Ep 887 | Jase Took a Beating for His Faith & Later Baptized His Attacker
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I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We've been discussing in between the two podcasts everything that we've kind of kept it going. Zach, we said one day we're going to have to have a podcast of the

I guess you'd call it, I guess the in-between all the stuff we discuss about what we just talked about and what we're fixing to talk about. It could be its own podcast. It really could. There's a lot of good conversation with that one. We, especially when you end a podcast kind of abruptly, like, like Jace did the one thing that he was accusing the guy and preaching school. He just did it. Like he went to the end of the, end of the podcast. And then he opens up a can. That's like, you know,

a mile deep and then he's like, Oh, we're out of time. So then that spills over into the other podcast. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. And I was just, I was hung up on the smallpox thing, you know, and next thing you know, cause I mean, it just flies in the face of all these arguments. It's like science champions that as the one time we got the,

everything right and eradicated a terrible disease. And so then it gave them hope to therefore try to end all diseases. And so I'm like, it's a one-time event that you think happened. And I'm like the resurrection of Jesus. That's the one time event that I'm all in on. And just to segue into,

Because then it wouldn't matter what disease you got. If you're coming back from the dead, if this person has the ability to come back from the dead. Yeah. You know, it's kind of like the golf illustration now when they're like, you know, a guy's a poor bunker player like I am. I'm terrible. I don't want to get in the bunker. And, you know, people are like, well, you need some coaching and you need some help. It's possible. It's like what you said. It's possible to get good at that.

And after a while, I just finally realized I'm going to do everything I can to keep from going in there. That is the solution. Avoid all bunkers. Yeah, just don't go in there. And so that's my illustration about, you know, that brought up the diseases. Because in Matthew 8, when Jesus said, this is verse 17, 18,

because he was going around healing many people, and it says this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases, which is an interesting phrase. And I think it's in relation to him becoming a human and understanding the suffering as a human, becoming weak so that he would eventually save us and come back from the dead, which is the cure to all diseases, right?

all ailments, death itself is turned on its head. Yeah. Well, and I haven't thought about a very practical use of Paul's methodology here in this reasoning from the Old Testament scriptures about Jesus. And that's what Larry Bowles is doing. I mean, he described that when he came the last time he's on the podcast,

Because he's mainly talking to people of the Muslim faith who share our Old Testament history and will listen to it. But, of course, don't believe anything about the New Testament. Most of them don't even know anything about it. But so he shares Jesus with them, much like Paul was doing in these cities using Old Testament Scripture.

Yeah, because that's a shared common ground. So when they come in and they're like, you know, we've had this vision. We were coming here from Syria or coming here from Afghanistan. We've had this vision. We don't know what it means. He just sits down with them with the Old Testament.

And does exactly what Paul was doing. He shares Jesus through all those prophetic messages. This is him. This is him. And he says, if they ever can embrace the idea that this Messiah, this one that the Old Testament was talking about really is God. Then all of a sudden there's a door open for them to believe. And so that's why he focuses so much on the deity of Jesus, mostly seen from the Old Testament, which is amazing. It's fantastic. The time you...

get to chapter 18, many of the Corinthians who heard him, the goal of the marching forward and converting people was steadily building, no matter where they went. Yeah, but the message was the same, and it wasn't so much about arguing for the sake of arguing. It was arguing on who Jesus is and what he did. And the way they...

Just their terminology where we're in Acts 17, where he said he reasoned and explained and proved. And then he said he gave proof. God did by raising Jesus from the dead. But even in the first sermon by Peter, you remember in Acts 2, 32, when he said, God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses to the fact. It is a fact according to his sermon. But just coming across that,

To that, to go back to the illustration I had about the question where it's like, what do you do about people who think God's word is in contrary to scientific fact? And I would turn that around. So what are these people doing believing in science as their savior when they're ignoring the fact that Jesus came back from the dead?

