Now beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads,
and after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples
and embraced them and departed before he go into masculinity.
Now what uproar was that?
You remember last week in chapter 19,
this is where there was the big uproar
where all the people who had made the idols unto the goddess Diana,
the silver idols, were angry because they were losing business
because Paul was getting a lot of people saved
and they were no longer worshipping idols.
He was telling them to turn from these phony gods
and to worship the one true living God.
And so they caused that big uproar and a big riot
and the government had to get involved and calm things down.
So that's the uproar it's referring to.
It says in verse 2,
And when he had gone over those parts
and had given them much exhortation,
he came into Greece and there abode three months.
And when the Jews laid weight for him
as he was about to sail into Syria,
he purposed to return through Macedonia.
So basically he left Ephesus,
he went to Macedonia,
he gave them much exhortation,
he preached them a lot of things out of the Bible.
He went on to Greece
and then the Jews were laying weight for him.
He decided to go back through Macedonia.
And it says in verse 4,
And there accompanied him into Asia.
He lists his friends there,
Sope and Uroboria,
the Thessalonians,
Aristarchus,
and Segundus,
and Gaius of Derbe,
and Timotheus,
and of Asia,
Tychicus and Trophimus.
These go on before terried forest at Troas.
And we sailed away from Philippi
after the days of unleavened bread,
and came unto them to Troas in five days,
where we abode seven days.
And upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul preached unto them,
ready to depart on the morn.
Now you can see here very clearly in verse 7
that this is obviously something
that they were accustomed to do.
The first day of the week
was when they got together and broke bread.
That's found in another place in the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 16 is another one.
We have church on Sunday.
We have church on the first day of the week.
There are a lot of people who think
that we must have church on the seventh day.
Yet we see throughout the book of Acts
that they got together and broke bread
and listened to preaching
on the first day of the week.
Now, people will say this.
Well, Sunday is not the Sabbath.
Amen.
Of course Sunday is not the Sabbath.
Of course with all the Spanish speakers
that are in our area,
we know that,
what is Saturday in Spanish?
Sabado.
And what does that sound like?
Sabbath.
Because the Sabbath is the seventh day.
So no, Sunday is not the Sabbath.
Many people will teach and preach
that it's wrong to work on Sunday,
that it's wrong to do any work
because it's the Sabbath.
That is not true.
Sunday is not the Sabbath.
Sunday is the first day of the week,
not the seventh day.
We as New Testament believers
do not observe the Sabbath.
Now, we believe that God's commands
in the Old Testament
that we should obey all of them
except for the ones that he specifically
told us in the New Testament
not to worry about.
He explains it very clearly
in Colossians and Hebrews
that anything that had to do
with the Levitical priesthood
has been replaced
with Jesus Christ the High Priest.
We don't need the sacrifices,
we don't need the tabernacle,
we don't need those things.
He said that the laws regarding
meats and drinks
and divers' washings
and carnal or physical ordinances,
he said those things were only
imposed on them
until the coming of Christ.
So we don't just throw out
the whole Old Testament.
But there are certain things
that were ceremonial
or that were just picturing something
and the Sabbath is in that category
of something that's been done away with.
I don't want to preach on that tonight
because that's a whole sermon in and of itself.
Colossians 2 is a place
you could look at on that.
Romans 14, 5 says,
One man esteemeth
one day above another.
Another esteemeth every day alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded
in his own mind.
He will turn to one place,
Colossians 2,
Hebrews chapter 4,
go to Colossians 2,
but in Hebrews chapter 4,
the Bible explains
what the Sabbath pictured
and what it represented.
And it represented salvation
through Jesus Christ.
And the reason why it represented that
is because the Bible says
in Hebrews 4
that when God had created
all things in six days,
it says He rested on the seventh day.
And it says that we should
enter into His rest
and the Bible says,
Now He that has entered into His rest
hath also ceased from His own works
as God did from His.
So the Sabbath pictured
that we don't have to do any works
for salvation.
And the reason that they were not
to do any work on the Sabbath
is because there are no works
involved in being saved.
It's just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.
Did you know that
when Jesus Christ was crucified,
He was crucified at even
on the fourteenth day of the month Abib,
according to the Bible.
The Passover was to be slain at even.
Jesus Christ was that Passover.
But when Jesus Christ was slain at even,
when He died at even,
that day was a day of rest,
a Sabbath known as the Passover.
So the first 24 hours
that Jesus was dead
was the Passover.
The second 24 hour period
when Jesus was dead
was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
which is also a Sabbath or a day of rest.
Those two holidays.
And then the third day,
the third 24 hour period
that Jesus Christ was dead
was Saturday, which is what?
The Sabbath.
So isn't it interesting
that as Jesus Christ died for our sins
and the Bible says He was dead
for three days and three nights
and then He rose again,
He said that He would spend
three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
I'm talking about the grave there.
The grave is on the surface of the earth.
He spent three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
While He was down there,
conquering death and hell,
the Bible says basically
that there was Sabbath,
Sabbath, Sabbath.
So really no one was to do
any works during that time.
A picture of the fact
that Jesus Christ was doing
all the work for our salvation.
He doesn't need us
to add any works to it.
He did it all.
The 14th was a holiday.
The 15th was a holiday.
Saturday was just the normal Saturday.
So God in His infinite wisdom
and foreknowledge and planning
made sure that Jesus Christ
was crucified on a year
where the Passover fell upon
basically our Wednesday night,
6 p.m.
It would be basically considered
the Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
It worked out perfectly
in God's plan.
That's why the Sabbath
was instituted to represent
that there are no works
involved for salvation.
In the New Testament,
a lot of these symbolic
and ceremonial things
have been done away.
Look at Colossians 2
and the Bible explains this.
