Intro / Review:
Am I Using God, or is God Using Me?
- Am I using God...? (Acts 19:11-16)
- ...Or is God using me? (Acts 19:17-20)
Four Truths You Must Embrace for True Repentance:
- Repentance isn’t Partial.
- Repentance isn’t Procrastinating.
- Repentance is Pricey.
- Repentance is Permanent.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Pastor Jeff:
01:06-01:11
I wrote a verse on that platform too about where I'll be standing.
Pastor Jeff:
01:12-01:13
I took pictures, we'll get them online.
Pastor Jeff:
01:14-01:18
But I tried to actually write it where I think I'll be standing.
Pastor Jeff:
01:20-01:21
The verse is Romans 10.17.
Pastor Jeff:
01:23-01:30
It says, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Amen.
Pastor Jeff:
01:31-01:35
And if we're going to grow in our faith, it comes from where?
Pastor Jeff:
01:36-01:38
It comes from the Word of Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
01:38-01:44
So I want you to take your Bibles, and I want you to open up the book of Acts 19.
Pastor Jeff:
01:46-01:52
While you're doing that, I would like to ask Jared Siska, if you would come up, please.
Pastor Jeff:
01:52-01:54
He knew I was going to ask him.
Pastor Jeff:
01:55-02:02
As you turn to Acts chapter 19, we are following the Apostle Paul on his third missionary journey.
Pastor Jeff:
02:04-02:10
And he went back to Ephesus where he spent a couple of years and we're gonna be talking about some things that happened there.
Pastor Jeff:
02:10-02:12
I want you to grab that microphone, please.
Pastor Jeff:
02:13-02:25
In our passage today, we're going to see here and just a spoiler alert, we're going to see some people that had what I like to call a name drop fail.
Pastor Jeff:
02:25-02:26
You know what it means to name drop?
Pastor Jeff:
02:27-02:37
When you use somebody's name, somebody of fame or potential influence, some kind of connection, I'm gonna drop their name and that's going to get me some sort of advantage.
Pastor Jeff:
02:37-02:38
You know what I'm talking about?
Pastor Jeff:
02:39-02:44
When this passage today, we're going to be looking at, we see some guys that try to name drop Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
02:45-02:49
Like, you know, just say the name and it didn't go well for them.
Pastor Jeff:
02:49-02:51
It was a name drop fail.
Pastor Jeff:
02:51-02:59
And I was thinking this week in my own life of some name drop fails and some stories I could tell, but then it hit me.
Pastor Jeff:
02:59-03:07
I'm like, I heard the greatest name drop fail story in my life from my good friend, Jared Siska.
Pastor Jeff:
03:10-03:19
But Jared and Rachel were at our house doing premarital counseling before the big day, however many months ago that was.
Pastor Jeff:
03:19-03:29
And he told me this story, and I'm like, dude, I could get up and tell the story, but I wouldn't do it the justice that you would give.
Pastor Jeff:
03:29-03:40
So would you tell our friends at Harvest Bible Chapel the story about when you got pulled over by the police and you, Jared Siska, attempted a name drop?
Pastor Jeff:
03:40-03:40
Go ahead.
Jared:
03:42-03:43
Little background information.
Jared:
03:44-03:45
Okay, this wasn't recently.
Jared:
03:45-03:46
I was 17.
Jared:
03:48-04:21
17, junior's driver's license, so you have a curfew. I had been out past curfew Doing the speed limit we'll say on the way home and I got pulled over Never been pulled over in my life after curfew under you know 17 Freaking out cop pulls me over. He comes up to the comes up to my truck window, and I'm sitting there Shaken. He goes, "Hi, I'm Officer So-and-so, didn't catch his name.
Jared:
04:23-04:31
Shaken." He looks at me, he goes, "Are you alright?" I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good." "You sure about that?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And then I lost it.
Jared:
04:32-04:49
"I'm sorry, it's after curfew, I'm only 17, yada yada yada." He goes, "Yeah, okay, okay, you sure you're alright? You're not on any drugs?" I'm like, "No." "You should be, because you're shaking real bad." Yeah, alright, thanks. So he takes my license and everything, goes back to his car, runs the numbers, comes back.
Jared:
04:50-05:00
He goes, "I pulled you over, you have a light out." He goes, "Why don't you hop out and take a look at it?" "Okay." Get out, marker light. Nobody gets pulled over for that, except for me.
Jared:
05:01-05:06
So, my last name, Cisco, comes up on the thing, right?
Jared:
05:07-05:18
My dad has a cousin who at the time was a chief of police somewhere and his son was also a cop in the Ross Township area where I got pulled over.
Jared:
05:19-05:28
He goes, "Hey, I ran your numbers here and are you related to any of the SISKAs in law enforcement?" We were. Never met them before in my life.
Jared:
05:29-05:45
I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah I am." He goes, "Yeah, which ones?" He said some names. I said, "Yeah, that's my dad's cousin." And he goes, "Well, do you know any of them?" I said, "Yeah, Jason. I know Jason real well." The guy at the back of my truck as they come in twos loses it.
Jared:
05:46-05:54
He's laughing. I can't figure out why, you know. The cop who's talking to me starts laughing, walks away, comes back, hands me my paperwork back, and that's when I see his badge.
Jared:
05:55-06:06
"Jason Siska." It's like, "Oh." He goes, "Yeah, I guess I'll see you later then, huh?" Have a nice day.
Pastor Jeff:
06:06-06:14
Name drop fail. Yeah I know uh, I know Jason Siska.
Pastor Jeff:
06:16-06:17
Yeah he's my
Jared:
06:17-06:18
cousin.
Jared:
06:18-06:20
Really? I've never seen you before.
