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Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons.

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Each week we bring you a different message

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from some of history's greatest speakers in the

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Christian faith, and powerful sermons from modern preachers

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too.

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This week we have Tim Keller with his

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message, A World of Idols.

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Acts 17, 16 to 21.

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While Paul was waiting for them in Athens,

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he was greatly distressed to see that the

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city was full of idols.

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So he reasoned in the synagogue with the

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Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well

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as in the marketplace day by day with

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those who happened to be there.

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A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began

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a dispute with him.

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Some of them asked, what is this babbler

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trying to say?

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Others remarked, he seems to be advocating foreign

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gods.

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And they said this because Paul was preaching

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the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

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Then they took him and brought him to

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a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said

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to him, may we know what this new

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teaching is that you are presenting?

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You are bringing some strange ideas to our

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ears, and we want to know what they

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mean.

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All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived

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there spent their time doing nothing but talking

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about and listening to the latest ideas.

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This is God's word.

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Now in our series here that we've been

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doing in the morning on the church, last

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week we came to talk about how the

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gospel, the essential message of Jesus Christ, changes

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us on the inside, how it revolutionizes us

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on the inside.

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And if we end there, I think modern

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people can really get into that.

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They say, that's great.

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Surely you notice that the newspaper articles are

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telling you that the supposedly secular city is

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filled with people who want to be spiritual,

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and spirituality is a big thing.

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And people want now in a way that

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is surprising a lot of folks.

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People are reaching out and saying, I need

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spirituality.

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But when I listen, and this is an

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oversimplification, of course, but when I listen to

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people talk about it, from what I can

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tell it goes like this.

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By spirituality they mean I want an inward

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center.

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I want an inward peace.

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I want an inward…

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I want to be suffused with a sense

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of meaning and the sacred.

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I need that inward strength so that I

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can reach my goals, so that I can

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follow my agenda.

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Now the problem is that Christianity doesn't actually

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fit into that model, and we mustn't listen

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to the Christian message in a way that,

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you know, tries to work it in.

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It doesn't fit in that model, because Christianity,

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though, on the one hand, is definitely inward

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transformation.

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It's a whole new agenda.

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It's not a way of helping you get

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to your agenda.

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It's a whole new agenda.

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Put it this way.

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I think most people think of religion like

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this illustration.

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Most people think of religion like this.

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Imagine you're in a room.

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It's a party.

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There's 20 people at the party, and you're

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supposed to get out there and mix, and

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you just don't have it.

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You don't have the energy.

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You don't have the love.

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You don't have the confidence.

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And so you say, how am I going

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to do that?

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And God comes up, and He touches you.

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And now you go out into the party.

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Now you can meet people.

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Now you have joy.

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Now you have energy, you see.

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Now you're ready to mix and do the

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things you want to do.

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That's not how Christianity understands what the touch

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of God means.

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Christianity would say, yeah, you're at a party,

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and you look out there.

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There's 20 people, and you're sitting here, and

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you're real upset because you just don't have

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what it takes.

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And God comes up and touches you, and

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you feel inwardly renewed.

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But when you look out there, now you

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see 80 people, 60 people who were invisible

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now are visible.

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And you see in the former approach, the

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difference between a person who's been touched by

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God and a person who is not touched

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by God, this person who's touched by God

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is out there meeting people, and the person

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who's not touched by God is sort of

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sitting there, needs inward strength.

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But Christianity would say, you don't just get

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it when God touches you kind of inward

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strength, but you get a whole new way

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of seeing everything.

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Everything.

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You can't listen to music the way you

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did before.

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You can't relate to other cultures the way

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you did before.

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You can't look at yourself the way you

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did before, but you can't relate to other

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people the way you did before.

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You relate to your government different.

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You relate to your neighborhood different.

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You relate to your job different.

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Everything changes.

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And actually, the difference between a person who's

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been touched by God and a person who's

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not touched by God is not a matter

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of just inner energy.

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It's a matter of worldview.

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I'll go further.

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It's a matter of sanity.

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Because if you haven't been touched by God,

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you look at the people who have, and

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they're walking around, and they're getting joy out

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of parts of the room that look to

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you like thin air.

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And they're filled with joy because they're hearing

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and they're seeing something, and you don't see

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it at all.

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And they're avoiding areas that you walk right

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through, and then you fall down, and you

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say, what happened?

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Christianity does not just inwardly change you, but

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it transforms not just inside, but it transforms

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the way in which you relate to every

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part of the world.

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Now, to understand that is important for everybody

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here.

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If you're a Christian, you say, yeah, I've

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heard you say that.

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What is that?

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How do I do that?

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And I will try to give you some

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principles today.

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What does it mean that Christianity transforms absolutely

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everything about my life?

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Modern people think religion is for the private

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world.

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Christianity will never do such a thing.

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Christianity says, when you're touched by God, it's

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deeply personal, but it's not at all private.

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It changes everything.

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So if you're a Christian, you need to

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know that.

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Now, if you're not sure you're a Christian

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or you're sure you're not a Christian, okay,

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if you're not sure what you believe or

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you're sure you don't believe, here's my suggestion

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to you.

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Please listen.

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It's very important, and here's why.

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I can say this without fear of contradiction.

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I can definitely make this case, but I

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don't have the time to.

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The vast majority of people who don't believe

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in Christianity have radically inaccurate ideas of what

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Christianity is.

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The vast majority of people who say, I've

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had it with Christianity, or I'm not interested,

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or I'm just indifferent to Christianity, they don't

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know what they're indifferent to.

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And what that means is—that's very dangerous—it means

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you don't know what you're rejecting.

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And I would think there's nobody here that

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wouldn't want to know what it is they're

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indifferent to.

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No intellectual integrity.

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It's very dangerous.

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And therefore, if you're here, you need to

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listen to understand what Christianity is.

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It's a very important way of understanding it,

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because almost always we take our modern categories,

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and we take our modern views, and we

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hear Christian lingo, or we hear Christian talk,

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and we work it into our category, say,

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oh, it's just like that, but it's not.

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Now, the best way to understand how Christianity

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doesn't just change you on the inside, but

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changes your relationship with everything in the world,

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is by looking how Paul reacts in this

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very famous place in time.

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Saint Paul—let's just take a look under these

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headings.

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Where he went, how he felt, what he

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saw, and what he did.

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Okay?

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Where he went, what he saw—pardon me—where he

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went, what he felt, you know, how he

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felt, excuse me.

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You know, I've gotten my—you know, went, saw.

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Went, felt, saw, and did.

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First of all, where he went.

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Look, we're just going to look at these

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first few verses.

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In verse 17, he went not just to

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the place where people were worshipping the Jews

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and the God-fearing Gentiles, not just the

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place where the God of the Bible was

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worshipped, but he went into the marketplace day

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by day.

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That's where he went with his faith, into

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the marketplace.

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Ah, what do we mean?

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Well, you know, one of the problems we

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have here is this word marketplace is just

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not going to evoke the reality because we

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don't have such a thing anymore.

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Not really.

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It's the agora, the marketplace in Athens.

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Now, what do we know about that?

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First of all, you have to remember this.

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Athens was the cultural capital of the world

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at that time.

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Yes, it had been—it wasn't the power capital

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anymore because Rome had taken over Greece, but

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it was still the intellectual capital.

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It was still the cultural capital.

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And in the midst of Athens, there was

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the marketplace, the agora.

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And one commentator puts it this way, on

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or just off the marketplace were temples, law

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courts, state offices, public archives, libraries, shops, concert

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halls, dance halls, gymnasiums, theaters, and galleries.

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Now, who was there?

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Everybody.

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And it's because there was no technology, really,

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everybody was there.

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You had the town officials and judges deliberating.

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You had artists creating.

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You had the stock market right there.

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Businessmen and—businessmen, I guess, were making all their

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deals.

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You had the media because you didn't have

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newspapers, and therefore, you had to go face

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to face and listen to the heralds.

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You had the philosophers debating.

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Why?

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You didn't have journals.

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You know, you couldn't work out your particular

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field of thought through journals debating back and

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forth.

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You had to go to the marketplace.

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You had to have face to face debates.

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You didn't have a stock market.

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You didn't have computers.

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You didn't have telephones.

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00:09:45,620 --> 00:09:47,040
You had to go and actually make the

275
00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:47,300
deal.

276
00:09:48,260 --> 00:09:49,640
Everything happened in the marketplace.

277
00:09:50,060 --> 00:09:51,380
We have nothing like it anymore.

278
00:09:52,500 --> 00:09:55,940
And therefore, this was the public space.

279
00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,960
This was the center of what set all—because

280
00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:01,140
it wasn't just wares.

281
00:10:01,580 --> 00:10:03,040
The marketplace was not just a place you

282
00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:03,620
shop for food.

283
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:05,180
This is not a shopping mall.

284
00:10:05,580 --> 00:10:08,380
This was a place you shopped for everything.

285
00:10:09,580 --> 00:10:11,840
This was the marketplace of ideas.

286
00:10:11,980 --> 00:10:14,120
This was the marketplace of philosophies.

287
00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:15,620
This was the marketplace of business.

288
00:10:15,780 --> 00:10:18,800
This was the marketplace of everything, the marketplace

289
00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:19,300
for art.

290
00:10:19,380 --> 00:10:20,500
This was the marketplace for everything.

291
00:10:20,780 --> 00:10:21,600
Everything happened here.

292
00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,520
And because it was Athens, maybe there's only

293
00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,680
three marketplaces in the whole Greco-Roman world,

294
00:10:28,780 --> 00:10:30,540
probably Rome and Athens and Alexandria.

295
00:10:30,540 --> 00:10:33,660
These are the three marketplaces that most had

296
00:10:33,660 --> 00:10:36,580
effect on the culture and society of the

297
00:10:36,580 --> 00:10:39,400
whole Greco-Roman world, and Paul goes there

298
00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:40,160
with his faith.

299
00:10:42,220 --> 00:10:43,360
Paul goes there.

300
00:10:43,500 --> 00:10:46,980
Now, this doesn't make sense to modern people

301
00:10:46,980 --> 00:10:50,200
because our idea is religion is something—your faith

302
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:51,720
is something for your private world.

303
00:10:51,980 --> 00:10:55,000
It's something that keeps you happy and gives

304
00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,520
you inner peace, but you do not bring

305
00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:58,240
it to the marketplace.

306
00:10:58,980 --> 00:11:00,240
Now, of course, that's not at all what

307
00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:00,960
the Bible does.

308
00:11:01,260 --> 00:11:02,600
That's not what the Bible says at all.