It says in verse 14,
blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way,
nailing it to His cross.
And having spoiled
principalities and powers,
He made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it.
Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of an holiday,
or of the new moon,
or of the Sabbath days,
which are a shadow
of things to come,
but the body is of Christ.
And He later on rebukes them
and says,
you know,
ye observe days and times,
and He said,
I'm afraid of you
lest I bestow labor
upon you in vain.
He was questioning,
do you guys even understand
the Gospel
if you're still trying
to practice a lot
of these ritualistic,
ceremonial-type things
from the Old Testament?
that were a figure
for the time then present,
the Bible tells us.
They were symbolic
for that time.
That doesn't mean
we just throw out everything
in the Old Her,
whatever we want
out of the Old Testament,
only the things
that were specifically mentioned,
the meat, the drink,
the food,
and the divers washing.
That's why we eat pork
and all those things.
Because there's nothing
inherently sinful
about eating pork.
That's why when Noah
got off the ark
in Genesis 9,
he was told
to eat every animal,
including pigs.
That was just
a temporary thing.
And this world
has been around
for 6,300 years approximately.
And in that 6,300 years
that this world's
been around,
those dietary restrictions
were only there
for about 1,500 years,
1,600 years,
just a short time.
The law came by Moses,
and grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ.
And so we are not
under those ordinances,
the carnal ordinances.
We do have to obey
the moral laws
of the Old Testament.
What God said
was right then
is still right today.
And what He said
was wrong is still wrong.
Acts 20.
So in Acts 20,
He said in verse 7,
Upon the first day
of the week,
when the disciples
came together
to break bread,
Paul preached unto them,
ready to depart on the morrow.
He was ready
to leave the next day.
And continued his speech
until midnight.
So this is
a pretty long service.
I mean,
he's preaching long.
He starts the evening service.
Midnight rolls around.
He's still preaching.
And it says
in verse number 8,
There were many lights
in the upper chamber
where they were
gathered together.
It wasn't one of those
really dim churches.
You know,
you walk into some of these
churches really dark and dim.
They had a lot of lights on.
You notice all the lighting.
And the Bible says
men love darkness
rather than light
because their deeds were evil.
And you walk into a lot
of these dark churches.
You know,
they're very dark
spiritually as well.
And you go
to some of these churches
where it's very ritualistic
and they darken down
the lights.
Have you ever noticed
that a lot of sinful places
have dim lighting?
You go to a bar,
it's dimmed down.
You go to a casino,
it's dimmed down.
You know,
the Bible says
men love darkness
rather than light
when their deeds are evil.
Good deeds are done
in the light
and they're not afraid
of the light.
And so our church
has a lot of lights
on tonight.
And so it says
they had a lot of lights
lit up in the upper chamber
where they were
gathered together.
And there sat in a window
a certain young man
named Eutychus.
Now that tells me
the place was packed
because he probably
wouldn't have been
sitting in a window
if there was a better place
to sit.
Obviously,
it was just packed.
And I remember
when I preached at
Brother Jimenez's house,
that place was packed.
And we were talking
about sticking people
and kind of, you know,
well, we can stick them there
and stick them
on the stairs there.
You know,
we have people up
in the balcony
and everything.
And so I think it was packed
into a house like that
or some kind of a building,
but it was packed.
And so this guy
had to get stuck
in a window.
And it says
he was in a window,
a certain young man
named Eutychus,
and he was asleep.
So basically,
the preaching is just
going so long,
this guy just falls asleep.
He's a young guy.
He starts zoning out
in that window.
Pretty soon,
he falls asleep, okay?
And it says,
and as Paul was long preaching,
he sunk down with sleep
and fell down
from the third loft.
So he's basically
a few stories up.
And he falls out the window
from really high up.
This is something
that can kill you.
And basically,
it says
he was taken up dead
like they thought he was dead
because he fell so far.
They stop everything.
They run over.
He fell off,
and they pick him up
and say,
these guys just died.
I mean, he just fell off
the third loft
out the window.
And it says,
and Paul went down
and fell on him
and, embracing him,
said,
trouble not yourselves,
for his life is in him.
For when he therefore
was come up again
in a broken bread
and eaten
and talked a long while,
even till the break of day,
he departed,
and they brought the young man
alive,
and were not a little comforted.
You know what I think
this symbolizes spiritually,
though?
People that are half in
and half out.
You know,
if you think about
the church there,
this guy was not
all the way in.
He's on the window.
He's straddling the fence.
Basically,
you wonder,
why did he take that seat?
Maybe he was trying
to watch what's
going on outside.
You know,
maybe he's listening
to the preaching,
but then he's also
kind of looking around
and everything.
I think it's symbolic
of the things they've got.
They're not all the way in.
They're not 100% in.
And you've heard
the expression being
half in and half out.
And that's what
this guy was.
Notice which way
did he fall?
He didn't fall in.
I mean,
he didn't slump over
and fall into the building.
He fell out.
Have you ever heard
people say that
somebody fell out of church?
Now,
when you're half in
and half out,
you don't fall in.
You fall out.
And that's why
it's so important
to just get all the way in,
to jump all the way in.
And I've noticed that,
you know, let's face it,
through the years,
our church has existed
for a little over five years,
we've seen people
fall out of church.
And some of the people
that got out of church
were people that were
some of the most zealous
people in our church.
And they were on fire.
They were winning souls
to Christ.
They were growing in the Lord.
They were reading their Bible.
But, you know,
they don't just go
from that stage
to just all of a sudden
they're gone.
No.
There's a fading process.
You know,
they start to fade.
They start to fade spiritually.
And if that's you tonight,
you know, you better take heat
unto yourself
lest you fall.
