Kyle Morris and Dakota Smith wrestle with the intricacies of scriptural authenticity versus societal perceptions, dissecting the theological tensions that arise when Jesus is co-opted for pop culture messaging. Striking a balance between relevance and reverence, we address the potential for confusion when biblical stories are adapted for modern tastes, all while maintaining a focus on the integrity of the message.
Continuing in Acts 16, our conversation transitions to the story of Lydia in the Acts of the Apostles, shining a light on her crucial role in the early church and what it signifies about the inclusive nature of the Gospel. The narrative of Lydia's conversion not only reflects the breaking of conventional boundaries but also paints a vivid picture of a movement that fervently believed in the value of every soul.
Navigating deeper into the Acts, we grapple with the themes of divine involvement in salvation, spiritual warfare, and the resilience of faith under persecution. The episode reaches its crescendo as we reflect on Paul and Silas's unwavering faith amidst imprisonment, drawing parallels with our personal missionary experiences. As we dissect these ancient narratives, they emerge not as distant tales but as relevant touchstones for the modern believer, challenging us to consider the depth of our own faith and the impact it has on confronting worldly values with Gospel truth. Join us for a compelling exploration of how these timeless events from Acts continue to resonate and inspire the faithful in today's world.
Kyle Morris and Dakota Smith wrestle with the intricacies of scriptural authenticity versus societal perceptions, dissecting the theological tensions that arise when Jesus is co-opted for pop culture messaging. Striking a balance between relevance and reverence, we address the potential for confusion when biblical stories are adapted for modern tastes, all while maintaining a focus on the integrity of the message.
Continuing in Acts 16, our conversation transitions to the story of Lydia in the Acts of the Apostles, shining a light on her crucial role in the early church and what it signifies about the inclusive nature of the Gospel. The narrative of Lydia's conversion not only reflects the breaking of conventional boundaries but also paints a vivid picture of a movement that fervently believed in the value of every soul.
Navigating deeper into the Acts, we grapple with the themes of divine involvement in salvation, spiritual warfare, and the resilience of faith under persecution. The episode reaches its crescendo as we reflect on Paul and Silas's unwavering faith amidst imprisonment, drawing parallels with our personal missionary experiences. As we dissect these ancient narratives, they emerge not as distant tales but as relevant touchstones for the modern believer, challenging us to consider the depth of our own faith and the impact it has on confronting worldly values with Gospel truth. Join us for a compelling exploration of how these timeless events from Acts continue to resonate and inspire the faithful in today's world.
Welcome to the B disciples podcast with your host, kyle Morris, and Dakota Smith. This is episode number 107, I believe 107 episodes. Yeah, we've been doing this for a few years.
Speaker 2:Don't go back and listen to our first one ever Nope Stick with acts, but welcome.
Speaker 1:I want to let you all know again, if you're listening to the audio only version of our podcast, we have started a video podcast on our channel at auto about what churchcom at auto. About what churchcom. The link right there there's a should be on there on the video. I know for the audio that doesn't really help, but if you go to at auto Bible church on YouTube, you go to podcasts, you'll see the B disciples podcast, and so we're adding that element for our audience here in Ottawa and Franklin County. Get to know us a little bit more.
Speaker 1:We've received some cool feedback since doing the video podcast, and so they like to see us get to know us a little more, our personalities or mannerisms, whatever it may be. We're a little dry, yeah, just a little, but we just so you know we didn't just like throw David to the curb. Yeah, he's actually out at a school doing ministry. He is also, though he's our worship leader. He's also our youth pastor, and so he's off at a school with students and so he's out doing his job. So he's not. He's not sick or any of those things. He's out doing the Lord's work and we miss him. We're excited for him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah it's a little flavor to the podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's a little dry. Yeah, he adds a little more humor to the podcast or different kind of humor.
Speaker 2:He really does.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's. It's been a lot of fun to get this started and get this set up and so, but we had a big day here in Kansas because the Kansas City Chiefs were in the Super Bowl yesterday, as we record on Mondays. So, man, what a game.
Speaker 2:That was one of the best games that I've ever watched in my entire life. The first half, I thought using the term dry. I thought the first half. You know, 10 to three wasn't much, but if you're a chiefs fan and you're from Kansas City, that was one of the most intense, thrilling games that we've ever watched. And you know, although the Niners lost, I give it up for Brock Hardy, who's a born again believer. I believe, based on that man's testimony and his words, like he really showed some serious class as he led his team, and it's just cool to see Christians out on the field competing. And so, although I'm happy the Chiefs won, I'm also grateful it was a good game and people are sharing their faith.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I enjoyed the game. You know, and over time, super Bowl is rare and we got to see Patrick Mahomes do exactly what he's known to do drive down the field and win Super Bowls. So just a classic game.
Speaker 2:But I do think there's maybe a relevant conversation that we could have here on the podcast about one of the commercials that came out about Jesus. Yeah, and this is always one of those things where there's a difference between more of a thorough theological answer versus, you know, kind of like your first initial reaction. But there is one ministry I guess you could call it that concerning Jesus. They had a commercial about Jesus and I'm not going to give the name, but I think everybody would know, and in the commercial, you know, the basic premise is that Jesus would wash anybody's feet. And they had a.
