Skip to content Wk 4: So Close Dec 22 · 44 min ...more
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Joby Martin is the founder and lead pastor of The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida. Since launching the church in 2012, he has led a movement for all
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0:00 Church. How are we? Everybody good? Good. Merry, merry Christmas. If you've got your bibles, and I hope you do, we're gonna be in acts chapter 24. We're the only church in the world that does the Christmas service out of0:10 acts chapter 24. Ain't that great? But that's where we are. So that's where we'll be, and it'll have something to do with Christmas here in a little while. And in fact, 1 of the 1 of the great dangers of Christmas is0:20 obviously that you get so caught up in the trappings and the commercialization of Christmas that you miss Jesus. And so I don't want you to miss Jesus. We're gonna talk about him a lot. But quite honestly, I don't really0:31 preach against the commercialization of Christmas because I kinda like it. I I'm I'm into Rudolph. I like Santa Claus. I like that he brings me good gifts, but I deserve it because I'm good. That was something that0:43 bothered me my whole life growing up. I thought, man, Santa Claus is not very observant because he's not paying attention to my year. But still, every year, we would get all kind of awesome gifts. And and some of some of0:54 my greatest memories growing up as a kid are all about Christmas. You see, grew up in Dillon, South Carolina, and we love Christmas more than you do because what you people do, y'all just decorate, like, lights on your1:06 house just at Christmas time. But my people my people put you put put the lights up year round. I mean, can remember pulling into my uncle's house and he still it was like June or July, and he had his, you know, those1:17 large colored bulb Christmas lights on his chain link fence, and they were full on plugged in and raring to go in July. And I just remember pulling in, and my dad looks at me and says, son, you can't hide money. Right?1:28 And that's that's my people. And then and then the way we rolled Christmas at my house is about the day after Thanksgiving or so, My dad would go to the Christmas closet. See, most of you1:40 didn't have a Christmas closet, but in my house we did. And you'd open up the Christmas closet and there was the fully decorated Christmas tree from last year. Just we just left it up. It was it was a artificial tree1:49 obviously, but he would just reach into the Christmas closet, get the fully decorated tree out and just go and put it in the corner. And it always took a little while because, know, we only decorated the side that you2:00 could see. And so I know some of you crazy people decorate all the way around the tree, and that's ridiculous. So we just did the side you can see she kinda got to line it up just right. Remember the tinsels who put the2:10 little tinsels on there? Just freshen that bad boy back up, plug her in and then boo yeah, it's Christmas time. Right? And then the good news in that if it's you know, if it's if it's March and you need a little holiday2:21 spirit, you could just peek into the Christmas tree closet and there it is all year long. So so we did that. And then my dad, he's an inch interesting guy. He he he would,2:32 like, cry poverty all year. I mean, he had us convinced that we were broker than broke. You know? We'd I'd be at Walmart, like, daddy, can I get this Hot Wheels card? It'd be 50 cent. He was like, I don't know if we can2:42 afford that. You know? I thought, god. Boy, things are rough at our house. But then at Christmas time, he would just lavish us with gifts. I mean, he'd get full of Christmas spirit. And I'm talking about Santa Claus2:53 showed up in a major, major, major way. When I was 16 years old, I got a 66 Mustang for Christmas. Yeah. Praise the Lord. Alright? So if you're 16, you parents should probably get you a Mustang. That's what I'm saying.3:07 And I'll never get out sitting there, you know, how you you ever notice your Christmas pictures are awful. Right? Just terrible because everybody sitting around their underwear all just terrible looking opening gifts and3:14 they're awful. Anyway, praise God Facebook didn't exist when I was growing up. So we're we're sitting there opening our presents and I got the last 1. He hands me this little box and I thought it was gonna it it was a3:23 ring box. So I thought it'd be like a class ring or something. I open it up and it's keys to a 66 Mustang and he had it it was hidden behind my grandma's house. Santa Claus thought we lived at my grandma's house, so we3:32 always had to go there to get our our Santa Claus. And so, man, I'm excited. I run out and get in my my 66 Mustang and just put 2 racing stripes right through my grandma's yard of the month if I'm just peeling out3:43 white. So that was a good 1, but then my favorite Christmas memory of all time was this. I was in the sixth grade and and my brother was like in third grade and we stayed in this bedroom upstairs3:54 and I'm I'm the early riser Christmas guy. I don't know about these people that sleep packed till like 8 o'clock on Christmas morning. Not me. I'd wake up every hour from about 3 o'clock on, know, kinda tiptoe, peek4:05 around the corner, see if Santa Claus has been there. And so it's about 4 AM and I was in the sixth grade and I tiptoe down the down the stairs, and I'd peek around the corner. And there there are 2 Honda dirt4:17 bikes in my grandma's living room right by the fireplace. There's a there's a Honda 80 and a Honda 50. 