Love Over Liberty: Finding Harmony Among Believers - Sunday Evening - October 20, 2024

Pastor Josh
00:00:00

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

Pastor Josh
00:00:06

My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

Pastor Josh
00:00:10

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.

Pastor Josh
00:00:16

Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.

Pastor Josh
00:00:23

All right, well, we're going to go ahead and get into acts 15.

Pastor Josh
00:00:25

If you have your bibles, turn to acts 15, and we are going to start in verse number 22.

Pastor Josh
00:00:32

Now, if you were not here last week, we covered a lot of ground last week, and so I'm going to try to recap it the best that I can without preaching the message again.

Pastor Josh
00:00:42

If you would like to go back and understand the context of what we're going to be talking about tonight, I would encourage you to somewhere on the Internet, find it.

Pastor Josh
00:00:50

There's multiple places you can find it.

Pastor Josh
00:00:51

You can go to YouTube, you can go back on facebook, or if you listen to podcasts, it's on the podcast on our church network.

Pastor Josh
00:00:59

But I would say it would help to have listened to that sermon as we come forward and listen to this one.

Pastor Josh
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I'm not saying it's impossible for you to understand this tonight, but it would give you some context.

Pastor Josh
00:01:09

It would give you some understanding.

Pastor Josh
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But what have we been talking about?

Pastor Josh
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Well, in acts chapter 15, we've been talking about the law, liberty, and love.

Pastor Josh
00:01:18

The law, liberty, and love.

Pastor Josh
00:01:20

How do those three things come together?

Pastor Josh
00:01:23

Is the law a real thing?

Pastor Josh
00:01:24

Yes.

Pastor Josh
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Is it important?

Pastor Josh
00:01:27

Yes.

Pastor Josh
00:01:28

But how does the law integrate with liberty?

Pastor Josh
00:01:32

Do we as christians have liberty, freedom?

Pastor Josh
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Yes.

Pastor Josh
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And so then how do those things, the law and liberty, tie in together with love?

Pastor Josh
00:01:41

Well, we're going to talk more about that here this evening.

Pastor Josh
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Tonight's more of a transitionary message to get to our next story.

Pastor Josh
00:01:49

But here we're going to see that the believers there in Jerusalem, after the Jerusalem council, are going to send news.

Pastor Josh
00:01:56

They're going to send a letter back to the gentile believers, back to the jewish believers at a place called Antioch.

Pastor Josh
00:02:02

And so they're going to pass along the news of what the conclusion was at the Jerusalem council.

Pastor Josh
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What was the issue at the Jerusalem council?

Pastor Josh
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Okay, I know this can be a little bit brainy here, but I.

Pastor Josh
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Follow me because this is important.

Pastor Josh
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There were jewish Christians coming from Jerusalem, which was the capital, which was the centerpiece, which was the heartbeat of the church.

Pastor Josh
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And they were going around specifically to churches that had gentile believers.

Pastor Josh
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So you had Jews and gentiles both Christians in the same church.

Pastor Josh
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And what was happening is that there were these jewish Christians that were going to the Gentile Christians and telling them, you have to become a jew to become a Christian.

Pastor Josh
00:02:41

You have to be a Jew to continue to stay being a Christian.

Pastor Josh
00:02:45

And the issue was that the Gentiles were confused because they were hearing from Paul and Barnabas and the other people.

Pastor Josh
00:02:51

No, it was by faith alone.

Pastor Josh
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And so this was confusing them.

Pastor Josh
00:02:55

This was causing them issues.

Pastor Josh
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This was becoming a stumbling block.

Pastor Josh
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So now it's faith plus doing all the acts of a person according to the jewish law, the levitical law.

Pastor Josh
00:03:06

And so they were confused.

Pastor Josh
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They didn't know what to do.

Pastor Josh
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So they went back to Jerusalem and they had this council.

Pastor Josh
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Paul, Barnabas, Peter, James, and many of the other apostles and the fathers of the ministry there at that point were going to have this discussion.

Pastor Josh
00:03:22

And they had two sides, one side, faith and faith alone.

Pastor Josh
00:03:25

You dont have to become a Jew to become a Christian.

Pastor Josh
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And the other side was, no, you got to adhere to all these things.

Pastor Josh
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And what they came to this conclusion in this passage was this salvation and sanctification.

Pastor Josh
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So your salvation, that's your transformation in Christ and your spiritual growth comes from faith and faith alone.

Pastor Josh
00:03:44

It does not come from the action of following the law.

Pastor Josh
00:03:48

The law is important to show us what is right and wrong, but the law does not save us, and the law does not keep us saved.

Pastor Josh
00:03:55

But there were people that were confused with this because they were saying, well, why did God give us the law?

Pastor Josh
00:04:01

And now he's saying that we have liberty.

Pastor Josh
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Do we need to follow the law?

Pastor Josh
00:04:04

Well, what they came up with was basically a compromise or a list of rules, basically guidelines for the Gentiles to be able to walk in unity with the jewish people.

Pastor Josh
00:04:14

And so what it was, was this.

Pastor Josh
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You have the freedom to.

Pastor Josh
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In this case, it was eat meat.

Pastor Josh
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Sacrifice to idols.

Pastor Josh
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You have the freedom to do these things in your culture, but your freedom does not trump your love for your fellow brother and sister in Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:04:28

And so the.

Pastor Josh
00:04:29

The pinnacle of the teaching here in acts chapter 15 was unity.

Pastor Josh
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I want you to think about that.

Pastor Josh
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It's unity.

Pastor Josh
00:04:36

It's not your liberty, it's not the law, it's unity.

Pastor Josh
00:04:40

So how can we have unity when you have two different groups of people within the same body of believers?

Pastor Josh
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So let's you say, well, what does that mean for us Jews and gentiles?

Pastor Josh
00:04:49

Okay, well, we don't necessarily wrestle with Jews and gentiles within our church.

Pastor Josh
00:04:53

We might wrestle with people that grew up in a very legalistic, law abiding church and maybe people that didn't grow up in that environment.

Pastor Josh
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So how do we with people that are offended by certain things that aren't necessarily listed in scripture, how do we deal with people in that regard, with people that come in and say, well, why is it wrong to do this?

Pastor Josh
00:05:12

Show me in the Bible where it says that what we see here in this passage, that there wasn't necessarily a list of rules that they said you have to do to become a Christian, you have to do become a church member.

Pastor Josh
00:05:22

But they said these are things that you need to follow so that there can be unity in the church.

Pastor Josh
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So my love was my.

Pastor Josh
00:05:31

What?

Pastor Josh
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It was the focus.

Pastor Josh
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So, my liberty, I want you to think about this phrase here this evening as we jump into our text.

Pastor Josh
00:05:37

My liberty as a Christian is limited by my love for my fellow brother and sister in Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:05:43

I have complete liberty in Christ, but also my liberty needs to be thinking about the love that I have for another Christian.

Pastor Josh
00:05:50

I don't want to be a stumbling block for somebody else.

Pastor Josh
00:05:53

So I have the freedom to live out in my life, my convictions, but I don't have the freedom to offend a brother or sister in Christ to allow them to come to a place of sin.

Pastor Josh
00:06:02

And so there's a passage of scripture in first corinthians that talks all about that.

Pastor Josh
00:06:06

And I think it's such an important verse to understand when it comes to our christian life and our christian maturity.

Pastor Josh
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This is all I believe, talking about christian maturity, because when I'm a new Christian, I'm like, you know, very much, what does the Bible say about XYz?

Pastor Josh
00:06:22

And that's a good thing to be in.

Pastor Josh
00:06:23

We should always be seeing what the Bible says about XYz.

Pastor Josh
00:06:26

Okay.

Pastor Josh
00:06:26

What does the Bible say about love?

Pastor Josh
00:06:27

What does the Bible say about sin?

Pastor Josh
00:06:29

What does the Bible say about this?

Pastor Josh
00:06:30

But then there's a place in our life where we need to have grace and patience with other people that might be at different steps of the path that we are on.

Pastor Josh
00:06:38

And so it's that unity that we're praying for.

Pastor Josh
00:06:41

Yeah.

Pastor Josh
00:06:41

We can exercise our judgment upon people within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:06:45

Let's be honest.

Pastor Josh
00:06:46

Let's pick out a person every single week.

Pastor Josh
00:06:49

You know, we pick out a missionary of the week.

Pastor Josh
00:06:52

Let's pick out a church member of the week, and let's follow him around the whole week.

Pastor Josh
00:06:56

Okay.

Pastor Josh
00:06:57

And let's.

Pastor Josh
00:06:58

Let's judge every single action that they do.

Pastor Josh
00:07:00

Could we find some stones to throw?

Pastor Josh
00:07:02

Could we find some issues with every single person in this room.

Pastor Josh
00:07:04

Of course we could, but that's not the purpose.

Pastor Josh
00:07:07

The purpose is to exercise love in accordance to our liberty and not allow the law to be a division amongst the believers.

