WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.080 So, Jeff, one of my favorite movies. At the very end, 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:08.279 they both end up dying in an arena, and then 3 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.279 she says, honor him. He is a citizen of Rome. 4 00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:14.320 I know this, Yes, Gladiator it is. 5 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:18.120 And they leave Caesar, which everybody just did not like 6 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:21.559 in the movie, and they pick up this Gladiator. Well, anyway, 7 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:23.679 it reminds me of that because today Paul is going 8 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:25.960 to defend his Roman citizenship. 9 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:27.800 Well, there we go. He's Chris and I'm Jeff, and 10 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:28.640 we're the Bob guys. 11 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:45.759 Well, Jeff, we have stumped the pastor today. Fun. Yeah, 12 00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:49.119 they are fun. And so this comes in from Mike G, 13 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:51.039 which I don't know. 14 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:52.079 Mike G. Hi, Mike G. 15 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:53.520 I don't know if it's the same Mike G. I 16 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:57.439 have lunch with tomorrow. Maybe. But it is a tough question. 17 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.960 Uh well, I mean yeah, I don't think it's tough. 18 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:05.040 It's it's a big question though. Okay, So here's how 19 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:07.879 it reached. There are a lot of people who believe 20 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:10.840 that you only need to do good deeds or good 21 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.000 acts in order to get to heaven. And here's the question. 22 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:18.079 Do you know where this idea originated from? Oh? 23 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:21.719 Well, yeah, okay, that's hard. Is he asking for a 24 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:23.120 full blown history lesson? 25 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:24.159 Do you think? 26 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:30.000 Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I So usually we ask 27 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:33.400 our questions from our own context, right that we're aware 28 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.760 that there are a lot of people now today who 29 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.439 think you're supposed to do good deeds in order to 30 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:40.599 get to heaven, right, and that would be based on 31 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:45.280 our religious backgrounds, particularly the raious denominations. But if you're 32 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.120 saying where does it come from, fundamentally, it comes from 33 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.000 the fact that most of us lean towards humanism anyways, 34 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:57.079 that the humans are the star of the story, and 35 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.599 that we we want to think that we participate in 36 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:05.319 some significant way, that we earn salvation by doing good works. 37 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:08.599 And it can be frustrating to some people to find 38 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:12.439 out it's purely by faith because of God's grace, right, 39 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:14.599 and you feel like you should be doing something, should 40 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:15.240 cost you something. 41 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:17.360 Yeah, And you know, many times when I give the Gospel, 42 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:21.199 I always say, you know, most people seem to somehow 43 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:22.919 think that at the end of their lives, they're good 44 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.599 has to weigh they're bad. Right, you know, it's like this, 45 00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:27.599 and I think. 46 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:30.639 There's some great cosmic scale, right, supposed to tip to 47 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.360 the good instead of the bad. And the Egyptians believed 48 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:37.080 that and their resurrection stories in the Book of the Dead. 49 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:39.240 They believe that at the end, your good deeds and 50 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.680 your bad deeds are put on there be a feather 51 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.400 they set on the scales and literally a scale. The 52 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:45.599 Greeks believe that there's going to be some kind of scale. 53 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:50.120 That's been a part of human history, that this humanistic 54 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.680 view that somehow my good outweighs my bad should earn 55 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:54.840 me eternity. 56 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.360 Right. And so another thing that I always say is 57 00:02:57.360 --> 00:02:59.280 I always say, even if you don't know anything but 58 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:02.599 the Bible, the one thing that I think most people understand, 59 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:04.479 and this is that this is the main reason why 60 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:06.639 I think we get confused, because we just sort of 61 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.199 know that, like it's filled with rules and commandments. Yeah, 62 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:12.199 we've heard thou shalt and thou shalt knots. We've heard 63 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.280 people say, don't do that, it's bad. It's in the Bible. 64 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:16.599 So we know it's filled with commandments. And so we 65 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.120 also know that he's you know, he's pleased when we 66 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:21.719 do well, and he's not pleased whether we disobey or 67 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:25.400 willfully sin. So the idea that there's rules and commandments 68 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:27.800 in the Bible that we've heard that without hearing the 69 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:31.319 entire truth just tells us like, hey, we not even 70 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.800 have interesting God, but I think we do know that 71 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:35.039 he has rules. 