Pastor Jeff:
06:20-06:28
Apparently you're tight. Yeah, what's that? Thank you so much for sharing that story Jared. I really appreciate that.
Pastor Jeff:
06:29-06:30
(applause)
Pastor Jeff:
06:33-06:34
Isn't that a great story?
Pastor Jeff:
06:35-06:36
Name drop fail.
Pastor Jeff:
06:36-06:40
And I thought that's a great way to introduce this text that we're looking at today.
Pastor Jeff:
06:41-06:43
We're going to see another name drop fail.
Pastor Jeff:
06:45-06:49
And we're going to be looking at a-- really, there's just one question, one point in the sermon today.
Pastor Jeff:
06:49-06:51
We're going to divide it into two parts, though.
Pastor Jeff:
06:51-06:54
But just one question that we're going to be examining.
Pastor Jeff:
06:56-06:59
because we at Harvest Bible Chapel want to be an authentic church.
Pastor Jeff:
06:59-07:11
I don't care how big the church is, and I don't care the address of the church, even though we're excited about the address change, those aren't the things that keep me motivated for ministry.
Pastor Jeff:
07:11-07:13
The thing that I want for our church is for us to be authentic.
Pastor Jeff:
07:15-07:21
And as we are taking some self-examination on whether we are an authentic church, we're going to ask one question today.
Pastor Jeff:
07:21-07:22
You're going to ask it of yourself.
Pastor Jeff:
07:23-07:26
I'm going to ask it of myself, but here it is on your outline.
Pastor Jeff:
07:26-07:27
Am I using God?
Pastor Jeff:
07:29-07:30
Or is God using me?
Pastor Jeff:
07:31-07:34
So let's look at the first part of that. Am I using God?
Pastor Jeff:
07:35-07:51
Let's look at the text. Acts chapter 19 verse 11 says, as Jay read earlier, "And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul." Okay, you want to know how to put a sermon together? Let's look at verse 11.
Pastor Jeff:
07:52-07:53
Okay, so who was doing the work?
Pastor Jeff:
07:55-07:55
God was, right?
Pastor Jeff:
07:56-07:58
It doesn't say that Paul was doing something.
Pastor Jeff:
07:58-07:59
Who was doing something?
Pastor Jeff:
08:00-08:00
God, right?
Pastor Jeff:
08:01-08:01
God was doing.
Pastor Jeff:
08:02-08:04
Okay, what kind of miracles were they?
Pastor Jeff:
08:06-08:07
Extraordinary.
Pastor Jeff:
08:08-08:09
Why do you think that word is used?
Pastor Jeff:
08:10-08:16
Well, I think there are people today that wanna take some of the things in the book of Acts and say it's normal.
Pastor Jeff:
08:16-08:19
And we should be expecting these types of miracles today.
Pastor Jeff:
08:20-08:21
Is that what the Bible says?
Pastor Jeff:
08:21-08:25
Does the Bible say that God was doing normal, everyday acts in the life of Paul?
Pastor Jeff:
08:25-08:27
The stuff that we're reading is what?
Pastor Jeff:
08:28-08:28
What does your Bible say?
Pastor Jeff:
08:29-08:31
It's extraordinary, right?
Pastor Jeff:
08:31-08:38
This is, even for the book of Acts, it says something that Luke is like, yeah, miracles were happening, and I believe miracles happened today.
Pastor Jeff:
08:38-08:45
And I could keep you here till Thanksgiving telling you miracles that I've witnessed the Lord performed just in my own life and my own ministry.
Pastor Jeff:
08:46-08:48
I do believe the Lord performs miracles.
Pastor Jeff:
08:49-09:00
but these things that were happening here, even Luke said these were extraordinary things that he was doing by the hands of Paul.
Pastor Jeff:
09:01-09:06
And we've talked about this before in the book of Acts, when you see miracles, the purpose was to confirm the message.
Pastor Jeff:
09:07-09:09
Hebrews 2, verses three and four talk about that.
Pastor Jeff:
09:10-09:13
The reason you see so many miracles, they didn't have a Bible, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
09:13-09:17
It wasn't like, hey, fact check me with Romans 10, 17 here.
Pastor Jeff:
09:18-09:22
God was confirming his message through the miracles the apostles were doing.
Pastor Jeff:
09:23-09:24
Look at verse 12.
Pastor Jeff:
09:25-09:27
What kind of extraordinary miracles were they? Look at this.
Pastor Jeff:
09:28-09:54
"So that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them." God was doing miracles such that first of all it says even handkerchiefs that was those would have been like the headbands like the do-rags, right?
Pastor Jeff:
09:55-10:17
So people were actually taking Paul's headbands and he was wearing while he was working Yeah, it's kind of gross when you think about it, you know his sweaty nasty dirty headband and God was using that To heal and it says his apron that would have just been you know Paul was a leather worker or a tent maker, same word in the Greek.
Pastor Jeff:
10:17-10:23
It would have been the apron that he wore while he was working and people were taking them.
Pastor Jeff:
10:24-10:27
But notice also in verse 12, a distinction is made.
Pastor Jeff:
10:29-10:37
Some people had diseases, those are physical diseases, you know, whether it's virus or bacteria or, you know, chronic physical diseases.
Pastor Jeff:
10:37-10:40
Some people had spiritual problems.
Pastor Jeff:
10:41-10:44
at the end of verse 12, the evil spirits came out of them.
Pastor Jeff:
10:45-10:50
You know, sometimes in the church, we overemphasize one and deny the other.
Pastor Jeff:
10:50-10:52
You know, and I've known people on both sides.
Pastor Jeff:
10:52-10:54
Everything's a physical thing.
