God Shows Up

All right, we're going to dive into the the book of acts we have. Yeah. All right. All right. We've done the math, right, we have six weeks after the book wraps. All right, this is gonna wrap up like a two year journey. As I mentioned last week, it's taken us a 12 at the time to get through, but it actually took the people living in to get through. So yeah, I am going to read a lot of Scripture today, I've been noticing that I preached X before, and I've talked to different friends and have preached X before. And normally, when we get to around x 21, or 22, we just stop as if the rest of the book didn't exist. Because it's like all these narratives of trials and travels and shipwrecks and all this sort of stuff that's really action packed. There's a lot of dramatic stuff that happens. But there's not a lot of like, quote, unquote, Jesus II stuff, you know what I mean? Like there's, it's hard to find stuff to preach on. Even if you read the commentaries, it's hard to find stuff that's like, really, like got the meat for the first sermon. So a lot of times it will stop last time I preached, I think I stopped to explain to indicia and then some other stuff happened. But we're committed to reading this entire book together, talking about this entire book together, and read the whole thing out loud. So I'm gonna read, one will amount to roughly three chapters right now, I know it sounds like a lot. I'm gonna ask you to bear with me here. Because I've been realizing and this will be part of the point for today, I'll just reveal it right up front, I've been realizing that it's not just about the big Jesus, the stuff, you know, what I mean by that is, it's not just about the mountaintop experiences like those big moments, it's actually more often life is about just faithfulness, and whatever is happening. And sometimes the voice of God is clear, and we feel the Goosebumps or whatever else. Sometimes we we hear audible stuff, or we really see God at work in our lives. And other times, it's just like, life, normal stuff, boring stuff, dramatic stuff. And we're just being faithful with what God has put in front of us. And that's what we're gonna see here today. Paul's gonna go through a lot of really difficult things. And he's only going to hear from Jesus one time. One simple sentence, and that thing is going to change everything. So with that in mind, I want to I want to read this. But before I do, let's pray together. So we, we know that every time every time we come to your word, it's meaningful. The guy we're talking about here, Paul Rhodes and Timothy, that your word is sharp and powerful, that it's profitable, that changes us in all sorts of ways that we need to be changed. And so when we come to your work today, humble and attentive, your words your life, speak to us, Jesus, we're listening. Amen. All right, so I'm gonna start in Acts 22, verse 30. Just quick recap. Last week, we talked about how Paul insisted on going to Jerusalem against the advice of Israel, and sprint said, Don't do it. Bad stuff is going to happen if you go, Paul says, I have to this is the Lord's work. And he ends up going on to Jerusalem, where in fact, that stuff does happen. He goes to the temple, he ends up getting arrested, almost ripped to shreds in the temple by by people who hated him. And were against the work that he was doing. He saved by a Roman centurion, who then throws him into chains, and says, essentially, we're going to figure out what's going on here. And that's where we that's where we start today is they're trying to figure out why everybody's so upset. Jews know why they're upset, and Paul knows why they're upset. But the Romans who are in charge, have no idea. So what he does here is he convenes the Jewish Council, the Sanhedrin said, Okay, let's, let's talk this out everybody. And that's where the story starts, acts one to 30. The commander wanted to find out exactly what Hall was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him an order the chief priest and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. And then he brought he brought Paul and set him before the Paul look straight at the Sanhedrin says the Jewish ruling party and said My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God and all good conscience to this day. At this the high priest and Annihilus order those standing near Paul to strike him on the mountain, that Paul said to him, God will strike you you whitewashed a wall. And I think that was I mean, I could be reading this but I think that was like strong language at the time. You sit there and you judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commending that be struck? Those who were standing there, Paul said, How dare you insult God's high priest? And Paul replied, brothers, I didn't realize I was speaking the high priest. For it's written don't speak evil about the ruler of your people. Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees called out of the Sanhedrin. My brothers I'm a Pharisee. descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial today because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead. When he said this dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and he simply was divided. It's even sad to say there is no resurrection, and there another angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all these things. There was a major uproar. Great upward says this Through amnesia to the page, and some of the teachers a lot more Pharisee stood up and argued vigorously. We find nothing wrong with this man. They said what a spear range was spoken to him. The dispute became so violent and the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them, he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring them into the various The following night, Lord, here we go. The volume the night last night, the Lord stood there, Paul and said, Take courage, as you have testified about New Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome. The next morning, some Jews wandering conspiracy bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than 40 men were involved in this plot. They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, we have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we've killed Paul. Now then, during the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you, on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case, we're ready to kill him before he gets to go. But it's not a Paul Sr. Heard of this blog. He went into the barracks and told Paul and Paul Baldwin's insurance and said, Take this young man to the commander, he has something to tell him. So he took them to the commander. The centurion said, Paul, the prisoner sent from me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you. The commander took the young man by the hand drew him aside and asked what is it you want to tell me? He said, Some Jews have agreed to ask you to recall before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him but don't get into them. Because more than 40 of them are waiting in ambush for him. They've taken an oath not to eat or drink until they've killed him. They are ready now waiting for your consents to their request. The commander dismissed the young man with his warning don't tell anyone what you reported to me. Then he called to have his insurance his insurance and ordered them get ready the attachment of 200 soldiers 70 horseman and 200 spearmint to go to accessory at nine tonight. Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to governor Felix. He wrote a letter as follows Claudius listens to his excellency governor Felix greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him but I came with my troops and rescued him. For I learned that he was a Roman citizen. I wanted to know why they were accusing him so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. I found that the accusations had to do with questions about their law, but that there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against this man I sent him to at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him. So the soldiers carrying out their orders took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as and into Patras. The next day they left the cavalry cavalry to they let the cavalry go on with him while they returned to the barracks. When the cavalry arrived in South Korea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from and learning that he was from solicita. He said, I will hear your case when your accusers get here. Then he ordered the Pol be kept under guard and Herod's palace to one chapter here we go. Everybody doing okay. Guys, this every what I'm reading right now is more important than anything I'm going to say about it. So I'm going to keep going. Because I've got the microphone here we go. Five days later. The high priest tendinitis went down to Surya with some elders, and the lawyer named titulus. And they brought their charges against Paul before the governor, when Paul was called in to LIS presented his case before Felix, we've enjoyed a long period of peace under you and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation, everywhere and in every way. Most Excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to where you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear this to hear us briefly. We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He's a ringleader of the Nazarene sect, and even tried to desecrate the temple. So we seized him. By examining him yourself, you'll be able to learn the truth about these charges were bringing against him. The other Jews joined in the accusations asserting that these things were true when the governor motioned for him to speak. Paul said, I know that for a number of years you've been judged over this nation. So I will gladly make my defense. You can easily verify that no more than 12 days ago, I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or elsewhere in the city. And they cannot prove to to you the charges they're not making against me. However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the way which they call a sect. I believe everything that is everything that is in accordance with the law, and that is written in the prophets and I have the same hope and God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my bring my people gifts for the poor into present offerings. I was ceremonial, ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in the disturbance. But there are some Jews from the province of a Asia who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me, or these who are here should stay what crime they have found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence, it's concerning the resurrection of the dead, that I'm on trial before you today. Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the way during the proceedings, when Lipsius the commander comes he said, I will decide your case. He ordered the Centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs. Several days later, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid, and said, that's enough for now you may leave when I find it convenient I'll send for you. At the same time, he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe. So we sent for him frequently and talked with him. When two years had passed, we Felix was succeeded by Porsches, Festus but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison. Chapter 25 Three days before arriving in the province, Festus went up from accessory to Jerusalem. Were the priests, the chief priests in the Jewish leaders appeared before him and they presented the charges against Paul. They requested Festus as a favor to them to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus answered Paul's being had held at Surya and I myself am going there soon let some of your leaders come with me. And if this man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there. After spending eight or 10 days with them, Festus wind down necessery of the next day he can be in the courts, in order that Paul be brought before him. When Paul came in, the Jews had come down from Jerusalem stood round him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could prove none of them. Then Paul made his defense I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar. Festus wishing to do the Jews a favor said to Paul, are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before the before me on these charges? Paul answered, I am now standing before Caesar's court where I ought to be tried. I have not done anything wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if these charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, then no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar. After Festus conferred with his counsel, he declared you have appealed to Caesar. to Caesar you will go. Alright. What a story here we go. Context is set up as this Paul was arrested, held by the Romans, they decide the next day they want to they want to get the Sanhedrin together and figure out exactly what was going on. So they get together. And Paul says this, in essence, he says, Look, I did what I was supposed to do. He said everything I've said, I spoke what God told me to speak, and they get furious with him. Why? Well, because he's telling them that God sent him on this mission, and that they are by arresting him and hating him. In fact, opposing God, he's standing in front of the most educated, professional, religious people you will ever meet. I mean, it said that the