72 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:39.039 Yeah, yeah. And then even understanding that, by the time 73 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:42.039 Paul is writing the Book of Romans that's fifty five 74 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:46.680 fifty four AD. When he's writing the Book of Galatians, 75 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:51.400 for instance, the Judaizers had risen up. Even in what Acts, 76 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:56.280 chapter fifteen, the Judaizers had risen up and begun to say, well, yes, 77 00:03:56.360 --> 00:03:59.360 salvation is by grace through faith, plus you also have 78 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.680 to be circumstanced and obey the laws of God. It's 79 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:06.280 salvation through faith in Christ plus good. 80 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:08.840 Works Jesus plus jump through these oops. That's right. 81 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:11.080 And I think that that's really at the root of 82 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:15.719 this question of you know, people earning their way to salvation. 83 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:17.480 Most people say, oh, no, I believe that you have 84 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:19.639 to have faith in Jesus, and I believe that if 85 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:21.079 you don't keep all the ten commandments you can't go 86 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:24.839 to heaven. Right, And Paul says, all the commandments were 87 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:27.120 given to us to prove to us we're not able 88 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.759 to keep all the commandments. If you break any part 89 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.279 of it, you've broken all of it, James says, And 90 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:37.279 so you know it's Ephesians chapter two, verses eight nine. 91 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.160 He says, for by grace are you saved through faith? 92 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.560 He said, it's a gift of God. At the beginning 93 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:48.399 of verse nine, it says, salvation is not a reward 94 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:49.720 for the good things we've done. 95 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:50.439 That's right. 96 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:52.480 I just can't think of a more clear statement than 97 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.759 that in the whole Bible. What is the phrase to you? 98 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:58.199 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we've done. 99 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:01.040 What does that mean? It means Let me think about 100 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.439 it real quick. Salvation is not a reward that the 101 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:05.879 things we've done. That's what means. 102 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:06.519 Right. 103 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.720 So then then I have to figure out what is 104 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.160 that mechanism. And he's so clear. What's the mechanism for salvation. 105 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:15.360 He's so clear in his writing salvation is because of 106 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:18.040 God's grace. God gives us what we don't deserve, and 107 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:21.399 it's a free gift offered to us, and we receive 108 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:27.079 it by faith. Faith just meaning having enough willingness to 109 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:28.920 turn to God and say God, I can't do it 110 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:31.319 on my own, but I accept your gift, that's it. 111 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.560 And towards the beginning of the Book of Romans, and 112 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.319 he says, you know, we have righteousness, and he says, 113 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:40.920 this right standing with God comes from God, and it's 114 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.680 a part from ourselves that's right, and it's a part 115 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:46.959 from the law that's right, right, which means like commandments. 116 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:49.920 And so the idea that over and over again he 117 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:50.519 talks about that. 118 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:53.319 So I think, so then the law, by the way, 119 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:55.800 let me just insert there. So then the rules, the 120 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:59.439 guidelines for life. Don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery, right, 121 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:02.160 keep yourself apart and separate from clean from the world. 122 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:04.560 Come up from among them and be separate, says the Lord. 123 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:06.120 And I'll be like a father. You be like my 124 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:08.399 children to me. All of those things now are not 125 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.680 for salvation. They're because of salvation. We choose to live 126 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:15.000 clean lives for God, because we're grateful for what he did, 127 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:17.720 rather than trying to live clean lives in order to 128 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:20.319 appease God. Right, right, there's a big gives you those 129 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:22.680 two things. So Jesus ultimately says, if you love me, 130 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:26.120 keep my commandments. So now it's just my choice to 131 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:28.240 try to live as best I can, even though I'm 132 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.160 a sinner, I try to live as best I can, 133 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:31.959 as clean and as well as I can. Is just 134 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.319 to kind of say to Jesus on a daily basis, 135 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:37.319 I love you, and so I want to offer myself 136 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:38.519 