February 14, 2024 • 55 mins
Kyle Morris and Dakota Smith wrestle with the intricacies of scriptural authenticity versus societal perceptions, dissecting the theological tensions that arise when Jesus is co-opted for pop culture messaging. Striking a balance between relevance and reverence, we address the potential for confusion when biblical stories are adapted for modern tastes, all while maintaining a focus on the integrity of the message.
Continuing in Acts 16, our conversation transitions to the story of Lydia in the Acts of the Apostles, shining a light on her crucial role in the early church and what it signifies about the inclusive nature of the Gospel. The narrative of Lydia's conversion not only reflects the breaking of conventional boundaries but also paints a vivid picture of a movement that fervently believed in the value of every soul.
Navigating deeper into the Acts, we grapple with the themes of divine involvement in salvation, spiritual warfare, and the resilience of faith under persecution. The episode reaches its crescendo as we reflect on Paul and Silas's unwavering faith amidst imprisonment, drawing parallels with our personal missionary experiences. As we dissect these ancient narratives, they emerge not as distant tales but as relevant touchstones for the modern believer, challenging us to consider the depth of our own faith and the impact it has on confronting worldly values with Gospel truth. Join us for a compelling exploration of how these timeless events from Acts continue to resonate and inspire the faithful in today's world.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the B disciples podcast with your host
, kyle Morris, and Dakota Smith.
This is episode number 107, Ibelieve 107 episodes.
Yeah, we've been doing this fora few years.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Don't go back and listen to our first one ever
Nope Stick with acts, butwelcome.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I want to let you all know again, if you're listening
to the audio only version ofour podcast, we have started a
video podcast on our channel atauto about what churchcom at
auto.
About what churchcom.
The link right there there's ashould be on there on the video.
I know for the audio thatdoesn't really help, but if you
go to at auto Bible church onYouTube, you go to podcasts,
(00:49):
you'll see the B disciplespodcast, and so we're adding
that element for our audiencehere in Ottawa and Franklin
County.
Get to know us a little bitmore.
We've received some coolfeedback since doing the video
podcast, and so they like to seeus get to know us a little more
, our personalities ormannerisms, whatever it may be.
We're a little dry, yeah, justa little, but we just so you
(01:14):
know we didn't just like throwDavid to the curb.
Yeah, he's actually out at aschool doing ministry.
He is also, though he's ourworship leader.
He's also our youth pastor, andso he's off at a school with
students and so he's out doinghis job.
So he's not.
He's not sick or any of thosethings.
He's out doing the Lord's workand we miss him.
(01:35):
We're excited for him.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, yeah it's a little flavor to the podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, he's a little dry.
Yeah, he adds a little morehumor to the podcast or
different kind of humor.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
He really does.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So yeah, it's.
It's been a lot of fun to getthis started and get this set up
and so, but we had a big dayhere in Kansas because the
Kansas City Chiefs were in theSuper Bowl yesterday, as we
record on Mondays.
So, man, what a game.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That was one of the best games that I've ever
watched in my entire life.
The first half, I thought usingthe term dry.
I thought the first half.
You know, 10 to three wasn'tmuch, but if you're a chiefs fan
and you're from Kansas City,that was one of the most intense
, thrilling games that we'veever watched.
And you know, although theNiners lost, I give it up for
(02:21):
Brock Hardy, who's a born againbeliever.
I believe, based on that man'stestimony and his words, like he
really showed some seriousclass as he led his team, and
it's just cool to see Christiansout on the field competing.
And so, although I'm happy theChiefs won, I'm also grateful it
was a good game and people aresharing their faith.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, I enjoyed the game.
You know, and over time, superBowl is rare and we got to see
Patrick Mahomes do exactly whathe's known to do drive down the
field and win Super Bowls.
So just a classic game.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
But I do think there's maybe a relevant
conversation that we could havehere on the podcast about one of
the commercials that came outabout Jesus.
Yeah, and this is always one ofthose things where there's a
difference between more of athorough theological answer
versus, you know, kind of likeyour first initial reaction.
But there is one ministry Iguess you could call it that
(03:21):
concerning Jesus.
They had a commercial aboutJesus and I'm not going to give
the name, but I think everybodywould know, and in the
commercial, you know, the basicpremise is that Jesus would wash
anybody's feet.
And they had a.
You know all these differentpolarizing figures from our
society.
And you know, I think, as abeliever, when I was watching
that I had some serioushesitancy with the direction
(03:45):
that the commercial went.
And so, just for anybodylistening, I think it's
appropriate for us, as men whoare trying to accurately
represent God's word, to saylet's think through that a
little more clearly.
So now, what were your thoughtsabout the commercial, the foot
washing commercial?
And let's talk about that for afew minutes before we jump into
Acts.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Well, the commercial pose the question who does Jesus
, who does who?
Whose feet is getting washed byJesus?
That's the question.
Like Jesus's washes, jesuswashes feet.
But then I was like, yeah, butwhose feet?
And so I was thinking ofscripture and I thought well, I
do know that Jesus washes hisdisciples feet.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, the upper end discourse.
John, you know chapters 13 to17,.
I think it's specifically inchapter 13, he washes their feet
.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah.
And so then I kept thinking,well, where else is their feet
washing?
In the gospels, and I remembera woman washing Jesus's feet,
but that would be the other wayaround.
And so I really got stuck onwhat Jesus washed his disciples
feet, and the commercial didn'tquite display that same type of
(04:56):
pattern in scripture.
So that kind of had mytheological radar going off,
like, hmm, what is thiscommercial then communicating to
us about Jesus?
Well, we have all these, itseemed like Christians washing
different people's feet insociety today, and and that it
(05:17):
kind of had this resemblance ofacceptance of the individual for
who they are, in their element,what they've decided to live
like their lifestyle choices.
And that seemed to be theportrayal of Jesus in the
commercial, where I'm not reallyseeing that in the gospels
itself.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, well, I think one thing that's helpful to do,
and I've never gone and lookedup this particular
organization's doctrinalstatement like just full
disclaimer.
I haven't done my homework onthat, but whenever I see, you
know, the polarizing figures ofsociety that the world is trying
to prop up as our icons and ourheroes, so to speak, I'm always
(05:57):
really careful with that.
James 4 4 said says Do you notknow that friendship with the
world is enmity with God?
Okay, so we know that God isnot an approver of sin, we know
that God is not an approval ofsinful lifestyles, but we also
do know that God, the Father,sent forth his one, only son to
(06:19):
pay for the sin of the world.
Behold John, chapter one, saysthe Lamb of God who came to take
away the sin of the world.
And so like there's thistension there, because we do
know that Jesus washed hisdisciples' feet and that Judas
was in the room and Judas wouldlater betray him and Judas
wasn't a believer, right.
So you have to be careful withsaying there's like this
(06:42):
outright rejection.
But I think the real thing wehave to ask is who is Jesus
considered?
Friends with Jesus is actuallynot a friend of sinners.
It was the Pharisees that gavehim that title.
Look, he's a friend of sinners,but in all actuality, I think
that Jesus is a friend of peoplewho have repented, and he is
(07:02):
drawing his enemies tofriendship.
So it's not that he's castingthem away and pushing them away,
but he's not okay with themstaying where they are, and in
fact we addressed that inyesterday's sermon.
The gospel says come as you are, but don't stay as you are,
because Jesus wants to changeyou.
And so I'm still processing thecommercial myself, but to be
(07:23):
sure, I'm I'm precocious, youknow, because there there were
some things that felt a littleacceptance, like when Jesus has
come to, to conform us into hisimage, not our own.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, I didn't talk about repentance.
It did not which is a path tosalvation.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And we know in the book of John what John talks
about when it when you're afriend of Jesus, what the
requirement is to be a friend ofJesus.
Well, you have to know Jesus inorder to know the Father, and
if you know the Father, thenyou're a friend of Jesus.
That's right.
In order to be in thatrelationship, you then have to
repent and believe.
(08:01):
So there's there.
There wasn't that message in thecommercial, and maybe the
commercial is just meant to posea question to get them to go to
the website to read more aboutwhat it means to be a believer.
Who knows, you know, I again,I've been on their website a
couple times.
Some of it's, some of it's kindof vague, which a lot of
(08:24):
websites do that on purpose, sothey can get them to call and
have conversations about thegospel.
But yeah, the commercial seemeda bit more about acceptance
rather than repentance, andthat's really where the concern
is with that.
And so just be careful.
I think we just need to knowour Bibles, and when we know our
Bibles, we those, the radargoes off and goes.
(08:45):
Does scripture really say thatabout Jesus?
And so we can then dive intoscripture and look for it, or
we've already read it and knowthat's a little off.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
To be sure, I'd be on the more skeptical side and I
would encourage people who sawthe commercial to also be on the
skeptical side, especially whenthere's money and Super Bowl
advertisements and that thatkind of stuff coming across,
always be careful.
But yeah, the path to salvationis that you first have to
repent, which is the wordmetanoia, which means change
your mind.
(09:15):
You're a sinner, you'reunrighteous, you're destined for
hell.
God's wrath abides on you andin order to escape that state
and condition that you're in,you have to change your mind
about how you are living.
Throw yourself at the feet ofJesus, surrender yourself to Him
and allow Him to conform you toHis image, believe in His death
(09:35):
and His resurrection, beingdwelt by the Holy Spirit,
expecting His return.
So a mouthful could be said.
We could do a whole episodejust on that.
Sure, and to be fair, this isan initial reaction.
I bet you if we came back nextweek, we'd give a much more
thorough one.
But be very careful with thingsof that nature.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, I think it's.
It's always important.
I know we don't want to besuper hard when the rest of the
commercials, or some of them,are definitely on the other end
of the spectrum, where they'redefinitely against God in all
sorts of ways.
Yeah, and they glorify sin andso, but this commercial is
teetering.
Yeah, it says the name of Jesus, but let's make sure, as
(10:18):
Christians, we represent Jesusthe way he actually is and was
in the Gospels and throughoutScripture, and that's all.
That's all.
That's the only warning there.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah.
Is it an overt or covert attackagainst God, or is it something
that the Lord is using?
Those are basically ourquestions.
Yeah, and you've got a landsomewhere.
I think, ultimately, you findyour answers in the Bible.
Jesus calls everyone torepentance, and anyone who
(10:48):
repents, jesus said in John 6,anyone who comes to me, I won't
cast away anyone.
And anyone means anyone, but itdoesn't mean an approval of
that person's lifestyle.
So yeah, yeah, amen.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Well, let's pray, All right, because we're going to
get in the book of Acts.
We're going to hopefully finishchapter 16 today and be able to
walk through it, so let's pray.
Father, we are here todaybecause of you, because you sent
your son Jesus.
Thank you, and it's only Jesusthat we sit here today.
That's right, lord.
(11:22):
It's easy to get off track,it's easy to get busy, it's easy
to just fill our minds withthings that aren't of you, and
so today, I pray for all thosewho are listening, I pray for
our church body that we wouldfocus our eyes on you, that our
(11:43):
hearts and our minds would betransformed daily into your son
Jesus.
And so be with us as we studyyour Word In Acts 16, we
continue to talk about the earlychurch and see how the Holy
Spirit moves and directs and howwe are supposed to today.
Look and see what the HolySpirit is doing, be in tune with
(12:05):
what you want, lord, and whatis your will.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Amen.
