Our Identity as Citizens of Heaven

[00:00:00] All right, let's go back to acts, chapter 19 and wrap up this chapter. And we'll turn the page going into chapter 20 as we continue our study in the book of Acts, which is the acts of the Holy Spirit, the acts of Christ by the Holy Spirit in the church. [00:00:20] And so, of course, we see that the Lord is working with our brother Paul and is doing some great things in Ephesus. And, man, I'd love to see the Lord do some things like that in Greenville. You know, there has been a time in Greenville, South Carolina, where things like this were happening. You know that. And there's been times in other parts of our country as well, that not only in our country. And I mentioned, what was it last? Was it last week? I think I was talking about. [00:00:49] I don't know if I mentioned it to the church. I know I mentioned it to Brother Ari about a testimony. [00:00:58] It's ironside. H a. Ironside. How many of you have heard of ironside before? Anyway, he gave a testimony when he was a young kid, hearing he was in Canada and hearing in the DL Moody revivals. He was just a little kid, and he would hear people coming in from the revivals on the street, in public. I mean, many people coming in, singing hymns, coming in from the revival, because there was that strong of a spirit of the Lord working. And it was just amazing firsthand account of what the Lord did. Because sometimes you hear that kind of stuff and you wonder, is it all exactly as they say, or is it exaggerated a little bit. [00:01:39] But it's interesting to hear how the Lord is working, and I'd love to see him work like that among us. And so let's look at acts 19 and see what the Lord is doing to wrap this riot up. Now let's go ahead and pray, and then we'll start reading in verse number 33 down to verse number 41. Our Lord, thank you for the chance to be here today, this evening, and thank you for the opportunity for your people to meet together and the strength you've given them to be here. And, Lord, there are some who can't be here among us. Lord, I think especially if Sister Judy Pitt and Judy Johnson and brother Woody and others just are away or unwell, Lord, please give grace to them and be with them and help them to seek you, Lord, and look forward to the time they'll be back with the church of God here, serving you and praising you and worshipping you and hearing your word together. Lord, help us to understand your word tonight. We need your help to understand what it says so, Lord, I pray that you would just guide in our study and you would take control of everything that's said and done and everything. That's all the points that are made, the scriptures that are mentioned, that it would truly be a help and edifying to your people. In Jesus name, amen. [00:02:51] All right, so in acts 19, we've seen Demetrius the silversmith and how much trouble he has caused, and as well as the guild, of course, the main things that were behind this riot, as I mentioned this morning, were, first of all, from the perspective of DemeTrius, his motivation was money. He wanted to preserve his livelihood. And we saw how that money is a major motivating factor for what people do. And I'll just say this as a side note. [00:03:24] There are some kinds of business enterprises that the gospel will affect. Do you know that there are some business enterprises, I've mentioned this before, a long time ago, but there are some business enterprises that shouldn't be open, period. They just shouldn't exist. And then there are some enterprises that, wherever the gospel goes, it affects those enterprises in a negative way. And this is where we got to make sure that we don't get our cart before the horse and get our motives mixed. Know brother David as an example. Brother David's involved in politics. I say that he leads campaigns and that kinds of thing mainly for people that he knows. Right. [00:04:06] But Brother David is one that even though he's involved in politics and those kinds of things, he understands what the cart is and what the horse is and what's supposed to go first and last. And our goal when we try to share the gospel, and sometimes when you hear people preach and talk about it, you wonder if people had a certain political point of view and yet they were still going to hell, would we be okay with it? Sometimes you wonder, is it about Christ or is it just about a certain brand of politics? [00:04:39] But really we know it's about Christ. That's what it's all about. And really that's all that matters. Now we know wherever the gospel comes, just like it did here, it put a dent on the silversmithing industry because the silversmithing industry, instead of making beautiful teapots and saucers and all of that, it was making idols for satanic worship. [00:05:06] But wherever the gospel goes, it is bound to affect different aspects of society. It's going to affect the abortions. [00:05:13] It's going to affect the alcohol