger, is greater. God will not overlook our spiritual arrogance, He will not overlook willful wandering into sin. That's Paul's whole point here, the Jews are a warning for us not to indulge in these sinful patterns, in sexual immorality and worldly lust and idolatry. Now you may ask, "These temptations of the flesh are so powerful, so alluring. How can I possibly stand firm and not yield?" Now, next week's sermon God willing, I'm going to go into great detail on this, I'm going to go back and look at Verse 12 and 13 by itself. But let me give a brief overview of what he says in those sweet verses. III. Our Responsibility: Constant Vigilance First of all, constant vigilance. Verse 12, look at it again. "So if you think you're standing firm, take heed lest you fall." That's where it starts, for us as Christians, it starts with vigilance. If you think you're standing firm, I think in that sense means if you are spiritually arrogant or overconfident, if you think, "I got this, that's not going to be a problem for me ever again. I have overcome that area and I'm done with that sin problem." If that's your attitude, you better take heed, lest you fall. You may think, "I'm a Christian, all my sins are forgiven, I'm guaranteed of going to heaven, there's no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus. So I am free from all danger, I can just live my life as I please. I don't need to heed any of these warnings, there's no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus." You better take heed, that is not the way to see these things. Paul knew all about eternal security better than you. He wrote, "There is therefore now no condemnation." For those who are in Christ Jesus, for those who are led by the Spirit. We're going to talk more about that next week. There's a qualification around those words. And look at Paul, did Paul live like that, saying, "There's no condemnation for me, I'm fine." No, no, no, he said, "I take my role here very, very seriously. I take heed lest I fall." But he wasn't just looking at himself, he was looking at his brothers and sisters, he's looking horizontally. "I take heed over them too, I'm a shepherd of souls." And that's why he's writing these words, and so the elders of this church do well to shepherd others and be certain. Ask how you're doing, and we do that for each other, we should, we should watch over one another in brotherly love. Ask questions, have real fellowship at home fellowships. How was your prayer life? Is there anything you're struggling with we can pray for you? What kinds of temptations are lining up that are making it hard for you to walk with Christ? How can we really help you?" Have that kind of fellowship, be constantly vigilant. Paul feared temptations. And so he watched, he's constantly vigilant. If anyone thinks he's standing refers to any area of sin at all. You may have a past habit of drunkenness or drug addiction, and it's been a number of years since you fall into that area, you better take heed lest you fall. You may have a past history of internet pornography, you may have been on websites you shouldn't have been on, but it's been years now since you've done that, you say, "I'm never going to do that." You better take heed lest you fall. I was reading some history of the Romans, and I love history, I love military history. And the Roman Army when they were in enemy territory after days' march, they would make a fortified camp, that always followed a certain established pattern. They would choose high ground in a region, highest ground in the region, and it had to be surrounded by clear line of sight, not in the middle of forest somewhere, but surrounded by clear line of good space, good sight lines. And they would make a square camp, and they would dig a three-foot trench around the camp and they would use dirt to build a rampart, and they would direct a stout log fence or barricade at the top of the rampart, and then they would pitch their tents within the fortress and they would post sentries every 10 meters or so with a clear schedule of relieving them through the watches of the night so they wouldn't become sleepy. And the officers would meet with the commander at sundown and write down the night's password on wooden tablets, and then tablets would be passed to their centurions, and then on to the sentries. And then the tablets were returned to the centurions and back to the commanders so that none of those tablets could go missing. Then and only then were the Roman Army safely bed down for the night. Now, in the year 73 BC during a slaver volt led by a gladiator named Spartacus, the Roman commander Gaius Claudius Glaber, failed to follow these patterns to protect his army, he greatly underestimated the slaver volt, he did not dig the mode, he did not put up the palisade, they just went to bed. And Spartacus led a night raid and slaughtered the soldiers in their beds. Take heed, put the mode and the wall around, put sentries on the wall, watch. As Jesus said, "Watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." Now, he says... "If anyone thinks he stands…" Paul said this, "When I'm weak then I'm strong." That's like a partner verse of this. What it means is, if I know I can't survive unless Jesus helps me, if I know I can't make it through a day without sin unless Jesus feeds me, if I know that He's the vine and I'm the branch and I have to abide in Him, and walk with Him by the Spirit and by the Word, if that's how I think then I'm actually strong. But he turn it around, "If I think I don't need Jesus, and I don't need prayer, and I'm fine in this area, nothing like that could ever happen to me, then I'm actually weak." So how can we be vigilant? Well, friends, we're going to talk more about that next week. But don't expect a single day off, fight sin every day. We're going to look next week at John Owen's mortification of sin, we're going to learn how to starve it to death and how to fight it. We're going to learn how to put on our spiritual armor every day, Ephesians 6, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. We're going to talk about how to learn from your own sins, how to learn from when you fail, don't just confess it and don't just mourn over it, do that but learn what did He do to get you? What temptations did He use to pick the locks of your resolve? You know one that I found consistently? Self-pity. When you feel like you've had a hard day, and things have been rough on you, and there's other circumstance are happening in your life maybe with your family, with your spouse or something like that, start feeling sorry for yourself, guess what? You probably have left open the door for some temptation to come and lay you low. So we've got to be vigilant and fight. We're going to talk more about this next week, but praise God for Verse 13, "No temptation that sees you except what is common to man, but God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, but with the temptation, He will provide a way of escape so that you can stand up under it." What a mystery? Stand up by running for your lives. We're going to talk about that next week. And I want to say one final thing, we pray every week that God would bring people here who are not yet Christians, and I trust that He answered that prayer again. Now, maybe you are among those who walked in here this morning not yet converted, these things that I'm giving, this advice that I'm giving are for Christians. For you the danger, should cause you to flee for the first time to Christ and to Him crucified and realize you can't fight any sin patterns on your own. The Bible says that apart from Christ, every individual is a slave to sin, you can't help yourself. And so if you see the seeds of your own destruction, you know that you sin in these ways, then God's laws are for you too. What they should make you do is flee to Christ, so flee to Him, don't leave this room unconverted. All you have to do is call on the name of the Lord Jesus and you will be forgiven, you will be saved. And then you can begin battling your sin like the rest of us need to. So come to Christ and trust in Him and receive grace, mercy and forgiveness. Close with me in prayer.

Learning to Love All Types of JewsONE NATION UNDER G-DWe all know already that the children of Yaakov were inMitzrayimfor two hundred and ten years and it was there that this small family of twelve brothers developed into one great nation. And because they didn’t have any territory to divide among themselves; they were primarily in the area ofGoshenand couldn’t spread out and settle into separate districts, we would have therefore expected that they should have lived together as one people, theAm Bnei Yisrael. L’havdil, like they say in America, “One nation, under G-d.” That’s whatwewould have anticipated.And yet, what do we see? That the developing nation of the children of Yaakov remainedtwelve separateshevatim. For more than two centuries they maintained the boundaries; everybody knew hisshevetand identified primarily with his own tribe. Everyone knew where he belonged.For two hundred years they didn’t give up their individual identity.Yehudah remained Yehudah, Reuven remained Reuven, and Shimon was Shimon. And that’s a remarkable thing because it was inMitzrayimthat they were supposed to grow intooneunified nation. And therefore we should study that; it’s a strange thing and it deserves a great deal of attention.THE GHETTO OF 1776Imagine that for two hundred and ten years Jews lived in America.Let’s say, in 1776 some Jews came to America from Germany and others came from Spain. Some immigrated from England and the Turkish Jews also arrived on the shores of America. So by the time two hundred and ten years would pass, by the time 1986 would come,halevaithey should still remain Jews! But that they should remain segregated into strict boundaries, separate people, living separate lives?!Such a thing couldn’t even be imagined! It’s one nation and the different families and nationalities would all be amalgamated after a while. They would merge together and the boundaries would disappear.And why not? After all, we’re all Jews, one tribe ofovdei Hashem. And yet we see that inMitzrayimit wasn’t like that. Not only did they remain Jews, but they retained their status as separateshevatim.So you’ll say maybe it was something temporary, something reserved for their stay inMitzrayim,when they were still a growing family of different brothers, and not yet a unified nation. But when they would come out ofMitzrayim, so now they’re a full-fledged nation already, so who needs this segregation anymore?THE SPRINGS OF SEGREGATIONAnd yet surprisingly, what we find is that this was the permanent plan ofHashemfor theAmYisroel; it was His conspicuous policy to maintain the individual identity of each tribe. We see that Hakadosh Baruch Hu insisted there should be separateshevatimeven when they came out ofMitzrayim. We find that in ourparsha: ויבואו אילמה ושם שתים עשרה עינות מים – “And they came to Eilim and there were twelve springs of water…and they encamped there near the water” (Beshalach 15:27).Now if the Torah goes out of its way to tell us the number of springs, then the number twelve is not superfluous. Twelve springs?!That wasn’t an accident; that was Hashem’s plan from the days ofma’asehBereishis– they didn’t dig the springs on their own. This was the hand of Hashem guiding His people in the way He wanted for them.So we’ll understand that the springs of much needed fresh water in the parched desert was the preferred place for people to gather. Everyone needs water after all. And therefore there is no doubt that it was the plan of Hashem to have separate springs for each of the twelveshevatim.The plan of Hashem was segregation. TheReuveineeshould spent their time with theReuveinee, theShimoneewith theShimoneeand so on and so forth.And we’re told about it; the separation is emphasized. More than emphasized; Hakodosh Boruch Hu made sure that it would remain that wayalways.ARE WE REALLY “KE’ISH ECHAD”?Because when you learn Torah, if you pay attention to thepesukim, you’ll note that this wasn’t an isolated incident; it was no aberration.You see a very clear thing that this is how theAm Yisroelalways lived in the ancient times- as distinct and dividedshevatim.You remember when they came to receive theTorahatHar Sinai.Everyone knows what the Torah says: ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר – “And the nation encamped there, opposite the mountain” (Shemos 19:2). And Chazal are bothered by the wordvayichan– andheencamped, in the singular. And they say that the nation made camp כאיש אחד בלב אחד – “Like one man, with one heart” (Rashi, ibid.)However even there we find something very queer. They all encamped together “like one man, with one heart,” and yet Moshe Rabeinu,al pi Hashem,had different plans for them. When they were about to receive theTorah, it says (Shemos 24:4) that Moshe built twelvematzeivos,one for each one of the twelveshevatim.ויבן מזבח תחת ההר ושתים עשרה מצבה לשנים עשר שבטי ישראל – Moshe built – not onemizbei’achat the foot of the mountain, but he builttwelvematzeivosfor each one of theshevatimseparately!That was what Hakodosh Boruch Hu insisted on atkabalas hatorah.Twelve separate “standing stones.” Now that’s very strange. Why was it necessary?They’re all coming to receive theTorahtogether“like one man, with one heart.” What’s the problem with that? Let them come together as one nation!I’ll tell you something else that always bothered me. You know that thekohengadolcarried always on his chest thechoshen, the breastplate. And on the breastplate he had twelve precious stones, each one distinguished from the next; separate colors, set off from each other in separate settings. And on these twelve precious stones were engraved the names of the twelveshevatim.