309
00:11:03,020 --> 00:11:05,660
In Proverbs chapter 1, there's a great place

310
00:11:05,660 --> 00:11:07,360
where Paul must have known this when he

311
00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:07,720
did this.

312
00:11:08,140 --> 00:11:09,800
Back in Proverbs chapter 1, what do we

313
00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:10,120
read?

314
00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,320
God says, my truth is just for the

315
00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:13,820
insides.

316
00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:15,700
It just helps you in your private life.

317
00:11:15,780 --> 00:11:16,880
It gives you meaning.

318
00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:17,220
No.

319
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:18,900
What does the Bible say?

320
00:11:19,420 --> 00:11:21,280
Wisdom cries aloud in the streets.

321
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:24,560
In the market, she raises her voice.

322
00:11:25,060 --> 00:11:26,560
At the head of the noisy streets, she

323
00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:27,000
cries out.

324
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:28,340
At the entrance to the city gates, she

325
00:11:28,340 --> 00:11:29,120
makes her speech.

326
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,840
Now, you see why.

327
00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,640
The reason that this was a shock and

328
00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,140
is a shock today is because we're pagans

329
00:11:39,140 --> 00:11:39,580
again.

330
00:11:41,540 --> 00:11:45,020
See, paganism says everybody's got their own little

331
00:11:45,020 --> 00:11:46,040
territorial god.

332
00:11:46,660 --> 00:11:47,840
You know, there's a god of Ephesus.

333
00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:48,900
There's a god of Athens.

334
00:11:49,060 --> 00:11:52,340
There's a god for, you know, for business

335
00:11:52,340 --> 00:11:52,700
people.

336
00:11:52,780 --> 00:11:53,660
There's a god for fishermen.

337
00:11:53,860 --> 00:11:54,620
There's a god for this.

338
00:11:54,820 --> 00:11:55,940
Everybody's got their own god.

339
00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,720
And because everybody's got their own god, that's

340
00:11:58,720 --> 00:11:59,040
fine.

341
00:11:59,140 --> 00:12:00,960
But you don't tell somebody, you know, the

342
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:02,360
god, if you're worshiping the god of the

343
00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,300
fisherman, you don't go and tell the businessman

344
00:12:04,300 --> 00:12:04,880
how to live.

345
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:06,620
And if you're worshiping the god of Ephesus,

346
00:12:06,740 --> 00:12:09,080
you don't tell the god of, you know,

347
00:12:09,140 --> 00:12:10,160
the Athenians how to live.

348
00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:11,840
And therefore, everybody's got their own god, and

349
00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:13,280
that's how we see it again today.

350
00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,420
But if there's a god who's not the

351
00:12:16,420 --> 00:12:19,240
emanation of some aspect of creation, if there's

352
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,540
a god who is the creator of everything,

353
00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:23,640
just now think.

354
00:12:23,700 --> 00:12:24,540
This is just logic.

355
00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:26,780
Let's not talk about what's narrow or not.

356
00:12:27,740 --> 00:12:28,540
This is just logic.

357
00:12:28,660 --> 00:12:30,360
If there is a god who's created everything,

358
00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,140
then that god would have to be lord

359
00:12:32,140 --> 00:12:33,940
over every area, including the marketplace.

360
00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:37,300
You wouldn't have, you couldn't keep this god

361
00:12:37,300 --> 00:12:38,300
in a private place.

362
00:12:38,980 --> 00:12:41,140
And so Paul moves on out with his

363
00:12:41,140 --> 00:12:43,400
faith into the marketplace, into the world of

364
00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:44,840
ideas, into the public realm.

365
00:12:44,980 --> 00:12:45,940
He raises his voice.

366
00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,360
He talks every day, day by day.

367
00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,140
In other words, he says, shoppers.

368
00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:57,620
In a place where people shop for everything,

369
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,300
he says, shoppers, this is the way.

370
00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:02,280
Turn away from the empty.

371
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:03,780
Turn away from the ephemeral.

372
00:13:04,340 --> 00:13:05,420
Turn away from the superficial.

373
00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:06,500
Turn away from the partial.

374
00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:07,640
Turn to the substantial.

375
00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:08,660
Turn to the permanent.

376
00:13:09,580 --> 00:13:12,440
All that is not eternal is eternally out

377
00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:12,720
of date.

378
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:14,300
I guess that was C.S. Lewis, but

379
00:13:14,300 --> 00:13:15,520
maybe Paul said it first.

380
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:18,280
That's what's going on here.

381
00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,680
The Athenians were just one of the latest

382
00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:22,300
fad, and Paul says all that is not

383
00:13:22,300 --> 00:13:23,680
eternal is eternally out of date.

384
00:13:24,020 --> 00:13:25,620
All that is not substantial, all that is

385
00:13:25,620 --> 00:13:28,880
not universal, he said, you know, put it

386
00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:29,400
aside.

387
00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:31,200
Shoppers, this is the way.

388
00:13:31,460 --> 00:13:34,800
And therefore, he was lifting up Christianity in

389
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:35,460
the public place.

390
00:13:35,540 --> 00:13:36,900
Now, that's the first point.

391
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:39,780
Your faith is for every part of your

392
00:13:39,780 --> 00:13:40,140
life.

393
00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:41,320
It's for the way you work.

394
00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,380
It's for the way you relate to other

395
00:13:43,380 --> 00:13:43,760
cultures.

396
00:13:43,900 --> 00:13:47,260
It's the way you participate and get enriched

397
00:13:47,260 --> 00:13:48,960
through art, the way you watch a movie.

398
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:50,460
It's part of everything.

399
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:51,580
Now, let's move on.

400
00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:52,560
You're going to say, well, how do I

401
00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:53,260
work that out?

402
00:13:53,540 --> 00:13:55,800
But let's just, for a second, let me

403
00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,080
just remind you this first point, and that

404
00:13:58,080 --> 00:13:59,620
is that that's the way to do it.

405
00:14:02,420 --> 00:14:03,300
Put it this way.

406
00:14:04,340 --> 00:14:05,720
Somebody's going to say, and I, you know,

407
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:06,640
I thought about this.

408
00:14:06,700 --> 00:14:08,400
I said, well, the trouble is Paul is

409
00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:09,000
a preacher.

410
00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:11,420
And so when Paul takes the faith into

411
00:14:11,420 --> 00:14:13,820
the marketplace, we see what he's doing here.

412
00:14:13,900 --> 00:14:14,940
But how does that help me?

413
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:15,640
I'm not a preacher.

414
00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:16,660
And that is a problem.

415
00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,020
Let me give you another example, though, just

416
00:14:19,020 --> 00:14:21,680
to show you that the principle, though it

417
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:23,300
has to be worked out in everybody's particulars,

418
00:14:23,340 --> 00:14:24,380
the principle is the same.

419
00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,480
In 2 Kings chapter 5, there's this great

420
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,020
story of Naaman, who was the military prime

421
00:14:31,020 --> 00:14:32,000
minister of Syria.

422
00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,400
And he was a pagan, but he was

423
00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:36,080
also a leper.

424
00:14:37,340 --> 00:14:40,600
And he comes to Israel, and he finds

425
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,780
healing through the God of Israel and through

426
00:14:43,780 --> 00:14:44,720
the prophet Elisha.

427
00:14:45,580 --> 00:14:46,960
And then we get to the place where

428
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,100
he says to Elisha, now I know there

429
00:14:49,100 --> 00:14:50,480
is no God except in Israel.

430
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:52,020
And then what happens?

431
00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:52,740
Now, what's he going to do?

432
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,780
He's discovered the true God, and he's received

433
00:14:55,780 --> 00:14:57,760
his healing, both on the outside, really, and

434
00:14:57,760 --> 00:14:58,260
on the inside.

435
00:14:59,060 --> 00:14:59,940
Now, what is he going to do?

436
00:14:59,980 --> 00:15:01,840
Now, there's two things Naaman does not do.

437
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:04,120
And you can go back and read them

438
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:05,640
and what he does do, and I'm going

439
00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:06,180
to tell you.

440
00:15:06,180 --> 00:15:08,200
But it's worth pondering, and the reason it's

441
00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,880
so shocking is because virtually none of us

442
00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:12,920
get this balance down.

443
00:15:13,380 --> 00:15:14,860
The first thing he doesn't do is he

444
00:15:14,860 --> 00:15:17,340
doesn't say, Elisha, let me stay here.

445
00:15:17,940 --> 00:15:20,940
There's nothing but dirty pagans back there, idolaters.

446
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:23,700
And he says, you know what my job

447
00:15:23,700 --> 00:15:24,000
is?

448
00:15:24,380 --> 00:15:27,380
As the military prime minister, every week I

449
00:15:27,380 --> 00:15:28,920
have to go with the king, the king

450
00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:30,220
is on my arm, and I have to

451
00:15:30,220 --> 00:15:31,680
go into the temple of Rimon.

452
00:15:33,220 --> 00:15:34,880
And there the king bows down and I

453
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:35,380
bow down.

454
00:15:35,580 --> 00:15:37,000
I can't do anything like that.

455
00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,320
I can never set foot in that temple

456
00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:39,600
anymore.

457
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:40,980
I know the true God.

458
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,220
Therefore, can I stay here with just believers?

459
00:15:43,500 --> 00:15:44,220
He doesn't do that.

460
00:15:45,620 --> 00:15:48,240
Nor on the other side does he say,

461
00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:49,040
well, you know what?

462
00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:50,300
No problem.

463
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:51,420
I now have my healing.

464
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:53,440
God has touched me, and it won't make

465
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:53,960
any difference.

466
00:15:54,460 --> 00:15:55,040
I'll go back.

467
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:55,700
I'll do my job.

468
00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:56,560
There won't be any difference.

469
00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:57,860
I can keep it to myself.

470
00:15:57,980 --> 00:15:59,080
There's no reason to rock the boat.

471
00:15:59,140 --> 00:15:59,880
He doesn't do that either.

472
00:16:01,820 --> 00:16:04,060
He neither avoids his culture nor capitulates to

473
00:16:04,060 --> 00:16:04,500
his culture.

474
00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,580
He neither runs away from his culture, nor

475
00:16:08,580 --> 00:16:11,080
does he privatize his faith away from his

476
00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:11,380
culture.

477
00:16:11,580 --> 00:16:12,240
You know what he says?

478
00:16:12,580 --> 00:16:14,660
And this is something that I think both

479
00:16:14,660 --> 00:16:18,120
believers and non-believers are shocked at when

480
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:18,400
they hear.