Last week we saw that Pauldiscovered Timothy, and last
week we also saw that the HolySpirit kept them, held them back
from going places, missionallyspeaking, and then the Holy
Spirit eventually gave Paul theMacedonian vision.
Now they're headed to theregion of Macedonia, with, that
(12:30):
being said, macedonia beingPhilippi, excuse me Philippi,
philippi, the Philippians.
Still a little bit early thismorning, my mind's just starting
to work Verse 11, all the wayto 15, I think this is the next
account that we receive.
Therefore, sailing from Troas,we ran a straight course to
(12:50):
Samothrace and the next day cameto Neapolis and from there to
Philippi, which is the foremostcity of that part of Macedonia,
a colony, and we were staying inthat city for some days, and on
the Sabbath day we went out ofthe city to the riverside, where
prayer was customarily made,and we sat down and spoke to the
women who met there.
Now, a certain woman namedLydia heard us.
(13:14):
She was a cellar of purple fromthe city of Thyatira who
worshiped God.
The Lord opened her heart toheed the things spoken by Paul
and when she and her householdwere baptized, she begged us
saying if you have judged me tobe faithful to the Lord, come to
my house and stay.
(13:35):
So she persuaded us.
Okay, paul Timothy.
They go.
There's a gathering of prayer,individuals who are fearing the
Lord, seeking him.
These are Jewish proselytes,converts to Judaism.
And then they discover Lydia.
And then Lydia, essentially, isbaptized.
(13:57):
But she asks this, or she makesa statement at the end If you
have judged me to be faithful tothe Lord, come to my house and
stay.
So after baptism, she invitesthem yeah, so brief summary.
But what's significant here inthese verses?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Well, we continue to see the journey of Paul and
Timothy and we continue to seethe Holy Spirit move and lead,
and so that's important.
And so this 11 through 15 seemslike, compared to some of the
other things we've seen in Acts,seems a bit tame If we really
like.
At first it seems like you areOkay.
(14:35):
They went to some place, theymet some lady named Lydia and
she accepted Christ and theyhung out of their house and,
like you know, if you, if youdon't really dive into it, it
can almost be like a bridgepassage, and so we have to take
some time to see you know whatis going on here a little bit
more, dig in a little bit more.
They are on the Sabbath day.
(14:57):
They went outside the gatethere by the riverside, they're
in a place of prayer, so wealready have a gathering of
prayer.
Not necessarily, it's not doneby Paul or Timothy, they're just
continuing praying to God.
They sat down and spoke withthese women One who heard us was
Lydia and she sold.
(15:19):
She was, she was a businesswoman, she was, and she sold
purple goods.
Yeah, well, what's the?
What's purple?
Why is that significant?
Why is purple good majesty?
Yeah, it's a, it's a.
It's a you would say expensiveclothing, expensive items.
She would have an audience towealthy people that's who would
(15:43):
be buying her stuff, and so weknow that she spends a lot of
time with people in themarketplace, specifically those
who have lots of influence.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I have a couple of notes here in my Bible, one that
I was unaware of, another thatI was aware of, so I'll just
share both of them.
The first says when theygathered at the riverside to
pray.
The study Bible says thatevidently the Jewish community
did not have the minimum of 10Jewish men who were heads of
households, required to form asynagogue.
(16:14):
In such cases, where you didnot at least have 10 Jewish men
leading the synagogue, a placeof prayer under the open sky and
a near and near a river or seawas adopted as a meeting place.
Most likely the spot waslocated where the road leading
out of the city crossed the thegang guides river.
(16:34):
So when it says women met thereand further evidence of the
small number of Jewish men, itwas women who met to pray, read
from the Old Testament law anddiscuss what they read.
So basically, this was awoman's, a woman's Bible study.
Yeah, paul goes to this women'sBible study, if you could use
today's language, and he caresabout their salvation too, which
(16:59):
I think shows the movement ofthe gospel.
The gospel was not just for men.
The gospel was for women, whowere seen a second class in this
society.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Yeah, and if we look at this chapter, we see a theme
of faithful women, absolutelyNot just Lydia, but Timothy's
mother, that's right.
Right, timothy's mother isJewish and raised Timothy to
know God.
That's right.
So we have a faithful mother,we have faithful women who are
continually following God,despite men who haven't maybe
(17:33):
stepped up in leadership orthere hadn't been enough men.
And so I just think we see thesignificance again of Jesus'
ministry, both to the Jew, theGentile, male and female Doesn't
matter who you are, whereyou're from, the gospel's for
you.
That's right, it's for allpeople.
So we're getting a little bitof more ministry to all, not
(17:55):
just the Gentiles, but now towomen, and specifically going to
the women and preaching to them.
So that's a big deal.
I think it's good to point outwho the gospel's for, and we're
not a church that says we'regoing to say men are more
important than women or womenare more important than men.
(18:16):
The Bible doesn't do that.
Now.
There are specific roles formen and women and they are equal
in value.
That Christ has established forhis church, and so them coming
to women, they value the womenjust as much as the men, and we
see that in Paul's ministry.
He's not ignoring the women.
He's going and preaching thegospel to all who will hear, and
(18:38):
so that's who we should preachthe gospel to all who will hear.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I will say that for me, I always make the concerted
effort to make sure if I'm goingto minister to women, I have
somebody else with me.
Like rarely I'd have to be inpublic, like at Walmart where
everybody's around or somewherein the coffee shop, if I briefly
went one-on-one to speak with awoman, because there's just
(19:03):
there's some cultural barrierstowards like you got to be
careful with that stuff.
But Paul was with Silas, right?
Or, excuse me, paul was withTimothy, something else though,
so I did not know that about thepassage.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
And there's a group of women and there's a group of
women.
It wasn't just Lydia, it wasalso Lydia and her household.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So I think you kind of consider Billy Graham-like
rules and scenarios like that.
But so that was the part that Ididn't know.
I didn't realize that.
You know you needed at least 10men to form a synagogue.
But here's something I did knowto your point that she sold
purple Thyatira, and if you'relistening to this episode, these
might seem like mundane details, but they're actually going to
(19:42):
tell you a lot about the letterto the Philippians.
It's going to tell you a lotabout the health of this church.
It's going to tell you a lotabout how the early church was
supported.
So, listen, she's a seller ofpurple Thyatira.
Purple fabrics is what it means, because purple dye was
extremely expensive.
Purple garments were usuallyworn by royalty and the wealthy.
(20:03):
As a result, lydia's businessturned a nice profit, which
enabled her to have a houselarge enough to accommodate the
missionary team and the newchurch at Philippi.
So her home may as well havebeen the sanctuary in Philippi.
Yeah, and that's awesome.
I mean, they had a problem withhey, we need a larger facility,
(20:26):
right, that's unfamiliar Mm-hmm, that a problem with needing
more space.
And somebody said you can comeand use this space and you can
benefit from my business and Ithink there has been influential
people over time in churchhistory and the past, or even in
the present day, thecontemporary day, where
(20:49):
individuals have said you knowwhat the Lord has blessed me
with this sum of money?
The Lord has blessed my business.
The Lord has, you know, blessedme in my business endeavors.
I just feel led to support thechurch in that and you know, I
have been the recipient ofindividuals who are wealthy but
are not tightly gripped to theirmoney and they said here, we
(21:11):
want to help your family withthis, we want to help your
family with that.
Here, we want to underwritethis ministry for the church.
We want to do this, we want todo that.
And that's exactly what we seehappening in the New Testament.
Jesus even had women followinghim that supported his ministry,
if you look closer in theGospels.
And so there is a consistencywithin scripture to say man, if
(21:34):
the Lord has blessed me, maybe Ishould follow suit with those
people to support God's church.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah, and I also think this hits home culturally
in America when it comes towomen working, uh, paying for
things, women being successful.
Lydia was clearly successfuland she clearly worked hard,
yeah, and she clearly had money.
And so sometimes I think in aconservative evangelical culture
(22:03):
from the outside looking in,there's somehow this putting
down of women, especially whenwe look at the leadership of the
church, how things operatewithin the church, as the Bible
says, when it comes toleadership and and so.
But here this we're not talkingabout women can't be leaders in
the in the sense of leading inbusiness, leading other women
(22:27):
leading and being wealthy andbeing successful.
Paul didn't say anything aboutto her.
He preached the gospel to herand then her generosity said hey
, I want to continue to help,come be, come, stay with us, and
we can talk more about whatministry is gonna look like and
and how we can help in thismission to share the gospel.
And so I just think wesometimes this is a place to go
(22:49):
to and there's other places inthe Bible to say look at these
Wonderful women who are strongleaders, who are, who are
business women who do thesethings, and so I think we can.
We can see that in scripture,and so that's actually a little
bit of a place where maybe youcan go.
If someone says, well,christianity knocks down women,
well, I think it doesn't,according to God's word.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I think you framed it well when you said people
outside of the church.
Yeah and really what thechurch's value is for for women
is.
We look at something likeProverbs 31, and, and we believe
that Because God so highlyprizes the Christian family that
a woman's first priority is toher family, her husband and her
(23:31):
children.
The family unit is isultimately what matters most to
God.
The family unit was establishedeven before the church was
established.
So a woman's firstresponsibility, of course to God
but I'm speaking horizontallyis to her family.
So that is the first position.
If she's fulfilling thoseduties, then nothing says that
she cannot also go and do otherthings, nothing says she can't
(23:55):
bring her kids with her rightRight, and so I think the world
may say one thing, butrealistically, the Bible is all
for hard-working women who loveJesus and love their families
first.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Yeah, the Proverbs 31 woman worked hard yeah and and
display of her whole life's work.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But I bought it displayed that she had, you know
, I would say, an equalpartnership with her, with her
husband.
Her husband was out working, hewas out building a reputation
and she ensured that thatreputation continued to be built
and it was enhanced.
And she took care of a lot ofthings land, what they were
(24:34):
selling, the household, thechildren.
I mean a lifetime worth of work, and that is valuable, that is
extremely valuable.
Today's society, at least anAmerican society, says that's
oppressive.
I would disagree.
I think a woman Is at her bestwhen she's fulfilling God's role
(24:54):
For her in her life andfollowing his will.
And so and I see the mostfulfillment in that, because I
see women in that role beingfulfilled in God's will and I
see women chasing somethingOutside of that, chasing some of
these, these factors money,leadership, some sort of
prestige, and they're missingGod's will in it.
(25:16):
Not that those things arenecessarily bad, but they fall
under a place where they becometheir identity rather than
Christ, and that's when it getsbad.
And so we just have to becareful and guess what men we
can fall into the same trap.
We're not excluded from thisconversation either.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Verse 15 says and when she and her household were
baptized.
Notice what it says.
It doesn't just say she wasbaptized, it says her household.
Now, you know, we don't knowwhat her household means does.
Does that mean individualsliving with her?
Does that mean her husband, herchildren?
We're not entirely sure, butthis seems to show that she had,
(25:56):
you know, more responsibilitythan just her business.
I think at minimal we couldmake that point right.
Yeah, let's talk about thislittle phrase Midway through
verse 14.
It says the Lord opened herheart To heed the things spoken
by Paul.
You know, this is always like atension point, like, okay, does
(26:19):
election come prior to faith ordoes faith then bring about
your election before God?
Which one is it?
So I think two sides of theaisle.
One side of the aisle would sayno, that was the Lord Opening
her heart so that she believed,right.
The other side of the aislewould say, just to be fair to
(26:40):
both sides, is that yeah, butshe was in a place of being
spiritually drawn andspiritually prodded.
She was already in a place ofprayer.
