Let Me Show You The Door | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church

1:26 From Italia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles, and they stayed there a long time with the disciples. Now, I know I'm dropping you in the middle of that passage and just not telling you much about it at all. It doesn't even say who the characters are. It just says they, they, they. I'll come back to that. But let's look at one in Matthew, chapter 4, before we officially begin the sermon. Matthew, chapter 4, verses 8 through 11. This one should be a little bit more familiar to you, both in the Bible and in your own life. Again, the Devil… You know him.

2:20 God is a character who needs no introduction. Again, the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "'All this I will give you,' he said, if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "'Away from me, Satan, for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Verse 8 and 9 is where a lot of us have been living lately, where the Devil has been talking to us and taking us places in our minds. Verse 11 is where we want to get today by the time I'm done preaching. Verse 11 says, "'Then the Devil left him, and angels came and attended him.'" How many want to get to verse 11 by the time I finish today.

3:20 Then the Devil left him, and angels came and attended him. I like to give my messages fun titles, titles that are fun for me, and sometimes I like to have you say them to your neighbor. Basically what Jesus told the Devil was, get out of here. I'm going to have you say to your neighbor what Jesus said to the Devil. Just tell your neighbor, I know you're not the Devil. Tell them, I love you, but for the purpose of illustration… The next thing is my title. You say it to them real nice. Say it real polite, but say it firm. Look at them like they need to leave. Tell them this. Let me show you the door. Let me show you the door. This is an international ministry, so idioms don't always translate across cultures.

4:20 That is a polite way of saying, you have to go. Let me show you the door. I'm making a call. You need to go now. Look at your other neighbor and say, Let me show you the door in Jesus' name. Put that at the end so it sounds nice. Be seated. God is good. Jesus ran that devil off. Away from me, Satan. In the King James Version it says, "'Get thee hence, Satan.'" That's basically saying, "'Let me show you the door. You have to go now. I've got something to do.'" Jesus ran the devil off and made him flee, because when the devil came to him with three different temptations, each time the devil came at him, he had the perfect comeback.

5:23 That's what we need to develop in our lives is a comeback strategy for when Satan comes at us. When accusation comes at you, I want you to have a comeback strategy. Have you ever had a perfect comeback but you couldn't say it because you calculated the damage it would do and you realized you were not in a position to take the shot? Maybe it was your boss, or maybe you just didn't want to have to mop it up later, or maybe you knew that if you said what you were going to say, maybe they had something they could say. This is not a marriage seminar, so I'm going to move quickly through it. To where you have the perfect comeback and you can't use it, or you have the perfect comeback but it's on a delay, and you think of it like Thursday, but it happened Monday, It would be kind of awkward to go back and say, "'Hey, say that thing again. Say it again.

6:23 I'm ready for you now.'" It was on a delay. There's actually a term for that. They call it staircase wit. It's when you have to go all the way down the stairs, and you're almost out the door, and you remember what you should have said or you think of what you should have said, and you turn back around. I like to share these little stories we share as preachers because they're funny. Forgive me if you've heard this one, but there is a story of a lady who went to a church, and she was not used to going to church, so she didn't have a lot of church clothes, and it was a really traditional church. She went in what she had, and she went in her clothes, but they weren't very modest and they weren't very nice. Everybody there was dressed very modestly and very nice. The lady sat through the service, and she was moved by it. When she was leaving the church. The preacher was waiting at the door. It was a very small church, and he would always shake everyone's hand on the way out the door. When he saw her, he took the opportunity to tell her, "'We're so glad to have you as our guest today, and you're welcome to come back here.

7:30 But before you come back, I want you to pray and ask the Lord what he would have you to wear when you come back to our church." She left pretty embarrassed by that. She went home, and she came back the next week. She came back the next week, and she sat through the service. This time people were a little bit more offended and annoyed, especially the pastor, because the whole sermon he's thinking, "'Woman, I told you.'" So he's waiting for her at the door when the service is over. He says, "'Hey, I thought I told you to pray and ask the Lord what you shall wear to this church before you came back?" She said, "'Oh, I did." He said, "'But you're wearing the same thing you wore last week.'" She said, "'Uh-huh.'" He said, "'Well, didn't you pray and ask the Lord what to wear before you came back to this church?' She said, "'I did.'" The preacher said, "'Well, what did he tell you?' She said, "'He told me he didn't know he'd never been to this church before.'" That is the power of a perfect comeback.