Pastor Jeff:
10:54-11:02
You just need medicine, you just need pills, and you just need, and I think that some things are spiritual problems that can't be fixed by a pill.
Pastor Jeff:
11:03-11:06
Then you have people on the other end that everything's a spiritual problem.
Pastor Jeff:
11:07-11:14
And you know, if you had enough faith, you wouldn't have diabetes or MRSA or whatever if you just had enough faith.
Pastor Jeff:
11:14-11:24
No, there are physical problems and there are spiritual problems, and there's a distinction, but the common denominator here is God is able to heal both.
Pastor Jeff:
11:24-11:28
Amen? He's able to heal both. That's the point.
Pastor Jeff:
11:29-11:30
And He still can and He still does.
Pastor Jeff:
11:31-11:36
But look at verses 13 through 16. This is when the story gets a little weird.
Pastor Jeff:
11:37-11:40
Like the healing handkerchiefs weren't weird enough, right?
Pastor Jeff:
11:41-11:48
It says, "Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists." Let's just stop right there.
Pastor Jeff:
11:50-11:51
You think that was on their business card?
Pastor Jeff:
11:52-11:54
Hi, my name's Josiah.
Pastor Jeff:
11:54-11:56
I'm a itinerant Jewish exorcist.
Pastor Jeff:
11:57-11:59
How long have you been a Jewish exorcist?
Pastor Jeff:
12:00-12:00
(stammering)
Pastor Jeff:
12:00-12:01
Itinerant.
Pastor Jeff:
12:03-12:04
Undertook, here it is.
Pastor Jeff:
12:04-12:05
Here's the name drop fail, you ready?
Pastor Jeff:
12:06-12:42
undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims Okay, so Pete here's what was going on these occultic magicians were watching God do things through Paul you know, how's he doing that and The answer was one word Jesus. That's how Paul does it Jesus and these occultic Magicians were like, "I think I can do that." So they just, they go around and they're like, "Oh, you got a problem?
Pastor Jeff:
12:42-12:50
Check this out." "Jesus!" And they're trying to name drop Jesus thinking that it was a trick, right?
Pastor Jeff:
12:50-12:52
In those days, these magicians would have a whole bag of tricks.
Pastor Jeff:
12:53-12:55
They would buy them, they would sell them, they would trade them.
Pastor Jeff:
12:55-13:00
But the idea was, you have as many of these tricks in your tool bag as you can.
Pastor Jeff:
13:00-13:02
And that's how they made their money.
Pastor Jeff:
13:02-13:03
It was their job.
Pastor Jeff:
13:03-13:07
they would do these magic tricks for money.
Pastor Jeff:
13:07-13:11
So they're like, "Oh, this is a good one." The Jesus trick.
Pastor Jeff:
13:13-13:15
Look on in the text, it gets even weirder.
Pastor Jeff:
13:16-13:22
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Siva were doing this.
Pastor Jeff:
13:23-13:33
Now this, when it says that this Jewish high priest Siva, he wasn't like the Jewish high priest, there's actually no record of any high priest of Israel being named Seva.
Pastor Jeff:
13:36-13:43
So unanimously, almost every scholar, commentator that I've read this past week said that this was probably a name that this guy adopted.
Pastor Jeff:
13:44-13:46
You know, people still do that today, right?
Pastor Jeff:
13:46-13:54
Like with ordination or doctor, you know, there's a church online, I think it's the Universal Life Church, you can go online.
Pastor Jeff:
13:55-14:00
And if you send a request, they'll send you a ordination that you can be a minister, just like that.
Pastor Jeff:
14:00-14:03
You don't need school, you don't need anything, You just send a request, bam, you're an ordained minister.
Pastor Jeff:
14:04-14:06
Now, how much is that title worth, really?
Pastor Jeff:
14:08-14:09
Not much, right?
Pastor Jeff:
14:09-14:11
But this is a good deal though.
Pastor Jeff:
14:11-14:13
If you send them $60, they'll send you a doctorate.
Pastor Jeff:
14:16-14:18
Sounds a lot easier than school, doesn't it?
Pastor Jeff:
14:18-14:26
So I'm thinking about, you know, maybe for the new place, maybe it would help our street cred if you all contributed and bought me a doctorate.
Pastor Jeff:
14:26-14:27
That would be nice of you.
Pastor Jeff:
14:28-14:29
So we'll talk about that.
Pastor Jeff:
14:30-14:31
But obviously it doesn't mean anything, does it?
Pastor Jeff:
14:32-14:33
And I think that's what was happening here.
Pastor Jeff:
14:33-14:37
This guy had this title that he sort of put on himself.
Pastor Jeff:
14:37-14:39
I'm ordained Dr. So-and-so.
Pastor Jeff:
14:40-14:42
And like nobody else recognized that.
Pastor Jeff:
14:43-14:44
But his name was Siva.
Pastor Jeff:
14:44-14:51
And he had these seven occultic magician sons that got in on this Jesus name dropping act.
Pastor Jeff:
14:52-15:00
Look at verse 15, it says, "But the evil spirit answered them." Okay, so they go up there like, "In the name of Jesus, come out." and they come upon this one guy.
Pastor Jeff:
15:02-15:09
But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize.
Pastor Jeff:
15:10-15:24
But who are you?" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
Pastor Jeff:
15:27-15:28
Did you know that story's in the Bible?
Pastor Jeff:
15:28-15:29
Isn't that crazy?
Pastor Jeff:
15:30-15:34
So these, a call to magician show up like, like what were they like?
Pastor Jeff:
15:34-15:36
I was trying to compare them this week.
Pastor Jeff:
15:36-15:40
Imagine like if Benny Hinn meets David Blaine.
