0:01 [Music] There's a phrase that's been going through my mind this week I wanted to share briefly on. If you could turn with me to Acts chapter 17. 0:19 Acts chapter 17 verse 6. It was said about the Christians in the 0:39 early in the first century actually soon after this is in Thessalonica I believe this was the testimony of the world that hated Christ and hated Christians about the true followers of Jesus. Now, unfortunately, 0:58 2,000 years later, Christianity has been twisted and corrupted and changed and portrayed differently and uh was so far removed from the day of Pentecost and from the true life of Jesus that it's very difficult to distinguish true 1:17 Christianity from Christ's life himself. And um the phrase that I was thinking about is what was said about these Christians. These men have turned the world upside down. These men 1:36 have turned the world upside down. And towards the end of verse six, and um this and this alone is true Christianity. And I was thinking about that as I thought about different aspects of what it means to live in the world, what I 1:53 see in the world, how people live in the world and act in the world. Does it look exactly the opposite in everything I do? Imagine, and I imagine like this. Imagine if you were uh walking down the street. Well, I I I 2:09 got a a few years ago. I think it was in San Francisco if I remember correctly or maybe it was in Detroit, one of those cities. Um, I saw a car on the road that was actually upside down. It was a trick car, if you will. It was, you know, how 2:26 you see this car, the cars normally, you have the wheels at the bottom and the body and then the, you know, the hood and the top part and all that. This was a car where the frame was upside down and it was on wheels, but from a distance, you could tell 2:39 there's something wrong with that car. It's upside down. And that's the picture I got of what it should be like for us as Christians that something about us, even a few minutes, I mean, from with that car, from a distance, you could 2:56 tell it's not a usual car. I mean, you see a lot of cars, different colors, different shapes, two doors, four doors, and all that. But the one that's upside down, you can absolutely immediately say there's something different about this. 3:09 This is unusual. It's upside down. And I've been convicted over the last week, especially as I've been thinking about this, whether my life just looks like a cleaned up car that looks just like the rest of the world, but you're a little 3:26 bit better. Maybe you have a little bit better control over your tongue or your children are a little bit better behaved than the children of the world. Uh maybe you say, "Well, we don't have a TV in our home or we don't let them spend 3:40 hours on video games, so they're they speak a little respectfully." Some of the children may be homeschooled. Is this all just a little bit of a betterment of a car that looks exactly like all the others in the world, then 3:55 that's not true Christianity. And then I thought about the verse that the primary school reme memorized which is Acts 2:40. The very next verse from what we were reading. Be saved from this perverse generation. Perverse generation. 4:13 And I started to see that everything about this world is perverted. In fact, it's actually upside down. Everything else is upside down. And Christ has come to put us back the right way. But it should look if the rest of the world 4:27 thinks that it should be done this way, that this is the right way to do something, my life ought to look exactly the opposite of that. It ought to be like they say, "You're absolutely crazy to drive your car that way, upside 4:41 down." Or if you saw me walking on my hands from a distance, you say, "There's something different about you. You do it differently. And everything about what you do is different from how we do it in the world." The Lord's been showing me a few areas 4:55 here and there. Many areas actually. I think there's a lot more than I see of how my life perhaps just looks like a cleaned up worldly person. And that's why baptism is so important because Jesus didn't come just to clean 5:12 up my old life and make me a little bit better as it were. Sprinkle a little bit a little bit of water on a dirty area on my life. It's not just a washing of hands that we're going to see in a few minutes when Dwight takes baptism. It's 5:30 not just, oh, here's some dirt. Let me clean it up and the rest of me stays the same. It's a complete immersion. It's a putting into the ground everything of me so that I come up exactly the opposite. I put in my perverted self as it were 5:49 and come out set right. That the word perverted, you know, when you say somebody's perverted, it's a pretty strong word in the world. When you say somebody's perverted, you think about the most wicked, evil, twisted way of 6:04 thinking, usually some sort of evil sexual behavior, devious, and just pervert is a very strong word. Even the world when you say somebody's a pervert, they'd think of the world thinks of that as a bad person. What I see Peter saying 6:19 through the Holy Spirit to good-looking Jews who weren't deviants, they weren't molesters. They were good, upright Jews who came to Jerusalem to worship. And what Peter presented to them was that cleaned up life that you have that looks 6:37 so good on the outside is perverted because Christ is not the center of it. Otherwise, we find that we can go on for years and be defeated by the same old sins. The same old tongue is is slips up with anger. I've been thinking about 6:56 that too over the last few days. um when when I see uh I don't know how it is with you friends, brothers and sisters. I when you see uh in the in a in the heat of the moment something some way of reacting even if you have the control 7:13 over your tongue but you see in the heat of that moment a certain way of reacting does it concern you say Lord I've been hearing about victory with with my tongue and you I I know that verse that says that if if I can't 7:25 control my tongue my religion is worth zero I know all of that is it possible that I'm just allowing you to clean up put paint over the trust in my car and everything is still the same and I haven't allowed you to turn me upside 7:39 down. And um if Jesus hadn't come with