Pastor Josh
00:07:18

The law is important because the law tells us what's right and wrong, but the law isn't what we have to follow to keep our salvation.

Pastor Josh
00:07:24

And so, first corinthians, chapter ten, verse 23, says this.

Pastor Josh
00:07:28

We're not going to read the whole passage, but I think that this is a core tenet to living within a church with different types of people.

Pastor Josh
00:07:38

It says, all things are lawful for me.

Pastor Josh
00:07:40

Paul says, I can do what I want.

Pastor Josh
00:07:43

I have the freedom, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:07:45

I'm not bound by the law anymore.

Pastor Josh
00:07:47

Romans talks all about this.

Pastor Josh
00:07:48

I'm not under the bondage of the law.

Pastor Josh
00:07:50

I am now under the freedom of forgiveness.

Pastor Josh
00:07:54

But he says, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.

Pastor Josh
00:07:59

Expedient means beneficial.

Pastor Josh
00:08:00

There are things that we can do as christians that are not beneficial for us.

Pastor Josh
00:08:04

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:08:05

And then he goes on to say, all things are lawful, but all things edify not.

Pastor Josh
00:08:10

Now, in this case, we could talk about the own edification in our life, but the edification of others.

Pastor Josh
00:08:16

So, yeah, could I exercise my freedom in front of a fellow brother or sister in Christ?

Pastor Josh
00:08:20

Yes, but that might not be edifying for them.

Pastor Josh
00:08:23

So I need to choose in my life with discernment the times where I exercise my liberty and the times where I.

Pastor Josh
00:08:30

I limit my liberty for the sake of my weaker brother or sister in Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:08:34

Or my brother or sister in Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:08:36

That's different than me, that has a different background.

Pastor Josh
00:08:38

So we don't deal with the Jew and Gentile issues so much in our church, but we might deal with people that come from different backgrounds.

Pastor Josh
00:08:44

We might have people coming from backgrounds that are very legalistic or very law driven.

Pastor Josh
00:08:48

We might have people coming from backgrounds of a.

Pastor Josh
00:08:50

I mean, maybe a cult.

Pastor Josh
00:08:51

I don't know.

Pastor Josh
00:08:52

We have a diverse background, so we have people bringing in a lot of baggage, and we have people coming in from backgrounds that say, well, I was at a church that said I could do whatever I wanted to do and it didn't matter.

Pastor Josh
00:09:02

And so that, how do we coincide?

Pastor Josh
00:09:04

How can we live together in peace and unity?

Pastor Josh
00:09:07

The Bible says it's practicing this liberty, but also in the sake of love.

Pastor Josh
00:09:12

So all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient.

Pastor Josh
00:09:16

Beneficial for me.

Pastor Josh
00:09:18

All things are lawful, but not all things edify my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:09:23

So you might say, well, what, what, what does that look like today.

Pastor Josh
00:09:27

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:09:28

So we go back and we look at what the rules were.

Pastor Josh
00:09:31

Go back to verse number 20 with me in acts chapter 15.

Pastor Josh
00:09:33

There's a long Runway here, but we're getting there.

Pastor Josh
00:09:37

He says, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollution of idols.

Pastor Josh
00:09:42

Now, in this case, in the King James, it doesn't clarify this completely, but this is specifically talking about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols.

Pastor Josh
00:09:50

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:09:51

Now, I mentioned this last week kind of as a joke.

Pastor Josh
00:09:53

None of us are going over to each other's house guessing that, hey, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:09:57

I wonder if they sacrificed this meat to Baal.

Pastor Josh
00:09:59

We don't have to struggle with that, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:10:01

That's not common.

Pastor Josh
00:10:02

Now, if we lived in another country, maybe.

Pastor Josh
00:10:04

Maybe this is a big issue.

Pastor Josh
00:10:06

But then we see other things.

Pastor Josh
00:10:07

Now it says from fornication.

Pastor Josh
00:10:08

Now, we know that fornication is sin.

Pastor Josh
00:10:11

But in this case, in their society, they practice, in their culture, marriage, a lot different than the jewish people practice marriage.

Pastor Josh
00:10:18

And so for the jewish people, they were looking at the way that the former pagans were living in their marriages, and they were like, the way that you guys are married and remarried, and all of this is an issue.

Pastor Josh
00:10:28

And so they said, follow the laws of God when it comes to your eating, it comes to your marriage.

Pastor Josh
00:10:34

And then it goes on to say, from the things strangled and from blood, that's talking about eating kosher food, eating food that was passed by, passed through the levitical law.

Pastor Josh
00:10:43

So he says, hey, for the gentile believers at this church in Antioch, okay, and maybe in Corinth and maybe in some of these other places, he says this.

Pastor Josh
00:10:51

He says, eat the kosher meat so that you're not an offense to your fellow brother and sister in Christ, or at least in their presence.

Pastor Josh
00:11:00

And so what we can see here is this one commentator put it this way.

Pastor Josh
00:11:04

Gentiles had the right to eat meat sacrificed to idols, to continue in their marriage practices, and to eat food without kosher bleeding.

Pastor Josh
00:11:11

Because these were aspects of the mosaic law.

Pastor Josh
00:11:14

They were definitely not under the mosaic law.

Pastor Josh
00:11:17

However, they were encouraged, or even possibly we could challenge, required from the early church to lay down their rights in these matters as a display of love to their jewish brethren.

Pastor Josh
00:11:29

And so the true question is this.

Pastor Josh
00:11:31

Am I willing to limit my liberty for the sake of my fellow brother or sister in Christ?

Pastor Josh
00:11:37

Am I willing to say, yeah, I have the right to do that, but in this time of my life, I'm going to not do that so I can be a better example for that person.

Pastor Josh
00:11:44

Now, again, we talked about this last week.

Pastor Josh
00:11:47

There are some people that would say, I don't want you to do that because I don't like you to do that.

Pastor Josh
00:11:52

Okay, well, just because you don't like someone doing something, that doesn't mean.

Pastor Josh
00:11:55

That doesn't give you the right to limit them.

Pastor Josh
00:11:57

It's specifically in the case of offending them to sin.

Pastor Josh
00:12:01

So for an example, let's say, you know, let's say somebody had a background in a certain lifestyle, and me, as a Christian, I can kind of dabble in that.

Pastor Josh
00:12:14

Maybe I can say, well, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:12:15

It's okay to watch this or listen to that.

Pastor Josh
00:12:17

And for them, they're like, no, because when I'm around that, that brings me back to what I used to be.

Pastor Josh
00:12:22

And please, brother, please don't do that around me because that causes me to get back into that life.

Pastor Josh
00:12:30

Now, that's the way it should happen.

Pastor Josh
00:12:32

Now then it's my job to say, how am I going to respond to that?

Pastor Josh
00:12:35

Well, who are you to tell me that that's not a problem.

Pastor Josh
00:12:39

That doesn't bother me at all.

Pastor Josh
00:12:42

But that, brother, has asked you in grace to say that just around me, please don't do that.

Pastor Josh
00:12:47

Please don't say that.

Pastor Josh
00:12:49

Please don't listen to that.

Pastor Josh
00:12:51

Please don't do that.

Pastor Josh
00:12:51

And then we can say, okay, now I can then exercise my love for that person and say, you know what, around you, I will guard you from that.

Pastor Josh
00:12:59

That doesn't mean that in my life, I have to avoid everything that person's conviction is.

Pastor Josh
00:13:03

But around them, I need to be cautious, and there needs to be dialogue.

Pastor Josh
00:13:07

And so me sacrifice to idols is not something that we struggle with.

Pastor Josh
00:13:10

But there's a lot of things that we struggle with.

Pastor Josh
00:13:12

I mean, I grew up, I could talk about real practical things here, and I'm probably going to offend some people tonight, but these are just things that we have to talk about.

Pastor Josh
00:13:20

I grew up in an environment that going to a movie theater was a sin.

Pastor Josh
00:13:24

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:13:24

In their mind, like, you can't walk into a movie theater.

Pastor Josh
00:13:27

If you walk into a movie theater, you have committed a sin.

Pastor Josh
00:13:31

Doesn't matter if you're going to watch a kid's movie right now, is it a sin to walk into a movie theater?

Pastor Josh
00:13:37

No.

Pastor Josh
00:13:37

Can it be a sin by going in and watching the thing that you shouldn't watch?

Pastor Josh
00:13:40

Or some would argue you're promoting Hollywood, right?

Pastor Josh
00:13:44

And we could discuss that, right?

Pastor Josh
00:13:47

But in and of itself, me walking in there is not a sin.

Pastor Josh
00:13:49

Now, if someone said, hey, it's a conviction for me not to go there and to support that.

Pastor Josh
00:13:55

Okay, well, I'm not going to say, hey, we're going to go out and have a fellowship and Bible study.

Pastor Josh
00:13:58

We're going to go to the movies first.

Pastor Josh
00:13:59

No, I've then offended their conviction.

