1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,280 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:08,880 Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information. 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:15,760 The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:21,400 to better grow in your relationship with Jesus. 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:23,960 Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary. 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,040 It's great to have you with us. 7 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:31,760 Now before we get started, a little housekeeping for just a moment, so bear with me. 8 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,960 I'd like to remind you that if you have questions, if there's something that you'd like to hear 9 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,320 discussed or something discussed even like maybe in a little bit more detail, or even 10 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:47,800 if you have a prayer request, any of these types of things, our contact information is 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:53,960 posted on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or you can find us on Facebook. 12 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,920 All you have to do is do a search for Be The Light Sanctuary. 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:03,240 I'd love to hear from you all or even if it's not necessarily so much for our ministry pages 14 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,520 or anything, just the podcast page. 15 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,560 Do a quick search for Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 16 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,000 You'll find it. 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,280 Regardless of which place you go to, I personally see each and every single one of these messages. 18 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:17,280 So please send them in. 19 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:18,280 I love hearing from you all. 20 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:19,280 I love to interact. 21 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:26,520 Plus, if there's something out there that we need to discuss or bring some enlightenment 22 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:31,880 to by all means, I love hearing that too because as the body of Christ, as the church, we need 23 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:38,480 to grow and hearing those areas where we need to grow in, definitely it's helpful, not only 24 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,780 to me, but to you to make sure you're getting what you need as well. 25 00:01:42,780 --> 00:01:45,000 So please don't hesitate. 26 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:46,000 Reach out. 27 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:53,800 I said, head up the podcast page, Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, or just go to the website 28 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:58,960 or the Facebook page even for that matter, Be The Light Sanctuary and the website being 29 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:00,960 BeTheLightSanctuary.org. 30 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:05,600 So with that said, let's get into it. 31 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:12,080 In the military and not just there, any occupation really, but I'm talking about the military 32 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:14,120 because that's where I come from. 33 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,820 That's a big part of my background as you well know. 34 00:02:18,820 --> 00:02:25,240 In the military, we often find ourselves in positions where we have to step in and question 35 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,080 what's going on. 36 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:35,160 In fact, it's part of the oath we take not to just blindly or idly stand by while things 37 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,840 start popping off around us. 38 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:44,080 So when we do, we normally find that the course of action that's being carried out, not just 39 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:50,560 needs to change gears, there's an order to things, an expectation that we do things in 40 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:57,240 a certain way with regards to certain policies and certain laws, whether we agree with them 41 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:58,960 or not. 42 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,000 It's very much a situation of, hey, I didn't write the law. 43 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,680 I didn't write the policy, but it's my job to enforce it. 44 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:12,720 Like I said, this is something that we all run into regardless of what our vocation is. 45 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,160 I'm just speaking from my own history here. 46 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:20,080 Here's an example. 47 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,480 Standing gate duty. 48 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,120 For those of you who aren't sure what that is, it's that if you've seen the movies, you've 49 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:32,280 seen the TV shows, if you've driven by base anywhere, especially since 9-11 now that we 50 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:39,160 don't have open campuses or open bases anymore, you have the sentries at the gates, whether 51 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:47,400 it's the MPs or the guards or whatever, checking people in and out and all, that's gate duty. 52 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:48,400 That's where we're at. 53 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:49,400 That's the scene. 54 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,200 Here's gate duty. 55 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,600 It's nighttime and a young warrior comes walking through. 56 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:56,800 They're drunk and they're underage. 57 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:03,600 Now for most of us, the most common lines of thought are, he's not hurting anybody. 58 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:05,120 Let him go. 59 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,400 If he's old enough to carry a rifle and lay down his life, then he's old enough to drink 60 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:09,400 a beer. 61 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:14,280 As I said, those are the most common trains of thought in this situation. 62 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:21,280 However, say that you were to let him go about his business and just keep on going, and that 63 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:25,080 inebriation set into that point or maybe a little further down the road, it sets in a 64 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,360 little bit more, and he's not paying attention. 