this gospel of an upside down gospel, they would never have killed him. Ultimately, that's why they killed Jesus is because he said all your goodness that you have is filthy. You see that in Luke chapter 7:59 4. If we really live this way and preach this as the truth, we will be hated. We will suffer. We will be persecuted as Jesus was. You see that story. I don't have time to show you the whole story, but Jesus preached a wonderful 8:19 sermon in verse 18. He preached about the gospel being taken to the poor. That's an acceptable message. That's you can say acceptable religion. Release to the captives, that's acceptable religion. Opening the eyes of 8:37 the blind, that's still acceptable religion. Setting free the oppressed is still acceptable. A favorable year of the Lord. I believe if you go through verses 18 and 19 of Luke chapter 4, you'll find that this message exists in 8:51 Christendom, an acceptable Christianity, if you will. And then they were amazed. Verse 22, they spoke well of him. This is a good gospel. Come back next week and preach the same sermon again. Tell us a little bit more about how God can show us his 9:04 favor. And then Jesus continued. He could have stopped there, but he continued and showed them the truth and he showed them how um all their religion. Here was a group of people sitting in this church building, the synagogue, 9:24 and feeling good about themselves of how Jesus was going to make their life a little bit better and he was going to set free their oppression, but they were never going to be changed themselves. This cup, I'm not going to turn it 9:35 upside down cuz there's water in it. Um, wanted to be set free remaining as it was. And Jesus said, "No, I'm going to turn you upside down and that's how you're going to be set free." And they didn't want that. And so you see the end 9:48 result was they who were speaking so highly of him in verse 28 were filled with rage in a matter of minutes. And the gospel that allows you to remain as you are with good things that God will do for you including opening your 10:01 eyes and setting free setting you free from oppression and a favorable year and release from the captives and all that. A religion that tells you that you can be a better husband and you might have a better life and God will bless you but 10:14 doesn't turn you upside down is a false religion and that's and Jesus came to show us the true religion and I thought I would just talk about just briefly mention three perversions three perversions that you might not think of as perversions. This is a 10:31 perverted life. The first one I thought of is what I call adultting. That means I I become more like an adult. If you turn to Mark chapter 9, you see that when Jesus wanted to show his disciples 10:50 what the kingdom of heaven was like, Mark 9 verse 36, he took a child and set that child before them and put his arms around that child and says, 11:08 "If you receive this child, child. One child like this in my name receives me and whoever receives me does not receive me but him who sent me. And you see in Luke 9 that Jesus stood next to that child. It says he put that child next to 11:22 him. In other words, what I see Jesus saying, do you want to really see what the kingdom of heaven is like? What it's going to be like in heaven? Learn from this child. Learn from me and learn from this child. There's a 11:36 childlikeness about Christ that I must learn. I spend a lot of time coaching children in sports and it's usually me sitting in front of them or standing in front of them telling them how they can do some sport that I'm trying to teach them or 11:52 something else do it a little bit better. Um, and that's the way of the world. And I even did that yesterday, but I yesterday evening I was thinking about that. What does it mean then to be in the kingdom of heaven? What would Jesus do if he was here? I 12:09 think you would find a little child perhaps Naomi or Nathan uh back there and set them in front of us as little as a little child and say, "Do you see what the kingdom of heaven is like? Can you learn from these little 12:25 children? Can you let them coach you?" We spend a lot of time in our meetings singing, praying, listening to good teaching. And yes, our our children can't be teachers of God's word. They can't teach us doctrine. But in the 12:40 midst of all of that, the preaching that you hear from us teachers here in this church, perhaps we've forgotten that our greatest coaches are the children themselves. And to to turn our way of thinking upside down is to look at those little 12:54 children and see, Lord, there's something about that child that I need to learn. I want to do things a little bit more like a child would. Some of my favorite times are when the children do their plays, their skits twice a year or so. 13:10 And it's not perfect. It It's not professional. They make their little cardboard props and they they they have their little shirts and and all that. And nobody in the world would be impressed by the little skits that they put on. But 13:28 I'm always blessed by it. And I'm always reminded that that's the church we always want to be. A church that's simple. A church that's not professional. So professional. A a church that hasn't perfected all the little things so that we're attractive 13:44 in the world's eyes, whether it's in our music or our preaching or the way the building is or the little children's skits that they put on. I love that they're imperfect and they're broken and they're simple and they're ordinary and 13:57 unimpressive to the world. And to me, that's an example of how we must always be. One of the things that I've always been blessed by in my dad's preaching is it's simple. It's childlike. There's no fancy presentation about it. It's unimpressive 14:11 to the world, but the power of God is in it. That's a perversion in the world. Have you seen it? That to become more like that, to become more professional, to become more tight as it were, that's a word they use when they talk about 14:25 bands. You know that band, the music is tight. That means every note is right on rhythm and everybody's harmony is perfect. It just sounds great. Record it. Sell it. May we never be that. May we never become adults. May we never become 14:40 professionals. Cuz that's the opposite. God wants to turn us upside down. It's a perversion that's creeping into the church. A perversion that's creeping into the church is that we're becoming more like the world, more professional, 14:53 more experts. A second perversion is in Philippians chapter 2 is a perversion of complaining. And I'm being intentional in using that word perversion because again when you 15:12 think perverted you think of all the weird sexual deviant behavior. But Paul the scripture says this very clearly. Philippians chapter 2, it says, "Do all things without grumbling or complaining or disputing is the word in 15:27 the New American, without disputing." I was convicted that if anytime I do something with a dispute, whether it's in the home or in the workplace or on the soccer field or anywhere, if you have a disputing spirit, it's a perversion. 