50 is for for my little brother, and I had a 80, a dirt bike. Alright? So parents, you probably ought to get your4:28 middle school kids motorcycles. I think that's the moral of the story. But I was so excited, man. I came down, and I I go wake up my brother, and I come back down. I just couldn't stand it. So I just got on it at 4 AM4:39 and just said, ying ying ying and cranked it up right there in Merck's house and it filled up the whole living room with smoke. And then her bedroom door comes opening and she comes stumbling out like with a robe and4:51 that little kind of old lady helmet thing they wear to sleep in, you know, and just comes out and she's and she's saying something to me and I'm like, can't hear you except I was brought me a motorcycle. I'm not gonna4:59 just keep going. So it was awesome. But it really didn't have anything to do with Jesus. The whole my whole growing up. Now I I will say this that when I became a Christian, began read through the5:11 New Testament on on who god is, that god is a father that wants to love and lavish love upon his kids. My dad did paint a very good picture of being a loving, earthly father that helped me understand my loving5:23 heavenly father but in all that Christmas stuff, we we just it never it never made it to Jesus and 1 of the things that that I'm really concerned about for us as a church and what we're going5:35 to see here in the text is you could be so close to Jesus and miss the whole thing like this Christmas. You could be so close to the manger and miss the savior. In all your5:46 activities so I'm not saying do less or buy less. Alright? Go to all the parties. Wear your ugly Christmas sweater. Buy all the presents. You won't get me something if you want to. I will gladly receive it in the name of5:55 Jesus. Okay? Come on. It's all fun. But in all of that, don't miss Jesus. What we're gonna find here is Felix who we're gonna talk about today. He was so close.6:07 He was so close and yet he missed it. 1 of the reasons we do Christmas in a box, 1 of the reasons we do this to give this to you for free is so that wherever you are this Christmas season, whether you're traveling or6:19 in your home or wherever, that you could spend some time and making sure that you get focused on Jesus during this Christmas season. So, Acts chapter 246:31 verses 22 and following. I want to just read the text because then I'm going to break it apart verse by verse and so and then we're gonna come back and here's what we're gonna look at. Felix, remember last week,6:43 Paul lays out the gospel for Felix and so, what we're gonna see this week is we're gonna see Felix response to the gospel and his response to the gospel is it looks like he's being drawn to the lord and he gets pretty6:54 close but Felix never crosses that line in the faith and there's there's really 4 big stumbling blocks that Felix has here that I think are pretty common in this service, in7:06 this church, and especially in churches all over Jacksonville today. So, let me read the the the text and then we'll we'll break it down. It's Acts chapter 24 22 and following. It says, but Felix, having a rather7:17 accurate knowledge of the way, he put them off. That's Paul preaching the He put them off saying, when Liseis, the tribune comes down, I will decide your case. And then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be7:29 kept in custody, but should have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. And after some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. And he sent for Paul,7:41 and he heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, go away for the present, and when I get an7:52 opportunity, I will summon you. And at the same time, he had hoped that money would be given him by Paul. And so he sent for him often and conversed with him. And when 2 years had elapsed, Felix was8:04 succeeded by Porcas Festus, which is a lovely name if you're looking for a child's name there. Okay? It's probably worked better for a girl, but that's just lovely. And desiring to do the Jews a8:16 favor, Felix left Paul in prison. So what you're gonna see here are 4 kind of hang ups that Felix have. He has. Even as he's moving and listening to the gospel and he's close to Jesus and yet he misses it8:28 and so again, this is like a your Christmas morning, your Christmas morning that don't be don't be close to the manger and then miss the savior that's been born under us. So, we're going walk through it verse by verse8:38 verse 22 but Felix, having rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them all saying, when Lesaias, the tribune comes, I will decide