Pastor Josh
00:14:02

I've offended their biblical preference, and I'm using that as an example.

Pastor Josh
00:14:06

There's a lot of other things that we could talk about, and all of, you know, these hot button issues.

Pastor Josh
00:14:10

And a lot of people say, there's no gray in the Bible.

Pastor Josh
00:14:12

There's no.

Pastor Josh
00:14:13

It's all black and white in scripture, folks.

Pastor Josh
00:14:15

There's a lot of things that scripture speaks to, principles about things.

Pastor Josh
00:14:18

But the Bible doesn't address 21st century items.

Pastor Josh
00:14:23

Okay, so, for example, the Bible doesn't mention an iPhone.

Pastor Josh
00:14:26

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:14:27

I've got my iPhone up here reading my notes.

Pastor Josh
00:14:29

The Bible doesn't say, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:14:30

As a good Christian, you should not have an iPhone.

Pastor Josh
00:14:33

But can an iPhone be a stumbling block to someone who is struggling with certain sins?

Pastor Josh
00:14:37

Of course.

Pastor Josh
00:14:38

Of course it can be.

Pastor Josh
00:14:40

And so for me, as a Christian, I can't go up to someone and go, well, you don't have an iPhone.

Pastor Josh
00:14:44

You don't have a smartphone.

Pastor Josh
00:14:45

You don't allow your kids to have a smartphone.

Pastor Josh
00:14:47

Oh, come on.

Pastor Josh
00:14:48

Grow up.

Pastor Josh
00:14:49

Come on.

Pastor Josh
00:14:50

It's the 21st century.

Pastor Josh
00:14:51

No.

Pastor Josh
00:14:52

If that's that person's conviction within the church, honor that conviction for them and respect that conviction doesn't mean that you have to follow that.

Pastor Josh
00:14:59

Now, we're not talking about items in scripture that are clearly stated.

Pastor Josh
00:15:04

So if someone comes up and says, you know what, pastor?

Pastor Josh
00:15:06

I really do feel that I can lie and cheat and steal all I want, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:15:11

I can be unfaithful to my spouse.

Pastor Josh
00:15:13

I can do all this.

Pastor Josh
00:15:14

I can do all that.

Pastor Josh
00:15:15

And no, no, that's not what that's talking about there.

Pastor Josh
00:15:18

It's talking about issues that aren't explicitly stated in scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:15:22

And so what we're seeing here in this case is that they leave with unity.

Pastor Josh
00:15:27

They leave an agreement.

Pastor Josh
00:15:29

Now, we could talk about this a lot more, but we're not gonna continue on in that mind.

Pastor Josh
00:15:34

We're gonna leave the Jerusalem council in their answer, and we're gonna leave to them reporting that back to the Gentile Christians and the jewish Christians there at Antioch.

Pastor Josh
00:15:44

So let's pick it up in verse 22.

Pastor Josh
00:15:46

Okay.

Pastor Josh
00:15:48

We're going to see the product or the result of unity.

Pastor Josh
00:15:54

We're going to see the product of love before liberty.

Pastor Josh
00:15:59

What happens then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church.

Pastor Josh
00:16:05

Now, this is the church in Jerusalem.

Pastor Josh
00:16:08

They're in unity here.

Pastor Josh
00:16:09

They all came in in disagreement.

Pastor Josh
00:16:11

They're leaving with unity.

Pastor Josh
00:16:13

This is how it should work.

Pastor Josh
00:16:15

We come in maybe with different opinions, different thoughts, different convictions, but we should leave here in unity.

Pastor Josh
00:16:21

And it says, they leave.

Pastor Josh
00:16:23

And they were pleased to send chosen men of their company to Antioch.

Pastor Josh
00:16:28

That's the original church with the conflict with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren.

Pastor Josh
00:16:39

So you say, what's going on here?

Pastor Josh
00:16:41

Well, they are leaving with unity, and they're excited to report this back to the church in Antioch.

Pastor Josh
00:16:46

And I would say that much of the credit goes to these certain men listening to the spirit of God walking in unity.

Pastor Josh
00:16:52

They allow themselves to be convinced by the evidence from scripture and the confirmation of the Holy Spirit, and they're in agreement.

Pastor Josh
00:16:59

This is beautiful.

Pastor Josh
00:17:00

I think of the verse in psalm 133.

Pastor Josh
00:17:02

Psalm 133, verse one.

Pastor Josh
00:17:04

It says this, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

Pastor Josh
00:17:14

There's something miraculous about unity.

Pastor Josh
00:17:18

People from different backgrounds, different cultures, different preferences can walk in unity.

Pastor Josh
00:17:24

And the Bible says how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together with unity.

Pastor Josh
00:17:29

It is the heart of God for christians to walk in unity.

Pastor Josh
00:17:32

The reality is, is that there's going to be conflict.

Pastor Josh
00:17:35

How do we deal with the conflict?

Pastor Josh
00:17:36

We deal with the conflict with seeking after scripture, seeking after the spirit, and walking in unity together.

Pastor Josh
00:17:42

When we leave in unity, when we leave in unity, we leave, as it says here, with joy and pleasure.

Pastor Josh
00:17:50

It doesn't mean that we'll leave with our way.

Pastor Josh
00:17:52

You know what happens sometimes with christians when we come in with a conflict?

Pastor Josh
00:17:56

We want to leave the room with our way.

Pastor Josh
00:17:59

I'm the right one and no one could tell me else.

Pastor Josh
00:18:03

No one could tell me another way.

Pastor Josh
00:18:05

The truth is, is are we open to have dialogue with a fellow brother and sister in Christ and ultimately check it with scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:18:11

Check it with scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:18:13

And that's what they did here.

Pastor Josh
00:18:14

And so they wrote letters, verse 23.

Pastor Josh
00:18:16

And they wrote letters by them after this manner, the apostles and elders and brethren saying, greeting unto the brethren, which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, for as much as we have heard.

Pastor Josh
00:18:27

So they heard the conflict that certain men went out from us having troubled you with words.

Pastor Josh
00:18:32

So they're admitting wrong.

Pastor Josh
00:18:34

You see that there part of joy and unity is admitting, hey, we are responsible for this.

Pastor Josh
00:18:39

Some of our own people went out and caused issues, they said, for certain, which went out from us having troubled you with words subverting your souls, saying, ye must be circumcised and keep the law.

Pastor Josh
00:18:52

So they're admitting they're wrong.

Pastor Josh
00:18:53

They said, some of us went out to you and said, some of you have to be circumcised to be saved.

Pastor Josh
00:18:58

And some of you have.

Pastor Josh
00:18:59

And all of you have to keep the law to be saved.

Pastor Josh
00:19:02

And therefore, they're admitting where they fell.

Pastor Josh
00:19:04

They're admitting where they had flaws and admitted that they had to get this right.

Pastor Josh
00:19:09

And they said, to whom we gave no such commandment meaning, hey, we didn't tell them to do this, but they did this anyway.

Pastor Josh
00:19:15

It seemed good unto us being assembled with one accord.

Pastor Josh
00:19:18

So they came together in one accord to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:19:27

So they said, we're sending real legitimate people to you, real legitimate missionaries to come to you to bring this important message, verse 27.

Pastor Josh
00:19:35

We have sent, therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.

Pastor Josh
00:19:39

And so they said, we have these individuals that are going to come and they're going to bring this letter to you and they're going to explain this.

Pastor Josh
00:19:45

And so the letter gives the express decision of the Jerusalem council that the Gentiles should consider themselves under no obligation to the rituals of Judaism except for the sensitivity which love demands.

Pastor Josh
00:19:58

You're not under the law, but love might demand you to be subject to some of the other people there in your fellowship, that is, to preserve the fellowship of the jewish and gentile believers.

Pastor Josh
00:20:11

And so this letter was written specifically to those churches where Jews and Gentiles mix together.

Pastor Josh
00:20:16

There was potential tension and conflict with them.

Pastor Josh
00:20:20

It was not addressed to every gentile congregation because there were gentile congregations that would have not had this conflict.

Pastor Josh
00:20:26

They wouldn't have had any Jews in their midst.

Pastor Josh
00:20:28

So this wouldn't have been an issue.

Pastor Josh
00:20:29

This was for congregations that were diverse.

Pastor Josh
00:20:33

And there are a lot of churches in this world today, in this country today, that everybody in the seats have the same convictions.

Pastor Josh
00:20:42

And there isn't going to be a conflict in that, right?

Pastor Josh
00:20:44

The conflicts come from the color of the carpet, color of the paint on the walls.

Pastor Josh
00:20:49

If they're going to have a potluck on the first Sunday of the month or the second Sunday of the month, those are silly stuff that we really shouldn't even be arguing about.

Pastor Josh
00:20:56

But when we have a church like Middletown Baptist church with so much diversity, I'm going to tell you, I've been to a lot of churches.

Pastor Josh
00:21:02

There's a lot of diversity at Middletown Baptist church, and we welcome that.

