Thank you, Kara. That song is based on the text of 1 Corinthians chapter six. Paul is addressing the Corinthian church that they should be living in moral purity. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. And I was thinking, as Kara was singing that, of two brothers in Christ. And I think the reason I'm thinking of that is because when Paul writes to the Ephesians, remember in Acts chapter 19, he's in Ephesus. And when he writes to the Ephesians, he also says to them, hey, listen, read the book of the Laodiceans and have the Laodiceans read the epistle that I wrote to you guys. And Philemon and Onesimus, were from Laodicea. The church met in Philemon's house. Remember that Onesimus was a runaway slave. He'd come to Paul, and through Paul's influence, I believe, Paul led him to faith in Christ. And for a while, Paul discipled him, but realized, I need to get him back. The rightful thing is to get him back to his master. Onesimus was a slave. So Paul writes a letter to Philemon, sends it by Onesimus to Philemon. And he says to Philemon, I am imploring you, I'm entreating you, don't accept Onesimus back primarily as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. Now I didn't mean that they still didn't have that working relationship, and I got to thinking whether you are a boss or supervisor or you own your own business or whether you are out of work looking for a job or you are in a starter position, Whether you are a slave or free, we are not our own. We are to be the slaves of Christ. Every Christian is to be the slave of Christ. Paul often introduced himself in his epistles as the slave of Jesus Christ. And slaves are to serve their master's purpose. And we're going to see three things in which this morning in Acts chapter 19 verses 21 to 41, in which we need to have the mentality or the mindset, I am a slave of Christ. The three things that Christians need to do, and the first is that Christians should care for one another. I am not my own. Life is not about me. If you look at the advertisements on television, right, or on the radio and you listen to them, it's kind of that, I think Burger King was one of the first ones to really kind of come right out and say it, have it your way. It's all about me. What is one of the rudiment philosophies of this world? Love yourself. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says the antithesis of that. The Bible says you're to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say love yourself. Matter of fact, Paul assumes that. He goes, no man yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it. We naturally love ourselves. We're naturally selfish. And by the way, our self-image should not come from any achievement we've had or a family lineage or affirmation from anybody else. Our self-image, our self-concept, our reality ought to be, I am completing Christ. That's where we go with that. Part of our identity is, I am in Christ. I am complete in Him. But I am also the bondservant. I'm the slave of Christ. Whatever He brings into my life, I know that because He's a sovereign God, He will take care of me. But my life is not my own. Life is not about me. Life is about Him and it's for His glory. And so this morning as we look, join with me as we look in Acts chapter 19 beginning in verse 21. First point I want you to see is that Christians should care for each other. We should take care of each other. We should serve one another. Jesus said in John 13, 35, By this shall I know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. And how do we show that love? Jesus had just exemplified it for them at the Last Supper. He had washed their stinking feet. The nastiest job of the lowliest slave was to wash feet. And Jesus said, if you're gonna be my slave, this is the kind of way that you serve each other. Christians should care for each other. And look at, we see Paul exemplify this in Acts chapter 19, verses 21 and 22. After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, these are regions within Greece, to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I've been there, I must also see Rome. Why? He wanted to go on a tourist trip and see Rome? No, he went there, he wanted to go there to minister to the church. I'll reveal that in just a minute through the scriptures. In verse 22, so he sent into Macedonia two of them that had ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. So he's still staying in Ephesus. He's ministering to the church. He's still evangelizing the whole region of Asia through the city of Ephesus. He's serving the believers there, but he has this purpose in his heart. Hey, I want to go back to some of the churches where I'd been before. Why? Well, first of all, I believe because he wanted to serve them. He wanted to build them up. But then there was also another purpose, and that was the needy church at Jerusalem. But as we look at this subject this morning, the very first point of why Christians should care for each other, let's heed the admonition of Galatians 6, 9, and 10. The Bible says, let us not be weary in well-doing. or in due season we shall reap if we faint not. What is the context of not being weary and well doing? What well doing? Specifically verse 10, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith. Who is