Latest / Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast / Agenda #3: Intimidate and Isolate

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Agenda #3: Intimidate and Isolate · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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Where are you most afraid today? I mean, what
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has you uptight inside? What causes you to have
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great concern about the future? Fear is a very
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powerful emotion that can paralyze your soul.
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Want to know how to break out of it? Stay with
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me. That's today on Living on the Edge. A lion's
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roar can be heard for five miles. And according
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to Chip Ingram, that's exactly the picture the
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Holy Spirit chose when describing our enemy,
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a roaring lion. I'm Dave Drewy, and today on
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Living on the Edge, Chip moves us into Acts chapter
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8, where Stephen has just been martyred. Saul
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is dragging believers out of their homes, and
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the church is scattered. By every measure, it
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looks like defeat. And yet, the gospel advances.
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Chip will unpack exactly how, and later, he'll
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share details about the mid -year match happening
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this month, so stay tuned. Here's Chip with today's
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lesson, Intimidate and Isolate. The roar of a
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lion can be heard for over five miles. That same
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roar 30 yards from your car or truck will rattle
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the metal. There's three reasons that lions roar.
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Number one, it's territorial proclamation. They
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roar over what they rule. Second is to communicate
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with other lions. And third, they roar when they're
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angry. In my research, I found a person who'd
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done studies on lions in Africa, and he said
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his roar is an awesome message of power that
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he is lord and master of all that he surveys.
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And so it seems fitting that the Holy Spirit
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would lead Peter to describe our enemy, the devil,
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Satan, as a roaring lion. He writes, be self
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-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil,
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prowls about like a roaring lion, looking for
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someone to devour. Your response, resist him.
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Stand firm in the faith because you know that
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your brothers throughout the world are undergoing
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the same kind of suffering. By and large, Satan
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likes to be covert. He likes to be under the
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radar. He would rather use lies, deception, getting
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us divided with one another, tradition. He likes
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to get us moving in ways where we're convinced
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things are right. We don't even think He really
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exists. And all the while subtly having us completely
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off course. But when a group of people or an
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individual begins to get in line with God's will,
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and you begin to expose him for who he is, and
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you begin to take the word of God into the lives
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of other people, and you begin to grow, and God
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begins to use your life or a group's life, his
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tactics change. Sometimes subtlety doesn't work.
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And when subtlety doesn't work, he uses intimidation
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and isolation. He goes frontal. Here's intimidation.
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Webster says it's to make fearful. It's what
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he wants to do. To compel or deter by acts or
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threats. Literally, the enemy wants to terrorize
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you. Causing alarm, fright, or dread with the
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apprehension of violence or injury or death.
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To intimidate means to cause to fear, to have
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a sense of inferiority. To bully, to cow, resulting
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in a broken spirit or a loss of courage. And
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sometimes he does that through a biopsy report.
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Sometimes rejection in a relationship. Sometimes
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you lose your job or you're in bankruptcy. Sometimes
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you take a step and everything falls apart at
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work. Sometimes you're just alone and you find
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yourself taking a step that you never dreamed
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you could take and you fail. And all this fear
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and all this condemnation. And the fear is to
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immobilize and then to paralyze, to isolate you.
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Lions don't roar when they attack. They roar.
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to create fear. When a lion wants to attack,
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it's stealth. In fact, a lion will not attack
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until it's within 10 to 20 meters of its prey.
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And unlike other animals who wait for the weak
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or the sickly and wait for that weak or sickly
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animal to get off to the side, that's not how
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lions work. They stealthily move and they go
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for that which is unaware. It can be strong.
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It can be sick. It can be weak. It doesn't matter.
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But when they get within about 10 meters, they're
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extremely fast for 10 to 20 to 40 meters, but
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they have very little endurance. And when God's
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word says your enemy is a roaring lion, he wants
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to create tremendous fear. to get you isolated.
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And in your isolation and self -condemnation
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and withdrawal from people and withdrawal from
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God's word, no matter how weak or how strong
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a Christian, the attack will come when you're
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alone and when you're vulnerable. And he wants
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to isolate. That means to cut off, to seclude,
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to get you away in order to kill and steal and
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destroy your life. Your relationships, the work
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of God in you, and the work of God through you.