והאבנים תהיין על שמות בני ישראל שתים עשרה על שמותם… איש על שמו תהיין לשני עשר שבט – “The stones should be according to the names of the Bnei Yisroel, twelve according to their names… each man by his name they should be, for the twelve tribes” (Shemos 28:21). That’s what Hashem wanted to see – that in theMishkaneachshevetshould remain separate.And it wasn’t just the symbolicchoshenin theMishkan. It was actually how they lived their lives in themidbar! They lived in separate areas, under different colored flags, each one distinguished from the next. They lived and traveled for forty years segregated from one another – set boundaries, thisshevethere, this one here. There were no walls but there were always clearly defined boundaries.HASHEM WANTS STRONG BORDERSAnd a biggerkashah; even when they came toEretz Yisroel, they should have become one great nation. But no. There were twelve tribes, and each one got a separate territory.That’s a queer thing. Throughout all the generations the fact that they lived apart, within separate boundaries, caused them to have separate lifestyles.They all kept the Torah but each one hadminhagimthat were different.Anshei Galilhad thisminhag, anshei Yehudaa differentminhag. There weredifferent traditions and separateminhagim,and in the course of time many things became very deeply ingrained in them.It was like twelve different nations within one people. And for me, that’s really a very bigkasha –why did there have to be separateshevatimwhen they settled down permanently inEretz Yisroel?Nowlehavdil elef havdaloswhen the English first came to America so they settled here and there; they settled in Massachusetts, and in Connecticut and Virginia. Not because of any reason that they wanted to remain separate; that’s just how it came about. One colony settled here, one there. And after they settled, so in order to manage the collection of taxes, so the head government in England, divided them into states.In each state there was a tax collector, and they had separate offices for each state. But it was for the sake of convenience – not because there was any real difference between the states.They were all the same.All thegoyimare the same.Now it could be that in the course of time they developed certain dialects, certain differences, butlechatchilah, at the beginning they had no intention of being different people.Butlehavdil elef havdaloshere it wasal pi Hashem. The land was divided according to the command, the will, ofHakadosh Baruch Hu. He wanted His people to be separate.I don’t know if it bothers you but it bothers me very much. Now why didn’t they say we should all unite and be one people?Let’s all be one people now.Why should we be broken up into twelve different tribes?Why did they need twelveshevatim? They came out ofMitzrayimand now they’ream echad.They’re one nation.Why keep separateshevatim?And to my little head, that’s a very big question.Why couldn’t it be one country?That’s what we would do if it would have been our littleseichelmaking decisions.EVERYONE BRINGS SOMETHING TO THE TABLE!Now we have to understand; there are no accidents in this world.Hakadosh Baruch Hu has planned these things that way- and it’s a puzzle. And so we’ll try to understand why is that, what is the purpose of Hashem over here?And so we’ll say as follows: It’s clear to us that the purpose of maintaining the individual status of eachshevetis becauseeach tribe possessed its peculiar characteristics, which were its contribution to the general perfection of theAm Yisroel. And Hakodosh Boruch Hu insisted that eachshevetshould maintain its identity, and thereby contribute to the general perfection of theAm Yisroelas a whole.We get so many benefits from eachkehillah, because each group of frum Jews brings something else to the table, some benefit for theAm Yisroel. Our nation wouldn’t be the perfect nation it is, if it wasn’t for the variety of paths in the service of Hashem that make up our people. And that’s exactly why Hakodosh Boruch Hu insisted on the twelve springs inEilim. Because those separate springs signified Hashem’s plan to encourage each tribe to maintain its individuality. As they came to draw the much needed water, each tribe frequented its own well and was therefore able to avoid being swallowed up by the others. Each group retained their individual identity.Now you have to know that the differences among theshevatimwas a model for what would persist throughout the entire history of theAm Yisroel.Even when some theshevatimwent lost, or became diluted one among the other ingolus, we always remained a nation of different tribes; different ideals and attitudes, various preferences of paths in the service ofHashem.WHO NEEDS CHASSIDIM, MISNAGDIM AND SEFARDIM?I’m frequently asked: What’s the benefit of different types of servants of Hashem? Who needschassidimandmisnagdimandsefardim? Wouldn’t it have been better if we all walked together on one path towards Hakodosh Boruch Hu?So I always say: Why is it that you’ll find in the supermarket clover honey and orange blossom honey and buckwheat honey? There are at least ten varieties of honey! Who needs it?! And the answer is that it makes life more delectable! Variety is a pleasure! After all, Hakodosh Boruch Hu could have given us nothing but red delicious apples. Let’s say you’d pass a fruit stand and all you would see is bins and bins of red delicious apples. Now, red delicious apples are a treat; we can’t complain about them, but how much more fun it is when we have ten different kinds of apples! And even better, to have tens and tens of varieties of fruit. It’s much more fun when you can choose from a wide variety of good things.And therefore, there are all kinds of methods of serving Hashem, each one that has been cultivated by Hashem Himself, by the separation ofkehillos. Sometimes a person can choose one method and stick to it always. Or sometimes you can choose from the fruit store of the differentshevatim. Sometimes you’ll choose something from theGerrer, another thing you’ll take from Lakewood, something you’ll pick from Lubavitch, something you’ll take from Belz, and something else you’ll nosh from Satmer. And so on. Everyshevethad something to contribute. You can be sure that there are a lot of delightful fruit in all of these various places that help theAmYisroelin itsavodas Hashem.Everybody is helping out! Somekehillosbrought to theAm Yisroelthe great benefits ofmussarto theAm Yisroel, while otherkehillosbroughtchassidus. From some communities we learn to bekanaaimfor the truth and others impress us with theirhasmadahinlimudhatorahorgemillas chasodim.I myself have learned from one group of Jews in Flatbush what it means to bemichabeid talmidei chachomim.Because there’s no end to the variety of paths that theAm Yisroelwalk toward the One Hashem and there’s what to learn from everyone.MAKING ENEMIES FOR RAV MILLERNow I’m not going to tell you what’s best. Someone asked me, what does Hakodosh Boruch Hu want from me? Am I supposed to bechassidish, orlitvishor what? Now that’s some big order. He wants me to make enemies, the one who asked me that question.Hashem wants you to be the best that you can be. Some people can be their best if they’rechassidish. Some people can be their best if they’relitvish. Other people can be their best if they’resefardi. It’s like asking – “What is the best diet for all of mankind?” The best type of diet depends on each individual person. People are different. Some people are so different that their diets are radically different. So whatever it is that you choose, you should make it a principle in your life to always choose whatever it is that willgive you the most success in life– and success in this world means preparing for the Next World.EVERYONE IS WRONGEveryone is right. And everyone is wrong. Nobody is perfect in this world. And most important is to live with the principle of knowing that we ourselves are not altogether right.And we have to do our best to improve. Although we don’t have to adopt what everybody else does, and everyone should follow the customs and manners of hiskehillain the very best manner, nevertheless, he should know that there are things to be learned everywhere.Even though you’re achossid, when you walk into Telshe Yeshiva, you can learn good things there too. And if a Telshe bochur goes to Williamsburg, he can learn good things there, no question about it. Therefore, everyone should try to steal from others all the good things they can. Instead of going around and saying “Well, I saw in thisshteibelthat they talk during davening so it’s not so bad.” Or, “In the other place they daven fast, so I can also daven fast.” So this person goes around collecting all thewrongthingsfrom all the places. No! Go around collecting all the good things from everybody – that’s what they’re there for.BE JEALOUS AND STEALAnd that’s the person who will succeed. That’s what jealousy is for.Kinahmeans to bekoneh, to acquire, to be jealous of all the good things that you find. “Why is he saying a longshemonahesreiand not me?” “Why does he treat his wife so nicely and I’m so gruff?” “Why does he go out to learn at night and I’m still wasting away?” And everybody should try to steal from everyone else all the good things that they find.That’s our purpose – to acquire all the qualities that find favor in the eyes of Hashem. Because what Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants of us isshleimus– perfection.Shleimusin knowledge of the Torah, perfection in knowing His ways, perfection in recognizing Him in history and in nature. Perfection in character and self-control and perfection in kindliness to our fellow man. Every form of perfection that’s possible for a person to emulate, to imitate, to steal from all sides, he should do that. And the various groups that make up theAm Yisroelhave all of those things to offer.And so whenever a person comes comes into contact with people different than himself, othershevatim, otherkehillos, whenever he sees anything good in the world, he should recognize that these differences are exactly what Hashem was cultivating in theAm Yisroelwhen He separated theshevatim. And therefore he should emulate whatever good he sees and decide that he wants to take it for himself.MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IS TOO SMALLHowever there is another subject altogether – maybe even more important – that is vital for understanding why Hashem insisted on the separation of theshevatim. And we’ll begin this subject with the followinggemara. Thegemara(Brachos 58a) says thatהרואה אוכלוסי ישראל, if you see a big throng of Jews, you have to make a specialbrachah.What’s calleduchlusei yisroel?600,000 Jews.It’s azechiyah! We’re talking here about Jews who areshomrei Torah.600,000shomrei Torahs! Ahh!It’s an illumination of the mind,it’s such asimchathat you’re required to make abrachahon something like that.Now in thatbrachahyou mention a number of things.And among the things you say in thatbrachahis that אין דעתם דומה זה לזה ואין פרצופיהן דומים זה לזה – In this big throng, no two of them have the same faces. It’s a remarkable statement.The fact is that nobody has an exact replica of your face. Even twins are not exactly the same.And that’s only thechitzoniyus. Because even more than that, no two people have the samedeios, the same minds. People have various characters. Eventzadikim; no twotzadikimare the same. They think differently. When it comes to דעתם, their ideas, their attitudes, it’s a remarkable thing, that even twins who look so much alike, they’re actually very different from one another.THE MOTHER WILL ALWAYS FIND SOMETHING ABOUT THE NOSEIt’s a remarkable fact if you look at a family – let’s say you visit your cousins or it could be your own family – it’s remarkable how different the children are from each other.It’s one of the surprisingnissim.From the same parents, and yet brothers are so different one from the other.Here you have one brother.He’s handsome.He’s graceful.He looks like a real Lord Fauntleroy.He’s a beautiful boy, but a little bit sleepy, a little bit lazy.Now next to him is his brother; not good looking but a very good boy,full of energy.They look like two families, two different brothers entirely.They don’t look alike at all! Maybe you’ll find some resemblance in their nose – their mother will always find some resemblance – but otherwise they are entirely different. It’s a remarkable fact.And sisters also, sisters are very different one from the other.Now, some people think maybe it’s only their own family where this is a problem. He thinks that one of his brothers is too smart. And his little brother is too dull. One is akanoi, and the other one doesn’t care about anything. Maybe in other families it’s better. But the truth is that it was this way in the best family as well. Thegemara(Pesachim 56a) tells us when Yaakov Avinu was on his deathbed and his holy sons were standing around his bed, so he looked up at them, and he was very much worried.They were all different, remarkably different, and that concerned him as he was about to leave this world. After he would pass away, what would hold his children together? They’re so different, and he wouldn’t be around to hold them in place.YOUR HUSBAND’S LONG NOSEAnd so we see that this peculiar fact, that אין דעותיהם שוות and אין פרצופיהן שוות is no accident. Hakadosh Baruch Hu intentionally made people different from each other. Nobody in the whole world has the same face.Their voices are not the same. Their thoughts are different, their ideas, their desires. It’s a remarkable thing.And so here you have a man married to a woman, a fine woman, but he has a nose a little bit longer than she would like.She doesn’t like such a long nose. And he doesn’t like this or that. It gnaws at him. They don’t like the same foods. And I’m only mentioning some superficial things. There’s much more than that, many more differences. I know all about it because my phone is constantly ringing.Don’t ever expect when you get married that your wife will be like you.You will always discover that after all she is a woman and you are a man.