If that's you tonight,
if you feel like
you're starting to fade
and you're starting to just
get into the cares
of this world
or becoming more important
and you're missing
more church
than you've ever missed
and you're missing
a lot of soul winning,
you know, you've got
to ask yourself,
am I a spiritual eunuchus
that's starting to hang
out there in the balance?
You know,
you're going to fall asleep
and you're going to
fall out of church.
You know,
this guy didn't even
realize it
until he hit the ground
that he'd fallen out
because he's asleep.
And so,
we need to take heat
and beware
lest we be half in
and half out.
God said,
I would that thou wert
cold or hot.
He said,
get in or get out,
you know.
And notice,
Paul embraces them.
Paul wanted them
to be in.
And we'll embrace you
if you're half in
and half out
but we want you
to begin all the way in.
Don't be a fringe person.
Don't be somebody
who's just kind of
on the edge all the time.
You know,
get in.
And so,
that was the problem
with Utica spiritually.
But notice what else.
Notice that Paul
preached really long.
You know,
I've noticed a trend
and I'm,
by nature,
I'm not a really
long-winded preacher.
I don't usually preach
a lot of the long sermons.
I know about a week
and a half ago
I did a pretty long
Sunday night.
It was like
over an hour
and a half long.
But you know,
the bottom line is
I didn't preach
until midnight
but the thing is
as I've traveled around
and as I've talked to people,
they've come
and visited our church
and they say,
wow,
you preached for an hour.
You preached for an hour
and 15.
You know,
you preached for long.
And they say,
you know,
my church back home,
it's like 20 minutes,
25,
30 minutes,
35.
Let me tell you something.
There's a reason for that
because some people
just don't have
that much to say.
That's why.
Let me tell you something.
There's a lot
to preach about.
This is a big book
and there's a lot of things
that we need to learn.
A lot of preachers
just don't have
that much to say
because they just
don't care that much
or they're just not
that excited about it
or they just haven't
read that much
or studied that much
but there's just
not a lot to say.
So they get up
and they fill time
for 20 minutes
and they're watching
that clock,
make sure they preach
long enough
and call it good.
You know,
we ought to have
something to say.
Paul had something to say.
He preached all night
and I bet you
he could have
kept preaching even longer
before he even started here
and said he had a plan
and he has to leave
in the morning.
He starts preaching
on Sunday night.
He preaches until midnight.
Somebody falls out
the window asleep.
He just said,
oh, well, pick him up
and in fact, I'm hungry.
Let's have something to eat
and then he gets up
and preaches again.
He preaches until 6 a.m.
and says,
well, you know,
I have a lot more
in my notes here
but I got to go.
I already planned
on leaving.
Here's somebody
who had something to say
and I think it's great
when a preacher
has something to say
and we don't need
a minute's sermonette
on a Sunday morning
for babies.
And we live in a society
where people don't
have an attention span
and so we say,
well, people don't
have an attention span
so we got to bring
the sermon down
shorter 15 minutes
to suit their attention span.
Isn't it amazing
how those same people
will sit for two hours
in front of a movie
and it's nothing to them?
When was the last time
you went to a movie theater
and watched a half hour movie?
Every movie,
and you know what you'd say?
You'd say,
I got ripped off.
I want my money back.
I paid whatever.
I haven't been to the theater
in a decade or something
but, you know,
you'd feel tipped
if you got down there
and it was a 25 minute movie.
Say, you know,
I want a full feature presentation.
Not as short.
Hey, this is the full feature
presentation right here.
You want to feel ripped off
if you drive
all the way out to church
and get some 5, 10 minute,
20 minute, 30 minute thing.
You know,
get something with some meat
on the bone.
You know, learn something.
And so people today
have a short attention span.
They can watch movies.
They can get up in the morning
and play video games
until they go to bed at night.
And people today
have a short attention span,
especially children,
and that's why you ought
to get your children in church
and tell them to sit down
and shut up until it's over
and let them learn
to sit still,
learn to be quiet,
and learn to think about something
that's not exploding,
that's not, you know,
a bunch of skin across
the screen.
You know,
get them to actually
focus on a book
that has white pages
and black ink
with no pictures in it.
That's good for them.
And we need to grow up
and not be children
looking at our watch
after 10 or 15 minutes
because we want
to go play somewhere.
Hey, let's get
into the Word tonight.
Let's read this.
Let's study this.
This is what it's about.
There's a lot to learn.
I've got a lot to say
and so don't be,
you know,
ADD Baptist.
That'd be the name
of some of these churches.
ADD Baptist.
Pastor Ritalin or whatever.
The bottom line is,
here's some long preaching.
And the people
wanted to hear it.
You know,
they liked it.
And so the Bible says
in verse number 13,
it says,
we went before to ship
and sailed on the Assos.
They're intending
to take in Paul
for so he had appointed,
minding himself,
to go afoot.
And when we,
you know,
we're going to
take in Paul
for so he had appointed,
minding himself,
to go afoot.
And when we,
we're going to
take in Paul
for so he had appointed,
to go afoot.
And when we,
when he met with us
at Assos,
we took him in
and came to Mydalene.
Now this is interesting
because Paul basically,
he leaves on foot.
They were sailing
to another city
called Mydalene.
But Paul actually
wanted to leave
and I think this is part
of why he wanted
to leave early.
He wanted to go on foot.
And he told them,
you sail the ship
and I'm going to do
the first leg
of the journey on foot.
Okay?
And then I'll meet you there.
Now, you know,
what do you make of that?
I say,
you know,
Paul just wanted to be
alone for a little while maybe.
Maybe you want to spend
some time praying
and just being alone with God
and do some thinking.
And not only that,
but he must have been
a pretty physically fit guy
to be able to do that walk,
especially after preaching
all night.
Okay?
He did this long walk.
Now what can we learn
from this?