65 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:35,880 He walks out in front of a car and he gets hit and he's hurt or worse. 66 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:36,880 These things happen. 67 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,960 Heck, here in Albuquerque, we see it all the time. 68 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:42,720 People don't even have to be inebriated or anything. 69 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:47,800 It could be stone cold sober and still walk out in front of a car and get hit, hurt, or 70 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:49,800 killed. 71 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:55,120 We see it at least a couple of times a month, especially off of Central. 72 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,040 Or you look at the... 73 00:04:58,040 --> 00:04:59,480 He continues on his way. 74 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,520 He doesn't step in front of a car or anything, but he gets into a fight on the way back to 75 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,200 his barracks and gets seriously hurt or hurt somebody else. 76 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,880 You were the one who could have prevented it. 77 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,240 That's what you were there for. 78 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:19,200 Even though you may not agree with having to stop him and turn him over to his unit 79 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:25,160 to be dealt with, it is your duty. 80 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,920 We're about to see something very similar here. 81 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,320 Like I said, we're all put in positions where we don't necessarily agree with what we have 82 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,560 to do, but we have to do what's right. 83 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:38,880 We have to do what we're called to do. 84 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:40,280 We have to enforce those policies. 85 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:41,760 We have to enforce those laws. 86 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:42,880 It's important. 87 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,840 It's there for a reason. 88 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:45,840 All right. 89 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:49,960 So turn with me to the Book of Acts. 90 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:55,720 And we're going to be looking at chapters 21, well, the back part of chapter 21, and 91 00:05:55,720 --> 00:06:01,240 we're looking at chapter 22 today as we continue to look at Centurions and their soldiers. 92 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:02,440 All right. 93 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:08,000 Now we're going to skim over a good part of this today. 94 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,760 However, it's for time's sake one, but two, even with that said, I want to encourage you 95 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:20,040 all, go back, read it in its entirety when you have time, because we should all study 96 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:25,520 the word for ourselves and not just be blinded as to what it says. 97 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,560 Don't just take my word for it or anybody else's word. 98 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,260 We all need to know what's going on. 99 00:06:32,260 --> 00:06:38,120 We need to know what it says. 100 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:43,120 It's part of our growth, our maturity, and growing with Christ. 101 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,560 So however, like I said, we're going to skim through it, and a big part of it is because 102 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:49,420 we need to know the background. 103 00:06:49,420 --> 00:06:52,960 We need to see what's happening so we can fully understand what is happening when we 104 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,600 get to where we need to be. 105 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:08,520 So starting in Acts 21 verses 27 through 36, Paul had just returned to Jerusalem. 106 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,240 People who recognized him, they're pretty upset. 107 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:12,400 They're pretty heated. 108 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,600 So much so that they stirred the crowd up into... 109 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,680 They basically, they built up a lynch mob. 110 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:21,520 So it was pretty nasty. 111 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:25,360 It was hot, it was heavy. 112 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,720 They were just wanting to tear him apart. 113 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:28,720 Matter of fact, that's what they were doing. 114 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:29,720 They were taking him. 115 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:30,720 They were going to kill him. 116 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:36,400 And word of what was happening got to the Roman soldiers that were in the area. 117 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:42,960 Now being under Roman control in this area, in this region, these soldiers, upon hearing 118 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:44,600 what was going on, they had to investigate. 119 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:46,480 They had to find out what was going on. 120 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:47,480 And they tried. 121 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:48,480 They went out, they started talking to people. 122 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,760 They got conflicting accounts. 123 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,200 One person said one thing, another person said another. 124 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,520 So in order to basically quell the crowd, get things to simmer down and to get to the 125 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:01,040 bottom of what was happening, they took Paul into custody. 126 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:06,360 They apprehended him themselves. 127 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,880 They put him in cuffs and that's where we're at. 128 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:16,680 Going into Acts 21 verses 37 and carrying through the bulk of chapter 22 all the way 129 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:17,720 up to verse 21. 130 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,680 So Acts 21, 37 to 22 verse 21. 131 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:23,520 At this point, Paul's in chains. 