8:38 Shut that down. What do you say to that? Three times Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Three times Jesus had the perfect comeback. Satan said, if you're hungry because Jesus had been fasting for 40 days, turn these stones into bread. The Bible says God can do anything, and Jesus said, it's also written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test, the perfect comeback. Okay. Well, let me get you to prove God's power. If you're really the Son of God, throw yourself off this high point, and the angels will catch you. Doesn't the Bible talk about angels? Angels will catch you, right? Prove that you are who you say you are. Jesus said, I don't have to do that because I know what the Word says. It is written. the Enemy came to Jesus, each time Satan spoke, Jesus had the perfect comeback.

9:37 The third time is the one we referenced just now in Matthew chapter 4. It's so beautiful, because Jesus doesn't even bother to argue this time. He just says, "'Let me show you the door. Get thee hence. Away from me, Satan.'" It works, and the devil leaves. There are three things that are happening in this passage that may be happening in your life, and it's what I want to talk about for our lesson today. The first one is, the devil led Jesus. The second one is, he lied to Jesus. The third one is, he left Jesus. So, he led, he lied, and he left. What did he do? Everybody say, He led, he lied, and he left. Now, it occurs to me that a lot of us are stuck in the first two, that in your mind the Devil is telling you stuff, and he is leading you, and he is lying to you, but you can't figure out how to make him leave. Thankfully for us, Jesus gives us the perfect comeback. Isn't it amazing, though, that a lot of people, when you talk to them about the devil is talking to you or the devil is tempting you, they kind of have a not-me-I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about attitude?

11:00 It is possible that the devil is not talking to you. It may be that you are a more advanced Christian than Jesus. So maybe Jesus had to fight this, but you don't. Maybe you have matured more than Jesus. Or there is a second possibility. I can illustrate the second possibility this way. You say, well, the devil doesn't discourage me. I never think I'm not good enough. I never think I don't have what it takes. I never think I can't do it. I never think I should change. All of this… You know how on your GPS… This is just an illustration. You put in a destination, and then you put it… Some people leave the narrator on where it says out loud where you need to turn and stuff like that. But the person on the GPS does not talk unless it wants you to turn in a different direction. You can run the GPS as much as you want, and if the GPS likes the direction you're headed, it won't say anything. So maybe the devil isn't saying anything to you.

12:06 Maybe he likes the direction you're headed in. Good golly, Ms. Molly, help this man preach! So if the Devil is talking to you, that tells me something about where God is taking you. If he's not, it shows me he doesn't want to waste any resistance on a Christian who doesn't have any forward momentum. If he's not discouraging you, you are not being pushed past your comfort zone. He will feed you. He will comfort you all the way into complacency. But if you ever start making progress… It is significant for a lot of us to realize that Jesus was tempted by the enemy on the verge of his earthly ministry.

13:01 He was the eternal Word of God. He was not new to the scene, and yet this was the moment the Word made flesh was about to begin his mission to the cross. The devil starts talking, and the fact that the devil is talking to Jesus tells us that God is taking him somewhere. God is taking me somewhere. Tell your neighbor, that's why I've been struggling, because God is taking me somewhere. See, I used to just give in to every sin, but now I try to resist it. So I'm struggling now, but the struggle I have now is proof of the fact that I'm headed somewhere I wasn't headed before. The fact that I'm struggling more now does not mean, oh, I need to preach this for somebody, because the Devil has been telling you the exact opposite, and the Lord has been talking to me about the fact that the Devil has been talking to you.

