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Seeking God's Presence - Pastor Tom Loghry
2w agoTap to summarizeSeeking God's Presence Rockland Community Church Download We long to spend time with those we love - do we place the same significance on seeking God’s presence?.Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: A letter from a friend is nice, but a visit is better. FaceTime and Zoom can help families connect across continents, but the best video quality cannot replace a loved one's embrace. We long to be together with those we love. We will pay an expensive price to get on a plane to be reunited, if only for a brief time. And so with that in mind, here is a question for you. Do we desire God's presence even as much as we desire the presence of family and friends? Is the desire for God's presence our deepest desire in life? We're going to contemplate this today in Psalm 84. In this psalm, the sons of Korah express their deep longing for God's presence.Now, I wanna remind you, last summer we dipped into the Psalms, and we're dipping into the Psalms again here this summer, that Psalms were used for worship. Most of them were written by King David. This psalm, however, is written by the sons of Korah, and they wrote 11 of the Psalms. And as songs, they were put to music. One of the terms here that is strange to us, it says, "According to Gittith," would've been the instructed musical style in which it was to be played. But we don't know what that means. We don't have the notation so that we could play it as it was in that time in our own. But these sons of Korah were part of the tribe of Levi and served in the temple.Now, there's something very interesting about these sons of Korah, though, because their family history has a, has a, has a big skeleton in it. Some of you might be familiar with Korah's rebellion. This, this was a rebellion on the part of their ancestor, Korah, who was of the tribe of Levi, during the time of the exodus as they're approaching the promised land. Now, Korah, unlike other members of the tribe, the Aaronites, who were given the privilege and responsibility of serving as priests in the temple, Korah was there to basically give hands-on service, to help carry things, to help set up the tabernacle, to transport it from one place to another. It turns out, though, that Korah wasn't very pleased with that service, and he was jealous. He was jealous of, of Moses and of Aaron, and he wanted their position, their stature, their glory for himself. And the, in response, God brings judgment upon them. But it's interesting because we have this showdown between Korah, and there are some Reubenites. There was 250 leaders in the community who joined with him in this rebellion.And Moses addresses Korah in Numbers 16, verses 8 through 9. He says, "Now listen, you Levites! Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do work at the Lord's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?"You see, Korah was showing a lot of ingratitude, ungratitude for the privilege that he had been given, because unlike the rest of the tribes of Israel, he was constantly ministering in the presence of God. Yes, not as closely as the priests, but nonetheless, it was a great privilege. And yet he was entirely ungrateful and desiring for something more for himself.These sons of Korah, however are not like their predecessor. He was consumed by fire. He and most of his household were destroyed, but there was a line preserved. In this later generation, we're talking about a few hundred years later now, they are, they are serving as doorkeepers in the temple, as its custodians and as, as singers in the temple. This is how they have their hand here in the Psalms. They're musicians. And as they're serving in the temple, they're reveling in this great privilege that they have. So they start off in verse one. They say, "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty." How lovely is your dwelling place. Now, what does this mean when we're talking about God's dwelling place?We're gonna spend a little time on here. I promise you the rest of the psalm isn't gonna take as much time, but we need to first understand what we're talking about when we're talking about God's dwelling place. What we're talking about is God's presence with his people. Now, we can say that God is omnipresent, that is that he's present everywhere. You cannot run away from God as, as Jonah tried to do. In Psalm 139:7, David says, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" And so that's true, but there is also a sense in which God makes Himself especially present with His people. And there's a true sense in which we've lost the greater presence of God because that sort of presence, that sort of relationship with God that we enjoyed in Eden has been lost. Adam and Eve were dismissed from God's presence. They were cast out of the garden. And it's interesting, though, that we see that through the people of Israel, God is calling a people for himself, and he's making himself present with them. It's by his presence that he brings them out of Egypt, and when they sin against him, they're very afraid of God removing his presence among them.And when you see the camp of Israel organized when they set up camp, what we find is the tabernacle in the center of the camp, God in the midst of his people. So yes, God was making himself present among the people of Israel in the tabernacle, and ultimately looking forward to the temple that would be constructed in the land of Israel.In Deuteronomy 16:11, it anticipates this, and it says, "And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his name-- you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you." So God was making himself present in his temple, and we, and we see this idea captured in the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 6:18-21. And we have this interesting tension here because not only here is it recognized, but elsewhere in the Old Testament God's dwelling, true dwelling place is heaven, and yet he's making his dwelling place in some way here in his temple. Solomon, in, in dedicating the temple says, "But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place. Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive."So we see both heaven as God's dwelling place, but him, himself, God making his, himself present here in this temple also so that his people may come before him and pray to him even from afar, praying towards the temple, which is, it seems like a strange concept to us, but it was this idea that the people were seeking the presence of God. And so you have to have this in mind if you're gonna understand the richness of this Psalm, that there's a very true sense here of the presence of God. It's not a mere building. It's a place in which God has made himself especially present. And yet we know that there is no longer a temple today, which may lead us to wonder, has God removed his presence from Earth? When we look at the testimony of the New Testament, we see that's not the case at all. Jesus, in his earthly ministry, anticipated and actually brought about this situation in which we would no longer have need for an earthly temple that preceded him and that was around at his own time.In talking to the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, many of you will be familiar with this, in John 4:23-24. He tells her, "Yet a time is coming, and has now come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." And the reason why he was saying this to the Samaritan woman is 'cause there was this debate as to whether worship should be taking place in Jerusalem, as the Jews believed, or on Mount Gerizim, as the Samaritans believed. And Jesus is saying it's not gonna be fixed in one location. But do not misunderstand. This does not mean that our experience of coming before God's presence is necessarily spaceless. It's not spaceless. We hear Jesus tell his disciples in Matthew 18, verses 18 through 20 this. He's talking about situations in which his believers have to correct those that have fallen into sin, but it has a broader implication, I think, as we talk about, as we...