that? Believers. Paul's mindset was not, hey man, I'm gonna go here, I'm gonna go here, I'm gonna do this ministry, and then I'm gonna take a long vacation. Nothing wrong with a vacation, but that was not his mindset. His mindset was not necessarily what the next step was for himself. He was thinking, all right, Lord, what do you want me to do next? I am your bomb slave. I'm your servant. I love your people. Lord, I care for them. And I know that the church at Jerusalem is needy, but I also know that these churches, as I'm asking them to take up offerings to send to the church at Jerusalem, they themselves have needs, and I want to go and encourage them, and I want to edify and exhort them. I want to further equip them in the ministry as much as I can. And so he had this heart to go back to these churches because he loved these believers, and he wanted to fellowship with them and encourage them and minister to their needs. But he also had this burden for the needy church in Jerusalem, which continued to endure severe need. 1 Corinthians 16, verses 1 and 4 give us insight into this. Paul writes, now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." Why? Why did Paul not want to have those gatherings? Because he wanted to minister the word and fellowship. He didn't want to just gather the offerings. Nothing wrong with that, but again, his idea was that he, when he came, wanted to be able to serve in these other ways. And so he sent Timothy and Erastus so they could collect that so it was ready so he could come, minister, and move on. so he could make his way to Jerusalem, because there was a timely urgency to the need of the church at Jerusalem. He says this, and when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me. And so Paul sent Timothy and Erastus to these regions to take up this, these offerings for the churches in preparation. In 1 John chapter three, We see further this teaching that John gives in verses 16 to 18, that Christians should care for one another, should serve one another. Hereby, look at this, perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. You might not have to sacrifice your life, but what if you had to sacrifice a vacation to support a missionary that was in an urgent emergency need? What if you sacrificed an early retirement to continue to work a few years longer and dedicate the proceeds from that continued work to a rescue mission or a Christian camp or a Christian college that's training young people for the ministry or some other such venture? I'm not preaching that that's what you ought to do. I'm saying, have you even considered that? But whoso hath this world's good, John goes on, and he says, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Strikes me of what James says, that when you see your brother have need, don't say be warmed and filled. In other words, I'll be praying for you, brother. Let the Lord meet your need. When you have the resources, the ability, or the equipment, or whatever it is to help meet that need, you serve, you give. God's given you that opportunity, and the Bible says in Galatians 6, it said, as we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith. But Paul is also determined to minister to the church at Rome. Listen to what he writes in Romans 15, verses 23 to 26. But now having no more place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come unto you, whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you, for I trust to see you in my journey and to be brought on my way thitherward by you. if first I be somewhat filled with your company, but now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution to the poor saints which are at Jerusalem." So even as he's writing to the Romans, you see this on his heart, and he's getting ready to do this. And so he writes this from Ephesus to the church at Rome, saying, this is what I want to do, and this is where I am in the process, and I want to come and see you guys, but this is what I need to do first. I also want to minister to you. I'm letting you know if God allows me to, that is my intended purpose. So I've got a question for you. Did Paul determine this in his own spirit or in the leading of the Holy Spirit? Now it's interesting because Bible translations, good, sound Bible translations, some have spirit in small S indicating it was in Paul's own spirit. Others have capital S indicating it was the Holy Spirit. So which do you think it was? I believe it was the Holy Spirit. I think it was also in Paul's own spirit. I believe it is a both and not an either or. Homer Kent said, it can be questioned whether Paul's own spirit or the Holy Spirit is meant in verse 21. However, for the Christian, the two should be in harmony and nothing here indicates that Paul was planning contrary to the leading of the Lord. Just a brief note. What Paul was wanting to do was right. What he was wanting to do was according to scripture. It was motivated by a love for the brethren. Now we're not allowed to do everything that we want to do for the kingdom cause. There are certain mission trips we may never be able to take. There may be amounts we would love to give that we may never be enabled to give. There may be things that we'd want to do to serve that God just circumstantially does not allow us to, and that's fine. We should