establishments. It's going to affect the porn industry. It's going to affect the strip clubs and all those kinds of things. That really are in direct conflict with the gospel. And the people that are in charge of those things are often going to come out against it. [00:05:33] They're going to be the ones that come out against the gospel. Why? [00:05:36] Because they know all about Jesus, and they found that Jesus is not who he no one. Reason. Money. [00:05:44] And money drives many things. Money drives many things. The love of money is the root of all evil, as we've seen before. [00:05:53] So you have this. But there's another aspect that I touched on briefly, which is what is motivating in verse 29? The whole city, when they go into this riot, in acts 19, verse 29. What is motivating them? Money is not motivating them. We saw this morning that they are being manipulated, but they're being manipulated. What part of their heart and mind is being tinkered with and manipulated to drive them? You know what it is? It's pride. It's pride. [00:06:27] And that's why they're crying out. That's why they're crying out. So let's read verse 31. I'm sorry. Verse 33, down to verse 41. The Bible says this, and they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand and would have made his defense unto the people. [00:06:48] But when they knew that he was a JEw, all with one voice about the space of 2 Hours, cried out, great is Diana of the EpHESianS. Now let's pause there a second. Now let's pause there a second. So here's something I want us to understand is back in verse number 27 and 28. Just take a peek at that. [00:07:11] The silversmiths say that. So that not only this, our craft is in danger to be said at naught, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom asia and all the world worshipeth. Notice they're describing how widespread the veneration for Diana is. [00:07:38] Asia and all the world. I mean, that's quite a broad statement, isn't it? That's pretty much everybody worships Diana, right? Verse 28. And when they heard these things, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, great is Diana of the ephesians. Notice the terminology, Diana of the Ephesians. It's not just great is DIana, but it's Diana of the Ephesians. And then you go down to verse number 34, which we just read. They cried out, great is Diana of the Ephesians. Verse 35. And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, you men of Ephesus what man is there that knoweth not how? That the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter. Here's what I want you to see from that, is that when they get. [00:08:30] They're making a connection between Diana and being an Ephesian. They're connecting the two. [00:08:39] To be a worshiper of Diana, I'm sorry, to be an Ephesian, rather, is to be a worshiper of Diana. Now, technically speaking, being an Ephesian meant you lived in Ephesus, right? That's basically what it meant. But what they're saying is, oh, no, to be an Ephesian, to identify as an Ephesian, is more than just living in our city, because everybody knows that our city is the city that worships Diana. So, therefore, to be an Ephesian is to be a worshipper of Diana. They're making a connection. And that's why when you see verse 33 and 34, the Jews put forth this man named Alexander. Now, this man named Alexander. I don't know if this is the same Alexander the coppersmith we read about this morning. It could be, but it might not be. But what I think is probably clear, because at this point, Paul has been in Ephesus three whole years. [00:09:32] I mean, he's done a lot of stuff in Ephesus. The lines have been clearly drawn for the gospel. And you know what that line usually meant. In fact, I'll show it to you in just a minute. [00:09:42] The Jews had made their decision whether they were going to believe in Christ or not. And just like everywhere Paul went, there was a group, as I said this morning, that didn't believe in Christ. And there was a group that did. Now look back, if you would, at Acts chapter 19, since we're really close to that, acts 19. Notice this is also in Ephesus, verse 19, verse number. [00:10:09] Verse number 919, verse nine. [00:10:16] But when divers. [00:10:18] This is speaking of those in the synagogue. But when divers were hardened and believed not but spake evil of that way before the multitude. That way being a terminology for the Christians. For Christians, spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples. You see, that separated the disciples. It sounds like he's doing Paul once the lines had been drawn, because there's always a period of time when the gospel is introduced to somebody, there's a period of time in which it stands in limbo. Are they going to receive it or not? [00:10:57] And a lot of people like to hold the gospel in limbo. And they like to be like, well, let's just wait and see. But the Lord often doesn't allow that. Now, sometimes, in his mercy, he does. But most