WEBVTT - A Troubled Mind And An Open Door 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:05.880 I wanted to remind you real quick about Elevation Nights 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:11.319 starting on October twenty six, going through November fourth, We're 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:21.960 going to be in Atlanta, Nashville, Tulsa, Fort Worth, Houston, Orlando, Sunrise, 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:26.759 and Jacksonville. And if you know anybody that lives near there, 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:30.160 tell them they better get their ticket. Now. It's going 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:34.599 to be hyperactive, it's going to be ridiculous. We're going 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.080 to be ripping the roof off and expecting the glory 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.519 of God to come in a powerful way. So if 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.280 you live in any of those cities, or if you 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:48.040 live close enough to get an uber or a scooter, 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.280 whatever it takes to get to the presence of the Lord, 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.840 we would love to see you there. Go to Elevation 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:58.840 Nights dot com. But right now, somebody shout right now 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.600 in all caps, put it in chat, right now, right now, 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.360 right now, right now. Throw an exclamation point on there 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:07.600 in the chat. It doesn't cost you anything to put 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:11.440 an exclamation chapter right now, who's ready for a word 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:21.440 from God? Thank you, Jeeve. I want us to go 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:33.280 to Second Corinthians chapter two. Remain standing for like one 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:40.600 more minute out of respect for God's word. Second Corinthians, 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:47.000 chapter two. I've been messing with this passage for like 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.240 four months, trying to preach it. So today's the day, 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:55.080 So you'll help me out, because I've been looking forward 0:01:55.120 --> 0:02:02.120 to this. You know, when how many y'all ever cooked 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.400 a big meal for people and then they just ate 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:07.080 it so quick and didn't even yeat, which looks like 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:08.840 for me when I spent a long time looking at 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:13.480 a passage and y'all just yawn at me, and anyway, 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:19.839 it's gonna be good. Tewod Corinthians chapter two, Verse ten. 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:25.519 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive, and what I have forgiven, 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.320 if there was anything to forgive, I have forgiven in 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:34.200 the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:41.000 Satan might not outwit us, for we are not unaware 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:46.640 of his schemes. Now verse twelve, when I went to 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.760 Troas to preach the Gospel of Christ and found that 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.880 the Lord had opened a door for me, I want 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.440 to read that scripture again, because I've lived in the 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:02.679 door had opened or excuse use, the Lord had opened 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.320 a door for me. Tell somebody, it's not your door, 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:11.000 it's my door. God gave it to me. Paul said 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:15.079 the Lord had opened a door for me. Point to yourself, 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.799 the Lord, say it the Lord. Type this. The Lord 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:26.919 opened a door for me. When I found that the Lord. 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:28.959 When I went to Troas to preach the Gospel of 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:32.400 Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:37.240 for me, I still had no peace of mind because 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.920 I did not find my brother Titus there. So I 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:49.160 said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia. That's 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.240 the scripture. The Lord had opened a door for me, 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.760 but I still had no peace of mind. And we're 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.800 going to call this message a troubled mind and an 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:08.760 open and door. Last week I shared with you green 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:15.360 light at the Red Sea. You remember, man, y'all forget quick, 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.000 because I've been thinking about it all week, at every 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:24.320 traffic light. I've been thinking about God's goodness and how 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:27.560 he gives us the ability to overcome any obstacle, and 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:32.160 sometimes the obstacle is the opportunity. But today we'll continue 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:33.800 that thought from a little different angle, and we're going 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:37.520 to talk about a troubled mind and an open door. 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.480 Speak Lord in Jesus name, Amen, you may be seated. 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:51.680 Troubled mind and an open door that it feels like 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.040 in this text, we've stepped into the middle of something. 