Pastor Josh
00:21:05

Sometimes as a pastor, there's a little bit more of a stress than that.

Pastor Josh
00:21:09

Okay, so people coming, you know, I was at a part of a church, or everyone was there.

Pastor Josh
00:21:12

They were Baptists since they were born.

Pastor Josh
00:21:14

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:21:15

Everyone's Baptist is just Baptist.

Pastor Josh
00:21:16

Moved from this church to this church, and everyone's Baptist.

Pastor Josh
00:21:18

You know, we've had people coming from.

Pastor Josh
00:21:20

To our church from other denominations.

Pastor Josh
00:21:22

It's like, okay.

Pastor Josh
00:21:23

And that's scary for me as a pastor.

Pastor Josh
00:21:25

Someone comes into my front door and they're like, hey, we came from so and so church across town, or we came from so and so church, and I'm like, wait, they're not Baptist?

Pastor Josh
00:21:31

Oh, man, we got to deal with this.

Pastor Josh
00:21:33

And so immediately the struggle is, okay, we've got to make them Baptist before they can come into our church and fellowship.

Pastor Josh
00:21:39

But the truth is, we are a baptist church.

Pastor Josh
00:21:41

But the deeper purpose is being christians right now.

Pastor Josh
00:21:44

We're Baptist by conviction, but it's salvation and faith.

Pastor Josh
00:21:48

And then we show them scripturally why we have these personal convictions with the way that we do church.

Pastor Josh
00:21:54

And so what the difficulty is with that is that when we have a diverse church with different ages and different backgrounds and different cultures and different denominations, there is a challenge to have some conflict there.

Pastor Josh
00:22:04

Why do you have a problem with that?

Pastor Josh
00:22:06

You've heard that conversation.

Pastor Josh
00:22:07

But come on, let's be honest.

Pastor Josh
00:22:08

All of us have had conversations before with someone else, and they go, well, I was always taught that that was wrong.

Pastor Josh
00:22:13

Well, why would you have a problem with that?

Pastor Josh
00:22:14

Well, that's just what I grew up with.

Pastor Josh
00:22:16

And so instead of just pushing their conviction aside, there's dialogue that needs to happen.

Pastor Josh
00:22:24

And maybe that person can grow in that area, or maybe I can grow in that area because maybe they have something to teach me about why I'm overstepping in my legalism.

Pastor Josh
00:22:32

Because, most of you know, I've explained to you before, I'm a recovering pharisee, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:22:36

Each day I wake up and my flesh wants to judge and say, we have to be a certain way, a certain path.

Pastor Josh
00:22:43

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Pastor Josh
00:22:44

There's nothing wrong with having our baggage, because that's actually what we all have, whether we deny it or not.

Pastor Josh
00:22:51

We all have a preconceived bias when we come into a situation, but it's understanding that it's the love of Christ and the conviction of the spirit that should drive us and not our own personal preferences.

Pastor Josh
00:23:01

And so they go back and they say, hey, we're bringing stuff to you.

Pastor Josh
00:23:03

We're bringing this lesson to you.

Pastor Josh
00:23:05

And this message is, this lesson is so that the congregation here in Antioch can have unity.

Pastor Josh
00:23:12

So remember, it was James, the half brother of Jesus, who voiced the decision of the council.

Pastor Josh
00:23:17

But the unity behind the decision was one of several evidences that it was the work of the spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:23:23

How else could all of these really strong headed Menta in the Jerusalem council come together with this unity?

Pastor Josh
00:23:29

I mean, you had Peter in the room, you had Paul in the room.

Pastor Josh
00:23:32

You had Barnabas, you had James, you had all these other people, and they weren't yes men, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:23:38

They went out and did a lot of stuff.

Pastor Josh
00:23:39

So how could they have left?

Pastor Josh
00:23:41

With unity?

Pastor Josh
00:23:41

It's a work of the spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:23:43

Let me tell you, church unity is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:23:47

That is not something that happens naturally.

Pastor Josh
00:23:49

It's actually the opposite.

Pastor Josh
00:23:51

Church unity is foreign to our flesh.

Pastor Josh
00:23:55

And the moment we divorce ourselves away from the spirit, when we're making decisions within the church, is the moment our church unity is severed.

Pastor Josh
00:24:06

Folks, some of the most dangerous places that we could ever be is a baptist business meeting.

Pastor Josh
00:24:13

I've seen some fur fly.

Pastor Josh
00:24:15

I've seen arrows flown across the room.

Pastor Josh
00:24:17

Not literally, hopefully.

Pastor Josh
00:24:19

You've never been to a place where literal arrows are flying.

Pastor Josh
00:24:22

But the truth is there are going to be conflicts within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:24:28

But there's a way to do that in the spirit of unity for the purpose of the gospel, that we can come together and say, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:24:38

We can leave in fellowship because we're in this now.

Pastor Josh
00:24:41

Are there going to be?

Pastor Josh
00:24:42

Cause a lot of times people will say, well, I'm in unity, but the other person is not in unity.

Pastor Josh
00:24:46

All we can be concerned with is where we stand before God and how we represent the Lord in our conflicts.

Pastor Josh
00:24:51

And so in this case, there was unity.

Pastor Josh
00:24:54

And it was proven by the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of all these men, so much so that they could say that the decision was made in the cooperation of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:25:02

You can see that right there in scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:25:04

We can see that it actually says there that it was made in the Spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:25:11

We can see that he says in verse 40 28, that's right there.

Pastor Josh
00:25:14

It says, for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.

Pastor Josh
00:25:24

So they admit here that this was a decision made by the Holy Spirit, made by God.

Pastor Josh
00:25:31

And I'm going to tell you here at Middletown Baptist Church, and it might not always look this way, but the decisions that are made for this church are bathed in prayer.

Pastor Josh
00:25:42

Multiple people look at it.

Pastor Josh
00:25:44

Multiple people, I hope, will consult the Lord on this.

Pastor Josh
00:25:47

And the decisions that we make, in my opinion, are led by the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:25:52

Now.

Pastor Josh
00:25:52

Now, there are certain times where someone might say, that can't be the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:25:56

Come on.

Pastor Josh
00:25:56

What's going on?

Pastor Josh
00:25:57

We should have done this.

Pastor Josh
00:25:57

This or this.

Pastor Josh
00:25:58

I understand that.

Pastor Josh
00:26:00

And we're not perfect, and certainly we can be making mistakes within the ministry here in the church.

Pastor Josh
00:26:06

But I can tell you that the heartbeat of the church is that we follow the spirit.

Pastor Josh
00:26:12

There's a lot of things that my flesh wants to do.

Pastor Josh
00:26:15

There's a lot of things that I want to do in the concept of growing our church or changing things or moving here or doing that.

Pastor Josh
00:26:22

But, folks, if the Holy Spirit is not strongly convicting us, there is a time to say, Lord, it's not.

Pastor Josh
00:26:28

We believe that.

Pastor Josh
00:26:29

It's not your will.

Pastor Josh
00:26:30

We believe that.

Pastor Josh
00:26:30

This is our fleshly desire to do this.

Pastor Josh
00:26:32

Until the Lord makes it very clear in our lives, we have to be cautious.

Pastor Josh
00:26:35

We never want to get ahead of the Lord.

Pastor Josh
00:26:37

You can see story after story in scripture where individuals try to get ahead of God.

Pastor Josh
00:26:42

Let me give you one example.

Pastor Josh
00:26:43

Abraham.

Pastor Josh
00:26:44

Abraham was told he was going to have a son, and God was going to promise it to me.

Pastor Josh
00:26:48

And then he was like, well, God, I know he said it, but, like, let me try to help him out with this.

Pastor Josh
00:26:53

Let me try to get ahead of him.

Pastor Josh
00:26:55

And so let me go with Hagar.

Pastor Josh
00:26:57

Let me go do this.

Pastor Josh
00:26:59

That's sometimes what we can do in church.

Pastor Josh
00:27:00

Do we know that God wants this church to grow?

Pastor Josh
00:27:02

Yes.

Pastor Josh
00:27:03

But sometimes what can happen is we can say, you know what, God?

Pastor Josh
00:27:06

It's not happening at the speed I would want it to happen.

Pastor Josh
00:27:08

So let's get.

Pastor Josh
00:27:09

Let's get ahead of it.

Pastor Josh
00:27:10

There's an issue there, and so we have to be cautious with that.

Pastor Josh
00:27:13

So it was a spirit led decision.

Pastor Josh
00:27:16

And then he explains what that decision was in verse 29.

Pastor Josh
00:27:18

That you abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled, and from fornication, from which, if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well, fare ye well, meaning this is going to give you unity within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:27:32

This is going to.

Pastor Josh
00:27:33

This is going to demonstrate love to your fellow church member.

Pastor Josh
00:27:39

So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle or the letter.

Pastor Josh
00:27:46

So they're delivering this letter from the church at Jerusalem, which, when they read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

Pastor Josh
00:27:56

There was joy because they were encouraged by this letter.