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And it's real, and it is serious. But Peter gives
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us two things. One, he gives us a warning. The
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devil's a roaring lion, but notice at the bottom
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of the page, he finishes with the promise. And
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the God of all grace who called you to his eternal
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glory in Christ, after you have suffered for
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a little, there are wounds. You're in a real
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battle. Tough things happens to people who love
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God. After you have suffered for a little, he
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will himself restore you, make you strong, firm,
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and steadfast. To him be the power forever and
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ever. His roar is fearful and certain. His attack
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is predictable. And the only question is, how
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do you respond? What's God's answer to the tactic
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of intimidation and isolation? And the answer
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is in Acts chapter 8. Open your Bibles, if you
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will, to Acts chapter 8 or open up your mobile
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device. Remember, it started out subtle. They
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tried to divide the church, chapter 6. Chapter
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7, they were wrapped in this tradition. Well,
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now chapter 7 at the end ends with the martyring
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of Stephen. They stone him. And if you're a follower
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of Jesus now, it is a bad person to be. And they're
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fleeing for their life. They're leaving their
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homes. They're leaving their businesses. They're
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fleeing to Samaria. Some are hunkered down in
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Jerusalem. And we pick up the story in the beginning
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of chapter 8. On that day, a great persecution
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broke out against the church at Jerusalem. All
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except the apostles were scattered throughout
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Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and
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mourned for him deeply. But Saul began to destroy
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the church going from house to house. He dragged
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them off and put them in jail. You might circle
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that little word. The word destroy here used
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nowhere else in the New Testament. It means with
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hatred or cruelty. It's used in other Greek literature
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for when boars come in. And if you've ever seen
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a wild boar root up things and completely destroy
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things, it's with a vengeance. Paul is somewhere
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between 24 to 40 years old. He's probably late
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20s at this point in his life. And he is a zealous,
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over -the -top thinking. He's doing God's will
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to kill all these Christians. I mean, that's
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the environment. It's frontal. It's intimidation.
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He's going from house to house, dragging them
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out of the house, throwing them in prison. But
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God often does what I call spiritual judo. He
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takes the evil that comes at you, and by grace,
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if you cooperate with him, he flips it. And he
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brings something really good out of things that
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were designed to be really bad. Look at verse
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4. Those who had been scattered preached the
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word wherever they went. Remember one of the
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seven? Philip went down to a city in Samaria,
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and he proclaimed Christ there. When the crowds
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heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs that
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he did, they all paid close attention to what
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he said. And then notice the results. With shrieks,
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evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics
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and cripples were healed. So there was great
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joy in that city. Now, to get the context, to
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really get what's going on, you need to understand
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that, remember, Jews hate Samaritans. It goes
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back hundreds of years. The Samaritans were in
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mixed marriages, so they're part Jewish and part
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other people. And the Jews in Jerusalem were...
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100 % Jewish, not only in culture, but in genetics.
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And these were the half -breeds. But now they're
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running for their life. And as they're running
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for their life, all of a sudden, there are people
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being rejected. And the Samaritans, what do you
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need? Well, I've lost my home. I've lost this.
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I've lost that. I'm running for my life. And
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in the midst of their worst time, they begin
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to share with them, I've found life. And the
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story of Jesus and the love of Christ. And Philip
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says there's power here. We don't have to be
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afraid of death anymore. And he begins to preach
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and God begins to work and miracles occur and
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people are healed. And all of a sudden, amazing
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things are happening. The year of Acts chapter
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2 is about A .D. 33. Acts chapter 8 is two years
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later, A .D. 35. This is two years. All the Christians
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that you're reading about are two years old in
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the Lord. Now, if you look at your notes, Let's
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summarize. Satan's strategy is to destroy through
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intimidation and isolation. You see that in the
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first eight verses. Hey, it's true here. It's
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true for you. It's true for me. He wants to take
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the issues in your life and make you fearful.
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This marriage will never work out. My son or
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daughter will never come around. This health
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issue will never go away. I'll never find a job.
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I'll never break this addiction. And there's
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fear. I'll always be single. Notice, however,
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God's purpose is to deploy through suffering
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and proclamation. You're not immune to suffer.
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I'm not immune to suffer. It's a fallen world.