נשים עם בפני עצמם, women are a different nation, thegemarasays (Shabbos 62a). Of course we shouldn’t try to emphasize the diversity.Before you get married it’s best to look for somebody who eats the same kind of food that you eat, someone who comes from the same background, as much as possible.Of course you should do that; there’s no reason to make it more difficult.It’s difficult enough as it is.But we have to know beforehand that no matter what, no matter what theshadchantells you, you’re going to be surprised to find many more differences than you ever imagined.And so what we’re seeing now is thatnotwo people are the same! One brother is different than the next, sisters can’t agree on anything, husbands and wives are from different “nations,” every neighbor is different than the next – theAm Yisroelis a nation of variousshevatim.And so we have to wonder, why is that?Wouldn’t it be so wonderful, so beautiful, if we all had the same noses. You’d be in love with your husband’s nose. And if we all thought alike?! Ahh, it would be a pleasure!Shalom al Yisroel!But no such luck. Nobody is the same. And so we see that there was some reason why Hakadosh Baruch Hu made all of us so different one from another. And we’re going to learn now that the answer to this puzzle is actually one of the most vital opportunities for perfection in this world.IF YOU’RE HERE, THERE’S STILL HOPENow to try to answer this puzzle, we’ll first study apossukin Koheles (9:4).We read there:מי אשר יחבר אל כל החיים יש ביטחון – “If somebody is still connected to the living then there’s still hope.” Now that seems like such a simple and obvious statement that we’re surprised that it’s even made – that if you’re still breathing, if you’re still alive, then there’s still hope for you to achieve something in this world.However, we’ll note a superfluous word in thepossuk. It says, אל כל החיים – “He’s connected toallthe living.” It could have said you’re connected “to the living.” Why mentionallthe living?If you’re among the living there’s still some hope for you, that’s all. If the person is already in the cemetery, it’s too late.And if he’s still with the living, if he’s still breathing, he can still accomplish something with his life. Why mentionkolhachaim,allthe living?GET ALONG WITH HIS BLUE HATWhat we’re beginning to see now is that all of these differences among ourselves that have been nurtured by Hashem throughout our history – the twelve springs inEilimare only one small example – are there in order to test us. By means of the wide variety of our fellow Jews, we are provided with the great opportunity of getting along with people who are different than we are.And that’s whatKohelesis telling us – that the one who still wants to retain somebitachon, some hope of accomplishing perfection in this world, it’s only if he understands that he must beyechubar el kol hachaim– attached toallthe living. Learning how to get along withallthe different types – the black hats and the blue hats, the long coats and the short coats, the Polish Jews and the Hungarians, the Syrian Jews and the Persians.El kol hachaim!Now of course if he’s friendly to you, you’ll like him.Or if he wears hispeyoslike you do, or he shakes during davening like you, so you’ll like him. Why not? If he’s your “type,” if he’s yourshevet, it’s much easier.But what will you do with theAm Yisroelin its totality – with all of thefrumJews who are your brothers? Hakadosh Baruch Hu expects you to have a certain attitude of affection,of love, for theAm Yisroelon a whole. It’s amitzvahmin hatorah.Veahavta l’reiachahdoesn’t mean this man right here who is a good friend of yours, who thinks like you do.Veahavtameans all of them. And that’swhywe have people in the world.In order to test us whether we’ll choose to overcome our natural tendencies to shun those different than ourselves, and instead train our minds toyechubar el kol hachaim, to feel connected to everyone.A LOVE FOR THE SEAWe are always being tested by the differences among people.The fact that some Jews saybureechand some saybaruchorboruch,is a test. You know that, don’t you? Even theshevatimpronounced the words oflashon kodeshdifferently. We see that in theTanach(see Shoftim 12:6). And there’s no question that they used idioms peculiar to themselves, ate different foods, dressed differentlyand thought differently. And it was the will of Hashem that the differentiation should persist. And itdidpersist! The distinctive physical features and characteristics of eachshevetbecame emphasized by the inbreeding, and to the untrained eye they appeared as different nations.Like thegemarasays inPesachim(4a) : ההוא דהוה קא אזיל ואמר , a man used to go around and say אכיף ימא אסיסני ביראתא, he loved the seashore.He loved the seashore.בדקו, they began to investigate.Why are you talking so much about the seashore?And they found out he came fromZevulun.זבולון לחוף ימים ישכון,Zevulunlived near the seashore and they loved it.It’s a remarkable thing.Hakadosh Baruch Hu put intoZevuluna love for the sea, and therefore they were a seafaring nation.They were sailors with boats and they loved the sea.SOME KIDS OBEY RULESAnother man used to go around saying דונו דיני – “Judge my dispute.”That means whenever there was some case between him and a fellow man, he didn’t want to arbitrate.He didn’t want to make apesharah.“No, let’s go to the judge and let’s hear what the judge says.”Now he said it so many times דונו דיני, דונו דיני it was suspicious to people. So בדקו אחריו, they searched after his pedigree, and they found that he came fromDan. You remember what it says byDan, דן ידין עמו.Danwas a strict fellow.He followed only the strict line of the law.There are people like that who are very strict with laws.They keep rules.Even little children sometimes are born that way. Some children are like that. They keep rules; it’s their nature. Other children, not so much.Now, all of these character traits were planted in our nation by Hashem – after all,Dandidn’t follow the strict line of the law because he went to a university of law and read the law journals. It was a trait that Hashem gifted him with. AndZevulunwasn’t reading Boat Fishing Monthly or whatever magazine it is, and teaching himself to like the sea; no, it was a characteristic that Hashem placed in his heart. And by maintaining its own territory and its own identity, each tribe tended to marry among themselves, and thereby maintain the characteristics that Hashem gifted them with. The character traits were planted by Hashem, and they therefore deserved to be cultivated.And therefore they remained different. Reuven was very different than Dan and Zevulun. Naftali, Levi, Shimon; they all looked different.They even made sure theirbegadimwere different, and they spoke a different language oflashon hakodesh.Their dialect was different.They lived separately, and they had different expressions. Eachshevetdeveloped different kinds ofmelitzosand language, differentmalbushimandminhagim.DON’T GET BOGGED DOWN BY THE DIFFERENCESSo we see that Hakadosh Baruch Hu put in theshevatimdifferent qualities andthe purpose was in order that they should all get together despite their differences. And when they would come up three times a year to Yerushalayim, it was supposed to beחברים כל ישראל, they’re all together as one family, despite everything that made them different. They were expected to achieve the perfection ofyechubar el kol hachaim, despite the difficulties involved.But it wasn’t an easy task. So when a person fromDanwas passing by and a boy fromYehudahsaw him, he might have ayetzer harato ridicule and say “Tatty, look at that man. Look at his funny clothing.” So the father scolded his son, ‘Oh no, don’t laugh at him.He’s our brother from the holyshevetof Dan.Have respect.Everyshevetiskadosh.” And when a boy ofshevet Reuvensaid, “Look Abba! Isn’t that strange how this person fromEfraimis speaking a queer language – he can’t pronounce the words,” so the father said, “Shh, we don’t talk that way.Shevet Efraimis holy.It’s a very holy tribe,” he said.“They’re our people, our brothers.” And theAm Yisroellearned to overcome theyetzer haraof factionism, ofmachlokes, of partisanship. They learned to respect each other’s customs and idiosyncrasies and trained themselves to refrain from mocking or ridiculing the language, the clothing and the manners of their brother tribes. They knew that Hashem favored these differences and that they were all “tribes of Hashem” (Tehillim 122:4).OPPOSITES: ATTRACT!And so we’re expected to learn from that, the lesson of how important it is to be connected to all of theKlal Yisrael.Because the many differences are there just for that – to give us the opportunity to train ourselves to respect each other’s idiosyncrasies.These have this way of talking and that way of dressing. And evenminhagim, as mentioned, inGallilthey had certainminhagim, while inYehudahthey did the opposite – otherminhagim.And theAm Yisroelhad to get used to respecting the differentminhagimof their fellow Jews.Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to give us the great opportunity of perfection – the perfection ofyechubar el kol hachaim. Hashem wants us to struggle to beyechubarto all those who are living,el kol hachaim, to feel an affection for all the different types. We are expected to overcome the tendency to break up into factionsin our minds– that’s ayetzer hara, to actually feel that we are different factions. Now that’sa very bignisayonby the way, to retain the individuality that Hashem wants, and yet to feel attached with an actual affection to every frum Jew – it’s a very big test.BUMS IN THE BAR MAKE PEACENow, of course there will always be dissension because each one has his own mind. Each one is working toward a principle – when a principle is involved you can’t just yield. You know when bums get together in a bar and they have a dissension, so they could make peace more readily. They could unite with ease because what are they fighting about already? It’s nothing after all.Whereas people who have principles can’t unite. That’s why you findLubavitchergo their way and theSatmerertheir way. And theLakewooderand the otherlitvishehyeshivosdon’t go on either of those ways. Thelitvishehgo their own way and thesefardimwalk a different path. Andchasv’shalomthat they should become united in their principles!Chasv’shalom! Because if so, all principles would die out. Each one tries to serve Hashem according to the way he understands best – and each one respects and loves the other onejust because of that.YOU BETTER ARGUE!You know when Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai argued, nobody ever said, “Come on boys, let’s just settle down and come to an agreement. What’s the use of arguing over nothing?” No, it’snotnothing. It’s everything! It’s the most important thing to argue about – there is nothing else worth arguing about except how to serve Hashem. And each one sought to serve Hashem in the best way. And Hakodosh Boruch Hu intended that – it was no accident. From the beginning it was all planned – eachshevet, eachkehillahwith its own ways, because of the great opportunities for perfection it affords us. Because that’s what Hakodosh Boruch Hu wantsfrom us, theshleimusof learning to get along with those who are different from you.A grandson once showed him a picture in the newspaper depicting an apparent conflict between Jewish groups. “It’s trick photography,” said Rav Miller. “The media loves to drum up conflicts even where none exist. These Jews really love each other and so we love both groups.” “But they seem to be really fighting,” his grandson persisted. “I’ll explain,” Rav Miller replied. “The army has many divisions: the marines, the navy, the air force, etc. Each one is convinced that they are the best, and naturally they feel animosity toward the other branches. Yet, as far as the rest of the nation is concerned, they are one unified army supporting its country. And that is how everyone must look at them, for that is all that concerns them. Every soldier must know where he belongs and stay there – and so should you.” The grandson asked, “Who should I side with?” “You just have to know that you are in the army of Hashem,” Rav Miller answered. “and continue doing whatever service you are performing, keeping your own position. You don’t have to be concerned with the issues of others.” (Rav Avigdor Miller – His Life and His Revolution p. 292)You know, when Hakodosh Boruch Hu brought theLubavitcher Rebbe, the previous one,zichrono l’vracha, to America, it wasn’t an accident. Now, we think that he came here in order to bring back people toyiddishkeit. And it’s true – he wasmachzirb’teshuvaa lot of people. But that’s not the whole truth.And when Hakodosh Boruch Hu brought theSatmerer Rav,zichrono l’vracha,to America, people think it was for the purpose of helping rebuildchassidusin Williamsburg. They were theud mutzal m’eish; people who went through concentration camps, dejected people, broken families, ruined men and women. And he encouraged them to marry again and have children, and he almost single-handedly built up a bigkehillah. So people saw that he was sent by Hakodosh Boruch Hu to bematzila very greatkehillah. And he did! We can’t thank theSatmerer Ravenough for what he did for America. But that’s not the whole truth.THE LUBAVITCHERS ARE LITVAKSWe have to realize something that we don’t like to realize. There was another great benefit that Hashem wanted by bringing variouskehillostogether. And that’s the fact that theLubavitcherRebbecame to America to help theSatmererkehillah! And theSatmererRavcame to America to help theLubavitcherkehillah! You understand that it’s two separatekehillos. They can’t even talk together – their language is different. It’s hard to understand what theSatmererare saying if you’re not accustomed to their language. And they have differentminhagim. I’m not talking only about Torahminhagim– they have