always desire to do more. We should never be content that we have done enough to serve the Lord. We should always have our sights set on higher ground and to do more for the Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, what are we doing now for our brothers and sisters in Christ? How are we serving? And as we're determining, God, what is your will? Understand that if I am walking in the spirit and I'm walking according to the word of God, God gives me the scriptures to guide me. But God also has given me, because I'm created in his image, the ability to think and to choose. So God gives me a scripture with the principles in the word of God to direct me, but he also gives me the latitude that within that scope, I am free to make legitimate choices. and pray that God, through counsel, through the scripture, and as God would then place right desires in my heart, that I will be directed in the right way. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. But God also expects me not to disengage my brain and put it in neutral and act like, well, God, you're just gonna have to write it in the sky, or strike me with lightning, or just lead me around like I'm a robot and you have the remote control. But instead, I am to make thoughtful, biblical, prayerful choices and realize that you give me freedom within a variety of legitimate choices to serve you. I can't be involved in every ministry. One of the things that recently, for instance, came up was there was a letter going around in Gwinnett County, a need for chaplains from police departments to fire departments. I would love to do both, but there's so much ministry going on here right now. At this present time, I do not have the capacity to do either. I would love to be a chaplain for the police department or the fire department, either one, but I can't do both. And right now at this point, I really cannot do either one. God's given me a lot of other ministry to do here. And so I pray that God will fill those positions and call other men who are faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the word of God, who will be equipped and able and have that opportunity to do that ministry. That I can't do right now. Maybe someday God's going to let me do that. I would love to do that. Whether I get to do that or not, that's a choice that I need to pray and think through and make a wise decision based on all of the principles of Scripture and in a balanced and mature way. and there may just be a growth process that God needs to do in my life to help me to further be able to discern other of those choices. Sometimes there's ways to get involved in local politics, and we can be sought in light in those local politics. And I think that's a fantastic thing, and I praise the Lord what Paul Smith is able to do with Citizen Impact and some of the other people that have gotten involved with that. We have some godly Christian people that are on city councils, that are in our state capitol, And I thank the Lord for those people that are standing for the truth and that are wanting to have a right impact in our local government. But I'm not, at this point, able to do that, though I would love to. You see what I'm saying? And I trust that you have desires and opportunities too, but understand, so how do I make those choices? Within the parameters of the scripture, by godly counsel, by much prayer, and then you choose. That was mini-sermon within a sermon, okay? Now, point number two, and this is the longer portion of our text, this will be verses 23 to 34, but let me just say what the second point is first. Christians should expect persecution. In verse 23, the Bible says, at the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana or Artemis, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen, whom he called together with a workman of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover, ye see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which are made with hands. Interesting that We see that in the early apostolic preaching in the book of Acts, that that is stated. Like Paul said that in Athens, we have no specific record necessarily that Paul preached that here. I'm sure that was included. I don't think that was the main point. Paul says, look, when we came to you, we came preaching nothing but who? Jesus Christ. They were preaching the gospel. They were preaching Jesus Christ as Messiah. Yeah, was Paul against the false gods? Yes. Would he have stated something against the false gods? Yes, but he wasn't on a campaign necessarily to close down the temple of Artemis. Although that'd be a blessing. He was preaching Jesus. He wanted to see souls saved. He wanted to see Christians grow. He wanted to make disciples. He wanted to fulfill the great commission. And by the way, when that happens, guess what? Then those false religions do begin to crumble. There are no active specific worshipers of Artemis as an organized religion today. It was a huge world religion in the known world back during the time when this is written about. Okay, going back. so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana or Artemis should be despised, that her magnificence should be destroyed, of whom all Asia and the world worshipeth. And when these heard these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. and certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent on him desiring that he would not adventure himself into the theater. Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beggared with his hand, and would have made his defense unto the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice, about the space of two hours, cried out, Great is Diana, or Artemis, of the Ephesians. Christians should expect persecution. The gospel, the message of the gospel was prevailing so that many were turning to Christ. Look back in earlier in our passage. Look, if you would, back in verse 18. Acts chapter 19 and verse 18. The Bible says, and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also that used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men. And they counted the price and found it at 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. A great revival was happening among the new believers at Ephesus already. And then many people were hearing the word of God and acknowledging it and coming to Christ. Paul recounts the nature of repentance and faith. Demetrius says that Paul's preaching these gods be no gods at all. But it's interesting how Paul puts it in 1 Thessalonians 1, 8 and 9 when he writes and he recounts the Thessalonians conversion. He says, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God word is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves show us what manner of entering we had unto you, get this, and how ye turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Folks, there's only one way to eternal life, and that is through Jesus Christ. By its very nature, the gospel rejects all other claims and ways of salvation. And so there's a sense in which Demetrius is right. When Paul's preaching Christ and the only hope and the only way of eternal life, he's saying he's the only true God. And so Demetrius is right that he's saying these are not gods. Diana or Artemis is not a true god. Though that was not, I believe, his main emphasis. His main emphasis was Christ. By the very nature of the gospel, that statement is true. And it is proclaimed and people knew it. You know, Demetrius' speech is not meant to be complimentary here, but it speaks to the effect of ministry of the preaching of the word of God, coupled with the displays of God's miraculous power. We looked at that last week. One writer said, Demetrius' appeal to the religious feelings of the Ephesians was specious. You say, what's specious? It means it was fake, it was phony, it was false. But he knew that though they may not have cared much about his business, they did care about Artemis. I wrote this observation down. When the influence of the Christian community affects the profits of ungodly business, persecution is often around the corner. Because people in Asia were turning to Christ from false gods, including Artemis, the popularity of her temple in Ephesus and the ensuing tourist and trinkets trade would soon be on the decline. Demetrius also appealed to the local pride of the Ephesians. Much of their identity and culture was tied up in the temple of Artemis. That temple was one of seven wonders of the ancient world. Originally built in the 8th century BC, it was built on the outside entirely of pure white marble. It was 377 feet long, 180 feet wide. It was supported by 127 columns, each column 60 feet in height. It was also like a banking center where merchants, kings, even countries would deposit their wealth there to be under the protection of the Temple of Artemis. So there was a great, concern Among these who'd not turn to Christ in Ephesus They didn't want to lose the world's admiration and business All the world comes and worships here and and we sell all of these silver shrines We're gonna lose our business and I think really do you know what Demetrius and it was most concerned about? It wasn't the glory of Artemis. What was it? It was his own financial loss. It was concerning him, right? I Let me ask you this. I wanted to point this out. Do you see here in this response what John is describing? We are not to love. 1 John 2.15, love not. the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are not of the Father, but are of the world. Who is the God of this world? Satan. Don't you see that here? There's the lust of the flesh. There were temple prostitutes, as in many of the pagan religions, temple prostitutes was a part of their false worship. Artemis was a goddess of fertility. Therefore, the temple prostitution there was really ramped up. Now it's interesting because Corinthians, the Corinthian temple was also known as one of those places where It was immorality on steroids, you might say. It was awful. It was an explosion. And so was here the perversion in Ephesus that the Temple of Diana was known as a place of wickedness. Now they put it under the guise of being okay or holy or whatever because it was part of their worship of this fertility goddess. She was actually a grotesque figure, if you've ever studied it out, for what the image of her was described as looking like. But we are not to love the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. What was Demetrius afraid of losing? His business, his wealth, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh. This wickedness, this