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True Freedom - Pastor Tom Loghry
2w agoTap to summarizeTrue Freedom Rockland Community Church Download True freedom is found in Christ as we have been liberated from the power of sin, being born again by the Spirit..Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: To the Jews who had, to the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold my teachings and you are really disciples, then you will know the truth, and the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to the sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed."Let us pray as we come before God's word.Dear Father, as we come before the scriptures this morning, as we hear again the message of the gospel, that good news which is ours in Jesus Christ, we pray, Father, that you would remind us as we've put faith in Him of the liberty that we've received from sin. And that, Father, if we have not yet put our trust in Christ, that you'd open our eyes to see and our ears to hear the sweet freedom that you offer to all those who would turn to Him.We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. You may be seated.In celebrating the birth of this nation, we also celebrate those truths which inspired its conception. We celebrate those truths that are articulated in our declaration of principles, where it says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."For the sake of justice, for the sake of our common good, it is right that we uphold these rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This means that we should strive to protect every human life, every innocent human life, even including those who have done wrong things, but who do not deserve to be punished with death by any human authority. That means that we should strive to protect the liberty of every human being in accordance with the liberty that God has given to each one of us, as long as exercising that liberty does not trample the rights of others or injure the common good of society. It means that our government should do nothing which would unreasonably hamper a person from building a life in which they can thrive and flourish. We do not close these doors in America. Our doors are open to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.But while America is a land of opportunity, it is not a land that promises to deliver a complete fulfillment of these goods. Life as we know it is protected. But in the end, we all die. Our political liberty is secure. We are not prevented from choosing to do anything that is within the bounds of justice and liberty, but we are not ensured that we can do everything that we might desire to do. I might aspire to have a career in the NFL, but just because I might desire to be a football player doesn't mean that I will be playing anytime soon in the league. But more importantly, just because I might desire to become a better person, a truly virtuous person who walks in God's ways, and while I'm left at liberty to pursue such a life, I'm not ensured that I will in fact become that sort of person. Rather, again and again, life shows how we are captive to sin. I can pursue happiness in America, but can I actually obtain true and lasting happiness? Something more than a half loaf, can I actually get for myself full and everlasting joy? America is a land of opportunity, but in itself, it cannot give us that kind of happiness.True life, true liberty, true happiness is only found in Christ. And I could spend quite a bit of time this morning fleshing out each one of those goods. But I want to center in on liberty because I do think that true life and true happiness hinge very much on us obtaining true liberty. We're gonna anchor ourselves this morning in John 8:31-36. And in this passage, Jesus is engaging with those people who have believed that He's the Messiah, and yet we see them grappling with embracing the full teaching of Christ. They are eager for a Messiah who can free them from Roman rule. They do not yet perceive how their captivity goes beyond that empire. They have not yet the, grasped the depth of their slavery to sin. So Jesus, in speaking to them, says, once again in verse 31, "To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say we shall be set free?' Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'"Jesus' audience is pretty sharp here, because they pick up on the fact that what Jesus is basically implying in saying that they can be set free is that they are slaves. And the freedom that he is offering to them he says comes when they truly believe in him, when they embrace his teachings. Now, his teachings actually include believing in Jesus. If we were to survey through the Gospel of John, both before and after, we hear Jesus fill out his teaching in various ways, and it all centers on the, his own person. It centers on himself. John 5:24 says, "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."In John 6:29, he says, "The work of God is this to believe in the one he has sent." In verse 35 of that chapter, he says, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Then later on in John 14:6, he says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So what Jesus is offering to them is not so much a philosophy, even while Jesus has many good teachings. What Jesus is really offering them is himself, that he is the one who can save them, that he is, in fact, the savior of the world. And what they're really reckoning here with is, what does that mean?Because at this time, the Jewish people were subjugated by the Roman Empire. And when the Jewish people were looking towards the hope of a Messiah, they were really very often looking towards the hope of one who would bring political liberation. And while certainly Jesus is going to bring political liberation, and Christ is going to return and rule as king on earth, he's a savior in a much deeper sense than politics. Now, this comes to a head because they take exception to this implication that Jesus has made that they are, they are slaves. They say, "We're Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" Now truth be told, they are kind of slaves because, once again, they're subjugated to the Roman Empire, and they might wanna be freed from them, but they wouldn't be willing to accept the status of a slave because they wouldn't want to think of themselves in that way.And we can understand that. This is a, a sort of pride that every human being has possessed. You think it, it's funny, there was a song written in England in 1740 called Rule Britannia, maybe some of you are familiar with it, and one of the lines goes, "Rule Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never shall be slaves." So they wrote that song in 1740. Well, if you're singing that song, not gonna be surprised if your British colonists across the sea are gonna say, "Oh, I, I'm not really content with the situation of paying these taxes without representation, and we're not going to be slaves," and so they rebel. So it's just in the human spirit.We don't like to think of ourselves as being a slave. We want to think we're free, that we're independent, that we make our own choices for ourselves. And while we can secure a measure of political liberty, when we examine our lives more closely, we see that in fact we're enslaved in, in many ways. We see this most vividly often in the cases of those that have struggled with drug addiction, substance addiction. You know that you don't want to be dependent on those substances, and yet you're drawn to go back to them again and again. We see this in all kinds of ways, not just drugs, though. We see it in our, how we're given over to lust, how we're given over to greed, how we're given over to our anger, our pride. And even while we maybe are able to deal with one thing, so maybe you deal with your lust and you set that aside, what you'll find is the further along that you go in following Jesus, he uncovers other sins in your life. He shows you t...
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We Seek the Better Country - Pastor Tom Loghry
4w agoTap to summarizeWe Seek the Better Country - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download Christians are ultimately citizens of a better, heavenly country promised by God, not any earthly nation—so while we love and serve where we live, our deepest hope and allegiance belong to Christ's coming kingdom..Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on Earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country-- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.Let us pray as we come before God's Word.Dear Father, as we come before your word this morning, as we hear the testimony of the faith of those that have gone before us, we pray that the Holy Spirit would work within us so that we might share in their faith, so that we may share in their hope, and persevere in the way that they too have persevered.We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. You may be seated.As most everyone knows, the United States has been playing host for many of the games of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Playing host has not only brought foreign teams, but also their fans to our shores. So if you've been on social media at all, you know that many of these fans have been struck with awe by the many good things our country has to offer. Air conditioning, free refills, large portion sizes, and yes, also the friendly qualities of the American people, too. Amidst all the negativity that pours forth from our regular news cycle, these anecdotes remind us of how blessed we are to live in a country like the United States. Any time that I've gone overseas, I've always returned with a renewed sense of gratitude for being able to call this place my home.In celebrating the 250th anniversary of this country's founding, we are reminded of our family histories and how we got to be in this country and call ourselves citizens of these United States. In my own case, a man named William Loghry and his wife, Nancy Purdy, emigrated from Northern Ireland to Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s. The family later moved to upstate New York, then Illinois, then South Dakota for several generations, until my grandfather bounced off the West Coast and sunk down his roots here in New England. That story, and the story of all who made their way in this country, is a story of pioneering. It's a story of seeking a better life, of seeking a better country, even long after our ancestors first arrived here.Even if you have lived in one place for generations, there's a certain restlessness in our bones that seeks a better situation. We might call it especially American, but we could also just call it simply human. From one country to another, we all yearn for a better world. Some have believed we can perfect this world, and this belief has inspired some people to lead political revolutions in pursuit of utopia. To their credit, I don't think the American founders envisioned a utopia. They were not naive- they understood our sinful, selfish condition, which led them to desire an entire system of checks and balances. It's not the most efficient system of, of power. Monarchy, the rule of a king, is most efficient. But they set aside that vision of a perfect efficiency because they understood the reality of human brokenness, of corruption, a reality which extends to all earthly kings. They understood that even at our best, we cannot produce utopia. But we could have an improved political arrangement in the meantime.But if we're honest with ourselves, our spirits sink at the thought of resigning ourselves to relative improvement, marginal gains, and temporary successes. That desire for