We live in a society
where sometimes we're
surrounded by noise
all the time.
We're always surrounded
by people
and we're always tired
because even when
we're by ourself,
we've got our cell phone.
You know,
we've got some other
electronic device whereby
we're communicating with others.
And it's all fine and dandy
to communicate with others,
but you know,
we should take some time
where we get alone
and can just think on our own
and be by ourself
and get alone with God.
The Bible says,
But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet,
and when thou has shut thy door,
pray to thy Father
which is in secret,
and thy Father which seeth
in secret,
shall reward thee openly.
This is time
we need to get alone
and pray alone,
spend some time thinking alone,
and not always just
have the headphones in,
the TV on,
or talking to people,
or texting.
Sometimes it's good
to just shut that stuff off
and just take
a little peaceful time.
And that's one thing
I like about my job
where I do a lot of driving
because it gives me
a little bit of peaceful time
when I can actually
just think and be alone.
And you know,
a lot of times
I'm having to deal
with business calls
from the road
or I'm chatting
with friends and family,
but the bottom line is
it does provide
a good time
to just have peace.
And I think
that's what Paul was doing.
He said,
I think that's what Paul
was doing here
because he went alone.
He sent everybody else
on the ship and said,
hey, I want to take this
walk and just be alone
for a while.
So they met up with them.
They took him into the ship
in Mydalenia
and we sailed Theds,
verse 15.
The next day
over gets Chios
and the next day
we arrived at Samos
and tarried at Trogillium
and the next day
we came to Miletus.
For Paul had determined
to sail by Ephesus
because he would not
spend the time in Asia
for he pasted
if it were possible
for him
to be at Jerusalem
the day of Pentecost.
So basically he's saying,
you know what,
let's skip Ephesus.
Let's just sail right by it
because I'm in a hurry
to get to Jerusalem
for the day of Pentecost.
It says in verse 17,
and from Miletus
he's sent to Ephesus
and called the elders
of the church.
So he's not stopping
in Ephesus
so he goes to Miletus
and says, hey,
I do want to talk
to the elders of the church
from Ephesus.
He has them meet him there.
They send for them
and they come to see him.
And it says in verse 18,
when they will come to him,
he sent unto them.
Ye know,
from the first day
that I came into Asia,
after what manner
I have been with you
at all seasons,
serving the Lord
with all humility of mind
and with many tears
and temptations
which befell me
by the lying weight
of the Jews.
Here we see
Paul's consistency
where he said,
I've been with you
at all seasons
serving the Lord.
He wasn't one of these
that just served God
when it was
the popular thing to do.
He did it
when it was unpopular,
instant in season
out of season.
Not only that,
he did it
when it was hot outside.
He did it
when it was cold.
He did everything in between.
He was consistent
all the way
where I didn't
let the heat stop him.
I remember my sister
was looking for a church
and she was calling
down the list
and trying to find
a good church
because her husband
had transferred
into an area
and she wanted to find
the right church to go to.
And she was calling
around different churches
and there was a pastor,
she talked to her
and she was trying
to find a church
that had a soul winning,
and he said,
well,
we have soul winning
but pretty much
just me that's
going out right now,
just the pastor only
because he said,
well,
the assistant pastor
is doing some work
on his house.
He's building on his house.
So I told him
to just kind of
skip soul winning
until he's totally
done with that project.
And he's going to be
on that project
for a long time,
this assistant pastor.
So he's not doing
soul winning.
And he said,
I go soul winning
seven months
out of the year
in the west time,
it's too calm.
It's too calm for me
to go soul winning.
You know what I mean?
It's a grown man.
And he lived in New Mexico.
He didn't live
in the North Pole.
He didn't live with
Santa Claus
in the North Pole.
He didn't live in Alaska.
You know,
he lived in the southwest.
And yeah,
it gets cold
in the desert,
it gets cold
in New Mexico
because there's
a high elevation place.
And his name
was Pastor Stackpole,
so my sister
just remembered him
as seven month
Stackpole.
You know,
just seven months
out of the year,
he goes soul winning.
And you know,
if we only went
soul winning
when the weather was good,
we'd be pretty much
seven month back to church
because we have
about five months
of just inferno
temperatures,
don't we?
We have five months
over a hundred
pretty much here
in Phoenix.
You know,
but you know what?
We can still
get out there
and do it.
You just strap on
the water.
I think it's
Brother Segura's the one
that straps on
like a water thing
and you just,
you know,
drinking out
of that thing.
Hey,
get out there
and do it.
You know,
when we go out
soul winning
in the summertime,
and look,
you should be
safe about it.
Put on a hat,
put on the sunscreen,
and we carry around
big jugs of water,
plop them down
at the door,
big jugs of Gatorade.
And you know,
I'm not saying
to overdo it,
you know,
console your physician.
You know,
I'm not a gator.
Let's see,
some people
have experienced
nausea,
vomiting,
cold sweats,
palpitations,
you know,
passing out,
soil,
you know,
obviously,
if you respond,
you know,
use paperwork
that starts responsibly,
okay?
But the bottom line is,
when you,
you know,
we're not gonna
sit there
and just use
every excuse
like the slugger
who says,
well,
there's a lion
in the streets.
The Bible says
you know,
and we've got
the harvest
ripe out there
and we need
to go out there
and push that plow
and plow up the ground
and plant the seed
and water it
and God said
if you won't
go out there
and do it
because of the cold,
you're lazy.
He said the
slugger will not
probably,
you know,
you don't have a problem
with that
because it never
gets cold here.
But the,
but the,
but you know,
we could just
say the heat,
the consistency
because let me tell you something.
Consistency
is what it's all about.
You go out there
every week.
You may not be
having a ton of people
saved.
You may go
for hour after hour
after hour
and just get
one person saved
in hours and hours
of soul winning.
