What to do When Things go Wrong Part 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on What to do When Things go Wrong Part 2. He will be reading out of Acts 21:17-40.

Everybody is our mission field. We’re to reach him for Christ, but trust God that he has a purpose. He has a plan. I’m sure as the apostle is going through the beatings, I’m sure that in his mind, he’s looking to God and saying, lord, I’m just gonna put my confidence in you. I don’t know why all this is happening, but I trust you, God.

Hello. This is pastor Mike Sanders, and I’m delighted to welcome you to the Hopeworth Having radio program this week. And today, we are going to be in the book of Acts chapter 21, and we’re gonna be covering verses 17 through 40, what to do when things go wrong. What do we do? We look at the narrative of the apostle Paul as he was out spreading the gospel, and you and I can learn some valuable insights.

What do we do when everything’s going wrong in our life, and how do we keep moving forward for Jesus Christ. So let’s get our Bibles, and let’s get into the word of God. It’s easy for us as believers to get distracted on details, to get distracted on preferences, to get distracted on personalities, to get distracted on politics, and allow these little things in this life to divide us as believers when God wants us to be united rejoicing and celebrating and giving glory to him because people are being saved. Now what we see in first Corinthians chapter nine in verse 20 is that Paul makes the principle of why he would do this. Listen to what he says.

To the Jews, I became as a Jew. In order to what? Win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law that I might win those under the law. So what you’re gonna read next as you take time, because we can’t do it all today, is that the apostle takes on this Nazarite vow, and he is willing to do it to show and demonstrate that he understands, he relates, and he wants to connect with the Jewish people and help them to know that the gospel is true.

And so through his act, through his act of being willing to take on this Nazarite vow, he relieves or alleviates the tensions, and he begins to show unity in the church of Christ. Now one of the things you’re gonna learn as a believer, if you haven’t already learned yet, is that Christians do not always agree with each other. Can God’s people say amen? How about that? Well, that’s a shocker.

Christians don’t always agree with one another. But you see, God does not want us to focus on our differences. He wants us to focus on what we are united about. What I’m saying is that when you’re going through tough times in your life, when things seem to be going wrong, one of the things is get back to the main thing, To get back to the big picture. Not to allow the devil to distract the unity of Christ, the body of Christ, the fellowship of Christ.

Now sometimes, we all have different opinions and we say, well, we think you ought to do this or we think you ought not to do that, and we have all these lists of things, what I call the do’s and don’ts of Christianity. And you know, the Pharisees were like that. They had more rules than even the bible had. I tell people I’m just trying to keep up with the top 10, amen? Just trying to keep up with the top 10, but some people have they have 20, they have 50, they have a hundred.

The Pharisees had over 600 rules on top of the Bible. How about that? 600. Some of you say, well that’s nothing, my mother had over 700. That’s fine.

I wanna teach you a valuable principle as a Christian, is that you need to learn to draw the line where the bible draws the line, but don’t draw the line where the bible doesn’t draw the line. Don’t draw the line where the bible doesn’t draw the line. You may disagree with it. It may not be your style. It might not be your way.

It may not be your preference. It may not be your opinion, but that’s okay because there is diversity in the family of God and we gotta recognize that God is working in different cultures, different groups, and he is reaching people for the glory of God so that people will be saved. What works in America doesn’t always work in another country. What works in Franklin County, Pennsylvania doesn’t always work in another state. How about that one?

Yeah. I pastored two churches, one in Indiana and here, and the things that work there, I tried them here and they all fell flat because people are different wherever you go. You ever thought that one out? So what do we do when we disagree? I wanna give you four questions to ask yourself.

When you disagree with someone or you’re trying to figure out what’s right or wrong, here are four questions for you to consider. All these questions come out of one Corinthians chapter eight, they’re principles that are taught in one Corinthians chapter eight, and in that chapter the believers were divided over whether they should eat meat that is offered to idols. They were divided about that. The Jewish believers said, absolutely not. We’re not gonna eat meat offered to idols.