481
00:16:18,500 --> 00:16:19,160
What does he say?

482
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,120
He says to Elisha, the prophet, he says,

483
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:24,340
may the Lord forgive me.

484
00:16:24,460 --> 00:16:25,500
This is Naaman talking.

485
00:16:25,940 --> 00:16:27,400
May the Lord forgive me when my master,

486
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:29,040
the king, goes into the temple of Rimon

487
00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,620
to bow down and is leaning on my

488
00:16:31,620 --> 00:16:33,480
arm, and I bow there also.

489
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:35,760
May the Lord forgive me.

490
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:37,320
Here's what I will do.

491
00:16:37,860 --> 00:16:39,740
Give me enough dirt as two mules can

492
00:16:39,740 --> 00:16:42,840
carry so that your servant will never make

493
00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,080
burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other God

494
00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:45,660
but the Lord.

495
00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,380
Now, I love this because it's so absolutely

496
00:16:50,380 --> 00:16:52,440
particular that nobody can dare copy it.

497
00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:53,360
You're just going to have to go to

498
00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:53,780
the principle.

499
00:16:54,260 --> 00:16:55,820
It's so easy to be wooden when it

500
00:16:55,820 --> 00:16:57,600
comes to the Bible and miss the principle.

501
00:16:58,300 --> 00:16:59,160
Here's what he's saying.

502
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,240
He is saying, I am going to do

503
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:02,800
my job.

504
00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:04,460
I'm the prime minister, and that's part of

505
00:17:04,460 --> 00:17:04,920
my job.

506
00:17:05,380 --> 00:17:07,300
But when I go in there, I'm going

507
00:17:07,300 --> 00:17:09,500
to have some dirt from Israel, and my

508
00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:11,180
servants are going to spread it, and I'm

509
00:17:11,180 --> 00:17:13,400
going to kneel down so that everyone who

510
00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,160
sees knows that I am sacrificing the God

511
00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:16,599
of Israel.

512
00:17:17,060 --> 00:17:19,040
Now, somebody would say, oh, is that superstition?

513
00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:20,339
No, no, no, no, no.

514
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:21,560
The dirt is not superstition.

515
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:22,380
It's witness.

516
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:23,400
It's a symbol.

517
00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:24,060
It's a witness.

518
00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:25,859
Here's what he's saying.

519
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:27,400
He's saying, I'm going to do my job,

520
00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:28,840
but I'm going to let everyone know, and

521
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:30,180
that's my way of showing people.

522
00:17:30,340 --> 00:17:31,500
People are going to ask me about it.

523
00:17:31,500 --> 00:17:34,380
I'm going to tell them that I don't

524
00:17:34,380 --> 00:17:35,600
serve the way I used to serve.

525
00:17:35,980 --> 00:17:38,080
Everything I'm doing, I'm doing out of honor

526
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:38,920
for the true God.

527
00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:42,340
I'm still the prime minister, and that will

528
00:17:42,340 --> 00:17:43,540
affect the way he does his work, and

529
00:17:43,540 --> 00:17:44,560
I'll get to that in a second.

530
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:45,480
But here's the point.

531
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,340
He neither privatizes his faith, nor does he

532
00:17:48,340 --> 00:17:49,460
run away and stay away.

533
00:17:49,700 --> 00:17:50,400
He doesn't engage.

534
00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,780
He doesn't run from his culture, and he

535
00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:54,320
doesn't capitulate to his culture.

536
00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,160
He took his faith into his public life.

537
00:18:00,700 --> 00:18:02,160
He took his faith into the marketplace.

538
00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,100
Now, somebody's going to say, oh, see, nobody's

539
00:18:07,100 --> 00:18:07,640
going to do that.

540
00:18:07,940 --> 00:18:08,760
You're going to have to work it out

541
00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:09,060
yourself.

542
00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:09,980
That was his way.

543
00:18:10,100 --> 00:18:10,920
Paul's doing his way.

544
00:18:11,140 --> 00:18:12,200
You have to do your way.

545
00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:15,140
I don't know why in the world people

546
00:18:15,140 --> 00:18:16,700
say, oh, yeah, you're Christians.

547
00:18:16,860 --> 00:18:17,680
You believe the Bible.

548
00:18:17,820 --> 00:18:18,740
You like pat answers.

549
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:19,580
Pat answers?

550
00:18:19,740 --> 00:18:21,220
The Bible doesn't give you pat answers.

551
00:18:21,220 --> 00:18:22,660
Bible creates problems for you.

552
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:23,480
Don't you feel it?

553
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,580
If you take the Bible seriously, are you

554
00:18:26,580 --> 00:18:28,040
walking out here saying, oh, I have to

555
00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:30,820
do—you don't even—you say, oh, my gosh, I

556
00:18:30,820 --> 00:18:32,260
now see what I've got to do, but

557
00:18:32,260 --> 00:18:33,220
I'm going to have to work it out.

558
00:18:33,260 --> 00:18:34,060
I'm going to have to be creative.

559
00:18:34,180 --> 00:18:34,980
I'm going to have to have wisdom.

560
00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:36,140
It's going to take me all of my

561
00:18:36,140 --> 00:18:37,660
life to figure out how to do this.

562
00:18:38,340 --> 00:18:38,940
Pat answers.

563
00:18:39,420 --> 00:18:40,780
I'll tell you what a pat answer is.

564
00:18:41,060 --> 00:18:42,740
A pat answer is to say there's no

565
00:18:42,740 --> 00:18:43,200
truth.

566
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:46,520
A pat answer is to say there's no

567
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,700
truth, so basically whatever feels good, you can

568
00:18:48,700 --> 00:18:49,860
just sort of go with the flow.

569
00:18:49,940 --> 00:18:50,700
That's a pat answer.

570
00:18:51,100 --> 00:18:52,160
That takes no creativity.

571
00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,960
That takes no innovation, you see.

572
00:18:57,380 --> 00:18:58,340
There's no calling.

573
00:18:58,460 --> 00:18:59,040
There's no pressure.

574
00:18:59,160 --> 00:18:59,920
There's no intensity.

575
00:19:00,100 --> 00:19:00,960
That's a pat answer.

576
00:19:02,060 --> 00:19:03,660
Another kind of pat answer, of course, is

577
00:19:03,660 --> 00:19:05,660
on the other side and saying if you

578
00:19:05,660 --> 00:19:08,860
want to witness in your public life, here's

579
00:19:08,860 --> 00:19:09,760
exactly what you do.

580
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:11,320
Every one of you, 2,000 of you,

581
00:19:11,380 --> 00:19:12,920
take these five things.

582
00:19:13,420 --> 00:19:14,400
That's the other pat answer.

583
00:19:14,620 --> 00:19:15,440
Bible doesn't do either.

584
00:19:16,460 --> 00:19:17,620
Paul goes into the marketplace.

585
00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:18,340
That's where he goes.

586
00:19:18,460 --> 00:19:20,560
Now, somebody's going to say, okay, tell me,

587
00:19:20,620 --> 00:19:21,380
how do I do this?

588
00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:23,840
And the answer is there's three, but they're

589
00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:24,560
mainly principles.

590
00:19:24,700 --> 00:19:25,300
Here's what you get.

591
00:19:25,380 --> 00:19:27,940
First of all, look at Paul Felt.

592
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:31,960
He was greatly distressed.

593
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:34,740
Now, the first thing I'm going to tell

594
00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:36,760
you by way of practical application is this.

595
00:19:37,140 --> 00:19:39,920
The Bible, when you go to the Bible,

596
00:19:40,020 --> 00:19:41,740
some of us are so practical that we're

597
00:19:41,740 --> 00:19:43,760
impractical, and we miss what the Bible says.

598
00:19:44,340 --> 00:19:47,540
In general, when you ask the Bible for

599
00:19:47,540 --> 00:19:50,280
guidance, when you say, I need guidance.

600
00:19:50,740 --> 00:19:52,180
I need to make this and that decision.

601
00:19:52,300 --> 00:19:53,280
I need to know whether I should go

602
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:54,240
to school or not go to school.

603
00:19:54,340 --> 00:19:55,360
I need to know whether I should marry

604
00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:56,720
this person or not marry this person.

605
00:19:57,060 --> 00:19:57,760
I need to know this.

606
00:19:57,960 --> 00:19:58,880
I need guidance.

607
00:19:59,020 --> 00:19:59,860
How do I do it?

608
00:20:00,060 --> 00:20:01,820
And in general, the Bible does not tell

609
00:20:01,820 --> 00:20:02,940
you how to get God's guidance.

610
00:20:03,060 --> 00:20:04,640
It tells you the kind of person that

611
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:06,120
discerns the will of God.

612
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:08,560
Now, we don't like this.

613
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:09,280
We're very Western.

614
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:12,080
You say, how can I face death?

615
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:13,860
How can I face suffering?

616
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:15,520
How can I have the wisdom?

617
00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:18,040
How can I understand these things?

618
00:20:18,220 --> 00:20:20,460
And the Bible continually says, here's the kind

619
00:20:20,460 --> 00:20:21,160
of character.

620
00:20:21,500 --> 00:20:22,600
Here's the kind of heart.

621
00:20:23,140 --> 00:20:26,340
Here's the kind of person that works through

622
00:20:26,340 --> 00:20:26,980
these things.

623
00:20:27,260 --> 00:20:29,280
And you say, but I need this tomorrow.

624
00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:31,720
And it says, wait a minute, the kind

625
00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:33,560
of person, character, you're talking about reflection.

626
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:34,500
You're talking about prayer.

627
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,960
You're talking about habits of heart.

628
00:20:37,300 --> 00:20:39,020
You're talking about time.

629
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:41,600
And I need this tomorrow.

630
00:20:42,380 --> 00:20:42,940
How Western.

631
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:44,480
How sad.

632
00:20:45,260 --> 00:20:46,120
So let's get started.

633
00:20:46,700 --> 00:20:49,420
It probably means that you won't be ready

634
00:20:49,420 --> 00:20:50,040
for tomorrow.

635
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:51,180
But if you don't get started now, you

636
00:20:51,180 --> 00:20:52,260
won't be ready for next year or the

637
00:20:52,260 --> 00:20:53,540
year after that or the year after that.

638
00:20:53,620 --> 00:20:54,420
And most of you are young.

639
00:20:55,820 --> 00:20:58,400
Now look, the first thing we learn here

640
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,260
is Paul had deeply complex feelings.