Speaker 2:You know all these different polarizing figures from our society. And you know, I think, as a believer, when I was watching that I had some serious hesitancy with the direction that the commercial went. And so, just for anybody listening, I think it's appropriate for us, as men who are trying to accurately represent God's word, to say let's think through that a little more clearly. So now, what were your thoughts about the commercial, the foot washing commercial? And let's talk about that for a few minutes before we jump into Acts.
Speaker 1:Well, the commercial pose the question who does Jesus, who does who? Whose feet is getting washed by Jesus? That's the question. Like Jesus's washes, jesus washes feet. But then I was like, yeah, but whose feet? And so I was thinking of scripture and I thought well, I do know that Jesus washes his disciples feet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the upper end discourse. John, you know chapters 13 to 17,. I think it's specifically in chapter 13, he washes their feet.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And so then I kept thinking, well, where else is their feet washing? In the gospels, and I remember a woman washing Jesus's feet, but that would be the other way around. And so I really got stuck on what Jesus washed his disciples feet, and the commercial didn't quite display that same type of pattern in scripture. So that kind of had my theological radar going off, like, hmm, what is this commercial then communicating to us about Jesus? Well, we have all these, it seemed like Christians washing different people's feet in society today, and and that it kind of had this resemblance of acceptance of the individual for who they are, in their element, what they've decided to live like their lifestyle choices. And that seemed to be the portrayal of Jesus in the commercial, where I'm not really seeing that in the gospels itself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I think one thing that's helpful to do, and I've never gone and looked up this particular organization's doctrinal statement like just full disclaimer. I haven't done my homework on that, but whenever I see, you know, the polarizing figures of society that the world is trying to prop up as our icons and our heroes, so to speak, I'm always really careful with that. James 4 4 said says Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Okay, so we know that God is not an approver of sin, we know that God is not an approval of sinful lifestyles, but we also do know that God, the Father, sent forth his one, only son to pay for the sin of the world. Behold John, chapter one, says the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. And so like there's this tension there, because we do know that Jesus washed his disciples' feet and that Judas was in the room and Judas would later betray him and Judas wasn't a believer, right. So you have to be careful with saying there's like this outright rejection.
Speaker 2:But I think the real thing we have to ask is who is Jesus considered? Friends with Jesus is actually not a friend of sinners. It was the Pharisees that gave him that title. Look, he's a friend of sinners, but in all actuality, I think that Jesus is a friend of people who have repented, and he is drawing his enemies to friendship. So it's not that he's casting them away and pushing them away, but he's not okay with them staying where they are, and in fact we addressed that in yesterday's sermon. The gospel says come as you are, but don't stay as you are, because Jesus wants to change you. And so I'm still processing the commercial myself, but to be sure, I'm I'm precocious, you know, because there there were some things that felt a little acceptance, like when Jesus has come to, to conform us into his image, not our own.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I didn't talk about repentance. It did not which is a path to salvation.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:And we know in the book of John what John talks about when it when you're a friend of Jesus, what the requirement is to be a friend of Jesus. Well, you have to know Jesus in order to know the Father, and if you know the Father, then you're a friend of Jesus. That's right. In order to be in that relationship, you then have to repent and believe. So there's there.
Speaker 1:There wasn't that message in the commercial, and maybe the commercial is just meant to pose a question to get them to go to the website to read more about what it means to be a believer. Who knows, you know, I again, I've been on their website a couple times. Some of it's, some of it's kind of vague, which a lot of websites do that on purpose, so they can get them to call and have conversations about the gospel. But yeah, the commercial seemed a bit more about acceptance rather than repentance, and that's really where the concern is with that. And so just be careful. I think we just need to know our Bibles, and when we know our Bibles, we those, the radar goes off and goes. Does scripture really say that about Jesus? And so we can then dive into scripture and look for it, or we've already read it and know that's a little off.
Speaker 2:To be sure, I'd be on the more skeptical side and I would encourage people who saw the commercial to also be on the skeptical side, especially when there's money and Super Bowl advertisements and that that kind of stuff coming across, always be careful. But yeah, the path to salvation is that you first have to repent, which is the word metanoia, which means change your mind. You're a sinner, you're unrighteous, you're destined for hell. God's wrath abides on you and in order to escape that state and condition that you're in, you have to change your mind about how you are living. Throw yourself at the feet of Jesus, surrender yourself to Him and allow Him to conform you to His image, believe in His death and His resurrection, being dwelt by the Holy Spirit, expecting His return. So a mouthful could be said. We could do a whole episode just on that. Sure, and to be fair, this is an initial reaction. I bet you if we came back next week, we'd give a much more thorough one. But be very careful with things of that nature.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's. It's always important. I know we don't want to be super hard when the rest of the commercials, or some of them, are definitely on the other end of the spectrum, where they're definitely against God in all sorts of ways. Yeah, and they glorify sin and so, but this commercial is teetering. Yeah, it says the name of Jesus, but let's make sure, as Christians, we represent Jesus the way he actually is and was in the Gospels and throughout Scripture, and that's all. That's all. That's the only warning there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Is it an overt or covert attack against God, or is it something that the Lord is using? Those are basically our questions. Yeah, and you've got a land somewhere. I think, ultimately, you find your answers in the Bible. Jesus calls everyone to repentance, and anyone who repents, jesus said in John 6, anyone who comes to me, I won't cast away anyone. And anyone means anyone, but it doesn't mean an approval of that person's lifestyle. So yeah, yeah, amen.