differentminhagimeven in eating – how they eat, what they eat. Many things are different about them. These arelitvakers– theLubavitcher chassidimare mostlylitvakers. They speak alitvisheh Yiddish, and theSatmerercome from Hungary and places like that – it’s a different language.So what did Hakodosh Boruch Hu do? He said, “I can’t let them remain that way. To be so separate that they never see each other, and never learn to get along despite their differences, that’s a failure. I want them to get ashleimus. So I’ll bring them to America. I’ll bring the Bobover and the Litvakers together, and the Syrians and the Persians too. I’ll bring them to one place so that they should continue to stand strong in their principlesSo that they should see the differences between them, and retain those differences,and yet at the same time they should get along with each other and love one another. Themachlokesis a great benefit for them, a great opportunity for perfection.RAV MILLER PREDICTS THE FUTUREBecause no matter how important are the principles that they stand for – and theymuststand their ground – but all of them have the same Hakodosh Boruch Hu and the same Torah. And the end will be that maybe they’ll intermarry too. They’ll dance together at weddings! It might take some time, a generation or two generations, but the perfection of being loyal to their principles at the same time as feeling a deep affection for one another, will come. At the end you’ll see that they’ll live together. And each one will gain a perfection that he could never have gotten otherwise.If you would sit inSatmarin Europe all your life and you would stew in your own juice – you’d never have any opposition, you’d never see people with differentminhagim– so you’re not being testedand you’re not being perfected. It’s the opposition that makes you great. When you’re sitting in your ownbeismedrashbut you come into contact with someone who has a differentRebbe, and different ways, that’s your opportunity for greatness.A BENT-DOWN HAT MAKES ME ANGRY!And sometimes it’s not even important things – it’s little things that bother you. Hisyarmulkehis this way and youryarmulkehis a different way. Maybe your hat is round and his hat is bent over. You don’t like that! A bent down hat you can’t stand; you’re angry at it! And when he sees your round hat, he thinks you look like aba’al ga’avah.“What does he think he is? Arebbeh?!” And so there’s friction. It’s אין “כובעיהם” ואין דעותיהם שוות – their hats are different, their faces are different and their ideals are also different.And with all that, they overcome those petty things like hats andyarmulkehsand coats, and they say “I choose to beyechubar el kolhachaim, to all of the various frum Jews, becauseit’s all just a test. And I’m going to pass that test and make myself more and more perfect every day.”EASIER SAID THAN DONENow all this is easier said than done. But once we begin to understand how important thisavodahis, so we begin to realize that this is one subject on which it pays to concentrate. Because it’s easyto say, “Get along with people,” but it’s not always easyto do. You have to have some motivation and that’s an important subject on which we should concentrate for a few minutes.So the question is how do you start working on that in order to fulfill thismitzvahfrom theTorah?Veahavtais aklal gadol betorah, it’s a very great rule of the Torah that you should have a feeling of love, of actual affection, for your fellow Jews. But how do we do it? How can we learn to love our fellow Jews?FELLOW JEW MEANSOBSERVANTJEWNotice that I’m not saying your fellowman.Forget about fellowman.Your fellowJew! Fellow Jew means only your fellowobservantJew.Thereshaimwe leave out.Achicha, reiacha, means people who areshomer mitzvoslike you are; theעבדי אלקי אביך – all the servants of Hashem, that’s theAm Yisroel.And I’m stressing that point because that is the answer to our question! I’ll explain that.I mentioned to you before about Yaakov Avinu’s worries as he lay on his deathbed. He saw children who were so different from one another, and he was concerned, “How could these children become one big unified nation?” So the sons understood their father’s worry and they consoled their father. Now listen to what they said because it’s what we have to always be saying if we want to overcome this problem and succeed atyechubar el kol hachaim, to be connected with all the living. They told Yaakov Avinu, “There’s nothing to worry about: שמע ישראל, “Listen our father, Yisroel, השם אלקינו, Hashem is our G-d, השם אחד, all of us have one G-d.” We might wear different hats and pronounce words differently. And we’ll even argue sometimes. But we’re all together “one nation under one G-d.” He’ll keep us together; He’s the “glue’’ that keeps us together. We’re all עבדי אלקי אביך – despite our differences, we’re all the servants of Hashem together.”And when Yaakov heard that, he said: ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד.“If, notwithstanding all your differences you’ll be together forever, theAm Echaddedicated toHashem Echad, that will be a glory for Hashem, and I can go to the Next World in peace.”HASHEM ECHADIS THE ANSWERAnd so we’re learning now that the solution to our differences is the overriding knowledge that we’re theAm Echadserving theHashem Echad. We’re all one people and that’s something we have to not just say, but to feel.It’s very important for us to learn that, to love every part of theolam shomrei Torah, theAm Hashem,with all of our hearts.Now don’t just say, “I know that; I do that,” because youdon’tdo it. It takes work; it takes thinking and talking. You have to think about this whenever you see a fellow Jew who is different than you. He dresses different. He talks different. He davens different. You’re almost sure he’s from a differentshevet. So you have to begin planting thoughts in your head. Think about the fact that he’s ashomer mitzvoslike you are.He’s a brother in arms.We’re all fighting together to maintain theAmYisroel.We have a big army against us, enemies all around us.Thefrei yiddenare all enemies with us.The irreligious Jews hate us very much.You should know that.גדולה שנאה ששונאים עמי הארץ את התלמידי חכמים יותר ממה ששונאים אומות העולם את ישראל, “The irreligious people hate the frum Jews more than the gentiles hate the Jews” (Pesachim 49b).It’s a fact.We have to fight for our people and be the best of friends among ourselves because we’re surrounded by enemies on all sides.בכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותנו, everybody wants to overcome us.And therefore when we feel that we’re all fighting together for one cause, forHashem Echad, we’re all marching together in the same regiment against the same enemies, so it’s easier to have a love for your fellow Jew.BE PROUD OF EACH OTHER!And so now we have learned the necessity of identifying with theAm Yisraelof today. But you have to identify.If you’re ashamed of your people – of any of thefrummeh– then you’re not identifying.You have to be proud of all of your people.That’s important.And who are your people?All of us, all the good Jews.Not the liberals.They don’t belong to us.Not the reformers, no.They’re not proud of us, and we’re not proud of them. They want to be like gentiles and they’renichras mei’amav.They’re all cut offnebach.Pity on them.It’s a tragedy.What can we do?But we don’t want to identify with them.We don’t identify with Ben Gurion, and not with Herzl. And not with anybody like them. עמך means עושי מעשה עמך, those who do the deeds of your people.That’s what theAm Yisroelmeans.All the “heroes” that were not loyal to the Torah don’t exist for us. We limit our love to thosewho serve Hashem, those who love Hashem, because that is the only glue that binds theAmYisroeltogether despite our differences.We identify with all observant Jews, whether they’re Jews inTeimanor in Lakewood or inLubavitchor Bnei Brak or in Boro Park or Baltimore.Wherever they are, we identify with them.Whether they’re Sephardi Jews, whether they’re Syrian Jews, whether they’re Egyptian Jews.All Jews that are loyal to the Torah, that’s our people.That’s theAm Echad, and we have to identify with them.It’s important.You can’t feel like he’s a stranger.A Galicianer can’t think, “I’m a stranger to a Hungarian Jew.” No, we’re not strangers to anybody if they’re loyal Jews.It’s very important for us to learn that.DO YOU WEAR A TOP HAT FOR YONTIF?So now theTeimanimcome with their robes and their turbans and the Jews come let’s say from Canada with black hats.Some would come in with top hats yet.Some still wear top hats onyontif,silk hats.A man wearing a top silk hat and another man wearing a turban look at each other with the greatest respect.That’s my brother.Anothershevet,allshivtei Kah,holy people.Ohhh, now we’re talking! Because even though we all have our differences and our own lives, there always remains this glue of service of Hashem that binds us together in this kinship of brotherhood. It’s much more than a blood line; it’s a real bond, a bond of the mind, something that actually ties us together.We’re not merely connected to each other by blood, by DNA.A fellow Jew is a brother who is עמיתך, he’s עמך בתורה ובמצוות. Chazal tell us that אחיך means אחיך במצוות, “your brother in mitzvos.” It’s not merely a brother of the same ancestor; it’s a brother of the same mind! With the same ideals and attitudes; he’s your “brother in arms.” Among ourselves, we have to be the best of friends. Because no matter where you are; you could be Jew in Australia, aSatmererin Williamsburg, or a Jew in Tel-Aviv, we’re all in this world for one purpose, to serve Hakodosh Boruch Hu. When we feel that we’re all fighting together for one cause, to serve Hashem, we’re all marching together in the same regiment, so it’s much easier to have a love for your fellow men. How much of an affection are you supposed to feel for brothers who are of one mind with you!MODEH B’MIKTZASIS STILL SOMETHINGAll thekehillos, even the Modern Orthodox who are far away from what we consider the great ideals ofavodas Hashem, are our brothers. Absolutely! If a Jew is ashomermitzvos, he tries to keep themitzvos, then even though he doesn’t exactly do everything the way we do it, he’s still a brother. If he doesn’t doaveiros, I don’t care what kind ofyarmulkehhe wears. If he wears a knittedyarmulkehor if he wears something else, he’s still my brother. Even a small littleyarmulkeh,so he’s “amodeh b’miktzas,”but he’s still one of ours. A person who keepstaharashamishpacha, he eats kosher, he sends his children toyeshivaand not public school, he’s ashomer Shabbos, he hasmezuzoson his doors – so a person like that is our brother, and don’t make any mistake about it. And you love him like any other Jew.Now, don’t misquote me; I’m not saying that the modern orthodox man has to be your brother in the sense that you’ll move into the same house as him. It doesn’t mean that you should associate with him if you don’t have to.That’s something else altogether. If your brother has the flu, you don’t want to be too close to him because it’s contagious. But you still love him, no less. Over here, in this place, we say that we want to associate only with the best onesbecause we want to be the best.But when you see another frum Jew on the street, any frum Jew, he’syour brotherin the most literal sense of the word. And you have amitzvahof ואהבת לרעך כמוך – you have amitzvahto love him. That’s how to think about your fellow Jew. And even though he follows a different rebbe, or a different set of political objectives, nevertheless, don’t lose sight of the fact that fundamentally he belongs to your people and that therefore you’re obligated, to think well of him, to recognize him as your brother, and to love him.TRY TO SEE FROM HIS VIEWPOINTThat’s what it means לעולם תהא דעתו של אדם מעורבת עם הבריות – A person’s mind always should be united –mi’urevesmeans joined – with the minds of other people (Kesubos 17a). Now this I mentioned here more than once that it doesn’t mean you have to yield when somebody is doing something wrong; it doesn’t mean you should stand down when someone is doing sins. But when you happen to like one thing and somebody else is enthusiastic about something else, and you have no interest in that thing, don’t belittle it. Try to agree with people. Always try to see things from the other man’s side.Your mind is different – and Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants you to keep your mind. And his mind is different – and Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants him to keep his mind. But Hashem brought you together now just for the purpose of benefiting the both of you. That’s theshleimusof both of you.So if you walk in the streets and you see Jewish boys with yarmulkes and black hats coming out of theyeshivasor buses carrying children toyeshivos,so your heart should overflow with happiness.You’re looking at your people! Or you see a group offrumgirls dressedb’tzniuscoming out of the Bais Yaakov schools, walking with decency, and wearing long skirts. It’s a pleasure to see!Your heart is full of happiness to see theAm Hashem.You walk through blocks and blocks and see fathers with children going to thebeis hakenesesand you love to see it.Your heart swells with pride and happiness.You love your people.Hashem wants that.Some people are so happy when they see Jews.They just weep with joy when they see the Jewish people.My people,ami.THAT BOY WAS RUNNING TOWARDS HASHEMI’ll tell you a little story.There was a boy in Chicago.A true story – I won’t say his name but today he’s an important personality. He lived in a gentile neighborhood. He was a young boy and his heart yearned for his people so one day he got up, took a long walk to the east side of Chicago, to the Jewish neighborhood. And as he saw a Jewish child walking in the street, he burst into tears. This boy burst into tears.He was so emotionally happy.