In other words, like she, shewas already seeking.
And because she was seeking,then the Lord did something.
And so I think, regardless ofhow you take this verse, it's
just, I Think, humility, withthis argument of God's
(27:01):
sovereignty, just understandboth sides of the aisle before
you passionately argue For theplace that your conviction lies
With.
That being said, salvation hasto be given to us by the Lord
alone.
Whether it's we have our ownHuman free agency and free will
to at least seek, and then God,of course, draws, or whether
(27:23):
it's it's God just Completelytaking over an individual.
There's different ways to view,I guess, the nature of
soteriology, the nature ofsalvation, but if God is not
involved in the process, onecannot have salvation Right.
Very simply said, regardless ofthe nuance, you want to do
right, you have to have Jesus.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, jesus has to be there.
We can't do it on our own,without Jesus.
So, yes, doesn't matter whicharea you fall into, jesus has to
do it.
He accomplished it on the cross, he accomplished it in the
resurrection, he accomplished itwith his perfect life, the
perfect sacrifice.
So without Jesus, it doesn'tmatter.
So you need Jesus, you need God, and we do see God working in
(28:06):
the heart of Lydia to payattention.
Yes, it's not believe, but topay attention.
I think she already believed inGod.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Into Yahweh is a Jewish convert right.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
So it worded a Judaism.
She just maybe hadn't heardabout Jesus yet.
That's right, that's all that'sright.
And so she was praying to theone true God.
Paul comes and says I'm gonnatell you about Jesus, yeah, and
she listens and God works on herheart to pay attention to the
words that Paul is preaching andthat's really, really important
(28:37):
in the text.
So we can't really settle thedebate.
Well, we're not going to inthis passage.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
We could have an episode just about that, but
right, we'd get off track.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
But I think it's good to just say God is at work in
the hearts of people.
Absolutely, he is going to draw.
We see that.
And we also see the other sideof the aisle of rejection of the
Holy Spirit in Acts 2, so notchapter 2, but just in Acts.
So we see both.
So we just have to kind ofsettle there and say it's God's
work.
Jesus accomplished it and byfaith and turning our minds to
(29:09):
Christ, we believe in what hedid.
And I think for that that'swhat we want to see when we
evangelize, that's what we seewhen we talk to people.
We want them to move fromRecognizing their sin into who
paid the penalty for their sinyeah, and, and recognizing who
that was and recognizing thatit's the resurrection.
That is the pivotal moment inwhich Jesus says I am the Son of
(29:30):
God, I am God and I've risenfrom the grave.
And if you believe in that,that's what it takes.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I also think this is a great text to go to.
When somebody asked thequestion Well, what about people
who have never heard of Jesusbefore and like they're living
out in the Amazon or something?
To that I respond Romans,chapter 1, the general
revelation of God.
There is no person that is, youknow, without excuse.
Everyone knows of God'sexistence.
There is no such thing as anatheist.
(29:57):
There are only people who claimto be atheists.
And if people would seek God infact Paul says here later in
Acts in fact, if, if they would,but grope for him I think this
is in like reaching for him.
I think it's an act 17 on MarsHill but if people would just
reach out for him, then Godwould meet them.
I think this is a perfectexample that Lydia has been
(30:20):
reaching out to God, and guesswhat God did in response?
He sent a missionary, and so Ithink that's how it works.
That person may be unable tohear the gospel message, but if
they're seeking, god is notunable to make it known to them.
So now the question becomes Doyou have a whole bunch of people
in the Amazon who just, despitethe beauty of God's creation in
(30:42):
front of them, they're just notseeking.
Yeah, I think that's thegreater question, right?
Yeah, so that's how I wouldkind of handle that question.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Plus, we just went to the ends of the jungle in
Mexico.
Come on, they know there's aGod they do they do.
No, no running water, noelectricity, no comforts of life
, living in shacks.
You, they know there's a God.
Now we also know thatmissionaries went there.
Yeah, god used his people to goreach other people who didn't
(31:11):
hear, who haven't heard thegospel yet.
Yes, so we have indigenoustribes all around the world who
have heard the gospel.
Now it's their choice to say weaccept the gospel as true, we
accept God as true, jesus astrue.
We're gonna keep followingwhatever type of religion,
spirituality, whatever thingthat we've kind of come up with
(31:33):
when it comes to creation,evolution, whatever that may be.
So they've been presented itand I would say today, the ends
of the earth with the gospel,other than maybe some islands
that people get killed trying toget on to, the gospel has been
out there, it has.
The gospel has gone all aroundthe world.
Today's technology is nothindering the gospel, it's
(31:54):
helping the gospel.
So, yeah, I think that questionthough I think there are people
who may not have heard it yetstill, it's out there and God's
doing work and we're reachingthe ends of the earth.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
It's fun to be sure.
On the flip side, I thinktechnology can hinder the gospel
, based on the way we startedthis very episode.
Right, but then that's not thegospel.
So if you're putting the gospelout on the airwaves or using
technology and it's for theright purpose to reach other
people with the message, thenthat's appropriate and that's
(32:26):
healthy.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Sure, I think there's people who are going to try to
stop our podcast from growing,but guess who is actually in
control, right?
So I mean, I'm not worriedabout it.
It's going to go as far as Godwants it to go, and that's all
I'm concerned about.
And so I think we need to havethat attitude of be active in
our faith, pursue the GreatCommission, and God will take
(32:49):
care of the rest, and that's howwe should do it.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
And by those people you mean like, because once you
put something on social media,you know the organizations of
the world, they get a littlesideways.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Yeah, and once you reach an audience because of
Jesus, you get a little, alittle flag.
That guy's a Jesus guy, but Iwant to be known as the Jesus
guy.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
That's the whole point.
That's the whole point.
Yeah, let's pick it up in verse16.
This is Paul and Silas inprison.
I suppose I should rememberthat it's Paul, timothy and
Silas.
I was just saying Paul andTimothy earlier.
Maybe Timothy's not here, butI'd have to reread this section.
Here we go, verse 16.
(33:32):
Now it happened as we went toprayer that a certain slave girl
, possessed with a spirit ofdivination, met us who brought
her masters much profit byfortune telling Interesting.
This girl followed Paul and usand cried out saying these men,
these men are the servants ofthe most high God who proclaimed
(33:52):
to us the way of salvation.
And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed,turned and said to the spirit, I
command you, in the name ofJesus Christ, to come out of her
.
And he came out that very hour.
But when her master saw thattheir hope of profit was gone,
(34:13):
they seized Paul and Silas anddragged them into the
marketplace, to the authorities,and they brought them to the
magistrates and said these men,being Jews, exceedingly trouble
our city and they teach customswhich are not lawful for us,
being Romans, to receive orobserve.
Then the multitude rose uptogether against them and the
(34:34):
magistrates tore off theirclothes and commanded them to be
beaten with rods, and when theyhad laid many stripes on them,
they threw them into prison,commanding the jailer to keep
them securely.
Having received such a charge,he put them into the inner
prison and fastened their feetin the stocks.
So this is probably the lastportion of scripture we'll cover
(34:57):
today, but let's take it by wayof traditional coma method.
Context, observation, meaning,application.
What's the context?
Where were we just at?
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Yeah, I mean it says, as we were going to the place
of prayer, which I believe, thatwe're still talking about, the
place of prayer in which theymet Lydia.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Seems they were continuing to go back there and
minister.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Right, because we're still in the same place.
We haven't changed locations,and so they went back there to
continue to reach people, sharethe gospel, and they met a slave
girl who had been possessed bya evil spirit, by a demon, it
says, a spirit of divination andbroader owners, much gained by
(35:39):
fortune telling.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
The Greek literally says a Python spirit, a snake
spirit.
Yeah, and I have a note herethat says that expression comes
from Greek mythology.
Python was a snake that guardedthe Oracle of Delphi.
Essentially, this girl was amedium in contact with demons
who could supposedly predict thefuture.
(36:01):
And then we have a note on thatfrom Deuteronomy 18, 9 through
12.
So, yeah, it's not that whatshe said wasn't true.
I mean, look at the girl'sproclamation these men are the
servants of the Most High Godwho proclaimed to us the way of
(36:22):
salvation.
There's nothing that she saidthat was incorrect.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
No, it wasn't.
That's what they're doing.
But we also know we can thinkabout this a little bit about
Satan, his demons and what'shappening Now.
We know Satan's powerful.
We know he has powers that notthat even close to God.
We know he can't create, but heis powerful and his demons also
(36:48):
are able to do thingssupernaturally.
But I think here, with thisfortune teller, I'm not sure
Satan can tell the future.
I don't think he can, and Idon't think his demons can
either.
I think it's a more of demonsworking together to ensure that
whatever is told through thisgirl is happening.
(37:08):
So it's more of a trick ofsorts, more of an influence of
multiple demons, rather than onedemon telling the future,
knowing what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
And that'd be deception, right, and I think
that's what fortune telling is.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
And that's what Satan does.
It's great to see it's deceiver.
And so that's what's happeninghere in the text.
This girl is clearly possessedby a demon.
And guess what?
Demons know exactly who God is.
That's right, right.
They know exactly what Paul ispreaching.
They know Jesus.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Yeah, james says, even the demons believe that
they shudder.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Yeah.
So I don't know if this demonhad a specific strategy, like,
hey, I'm just going to let themdo this for now, they'll pass
through and then I'll keep doingmy demon thing, right?
Yeah, like I'll just say, yep,that's what they're doing,
they're telling the truth.
Maybe God will not cast me outbecause I'm saying what is true
(38:00):
and so.
But we have Paul here and hestarts getting annoyed which I
like because Paul, we see hispersonality and scripture more
than most and he's gettingfrustrated.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
I think the fact that Paul is, it says, greatly
annoyed is a key to to thisentire question.
Well, if she was saying what iscorrect, then what is the big
deal?
The big deal is that do youwant demons proclaiming the
gospel for you?
No, because that divertspeople's attention to the
(38:33):
demonic force and power thatthey've always known from this
girl fortune telling they made abig profit off of it.
That redirects, that divertsthe direction away from the
glory of God and from his truemessengers.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And what did the people do to Jesus when Jesus
cast out demons?
What did the religious leadersdo?
Oh, you must be from Satan,exactly Because you can control
his demons.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
And Jesus said can Satan cast out Satan?
The house, divided, cannotstand.
So this is somewhere along thelines of that very same argument
.
Paul's greatly annoyed.
He turns to her cast the spiritout, command you, in the name
of Jesus Christ, to come out ofher.
That would have been amazing.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah, I mean, it's almost like Paul was like all
right, I'll just kind of ignorethis for a bit.
Well, it keeps happening.
All right, in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah, we're done with this.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Paul was not having it.
So I think that's a good.
You know Paul was patient andyou know it says they followed
her how many many days.
I mean, it's not like Paul waslike quick tempered and just
cast the demon out though if hedid, it's still a demon, but
maybe it took him a moment torealize.
Wait to know who she was,learning who she was, Wait a
(39:43):
minute.
All right, this is now aproblem.
We don't want her being arepresentation of Christ,
because this is a demon.
And so finally, Paul recognizesthat.
He gets greatly annoyed thatthis continues.
And in the name of Jesus, Again, Paul doesn't cast her out,
Jesus casts her out.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Well, I do find it somewhat intriguing that the
text goes on to say at the endof verse well, that'd be at the
end of verse 18.
It says, and he came out thatvery hour, so the demon obeys in
Jesus's name immediately.