Speaker 1:Well, let's pray, All right, because we're going to get in the book of Acts. We're going to hopefully finish chapter 16 today and be able to walk through it, so let's pray. Father, we are here today because of you, because you sent your son Jesus. Thank you, and it's only Jesus that we sit here today. That's right, lord. It's easy to get off track, it's easy to get busy, it's easy to just fill our minds with things that aren't of you, and so today, I pray for all those who are listening, I pray for our church body that we would focus our eyes on you, that our hearts and our minds would be transformed daily into your son Jesus. And so be with us as we study your Word In Acts 16, we continue to talk about the early church and see how the Holy Spirit moves and directs and how we are supposed to today. Look and see what the Holy Spirit is doing, be in tune with what you want, lord, and what is your will. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2:Amen. Last week we saw that Paul discovered Timothy, and last week we also saw that the Holy Spirit kept them, held them back from going places, missionally speaking, and then the Holy Spirit eventually gave Paul the Macedonian vision. Now they're headed to the region of Macedonia, with, that being said, macedonia being Philippi, excuse me Philippi, philippi, the Philippians. Still a little bit early this morning, my mind's just starting to work Verse 11, all the way to 15, I think this is the next account that we receive. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace and the next day came to Neapolis and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony, and we were staying in that city for some days, and on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made, and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now, a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a cellar of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul and when she and her household were baptized, she begged us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. So she persuaded us. Okay, paul Timothy.
Speaker 2:They go. There's a gathering of prayer, individuals who are fearing the Lord, seeking him. These are Jewish proselytes, converts to Judaism. And then they discover Lydia. And then Lydia, essentially, is baptized. But she asks this, or she makes a statement at the end If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. So after baptism, she invites them yeah, so brief summary. But what's significant here in these verses?
Speaker 1:Well, we continue to see the journey of Paul and Timothy and we continue to see the Holy Spirit move and lead, and so that's important. And so this 11 through 15 seems like, compared to some of the other things we've seen in Acts, seems a bit tame If we really like. At first it seems like you are Okay. They went to some place, they met some lady named Lydia and she accepted Christ and they hung out of their house and, like you know, if you, if you don't really dive into it, it can almost be like a bridge passage, and so we have to take some time to see you know what is going on here a little bit more, dig in a little bit more. They are on the Sabbath day. They went outside the gate there by the riverside, they're in a place of prayer, so we already have a gathering of prayer. Not necessarily, it's not done by Paul or Timothy, they're just continuing praying to God. They sat down and spoke with these women One who heard us was Lydia and she sold.
Speaker 1:She was, she was a business woman, she was, and she sold purple goods. Yeah, well, what's the? What's purple? Why is that significant? Why is purple good majesty? Yeah, it's a, it's a. It's a you would say expensive clothing, expensive items. She would have an audience to wealthy people that's who would be buying her stuff, and so we know that she spends a lot of time with people in the marketplace, specifically those who have lots of influence.
Speaker 2:I have a couple of notes here in my Bible, one that I was unaware of, another that I was aware of, so I'll just share both of them. The first says when they gathered at the riverside to pray. The study Bible says that evidently the Jewish community did not have the minimum of 10 Jewish men who were heads of households, required to form a synagogue. In such cases, where you did not at least have 10 Jewish men leading the synagogue, a place of prayer under the open sky and a near and near a river or sea was adopted as a meeting place. Most likely the spot was located where the road leading out of the city crossed the the gang guides river.
Speaker 2:So when it says women met there and further evidence of the small number of Jewish men, it was women who met to pray, read from the Old Testament law and discuss what they read. So basically, this was a woman's, a woman's Bible study. Yeah, paul goes to this women's Bible study, if you could use today's language, and he cares about their salvation too, which I think shows the movement of the gospel. The gospel was not just for men. The gospel was for women, who were seen a second class in this society.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if we look at this chapter, we see a theme of faithful women, absolutely Not just Lydia, but Timothy's mother, that's right. Right, timothy's mother is Jewish and raised Timothy to know God. That's right. So we have a faithful mother, we have faithful women who are continually following God, despite men who haven't maybe stepped up in leadership or there hadn't been enough men. And so I just think we see the significance again of Jesus' ministry, both to the Jew, the Gentile, male and female Doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, the gospel's for you. That's right, it's for all people. So we're getting a little bit of more ministry to all, not just the Gentiles, but now to women, and specifically going to the women and preaching to them. So that's a big deal.
Speaker 1:I think it's good to point out who the gospel's for, and we're not a church that says we're going to say men are more important than women or women are more important than men. The Bible doesn't do that. Now. There are specific roles for men and women and they are equal in value. That Christ has established for his church, and so them coming to women, they value the women just as much as the men, and we see that in Paul's ministry. He's not ignoring the women. He's going and preaching the gospel to all who will hear, and so that's who we should preach the gospel to all who will hear.