‘Ahh!My people.” He felt connected to his people.A boy like that is headed towards not just people.He’s headed towards Hakadosh Baruch Hu.That’s why it does you very good to walk through Boro Park.Bigmezuzosone after the other.Blocks and blocks of Jewish houses. And you’re thinking as you walk, “I’m walking among my people. בתוך עמי אנכי יושבת. It’s my people and I love them. I don’t care what hat he wears or what group he belongs to, it’s all my people!”You can’t even imagine what an opportunity you’re missing by not making use of this feeling ofachvah,of brotherly camaraderie, that is available to you all the time. The next time you walk intoshuland you see theAm Yisroelgathering todavento Hashem, you should put your mind to work: “This is my nation! My brothers! And we all share the common purpose of serving Hashem.”And when you’re shopping in the kosher supermarket and it’s crowded, and the lines are long – those are precious moments! You’re looking down the aisles and all you can see are your “brothers and sisters”.Women, men, children, all buying kosher food. That’s a nation dedicated with a singular heart to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. ישראל אין להם אלא לב אחד לאביהם שבשמים – “The wholeAm Yisroelhas but one heart devoted to their Father in Heaven” (Sukkah 45b). It’s not just poetry; that’s actually the greatness of theAm Yisroelthat binds us as brothers.THIS IS A CAREERNow this is not a small thing that you heard tonight.It’s a career.You have to be serious of course.You have to not only hear it, hearing is very important, you have to try to practice it.Now even though you do it a little bit, it’s a tremendous achievement.If you’ll think once a week about it, once a week, for two minutes on the subject of achieving a certain respect and love for kol hachaim, for all of your fellow Jews, then you know that you came to this world for a purpose!Now, all this might seem little queer for those who don’t know their purpose in the world. So when you go outside later and they’ll ask you, “What did Rabbi Miller speak about tonight?” So you’ll say, “He told us to love our fellow Jew.” They’ll laugh at you: “What’s thechiddush? Who doesn’t know that?!” But the truth iswho does it?! Who thinks about it? If he loves, he loves; if not, what could he do already? He’spatur,he thinks. But no, we’re learning tonight that you have to work on loving theAm Yisroel,with an intense love. And you’ll do it by first of all recognizing that we’re anAm Echad.You have a big career ahead of you because when it says ואהבת לרעך כמוך, it doesn’t mean that you should tolerate him, or even that you should get along with him. It means that you should generate aahavah,a love, a real love, for your fellow Jew. You have to understand how far away we really are from even beginning such anavodah.Of course, we’re willing to say that we agree with the idea. Maybe someday we’ll even come around to it. But we won’t. You won’t come around to it unless you start doing something about it. And when a person begins to understand that, and feel a little bit of love for all of his fellowovdei Hashem, then he has achieved the perfection that Hashem expected from him since that day many years ago when He prepared twelve separate springs inEilimfor theAm Yisroel.It’s the perfection of choosing for yourself the good from all theshevatim, as well as the perfection of feeling a love, a real affection, for all those different than you. And those two methods ofshleimus, are the main purpose of why Hakodosh Boruch Hu brought you into this world of the twelve differentshevatim.HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOSGo Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Learning to Love All Types of JewsONE NATION UNDER G-DWe all know already that the children of Yaakov were in Mitzrayim for two hundred and ten years and it was there that this small family of twelve brothers developed into one great nation. And because they didn’t have any territory to divide among themselves; they were primarily in the area of Goshenand couldn’t spread out and settle into separate districts, we would have therefore expected that they should have lived together as one people, the Am Bnei Yisrael. L’havdil, like they say in America, “One nation, under G-d.” That’s what wewould have anticipated.And yet, what do we see? That the developing nation of the children of Yaakov remained twelve separate shevatim. For more than two centuries they maintained the boundaries; everybody knew his shevet and identified primarily with his own tribe. Everyone knew where he belonged. For two hundred years they didn’t give up their individual identity. Yehudah remained Yehudah, Reuven remained Reuven, and Shimon was Shimon. And that’s a remarkable thing because it was in Mitzrayim that they were supposed to grow into oneunified nation. And therefore we should study that; it’s a strange thing and it deserves a great deal of attention.THE GHETTO OF 1776Imagine that for two hundred and ten years Jews lived in America. Let’s say, in 1776 some Jews came to America from Germany and others came from Spain. Some immigrated from England and the Turkish Jews also arrived on the shores of America. So by the time two hundred and ten years would pass, by the time 1986 would come, halevai they should still remain Jews! But that they should remain segregated into strict boundaries, separate people, living separate lives?! Such a thing couldn’t even be imagined! It’s one nation and the different families and nationalities would all be amalgamated after a while. They would merge together and the boundaries would disappear. And why not? After all, we’re all Jews, one tribe of ovdei Hashem. And yet we see that in Mitzrayim it wasn’t like that. Not only did they remain Jews, but they retained their status as separate shevatim.So you’ll say maybe it was something temporary, something reserved for their stay in Mitzrayim, when they were still a growing family of different brothers, and not yet a unified nation. But when they would come out of Mitzrayim, so now they’re a full-fledged nation already, so who needs this segregation anymore?THE SPRINGS OF SEGREGATIONAnd yet surprisingly, what we find is that this was the permanent plan of Hashem for the Am Yisroel; it was His conspicuous policy to maintain the individual identity of each tribe. We see that Hakadosh Baruch Hu insisted there should be separate shevatim even when they came out of Mitzrayim. We find that in our parsha: ויבואו אילמה ושם שתים עשרה עינות מים – “And they came to Eilim and there were twelve springs of water…and they encamped there near the water” (Beshalach 15:27). Now if the Torah goes out of its way to tell us the number of springs, then the number twelve is not superfluous. Twelve springs?!That wasn’t an accident; that was Hashem’s plan from the days of ma’asehBereishis – they didn’t dig the springs on their own. This was the hand of Hashem guiding His people in the way He wanted for them.So we’ll understand that the springs of much needed fresh water in the parched desert was the preferred place for people to gather. Everyone needs water after all. And therefore there is no doubt that it was the plan of Hashem to have separate springs for each of the twelve shevatim. The plan of Hashem was segregation. The Reuveineeshould spent their time with the Reuveinee, the Shimonee with the Shimonee and so on and so forth. And we’re told about it; the separation is emphasized. More than emphasized; Hakodosh Boruch Hu made sure that it would remain that way always.ARE WE REALLY “KE’ISH ECHAD”?Because when you learn Torah, if you pay attention to the pesukim, you’ll note that this wasn’t an isolated incident; it was no aberration.You see a very clear thing that this is how the Am Yisroel always lived in the ancient times- as distinct and divided shevatim.You remember when they came to receive the Torah at Har Sinai.Everyone knows what the Torah says: ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר – “And the nation encamped there, opposite the mountain” (Shemos 19:2). And Chazal are bothered by the word vayichan – and heencamped, in the singular. And they say that the nation made camp כאיש אחד בלב אחד – “Like one man, with one heart” (Rashi, ibid.)However even there we find something very queer. They all encamped together “like one man, with one heart,” and yet Moshe Rabeinu, al pi Hashem,had different plans for them. When they were about to receive the Torah, it says (Shemos 24:4) that Moshe built twelve matzeivos, one for each one of the twelve shevatim. ויבן מזבח תחת ההר ושתים עשרה מצבה לשנים עשר שבטי ישראל – Moshe built – not one mizbei’ach at the foot of the mountain, but he built twelvematzeivos for each one of the shevatim separately!That was what Hakodosh Boruch Hu insisted on at kabalas hatorah. Twelve separate “standing stones.” Now that’s very strange. Why was it necessary? They’re all coming to receive the Torah together“like one man, with one heart.” What’s the problem with that? Let them come together as one nation! I’ll tell you something else that always bothered me. You know that the kohen gadol carried always on his chest the choshen, the breastplate. And on the breastplate he had twelve precious stones, each one distinguished from the next; separate colors, set off from each other in separate settings. And on these twelve precious stones were engraved the names of the twelve shevatim. והאבנים תהיין על שמות בני ישראל שתים עשרה על שמותם… איש על שמו תהיין לשני עשר שבט – “The stones should be according to the names of the Bnei Yisroel, twelve according to their names… each man by his name they should be, for the twelve tribes” (Shemos 28:21). That’s what Hashem wanted to see – that in the Mishkan each shevetshould remain separate.And it wasn’t just the symbolic choshen in the Mishkan. It was actually how they lived their lives in the midbar! They lived in separate areas, under different colored flags, each one distinguished from the next. They lived and traveled for forty years segregated from one another – set boundaries, this shevet here, this one here. There were no walls but there were always clearly defined boundaries.HASHEM WANTS STRONG BORDERSAnd a bigger kashah; even when they came to Eretz Yisroel, they should have become one great nation. But no. There were twelve tribes, and each one got a separate territory. That’s a queer thing. Throughout all the generations the fact that they lived apart, within separate boundaries, caused them to have separate lifestyles. They all kept the Torah but each one had minhagim that were different. Anshei Galil had this minhag, anshei Yehuda a different minhag. There weredifferent traditions and separate minhagim, and in the course of time many things became very deeply ingrained in them. It was like twelve different nations within one people. And for me, that’s really a very big kasha – why did there have to be separate shevatim when they settled down permanently in Eretz Yisroel?Now lehavdil elef havdalos when the English first came to America so they settled here and there; they settled in Massachusetts, and in Connecticut and Virginia. Not because of any reason that they wanted to remain separate; that’s just how it came about. One colony settled here, one there. And after they settled, so in order to manage the collection of taxes, so the head government in England, divided them into states. In each state there was a tax collector, and they had separate offices for each state. But it was for the sake of convenience – not because there was any real difference between the states. They were all the same. All the goyim are the same. Now it could be that in the course of time they developed certain dialects, certain differences, but lechatchilah, at the beginning they had no intention of being different people. But lehavdil elef havdalos here it was al pi Hashem. The land was divided according to the command, the will, of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He wanted His people to be separate. I don’t know if it bothers you but it bothers me very much. Now why didn’t they say we should all unite and be one people? Let’s all be one people now. Why should we be broken up into twelve different tribes? Why did they need twelve shevatim? They came out of Mitzrayim and now they’re am echad. They’re one nation. Why keep separate shevatim? And to my little head, that’s a very big question. Why couldn’t it be one country? That’s what we would do if it would have been our little seichel making decisions.EVERYONE BRINGS SOMETHING TO THE TABLE!Now we have to understand; there are no accidents in this world. Hakadosh Baruch Hu has planned these things that way- and it’s a puzzle. And so we’ll try to understand why is that, what is the purpose of Hashem over here?And so we’ll say as follows: It’s clear to us that the purpose of maintaining the individual status of each shevet is because each tribe possessed its peculiar characteristics, which were its contribution to the general perfection of the Am Yisroel. And Hakodosh Boruch Hu insisted that each shevet should maintain its identity, and thereby contribute to the general perfection of the Am Yisroel as a whole.We get so many benefits from each kehillah, because each group of frum Jews brings something else to the table, some benefit for the Am Yisroel. Our nation wouldn’t be the perfect nation it is, if it wasn’t for the variety of paths in the service of Hashem that make up our people. And that’s exactly why Hakodosh Boruch Hu insisted on the twelve springs in Eilim. Because those separate springs signified Hashem’s plan to encourage each tribe to maintain its individuality. As they came to draw the much needed water, each tribe frequented its own well and was therefore able to avoid being swallowed up by the others. Each group retained their individual identity.Now you have to know that the differences among the shevatimwas a model for what would persist throughout the entire history of the Am Yisroel. Even when some the