15:43 It's the way the world goes. The world accepts it, but it's a perversion. Christ has come to turn us upside down. Because if you do everything, that means not even one thing you do with grumbling or disputing, you'll prove that you are 15:57 a true child of God in the midst of a perverted world. Perversion is to complain. If if something doesn't go the way I want it to go, especially if I'm the head of the house, I have a complaint, a grumbling spirit. Now, I might say it in 16:13 a fatherly way that I have the right to say it because I'm the head of the home, but I know within there's a grumbling spirit about what I'm saying. Maybe the house is untidy and I want the children to clean up the house, which is good, 16:26 but I'm saying it in a grumbling way because I don't like the fact that the house is untidy. It's a perversion. Perversion is a crooked and perverse generation that we're in complaining. And the third perversion I wanted to 16:42 mention briefly is in 2 Corinthians 12. It's the perversion that we must be strong. That the stronger we are, the more useful we are to God. And the truth is that when I am weak, then I am strong. 17:01 And 2 Corinthians 12:10, I am well content with weaknesses. We just heard about that this morning. that if God was to never change my weak state, this suffering that I have in my body or my child's situation or some 17:19 other circumstance, I can be content in it because I realize that in when I am weak, then I'm strong. In other words, before I ask for that healing or for God to do that miracle, I say, 'Lord, if this is something you're 17:34 going to use to keep me weak and dependent on you that helps me be freed from the perversion of this world, then Lord, don't answer my prayer. Keep me weak, keep me broken, keep me humble, don't heal, Lord. And having said that, that my primary 17:51 goal is to experience the weakness of Christ that I might experience the strength of Christ. Then I say, Lord, if it is your will, heal me. If you can heal me and keep me weak, then heal me, Lord. I've I've been well content with 18:05 weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties. For Christ's sake, I'm content with it. Don't change my circumstance, Lord. Don't Don't change that circumstance. Let it be as it is. Why? Because when 18:22 I'm weak, then I'm strong. I want to pray that I'm not there all the way, brothers and sisters. I'll acknowledge it. But I want that prayer. Oh, I I want God to answer. I believe I can be more useful to him if he answers 18:35 that way. But I say, Lord, before you answer me, show me. Is this your way of keeping me weak? Will it be the case that if you were to answer me, I will somehow become strong in myself? Then Lord, don't answer me. Don't change that circumstance. Let my 18:49 boss still be difficult. Let there be difficulties. And then we get to the point where like Paul he says in the end of verse 9 I will boast about my weakness. I've shared this few years ago about 5 years ago right after we went through a 19:05 change in this church we were praying in that back room. Nowadays that room is packed but it used I think when we first started meeting there was a handful of us met in that back room. There was a handful of us here. And 19:19 as we were getting ready to pray, I you know, I had a burden that the Lord would bring those who are hungry for him into our midst. And and I in my in my flesh, I thought, Lord, how are you going to do that? We're a weak people. We're 19:36 nobodyies. Nothing to show for. We have more empty seats than filled seats in this building. How you going to do it, Lord? And this is the verse the Lord gave spoke to me right then as we were kneeling down. Santosh will you glory in 19:50 your weakness? Have you come to the place where the nothingness of you, the weakness of you is what you're glorying in? Then I can use you and I say Lord may it always be so. Now RLCF is a little bit more wellrespected. 20:05 RLCF is a little bit more accepted. We have more more people attending our meetings and people packing this the the room to overflowing for our conferences and such. But last weekend, I tell you my dear dear local family, my prayer was 20:19 Lord, keep us small. Keep us weak. Let us be a nobody church so that we're glowing in our weakness so that what's attractive to the world is nothing of us but Jesus Christ drawing people to us. It's a perversion. Sometimes I read on social media people 20:39 ask, "Hey, is there a church uh in the neighborhood? Can you recommend a good church?" I never recommend our church, by the way, because I'm afraid that I will say something that will be attractive to them that will want them 20:51 to come here. I say, "Lord, this person is perhaps sincerely seeking for a true church in Loveland. Let it be you that draws them here. Let them come here and see what this is what I came for. I gave up two hours of my life to for this. 21:07 Let it always be that Lord Jesus. So that if your presence is here, those who are looking for your presence, not another Bible study, not another children's program, not another place where I can have a nice community and 21:19 they have good coffee and snacks at the back and we can hang out and be in each other's lives. No. But if they're drawn to the presence of Christ and if you're really here, then they'll taste truly God is in in their midst. The secrets of my hearts 21:34 were revealed. That's the longing of my heart and may it always be so for us. Amen.