132 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:27,120 Like I said, the handcuffs of the day. 133 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:34,560 Paul, at this point, because the crowd's starting to simmer down, he's in handcuffs. 134 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:38,120 He knows, okay, I'm basically protected at this point. 135 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:43,920 And he has something to say. 136 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:53,760 So he turns to the commander, the guard, and he addresses him in Greek. 137 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:59,320 So, hey, can I talk to these people for just a moment? 138 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:07,400 By doing this, he picked the guard's interest because he was speaking in Greek. 139 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:13,020 And not only that, in showing that he was bilingual like this, by speaking Greek, it 140 00:09:13,020 --> 00:09:20,520 showed that he was an educated man and a cultured man. 141 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:26,120 We're not just talking about some riff raff or some punk that was stirring up trouble 142 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,360 and getting people fired up. 143 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:36,680 So now, at this point, the guard's like, yeah, sure, let's do that. 144 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:39,760 Yeah, let's see what you have to say. 145 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:41,520 So he's allowed to speak to the people. 146 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:45,240 So Paul, he's switching gears a little bit here. 147 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,840 Not that he was being abrasive before or anything like that, but he's in a position now where 148 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:51,640 he can actually talk. 149 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:56,720 And in giving his defense, he's now speaking in Aramaic. 150 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,680 Aramaic was the common language of the area. 151 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:11,280 And in doing this, he was showing that not only was he a Jew, but he was a man who respected 152 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:19,640 the culture and the laws of the people. 153 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,120 After all, these were his people. 154 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:29,160 So by speaking Greek to the Romans and Aramaic to the people, he now has a captive audience. 155 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:30,160 People are listening. 156 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,480 It's like, okay, whoa, hold on a second. 157 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:33,480 There might be something to be had here. 158 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:35,320 Let's see what he has to say. 159 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:41,280 So at this point, Paul, he turns and he gives an account of who he is. 160 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:48,160 He's basically going through some of his credentials, his background persecuting Christians, just 161 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,320 like these people are now. 162 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,680 He knew what their passion was for doing so. 163 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,480 So he's already, he's connecting with them. 164 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,960 He understood why they did it, why they were doing what they're doing, everything that 165 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:05,720 they were thinking, every action that they were taking and every action that they wanted 166 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,720 to take. 167 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:15,700 These were things that he had an intimate personal knowledge of because he had previously 168 00:11:15,700 --> 00:11:17,640 been one of them. 169 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:24,600 Matter of fact, he had been one of the fiercest men of them, one of the fiercest men on that 170 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:35,740 crusade, personally responsible for the imprisonment and killing of several Christians himself. 171 00:11:35,740 --> 00:11:39,840 So at this point, I said, he's connecting with them and he's connecting with them at 172 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,840 a raw core level, right? 173 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:49,440 He's hit home, speaking right to their hearts. 174 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:55,160 And he continues on to share his testimony about Jesus and how he had found his faith 175 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:59,200 in Jesus. 176 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:06,040 You see, he didn't just give an account of who Jesus was. 177 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:13,280 He told them not only about who Jesus was, but what he had done in his life. 178 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,400 He made it personal. 179 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:19,040 Everything he was talking about here was personal. 180 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:25,160 And this is the key component that so many of us forget about, the vast majority of us 181 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:30,280 for that matter, forget about when we talk about Jesus, when we talk about the Bible. 182 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:34,080 Yes, giving biblical accounts is good. 183 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,440 We need to do that. 184 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:40,240 We need to have biblical references to direct people to, to show that we know what we're 185 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:41,840 talking about. 186 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:51,440 However, especially when talking to an unbeliever, we need to share our personal testimony about 187 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:57,440 how Jesus has stepped in and helped us in our lives, how we have a relationship with 188 00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,800 him. 189 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:01,640 We have to make it personal. 190 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:06,160 Thinking of it this way, it's like talking about a new car. 191 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:11,400 You can rattle off all the specs, like, you know, you pull them out of the owner's manual. 192 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:21,360 We've got 445 horsepower V8 small block with 445 feet, or 445 pound feet of torque, a manual 193 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,840 transmission and so on and so forth. 194 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,040 And half of you are bored to tears just hearing that little bit, right? 