definition of an expert is somebody who spent 10,000 hours on something and these people had spent well over 10,000 hours studying the Word of God. And Paul stands in front of them and says on behalf of God, I'm telling you, you're missing it. You're missing it. And God sent me to you to correct your oversight. He says this to the high priest, which is all the more offensive considering that what they're most upset with Paul about is that he's been a missionary to the Gentiles, that he's going out to the Gentiles around the world and preaching the gospel. And essentially, by showing up here in the temple and saying to the high priest, and the experts in the law, you're missing it. He's saying, get this, the Gentiles out there in Ephesus, and in Pergamum, and in Theia. Tyra and wherever else I went, they understand more than you do. Now, you see why he gets smacked in the mouth, right? He looked at the high priest and says the Gentiles Gentiles understand something about God, you have no idea about. You know, there's this great phrase in the Talmud. The Talmud is like a collection of commentaries Jewish commentaries on the Torah. And there's this great phrase in there it says, even a Gentile who busies himself in the Torah is like a High Priest. In other words, even a Gentile who studies the Word of God can be that kind of an expert in the law. And Paul went up sit here and says even a Gentile who knows Jesus knows more than you do. Because here's the thing. God sent me to you and this is going back to his his previous speech that got him in so much trouble God had sent me to you to tell my story because I was just like you. I had this whole thing figured out an expert in this law. I mean, we've talked about this before. These people were people who are professional scholars, it was their job to study sometimes as much as 10 to 16 hours a day standing in front of scrolls and books, and reading. I've said this before, but but there's in the legend, this legend about students like Paul and these Pharisees and Sadducees, that they were so well acquainted with the text of the Bible, that they could take a push pin and stick it into the pages of a Bible. And by the depth of the pin could tell you what letter of the alphabet, the point of the pin was touching. Now, that might be a little bit of an overstatement, but you get the point. They knew this book. Paul said in the previous passage, I was just as zealous for this as you were, like, I believe this stuff as much as you do. But I'm telling you, you're missing the thing that unlocks all of it. You're so close, you've got all of the pieces, you've got all of the doors lined up, you just don't have the key. When you see the key, when you see Jesus, the whole thing opens up in front of you. All of it. God's plan, what he's doing in the world, what he's like, and all opens up in front of you. And God sent me to you to correct your ignorance. That's that's the foundation of this whole thing. Now, professionals, who think they've got it all figured out, don't take very kindly to this kind of stuff. So the high priest orders Paul to be struck in the mouth. And Paul snaps back at him with what I imagined was like a cuss word and the day you whitewashed wall. He says to him, foreign language from Jesus. In other words, you look good on the outside, but on the inside, you're just a mess. How dare you talk to the high priests like that? They say, what does Paul say? Oh, shoot. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize who he was. What a fascinating character. You know, he just got smacked in the mouth for telling the truth. The speaking the truth to power. But in the moment, when he finds out who's in front of him, he apologizes. If I had known who you were, I wouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. Hold on to that for a second, we're gonna come back to it. Anyway, that's the setup. Things are getting a little bit out of hands. So Paul does something pretty clever. This is not going his way. So he does something really interesting. He says, You know what? This is all about the resurrection. That's why I got myself into the situation. Now you have to understand what we have here in the Sanhedrin are two different political parties, religious and religion and politics are are sort of smushed together in Judaism at this point. Okay. So Pharisees and Sadducees are not just religious sects, they're also political parties. And they believe very different things. And they're both in this room, and they both hate Paul. So what does Paul do? He pits them against each other. He said, It's all about the resurrection, which immediately gets all the Pharisees on his side against the Sadducees. Because Sadducees don't believe in any resurrection at all. And so in just a moment, and very clever twist, he takes all the attention off of himself and gets these two parties fighting with each other. And they start going after each other. I mean, the Pharisees are starting to yell out, what if an angel really said something to him? Which he did, right? So I mean, he's got his opponents pleading his case in court now fascinating, brilliant maneuver on Paul's part, except for the fact that he didn't count on the idea that they would all get so violent, that they would just start ripping it, whoever they could find and he almost gets torn to shreds again. And the Centurion has to take him out. Take him out of there. Take him back to the barracks where keeps them locked up until he can figure out what to do. You have to you have to understand the most important thing to a Roman Centurion at this point, a Roman officer of any kind was keeping the peace. This is what Rome was known for. There's something called the Pax Romana, which means the peace of Rome. And it was the promise that they extended across the Empire when we come in all of this stuff that you deal with the riots, the chaos, the crime, it all goes away. That's the selling feature of the Roman Empire. We bring civilization, we bring protection, we bring security and that was the prime directive of Roman Centurion was Don't let anyone upset the peace of your city. So he takes Paul out. He says we got to figure this stuff out. That's all the context now Paul, at this point, has been beaten twice by a mob of people that were his friends, people he grew up with keep in mind, Jerusalem is not a big city. The Pharisees Sect was not massive. These people knew Paul so his friends are trying to kill him. Beaten a couple of times arrested by Romans, they threatened to beat him too until they found out was a Roman Centurion here he is sitting in prison that night, and Jesus shows up. Jesus shows up and he says to him take courage. Just as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify about Me in Rome. Now