Pastor Jeff:
15:40-15:43
That's what these guys would have been like, right?
Pastor Jeff:
15:43-15:48
So they meet this demoniac who wasn't impressed at all with their show.
Pastor Jeff:
15:49-15:54
And this demoniac was like, you guys are pretty much all sizzle and no steak, right?
Pastor Jeff:
15:54-16:01
And they're like, okay, we know Jesus, and we know Paul, but who are you?
Pastor Jeff:
16:02-16:04
I'm sorry, I didn't catch the name.
Pastor Jeff:
16:04-16:10
And let's just be honest, how lame is it if you're an occultic magician and the demons never even heard of you?
Pastor Jeff:
16:12-16:13
Pretty lame, pretty lame.
Pastor Jeff:
16:16-16:17
Pretty small potatoes.
Pastor Jeff:
16:18-16:19
So they were sent running.
Pastor Jeff:
16:21-16:26
These seven sons go to this demoniac and they, you know, in the name of Jesus, and they're like, we don't know you.
Pastor Jeff:
16:26-16:34
And it says that he overpowered them, he beat them up and sent them running out of the house, naked and wounded.
Pastor Jeff:
16:34-16:40
Now, how many times in the first century amongst the apostolic circle of friends and churches do you think that story got told?
Pastor Jeff:
16:42-16:44
Like, remember Seva?
Pastor Jeff:
16:44-16:47
Remember that scene, I'm Dr. Seva, and I got my boys.
Pastor Jeff:
16:47-16:53
Remember when they all got beat up by that dude, and they're running through the street bare-necked, and they had bruises all over them?
Pastor Jeff:
16:53-16:54
Do you remember that? Like, that was crazy!
Pastor Jeff:
16:56-16:57
I'm sure it got told a lot.
Pastor Jeff:
16:58-17:01
But you can see in this passage there's an obvious contrast.
Pastor Jeff:
17:04-17:07
God was using Paul's headbands to heal people on one hand.
Pastor Jeff:
17:09-17:16
And on the other hand, you have men who were invoking the name of Jesus and nothing was happening.
Pastor Jeff:
17:17-17:22
And the difference is verse 11. It says God was using Paul.
Pastor Jeff:
17:24-17:31
In verse 13, we see the seven sons of Siva were using God.
Pastor Jeff:
17:33-17:49
And we look at this passage and we're like, "Oh, that is such a silly passage." Imagine, imagine the audacity of somebody thinking they could invoke the name of Jesus, they could name drop Jesus for some sort of personal gain.
Pastor Jeff:
17:50-17:52
I mean, can you imagine the audacity?
Pastor Jeff:
17:52-18:01
I mean, I'm kind of using my imagination here, but that sounds very first century because things like that probably don't happen today, do they?
Pastor Jeff:
18:03-18:06
People using the name of Jesus for personal gain.
Pastor Jeff:
18:06-18:08
Do people still do that?
Pastor Jeff:
18:08-18:09
Do people still do that?
Pastor Jeff:
18:12-18:14
All the time.
Pastor Jeff:
18:15-18:18
Using the name of Jesus for personal gain.
Pastor Jeff:
18:19-18:23
obvious application you think of the the televangelists.
Pastor Jeff:
18:24-18:26
In the name of Jesus, send me your last dollar.
Pastor Jeff:
18:28-18:34
While they live in houses bigger than your entire neighborhood and drive around in a fleet of luxury cars and private jets.
Pastor Jeff:
18:36-18:41
But they need your $156 or whatever their mystical number of the week is or whatever.
Pastor Jeff:
18:42-18:45
Using the name of Jesus for their personal gain.
Pastor Jeff:
18:47-18:48
But it's not just them.
Pastor Jeff:
18:49-18:55
It's easy to sort of make application for a detached scenario.
Pastor Jeff:
18:56-18:57
Yeah, I don't watch those guys either.
Pastor Jeff:
18:58-19:11
But the truth is, church, even you and I at times, let's be honest, we can be guilty of trying to manipulate God.
Pastor Jeff:
19:13-19:16
Even by name -dropping Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
19:17-19:17
We can be guilty.
Pastor Jeff:
19:19-19:19
Like, what do you mean?
Pastor Jeff:
19:20-19:41
I mean every salesman who has ever advertised himself as a Christian company, not because of some convictions or life change in his life, but because he knows that he lives in a churchy area and would attract some sales, advertising as a Christian company, you are name dropping Jesus for personal benefit.
Pastor Jeff:
19:43-19:54
Every politician who is traveling and campaigning, claiming his Christian heritage, because he knows that will get him some votes.
Pastor Jeff:
19:55-19:59
You are name dropping the name of Jesus for personal gain.
Pastor Jeff:
20:01-20:07
Everyone who's ever needed something desperately and decided I'm going to bargain with God.
Pastor Jeff:
20:08-20:15
You know, God, I'm gonna go to church And I promise you God, I'll never miss church again if you just do this.
Pastor Jeff:
20:15-20:25
And we think sometimes if we say the right things or we do the right things, that we can manipulate the Almighty into personal gain.
Pastor Jeff:
20:27-22:02
You know, the worst I've ever seen this, this is my opinion, the most tragic in seeing this happen is when guys, especially guys, Pretend that they're a Christian because they want to date a certain girl Erin and I can tell you stories that make make us make us weep of Guys who set up their online profile these perfect Christian men And we know ladies that this has happened to all this guy's perfect. Look at him. Look at him. He loves Jesus that was that was bait and These perfect Christian men turn out to be monsters Because there's no transformation But we named drop Jesus on our dating site Because that'll attract I'll attract the kind of girl that I want to date Name dropping Jesus for personal gain you see a lot of times people want the benefits of Jesus Not actually knowing Jesus Amen is when you think of all the benefits that Jesus Christ brings into a person's life those things sound great Too many people say well, I want those things but I don't want the I Don't want to know Jesus I don't want to be radical about my faith I just want all of the good stuff that Jesus offers So the question is am I using God or is God using me?