195 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:29,200 Now let's flip it. 196 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,360 Oh yeah, I got a new SUV. 197 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:32,360 It's great. 198 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,200 It's got that third row in the back. 199 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:38,960 So I'm able to get, you know, the kids and some of their teammates to practice on time, 200 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,800 you know, and it helps the other parents, but it helps me out because they're able to 201 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:43,480 actually start on time. 202 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,560 You know, plus we're able to fit, you know, everybody in the same car now. 203 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:48,440 We don't have to take two cars everywhere. 204 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,680 So that trip we've been wanting to do going out to Florida, we're going to be able to 205 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:52,680 do it. 206 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:53,680 It's going to be so much nicer. 207 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:56,760 Oh, and the gas mileage compared to my old Buick. 208 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:58,760 Oh my, it is so much nicer. 209 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:03,360 I mean, I could go around like 500 miles on a single tank now compared to that hundred 210 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,680 on that old beast, right? 211 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:09,920 Plus we got that, we spurged a little bit and we got the entertainment package. 212 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:14,040 So the kids, you know, they're a little bit more distracted on those longer trips now 213 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,420 and they can watch their movies and they have the headphones. 214 00:14:16,420 --> 00:14:18,400 So it's not disturbing us up front or anything. 215 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,320 We can listen to our own music or talk or whatever. 216 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,680 You know, you see that you have people's attention now. 217 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,040 You have them drawn in. 218 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:35,800 They're hearing the benefits and the impact that this has had in your life. 219 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:37,720 It's personal. 220 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:39,640 It's personal. 221 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:44,180 And talking about Jesus is no different. 222 00:14:44,180 --> 00:14:51,840 This is what the Bible is talking about in 1 Peter, verses, I'm sorry, 1 Peter chapter 223 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:58,480 3, verse 5, when the word says, always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks 224 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:03,640 you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 225 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,200 Let me say it again, always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for 226 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,560 a reason for the hope that is in you. 227 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,880 We need to be able to, we have to make things personal, right? 228 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:21,760 Anybody can rattle off a bunch of stuff, a bunch of, you know, you have to make it personal. 229 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:28,280 Make it personal in order to make that connection though, to show the relevance of what's going 230 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:29,640 on. 231 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:31,040 Right? 232 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,880 So Paul, he continued on. 233 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:43,840 He shared his testimony all the way up to the point of God saying that he was going 234 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:48,520 to send them to the Gentiles. 235 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,960 Now this is where we're going to pick up today's reading. 236 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:56,400 If you haven't already done so, turn with me to Acts chapter 22 and we're looking at 237 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,000 verses 21 through 29. 238 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:08,600 So Acts 22 verses 21 through 29, and the word says, then the Lord said to me, go, I will 239 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,480 send you far away to the Gentiles. 240 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:16,360 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. 241 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:24,120 Then they raised their voices and shouted, rid the earth of him, he's not fit to live. 242 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:29,800 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust in the air, the commander 243 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,520 ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 244 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,820 He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting 245 00:16:38,820 --> 00:16:40,940 at him like this. 246 00:16:40,940 --> 00:16:47,900 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, is it 247 00:16:47,900 --> 00:16:54,200 legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty? 248 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:59,640 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. 249 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:00,640 What are you going to do? 250 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:01,640 He asked. 251 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,000 The man is a Roman citizen. 252 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:11,720 The commander went to Paul and asked, tell me, are you a Roman citizen? 253 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,440 Yes, I am, he answered. 254 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:22,380 Then the commander said, I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship. 255 00:17:22,380 --> 00:17:26,160 But I was a born citizen, Paul replied. 256 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:31,100 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. 257 00:17:31,100 --> 00:17:37,720 The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he put Paul, a Roman citizen, 258 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,080 in chains. 259 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,880 Paul had the attention of the Jews all the way up until the point that he mentioned the 260 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:46,920 Gentiles. 261 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:47,960 And then they turned on him again. 262 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:49,760 He lost them again. 