641
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,280
John Stott, a commentator on the book of

642
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,340
Acts in this passage, he says, the reason

643
00:21:07,340 --> 00:21:09,020
we can't speak the way Paul speaks is

644
00:21:09,020 --> 00:21:10,580
because we can't see the way Paul sees,

645
00:21:10,660 --> 00:21:11,780
and the reason we can't see the way

646
00:21:11,780 --> 00:21:13,140
Paul sees is because we don't feel what

647
00:21:13,140 --> 00:21:13,700
Paul feels.

648
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:16,460
The feelings, now I know this is going

649
00:21:16,460 --> 00:21:18,260
to be incredible for some of you to

650
00:21:18,260 --> 00:21:21,720
hear a Presbyterian talk about feelings, but the

651
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,600
first principle is you must have the feelings

652
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:27,760
Paul had if you're going to be effective

653
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:28,420
in the marketplace.

654
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,240
Now the trouble with this word, it's a

655
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,020
word that is kind of hard to translate,

656
00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:36,540
and every translation will do it differently.

657
00:21:37,220 --> 00:21:39,080
If I give it to you in the

658
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,400
Greek, the literal Greek doesn't help much because

659
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:43,380
it's the word paroxysmus, from which we get

660
00:21:43,380 --> 00:21:45,220
our word paroxysm, which means a seizure.

661
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,440
And that tells us something about the depth

662
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:48,940
of the feeling.

663
00:21:48,980 --> 00:21:50,320
It doesn't really tell us about the nature

664
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:50,940
of the feeling.

665
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,060
A lot of people think it means he

666
00:21:53,060 --> 00:21:54,180
was just simply angry.

667
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:57,820
That's if you do a careful study, that

668
00:21:57,820 --> 00:22:01,420
this word tends to be associated in the

669
00:22:01,420 --> 00:22:04,780
Old Testament, in the Greek Old Testament, with

670
00:22:04,780 --> 00:22:06,960
places where it talks about how God feels

671
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,700
when He sees people worshiping idols.

672
00:22:10,780 --> 00:22:14,680
But when God says, this provokes me, when

673
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,980
He talks about His feelings, He says, the

674
00:22:17,980 --> 00:22:20,020
reason I am so provoked, the reason I

675
00:22:20,020 --> 00:22:22,880
am so distressed is because I am a

676
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:23,760
jealous God.

677
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,420
Now people really react to the places in

678
00:22:27,420 --> 00:22:28,660
the Bible where it says God is jealous

679
00:22:28,660 --> 00:22:30,560
because when we think of jealousy, we think

680
00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:32,340
of the kind of selfish jealousy.

681
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,220
We think of the proud jealousy that says,

682
00:22:34,740 --> 00:22:36,040
I don't like you because you've got something

683
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:36,560
I want.

684
00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:39,380
But there's a healthy jealousy, there's a pure

685
00:22:39,380 --> 00:22:40,780
jealousy, there really is.

686
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,860
In fact, the biblical word for jealousy, the

687
00:22:43,860 --> 00:22:46,680
idea of a jealous God, I think we

688
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:51,260
know it, but it is so profound because

689
00:22:51,260 --> 00:22:54,760
it shows us that love is not just

690
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,420
sweet feelings but thunderous feelings.

691
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:00,640
If you love somebody and you see them

692
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,240
ruining their life, or if you love somebody

693
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:03,840
and you see somebody wooing them in the

694
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:09,720
wrong direction, you don't just say, oh, you

695
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:10,460
get mad.

696
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,560
Listen, the opposite of love is not anger.

697
00:23:15,940 --> 00:23:18,000
The opposite of love is indifference.

698
00:23:19,180 --> 00:23:21,280
And anybody who's ever been deeply in love,

699
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,060
just filled with love for somebody or something,

700
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,420
knows that there's a sweetness, you're melted, you're

701
00:23:27,420 --> 00:23:29,220
filled with compassion, and you're filled with indignation

702
00:23:29,220 --> 00:23:30,980
all the time, all the time.

703
00:23:31,060 --> 00:23:32,740
If you've loved children, if you've loved a

704
00:23:32,740 --> 00:23:35,240
spouse, if you've loved parents, it's both.

705
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,460
And you see, the reason that God says,

706
00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,460
I am continually provoked in my heart when

707
00:23:41,460 --> 00:23:47,980
I see you worshiping idols, that's because that's

708
00:23:47,980 --> 00:23:49,380
the complexity of love.

709
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,980
On the one hand, He's outraged at the

710
00:23:51,980 --> 00:23:53,960
dishonor, but on the other hand, jealousy means,

711
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:54,940
I love you.

712
00:23:55,500 --> 00:23:56,980
I want you in my arms.

713
00:23:57,020 --> 00:23:57,980
I don't want you in the arms of

714
00:23:57,980 --> 00:23:58,340
that.

715
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:00,940
And when Paul was filled with…

716
00:24:00,940 --> 00:24:02,600
See, this is all in this word, greatly

717
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:03,120
distressed.

718
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,700
Paul has a deeply, deeply complex and very

719
00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:14,140
strong mixture of both indignation and compassion, and

720
00:24:14,140 --> 00:24:15,980
it's both, it's both, it's both.

721
00:24:16,980 --> 00:24:18,420
And you've got to have both.

722
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:20,280
See, on the one hand, you can see

723
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,680
the compassion, because the word…

724
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:23,820
What did he do out there in the

725
00:24:23,820 --> 00:24:24,140
marketplace?

726
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:24,920
Did he get up?

727
00:24:25,060 --> 00:24:26,620
Did he say, you dirty idolaters?

728
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:28,960
It says he reasoned, he dialogued.

729
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:30,900
And he did such a good job, actually,

730
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:32,120
that he was invited in to talk to

731
00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:33,180
the Areopagus, which was…

732
00:24:33,180 --> 00:24:34,400
These were the philosophers.

733
00:24:34,580 --> 00:24:35,840
These were the culture brokers.

734
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:38,780
And if you go ahead, and we didn't

735
00:24:38,780 --> 00:24:40,220
do it, if you read, you'll see that

736
00:24:40,220 --> 00:24:42,620
his speech starts off very civilly, very, very

737
00:24:42,620 --> 00:24:43,200
respectfully.

738
00:24:44,020 --> 00:24:45,560
So there was compassion.

739
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:51,220
There was gentleness, but there's also indignation.

740
00:24:52,140 --> 00:24:54,040
And here's why Paul was effective.

741
00:24:54,500 --> 00:24:56,700
If you're not filled with indignation, you will

742
00:24:56,700 --> 00:24:58,100
not have the courage to do what he

743
00:24:58,100 --> 00:24:58,360
did.

744
00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:00,720
And if you are only filled with indignation,

745
00:25:00,820 --> 00:25:01,800
you won't have the gentleness.

746
00:25:01,980 --> 00:25:03,320
You won't be able to give people the

747
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:04,580
impression that you care about them.

748
00:25:04,620 --> 00:25:05,420
You won't be able to get into their

749
00:25:05,420 --> 00:25:05,820
questions.

750
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:07,280
You won't be able to understand them.

751
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:08,520
They won't feel respected.

752
00:25:08,860 --> 00:25:10,080
They'll turn you right off.

753
00:25:10,500 --> 00:25:12,200
Do you remember the place in John chapter

754
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,220
11 where Jesus comes to Mary and Martha,

755
00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:18,000
whose brother Lazarus just died?

756
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,520
One of the most astounding insights is that

757
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,500
I got when I listened to a tape

758
00:25:24,500 --> 00:25:27,660
on this once, was that Jesus walks up

759
00:25:27,660 --> 00:25:31,240
to Mary, and Mary says, If you had

760
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,360
been here, he'd be alive.

761
00:25:33,780 --> 00:25:34,800
And he wept.

762
00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:35,840
That's all Jesus did.

763
00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:36,460
He just wept.

764
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,760
And Martha comes up to him and says

765
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:40,740
the same thing.

766
00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:43,780
If you had been here, my brother, he'd

767
00:25:43,780 --> 00:25:44,440
be alive.

768
00:25:44,780 --> 00:25:47,000
And Jesus says, I am the life.

769
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,920
In one case, he's filled with tears.

770
00:25:50,020 --> 00:25:51,600
In the other case, he gives a stern

771
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:52,000
lecture.

772
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:53,020
And here's why.

773
00:25:53,380 --> 00:25:55,860
Jesus Christ is a man just as much

774
00:25:55,860 --> 00:25:57,820
made of truth as of tears.

775
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,180
And that's not true of the rest of

776
00:26:00,180 --> 00:26:00,420
us.

777
00:26:01,300 --> 00:26:02,660
We've all got our temperaments.

778
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:04,940
Some of us are full of sweetness, and

779
00:26:04,940 --> 00:26:06,120
some of us are full of thunder, but

780
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:07,320
nobody does them both good.

781
00:26:07,420 --> 00:26:08,600
Some of us are great at the ministry

782
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:08,940
of tears.

783
00:26:09,020 --> 00:26:09,960
Some of us are great at the ministry

784
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:10,360
of truth.

785
00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:11,740
And here's what I want you to know,

786
00:26:11,820 --> 00:26:13,120
that if you are only one or the

787
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:17,020
other, if you're only indignant or compassionate, you

788
00:26:17,020 --> 00:26:18,920
won't change anybody's life, and you'll go out

789
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,720
in the marketplace, and you'll be utterly ineffective.

790
00:26:23,710 --> 00:26:24,790
Oh, what's the solution?

791
00:26:25,510 --> 00:26:26,910
Let me just say something to both Christians

792
00:26:26,910 --> 00:26:28,730
and the people who are not sure where

793
00:26:28,730 --> 00:26:29,210
they stand.

794
00:26:30,170 --> 00:26:31,650
First of all, Christians, I want you to

795
00:26:31,650 --> 00:26:32,190
know something.

796
00:26:33,450 --> 00:26:36,130
If you go by your natural proclivity, if

797
00:26:36,130 --> 00:26:38,150
you follow your natural temperament here, you will

798
00:26:38,150 --> 00:26:40,150
be ineffective, and you won't make good choices

799
00:26:40,150 --> 00:26:40,810
in the marketplace.

800
00:26:42,330 --> 00:26:44,290
You know, 98 percent of everything we say

801
00:26:44,290 --> 00:26:47,470
publicly, 98 percent of all our public expressions

802
00:26:47,470 --> 00:26:50,130
of Christianity in the public realm are either

803
00:26:50,130 --> 00:26:56,770
obnoxious or cowardly, and Paul was neither because

804
00:26:56,770 --> 00:27:01,410
he was filled with holy, loving jealousy, and

805
00:27:01,410 --> 00:27:02,090
we're not.