as clean as I can to you. 137 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:41.759 Yeah. So I'll just say to Mike g directly. So 138 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.319 not only did the idea you know, come from outside 139 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.079 of the Bible, you know, like you mentioned it, like 140 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:50.120 the like the Ethiopians, or the he said the Egyptians, 141 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:51.879 and then you said the Romans, and oh, you know, 142 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:54.519 the Greeks. So the idea that that you have to 143 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:57.560 behave or you know, perform you to heaven has come 144 00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:59.759 from without, you know, outside of the Bible. But then 145 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:02.519 all so, even the entire Old Testament, you know, up 146 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:05.879 until Jesus came, there were rules that you had to 147 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:09.199 follow and and even even for salvation, you had to 148 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.560 atone for your sins by you know, offering sacrifices, et cetera, 149 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:16.480 et cetera. So so it was always attached to something 150 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:20.879 that we did h without and even within within our 151 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:23.800 own Bible that we believe. But then Jesus came and 152 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:24.639 changed everything. 153 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.720 Yeah, well, the difference is, so Jesus didn't come and 154 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:28.360 changed that. Jesus came and fulfilled it. 155 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:30.199 Yeah, right, changed. 156 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:31.680 Jesus was the atonement. 157 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:32.560 He changed our requirements. 158 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:34.959 Right, So Jesus was the atonement for salvation. So the 159 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.800 requirement salvation was sacrifice. The innocent died for the guilty. 160 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.439 But then Jesus is the Lamb of God and he 161 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:45.000 is the atonement for us. So the mechanism for salvation, 162 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:49.480 the sacrifice for salvation, is the same. The difference was 163 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.439 all the rules built around it. People took that as 164 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.519 also contributing to salvation, and it didn't. It only contributed 165 00:07:56.519 --> 00:07:59.079 to the fact that we're all sinners, right, and so 166 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.360 the Judaizers were trying to continue to blend the two. 167 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:05.160 So I think in modern well in Christianity. So once 168 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:10.279 we've pivoted past the resurrection, then the very first group 169 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:12.959 would have been the Judaizers. In Acts chapter fifteen that 170 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:14.720 we're pitching a fit with Paul that hey, you got 171 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:15.560 to keep the rules too. 172 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:19.240 Well, Hey, night, good one, Michel. We appreciated the question. 173 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.199 That might have been the longest answer we've done so far. 174 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:22.680 Yeah maybe so yeah, well. 175 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:24.759 Well we're full of job Mike, we're full of information 176 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:25.680 that we want to spit out. 177 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:26.600 Good job, Mike. 178 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:30.759 So we're picking back up in acts chapter over twenty two, 179 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.039 twenty one, the end of it, and then we're going 180 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.440 to take pretty much the entire chapter of twenty two 181 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:38.279 as well. 182 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:38.879 A bunch of it. 183 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:39.879 Yep, a bunch of it. 184 00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:43.519 So remember Paul was they had to lift him up 185 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:45.840 on his shoulders the Roman soldiers to get him out 186 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:47.759 of this mob because the mob was screaming kill him, 187 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:50.600 kill him, right. So it's pretty crazy. And it says 188 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:53.639 as Paul was about to be taken inside, he said 189 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:55.080 to the commander, man, I have a word with you. 190 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.080 Do you know Greek? The commander asked, surprise, aren't you 191 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:01.279 the Egyptian who led rebellion some time ago and took 192 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:05.240 four thousand members of the assassins out into the desert. No, 193 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.519 Paul replied, I'm a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus 194 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.440 and Cilicia, which is an important city. Please let me 195 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:13.600 talk to these people, and the commander agreed. So Paul 196 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:15.399 stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to 197 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.440 be quiet, and soon a deep silence enveloped to the crowd, 198 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:22.120 and he addressed them in their own language, Aramic brothers 199 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.879 and esteemed fathers. Paul said, listen to me as I 200 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:26.919 offer my defense. And when they heard him speaking in 201 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:30.200 their own language, the silence was even greater. Then Paul said, 202 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:33.440 I'm a Jew born in Tarsus, the city in Silicia, 203 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:35.480 and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem 204 