and say hey all right foreign hey so that’s so totally unoriginal right and I’m sure most of you didn’t follow my instructions you went way past hey hey which is just which is just fine with me that’s that’s really cool hey kids if you’re not heading there go now enjoy have a great time in wonderful Ministry and program for you great fun great fun and and I know that because occasionally I get to sneak back there and check it out myself so it’s a it’s good

to be together we we love one another and you in the house don’t need me to tell you that but you who are watching from your house I want to remind you that this is this is really the next level I’ll just use those words it’s it’s a great thing it’s it’s not just something that satisfies by Design our souls to hear a sermon in a song and call it good and I’m not admonishing you at all I’m just saying hey there’s a Next Level and

it could be really cool for you to join us here and be part of the the hay crowd okay so just just a little recommendation for me and and that’s but this morning thanks for joining us you may not be watching this live right now but you will later in the week as the numbers grow during the week but today we get to continue what we do weekly is to look to the teacher the holy spirit’s called the teacher and the word of God is his

his lesson book his manual his its content and so you have your bibles if you don’t look up at in an app go to chapter 21 of Acts it’s a fifth book in the New Testament there’s four gospels just before it Matthew Mark Luke John and I say this for you who are kind of new in finding your way around those gospels make up what we know about Jesus reliable information and I would encourage you to read them read them and Stitch them together and you’ll

see a narrative that’s well it’s irresistible you won’t be able to forget about it and you’ll come back often but then the very next book we call them it’s kind of a compilation of information is from this book called Acts of the Apostles although we for this series which I looked it up is over a year long now and we’re coming to the Finish Line don’t let me hear a sigh of relief okay please now we’re coming to a little past a year point and we’re

about to wrap things up and and We’ve we’ve kind of nicknamed it reverently the acts of the holy spirit because indeed Page by Page chapter by chapter you read about the Holy Spirit doing really amazing things I prayed about one of those a minute ago and I prayed about it with regard to the westfalls that are at a church not far from here and we’re part of our pastoral staff for 10 years and it points back to chapter two of Acts which is where everything changed

God promised it prophets predicted it and indeed it came true in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit came and didn’t just rock the city he impacted every person that was in Jerusalem and that impact continues today all around the world so acts is very relevant and acts is not only of the Apostles the movement of the early leaders of God’s church but it also is is quite an expose on the work and Ministry of the holy spirit so you’re going to hear more of that

this morning but I want to come to something that I do and you hear me doing it right now and that has to do with my entire lifetime my practice has been the art of communication so I spend time not just on Sundays but I’ve I’ve spent it virtually every day in between Framing and crafting and shaping statements that I want I hope my purpose is that they not only make sense but they make an inroad into somebody’s life as they have in my life so

I don’t just I’m just I’m not a talking head I’m sharing stuff that God has been telling me and I share it with you freely so my chosen career path has had Me In a Pulpit or standing in front of an audience like this a gathering like this for over four decades and and it’s something that I enjoy doing in fact I will say it this way it Remains the highlight of my week okay so for those of you that are don’t like and apparently the

polls say most people would do almost anything including having their wisdom teeth pulled without Novocaine than to stand up in front of people and talk I somehow I’m that weird Oddball that loves it and I enjoy this so my undergraduate degree though this goes back a ways to Fullerton California where I went to Cal State University Fullerton go titans surely somebody wanted to say that in their heart this morning actually Cal State right and another Cal State we have friends that are now living in Chicago

but Kevin and Julie and Julie was a Titan ask her after church what a Titan was but anyway my concentration in my work there was Speech communication I took every class I could take on speech and communication I much earlier than that though that was my college Years I was referred to as mouthy by my big sister who who said what did you disagree with my sister mouthy yeah she would call me mouthy and she wasn’t happy when I would deserve that title my my father

used the word smart mouth not in recent years he really grew to like what I had to say or I would have him removed from the church but no he sat in the front row and but my childhood some of those memories was a smart mouth my mother on the other hand referred to me as silver tongued see she understood me she she understood me I’m getting some really softly stated cheap shots from the crowd today I’ve answered to other Expressions word Smith and verb vulture

those came up along the way and my mentor in California Chuck Swindoll described me as a an explainer he just said you’re an explainer so you can’t just look at a verse and go is that cool let’s get on with it but you want to go deep and that applies to a lot of other things that I don’t know as much about but I like to explain things maybe all of us do I’ve analyzed here’s the point I’ve analyzed communication a lot going back to my