Doesn't mean I'm not for science. It's that Jesus came down here and showed us there's a way it's possible to live again. No, it's exactly right. And of course, all these thousands of years later, it still spreads. But I do think it's important, Jase, that the point you brought up about it, you do have to center it.

back where Paul had it on Jesus and the gospel, because otherwise you get into the splintering of what we've seen the last 2000 years where people are dividing, debating over stuff that is really minimal. It's certainly not a first importance as Paul would describe it in first Corinthians 15. That is correct. You go back and read, like I was pulling this up. There's a really good article, um, on master's, uh,

the Master's Seminary about the resurrection according to the scriptures, particularly with this passage we're reading right now. And there's Psalms 1610, there's Psalms 22, Isaiah 53, 10 through 11, Daniel 12, 2 through 3. I won't read them all, but I was just pouring through some of these texts. And I mean, it really is, you can just imagine these were probably the exact texts that

Paul was going to while he's in the synagogue and he's showing them and they're reading these texts. And so, you know, I think sometimes when we're, when we're reading scriptures like this, we tend to forget that the new Testament had not been canonized yet. So there wasn't a book of Romans. Yeah. There wasn't a book of Galatians. You know, there wasn't, we didn't have that yet. And are these guys didn't have it. And so when it says that the,

He was reasoning with him from the scriptures. He's going back to those texts and showing them that Christ had to die and that he had to be and that he would be resurrected. And so I think that's very, very powerful. And we I think I would love at some point for us to do an Old Testament book because I think it was it would show us.

a lot about the faith that we claim now. Yeah, and how important it is to study it and to, again, continue to align it with who Jesus is and what he did. Because the whole Bible is the story. And you're right. It's kind of interesting, Zach. It's a lot like what was happening here when we're reading in Acts was the letters literally are being written.

both, you know, literally and also figuratively. But I think I tell people that all the time about our lives that we live. People talk about their their testimony, maybe the one they became a Christian or whatever. But your testimony is ongoing. I mean, you're an open letter. Yeah, it doesn't end until the Lord comes back or you go into the ground. That's that's when the letter ends. So it's a it's an open letter, which is what we see here today.

in this text, which is pretty powerful. Which resulted in the Jews becoming jealous. Yeah. Verse 5, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob. They set the city in an uproar, and they attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, these men...

who have turned, I love this phrase, by the way, who have turned the world upside down. I like that. Have come here also. You guys remember that musical that they did at church? It was called Upside Down. And it was the Book of Acts, wasn't it? Yeah, it was. It was. It's an upside down kingdom. It's kind of true. They're partly right. Yeah, they, well, and I thought it was interesting that in the last chapter, um,

In Philippi, it was the Romans that were causing all the trouble. And now we go down the road to the next city and it's the jealousy of the Jews. Which think about that. He started with them, but it was the ones who didn't believe what he was saying was true. And so what was their reaction? Instead of just saying, well, I just don't believe that. They were jealous to the point that they went and rounded up a mob of people.

And went to round up Paul and Silas again, couldn't find them. And then this poor guy, Jason, who was, I guess, just one of the early converts. You talk about a baptism of fire. Yeah. I mean, welcome to the party, Jason. Welcome to the party, pal. That's your namesake. Is that why y'all named me, Jason?

I don't think. You know what's weird? Ironically, I had a similar instance, you know, then I've shared that story before. But when I was dating the girl before I wasn't dating, we were friends. She thought we were dating. And well, there may have been the problem right there. Well, the problem was since she thought we were dating her boyfriend, she

Got wind of it. And I thought we were friends. Well, because she thought we were dating, but I thought we were just friends. She asked me to come over for the Bible study. And next thing you know, I'm dragged and whooped over basically my faith because I was there for a Bible study. But the good news is he came to the Lord a couple of weeks later. The girl got, she got alienated and we went on about our marriage. Okay.

But I have thought about that when I read that. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. But I was there at the right time to bring him to the Lord. And you did take a beating for the gospel. I took a beating that I did not fight back. I mean, only in words and the spirit. You didn't give him the right hand of fellowship. No, which was unlike my character. But in the circumstance, I didn't know the guy.