of the time, many times, what the Lord does is he brings almost everyone to a point of decision. Assuming we're giving the gospel correctly and rightly to people, he brings people to a decision. And so the lines are drawn. You have to say no or yes. And usually when they say, well, I'll just wait or put it off, that means no. That's just no with a better word, in essence. Well, these lines have been drawn. And so Paul, seeing that the Jews had set themselves against what he was saying, and they were hardened, that means they had decided that they had made a willful decision. They were not going to believe in Christ. And a lot of things went into that. Could be money, could be status, shame. All kinds of things go into that. But they had decided they were not going to believe. So what Paul say, all right, there's nothing more to say here. So he separated the disciples. So those that had believed in Christ, he drew a line and said, okay, well, then I guess the Christians are not going to no longer be associated with the Jews. What's the difference? Why not one word? Jesus. [00:12:26] The whole question wrapped around the whole matter, wrapped around this one question, which is, what have you done with Jesus? And the Christians had received him, the Jews had not. And so now the Jews were separated from the Jew and Gentile Christians, which became their own group. Okay, so going back to Alexander in chapter 20 or chapter 19, verse 34 says, so in verse 33, you see, Alexander is a JeW. He's not called a disciple. So this is likely a man who is a Jew, but has not believed in Christ. Remember, that's now at this point, a distinct group from the christian group. Okay? Verse 34 says, but when they. That's the Ephesians that are in that 25,000 seat theater, when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of 2 hours, cried out, great is Diana of the Ephesians. Now, what's interesting is they're not doing this in response to Paul or to the Christians, but to the Jew. That's interesting. But what it demonstrates is this serious TEnsioN. Like from history, we know that there was a lot of tension between the Jews and the Greeks. There was a lot of tEnsion, and it's not all the Time. You don't see it throughout the book of aCts. Usually the tension is between the Jews and Paul. But this is a case where you see the tension, the historical tension, between Jews and gentiles. Remember, the Jews are living as guests, pilgrims among the Gentiles, and they were often targeted. We read about Aquil and Priscilla, who were commanded to depart from Rome. [00:14:19] In other words, they were made a scapegoat. And it's likely that they were told to leave Rome not as a result of so much of Judaism, but because of the issues related to the Jews'opposition to Christ. [00:14:33] Because, again, and I know, I'm just reviewing a little bit, remember the Romans and the Greeks, when they looked at the situation with Christ, and there was always a conflict between Paul and the Christians and the Jews, they looked at that as basically a conflict between jewish groups. [00:14:50] It was an internal conflict that they didn't want to be bothered with. [00:14:55] But when the Ephesians see that the Jews are set forth, they, knowing the Jews, are monotheists, they believe in only one God, their God, and reject every other God. Notice they're sticking their thumb right square in the eye of the Jews. See that? It's a part of their cultural identity. To be an Ephesian is to be a worshiper of Diana. So they see these Jews and they say, okay, well, we're not going to let these Jews talk, because the Ephesians identity was connected to the worship of Diana. [00:15:28] This is kind of the idea of what we might call someone's identity, and I know that's a very common word, but it has good use, identity. [00:15:42] To be an Ephesian. It was a matter of local pride to worship Diana. [00:15:49] Now, why is that? [00:15:51] You see, in the city of Ephesus, there was a temple. It was called the Temple of Artemis, which, interestingly enough, the word diana is the translation of the greek word Artemis, which is greek God of fertility. And I forgot the other two main things. Not that it matters, but there was a temple which was one of the ancient wonders of the world. This temple measured 450ft by 225ft. Now, if you don't have a perspective of that, that's about twice more than two times the size of an american football field. It was a temple in Ephesus, an enormous temple. It had 127 columns. You know, those Roman. The roman columns, greek columns, I guess, if you want to be technical. [00:16:47] 127 columns, each of which was 40ft tall. [00:16:52] So basically, these columns were as tall as our church building. Actually, the flagpole out here is a 40 foot flagpole. So every column was 40, was the size of our flagpole. There were 127 of them. This was an enormous structure. Can you imagine that? This was a source of great pride to the Ephesians. [00:17:14] It was indeed the source of great pride to the Ephesians. And that's why they bring it up. Look at verse number, verse 35. Again in the middle, it says, what man is there that knoweth not how, that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter. Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, yught to be quiet and to do nothing rashly. You see, this I want you to see is it is assumed, it is assumed that to be an Ephesian, to take that identity, meant, you worship Diana. [00:17:59] Imagine then the upheaval involved in an individual's life when they repented and trusted in Jesus. [00:18:10] Now you have an Ephesian whose identity has been thrown completely upside down. [00:18:19] And this is exactly what had to happen. You see, when these people, when these Ephesians became believers, it meant they must detach themselves from their own identity and take a new identity. [00:18:38] They were no longer worshippers of Diana. They might live in the city of Ephesus, and in that way, they are an Ephesian. They might have that identity as an Ephesian, but they must detach from all the other things related to that. You know what that meant? Their whole world was just turned upside down. [00:18:56] This is what many people that trust in Jesus must experience in our world here. It's often a religion. It's often whatever religion we might have held to our, or might have been brought up in. Right? [00:19:14] Many of you were born into a family that held to a faith that you do not now hold. Of course, we know there's no such thing as a second generation Christian. You're not a believer in Christ. You're not a child of God by virtue of your parents and your genes. But some of you were born into families who had parents that were followers of the Lord, and then others of you, like myself, were born into a family where that wasn't the. [00:19:42] You know, I remember, as a know, my mom was part of the Church of God. Well, in was. She was a part of the Church of God. And my dad was catholic. And I remember in elementary school when people would ask me where I went to church and that kind of thing, or what my religion was, because I went to Westcliffe elementary, down here off white Horse road. [00:20:03] And I would proudly tell them that I was catholic, and I went through first Communion and all that kind of thing. And I would proudly tell them that it was part of my identity, you know, why? Because it was connected to my dad. [00:20:17] It was connected to my dad. [00:20:20] And so when I got saved, well, that threw all that into a big mess, didn't it? [00:20:26] My identity changed. [00:20:29] And this is what happens when a person believes in Christ. Their identity has changed. Their identity has changed. We get a new identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yea, even he puts his name upon us. [00:20:46] A new identification in addition to a new identity. And now listen. As a believer, no other title or identity supersedes that of Christian. [00:21:04] The title and the identity of a believer in Christ, a child of God, is supreme to every other identity. Now, you think of an identity as, like, a hat we might wear. They say you wear multiple hats. It's sort of like that. [00:21:20] So as an individual, you might have an identity as a wife or as a mother or as a father, husband, grandmother. You have an identity, most likely as an American. [00:21:35] Mrs. Myers, when she could still come to church, she had an identity as an American and a canadian because she was born in Canada. You might have an identity. Know a gun owner or not. You might have an identity as a Republican or a Democrat or an independent. [00:21:53] Those are all kinds of identities that we might carry with us. [00:21:59] Your job might have an identity. You might be a writer or you might be an engineer, whatever, a nurse. [00:22:09] But no title or identity or hat you might wear supersedes that of a Christian, because the title of Christian, again, we're not just talking about the word. We're talking about the truth. Right? The reality of it is the one identity that we have that is eternal. Every other identity we have is just temporary. Everyone look at Philippians chapter three, if you would. [00:22:40] What I'm talking about is the identity of these Ephesians and how that they asserted. Everyone who is an Ephesian believes in Diana, of course. Well, except for all those hundreds, probably, of believers that trusted in Jesus, all of a sudden, you had a whole bunch of Ephesians. You have a whole book called Ephesians, where there's nothing about Diane in the book. In the book at all. [00:23:08] Philippians chapter three and verse number. Let's look down at verse number 17. [00:23:18] Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example. Now stop there a second. [00:23:32] Paul says, follow me. Okay, that's good. [00:23:37] So Paul sets himself forth as an example. Can you. Can I look at another person and say, do as I