something more abides within us. And so the question returns: Will the satisfaction of our desires come from ourselves or come from beyond ourselves? Both the Bible and our own experience teach us that it's foolish to trust in ourselves because we are, in fact, the problem. It begins with us. Instead, the Bible turns our gaze to God as the one who can save us from ourselves. The words of promise, spoken by the prophet Micah in Micah 4, resonate with us.In that chapter, he talks about how all people are gonna be streaming to the mountain of God, streaming to God's presence. Of how swords are going to be beaten to plowshares, and spears are gonna be turned into pruning hooks, that there's going to be a real peace, a lasting peace. In Micah 4:4, he says, "Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken."When we hear those words, there's something that resounds deep within us because we want that peace for ourselves. We want that better country. And we are not the first to desire it. And this takes us to our central passage this morning, Hebrews 11:13-16. Hebrews 11 is the New Testament's iconic passage about faith, in which the writer of Hebrews does a roll call of all the great figures of faith that are set before us in the Old Testament. He takes their example as being instructive for us. Verses 13 through 16 especially draw from the example of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. I'm gonna read those verses once again for us. Hebrews 11:13-16. "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."To grasp the full import of what is being said here in these verses, we have to remember the general story of, of these patriarchs, of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Jacob. We recall that God called Abraham out of his homeland, out of the city of Haran, with the promise that he would inherit a land for himself, that he would become a great nation, that through him the whole world would be blessed. And this is a promise that belonged not only to him, but to his family. It was a promise given to Sarah, and it was given to Isaac and to Jacob, his son and his, and his grandson. But when he was first called, Abraham and Sarah didn't have any children of their own. They were called to set forth in faith, and in time, the promised son, Isaac, was born to them.But still they did not see all that God had promised to them. They were never able to permanently settle into the land. Their family was not as countless as the stars or the sand on the seashore. They still seemed quite small in the world. And ultimately, Jacob finds himself outside the land of Canaan, outside the land of promise, in the land of Egypt, and that's where he, he dies. And so God had given these, them these promises, and yet they had not been able to see them come to pass. But they were content to persevere. They were content to continue traveling onward as nomads in this world because they were looking forward to the fulfillment of God's promise, even if they would not see it in their immediate lifetime.And in fact, what the writer of Hebrews here is saying is that they were actually longing for a better country than even that which their immediate descendants would eventually inherit in the land of Canaan. Verse 16 says, "Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." What they were desiring was nothing that they could construct themselves. It was nothing that they nor their descendants could bring about by the dint of their own efforts, by their own strength. It was something that could only be God-given, a heavenly country, a city prepared by God Himself. And we see Jesus speak in a similar manner in John 14, verses two through three, of this promised city of the, which is to come. Very often when we think about what is the hope of the Christian, we think in terms of us dying and going to heaven. But this is not the vision that is set forth in scripture. Rather, it is a vision of this city which is to come. And we see Jesus actually speaking along these lines, even though we, we so often easily miss it in this passage.In John 14, verses two through three, he says, "My Father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you, you that ...
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The Gospel for All People- Pastor Tom Loghry
Jun 27Tap to summarizeThe Gospel for All People - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download Paul's story ends unfinished because the gospel mission he carried—God bringing salvation to all nations, Jew and Gentile alike—didn't end with him. It continues today through us, as the Holy Spirit empowers Christ's people to boldly carry the good news of forgiveness and new life to the whole world until Christ returns..Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: The story of America is bigger than any one single person. Of course, it, it's very difficult for us to imagine us getting very far if our president, our first president, wasn't George Washington-- he was a great man of virtue and leadership. But we know that there was others besides him. We think of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and all sorts of other political and military leaders who were the midwives of this nation. But however brilliant and courageous they might be, it could not have gotten very far without the common men and women that are too often forgotten.Our nation is one that has been built by masses of people whose stories go untold. In those early days, people from so many different Western European nations, African men, women, and children brought to these shores against their will, and Native Americans who wrestled to find their place in an increasingly crowded land. All of them Americans-- Americans who built this country and made it what it is today. And with each decade, with each generation, more and more are added from every corner of the globe, building a nation bound not by blood but by creed-- bound by the belief that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.I've said it before and I'll say it again, a nation like ours is a product, is an effect of the Christian faith. There is no America if there is no Jesus Christ. This country is a mere shadow of a better vision yet. In Jesus, we are given a vision of a kingdom filled with people of every nation, tribe, and tongue. Many peoples who are made one in Jesus Christ, a body formed not merely by a common creed, but by his shed blood-- a holy nation set apart for God, rebels redeemed to become the sons and daughters of God. The story of God's saving work, the story of redemption begins with Israel, it begins with the Jewish people, but it goes further yet. All of Paul's ministry, as we've been shown it here in the Book of Acts, has been attesting to this reality and now, in closing, Luke reminds us of God's worldwide saving purpose by giving us an account of Paul's encounter with the Jewish leaders in Rome. Paul is under house arrest, he's awaiting trial before the emperor, but Luke believes this is the final episode that we need to hear before he closes his account.So we pick up in Acts 28 and verse 17. Luke tells us, "Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: 'My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with these chains.'They replied, 'We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there have reported, has reported or said anything bad about you. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.'"So in verses 17 through 20, Paul explains to these Jewish leaders that he's innocent, that they haven't been able to make any charges stick against him. But because of continued objections by the Jewish leaders in Israel, he was compelled to appeal to Caesar. Now, his purpose in appealing to Caesar wasn't to bring counter-charges, wasn't in order to make trouble for his own people, 'cause Paul is a Jew himself. It was only so that he could clear his name. It was only so that he would not fall into their hands, 'cause they were designing to actually kill him. Now, in coming together with these Jewish leaders, his purpose is that he wants to kind of clear the air with them. He wants them to understand the reason why he's actually been imprisoned is because of his faith, which is in continuity with the Jewish faith.Jesus is actually the fulfillment of, of Jewish hope. He says, "Because of the hope of the, it's because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain." Now, when we look to the Old Testament, we could look to a variety of passages, but we see the indication of this being the hope of Israel. In Isaiah 26:19, it is foretold, "But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise." And it says, "The earth will give birth to her dead." And then we see in Isaiah 53:11 how, of the suffering servant, it says that he's gonna suffer, he is gonna die, but it says after he has suffered, he will see the light of life. All this points to Jesus, the one who suffered and died on the cross, and yet saw the light of life, revealing the hope of resurrection to the world.Now in response, the Jewish leaders say, "Well, we haven't actually heard anything bad about you. We haven't gotten any letters from Judea saying watch out for this guy, nor have any of the people that have come back from Judea to Rome had anything bad to say against you." That being said, they have heard about this sect, this group of Christians, and they know that there's been some, some rumors that they're a bad, they're a bad sort. And so they, they wanna hear more about what Paul has to say for himself and for the Christians. They're open-minded enough to hear what Paul has to say. And so Luke tells us in verse 23, "They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the Kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: 'The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet: "Go to this people and say, you will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving." For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!"And then in verse 29, you'll find a note in some of your Bibles that some manuscripts include here, "After he had said this, the Jews left, arguing vigorously among themselves." Newer translations leave out this verse because it's not, it, it doesn't appear in the earliest manuscripts. And it says, "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ-- with all boldness and without hindrance!"So going back to verses 23 and 24, the Jewish leaders and more of the Jews come and meet with Paul on a certain day in his house where he's staying, and Paul spends the entire day, morning to evening, explaining the Kingdom of God to them, explaining how Jesus is the Messiah, how he fulfills the promises that have been revealed in the law and the prophets. Imagine spending a whole day going through the scriptures with the Apostle Paul.He's very desirous that these leaders, that his people would embrace their Messiah. Now we can imagine that, in reasoning with them, that he may have used some of the passages I, I referred to earlier, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 26. But I wanted to walk you through a couple passages that perhaps he would've used so that you're able to kind of understand the case that is set before us based on the Old Testament testimony that Jesus is in fact the promised Messiah, that he is in fact the Son of God sent to us.And so, many of you got handouts when you came in, but if you didn't get one, you might wanna write down these, these passages so you can kinda have a little stepping stone here. There's many more stones yet that point to Christ, but these are some helpful stepping stones that demonstrate the truth of who Christ is.So we look at, for instance, let's start in, i...