13:56 You are worthless. It's too late. It's over for you. Nobody even cares. Nobody would miss you if you're gone. It would be better for them if you were gone. You are actually the reason they are that way. You can't recover from that. You didn't recover from the thing before it. What makes you think it's going to be any different now? It is very instructive for me to realize as a preacher that I'm not the only one up here talking. I'm not the only one who's saying words to you right now. At the very moment Jesus is about to do the most good, he is the most tempted. Coincidence? I think not. What happens is you get so distracted by the conflict that you don't see the progress. You get so distracted by the conflict that you don't see the potential.

14:51 Wouldn't it be just like the Devil to kill you in the wilderness where Jesus was when he fasted 40 days and 40 nights? We know this Devil stands no chance against Jesus, but we're not so sure about us. What I want you to realize today that took me a while to figure out is that when I am coming into the season of my greater impact… When I'm coming into the season of greater surrender to God, which is the goal of a Christian, the goal of the Christian is not just our eternal and everlasting preference being met at every turn. When I'm coming into that season when God wants to do something new through me, I should expect the following. For every door that God opens, there will be opposition.

15:51 No door that God opens will be unopposed in your life. No door that he opens to your growth. No door that he opens to your relational intimacy. No door that he opens for you to be a witness for Jesus Christ in your sphere of influence. No door that God opens will be without opposition. The greatest way you can deal with the opposition is to realize that God opens doors that nobody can shut. If he opened it, they can't close it. If he opened it, your IQ can't close it. He knew the exact number of your IQ and your SAT score when he called you into your situation. So if the statistics can't close it, if the haters can't close it, if the sickness can't close it, the only thing that can close it is if you get distracted by the conflict and give up on the progress, which is why Jesus said, Away from me!

16:53 I'm on the verge of something God sent me to do. I'm on the verge of fulfilling my mission to forgive the sin of all who would believe in my name. I know I'm revved up real early in my sermon, but I need to preach to somebody to tell you that God is not the only one who opens doors. The Devil does too. Doors of discouragement, doors of disappointment, doors of dysfunctional behavior that were planted in your heart, sometimes in early developmental stages of your life. When I heard about Jesus saying, Away from me, Satan, it gave me hope to realize that he is giving me an example, that every door he opens will be opposed, but it cannot be closed by anyone other than him. Clap your hands and give God praise, because he's a door-opening God.

17:50 Jesus had the perfect comeback for the Devil. He said, "'Away from me, Satan.'" Sometimes we don't come back at the Devil like we need to. In fact, instead of telling him to go away, we tell him, "'Keep coming.'" We don't even realize we're doing it. Now, I know this message is not comfortable to hear. You think it was comfortable to prepare? I don't preach what I want to preach. I preach what God gives me to preach. The Lord told me the Devil has been talking to you, telling you it's just one time it doesn't matter, telling you everybody does that. It's not abnormal. Yes, it is for you. You're a child of God. Your family has different customs. You're a citizen of a different kingdom. I wanted to share with you an example of how, as God opens doors in your life and in my life and in the life of our church, there will often be opposition. Go with me to Acts chapter 14, the scripture I read first, and I want to show you about two people God really used. One of them I know you've heard of.

19:05 his name is Paul, and the other one you don't know as much about, his name is Barnabas. When the Bible says in Acts 14, verse 26, God, I love your word. Thank you for the privilege to preach it. From Atalia, they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. That verse to me is so rich that I don't want to skip it. It says they went back to the place, Antioch, where the center of the church was really beginning to be molded and melded, Jews and Gentiles all coming out of the church at Antioch, the third biggest city in the Roman Empire. It was positioned in such a way as to be an ascending hub. The first missionaries that were sent out from the church at Antioch were Paul and Barnabas. Now, when it says that they had been committed to the grace for the work they had now completed, it really spoke to me, because sometimes I do the opposite.

20:11 I try to complete the work without getting the grace. There was a period where the church at Antioch was fasting and praying, and they wanted to send two believers to the Gentiles, those who weren't Jews, those who were not included in the Old Covenant but were being grafted into the New Covenant through Jesus Christ. They knew they wanted to send Paul because Paul was uniquely gifted and graced for this assignment. I want you to remember when the devil starts talking to you, God will never let you go where you are not graced to be.