263 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:59,200 See, the divide between these two cultures at that point in time was so intense. 264 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,800 There was a lot of anger, a lot of hostility, a lot of pride involved. 265 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,280 Matter of fact, there still is. 266 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:12,280 It accounts for so much of what's going on in the Middle East at this point, right? 267 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:13,280 And continues to do. 268 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:15,720 It has been for quite some time. 269 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:16,720 There's so much. 270 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:18,720 There's a huge divide out there. 271 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:23,240 A lot of racism, right? 272 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,200 Amongst other issues. 273 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:34,560 Paul, like I said, is all the way up to this point. 274 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:42,120 Once he lost them again and they turned on him, the Roman soldiers, they had to stay 275 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:43,120 involved at this point. 276 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:44,240 They knew that they had to. 277 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:45,240 There was no choice. 278 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,200 It was a police action. 279 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,960 They had to regain peace, right? 280 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:51,960 They had to quell the action. 281 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:53,720 They had to simmer things down. 282 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,320 So not only that, but they're heated, you know? 283 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:58,320 They had this guy here. 284 00:18:58,320 --> 00:18:59,680 He's causing a lot of trouble. 285 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,640 People are pretty upset. 286 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:09,040 So they take Paul away and they want answers. 287 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:15,880 The Roman soldiers, or for that matter, the Centurions, they were no nonsense troops. 288 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,880 They were known for their brutality. 289 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:22,600 There wasn't an interrogation room, as we know them now, waiting for Paul. 290 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,200 Instead, they went straight to bad cop, worst cop. 291 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,840 They were preparing to flog him to get the answers that they needed. 292 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,120 You're going to tell us one way or the other. 293 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,760 It's going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt us. 294 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,880 I could tell you from my own experiences, and not just in the military, not just in 295 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:43,880 law enforcement, but in general, we all have these experiences. 296 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:48,760 It's really hard to keep your cool and to keep your composure when you're dealing with 297 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,520 hostile people and a hostile crowd, right? 298 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:55,800 As a matter of fact, the more people there are, the harder it is. 299 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,000 The soldiers, they were done being nice. 300 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,360 Up to this point, they'd been civil. 301 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:02,360 They stepped in. 302 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:04,120 At this point, it's straight up business. 303 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:05,120 It's go time. 304 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:08,320 It's time to go to work. 305 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:09,560 Blood pressure's up. 306 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:11,880 Most certainly tempers were too. 307 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,280 Paul, he was about to get flogged. 308 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:20,600 For those unfamiliar with the term, simply put, really oversimplifying it, he was about 309 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,800 to be whipped. 310 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:27,760 We're talking literally whipped. 311 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:37,400 Now, what's happening here though, it's a moment of truth. 312 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:43,880 As the soldiers were preparing him to be flogged, Paul saw this in Chirion, and so he asked 313 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:49,520 about the legality of flogging a Roma citizen who hadn't even been tried, let alone found 314 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,400 guilty. 315 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:54,200 This stopped everyone in their tracks. 316 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:59,240 Every Roman soldier there is like, whoa, hold on a second, hit the brakes. 317 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,240 Whoa, Nellie, what's going on here? 318 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:10,560 Paul knew good and well that a Roman citizen couldn't be punished, let alone treated like 319 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:15,760 this without having first been put on trial and then found guilty. 320 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:22,480 If these soldiers continued the course of action that they were taking, not only would 321 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:30,720 they have brought massive dishonor upon themselves, but it would have included an extremely harsh 322 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,640 punishment to serve as an example. 323 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,200 They were stopped in their tracks. 324 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,400 We're talking dead stop. 325 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,120 Emergency brakes, screech and halt, done. 326 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:48,360 Now moving forward, you see the conversation gets even darker. 327 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:54,760 Here we have a Roman soldier talking about how he had to pay to be a citizen. 328 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,320 This is a common practice. 329 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:02,680 For someone who served for so long, they moved up in rank, they'd pay a fee, they'd be awarded 330 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,920 certain rights, they'd be recognized as a citizen. 