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:57.039 I don't know if you felt that when I was 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.760 reading it, but back around verse ten, it's kind of 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:04.599 like one of those tense arguments you sometimes got caught 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:06.960 in the middle of a argument that you don't know 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.680 how it started, but you know, I get I'm a 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:13.960 tiptoe out real quick. So we understand in the text 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.599 that we're reading. You know, like when you read Bible 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:20.039 verses in isolation, it doesn't really give you the integrity 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.960 of the thought. So if you just read one verse, 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:27.000 that's good, but it's better to read a few so 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:30.880 you can understand. They taught us in seminary the text 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:35.040 in context, because a text without a context is a pretext. 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.080 Whatever that means. I spent like fifty thousand dollars to 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:45.320 learn it in seminary. Interestingly enough, Paul is dealing with 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.200 one of the most important churches that he ever laid, 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.720 the foundation for, the Church at Corinth. The Church at 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:56.160 Corinth is responsible for a lot of Paul's pride as 0:05:56.160 --> 0:06:02.039 a pastor and a lot of his problems, and it 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.919 seems in this passage that we're reading right now to 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:10.200 the Corinthian Church, Paul finds them very important. I don't 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:16.640 know if Paul, that dignitaryan statesman, that gospel practitioner who 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.240 erected altars for Jesus Christ and all of the known 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.839 Roman world to the gentiles who were previously not even 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.680 considered worthy of the message. I don't know if he 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:32.120 had favorites, but he certainly understood that some people are 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:36.080 more strategic than others. Doesn't mean that somebody is more 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.760 valuable than others or And I was even out here 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.200 today before church started. I don't always do this, but 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.240 today I came out in the auditorium and sat down 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:48.840 in one of the seats here at this beautiful Ballentine campus. 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:54.120 If I'm not mistaken, it was the fifth row of 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.440 this section on this side of the aisle one two 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:01.440 three four five seats in one two three four five. 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.960 So you in the hunter green looks like shirt. I 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:10.560 was in your seat, preaching, praying, praying for who I 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.720 was going to preach to today, preaching to myself to 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.480 get ready to preach this morning before you got here. 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:20.720 So you feel a little something extra over there today. 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.520 But I was thinking, how in each seat is somebody 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:35.560 whose situation is uniquely difficult and uniquely wonderful. While we 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:37.960 were praising the same God a minute ago, we were 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.080 praising the same God for a lot of different things. 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.160 Somebody was praising God just because you didn't get caught. 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.520 You were praising him because you memorized Colossians in your 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.560 men's Bible study. Okay, you were praising him just because 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:04.640 nobody found out about it. Mm hmm. But as we 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.440 preach and teach online and just go ahead and put 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.080 your name in your city in the chat, God, has 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:14.320 you situated? God? Has you situated? Now? Now, Corinth was 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:18.080 a city that was situated. It was important because it 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:23.280 was a cosmopolitan city that also represented a seaport, and 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:25.600 it was a it was it was a it was 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:30.240 a flourishing place in terms of culture because you kind 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.000 of had to go through Corinth. It was It was 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.160 the third largest city by population in its time. The 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.959 only cities that were bigger than Corinth would be Roman Alexandria. 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.360 So Corinth is not only populated, but it situated. Now 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:45.720 when you think about this from a minute, it was 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.439 a very important city because it was a port city 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.040 and that meant that the ships came through there, and 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.760 it was situated well enough, the distribution could happen in 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.520 trade could happen, and commerce could happen because of where 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.600 Corinth was situated. On the other hand, Corinth was a 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:08.360 very ungodly city because the same situation that made it 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:13.200 so effective for business made it susceptible to temptation. Corinth 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.720 was a city where there was a lot of sexual immorality. 