immorality, the preaching of Christ, the holiness, all of that excuse for gross immorality was being done away with as Christians not only got right with God, those who've been saved, but what did they do? What did the believers do? They came and they confessed, listen, we are relying not only on the word of God and the truth that we've heard preached by the apostles, we've been relying on these magic arts and we renounced that and anything that has to do with false worship. Well, that would have also included this gross immorality. So all of the excuse under the guise of their false worship, that immorality was okay. That was going away. There's the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, this great wealth and trade was going to go away and the pride of life, All the world comes to Ephesus to worship this great goddess. Aren't we special? We've been entrusted with the image of Artemis at this great temple. And all the world looks up and admires Ephesus because there's this great center of this powerful goddess. All that's gonna go away. But let me ask you, are there groups today that are hostile to Christianity because it affects them? And are they on the offense and seeking to persecute Christians? Let me give you some illustrations. From an article entitled, Gay Totalitarianism and the Calming Persecution of Christians, and this is several years old, I quote, it is stunning how quickly the demands of gay activists went from libertarian, don't arrest us for sodomy, to totalitarianism, take part in our weddings or we'll destroy your livelihood. The Gumacher Institute, here's another one, A research group that supports abortion rights said, about 642,700 medication abortions took place in the first full year after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade. Medication abortion accounted for 63% of abortions in the formal health care system. So then I looked up on GoodRx. I want to do a little research. It states that a medical abortion one to two day regimen can cost over $500. without insurance, that's roughly $325 million a year. Kind of like Demetrius and the silver shrines, huh? There is not just, and we know that Satan is the god of this world, and we know that he's blinded the minds of those that believe not, and we know that there is, that is great spiritual wickedness and confusion, but we also know that Satan plays to greed. Hey, listen, what did Paul say about money? For the love of money, is the root of all evil, all sorts of evil. And you know what? This abortion industry, in part, in a great part, I believe, has been driven by this commerce behind it. And one more, the gender reassignment industry, talking about the LGBTQ community. And by the way, folks, I'm not preaching hate. A gay couple can come in here and we would welcome them and we would love them. We're not gonna condone their sin. We're gonna preach the truth. And if they're gonna be saved, they must repent and believe on Christ. And I believe that if a gay person trusts Jesus Christ as their savior, though they may still battle with that lust and that temptation, I believe that they will have the desire to turn away from that and abandon that. For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. A liar, when he gets saved, becomes a truth teller. An adulterer repents and trusts Christ, becomes faithful to his spouse. A thief stops stealing, works a job, and then gives to meet the needs of others. God transforms lives. These people who say that they are practicing homosexuals or LGBTQ community and they're saved are liars based on the Word of God. Now, let me preface that with this. Any believer can commit any sin and can go into rebellion for a while. But I'll tell you this, though they may not show it on the outside, even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heaviness. and God will continue to go after him until they either repent and come back to him, or he'll eventually take them home in death. Study out the book of Hebrews. It bears that truth out. But the LGBTQ community, the homosexual community, is going to become more and more aggressive against Christianity. We don't hate them, we love them, but we're gonna preach the gospel, we welcome them here, But when they trust Christ as their Savior, they will be transformed and they will abandon that lifestyle. And all of us who are saved are in the continual process of spiritual growth. conquering temptations of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And we all should be growing because Jesus, through the Apostle Peter, said, be holy in all manner of conversation. As it is written, be holy for I am holy. And don't forget that we are to love those who hate us, who persecute us, who say all manner of evil against us falsely for Christ's sake. but you wanna know what the gender reassignment industry is worth? The latest figures I could find was from 2022 and then I found a projection by 2030. You know how much gender reassignment industry profited in 2022? 