Pastor Jeff:
22:03-22:07
Am I using God do I see Jesus like a vending machine?
Pastor Jeff:
22:09-22:43
You know I go to him when I Want something and I go through the motions and tell him what I want and he gives me what I want and I'll let him Know when I need something else And he can do whatever until then or Do you see Jesus as he is he's a person to know a a person to love, a person to worship, a person to follow, a person who desires a relationship with you.
Pastor Jeff:
22:45-22:47
Am I using God or is God using me?
Pastor Jeff:
22:49-22:53
The number two on your outline is God using me.
Pastor Jeff:
22:55-22:59
Much like Jared Siska, the seven sons of Siva name dropped and failed.
Pastor Jeff:
23:02-23:03
Let's look at the other side of it.
Pastor Jeff:
23:03-23:04
Is God using me?
Pastor Jeff:
23:04-23:04
Verse 17.
Pastor Jeff:
23:06-23:23
Verse 17 says, "And this," the whole seven sons beaten up, fleeing naked, bruised, "And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, "both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all.
Pastor Jeff:
23:26-23:36
"And the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled." So word got out about this and sort of a weird result, isn't it?
Pastor Jeff:
23:37-23:49
Like people heard about this crazy story and people were like, "There must be something to the person of Jesus." And this great fear came upon the people, like awesomeness of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
23:52-24:05
Verse 18, "Also many of those who are now believers," okay, so like revival people coming to Christ, Many of those who were not believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.
Pastor Jeff:
24:06-24:07
What does that mean?
Pastor Jeff:
24:07-24:10
Well, they were involved in the occult. As I said, they had a bag of tricks.
Pastor Jeff:
24:12-24:15
Confessing, that just means agreeing with God.
Pastor Jeff:
24:15-24:22
When you confess your sin, what you're saying is, "God, you said this is sin, and I agree with you. That is sin. That is wrong." That's confessing.
Pastor Jeff:
24:23-24:24
But what does it mean that they were divulging?
Pastor Jeff:
24:26-25:03
Well in the first century with these magicians they believed that if you revealed The incantation or how a spell or a trick worked it lost all of its power so they were saying we're done with this and We're unveiling our spells and thus making the powerless You kind of get what that means right if you've ever seen You ever see one of those shows that reveal how magic tricks work like you see a magic trick. You're like oh my gosh That's that's incredible like okay They stuck a guy in a box and all of a sudden guys head was over here and the guys foot was over here How do they do that and then they show you the trick right?
Pastor Jeff:
25:03-25:14
They show the clear boxes and how the guys like in a skateboard underneath and his head pops up and you watch you watch them How they do the trick how they divulge it you're like Next time you see the trick are you impressed?
Pastor Jeff:
25:14-25:22
No, you're like oh, that's just a dude in a skateboard under the platform. He's popping his head up and what up You guys seen that trick I?
Pastor Jeff:
25:22-25:23
I used to be impressed with it.
Pastor Jeff:
25:23-25:27
Anyways, you see, you get the point.
Pastor Jeff:
25:27-25:29
When you divulge it, it doesn't really mean anything.
Pastor Jeff:
25:29-25:30
It doesn't have any value anymore.
Pastor Jeff:
25:31-25:32
Kind of lame, kind of lame.
Pastor Jeff:
25:32-25:33
Oh, that's how you do that?
Pastor Jeff:
25:33-25:35
Oh, that's what they were doing.
Pastor Jeff:
25:35-25:39
They're like, here's our tricks and divulging it.
Pastor Jeff:
25:42-25:43
But then they took it a step further.
Pastor Jeff:
25:43-25:44
Look at verse 19.
Pastor Jeff:
25:45-25:53
And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all.
Pastor Jeff:
25:55-26:00
And they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver.
Pastor Jeff:
26:02-26:06
So they went a step further. They didn't just reveal their secrets.
Pastor Jeff:
26:07-26:10
They said, "These are the books that we use.
Pastor Jeff:
26:11-26:13
These are occultic spell books and they made a bonfire.
Pastor Jeff:
26:14-26:15
We're done with this.
Pastor Jeff:
26:19-26:22
Am I using God or is God using me?
Pastor Jeff:
26:24-26:32
And I want to encourage you that if you want God to use you, if you're sitting here today and you're like, "I want God to use me for His purpose somehow.
Pastor Jeff:
26:32-26:36
I want God to use me." Step one is repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
26:38-26:42
Nothing happens until you repent.
Pastor Jeff:
26:44-26:48
We're going to talk about repentance as we close out our time in the Word.
Pastor Jeff:
26:50-26:57
The definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.
Pastor Jeff:
26:59-27:00
Repentance is changing your mind.
Pastor Jeff:
27:00-27:40
You see, when you're involved in sin, you love it and you justify it, It's okay, and it's not that bad Repentance means you change your mind you start thinking about your sin the way God thinks about your sin You know somebody shout out a sin like your favorite sin Okay shout out a sin that you have never done in your life shout one out What's that hatred okay hatred maybe that's your sin hatred and your whole life you've justified it I've been wrong and and that person's a whatever and and I should hate and Repentance is no no.