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He never promised. In fact, he said in the world
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we'll have tribulation or suffering. But he takes
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the suffering, and as we suffer, He can use it
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to do really, really great things. It's not a
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wasted suffering. The truth is sometimes our
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worst times are God's best times to use our lives.
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It's hard to think about, isn't it? Sometimes
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when you're going through the bankruptcy, when
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you're reeling from losing your job, when your
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house is upside down, and you just think, oh
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God, and you're so fearful. He says, I want to
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come close to you, and I don't promise to wave
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a magic wand and make everything wonderful overnight,
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but I'll go through whatever the most difficult,
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painful issue is in your life, and I will be
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with you. And let me tell you this, as I'm with
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you, it is how you respond and my grace in you
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in the midst of that may be the greatest platform
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for me using you that has ever happened in your
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life. You can go all the way back to the Old
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Testament. The principle shows up early. In Joseph's
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life, he's what? Rejected by his brother, sold
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into slavery, falsely accused, left in prison.
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I mean, for 13 years, suffering, suffering, suffering,
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suffering. On all the while, God had a plan.
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And at the end of that plan, he becomes the head
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of all of Egypt. And he would say to his brothers,
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you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
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To bring about this present result, he saved
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the entire nation. You may have a boss. You may
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have an ex -mate. You may have a health issue.
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You may have a rebellious child. You may have
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out -to -lunch parents. They actually may mean
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it for evil, but God means it for good if you
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cooperate with him. And here's the application.
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The application is fear not, preach the word.
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See, did you notice that who's preaching? It's
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not the apostles. It's not the pros. It's not
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the professionals. These are two -year -old Christians.
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You know who they were? Regular people just like
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us. I mean, if persecution happened on Christians
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and we were running for our lives and going for
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other countries and your homes are gone and your
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money's gone, your bank's account, 401Ks are,
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I mean, they're not, they're zero 1Ks. You got
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nothing going. And how you respond when you cling
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to God. And as you went, you preached and told
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people about your hope in Christ. That's what's
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happening here. And a revolution is occurring.
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Remember, Jesus said that this gospel will begin,
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right? You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea,
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Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world.
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Well, after two years, guess how far the church
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made it? They never got out of Jerusalem. God
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actually allows this persecution to occur to
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begin to fulfill and break the cultural barriers.
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And now, here's what we see. Amazing things happening
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with the group that they used to hate. Now they've
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come to Christ. Now, I got to tell you, what
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I just shared is really true. It's right theology,
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and I've known it in my head a long time. But
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now and then, God gives you a little opportunity
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to sort of get it from your head to your heart.
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And I think he brings fear in the areas that
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you're most vulnerable. I was a younger pastor
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in Santa Cruz. We'd been there about five or
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six years. And all I can tell you is it was one
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of those windows in your life where it was just
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the hand of God. There was a movement of God.
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We saw hundreds of people come to Christ and
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the churches were working together. All of a
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sudden, we had to build some buildings. And there
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was times where people would line up after every
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service, 10 or 15 or 20, that all were brand
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new Christians. And all the satanic worship and
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weird stuff was happening. And there was this
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movement of God. And every Sunday afternoon,
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sort of to blow off steam, I'd get out and play
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basketball with some friends. And it was a little
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bit rainy one day, so I thought, well... If we
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play outside, I might slip and get hurt. So we
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went up to Bethany College to play and had a
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good buddy there. And so I can still remember
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driven down the middle and a guy was cutting
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to the corner and I was going to throw an off
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the ball pass like this. And then out of the
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corner of my eye, I realized this guy sees it.
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So I reared back to give it a bunch and I went,
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well, you notice where my body is? You ever turn
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your ankle? I twisted my knee like this with
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all my weight and I tore my ACL, my MCL and all
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the cartilage. And it just went. Now, to know
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the personality, as warped as I am, I mean, my
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knee is kind of dangling, and I get up and I
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say, you know, I think I can play one more game.
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And there's a football coach there, and he looked
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at me and he goes, stupid, just sit down. Well,
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you know, when you get refreshed by something
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that's physical like that, and just with my makeup.
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Putting me on crutches and having to go to physical
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therapy three days a week. We're in the middle
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of a capital campaign. All these things are happening.