The Gentile believers said, it’s no big deal. The meat’s cheaper and it tastes pretty good and it came off the grill and we’re gonna consume us some good country steak. Amen? What was causing division in the church? You say, well pastor, we’re not worried about that, I know.

But see, some in the church they ask me, well pastor, what do you think about boycotting this store or boycotting that store? What do you think about all that pastor? You know what I tell people? I don’t boycott. Now that’s Mike Sanders.

There’s nothing in the bible that says boycott Target. Did you know that? There’s nothing in the bible that says boycott Starbucks. There’s nothing in the bible that says boycott whatever store you’re thinking about. But yet for some Christians, that’s important.

I want to lay out for you some guiding principles to help you relate and understand, because the reason I don’t boycott is because I think I’m gonna end up boycotting everybody, I’m gonna live on an island by myself and nobody is gonna come see me and I’m gonna be by myself and I can’t handle that. Amen? I mean when are we gonna stop boycotting? And where does it start? You know, I go over here and I use this and, uh-oh, it’s connected five generations back to something that I don’t like.

You know, I told you church one time, one lady, she challenged me on this, she was upset that I said that, and I showed her and proved it to her, but the point being is this, that you know that the tie, the tie, you know people used to wear ties in church. You ever heard of that? Tallon did. Tallon’s got a nice tie. He’s looking better than the pastor this morning.

How about that? But did you know the tie originated? People wore them to keep evil spirits away. And yet if I don’t wear a tie, you know, there’s gonna be a few of you just upset. They can’t believe the pastor’s not wearing a tie today.

Now some of you, you gave up the battle a long time ago. You’re okay with it. Alright? But here’s what I’m saying. Maybe we ought to boycott ties.

You know what I’m saying? We ought to boycott ties because they were connected to evil spirits. And some of you are saying, amen, let’s get rid of the tie. You know what I’m saying? You just, you know, you go all of a sudden everything’s connected to something that you don’t like.

How about that? But let me give you some principles that’ll help you when you’re trying to make a decision on what should I do this or not do this, and it’s not spelled out in the Bible, but how do I make good decisions? The first question and I want you to write this down. Please write this down because it’ll be a blessing to you. Will I become spiritually prideful if I do or don’t do this decision?

Let me tell you what I mean by that is that some people think that the society sins are worse than their sins. Have you ever met people like that? They’re self righteous and they like to point out everybody else’s problems and everybody else’s sin, but they got their own issues they need to deal with. Right? Jesus said, before you take care of the speck in somebody else’s eye, why don’t you take care of the beam that’s hanging out your own eye?

Hello? Hello? And so you’re all worried about this and you’re all worried about that and you’re all worried about society’s ills. Let me say something to you, whatever decision you make is between you and God, it’s up to you. Make sure it doesn’t lead you to think you’re better and that you’re somehow above others.

The ground is level at the foot of the cross. And the truth is we’re all sinners in need of a savior. And we all need the gospel and we all need God’s work in our heart and we all need that. So we can’t get to that point where we think we’re above and better than others, so I don’t wanna be spiritually prideful. If this decision is gonna make me look down upon others and it’s gonna cause me to think I’m better than others, then I’m out.

The second question, are we setting the right example to others? Now there may be many things that we can do as believers. Paul didn’t have to go get a Nazarite vow, he didn’t have to shave his head and take on this Nazarite vow, but he wanted to reach people. He wanted to be an example to the new believers in Judaism. Does that mean you need to take on the Nazarite vow?

No. I mean it might help some of you by the way. Some of you need a nice good clean haircut, amen? You say, Pastor, why are you worried about our hair? Because I don’t have any and so I gotta pick on something, right?

I’m just teasing. But he took the Nazarite vow. Sometimes in life, there are things I do or things I don’t do because I want to be an example to other believers. I wanna be an example to the young people. I wanna be an example to the children.