in the book of Acts, Jesus appears to Paul three times. Okay? The first time on the road to Damascus, he appears to him and he gives him a new identity. That's not based on Paul in his achievements in his strength isn't anything else. It's based solely on the resurrected Jesus. You belong to me now. We talked about this last week, Paul's life changed when he finally asked the right question. No longer who am I? And what am I about? But who are you, Lord? Who are you, Lord, when he asked that question, everything changes because he now finds himself in line with the character of Jesus. He's identified now by Jesus and not by his own accomplishments, his own strengths or weaknesses. He would later say in Philippians, that everything that was to my prophet I now considered a loss for the sake of Christ. What's more, I consider everything loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I've lost all things, I consider them them being everything I've done in my life, trash, that I'm again him. So the first time he meets with Jesus, he gets a new identity that's based on the resurrected Jesus. The second time he meets with him, is when Jesus tells him where to go, he's kind of blinded, he shows up to him and says, I'm going to send you as a missionary to the Gentiles. So not back to Jerusalem, not back into your own kind of own context, but out into the world, you're going to be my ambassador to the nations. So he gives them a name and identity. And then a vocation, his second his second time, he gives him a vocation a job to do this, by the way, as a side note is the biblical definition of blessing. Okay? This is a word that our culture throws around an awful lot today, like Hashtag blessed, right. And that usually means to us that something good has happened, and I feel I feel good about myself. But in the Bible, this is a biblical word. This is a Christian word. let's reclaim it. Okay. This is a Christian word that means two things. It means identity, and vocation. To be blessed by God is to be given a name and a job. And those two things go together. Because if you're given a name, this great blessing of an affirmation of who you are, but you don't do anything with it. It doesn't work. For blessing to work, it has to come in and go out again, if it just stays in. If your identity just stays in, if everything he's putting in, you just stays in, it eventually turns to rot. We see this, because it's not just for us. You know, some of the wisest words written. Rick Warren's famous The Purpose Driven Life, it's not about you. First words in the book, it's not about you. Now, here's the thing is if you allow that blessing to flow through, you experience every inch of it, like you do, it goes right through you. But if you hold it, your capacity is limited. So Jesus blessed Paul, that's what he did. He showed up in his life, and he blessed him, This is who you are, this is what I have for you to do. And then this third time, this third appearance is Paul is sitting in a Roman barracks, unsure what's going to happen to him. And by the way, there's a plot against his life happening right outside the doors. Jesus shows up and says, Oh, and by the way, that identity I gave you, and that purpose I have for your life, nothing will stand in the way of it getting accomplished. Nothing. In other words, Jesus showed up that night, and what do you what do you tell people? I love this. Because at this point, you gotta be freaking out a little bit, right? Like things are like the plan is going sideways. This is not the way it was supposed to be. And rather than showing up and telling Paul, you're going to be saved, I'm going to take care of all of this stuff like he doesn't he doesn't tell Paul all the reasons that Paul's a good guy. He just shows up and he says I'm in charge. That's it. That's what that's what God does over and over again, when we're facing difficult situations. He very rarely says you can do this. Right? I mean, we can of course, but it's not about us. It's not about the strength that we have. It doesn't come and Pat us on the back and say, Paul, you know, just, you got this. You got this buddy, just power through. He says, essentially, I'm in charge. He says, My Plan hasn't changed. You wanted to preach the gospel in Rome, you're gonna preach the gospel in Rome. Come hell or high water. That's it. I got this, I'm in control. There's nothing on earth that can stop his plan. What I think is interesting about this, though, is how the plan like fleshes itself out last week we talked about mature discernment is remember that we talked about this idea that that sometimes the Holy Spirit tells us what's going on, and then says, What do you want to do about it? It's not always like, there's this path or this path. And this is the right one, and this is the wrong one. Sometimes it's that there's a million paths and the Holy Spirit comes to us as we mature in him and says, What do you want to do? Like how do you want to obey the vocation I've given you? Do you want to do it over here or here or there with these people or those people like what do you want to do and that's why often as we mature in Christ, it's just as difficult to figure out what we want, as it is to figure out what the Holy Spirit might be up to. Today, we see what mature mission looks like mature vocation, because what I find so interesting is unless I missed it somewhere in the New Testament, I don't think that Jesus ever told Paul to go to Rome. He told them, you're going to be a missionary to the Gentiles. He told them, he would appear before kings. But he never told them to go to Rome. Why is he going to Rome? Because that's what Paul wanted. He wanted to hit like, on his fourth missionary journey, he wanted to drop off the money in Jerusalem, say some quick haze to the church, and then out to Rome. And from there on to Spain. That was his plan. Why? Well, because Jesus told him he wanted to be a missionary to the Gentiles. And Paul thought this is this is, this is what had to have happened because Paul is like, the classical charger. He's he's got a vision, he's gonna go after it. He thought, you know where I could go? You know, it'd be awesome. Room. Like, what if I went to the heart of the whole thing like, right to the belly of the beast? Like, I can just picture in his mind? What if I walked into the Colosseum and preach the gospel? What if like, what if I got to preach the gospel in front of Caesar? You know, you can just feel that that's, that's the kind of guy this is. He has this. Here's the here's how this works. Jesus has a plan for his life. And then as Paul matures in Him, Jesus allows him the freedom to choose how that plan is going to play itself out. And Paul begins to dream. What if Rome? What if Spain? And who knows what