806
00:27:02,970 --> 00:27:04,930
We're either too afraid to open our mouths,

807
00:27:05,010 --> 00:27:07,230
we're too cowardly, or else when we do,

808
00:27:07,430 --> 00:27:08,090
we're obnoxious.

809
00:27:08,230 --> 00:27:09,930
We're filled with either indignation or compassion.

810
00:27:09,990 --> 00:27:12,150
You say, well, how in the world do

811
00:27:12,150 --> 00:27:12,990
we overcome that?

812
00:27:14,590 --> 00:27:15,910
And the answer is this.

813
00:27:16,530 --> 00:27:18,770
Paul told the Corinthians when he first—this is

814
00:27:18,770 --> 00:27:19,770
how Paul must have done it.

815
00:27:20,210 --> 00:27:21,690
Paul said to the Corinthians, when I first

816
00:27:21,690 --> 00:27:23,430
came to you, he said, I was filled

817
00:27:23,430 --> 00:27:25,170
with fear and trembling, which is, by the

818
00:27:25,170 --> 00:27:27,030
way, the first right thing, but he says,

819
00:27:27,110 --> 00:27:29,150
and I resolved to know nothing but Christ

820
00:27:29,150 --> 00:27:30,970
and Him crucified when I was among you.

821
00:27:32,690 --> 00:27:33,910
Paul looked at the cross.

822
00:27:35,070 --> 00:27:36,590
He burned it into his heart.

823
00:27:37,810 --> 00:27:38,910
Now, somebody says, why?

824
00:27:39,070 --> 00:27:39,790
What does that mean?

825
00:27:39,830 --> 00:27:40,650
I'll tell you why.

826
00:27:41,250 --> 00:27:44,730
The cross is the only spot in any

827
00:27:44,730 --> 00:27:48,070
religion that shows us, on the one hand,

828
00:27:48,110 --> 00:27:50,870
a God so utterly and completely and relentlessly

829
00:27:50,870 --> 00:27:55,270
and absolutely and infallibly holy that He has

830
00:27:55,270 --> 00:27:59,070
to pour out wrath and divine justice on

831
00:27:59,070 --> 00:28:01,130
evil and sin, and at the very same

832
00:28:01,130 --> 00:28:02,790
time, the cross shows us a God who

833
00:28:02,790 --> 00:28:05,450
is so absolutely and completely and utterly and

834
00:28:05,450 --> 00:28:09,650
relentlessly and perfectly and infallibly loving that He'd

835
00:28:09,650 --> 00:28:11,190
do it on His own Son rather than

836
00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:11,910
lose us.

837
00:28:13,250 --> 00:28:14,790
And if you don't have a cross in

838
00:28:14,790 --> 00:28:16,970
your understanding, if you say, well, I don't

839
00:28:16,970 --> 00:28:18,450
understand the cross or I don't believe in

840
00:28:18,450 --> 00:28:19,950
the cross, if you don't have a cross

841
00:28:19,950 --> 00:28:21,550
in your religion, you will either have a

842
00:28:21,550 --> 00:28:23,770
moralistic religion or a relativistic religion.

843
00:28:23,870 --> 00:28:25,570
You will either have a God who's very

844
00:28:25,570 --> 00:28:29,670
demanding and that's it, you know, live up

845
00:28:29,670 --> 00:28:31,430
or else, or you'll have a God who's

846
00:28:31,430 --> 00:28:35,010
so completely accepting but whose love for us

847
00:28:35,010 --> 00:28:36,330
cost Him not a thing.

848
00:28:37,290 --> 00:28:40,630
And moralistic or relativistic view of God, a

849
00:28:40,630 --> 00:28:44,330
thundering, thunder religion or sweetheart religion, never has

850
00:28:44,330 --> 00:28:45,490
changed anybody, never.

851
00:28:46,090 --> 00:28:51,650
Only the cross, only the gospel, that Jesus

852
00:28:51,650 --> 00:28:54,830
Christ had to die, God's that holy, and

853
00:28:54,830 --> 00:28:57,790
Jesus Christ had to die, He's that loving.

854
00:28:58,270 --> 00:29:00,610
And when that is burned into Paul's heart,

855
00:29:01,450 --> 00:29:03,650
it turns him into the thing that basically

856
00:29:03,650 --> 00:29:04,210
we're not.

857
00:29:05,390 --> 00:29:06,850
Now, you say, I thought you were going

858
00:29:06,850 --> 00:29:07,910
to tell me how.

859
00:29:08,850 --> 00:29:11,910
No, I said sometimes we're so practical we're

860
00:29:11,910 --> 00:29:12,470
impractical.

861
00:29:12,830 --> 00:29:14,730
The Bible says this is the kind of

862
00:29:14,730 --> 00:29:16,830
person who will make smart decisions out there,

863
00:29:17,810 --> 00:29:22,790
a person filled with holy jealousy, loving zeal,

864
00:29:24,010 --> 00:29:26,770
somebody who thinks so highly of God and

865
00:29:26,770 --> 00:29:29,510
so highly of people that he wants them

866
00:29:29,510 --> 00:29:34,570
in each other's arms, and he's outraged, and

867
00:29:34,570 --> 00:29:36,570
he is brokenhearted until he sees it.

868
00:29:38,410 --> 00:29:39,510
That's what you've got to do.

869
00:29:40,030 --> 00:29:41,610
Now, I said I want to say something

870
00:29:41,610 --> 00:29:45,750
here to people who aren't sure you believe.

871
00:29:46,530 --> 00:29:47,570
Do you know fanatics?

872
00:29:48,610 --> 00:29:49,390
I guess you do.

873
00:29:49,490 --> 00:29:51,170
I understand the latest polls show that 75

874
00:29:51,170 --> 00:29:52,990
percent of Americans would not like to have

875
00:29:52,990 --> 00:29:54,890
a fundamentalist living as their next-door neighbor.

876
00:29:56,390 --> 00:29:57,790
And, you know, considering what I think most

877
00:29:57,790 --> 00:29:58,950
people think of when they think of the

878
00:29:58,950 --> 00:30:01,410
word fundamentalist, I probably would say the same

879
00:30:01,410 --> 00:30:02,030
thing, you know.

880
00:30:02,070 --> 00:30:04,310
I would probably check the same thing.

881
00:30:04,710 --> 00:30:06,210
But here's what I want you to think

882
00:30:06,210 --> 00:30:06,450
of.

883
00:30:06,770 --> 00:30:09,350
Surely you've been turned off by Christians who

884
00:30:09,350 --> 00:30:12,870
are clumsy in their expression, who are harsh,

885
00:30:13,310 --> 00:30:15,990
who are, you know, sounded condemning and so

886
00:30:15,990 --> 00:30:17,530
forth, and you see people say, I'm a

887
00:30:17,530 --> 00:30:18,910
Christian, and they do things like that.

888
00:30:19,270 --> 00:30:20,630
Now, what do you think the solution is?

889
00:30:21,890 --> 00:30:24,170
You're absolutely right to be turned off.

890
00:30:24,270 --> 00:30:26,230
You're absolutely right to be upset.

891
00:30:27,150 --> 00:30:28,490
What do you think the solution is?

892
00:30:29,610 --> 00:30:31,050
And the reason I'm bringing this up is

893
00:30:31,050 --> 00:30:33,250
because I'm using this as a little learning

894
00:30:33,250 --> 00:30:33,910
tool for you.

895
00:30:34,290 --> 00:30:36,090
I think what's very typical is people say,

896
00:30:36,270 --> 00:30:38,410
yeah, the gospel, yes, Jesus Christ, that's fine,

897
00:30:38,450 --> 00:30:39,650
that's fine, but don't go overboard.

898
00:30:41,410 --> 00:30:43,650
That's fine, the gospel, cross, Jesus, fine, but

899
00:30:43,650 --> 00:30:44,930
be more moderate.

900
00:30:45,070 --> 00:30:45,650
Don't go overboard.

901
00:30:45,750 --> 00:30:47,170
Fanatics are people who go too far.

902
00:30:47,710 --> 00:30:48,050
No.

903
00:30:48,610 --> 00:30:50,810
See, this shows that you don't understand Christianity.

904
00:30:51,410 --> 00:30:53,030
I'm not saying you've got to accept it

905
00:30:53,030 --> 00:30:53,350
here today.

906
00:30:53,390 --> 00:30:55,730
I wish you would, but I do insist

907
00:30:55,730 --> 00:30:56,670
you understand it.

908
00:30:57,450 --> 00:30:59,510
Anybody who says they're a Christian and is

909
00:30:59,510 --> 00:31:01,650
harsh or condemning, their problem is not because

910
00:31:01,650 --> 00:31:03,610
they're too fanatically devoted to the gospel, but

911
00:31:03,610 --> 00:31:07,690
they're not fanatically devoted enough, because the real

912
00:31:07,690 --> 00:31:11,070
gospel that I just gave you, the only

913
00:31:11,070 --> 00:31:14,610
place, the only religion, the only spot that

914
00:31:14,610 --> 00:31:16,070
we see a God who is not more

915
00:31:16,070 --> 00:31:20,370
fundamentally holy than fundamentally loving, anybody who understands

916
00:31:20,370 --> 00:31:22,370
the real gospel, that turns you into somebody

917
00:31:22,370 --> 00:31:25,570
who's both thundering and sweet, somebody who is

918
00:31:25,570 --> 00:31:29,250
absolutely gentle because, look, look at Jesus, somebody

919
00:31:29,250 --> 00:31:30,650
who's a fanatic in the sense of being

920
00:31:30,650 --> 00:31:32,550
harsh, you know, the person you're worried about,

921
00:31:32,790 --> 00:31:34,490
that person isn't too much like Jesus.

922
00:31:34,870 --> 00:31:36,070
They're not enough like Jesus.

923
00:31:36,890 --> 00:31:38,550
They see the Jesus who says, I'm Lord

924
00:31:38,550 --> 00:31:39,670
of heaven and earth, but they don't see

925
00:31:39,670 --> 00:31:42,190
the Jesus who says a bruised reed, I

926
00:31:42,190 --> 00:31:46,590
will not break, a low burning candle, I

927
00:31:46,590 --> 00:31:49,730
will not snuff out in my ministry to

928
00:31:49,730 --> 00:31:50,010
you.

929
00:31:50,790 --> 00:31:53,570
They, you see, they see a moralistic or

930
00:31:53,570 --> 00:31:56,870
relative, they don't see the whole picture, and

931
00:31:56,870 --> 00:31:57,670
you know what?