But then you have this strongcontrast in the text, verse 19,.
(40:22):
But when her master saw thattheir hope of profit money was
gone, they seized Paul and Silasand dragged them into the
marketplace to the authorities.
I'm not, where did Timothy go?
I'd have to do some homeworkbefore we jump back on here.
But either way, paul and Silasare dragged into the marketplace
(40:43):
.
Seized dragged the word seizedis like a violent gripping of
the clothing, and dragging Wellthat I mean they're like pulling
them into the city square, soto speak, where that's where
profit and that's where selling,that's where you know all of
the business, that's the Walmartof the day for them.
(41:03):
Yeah, so I think the contrastis you have a demon being cast
out right away, but you have menwho will not submit.
They don't even want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
No, I mean they're using demonic forces to gain
profit, power, Power, andthey're not about to lose that.
That's right.
They're more concerned withtheir pockets being full rather
than their hearts being full.
They're more concerned with thenow rather than eternity.
So we have a group of men whoare very short-sighted, and
(41:36):
that's not the message Paul'spreaching.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Verse 19, when her master saw that their hope of
profit was gone.
That's interesting.
Where do we place our hope?
Where do we place our hope InJesus Christ alone.
Where did they place their hope?
They're placing their hope inthis prophet, something that's
extremely temporary andtransient.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Yeah, we place our hope in the inheritance in which
Jesus is going to give us tocome to come Right, and so they
were investing in now.
Yeah, so that's the difference.
We see the difference betweenmen who are not saved, not
following God, and men who aresaved and following the Lord,
paul's, concerned about theireternal lives, and these men are
concerned about their pockets,and, and so we see a huge
(42:16):
contrast between those who aredoing evil, even working with
the evil one, and what it doesto their hearts, to the point
where they're dragging these menoff who have preached a word
that is true and Really.
It says these men are Jews, forone there's 20.
Yeah Well, yes, and no, jewsmay not.
(42:38):
My ethnicity, yes, but now theyare actually followers of the
way, as acts says, which iswhich they are followers of
Jesus.
So they even are not quiteunderstanding the belief.
Yet who are they really?
Because they still call themJews because of where they're
from.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Something I just discovered and this might answer
my question about where Timothywas when it says these men,
being Jews, exceedingly troubleour city.
Here's a note that saysanti-Semitism was alive even
then.
The emperor Claudius issued anorder around this exact time
expelling the Jews from Romealtogether.
This is found in chapter 18,verse 2.
(43:18):
In a couple chapters this mayexplain why they apprehended
only Paul and Silas, since Luke,who would have been traveling
with them and writing book ofActs, was a Gentile and Timothy
was half Gentile.
Mm-hmm so one of the benefits ofthis conversation is we aim
after an organic Conversationbetween the two of us.
(43:38):
So not a lot of this is isstaged.
We do prepare ahead of time,but what we're trying to do is
have a healthy conversation.
To the text.
This is a great reminder.
Why are we here?
Because we want you to see howyou can have healthy
conversations over scripturewhile you're making disciples.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Yeah, and again it's it's okay, you're not gonna know
everything, that's right.
But as long as you ask thequestions and then go figure
them out, that's right.
It's when you just assume iswhen you get in trouble.
It's when you start Well, maybeTimothy was, you know, often in
other city.
Well, it doesn't say that.
We can't assume that.
So we just have to be verycareful not to add, take away
(44:20):
any of those things from thetext.
We want to make sure we gothrough the text as is, take
what it says and then go fromthere.
Now there's going to behistorical documents, there's
going to be things that areextra biblical, that may help us
with history and and Contextsetting, those sort of things.
But we want to go through thescripture first and Read it and
(44:40):
then go from there.
The scripture is our path, thatlights, our path, that lights
what is true, because it is true, and so we want to make sure we
do that.
So they get.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
They get dragged off right, verse 21, they continue
with what they're saying.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Yep, it says they advocate customs that are not
lawful for us Romans to acceptor practice.
Well the Romans, who's God tothe Romans?
Well, caesar, caesar's God.
We are in a time where Caesaris.
It is no longer a republic, itis actually run by one man,
which is an empire Right, and sohe is God.
(45:15):
We've seen that in the past,babylon, assyria, many other
nations have claimed Emperorstatus, and that the emperor
would be elevated to God, and sothis whole Accepting Jesus is
king.
Well, that would be different.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
That was the difference.
This, the statement they made,was technically true.
Romans were prohibited fromfollowing Excuse me any religion
that would have competed withthe Decree or the statement that
Caesar is Lord.
Yeah, and so they did not havea problem with polytheism or any
(45:54):
other religions or followingany other gods.
But if, if what you believed incompeted against Caesar is,
that was the real issue, and theChristians were preaching the
message Jesus is Lord, notCaesar.
So what they're saying isactually is actually true, right
, mm-hmm.
From there we go to verse 22 to24, kind of closing things up.
(46:16):
Then the multitude rose uptogether against them and the
magistrates tore off theirclothes and commanded them to be
beaten with rods metal rods andwhen they had laid many stripes
on them, they threw them intoprison.
Commanding the jailer will seehim next week commanding the
jailer to keep them securely.
(46:36):
Having received such a charge,he put them into the inner
prison and Fastened their feetin the stocks.
So Any final thoughts on this,kyle?
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Just that Paul and Silas are in it for the Lord and
not themselves.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
This is a moment where they get humiliated
publicly, they get stripped oftheir clothes, beaten by the
people and thrown into prison,and and not just thrown into
prison, shackled in prison.
So we're getting thedescription of how they were put
into prison, not just behind aclosed door or a gate, but
(47:17):
shackled behind that closed doorand gate, and so I well I don't
know if these people have heardabout other times where the
apostles have escaped prison ornot because the angel of the
Lord has gotten out of prisonbefore in Acts.
But and it'll happen again youknow we'll get there.
(47:38):
The Lord continues to providewhen it comes to the spread of
the gospel.
So, yeah, we're just stoppingin 24.
They're in a pretty dire place.
They're in a place where theythey're probably thinking this
is it, we're, we're gonna diefor the Lord and and that's okay
, and I think that's always beenPaul's attitude.
We know that because ofsituations he's been with other
(48:00):
people like I'm willing to go todeath for this, and and he's
since he's been changed soradically.
I think Paul knew this wouldhappen at some point, so this
isn't a shock to him.
But they aren't a prettydesperate place?
Speaker 2 (48:12):
I think a cultural thing to share is that when it
says they were shackled by theirfeet, the particular way that
they did this in Prisons, in theinner prisons of the day, was
it was meant to create a greatleg cramping on the prisoners so
over time, actually, theirmuscles and their, their legs
would completely weaken.
It's hard to run away if youdon't have a lot of stamina, if
(48:33):
you've lost muscle, if you're inpain.
But something more this issomething that you and I
discussed before we went down tosouthern Mexico near the
Guatemala border is you knowwhat, lord, we ultimately trust
you that when it's our time,it's our time and we're gonna
continue to preach the gospel,and you will.
You will do whatever isnecessary to get us Out of a
(48:55):
situation, whatever that mightbe, but God is the one that's
ultimately in charge of our lastday, and so if I were to die
because of doing somethingstupid Aside from the gospel, I
think that would be unfortunate.
But you know, one thing you andI legitimately had to pray for
was Okay, we're going to sharethe gospel, but this is a little
(49:15):
bit riskier than just sharinghere in America.
We're gonna place our hand,place ourselves, into God's
hands and we're gonna wait forhim to to Bring about the final
verdict?
And the answer was no, it's notyour time.
You know you guys are doingministry.
I protected you, I'm faithfulto you.
(49:36):
Hallelujah, praise God.
But ultimately, there alwayscomes a day where you have to
ask yourself Okay, I feel led togo because of the gospel this
is not a Decision made withoutprayer and so because I feel led
to go, well, lord, ultimatelymy life is in your hands and
it's just.
I think that was Paul and Silasis their motive, that was their
(50:01):
, their perspective.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
Yeah, you know, I think Paul had to be in that
mindset daily.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
In his current situation.
Speaker 1 (50:10):
You know, you and I, you know, prayerfully prepared
for Mexico.
That was a lot of prayer andBecause it's not every day that
we feel in danger like I Meanyes, is it possible that I could
get arrested for sharing thegospel in America?
I guess it's possible.
They couldn't charge me withsharing the gospel, they could
(50:32):
charge me with disturbing thepeace or something ridiculous,
but there really isn't much fearfrom that standpoint of of
death, imprisonment.
People may say, no, thank you,I'm not about that.
Okay, and I move on.
That's you, that's about therejection that you get.
So, yeah, I mean, I can'timagine the, the faith that Paul
(50:57):
had, that God provided him todo to go into these cities with
different religions, differentgovernment structures that did
not proclaim the name of Jesus,that's never heard the name of
Jesus, and just to go in thereand say I'm gonna proclaim Jesus
, no matter the consequences,and I'm gonna trust Jesus in
this matter.
That is, that is a faith that Iwant to build up.
(51:18):
That is something that I knowonly can be provided by God.
That we see in Paul here andthe more times were challenged
we talked about this on our tripwe need times to be challenged,
just like Paul was challenged,because it strengthens our faith
, and that that challenge andthat Strength doesn't come from
ourselves.
It comes from putting yourfaith in God.
(51:40):
Because, man, I could not do itmyself.
I could have not gone on amission trip sick by myself, I
would have not chosen to go if Iknew I was gonna get sick,
those sort of things so.
But Paul knew I'm probablygonna die and he still walked in
there and did it.
And I think we want to strivefor that sort of faith where we
don't really care what's goingto happen to us, because we know
(52:03):
whatever does happen to us willresult in God's glory and it'll
be for the kingdom and it'll befor eternity and not for
something temporary like thesemen who want their pockets
filled by demons.
Paul did not concern himselfwith that.
It was the gospel that theyneeded to hear.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
That's right.
I think one last thing toremember is Acts, chapter 9,
verse 15.
You know, saul is on the roadto Damascus.
The Lord speaks to Ananias.
Ananias is like you want me togo and speak to who?
Like Lord, he's persecutingyour people, the.
And then these are the words ofJesus to Ananias, acts 9, 15.
(52:40):
But the Lord said to Ananias go, for Saul is a chosen vessel of
mine to bear my name beforeGentiles, kings and the children
of Israel, for I will show himhow many things he must suffer
for my name's sake.
Paul counted it all the moreworth it.
This is my calling.
(53:00):
If I've got to suffer for theking, I've got to suffer for the
king.
He had a direct calling on hislife and I think in moments of
imprisonment he was like well,I'm either getting out of him or
I'm not, but I'm doing what I'msupposed to be doing.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Yeah, god called me of this.
I'm doing it.
I'm supposed to suffer, that'ssettled.
That's settled, yeah, yeah.
So I think we're encouraged Iam by the imprisonment of Paul.
Well, I know it's gonna happentoo.
Well, we'll read that next week.
So join us next week for thecontinuation of Acts 16, as we
see what Paul's attitude is, hisperspective and his
(53:37):
relationship with God is in themidst of being imprisoned, and
it'll hopefully encourage you,as it does Me.
So thank you for listening tothe B disciples podcast.
Continue to check out morecontent on YouTube.
We don't just have the podcast.
We have years now of sermons,pastor Dakota, as he continues
to preach here at Ottawa BibleChurch, to lead this
(53:58):
congregation here, and sothere's many different series
you can go through.