beyond that? Like, what if? And Jesus says, All right, I've given you a vocation, you're dreaming about how to make it happen, and nothing will prevent that dream from happening. I'm going to empower it. I'm gonna make it go. And at the end of the day, that's what what is its partnership. Jesus and Paul are partnering together in the way it was always meant to be. That's how God designed it. He said to us in the garden, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over it. I give it all to you. And He wants us then to rule in partnership with him. And that's what Paul's doing, he's dreaming. And I love how Jesus isn't just coming to him and saying nothing will stop my plan from happening. He's also saying, I like your plan. Nothing's gonna stop your plan to do my work from happening. How cool is this? Now notice that this plan is not playing itself out the way that Paul expected it to. Nothing about this is going the way he anticipated it. And I might go a step farther to say maybe this isn't working itself out the way that Jesus wanted it to either. I know I get myself into trouble here depending on who I'm talking to. But I'm just gonna go for it. Because when Jesus teaches us in the Lord's prayer to pray, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven, what's the assuming that the will of God isn't always done on earth as in heaven, that not everything that happens on this planet is in accordance with His will. But there's lots of stuff that happens. That is not the way he wanted it to play itself out. And you look at Paul's life and you see all this stuff that is not in God's intention for a good world. I mean, you see really bad doctrine. You see ethnocentrism, you see racism, you see hatred, you see rage, you see legalism, all playing itself out in this one story. And none of that's what God designed for the world. None of that's what God wanted for his people. So we have now left the path of God's desire of his will. We're walking now what a friend of mine calls the left hand of God. There's all familiar with the right hand of God throughout Scripture. Right Hand of God is awesome. You know, it's powerful, it's the path of blessing. You know, there's a son that, that Jacob has the names and Benjamin, son of my right hand, this means the Blessed One. And God has this right hand path for all of our lives for all of the world that's just good. It's the path of blessing. And when you when you when you swim it when you walk it you're you're the wind is at your back, the current is with you. And it's carrying you along from like, glory to glory, from one good thing to the next. The problem is, very rarely do we actually walk that path. Most often we walk another path, because of our own choices. We do dumb stuff. That's not what God wouldn't end for us. That's not the path of blessing. And we find ourselves on a darker path, a harder one, by our own choosing. In this case, it wasn't Paul's choosing it was somebody else's that happens to you know, sometimes you find yourself on a darker path, a more difficult one that's not in God's alignment with your with what's not that not, that's not God's intention, good intention for your life. Because if something somebody else did, or just because of the general brokenness and fragility of the world, we find ourselves on these paths that are not easy. They're not good. They're not. And by good, I mean, Genesis good, you know, like, and God saw that it was good, kind of good. The good news though, and that's where Paul He's here, he's he's sitting in this barracks, not on the right hand path anymore. But on another path. And Jesus shows up and says, Hey, don't sweat it, because I'm in charge on this path too. And we discover that his left hand is just as powerful as his right. And that he can take this wandering difficult meandering path, and bring it back around to where he wanted it. And it often involves a lot more pain, a lot more uncertainty, a lot more hardship. But what he's saying here is, I'll get you home, I'll get you where you want to go, I'll get you where I wanted you to go. I guess what I'm saying here is if you really love Jesus, and have surrendered your life to Him, then all roads lead to Rome. What's changed for Paul in this moment, he's wanting to get to Rome. That's the dream. That's the vision and Jesus is saying, I will take whatever road you're walking, get you there. What's changed? Not the destination, just the path. Just the path. And I say that to encourage you that some of you are walking paths that are not necessarily good. Maybe some of it's your own choices. I mean, I've been there. Many times in very recent history, I've walked past the word maybe not God's plan for me. And it's caused pain to myself and others that wasn't intended. But he hasn't given up on me, He's faithful, and his left hand is strong. brings us back around to good. You know, maybe you're walking that path not because of your own choices, but because of choices other people have made you've been hurt or damaged along the way. questioning your identity or questioning your own goodness, because of stuff that's been done to you. Maybe you don't feel any value or worth anymore. God is saying to you, trust me. I can get you places I can I can take you to good, nothing is lost. Nothing is lost. If you trust me, I got I've got this. And like I said, maybe for some of us, it's just it's just the brokenness of the world, something happened that there's really nobody to blame isn't that the worst? Like, it's really the worst one, there's no one to blame. It's just the world stinks sometimes. And the wheels come off sometimes. And how comforting to know that when the wheels come off, Jesus is still able, he's still in control. And he can still do good even with this. That's why he says in the book of Philippians, He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. In other words, there is nothing on heaven, on earth, or in heaven or anywhere else that can stand in the way of me accomplishing everything I want to do in and through you. To hear that me say that again. There is nothing in heaven or on earth or under the earth that can that can stop Jesus from doing everything he wants to do in and through you. And this is what Romans 828 means familiar with that verse, for an all things. God works for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose. You see here that if you love him, and you're going after his purpose, then there is nothing that can prevent you from getting too good. There's nothing that can prevent you from and by good I mean his good. Like the highest definition Genesis one kind of good, like the way I meant for it to be. Isn't that encouraging? He goes on and Romans eight to say there's nothing that can separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, there's literally no power in heaven or on earth or anywhere else that can stop God from doing everything he wants to do in and through you and for you. That's what he's telling Paul, in this moment, really simply, nothing is lost, nothing has changed. We're walking, we're off the path now. You know, we're in a dangerous spot as as Tolkien says in Lord of the Rings, we are over the edge of the wild. But I'm king here to none of this is outside of his dominion. Is one theologian famously said there is no corner of creation upon which Jesus looks and we're getting this wrong. Essentially, he's looks at all of it says it's mine. That's that's the gist. I've just completely blew the quote. But Jesus says, It's all mine. I'm in charge of all of it. And that's why he says to Paul, I'm gonna get you to Rome. I'm gonna get you to Rome. Doesn't mean that this is good. It doesn't mean all this stuff you're going through is good. Let's be clear on this. It doesn't mean it's good. But his left hand is strong enough to transform even this into good The Left Hand of God I love it. John says a little differently in Revelation five. He writes that I saw on the right hand of him who sat on the throne to scroll with writing on both sides and seal the seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, who was worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. But no one in heaven or on earth, or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. And I wept, and I wept because no one was found who is worthy to open the scrolls or to look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep. See, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed, he is able to open the scroll and it's seven seals. Then I saw lamb looking as if it had been slain. The scroll is going to, he's talking about here. And it's weird kind of apocalyptic language. But the scroll contains everything. That's kind of the fulfillment of God's plan for the earth. And John is like, weeping in this moment, because he realizes there's nobody who can bring it about. There's nobody who can really like put the seal on the story. And the answer is Jesus, the angel says, Don't worry, the lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed. He can bring it all to good. That's the vision that I want you to hold here. The crucified and risen and victorious king is in charge, and he can get you to good. Now, what do we do with that? The rest of the story then everything else that happens, it's just the fruit of knowing that he's in charge. Okay, so Paul has grounded himself firmly in the reality that Jesus is in control. And everything he does from this point forward, is demonstrates what happens when somebody is grounded there. It's the fruit. First thing is Paul becomes himself a person of peace. When I go back to the high priests striking him on the mouth. Soon as he found out who he was Paul backed off, why because he said, You don't you don't curse somebody who God's put in authority. Just don't do that. I was my that was my fault. If I knew who you are, I wouldn't have said it. Because Paul is demonstrating here and elsewhere that he is not oppositional to the powers that God has put in place, even when they're oppositional to God. What we what the high priest is, is, is directly in opposition to the will of God. But Paul says, even then, it's not okay for me to curse you. He goes on to be tried in front of several Roman courts. We read one of the stories, there'll be another one next week and another one that week after that. And every time and I've mentioned this before, every time Paul is tried in front of the Roman courts, Jews will accuse him of all sorts of stuff, and they use really intentional language. They said, This man is a troublemaker elsewhere, it says agitator. Now why that that's intentional language, because like I said, a second ago, the most important thing was that the peace of Rome was maintained in the colonies. And so that language, those it sounds to us, like it's just little kids calling each other names. But that's legal language to say this man is trying to destroy the Roman Empire from the inside. That was the charge brought against him. And every time that charges brought against him in front of Roman authorities, he's acquitted. Every single time the Roman say we don't, we don't get it. It seems like they're having some dispute about their law, but from Rome's perspective, has done nothing wrong. Every time. In fact, there have been scholars who have argued that this is the point of the entire book of Acts. Because Paul appealed to Caesar and by the end of the book of Acts, just spoiler alert, he's not going to get in front of Caesar yet he will eventually. But he's not getting in front of Caesar yet. And there's there's some scholars who think that this entire book is written as a legal briefing to Paul's lawyers, that the office is the guy that Paul wrote the book to is one of Paul's attorneys who's going to be trying his case in front of Caesar. And so they're trying to give him all the information to show that like, No, he hasn't done anything wrong. Here's the case. Now, why am I going into all the detail about this? It's because Christians are supposed to be working for the good of the places Jesus has sent us. We're not supposed to be known as people of opposition, but people with blessing. You know that that's right out of Jeremiah Wright. Work for the good of the city where I sent you into exile. Live quiet, peaceful life, settle down, have kids and just try to bless. Because when the city prospers, you prosper. That passage and Jeremiah, God's talking about Babylon, like the most Wait, like, from that point on in the story, Babylon will become a biblical metaphor for wickedness, okay? Every time you hear Babylon, it's a bad thing. And God says, I want you to work for the peace of Babylon. The most wicked, dark place I want you to become build peace in that context. And that's what Paul does here. He's a person of peace. And he's making the claim that that's what Christians are here to do. We're here to bless the city. We're here to bless the Empire. Crazy. Here to bless the nations. Question I want to ask you is are we known for being people of peace? Like is that how Christians are known in culture today? Let's just Let's just keep it to American culture. Are we known as people of peace who are working for the good? Of everyone around us? It seems like we've become oppositional. It seems like Christians are known for like, being against everything. Instead of what we're actually for. How do you become like, how does the sovereignty of God make somebody a person of peace? Because it doesn't matter who's in charge anymore. That's the thing is if Jesus is in charge, then