Pastor Josh
00:28:00

You know, we would think, you know, the gentile Christians hear this message and go, what we have to follow these things that these jewish people know.

Pastor Josh
00:28:09

They received it, as it says here, they received it with joy and encouragement, which, when they read, had read.

Pastor Josh
00:28:16

They rejoiced for the consolation.

Pastor Josh
00:28:18

It means encouragement.

Pastor Josh
00:28:20

And so how relieved they were to see that the principle of grace had been preserved here.

Pastor Josh
00:28:27

They heard that they were saved by faith alone, and they were right with God after all, and they had a path to move forward in unison and in fellowship with each other.

Pastor Josh
00:28:39

So it says verse 33, and after they had tarried their space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles.

Pastor Josh
00:28:49

And so we see that the results of this unity is exhortation, consolation.

Pastor Josh
00:28:57

That's encouragement and peace.

Pastor Josh
00:29:00

Anytime we see the unity of the spirit within the church and the spirit's guidance in the church, we see comfort, we see exhortation.

Pastor Josh
00:29:14

So let's say it this way, encouragement, exhortation, and we see their peace.

Pastor Josh
00:29:22

They were let go in peace.

Pastor Josh
00:29:24

Now, these are all things that we should strive for in our church.

Pastor Josh
00:29:27

Exhortation is challenging each other, encouraging each other to love and good works.

Pastor Josh
00:29:30

The Bible says that's our job within the church, to spur each other on to love and good works.

Pastor Josh
00:29:36

You know, I think a lot of times we think in the very western mindset of, like, I'm an individual within the church, and I'm doing my thing here and everyone else is doing their thing, and, you know, just don't get in my way.

Pastor Josh
00:29:47

That's not what the Bible teaches.

Pastor Josh
00:29:48

The Bible teaches is that it is the role of the church to exhort each other to love and good works, to challenge each other to love and good works.

Pastor Josh
00:29:57

And that doesn't come with judgment.

Pastor Josh
00:29:59

That comes with, hey, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:30:00

I'm doing this.

Pastor Josh
00:30:01

Hey, you want to come do this with me?

Pastor Josh
00:30:02

You want to pray along with me?

Pastor Josh
00:30:03

You want to do this Bible study with me?

Pastor Josh
00:30:04

You want to come share the gospel with me?

Pastor Josh
00:30:07

And it goes on from there.

Pastor Josh
00:30:09

And so we see that there's encouragement, we see that there's comfort, and we see that there's peace.

Pastor Josh
00:30:14

And then it says here, verse 34 notwithstanding, it pleased Silas to abide there still.

Pastor Josh
00:30:19

And so Silas actually stays there.

Pastor Josh
00:30:21

Silas says, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:30:22

We're going to stay there.

Pastor Josh
00:30:23

And we actually see that Silas and Judas stay there, and so we see that they are going to stay, and, well, actually, actually, Silas stays and then Judas returns, leaving Silas and Antioch for the future ministry.

Pastor Josh
00:30:37

So Silas stays there longer.

Pastor Josh
00:30:38

And so they linger there for a time.

Pastor Josh
00:30:41

Both of them linger there for a time.

Pastor Josh
00:30:42

One leaves and then Silas stays.

Pastor Josh
00:30:44

And I think that we see the heart of Silas here as a heart of a pastor to encourage and to minister.

Pastor Josh
00:30:50

And that's really what the church should be.

Pastor Josh
00:30:52

The church should not just be a place where we give them the truth and we walk away.

Pastor Josh
00:30:56

How many times?

Pastor Josh
00:30:58

Maybe this hasn't been what you have seen, but we've had an event or an opportunity and we've preached the gospel to people and then we just let them go and figure it out on their own.

Pastor Josh
00:31:06

That's not what the church is for.

Pastor Josh
00:31:08

The church is there to be a long term partner with people.

Pastor Josh
00:31:12

So I give you the gospel.

Pastor Josh
00:31:13

But now, as the great commission says, I teach you the gospel.

Pastor Josh
00:31:17

I teach you what it means to obey Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:31:19

I teach you what it means to go through the difficulties.

Pastor Josh
00:31:22

You know what?

Pastor Josh
00:31:23

That's sometimes what happens in our society is we have a very transient society, meaning, like, we're here at a time until we need to move on and there's no investment.

Pastor Josh
00:31:33

The average lifespan of a person in ministry is like two and a half years.

Pastor Josh
00:31:37

You see that happening so often.

Pastor Josh
00:31:38

I mean, Middletown Baptist Church has been, has been graced with longevity, with pastors.

Pastor Josh
00:31:44

And I'm going to tell you, that's not the norm.

Pastor Josh
00:31:46

The norm is pastor comes in for two or three years, something more interesting comes along.

Pastor Josh
00:31:51

Or maybe God does call them away and we see just a lot of movement.

Pastor Josh
00:31:54

A lot of movement.

Pastor Josh
00:31:56

And the truth is, is that that isn't necessarily always what God's will is.

Pastor Josh
00:31:59

God's will is that there's long term investment with the fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:32:04

And so for me, I could say to you, hey, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:32:06

Be faithful in the ministry.

Pastor Josh
00:32:08

But if I don't demonstrate to you what it means to be faithful in the ministry, how can you know what it means to be faithful in the ministry?

Pastor Josh
00:32:13

Hey, love your brother and sister in Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:32:15

But if I'm teaching you and demonstrating to you what loving my fellow brother and sister in Christ means, and I don't show that to you, you know, it would be like me, like, yeah, I don't know if some of you played sports or maybe you didn't play sports.

Pastor Josh
00:32:26

Maybe you had a, maybe you played an instrument or maybe you took up a hobby or something and you had a teacher, okay, or a coach.

Pastor Josh
00:32:35

And the coach came up to you and said, hey, let's use baseball as an example.

Pastor Josh
00:32:40

I grew up playing baseball.

Pastor Josh
00:32:41

I had a lot of coaches.

Pastor Josh
00:32:42

My personal coach, my one on one coach, used to play in the major leagues.

Pastor Josh
00:32:47

He played for the San Francisco Giants.

Pastor Josh
00:32:49

Coach, Coach Redmond.

Pastor Josh
00:32:51

He's an awesome guy.

Pastor Josh
00:32:52

He taught me a lot about baseball.

Pastor Josh
00:32:53

But he would sit there with me, and he would say, okay, when you hit the ball, you need to keep your eye on the ball.

Pastor Josh
00:32:57

You need to twist your hips.

Pastor Josh
00:32:58

You need to hit the ball like that.

Pastor Josh
00:33:00

And I would say, okay.

Pastor Josh
00:33:01

And I would do it wrong.

Pastor Josh
00:33:02

And guess what helped me?

Pastor Josh
00:33:04

When he would show me how to do it, he said, let me show you how it looks.

Pastor Josh
00:33:07

And then he would walk me through it.

Pastor Josh
00:33:08

He would show me every step of the way.

Pastor Josh
00:33:09

And that meant so much more for me than some of the coaches that I've had in my life, that, go, come on.

Pastor Josh
00:33:13

Go.

Pastor Josh
00:33:14

Hit the ball, son.

Pastor Josh
00:33:15

Well, how do I do that?

Pastor Josh
00:33:16

We'll just do it.

Pastor Josh
00:33:17

That doesn't help, right?

Pastor Josh
00:33:19

And so it's that demonstration of the actual principle being taught that helps out a lot more.

Pastor Josh
00:33:25

And so I would encourage you, as a church member, a ministry leader, possibly, if you want to be a discipler, demonstrate what it means to do the things that you're expecting your students to learn.

Pastor Josh
00:33:39

And so, you know, for me, there is that struggle, because I get to preach to you a lot.

Pastor Josh
00:33:46

And the truth is, is that a lot of times, people get the perception that pastors are perfect, and we expect you to have perfection.

Pastor Josh
00:33:54

But the truth is, is that we're, you know, when I preach to you, I'm preaching to myself.

Pastor Josh
00:33:59

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:34:00

When I do my notes in the week, I can tell you some of the most convicting moments of life is when I'm sitting there planning my sermons, because I'm sitting there going, wow, it's gonna be a tough one for me to say, because I struggle with that today.

Pastor Josh
00:34:12

And so let me tell you, when I'm preaching, if, if, big, if.

Pastor Josh
00:34:16

If there's conviction in your heart out there from the preaching of the word, the conviction is also here.

Pastor Josh
00:34:20

I can tell you that.

Pastor Josh
00:34:22

And so, so what I want you to understand is that here, as we conclude this passage, that Silas wanted to stay.

Pastor Josh
00:34:28

He wanted to be planted in.

Pastor Josh
00:34:29

And so these certain Mendez who had come from Judea, they were teaching and preaching, it says there in verse 35, Paul also, and Barnabas continue in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also.

Pastor Josh
00:34:42

And so they had a desire not just to give them this message, but to teach and preach what the word of the Lord.

Pastor Josh
00:34:52

Paul didn't preach his way.