You can check out our audiopodcast, which is at Be
disciples podcast calm or OttawaBible Church calm, and you can
find our podcast there as well.
Plenty of stuff to check out,plenty of study to do.
We're gonna continue to createcontent so that our community,
(54:18):
ottawa Franklin County, can beequipped in God's word, because
the more we know the word, themore we know God and the more we
know his will for our lives.
So thank you all for listening.
Share this with your friends,don't just like us on Facebook
or like us on Instagram.
Share it.
Send it, because we want peopleto see it, and so do that for
us.
That would help out thisministry of continued education
(54:41):
in God's word.
Have a blessed week.
I I.
Welcome to the B disciples podcast with your host
, kyle Morris, and Dakota Smith.
This is episode number 107, Ibelieve 107 episodes.
Yeah, we've been doing this fora few years.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Don't go back and listen to our first one ever
Nope Stick with acts, butwelcome.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I want to let you all know again, if you're listening
to the audio only version ofour podcast, we have started a
video podcast on our channel atauto about what churchcom at
auto.
About what churchcom.
The link right there there's ashould be on there on the video.
I know for the audio thatdoesn't really help, but if you
go to at auto Bible church onYouTube, you go to podcasts,
(00:49):
you'll see the B disciplespodcast, and so we're adding
that element for our audiencehere in Ottawa and Franklin
County.
Get to know us a little bitmore.
We've received some coolfeedback since doing the video
podcast, and so they like to seeus get to know us a little more
, our personalities ormannerisms, whatever it may be.
We're a little dry, yeah, justa little, but we just so you
(01:14):
know we didn't just like throwDavid to the curb.
Yeah, he's actually out at aschool doing ministry.
He is also, though he's ourworship leader.
He's also our youth pastor, andso he's off at a school with
students and so he's out doinghis job.
So he's not.
He's not sick or any of thosethings.
He's out doing the Lord's workand we miss him.
(01:35):
We're excited for him.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, yeah it's a little flavor to the podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, he's a little dry.
Yeah, he adds a little morehumor to the podcast or
different kind of humor.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
He really does.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So yeah, it's.
It's been a lot of fun to getthis started and get this set up
and so, but we had a big dayhere in Kansas because the
Kansas City Chiefs were in theSuper Bowl yesterday, as we
record on Mondays.
So, man, what a game.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That was one of the best games that I've ever
watched in my entire life.
The first half, I thought usingthe term dry.
I thought the first half.
You know, 10 to three wasn'tmuch, but if you're a chiefs fan
and you're from Kansas City,that was one of the most intense
, thrilling games that we'veever watched.
And you know, although theNiners lost, I give it up for
(02:21):
Brock Hardy, who's a born againbeliever.
I believe, based on that man'stestimony and his words, like he
really showed some seriousclass as he led his team, and
it's just cool to see Christiansout on the field competing.
And so, although I'm happy theChiefs won, I'm also grateful it
was a good game and people aresharing their faith.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, I enjoyed the game.
You know, and over time, superBowl is rare and we got to see
Patrick Mahomes do exactly whathe's known to do drive down the
field and win Super Bowls.
So just a classic game.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
But I do think there's maybe a relevant
conversation that we could havehere on the podcast about one of
the commercials that came outabout Jesus.
Yeah, and this is always one ofthose things where there's a
difference between more of athorough theological answer
versus, you know, kind of likeyour first initial reaction.
But there is one ministry Iguess you could call it that
(03:21):
concerning Jesus.
They had a commercial aboutJesus and I'm not going to give
the name, but I think everybodywould know, and in the
commercial, you know, the basicpremise is that Jesus would wash
anybody's feet.
And they had a.
You know all these differentpolarizing figures from our
society.
And you know, I think, as abeliever, when I was watching
that I had some serioushesitancy with the direction
(03:45):
that the commercial went.
And so, just for anybodylistening, I think it's
appropriate for us, as men whoare trying to accurately
represent God's word, to saylet's think through that a
little more clearly.
So now, what were your thoughtsabout the commercial, the foot
washing commercial?
And let's talk about that for afew minutes before we jump into
Acts.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Well, the commercial pose the question who does Jesus
, who does who?
Whose feet is getting washed byJesus?
That's the question.
Like Jesus's washes, jesuswashes feet.
But then I was like, yeah, butwhose feet?
And so I was thinking ofscripture and I thought well, I
do know that Jesus washes hisdisciples feet.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, the upper end discourse.
John, you know chapters 13 to17,.
I think it's specifically inchapter 13, he washes their feet
.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah.
And so then I kept thinking,well, where else is their feet
washing?
In the gospels, and I remembera woman washing Jesus's feet,
but that would be the other wayaround.
And so I really got stuck onwhat Jesus washed his disciples
feet, and the commercial didn'tquite display that same type of
(04:56):
pattern in scripture.
So that kind of had mytheological radar going off,
like, hmm, what is thiscommercial then communicating to
us about Jesus?
Well, we have all these, itseemed like Christians washing
different people's feet insociety today, and and that it
(05:17):
kind of had this resemblance ofacceptance of the individual for
who they are, in their element,what they've decided to live
like their lifestyle choices.
And that seemed to be theportrayal of Jesus in the
commercial, where I'm not reallyseeing that in the gospels
itself.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, well, I think one thing that's helpful to do,
and I've never gone and lookedup this particular
organization's doctrinalstatement like just full
disclaimer.
I haven't done my homework onthat, but whenever I see, you
know, the polarizing figures ofsociety that the world is trying
to prop up as our icons and ourheroes, so to speak, I'm always
(05:57):
really careful with that.
James 4 4 said says Do you notknow that friendship with the
world is enmity with God?
Okay, so we know that God isnot an approver of sin, we know
that God is not an approval ofsinful lifestyles, but we also
do know that God, the Father,sent forth his one, only son to
(06:19):
pay for the sin of the world.
Behold John, chapter one, saysthe Lamb of God who came to take
away the sin of the world.
And so like there's thistension there, because we do
know that Jesus washed hisdisciples' feet and that Judas
was in the room and Judas wouldlater betray him and Judas
wasn't a believer, right.
So you have to be careful withsaying there's like this
(06:42):
outright rejection.
But I think the real thing wehave to ask is who is Jesus
considered?
Friends with Jesus is actuallynot a friend of sinners.
It was the Pharisees that gavehim that title.
Look, he's a friend of sinners,but in all actuality, I think
that Jesus is a friend of peoplewho have repented, and he is
(07:02):
drawing his enemies tofriendship.
So it's not that he's castingthem away and pushing them away,
but he's not okay with themstaying where they are, and in
fact we addressed that inyesterday's sermon.
The gospel says come as you are, but don't stay as you are,
because Jesus wants to changeyou.
And so I'm still processing thecommercial myself, but to be
(07:23):
sure, I'm I'm precocious, youknow, because there there were
some things that felt a littleacceptance, like when Jesus has
come to, to conform us into hisimage, not our own.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, I didn't talk about repentance.
It did not which is a path tosalvation.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And we know in the book of John what John talks
about when it when you're afriend of Jesus, what the
requirement is to be a friend ofJesus.
Well, you have to know Jesus inorder to know the Father, and
if you know the Father, thenyou're a friend of Jesus.
That's right.
In order to be in thatrelationship, you then have to
repent and believe.
(08:01):
So there's there.
There wasn't that message in thecommercial, and maybe the
commercial is just meant to posea question to get them to go to
the website to read more aboutwhat it means to be a believer.
Who knows, you know, I again,I've been on their website a
couple times.
Some of it's, some of it's kindof vague, which a lot of
(08:24):
websites do that on purpose, sothey can get them to call and
have conversations about thegospel.
But yeah, the commercial seemeda bit more about acceptance
rather than repentance, andthat's really where the concern
is with that.
And so just be careful.
I think we just need to knowour Bibles, and when we know our
Bibles, we those, the radargoes off and goes.
(08:45):
Does scripture really say thatabout Jesus?
And so we can then dive intoscripture and look for it, or
we've already read it and knowthat's a little off.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
To be sure, I'd be on the more skeptical side and I
would encourage people who sawthe commercial to also be on the
skeptical side, especially whenthere's money and Super Bowl
advertisements and that thatkind of stuff coming across,
always be careful.
But yeah, the path to salvationis that you first have to
repent, which is the wordmetanoia, which means change
your mind.
(09:15):
You're a sinner, you'reunrighteous, you're destined for
hell.
God's wrath abides on you andin order to escape that state
and condition that you're in,you have to change your mind
about how you are living.
Throw yourself at the feet ofJesus, surrender yourself to Him
and allow Him to conform you toHis image, believe in His death
(09:35):
and His resurrection, beingdwelt by the Holy Spirit,
expecting His return.
So a mouthful could be said.
We could do a whole episodejust on that.
Sure, and to be fair, this isan initial reaction.
I bet you if we came back nextweek, we'd give a much more
thorough one.
But be very careful with thingsof that nature.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, I think it's.
It's always important.
I know we don't want to besuper hard when the rest of the
commercials, or some of them,are definitely on the other end
of the spectrum, where they'redefinitely against God in all
sorts of ways.
Yeah, and they glorify sin andso, but this commercial is
teetering.
Yeah, it says the name of Jesus, but let's make sure, as
(10:18):
Christians, we represent Jesusthe way he actually is and was
in the Gospels and throughoutScripture, and that's all.
That's all.
That's the only warning there.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah.
Is it an overt or covert attackagainst God, or is it something
that the Lord is using?
Those are basically ourquestions.
Yeah, and you've got a landsomewhere.
I think, ultimately, you findyour answers in the Bible.
Jesus calls everyone torepentance, and anyone who
(10:48):
repents, jesus said in John 6,anyone who comes to me, I won't
cast away anyone.
And anyone means anyone, but itdoesn't mean an approval of
that person's lifestyle.
So yeah, yeah, amen.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Well, let's pray, All right, because we're going to
get in the book of Acts.
We're going to hopefully finishchapter 16 today and be able to
walk through it, so let's pray.
Father, we are here todaybecause of you, because you sent
your son Jesus.
Thank you, and it's only Jesusthat we sit here today.
That's right, lord.
(11:22):
It's easy to get off track,it's easy to get busy, it's easy
to just fill our minds withthings that aren't of you, and
so today, I pray for all thosewho are listening, I pray for
our church body that we wouldfocus our eyes on you, that our
(11:43):
hearts and our minds would betransformed daily into your son
Jesus.
And so be with us as we studyyour Word In Acts 16, we
continue to talk about the earlychurch and see how the Holy
Spirit moves and directs and howwe are supposed to today.
Look and see what the HolySpirit is doing, be in tune with
(12:05):
what you want, lord, and whatis your will.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Amen.
Last week we saw that Pauldiscovered Timothy, and last
week we also saw that the HolySpirit kept them, held them back
from going places, missionallyspeaking, and then the Holy
Spirit eventually gave Paul theMacedonian vision.
Now they're headed to theregion of Macedonia, with, that
(12:30):
being said, macedonia beingPhilippi, excuse me Philippi,
philippi, the Philippians.
Still a little bit early thismorning, my mind's just starting
to work Verse 11, all the wayto 15, I think this is the next
account that we receive.
Therefore, sailing from Troas,we ran a straight course to
(12:50):
Samothrace and the next day cameto Neapolis and from there to
Philippi, which is the foremostcity of that part of Macedonia,
a colony, and we were staying inthat city for some days, and on
the Sabbath day we went out ofthe city to the riverside, where
prayer was customarily made,and we sat down and spoke to the
women who met there.