it doesn't matter who's in charge. You know, what I mean? That's that's why I think most of the anxiety in the world comes from is from making sure that we have enough power, whether it's ours directly, or somebody representing on our on our behalf, that we have our person in power and an authority, because then we can get our way done. On Earth, our will can be actualized. Here in this place, if we get the right person in power, or we have power, I can make sure that everything flushes itself out exactly the way I want it to. But if you realize that Jesus is in charge, and that his plan will get accomplished no matter what, whether it's by the right hand, or the left hand, that he will bring everything back to good, then it doesn't matter who's in charge. Christians are at their most effective when they don't have power. Simply as simple as this, most of the time a Christian changes the world. It's from the bottom, it's not from the top. Almost always, Jesus of Nazareth never commanded an army. Though he had armies at his disposal. He never swung a sword he never traveled outside of his home region. Never wrote a book Never went on a speaking tour. By the time he died, and left the planet, there were 120 people who cared less than the people in this room today. He changed the world. And they went on to change the world without power. As a matter of fact, we can make the argument that when we have power, we're less effective. Look at the places in the world where the gospel is most potent in this moment. Its most potent through persecuted Christians who have no power, but the power of God, they are wholly surrendered to the power of King Jesus. And they're just soaring on it. While the rest of us are bogged down in trying to get our own little kingdoms built. I've told this story so many times, you're probably tired of it, but it's my favorite. I'm gonna tell it again. And hold up however many fingers you want for how many times you've heard it. Thomas Aquinas is no I'm going with this one. This is a good one. This is a mic drop story. The backstory to this one is the book of Acts. It's it's when Peter and John go to the temple and there's a guy begging on the temple steps who's he's he's been lame from birth. And he asked for money and Peter famously says in the King James Version, it works really good and King James because it goes with a song to write. Peter says to him Silver and gold have I not? But such as I have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk so I don't have any money. But here's what I got. I got the power of God. And the guy stands up and he goes, you know, as the song he goes walking and leaping he goes, Oh, remember the song? No, I just I just dated myself. Okay. It's a great song. Anyway, we'll Kiana Lita next time. No. She says no. Okay. Anyway, that's the backstory. That's the context. Now, Thomas Aquinas monk comes in from the countryside to Rome, where the church has become politically powerful. Constantine legalized Christianity, the church gained political power at going again to wealth against corruption through the whole process. And Aquinas this monk from the country has been given a tour of the Pope's estates in Rome, these vast estates with stables and store houses of wealth and all this sort of stuff. And the man who's giving the tour of this bishop looks at him and says to him, as you can see, we can no longer say Silver and gold have I not bragging about how much money they've accumulated? And Thomas Aquinas, this humble country, Monk fast is a whip response. Neither can you say rise up and walk. You see why I tell that story over and over again. Isn't that good? That's the point you have exchanged the power of the cross for the power of the world. And we do it all the time. When we get so desperate and hungry to have the world our way instead of submitting to the way that Jesus is at work, because here's the deal. When we know that Jesus is in control, it doesn't matter who's in charge, because they can do whatever they want and he's going to make it work. They can do their worst And he's gonna bring it to good. And when you understand that you're free from being anxious about power, you're now free to surf, from the bottom up to change the world from the ground up, like Christians have always supposed to do. You're the salt of the earth. That's how it's supposed to work. Regardless of whether you find yourself worshipping in the temple in Jerusalem, or always the way it's supposed to be, or an exile in Babylon, or in prison in Rome, doesn't matter. He's in control. Let's put this in modern terms, whether or not your guy or gal is in the White House. Now, I know I know, I know, I know, not supposed to talk about politics from the pulpit. But we have to really briefly because we're entering into another election cycle, aren't we who's excited about that? To your Lord goes, remember how gnarly this last one was, because like, I'm still I'm still traumatized by what Christians did in the name of Jesus, because they were so desperate for political power. Because they thought that that's the way that the world was going to be changed. We first took the power of God, the power of politics, and we can't do it again. We cannot, because the world is watching. And so I know we're two years out guys, or a year and a half or whatever, it is not enough time. And why can't we do this, like every eight years, like we need more time to recover. But we got to get it right, this time. The church has to get this right. And the way we get it right is we bow our knee before King Jesus and trust that he's in charge. And we use the tools at our disposal. If we're in a democracy, we use the tools of democracy with by the power of the Spirit, we vote by the power of the Spirit, because we should, but then regardless of what happens, we do the work that Jesus is setting in front of us on a daily basis, because that's how the world is going to change. It's not going to change from the White House, it's going to change from the streets, it's going to change from your house. We gotta get this right, the world's watching. And we can't do it like before. People have peace, because we understand who's in charge. Second thing real fast. If we understand God's in charge, we can love everybody knows, Paul is here in front of this corrupt Roman official who's trying to get them to give them a bribe, and he's preaching the gospel to him day in and day out. It's not refusing to come out of his cell, he's not angry, this guy is standing in the way of Paul achieving the dreams that he has for his life. He's standing in the way of getting him to Rome, he just leaves him rotting in prison for no reason. And yet Paul still preaches the gospel to him. Why? Because that's who was in front of him. And if