Hour upon hour.
But you know what?
If you consistently
do that every week,
that adds up.
That adds up.
You know,
one year,
one there
because you're just
consistently going out,
one year,
you'll be surprised
how many people
you were able
to get saved
because you just
kept going in all seasons,
kept going out.
You know,
one little soul winning
blitzkrieg,
you just go out there
and just,
you know,
I'm gonna go every day
for this man,
you know,
but then you just
don't do it
for the whole rest
of the year.
The person who is
consistent at it
will get more people
saved.
It's like the
tortoise and the hare.
The one who just
week after week,
he was consistent
in all seasons.
He was very consistent.
He was consistent
to church.
He was consistent
to soul winning.
He was consistent
in his Bible reading.
He was consistently
praying.
He was consistently
doing the things
they need to be doing.
And it says in verse 20,
and I kept back
nothing that was
profitable under you
but it showed you
and it taught you
publicly and from
house to house.
I love it
how he said
I showed you.
You know,
I've often said this.
I say this all the time.
Don't tell me
how to do it.
You know,
and everybody wants
to tell you
how to pastor a church
or how to start a church
or how to win souls
to Christ or
a better way of
sowing.
I don't want to hear
about it.
I want them to
show me how to do it.
And Paul said,
you know what,
I took you out
and showed you
from house to house.
I showed you
how to win souls
to Christ.
I showed you
how to serve God
and how to live
for God.
And that's the
way it is here.
We want to show
you how to do it.
I'm saying,
come with me
this Sunday afternoon.
Come with brother Dave
on Wednesday night
at 5.15.
Come with us
on Tuesday night.
Come with us
pretty much.
I mean,
you notice
seven days a week
pretty much.
Somebody's out there.
Let them show you
how to do it.
You know,
we don't need
people who are
just telling us.
He said,
I showed you
how to do it.
He said,
I kept back
nothing that
was profitable
that I could
keep back from you
because I know
that they're
going to offend
visitors.
They're going to
offend people
who can't handle
this kind of
preaching.
And so I hold
back certain truths
because I know
that they won't
fly today in 2011.
But you know what?
If they're
profitable to you,
I'm going to
preach it.
And you know
how I decide
whether it's
profitable or not?
All scripture
is given by
inspiration of God
and is profitable
because every word
is profitable.
See,
I'll preach
the whole Bible.
I'm not going
to hold back anything.
And there are
parts of the Bible
that are offensive
to the world,
that would be
censored by the world,
that would be
considered wrong
by the world.
But you know what?
I say the world's
wrong.
You know,
they want to say
that parts of the
Bible are wrong.
And oh,
can you believe this?
I've even heard
people talk about
possibly putting
a parental advisory
on who is explicit.
And if it's
explicit,
then it needs
to be explicit
in that part.
Who are we
to question God?
And yes,
some of the
Bible asks some
pretty hard-edged
and rough-edged things,
but you know what?
Who are we
to reply against God?
It's God's word.
And so I think
that there's
a lot of garbage
on TV.
In fact,
I think it's
all garbage.
You know,
I think everything
on the radio
is garbage.
You know,
I don't know
if it's
acceptable or acceptable
and what part
is not.
People literally
will label words
that the Bible
uses as a cuss word.
Literally.
The word
bastard,
a Bible word.
And the Bible
says every word
of God is pure.
They'll say,
oh,
that's a cuss word.
Well,
you know what?
What are you
trying to say?
That God
is wrong?
I say you're wrong,
Tipper Gore.
It's not
a cuss word.
You try to talk
to someone about hell
and they say,
oh,
I'm not allowed
to say that word.
That's a bad word.
Okay?
You know,
and we need
to use God's word
and not be afraid
of these words
and say,
oh,
it's offensive.
Well,
you know what?
The world
offends me.
And the Bible
offends the world.
You know?
Get over it.
And so I thank
God for Paul
that he didn't
hold anything back.
If it was profitable,
Paul says in verse 21,
testifying both
to the Jews
and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God
and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now,
does that,
somebody help me.
I don't have my glasses on.
I don't wear glasses,
by the way,
except when I'm just
kidding around
and I put those on.
But let me make sure
that my Bible says,
you know,
let me get everything
out of my eye
and make sure
I'm seeing this clearly.
Does that say,
repent of your sins
and faith toward Christ?
Can somebody
help me out there?
Somebody keeps showing me
this verse
and telling me,
see, there it is.
You've got to repent
of your sins
to be saved.
It's right there.
I'm missing something.
I don't see it.
Can somebody help me?
Where does it say
sins in that verse?
It doesn't.
But I'm so tired
of people saying,
see, there it is
right there.
Repent of your sins
to be saved.
It isn't there.
Now,
keep your finger there
and go to
1 Thessalonians,
chapter 1.
1 Thessalonians,
chapter 1.
1 Thessalonians,
chapter 1.
And by the way,
whenever somebody
tries to preach
a false doctrine,
okay,
and they'll tell you,
well, the Bible says here
and the Bible says there,
here's what
I always recommend to you.
Never discuss the Bible
unless the Bible
is open in front of you.
If you don't have
a Bible open in front of you,
don't even discuss it.
Because people say,
what about all those verses
that say this?
And I always just say,
well, okay,
let's get the Bible out
and maybe you can
show me something.
Because we can talk
all day long
of stuff in our memory
and people's memories
are wrong.
And then you don't
have the context
and you don't know
what's going on.
I always just say,
okay, well,
let's look at it.
You know,
let's show me,
don't tell me,
show me.
And so I always
get out the Bible.
So if you're ever
discussing,
and that's why
when you go soul
and you bring the Bible,
because you've got
to use the Bible
then you should easily
be able to show me
one of them.