932
00:31:58,070 --> 00:31:59,390
Martin Luther King understood this.

933
00:31:59,910 --> 00:32:01,570
Martin Luther King stood up against racism, and

934
00:32:01,570 --> 00:32:02,270
how did he do it?

935
00:32:02,710 --> 00:32:05,430
Boy, every New Yorker loves Martin Luther King.

936
00:32:05,470 --> 00:32:06,470
I wish they'd listen to him.

937
00:32:07,770 --> 00:32:08,970
What did Martin Luther King say?

938
00:32:09,030 --> 00:32:09,950
Did he get up and he say, you

939
00:32:09,950 --> 00:32:12,290
know the trouble with racism, how we can

940
00:32:12,290 --> 00:32:12,870
deal with racism?

941
00:32:12,990 --> 00:32:13,810
People are too religious.

942
00:32:15,490 --> 00:32:17,890
You're overly religious, you know, you're overly into

943
00:32:17,890 --> 00:32:18,650
this Christianity.

944
00:32:18,790 --> 00:32:19,650
We need to get rid of that.

945
00:32:19,690 --> 00:32:20,530
That will get rid of bigotry.

946
00:32:20,670 --> 00:32:21,250
Absolutely not.

947
00:32:21,310 --> 00:32:21,930
What did he say?

948
00:32:22,210 --> 00:32:23,790
He said racism is not in line with

949
00:32:23,790 --> 00:32:24,210
the gospel.

950
00:32:24,410 --> 00:32:26,990
He said to the churches of the South,

951
00:32:27,250 --> 00:32:28,270
he says, you're not being true to the

952
00:32:28,270 --> 00:32:28,650
gospel.

953
00:32:29,090 --> 00:32:30,770
He said, get more gospel oriented.

954
00:32:30,890 --> 00:32:32,490
He said, go to Jesus more, be more

955
00:32:32,490 --> 00:32:33,990
fanatically like Jesus Christ.

956
00:32:34,250 --> 00:32:35,350
You see, he understood.

957
00:32:36,510 --> 00:32:39,830
Anybody who looks harsh, and probably they are,

958
00:32:39,890 --> 00:32:43,030
and condemning, and you say they need less

959
00:32:43,030 --> 00:32:46,030
of religion, maybe they need less of various

960
00:32:46,030 --> 00:32:47,970
religions, but not of Christianity, they need more.

961
00:32:49,770 --> 00:32:51,790
And if you think a person who is

962
00:32:51,790 --> 00:32:55,470
absolutely sold out for the gospel, if you

963
00:32:55,470 --> 00:32:56,850
think a person who is in a sense

964
00:32:56,850 --> 00:32:59,930
obsessed with what Jesus Christ has done for

965
00:32:59,930 --> 00:33:03,270
us on the cross, is a boring person,

966
00:33:05,130 --> 00:33:07,470
if you think that person is insensitive, is

967
00:33:07,470 --> 00:33:10,550
harsh, is going to always make you feel

968
00:33:10,550 --> 00:33:15,170
small, you haven't met one who really has.

969
00:33:16,250 --> 00:33:17,870
It's not that they're too fanatical, they're not

970
00:33:17,870 --> 00:33:18,670
fanatical enough.

971
00:33:19,970 --> 00:33:22,490
Those are the people who are effective in

972
00:33:22,490 --> 00:33:23,330
the marketplace, okay?

973
00:33:24,150 --> 00:33:25,870
And secondly, I said the first thing, if

974
00:33:25,870 --> 00:33:26,970
you want to be effective there, you've got

975
00:33:26,970 --> 00:33:27,850
to feel what Paul feels.

976
00:33:28,030 --> 00:33:29,270
Why did I just spend so much time

977
00:33:29,270 --> 00:33:29,610
on it?

978
00:33:29,830 --> 00:33:31,410
Because I think, frankly, the rest will take

979
00:33:31,410 --> 00:33:32,550
care of itself, but not quite.

980
00:33:33,030 --> 00:33:35,690
Then secondly, you have to see what Paul

981
00:33:35,690 --> 00:33:36,170
sees.

982
00:33:36,990 --> 00:33:37,810
Where did he go?

983
00:33:37,970 --> 00:33:38,470
The marketplace.

984
00:33:39,150 --> 00:33:39,970
What did he feel?

985
00:33:40,490 --> 00:33:45,930
Holy jealousy, deep complexity, indignation, and compassion.

986
00:33:46,430 --> 00:33:49,170
Then, what did he see?

987
00:33:50,770 --> 00:33:52,730
He saw idols under everything.

988
00:33:53,930 --> 00:33:56,130
Now, you say, well, of course he saw

989
00:33:56,130 --> 00:33:56,490
idols.

990
00:33:56,790 --> 00:33:58,070
He was distressed because he saw idols.

991
00:33:58,190 --> 00:33:59,790
Heck, you go to Athens today, you'll see

992
00:33:59,790 --> 00:34:00,810
idols everywhere.

993
00:34:01,150 --> 00:34:03,850
There's Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty.

994
00:34:04,410 --> 00:34:06,530
There's Ares, the goddess of power and war.

995
00:34:06,630 --> 00:34:10,610
There's Apollos, the god of music and art.

996
00:34:10,810 --> 00:34:13,250
There's Bacchus, the god of fraternities.

997
00:34:13,929 --> 00:34:15,310
And you can go to all of these,

998
00:34:15,370 --> 00:34:16,690
and you say, well, of course, they were

999
00:34:16,690 --> 00:34:16,909
out there.

1000
00:34:16,929 --> 00:34:17,710
There were statues.

1001
00:34:18,290 --> 00:34:19,429
You know, everybody could see them.

1002
00:34:19,429 --> 00:34:19,969
There were statues.

1003
00:34:20,130 --> 00:34:20,770
They were all there.

1004
00:34:21,790 --> 00:34:23,230
It took you a minute, didn't it, yeah?

1005
00:34:24,210 --> 00:34:25,330
I thought about it.

1006
00:34:25,650 --> 00:34:28,929
Anyway, but that's not what the word see

1007
00:34:28,929 --> 00:34:29,650
is.

1008
00:34:31,710 --> 00:34:33,570
See, the text could easily have said see.

1009
00:34:33,650 --> 00:34:34,929
It could have used a simple Greek word

1010
00:34:34,929 --> 00:34:36,790
for see, blepo, or something, you know, just

1011
00:34:36,790 --> 00:34:37,449
take a look.

1012
00:34:38,850 --> 00:34:41,330
But it's the word that Luke uses to

1013
00:34:41,330 --> 00:34:44,050
describe what Paul was doing there is the

1014
00:34:44,050 --> 00:34:48,030
word theoreo, the word to theorize, to get

1015
00:34:48,030 --> 00:34:48,449
underneath.

1016
00:34:49,730 --> 00:34:51,730
Now, what the gospel will do, and this

1017
00:34:51,730 --> 00:34:53,870
is actually the key to working out how

1018
00:34:53,870 --> 00:34:56,230
to be a Christian in the public world,

1019
00:34:56,770 --> 00:34:59,430
Paul saw that underneath all the art, underneath

1020
00:34:59,430 --> 00:35:04,030
all the business, underneath all the government, underneath

1021
00:35:04,030 --> 00:35:07,890
all the philosophy were idols, that the real

1022
00:35:07,890 --> 00:35:09,470
problem with the world is not the bad

1023
00:35:09,470 --> 00:35:11,070
things, but the good things that have become

1024
00:35:11,070 --> 00:35:11,870
the best things.

1025
00:35:13,070 --> 00:35:16,210
And he saw what we should see, and

1026
00:35:16,210 --> 00:35:17,530
this is how it changes the way we

1027
00:35:17,530 --> 00:35:20,330
do things, that under every personality are idols,

1028
00:35:20,790 --> 00:35:23,750
under all psychological problems are idols, under every

1029
00:35:23,750 --> 00:35:26,490
culture is idols, under all moral problems are

1030
00:35:26,490 --> 00:35:30,130
idols, under all social problems are idols, under

1031
00:35:30,130 --> 00:35:31,810
all intellectual problems are idols.

1032
00:35:33,170 --> 00:35:34,590
Now, you know, I'm going to do a

1033
00:35:34,590 --> 00:35:36,270
Q&A afterwards, and if somebody really wants

1034
00:35:36,270 --> 00:35:38,010
to press me on this, I'll spell it

1035
00:35:38,010 --> 00:35:38,110
out.

1036
00:35:38,150 --> 00:35:40,730
But let me, first of all, he, theoreo

1037
00:35:40,730 --> 00:35:44,030
means he saw underneath everything.

1038
00:35:44,990 --> 00:35:47,630
And this is how a Christian does it.

1039
00:35:49,210 --> 00:35:51,910
Naaman, when he went back, and he says,

1040
00:35:52,070 --> 00:35:54,670
I'm going to go into the temple of

1041
00:35:54,670 --> 00:35:57,170
Rimon, but I'm not going to sacrifice to

1042
00:35:57,170 --> 00:35:57,290
Rimon.

1043
00:35:57,510 --> 00:35:59,270
Somebody says, oh, that's awful, but you see,

1044
00:35:59,750 --> 00:36:00,530
boy, he was smart.

1045
00:36:01,270 --> 00:36:02,450
What is the god of Rimon?

1046
00:36:02,710 --> 00:36:03,610
It was the god of Syria.

1047
00:36:03,750 --> 00:36:05,270
What are we talking about here?

1048
00:36:05,830 --> 00:36:06,850
Here's what's going on.

1049
00:36:07,430 --> 00:36:10,530
They were worshiping their country.

1050
00:36:12,230 --> 00:36:13,710
Rimon was the god of Syria.

1051
00:36:13,710 --> 00:36:15,050
They were worshiping Syria.

1052
00:36:15,510 --> 00:36:17,810
The reason there's so much bloodthirstiness in the

1053
00:36:17,810 --> 00:36:19,630
old days was because everybody had their own

1054
00:36:19,630 --> 00:36:23,170
god, and therefore they saw themselves as superior

1055
00:36:23,170 --> 00:36:23,830
to other people.

1056
00:36:24,370 --> 00:36:25,510
And here's what Naaman said.

1057
00:36:26,270 --> 00:36:28,150
Naaman says, what I'm going to do is

1058
00:36:28,150 --> 00:36:29,030
I'm going to go back, and I'm going

1059
00:36:29,030 --> 00:36:30,190
to be the prime minister, and I'm going

1060
00:36:30,190 --> 00:36:31,430
to serve my country, but I will not

1061
00:36:31,430 --> 00:36:32,270
worship my country.