shevatim went lost, or became diluted one among the other in golus, we always remained a nation of different tribes; different ideals and attitudes, various preferences of paths in the service ofHashem.WHO NEEDS CHASSIDIM, MISNAGDIM AND SEFARDIM?I’m frequently asked: What’s the benefit of different types of servants of Hashem? Who needs chassidim and misnagdimand sefardim? Wouldn’t it have been better if we all walked together on one path towards Hakodosh Boruch Hu?So I always say: Why is it that you’ll find in the supermarket clover honey and orange blossom honey and buckwheat honey? There are at least ten varieties of honey! Who needs it?! And the answer is that it makes life more delectable! Variety is a pleasure! After all, Hakodosh Boruch Hu could have given us nothing but red delicious apples. Let’s say you’d pass a fruit stand and all you would see is bins and bins of red delicious apples. Now, red delicious apples are a treat; we can’t complain about them, but how much more fun it is when we have ten different kinds of apples! And even better, to have tens and tens of varieties of fruit. It’s much more fun when you can choose from a wide variety of good things.And therefore, there are all kinds of methods of serving Hashem, each one that has been cultivated by Hashem Himself, by the separation of kehillos. Sometimes a person can choose one method and stick to it always. Or sometimes you can choose from the fruit store of the different shevatim. Sometimes you’ll choose something from the Gerrer, another thing you’ll take from Lakewood, something you’ll pick from Lubavitch, something you’ll take from Belz, and something else you’ll nosh from Satmer. And so on. Every shevethad something to contribute. You can be sure that there are a lot of delightful fruit in all of these various places that help the AmYisroel in its avodas Hashem.Everybody is helping out! Some kehillos brought to the Am Yisroel the great benefits of mussar to the Am Yisroel, while other kehillos brought chassidus. From some communities we learn to be kanaaim for the truth and others impress us with their hasmadah in limud hatorah or gemillas chasodim. I myself have learned from one group of Jews in Flatbush what it means to be michabeid talmidei chachomim.Because there’s no end to the variety of paths that the Am Yisroel walk toward the One Hashem and there’s what to learn from everyone.MAKING ENEMIES FOR RAV MILLERNow I’m not going to tell you what’s best. Someone asked me, what does Hakodosh Boruch Hu want from me? Am I supposed to be chassidish, or litvish or what? Now that’s some big order. He wants me to make enemies, the one who asked me that question.Hashem wants you to be the best that you can be. Some people can be their best if they’re chassidish. Some people can be their best if they’re litvish. Other people can be their best if they’re sefardi. It’s like asking – “What is the best diet for all of mankind?” The best type of diet depends on each individual person. People are different. Some people are so different that their diets are radically different. So whatever it is that you choose, you should make it a principle in your life to always choose whatever it is that will give you the most success in life– and success in this world means preparing for the Next World.EVERYONE IS WRONGEveryone is right. And everyone is wrong. Nobody is perfect in this world. And most important is to live with the principle of knowing that we ourselves are not altogether right. And we have to do our best to improve. Although we don’t have to adopt what everybody else does, and everyone should follow the customs and manners of his kehilla in the very best manner, nevertheless, he should know that there are things to be learned everywhere.Even though you’re a chossid, when you walk into Telshe Yeshiva, you can learn good things there too. And if a Telshe bochur goes to Williamsburg, he can learn good things there, no question about it. Therefore, everyone should try to steal from others all the good things they can. Instead of going around and saying “Well, I saw in this shteibel that they talk during davening so it’s not so bad.” Or, “In the other place they daven fast, so I can also daven fast.” So this person goes around collecting all the wrong thingsfrom all the places. No! Go around collecting all the good things from everybody – that’s what they’re there for.BE JEALOUS AND STEALAnd that’s the person who will succeed. That’s what jealousy is for. Kinah means to be koneh, to acquire, to be jealous of all the good things that you find. “Why is he saying a long shemonahesrei and not me?” “Why does he treat his wife so nicely and I’m so gruff?” “Why does he go out to learn at night and I’m still wasting away?” And everybody should try to steal from everyone else all the good things that they find.That’s our purpose – to acquire all the qualities that find favor in the eyes of Hashem. Because what Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants of us is shleimus – perfection. Shleimus in knowledge of the Torah, perfection in knowing His ways, perfection in recognizing Him in history and in nature. Perfection in character and self-control and perfection in kindliness to our fellow man. Every form of perfection that’s possible for a person to emulate, to imitate, to steal from all sides, he should do that. And the various groups that make up the Am Yisroel have all of those things to offer.And so whenever a person comes comes into contact with people different than himself, other shevatim, other kehillos, whenever he sees anything good in the world, he should recognize that these differences are exactly what Hashem was cultivating in the Am Yisroel when He separated the shevatim. And therefore he should emulate whatever good he sees and decide that he wants to take it for himself.MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IS TOO SMALLHowever there is another subject altogether – maybe even more important – that is vital for understanding why Hashem insisted on the separation of the shevatim. And we’ll begin this subject with the following gemara. The gemara (Brachos 58a) says that הרואה אוכלוסי ישראל, if you see a big throng of Jews, you have to make a special brachah. What’s called uchlusei yisroel? 600,000 Jews. It’s a zechiyah! We’re talking here about Jews who are shomrei Torah. 600,000 shomrei Torahs! Ahh! It’s an illumination of the mind,it’s such a simcha that you’re required to make abrachah on something like that.Now in that brachah you mention a number of things. And among the things you say in that brachah is that אין דעתם דומה זה לזה ואין פרצופיהן דומים זה לזה – In this big throng, no two of them have the same faces. It’s a remarkable statement. The fact is that nobody has an exact replica of your face. Even twins are not exactly the same. And that’s only the chitzoniyus. Because even more than that, no two people have the same deios, the same minds. People have various characters. Even tzadikim; no two tzadikim are the same. They think differently. When it comes to דעתם, their ideas, their attitudes, it’s a remarkable thing, that even twins who look so much alike, they’re actually very different from one another.THE MOTHER WILL ALWAYS FIND SOMETHING ABOUT THE NOSEIt’s a remarkable fact if you look at a family – let’s say you visit your cousins or it could be your own family – it’s remarkable how different the children are from each other. It’s one of the surprising nissim. From the same parents, and yet brothers are so different one from the other. Here you have one brother. He’s handsome. He’s graceful. He looks like a real Lord Fauntleroy. He’s a beautiful boy, but a little bit sleepy, a little bit lazy. Now next to him is his brother; not good looking but a very good boy,full of energy. They look like two families, two different brothers entirely. They don’t look alike at all! Maybe you’ll find some resemblance in their nose – their mother will always find some resemblance – but otherwise they are entirely different. It’s a remarkable fact. And sisters also, sisters are very different one from the other.Now, some people think maybe it’s only their own family where this is a problem. He thinks that one of his brothers is too smart. And his little brother is too dull. One is a kanoi, and the other one doesn’t care about anything. Maybe in other families it’s better. But the truth is that it was this way in the best family as well. The gemara (Pesachim 56a) tells us when Yaakov Avinu was on his deathbed and his holy sons were standing around his bed, so he looked up at them, and he was very much worried. They were all different, remarkably different, and that concerned him as he was about to leave this world. After he would pass away, what would hold his children together? They’re so different, and he wouldn’t be around to hold them in place. YOUR HUSBAND’S LONG NOSEAnd so we see that this peculiar fact, that אין דעותיהם שוות and אין פרצופיהן שוות is no accident. Hakadosh Baruch Hu intentionally made people different from each other. Nobody in the whole world has the same face. Their voices are not the same. Their thoughts are different, their ideas, their desires. It’s a remarkable thing. And so here you have a man married to a woman, a fine woman, but he has a nose a little bit longer than she would like. She doesn’t like such a long nose. And he doesn’t like this or that. It gnaws at him. They don’t like the same foods. And I’m only mentioning some superficial things. There’s much more than that, many more differences. I know all about it because my phone is constantly ringing.Don’t ever expect when you get married that your wife will be like you. You will always discover that after all she is a woman and you are a man. נשים עם בפני עצמם, women are a different nation, the gemara says (Shabbos 62a). Of course we shouldn’t try to emphasize the diversity. Before you get married it’s best to look for somebody who eats the same kind of food that you eat, someone who comes from the same background, as much as possible. Of course you should do that; there’s no reason to make it more difficult. It’s difficult enough as it is. But we have to know beforehand that no matter what, no matter what the shadchan tells you, you’re going to be surprised to find many more differences than you ever imagined.And so what we’re seeing now is that no two people are the same! One brother is different than the next, sisters can’t agree on anything, husbands and wives are from different “nations,” every neighbor is different than the next – the Am Yisroel is a nation of various shevatim.And so we have to wonder, why is that? Wouldn’t it be so wonderful, so beautiful, if we all had the same noses. You’d be in love with your husband’s nose. And if we all thought alike?! Ahh, it would be a pleasure! Shalom al Yisroel!But no such luck. Nobody is the same. And so we see that there was some reason why Hakadosh Baruch Hu made all of us so different one from another. And we’re going to learn now that the answer to this puzzle is actually one of the most vital opportunities for perfection in this world.IF YOU’RE HERE, THERE’S STILL HOPENow to try to answer this puzzle, we’ll first study a possuk in Koheles (9:4). We read there: מי אשר יחבר אל כל החיים יש ביטחון – “If somebody is still connected to the living then there’s still hope.” Now that seems like such a simple and obvious statement that we’re surprised that it’s even made – that if you’re still breathing, if you’re still alive, then there’s still hope for you to achieve something in this world.However, we’ll note a superfluous word in the possuk. It says, אל כל החיים – “He’s connected to all the living.” It could have said you’re connected “to the living.” Why mention all the living? If you’re among the living there’s still some hope for you, that’s all. If the person is already in the cemetery, it’s too late. And if he’s still with the living, if he’s still breathing, he can still accomplish something with his life. Why mention kol hachaim, all the living? GET ALONG WITH HIS BLUE HATWhat we’re beginning to see now is that all of these differences among ourselves that have been nurtured by Hashem throughout our history – the twelve springs in Eilim are only one small example – are there in order to test us. By means of the wide variety of our fellow Jews, we are provided with the great opportunity of getting along with people who are different than we are.And that’s what Koheles is telling us – that the one who still wants to retain some bitachon, some hope of accomplishing perfection in this world, it’s only if he understands that he must be yechubar el kol hachaim – attached to all the living. Learning how to get along with all the different types – the black hats and the blue hats, the long coats and the short coats, the Polish Jews and the Hungarians, the Syrian Jews and the Persians. El kol hachaim!Now of course if he’s friendly to you, you’ll like him. Or if he wears his peyos like you do, or he shakes during davening like you, so you’ll like him. Why not? If he’s your “type,” if he’s your shevet, it’s much easier.But what will you do with the Am Yisroel in its totality – with all of the frum Jews who are your brothers? Hakadosh Baruch Hu expects you to have a certain attitude of affection, of love, for the Am Yisroel on a whole. It’s a mitzvah min hatorah. Veahavta l’reiachah doesn’t mean this man right here who is a good friend of yours, who thinks like you do. Veahavta means all of them. And that’s why we have people in the world. In order to test us whether we’ll choose to overcome our natural tendencies to shun those different than ourselves, and instead train our minds to yechubar el kol hachaim, to feel connected to everyone.A LOVE FOR THE SEAWe are always being tested by the differences among people. The fact that some Jews say bureech and some say baruch or boruch, is a test. You know that, don’t you? Even the shevatimpronounced the words of lashon