20:49 You can go there on your own, but he'll bring you back. He'll bring you to a place where he'll show you you are not graced for that. Paul was graced for it, so every time God says, go, he gives grace for everywhere he says, go. In this season of your life, you may be trying to grind without grace, and that would be a problem. When you try to grind without grace, you leave yourself wide open to the devil. It's possible that life could open a door to you, but you don't have the grace to go through it. Until we get sensitive to the Spirit of God, we will find ourselves going into situations we don't have grace for, because we've seen others go there, because we thought we had to go there to prove something, just like the devil was tempting Jesus. Throw yourself off the highest cliff. Prove you're the Son of God. Jesus said, I don't have to prove anything to you.

21:46 I was just baptized in the Jordan where my father said I was his beloved son in whom he was well pleased. You know that scripture? So Jesus had the grace to do it. Paul had the grace to do it. Barnabas had the grace to do it. So when the enemy comes to you and tells you you can't do it, tell him I got grace for this. Practice it one time. Say, I got grace for it. I can't explain it. I have grace for it. I can't break it down for you in a formula. I have grace for it. It makes no sense on paper. I have grace for it. I didn't even think I was that good at it, but I have grace for it. I know there are more people who are more qualified and more smart and more educated and more intelligent and more tall and more broad and more strong and more holy and more righteous and have better beards, but I'm graced for it.

22:41 I just saw a guy with a good beard. I was feeling envious, so I had to preach through it. Tell somebody, I have grace for this. In the grace God gave them at Antioch with the confirmation of the elders of the church at Antioch, they went out. I want you to notice three things that are going to help you have the perfect comeback for the devil. When he comes at you this week, you are not going to get to the bottom of the stairs and think, Oh, wait! You are not going to wait until next Saturday night to say, Oh, I have to go back to church. I have to go to elevation. You are not going to get stuck at the bottom of the stairs this week thinking, I have to get back to church to get a word for the devil. You are going to have the comeback for him at the door the moment he knocks to try to tell you what you're not. Who am I preaching to that has faith for it today? Yeah. A comeback.

23:47 I thought it was interesting because Jesus had a comeback for the devil. It is written. He knew the Word of God. He had a comeback for the devil. I thought it was interesting how in the passage we read they were coming back to the place where they were sent from. They were coming back to the grace they started with. I thought that word, comeback, was interesting, kind of like a double meaning. Right? They're coming back to Antioch. They've been gone. 1,200 miles of travel have passed, and 12 months of time. 1,200 miles of travel, 12 months of time, and they have seen some amazing things. The Bible says they came back. I kept reading, and I was like, I want to talk about the comeback, but I also want to talk about point number two. These all start with C. Number one is comeback. Number two is I want to talk about the connection.

24:44 I noticed, and I want you to notice, how many times in this passage, Acts chapter 14, the word they appears. It says, from Atalia, they sailed to Antioch. They sailed to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them. What God does through you is a lot of times determined by the they you are connected to. If anybody could have done it alone, it would have been Paul. Paul. For all of you who try to do it alone in your own strength, maybe you're a better Christian than Paul and Jesus, but the rest of us need a they. Imagine they're picking. We have to send Paul because he's learned, and he's of the tribe of Benjamin, and he can really speak to the Jews and the Gentiles, and he has a Roman citizenship, so he's very able to be very fluent in both languages, not only the language of faith in Jesus but the language of Judaism. Who should we send with him? Barnabas. You said Silas. No, Silas went to prison with him in 16. Silas could sing, but Barnabas had a very special gift. His name means son of encouragement.