Now, a certain woman namedLydia heard us.
(13:14):
She was a cellar of purple fromthe city of Thyatira who
worshiped God.
The Lord opened her heart toheed the things spoken by Paul
and when she and her householdwere baptized, she begged us
saying if you have judged me tobe faithful to the Lord, come to
my house and stay.
(13:35):
So she persuaded us.
Okay, paul Timothy.
They go.
There's a gathering of prayer,individuals who are fearing the
Lord, seeking him.
These are Jewish proselytes,converts to Judaism.
And then they discover Lydia.
And then Lydia, essentially, isbaptized.
(13:57):
But she asks this, or she makesa statement at the end If you
have judged me to be faithful tothe Lord, come to my house and
stay.
So after baptism, she invitesthem yeah, so brief summary.
But what's significant here inthese verses?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Well, we continue to see the journey of Paul and
Timothy and we continue to seethe Holy Spirit move and lead,
and so that's important.
And so this 11 through 15 seemslike, compared to some of the
other things we've seen in Acts,seems a bit tame If we really
like.
At first it seems like you areOkay.
(14:35):
They went to some place, theymet some lady named Lydia and
she accepted Christ and theyhung out of their house and,
like you know, if you, if youdon't really dive into it, it
can almost be like a bridgepassage, and so we have to take
some time to see you know whatis going on here a little bit
more, dig in a little bit more.
They are on the Sabbath day.
(14:57):
They went outside the gatethere by the riverside, they're
in a place of prayer, so wealready have a gathering of
prayer.
Not necessarily, it's not doneby Paul or Timothy, they're just
continuing praying to God.
They sat down and spoke withthese women One who heard us was
Lydia and she sold.
(15:19):
She was, she was a businesswoman, she was, and she sold
purple goods.
Yeah, well, what's the?
What's purple?
Why is that significant?
Why is purple good majesty?
Yeah, it's a, it's a.
It's a you would say expensiveclothing, expensive items.
She would have an audience towealthy people that's who would
(15:43):
be buying her stuff, and so weknow that she spends a lot of
time with people in themarketplace, specifically those
who have lots of influence.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I have a couple of notes here in my Bible, one that
I was unaware of, another thatI was aware of, so I'll just
share both of them.
The first says when theygathered at the riverside to
pray.
The study Bible says thatevidently the Jewish community
did not have the minimum of 10Jewish men who were heads of
households, required to form asynagogue.
(16:14):
In such cases, where you didnot at least have 10 Jewish men
leading the synagogue, a placeof prayer under the open sky and
a near and near a river or seawas adopted as a meeting place.
Most likely the spot waslocated where the road leading
out of the city crossed the thegang guides river.
(16:34):
So when it says women met thereand further evidence of the
small number of Jewish men, itwas women who met to pray, read
from the Old Testament law anddiscuss what they read.
So basically, this was awoman's, a woman's Bible study.
Yeah, paul goes to this women'sBible study, if you could use
today's language, and he caresabout their salvation too, which
(16:59):
I think shows the movement ofthe gospel.
The gospel was not just for men.
The gospel was for women, whowere seen a second class in this
society.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Yeah, and if we look at this chapter, we see a theme
of faithful women, absolutelyNot just Lydia, but Timothy's
mother, that's right.
Right, timothy's mother isJewish and raised Timothy to
know God.
That's right.
So we have a faithful mother,we have faithful women who are
continually following God,despite men who haven't maybe
(17:33):
stepped up in leadership orthere hadn't been enough men.
And so I just think we see thesignificance again of Jesus'
ministry, both to the Jew, theGentile, male and female Doesn't
matter who you are, whereyou're from, the gospel's for
you.
That's right, it's for allpeople.
So we're getting a little bitof more ministry to all, not
(17:55):
just the Gentiles, but now towomen, and specifically going to
the women and preaching to them.
So that's a big deal.
I think it's good to point outwho the gospel's for, and we're
not a church that says we'regoing to say men are more
important than women or womenare more important than men.
(18:16):
The Bible doesn't do that.
Now.
There are specific roles formen and women and they are equal
in value.
That Christ has established forhis church, and so them coming
to women, they value the womenjust as much as the men, and we
see that in Paul's ministry.
He's not ignoring the women.
He's going and preaching thegospel to all who will hear, and
(18:38):
so that's who we should preachthe gospel to all who will hear.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I will say that for me, I always make the concerted
effort to make sure if I'm goingto minister to women, I have
somebody else with me.
Like rarely I'd have to be inpublic, like at Walmart where
everybody's around or somewherein the coffee shop, if I briefly
went one-on-one to speak with awoman, because there's just
(19:03):
there's some cultural barrierstowards like you got to be
careful with that stuff.
But Paul was with Silas, right?
Or, excuse me, paul was withTimothy, something else though,
so I did not know that about thepassage.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
And there's a group of women and there's a group of
women.
It wasn't just Lydia, it wasalso Lydia and her household.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So I think you kind of consider Billy Graham-like
rules and scenarios like that.
But so that was the part that Ididn't know.
I didn't realize that.
You know you needed at least 10men to form a synagogue.
But here's something I did knowto your point that she sold
purple Thyatira, and if you'relistening to this episode, these
might seem like mundane details, but they're actually going to
(19:42):
tell you a lot about the letterto the Philippians.
It's going to tell you a lotabout the health of this church.
It's going to tell you a lotabout how the early church was
supported.
So, listen, she's a seller ofpurple Thyatira.
Purple fabrics is what it means, because purple dye was
extremely expensive.
Purple garments were usuallyworn by royalty and the wealthy.
(20:03):
As a result, lydia's businessturned a nice profit, which
enabled her to have a houselarge enough to accommodate the
missionary team and the newchurch at Philippi.
So her home may as well havebeen the sanctuary in Philippi.
Yeah, and that's awesome.
I mean, they had a problem withhey, we need a larger facility,
(20:26):
right, that's unfamiliar Mm-hmm, that a problem with needing
more space.
And somebody said you can comeand use this space and you can
benefit from my business and Ithink there has been influential
people over time in churchhistory and the past, or even in
the present day, thecontemporary day, where
(20:49):
individuals have said you knowwhat the Lord has blessed me
with this sum of money?
The Lord has blessed my business.
The Lord has, you know, blessedme in my business endeavors.
I just feel led to support thechurch in that and you know, I
have been the recipient ofindividuals who are wealthy but
are not tightly gripped to theirmoney and they said here, we
(21:11):
want to help your family withthis, we want to help your
family with that.
Here, we want to underwritethis ministry for the church.
We want to do this, we want todo that.
And that's exactly what we seehappening in the New Testament.
Jesus even had women followinghim that supported his ministry,
if you look closer in theGospels.
And so there is a consistencywithin scripture to say man, if
(21:34):
the Lord has blessed me, maybe Ishould follow suit with those
people to support God's church.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah, and I also think this hits home culturally
in America when it comes towomen working, uh, paying for
things, women being successful.
Lydia was clearly successfuland she clearly worked hard,
yeah, and she clearly had money.
And so sometimes I think in aconservative evangelical culture
(22:03):
from the outside looking in,there's somehow this putting
down of women, especially whenwe look at the leadership of the
church, how things operatewithin the church, as the Bible
says, when it comes toleadership and and so.
But here this we're not talkingabout women can't be leaders in
the in the sense of leading inbusiness, leading other women
(22:27):
leading and being wealthy andbeing successful.
Paul didn't say anything aboutto her.
He preached the gospel to herand then her generosity said hey
, I want to continue to help,come be, come, stay with us, and
we can talk more about whatministry is gonna look like and
and how we can help in thismission to share the gospel.
And so I just think wesometimes this is a place to go
(22:49):
to and there's other places inthe Bible to say look at these
Wonderful women who are strongleaders, who are, who are
business women who do thesethings, and so I think we can.
We can see that in scripture,and so that's actually a little
bit of a place where maybe youcan go.
If someone says, well,christianity knocks down women,
well, I think it doesn't,according to God's word.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I think you framed it well when you said people
outside of the church.
Yeah and really what thechurch's value is for for women
is.
We look at something likeProverbs 31, and, and we believe
that Because God so highlyprizes the Christian family that
a woman's first priority is toher family, her husband and her
(23:31):
children.
The family unit is isultimately what matters most to
God.
The family unit was establishedeven before the church was
established.
So a woman's firstresponsibility, of course to God
but I'm speaking horizontallyis to her family.
So that is the first position.
If she's fulfilling thoseduties, then nothing says that
she cannot also go and do otherthings, nothing says she can't
(23:55):
bring her kids with her rightRight, and so I think the world
may say one thing, butrealistically, the Bible is all
for hard-working women who loveJesus and love their families
first.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Yeah, the Proverbs 31 woman worked hard yeah and and
display of her whole life's work.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But I bought it displayed that she had, you know
, I would say, an equalpartnership with her, with her
husband.
Her husband was out working, hewas out building a reputation
and she ensured that thatreputation continued to be built
and it was enhanced.
And she took care of a lot ofthings land, what they were
(24:34):
selling, the household, thechildren.
I mean a lifetime worth of work, and that is valuable, that is
extremely valuable.
Today's society, at least anAmerican society, says that's
oppressive.
I would disagree.
I think a woman Is at her bestwhen she's fulfilling God's role
(24:54):
For her in her life andfollowing his will.
And so and I see the mostfulfillment in that, because I
see women in that role beingfulfilled in God's will and I
see women chasing somethingOutside of that, chasing some of
these, these factors money,leadership, some sort of
prestige, and they're missingGod's will in it.
(25:16):
Not that those things arenecessarily bad, but they fall
under a place where they becometheir identity rather than
Christ, and that's when it getsbad.
And so we just have to becareful and guess what men we
can fall into the same trap.
We're not excluded from thisconversation either.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Verse 15 says and when she and her household were
baptized.
Notice what it says.
It doesn't just say she wasbaptized, it says her household.
Now, you know, we don't knowwhat her household means does.
Does that mean individualsliving with her?
Does that mean her husband, herchildren?
We're not entirely sure, butthis seems to show that she had,
(25:56):
you know, more responsibilitythan just her business.
I think at minimal we couldmake that point right.
Yeah, let's talk about thislittle phrase Midway through
verse 14.
It says the Lord opened herheart To heed the things spoken
by Paul.
You know, this is always like atension point, like, okay, does
(26:19):
election come prior to faith ordoes faith then bring about
your election before God?
Which one is it?
So I think two sides of theaisle.
One side of the aisle would sayno, that was the Lord Opening
her heart so that she believed,right.
The other side of the aislewould say, just to be fair to
(26:40):
both sides, is that yeah, butshe was in a place of being
spiritually drawn andspiritually prodded.
She was already in a place ofprayer.
In other words, like she, shewas already seeking.
And because she was seeking,then the Lord did something.
And so I think, regardless ofhow you take this verse, it's
just, I Think, humility, withthis argument of God's
(27:01):
sovereignty, just understandboth sides of the aisle before
you passionately argue For theplace that your conviction lies
With.
That being said, salvation hasto be given to us by the Lord
alone.
Whether it's we have our ownHuman free agency and free will
to at least seek, and then God,of course, draws, or whether
(27:23):
it's it's God just Completelytaking over an individual.
There's different ways to view,I guess, the nature of
soteriology, the nature ofsalvation, but if God is not
involved in the process, onecannot have salvation Right.