Speaker 2:I will say that for me, I always make the concerted effort to make sure if I'm going to minister to women, I have somebody else with me. Like rarely I'd have to be in public, like at Walmart where everybody's around or somewhere in the coffee shop, if I briefly went one-on-one to speak with a woman, because there's just there's some cultural barriers towards like you got to be careful with that stuff. But Paul was with Silas, right? Or, excuse me, paul was with Timothy, something else though, so I did not know that about the passage.
Speaker 1:And there's a group of women and there's a group of women. It wasn't just Lydia, it was also Lydia and her household.
Speaker 2:So I think you kind of consider Billy Graham-like rules and scenarios like that. But so that was the part that I didn't know. I didn't realize that. You know you needed at least 10 men to form a synagogue.
Speaker 2:But here's something I did know to your point that she sold purple Thyatira, and if you're listening to this episode, these might seem like mundane details, but they're actually going to tell you a lot about the letter to the Philippians. It's going to tell you a lot about the health of this church. It's going to tell you a lot about how the early church was supported. So, listen, she's a seller of purple Thyatira. Purple fabrics is what it means, because purple dye was extremely expensive. Purple garments were usually worn by royalty and the wealthy. As a result, lydia's business turned a nice profit, which enabled her to have a house large enough to accommodate the missionary team and the new church at Philippi. So her home may as well have been the sanctuary in Philippi. Yeah, and that's awesome. I mean, they had a problem with hey, we need a larger facility, right, that's unfamiliar Mm-hmm, that a problem with needing more space. And somebody said you can come and use this space and you can benefit from my business and I think there has been influential people over time in church history and the past, or even in the present day, the contemporary day, where individuals have said you know what the Lord has blessed me with this sum of money?
Speaker 2:The Lord has blessed my business. The Lord has, you know, blessed me in my business endeavors. I just feel led to support the church in that and you know, I have been the recipient of individuals who are wealthy but are not tightly gripped to their money and they said here, we want to help your family with this, we want to help your family with that. Here, we want to underwrite this ministry for the church. We want to do this, we want to do that. And that's exactly what we see happening in the New Testament. Jesus even had women following him that supported his ministry, if you look closer in the Gospels. And so there is a consistency within scripture to say man, if the Lord has blessed me, maybe I should follow suit with those people to support God's church.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I also think this hits home culturally in America when it comes to women working, uh, paying for things, women being successful. Lydia was clearly successful and she clearly worked hard, yeah, and she clearly had money. And so sometimes I think in a conservative evangelical culture from the outside looking in, there's somehow this putting down of women, especially when we look at the leadership of the church, how things operate within the church, as the Bible says, when it comes to leadership and and so. But here this we're not talking about women can't be leaders in the in the sense of leading in business, leading other women leading and being wealthy and being successful.
Speaker 1:Paul didn't say anything about to her. He preached the gospel to her and then her generosity said hey, I want to continue to help, come be, come, stay with us, and we can talk more about what ministry is gonna look like and and how we can help in this mission to share the gospel. And so I just think we sometimes this is a place to go to and there's other places in the Bible to say look at these Wonderful women who are strong leaders, who are, who are business women who do these things, and so I think we can. We can see that in scripture, and so that's actually a little bit of a place where maybe you can go. If someone says, well, christianity knocks down women, well, I think it doesn't, according to God's word.
Speaker 2:I think you framed it well when you said people outside of the church.
Speaker 2:Yeah and really what the church's value is for for women is. We look at something like Proverbs 31, and, and we believe that Because God so highly prizes the Christian family that a woman's first priority is to her family, her husband and her children. The family unit is is ultimately what matters most to God. The family unit was established even before the church was established. So a woman's first responsibility, of course to God but I'm speaking horizontally is to her family. So that is the first position. If she's fulfilling those duties, then nothing says that she cannot also go and do other things, nothing says she can't bring her kids with her right Right, and so I think the world may say one thing, but realistically, the Bible is all for hard-working women who love Jesus and love their families first.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the Proverbs 31 woman worked hard yeah and and display of her whole life's work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right.
Speaker 1:But I bought it displayed that she had, you know, I would say, an equal partnership with her, with her husband. Her husband was out working, he was out building a reputation and she ensured that that reputation continued to be built and it was enhanced. And she took care of a lot of things land, what they were selling, the household, the children. I mean a lifetime worth of work, and that is valuable, that is extremely valuable. Today's society, at least an American society, says that's oppressive. I would disagree.
Speaker 1:I think a woman Is at her best when she's fulfilling God's role For her in her life and following his will. And so and I see the most fulfillment in that, because I see women in that role being fulfilled in God's will and I see women chasing something Outside of that, chasing some of these, these factors money, leadership, some sort of prestige, and they're missing God's will in it. Not that those things are necessarily bad, but they fall under a place where they become their identity rather than Christ, and that's when it gets bad. And so we just have to be careful and guess what men we can fall into the same trap. We're not excluded from this conversation either.