your case. You see, so Felix knows about Jesus but he doesn't know Jesus. Felix8:50 knows about Jesus. He has a rather accurate knowledge of the way. So, if you were to ask Felix, who is Jesus and who is god and what did Jesus do on the cross and he could tell you all the stuff. He could pass a doctrine9:02 or a theology test but the problem is is that he he knows about him but he doesn't know him. Folks, today in Jacksonville, Florida, thousands and thousands and tens of9:13 thousands of people will show up to church just like they always show up to church, and they know about Jesus, and they know about baptism, and they know about communion, and they know when to stand up, when to sit down,9:23 and when to raise your hand, and when to not raise your hand, and how to give a tithe or an offering, and they they've been to Sunday school, and they've been to VBS, and they know about him, but they don't know him. And9:32 it's a it's a scary thing. As a pastor, it is frightening. It's frightening to see people file in and out of church and not know God. And that and this is this is Felix, kinda what he's9:44 doing. He knows about Jesus, but he doesn't know Jesus. And Jesus himself has some has some severe warnings about people that know about him but don't know him. In Matthew chapter 7, these9:56 these are some of the scariest verses in the whole Bible. In Matthew chapter 7 21 to 23, here's what Jesus says. He says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.10:07 That means on the day of judgment, there will be some people surprised that they're not going to heaven, that they're standing in line feeling awesome like they've got a ticket, and then they're gonna get to the front of10:19 the line, and they don't have the ticket. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the 1 who does the will of my father who is in heaven. It was his will that you would surrender10:30 your life to the lordship of Christ. That you wouldn't just know about him, but you would know him. That you wouldn't just pursue religion, but you would have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And then on verse 22, on10:40 that day, many, not a few people. Okay? Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? Let me10:52 just confess to you, if I'm doing ministry alongside somebody and some fella cast out a demon, I'm thinking he's probably going to heaven. Because I've never cast out a demon and I've tried,11:04 alright? I prayed for you to be undemon possessed sometimes and then come back the next week and see you again and go, well, nope, still possessed. It didn't work. I've never cast out a demon. And I'm not gonna have you11:15 raise your hands because some you people are like, oh, do it all the time. God bless your ministry. Alright. I've never cast out a demon. I sent a seventh grader home from camp 1 time, that's the closest I've ever come11:24 to casting out a demon. And I preach, but I I you know, I don't know if I'm a prophet, but there are people in line that aren't getting in. And they prophesy in your11:36 name, they cast out demons in your name, and they do many mighty works in your name. I don't know what your resume for the kingdom is, but that's a that's a strong resume, is it not?11:48 Verse 23, and then and then will Jesus declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. That it's not about what you do for the12:00 kingdom. It just comes down to this. Do you know him? I mean, know him. Do you know or do you just know about him? Are are you thinking, well, obviously, I'm going to go to heaven because I attend12:11 church. I've been baptized. I had my first communion. I I sponsored compassion kids. I've been on a mission trip. I've done all the things. Look, you can do all that stuff and still12:23 not know him. What I'm afraid of, especially in our bible belt community that we live in, is that there's a lot of people that have been inoculated with the gospel. They got just enough gospel that they12:35 think they don't need Jesus. And it's frightening. It's terrifying. And so Felix, Felix has a head knowledge of Jesus but he doesn't know him like he doesn't have a12:47 relationship with him. And it's crazy. It's crazy to believe the right things but not put your trust and faith and hope in him. Now, right belief is12:58 extremely important but it won't save you. It's about surrendering your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And some of you say, hey, but I believe. Well, congratulations. Look what the Bible says about your belief.13:09 James 2 19, you believe that god is 1, you do well, even the demons believe and shudder. You believe the right things? Congratulations. You're qualified to be a demon. They don't know him. And to and13:21 to stay there, to stay in that like intellectual intellectual knowledge of God without that surrendering your heart to God, It's like Facebook stalking your wife. It just doesn't make any13:33 sense. It's like you can get all the information, but but you lack all the intimacy. Look, I don't wanna Facebook stalk my wife and just know where she's been and what she's drinking from Starbucks and