do? [00:23:49] That's a good question for us to ask. Do as. Can you look at your children and say, do what I'm doing? [00:23:56] Can you look at your grandchildren and say, do what I'm doing. [00:24:01] Can't do that unless you know you're trying to follow the Lord with your whole heart. [00:24:06] I think most of us, if we're honest, most of us would say, follow what I do. Most of what I do, right? And this other stuff, these few things, don't do that. And if we're honest, that's what we all have to say. A little bit of a caveat there. But Paul says, follow me. Be followers together of me, and further mark them which walk so as ye have us, for an example. In other words, you pay attention and note those who also walk as I walk. Not just you, but all these others. So you make notes of who they are. What he's describing is he's describing christian people, because, of course, by this time, there were people who were Christians in name only who did it for contention, who did it for money or whatever. And he says, now you pay attention to them. [00:25:00] Do you see how they live? [00:25:03] Do they live in the example that I have left you? Mark those people. Note them. Okay. [00:25:10] He says, verse 18 and 19 of those that he says in verse 18. For many walk. Remember the connection to verse 17. Walk. So as you have us for an example, so you have the way that Paul walked as an example, and then you have these other people who do not walk that way. So he's saying, beware of those people, but note the people that walk in his example. Now, I'm going to read 17 again, but I'm going to skip the parentheses in 18 and 19 so we can pick the thought up in verse 20. Okay? Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence we also look for the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:25:53] Our conversation. [00:25:55] This is an interesting phrase, our conversation. Hold your place here and go back to first Samuel, chapter 25. [00:26:08] What does it mean that our conversation is in heaven? Now, we know we're familiar enough with the Bible to know that when the Bible uses the term conversation, in contrast to the way that we use it in our common language today, we say conversation. We refer to the way people speak. But in the scripture, conversation refers to the way people live, not just speak. Okay. But actually, under that is a more broad definition, which is what we want to look at. First Samuel, chapter 25. And verse number 15 says this. [00:26:47] This is speaking of Abigail and Nabal. It says, but the men, David's men, were very good unto us, and we were not hurt. Neither missed we anything as long as we were. What's the next word? [00:27:03] Conversant with him. What does that mean? As long as we were talking to him. No, this is referring to the activity whereby we associate with and interact with other people being conversant with them. David's men were conversant with abigail, with the servants of Nabal. They were conversant. In other words, they had a relationship. They had interaction with one another. So the word conversant is a word related to the word conversation. Here's what conversation means. Therefore, the action of living or having one's being in a place or among persons. [00:27:51] Now, what's interesting about the word that's translated conversation in Philippians three is root word is the word for. The greek word for city. Like you heard of a metropolis. The p o l I s, polis on the end is the greek word for city. [00:28:11] So what this is talking about is the relationship, the interaction, the living together in one city. That's what it's talking about, is what it's talking about. All right, so come back to Philippians three. Everybody with me, verse 20. [00:28:30] For our conversation is in heaven. [00:28:36] You know what that means? [00:28:38] Is that our life, our interaction, is among a heavenly people. [00:28:50] Just as a citizen or a person within his city would have intercourse with those within his city. [00:28:56] So we are a part of this group that's in heaven. [00:29:03] We live and have our place in heaven, where our Lord is. That is where we belong as a child of God. [00:29:14] Do you see where I'm going? This is what it means to have a new identity. [00:29:21] We belong among a spiritual people. Listen, brother and sister, you belong. If you are a child of God, you belong. [00:29:31] Your proper group, with whom you identify, with full rights and privileges, is with a heavenly people. [00:29:42] You are a spiritual people that belong in heaven. That's why I say a heavenly people where your lord is. But not only your lord. Many who have passed off the scene before us are there. And it's where Jesus said in John 14, he says, I go to prepare a place for you. In my father's house are many mansions. Remember? I go to prepare a place for you. You know what that the significance of the word mansion is not the size of the room. One of these days I'll preach on that. The