Pastor Jeff:
27:41-28:13
I need to change the way I think God says I'm supposed to love even people that don't love me back and you I Gotta get my thinking to line up with God's thinking on this whole hatred thing That's repentance and when you change your mind your your attitudes and your actions follow that Right, so that's repentance So the opposite of trying to use God for what I want, in repentance I abandon everything that I want for whatever God wants.
Pastor Jeff:
28:15-28:16
So did you repent?
Pastor Jeff:
28:17-28:19
On your outline, four truths you must embrace for true repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
28:21-28:21
Did you repent?
Pastor Jeff:
28:22-28:24
Here's four truths that you must embrace.
Pastor Jeff:
28:25-28:26
Like I said, this is step one.
Pastor Jeff:
28:26-28:26
You want God to use you?
Pastor Jeff:
28:27-28:28
Step one is repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
28:31-28:32
So jot these down.
Pastor Jeff:
28:33-28:37
All words begin with the letter P, but two negative, two positive.
Pastor Jeff:
28:37-28:40
First of all, repentance isn't partial.
Pastor Jeff:
28:42-28:43
Repentance isn't partial.
Pastor Jeff:
28:43-28:57
What I mean is these magicians didn't come and say, "We're renouncing our magic and we're tearing out the table of contents from our books and we're burning the table of contents and we're taking the rest of the book home and we're putting it back on the shelf.
Pastor Jeff:
28:57-28:58
Did they do that?
Pastor Jeff:
28:59-29:00
Whole book, whole book.
Pastor Jeff:
29:00-29:02
You think they took partial library.
Pastor Jeff:
29:02-29:09
I get it, these are the books that I kind of wasn't using anymore, so I'll burn those, but this one, I just kind of bought that one and it's kind of new and I really used it.
Pastor Jeff:
29:10-29:12
All the books, right?
Pastor Jeff:
29:12-29:13
Repentance isn't partial.
Pastor Jeff:
29:14-29:16
Repentance goes all the way.
Pastor Jeff:
29:18-29:27
Meaning this, we don't say things like, I know I'm in a relationship, I shouldn't be involved in it. I'm gonna sort of wean myself off of that.
Pastor Jeff:
29:29-29:30
Repentance isn't partial.
Pastor Jeff:
29:32-29:37
I have this problem gambling, but I'm only gonna gamble away half of the money that I've been gambling.
Pastor Jeff:
29:37-29:42
I know gambling is wrong. It's not being a good steward with what God's provided me.
Pastor Jeff:
29:43-29:45
So I'm only gonna gamble half. Is that repentance?
Pastor Jeff:
29:47-29:47
No.
Pastor Jeff:
29:48-29:49
Repentance isn't partial.
Pastor Jeff:
29:50-29:53
You know, I really should kick this drug habit.
Pastor Jeff:
29:56-30:00
So what I'm gonna do is I'm only gonna do drugs three days a week instead of five. Is that repentance?
Pastor Jeff:
30:01-30:02
Is that repentance?
Pastor Jeff:
30:03-30:03
No.
Pastor Jeff:
30:04-30:06
Repentance isn't partial.
Pastor Jeff:
30:06-30:15
Repentance says, "This is wrong. I'm done with it. I'm going all the way." Secondly, repentance isn't procrastinating.
Pastor Jeff:
30:17-30:26
We said the biggest lie in churches is, "I'll pray for you." Here's one of the other biggest lies in church. We don't verbalize this one, but we think this one a lot.
Pastor Jeff:
30:27-30:45
"I'll repent later." "I'll repent later." Let me ask you, if your mindset is, "I'll repent later," the more time goes on, are you more likely or less likely to repent the more time goes on?
Pastor Jeff:
30:46-32:43
Less right you're less likely to repent the more time goes on because you've given yourself time To sort of rethink it and rejustify it It's sort of like exercise well not for some of you let me exercising for me During the course of a day. I you know I can get up, and I can think you know what I'm gonna get in shape Today's the day of a new me And you can exercise in the morning because that's when you burn the most calories but then you know kids stuff and going to school and the beds too comfortable and I sort of Justified but then when I you know do get gone. I'm like Okay, you know what? I said I'm gonna work out today and I'm gonna do it during lunch instead of eating and well now now I'm kind of hungry and I Missed it this morning. Anyways, so I'll just touch I'll try to exercise later Maybe like after the kids get home from school But then the kids get home from school and there's snacks and supper to be made and you know whatever anything You know what maybe maybe during the game tonight I'll exercise during the game and I Can't actually this is a Stanley Cup playoffs. I can't the penguins need my attention So I'll exercise after the game maybe no. Well, I don't a games over you like I'm tired. I'm just going to bed It's really you know There's just more of me to love now So why lose weight right But the further you go the easier it is to just Nah later later to the point of it Repentance is like that when you feel the spirit convicting you and you feel the You feel the spirit of speaking to you so clearly Secondly, you need to strike while the iron is hot.
Pastor Jeff:
32:43-32:50
While conviction is hot, it's because the longer you wait, the more time you have to justify and excuse your behavior.
Pastor Jeff:
32:52-32:54
Repentance isn't partial and it isn't procrastinating.
Pastor Jeff:
32:57-33:00
Thirdly, write this down, repentance is pricey.
Pastor Jeff:
33:01-33:02
Repentance is pricey!
Pastor Jeff:
33:04-33:12
Your text says that the cost of the books that were burned came up to, what does your Bible say, like 50,000 pieces of silver?
Pastor Jeff:
33:13-33:14
That was a denarius.
Pastor Jeff:
33:15-33:18
And a denarius was a day's wage.
Pastor Jeff:
33:19-33:24
You work, you know, average common labor, you work for a day, you get a silver coin, you get a denarius.
Pastor Jeff:
33:25-33:34
So if you have 50,000 denarii, I did the math on this a whole bunch of different ways, but Here's what it basically boils down to.