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:38.840 under Gamalio as his student. I was carefully trained in 205 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:41.480 our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to 206 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.399 honor God and everything I did, just like all of 207 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:46.360 you today, and I persecuted the followers of the Way, 208 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:50.759 hounding some to death, arresting both men and women, and 209 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.200 throwing them in prison. The High Priest and the whole 210 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:56.120 Council of Elders can testify that this is so if 211 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.480 I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in 212 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.759 Damascus authorized me to bring the Christians from there to 213 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:04.799 Jerusalem in chains to be punished. As I was on 214 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:07.919 the road approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light 215 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:10.639 from heaven suddenly shone down around me. I fell to 216 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:12.879 the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, 217 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.440 why are you persecuting me? Who are you Lord? I 218 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:18.120 asked and the voice replied, I am Jesus, the Nazarene, 219 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:20.960 the one that you are persecuting. And the people with 220 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:22.919 me saw the light but didn't understand the voice speaking 221 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:24.759 to me, and I asked what should I do, Lord? 222 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:27.720 And the Lord told me, get up and go into Damascus, 223 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:29.399 and there you be told everything you are to do. 224 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:31.960 I was blinded by the intense light and had to 225 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:35.240 be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. 226 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:38.480 A man named Annonius lived there. He was a godly man, 227 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:40.600 deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all 228 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.120 the Jews of Damascus. And he came and stood beside 229 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.639 me and said, brother, Saul, regain your sight. And at 230 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.120 that very moment I could see him. And then he 231 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:51.399 told me, the God of our ancestors has chosen you 232 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.600 to know his will and to see the Righteous One 233 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:56.200 and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, 234 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.759 telling everyone what you've seen and heard. What are you 235 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.279 waiting for? Get up and betiz have your sins washed 236 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.639 away by calling on the name of the Lord. After 237 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:05.799 I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the temple 238 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:07.360 and fell into a trance, and I saw a vision 239 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:10.240 of Jesus, saying to me, hurry leave Jerusalem, for the 240 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:13.000 people here won't accept your testimony about me. The Lord, 241 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.080 I argued, they certainly know that in every synagogue imprisoned 242 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:18.399 and beat those who believed in you. And I was 243 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.879 in complete agreement. When your witness Stephen was killed, I 244 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.960 stood by and kept the coats they took off when 245 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:25.159 they stoned him. But the Lord said to me, go, 246 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:27.559 for I will send you far away to the gentiles. 247 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:31.000 The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they 248 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.799 all began to shout away with such a fellow, he 249 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:36.440 isn't fit to live. And they yelled and threw off 250 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.440 their coats and tossed handfuls of dust in the air. 251 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:41.559 Is that where we end? 252 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:47.200 Yeah, twenty three. So this is uh yeah, verse number 253 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.799 twenty three. That's correct. Yep. So you know it's great 254 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:53.559 because it's just like Acts chapter nine, and so we 255 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:57.200 read nine. That's Paul's conversion. Yeah, and then Paul basically 256 00:11:57.240 --> 00:11:59.720 offers his defense by explaining his conversion. Yeah. 257 00:11:59.559 --> 00:11:59.679 Yea. 258 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.320 By the way, this is a really cool thing in 259 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:05.039 so many levels. The first thing that it tells us 260 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:10.159 is it tells us your story is impactful for people. So, 261 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.279 you know, like a lot of ways to tell people 262 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:15.200 about Jesus is just to tell them your story. And 263 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:17.960 I tell the story all the time about how you know, 264 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:21.559 I was in the driveway of my house and that 265 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:23.960 my pastor took me out to lunch and drove me home, 266 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:27.440 and five point thirty in the afternoon on May fifteenth, 267 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:30.600 nineteen eighty five, I accepted Christ And that was my 268 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:33.039 conversion story. That's when I met Jesus for the first time. 269 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:37.440 And so that's what Paul's doing. But you'll notice though, 270 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.519 like a surgeon, you know, Paul is also like, hey, 271 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:43.799 by the way, I'm the Paul that used to, you know, 272 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:47.200 be a zealot for you guys, and let me tell 273 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:50.480 you the reason why I've changed. So he's throwing in 274 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.600 his Roman citizenship there, he's throwing in the fact that 275 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:57.440 he's a Jew, the fact that he studied under Gamelliol, 276 00:12:57.559 --> 00:12:59.399 you know, all these different things, and then he speaks 277 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:00.840 in Aramaic, which, by the way, where do you go. 278 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:03.879 Paul, Yeah, yeah, Well, so there's so many cool things. 