significance of the word mansion is not how big the house is, but how permanent the house is. [00:30:21] And the Lord said, you know, sister Pam, you've got a permanent place in heaven. We might say it like this. You've got a place waiting on you with your name on it. [00:30:33] You belong there. [00:30:35] See what I'm saying, brother Mark? You have a place with your name on it. You belong there. It's nobody else's. [00:30:42] You belong there. [00:30:44] You might say you're a full citizen. Your conversation, your interaction, your intercourse is with those people. That's where you belong. You might say, using the greek word under this. That's your city, right? [00:31:01] You are rightfully part of that group. [00:31:04] This is what we mean when we say your identity is in Christ Jesus along with all others who also know Jesus. And so, in the same way, in this way, we all have the same identity together. For our conversation is in heaven. Our interaction, those with whom we live and share a place and those among whom we live and interact, that's what the word conversation means, are those who are in heaven, the Lord and his people. [00:31:42] So we all have the same identity. Now think about that. Down here on earth, I am identified as a Greenvillion, right? Down here on earth, I'm identified as an American. [00:31:56] You're identified as that, most likely as well. [00:31:59] And sometimes when you live overseas, how many of you have lived overseas, or have. Has anybody else lived overseas? Let me see. All right. Has anybody else visited overseas? [00:32:10] How many of you that have visited overseas met an American you did not know while you were there? [00:32:21] It's a quirky thing, because when you're in a place where you don't belong, where they're not your peeps, right? [00:32:32] You're in a foreign country. Those are not your peeps. But you're there, right? You're a pilgrim. You're a stranger. And that's how the Lord describes us here. We're pilgrims. We're strangers in Hebrews. But whenever we were missionaries and we would go to places, of course, we lived in Cambodia, but we were never accepted as Cambodians. [00:32:55] But every once in a while, we would come across a person who was an American. [00:33:02] And if you go back to Philippians three, verse 17, be followers together of me and mark them which walk. So as you have us for an example, just trying to pick up on that idea is you could tell by the way they acted, the way they walked, the way they lived, their facial expressions, the way they did their gestures. You could tell immediately. I remember one time, right in our house. All my family knows exactly what I'm going to say. [00:33:32] Right around the last house where we lived, around the corner, there was a coffee shop. [00:33:39] Just basically a coffee stand, really. It was like a little shack thing. I mean, it was nice, but there was a coffee shop. So one day we started going to get coffee there. One day I went to go get coffee. I was standing there and Cambodians ran it and everything. So there was no indication of anything out of the ordinary. And I was standing there and I looked over to my right and I saw a guy and he was wearing blue jeans. [00:34:07] And I saw him and he looked like he was dark skinned. He looked like a Cambodian, okay? He looked like a Cambodian in his facial features and stuff. But I noticed he had on blue jeans. Now, Cambodians will wear blue jeans sometimes, but the way they wear them, the fit is different, okay? [00:34:24] And so I looked at him and he had a hat on. And you know how they do these days where they wear the hat with the brim straight? That wasn't my era. In my era, you always had to bend the hat and they would. How many of you know what I'm talking? Brother Ari knows what I'm talking. Got the fish hook in there, brother? No fish hook. [00:34:43] But anyway, nowadays they wear them straight, right? That's the way they like to wear them. [00:34:48] But the hat had an American, I believe it was an american football team or baseball team. I can't remember logo on it. And I thought, wow, that's out of the ordinary. [00:35:00] And up to this point, I had not talked to him. So I just noticed and I noted immediately, I mean, I saw him immediately and I thought if I wasn't looking at his face, I would say he's an American because it was distinctly american, right? [00:35:16] And so at some point after that, I don't know, he saw me. He saw that I was a white guy getting coffee. And so he spoke up with perfect English like you. And I speak just perfect English. [00:35:31] And I was like, that's my peeps. [00:35:37] He was a cambodian man who, although he had been born in Cambodia, when he was, I believe, eleven, he was a refugee that went to live in, I believe it was Long Beach, California. So he grew up in America and he was american in like, almost every way. The way he dressed, the way he acted, the way he talked, everything was american. Now, interestingly