kodesh differently. We see that in the Tanach (see Shoftim 12:6). And there’s no question that they used idioms peculiar to themselves, ate different foods, dressed differently and thought differently. And it was the will of Hashem that the differentiation should persist. And it did persist! The distinctive physical features and characteristics of each shevet became emphasized by the inbreeding, and to the untrained eye they appeared as different nations.Like the gemara says in Pesachim (4a) : ההוא דהוה קא אזיל ואמר , a man used to go around and say אכיף ימא אסיסני ביראתא, he loved the seashore. He loved the seashore. בדקו, they began to investigate. Why are you talking so much about the seashore? And they found out he came from Zevulun. זבולון לחוף ימים ישכון, Zevulun lived near the seashore and they loved it. It’s a remarkable thing. Hakadosh Baruch Hu put into Zevulun a love for the sea, and therefore they were a seafaring nation. They were sailors with boats and they loved the sea.SOME KIDS OBEY RULESAnother man used to go around saying דונו דיני – “Judge my dispute.”That means whenever there was some case between him and a fellow man, he didn’t want to arbitrate. He didn’t want to make a pesharah. “No, let’s go to the judge and let’s hear what the judge says.” Now he said it so many times דונו דיני, דונו דיני it was suspicious to people. So בדקו אחריו, they searched after his pedigree, and they found that he came from Dan. You remember what it says by Dan, דן ידין עמו. Dan was a strict fellow. He followed only the strict line of the law. There are people like that who are very strict with laws. They keep rules. Even little children sometimes are born that way. Some children are like that. They keep rules; it’s their nature. Other children, not so much.Now, all of these character traits were planted in our nation by Hashem – after all, Dan didn’t follow the strict line of the law because he went to a university of law and read the law journals. It was a trait that Hashem gifted him with. And Zevulun wasn’t reading Boat Fishing Monthly or whatever magazine it is, and teaching himself to like the sea; no, it was a characteristic that Hashem placed in his heart. And by maintaining its own territory and its own identity, each tribe tended to marry among themselves, and thereby maintain the characteristics that Hashem gifted them with. The character traits were planted by Hashem, and they therefore deserved to be cultivated.And therefore they remained different. Reuven was very different than Dan and Zevulun. Naftali, Levi, Shimon; they all looked different. They even made sure their begadim were different, and they spoke a different language of lashon hakodesh. Their dialect was different. They lived separately, and they had different expressions. Each shevetdeveloped different kinds of melitzos and language, different malbushim and minhagim. DON’T GET BOGGED DOWN BY THE DIFFERENCESSo we see that Hakadosh Baruch Hu put in the shevatimdifferent qualities and the purpose was in order that they should all get together despite their differences. And when they would come up three times a year to Yerushalayim, it was supposed to be חברים כל ישראל, they’re all together as one family, despite everything that made them different. They were expected to achieve the perfection of yechubar el kol hachaim, despite the difficulties involved.But it wasn’t an easy task. So when a person from Dan was passing by and a boy from Yehudah saw him, he might have a yetzer hara to ridicule and say “Tatty, look at that man. Look at his funny clothing.” So the father scolded his son, ‘Oh no, don’t laugh at him. He’s our brother from the holy shevet of Dan. Have respect. Every shevet is kadosh.” And when a boy of shevet Reuven said, “Look Abba! Isn’t that strange how this person from Efraim is speaking a queer language – he can’t pronounce the words,” so the father said, “Shh, we don’t talk that way. Shevet Efraim is holy. It’s a very holy tribe,” he said. “They’re our people, our brothers.” And the Am Yisroellearned to overcome the yetzer hara of factionism, of machlokes, of partisanship. They learned to respect each other’s customs and idiosyncrasies and trained themselves to refrain from mocking or ridiculing the language, the clothing and the manners of their brother tribes. They knew that Hashem favored these differences and that they were all “tribes of Hashem” (Tehillim 122:4).OPPOSITES: ATTRACT!And so we’re expected to learn from that, the lesson of how important it is to be connected to all of the Klal Yisrael. Because the many differences are there just for that – to give us the opportunity to train ourselves to respect each other’s idiosyncrasies. These have this way of talking and that way of dressing. And even minhagim, as mentioned, in Gallil they had certain minhagim, while in Yehudah they did the opposite – other minhagim. And the Am Yisroel had to get used to respecting the different minhagim of their fellow Jews.Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to give us the great opportunity of perfection – the perfection of yechubar el kol hachaim. Hashem wants us to struggle to be yechubar to all those who are living, el kol hachaim, to feel an affection for all the different types. We are expected to overcome the tendency to break up into factions in our minds – that’s a yetzer hara, to actually feel that we are different factions. Now that’s a very big nisayon by the way, to retain the individuality that Hashem wants, and yet to feel attached with an actual affection to every frum Jew – it’s a very big test.BUMS IN THE BAR MAKE PEACENow, of course there will always be dissension because each one has his own mind. Each one is working toward a principle – when a principle is involved you can’t just yield. You know when bums get together in a bar and they have a dissension, so they could make peace more readily. They could unite with ease because what are they fighting about already? It’s nothing after all.Whereas people who have principles can’t unite. That’s why you find Lubavitcher go their way and the Satmerer their way. And the Lakewooder and the other litvisheh yeshivos don’t go on either of those ways. The litvisheh go their own way and the sefardim walk a different path. And chas v’shalom that they should become united in their principles! Chas v’shalom! Because if so, all principles would die out. Each one tries to serve Hashem according to the way he understands best – and each one respects and loves the other one just because of that.YOU BETTER ARGUE!You know when Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai argued, nobody ever said, “Come on boys, let’s just settle down and come to an agreement. What’s the use of arguing over nothing?” No, it’s not nothing. It’s everything! It’s the most important thing to argue about – there is nothing else worth arguing about except how to serve Hashem. And each one sought to serve Hashem in the best way. And Hakodosh Boruch Hu intended that – it was no accident. From the beginning it was all planned – each shevet, each kehillah with its own ways, because of the great opportunities for perfection it affords us. Because that’s what Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants from us, the shleimus of learning to get along with those who are different from you.A grandson once showed him a picture in the newspaper depicting an apparent conflict between Jewish groups. “It’s trick photography,” said Rav Miller. “The media loves to drum up conflicts even where none exist. These Jews really love each other and so we love both groups.” “But they seem to be really fighting,” his grandson persisted. “I’ll explain,” Rav Miller replied. “The army has many divisions: the marines, the navy, the air force, etc. Each one is convinced that they are the best, and naturally they feel animosity toward the other branches. Yet, as far as the rest of the nation is concerned, they are one unified army supporting its country. And that is how everyone must look at them, for that is all that concerns them. Every soldier must know where he belongs and stay there – and so should you.” The grandson asked, “Who should I side with?” “You just have to know that you are in the army of Hashem,” Rav Miller answered. “and continue doing whatever service you are performing, keeping your own position. You don’t have to be concerned with the issues of others.” (Rav Avigdor Miller – His Life and His Revolution p. 292)You know, when Hakodosh Boruch Hu brought the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the previous one, zichrono l’vracha, to America, it wasn’t an accident. Now, we think that he came here in order to bring back people to yiddishkeit. And it’s true – he was machzirb’teshuva a lot of people. But that’s not the whole truth.And when Hakodosh Boruch Hu brought the Satmerer Rav, zichrono l’vracha, to America, people think it was for the purpose of helping rebuild chassidus in Williamsburg. They were the ud mutzal m’eish; people who went through concentration camps, dejected people, broken families, ruined men and women. And he encouraged them to marry again and have children, and he almost single-handedly built up a big kehillah. So people saw that he was sent by Hakodosh Boruch Hu to be matzil a very great kehillah. And he did! We can’t thank the Satmerer Ravenough for what he did for America. But that’s not the whole truth.THE LUBAVITCHERS ARE LITVAKSWe have to realize something that we don’t like to realize. There was another great benefit that Hashem wanted by bringing various kehillos together. And that’s the fact that the Lubavitcher Rebbe came to America to help the Satmererkehillah! And the Satmerer Ravcame to America to help the Lubavitcher kehillah! You understand that it’s two separate kehillos. They can’t even talk together – their language is different. It’s hard to understand what the Satmerer are saying if you’re not accustomed to their language. And they have different minhagim. I’m not talking only about Torah minhagim – they have different minhagim even in eating – how they eat, what they eat. Many things are different about them. These are litvakers – the Lubavitcher chassidim are mostly litvakers. They speak a litvisheh Yiddish, and the Satmerer come from Hungary and places like that – it’s a different language.So what did Hakodosh Boruch Hu do? He said, “I can’t let them remain that way. To be so separate that they never see each other, and never learn to get along despite their differences, that’s a failure. I want them to get a shleimus. So I’ll bring them to America. I’ll bring the Bobover and the Litvakers together, and the Syrians and the Persians too. I’ll bring them to one place so that they should continue to stand strong in their principles So that they should see the differences between them, and retain those differences, and yet at the same time they should get along with each other and love one another. The machlokes is a great benefit for them, a great opportunity for perfection.RAV MILLER PREDICTS THE FUTUREBecause no matter how important are the principles that they stand for – and they muststand their ground – but all of them have the same Hakodosh Boruch Hu and the same Torah. And the end will be that maybe they’ll intermarry too. They’ll dance together at weddings! It might take some time, a generation or two generations, but the perfection of being loyal to their principles at the same time as feeling a deep affection for one another, will come. At the end you’ll see that they’ll live together. And each one will gain a perfection that he could never have gotten otherwise.If you would sit in Satmar in Europe all your life and you would stew in your own juice – you’d never have any opposition, you’d never see people with different minhagim – so you’re not being tested and you’re not being perfected. It’s the opposition that makes you great. When you’re sitting in your own beis medrash but you come into contact with someone who has a different Rebbe, and different ways, that’s your opportunity for greatness.A BENT-DOWN HAT MAKES ME ANGRY!And sometimes it’s not even important things – it’s little things that bother you. His yarmulkeh is this way and your yarmulkeh is a different way. Maybe your hat is round and his hat is bent over. You don’t like that! A bent down hat you can’t stand; you’re angry at it! And when he sees your round hat, he thinks you look like a ba’al ga’avah. “What does he think he is? A rebbeh?!” And so there’s friction. It’s אין “כובעיהם” ואין דעותיהם שוות – their hats are different, their faces are different and their ideals are also different.And with all that, they overcome those petty things like hats and yarmulkehs and coats, and they say “I choose to be yechubar el kol hachaim, to all of the various frum Jews, because it’s all just a test. And I’m going to pass that test and make myself more and more perfect every day.”EASIER SAID THAN DONENow all this is easier said than done. But once we begin to understand how important this avodah is, so we begin to realize that this is one subject on which it pays to concentrate. Because it’s easy to say, “Get along with people,” but it’s not always easyto do. You have to have some motivation and that’s an important subject on which we should concentrate for a few minutes.So the question is how do you start working on that in order to fulfill this mitzvah from the Torah? Veahavta is a klal gadol betorah, it’s a very great rule of the Torah that you should have a feeling of love, of actual affection, for your fellow Jews. But how do we do it? How can we learn to love our fellow Jews?FELLOW JEW MEANS OBSERVANT JEWNotice that I’m not saying your fellow man. Forget about fellow man. Your fellow Jew! Fellow Jew means only your fellow observant Jew. The reshaim we leave out. Achicha, reiacha, means people who are shomer mitzvos like you are; the עבדי אלקי אביך – all the servants of Hashem, that’s the Am Yisroel. And I’m stressing that point because