formal education emphasis in that and there’s a really a historic study that was done and it’s the formula 55387 so the next 30 minutes I better I better be honest it probably I won’t be done in 30 minutes but somewhere around that the next 30 minutes seven percent of what you hear from this mouth will be words seven percent 38 percent ready tone of voice yeah and 55 percent is non-verbal entirely it’s it’s things like gestures and eye contact and facial expressions get it I didn’t

say a word but everything I just did spoke volumes correct you with me okay so my aim is not just to impress you not with what I’m saying now but with this message my aim with the holy spirit’s help is to impact you so you’ll go home and not just make this part of a life group today or a conversation over a coffee sometime this week but that you’ll go a next step and go hey I heard something Sunday and you may not even be able

to quote the words remember they’re only seven percent so I don’t even remember most of what I say but I do because of the rest of the package come away impacted not just impress so I give you those details because today’s study in step with the spirit you see the graphic on the screen behind me it exposes the dark side of communication what I’ve just said right now is wonderfully healthy and attractive but the dark side is the single word misunderstanding Ralph Waldo Emerson was a

pretty big player he was a big thinker 150 years ago when he lived and he famously said to be great is to be misunderstood I don’t know if he’s talking about himself but look it up sometime today Emerson’s words and you will find that it is the subject of unbelievable analysis deep thoughtful penetrating smart people to go what’s this all about to be great is to be misunderstood which describes many players in this book in the Bible you can go all the way back I did

just for a minute made a short little list Moses comes to mind let my people go did it happen the first time nope second third no like multiple times kept coming back to Pharaoh saying let my people go I would have been tempted to embellish and say because God’s getting more ticked by the minute you jerk let him go Moses just stayed on point and eventually but he was so misunderstood and then you follow him not very far later Jeremiah is one of my favorite Prophets

he communicated for 40 years and as far as we know not a single live was life was changed that’s a great message for pastors across this country today because it’s painfully difficult to labor and not see the kind of fruit that used to happen easily if I may say then you come to the New Testament and who could leave Mary out of a list of people misunderstood you got a baby bump how I’m not making fun of her I’m just joining the crowd that’s going looking

down their nose going for real if you haven’t done it play it out if it’s one of your children or grandchildren and they report that’s how it happened and if you’re honest you’re going to go nah we need to call 9-1-1 here how about Jesus he comes to mind Michael W Smith is one of my favorite artists and some of you are going who’s he which tells you that I’m turning 65 this November 4th I’m a little older than some of you not all of you

he wrote a song called secret ambition and I’m so tempted to sing it but I would really make you get up and leave early so but I think it explains why Jesus was misunderstood people went huh listen to this nobody knew his secret ambition nobody knew his claim to feign he broke the old rules steeped in Tradition he tore the holy Veil away questioning those in powerful positions running to those who called his name and then he wraps it up with this but nobody knew his

secret ambition and hopefully you’re asking what was it to give his life away that’s what the cross was all about if you were a Jew in that day you would have said that’s what caused me to stumble on who he said he was because we expected a conqueror that would come with a sword and he knew how to use it and Jesus came to a cross and surrendered his life as payment for the sins of anybody that will turn to him amen that’s good news that’s

that’s the gospel as we shall see there was a misunderstanding that the Apostle Paul encountered that was nearly as dark and almost as deadly and it’s here in the 21st chapter previously Paul had arrived in Jerusalem and he in Jerusalem’s East from where he from where he was he was in Turkey the west coast of turkey Ephesus is the location he caught several ships 1100 miles he right he arrives caesarea they go by land up to Jerusalem and that’s where he is we discovered last week

however you’ll remember this if you were here if you weren’t go to the to the sermon you can check out this part but he was he was warned not just once but twice don’t go there it’s it’s it’s dangerous he was he was given warnings and predictions were made that it’s not going to turn out well just to refresh your memory look at verse 4 and chapter 21. We were here deeply last week we sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days this

is Luke describing himself Paul and the Entourage that traveled with him on these missions trips through the spirit see those words they urged Paul don’t go to Jerusalem by the way he’s in tiring at this point which is North of Israel present-day Lebanon when it was when it was time to leave we left and continued on our way so they didn’t dissuade him from going skip down to verse 10 and you’ll see the second only this one’s not it’s more than a warning it’s a prediction