some pictures and13:44 stuff. No. I wanna know her like a deep abiding no. I wanna know her like the bible says no. Like Adam knew Eve and they bore a son. Okay? You can't do that on Facebook.13:57 And it's and it it's it's ridiculous if if that's how you were to pursue your wife. It's horrifying if that defines your relationship with the lord, that it would just be here, that it would just be more14:09 more information in your cranium as opposed to just to actually knowing him. And that's what Felix does. But Felix having a rather accurate knowledge of the way put them14:21 off. Are you putting the lord off? And yet you know all the right things in your head. Verse 23, so he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty and that none of his friends14:33 should be prevented from attending his knees. So, you can see that Felix has a positive encounter with Paul. He likes Paul. He appreciates the message that Paul is bringing. And if you've ever wondered how Paul could14:43 make disciples and plant churches and write half of the New Testament from prison, it's because of this. It's kinda like house arrest and and it's not super strict here. Verse 24, and after some days, Felix came with his14:55 wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and he heard him speak about faith in Christ. So you can see here that that god is is beginning to woo Felix. If Felix is interested, He doesn't15:07 even believe it all. He's not ready to surrender his life to Christ, but he keeps showing up. And not only does he keep showing up, but he's bringing his wife with him. That's you that some of you, that's your story.15:16 You've been here for 2 or 3 or 4 weeks, and you and you get mad at me. Because every week I call you a wretched black hearted sinner. And let me tell you this, it's worse than you think. You you are. You are your own15:26 worst enemy. You're your own worst enemy. Nobody's lied to you more than you. Nobody's broken more promises to you than you. I mean, it's it's really it's really worse than you think. You're not just bad. You're dead.15:38 And then you get mad. I can't believe him. How does he think he is? I'm never coming back. And then you go get your wife and go get in the car. Where are going? Going to church. Alright? And you come back and you come15:46 back and you come back because like Felix, there's just something about it that you know that you need to hear. That's where Felix is. And so he gets his wife, Drusilla. And I gotta tell you about Drusilla. Also, a15:57 beautiful name, ain't it? Any guy's name Drew will name your daughter after you Drusilla. You should you should think about that. So Drusilla was a teenager. Felix was not. So that's a little bit scandalous. Drusilla was16:06 married to another guy, and Felix paid this this guy to to sort of infiltrate Drusilla's life and get and and talk her out of leaving her husband in Egypt and come and being married to Felix. And16:18 this is Felix's third wife and so that's all scandalous but he wants to get her to come and hear the gospel and hear Paul and so over and over and over, he says, he he summons Paul and Paul comes in. Here's what16:30 Paul talks about. It says, he says, to hear him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And you know what? Paul's preaching here? See, we can know what Paul's preaching because of all the all the stuff Paul wrote like in16:41 Ephesians and Galatians and Philippians and all those other books. And so Paul is preaching about faith in Christ Jesus. He's probably preaching what he would say in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8. For by grace you have16:51 been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no 1 may may boast. So if Paul's talking to Jerusalem, he's he's saying, listen, it's not just about keeping17:03 the 10 commandments because you can't keep them anyway. It's not about about moralistic deism. It's not just try to do what's right. And once you once you can do what's right, then you'll be acceptable to God. And he's17:14 probably talking to Felix about it's not just about believing the right things, but do you know him? You've gotta surrender your life to him. And so he's preaching to them about what it means to have faith in God. He's17:26 talking about grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Not morality, not education, but life is in Christ and in Christ alone. Verse 25, it says, and and he17:38 reasoned about righteousness, self control, and the coming judgment. Now, that looks like 3 different things but it's really just the gospel. It's just 3 ways to to describe the gospel. He reasons with him17:50 about righteousness. Now, this will help you. Whenever you're doing bible study, anytime the bible uses the word righteous or righteousness, just just think right standing before god. That righteousness isn't about doing18:01 a bunch of good things because we we we don't really do a bunch of good things. Righteousness is about a right standing before god and the bible says that none of us are righteous. Nobody. I mean, think about the best18:12 person that you can think of. Your nana, alright? Even