Pastor Jeff:
33:35-33:36
Somewhere in the ballpark of $5 million.
Pastor Jeff:
33:40-33:41
$5 million!
Pastor Jeff:
33:42-33:55
And you know there was somebody off in the corner, another Judas, that was like, "You know, we could have sold those and used the money to open a soup kitchen," or whatever, or, "What a waste, you know, that was worth a lot of money." Repentance doesn't think like that.
Pastor Jeff:
33:56-33:57
Repentance says, "This is wrong.
Pastor Jeff:
33:58-33:59
I'm done with it.
Pastor Jeff:
34:00-34:02
I don't care what it costs me.
Pastor Jeff:
34:03-34:08
And that's the incredible paradox about following Jesus Christ, isn't it?
Pastor Jeff:
34:08-34:13
Following Jesus costs you nothing, but it costs you everything.
Pastor Jeff:
34:15-34:17
It costs you nothing because salvation is a free gift.
Pastor Jeff:
34:17-34:21
You can't buy it, you can't earn it, you can't work it off, you can't deserve it.
Pastor Jeff:
34:21-34:24
Salvation is a free gift, but this free gift will cost you everything.
Pastor Jeff:
34:25-34:35
Jesus said in Luke chapter 14, verse 33, So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Pastor Jeff:
34:35-34:37
Cannot be my disciple.
Pastor Jeff:
34:37-34:43
Jesus said, "You've got to be willing to walk away from all of it." And Paul got that, didn't he? Philippians 3.
Pastor Jeff:
34:44-34:53
Paul was just recounting all of the good things in his life, his good works, and his good heritage, and all the things that made him such a great human being.
Pastor Jeff:
34:54-35:16
But in Philippians 3, Paul says, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord." He says, "It doesn't mean anything to me. I walked away from everything because nothing in my life compares to knowing Jesus Christ." So repentance is pricey.
Pastor Jeff:
35:17-35:21
It's giving up everything you have for everything that God has to give you.
Pastor Jeff:
35:22-35:26
And if you're not ready to do that, you aren't ready to follow Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
35:28-35:35
If you're not ready to say, I'm abandoning whatever it takes, then you're not ready to follow Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
35:37-35:40
And fourthly, repentance is permanent.
Pastor Jeff:
35:42-35:44
Notice that they didn't say, well, we're gonna repent from this.
Pastor Jeff:
35:45-35:51
So let's pack all the books up in boxes and we'll put masking tape on them and we'll put them in storage because we're done with this.
Pastor Jeff:
35:52-35:54
The fire was sort of like a no going back thing, right?
Pastor Jeff:
35:55-36:02
When you throw a book into a bonfire, that's a declaration of permanence.
Pastor Jeff:
36:02-36:03
Done, done.
Pastor Jeff:
36:03-36:05
It is burnt, right?
Pastor Jeff:
36:06-36:07
I'm not going back to that.
Pastor Jeff:
36:07-36:10
And that's the mindset of repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
36:10-36:11
It's permanent.
Pastor Jeff:
36:12-36:15
Listen, yes, there are times we slip up.
Pastor Jeff:
36:15-36:17
That's true, there are times we slip up.
Pastor Jeff:
36:17-36:24
See, here's the thing, when repentance has a permanent mindset, The times that we do slip up, we don't excuse it.
Pastor Jeff:
36:25-36:26
We don't excuse it.
Pastor Jeff:
36:27-36:29
What we do say is, that's not who I am.
Pastor Jeff:
36:30-36:31
I'm in Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
36:31-36:33
Christ has given me a new identity.
Pastor Jeff:
36:34-36:38
I'm going to kill that sin in me.
Pastor Jeff:
36:39-36:41
And that sin, OK, it's not dead yet.
Pastor Jeff:
36:41-36:44
Well, I'm going to keep hitting it until it is.
Pastor Jeff:
36:46-36:53
Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, verse 29, Jesus said, if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.
Pastor Jeff:
36:56-36:59
For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
Pastor Jeff:
36:59-37:06
And he said, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body be sent into hell.
Pastor Jeff:
37:08-37:13
Now do you think Jesus literally meant the cure for sin is ripping out body parts?
Pastor Jeff:
37:14-37:14
No.
Pastor Jeff:
37:15-37:16
Blind people can still lust, right?
Pastor Jeff:
37:19-37:22
Jesus was teaching something that's often called radical amputation.
Pastor Jeff:
37:22-37:29
And it's the idea, you know, later on in Scripture, I believe in Romans, Paul talks about making no provision for the flesh.
Pastor Jeff:
37:30-37:33
And that's what Jesus was talking about.
Pastor Jeff:
37:33-37:35
That's what we see demonstrated here.
Pastor Jeff:
37:36-37:40
Because if you cut off your hand or you gouged out your eye, is that pricey?
Pastor Jeff:
37:42-37:42
It is.
Pastor Jeff:
37:43-37:43
Is it permanent?
Pastor Jeff:
37:45-37:46
That's the point.
Pastor Jeff:
37:46-37:47
Repentance is.
Pastor Jeff:
37:48-37:49
It's pricey.
Pastor Jeff:
37:50-37:51
It's permanent.
Pastor Jeff:
37:53-37:57
So I need to ask you today, what do you need to throw in the fire?
Pastor Jeff:
37:59-38:04
If we, don't worry Ron, we're not, we started a bonfire right out here on the patio.
Pastor Jeff:
38:06-38:06
We're not.
Pastor Jeff:
38:08-38:10
Ron's back there, he's sweating, I can see it from here.