Very simply said, regardless ofthe nuance, you want to do
right, you have to have Jesus.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, jesus has to be there.
We can't do it on our own,without Jesus.
So, yes, doesn't matter whicharea you fall into, jesus has to
do it.
He accomplished it on the cross, he accomplished it in the
resurrection, he accomplished itwith his perfect life, the
perfect sacrifice.
So without Jesus, it doesn'tmatter.
So you need Jesus, you need God, and we do see God working in
(28:06):
the heart of Lydia to payattention.
Yes, it's not believe, but topay attention.
I think she already believed inGod.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Into Yahweh is a Jewish convert right.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
So it worded a Judaism.
She just maybe hadn't heardabout Jesus yet.
That's right, that's all that'sright.
And so she was praying to theone true God.
Paul comes and says I'm gonnatell you about Jesus, yeah, and
she listens and God works on herheart to pay attention to the
words that Paul is preaching andthat's really, really important
(28:37):
in the text.
So we can't really settle thedebate.
Well, we're not going to inthis passage.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
We could have an episode just about that, but
right, we'd get off track.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
But I think it's good to just say God is at work in
the hearts of people.
Absolutely, he is going to draw.
We see that.
And we also see the other sideof the aisle of rejection of the
Holy Spirit in Acts 2, so notchapter 2, but just in Acts.
So we see both.
So we just have to kind ofsettle there and say it's God's
work.
Jesus accomplished it and byfaith and turning our minds to
(29:09):
Christ, we believe in what hedid.
And I think for that that'swhat we want to see when we
evangelize, that's what we seewhen we talk to people.
We want them to move fromRecognizing their sin into who
paid the penalty for their sinyeah, and, and recognizing who
that was and recognizing thatit's the resurrection.
That is the pivotal moment inwhich Jesus says I am the Son of
(29:30):
God, I am God and I've risenfrom the grave.
And if you believe in that,that's what it takes.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I also think this is a great text to go to.
When somebody asked thequestion Well, what about people
who have never heard of Jesusbefore and like they're living
out in the Amazon or something?
To that I respond Romans,chapter 1, the general
revelation of God.
There is no person that is, youknow, without excuse.
Everyone knows of God'sexistence.
There is no such thing as anatheist.
(29:57):
There are only people who claimto be atheists.
And if people would seek God infact Paul says here later in
Acts in fact, if, if they would,but grope for him I think this
is in like reaching for him.
I think it's an act 17 on MarsHill but if people would just
reach out for him, then Godwould meet them.
I think this is a perfectexample that Lydia has been
(30:20):
reaching out to God, and guesswhat God did in response?
He sent a missionary, and so Ithink that's how it works.
That person may be unable tohear the gospel message, but if
they're seeking, god is notunable to make it known to them.
So now the question becomes Doyou have a whole bunch of people
in the Amazon who just, despitethe beauty of God's creation in
(30:42):
front of them, they're just notseeking.
Yeah, I think that's thegreater question, right?
Yeah, so that's how I wouldkind of handle that question.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Plus, we just went to the ends of the jungle in
Mexico.
Come on, they know there's aGod they do they do.
No, no running water, noelectricity, no comforts of life
, living in shacks.
You, they know there's a God.
Now we also know thatmissionaries went there.
Yeah, god used his people to goreach other people who didn't
(31:11):
hear, who haven't heard thegospel yet.
Yes, so we have indigenoustribes all around the world who
have heard the gospel.
Now it's their choice to say weaccept the gospel as true, we
accept God as true, jesus astrue.
We're gonna keep followingwhatever type of religion,
spirituality, whatever thingthat we've kind of come up with
(31:33):
when it comes to creation,evolution, whatever that may be.
So they've been presented itand I would say today, the ends
of the earth with the gospel,other than maybe some islands
that people get killed trying toget on to, the gospel has been
out there, it has.
The gospel has gone all aroundthe world.
Today's technology is nothindering the gospel, it's
(31:54):
helping the gospel.
So, yeah, I think that questionthough I think there are people
who may not have heard it yetstill, it's out there and God's
doing work and we're reachingthe ends of the earth.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
It's fun to be sure.
On the flip side, I thinktechnology can hinder the gospel
, based on the way we startedthis very episode.
Right, but then that's not thegospel.
So if you're putting the gospelout on the airwaves or using
technology and it's for theright purpose to reach other
people with the message, thenthat's appropriate and that's
(32:26):
healthy.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Sure, I think there's people who are going to try to
stop our podcast from growing,but guess who is actually in
control, right?
So I mean, I'm not worriedabout it.
It's going to go as far as Godwants it to go, and that's all
I'm concerned about.
And so I think we need to havethat attitude of be active in
our faith, pursue the GreatCommission, and God will take
(32:49):
care of the rest, and that's howwe should do it.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
And by those people you mean like, because once you
put something on social media,you know the organizations of
the world, they get a littlesideways.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Yeah, and once you reach an audience because of
Jesus, you get a little, alittle flag.
That guy's a Jesus guy, but Iwant to be known as the Jesus
guy.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
That's the whole point.
That's the whole point.
Yeah, let's pick it up in verse16.
This is Paul and Silas inprison.
I suppose I should rememberthat it's Paul, timothy and
Silas.
I was just saying Paul andTimothy earlier.
Maybe Timothy's not here, butI'd have to reread this section.
Here we go, verse 16.
(33:32):
Now it happened as we went toprayer that a certain slave girl
, possessed with a spirit ofdivination, met us who brought
her masters much profit byfortune telling Interesting.
This girl followed Paul and usand cried out saying these men,
these men are the servants ofthe most high God who proclaimed
(33:52):
to us the way of salvation.
And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed,turned and said to the spirit, I
command you, in the name ofJesus Christ, to come out of her
.
And he came out that very hour.
But when her master saw thattheir hope of profit was gone,
(34:13):
they seized Paul and Silas anddragged them into the
marketplace, to the authorities,and they brought them to the
magistrates and said these men,being Jews, exceedingly trouble
our city and they teach customswhich are not lawful for us,
being Romans, to receive orobserve.
Then the multitude rose uptogether against them and the
(34:34):
magistrates tore off theirclothes and commanded them to be
beaten with rods, and when theyhad laid many stripes on them,
they threw them into prison,commanding the jailer to keep
them securely.
Having received such a charge,he put them into the inner
prison and fastened their feetin the stocks.
So this is probably the lastportion of scripture we'll cover
(34:57):
today, but let's take it by wayof traditional coma method.
Context, observation, meaning,application.
What's the context?
Where were we just at?
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Yeah, I mean it says, as we were going to the place
of prayer, which I believe, thatwe're still talking about, the
place of prayer in which theymet Lydia.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Seems they were continuing to go back there and
minister.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Right, because we're still in the same place.
We haven't changed locations,and so they went back there to
continue to reach people, sharethe gospel, and they met a slave
girl who had been possessed bya evil spirit, by a demon, it
says, a spirit of divination andbroader owners, much gained by
(35:39):
fortune telling.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
The Greek literally says a Python spirit, a snake
spirit.
Yeah, and I have a note herethat says that expression comes
from Greek mythology.
Python was a snake that guardedthe Oracle of Delphi.
Essentially, this girl was amedium in contact with demons
who could supposedly predict thefuture.
(36:01):
And then we have a note on thatfrom Deuteronomy 18, 9 through
12.
So, yeah, it's not that whatshe said wasn't true.
I mean, look at the girl'sproclamation these men are the
servants of the Most High Godwho proclaimed to us the way of
(36:22):
salvation.
There's nothing that she saidthat was incorrect.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
No, it wasn't.
That's what they're doing.
But we also know we can thinkabout this a little bit about
Satan, his demons and what'shappening Now.
We know Satan's powerful.
We know he has powers that notthat even close to God.
We know he can't create, but heis powerful and his demons also
(36:48):
are able to do thingssupernaturally.
But I think here, with thisfortune teller, I'm not sure
Satan can tell the future.
I don't think he can, and Idon't think his demons can
either.
I think it's a more of demonsworking together to ensure that
whatever is told through thisgirl is happening.
(37:08):
So it's more of a trick ofsorts, more of an influence of
multiple demons, rather than onedemon telling the future,
knowing what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
And that'd be deception, right, and I think
that's what fortune telling is.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
And that's what Satan does.
It's great to see it's deceiver.
And so that's what's happeninghere in the text.
This girl is clearly possessedby a demon.
And guess what?
Demons know exactly who God is.
That's right, right.
They know exactly what Paul ispreaching.
They know Jesus.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Yeah, james says, even the demons believe that
they shudder.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Yeah.
So I don't know if this demonhad a specific strategy, like,
hey, I'm just going to let themdo this for now, they'll pass
through and then I'll keep doingmy demon thing, right?
Yeah, like I'll just say, yep,that's what they're doing,
they're telling the truth.
Maybe God will not cast me outbecause I'm saying what is true
(38:00):
and so.
But we have Paul here and hestarts getting annoyed which I
like because Paul, we see hispersonality and scripture more
than most and he's gettingfrustrated.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
I think the fact that Paul is, it says, greatly
annoyed is a key to to thisentire question.
Well, if she was saying what iscorrect, then what is the big
deal?
The big deal is that do youwant demons proclaiming the
gospel for you?
No, because that divertspeople's attention to the
(38:33):
demonic force and power thatthey've always known from this
girl fortune telling they made abig profit off of it.
That redirects, that divertsthe direction away from the
glory of God and from his truemessengers.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And what did the people do to Jesus when Jesus
cast out demons?
What did the religious leadersdo?
Oh, you must be from Satan,exactly Because you can control
his demons.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
And Jesus said can Satan cast out Satan?
The house, divided, cannotstand.
So this is somewhere along thelines of that very same argument
.
Paul's greatly annoyed.
He turns to her cast the spiritout, command you, in the name
of Jesus Christ, to come out ofher.
That would have been amazing.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah, I mean, it's almost like Paul was like all
right, I'll just kind of ignorethis for a bit.
Well, it keeps happening.
All right, in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah, we're done with this.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Paul was not having it.
So I think that's a good.
You know Paul was patient andyou know it says they followed
her how many many days.
I mean, it's not like Paul waslike quick tempered and just
cast the demon out though if hedid, it's still a demon, but
maybe it took him a moment torealize.
Wait to know who she was,learning who she was, Wait a
(39:43):
minute.
All right, this is now aproblem.
We don't want her being arepresentation of Christ,
because this is a demon.
And so finally, Paul recognizesthat.
He gets greatly annoyed thatthis continues.
And in the name of Jesus, Again, Paul doesn't cast her out,
Jesus casts her out.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Well, I do find it somewhat intriguing that the
text goes on to say at the endof verse well, that'd be at the
end of verse 18.
It says, and he came out thatvery hour, so the demon obeys in
Jesus's name immediately.
But then you have this strongcontrast in the text, verse 19,.
(40:22):
But when her master saw thattheir hope of profit money was
gone, they seized Paul and Silasand dragged them into the
marketplace to the authorities.
I'm not, where did Timothy go?
I'd have to do some homeworkbefore we jump back on here.
But either way, paul and Silasare dragged into the marketplace
(40:43):
.
Seized dragged the word seizedis like a violent gripping of
the clothing, and dragging Wellthat I mean they're like pulling
them into the city square, soto speak, where that's where
profit and that's where selling,that's where you know all of
the business, that's the Walmartof the day for them.