If he would have been a believer, you probably would have fought him, but he wasn't. If he would have been a fellow student. If he was a brother, you could have beat the mess out of him. I decided to preach the gospel to him, thinking that would avoid the beating, but that didn't materialize.

But it did work out. It was a weird phenomenon that happened in my life. But I kind of understand this because it's like they want Paul and Silas around. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're we're friends. We're brothers. I mean, he's actually, you know, he turned out. He's done a lot. He's he's done a lot to help your ministry. Let's let's take a let's take our first break.

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Almost everybody. So it's like get past the shame and let's figure out a way to do life differently and what we let in our mind and our hearts. Yeah, it's such a spiritual thing. You're right. Because if we had a physical situation, we would know something has to be done. Well, this is a spiritual thing that destroys us. Covenant Eyes has been the number one trusted accountability software for over 23 years for Christians seeking to live a porn-free life.

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moment in my life that a guy could be that enraged, have that kind of language, be that upset. And I'm sharing Jesus saying, you can have the girl. We're just friends. I don't, I came over here for a Bible study. And for him just to

you know, go all the way with it. Cause I got in a vehicle with him. He drove me to a dead end road and basically physically assaulted me without me retaliating. And I just said, you know, I'm not, it wasn't, I didn't want to fight over the girl. I was just, I'm out. I'm, I'm trying to follow Jesus. And then, you know, a week later showed up at church and gave his life to the Lord. And years later, he,

became a pilot and would fly me to events where I would share Jesus. You were like, you were like Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, the second one, the update. I bow out. I bow out. You bowed out. Yeah, it was very embarrassing for me at the time because, you know, I'm a man and you would think I just, but it's like I got too far deep into the spiritual aspect of it. And once I, I'm so, I'm more stubborn than I am

prideful because I was like, now that I've said, I'm not going to fight. I'm not going to fight. You know, I'm going to share Jesus with you. That's funny that because you're right, your stubbornness would outweigh that. So it's a great illustration for another reason. It shows you that when things are going well, and at that time when, when you and Willie were in our youth group there, and there were a lot of people being led to Christ and it was a bit of a revival in our community and some, in some of the schools there, um,

That opposition is always going to rise up, which is what we're seeing in every one of these cities. Right. Every time there's some good things that happen and people's you know, you start thinking after a while, why is it such a threat to people who don't believe and are worldly or, you know, for whatever? Or maybe they believe something different for people to be excited about.

And to have a belief system. And yet it happens over and over and over again. What you just described, Jace, because that could have derailed a lot of youth groups or a lot of people in their own faith. And that's what the evil is tempted to do. You don't see that hostility as much with any other belief system.

Well, I'll say this with belief systems is more. I think the offense here is this is about Jesus. And so it is interesting, but you don't see like Christianity is different. I mean, the Christ is different when you preach it, like the true Christ. And you see it here, like in this text, when when they come in and they drag these men out, which, by the way, it's interesting that Paul is.

dragging people out at one point. And now here, here, here, here, he went from the dragger to the draggy. Now he's a draggy. Yeah. And, and then what, but what they're doing is let us like, these are the same people that if they had the power,

to overthrow the Roman government, if they had the power to destroy Caesar, they would have certainly capitalized on that. I mean, they wanted that from Jesus. Their view of a Messiah was not a suffering Messiah, which is what Paul says he came to reason with them in verse 2, that Christ to suffer. They were looking for a triumphant Messiah.

one that would establish a an earthly political kingdom that would take down their occupiers so but so that's what they believed but notice what they do when they come after jesus or paul here and jason these guys is they say that they are all acting against the decrees of caesar saying there is another king jesus so now all of a sudden they're like oh we're no we're pro-caesar we're

We're pro-Caesar. But they weren't, but only in the moment. The politics makes the strange bedfellows. So the same thing they did with Christ. No, we have no one but Caesar whenever Christ is on trial. So you see their integrity kind of flies out the window here, and it's like whatever we can do to stir up

an angry mob and the powers that be to shut this thing down. That's what we want to accomplish here. Now, you make a good point because they're also playing on the fears. You know, when you're an occupying force, your greatest fear is that you can't keep occupying. And so you're always on the lookout for sedition and all the different ways that people are going to rebel. And so they played on that. What the accusations were false.