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:18.400 You know, back in the Bible times, they had different 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.000 problems than we have today. They had sexual immorality even 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.680 in the church. Some people were messing around in the 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:28.520 church at Corinth. Can you believe those crazy Christians at Corinth, 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.559 and Paul spent eighteen months with them, and he couldn't 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.480 cast out all these sexual devils. He couldn't cast out 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.320 all of these idolatry devils. They were so greedy. They 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.040 were getting drunk off the Lord's communion wine and Corinth 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.839 a bunch of crazy Christians in Corinth. I used to 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:45.840 find it funny people would say, I don't go to elevation. 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:47.319 Back when we used to start. They would say, I 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.240 don't go to elevation because some of the people that 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.280 go there. Some of the people that go there aren't 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:55.000 very good Christians. And I would always think that should 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:59.400 be your invitation to join us. I always wish I 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.440 could put a c old circuit camera in their house 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.680 when they talk like that, just a little nest cam 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:05.600 so I can catch you in the middle of the 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:11.200 night doing the crazy stuff you do. But really, no, 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:13.880 really to get to the core of how crazy you are. 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.600 I couldn't put the camera in a room. I'd have 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:25.240 to put it. And Paul is talking to a group 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:29.280 of people who are very important to him. He's invested 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:34.000 a lot in them, and they've hurt him deeply. Nobody 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:38.320 can really hurt you deeply if you haven't invested in 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:43.960 them greatly. The proof that I love you is that 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:47.800 I have the capacity to hate you. You can't hate 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:52.000 somebody you don't love. You can ignore them, you can 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:56.000 be annoyed by them, you can be perturbed by them. 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.200 Then you can pray for them. But you can't hate 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:03.240 somebody that you don't love. It's not that Paul hates 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:08.200 the Corinthian Church. It's that his relationship with them is 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:12.760 so important, not only to him personally, now it's important personally. 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.720 We find out more about Paul through his writings to 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.800 the Corinthian Church than anything else. He wrote in the Bible, 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.160 the Book of Romans. If you want to really understand 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:25.760 Paul's theological construct for justification by faith in Christ, not 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:27.720 through works of the law, you should go to the 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.640 Book of Romans. But if you want to see inside 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.320 of Paul's mind how he thinks not only about our 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:38.160 relationship with God, but his relationship with others, you should 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.320 read First and Second Corinthians. And it might interest you 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.959 to know that as powerful as Paul was with God, 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:50.080 he still had dysfunctional relationships with people through which God 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:54.400 worked to get the Gospel to the earth. The church 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:58.120 at Corinth was important for Paul. It served, as it were, 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:01.640 as a hinge for the Gospel to go forth into 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:07.440 the hitherto previously unevangelized gentile world. This important church in 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.520 a seaport city that was established by the apostle himself, 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.280 and now he's having to write them about a conflict 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:19.720 that should have been resolved by now. He said, I 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:24.719 need to forgive you. I need to forgive you. It's 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:30.040 not that I'm saying you're not important. Fifth row, fifth seat, 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:36.839 hunder green golf shirt. But all seats in this church 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.640 are not created equal to me, I've learned through time 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.839 that this seat, and they probably aren't showing it on 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.400 the camera, the one we're Holly sitting right now, that's 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.880 the most important seat in the church to me. To 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:56.520 me now, early in my ministry, I thought that having 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.360 all the seats full was the whole goal. Where I'm 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.840 at in my life right now, I think that if 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:06.040 every seat in this church was full, but that my 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:09.400 wife didn't respect my life enough to want to hear 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.160 me preach what I had to say, because the way 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:17.120 I live at home, that I would be a hypocrite. 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:21.160 I think that if this seat, when Holly tells me, 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:23.760 she told me last week she said that spoke to me. 