26:11 Now, does this say something about what Paul struggled with, that the one they sent with him was one of these guys? Now look at your neighbor. Big smile, thumbs up, say, you need one of these guys. You need a Barnabas. They looked at Paul. Paul, you're a powerful preacher. You're an amazing preacher. You're a man of God. You're anointed, and you're called, and you're chosen. Now, Barnabas was not only an encourager, but he was the one who brought Paul into the fold to begin with. They were scared of Paul. Paul was the one who would go and have the Christians executed before he became one, before the Lord smacked him right off his beast and told him, I'm Jesus of Nazareth. Who do you think you're messing with? I'm about to show you how much you must suffer for my sake because you're my vessel. That's where Paul was, and the people were like, you want us to have the guy that was the terrorist on our team? Barnabas is like, Yeah, he's changed. Let's give him a chance. Thank God for Barnabas.

27:20 Barnabas was hypothetical. Barnabas was optimistic. Barnabas was able to see the best in Paul. He was able to see the Paul in Saul. I want to talk about your connections today, because the fact that they made it through everything they made it through was the fact that they were they. I believe the reason the devil doesn't leave your life a lot of times is because you try to run him off alone. There comes a point where you can't fight this in your own head. There comes a point where you can't fight this with your own personality. If you could have gotten you out of this, you'd be out by now. So what you're still doing here… Maybe you are waiting on the right connection. And perhaps the reason we feed some of our insecurities sometimes is because we stay in isolation, where there is nothing to prove anything other to us than the words the Devil is speaking.

28:24 The Lord told me to tell you that there may be a Barnabas you are missing in your life that is causing you to remain stuck in the loop the Devil has you in. There may be. And there may be some people in your life who are the opposite of Barnabas, some people in your life who really aren't headed where you're headed. I would kind of like to refer you back to my title. You may need to send them a text right now. I'm listening to a sermon. Let me show you the door. That will be code for you to have the conversation you need to have, because you cannot fulfill a Paul-sized mission without a Barnabas-sized encouragement. Sometimes it will be a BYOB situation.

29:27 That stands for be your own Barnabas. the people you need to encourage you, they're having a bad week too. Guess what? Maybe you need to do what David said. David said, I encourage myself in the Lord. I know what's written in the Psalms because I wrote them. I'll quote my own Psalm back to myself when I'm struggling. This is so important so you don't get stuck at the bottom talking about, oh, I need to get to church. oh, I need to get around the right people. You do, but there's a lot of time between Sunday and Sunday, so there will be situations in your life where you need a connection to something. You need a connection to someone. You need a connection to people that can remind you of the purpose God put inside of you. Comeback. Connection. Isn't that good? Paul and Barnabas. It's as if… Abby, go get my notes off the shelf for me real quick.

30:31 Just get the whole folder. Now, this will be great. I want to act this out, because I really want you to get the story in your heart. Bring me the whole folder. Abigail means Father's joy, so sit down with me. Be my Barnabas for a minute in the illustration. Remember, I told you, Paul and Barnabas… Go back to verse 26. Show them in the text. It says, they went from Italia to Antioch, which is not like going from Marvin to Ballantyne. This is a 300-mile trip in itself. Remember, I told you they've already been 1,200 miles, 12 months. Now they have a decision to make on the way back because they have to give a report to the church how it went. The part I didn't read you was everything that happened before Acts 14, 26, and 28, kind of like I didn't read you how Jesus fasted 40 days before the devil left. I just got straight to the part, the devil left, and I was hoping you would shout, but you didn't even shout about that, so I know you're not going to shout about this. The angels came, and that's exciting, and we all want to get there. But realize, if we put ourselves in the historical context of this passage. Paul and Barnabas have 300 miles to travel, and they have to figure out what we're going to tell them when we get back. Barnabas was probably keeping good notes and stuff like that because Paul was the one who was mostly talking. They have 300 miles to figure out together. When we stand in front of the church that sent us, when we get back to Antioch, what will we report? I'm not saying that Paul was a pessimist, because I don't believe he was.

32:18 He wrote amazing verses like, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more. So, I am not throwing Paul under the bus. But Barnabas had the gift of encouragement. I think while they were going back, they were probably going through their log of everything that happened over the next 12 months. Okay, what are we going to tell them when we get there, Barnabas? And they're going through their notes. Because how do you condense 12 months into one talk? Because it said they gathered the church together and told them. I imagine the first place they realized they had to talk about was Cyprus. When they got to Cyprus, the island called Cyprus, that's in Acts chapter 13. And while they were there, God was using them. Paul's like, you remember that guy, that sorcerer in Cyprus? Barnabas is like, yeah. Yeah. What was his name again? Paul's like, oh, I'll never forget his name. Elymas.