after we had been there a number of days a prophet named agabus you say where caesarea Due South on the coast the Mediterranean Coast we meet this Prophet named agabus he comes down from Judea which is Jerusalem down not that Jerusalem was was up in the North Jerusalem was on a hill that’s why often you’ll read in the Bible it’ll say down from Judea it’s referring to the hill that Jerusalem sits on the mountain coming over to us agabus took Paul’s belt tied it look at

this imagine this illustration around his hands and feet and then said the holy spirit says in this way what you’re seeing with your own eyes the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem are going to bind you the owner of this belt and they will hand you over to the Gentiles Big Stuff sure enough in less than a week after arriving in Jerusalem a City full I want you to hear all three of these words together of young Jewish believers we would call them completed Jews today they come

from Judaism they’re steeped in the law but they believed in Jesus I say young because they haven’t this whole thing happened quickly and they’re brand new Jesus had only been on the scene as little as 30 years before this you get the idea here so they’re they’re young Jewish Believers and they turn against him why how could that happen you might be even asking the deeper question what was the ignition source I’m going to give it to you in three words a malignant misunderstanding let’s look

on as it unfolds verse 17 when we arrived at Jerusalem the brothers and sisters received us warmly the next day Paul and the rest of them went to see James that’s Jesus half-brother and all the elders who were present this is the leadership of the first church Paul greeted them and I love this reported in detail I would have loved to have recorded that what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry when they heard this they praised god let’s stop right there for a

sec you’re there you’re taking this in you’re hearing a detailed he uses that word description of what went on for three missions trips that Paul took the the visit started well because there was all kinds of news about Gentiles and Jews turning to Jesus and the world is is being turned upside down by this this message of of the Savior and Paul gives the leaders this detailed rundown of what what those three missions trips look like and and they stem it if you want to go

back in time all the way back to chapter 13 in Acts and and God was given glory in the report that was brought by Paul to the leadership of the church but the tone changes very dramatically as the elders reveal a rumor that had been circulating regarding Paul let’s pick up at verse 20. Then they said to Paul you see brother how many thousands of Jews have believed there it is again they’ve believed in Jesus and all of them are still Jewish which means they still

are see how verse 20 ends zealous for the law okay they have been informed however watch now they’ve been informed that you teach that all the Jews who live among the Gentiles are to turn away from Moses telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to their customs in effect well they they go on to say ask the question that I would have asked what shall we do these are Jewish Christians but they’ve got something wrong about you Paul they they didn’t just hear

a message about Jesus what he did on the cross they think that you’re taking a shot more than that you’re dismantling Judaism and the law you see that they they think the rumor out there is that you’re teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away give up on Moses who cares telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs that’ll come up the rest of the study in effect the alleged teaching tied to Paul was that he was

directing Jews to give up on all of the things that were sacred parts of being a Jew that of course wasn’t true don’t forget that Paul was the one who actually had Timothy circumcised on his second missions trip he took Timothy with him and why did he do that to fulfill the law not at all he did that to avoid offense it was to avoid a fence of the Jews it’s back in chapter 16 verse 3. So Paul was not a a guy critical of the

law he just saw the law differently and that’s going to come out now the actual truth was that Paul taught salvation is freely given by God’s grace and received by Faith No matter whether you’re a Jew or a gentile that’s what Paul taught okay the Old Testament laws listen to this or you’ll misunderstand what I’m going to say the Old Testament laws are of no value when it comes to Salvation that would be Paul’s point did he just say I don’t care about the Old Testament

let’s tear it out and get rid of it it’s just getting in the way no he is saying you misunderstand the Old Testament law if you think you can keep it and thereby have salvation you have missed the point so the Old Testament law is of no value it has great value for principles and teaching as long as you don’t try to as long as you don’t make the wrong conclusion an assumption that if I can do all of that I get salvation and Paul was

emphatically against that understanding Listen People are saved today exactly the way they were saved you ready for this in Abraham’s day God took Abraham outside Genesis chapter 15 verse 6. But prior to that but part of what he says in verse six he takes Abraham out and says look up at the sky a night sky lit up with stars by the way he and his name was Abram Sarah was was they were childless he was 75 years old when God led him out there and he

gets out there and looks up at the sky and God says that’s going to be your your lineage that’ll be your Offspring and if you’re Abraham we’re too tame in our response we’re like for real I am I can’t even stand up straight my back hurts so bad I’m 75 and by the way God I don’t have a child not one child and you’re having there’s something wrong in the translation something Miss Missing here God says to him no I’m going to make a great nation