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:29.880 I said, well, good, because I've kind of put some 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:34.000 stuff in there for you. I know why I didn't. 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:38.240 But what I'm saying is in the eyes of God, 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.520 fifth seat, fifth row is just as important as this one, 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:46.360 but not in my eyes. In the eyes of God, 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.200 there's equal value to every human being. So if there's 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.280 a millionaire on your row and then somebody who can't 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.680 even doesn't even know where their next meal is coming from, 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:59.040 to God, the worth of his children is not based 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:04.680 on something called network or occupation, or any of these 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:09.640 opportunistic ways that we see people. But to us, to us, 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.520 we have to realize that certain things we have to 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:17.720 learn to prioritize what's really important in our lives, what 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.840 opportunities we give our energy to. Some of us are 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:23.320 praying for God to give us things that He simply 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.720 cannot give us the way we're asking them to come. 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.360 If we're asking God to give us peace in our lives, 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.880 but we have no priorities, we will never receive the 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.080 peace that God gave us through Jesus, who is our peace, 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:41.640 when he died on the cross. So that's the setup. 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:47.880 And here's the sermon. Paul said, when I went to 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.720 preach the Gospel of Christ intro ass and found that 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.480 the Lord had opened a door for me, I still 0:14:55.480 --> 0:15:00.680 had no peace of mind. This is Paul point Guard 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:06.160 of the New Testament Church to the gentile, saying I 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.920 had an opportunity. Now, Paul has seen God open so 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.520 many doors, and so have you? I said, so have you? 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.360 How many of you just wave at me? Have seen 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.640 God put you and situate you and position you in 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.840 places that you could never earn or deserve. And don't 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:29.480 know how you got here. Yeah, how many of you 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:31.920 were smart enough and competent enough, and you did it 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.960 all by yourself, and you created your own oxygen that 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.200 you breathed into the lungs that you formed with your 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:43.640 hands in your mother's womb. Even listen, Even your success 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:48.560 was because of how God situated you. The reason Corinth 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:51.000 was was because of where it sat in relation to 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:55.120 the Mediterranean Sea. Some of us get very prideful about 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.440 things that we accomplished, but if God hadn't put Corinth 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:02.000 by the sea, it wouldn't have been a port city. 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.920 So even when God blesses me, I understand that if 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:08.680 he did not give the wisdom, if he did not 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.080 give the strength, if he did not give the opportunity, 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:14.680 I don't care. If you're a professional tennis player, if 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.520 somebody didn't give you a racket, if somebody didn't give 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.440 you a ball. You can have all the athletic ability 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:24.920 in the world. But without the opportunity that God gives, 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:30.400 all of your human ability means nothing. Even the ability 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:34.200 itself comes from God. This is what Paul knows, and 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.040 that's why he uses a phrase that we can use 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.440 to Sometimes we can say the Lord opened the door 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:43.000 for me. The Lord opened the door for me, So 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.000 don't be mad at me about the blessings that I'm 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:50.280 walking in. The Lord opened those doors for me. Remember, 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:54.160 real early when I was preaching, I invited myself to 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.680 preach out a church. I didn't like it. I didn't 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.760 like how it felt because he said yes, and once 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.440 I got there, I felt like it to me to perform. 