she has sinned and fallen short of the glory of god. The Bible does. It says that there are none righteous, not 1 that that when we sin against18:24 an almighty god, it requires an everlasting punishment And in his goodness, he is just and he is merciful. But all sin will be judged. And all of us start out18:36 unrighteous. We have chosen to turn our back on god. And so what do you do about it? What do you do about the unrighteous condition that we find ourselves in? Because the 1 thing that we can all agree on,18:48 regardless of what you believe or how you grew up, regardless of what religion you're in, it doesn't matter. All of us agree that there's something wrong with our world. Everyone would look at this world and19:00 go, there's something's broken. And then all the different religions and philosophies and and and ways of thinking, they're they're all just answers to what do you do with what went wrong. And so19:12 as Paul is reasoning about righteousness, what he would say is that you can't earn your own righteousness. There's not enough good that you could do to earn a right standing with God.19:24 Because even if from this day forward you were perfect, what are you gonna do about all the unrighteousness that happened yesterday and the previous days? That sin, that debt must be paid for. But God19:36 loved you so much that he sent his son to live that righteous life, to live that perfect holy life, to pay the debt on the cross that you owed, that he didn't have to19:48 pay, but he chose to to endure the full wrath of god, and he got the consequences for our sin and you get the no consequences of his righteousness. He would say it this way in second Corinthians 519:59 21. That god made him who was without sin to be sin for us that we would be made his righteousness. The Bible call or theologians call that double imputation. That our sins are20:11 imputed to hit Christ on the cross and his righteousness is imputed to us. That we get what we don't deserve and he got what he didn't deserve. That we get his righteousness and he20:23 gets the wrath that we deserve. And then, therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because Christ paid the debt in full. And that is how we're made right20:35 or in right standing before god. Theologians would call it substitutionary atonement that Christ paid the price on our behalf. 1 of my favorite illustrations that Paul uses is in Ephesians chapter20:47 6, the apostle Paul is talking about spiritual warfare and maybe you've heard about putting on the full armor of god and Paul says, stand firm then and and put on the full armor of god, the helmet of salvation and then20:57 he says, the breastplate of righteousness. It's a picture of imputed righteousness. Have you ever seen the Roman breastplate? And I love talking about this because I I just love the the example the holy spirit's given21:08 us. Have you seen the Roman breastplate? I don't know who modeled for that but that brother was on some P90X or something, wasn't he? I mean, he looked good. Got the just perfect pecs and just 6. He didn't have, like, a21:18 6 pack. He's even got all the little, like, riblets on the side. You know? It just all just boom. And so when you put on the Roman breastplate, it covers over whatever you got going on under here. And so if I were to21:30 put on the breastplate of righteousness, you don't see all that jiggles. You just see pecks and abs. You're like, man, that that guy's been trained in the core or something. And it's a picture of righteousness. That21:42 when you surrender your life to the lordship of Christ, you put on Christ's righteousness. And that when our creator, king, and judge looks at you, he does not see that wretched, black hearted sinner21:53 because righteousness has covered that and he sees the perfection of his son, Jesus Christ. And so this is what Paul is reasoning with him about, about about how to be saved, about how to be made right22:05 with God and self control. Now self control is 1 of the it's a fruit of the spirit. There's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. And so what he's talking to him22:17 about here is it's not an outside in. It's not you gotta try harder, do better, get control of yourself. It's when you surrender your life to Christ and you put on that breastplate of righteousness, the spirit living22:28 inside of you as we abide in Christ begins to work its way to the outside and we get fruit of the spirit that get begins to pop up. So it's not try harder. It's stay close to Jesus, and22:40 Christ in you begins to transform your life, not from the outside in, not behavior modification, but it's a heart change. It's a soul transformation. Can I tell you why we just preach the22:52 gospel over and over and over and over? Because I do not have the power or the ability to change anything in your life. Now I believe I believe I can keep your attention, and I do believe I can motivate23:04 you, at least to the point that you get to the parking lot. And then it's over. And I know it's over because if I preach a sermon about honor your brother and sister, you're still flipping each