I wanna be an example to the students up at Cumberland Valley Christian School. And I’ll give you an example that Terry and I, we abstain from alcohol. I don’t want to be that guy who is taking down some alcohol and a little kid walks in and say, there’s pastor Mike. He’s he’s drinking, whatever alcohol is out there. Right?

Now I’m not telling you what to do. I’m telling you what Mike does because I wanna be an example to my responsibilities and roles here as a pastor. A third question, will I cause someone else to stumble? In my decision making, will I cause someone else to stumble in their faith? Yeah.

I know it’s not wrong, and I know you can do this, and I know there’s nothing in the Bible about it, but will it cause someone else to stumble? Paul says to the believers, listen, if eating meat offered to an idol causes someone to stumble in their faith when I’m around them, I just won’t do it. You say, is that a duplicit life? Is that a double standard? No.

He’s just saying, I don’t wanna be a stumbling block. You see, we have choices in life, and you can either be a stepping stone or you can be a stumbling block. You have to choose and every decision is a result of that. And so as you mature in your faith, as you get stronger in your faith, you begin to make decisions that you’re saying to yourself, is this a stumbling block to other people? When you become a parent, you say, well, I better not do that because, you know, I don’t want my kids to start, you know, like some of the things you guys say.

Some of the ways you talk. These little kids, have you noticed these little kids? They repeat everything you say. Right? Somebody cuts you off in the road and you start yelling at them as if they can hear you through the car window, and you’re yelling at them and the next thing you know your little guy is repeating exactly what you said.

You see? Are you a stumbling block or a stepping stone? You have to ask yourself that. Here’s the last question, am I building others up in their faith? You see, the apostle says this and he makes a quote.

He quotes a famous poet or philosopher of that day, all things are lawful, but not all things are edifying. Not all things are helpful. Not all things are helpful. Is this helping? Is this building other people up?

Or is it tearing them down? So as I walk through the process of making decisions, should I do this or should I not do that? Listen, my friends, these are the questions I ask myself to help make a godly decision, an honorable decision, a mature decision. But I always feel like this, that when the decision is made, again, remember what I taught you, that you draw the line where the Bible draws the line. No if, ands, or buts.

Pastor’s not backing down. But where the bible doesn’t draw the line, don’t draw the line. How do you make a decision? Use those four questions to guide you in making the decision of what you believe is best. Stay focused on the big picture.

Do not participate in creating more division. Do not participate in trying to cause more harm in the family of God, but always stay focused on what can we do. And even if it means to sacrifice our own preferences and our own opinions that we do what we can so we can reach more people for the lord Jesus Christ. That’s what you see taking place in chapter 21 verse 17 all the way through verse 26. Now the second thing I want you to learn is that you have to trust god in the uncertainty of life.

In verse 27, let’s just pick up there of chapter 21. Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia seeing him in the temple, that is they saw Paul, the apostle in the temple, they stirred up the whole crowd and they laid hands on him, crying out, men of Israel, help. This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place. And furthermore, he has also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled his holy place. Again, none of these are true.

None of these accusations are true, but here is Paul in the midst of a riot. He is in the midst of dealing with something that has been incited by others and false reports that are circulating and agitators who are trying to stir up problems, and they are trying to cause people to turn against the apostle. And here we see that he goes through these difficulties. We jump down to verse 30, the Bible says in chapter 21, and all the city was disturbed and the people ran together, seized Paul. They dragged him out of the temple and immediately the doors were shut.

Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions and he ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. So So what’s the apostle going through? He’s going through persecution.

He’s going through physically people are punishing him for what they believe that he is doing, and they are trying to cause problems. And here, the apostle, for just simply trying to be a blessing to the church at Jerusalem and simply taking on a vow so that he could reach more Jewish people, he is being beat up. He’s being maligned, he’s being mischaracterized, he is being persecuted. That’s what’s going on. Because Satan has one plan and that is to destroy the work of God.