1062
00:36:34,670 --> 00:36:36,510
Now, it's very typical of Christians to make

1063
00:36:36,510 --> 00:36:38,690
a big difference, a big mistake here.

1064
00:36:38,690 --> 00:36:42,190
Some people know that they've made an idol

1065
00:36:42,190 --> 00:36:42,910
out of their career.

1066
00:36:44,710 --> 00:36:47,010
See, it's one thing…

1067
00:36:47,010 --> 00:36:48,930
Apollos is the god of art, right?

1068
00:36:49,630 --> 00:36:50,850
Is there anything wrong with art?

1069
00:36:50,910 --> 00:36:51,130
No.

1070
00:36:51,310 --> 00:36:52,870
Is there anything wrong with worshiping art?

1071
00:36:53,090 --> 00:36:53,450
Yes.

1072
00:36:54,830 --> 00:36:56,170
And how do you worship art?

1073
00:36:56,950 --> 00:36:58,310
When you say, this is my whole meaning

1074
00:36:58,310 --> 00:37:02,450
in life, and artistic acclaim is, for me

1075
00:37:02,450 --> 00:37:04,530
as an artist, what gives me an identity.

1076
00:37:05,170 --> 00:37:06,410
Is there anything wrong with business?

1077
00:37:06,730 --> 00:37:08,730
Is there anything wrong with competition?

1078
00:37:09,210 --> 00:37:11,090
Is there anything wrong with a party?

1079
00:37:11,790 --> 00:37:12,270
Bacchus?

1080
00:37:13,270 --> 00:37:15,590
But when that's where I get my integration

1081
00:37:15,590 --> 00:37:18,010
point, where that's where I get my meaning,

1082
00:37:18,510 --> 00:37:20,410
where that is the thing I live for,

1083
00:37:20,930 --> 00:37:24,290
and my dear friends, everybody…

1084
00:37:24,290 --> 00:37:26,950
The gospel shows us that everybody is worshiping

1085
00:37:26,950 --> 00:37:27,330
something.

1086
00:37:27,530 --> 00:37:29,270
You don't use the word worship, but you're

1087
00:37:29,270 --> 00:37:30,870
living for something, and let me put it

1088
00:37:30,870 --> 00:37:31,450
to you this way.

1089
00:37:32,630 --> 00:37:35,390
Everybody has something that if they lose it,

1090
00:37:35,830 --> 00:37:37,690
means they won't even want to live life

1091
00:37:37,690 --> 00:37:40,610
anymore, and whatever that is, is the thing

1092
00:37:40,610 --> 00:37:41,230
you're worshiping.

1093
00:37:41,330 --> 00:37:42,310
Now, here's what Paul did.

1094
00:37:42,770 --> 00:37:45,110
Paul said, I can get out now, and

1095
00:37:45,110 --> 00:37:48,670
I can recognize and understand how everything changes.

1096
00:37:50,250 --> 00:37:52,970
You're a Christian, and you suddenly realize now

1097
00:37:52,970 --> 00:37:55,430
that you're saved by grace and not through

1098
00:37:55,430 --> 00:37:57,490
your being an artist, what are you going

1099
00:37:57,490 --> 00:37:57,710
to do?

1100
00:37:57,750 --> 00:37:59,070
You can run away and say, oh my

1101
00:37:59,070 --> 00:38:00,650
gosh, the art world, oh my word, look

1102
00:38:00,650 --> 00:38:01,210
at all these people.

1103
00:38:01,410 --> 00:38:02,150
So look at that.

1104
00:38:02,690 --> 00:38:03,790
Look at all the hubris.

1105
00:38:04,170 --> 00:38:05,210
Look at the people who get their very

1106
00:38:05,210 --> 00:38:07,590
definition from being artists.

1107
00:38:08,190 --> 00:38:09,190
Look at how they look down their nose

1108
00:38:09,190 --> 00:38:10,370
at everybody else who's not.

1109
00:38:11,390 --> 00:38:13,630
Look at how they live and die by

1110
00:38:13,630 --> 00:38:14,530
what the critics say.

1111
00:38:14,710 --> 00:38:15,210
Look at all that.

1112
00:38:15,650 --> 00:38:16,910
I want nothing to do with that, so

1113
00:38:16,910 --> 00:38:17,530
you pull on back.

1114
00:38:17,650 --> 00:38:18,430
Naaman didn't do that.

1115
00:38:18,470 --> 00:38:19,630
On the other hand, he didn't just go

1116
00:38:19,630 --> 00:38:20,790
back and say, well, now I have peace

1117
00:38:20,790 --> 00:38:21,530
in my private life.

1118
00:38:21,570 --> 00:38:24,410
He says, I will serve my country, but

1119
00:38:24,410 --> 00:38:25,530
I will not worship my country.

1120
00:38:25,610 --> 00:38:26,830
I will serve in my career, but I

1121
00:38:26,830 --> 00:38:27,790
will not worship my career.

1122
00:38:27,810 --> 00:38:31,530
If you have to run away from something

1123
00:38:31,530 --> 00:38:34,850
that used to be an idol, you're actually

1124
00:38:34,850 --> 00:38:38,410
still enslaved to it.

1125
00:38:39,370 --> 00:38:40,870
You shouldn't just be emancipated.

1126
00:38:40,950 --> 00:38:42,670
You've got to be even emancipated from your

1127
00:38:42,670 --> 00:38:43,350
emancipation.

1128
00:38:44,630 --> 00:38:46,190
It's not enough just to say I'm free

1129
00:38:46,190 --> 00:38:49,270
from that, meaning I can't even be involved

1130
00:38:49,270 --> 00:38:49,910
in it anymore.

1131
00:38:50,350 --> 00:38:53,670
You've got to say Jesus Christ is my

1132
00:38:53,670 --> 00:38:57,630
glory, is my beauty, is my goodness, is

1133
00:38:57,630 --> 00:39:00,370
my righteousness, is my love, is my meaning.

1134
00:39:00,450 --> 00:39:01,270
And then what happens?

1135
00:39:02,170 --> 00:39:04,410
You're going to do things differently than other

1136
00:39:04,410 --> 00:39:04,670
artists.

1137
00:39:04,770 --> 00:39:06,470
You're going to dance differently than other dancers.

1138
00:39:07,230 --> 00:39:08,850
You're going to do business differently than other

1139
00:39:08,850 --> 00:39:12,990
businessmen and women, because like Naaman, you're going

1140
00:39:12,990 --> 00:39:15,390
back into the temple, but you're letting people

1141
00:39:15,390 --> 00:39:19,110
know visibly and in your heart everything you're

1142
00:39:19,110 --> 00:39:20,450
doing is for God.

1143
00:39:20,450 --> 00:39:21,350
God comes first.

1144
00:39:22,150 --> 00:39:23,670
Do you think that Naaman was as bloodthirsty

1145
00:39:23,670 --> 00:39:24,610
as he would have been before?

1146
00:39:25,070 --> 00:39:26,530
Do you think he was the racist he

1147
00:39:26,530 --> 00:39:27,050
was before?

1148
00:39:27,310 --> 00:39:27,990
How could he be?

1149
00:39:28,250 --> 00:39:30,250
Because now he had the God who was

1150
00:39:30,250 --> 00:39:31,450
the God of all human beings.

1151
00:39:33,030 --> 00:39:35,270
His life wasn't broken into pieces the way

1152
00:39:35,270 --> 00:39:37,810
paganism does it, but his life was united

1153
00:39:37,810 --> 00:39:38,350
in a whole.

1154
00:39:39,670 --> 00:39:43,150
Dear friends, Paul saw idols under everything.

1155
00:39:43,650 --> 00:39:45,290
If you want to understand the intellectual trends

1156
00:39:45,290 --> 00:39:47,710
in your field, see the idols.

1157
00:39:49,010 --> 00:39:50,790
If you want to understand what's going wrong

1158
00:39:50,790 --> 00:39:52,410
with your field, see the idols.

1159
00:39:53,090 --> 00:39:56,810
If you want to understand dysfunctional families, see

1160
00:39:56,810 --> 00:39:57,170
the idols.

1161
00:39:57,270 --> 00:39:59,090
I watched The Great Expectations the other day,

1162
00:39:59,410 --> 00:40:01,350
the 1946 version, the good one.

1163
00:40:03,150 --> 00:40:05,730
And here's Mrs. Haversham, and she is miserable.

1164
00:40:05,850 --> 00:40:06,070
Why?

1165
00:40:06,170 --> 00:40:07,590
Because she's made an idol out of marriage.

1166
00:40:08,990 --> 00:40:11,970
And here's Pip, and he's miserable.

1167
00:40:12,090 --> 00:40:12,210
Why?

1168
00:40:12,290 --> 00:40:13,630
Because he made an idol out of Estella.

1169
00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:16,030
And Estella is miserable.

1170
00:40:16,170 --> 00:40:16,390
Why?

1171
00:40:16,610 --> 00:40:17,870
Because she's made an idol out of her

1172
00:40:17,870 --> 00:40:19,570
emotional independence.

1173
00:40:19,990 --> 00:40:21,150
She will not give her heart to anybody.

1174
00:40:21,650 --> 00:40:23,270
And why has she got that as an

1175
00:40:23,270 --> 00:40:23,390
idol?

1176
00:40:23,470 --> 00:40:25,590
Because Mrs. Haversham raised her up that way

1177
00:40:25,590 --> 00:40:27,490
because she hates men because of her idol

1178
00:40:27,490 --> 00:40:29,750
of marriage to wreak vengeance on the male

1179
00:40:29,750 --> 00:40:31,890
gender with Estella, the beautiful Estella.

1180
00:40:32,890 --> 00:40:33,690
That's life.

1181
00:40:35,650 --> 00:40:37,570
Idols beget idols beget idols.

1182
00:40:37,710 --> 00:40:39,310
And Paul said, with the gospel I could

1183
00:40:39,310 --> 00:40:40,790
look underneath and I could see everything.

1184
00:40:41,690 --> 00:40:42,990
Suddenly I figured it out.

1185
00:40:45,230 --> 00:40:47,350
And I knew how to go about everything

1186
00:40:47,350 --> 00:40:47,790
differently.

1187
00:40:47,790 --> 00:40:49,070
I listen to music differently.

1188
00:40:49,830 --> 00:40:51,630
I respond to my neighbors differently.