enough, he got into, I'm just giving you the end of the story because somebody's going to be like, what happened to this guy? Well, interestingly enough, what happened is he had come back to marry a cambodian lady, right? And he was married and had kids now in Cambodia. But because he came back and they had not settled his documents to have legal and permanent residence in the United States, he could not go back. So he was stuck. So basically he's a cambodian looking man who is an American culturally now stuck in Cambodia. It was just a weird situation. Well, he now is back in Cambodia. I mean, in America now he's living in the United States, and he took his wife and kids with him. [00:36:43] But that's an example of verse 17, be followers together of me and mark them which walk. So as ye have us for an example. But when we say these are my peeps, in a christian sense, what we're not saying is the way the Baltimore on their hat or whatever. No, we're talking about, there are certain characteristics about the walk. Right? We're talking about the walk conversation that are characteristic of a child of God, of a, you might say a citizen of the heavenly country, if you want to put it like that. There are certain characteristics, and Paul says, mark those, pay attention to those, because these are our peeps. And you follow my example and you'll see what I'm talking about. And that's what Paul does. [00:37:37] Now, when we consider the various identities that we have, we must not, as a believer, we must not let any of them take precedence over our identity as a Christian. [00:37:51] Again, our only identity that is permanent is that which is eternal, and that is as a child of God. Now you think about that. Generally speaking, being an American doesn't often come in conflict with being a Christian, right? If you were an Ephesian, being ephesian, being called an Ephesian would come in conflict with being called a Christian, because we all know that the Ephesians are worshippers of the great goddess. Now you see what I'm saying? [00:38:23] But there might come a day, hear me now, when being patriotic means agreeing with evil. [00:38:33] I wouldn't say that's the case now, and I don't think it's come to that point that to be patriotic means you have to actually contradict what the Lord says in his commandments. But there could come a day when that happens. You say that could never happen. Oh, yes, it could. [00:38:51] But if that ever did happen, which we hope, we all hope that never happens, that the leaders of our country don't so pervert the nation that evil becomes good to such a degree. That's the case. [00:39:03] But if that ever did happen, our identity as a Christian must be supreme. [00:39:11] It must be supreme. You see what I'm saying? This is what it means when the Bible says that we have our conversation in heaven. Our conversation is in heaven. Now look back at acts 19 to wrap up verse number 35. I'll just note this. [00:39:36] When the town clerk had appeased the people he said, you men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how? The city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter. And these people are whipped up into a big froth, a frothy, proud, arrogant, braggadocious kind of, we're Ephesians. We believe in Diana. And everybody's like, what am I supposed to. Yeah, you know, nobody's thinking. They're just repeating the mantras that they're hearing, right? But there's a great deal of pride. I am an Ephesian, therefore I worship Diana. They're connected. Their faith and their cultural heritage is connected. [00:40:18] Might seem unusual to us, but it does exist. It does exist. But notice, the pride of their culture or identity, or however you want to put it, was the very thing that led them to believe in just gross superstition. [00:40:43] They believed that not only in Diana, but they believed that an image fell down from Jupiter. Some people say this was a meteorite that fell down, that was roughly in the shape of a woman, because Diana was a goddess. Right? [00:41:00] How long had it been since this alleged event had happened? [00:41:06] Had this event happened at all? [00:41:10] Who knows? [00:41:12] The truth of the event made no difference. They were going to chant, great is Diana of the Ephesians. Either way. Why? Because they say, we are Ephesians, so therefore we believe this, truth or no truth. [00:41:33] But you know what? Here's the thing. [00:41:35] There are many belief systems that are like that, that are superstitious. And the people that believe them, people that believe them, believe them not because they're true, but because of their identity. [00:41:48] I am X, therefore I believe this. And it's like, have you thought about this? Whether this is actually true, whether it's actually fact or reality? No. I am X, therefore I believe it. I think of the doctrine of. I just wrote down two or three things. The doctrine of transubstantiation. Anybody know what