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:06.840 I was seventeen years old. Spirits spoke to me, said, 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:08.760 don't ever invite yourself somewhere to preach again. You can 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:10.399 put your messages out, you can put them online, you 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:12.440 can use all the platform blah blah blah and social 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.280 media and all that. You do everything you can do 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.320 to get the gospel out, but don't ever situate yourself 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.760 in a position through manipulation, because then you will carry 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:27.000 the burden of performance. It's something awesome about knowing the 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:31.560 Lord opened this store. It's just something freeing about knowing 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.920 the Lord opened this store. It's something great about knowing 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.560 that God brought me into this relationship. Because see, you 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.119 can get into a relationship and really God wants you 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:43.880 in it, and then you have to spend the rest 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.280 of the relationship trying to get somebody to like a 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.080 pretend version of you that you had to put on 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:54.040 like a costume to get them to accept you. But 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:57.080 if you had to compromise yourself to gain their acceptance, 0:17:57.119 --> 0:18:02.280 what did you really get? Something awesome about the Lord 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:06.359 opening doors? There's something awesome about the Lord closing doors. 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:14.440 I need both. Last week we talked about the red 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.600 light and the green light, praising God for one and 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.920 not the other kind of foolish. You know, the green 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:24.320 light is only as effective as the red light. You'll 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:26.480 want all green lights in the city of Charlotte, where 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:28.919 everybody's just smashing into each other all the time. So 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.520 why do we want all green lights from God just 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:34.640 to be crashing into stuff that we could have avoided 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:39.639 if we would have heard his voice. Pray this Lord 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:46.480 open the door. Now, pray this Lord close the door, 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:50.200 because either way, I want your hand on the knob. 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.200 Everybody over twenty five ought to give God a shout 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:01.560 of praise. You don't notice shout over that closed door 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:09.320 till at least twenty five. What's interesting about this text 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.320 to me is that we could argue the most important 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:16.720 figure in the New Testament other than Jesus, who Roughly 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:18.879 over a third of the New Testament is devoted to 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:22.959 either his letters or his life. Paul formerly Saul of Tarsus, 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:26.600 the one who got knocked off of his horse on 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.800 his way to kill Christians, and God closed his eyes 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.040 and blinded him, sent him to Anonius in Acts chapter 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:36.960 nine to receive his sight, and he spent the rest 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.080 of his life taking the Gospel to the known world. 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:44.720 He started at least fourteen churches, and he started out 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:49.240 as a Christian killer. God used him to multiply in 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:52.119 the earth the thing that he tried to uproot in 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:56.280 one season. Only God could do that. Only God could 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:59.280 take somebody trained under Gamali and get him to let 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:01.880 go of all the traditions of men and call it rubbish. 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:04.120 He said, the things that I once counted as game, 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.159 I now count as lost. God has completely reversed my 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:11.919 understanding of my value system. Of what's important and what 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:14.360 was once gained to me I now count as loss, 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:16.520 And what was once lost I now count as the 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:19.679 ultimate gain. And all I want to do is no Christ. 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:22.000 And all I want to do is make him known 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:24.520 as I come to know him better. Now I know 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:30.760 what's important and of all churches he establishes, and he 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:35.520 started at least fourteen, at least fourteen that we know about. 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.800 That doesn't count all the spinoff churches. That doesn't count 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.400 all the churches that had baby churches, of baby churches 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:45.480 and the grand baby churches that Paul started, every gospel 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:49.080 drop that entered the gentile world, Paul had a pardon 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:54.800 it sometimes sowing in tears and pain. But that's Paul 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.480 who God opened a door for. And I want to 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:01.480 say one word thing about that before I move on 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:03.160 to the other that that I'm going to say after 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:10.640 I say this about that. The whole reason that Paul 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:12.960 took the Gospel to the Gentiles was because the Jewish 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:21.480 people rejected him. You know, sometimes rejection is one of 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:27.359 God's greatest doors. While Paul was preaching in Judea, they 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.360 didn't want to give up the customs and the rights 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:33.960 of Judaism. So God said, that's fine, I'll open a 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:38.359 door for you somewhere else. When God opens a door, 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:49.199 nobody can shut it. And if the door you're standing 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.159 in front of right now won't open, it's not yours. 