331 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:13,920 And you can tell there's a bit of saltiness here, it's like I had to pay, right? 332 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,960 So he's already showing a little bit of disdain here. 333 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:21,680 He's not happy about the situation and where it's headed. 334 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:29,080 Because even though people like him were able to pay a fee to become a citizen and were 335 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:34,060 awarded certain rights, it wasn't all the rights. 336 00:22:34,060 --> 00:22:41,600 It wasn't the same as being a born citizen. 337 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:48,240 While buying citizenship moved someone up in the hierarchy of society, they were still 338 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:56,480 considered vastly inferior compared to being a born citizen. 339 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:05,080 Just hearing that Paul was born as a citizen, this put the soldiers on high alert. 340 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,640 Talk about the ultimate get out of jail free card. 341 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,240 Paul just used it. 342 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,960 The soldiers, let alone the centurion, they didn't have to like it. 343 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:22,160 Matter of fact, at this point, you can pretty well guarantee they didn't. 344 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:27,440 We're talking about a man in a very short time had created a whole lot of heartache 345 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:28,920 for him, right? 346 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:35,720 He put a whole lot of hate and discontent before them with these people with just a 347 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,120 few words. 348 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:44,640 Yet, if word had gotten out that not only did they arrest a Roman citizen, but were 349 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,800 going to flog him without trial. 350 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,280 Well, simply put, they'd be dead man walking. 351 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:57,840 Every single one of them would be dead man walking. 352 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,480 So not only did they slam on the brakes, they were changing that gear real quick and getting 353 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:09,080 ready to turn the wheel and change directions. 354 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,080 See the Romans didn't have to like it. 355 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,600 The soldiers didn't have to like it. 356 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:20,480 Let's be frank, we're all off of putting situations that we don't like. 357 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:34,080 The chances of them liking what they needed to do, it's very different than what they 358 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:35,960 wanted to do. 359 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,760 The chances that they would like what they needed to do versus what they wanted to do 360 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,080 were very slim to say the least. 361 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,760 However, the law was the law. 362 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:50,440 The president was the president. 363 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:58,040 And the penalty for violating it, they knew all too well. 364 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:07,400 Even just the image, the perception of violating these laws and these policies, whether it 365 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:12,160 had been done or not, was enough to have harsh punishment come down on them. 366 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:19,480 So they didn't have to like it, yet it was their job to enforce it. 367 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,280 So they backed off of Paul quickly and had to find another way to get to the bottom of 368 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:24,280 what was going on. 369 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:28,640 It's like I was saying earlier with my example with the gate. 370 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:34,000 You don't necessarily have to like what's going on, but you have to act a certain way. 371 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,000 You have to take certain actions. 372 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,500 You have to do certain things. 373 00:25:38,500 --> 00:25:46,760 There are times in all of our lives when we are the person of authority, right? 374 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:52,640 Whether you're managing a team, an administrator, so on. 375 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,280 We're all put in positions of authority. 376 00:25:55,280 --> 00:26:00,560 We have to slow down, not just rush into things. 377 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,680 It's not shoot first, ask questions later. 378 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:08,680 In having these positions, we have to be discerning in how we approach things. 379 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:09,880 Systematic, right? 380 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:14,640 We have to break things down. 381 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:21,080 By being an authority in any area, there are going to be times when we have to do things 382 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:26,000 that we don't agree with, that we don't want to do for that matter. 383 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:34,880 In Luke chapter 6 verse 36, the word tells us, be merciful just as your father is merciful. 384 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:41,480 An example that we've been given to follow at all times through Jesus himself. 385 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,160 Now, it's not always easy. 386 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:49,440 As a matter of fact, it's usually not, right? 387 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:56,040 There are going to be times when no matter how reserved, tactful, and respectful you 388 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:03,280 are, people are going to continue to get in your face and push and push and push to the 389 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,440 point that you have to take action. 