Jesus is in charge, and His plan is being played out in my life, whether it's by the right hand or left hand Jesus plan is working itself out in my life, then that must mean that this guy is part of his plan. Right? Isn't that what it is? No longer oppositional to his plan. I guess if Jesus is in charge, and he's at work, and I'm stuck here with you, then that must mean that you're the plan for today. Right? We get so fixated on the future, sometimes that we missed the person right in front of us, you know, it's like, Look, if I'm driving to church, and you cut me off in traffic, maybe you're not the thing that got in the way of me getting the church, maybe you're the church I was supposed to be today. Didn't do you know what I mean? Like dumb example. But you start to see people as the plan instead of as in the way of the plan. That's what Paul did. That's what Jesus did. That's how Jesus lived. His life was from one interruption to the next. Jesus was wildly interruptible. And most of the biggest moments came when he got sidetracked from the plan, because that was the plan. So when we see Jesus is in control, then we can see the people in front of us. As maybe in this moment, you might be doing something here. Whether it's somebody we like somebody we don't like a friend and enemy, somebody we don't care about one way or the other. You're in front of me today. And Jesus is in charge. So maybe just maybe, it's you. Finally, get personal here. If you know Jesus is in charge, what can you do? You can learn to be content wherever you find yourself. Now Paul, would have to wrestle with the fact probably for years to come that it didn't work out the way he wanted to. I mean, this guy was a charger, there's no doubt he, he he wanted to be out there in the world. He didn't want to be sitting in prison. There's no way and I imagine that he and Jesus had some epic fights about this Yeah, you got me to Rome, but in handcuffs, you know. Like, I imagine Paul had to spend a lot of time wrestling with disappointment over the fact that it didn't work out the way he wanted it to. But at some point along the way, He reconciled himself to the fact that Jesus knows what he's doing. And the his plan is going to be better. And he found contentment in this. He says in the book of Philippians, you guys know this, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether having a lot or being in need. Everybody say it with me, I can do all things, through Him who gives me strength. All things, doesn't matter. situation doesn't matter path doesn't matter. I know, he's gonna get me there. How do we find contentment, no matter what's happening, we learn the power of weakness, that in our weakness, he's strong. When we're at our lowest, we are most dependent. And we open ourselves up to the capacity of God in our lives. We learn to see God at work in the present instead of in the future. God doesn't work in the future. He's in charge of the future, but the way he gets us to the future is now his plan for your life is now he's got other stuff. But guess what, when you get to that other stuff, it'll be now it won't be then we can't we're finite, we can't live in the future he can, but we can't, we can only live in the present. And that means wherever you're at right now, is exactly where he wants you to be. Now, you can wrestle with him on that, if you want, you can fight with him on that, if you want, that's fine, he can take it. But he's got you where he wants you to be. And if you miss it, you might you're gonna miss what he's up to. And the secret of being content is being present to the one who's present to you in the present. Finally, you have to trust that he can do more than you can do. And that if you get your plan the way you want, it could be cool. But if you get his plan that changes the world. Because notice, if Paul had gone to Rome, what might have happened, he could have planted a pretty cool church broke ground in Roman soil in the belly of the beast could have probably would have. But you know what he did, and instead, went to Rome and planted a pretty cool church and wrote the book of Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians that churches around the world have been studying for centuries and have changed countless lives. Now I'm not talking about like hundreds, I'm talking about billions. The impact of that time in prison cannot be overstated. Yeah, Paul, this thing, this thing, you got guns good. But like watch what I can do with it. Just give it to me. And watch as I supercharge your dream. Power later, right in Philippians, this book that he wrote in prison. Now I want you to know brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it's become clear through the whole palace garden to everyone else that I've been changed for Christ, you hear that? It's become clear to the palace guard, they would have never heard the gospel, otherwise the palace guard them and change for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become competent in the Lord. And dare all the more to preach the gospel without fear. You hear that? So Paul gets to Rome. In Chains, eventually, you'll see it stuck in prison. And he's preaching to the palace guards. And because of his boldness, the Christians that are already in Rome are bold themselves. And they think if you can do it in that situation, then I can do it and mine and the gospel is spreading through Rome while Paul sits in a prison cell writing letters to the churches around the world that would change the world. Do you see? What's God doing in any given moment? More than you are? I don't know how else to put it. He's doing more than you are. So trust him. Trust that he's going to do more and learn to be content because Jesus is in charge to pray with me. Jesus I am. This is kind of a heavy word for me today because I I'm aware as a pastor and friends of many in this church of some of the stuff that I'm talking about, I'm aware that this is not just theoretical, but this is actual in people's lives. And I'm aware that if it's just words that I'm saying it has no effect whatsoever. But if it's true, Jesus, if what I've said is true, then it changes everything. And so I pray that it would be true today in tangible ways, by the power of Your Spirit at work in our church. Would you meet with people who feel like whether through their own choices, or the choices of others or just the brokenness of the world, they're walking in the left hand of God right now? Would you be with them today? And show them just how powerful your left hand is? Would you give them a glimpse of the good that you're working? I guess what I'm asking is would you show up to my friends to my brothers and sisters today, the way you showed up to Paul in that barracks that night, said Take courage.