that is the answer to our question! I’ll explain that.I mentioned to you before about Yaakov Avinu’s worries as he lay on his deathbed. He saw children who were so different from one another, and he was concerned, “How could these children become one big unified nation?” So the sons understood their father’s worry and they consoled their father. Now listen to what they said because it’s what we have to always be saying if we want to overcome this problem and succeed at yechubar el kol hachaim, to be connected with all the living. They told Yaakov Avinu, “There’s nothing to worry about: שמע ישראל, “Listen our father, Yisroel, השם אלקינו, Hashem is our G-d, השם אחד, all of us have one G-d.” We might wear different hats and pronounce words differently. And we’ll even argue sometimes. But we’re all together “one nation under one G-d.” He’ll keep us together; He’s the “glue’’ that keeps us together. We’re all עבדי אלקי אביך – despite our differences, we’re all the servants of Hashem together.”And when Yaakov heard that, he said: ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד. “If, notwithstanding all your differences you’ll be together forever, the Am Echad dedicated to Hashem Echad, that will be a glory for Hashem, and I can go to the Next World in peace.”HASHEM ECHAD IS THE ANSWERAnd so we’re learning now that the solution to our differences is the overriding knowledge that we’re the Am Echad serving the Hashem Echad. We’re all one people and that’s something we have to not just say, but to feel. It’s very important for us to learn that, to love every part of the olam shomrei Torah, the Am Hashem, with all of our hearts.Now don’t just say, “I know that; I do that,” because you don’t do it. It takes work; it takes thinking and talking. You have to think about this whenever you see a fellow Jew who is different than you. He dresses different. He talks different. He davens different. You’re almost sure he’s from a different shevet. So you have to begin planting thoughts in your head. Think about the fact that he’s a shomer mitzvoslike you are. He’s a brother in arms. We’re all fighting together to maintain the Am Yisroel. We have a big army against us, enemies all around us. The frei yidden are all enemies with us. The irreligious Jews hate us very much. You should know that. גדולה שנאה ששונאים עמי הארץ את התלמידי חכמים יותר ממה ששונאים אומות העולם את ישראל, “The irreligious people hate the frum Jews more than the gentiles hate the Jews” (Pesachim 49b). It’s a fact. We have to fight for our people and be the best of friends among ourselves because we’re surrounded by enemies on all sides. בכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותנו, everybody wants to overcome us. And therefore when we feel that we’re all fighting together for one cause, for Hashem Echad, we’re all marching together in the same regiment against the same enemies, so it’s easier to have a love for your fellow Jew.BE PROUD OF EACH OTHER!And so now we have learned the necessity of identifying with the Am Yisrael of today. But you have to identify. If you’re ashamed of your people – of any of the frummeh – then you’re not identifying. You have to be proud of all of your people. That’s important. And who are your people? All of us, all the good Jews. Not the liberals. They don’t belong to us. Not the reformers, no. They’re not proud of us, and we’re not proud of them. They want to be like gentiles and they’re nichras mei’amav. They’re all cut off nebach. Pity on them. It’s a tragedy. What can we do? But we don’t want to identify with them. We don’t identify with Ben Gurion, and not with Herzl. And not with anybody like them. עמך means עושי מעשה עמך, those who do the deeds of your people. That’s what the Am Yisroel means. All the “heroes” that were not loyal to the Torah don’t exist for us. We limit our love to those who serve Hashem, those who love Hashem, because that is the only glue that binds the AmYisroel together despite our differences.We identify with all observant Jews, whether they’re Jews in Teiman or in Lakewood or in Lubavitch or Bnei Brak or in Boro Park or Baltimore. Wherever they are, we identify with them. Whether they’re Sephardi Jews, whether they’re Syrian Jews, whether they’re Egyptian Jews. All Jews that are loyal to the Torah, that’s our people. That’s the Am Echad, and we have to identify with them. It’s important. You can’t feel like he’s a stranger. A Galicianer can’t think, “I’m a stranger to a Hungarian Jew.” No, we’re not strangers to anybody if they’re loyal Jews. It’s very important for us to learn that.DO YOU WEAR A TOP HAT FOR YONTIF?So now the Teimanim come with their robes and their turbans and the Jews come let’s say from Canada with black hats. Some would come in with top hats yet. Some still wear top hats on yontif, silk hats. A man wearing a top silk hat and another man wearing a turban look at each other with the greatest respect. That’s my brother. Another shevet, all shivtei Kah, holy people.Ohhh, now we’re talking! Because even though we all have our differences and our own lives, there always remains this glue of service of Hashem that binds us together in this kinship of brotherhood. It’s much more than a blood line; it’s a real bond, a bond of the mind, something that actually ties us together.We’re not merely connected to each other by blood, by DNA. A fellow Jew is a brother who is עמיתך, he’s עמך בתורה ובמצוות. Chazal tell us that אחיך means אחיך במצוות, “your brother in mitzvos.” It’s not merely a brother of the same ancestor; it’s a brother of the same mind! With the same ideals and attitudes; he’s your “brother in arms.” Among ourselves, we have to be the best of friends. Because no matter where you are; you could be Jew in Australia, a Satmererin Williamsburg, or a Jew in Tel-Aviv, we’re all in this world for one purpose, to serve Hakodosh Boruch Hu. When we feel that we’re all fighting together for one cause, to serve Hashem, we’re all marching together in the same regiment, so it’s much easier to have a love for your fellow men. How much of an affection are you supposed to feel for brothers who are of one mind with you!MODEH B’MIKTZAS IS STILL SOMETHINGAll the kehillos, even the Modern Orthodox who are far away from what we consider the great ideals of avodas Hashem, are our brothers. Absolutely! If a Jew is a shomer mitzvos, he tries to keep the mitzvos, then even though he doesn’t exactly do everything the way we do it, he’s still a brother. If he doesn’t do aveiros, I don’t care what kind of yarmulkeh he wears. If he wears a knitted yarmulkeh or if he wears something else, he’s still my brother. Even a small little yarmulkeh, so he’s “a modeh b’miktzas,” but he’s still one of ours. A person who keeps taharas hamishpacha, he eats kosher, he sends his children to yeshiva and not public school, he’s a shomer Shabbos, he has mezuzos on his doors – so a person like that is our brother, and don’t make any mistake about it. And you love him like any other Jew.Now, don’t misquote me; I’m not saying that the modern orthodox man has to be your brother in the sense that you’ll move into the same house as him. It doesn’t mean that you should associate with him if you don’t have to. That’s something else altogether. If your brother has the flu, you don’t want to be too close to him because it’s contagious. But you still love him, no less. Over here, in this place, we say that we want to associate only with the best ones because we want to be the best.But when you see another frum Jew on the street, any frum Jew, he’s your brother in the most literal sense of the word. And you have a mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך – you have a mitzvahto love him. That’s how to think about your fellow Jew. And even though he follows a different rebbe, or a different set of political objectives, nevertheless, don’t lose sight of the fact that fundamentally he belongs to your people and that therefore you’re obligated, to think well of him, to recognize him as your brother, and to love him.TRY TO SEE FROM HIS VIEWPOINTThat’s what it means לעולם תהא דעתו של אדם מעורבת עם הבריות – A person’s mind always should be united – mi’ureves means joined – with the minds of other people (Kesubos 17a). Now this I mentioned here more than once that it doesn’t mean you have to yield when somebody is doing something wrong; it doesn’t mean you should stand down when someone is doing sins. But when you happen to like one thing and somebody else is enthusiastic about something else, and you have no interest in that thing, don’t belittle it. Try to agree with people. Always try to see things from the other man’s side.Your mind is different – and Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants you to keep your mind. And his mind is different – and Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants him to keep his mind. But Hashem brought you together now just for the purpose of benefiting the both of you. That’s the shleimus of both of you.So if you walk in the streets and you see Jewish boys with yarmulkes and black hats coming out of the yeshivas or buses carrying children to yeshivos, so your heart should overflow with happiness. You’re looking at your people! Or you see a group of frum girls dressed b’tznius coming out of the Bais Yaakov schools, walking with decency, and wearing long skirts. It’s a pleasure to see!Your heart is full of happiness to see the Am Hashem. You walk through blocks and blocks and see fathers with children going to the beis hakeneses and you love to see it. Your heart swells with pride and happiness. You love your people. Hashem wants that. Some people are so happy when they see Jews. They just weep with joy when they see the Jewish people. My people, ami.THAT BOY WAS RUNNING TOWARDS HASHEMI’ll tell you a little story. There was a boy in Chicago. A true story – I won’t say his name but today he’s an important personality. He lived in a gentile neighborhood. He was a young boy and his heart yearned for his people so one day he got up, took a long walk to the east side of Chicago, to the Jewish neighborhood. And as he saw a Jewish child walking in the street, he burst into tears. This boy burst into tears. He was so emotionally happy. ‘Ahh! My people.” He felt connected to his people. A boy like that is headed towards not just people. He’s headed towards Hakadosh Baruch Hu.That’s why it does you very good to walk through Boro Park. Big mezuzos one after the other. Blocks and blocks of Jewish houses. And you’re thinking as you walk, “I’m walking among my people. בתוך עמי אנכי יושבת. It’s my people and I love them. I don’t care what hat he wears or what group he belongs to, it’s all my people!”You can’t even imagine what an opportunity you’re missing by not making use of this feeling of achvah, of brotherly camaraderie, that is available to you all the time. The next time you walk into shul and you see the Am Yisroel gathering to daven to Hashem, you should put your mind to work: “This is my nation! My brothers! And we all share the common purpose of serving Hashem.” And when you’re shopping in the kosher supermarket and it’s crowded, and the lines are long – those are precious moments! You’re looking down the aisles and all you can see are your “brothers and sisters”. Women, men, children, all buying kosher food. That’s a nation dedicated with a singular heart to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. ישראל אין להם אלא לב אחד לאביהם שבשמים – “The whole Am Yisroel has but one heart devoted to their Father in Heaven” (Sukkah 45b). It’s not just poetry; that’s actually the greatness of the Am Yisroel that binds us as brothers.THIS IS A CAREERNow this is not a small thing that you heard tonight. It’s a career. You have to be serious of course. You have to not only hear it, hearing is very important, you have to try to practice it. Now even though you do it a little bit, it’s a tremendous achievement. If you’ll think once a week about it, once a week, for two minutes on the subject of achieving a certain respect and love for kol hachaim, for all of your fellow Jews, then you know that you came to this world for a purpose!Now, all this might seem little queer for those who don’t know their purpose in the world. So when you go outside later and they’ll ask you, “What did Rabbi Miller speak about tonight?” So you’ll say, “He told us to love our fellow Jew.” They’ll laugh at you: “What’s the chiddush? Who doesn’t know that?!” But the truth is who does it?! Who thinks about it? If he loves, he loves; if not, what could he do already? He’s patur, he thinks. But no, we’re learning tonight that you have to work on loving the Am Yisroel, with an intense love. And you’ll do it by first of all recognizing that we’re an Am Echad.You have a big career ahead of you because when it says ואהבת לרעך כמוך, it doesn’t mean that you should tolerate him, or even that you should get along with him. It means that you should generate a ahavah, a love, a real love, for your fellow Jew. You have to understand how far away we really are from even beginning such an avodah. Of course, we’re willing to say that we agree with the idea. Maybe someday we’ll even come around to it. But we won’t. You won’t come around to it unless you start doing something about it. And when a person begins to understand that, and feel a little bit of love for all of his fellow ovdei Hashem, then he has achieved the perfection that Hashem expected from him since that day many years ago when He prepared twelve separate springs in Eilim for the Am Yisroel. It’s the perfection of choosing for yourself the good from all the shevatim, as well as the perfection of feeling a love, a real affection, for all those different than you. And those two methods of shleimus, are the main purpose of why Hakodosh Boruch Hu brought you into this world of the twelve different shevatim.HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOSGo Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.