Speaker 2:Verse 15 says and when she and her household were baptized. Notice what it says. It doesn't just say she was baptized, it says her household. Now, you know, we don't know what her household means does. Does that mean individuals living with her? Does that mean her husband, her children? We're not entirely sure, but this seems to show that she had, you know, more responsibility than just her business. I think at minimal we could make that point right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's talk about this little phrase Midway through verse 14. It says the Lord opened her heart To heed the things spoken by Paul. You know, this is always like a tension point, like, okay, does election come prior to faith or does faith then bring about your election before God? Which one is it? So I think two sides of the aisle. One side of the aisle would say no, that was the Lord Opening her heart so that she believed, right. The other side of the aisle would say, just to be fair to both sides, is that yeah, but she was in a place of being spiritually drawn and spiritually prodded. She was already in a place of prayer. In other words, like she, she was already seeking. And because she was seeking, then the Lord did something.
Speaker 2:And so I think, regardless of how you take this verse, it's just, I Think, humility, with this argument of God's sovereignty, just understand both sides of the aisle before you passionately argue For the place that your conviction lies With. That being said, salvation has to be given to us by the Lord alone. Whether it's we have our own Human free agency and free will to at least seek, and then God, of course, draws, or whether it's it's God just Completely taking over an individual. There's different ways to view, I guess, the nature of soteriology, the nature of salvation, but if God is not involved in the process, one cannot have salvation Right. Very simply said, regardless of the nuance, you want to do right, you have to have Jesus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jesus has to be there. We can't do it on our own, without Jesus. So, yes, doesn't matter which area you fall into, jesus has to do it. He accomplished it on the cross, he accomplished it in the resurrection, he accomplished it with his perfect life, the perfect sacrifice. So without Jesus, it doesn't matter. So you need Jesus, you need God, and we do see God working in the heart of Lydia to pay attention. Yes, it's not believe, but to pay attention. I think she already believed in God.
Speaker 2:Into Yahweh is a Jewish convert right.
Speaker 1:So it worded a Judaism. She just maybe hadn't heard about Jesus yet. That's right, that's all that's right. And so she was praying to the one true God. Paul comes and says I'm gonna tell you about Jesus, yeah, and she listens and God works on her heart to pay attention to the words that Paul is preaching and that's really, really important in the text. So we can't really settle the debate. Well, we're not going to in this passage.
Speaker 2:We could have an episode just about that, but right, we'd get off track.
Speaker 1:But I think it's good to just say God is at work in the hearts of people. Absolutely, he is going to draw. We see that. And we also see the other side of the aisle of rejection of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, so not chapter 2, but just in Acts. So we see both. So we just have to kind of settle there and say it's God's work. Jesus accomplished it and by faith and turning our minds to Christ, we believe in what he did. And I think for that that's what we want to see when we evangelize, that's what we see when we talk to people. We want them to move from Recognizing their sin into who paid the penalty for their sin yeah, and, and recognizing who that was and recognizing that it's the resurrection. That is the pivotal moment in which Jesus says I am the Son of God, I am God and I've risen from the grave. And if you believe in that, that's what it takes.
Speaker 2:I also think this is a great text to go to. When somebody asked the question Well, what about people who have never heard of Jesus before and like they're living out in the Amazon or something? To that I respond Romans, chapter 1, the general revelation of God. There is no person that is, you know, without excuse. Everyone knows of God's existence. There is no such thing as an atheist. There are only people who claim to be atheists.
Speaker 2:And if people would seek God in fact Paul says here later in Acts in fact, if, if they would, but grope for him I think this is in like reaching for him. I think it's an act 17 on Mars Hill but if people would just reach out for him, then God would meet them. I think this is a perfect example that Lydia has been reaching out to God, and guess what God did in response? He sent a missionary, and so I think that's how it works. That person may be unable to hear the gospel message, but if they're seeking, god is not unable to make it known to them. So now the question becomes Do you have a whole bunch of people in the Amazon who just, despite the beauty of God's creation in front of them, they're just not seeking. Yeah, I think that's the greater question, right? Yeah, so that's how I would kind of handle that question.
Speaker 1:Plus, we just went to the ends of the jungle in Mexico. Come on, they know there's a God they do they do.
Speaker 1:No, no running water, no electricity, no comforts of life, living in shacks. You, they know there's a God. Now we also know that missionaries went there. Yeah, god used his people to go reach other people who didn't hear, who haven't heard the gospel yet. Yes, so we have indigenous tribes all around the world who have heard the gospel.
Speaker 1:Now it's their choice to say we accept the gospel as true, we accept God as true, jesus as true. We're gonna keep following whatever type of religion, spirituality, whatever thing that we've kind of come up with when it comes to creation, evolution, whatever that may be. So they've been presented it and I would say today, the ends of the earth with the gospel, other than maybe some islands that people get killed trying to get on to, the gospel has been out there, it has. The gospel has gone all around the world. Today's technology is not hindering the gospel, it's helping the gospel. So, yeah, I think that question though I think there are people who may not have heard it yet still, it's out there and God's doing work and we're reaching the ends of the earth.
Speaker 2:It's fun to be sure. On the flip side, I think technology can hinder the gospel, based on the way we started this very episode. Right, but then that's not the gospel. So if you're putting the gospel out on the airwaves or using technology and it's for the right purpose to reach other people with the message, then that's appropriate and that's healthy.