Pastor Josh
00:34:55

Paul didn't preach his opinions.

Pastor Josh
00:34:56

Paul preached the word of the Lord.

Pastor Josh
00:34:58

So because of the situation and because it was handled correctly, the christians here were strengthened, and the word of God pushed forward.

Pastor Josh
00:35:07

Let me tell you, one of the hindrances to the word of God being pushed forward is disunity within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:35:13

If the proper measures are taken to conflict, the word of God is pushed forward.

Pastor Josh
00:35:20

That's the best testimony when we can come in with a disagreement and leave in unity.

Pastor Josh
00:35:26

And that's what we see happening here.

Pastor Josh
00:35:28

The word of God.

Pastor Josh
00:35:28

That's where it ends.

Pastor Josh
00:35:29

The thought here ends with Paul and Barnabas.

Pastor Josh
00:35:33

And Silas taught and preached the word of the Lord with many others also.

Pastor Josh
00:35:39

And so Judas and Silas came.

Pastor Josh
00:35:41

These two men served well in Antioch.

Pastor Josh
00:35:43

And after visiting from Jerusalem, Judas returns, Silas stays.

Pastor Josh
00:35:47

We see for a time, Paul and Barnabas stay, and everything seems to be going well.

Pastor Josh
00:35:53

And I wish I could tell you that after that first conflict is fixed, then we're set.

Pastor Josh
00:35:59

I remember thinking, as a pastor, when's the first problem gonna drop, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:36:07

How are we gonna deal with this?

Pastor Josh
00:36:08

And I remember a problem was there.

Pastor Josh
00:36:12

And you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:36:14

I had a pastor friend one time tell me, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:36:16

The problem that you're going through right now is not gonna be the problem you're dealing with next year, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:36:20

So in my mind, I'm thinking, well, that means that I'm gonna be, if I get rid of this problem in my life, if we deal with this problem properly, everything will be okay.

Pastor Josh
00:36:28

The issue is, is that I realized very quickly within ministry that after this problem is resolved, there's another problem that comes right in its place.

Pastor Josh
00:36:34

And so that's what we're gonna see here.

Pastor Josh
00:36:36

In acts, acts 15, it says in verse 36, I'm just gonna kind of whet your appetite for next week.

Pastor Josh
00:36:43

It says, oh, actually, not next week.

Pastor Josh
00:36:44

I'll tell you more about next week.

Pastor Josh
00:36:45

In two weeks says, in some days after, and we don't know how many days after, you could, you could have your gospel imagination and think, seven days, 30 days, 50 days.

Pastor Josh
00:36:57

But, and some days after, Paul said unto Barnabas, let us go again and visit another brethren.

Pastor Josh
00:37:02

And, hey, sounds great.

Pastor Josh
00:37:04

And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Pastor Josh
00:37:07

And Paul thought, not good to take them.

Pastor Josh
00:37:09

And so we're going to see that Paul and Barnabas have a conflict, and we're going to see how they deal with that conflict, and we're not going to see necessarily the resolution in this passage, we're going to see the first part of it.

Pastor Josh
00:37:21

We are going to see the resolution in another passage of scripture later on.

Pastor Josh
00:37:25

And we're going to see that some conflict doesn't get fixed over a Jerusalem council.

Pastor Josh
00:37:29

Some conflict takes years and humility and struggles to get fixed.

Pastor Josh
00:37:34

But what we're going to see here is that there always is a biblical resolution.

Pastor Josh
00:37:38

Sometimes it's not the resolution that we want.

Pastor Josh
00:37:40

Sometimes the resolution is, is that we can't be together.

Pastor Josh
00:37:42

The Bible says to live peaceably with all men if possible.

Pastor Josh
00:37:47

And so there is a conflict sometimes that we have to say, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:37:51

There isn't unity here, and both sides have to be in agreement to unity or there isn't going to be unity.

Pastor Josh
00:37:57

And that's all the more reason why we have to take the responsibility for ourselves to do the right thing in our place.

Pastor Josh
00:38:03

And so, you know, sometimes it's the classic example of, well, I'm in the right place, but it's that person's fault, why I'm this way.

Pastor Josh
00:38:11

Well, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:38:12

Get where you need to be.

Pastor Josh
00:38:13

And that's, and that's the best way.

Pastor Josh
00:38:15

That's the best remedy for peace and unity.

Pastor Josh
00:38:18

I heard recently there was this individual that they said, I really want to find a good spouse.

Pastor Josh
00:38:23

They were single.

Pastor Josh
00:38:24

It was a young man.

Pastor Josh
00:38:26

He says, you know, I want to find a good spouse.

Pastor Josh
00:38:28

I want to find a christian woman.

Pastor Josh
00:38:29

I want to find a lady who is faithful to me, loving, checking all the boxes.

Pastor Josh
00:38:34

And this guy said, okay, I've got some advice for you.

Pastor Josh
00:38:36

I want you to get a piece of paper out, and I want you to write down all the qualifications that you want for a wife.

Pastor Josh
00:38:41

And he's like, okay, okay.

Pastor Josh
00:38:43

So he wrote down 55 things down on the paper.

Pastor Josh
00:38:46

He was like, 55 qualifications that I want for a spouse.

Pastor Josh
00:38:50

And then he says, okay, write your name up at the top of that.

Pastor Josh
00:38:52

And so he write.

Pastor Josh
00:38:53

So he writes his name up, or actually, he said, write the name up at the top.

Pastor Josh
00:38:56

He said, I messed up the joke, or it's kind of a joke.

Pastor Josh
00:38:58

It's an analogy.

Pastor Josh
00:38:59

He says, write up at the top my future wife at the beginning.

Pastor Josh
00:39:03

And then at the end, when he wrote all the qualifications, he said, okay, now erase future wife and put your name in the blank, right?

Pastor Josh
00:39:09

If you want that type of spouse, you need to be that type of spouse in preparation for that, you know?

Pastor Josh
00:39:15

And so, so many times we say, okay, we want good church members in the church.

Pastor Josh
00:39:19

And so we want people that are dedicated.

Pastor Josh
00:39:21

We want people that are faithful.

Pastor Josh
00:39:22

We want people that are loving, forgiving.

Pastor Josh
00:39:24

Well, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:39:25

If that's our goal for church members within Middletown Baptist Church, maybe we need to erase that and put our name in the blanket, say, that's what I need to strive for.

Pastor Josh
00:39:33

And I think that's something to think about when it comes to conflict and unity within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:39:38

Putting the responsibility on ourselves.

Pastor Josh
00:39:40

Putting the responsibility on ourselves as a qualification to be that church member.

Pastor Josh
00:39:45

Desiring unity.

Pastor Josh
00:39:47

Folks, I'm going to tell you, the average Christian within the church isn't dwelling on unity.

Pastor Josh
00:39:54

They're dwelling on what does this mean for me?

Pastor Josh
00:39:57

How can.

Pastor Josh
00:39:58

What can I get out of this?

Pastor Josh
00:40:00

And.

Pastor Josh
00:40:00

And that isn't.

Pastor Josh
00:40:02

I'm gonna speak in love to you tonight.

Pastor Josh
00:40:04

I hope I've proven to you that I love you.

Pastor Josh
00:40:06

The Bible doesn't say that that is the first and foremost priority within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:40:10

The first and foremost priority in the church is unity and edification and exhortation.

Pastor Josh
00:40:14

The Bible says that the gifts of the spirit that are given to us are not for our own good.

Pastor Josh
00:40:19

It's for the good of others within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:40:21

That shows you right there where the priority is.

Pastor Josh
00:40:24

The priority is others.

Pastor Josh
00:40:26

The priority is Jesus others.

Pastor Josh
00:40:29

And then you.

Pastor Josh
00:40:30

You heard that acronym, Joy?

Pastor Josh
00:40:31

Jesus others.

Pastor Josh
00:40:32

You.

Pastor Josh
00:40:33

It's not.

Pastor Josh
00:40:34

It's not about you others and then Jesus.

Pastor Josh
00:40:36

It's.

Pastor Josh
00:40:37

It needs to be flipped.

Pastor Josh
00:40:38

And so I would encourage you to think about that within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:40:40

I would encourage myself to think about that within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:40:43

This isn't about getting what I want.

Pastor Josh
00:40:44

It's about getting what the Lord wants and how I can love and.

Pastor Josh
00:40:47

And sacrifice for other people.

Pastor Josh
00:40:48

And that's how we have unity.

Pastor Josh
00:40:50

That's how we can resolve issues within the church.

Pastor Josh
00:40:52

Well, you.

Pastor Josh
00:40:53

I can't believe that your family goes here and does this.

Pastor Josh
00:40:57

Okay, well, let's do a real life example.

Pastor Josh
00:41:00

I've got.

Pastor Josh
00:41:00

I've got, like, seven minutes here to the end of the hour.

Pastor Josh
00:41:02

Let's do a real life experience.