of you and look at the sky and count the Stars your nation will exceed in size those Stars it’s meant to blow him away it’s a hyperbole it’s meant to say you’ll have so many errors well Abraham understandably went huh but his words were verse 6 Genesis 15 Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteous righteous let me break down righteous you’re in Abraham you believed what I said and now you’re one of mine now you have eternity now you have me now

you have something that will never be taken from you it’s called salvation believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness to be clear Paul revered the law for its many principles I’ve mentioned that back in Acts but the law wasn’t and has never been able not even back to Genesis and Abraham to save people that’s a that’s a reset for some people I hope Paul’s teaching I want to go a step further I want to I want to have you read some things with

me look at the screen and we’re gonna we’re gonna look at a passage that breaks down Paul’s teaching when it comes to Salvation this comes out of Romans chapter 3 and I think it’s coming up on the screen right now okay good thank you but now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law as it was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago we are made right with God by placing our

faith in Jesus Christ and this is true please personalize this it is true for everyone who believes no matter who you are if you’re hearing me in this house or your house and you’re not a religious person you’re not a church goer in fact you’re pretty profane truth be told you’re not a good guy or gal you’re included in that statement let’s read on this is Romans chapter three for everyone has sinned you me and everyone in between us we’ve all sinned we’ve all fallen short

of God’s glorious standard yet God yet God in his grace freely makes us right in his sight he did this through Jesus Christ when he freed us from the penalty of our sins for God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin people are made right with God this is bold print for a reason when they believe that Jesus Christ sacrificed his life and shed his blood there’s more this sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned

in times previous or past for he was looking ahead and included them in what he was about to do in this present time God did this for a reason to demonstrate his righteousness for he himself is fair and just and he makes Sinners right in his sight when they fulfill the law when they do everything that’s written in the law and don’t mess up when they get circumcised when they do on and on and on no when they believe in Jesus there’s more can we boast

then if you’re taking this in you’re going no can we boast then that we have done anything to be accepted by God no because our acquisil is not based on obeying this book it is not I heard somebody just berate themselves this week in my presence and they use words I’m not going to repeat here but it was like I suck I’m awful and I wanted to point them to First Timothy 1 12-17 which tells Paul’s story of how he was a persecutor and a violent

aggressor a really mean ombre Bad Bad Leroy Brown right he goes you know what God showed Mercy to me because I was ignorant and I acted in unbelief and he rescued me he saved me the worst of sinners and then he says why so that in me people can see God can do it in them too amen don’t be shy telling people that when people say oh man I just really wrecked my life yes you have so what get over it turn to Jesus he takes

mess-ups really it does so we are made right with God through faith and not obeying the law one more one more after all is God the god of the Jews only isn’t he also the god of non-jews gentiles of course he is there is only one God and he makes people right with himself this is my favorite sentence we’ve read the whole time he makes people right with himself by faith whether they are Jews or gentiles man well then if we emphasize Faith does this mean

we can forget about the law why not all I have to do is believe in Jesus and live as I please of course you shouldn’t do that in fact only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law what’s that mean because we belong to Jesus who was The Keeper of the law that’s gospel so those facts represent what Paul taught and practiced about the law throughout his all of his missionary trips he never wavered a bit even so rumors are often like wildfires and

you can’t stamp them down and James and the Jerusalem Elders recommended prompt action Paul this town is about to blow up because they got this view of you and it was circulating so this was the plan that they hatched look back at the text verse 23. So do this will certainly they’ll hear about you what are we to do so do what we tell you there are four men here in our city who have made a vow take these men join in their purification rights and

pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved more on that in a sec then everyone will know there’s no truth to these reports about you Paul that you don’t give a rip about the law but that you are you yourself are living in obedience obedience to the law as for the Gentile Believers we’ve already written to them back in chapter 15 things that they should do they should abstain from from food sacrificed Idols from blood from meat of strange strangled animals and from

sexual immorality so the next day Paul took them in and purified himself along with them he was entering this ceremony with them and then he went to the temple to give notice of the day and the days of purification and when they would end and the offering would be made for each of them a word about this ceremony has to do with a Nazarite vow a an incredibly revered custom in Judaism I didn’t ask for more slides to show you because it would just you need