279 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:05.960 We'll pivot back into that and kind of move through. 280 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:12.200 But Paul uses every tool in his toolbox to be 281 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:15.200 able to build some common ground with these people who 282 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:18.399 wanted to kill him, which is really extraordinary, and so 283 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:21.440 he say, hey, I'm a Jew. Well, he speaks to 284 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:25.039 the Roman soldier in Greek Greek yeah, which means he 285 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:26.600 was very sophisticated and well educated. 286 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:29.279 Yeah, right, said whoa, whoa, whoa, you know Greek. 287 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:33.200 Yeah, common commoners wouldn't do that. So that immediately got 288 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:38.799 him credibility with the with the Roman soldier or the commander. 289 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.120 And then he pivots. He says, hey, can I speak 290 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.600 to them? And he's sure, you're pretty sophisticated. You seem 291 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.440 like you're put together. Maybe this is just a big misunderstanding, 292 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:49.039 and he asks him, aren't you the Egyptian that led 293 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:53.320 these four thousand guys on this assassin raid? And Josephus 294 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:55.200 wrote about that. Actually, it's kind of cool when the 295 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.720 Bible talks about the exact same things that other historians is. 296 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:01.799 So Josephus, being one of the prominent Roman historians at 297 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:04.799 the time, wrote about this Egyptian who led these four 298 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:07.799 thousand guys, and then that's who this commander thought that 299 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:10.480 he was. And Paul's like, no, I'm just a Jewish 300 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:15.600 kid from Tarsus, right, But he's speaking in Greek, and 301 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:17.840 the guy's like, wow, you know you must be educated. 302 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.080 This must be a misunderstanding. Yeah, go ahead and speak 303 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.279 to him. And then he turns from speaking in Greek 304 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.840 and he turns to these Jewish people and speaks in Arabic. 305 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:28.039 And then because they hear him speaking in Arabic, they 306 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:29.559 all get silent and go, who's this guy? 307 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:29.720 Why? 308 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:31.519 See? This is now their heart language. 309 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:32.720 He speaks our language. 310 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.440 This is one of us, right, this isn't their business language. 311 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.519 So they probably were accusing him to the Romans with Greek. 312 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:42.200 That's probably what they were accusing him with. Right, So 313 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:44.519 they were communicating with these women, and then he turns 314 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:46.360 around and speaks to them in their house language, the 315 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.159 language mom and dad speak, the language gramm, my grandpa speak. 316 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.480 This is this speaks to our heart. And they're like, 317 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:53.960 wait a minute, maybe we misunderstood this guy for just 318 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.399 a second, and let's listen to him. Then he begins 319 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:00.840 unpack it. Hey I was a student of Gamala Gamelliel. Basically, 320 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:04.000 what he's saying is, hey, I'm a I'm a Harvard lawgrad. Right, 321 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.600 That's that's what he's saying, I graduated from Yale Law School. 322 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:10.279 And because if you studied under Gamaliel, he was the 323 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:13.919 pinnacle Rabbi uh In in that era. 324 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:17.360 And then and then he associated himself with Caiaphas, with 325 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.000 the Sanhedrin. Yeah, you're talking about the incident next chapter 326 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:23.240 seven when Stephen was stoned and and and what he's 327 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:25.919 saying is he's like, yeah, I was there, I was 328 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.440 I was a party to that. You understand he was 329 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:30.639 without saying and he was trying to say, hey, you 330 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:32.840 know who I am. Yeah, so if you know who 331 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.320 you're talking to, you're talking to me. 332 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:35.840 It's exactly what he does, but he does it in 333 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.159 such a nice way, right, he's being so it's it's 334 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:41.879 as if a bunch of just commoners in the in 335 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:44.759 the temple or in a religious environment decide