Pastor Jeff:
38:11-38:12
I don't think you should do that, Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff:
38:13-38:39
If we started a bonfire right there today after church, We said, "If anyone needs to repent, whatever thing in your life is causing you to sin, we're going to throw it in the fire." And you're not allowed to say, "My wife is causing me to sin, so I'm going to throw her in the fire." You understand the point, right?
Pastor Jeff:
38:40-39:01
whatever provision you have made for your flesh, whatever you've excused, whatever thing you've held onto that you know has been a roadblock to enjoying your walk with Christ as He intended, what would you throw on the fire today?
Pastor Jeff:
39:04-39:04
What is it?
Pastor Jeff:
39:06-39:08
Is it some kind of a substance that you're abusing?
Pastor Jeff:
39:11-39:13
Is it a computer that you're using to look at pornography?
Pastor Jeff:
39:17-39:21
Or is it just money and stuff that you have elevated to idle status in your life?
Pastor Jeff:
39:23-39:24
It's going to fire.
Pastor Jeff:
39:26-39:27
See these guys got it.
Pastor Jeff:
39:27-39:29
These magicians, they got it.
Pastor Jeff:
39:30-39:33
Repentance isn't partial and it isn't procrastinating.
Pastor Jeff:
39:33-39:34
It's pricey and it's permanent.
Pastor Jeff:
39:35-39:36
Somebody strike a match.
Pastor Jeff:
39:37-39:45
So getting back to Paul, this was the evidence that God was using him.
Pastor Jeff:
39:45-39:47
Look at the last verse, I haven't highlighted my Bible.
Pastor Jeff:
39:47-40:03
It says, "So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily." The evidence that God was using him was the word of the Lord was increasing and prevailing mightily.
Pastor Jeff:
40:03-40:14
and as we saw with these repentant magicians, the Word of God was changing people's lives.
Pastor Jeff:
40:15-40:25
So as we close our time here today, having our last service ever at Marshall Middle School, I thought, what a great thing to pray for right now.
Pastor Jeff:
40:26-40:29
As we're about to move on to our new home.
Pastor Jeff:
40:31-40:33
You see, we are not using God.
Pastor Jeff:
40:35-40:48
We are a group of people, and I'm speaking on behalf of our elders, our ministry team, we are a group of people who want nothing more than for God to use us.
Pastor Jeff:
40:50-40:59
that the new place would be known as, first of all, a place where the Word of the Lord increases and prevails mightily.
Pastor Jeff:
41:00-41:04
Wouldn't that be a great banner to have over the new place on Perry Highway?
Pastor Jeff:
41:05-41:09
Like people driving down the road, like, "I wonder what happens there?" "Oh, I heard what happens there.
Pastor Jeff:
41:09-41:14
That's a place where the Word of the Lord increases and prevails mightily.
Pastor Jeff:
41:14-42:01
That's what happens in that building." It is crazy what the Word of the Lord is doing in that building And also Where people's lives are forever changed Would that be a great banner to have over the new building what happens in there People go in that building jacked up and messed up And they encounter Jesus Christ and they walk out of there different people They let go of the things in their lives that are destroying them and hindering their walk with God They let go of those things and they throw them into fire and they walk out of there completely different people Wouldn't that be a great testimony for this new place on Perry Highway?
Pastor Jeff:
42:02-42:49
I'm gonna ask you as a worship team comes up. I'm just gonna ask you to stand with me and bow your heads I'd like us to agree together church about these things in prayer Just like you to stand by your head and I'm gonna pray And I would like you to pray with me agree with me on this The Father in heaven We are people who want to be authentic God. We're not playing games here We're not trying to figure out the right words to say or the right ways to drop the name of Jesus to attract people Father, we don't want to have the audacity to attempt to use you in some way, to manipulate you.
Pastor Jeff:
42:50-42:52
Father, we want to be people that you use.
Pastor Jeff:
42:55-43:04
Father, we would be content to be a pile of sweaty headbands right now, just knowing that God's using us, because it's not about us.
Pastor Jeff:
43:05-43:06
It's about you.
Pastor Jeff:
43:08-44:35
Father just now we pray together as a church That as we move into this new place father We're not we're not trying to establish our own little Tower of Babel establish our own little kingdom father. That's that is not Our heart at all father as we look at your word today We just want to echo what we see here, and I pray God that this new place Would be known for two things Specifically one father. I pray that this is a place where the Word of the Lord increases and prevails mightily. I Pray father that the word would get around That this building is a place where your word is lifted high Where there's a group of people very serious about what you said And secondly father, I pray that this new place is a place where lives are changed Not just lip service not just adding Jesus to my resume But a place where true repentance happens where people are done with their sin And they're ready to abandon everything that they have so that they may receive everything that you want to give them Let this be a place father of your word Transform lives We're praying we don't want to go without you.
Pastor Jeff:
44:36-44:47
We don't want to take a step without knowing that you have already gone ahead of us, without knowing that you're with us, without knowing that you're going to be behind us every step of the way.
Pastor Jeff:
44:50-44:51
So Father, we thank you for your promise.
Pastor Jeff:
44:54-45:03
us to be authentic followers of Jesus Christ. It's in His name that we pray, amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 19:11-20
Why do you think God used the handkerchiefs and aprons of Paul to heal people?
Why didn't the "exorcism" work for the sons of Sceva (Acts 19:13-16), even though they used the name of Jesus? What does this tell you about how the power of Jesus "works"?
Do you think Satan can work miracles today? Discuss 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10. How do you know if a miracle is from God?
Why is it better that God uses you, than you using God?
Breakout Questions:
Have you ever tried to use God for your own selfish reasons? What got your attention that it wouldn’t work out how you want?
Pray for one another.