more time to process Numbers chapter six so you Oughta you ought to check that out deeply but most people who took a Nazarite vow did so for a set season and a set reason think of this as committing yourself to prayer for a month say you got a big decision so you say God I’m making a vowel and I meet with you every morning for this time and I’m gonna I’m just gonna pray I’m just going to wait on you I will sit in silence before

you I will listen to counsel this month direct wise women and men to me that will share words that you have for me so it’s a season and it’s a set reason it was to show a separation for a time of seeking and and serving God so it’s really a cool and very very wonderful custom that they had during such a time people would abstain from alcohol and all all aspects of the Grapevine so no grapes no raisins no no vinegar no contact another thing that

they stayed very clear from is contact with anybody did and disease they would also have their hair shaved because during that month in my example their their hair was allowed to grow along in some cases these vows went much longer than a month that I’ve Illustrated with at the end of one’s vow the Nazarite ceremony would take place and the these participants would come and and there’s a kind of a set procedure in Numbers chapter six you’ll you’ll appreciate it it’s really cool and they come

together in this and they make a sacrifice and an offering and then they they get a haircut I mean they shave their head right because in some cases it’s it’s kind of Ratty it’s long and then they celebrate they actually have wine with a meal and it’s kind of a the the Nazarite vow is over let’s celebrate what God must have done in your life during this season for the reasons that you were making this vowel by the way there are only two people in the

whole Bible that made or were part of a Nazarite vow for life you might remember one of them being Samson one of the judges and and his hair was really long that’s a big part of his story and things went really bad when Harlot that he you know lost control with cutter cut his hair and and it was a game changer for him the other was John the Baptist in the New Testament those two so since the four men in verse 23 these four men had

completed their vow the elders reasoning was simple these guys have come from a very sacred custom and we wanted to be seen by these critics who formed a wrong opinion a misunderstanding about you Paul that you don’t give a rip about the law on Moses we want them to see you actually doing The Vow with them and by the way this was a small fortune they had to pay we want them to see you’re paying the bill for these four you’d say it was for show

but Paul that we just clearly read it he was in it with them so it was all kind of in plain view and they thought well this would silence the errant misunderstanding that was circulating that Paul viewed the law with disregard I need to tell you on the front end it didn’t accomplish the purpose at all the rest of this episode reveals the principle that strong strong resistance to truth is embedded in every misunderstanding you face a misunderstanding in your life and you try to clear

it up and you run into walls and obstacles it’s because this truth misinformation it becomes that’s why I call it malignant it becomes attached and it’s really difficult to to clear out verse 27 tells us more about this and it reads the ways here when the seventh day seven days were nearing completion some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple so this is a week later they stirred up the whole crowd and seized him shouting fellow Israelites help us this is the

man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place they were in the temple and besides he’s brought Greeks into the temple oh okay Gentiles and defiled this holy place they had previously seen trophemus we’ve covered him earlier the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple the whole city was aroused and the people came running from all directions you got to just let the Cadence carry you away get get involved in it seizing

Paul they dragged him from the temple immediately closing the gate and shutting it tight after he left while they were trying to talk to him have a conversation no they’re they’re proceeding with executing him while they were trying to kill him news reached the commander of the Roman troops and the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar he had at once took some officers and soldiers and ran to the scene with the crowd there when the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers they stopped

beating Paul the commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains then he asked who he was and what he had done some in the crowds shouted one thing and some another they’re asking Paul this question and people in the crowds are going berserk overshadowing and over shouting Paul and since the commander could see this was not going anywhere this is not going to get to the truth at all because of the Uproar he ordered Paul to be taken to

the barracks when Paul reached the steps the violence of the mob was so great that he was picture the scene he’s lifted up over the shoulders of the of the of the soldiers and They Carried him away from them to the shouts get rid of him kill him came The Cry of the crowd what a misunderstanding the rumor about Paul had persisted so as a result of this irrational reaction of a few the whole city joins in and it is spun into a frenzy intent on

killing him in fact did you catch the words that we read it already they were already in the process of beating him stopped beating Paul reminiscent of a riot just a couple Pages back if you take the time acts 19. Some of these cats are from Ephesus remember in the city was in a complete uproar and the text tells us they didn’t even know which side they were on they had no one so why are you burning the city I don’t know everybody else is oh

that’s great genius that’s but it’s group think or lack of thought entirely they would have done away with him if it weren’t for the quick action of this Roman regiment I did some study on that was fascinating I’ve always thought just a few people but I thought how do you Quail a crowd that size it’s over 200 most likely soldiers came in rag gear this is an impressive show of force and they they temporarily at least verse 32 says they stalled the proceeding I’m going to