Pastor Josh
00:41:03

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:41:03

So I've got brother a over here and brother b.

Pastor Josh
00:41:07

Brother a and brother b, brother a goes, I can't believe that your family does this.

Pastor Josh
00:41:12

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:41:13

We don't do that in brother a family.

Pastor Josh
00:41:16

Brother B, you're a sinner.

Pastor Josh
00:41:17

Okay, well, if he has a problem with brother b, his issue should be, hey, brother a goes, talk to brother b, and we talk this out.

Pastor Josh
00:41:26

Why would you do that?

Pastor Josh
00:41:27

Can you show me in the word of God, why that's wrong?

Pastor Josh
00:41:29

Why that's right.

Pastor Josh
00:41:29

Whatever the problem comes is when brother a goes over here and says to brother c, can you believe what brother b does with his family?

Pastor Josh
00:41:38

Oh, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:41:39

He's just.

Pastor Josh
00:41:40

He's a second class citizen because he does that.

Pastor Josh
00:41:43

But pray for him.

Pastor Josh
00:41:45

The problem is, is now brother a has one issue here with brother b, and now he's created another issue with c.

Pastor Josh
00:41:51

And now there's an issue between a and c and c and B.

Pastor Josh
00:41:54

And c and b would have never had an issue.

Pastor Josh
00:41:56

Right?

Pastor Josh
00:41:56

You see how that goes now?

Pastor Josh
00:41:58

And then c over here goes to, I'm gonna go over here to d.

Pastor Josh
00:42:01

And then D has.

Pastor Josh
00:42:02

You can see how that it's a ripple effect and a poor poison can spread.

Pastor Josh
00:42:05

But if a says, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:42:08

Brother B has his own convictions, I'm not going to judge him for that.

Pastor Josh
00:42:10

I won't.

Pastor Josh
00:42:12

I don't.

Pastor Josh
00:42:12

And then brother B could say, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:42:15

I didn't know that you had a problem with me going here.

Pastor Josh
00:42:18

Well, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:42:19

I don't need to do that.

Pastor Josh
00:42:21

Or maybe I won't do that around you, or we won't go there and do that together.

Pastor Josh
00:42:25

Do you see how it's that deference deferring because of my love?

Pastor Josh
00:42:29

It's not pride.

Pastor Josh
00:42:30

It's not, I get to do this.

Pastor Josh
00:42:32

I have the right to do this.

Pastor Josh
00:42:34

I will be willing to die to myself so that that person can be edified.

Pastor Josh
00:42:38

Now, there's some silliness with that.

Pastor Josh
00:42:40

Like, sometimes we can get silly within the church, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:42:44

And the truth is, is that when I'm thinking about myself and myself alone, I've got more issues that are going to come because everything's an offense to me.

Pastor Josh
00:42:55

But when I'm thinking about others, I don't take things as personally.

Pastor Josh
00:42:59

Hey, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:43:00

Maybe they're having a bad day.

Pastor Josh
00:43:01

I can tell you there have been times where I have had a tough day, and in no way was I trying to be rude to somebody, but I came across as rude.

Pastor Josh
00:43:11

You know what?

Pastor Josh
00:43:11

And so what I need to do is I need to assume that in my brother or sister, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:43:16

The bible says in one corinthians, chapter 13 that true agape love does not assume the worst, does not assume evil.

Pastor Josh
00:43:24

What happens within church?

Pastor Josh
00:43:26

Is this, okay, walking out, someone else says something to me or has a bad response.

Pastor Josh
00:43:33

Ugh, they must hate me.

Pastor Josh
00:43:36

You know what?

Pastor Josh
00:43:36

I knew they didn't like me.

Pastor Josh
00:43:38

I saw that from the very beginning.

Pastor Josh
00:43:39

When they started coming into church, I knew they had a problem with me from the very beginning.

Pastor Josh
00:43:42

I bet you they're talking about me right now.

Pastor Josh
00:43:44

And the truth is, is that maybe they are.

Pastor Josh
00:43:47

Maybe.

Pastor Josh
00:43:48

But the initial assumption should not be that that is the case.

Pastor Josh
00:43:53

That's biblical love.

Pastor Josh
00:43:54

Getting to the bottom of it.

Pastor Josh
00:43:56

Now, the way you get to the bottom of it is go right up to him and say, hey, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:43:59

You did that to me.

Pastor Josh
00:44:00

Is that.

Pastor Josh
00:44:00

Is that an issue?

Pastor Josh
00:44:01

Like, did I do something?

Pastor Josh
00:44:03

I apologize if I did, and then go from there, and then the reality will come forward.

Pastor Josh
00:44:10

Yeah, I do have a problem with you, and I don't like that you do that.

Pastor Josh
00:44:12

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:44:13

Now we go from that to something else.

Pastor Josh
00:44:16

Now we go to conflict resolution.

Pastor Josh
00:44:18

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:44:18

And so that's.

Pastor Josh
00:44:19

That's how we have to go through these things.

Pastor Josh
00:44:20

And so it's like what we talked about this morning.

Pastor Josh
00:44:23

Think biblically about something.

Pastor Josh
00:44:25

See it through the lens of scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:44:27

You ever heard the statement, rose colored glasses?

Pastor Josh
00:44:29

Like, you put red glasses on, everything's red.

Pastor Josh
00:44:32

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:44:33

See, have your gospel glasses.

Pastor Josh
00:44:34

Have your Bible glasses.

Pastor Josh
00:44:36

And so see everything through the lens of scripture and say, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:44:40

It's not about me.

Pastor Josh
00:44:41

I am not the protagonist of scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:44:45

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:44:46

A lot of times, we think we are the main character of scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:44:50

And there's a lot of churches out there that preach that.

Pastor Josh
00:44:52

You are the main character.

Pastor Josh
00:44:53

Right at the end of the day, you are the main character.

Pastor Josh
00:44:55

It's all about you.

Pastor Josh
00:44:56

This lesson's about you today.

Pastor Josh
00:44:57

And the lesson can apply to me, but I'm not the main character of scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:45:02

All scripture is given by inspiration of God.

Pastor Josh
00:45:03

And we know that it's profitable for all these things in my life.

Pastor Josh
00:45:06

But scripture is not.

Pastor Josh
00:45:07

I'm not the centerpiece of scripture.

Pastor Josh
00:45:10

Jesus is.

Pastor Josh
00:45:11

We sang a song about it tonight.

Pastor Josh
00:45:12

Jesus is that sure foundation.

Pastor Josh
00:45:14

Jesus is the centerpiece.

Pastor Josh
00:45:16

And so when we fight, you know what the Bible says when we fight in the midst of our church, when we struggle within the midst of our church, we're actually offending the Lord.

Pastor Josh
00:45:25

We're actually causing issues for his kingdom to move forward.

Pastor Josh
00:45:28

Not my kingdom.

Pastor Josh
00:45:30

My kingdom means nothing.

Pastor Josh
00:45:32

My kingdom is zero, zilch, nada.

Pastor Josh
00:45:34

Like, I don't have a kingdom.

Pastor Josh
00:45:35

And even if I think I have a kingdom, that kingdom is not going to last.

Pastor Josh
00:45:38

Think about all the dictators that have passed throughout history, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:45:42

All of them have died.

Pastor Josh
00:45:43

All their kingdoms have fallen.

Pastor Josh
00:45:45

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:45:45

Think about the greatest ones.

Pastor Josh
00:45:47

And the truth is that our kingdoms don't matter.

Pastor Josh
00:45:49

And so if we see it from that perspective, we can leave with unity.

Pastor Josh
00:45:53

So how does liberty, law, and love mingle together?

Pastor Josh
00:45:57

Well, the law is given to us to show us that none of us can meet God's standard.

Pastor Josh
00:46:02

It shows us the heart of God.

Pastor Josh
00:46:04

It shows us how we can follow him to the best of our ability, but it also shows us that we need Christ.

Pastor Josh
00:46:11

And so liberty is that I'm saved from the bondage of law and I'm now in grace, and I can live with freedom to know that I am going to fail.

Pastor Josh
00:46:21

But my failure is ultimately swallowed up in Christ's victory.

Pastor Josh
00:46:26

And so that's my liberty.

Pastor Josh
00:46:28

But my love says this.

Pastor Josh
00:46:30

Okay, I'm not going to extend the law to someone, but I'm also not going to extend my liberty to a point where I limit them in their specific spiritual walk.

Pastor Josh
00:46:39

And so are there things that you can do as a Christian?

Pastor Josh
00:46:42

Yes, you have the freedom to do it.

Pastor Josh
00:46:44

Paul says it, all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient.

Pastor Josh
00:46:48

Now, all things are beneficial for your christian walk.

Pastor Josh
00:46:51

So if you come up to me and you say, pastor, can I do this?

Pastor Josh
00:46:54

You know, like, theologically, my answer to you is, yeah, you can.

Pastor Josh
00:46:58

You had the freedom to choose whatever.

Pastor Josh
00:47:01

Now some of your choices are going to have really bad consequences.