390 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:10,880 You're going to have to take the action that you're trying to avoid, that you're trying 391 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,200 not to get to. 392 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:21,040 And the more wrapped up people are in the world, the more that people buy into the world 393 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:28,200 and what the world is telling them, and by proxy, what the devil is telling them, the 394 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:35,780 more belligerent and disrespectful and selfish they're going to be. 395 00:27:35,780 --> 00:27:42,320 The centurion was more than content to let his men do the work that they had always done. 396 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:47,200 This quote, sort the animals out, clear this up quickly, let's be done with it. 397 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:52,760 Yet, here's someone throwing a monkey wrench in the works. 398 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:58,200 What was worse for them is the fact that they knew Paul was right. 399 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:03,240 They needed to slow down and reassess. 400 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:09,360 If they hadn't been so brash, so quick to act without fully pursuing what was happening, 401 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:18,080 without fully investigating what was going on, they would have learned what the bigger 402 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,040 picture was a whole lot sooner. 403 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:26,440 Instead, they asked a couple people, they snatched up Paul, they saw the hostile turn 404 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:32,920 on him again and they're like, okay, you know what, let's just beat it out of him. 405 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,640 They're looking for a place to channel their anger, their hate, and their discontent over 406 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,400 the stress that they were going through even. 407 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:40,440 They skipped over everything. 408 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,120 They could have just talked to him and they were just going like, no, we're just going 409 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,440 to flog him. 410 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:54,720 You see, we can't just be so eager to get things over and done with that we do the wrong 411 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,320 thing. 412 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:04,080 It's a point of character for each and every one of us, part of our integrity. 413 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,140 My grandfather on my dad's side, he would always tell us growing up, do the right thing 414 00:29:07,140 --> 00:29:12,960 for the right reason, even if you don't like it. 415 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,880 Something y'all have heard me say lots and lots of times, that's where it comes from. 416 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:23,800 Galatians chapter six, verse nine, the word puts it like this, whoever sows to please 417 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:29,120 their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction. 418 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:34,400 Whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. 419 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:40,120 Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest 420 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,120 if we do not give up. 421 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:48,680 Therefore as we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those 422 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:54,320 who belong to the family of believers. 423 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,120 Doing the right thing is not always popular. 424 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,080 It isn't always convenient. 425 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:01,800 It's not always easy. 426 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:11,840 However, doing the right thing is still paramount, especially as a Christian. 427 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:18,760 It's part of what sets you apart from the world. 428 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:26,880 People will respect you for it, regardless of whether they agree with you or not, or 429 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,360 even in the heat of the moment. 430 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:36,240 Once things have simmered down and they actually take a second to recount it, people will respect 431 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,160 you for it. 432 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:43,000 Years ago when I was still a police officer, I apprehended a guy for a DUI. 433 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:48,440 He had a history of drinking and driving, resisting arrest, and so on with other officers. 434 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:54,120 He was well known to a few, a matter of fact, who dealt with him repeatedly. 435 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,480 I on the other hand, I had never dealt with him before. 436 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,400 I heard the name and all, but I didn't know him. 437 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:03,800 He was just another guy. 438 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:05,880 One night, I'm on patrol. 439 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:06,880 I see a vehicle. 440 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,520 It's driving erratically, so I light him up. 441 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:14,360 I pull him over and just walk it up. 442 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:18,660 I knew he'd had too much to drink. 443 00:31:18,660 --> 00:31:20,040 I go through the steps. 444 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:21,040 I have him step out. 445 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,540 We're going to do a sobriety test. 446 00:31:23,540 --> 00:31:26,440 He fails this way through the first test. 447 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:27,440 He knew it. 448 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:29,520 He knew it. 449 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:35,840 He knew what was going to be happening to him again here in just a couple of minutes. 450 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,360 Fighter flight kicks in and he bolts. 451 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:39,360 We're running. 452 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,960 Let me tell you, this guy's a rabbit. 453 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,120 He trips over his own feet. 454 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:53,840 Good thing for me because he was definitely the faster runner of that day. 455 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:57,080 If he had kept going, if he hadn't tripped, he'd have been gone because I was out there 456 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,000 by myself and I just couldn't keep up with him. 457 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,880 Anyway, he trips. 