2.9 billion with a B dollars. and is projected to reach almost six and a quarter billion by 2030. And I wouldn't be surprised if it outpaced that, unless God works a great revival among believers, and then out of that, a great awakening of people to trust Christ as their savior. Hey, listen, folks, homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin. This LGBTQ community, we are to love them. We should have compassion for them. They think that they have clarification and that they've been awakened to truth. But folks, it is just another smoke and mirrors lie of Satan. And they have a precious soul. And Jesus died on the cross for them. And he shed his blood for them. And he rose again. And he loves them just as much as he loves you and me. And the Lord Jesus would desire that all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So don't misunderstand what I'm preaching right now. But I also want you to understand that I believe that we should be expecting persecution. And it's going to be motivated by money. It's going to be motivated by immorality. because men want to rebel against any restrictions that God puts on them. And it's going to be pride. Isn't it interesting that June, and I didn't think about this till this very moment, and I don't know why is it me, but what is June officially? Gay pride month. Now, isn't it interesting that this month dedicated to that sin is not just the sin of, of immorality, but pride. The admiration of the world. My own personal experience, and then we're gonna hit a couple of other things before we get to verse three, but when it comes to this issue, when I was growing up, homosexuals were like, please don't kill me. And then they were like, please tolerate us. We deserve to be tolerated. And then they began to demand equal rights and turn it into a civil rights issue, which I think should be an offense to anybody who's actually struggled with real civil rights issues. And then they wanted advantage. And now they want admiration. the pride of life. And you know what? It shouldn't surprise us because it goes right along with what the scriptures say. As a side note, I find it interesting. I want to point this out about the mob mentality because it hasn't changed much since ancient times, right? For instance, one of the things that's going on right now is what happened on our college campuses recently. All of this pro-Hamas, and it's not just pro-Palestinians, by the way. A lot of it is pro-Hamas, anti-Israel rhetoric and people camping out and chanting all these different things and shouting things down and trying to shout down people. Look, if you would, with me at these verses. Look at verse 28 and then 32 and 34. In verse 28, Acts chapter 19, and they heard these things and were full of wrath and cried out. That's to shout and yell. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Now, look down at verse 32. And therefore cried, same word, one thing and some another. Whole assembly was confused. And the more part, the greater part, knew not wherefore they were come together. And then verse 34. But when they all heard he was a Jew, all with one voice, about the space of two hours, cried out. Folks, world and popular culture are trying to shout down the gospel message. You look at some of these woke people, and there's somebody that wants to debate them, just on a purely intellectual, scholastic level. And when that person that is on that wokeism side is saying things that are refuted by fact, what do they start doing? They start shouting, and they won't let the other person talk, and they try to shout them down. Or they'll try to go to businesses as a group and shout and try to shame them down to get them to change something. And even with this whole pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas thing, and I'm not preaching a political message here, I am just saying there are people who are preaching, are calling out and crying for the destruction of Israel. Some of them, like these people, they don't know what they're really talking about. There's confusion. But you know what? This persecution, we shouldn't be surprised if we get shouted down. We shouldn't be surprised if the world culture doesn't try to shout us down, mock Christianity, persecute us, marginalize us, try to sideline us, squelch us, or put us on mute. But you know what? They can't do that to God. God's message will be heard. God will use his people. And when we can't preach, our demeanor and our testimony can preach volumes. I find this interesting too. Remember that the very breath with which the ungodly shout and scream is a gift of mercy from the author and sustainer of life. And again, our hearts ought to go out with compassion to these people because many of them are in turmoil and confusion. Reminds me of the maniac of Gadar in Mark chapter five. He was running and crying and cutting himself with stones, but after he came to Christ, he was totally transformed. He was sitting and clothed and in his right mind, oh, the peace that comes when you know Christ is your Savior. But the third and final point, and I'll try to make this brief. Because if you have stuff in the crock pot at home, I don't want it to be a murder. Christians should seek to live blameless lives. We're gonna look at verses 30 and 31, and then verses 37 to 41. Look at verse 30. The Bible says, and when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered, or allowed him not, and certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring that he would not adventure himself into the theater. Now look down at verses 37 to 41. This is after they're