other off in the parking23:15 lot because you're mad. Alright? So I got no power to change the heart, but Christ does. And that's what he's talking to him about here, about a fruit of the spirit. So he talks to him about about righteousness, about23:27 self control, which if you hire a guy to go break up another marriage so you can marry the girl, you got self control issues. Right? So that's what he's talking to him about and the coming judgment. And he'd say, hey,23:38 look, Felix. I I know you think you don't answer to anybody, but there will come a day and you will stand before the most high god and he will judge you because he is just and he is holy and he is right and he23:50 will either judge you unrighteous and if so, you will pay eternally by being separated for him or if you have bowed your knee to Christ as your lord and savior, then you will be judged as righteous and you'll24:02 be an heir of everything that is his and so what he's what he's hammering home here is the gospel and so it says, he reasoned about righteousness and self control and the coming judgment and Felix24:14 was alarmed. Felix was alarmed probably because people didn't talk to Felix this way. You know, he was the governor. He could have people killed and do whatever, and here's Paul just shooting him straight. And Paul knows24:25 he didn't have time to to to be all lovey dovey about this. So he just just going straight at it. He he also probably like many of you know it's true that whenever you hear the gospel and the holy spirit's working in24:37 you, you just hear it different and you go, oh. You know what? I think he's right. As much as I wanna be defensive and and and say, well, here's why I act this way. You know. You know it's true that you need24:49 to repent and surrender. And then I think I think that he's interested. I think Felix is is kinda leaning in close. But here's what he does. So Felix was alarmed, and he says,25:00 go away for the present. And when I get an opportunity, I will summon you. So the first the first problem that Felix has is it's just an intellectual knowledge and not a heart relationship. The second problem25:12 that Felix has is that he he doesn't think the timing's right. You see, Felix kinda has that but first attitude. Yeah. I believe everything you're saying but first, I've I'm I wanna do some other25:24 things and then 1 day, when the opportunity is right, that's when I'll surrender to Christ. Look, I hear it all the time. That there are there are people in college and they go, hey, listen. I believe all the stuff but25:35 first, you know, I've kind of heard about college years and there's some stuff I want to get done here in college and then, he will be and have more to forgive me of later, alright? And and then, I'll surrender or yeah,25:46 I believe but I'm just going to put it off right now because the opportunity is not right because I'm single And when I get married, that's when I'll like settle down and follow Jesus. Or but first, we're gonna have kids25:56 or but first and and let me tell you, Felix never finds the opportunity. If you read the extra biblical literature on the life of Felix, Felix dies without ever finding the opportunity26:08 to surrender his life to Christ. And so some people, they just it's a head knowledge, not a heart knowledge. Some people like Felix are waiting for some kind of perfect opportunity or waiting as26:20 soon as I get this question answered, as soon as I don't have so much doubt, as soon as this happens then, listen, the opportunity is now. Life can begin now. Eternity eternal life is not what26:31 happens when you die. Eternal life is that moment that you surrender your life to the lordship of Christ. Felix says, hey, go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I'll summon you. Verse 26 and it26:43 says, at the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul so he sent for him often and conversed with him. You see, the third problem that Felix has is Felix is trying to trying to make a kind of bargain26:55 with god. Felix is doing the, hey, god, if you will do this, then, I'll do that and and people do it all the time. People come to god and say, if you'll heal my27:06 cancer, if you'll answer my prayer, if you'll give me the job, if you'll fix my finances, if you'll fix my marriage, then, then, I'll be your follower. And let me27:18 just, who do we think we are? Who do we think we are? Listen, you're in no place to bargain with god. Did you know you cannot simultaneously surrender to Jesus and try27:30 to bargain with him at the same time? Those things are mutually exclusive. He is lord god almighty, sovereign, maker of heaven and earth and god is not insecure. He'll be just fine27:42 without you and without me. I hope you know that. I hope you know that god almighty does not have an eHarmony account, and he's hoping that somebody will like him and connect with him. But the but so many times, that's27:54 how we treat him. As if as if god is some kind of insecure junior high girl just hoping we'll ask him to dance. No, that's not how it that's not how it works. In28:06 fact, do you know it's