458 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:02,880 He hits the ground. 459 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:07,960 He goes down on this pavement like a slip and slide. 460 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:08,960 I catch up to him. 461 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:09,960 I put him in cuffs. 462 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:15,200 I call for an ambulance to come and take a look at him because when he fell, he hit his 463 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:16,200 head. 464 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:17,200 He'd gotten cut. 465 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,360 While we're waiting, I have him sitting there. 466 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:25,960 I'm applying pressure to the wound and everything and I'm just talking with him at this point. 467 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:32,520 When it came time for court later on, he didn't fight it this time. 468 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:33,800 It was different. 469 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:34,800 He admitted guilt. 470 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,600 He owned it. 471 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:40,560 He did the right thing. 472 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,240 He got sent to a treatment center. 473 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:48,600 Basically his thing was, the agreement was that he goes through this treatment program, 474 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,500 do the monitoring to make sure he stayed sober and everything. 475 00:32:52,500 --> 00:32:55,000 If he completed all this, then he wouldn't go to jail. 476 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,720 However, if he failed any of this, then he was going to get the full sentence levied 477 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,360 on him. 478 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:03,360 Pretty good deal. 479 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:04,360 A lot of people take it. 480 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:10,200 Most of them fail, but in either case, months go by. 481 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:11,320 I hadn't thought of him. 482 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,520 Everything was over and done with as far as I was concerned. 483 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:19,160 It was like the odds of me running into this guy again, eh, who knew? 484 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,080 Well, I get told, hey, you got a visitor. 485 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:24,280 I go out to find out who it is. 486 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,360 It's the same guy. 487 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:27,360 Sober. 488 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,040 He's clean and sober. 489 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:30,720 He looks good. 490 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:38,920 And he came to thank me, to thank me for being kind even after everything that he had done. 491 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:44,240 And he said it was because of how I treated him and how I spoke to him about the alcoholism 492 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:51,440 in my own family that it finally clicked for him and that he knew he needed to change. 493 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,560 He needed to make some deep personal changes in his life. 494 00:33:55,560 --> 00:34:00,280 So when he went to the treatment center, he bought into a hook line and sinker. 495 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:05,000 And every so often, he would come to show his new sobriety chips, right? 496 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:12,400 And to show and share how he was working to turn his life around. 497 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:19,040 And tell how he'd been blessed and how things were so much better for him and everything. 498 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:23,040 Even to share sometimes when he was struggling and he thought about backsliding, but he didn't 499 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:27,560 and he trusted in the process and he kept going forward. 500 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:32,160 This is a guy, he was a great example. 501 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:34,560 Hopefully he still is. 502 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:38,800 Because unfortunately, I moved, I lost contact with him. 503 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:45,600 Yet it still goes to show that a simple act of kindness, especially in the worst of circumstances, 504 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:51,840 can have a profound impact, doing the right thing for the right reason. 505 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:57,320 We don't know all the ways that the Lord will use us to reach others. 506 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:04,280 Yet in keeping with his commands and living in his will, we are able to share his life 507 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:11,520 changing light with more people and in more ways than we will ever know or even realize 508 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,080 on this earth. 509 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:19,720 So much like the centurion, we need to slow down, we need to do the right thing, even 510 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:24,400 if we don't agree with it, even if it's not the popular thing. 511 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:31,720 Just like that centurion, we have to resist the accepted norms and stand up for what is 512 00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:35,080 right. 513 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:42,200 You model what and who God has called us to be when you do this. 514 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:48,240 Remember, you are loved and you are blessed. 515 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:50,800 Now go and be the church. 516 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:55,400 Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 517 00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:01,080 Please like, subscribe and share our podcast on any platform it is that you tune into us 518 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:02,200 on. 519 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:09,560 If you do have any questions, any prayer requests, or would like to know more about our ministry, 520 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:19,680 you can find us on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary. 521 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:24,800 You can also find how to contact us there, whether it's direct message or email. 522 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,360 We look forward to hearing from you all. 523 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:43,000 God bless.