1189
00:40:51,970 --> 00:40:53,130
I do my job differently.

1190
00:40:53,670 --> 00:40:54,430
Everything's new.

1191
00:40:56,790 --> 00:41:00,090
Now, I did say the last thing is

1192
00:41:00,090 --> 00:41:01,550
what Paul did.

1193
00:41:02,030 --> 00:41:05,270
See where he went, how he felt, what

1194
00:41:05,270 --> 00:41:06,850
he saw, the idols, and what he did.

1195
00:41:07,430 --> 00:41:09,310
He preached Jesus and the resurrection.

1196
00:41:09,530 --> 00:41:11,390
And I guess this is probably—this is just

1197
00:41:11,390 --> 00:41:13,530
a sec—60 seconds on this.

1198
00:41:13,930 --> 00:41:15,550
What did Paul actually bring out in the

1199
00:41:15,550 --> 00:41:15,910
marketplace?

1200
00:41:16,210 --> 00:41:18,350
First of all, he brought out the objectivity

1201
00:41:18,350 --> 00:41:18,990
of Christianity.

1202
00:41:19,210 --> 00:41:20,610
He was willing to get up in the

1203
00:41:20,610 --> 00:41:22,170
marketplace and say, resurrection.

1204
00:41:23,510 --> 00:41:26,110
He was willing back then to become utterly

1205
00:41:26,110 --> 00:41:26,570
vulnerable.

1206
00:41:26,770 --> 00:41:30,450
He based the truth of what he was

1207
00:41:30,450 --> 00:41:32,910
teaching about Jesus Christ to a historical event.

1208
00:41:33,790 --> 00:41:35,250
There's that great place where he's talking to

1209
00:41:35,250 --> 00:41:36,030
Festus and Agrippa.

1210
00:41:36,570 --> 00:41:37,510
I love it.

1211
00:41:37,930 --> 00:41:40,210
And Paul says, Jesus Christ was raised from

1212
00:41:40,210 --> 00:41:41,830
the dead, and they scoff, and he turns

1213
00:41:41,830 --> 00:41:43,410
to Festus and says, ask Agrippa.

1214
00:41:43,970 --> 00:41:45,810
Agrippa, of course, was Jewish, and he was

1215
00:41:45,810 --> 00:41:46,550
in Palestine.

1216
00:41:46,730 --> 00:41:47,390
He'd been there for years.

1217
00:41:47,830 --> 00:41:49,430
Festus was a pagan from elsewhere.

1218
00:41:49,890 --> 00:41:51,810
Festus says, come on, resurrection from the dead.

1219
00:41:51,990 --> 00:41:52,510
What does he do?

1220
00:41:52,710 --> 00:41:54,630
He turns to Festus and says, ask Agrippa.

1221
00:41:55,530 --> 00:41:57,550
He says, he knows about these things, for

1222
00:41:57,550 --> 00:41:59,310
these things were not done in a corner.

1223
00:41:59,510 --> 00:42:02,990
And what he means is, Paul says, there's

1224
00:42:02,990 --> 00:42:04,970
no religion that made itself so vulnerable, no

1225
00:42:04,970 --> 00:42:07,010
religion that came up and said, the reason

1226
00:42:07,010 --> 00:42:08,690
you want to know it's true is because

1227
00:42:08,690 --> 00:42:11,550
hundreds of people saw Jesus Christ physically raised

1228
00:42:11,550 --> 00:42:13,230
from the dead after he'd been crucified.

1229
00:42:14,690 --> 00:42:16,610
Paul was willing to get into the marketplace

1230
00:42:16,610 --> 00:42:17,030
with that.

1231
00:42:17,130 --> 00:42:18,090
He was willing to come up and do

1232
00:42:18,090 --> 00:42:19,330
apologetics, they're called.

1233
00:42:19,390 --> 00:42:20,170
That's the old term.

1234
00:42:20,490 --> 00:42:22,290
He's willing to come out and say, Christianity

1235
00:42:22,290 --> 00:42:24,170
isn't true because it's relevant.

1236
00:42:24,250 --> 00:42:25,570
It's relevant because it's true.

1237
00:42:25,810 --> 00:42:27,670
Christianity isn't true because it changes your life.

1238
00:42:27,690 --> 00:42:29,230
It changes your life because it's reality.

1239
00:42:29,950 --> 00:42:30,990
And that's what he said.

1240
00:42:31,050 --> 00:42:33,150
He got out in the marketplace and was

1241
00:42:33,150 --> 00:42:35,290
willing to say, come on, ask me why

1242
00:42:35,290 --> 00:42:35,910
this is true.

1243
00:42:35,910 --> 00:42:37,210
Other religions don't want to do that.

1244
00:42:37,270 --> 00:42:39,590
They say, well, you'll find peace within.

1245
00:42:40,550 --> 00:42:43,090
You know, golly, a dirty sock will give

1246
00:42:43,090 --> 00:42:44,970
you peace within, I suppose, if you smell

1247
00:42:44,970 --> 00:42:46,570
it long enough and you think good thoughts.

1248
00:42:46,690 --> 00:42:49,590
I mean, you can, peace within, people get

1249
00:42:49,590 --> 00:42:50,010
peace within.

1250
00:42:50,110 --> 00:42:50,750
He doesn't do that.

1251
00:42:50,810 --> 00:42:52,830
He lifts up the objectivity in the marketplace.

1252
00:42:53,010 --> 00:42:54,990
But the other thing he does is he

1253
00:42:54,990 --> 00:42:57,610
lifts up Jesus subjectively.

1254
00:42:57,890 --> 00:43:00,630
I love the way he puts it, don't

1255
00:43:00,630 --> 00:43:00,810
you?

1256
00:43:02,070 --> 00:43:04,450
He was preaching the good news of Jesus,

1257
00:43:04,530 --> 00:43:06,110
not Jesus Christ, Jesus.

1258
00:43:06,330 --> 00:43:07,050
How personal.

1259
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:13,880
John Donne said, take me to you, imprison

1260
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:16,740
me, for I, except you enthrall me, never

1261
00:43:16,740 --> 00:43:19,880
shall be free, nor ever chaste, except you

1262
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:20,620
ravish me.

1263
00:43:21,420 --> 00:43:22,760
Paul was jealous.

1264
00:43:24,020 --> 00:43:26,840
And what Paul wanted was to you to

1265
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:29,440
be in love with Jesus and for you

1266
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:31,240
to know how much Jesus can be in

1267
00:43:31,240 --> 00:43:31,780
love with you.

1268
00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:34,480
Paul was willing to pick that up and

1269
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:35,740
pull that up, and it's not just the

1270
00:43:35,740 --> 00:43:37,860
objective, but the subjective, and say, the only

1271
00:43:37,860 --> 00:43:39,380
way you'll be free from idols in your

1272
00:43:39,380 --> 00:43:42,400
life is if you're ravished with him.

1273
00:43:42,780 --> 00:43:44,220
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

1274
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:45,960
You have to experience him.

1275
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:47,460
That's what Christianity is.

1276
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:49,880
It's not just an abstract truth or just

1277
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:50,800
a mystical experience.

1278
00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:54,820
It's an experience of truth because the truth

1279
00:43:54,820 --> 00:43:58,120
became a person, and now relationship is the

1280
00:43:58,120 --> 00:43:59,800
way in which the truth comes in, and

1281
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:01,300
my whole life has changed and everything else

1282
00:44:01,300 --> 00:44:01,700
has changed.

1283
00:44:01,980 --> 00:44:03,020
Do you understand that?

1284
00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:05,760
Are you the kind of person who feels

1285
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:07,020
the way Paul felt?

1286
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:09,520
Are you the kind of person who is

1287
00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:12,020
able to see what Paul saw, able to

1288
00:44:12,020 --> 00:44:14,540
do that kind of analysis, now seeing everybody

1289
00:44:14,540 --> 00:44:16,200
trying to save themselves through idols?

1290
00:44:17,060 --> 00:44:18,320
So the gospel gives you that kind of

1291
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:18,720
analysis.

1292
00:44:19,420 --> 00:44:21,080
You're no longer up there looking and saying,

1293
00:44:21,180 --> 00:44:22,780
yes, there's the religious and the irreligious, the

1294
00:44:22,780 --> 00:44:23,320
good and the bad.

1295
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:24,480
No, no, no, there's the people who are

1296
00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:26,100
trying to save themselves through idols and the

1297
00:44:26,100 --> 00:44:28,840
people who have finally given themselves to Jesus.

1298
00:44:30,180 --> 00:44:31,560
That's the only two kinds of people in

1299
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:31,940
the world.

1300
00:44:33,500 --> 00:44:35,220
If you're here and you're not sure if

1301
00:44:35,220 --> 00:44:37,780
you're a Christian, you say, I'm kind of

1302
00:44:37,780 --> 00:44:39,740
neutral, you have, you Christians have faith.

1303
00:44:39,820 --> 00:44:41,560
I wish I had that kind of faith.

1304
00:44:42,020 --> 00:44:45,100
My dear friends, you have already got incredible

1305
00:44:45,100 --> 00:44:45,460
faith.

1306
00:44:45,540 --> 00:44:47,480
You couldn't have, you couldn't be living without

1307
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:48,560
putting your faith in something.

1308
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:49,880
It's not Jesus, that's all.

1309
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:50,560
What is it?

1310
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:54,960
It's your career or it's sexual attractiveness or

1311
00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:57,380
it's partying, it's Bacchus or it's Ares or

1312
00:44:57,380 --> 00:44:59,840
it's Aphrodite or it's Apollos or it's something.

1313
00:45:00,380 --> 00:45:02,200
And all I can tell you is those

1314
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:04,900
gods, if you fail them, will never forgive

1315
00:45:04,900 --> 00:45:05,200
you.

1316
00:45:05,460 --> 00:45:07,800
And if you get them, they'll never satisfy

1317
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:08,160
you.

1318
00:45:08,540 --> 00:45:09,980
This is the only God who will.

1319
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:13,860
Jesus and the resurrection.

1320
00:45:15,940 --> 00:45:17,780
You've been listening to the From the Pulpit

1321
00:45:17,780 --> 00:45:19,000
in Classic Sermons series.

1322
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,580
This week, you heard Tim Keller with his

1323
00:45:21,580 --> 00:45:22,960
message, A World of Idols.

1324
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:25,060
Tune in next week to hear Oswald J.

1325
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:27,980
Smith speak about five solid facts on From

1326
00:45:27,980 --> 00:45:29,640
the Pulpit in Classic Sermons.