god's grace that he won't bargain with you? Because if he would take the bargain, if he would say, okay, what's what's keeping you from me is you're not getting something that you want, well, let28:16 me give you something that you want so that you'll follow me, then who's God? That means you're Lord, and he's serving you. It's just a Christian form of idolatry. It's the problem with the28:28 prosperity gospel. Is that anytime well, anytime you you put an adjective in front of gospel, it seeks it it ceases to be the gospel. The gospel can stand on its own just fine. Doesn't need any adjectives but but what28:38 begins to happen is you begin to say, okay, god, you owe me. If I do these things, if I pray this prayer, if I give enough money, if I sow the seed, if I whatever, then you owe me this stuff and you begin to worship the28:49 stuff and it's god's goodness that he won't play the bargain game with you. Now, we serve a good dad that wants to give good gifts to his children but you know what the best gift is? Him, him,29:02 and for some of you, he'll bless you because it'll draw you to him and some of you, what you would see as a blessing would be the biggest curse in your life because it would drive a wedge between you and your heavenly29:12 father. And so, we're in no place to bargain with god. You know, Job in the Old Testament, Job, he tried to he kind of tried to call god out. You should read the book of Job. Just read the first few chapters to get a29:24 little context of who Job is and he was a righteous man and and how he lived and then it all fell apart. You probably know that. You can skip all the middle. He just got all these cruddy friends, give him bad advice and29:32 then at the end, Job tries to bargain with god. Job, in the Hebrew, it says, Job puts god on trial. Like, god, you sit right here and I've got a judgment against you because you're not treating me the way29:44 I deserve to be treated And then and then I love it. You should read like the last last 3 or 4 chapters of the book of Job. And god god gets a little angry at him and says, Job, stand here and take it like a man. And he29:56 begins to ask him all these rhetorical questions. Where were you on the morning that I hung the stars in the sky? And you know what you hear from Job? Not much. Because he's like, oh, yeah. I wasn't around30:08 then. And where were you when I caused it the lightning and I caused it the storm? And where were you when I was deciding what what part of this earth would be ocean and what part would be land? In other words, god's30:18 like, who do you think you are to try to bargain with me and come against me? That you can't even lick your own elbow and you're gonna come against the almighty god? You wanna try it right now, don't you? You wanna be30:29 like, wow. I am limited. Yeah. And so Felix is like, as soon as as soon as god, as soon as you do something for30:40 me, maybe then, maybe then, I'll follow you. By the way, Felix's name means happy. Happy. It's kind of ironic, isn't it? Because that's the god he was serving was his30:52 own happiness and so he kept thinking there was going be a payday. Verse 27 and when 2 years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcas Festus.31:06 Actually, he gets fired. It's interesting too that Paul reasoned about righteousness, self control, and judgment. Felix gets kicked out of office because of an unrighteous act31:18 that he that he he killed a bunch of this Jewish uprising, and he wiped some people out and was very unrighteous. And that he lacked self control because that that relationship with his wife, I mean, was a lot of drama31:28 and it got him in a bunch of political trouble and then he sat under judgment and he got fired. And so they bring in this other guy. And then on his way out it says and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in31:39 prison. So some of the the stumbling blocks, it's that it was intellectual. You know? He knew about him, but he didn't know him. That that that he he had that but31:51 first mentality. Yeah. Believe all this stuff. But first, I've gotta, you know, I kinda wanna do some things for me. That he was trying to bargain with god. God, if you'll do your part, then maybe I'll be your follower.32:00 And then the last 1 is, he was more concerned about the approval of man than he was the approval of god. He was more concerned about what people thought of him than him surrendering his life to the lordship of32:12 Christ and so, here's the point. Here's what I want to ask you. Do you have the faith of Felix? And when I mean faith, I really mean faith in yourself or lack of32:24 faith. But as I look through these 4 characteristics of Felix, I know there's some people in this room right now, and and you fall into 1 of these categories that that maybe you have an32:35 intellectual ascent to the things that are true of god but you don't know him. So what I I would ask, do you know him? Do you know him as heavenly father? Have you surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus?32:47 And if your answer is yes, if if you would say, yeah, I'm a Christian, then what are you