He wants to damn every soul. He wants to make sure that people do not go to heaven, but that they go to hell. He wants to drag people there, and he wants to cause as much chaos in this world as he can. Jesus reminds us that part of the signs of the times in the midst before the coming of his return to this earth, he said to his disciples, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. Some of you are trying to figure out what’s going on in this world.

Friends, we we are moving quickly to the return of Jesus. And let me tell you, it’s not gonna get better. It’s gonna get worse. You say, how do you know? Because I just read the words of Christ.

You are witnessing and I want you to note something. This stood out to me in my studies. He said, you’ll be hated of all nations. Not just certain, but all nations. Every nation on this planet is going to hate Christians, hate believers.

We’re gonna find out who the true Christians are when it cost you, when you have to suffer for the cause of Christ, when you have to stand up for the cause of Christ and people are pushing back on you and they’re trying to create havoc and chaos in your life just because you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then my friends, that is going to thin out the crowd and we’re gonna find out who truly loves the lord Jesus Christ. Amen? It will. It definitely will. But these are the signs of the times.

The apostle reminded Timothy, the young pastor, he said, indeed, all who want to live a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. We’re all gonna face persecution if we stand up for Christ. If we try to live for God, there are gonna be those who want to destroy us like they’re doing here with the apostle. You can take time to apostle. You can take time to read it later, but the Bible says if it wasn’t for the intervention of these particular soldiers, they would have kept on beating Paul, probably to his death.

He probably would have died. I want you to know in this Christian life that we live that there are times you will be falsely accused. You will be persecuted. You will be mischaracterized. You will be lied about, and people will do everything they can to discredit the gospel of Jesus Christ and to discredit your testimony and try to hinder the work that you’re trying to do for Jesus Christ.

That’s why I said you have to trust God. You see so much uncertainty out there? Trust God. Don’t get angry at people. Don’t get angry at the world.

That’s a mistake. Listen. Everybody is our mission field. We’re to reach him for Christ. Don’t get mad and upset, but trust God that he has a purpose.

He has a plan. I’m sure as the apostle has taken the whooping, and as he’s taken the persecution, as he’s going through the beatings, I’m sure that in his mind, he’s looking to God and saying, lord, I’m just gonna put my confidence in you. I don’t know why all this is happening, and I don’t understand the fullness of everything that is coming together here, but I trust you, god, that you are at work and hear me. Hear me. Remember, the suffering savior, Jesus Christ, is with all of us even as we suffer, even as we struggle in life, even as we hurt, and even as sometimes we find ourselves in difficult situations.

Some of you, your family has rejected you because of your faith in Christ. Some of you have lost jobs because of your faith in Christ. Some of you, you have lost friends because of your commitment and loyalty to the gospel of Jesus. You do not suffer alone. Christ is with you.

The third thing and final thing that I want you to learn this morning, and I want you to see Paul’s response, is that we are to take advantage of the opportunity even when there’s uncertainty, even when there is adversity in our life. I want you to come down to verse 37, and I want you to see how Paul responds to all this. Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, may I speak to you? He replied, can you speak Greek? Now it wasn’t a question of inquisitive in the sense of, hey, are you able to speak this particular language?

Because Paul had already spoken that language. Paul was very fluent in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic. He knew all these three languages, a very intelligent man. He was well educated as the scriptures have already taught us. But it’s like they heard, this commander heard Paul speak in Greek and he’s like, you speak in Greek?

You speak in Greek? You can understand me and I can understand you? That’s what he’s trying to say here. And so then verse 38, he says, are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the 4,000 assassins out into the wilderness? Josephus, who was a historian at the time of the writing of the Bible, refers to this particular individual who claimed to be the Messiah, and he claimed that he had all the answers.

And it turned out that he led a rebellion and a revolt against the Roman Empire, which led to many of his followers being killed in the wilderness. So Paul was misidentified. They thought maybe this is who he was, but Paul said in verse 39, I am a Jew from Tarsus and Sicilia, a citizen of no means city. What that literally means is of a very prominent city. The city of Tarsus was a city known for its universities, its education, its colleges.