that they're 336 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.519 going to go ahead, and they're angry at a pH d. 337 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:51.919 Theologian for breaking some what they perceived to be a 338 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.960 religious law. Right that that that's what's happening here. And 339 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:56.279 he's kind of pointing it out to them, but a 340 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:58.320 nice way. And then he goes on and he says, 341 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.000 what Versus three and four is it? He says in 342 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:06.799 verse four, he says, and I persecuted the followers. Oh no, no, no. 343 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:08.960 At the end of verse three, he said, I became 344 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.080 very zealous to honor God and everything I did, just 345 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:16.879 like all of you today. That's an incredibly respectful statement. 346 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:19.000 He's like, listen, I know you guys don't mean to 347 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:23.240 be jerks, right right, and and and I was as 348 00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:26.600 zealous for for what we believe as you are right now. 349 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:30.159 And let me tell you. And so he's not saying 350 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:32.600 that they're being a bunch of jerks or that they're 351 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:35.480 being mean. He's just saying, I think you misunderstand. Yeah, 352 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:36.360 you misunderstand. 353 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:39.120 Very clever too, wasn't it. It was so clever because 354 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.679 he threw in the nuance of saying, like I was, 355 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.480 I had just as much passion as you, like you 356 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.120 think you think that you're you know, you need to 357 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.440 go reach this level because you're that passionate about God. 358 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:52.279 Let me explain to you who you're talking to. 359 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.799 Yeah, you know, and I think that's incredibly important when 360 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:57.519 we're sharing our faith. And that's what he does. Then 361 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.360 he pivots into, hey, this is my salvation moment. He's 362 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:02.799 trying to build some common ground with them. And I 363 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.079 think Christians sometimes on social media, especially because it's not 364 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:09.920 a great forum for substantial communication, but even in person, 365 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.160 we kind of develop a habit of making it be 366 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:15.960 an argument. It's a you're wrong, I'm right, I found 367 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:19.240 the truth and you are in ignorance, right, as opposed 368 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:22.000 to building commonalities, say I understand where you're coming from. 369 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.200 That's where I came from too. And I can remember 370 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.680 one time I was on an airplane and I had 371 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:30.440 a guy, pretty successful guy, he's a vice president of 372 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:33.680 his company. We were sitting beside each other and he 373 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:36.319 just asked me, you know, what was I doing? And 374 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:38.400 I mentioned that I was doing some work in one 375 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:41.319 of the countries helping train pastors. And so then he 376 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:44.079 immediately speaks up saying that he's not a Christian and 377 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:49.079 then kind of implies to me that I probably am 378 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:50.759 am an elitist that would look down on him and 379 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:54.519 his lifestyle, right just immediately. He doesn't say it outright, 380 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:56.640 but I mean it's pretty strong. And then he had 381 00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:01.160 said some really challenging words to me, like you know, oh, well, 382 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:03.599 if you're a pastor, you know you're so innocent and 383 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:06.440 you're so you have no idea, and I said, well, hey, 384 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.000 can I tell you my story where I came from, 385 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.960 because I think maybe you think of me differently than 386 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:13.119 I really am. And I said, man, I'm just a 387 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:16.519 kid from Elba, Michigan. I remember when they put up 388 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:21.039 the blinking light in my you know, neighborhood. It was nothing. 389 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:22.960 And then I said, but I grew up. There was 390 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:24.799 a lot of physical abuse my family. There's a lot 391 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:28.400 of alcoholism. There's a lot of these things. And God 392 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:30.160 pulled me out of that. And I remember the day 393 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:32.680 when I found out that Jesus would forgive my sins 394 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:34.960 and that he would give me adopt me into his 395 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:37.920 very own family. And that day when I trusted Christ 396 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:40.079 it was always his plan to adopt me into his family. 397 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.279 He changed my name, he changed my future everything. And 398 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:43.839 by the way, that's what really happened in my physical 399 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.920 life as well. My dad adopted me after we left 400 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:50.359 the abuse, and the guy gets all teared up and 401 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.839