doing to stir your affections for the lord? You see, we are creatures of our environment. So a part of what we do here this32:59 morning in church together, the reason that we that we study his word and particularly the reason that we sing in songs is because there's just something about being in that environment that stirs your affections for the33:10 lord. What do you do that stir your affections for the lord? It's not just about another bible study or another activity. And it might be different for you, but what do you do? You see, it's why I33:22 take my wife on dates just to just to cultivate that environment where it stirs our affections for 1 another. And and and I'm a tell you, what I'm really trying to like, this past weekend, went on33:34 a date, not the best example. We did Wings and Ron Burgundy. So that's not, like, the most romantic ever. Some of you good old boys, it'd be a step in the right direction. Alright? But but we like I like to go to33:46 3 Forks, and they have this little private room. You gotta know somebody to get in there, I think. But I we go in there, and this little private wine room, and there's, like, a bazillion wine bottles all around. And we33:55 sit in there, nobody can interrupt us, and it's just us. And then we order wine. I order red wine, expensive cab. Why? Because it's romantic. And then the lady comes out there and she uncorks it and she34:07 pours you a little bit and you get it like this and you swirl it around. You know why? Me either. That's what Lars does. That's what I do. Just swirl it around like this. Then you smell34:19 it. I have no idea what I'm smelling for. Just And then you take a little sip and I don't even know what qualifies as a keeper or not. Okay? I don't even know what I'm doing. But then every time I'm like, oh, yeah.34:30 That's that's really good. No context to even compare it to. We're just cultivating that environment, order a steak, and just eyeball to eyeball.34:42 Just talk about whatever. And you know why we do that? For the nutritional value? No. No. Do you think I even do it for the steak? I love it. But no.34:54 Absolutely not. I'm there to continuously cultivate that relationship with my girl. The same thing needs to be true about your relationship with Christ. Read read John 15 when you get home.35:06 Abide in me and I will abide in you. Abide is a bible word. It just means stay close. Do whatever it takes to stir the affections for Christ in your heart. If35:17 that's worship music, another 1 for me and Jesus is is to to be in that tree stand, to just be in the woods, watch the sunrise, just feel the dewfall, just to be in that35:29 environment. It just, it's just good for my soul and Jesus. What about you? Is it just an intellectual pursuit of knowledge? Or do you have an abiding relationship with him?35:42 Some of you here are like are like Felix and that you're saying, okay, I believe that stuff but I gotta fight the, I want to find the right opportunity to surrender my life to Christ. Look, it's like the right35:53 opportunity to have kids. If you ever wait to the right opportunity, you'll never have 1. You just now is the time. Now is the time. And so some of you are waiting to surrender your life to Christ. What are you waiting36:04 for? It's like the man that's starving to death. It's putting putting a meal on hold because he wants to hold on to his hunger. Let me just assure you of this. The god is not withholding anything good from you. That's36:14 not what he wants to do. He's a good dad and once you taste and see that the lord is good, then you'll say, what in the world was I waiting on? But don't be like Felix, somebody that just that just wants to put it off or36:26 are you trying to bargain with god? Are you trying to bargain with god saying, okay, god, you're gonna come to me on my terms and here are my terms. If that's you, you have a lordship issue.36:37 That you are your own lord and god's not just gonna come in and worship you but that you have to surrender and if you've got doubts and questions and fears36:49 and anxieties and and unanswered questions, awesome. Pick em all up. Cross over the line of faith with em and for the rest of your life, god will love you anyway and you can work out all those questions and all that37:00 doubt and all that fear but but but god is not in the bargaining business some of you are more concerned about what they think than what he thinks And listen,37:12 if you're in college or in high school, from my perspective, it looks crazy. Listen, high school students, you wake up every day and you were so concerned about what a group of people think about you.37:24 And in in in 4 or 5 or 6 years, depending on your aptitude, I don't know how long it'll take you to get out, but in in the next few years, that group of people that you care so much about, you'll never even see37:36 them again. I mean, Ever. And you think, oh, we're gonna be best friends forever. No. You're not. No. You're not. Everybody's gonna move away all over the place, and then you're gonna see him at a reunion, at a 10 yearShow more
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