Speaker 1:Sure, I think there's people who are going to try to stop our podcast from growing, but guess who is actually in control, right? So I mean, I'm not worried about it. It's going to go as far as God wants it to go, and that's all I'm concerned about. And so I think we need to have that attitude of be active in our faith, pursue the Great Commission, and God will take care of the rest, and that's how we should do it.
Speaker 2:And by those people you mean like, because once you put something on social media, you know the organizations of the world, they get a little sideways.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and once you reach an audience because of Jesus, you get a little, a little flag. That guy's a Jesus guy, but I want to be known as the Jesus guy.
Speaker 2:That's the whole point. That's the whole point. Yeah, let's pick it up in verse 16. This is Paul and Silas in prison. I suppose I should remember that it's Paul, timothy and Silas. I was just saying Paul and Timothy earlier. Maybe Timothy's not here, but I'd have to reread this section. Here we go, verse 16.
Speaker 2:Now it happened as we went to prayer that a certain slave girl, possessed with a spirit of divination, met us who brought her masters much profit by fortune telling Interesting. This girl followed Paul and us and cried out saying these men, these men are the servants of the most high God who proclaimed to us the way of salvation. And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, I command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And he came out that very hour.
Speaker 2:But when her master saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace, to the authorities, and they brought them to the magistrates and said these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods, and when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. So this is probably the last portion of scripture we'll cover today, but let's take it by way of traditional coma method. Context, observation, meaning, application. What's the context? Where were we just at?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it says, as we were going to the place of prayer, which I believe, that we're still talking about, the place of prayer in which they met Lydia.
Speaker 2:Seems they were continuing to go back there and minister.
Speaker 1:Right, because we're still in the same place. We haven't changed locations, and so they went back there to continue to reach people, share the gospel, and they met a slave girl who had been possessed by a evil spirit, by a demon, it says, a spirit of divination and broader owners, much gained by fortune telling.
Speaker 2:The Greek literally says a Python spirit, a snake spirit. Yeah, and I have a note here that says that expression comes from Greek mythology. Python was a snake that guarded the Oracle of Delphi. Essentially, this girl was a medium in contact with demons who could supposedly predict the future. And then we have a note on that from Deuteronomy 18, 9 through 12. So, yeah, it's not that what she said wasn't true. I mean, look at the girl's proclamation these men are the servants of the Most High God who proclaimed to us the way of salvation. There's nothing that she said that was incorrect.
Speaker 1:No, it wasn't. That's what they're doing. But we also know we can think about this a little bit about Satan, his demons and what's happening Now. We know Satan's powerful. We know he has powers that not that even close to God. We know he can't create, but he is powerful and his demons also are able to do things supernaturally. But I think here, with this fortune teller, I'm not sure Satan can tell the future. I don't think he can, and I don't think his demons can either. I think it's a more of demons working together to ensure that whatever is told through this girl is happening. So it's more of a trick of sorts, more of an influence of multiple demons, rather than one demon telling the future, knowing what's going to happen.
Speaker 2:And that'd be deception, right, and I think that's what fortune telling is.
Speaker 1:And that's what Satan does. It's great to see it's deceiver. And so that's what's happening here in the text. This girl is clearly possessed by a demon. And guess what? Demons know exactly who God is. That's right, right. They know exactly what Paul is preaching. They know Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, james says, even the demons believe that they shudder.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I don't know if this demon had a specific strategy, like, hey, I'm just going to let them do this for now, they'll pass through and then I'll keep doing my demon thing, right? Yeah, like I'll just say, yep, that's what they're doing, they're telling the truth. Maybe God will not cast me out because I'm saying what is true and so. But we have Paul here and he starts getting annoyed which I like because Paul, we see his personality and scripture more than most and he's getting frustrated.
Speaker 2:I think the fact that Paul is, it says, greatly annoyed is a key to to this entire question. Well, if she was saying what is correct, then what is the big deal? The big deal is that do you want demons proclaiming the gospel for you? No, because that diverts people's attention to the demonic force and power that they've always known from this girl fortune telling they made a big profit off of it. That redirects, that diverts the direction away from the glory of God and from his true messengers.
Speaker 1:And what did the people do to Jesus when Jesus cast out demons? What did the religious leaders do? Oh, you must be from Satan, exactly Because you can control his demons.
Speaker 2:And Jesus said can Satan cast out Satan? The house, divided, cannot stand. So this is somewhere along the lines of that very same argument. Paul's greatly annoyed. He turns to her cast the spirit out, command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. That would have been amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's almost like Paul was like all right, I'll just kind of ignore this for a bit. Well, it keeps happening. All right, in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're done with this.
Speaker 1:Paul was not having it. So I think that's a good. You know Paul was patient and you know it says they followed her how many many days. I mean, it's not like Paul was like quick tempered and just cast the demon out though if he did, it's still a demon, but maybe it took him a moment to realize. Wait to know who she was, learning who she was, Wait a minute. All right, this is now a problem. We don't want her being a representation of Christ, because this is a demon. And so finally, Paul recognizes that. He gets greatly annoyed that this continues. And in the name of Jesus, Again, Paul doesn't cast her out, Jesus casts her out.