Transcribe →Victory Amid Hardship - Pastor Tom Loghry
Jun 19Tap to summarizeVictory Amid Hardship - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download God continues to work in the midst of Paul’s imprisonment and hardship, revealing the power of Christ though his ministry to the people of Malta and the favor and welcome he receives in Rome. We can expect this same God-given victory in our own hardship..Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: Last Saturday marked the 122nd anniversary of D-Day. On June 6th, 1944, the Allied Forces during World War II performed a successful amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy, establishing a beachhead which would eventually lead them to Berlin. It was a decisive day in the war, a brilliant victory, and yet the war was not yet won. It would still take nearly a year before the war in Europe would end. Many more battles, many more lives lost. Setbacks, but also victories, and then the war would come to an end.We see the very same sort of thing in the case of Jesus. There has been a war between heaven and Earth, between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. It's a war in which we as humans have willingly pledged our fealty to the devil, joining him in his rebellion, deciding that we would rather be our own gods rather than submitting to our Creator and living in harmony with him. And as a consequence of our rebellion, we have been given over to our brokenness. We suffer the consequences of the evil that we have embraced. We have been separated from the giver of life, and so we die.But God has not given up on us. God has never intended to allow evil to win the day. And so God sent His Son into the world to destroy the works of the devil, to redeem us from our sin. Those three days, those three days in which Christ died, lay in the grave, and then rose from the dead, mark an occasion of victory even greater than that of D-Day. It is the turning point of our world. Jesus Christ has changed the course of human history. It's a reality that no one can deny, even those who would deny that He is in fact the Son of God, the Messiah of the world. Christ has changed things without a doubt.However, while absolutely decisive, decisive, this does not mean that there are no more battles. It does not mean that the war has come to an end. We still face hardships, we still suffer setbacks, but we do also see victories as we await the appearance of the final victory, which will be revealed at Christ's return. In today's passage, here in Acts 27 through, and, and into Acts 28, we are reminded of the victories that come in the midst of hardship as we read about the hardships that Paul himself suffered. These victories come not by our strength, but by the power of Christ, who is with us. We find in Paul a picture of the Christian life as it is lived in the present age.Now, if you were with us last week, you'll recall that Paul is being transferred to Rome from Caesarea, which was in Israel, and that he was being transferred to face trial before Caesar. And so he is on a voyage as one who is a prisoner. In the midst of their journey, the ship was caught up in a nor'easter. The ship was being torn apart by hurricane force winds. And yet, in the midst of the storm, Paul was assured by God that he and all those on the boat would survive because God's plan was that Paul would stand before Caesar. And so now as Paul has led his fellow travelers to share in this basic faith in God's deliverance, so now we see the fulfillment of God's word.Their time on the ship has come to an end. And so picking up in verse 39 of Acts 27, we read, "When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely."So they finally have sight of land, certainly a sight that must have brought them great relief, hope that they might not drown, an assurance that they could, in fact, live to see another day. And so the ship turns its direction towards this island. It, they, they make way by putting down the sail, the foresail, which would have been this sail right up here in the front that we see, and they basically let loose, they get rid of anchors. They're just going all in. They just wanna bring the beach all, the, the boat all the way to the shore, all the way to the beach. Now, just to orient you to where they are, they're going to the island of Malta, and, in fact, there's a tradition as to where they actually landed. It's called St. Paul's Bay, which is here. Now, as they're going along towards the beach, however, they strike a sandbar. They get stuck, and the waves start crashing against the ship and just starts breaking it apart, and so it's time to abandon ship. Now, that sounds all right, except the soldiers want to kill the prisoners.Now, we might ask, "Well, why do they want to kill the prisoners?" The reason is, is because they are responsible for the prisoners, and they're concerned, "Well, if these prisoners escaped, it's gonna be our head. We're gonna be held responsible." And so just as it seems that Paul is escaping from death, again, the threat of being killed and not making it to Rome leaps up before him. But God is going to be good to his promise, because the centurion, Julius, orders his soldiers not to kill the prisoners. Instead, everyone is to make their way to shore. And so we see by God's providence how the life of Paul and all those on the ship is preserved just as he had promised.Turning to chapter 28, Luke continues the story now on the dry ground of Malta. "Once on, safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, 'This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.'But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god."So they're on the island of Malta, and the people here show incredible kindness to these people that are shipwrecked. Now, people who lived on islands in the Mediterranean at this time weren't necessarily considered to be the most cultured people. They would have maybe been considered as sort of barbarians. And yet the virtue that they display here is profound, as being the sort that anyone of high Greek virtue would display in these circumstances. Once again, we see God's mercies at, at play here for the sake of Paul and all those who are with him.They build a fire for them. It's a kind of miserable scene. It's raining. It's cold. Remember, they had been in a storm, so this is why they're crashing on this island. And as they're trying to build this fire, Paul decides to give a hand. He's not above trying to do some work to try to help out, and so he's gathering brushwood, he's, he's throwing it on the fire. And while he's doing that, lo and behold, a viper leaps out of the fire, because it's getting so hot, and bites him.Now, you gotta look at this and you just think, oh, this is just Paul's luck. He just goes from one thing to the next, escapes from the sea, now he gets bit by a snake. And, and it seems once again, oh, maybe Paul's gonna die. Maybe he's not going to make it to Rome. And in fact, the people of Malta assume that this must be a sign of God's curse against Paul. They know that he's a prisoner, and so when they see the snake bite him, they, they figure, "Well, this guy must be a really bad guy that he came out all this way, he escapes from the ocean, and yet he's gonna get bit by a poisonous snake here." And so they say the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.Now, Justice was actually personified in a god, an, an, as a goddess known as Dike, a daughter of Zeus. And so quite literally, Justice is not allowing Paul to escape in the eyes of these citizens of Malta. Now, i...