It was an elite city. It was populated by intelligent people who were highly educated. Paul is not bragging. He’s just trying to get an audience. He’s just saying, hey.

I’m from Tarsus. I’m from this great, great city. And he goes on in verse 39 to say, I implore you, permit me or allow me to speak to the people. So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs, he motioned with his hands to the people, and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in Hebrew language. Don’t worry, I’m not going to chapter 22 yet.

But here’s what I want you to see out of this. Why would Paul ask to speak to the people? They just beat him up. He was saved barely by an unbeliever. The commander who was not a follower of Christ plucked Paul out of the mess.

He was getting ready to throw him into jail. Paul says, would you let me talk to them? He’s like, dude, you can speak Greek? He’s like, yeah. Paul not only knew Greek, he knew Hebrew, he knew Aramaic as we already stated, he could speak different languages and so the guy’s like, sure, go ahead, speak to them.

Paul uses his circumstances as an opportunity. He uses the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s what chapter 22 is all about, is that he takes the opportunity. Listen. I want you to know that all of us are gonna face adversity and persecutions, and we’re gonna find ourselves in tough times and difficult situations.

You have got to have the viewpoint, the mindset as a believer, I’m gonna use this to advance the cause of Jesus. You can be like Elijah who sat under a juniper tree and said, woe is me. I’m the only one trying to live for God, and I’m gonna give up and quit. And he just wanted pity. He just wanted people to cry over him.

He just wanted people to feel sorry for him, or you can be like the apostle who said, wait a minute, and now listen, these beatings were not just easy beatings, it wasn’t just like a little tap on the behind, but rather he spells it out in second Corinthians that they were lashing him. They were lashing him and at the end of those lashes were stones that would rip into his body and tear his skin apart. And so Paul having experienced all this, having gone through such suffering and such pain and persecution says, I want to talk to the people. Wow. When is the last time that you took advantage of the opportunity when things weren’t going right in your life to be a witness for God.

Some of you will eventually hear the word cancer from the doctor. Could be me, could be you, could be any of us, but the question is, are we gonna pout or are we gonna get on this platform and tell those doctors about Jesus Christ? Are we gonna quit and give up and go into our corner? Or are we gonna say, god, you have allowed this, and I’m gonna take advantage of this opportunity to share Christ? Many of you know that I like football, and you know that I love the Dallas cowboys.

And I appreciate your prayers for my team. But I ran across this illustration that I thought would be helpful as we conclude this morning, is that a football can be kicked many times yet never break. The reason is it doesn’t break is that the pressure on the inside is greater than the pressure on the inside is greater than the pressure on the outside. Paul, the apostle, had something inside of him that was greater than his problems, greater than his sufferings, and greater than his sorrows, greater than his persecution that he was experiencing on the outside. The scriptures tell us in first John four four, greater is he that is Jesus that is in you than he that is Satan that is in the world.

The reason we can go through tough times and we can be kicked and we can be pushed back upon and we can be maligned and we can be criticized and we can have hurt and sorrow and sufferings and still not break is because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Well, if you’re a student of the Bible, you know that Acts 27 contains the detailed account of the apostles sea voyage to Rome. And, of course, as he is traveling on the sea, it’s a very dangerous part of the sea, and so he is facing a lot of problems. And, of course, eventually, there is a shipwreck and the whole ship falls apart, but the apostle deals with this storm. And in this, we can see that God gives us great principles.

So we started today learning what to do when trouble comes. And I hope that you and I can continue to grow and apply these principles because the truth is it’s not if, but when trouble comes. And so it’s a coming, and you gotta be ready, and you gotta have the faith, and you gotta be able to move forward, and you gotta keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to remind you about our Hopeworth Having website, hopeworthhaving.com. Check us out on the website, and we always have wonderful things.

You can catch up with our newsletter, different things that are going on, as well as our messages are archived. So feel free to check them out, and, I know you’ll be encouraged. This is pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ, there is hope worth having.