You know, and Jesus said that over and over again. He's like, see, give to Caesar what is Caesar's give to God was guys. In other words, he had no he didn't want to topple the Roman government. But they kept saying that because they knew that all of these, you know, magistrates and city leaders and people that are in these positions of power.

We're fearful of this. And so it would cause them to make all this mayhem. But that was my point, is that he said he must suffer and prove from scriptures and rise from the dead because only the resurrection of Jesus and that message could cause this kind of courageousness by the followers and this kind of disdain from the ones who reject it.

What else is going to cause that? So when you read that verse, which I agree is a fantastic verse, when he says they are defying Caesar's decree, saying there's another king, one called Jesus. Well, you start putting the pieces together from scriptures that he's reasoning with and just take Psalm 89, right?

When it says verse 3 and 4, I have made a covenant with my chosen one. I have sworn to David, my servant. I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm throughout all generations. Then when he gets to verse 35, once for all, I have sworn by my holiness and I will not lie to David because it's impossible for God to lie.

that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun. It will be established forever, like the moon, the faithful witness into the sky. So my point is, that's what he's saying. There's a king that is a king from David that will be a king forever, and he came here and

He died, was buried and resurrected in his exalted in the throne room of heaven itself.

That's the reasoning and the proof of what they're saying. That's why they call the resurrection the fact. God has proved this. So they're going back to the Old Testament like what I did in Psalms. But there's other places that says the same thing. They're all familiar with David. No, but you're exactly right. And I think it's a great point that Zach brought up that it still applies into our modern culture today.

Because you're going to get into these political things and some of them don't make any sense. But that's the point is like they're saying we're going to kill you if you keep saying that. We're like, but our king has been raised. You can't kill us, which is how you should view all forms of religion. If it ends in death, well, that's a bad system.

You say, well, how many systems end in death? All of them but Jesus's. And what is their weapon? Death. What is our weapon? Jesus. I mean, that's the difference in...

the gods and God. And that's why we choose our king being Jesus, which is that's our citizenship is in heaven. So we say all the time that, I mean, we're Americans. We have blue passports. We love our country. We love a lot of the things that have happened here. But ultimately, no matter what happens with the United States of America, Jesus is our king.

And we'll follow him until he comes back. And so if our country winds up becoming like other places we see around the world, Jesus is still the king. He's still resurrected. We're still coming back from the dead. I do want to mention one thing before we leave Thessalonica and head over to Berea.

So, Jace, you ever been in a place where you didn't have very good cell phone coverage? All the time. That's what happens when you spend most of your time in the woods. Not a lot of cell phone towers in the woods, as they say. But it would have been a great time to have dependable coverage that you get with Patriot Mobile. Some of our good friends and long-term sponsors of the Unashamed podcast, for the last 10 years, they've been known as America's only Christian conservative wireless provider ever.

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The first Thessalonians, because I went over and I read first and second Thessalonians as we were here in the city, because, you know, you got this instance that happens and kind of Paul's methodology. But he didn't you know, the Luke didn't write much about what he talked about, what he did. But I thought it was interesting when he wrote his letter to them. And this, of course, is later.

And he'd be looking back at what happened. He says in chapter two, you know, brothers, our visit to you is not a failure because you look at it the way it happened. I mean, it seemed to go pretty quick. He got in there. He got with some people. He got the thing established. And then all of a sudden he was whisked away because of this, you know, uprising. He said in verse two, we had previously suffered, uh,

And been insulted in Philippi, which we just read about that. Right. Remember, it was the deal about them beating him for no reason. And then they were just going to like quietly get rid of him. And that's what he's talking about. He says, as you know, but with the help of our God, we dare to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.