Transcribe →Cut the Lifeboat - Pastor Tom Loghry
Jun 12Tap to summarizeAwaiting True Justice - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download Paul’s journey to Rome lands in turbulent seas, which lead the crew of his ship to toss all equipment and goods overboard. They trusted his word that life would be preserved; will we hold fast, trusting God at his word?.Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would, then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I, I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island." Acts 27:20-26.Let us pray as we come before God's word. Dear Father, we pray that as we hear the testimony of Paul's journey to Rome across the sea, that you would minister to us by his example.That by the work of the Holy Spirit, you would create in us the same sort of faith that we see on display in him. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. You may be seated.With temperatures rising, we are entering into the season of amusement parks. Most of us have been to one at some time or another in our life, and some of us are bigger fans of them than, than others. I have to say for myself that I'm not really the biggest fan of riding on roller coasters, though I do enjoy some water rides. Perhaps some of you enjoy floating on the lazy river, that tranquil ride on a tube that just coasts along a man-made waterway at a leisurely pace. The water is shallow and usually warm, and apart from possibly some sprays of water, there's nothing that would disturb your peace too greatly.Other rides, however, have us on the edge of our seats, thrilling us with seeming danger. Perhaps some of you have taken a ride on the swinging pirate ship, a ride like the one pictured behind me. My wife hates this ride. I've always liked the concept of the ride, I like the idea of getting on a ship, and it's kind of like a pirate, you know, being in the middle of a storm. But it can be a stomach-turning experience. When the ride is swinging at its greatest height, you might be attempted to abandon ship, to get off the thing. But as with any of these thrilling rides, that would be the most dangerous thing that you could do. Because while the ride might scare you more than you could have anticipated, in the moment, the safest thing that you can do is to be still, to hold fast. Because you know that those who have designed the ride have ensured that it's safe enough to welcome you and all others to ride on it. The best thing that you can do is to take them at their word, that it's gonna be all right. The worst thing that you could do would be to try to take matters into your own hands.Now, outside of the amusement park, we of course face dangers that have not been contrived by human design to merely offer you a thrilling ride. We encounter real risk, the greatest risk of all being death. We encounter dangers that are beyond our control. And this raises the question of what will we do in such circumstances? It raises the question of who or what we will trust, when in the midst of such calamity, we hear the Word of God telling us to be still and to trust in Him. The Apostle Paul and his companions find themselves in just this kind of situation as he is being transported from Caesarea to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. And we're going to pick up the narrative now here in Acts 27, and it's worth noting that Luke, the author of Acts, includes himself in this journey as he refers to Paul and his party as we. So picking up in verse one of chapter 27, we read, "When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so that they might provide for his needs.From there, we put out to sea again and passed the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens near the town of Lasea."So Paul is sailing to Italy. He's on a trip to Italy as a prisoner because he appealed to Caesar concerning his case. And you'll recall that the reason why he's imprisoned in the first place is because the Jews have made accusations against Paul that he's causing trouble. He's a troublemaker. He's part of this, this Nazarene sect. Of course, the Roman authorities, as they've assessed Paul, have said this is just a religious matter among the Jews, 'cause Paul's a Jew himself, was brought up as a Pharisee. But because the Roman governors were trying to pay favors to the Jewish authorities, Paul was compelled to appeal to Caesar. And in fact, this was God's purpose all along, that he would be taken to Italy to stand before Caesar himself The journey, though, to Caesar is no small feat. It includes much danger, and it's danger that becomes realized as Paul proceeds.He's entrusted into the care of Julius, who is a, a centurion, says that he's part of the Imperial Regiment. Perhaps he was a member of the Praetorian Guard, so very upper echelon military officer. And as they proceed, Paul, and apparently along with Luke, another of their companions joins them named Aristarchus. You'll recall that he appeared in Ephesus. It seems that this is the same Aristarchus, because when there was controversy there with Paul, Aristarchus was one of the ones that got dragged into the theater there in Ephesus before a very enraged mob. And so you have Paul, some of his companions, you've got other prisoners, soldiers, and they're gaining passage to Italy on apparently merchant ships. They're catching a ride. While he's in Sidon, Julius allows Paul to see some of his friends. And so we can see that Julius seemed to have some affection towards Paul, perhaps. He's kind enough to let him see his friends so that they can help take care of his needs.Now, if you're trying to envision what this journey would have looked like, he's starting from Caesarea down here in Israel. He jumps up to Sidon, and they're working their way up around here because they're trying to get to Italy, to Rome. Now, when they're in Myra, they get on a new ship, and this is a merchant ship that is going from Alexandria to Italy, and it's carrying grain. And this makes a whole lot of sense because Egypt was basically the breadbasket of the empire.And if you're wondering maybe what this ship would have looked like, it more than likely was a ship known as the Corbida. It would range in its size, but these types of ships could carry up to 400 passengers and could carry up to 1300 tons of, of cargo. So, kind of the mules of the empire bringing goods back and forth.Now they experienced some slow headway as, as they went along, and these ships in particular could be vulnerable to winds that were not going in their favor because there's just those kind of perpendicular sails, and so it was very difficult to sail into the wind. And so if you had winds that were going over 17 miles an hour, you were gonna have a tough time having things going your way.As they're coming nearby to Fair Havens, they begin to reckon that things are going against them. They need to make a decision as to whether they're going to cease their journey or they're going to continue forward. So we continue on in verse nine. It says, "Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, 'Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.' But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor...