And people will actually
try to use this verse
and they'll say,
see right there,
right there it is,
repent of your sins
to be saved.
Now,
look at 1 Thessalonians
chapter number 1 verse 9.
It says in verse number 9,
for they themselves
show of us
what manner of
entering in we have
unto you,
and how ye turned
to God from idols
to serve the living
and true God.
Let me ask you something.
What were they
serving before?
Idols.
Idols, right?
And what is an idol?
A false god.
Because he said,
you turned from an idol
to the living
and true God.
Because all throughout
the Bible,
God tells us
over and over
that the idols
are not alive.
He says,
They have eyes,
but they see not.
They have ears,
but they hear not.
They have feet,
but they go not.
He said,
there's no breath at all
in the midst of them,
but the Lord
is in his holy temple
and all the earth
keeps silence before him.
See,
idols are not real.
They're fake.
They're a false god.
And when people
bow down
and worship that idol,
the Bible says
they're worshiping devils.
But the idol itself
is nothing in the world,
the Bible says,
because it's not alive.
It has no breath at all.
It cannot see,
hear,
move,
or walk.
So what do these people
turn from?
Drinking?
Is that what it says?
It says they turned
from idols
unto the living God.
Now,
think about this.
Is an idol
a god
that people worship
in their own mind?
Yes.
Right?
It's a god.
It's a false god.
It's a dead god.
It doesn't exist.
Okay.
But it's a god
that people worship.
Now,
is the true
and living god
a god that people worship?
Yeah.
So what was
replaced here?
The false god
that they were
worshiping
was replaced
with the living
and true god.
So they turned
from a false god
to the living
and true god.
Now look,
this would be
like a Muslim.
They're worshiping Allah.
They're worshiping
the Quran
and Muhammad.
That's not
the same god
of the Bible.
Because the Quran
says Allah
has no son.
Okay.
So that right there
shows that it's
not the same god
because Jesus Christ
is the son of God.
Okay.
And so right there
we see that Allah
is a false god.
So in order
for a Muslim
to get saved
they can't say
well I'm still
going to remain
Muslim.
I'm still
going to worship Allah.
But I'm also
going to believe
in Jesus Christ
also.
No.
They have to
turn from Allah
and put all
and they're
basically serving
false gods
associated with
Buddhism.
If they're a Hindu
and you know
we saw a gigantic
we were out
stolen off
23rd Avenue
Brother Garrett and I
we saw just
a gigantic
Hindu temple.
It was massive.
So I said
to Brother Garrett
hey let's go
check that out.
Let's see what that is.
We didn't even know
it was Hindu.
We didn't know
what it was.
So we drove over
and we checked it out
and you know
they worship
and none of it
is real.
But we walked in
and we found
a similarity
between our church
and theirs
because we saw
one familiar thing.
We saw all these
golden elephants
and all these
pictures of false gods
but then we saw
a ping pong table
right in the middle
of the Hindu temple
and we were like
we play ping pong
at our church
you know
common ground
but you know
that's pretty much
where the common ground
stops right there.
We both
we love ping pong
and we were thinking
Christianity versus
Hinduism.
We had a grudge match
no I'm just kidding.
Anyway
they have like
a ping pong
it seems a little
out of place right
because it's this
temple that's got
this ping pong table in it.
So the bottom line is
they worship
a false god.
They can't say
well you know
we already worship
a thousand
what's a thousand
and one?
Let's add
Jesus Christ.
No way.
They have to
turn from the
false god
in order to
believe in Jesus Christ.
Is it possible
to have all of
your faith in
Jesus Christ
if you're still
trusting in
another god also?
No.
Because in order
to have
all of your
faith in
Jesus Christ
that would
of necessity
mean that
you're turning
away from
the other stuff
you had your
faith in right?
Go to
Hebrews chapter 6
for example.
Hebrews chapter
number 6.
You see
what if I
just said
faith in
Jesus to
save you
nothing else.
Now basically
when I say
that what
I'm also
saying by that
even though
I'm not
coming right
out and
saying it
I'm basically
implying you're
going to have
to take your
faith out of
whatever it
was in.
You're going
to have to
turn from
that false god
if you're
confessing
that Jesus
Christ is
going to put
all of your
faith in
Jesus.
Well obviously
then turning
from that
other god
would be
included in
that statement
because I'm
saying you've
got to have
all of it
on him
trusting him
alone to
save you
as the
only god.
Look at
Hebrews chapter 6.
It says in
verse number
1
therefore
leaving the
principles of
repenting of
your sins.
No that's
not what it
says.
Repentance
from
dead
works
and
of
faith
toward god
of
the
doctrine
of
baptisms
and
of
the
resurrection
of
the dead
or
laying on
hands of
the
resurrection
of
the dead.
It's all faith.
It's just
belief.
That's it.
It's only
belief right?
Usually I'm
also going to
explain oh hey
guess what it's
not?
Works.
It's not going
to church.
It's not
being baptized.
It's not
living a good
life.
It's just
trusting in
Jesus Christ.
Now look what
if I didn't
say both ways
just to make
sure they
understand.
Does everybody
understand what I'm
saying right
now?
So right
here it
says repentance
from dead
works faith
toward god
that's
salvation.
Baptism
follows
salvation.
The laying on
of hands
follows
baptism.
This is when
men were
basically sent
out to do
the work
of god
to get
an eternal
judgment.
That's the
order right
there.
These are
the foundational
doctrines.
Go to
2 Timothy
2 quickly.
Just a few
pages to the
left in
your Bible
toward the
beginning.
Just a few
pages.
2 Timothy
2.
It says in
2 Timothy
2 verse 25
in meekness
instructing
those that
oppose themselves
to give
them repentance
so they can
give up
those sins
that they're
struggling with.