Speaker 2:Well, I do find it somewhat intriguing that the text goes on to say at the end of verse well, that'd be at the end of verse 18. It says, and he came out that very hour, so the demon obeys in Jesus's name immediately. But then you have this strong contrast in the text, verse 19,. But when her master saw that their hope of profit money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. I'm not, where did Timothy go? I'd have to do some homework before we jump back on here. But either way, paul and Silas are dragged into the marketplace. Seized dragged the word seized is like a violent gripping of the clothing, and dragging Well that I mean they're like pulling them into the city square, so to speak, where that's where profit and that's where selling, that's where you know all of the business, that's the Walmart of the day for them. Yeah, so I think the contrast is you have a demon being cast out right away, but you have men who will not submit. They don't even want to hear it.
Speaker 1:No, I mean they're using demonic forces to gain profit, power, Power, and they're not about to lose that. That's right. They're more concerned with their pockets being full rather than their hearts being full. They're more concerned with the now rather than eternity. So we have a group of men who are very short-sighted, and that's not the message Paul's preaching.
Speaker 2:Verse 19, when her master saw that their hope of profit was gone. That's interesting. Where do we place our hope? Where do we place our hope In Jesus Christ alone. Where did they place their hope? They're placing their hope in this prophet, something that's extremely temporary and transient.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we place our hope in the inheritance in which Jesus is going to give us to come to come Right, and so they were investing in now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's the difference. We see the difference between men who are not saved, not following God, and men who are saved and following the Lord, paul's, concerned about their eternal lives, and these men are concerned about their pockets, and, and so we see a huge contrast between those who are doing evil, even working with the evil one, and what it does to their hearts, to the point where they're dragging these men off who have preached a word that is true and Really. It says these men are Jews, for one there's 20. Yeah Well, yes, and no, jews may not. My ethnicity, yes, but now they are actually followers of the way, as acts says, which is which they are followers of Jesus. So they even are not quite understanding the belief. Yet who are they really? Because they still call them Jews because of where they're from.
Speaker 2:Something I just discovered and this might answer my question about where Timothy was when it says these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city. Here's a note that says anti-Semitism was alive even then. The emperor Claudius issued an order around this exact time expelling the Jews from Rome altogether. This is found in chapter 18, verse 2. In a couple chapters this may explain why they apprehended only Paul and Silas, since Luke, who would have been traveling with them and writing book of Acts, was a Gentile and Timothy was half Gentile.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm so one of the benefits of this conversation is we aim after an organic Conversation between the two of us. So not a lot of this is is staged. We do prepare ahead of time, but what we're trying to do is have a healthy conversation. To the text. This is a great reminder. Why are we here? Because we want you to see how you can have healthy conversations over scripture while you're making disciples. Amen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and again it's it's okay, you're not gonna know everything, that's right. But as long as you ask the questions and then go figure them out, that's right. It's when you just assume is when you get in trouble. It's when you start Well, maybe Timothy was, you know, often in other city. Well, it doesn't say that. We can't assume that. So we just have to be very careful not to add, take away any of those things from the text. We want to make sure we go through the text as is, take what it says and then go from there. Now there's going to be historical documents, there's going to be things that are extra biblical, that may help us with history and and Context setting, those sort of things. But we want to go through the scripture first and Read it and then go from there. The scripture is our path, that lights, our path, that lights what is true, because it is true, and so we want to make sure we do that. So they get.
Speaker 2:They get dragged off right, verse 21, they continue with what they're saying.
Speaker 1:Yep, it says they advocate customs that are not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice. Well the Romans, who's God to the Romans? Well, caesar, caesar's God. We are in a time where Caesar is. It is no longer a republic, it is actually run by one man, which is an empire Right, and so he is God. We've seen that in the past, babylon, assyria, many other nations have claimed Emperor status, and that the emperor would be elevated to God, and so this whole Accepting Jesus is king. Well, that would be different.
Speaker 2:That was the difference. This, the statement they made, was technically true. Romans were prohibited from following Excuse me any religion that would have competed with the Decree or the statement that Caesar is Lord. Yeah, and so they did not have a problem with polytheism or any other religions or following any other gods. But if, if what you believed in competed against Caesar is, that was the real issue, and the Christians were preaching the message Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. So what they're saying is actually is actually true, right, mm-hmm. From there we go to verse 22 to 24, kind of closing things up. Then the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods metal rods and when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison. Commanding the jailer will see him next week commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and Fastened their feet in the stocks. So Any final thoughts on this, kyle?
Speaker 1:Just that Paul and Silas are in it for the Lord and not themselves.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:This is a moment where they get humiliated publicly, they get stripped of their clothes, beaten by the people and thrown into prison, and and not just thrown into prison, shackled in prison. So we're getting the description of how they were put into prison, not just behind a closed door or a gate, but shackled behind that closed door and gate, and so I well I don't know if these people have heard about other times where the apostles have escaped prison or not because the angel of the Lord has gotten out of prison before in Acts.
Speaker 1:But and it'll happen again you know we'll get there.