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:58.040 God will open a door in the desert. We found 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.000 out last week He'll put a green light at a 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:04.480 red sea. He will lead you through. And one of 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:06.680 the greatest ways that God will lead you in your 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:08.640 life is through people who don't like you and lead 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:12.600 your life to bring you to something else. I'm preaching 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:14.680 to three people. It's only three, Lord, but I'm gonna 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:20.920 do it. I'm a do it. So it's been some 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:26.040 conflict with the church at Corinth and Paul has spent 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.439 a lot of time trying to defend himself to the 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:34.200 people who honestly should have come to his defense at 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:36.760 certain points. He must have struggled with bitterness about that. 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:41.200 Have you ever struggled about bitterness for people who should 0:22:41.200 --> 0:22:44.760 have taken up for you? Or this is just only 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:48.879 a preacher problem. Sometimes I don't know if you go 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:51.119 through the same things somebody who should have defended you, 0:22:54.119 --> 0:23:03.040 somebody who he spent eighteen months with these jokers. And 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:07.240 now he's had to write several letters. You know, we've 0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:09.399 got First Corinthians and Second Corinthians. Let me give you 0:23:09.400 --> 0:23:12.359 a little textual background because it's really good. There's a 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:16.080 lost letter that we don't have that Paul references and 0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:21.400 he calls it my tearful letter. They got so crazy 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:26.840 in Corinth, turning up on communion, wine and things like this. 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:29.840 There was incest in the church at Corinth. Paul's like, 0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.640 are y'all absolutely crazy? But then they had the audacity 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:37.280 to accuse Paul and say he wasn't a real apostle. 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:44.640 And so rather than validate himself, he makes a decision 0:23:45.280 --> 0:23:49.399 in Second Corinthians too, he says, I'm letting it go. 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:54.160 Isn't that amazing? He says, the one who said all 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:56.520 this about me, the one I know, I saw it, 0:23:56.560 --> 0:24:01.399 I heard it, I heard about it. I'm forgiving and 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:04.199 I'm moving forward, and y'all need to let it go too, 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:15.000 because I refuse to let unforgiveness in my heart block 0:24:15.160 --> 0:24:24.560 the future that God has for me. He said, So 0:24:25.080 --> 0:24:29.480 I want you to forgive because I'm forgiving. And we 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:32.760 got to get we got to get our mind right. 0:24:33.480 --> 0:24:35.840 Because here's what happened. This is the part of the text. 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:40.320 I couldn't figure out that Paul who saw the greatest 0:24:40.320 --> 0:24:44.440 opportunities for the gospel the life that in resurrection of 0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:47.040 Jesus Christ, that's the gospel that if you believe in 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:49.520 his name, you will be saved. That's the gospel that 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:51.919 His blood atones for your sin, that you don't have 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:54.000 to have the blood of bulls and goats. Old Testament 0:24:54.040 --> 0:24:57.760 sacrifices that by believing in His name you may have life. 0:24:58.000 --> 0:25:03.080 Nothing could stop the Gospel from progressing through Paul, but 0:25:03.160 --> 0:25:05.639 he described something very interesting, and I want us to 0:25:05.680 --> 0:25:09.280 study it today. He says in verse twelve, Now, when 0:25:09.320 --> 0:25:12.960 I went to troe Ass to preach the Gospel of 0:25:13.080 --> 0:25:16.200 Christ and found that the Lord had opened the door 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:20.920 for me, I still had no peace of mind because 0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:24.320 I didn't find my brother Titus there. So I said 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:31.359 goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia. Wow, so 0:25:31.440 --> 0:25:35.800 we got troe Ass. That's a whole city, and we 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:41.320 got Titus. That's one person. Let's look at this together 0:25:41.320 --> 0:25:43.200 again because I don't know if you had your Starbucks today, 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:45.800 and I don't want you to miss it. In verse twelve, 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:48.640 he said, I went to troe Ass and God gave 0:25:48.680 --> 0:25:54.000 me an open door to share the gospel in this city. 0:25:54.200 --> 0:25:56.439 Troas is also a port city. Look you see this 0:25:57.320 --> 0:25:59.280 zoom in on the camera. I don't know if this 0:25:59.400 --> 0:26:01.000 is this a worker. I don't know if we get 0:26:01.000 --> 0:26:05.120 close enough, but try to focus. You can't really see 0:26:05.280 --> 0:26:10.240 is there another camera? I need to show you this. Focus. 0:26:10.320 --> 0:26:19.640 I'll be still you focus. That's it? What this one? 0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:27.800 I went that page? Right there? Y'all see my tattoo 0:26:27.840 --> 0:26:32.400 on my wedding ring finger? Get close? Get close? Can 0:26:32.440 --> 0:26:38.800 we get closer? I want to show you something because 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:44.040 it's a picture that's close enough. I'm starting to get 0:26:44.080 --> 0:26:51.560 a little freaked out. Now, yeah, you see it? Can 0:26:51.600 --> 0:27:01.960 you see Corrinth, Corant? You know we could have done 0:27:02.000 --> 0:27:04.720 this professional. I gonna put it on the screen. It 0:27:04.760 --> 0:27:08.640 could have been great. And there oh look look look 0:27:08.680 --> 0:27:15.360