So this whole instance we just read about, he said, they can't stop us and they can't stop you. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.

I love that he takes it back there. We are not trying to please men, but God who test our hearts. You know, we never use flattery, nor did we put a mask to cover up greed. God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, nor from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ, we could have been a burden, but we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children. And he goes on to describe his love for him.

what they mean to him personally. And it's interesting, Jace, because he gets into three and four and he gives them that. Remember the letter that came from Acts 15 about the sexual immorality. He goes into some of his teaching, but I love it that he establishes first what

The idea that the reason he came was not to lord it over him, was not to trick him, was not any of this stuff. It's because he loved him and he wanted to understand who Jesus was. And then he goes into some of the things he wants to teach him. And so it's that same reasoning that we talked about earlier. Now he's reasoning with this young church leader.

in Thessalonica about how they can be better and be more Christ-like. But it was just interesting because while you're reading the facts of the city and what happened, it's interesting to see the heart of Paul as you go and read one of his letters to this church that's there. And it's obviously he cared very much about him. Well, yeah, because what happened at Thessalonica, you have this riot and you have all this. Well, then when they go to Berea, I find interesting that in 1713,

The Jews in Thessalonica, when they learned that Paul was preaching the word of God to Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds. And so when you read...

In 1 Thessalonians 2, 17, if you keep reading, he kind of brings up what he deemed the problem was. It says, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time in person, not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul,

did again and again but satan stopped us yeah what is our hope our joy uh or the crown in which we glory in the presence of our lord jesus when he comes is it not you so it really caused a disruption even to the point of when you get to acts 18 you know when we meet priscilla and aquila

Well, they had been kicked out of Rome because Claudius, the emperor, had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. So you see this big disruption, which I'm going through all this because when you get to 2 Thessalonians 2, and we don't have to do a deep dive because it's one of the most controversial chapters.

passages when you get to chapter two but i did want to bring up one point in there talking about the man of lawlessness being revealed and everybody goes to not everybody a lot of people go to that happening in the future when jesus comes back at the resurrection but if you read the context of it based on everything we just read which i think this is perfect timing to do this

He actually says in verse one, you know, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus and our being gathered to him, we ask you not to become unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy or report or letter supposed to have come from us saying that the day of the Lord has already come. So what I believe he's discussing is this impending destruction and judgment on the temple. Because in verse one,

Four, it says that whoever this man of lawlessness is, he will oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or worship so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. So it goes back to the same theme that's happening about

God does not live in temples built by hands. The Jews that are calling all this riot are holding to the old customs of Judaism and the temple worship.

And all of Jesus's followers are continuing to say, Stephen started it when he said, God doesn't live in temples. And what'd they do for him saying that? They killed him. Jesus started it when he said, destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days. I mean, and then Stephen continuing it and now Paul. But that's a really good point, Jace. If you want to look deeper into that, there's a guy named Greg Beal.

who has written on a lot of this temple talk that at least I've gotten a lot of my stuff from him. But Google, Google, just Google him, Greg Beal on on the temple. I mean, it's I think that vein is actually a vein that goes through the entirety of Scripture from Genesis all the way to Revelation. Yeah, I agree. And then not unlike First Thessalonians two, when he gets down to verse nine, talking about this coming of the lawless one, which look,

You know, I'm not going to sit here and give my predictions on who the man of lawlessness was. I mean, most people in the circles I'm with and the scholarship based on this idea of the new temple coming, you know, in Jesus, rather than waiting on a physical temple to be built.

built again erected yeah yeah and in viewing of what what i think the context here is the ad 70 destruction of the temple in verse 9 he says the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of satan it's just like what he was discussing in first thessalonians 2 on all these riots and all these things happening and then when you say well what happened

Well, if you wanted to know a Roman emperor who set himself up as the temple claiming to be God, Titus, that's exactly what he did. I mean, you just read the history. So a lot of people in my circles think it was either Nero or Titus or one of the Roman emperors, which you got to remember the context of Acts 17, Rome had every kind of God conceivable, but at the heart of it, it was Caesar is God.