Is that
what it says?
No.
It says repentance
to the
acknowledging
of the truth.
So this
repentance is
from not
acknowledging
the truth.
Now they're
going to
acknowledge it.
From believing
a lie
to believing
the truth.
From trusting
works
to trusting
the truth.
John chapter
number
21.
John
chapter
number
21.
Because
you see
repentance
is
a turning.
That's
what
repent means.
To
turn.
Now guess
who
repented in
the Bible
more than
anyone else?
God.
Out of
105
mentions
of the
sins.
So we know
he's not
turning from
his sins.
But he is
turning in
those verses.
He's not
turning from
sin.
But he's
turning.
His repentance
is a turning
or a
change.
Now here's
what's
interesting
about those
36 times
that God
is
repenting in
the Bible.
The NIV
New King
James
repented
46 times
and
36 of
them
involve
God
repenting.
They
made sure
in that
NIV
and they
dead sure
made sure
in their
ESB
which is
put out
by
Calvinists
make sure
God
doesn't
repent
they
took out
every time
God
repented.
And you know what else they took out?
They took out
the Apostle Paul
repenting
when he said
I was going to write you a letter
and then I changed my mind
I repented
I didn't write that letter.
So they take out all the mentions
that
have to do with
God
or mentions
that clearly
would destroy
their doctrine
that would repent
that means
be willing
to turn
from your sin.
And how many
gospel tracts
you see
it says
you must
repent
be willing
to turn
ok
but here's what's interesting
look at John chapter 20 verse 30
and many other signs
truly did Jesus
in the presence of his disciples
which are not written in this book
the book of John
verse 31
but these are written
that you might believe
that Jesus
is
the Christ
the Son of God
and that
believing
you might have light
through his name
go to Luke chapter 1
why was the book
of John written
according to
John itself
the book of John
was written
unto you
that you might believe
and that believing
you might have
life through his name
why was the book
of Luke written
look at Luke chapter 1
and he'll tell us
why the book of Luke
was written
right at the very beginning
it said in verse 3
it seemed good to be
also having had
a perfect understanding
of all things
from the very first
to write unto thee
an order
most excellent
Theophilus
and also ourselves
today
might know
the certainty
of those things
wherein thou has
been instructed
that's why
the book of Luke
was written
that Theophilus
and also ourselves
today
might know
the certainty
of those things
wherein we've
been instructed
why was the book
of first John written
first John was
written
he said
these things
rind out unto you
that your joy
may be full
later in the book
he said
so what was the purpose
for the book of John
being written
that you might believe
and that believing
you might have
life through sin
did you know that
the word repent
is never found
in the book of John
once
so if
you know
we're doing
something wrong
if we don't
preach that people
need to repent
to be saved
then why did the book
the one book
that claims to be
written
that people
might be saved
not just be
chock full
I agree with that
by the way
first John 1
12
but as many
as received him
to them
may be power
to become
the sons of God
even to them
that believe
are his name
John 3
15
that whosoever
believeth in him
should not perish
but have eternal life
John 3 16
that whosoever
forgot to love
the world
that he gave
his only begotten son
that whosoever
believeth in him
should not perish
but have condemned
already
because he did not
believe in the name
of the only begotten son
of God
John 3 36
he that believeth
on the son
hath everlasting life
but he that believeth
not the son
shall not see life
but the wrath
of God
abideth on him
John 5 24
verily verily
I say to you
he that heareth
my word
and believeth
on him that sent me
hath everlasting life
and shall not
come into combination
but is past
from death to life
John 6 47
and we can go on
and on
John 11 25
Jesus said unto her
I am the resurrection
and the life
he that believeth in me
though he were dead
yet shall he live
and whosoever
liveth
and believeth
in me
shall never die
believeth thou this
John 10 28
and I give unto them
eternal life
and they shall never perish
neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand
how many verses
John 14 6
I am the way
the truth
and the life
no man cometh unto
and how many times
do you say believe
believe
90 times
in the book of John
the word believe
believe
good salvation is by faith
now look
if you're gonna believe
all the way on Jesus Christ
yeah you gotta stop believing
in your false religion
your false works based system
you gotta stop believing
in some other god
but do you have to stop
drinking to be saved?
no
do you have to stop smoking?
do you have to stop fornicating?
do you have to stop watching
garbage on TV?
do you have to stop
sinning and turn from your sins?