33:22 Elymas. His name literally means sorcerer. Barnabas is like, oh, yeah, I remember now. Elymas. Yeah. Even Barnabas couldn't see much good in Elymas. He's like, yeah, he was a bad dude. Right when we were going to have an audience with the governor of that city, Elymas started trying to interrupt us and distract from Jesus. Just when it looked like we were going to make progress with a very important governor, Elymas stood up and distracted. Paul's like, yeah, that guy got on my nerves. I hate Elymas. If I ever see Elymas again, I'm going to tell him. Barnabas is like, well, wait now, Paul. Do you remember what you said to him? Paul's like, kind of. Barnabas goes, I got it. I got it written right here. Now put up Acts chapter 13, verse 8. Look what happened. But Elimus, the sorcerer, for that is what his name means, opposed them and tried to turn the governor from the faith. He was about to receive Jesus, which would have been a major open door for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

34:25 He was a Gentile and he was a governor. Remember, right on the verge of God doing something amazing in your life, right when you are at the threshold of it, right when you are at the doorframe of it, there will be a Devil. The Devil doesn't mean the door wasn't real. The Devil doesn't mean God wasn't in it. The Devil at the door might mean you are You're headed in the right direction, and he's trying to get you to turn around. Barnabas says, Paul, you looked at Elimus and I quote verse 9 and told him…

35:05 Verse 10. You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right. You are full of all kinds of deceit. Will you never stop perverting the ways of the Lord? Paul's like, I said all that? He's like, yeah, you said all that. You called him a child of the devil. It's kind of mean, Paul, but it was the perfect comeback for the situation. Watch what God did in verse 11. Then suddenly, after Paul spoke up, suddenly after Paul confronted the opposition, suddenly after Paul refused to let the devil block his door… I'm looking for somebody today who refuses to let the devil have this one. He said, The hand of the Lord is against you. You're going to be blind for a time, not even able to see. The light of the sun and immediately, mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. And look what happened in verse 12. Barnabas said, "'And when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.'" So maybe when we get to Antioch in a few days, we'll tell them about the sorcerer at Cyprus, and we'll tell them how we faced resistance. But we'll tell them that after After the resistance came a revelation.

36:22 After the resistance came a revelation. Paul said, Are we going to tell them about the sorcerer? Barnabas said, Yeah, but we have to make sure to tell them that if the sorcerer wouldn't have been struck blind, the governor wouldn't have seen Jesus. Let me show you the door. The resistance was the starting place of the revelation. Now, what resistance… Are you okay being up here with me like this? I didn't check and let you tell me. You didn't get to choose what to wear to be on stage or nothing like that, but you're doing great. Imagine this. The resistance you're facing in your life right now might be the door to a revelation of how great God is. Maybe.

37:15 Let me show you the door. You want God to take the resistance away while you're simultaneously praying for him to make you strong? How will he make you strong with no resistance? How will he show you who he is if he doesn't let you find out who you're not without him? Remember that, Paul, when you looked at him and said, You child of the Devil? That was the perfect comeback. So, when we get back and we get to Antioch and we're in front of the church council, let's make sure we tell them there was resistance, but it led to Revelation. Then we should tell them about the pettiness in Pisidia. I like to alliterate it, because I believe Paul would have done that. Paul said, We have to tell them how when we got to Pisidia, there was so much pettiness that these Jews who were jealous started trying to stir up trouble. Barnabas is like, Yeah, but Paul, you handled it great, man.