And they were into the cult and all the superstitions and all these kind of things. And so there was a day when he sat there, which I think is the most obvious choice to who that is. But that's just my two cents. But the thing to think about in this argument here is that it is about the temple, but it's also about something more. Think about just the logic of this, that if God is bound to a temple,

built by a man's hands, then who's the real God? It would be the man with the hands that built the temple that houses God. I mean, he's the real power broker here. And that, I think that's the line of reasoning that Paul is going at when he goes, I know we're skipping ahead. I don't want to get too far into this yet because this is probably one of the most important texts in the Bible. But,

when he goes into the Areopagus, that, that is his argument that he, he doesn't, he's not served by human hands. You made all these gods. I mean, just think about the absurdity of that. Like they literally constructed these statues and they put names on them and they had one to an unknown God. And, and they were objects of worship is what, um, what my translation here says, which I have ESV out. He said, notice your objects of worship. So they're,

objects of worship, but the objects of the worship were made by humans. So when you indulge in that type of worship, what you're really doing is you're just worshiping yourself. You've just put yourself in the place of God. So we can look back at this with hindsight 2020 and say, that's so stupid. Who would ever worship

be so stupid to worship a statue that they made. Now we do it all the time. When we say things like true, we determine our own truth. I mean, you're, you've constructed reality for yourself. You've put yourself in the position of God. And so this, this type of idolatry is,

This is not foreign to us. It may manifest itself in things that we don't deem as absurd today, but I promise you generations that will come after us will look back on the things that we said, oh, that's reality. And they're going to say, how did y'all ever, like, who ever believed that? Like, how did you, you know, it's kind of the emperor is wearing no clothes story. But my point is, is that the battle here is who is God?

Is it man or is it God? Dad, one of the things I've always appreciated that you taught us about was how to handle weapons when we were kids because it's something you have to teach, right? Yeah. And we didn't always understand it fully or clearly. I remember I put a

bubble on the barrel one time, which didn't sit that well with you because I didn't understand about making sure that there was no mud in the barrel or anything like that, which can be dangerous as well, wouldn't you say, Jason? I mean, that's one of the things in a duck blind. You've got to make sure your gun barrel is clear. Yeah, and you don't want to have to stick your eye and look down. It'd be better if you take...

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That's barrelbuddy.com, B-A-R-R-E-L, buddy.com. So to buttress what you just said, Zach, it's really interesting when you look back at the Old Testament, and Jace talked about earlier the kingdom being established through the line of David. And remember that from 2 Chronicles 7, this idea that it would go through him, it would be one of his offspring. And so David wanted to build the temple.

the original temple for God.

And God told him no. And it was interesting because the reason he told him no was because of his hands. And it was just to the point you were making that he said, your hands have too much blood on them, meaning that the work of David had built this now kingdom that was there. And he was a mighty king and he didn't mind killing people. He didn't mind doing whatever had to be done, but God didn't want him built in the temple. Instead, he chose his son, David,

who was the product of adultery and mayhem for the life of David and for the rest of his life and his family's heritage.

to be the one to build the temple. And I thought it was interesting because he chose hands that had, that shouldn't have even been there to build his temple, to show his greatness and not the ones that built up the kingdom to where it was. And so I've always thought there was a reason why he didn't do it. I think that's one of the reasons why is because the power always resided in God and not in the hands of men. The one you just spoke of who built the first temple, um,

It was interesting. He built the temple because God told him to in 1 Kings 6 and said, build the temple because I want to dwell with my people. Very similar language of how he instructed Moses to build the tabernacle. But listen to what Solomon says. And think about this. This is in 1 Kings 8. I'm going to read it.

who built the first temple. And then think about what Paul is saying, that God does not live in temples built by man's hands. He's telling these guys this. But listen to what, after the construction of the first temple, Solomon, he stood before the altar of the Lord at the presence of all the assembly of Israel and

And he spread out his hands toward heaven. And he said, Oh, Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. You have kept your servant, David, my father.