say Paul was mercifully arrested it’s like get me out of here probably likely to to save him or rescue him from the crazed crowd and and that only caused the crowd to spool higher out of control verse 36 I know it brings the memory for you back crowd followed keeping kept shouting get rid of him reminds me of what happened and Paul probably triggered a memory of what he had been told about Jesus when the crowd repeated crucify him crucify him this is this is not

good so as you and I seek to stand out for Jesus let’s talk about a an implication or two inside Paul Luke rather who’s the writer of this narrative hear this almost like we flipped off the audio and there’s this crazy aroused riotous crowd that’s that the door closes and it seals off the sound and we’re told in verse 37 by Luke as the soldiers were about to take him into the barracks Paul asked the commander can I can I say something to you it’s almost

like the the volume goes down that’s why my volume is going down do you speak Greek Paul the commander asked aren’t you the Egyptian who started to revolt and led 4 000 terrorists out into the Wilderness some time ago it’s called rumor he he had it wrong about Paul too Paul answered I’m a Jew from Tarsus in cilicia a citizen of No Ordinary City please let me speak verse 39 ends to the crowd in the exchange Paul reveals something here an impressive resume he notes by

way of clarification who he wasn’t verse 38’s question no I’m not that Egyptian that you think I somehow somebody told you I was that’s not me I’m not that guy but that was a clear surprise to the commander was it not he thought you’ve got to be that guy and you’re back and you’re going to cause trouble followed by who he was verse 39 Paul makes it very clear I have credentials as a Roman citizen he sought an opportunity then to address the people to clarify

the facts and to hopefully convince them of his laudable purpose and intentions he would get to speak that comes up next week but his goal was never realized so what do you and I do with misunderstandings because I know one thing’s for sure I’ve never been beat up over one I tried to think of an example to share with you but I have been terribly Mis maligned over things that I was alleged to believe Chief among them Baptist Minister hates gays it was a terrible season

in my life it has nothing to do with my my view of gay people nothing somehow the misunderstanding grew to call attention to this beautiful Church the wonderful people here and to my character as a Jesus loving pastor and at the time I remember thinking how will I get out of this it was on the news it was in the mark and Dave show driving my daughter to basketball practice and I was the subject of the show that night all because I simply asked a question

when I was elected to the Beaverton School District well why are we bringing all this propaganda into our district to promote a way of life that not all of us agree about and I I mean you could hear the oxygen suck out of the room and overnight that all happened and one of the ways I had I had friends come alongside me say bro don’t don’t jump out of a tall building don’t but I I had these words from the Bible that carried me through it

Jesus predicted as much when he said people will insult you and they will hurt you and they will lie and they will say all kinds of evil against you about you because of me if you ever had that moment show me your hand where you were cruising along in your Bible and you read something cool like that by the way that comes out of Matthew chapter 5 verse 11. And you go that was cool that was really good I hope that works for somebody someday but

that moment you read it in that time in your life you went that is for me how many have had that feeling yeah where it just comes alive this is no longer just a Bible verse that Jesus said that’s what happened that day but when misunderstood you’ve got to remember Jesus other words also in the same verse Matthew 5 11. Blessed are you when people get it wrong about you and misunderstand you and make up rumors about you on my behalf my heart changed not in

a nanosecond but it’s like I came back from wanting to just turn in my keys and be done with it misunderstanding folks is hurtful big and small ones big ones like we just read small ones like you have in your marriage so when you suffer misunderstanding not if you need to remember these helpful words by the Apostle Peter do not be surprised he wrote in First Peter chapter 4. At the fiery ordeal do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to

test you listen stay close as though some strange thing were happening to you but rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is one day revealed amen if you’ve been a misunderstood and it’s not been cleared up or gone away would you do me a favor would you write me this week and I will pray for you I don’t have magic words to fix it this story helped me those words from Matthew 5

and and Good Counsel I received and I want to be some of that in your life if this is a time of rumor and hurtful misunderstandings in your life bow together and we’re going to sing a little more and be done Lord we come to you right now it’s clear that you warned us about this but I never really pulled those words from the page and made them mine until a terrible time and I thank you that God there there was such an overwhelming change in

my spirit when your Holy Spirit said I’ve got this Steve this was promised to come you’re not that person they’ve said you are and I thank you for the follow-up the impact on so many lives of thous

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 6,969 words.