Transcribe →The True and Reasonable Gospel - Pastor Tom Loghry
Jun 6Tap to summarizeThe True and Reasonable Gospel - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download Under trial, Paul accounts for his life and message, revealing the Gospel can stand before any authority..Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: I want to start our time in God's word this morning with a question. And it may seem like a strange question or, if you're able to understand it, sometimes I don't always phrase questions in the most clear way, but if you do understand it, a question perhaps with an obvious answer. But I will ask it and explain what I'm getting at. The question is this: Can the gospel message hold its own in all places? Can the gospel message hold its own in all places?In other words, can we expect the gospel message to hold up in all situations, or are there situations where we shouldn't bother serious people with its message? Now, of course, our instinct in this immediate moment might be, "Of course, we take the gospel to all people and places." But I suspect that we actually tend to live our lives in line with the expectations of our society.In polite society, we distinguish between the public sphere and the private sphere. When we think about presenting the gospel, we usually envision doing so in churches or in homes or across tables in coffee shops. We don't usually imagine venturing to articulate the gospel in the halls of government, in civic spaces, perhaps also in academic spaces. "That's religion," they say in response, as a sort of final sentence-- indoctrinating everyone in our society under the notion that religious truth cannot be taken seriously. The serious stuff is scientific papers, sociological studies, legislation, and other such sources of truth. Yes, those sources can contain truth, but they are not the final word. And while living in a diverse society like ours does compel us to think how we will live well together in trying to find common ground, I do think that generations of American Christians have too quickly complied with the notion that the gospel must be fenced off from serious, adult conversation. That the gospel might be a personal truth, but not a public truth that can stand in court.Today's passage reminds us that the gospel is without limits. It is not embarrassed in front of politicians. If you were with us last week, you'll recall that Paul has been imprisoned in Caesarea In Herod's palace, now occupied by the Roman authorities. He's been a prisoner there now for two years under Governor Felix, who knew Paul was innocent of any wrongdoing but was hoping to gain a bribe from him for his release. Two years, in which Paul lived out the words he would later write the Philippians from Rome. Last week, I incorrectly implied that he had already written to them. Those words in which he says, "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him." Paul's not just talk. He actually lives out his message. This is Paul's own story. But now a new governor has been appointed named Porcius Festus. And we pick up the narrative now in Acts 25.And just to kind of prepare you, we're gonna read a lot of scripture this morning. My commentary on the scripture is not gonna match the amount of scripture we read because it's a lot of narrative, it doesn't need to be all explained, and so you should pay close attention as we read the word, as you always should. Picking up in Acts 25. Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus answered, Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them. Then Paul made his defense. I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges? Paul answered, I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar. After Festus had conferred with his counsel, he declared, You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.So we have this new figure entering into the scene, this governor named Porcius Festus. He would've served around the year 59 or 60 AD, so that's kind of where we are in the timeline here. And Festus, apparently early on when he had become governor, went up to Jerusalem, and there, even two years later, the high priests, these religious leaders, were still gunning for Paul. They wanted to take him down. They wanted him to be killed. It wasn't enough that he was out of the way. He, they wanted him dead. And they weren't necessarily trusting that they would get the ruling they wanted from Festus, and so they had conspired that, well, maybe if we can just get Paul on his way here, we can kill him along the way.You'll recall this is how Paul ended up in Caesarea in the first place, because there was a plot to murder him, and at that time, Claudius Lysias sent him to Caesarea so that he might be safe, kept safe, because Paul is a Roman citizen. He is due a just trial. And so Festus tells them, "No, we're not doing that. But if you want to come to Caesarea, we can, I will consider your case," because he's a new governor. He's not aware of all of the, the details here. And so they return to Caesarea. I shared some pictures last week of what that probably looked like, the man-made port they had there, and then also that's Herod's palace down there. And so that's where Festus would've held court.Now, when the Jews arrive there, who are bringing these charges against Paul, they surround him and make all sorts of accusations. But once again, they're not able to prove anything against him. It's the same old story. And as a new governor, Festus is interested in trying to be on good terms with the Jewish people, and so he thinks, "Well, maybe I can send him back to them in Jerusalem." But Paul challenges on that because of his Roman citizenship. He reasons with him, you know, "Isn't this good enough? You're basically the governor. You, you're the representative of Caesar's court, and I haven't done anything wrong." Now, Paul is quite bold here. He, I mean, this, this man holds his life in his hands. He says, "If I've done anything wrong, kill me," basically. But he's so confident in his innocence, in the case that he's made, that he persists in saying, "No, I'm not going there." And instead what he does is he appeals to Caesar.Now, the appeal procedure here would've meant that Paul is literally going to be sent to Rome, in which he will appear before the emperor Nero, and that he would decide his fate. And so Festus agrees. He says, "Okay, you've appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go."But that's not where the story ends. Paul is going to have more to say to Festus and to also two other authorities which now enter the scene. Continuing on in verse 13, we read, "A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul's case with the king. He said, 'There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges.When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some point of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed was alive.I was at a loss how to investigate such matters, so I asked if he'd be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. But when Paul made his appe...
Transcribe →Awaiting True Justice - Pastor Tom Loghry
May 30Tap to summarizeAwaiting True Justice - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download Paul’s imprisonment and trial before Felix reveals the injustice of his adversaries, the true justice which God brings, and God’s continued work and purpose even while we wait..Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on YouTubeTranscript: I think there are few things in life that can get under your skin like being blamed for something you didn't do. Maybe in your life someone has blamed you for something going wrong that wasn't your fault. Maybe at work, said, "Oh, this went wrong because so-and-so did this." It wasn't your fault at all. A false accusation spouted by someone who has significant influence and perhaps more power than you. It's unnerving. It's infuriating. Especially when the person knows the truth, that'll make you real mad. When they're maligning your character when it's actually their character which comes up short. We want to set the record straight, not later, right now, but sometimes justice is slow to be realized. We find ourselves in a holding pattern, stuck in the in-between. When you think of yourself in that position, you can more easily put yourself in Paul's shoes, as he too suffers the harmful effects of a false accusation.If you were with us last week, you'll recall that Paul was transferred to, to Caesarea under the cover of night from Jerusalem, accompanied by four hundred and seventy Roman soldiers. His nephew had uncovered a plot to kill him, even while he was waiting for judgment under Claudius Lysias in the Roman fortress there in Jerusalem. A plot that was schemed by forty men who had taken vows not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. Because Paul was a Roman citizen, the Roman commander Claudius Lysias sent him to Caesarea for his case to be heard by the governor Felix. Lysias reported to Felix that he hadn't found Paul to be guilty of anything wrong, and that the dispute seemed to be a matter of difference within the Jewish religion. In keeping with Roman custom that a trial could only proceed if the accusers presented themselves with the charges that were being made against the defendant, Felix called upon Paul's accusers to make their way to Caesarea for this trial. So continuing on in Acts twenty-four, we pick up in verse one. It says, "Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix. 'We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way, Most Excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him, and we would have judged him in accordance with our law, but the Commander Lysias came and took him from us with much violence, ordering his accusers to come before you. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.' The other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true."First, just to set the scene here in Caesarea. So we have Paul taken from Jerusalem up to Caesarea on the coast. You can see a little aerial shot of Caesarea, and you can see this little harbor here. In fact, it's an artificial harbor that was made because the coastline there doesn't give many places where you can safely bring a ship into port. You can see that's a picture of it today. A pretty beautiful scene as it, as it is.Now, back in that time, it would have looked something like this. A little bit different angle, but you can see that's where, what we were just looking at there. Very impressive, and you, you would have ships lined up all on the inside there. Now, Herod's palace, which was built by Herod the Great and is now occupied by Governor Felix, is down here. You can see it jutting out into the sea. We can get a bit of a closer look there. And you can see here this open space, and that's actually a pool, it's a freshwater pool. You can see the opulence of, of these quarters for Governor Felix and just the total situation that Paul is brought into here, if you go back here, you can see it, it's, Felix has all the privilege of power. He's right next to this racing course, he's got a theater here, he has the world by a string, it seems. And now Paul is here at his mercy. We, we can actually see what it looks like today. Nothing left of it, really. You can see the square of the pool there. And so when Paul is brought before Governor Felix, he would have appeared in this room here, number five. It would have been an audience room, which now is probably in the water about there. Amazing how things change, isn't it?So Paul is brought before Felix, and Paul's accusers are also before Felix. The high priest Ananias, who you remember had ordered that he be slapped across the face, and whom Paul had cursed as a, a whitewashed wall, he's there. Some of the elders are there. And they've also brought a lawyer with them. Now, you have all this power marshaled against just Paul. Doesn't seem like really much of a fair fight. You can also imagine that maybe Paul has some concern given the reputation that Felix has earned for himself. Felix is not actually a Roman, he is Greek, and he was formerly a slave. But his older brother became good friends with the Emperor Claudius, and when, was made his secretary of, of the treasury. And so by way of that connection, Felix himself was also freed and was raised to power. And he was serving as governor here in Judea from around fifty-two to sixty AD. Now he had a reputation for being very corrupt. In fact, he, he had a scheme to assassinate the high priest Jonathan, the former high priest Jonathan, and he succeeded in that. He had him assassinated. He just had a reputation of being a gangster. The Roman historian Tacitus says of him, "He exercised the power of a king in the spirit of a slave." So you kinda get the picture of the sort of guy that this was. He, he was not really a man of great character. And so it becomes all the more striking when this lawyer Tertullus begins it, to make his case before Felix because he, he just gives him all sorts of flattery that he doesn't really deserve, 'cause again, he's a gangster.He says, he says to him, We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you. Not really the case. He praises him for his reforms. Felix hasn't really done that much that is good. But we see the ways of the world at work here, of getting in good with people and getting your way by telling them what they want to hear. Now, the case that Tertullus brings against Paul is one built upon a case which would greatly concern a Roman governor. We see in verses five through eight, and just as a note here, I included some verses in here that are excluded in the NIV. It's just based on different textual manuscripts that are available to us. Some of the earlier manuscripts didn't include those verses, and so for that reason, for sake of accuracy, the NIV has excluded it, but I've included it in case they're included in your Bibles.The case that Tertullus brings against Paul here is based upon essentially causing disorder, which is a great concern to the Roman powers which are insistent upon maintaining order, maintaining peace. It paints a picture of Paul as a troublemaker, one who starts riots. He's the ringleader of this Nazarene sect, trying to make the Christians sound like this really, like, fringe group that's up to no good. And he says he desecrated the temple, which again would have been a big no-no because there is an interconnection between the civil and religious powers, and so desecrating the temple would create civil disorder. And, and so Tertullus says, "Just examine him yourself. You'll see this." And the other Jew, Jews, the high priest and these other elders in the, are in the back room saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, he definitely did these things. You'll see." And so Felix proceeds to begin his examination of Paul by giving Paul his opportunity to offer his testimony and his defense.So we continue on in verse ten. It says, "When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied, 'I know that for a number of years you have been judge over this nation, so I gladly make my defense. You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues, or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.However, I admit that I worship the God ...
Transcribe →Our Duty and Courage in Christ - Pastor Tom Loghry
May 20Tap to summarizeOur Duty and Courage in Christ - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download Paul rebukes the high priest after being struck and declares he is on trial for the hope of the resurrection, prompting a dispute that forces the Roman commander to remove him. The Lord encourages Paul and promises he will testify in Rome. A plot to assassinate Paul is uncovered, leading Claudius Lysias to escort Paul by night with a large guard to Governor Felix, who finds no charge deserving death. .Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on Watch on YoTranscript: Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"Dear Father, as we come before your word this morning, we pray that you would use it to encourage us, to encourage us by the testimony of your faithful care for us, that you would use it to encourage us to be brave, to carry out the duty that you have handed to us, that we would fear you above all things. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. You may be seated.Who do you fear? I can tell you there is one you should fear, but I don't know if he is the one you fear. Who do you fear? Maybe it's not a specific person, not any one specific face looming in your mind's imagination. Maybe it is bigger than that. You fear the crowd, facing social disapproval, or worse. You fear becoming the outcast, the butt of jokes, that person. The threat of a sort of death, losing your place, your belonging, your sense of identity.Popularity and praise, acceptance, we crave it. God created us to be social creatures. It is not good for man to be alone. We fear the isolation. We fear death, but we should fear God more.Standing for the truth has consequences. When Jesus hints to the disciple the mission that they're going to be taking up, he also tells them who they should fear, because tough times are going to confront them, things that would make anyone fearful. He says in Matthew ten, verses twenty-seven through twenty-eight, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight. What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell."If we are more fearful of other human beings than we are of God, we will fold when it counts every single time. When the cards are down on the table, we must reckon whether we will listen to God or whether we will listen to man. Peter and John set before us their own example in Acts four. Maybe some of you will remember this from when we covered it previously.When the Sanhedrin told them to stop preaching the gospel, they said to them in Acts four, verse nineteen through twenty, "Which is right in God's eyes? To listen to you or to Him? You be the judges. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."We encounter a similar situation here in Acts twenty-three as Paul himself stands before the Sanhedrin, a body of up to seventy-one elders of the people. The Roman commander wants answers as to why Paul is causing so much unrest and so he brings Paul to them. So picking up with the last verse of chapter twenty-two, verse thirty, we begin reading, "The commander wanted to find out exactly why, why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them." And as was read before, "Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, 'My brothers, I've fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.' At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, 'God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.' Those who were standing near Paul said "How dare you insult God's high priest?" Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest. For it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'" Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead." When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the assembly was divided. The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things. There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"So Paul is on trial here. He's on trial before a body that cannot kill him necessarily, just as they couldn't have killed Jesus themselves, but their report is going to be very influential in, in determining what the commander might do with Paul. And so standing before them, Paul makes his defense, and his defense is simply this: "My brothers, I've fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience."What Paul is saying essentially is, "I'm standing before you in the position that you may judge me, but in fact, I know that before the, the one true judge, God, that I stand faultless. I'm, because I have done all that he called me to do." And we know what he was called to do, which caused some controversy, which is that he was sent to be an apostle to the Gentiles, to bring news to the world that salvation had come not only for the Jews, but for all people in Jesus Christ. Knowing that this is what God had called him to do, even as he faces a body, a group of men who he was raised to revere and respect, a body that he probably wished and desired would say, "Good job, Paul."Despite all that, he rests assured because he knows he's approved by God, even if these men might reject him. It brings to mind both the words of Jesus and Paul's words elsewhere. Jesus in Luke 17:10 says that when the Master returns, when He returns, we should be able to say this: "so you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty.'" And Paul in Galatians 1:9-10 says in verse 10, "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I was still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." In 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4, in verse four he says, "We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts."You see, if you follow Jesus, there's a very strong chance that you're not going to please people, that sometimes you're going to make them upset, that they're gonna disapprove of you, that they're gonna say that you're doing something that is wrong. But we have a higher duty. We have a higher call. And we have no need to congratulate ourselves in doing that because it is our duty. It is what we are expected to do. We are not going above and beyond. Jesus Christ is Lord, he is due our complete loyalty and fidelity.And so with that in mind, Paul is able to stand before this body and say, "I have a clear conscience even as you disapprove of me."Now, this is a call that all of us should take into account for our own lives, that we should consider that as we've been called to be faithful unto God above all things, that we would not be swayed by the disapproval of others when we know that, when their way is going against the ways of God. Now, I've heard it said before, bi-vocational ministry is a, is a great thing and, and it can be a great thing for pastors that work both out in the marketplace and work in the church.Sometimes I've heard it said that one of the benefits of doing that is then you, you're not held captive by a congregation if they want you to do something that doesn't align with God's Word. And that's always bothered me a little bit, and it's bothered me because it should not matter. It should not matter. Even if a pastor fears that a church may decide, "We wanna get rid of you. You're done here. You're gonna lose your job. You're gonna lose the place that you live," it should not matter. And I can tell you that does not matter to me. It's not about the money, and Paul has said that multiple times in his ministry, that it's not about the money, it's not about the approval of, of others.Which again, we can imagine Paul desiring here. It's about God...