38:19 You handled that so good. When they were trying to stir up trouble against you and they rejected you… Do you remember what you said, Paul? Paul was like, well, yeah, kind of, but tell me about it. Burnimus goes, oh, yeah, well, I wrote it down. Look at Acts 13, verse 44. Isn't this good, babe? I'm trying to get you to see that what the devil is telling you tells me something about where God is taking you. I want you to get your stack back in your hands, and I want you on your 300-mile journey with your Barnabas, whether the Barnabas is a friend, whether the Barnabas is this sermon because you're watching it alone on YouTube, whether the Barnabas is your own spirit because you've been consulting your flesh too long and your feelings too long and your past too long, but greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

39:13 I want you to remember the pettiness in Pisidia. We got to Pisidia. We were preaching, man. It was amazing. We left the island of Cyprus. We got to Pisidia. People were listening. Acts 13, verse 44, please. On the next Sabbath, the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Paul, you were preaching, man. The Jews saw the crowds, and they were filled with jealousy, and they began to contradict what you were saying, and they heaped abuse on you. They said things about you that weren't true, man. This is Barnabas talking. Word to the wise, let Barnabas talk. Quit listening to the accuser all the time. Let Barnabas talk. Let the God who believes in you speak. Paul was having abuse heaped on him, and Paul and Barnabas answered him boldly. Barnabas got in on this too. He said, we had to speak the Word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. Let me ask a question. How many of you are not Jewish by birth? This is how you got here. Think about it. They rejected Paul, Paul, and because they rejected Paul, Paul reached you.

40:31 Maybe Paul and Barnabas decided on that 300-mile trip back to Antioch, when we get there, let's make sure to tell them that rejection can become redirection. High-five your neighbor and say, They didn't reject me. They redirected me. That was my GPS talking. That was God using that to get me on a different path, because I would have always stayed in that place if I didn't feel a rejection. Paul actually turned to the crowd and said, we were preaching to you, but now we are turning to the Gentiles because rejection can be redirection. So, let's make sure we tell them about the pettiness in Pisidia and the sorcerer in Cyprus. But Paul, I also think we need to tell them about the lynching. I think we need to tell them about the lynching you went through in Lydda. When they got to Lydda, Paul was doing miracles, man.

41:41 Do you mind if I tell you these Bible stories real quick? My barber told me, don't forget, the people you're preaching to hadn't opened their Bible all week. I was like, they open it some. He was like, maybe the app, but you really need to dig end to these stories for us. I want you to get it, because if you don't get this part of it… When I read you a verse that says, The Devil left Jesus, or Paul and Barnabas stood up and reported how the Lord opened a door, you'll think the door opened without difficulty. You will be surprised when you struggle, and you will think you are not a saint because you struggle. You may even begin to believe the Devil that you are not who God says you are. When they got to Lydda, Paul performed miracles to the extent that one who was crippled from birth got up. Now, when he got up, the crowd went crazy, as crowds do when people who have never walk before start to walk. They took it a little too far. In fact, they started saying, Paul and Barnabas are gods. Barnabas is Zeus. Paul is Hermes. Paul was like, no, no, no. We're servants like you. They're like, oh, yeah, we know who you are. You are Zeus and Hermes. But see, other people can't tell you who you are when you know who you are.

43:13 And when you know who you are, you don't get too high and you don't get too low, because your hope is built on what Jesus says about you. So, Paul wasn't too swayed by the lows. He wasn't too swayed by the highs. He said, we are just men. We are servants who have come to tell you about Jesus. That's all we are. We are just the ones who open the door. We're not the door. So they started preaching that, and the people were going crazy. Then watch what happened in Acts 14, verse 19. It says they stoned Paul. What happened? Some people came in who were jealous. Some people came in who were mixed up, and they stoned him and dragged him outside the city thinking he was dead. Maybe Paul says, we've got to tell them about the lynching in Lydda. Barnabas says, yeah, but we've got to make sure we tell them what happened next, Paul, because it was amazing. They stoned you and left you for dead, and they turned on you, and they condemned you, and they accused you, and they buried you, and they maligned you, and they hurt you. It looked like it was over, but give me verse 20. It is written, It is written, but after the disciples had gathered around him, but after the help came, but after the connection came, Paul got up and went back.