that is? That is the idea that when in the act of the Eucharist, if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's fine. You're not missing much. In the act of the Eucharist, the wafer that is supposed to represent the body of Christ, and the wine, which is supposed to represent the blood of Christ, is no longer actually bread and wine, but actually physically the flesh and real blood of Jesus. Every time the mass is held. Now, listen, you might say, well, they're just spiritual. They're not. They've gone to pains to help people understand. They're not spiritualizing it. [00:42:51] That's crazy. [00:42:53] And that's superstitious. [00:42:56] It's not true. It's just physically not true. Like, if you tested it scientifically, it would still be bread and wine. All right. Why do they believe it? Well, my mom was this, and my dad believed this, and my grandparents believe this, and my great grandparents believe this, and I'm this. So therefore, I believe know the Book of Mormon is like that. Do you know how the Book of Mormon was supposedly translated? Brother Mark, I'm sure, knows. [00:43:24] Joseph Smith claimed to have received these golden tablets written in reformed egyptian hieroglyphics, which is not actually a language. Like it doesn't exist. He just said it was. And so he dug up these tablets. He was well known to be a gold digger, literal gold digger. [00:43:42] And he said that God gave him, with the tablets was a pair of spectacles. Now, the spectacles are not what you're imagining. The spectacles we imagine are the old timey glasses. Right, back when they used to call them spectacles. But these spectacles were actually two round stones that he found with the glasses, I mean, with the tablets. And so what he did, he would either. [00:44:05] This is what he claimed. He would take the tablets behind a curtain. Nobody's ever seen the tablets except him. He would go behind a curtain, and he would either hold the rocks up to his eyes, which allowed him to then see what was written on the golden tablets, or he would put the rocks into his hat, which is actually exactly what superstitious gold diggers were doing that day. They were called Searstone. That's it. So he merged the tube anyway. So imagine taking two rocks and holding them up to your eyes and claiming you see something. [00:44:47] Now, I'm really not trying to mock. I'm just trying to tell you the way it is. Why do people believe this? [00:44:56] Mom and dad were Mormon. Grandma and grandpa were Mormon. [00:45:01] My wife is Mormon. All of her siblings are Mormon. [00:45:05] That's my identity, therefore I must believe it. Nobody ever comes out and says it like that, but that's how it works. So imagine if a person believes in Christ. [00:45:14] That whole identity is just thrown out of kilter completely. They need a new identity. You know what the Lord says? Lord says, you got people. [00:45:22] You've got people, and they all act similar. They have same values, the same loves, same desires. They live the same, they walk the same. [00:45:35] They walk like heavenly people. They have right priorities. This is your peeps now. You're part of this group. You know, every once in a while in this world, as you trod from place to place, and you don't find very many friendly people because you're a pilgrim, right? Every once in a while, you'll come across somebody and you'll see how they walk and how they live. You'll see. You'll become conversant with them, and you'll see their conversation. You'll be like, hey, one of my peeps. And then they'll say, hey, you're one of my. And you'll be like, hey, we're from the same city here, a heavenly city, a new identity. [00:46:13] And so chapter 19 concludes with Paul being defended once again by the roman leaders. Again, up to this point, Paul hasn't experienced any persecution, official legal persecution from Rome. And, in fact, this will not be the end. [00:46:30] We see Paul experiencing so much persecution. But actually, Paul wrote Romans 14, which is about Romans 13, rather, which is about the relationship between the believer and the powers that be. Right? [00:46:44] The powers that be were protective of Paul. That's one thing. As I started studying acts I didn't write, say they weren't persecuting him. I mean, there were a few exceptional cases, but they were actually mistaken. They were actually defending him. And so Paul's like, hey, I mean, this government's wicked, but so when you get to Romans 13, they're actually protecting him. They're actually exercising right judgment, and I'm sure he was thankful for it. But here again, they're going to protect Paul and defend his liberty to say what he's saying. And they are going to do it again and again before the book of Acts is over, in acts 21 especially. So anyway, this is the conclusion of his time in Ephesus. And so from here, he's going to finish his missionary journey and head to Jerusalem, Salem. And so we'll pick up that next time. Let's pray.