Pastor Josh
00:47:05

You can choose your sin, but you can't choose your outcome.

Pastor Josh
00:47:09

But what I will say is this.

Pastor Josh
00:47:10

Yeah, you had the freedom to do that.

Pastor Josh
00:47:12

Well, am I sinning?

Pastor Josh
00:47:14

Well, I can't show you a chapter, verse that you're sinning, but let me ask you this question.

Pastor Josh
00:47:17

Is this beneficial for your spiritual growth?

Pastor Josh
00:47:21

Is this going to hinder your spiritual growth?

Pastor Josh
00:47:24

Some things are just going to be neutral, like, okay, me going to McDonald's or Burger King today.

Pastor Josh
00:47:29

Okay, is that neither one?

Pastor Josh
00:47:32

Some of you might say, well, it might hinder you in other ways, but the idea is, is that there are some things in our life that aren't going to necessarily edify us and build us up to Christ, but there are going to be some things that do pull us down.

Pastor Josh
00:47:43

There are going to be some things that hold us back from our spiritual growth.

Pastor Josh
00:47:46

So that first check is this.

Pastor Josh
00:47:48

Is it expedient for my spiritual walk?

Pastor Josh
00:47:51

And then that second check, is this.

Pastor Josh
00:47:53

Is it edifying to the saints?

Pastor Josh
00:47:55

First Corinthians 1023.

Pastor Josh
00:47:57

Is it edifying?

Pastor Josh
00:47:58

Is it building up other christians?

Pastor Josh
00:48:01

Or is my decision in my freedom gonna tear somebody else down?

Pastor Josh
00:48:07

Well, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:48:08

They need to grow up.

Pastor Josh
00:48:09

Yes, they do.

Pastor Josh
00:48:10

Okay, maybe they do.

Pastor Josh
00:48:11

Maybe they need to mature.

Pastor Josh
00:48:12

But who is going to demonstrate to them that spiritual maturity to get to that place?

Pastor Josh
00:48:17

And so that's where it's at.

Pastor Josh
00:48:18

That's where our christian life is.

Pastor Josh
00:48:19

And so, as a servant of the living God.

Pastor Josh
00:48:21

We have an opportunity to exercise our liberty, but not at the sake of hindering others in the process.

Pastor Josh
00:48:29

And so I know that's difficult because it would be a lot easier, it would be a lot more easy for me to say, hey, guys, if you're a christian, just follow these rules.

Pastor Josh
00:48:40

I want it to be that way.

Pastor Josh
00:48:41

I want it to be where I can give you a list of rules.

Pastor Josh
00:48:44

And if you follow all these rules, you'll be a perfect Christianity.

Pastor Josh
00:48:46

But even if I give you the list of rules and you check your box, it's not going to be where your heart is in the right place.

Pastor Josh
00:48:51

It could be, but it might not be.

Pastor Josh
00:48:54

We can all follow a list of rules.

Pastor Josh
00:48:56

And so the christian life is not about list following.

Pastor Josh
00:49:00

You say what?

Pastor Josh
00:49:01

I've never heard this before.

Pastor Josh
00:49:02

Okay.

Pastor Josh
00:49:02

The christian life is not about list following.

Pastor Josh
00:49:04

The christian life is about following Jesus.

Pastor Josh
00:49:06

And our hearts change to where many of the things that we do because of our love for him do align with that.

Pastor Josh
00:49:11

Listen, not going to want to say these things anymore.

Pastor Josh
00:49:15

I'm going to love my neighbor.

Pastor Josh
00:49:17

I am going to live a life of forgiveness and grace.

Pastor Josh
00:49:19

But it's not because I'm checking a box to get closer to God.

Pastor Josh
00:49:22

It's because he's already shown me the love and I'm reciprocating that.

Pastor Josh
00:49:25

And that's the natural change that happens.

Pastor Josh
00:49:27

Or let me say it this way, better the supernatural change that happens in my heart with a transition for loving myself to loving God.

Pastor Josh
00:49:34

And so a lot of people struggle with that.

Pastor Josh
00:49:37

But Romans, chapter six, Paul addresses that.

Pastor Josh
00:49:39

Cause Paul gets done with preaching all about grace, and then he goes, oh, wait, they're gonna think that they can just abuse grace.

Pastor Josh
00:49:45

So what does he do?

Pastor Josh
00:49:46

He says, guys, don't continue to sin, that grace just abounds.

Pastor Josh
00:49:51

Don't abuse grace.

Pastor Josh
00:49:52

He says, God forbid, why would you wanna go back to that sin that God saved you from?

Pastor Josh
00:49:56

And so when you understand God's grace, you don't wanna abuse it.

Pastor Josh
00:49:59

When I was a young Christian and when someone really sat down with me and explained to me grace, I was like, wait, that means that I can just go sin and ask for forgiveness?

Pastor Josh
00:50:09

And they're like, no, that's not what that's saying there.

Pastor Josh
00:50:12

You don't understand grace yet.

Pastor Josh
00:50:14

So when you grow in grace, you grow in your understanding of, yes, you do have the freedom and God's forgiveness is mighty and vast, but you don't want to do that anymore.

Pastor Josh
00:50:25

You don't want to do that anymore.

Pastor Josh
00:50:27

It's kind of like this.

Pastor Josh
00:50:29

I'll end with this.

Pastor Josh
00:50:31

When I was growing up with my parents in the house, they had rules, okay?

Pastor Josh
00:50:37

They had things that they expected me to do and not to do.

Pastor Josh
00:50:41

And I felt like it was oppressive.

Pastor Josh
00:50:43

Come on, guys, all my friends are doing this and I can't do this.

Pastor Josh
00:50:47

And so now I catch myself.

Pastor Josh
00:50:50

And the reason why I obeyed them, I'm just gonna tell you the reason.

Pastor Josh
00:50:53

When I was a little kid and I obeyed my parents was not because I love them, because I feared my dad.

Pastor Josh
00:50:58

Okay?

Pastor Josh
00:50:59

Just gonna be honest.

Pastor Josh
00:51:00

I feared him.

Pastor Josh
00:51:01

It's like, dad, I do not want to get dad mad at me.

Pastor Josh
00:51:04

But as I grew, I started to understand that, that discipline.

Pastor Josh
00:51:09

Cause he used to tell me this thing, son, this hurts me more than it hurts you.

Pastor Josh
00:51:13

I'm like, no way.

Pastor Josh
00:51:14

This is so wrong.

Pastor Josh
00:51:16

But as I saw his discipline over the years, I saw that it was out of love.

Pastor Josh
00:51:22

So then after a time, it wasn't so much that I would obey him out of fear, it was out of love.

Pastor Josh
00:51:26

You know what?

Pastor Josh
00:51:27

There was a time where I got stronger than my dad.

Pastor Josh
00:51:30

It's like now I can overpower him and I can stop him from getting.

Pastor Josh
00:51:33

But then I was like, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:51:34

No.

Pastor Josh
00:51:34

Now is the time where I don't want to do that.

Pastor Josh
00:51:36

Now's the time where I say, dad, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:51:38

I understand what you're saying.

Pastor Josh
00:51:40

And then there was a time when I turned 18, 1920, and I'm not under my dad's rules.

Pastor Josh
00:51:43

And now I'm saying, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:51:45

He's talking in the back of my mind and I'm going, yeah, this would not be wise for me to do.

Pastor Josh
00:51:49

And so then it became something that was ingrained in me and it was something that I did because I love my dad and I respected my dad.

Pastor Josh
00:51:56

And that's that progression of maturity in my life where that's the same thing as a Christian.

Pastor Josh
00:52:00

When we start out, it's like God's going to strike me down.

Pastor Josh
00:52:04

And then it gets to the point where knowing that he's not going to strike me down, but then knowing that he expects this out of me, out of love, and he disciplines me out of love, and therefore he doesn't enjoy doing that.

Pastor Josh
00:52:14

And let me tell you, the moment that I really realized that my dad did not enjoy disciplining me, when I had to start disciplining my children, that's when I'm like, oh, you know what?

Pastor Josh
00:52:24

I know what he was saying now.

Pastor Josh
00:52:25

I totally understand this now, but I want to discipline them because I love them.

Pastor Josh
00:52:29

And that's the process.

Pastor Josh
00:52:32

God disciplines us and guides us and corrects us because he loves us.

Pastor Josh
00:52:37

And it is that love that we can understand in our lives.

Pastor Josh
00:52:39

And so we'll end with that.

Pastor Josh
00:52:42

Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist church podcast.

Pastor Josh
00:52:46

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.

Pastor Josh
00:52:49

If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us@middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

Pastor Josh
00:52:58

You can also email me directly@joshmissaroiddletownbaptastchurch.com.

Pastor Josh
00:53:04

if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates.

Pastor Josh
00:53:11

Thank you so much.

Pastor Josh
00:53:12

God bless.

Pastor Josh
00:53:13

Have a wonderful day.