being rebuked by the town clerk, which we'll talk about in just a minute. But in verse 37, He's talking about there is a court system for civil and financial things. Let them appeal to one another. But if you inquire anything concerning other matters, especially religious matters, it should be determined in a lawful assembly or a public group of citizens who decided certain matters within their community. But it was lawfully done, decently and in order. For we are in danger to be called into question for this day's uproar. Look at this, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. Christians who seek to live blameless lives. These people, these prominent people in Asia, most likely, most of them, if not all of them, were unsaved, but they knew Paul's character. They had seen his testimony. They knew him. They were acquainted with him on some level. The Bible here calls them his friends. And when they had heard about this whole mob, they kind of pull in a couple of these brethren into the amphitheater. and we don't know what they were seeking to do to them, but they're bringing them in, they're in this whole mob mentality, they come into this theater, and Paul's like, wait a minute, I need to go in, I need to try to address this mob, this may be an opportunity to preach the gospel, or at least I wanna help these brethren get out of this dangerous situation. And the disciples are, please don't do this. And when these guys who were places of prominence and influence heard, they sent word and said, hey, listen, please don't do that, don't go in there. we'll take care of this, is kind of the idea. We should have such a good testimony with unsaved people that they'd be willing to speak up for us when we face persecution. For instance, your neighbors should say, you know what? They are the kindest, most thoughtful neighbors. I mean, matter of fact, it's never that they are never a nuisance. They're always a blessing. They go out of their way to be kind to us. They've been such servants to us. They've been so gracious to us. The way that they live is different than most of the people that we know. Wow, these people, they're in trouble. Hey, listen, I'll vouch for them. Those are good people. They may not completely understand the gospel, though we should have shared it with them, but they can say, hey, listen, they are the real deal. Those are good people. I'll vouch for them. Hey, don't you mess with them. Those are my neighbors. Those are my good neighbors. I don't want to lose them. Or even coworkers. They're hard workers. Hey, man, they're willing to help out others. They're honest. They'll do the jobs other people won't do. When other people are standing around, they go back through, they work. They pay attention to detail. They go back and they make sure things are done right. If someone needs help with something, they'll do it for them. If they need to cover for somebody, they'll cover for them gladly with a good attitude, not expecting anything in return. Man, those are good people. We don't want to lose them. We'll stand up for them. We'll vouch for them because we have a good testimony even among those that are outside of the household of faith. 1 Peter 2, Peter writes in verses 12 and 15, having your conversation or your manner of living honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. So listen, when some people are accusing us of certain evil things, other people see that our testimony is consistent and right. And they realize that, others realize that that is a false accusation against us and God will protect our testimony and justify us in that. For so it is the will of God that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. And sometimes the way that God will put to silence the ignorance of foolish men is by allowing even other unbelievers to vouch for our character. And so we ought to have that kind of a testimony. We ought to care for one another, we ought to expect persecution, and we ought to seek to live blameless lives so we have a testimony that makes an impact. It's so interesting here, I find that this town clerk, which was the highest official in Ephesus, says, look, Rome's gonna hear about this. And Rome does not look at this thing in a positive light. Any kind of a mob scene, we're gonna have to give an account for this. We better disperse this now or Rome's gonna come after us. And that silenced the crowd, and he dispersed them. He said, because there is nothing that these men have done. Interesting how the Demetrius said, they say that these, we claim our gods are no gods. They're against us, you know, and all this stuff. And you know what this town clerk says? They haven't blasphemed against our gods. They haven't praised them. They wouldn't condone it. Of course not. But here, what the town clerk said is they're not blasphemers of God or robbers of temples. They haven't tried to do anything dishonest. They haven't tried to come after your money and steal from you, nor have they blasphemed your gods. And then there are the courts. If you've got a civil suit because of a financial thing, you can take that there. If you feel it's defamation, then you can take there as lawful courts. And then there's also the court of quote unquote public opinion, which really was an official recognized assembly