What you declared to him, declared to him, you spoke with your mouth and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. This is after the construction of the temple. He's dedicating this temple to the Lord. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep

For your servant David, my father, what you have promised him, saying, You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel. If only your sons pay close attention to their way to walk before me as you have walked before me. Now, therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David, my father. Now, this is what it says next. The question is this. But will God indeed dwell on earth?

Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I built. I mean, he got it. Even after the construction of the temple, he's looking at it and he's like, is this going to really contain you? I mean, you fill everything. You are the supreme being. Are you really going to be contained in a house that I built?

Heaven can't contain you. How much less this house I built. So you see it at the very dedication of the of the first temple. You see the theology there. You see the truth right there at the very beginning. The problem is, is that they forgot that and they and they truly believe that that house that Solomon built and then the one that was reconstructed and then Herod's temple. They really thought that that temple could house God, the one that was built by man's hands.

And that's what Paul's addressing here in this whole section of Acts 17. And you know what else is interesting? You know, he prays for his sons to continue that on. You know how long that lasted? One generation. One generation. And then the kingdom split to two sons and it stayed split from that point going forward. So it shows you the power of man versus the power of God.

Well, I'm sure we'll get some feedback, you know, about this kind of logic and thought. But you got to remember, even when it comes like to the man of lawlessness being revealed, I mean, you do have to do something about that verse saying that whoever it is is going to set himself up in the temple claiming to be God. Well, what temple is he talking about?

I mean, it has to be that way. So people say, well, you go read in the book of Revelation and you'll figure it out. But when you get to the last chapter, and I've read this many times on this podcast, but it's something you have to deal with. You know, you get to Revelation 21, the next to the last chapter, seeing this holy city, this bride of Christ being revealed, coming down out of heaven, and then it's showing you this picture of impenetrable walls and walls

And a beauty that you can't even wrap your head around. Describing the people of God who are married to Jesus. And he gets to verse 22 of chapter 21 and says, I did not see a temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light. And the Lamb is its lamp.

The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Which makes you think about that verse when Jesus said, go out into all the world and preach to God, you know, to all nations. And then verse 27, nothing impure happens.

will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful. But only those names are written in the Lamb's book of life, which takes you back to remember when Jesus gave him his disciples the ability to drive out demons and to heal sicknesses. And they came back and they're like, you know, even the

the demons submit to us. And they were excited. And he's, he said, don't be excited about that. Be excited that your names are written in the book of life. That'll preach there. That'll preach. So, I mean, it's not like we're just coming up with some idea. That's crazy. One of the themes in the gospels is that Jesus predicted the temple of Jerusalem to

To be destroyed. He said, I mean, there's countless verses. Matthew 24. He's like, see these stones here? Not one stone will be left on another. And they're like, they're looking at the buildings like, well, what's he talking about? Then one of the themes in the book of Acts is that God does not live in temples built by hand. And when you know it, if you go to history that just a few short years later after what we're reading, what happened?

The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed, never to be rebuilt. And it hasn't been. Gonzo. It's too much to just ignore and say, well, I think... And the reason why it matters most is because of what you just read at the end of the Bible in Revelation. I think, was that 21 you're in? Yeah, 21, when you said...

You read the part where it says he didn't see a temple because the lamb. What was it? The lowest language. He didn't see a temple because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple. That's it. I mean, even in what we're talking about here, it's possible to get off on the eschatology of this.

and get so focused on having the right eschatology that you miss the bigger point. What we're talking about here is that all roads point to Jesus. At the end of the day, the temple, the sacrifice, this is the book of Hebrews, the temple, the sacrifice, the priesthood, all of it.

All of it is in him. It's in a person. And that is, I mean, that is the liberation of what Christ brought when he brought the kingdom with him. It was, or at least the knowledge of the kingdom with him.