and yet a false other gospel today
is repent of your sins to be saved
and if you're not willing to give up those sins
well then you can't be saved
well I say that the people who are preaching that
many of them aren't saved
and if they are preaching that
if they are saved
shame on them
for being sucked into that false doctrine
I say like Paul says in the Galatians
hey this persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you
you did run well
who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth
the truth is that salvation is by faith
and for thousands of years
the devil will always try to make sin works
whether it's telling people they can lose their salvation
if they don't do the works
you know well it's free to get it
but you gotta keep working on it to keep it
whether it's you know
repent of your sins to be saved
whether it's you gotta be baptized to be saved
whether it's just you know
it's always some angle
of how it's at and works
hey it's free
it's a gift
it's faith alone
and so let's just quickly blow through the end of the chapter here
I spent a lot of time on that because it's important
now here's the verse
this is uh
I don't know if I have some kind of disappearing ink in my bible
but of your sins
every time I look up a verse
and I've never found a verse that said
repent of your sins
and the only people who were told to repent of specific sins in the bible
were people that were already saved
Acts chapter 8
Simon after he believed
and was baptized
was told repent of this thy wickedness
the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2 and 3
were told to repent of many sins in their life
they were believers
or else Jesus Christ wouldn't have even said
that they were a candlestick alighting the gospel to the world
and so uh
we see that repentance is something that can mean many things
God turns
but what does the unsafe person have to have to repent of
a false god
another way to heaven
whatever's stopping them from putting their faith in Jesus Christ
people say turn from sin to the savior
what in the world
sin is not a false god
no one's trusting in their sins to get them to heaven
I've been soul winning
thousands of times
and I've still never had somebody say
if I asked them
why do you think you're going to heaven
I've never had somebody say
cause I sin so much
that's why I'm going to heaven
nobody's trusting in their sins
and they say they gotta turn from their sins to the savior
nobody's trusting in their sins
they need to trust the savior
okay but they don't need to turn from trusting sin to the savior
well they just need to stop saying
okay well good luck with that
let me know when you've stopped saying
or when you've been willing to stop
how willing do you have to be
so willing that you will stop
or just willing that you will stop willingly later on
I mean it's dumb
show me the word willing in the bible
God's not willing that an ancient parish
but that all should come to what
repentance of their sins
no that's not what it says
it says
God's not willing that an ancient parish
but that all should come to repentance
hey he doesn't want them to continue on the path to hell
he wants them to turn to Jesus Christ
turn from what
a false god
turn from what
works salvation
turn from what
Catholicism
Islam
whatever other religion
Buddhism
Hinduism
that's it
anyway I gotta hurry
it says in verse 22
and now behold I go bound in the spirit under Jerusalem
not knowing the things that shall befall me there
save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city
save that bonds and afflictions abide me
but none of these things move me
neither count I my life dear unto myself
so that I might finish my course with joy
and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus
to testify the gospel of the grace of God
this reminds me of what Paul said in first Corinthians 15
be therefore steadfast
unmovable
always abounding in the work of the Lord
for as much as you know that your labor is not invading the Lord
don't let things move you
David said it solves
I shall not be moved
the Lord is at my right hand
we should not be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine
we should not be moved on what we believe
we should not be moved by persecutions and afflictions
and bonds and all these things
afflictions
things that can slow us down
we need to keep going
not let them move us
he said
neither count I my life dear unto myself
he just said I want to finish the course
that's set before me
he said in verse 25
among whom I have been preached in the kingdom of God
shall see my face no more
wherefore I take it a record this day
that I am pure from the blood of all men
for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God
that means if he had shunned to declare God's word
he would have had some of their blood on his hands
he said the reason that blood was not on his hands
is because he had not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God
take heed therefore unto yourselves
and up to all the flock
over which the Holy Ghost had made you overseers
to feed the church of God which he had purchased with his own blood
see you can't feed the church and preach to the church and lead the church
until you take heed to yourself
you gotta have yourself in order before you can teach and preach
and be an example for others
he said for I know this
that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you
not sparing the flock
also of your own selves shall men arise
speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
let me say this
the bible says in second Peter chapter 2
that there shall be false prophets among you
he said there were false prophets among Moses and the children of Israel
even Jesus Christ had a false prophet in his church
Judas Iscariot
he was a devil
he was an unbeliever from the beginning
and the bible promises us
that we will have false prophets and false teachers
he said there will be people that come from outside
bringing in damnable heresies
and then he said there will arise even from yourselves
those who will speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them
perverse means crooked
twisted things
false doctrine and so forth
and it can also mean perverse as in
the way that we know perverse today in 2011
I've heard a lot of preachers preach a lot of perverse things
and so we need to be aware
of the fact that there will always be false prophets
that means that just because somebody goes to our church
that doesn't mean we just blindly trust them
or think that they would never do wrong
there are infiltrators from time to time
there are people who will be among you
who walk the walk and they talk the talk
but let me tell you something on the inside
the bible says that they've privily come in
to bring in damnable heresies
so we need to just be aware of that and watch out for that
I'm not saying we need to go on a witch hunt tonight
but what I am saying is that
you know Judas Iscariot
I mean Jesus knew that Judas was there
you know when he put him in charge of the money
that's how money oriented Jesus' church was
you know these churches where it's all about the money and the offering
he was so money oriented
he took the one guy that he knew was the phony
cause he knew from the beginning it said in John 6
and he told him
you handled the money
and he knew that he was stealing the money
and the bible says that throughout Jesus ministry
Judas was stealing from the offering plan
Jesus doesn't care about that
because it's not about the money to God
I mean to God that's the least
you know let's say he's divvying out 12 jobs
he said okay well here's the least job
you put the phony guy in front of the plan
you know handling the money
okay and that's what he did
and so there will be phonies
so if you ever see me having people count the offering
my wife gets so mad at me when I do this
whenever anybody counts the offering
like whenever I have like brother Dave's counting the offering
or something my wife is counting the offering
or other manager
I always say like hey Judas how you doing
and she gets so mad she doesn't think that's funny
and she said people are going to be offended when you do that
when you call Judas you know
you're counting the offering
you were never offended when I did that right brother Dave?
a little bit
alright Judas
but anyway he's just warning them
and basically they all have a poignant embrace
at the end there
they hug and kiss each other
and they weep and cry
because they know that they're not going to see Paul again
cause Paul pretty much tells them
I'm not going to see your face anymore
now chapter 21 is a really interesting chapter
and so hopefully you'll be back next week for that
cause chapter 21 is really a fascinating chapter
where Paul makes that final trip to Jerusalem
and there's a lot of things in that chapter
I want to bring out
and so let's bow our heads for a word of prayer
Father we thank you so much for your word dear God
and for the opportunity to preach
to your people dear God
and I thank you that our church is filled with such wonderful people
that love your word
and that work hard to preach the gospel
and that study to show themselves approved
thank you for our church dear God
and I pray that you would just help us to be steadfast and unmovable
and I pray that you would help us to abound in the work of the Lord at all seasons
in Jesus' name I pray amen
alright we're going to sing one more song
going through the hymnals
song number 11