of local citizens that sat on a council. If there are other matters, especially religious matters, were often decided within that community, they can take that there. And you know what? There's no record that that was ever followed through, that anybody ever brought a charge against the Apostle Paul. Why? I believe because he and the disciples there were living blameless lives. So folks, we started off this morning in Psalm 33. We are to rejoice in the Lord. Praise is comely for the upright. The goodness of the Lord fills the earth. Let's not forget that though there was this great mob scene, though there was persecution and things seemed to be dangerous for a while, why was that happening? Because so many people were being saved. So folks, listen. I pray that God will use our church, and I don't just mean corporately in the efforts that we have together like VBS, though I'm praying for that. Would you join me in praying for VBS? We'd reach boys and girls and teenagers and moms and dads and grandpas and grandmas and uncles and aunts and others with the gospel. but also individually, that if we would, as we have opportunity to share the gospel, to give our testimony, to pray with somebody individually, that our lives would be a gospel influence and we'd see many people in our community saved and come to Christ. But I'm telling you, when God is doing a work and lives are being transformed and people are being saved, Satan's gonna fight back and we should expect persecution. Therefore, it is imperative that we live blameless lives, that we do not cause any disservice or any detraction from the gospel message. And let us serve one another and show the love of Christ within our own community. Let's support and encourage one another and seek to meet one another's needs. If you're here today and you have questions about how to have eternal life, I would love to talk to you at the end of the service. I'll be back at the connection point. If you have a question for me, I'd be glad to answer that from the word of God. If you'd just like to have a word of prayer, I would be glad to meet with you back at the connection point for prayer. But right now, let's just bow our heads, and let's meditate on the truth that we have heard today, and let's respond in our hearts to the Lord. In a moment, I'll have our musicians play a hymn of invitation. While they're playing that hymn of invitation, I just invite you to respond in your heart to the Lord in prayer. It may be that you've been struggling about some decision that you need to make. Let me encourage you to pray through it, to search the scriptures, and to get some godly counsel. So pray through that, if you would, at this time. And realize that within the boundaries of God's word, God gives you freedom to make choices. Expect persecution. We shouldn't run and hide under persecution. We're not seeking persecution. But we should be able to stand with grace and love and courage in the midst of persecution. And we should seek to live blameless lives. so that the name of our Savior is not in any way disgraced or the power of the gospel message diminished because of something wrong in our lives. We're gonna stand in just a moment with our heads bowed. I'm gonna have an invitation this morning where you are invited to respond. If you need to trust Christ as your Savior, if you need someone to help you, maybe you're a believer, you've been struggling with some issue in your life and you'd like some biblical counsel. When we stand in a moment and the musicians play, I'm gonna encourage you to go, Pastor Mike's in the back, go back and see him. He'll pair you up with a trained Bible counselor. He'll take you to a private room. If you need to find a way of salvation and enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, let him know that. If you're a believer and there's some need in your life or you'd like some counsel or someone to pray with you, please go back and let him know that. If you just need to be right there standing and praying and respond to the Lord right where you are, that's between you and him. But I do want to give an opportunity this morning for you to actually get help and respond by moving, if God would have you to move to the back and get some help. Father, our lives are yours. Kara's saying it, our lives are not our own. You have called many of our brothers and sisters in the past, and even some to this very day, to suffer martyrdom. And while we don't seek that, Lord, our lives are not our own. and we trust your protection, help us to be wise, but help us to be bold and compassionate in living out and proclaiming the gospel, that we may love one another and serve one another, that we may be able to face persecution with grace, and that we may live blameless lives so that the gospel is advanced through our lives. And for those who've not responded to the gospel, the good news, Lord Jesus, that their sins can be eternally forgiven. They can be right with you. They can spend eternity with you forever. May this be the day of their salvation. Shine the light of truth in their heart. We pray, Lord, you enable our counselors as they would help people today. In Jesus' name. Our heads are bowed. Would you stand as our pianist begins to play, and would you respond to the message this morning?