(41:03):
Yeah, so I think the contrastis you have a demon being cast
out right away, but you have menwho will not submit.
They don't even want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
No, I mean they're using demonic forces to gain
profit, power, Power, andthey're not about to lose that.
That's right.
They're more concerned withtheir pockets being full rather
than their hearts being full.
They're more concerned with thenow rather than eternity.
So we have a group of men whoare very short-sighted, and
(41:36):
that's not the message Paul'spreaching.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Verse 19, when her master saw that their hope of
profit was gone.
That's interesting.
Where do we place our hope?
Where do we place our hope InJesus Christ alone.
Where did they place their hope?
They're placing their hope inthis prophet, something that's
extremely temporary andtransient.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Yeah, we place our hope in the inheritance in which
Jesus is going to give us tocome to come Right, and so they
were investing in now.
Yeah, so that's the difference.
We see the difference betweenmen who are not saved, not
following God, and men who aresaved and following the Lord,
paul's, concerned about theireternal lives, and these men are
concerned about their pockets,and, and so we see a huge
(42:16):
contrast between those who aredoing evil, even working with
the evil one, and what it doesto their hearts, to the point
where they're dragging these menoff who have preached a word
that is true and Really.
It says these men are Jews, forone there's 20.
Yeah Well, yes, and no, jewsmay not.
(42:38):
My ethnicity, yes, but now theyare actually followers of the
way, as acts says, which iswhich they are followers of
Jesus.
So they even are not quiteunderstanding the belief.
Yet who are they really?
Because they still call themJews because of where they're
from.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Something I just discovered and this might answer
my question about where Timothywas when it says these men,
being Jews, exceedingly troubleour city.
Here's a note that saysanti-Semitism was alive even
then.
The emperor Claudius issued anorder around this exact time
expelling the Jews from Romealtogether.
This is found in chapter 18,verse 2.
(43:18):
In a couple chapters this mayexplain why they apprehended
only Paul and Silas, since Luke,who would have been traveling
with them and writing book ofActs, was a Gentile and Timothy
was half Gentile.
Mm-hmm so one of the benefits ofthis conversation is we aim
after an organic Conversationbetween the two of us.
(43:38):
So not a lot of this is isstaged.
We do prepare ahead of time,but what we're trying to do is
have a healthy conversation.
To the text.
This is a great reminder.
Why are we here?
Because we want you to see howyou can have healthy
conversations over scripturewhile you're making disciples.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Yeah, and again it's it's okay, you're not gonna know
everything, that's right.
But as long as you ask thequestions and then go figure
them out, that's right.
It's when you just assume iswhen you get in trouble.
It's when you start Well, maybeTimothy was, you know, often in
other city.
Well, it doesn't say that.
We can't assume that.
So we just have to be verycareful not to add, take away
(44:20):
any of those things from thetext.
We want to make sure we gothrough the text as is, take
what it says and then go fromthere.
Now there's going to behistorical documents, there's
going to be things that areextra biblical, that may help us
with history and and Contextsetting, those sort of things.
But we want to go through thescripture first and Read it and
(44:40):
then go from there.
The scripture is our path, thatlights, our path, that lights
what is true, because it is true, and so we want to make sure we
do that.
So they get.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
They get dragged off right, verse 21, they continue
with what they're saying.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Yep, it says they advocate customs that are not
lawful for us Romans to acceptor practice.
Well the Romans, who's God tothe Romans?
Well, caesar, caesar's God.
We are in a time where Caesaris.
It is no longer a republic, itis actually run by one man,
which is an empire Right, and sohe is God.
(45:15):
We've seen that in the past,babylon, assyria, many other
nations have claimed Emperorstatus, and that the emperor
would be elevated to God, and sothis whole Accepting Jesus is
king.
Well, that would be different.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
That was the difference.
This, the statement they made,was technically true.
Romans were prohibited fromfollowing Excuse me any religion
that would have competed withthe Decree or the statement that
Caesar is Lord.
Yeah, and so they did not havea problem with polytheism or any
(45:54):
other religions or followingany other gods.
But if, if what you believed incompeted against Caesar is,
that was the real issue, and theChristians were preaching the
message Jesus is Lord, notCaesar.
So what they're saying isactually is actually true, right
, mm-hmm.
From there we go to verse 22 to24, kind of closing things up.
(46:16):
Then the multitude rose uptogether against them and the
magistrates tore off theirclothes and commanded them to be
beaten with rods metal rods andwhen they had laid many stripes
on them, they threw them intoprison.
Commanding the jailer will seehim next week commanding the
jailer to keep them securely.
(46:36):
Having received such a charge,he put them into the inner
prison and Fastened their feetin the stocks.
So Any final thoughts on this,kyle?
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Just that Paul and Silas are in it for the Lord and
not themselves.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
This is a moment where they get humiliated
publicly, they get stripped oftheir clothes, beaten by the
people and thrown into prison,and and not just thrown into
prison, shackled in prison.
So we're getting thedescription of how they were put
into prison, not just behind aclosed door or a gate, but
(47:17):
shackled behind that closed doorand gate, and so I well I don't
know if these people have heardabout other times where the
apostles have escaped prison ornot because the angel of the
Lord has gotten out of prisonbefore in Acts.
But and it'll happen again youknow we'll get there.
(47:38):
The Lord continues to providewhen it comes to the spread of
the gospel.
So, yeah, we're just stoppingin 24.
They're in a pretty dire place.
They're in a place where theythey're probably thinking this
is it, we're, we're gonna diefor the Lord and and that's okay
, and I think that's always beenPaul's attitude.
We know that because ofsituations he's been with other
(48:00):
people like I'm willing to go todeath for this, and and he's
since he's been changed soradically.
I think Paul knew this wouldhappen at some point, so this
isn't a shock to him.
But they aren't a prettydesperate place?
Speaker 2 (48:12):
I think a cultural thing to share is that when it
says they were shackled by theirfeet, the particular way that
they did this in Prisons, in theinner prisons of the day, was
it was meant to create a greatleg cramping on the prisoners so
over time, actually, theirmuscles and their, their legs
would completely weaken.
It's hard to run away if youdon't have a lot of stamina, if
(48:33):
you've lost muscle, if you're inpain.
But something more this issomething that you and I
discussed before we went down tosouthern Mexico near the
Guatemala border is you knowwhat, lord, we ultimately trust
you that when it's our time,it's our time and we're gonna
continue to preach the gospel,and you will.
You will do whatever isnecessary to get us Out of a
(48:55):
situation, whatever that mightbe, but God is the one that's
ultimately in charge of our lastday, and so if I were to die
because of doing somethingstupid Aside from the gospel, I
think that would be unfortunate.
But you know, one thing you andI legitimately had to pray for
was Okay, we're going to sharethe gospel, but this is a little
(49:15):
bit riskier than just sharinghere in America.
We're gonna place our hand,place ourselves, into God's
hands and we're gonna wait forhim to to Bring about the final
verdict?
And the answer was no, it's notyour time.
You know you guys are doingministry.
I protected you, I'm faithfulto you.
(49:36):
Hallelujah, praise God.
But ultimately, there alwayscomes a day where you have to
ask yourself Okay, I feel led togo because of the gospel this
is not a Decision made withoutprayer and so because I feel led
to go, well, lord, ultimatelymy life is in your hands and
it's just.
I think that was Paul and Silasis their motive, that was their
(50:01):
, their perspective.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
Yeah, you know, I think Paul had to be in that
mindset daily.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
In his current situation.
Speaker 1 (50:10):
You know, you and I, you know, prayerfully prepared
for Mexico.
That was a lot of prayer andBecause it's not every day that
we feel in danger like I Meanyes, is it possible that I could
get arrested for sharing thegospel in America?
I guess it's possible.
They couldn't charge me withsharing the gospel, they could
(50:32):
charge me with disturbing thepeace or something ridiculous,
but there really isn't much fearfrom that standpoint of of
death, imprisonment.
People may say, no, thank you,I'm not about that.
Okay, and I move on.
That's you, that's about therejection that you get.
So, yeah, I mean, I can'timagine the, the faith that Paul
(50:57):
had, that God provided him todo to go into these cities with
different religions, differentgovernment structures that did
not proclaim the name of Jesus,that's never heard the name of
Jesus, and just to go in thereand say I'm gonna proclaim Jesus
, no matter the consequences,and I'm gonna trust Jesus in
this matter.
That is, that is a faith that Iwant to build up.
(51:18):
That is something that I knowonly can be provided by God.
That we see in Paul here andthe more times were challenged
we talked about this on our tripwe need times to be challenged,
just like Paul was challenged,because it strengthens our faith
, and that that challenge andthat Strength doesn't come from
ourselves.
It comes from putting yourfaith in God.
(51:40):
Because, man, I could not do itmyself.
I could have not gone on amission trip sick by myself, I
would have not chosen to go if Iknew I was gonna get sick,
those sort of things so.
But Paul knew I'm probablygonna die and he still walked in
there and did it.
And I think we want to strivefor that sort of faith where we
don't really care what's goingto happen to us, because we know
(52:03):
whatever does happen to us willresult in God's glory and it'll
be for the kingdom and it'll befor eternity and not for
something temporary like thesemen who want their pockets
filled by demons.
Paul did not concern himselfwith that.
It was the gospel that theyneeded to hear.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
That's right.
I think one last thing toremember is Acts, chapter 9,
verse 15.
You know, saul is on the roadto Damascus.
The Lord speaks to Ananias.
Ananias is like you want me togo and speak to who?
Like Lord, he's persecutingyour people, the.
And then these are the words ofJesus to Ananias, acts 9, 15.
(52:40):
But the Lord said to Ananias go, for Saul is a chosen vessel of
mine to bear my name beforeGentiles, kings and the children
of Israel, for I will show himhow many things he must suffer
for my name's sake.
Paul counted it all the moreworth it.
This is my calling.
(53:00):
If I've got to suffer for theking, I've got to suffer for the
king.
He had a direct calling on hislife and I think in moments of
imprisonment he was like well,I'm either getting out of him or
I'm not, but I'm doing what I'msupposed to be doing.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Yeah, god called me of this.
I'm doing it.
I'm supposed to suffer, that'ssettled.
That's settled, yeah, yeah.
So I think we're encouraged Iam by the imprisonment of Paul.
Well, I know it's gonna happentoo.
Well, we'll read that next week.
So join us next week for thecontinuation of Acts 16, as we
see what Paul's attitude is, hisperspective and his
(53:37):
relationship with God is in themidst of being imprisoned, and
it'll hopefully encourage you,as it does Me.
So thank you for listening tothe B disciples podcast.
Continue to check out morecontent on YouTube.
We don't just have the podcast.
We have years now of sermons,pastor Dakota, as he continues
to preach here at Ottawa BibleChurch, to lead this
(53:58):
congregation here, and sothere's many different series
you can go through.
You can check out our audiopodcast, which is at Be
disciples podcast calm or OttawaBible Church calm, and you can
find our podcast there as well.
Plenty of stuff to check out,plenty of study to do.
We're gonna continue to createcontent so that our community,
(54:18):
ottawa Franklin County, can beequipped in God's word, because
the more we know the word, themore we know God and the more we
know his will for our lives.
So thank you all for listening.
Share this with your friends,don't just like us on Facebook
or like us on Instagram.
Share it.
Send it, because we want peopleto see it, and so do that for
us.
That would help out thisministry of continued education
(54:41):
in God's word.
Have a blessed week.
I I.
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