Transcribe →The Unpopular Gospel - Pastor Tom Loghry
May 11Tap to summarizeThe Unpopular Gospel - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download After Paul is arrested in Jerusalem, he tries to offer a defense before the Jews that were gathered. They begin to protest all the more and the commander sends him to be flogged. Paul then reveals his Roman citizenship..Listen on Spotify Listen/Download on iTunesWatch on Watch on YouTubeTranscript: The truth is the truth, but it is not always popular. People love the truth when it backs them up, when it confirms their priors. They despise the truth when it cuts against them. The truth should be loved unconditionally, not only when it fits our narrative. Because we should always be seeking the better narrative, the truer narrative than those stories that we tell ourselves. God's narrative over those of our own making.More often, however, we fight back. From the end of Acts 21 into chapter 22, we hear Paul's own testimony of how he came to be an apostle of Christ. It's a story told not for its own sake, but because it reveals the truth. It reveals the truth of who Jesus is, and it reveals the truth of regarding God's redemptive purpose here in this world. We learn the true story in Paul's story. And as we'll see, there are fireworks in response. Already, as you'll recall, Paul had been dragged from the temple under the accusation that he had defiled the temple by bringing a Gentile, named Trophimus, into the temple. Now, Paul hadn't done that, but he was accused of doing that. Jews from Asia Minor knew Paul, and they wanted to bring trouble for him, and they started a riot. And they were trying to kill Paul until Roman troops intervened. And so we continue the story from that point in verse 37 of Acts 21.Now, as has always, already been read, Paul begins speaking to the commander. He says, "May I say something to you?" And Paul says this in Greek, and the commander is impressed. In fact, the commander is surprised because he had supposed that, in fact, Paul was a terrorist. He says in verse 38, "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?" The time in which Paul is living is a very violent time. The Jewish historian Josephus corroborates, in fact, this detail of there being a false prophet who came from Egypt, was not a native Egyptian, but was a Jew who lived in Egypt, in order to try to lead a revolt against the Romans. Now, it failed, but they were trying to get the guy. And meanwhile, also, there is a group in the area known as the Sicarii, which is just kind of a plural term for the daggers, those who use daggers. They're a group of assassins. They went after the Roman authorities and any Jewish sympathizers, killing them in broad daylight. So the commander here thinks that the people are upset because they've found one of these terrorists, or perhaps even, in particular, this, this one fellow who has been causing trouble from, from Egypt.But the fact that Paul is so fluent in Greek suggests to him that Paul probably isn't this, this fellow. And Paul tells him as much. He says, "I, I'm," he says, "I'm, I'm basically not from there. I'm from, I'm a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, citizen of no ordinary city." Now, Tarsus was a very respectable city. It wasn't any sort of backwater town. It wasn't a seedy kind of place. And so what we find is that the commander's going to give Paul permission to speak here. Why? Because he's probably hoping that Paul will be able to clear this all up, cause the crowd to disperse because they'll realize that he's no troublemaker. He's just this guy from Tarsus, it's all a big mix-up.And so Paul makes his approach, and as we'll see, he, he addresses his countrymen in the Aramaic language. Now, this is the language that Jesus spoke. It's the language that was commonly spoken by the Jews at this time, even while the scriptures were originally written in Hebrew. Hebrew had fallen somewhat out of, out of common use. And so he's speaking to them in a language that's not familiar to the Roman authorities. They don't understand it. Now, I'm going to read through the speech as a whole so you have a feel for it. It just kind of feels a little artificial to break up a speech. I'm gonna read it as a whole, and then we'll talk about it some.So Paul says this. "After receiving the commander's permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic, 'Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.' When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said, 'I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. About noon, as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" I asked. "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting," he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. "What shall I do, Lord?" I asked. "Get up," the Lord said, "and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do." My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. He stood beside me and said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight." And at that very moment, I was able to see him. Then he said, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on his name."When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking to me. "Quick," he said, "leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me." "Lord," I replied, "these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him." Then the Lord said to me, "Go. I will send you far away to the Gentiles."'"So, and this is where the speech ends. Not according to Paul's plan, but it ends. In verses, in the first few verses here of Paul's speech, we see that he begins with kind of his bona fides in speaking to his countrymen. He says, "I'm a Jew like you. I'm from Tarsus, but I was raised in Jerusalem. I was raised in this very city." And more than that, he actually studied under a highly respected teacher, a well-known Pharisee named Gamaliel. He studied the law, and he was completely religiously zealous. And he tells them, "I, I was just as zealous as you are today." They're trying to kill him. They're upset because they think that he's defying the law, saying, "I was just like you." In fact, Paul was so zealous, he tells them, that he persecuted the followers of the, of the Way, which is just another way of referring to Christians. Christians are followers of the Way of Jesus Christ.He was so zealous for trying to defend what he believed to be the truth that he was trying to imprison the Christians, he was trying to kill the Christians. He wanted to go outside of Jerusalem. He wanted to go to Damascus, over in the area of Syria, to go get the Christians there and bring them back to Jerusalem just to punish them, to shut them up. And so he, he got letters to the associates in Damascus, "Go and do this very thing." So the people that he is speaking to, and the authorities in Jerusalem, they know Paul. They know his story. They can say, "Yeah, that's what actually happened. He was in tight with us."And so in doing this, what Paul is doing is he's, he's setting the stage here of his credibility as a witness. How is it that a man like that, whose great joy in life was to try to kill Christians, then becomes an apostle of Christ, becomes a Christian himself? Well, it takes a very profound intervention. That's what he relates to them. He says, "I was on my way to Damascus." He was on his way to Damascus when he was suddenly struck by this bright light which blinded him. He had this encounter with Christ. Jesus called out to him saying, "Saul, Saul, why do...
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