Speaker 1:The Lord continues to provide when it comes to the spread of the gospel. So, yeah, we're just stopping in 24. They're in a pretty dire place. They're in a place where they they're probably thinking this is it, we're, we're gonna die for the Lord and and that's okay, and I think that's always been Paul's attitude. We know that because of situations he's been with other people like I'm willing to go to death for this, and and he's since he's been changed so radically. I think Paul knew this would happen at some point, so this isn't a shock to him. But they aren't a pretty desperate place?
Speaker 2:I think a cultural thing to share is that when it says they were shackled by their feet, the particular way that they did this in Prisons, in the inner prisons of the day, was it was meant to create a great leg cramping on the prisoners so over time, actually, their muscles and their, their legs would completely weaken. It's hard to run away if you don't have a lot of stamina, if you've lost muscle, if you're in pain. But something more this is something that you and I discussed before we went down to southern Mexico near the Guatemala border is you know what, lord, we ultimately trust you that when it's our time, it's our time and we're gonna continue to preach the gospel, and you will. You will do whatever is necessary to get us Out of a situation, whatever that might be, but God is the one that's ultimately in charge of our last day, and so if I were to die because of doing something stupid Aside from the gospel, I think that would be unfortunate.
Speaker 2:But you know, one thing you and I legitimately had to pray for was Okay, we're going to share the gospel, but this is a little bit riskier than just sharing here in America. We're gonna place our hand, place ourselves, into God's hands and we're gonna wait for him to to Bring about the final verdict? And the answer was no, it's not your time. You know you guys are doing ministry. I protected you, I'm faithful to you. Hallelujah, praise God. But ultimately, there always comes a day where you have to ask yourself Okay, I feel led to go because of the gospel this is not a Decision made without prayer and so because I feel led to go, well, lord, ultimately my life is in your hands and it's just. I think that was Paul and Silas is their motive, that was their, their perspective.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I think Paul had to be in that mindset daily.
Speaker 2:In his current situation.
Speaker 1:You know, you and I, you know, prayerfully prepared for Mexico. That was a lot of prayer and Because it's not every day that we feel in danger like I Mean yes, is it possible that I could get arrested for sharing the gospel in America? I guess it's possible. They couldn't charge me with sharing the gospel, they could charge me with disturbing the peace or something ridiculous, but there really isn't much fear from that standpoint of of death, imprisonment. People may say, no, thank you, I'm not about that. Okay, and I move on. That's you, that's about the rejection that you get.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I mean, I can't imagine the, the faith that Paul had, that God provided him to do to go into these cities with different religions, different government structures that did not proclaim the name of Jesus, that's never heard the name of Jesus, and just to go in there and say I'm gonna proclaim Jesus, no matter the consequences, and I'm gonna trust Jesus in this matter. That is, that is a faith that I want to build up. That is something that I know only can be provided by God. That we see in Paul here and the more times were challenged we talked about this on our trip we need times to be challenged, just like Paul was challenged, because it strengthens our faith, and that that challenge and that Strength doesn't come from ourselves. It comes from putting your faith in God.
Speaker 1:Because, man, I could not do it myself. I could have not gone on a mission trip sick by myself, I would have not chosen to go if I knew I was gonna get sick, those sort of things so. But Paul knew I'm probably gonna die and he still walked in there and did it. And I think we want to strive for that sort of faith where we don't really care what's going to happen to us, because we know whatever does happen to us will result in God's glory and it'll be for the kingdom and it'll be for eternity and not for something temporary like these men who want their pockets filled by demons. Paul did not concern himself with that. It was the gospel that they needed to hear.
Speaker 2:That's right. I think one last thing to remember is Acts, chapter 9, verse 15. You know, saul is on the road to Damascus. The Lord speaks to Ananias. Ananias is like you want me to go and speak to who? Like Lord, he's persecuting your people, the. And then these are the words of Jesus to Ananias, acts 9, 15. But the Lord said to Ananias go, for Saul is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. Paul counted it all the more worth it. This is my calling. If I've got to suffer for the king, I've got to suffer for the king. He had a direct calling on his life and I think in moments of imprisonment he was like well, I'm either getting out of him or I'm not, but I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, god called me of this. I'm doing it. I'm supposed to suffer, that's settled. That's settled, yeah, yeah. So I think we're encouraged I am by the imprisonment of Paul. Well, I know it's gonna happen too. Well, we'll read that next week. So join us next week for the continuation of Acts 16, as we see what Paul's attitude is, his perspective and his relationship with God is in the midst of being imprisoned, and it'll hopefully encourage you, as it does Me.
Speaker 1:So thank you for listening to the B disciples podcast. Continue to check out more content on YouTube. We don't just have the podcast. We have years now of sermons, pastor Dakota, as he continues to preach here at Ottawa Bible Church, to lead this congregation here, and so there's many different series you can go through. You can check out our audio podcast, which is at Be disciples podcast calm or Ottawa Bible Church calm, and you can find our podcast there as well. Plenty of stuff to check out, plenty of study to do. We're gonna continue to create content so that our community, ottawa Franklin County, can be equipped in God's word, because the more we know the word, the more we know God and the more we know his will for our lives. So thank you all for listening. Share this with your friends, don't just like us on Facebook or like us on Instagram. Share it. Send it, because we want people to see it, and so do that for us. That would help out this ministry of continued education in God's word. Have a blessed week. I I.