He is the manifestation of all of this. And so it's not an idea. It's not a system of beliefs that we're being converted to. To Jace's point in the last podcast, it's not a right set of doctrinal statements. It is a relationship with the Christ. That's what it is, a relationship with the Christ to be entered, to be invited into his kingdom. And that's why most people, even observers, believe

you think about media and others have missed it because when they look at the city of Jerusalem and you'll hear this all the time, you hear it said on the news or someplace and they'll say, you know, there's all this fighting going on Jerusalem because you've got the, you've got a, you know, where the temple once was and a mosque and a church representing the three largest religions in the world. And, you know, they're all can't get along. They're looking at it as if those structures are,

or what it's all about. And all of us, you know, as believers who know that's not true, say, no, those aren't structured. Jesus, he's bigger than that. It's worldwide. It's not just the structures that are there, but they keep wanting to bring it back to what they call the holy city because it's a misunderstanding, I think, of the entire Bible. So not only do people on the inside miss it, but certainly people on the outside have missed it as well. I mean, look, it's almost comedic.

I mean, you're going to be resurrected from the dead, live forever. And while you're here, you're going to make Jesus's presence known through the Holy Spirit that's in you. And then people, you know, say, well, yeah, but where are we going to, what kind of structure are we going to be at? You know, when are we all going to Israel and rebuilding the temple? You're like, what?

What are you talking about? We're talking about living forever in the presence of God. We're not talking about building something made of whatever you want to make. If you want to make it out of gold. I mean, that's what we're going to get into here when we get to Athens, because he says that. The divine being does not live in temples built by hands. Then it goes on. He's not captured in an image of gold or...

I mean, he goes on a whole list of things that you could come up with, which is why, you know, in that Revelation 21, the scriptures that he uses to declare and describe the church, the bride of Christ, is the streets of gold. He wasn't describing where we're going to be one day and walk on a street of gold. What is that going to do? Gold has no value in the afterlife. Right.

Zero. Right. Yeah. But you try to tell a human being that, that believes in God, they're like, are you saying there's not going to be streets of gold in heaven? I'm saying, I'm saying you are the street of gold. What you're saying, Jesus, it's asphalt in heaven. It doesn't even make any difference. You know? So, but look at Jesus's resurrected body. Did he need a road? No, he didn't need a road. He didn't even need a door. Right.

He just went in and then he looked up and he was gone. Jace, what's the line from Back to the Future? Where we're going, we don't need roads. Best line in that movie. Because I agreed with that theologically.

So let me set the stage because we've all kind of hinted at it and looked ahead a little bit because the next podcast or two is probably one of the great, I'd say out of all the things we read in Acts, the way Paul frames the argument when he gets to Athens, and we're going to describe the setting of these Epicureans, the Stoics,

all this philosophy that was going on, but it's probably one of the greatest passages in the entire Bible. Oh, there's no doubt. I mean, I've often said, give me John 20 and 21, Luke 15 and Acts 17. Yeah, you can make it. We can make it. We can make something happen here. So when they're leaving Berea. We didn't hit Berea very hard either. We didn't. Hit it hard. Hit it. You got 60 seconds. Yeah.

There he goes again. Here he goes again, right before the bell rings. I'll let Al play. Al, you could determine whether we won't get into Berea today, but what do you want to do? Yeah, we'll talk a little bit about Berea because I'm interested in what the ESV says about that idea about noble characters. So we'll make that transition, but what's going to happen is

is out of all this, you know, the Thessalonica and thugs, I call them, show up to cause problems in the same city. And then they split up even Paul's team. And so Paul winds up going to Athens completely alone.

which is, and I think it puts him out in terms of what he's used to, you know, how he typically goes about his business. And so when he gets there, he's going to have this amazing situation where he gets invited to speak, which is very, very powerful. So on the next podcast,

We will talk a little bit about the Bereans because they were of noble character and there was some reasons why. And then we'll talk about Paul as he gets into Athens and probably presents one of his best dissertations ever.

in the entire Bible, especially in the book of Acts. So we'll do that next time we get back on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get anywhere else, subscribe to BlazeTV at blazetv.com slash unashamed.