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I don't know what I'm doing. I'm under incredible
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pressure. The one little window was working out
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a couple times like that. So I go to the physical
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therapist, and it's a young gal who has a small
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child, and his divorce was abandoned and was
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pretty bitter. And she let me know early on her
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father was an atheist, that she's in line with
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her father and what he believes. And the only
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people that she's really more mad at than God
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are people from church. By the way, what do you
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do? And I thought, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay,
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yay. Make a very long story short. Little by
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little, she began to share her story and I began
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to share mine. And she was not open to hearing
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from me. And I said, well, have you ever? you
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know, have you ever just even explored who Jesus
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is? And no, I really haven't. And I said, well,
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just, I mean, you're killing my body three times
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a week here. Would you just like read John chapter
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one and maybe just, I mean, just, I don't believe
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in the Bible. I said, you don't have to believe
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in it. It's okay. Just, you ought to be educated
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just to know what it says. But okay. God's word
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never returns void. And it was a long rehab.
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And God miraculously brought that young woman
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to Christ. And then she began to grow, and it
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was a neat story, but the story gets better.
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Then we moved to Atlanta, and then about a year
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after that, or two years, they asked me to come
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back and speak at Santa Cruz, which was kind
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of cool, and let them know what was going on.
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And so I came back, and I never forget, I can't
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remember what I spoke on, but she was in the
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second row. And now that little girl, when I
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first met her, five, six... years ago or more,
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was sort of a bigger girl. And I'll never forget,
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I came down the steps and she just came right
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around, tears flowing down her face. And her
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arms were out like this with her little girl.
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She gave me a big hug and she just said, Jesus
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is so real. I'm so glad. Thank you so much. And
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I want you to meet my little girl. And I'm reading
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Bible stories to her. And I thought, you know
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what? I walked out the side door and I thought,
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that's worth a knee. That's worth a knee, isn't
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it? That's worth a bankruptcy. That's worth an
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unfair getting fired. That's worth someone walks
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out on you. What difficult situation do you have
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in your life right now that makes you just want
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to get focused and isolated and fearful that
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could be the greatest opportunity that God ever
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gives you to preach the Word? And I don't mean
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just with your life. We've got to get beyond
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that. Hebrews 4 .12, I put it in your notes,
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it says, The Word of God is living and active
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and sharper than any two -edged sword. Piercing
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is the far division of soul and spirit and able
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to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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It wasn't that I was convincing with this woman.
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It was that she, for the first time, explored
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the living Word of God. Your neighbors don't
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have to believe it. People in your hobbies, the
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people in your carpools, they don't have to believe
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it. But God calls us regular, normal people to
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preach the word. Not judgmentally, not we're
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better than, but winsomely, lovingly sharing
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our life, our testimony, and inviting them to
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explore what it says. Now, this revival occurs.
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And after this, now there's sort of a battle
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between good and evil because these Samaritans
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had been hoodwinked by some demonic activity.
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And we pick up the story in verse 9. In verse
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9 it says, Now for some time a man named Simon
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practiced sorcery in the city, and he amazed
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all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he
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was someone great, and all the people, both high
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and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed,
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This man is the divine power known as the great
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power. He actually was claiming deity. They followed
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him because he amazed them for a long time with
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his magic. The word magic and the word sorcery,
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same root words. It has the idea of the manifestation
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of supernatural things through demonic power.
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And then look at verse 12. But when they believed
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Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom
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of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
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baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed
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and was baptized and he followed Philip everywhere.
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astonished by the great signs and miracles that
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he saw. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard
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that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they
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sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived,
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they prayed for them that they might receive
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the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not
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yet come upon them. They simply had been baptized
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in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and
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John placed their hands on them and they received
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the Holy Spirit. Now this big confrontation of
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good and evil if you summarized it, Simon is
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intimidating through demonic sorcery. People
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are scared. We experienced a lot of this in Santa
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Cruz. I've seen it in Haiti when I was in India,
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parts of Africa. I mean, there are people all
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around the world. You know, we kind of think
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we're a little more sophisticated. I mean, I've
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seen people in South Africa pull up in Mercedes
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who have great jobs that live in a first world
20:46
country. and with the demonic issues they have,
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put money and food on an open grave so the demons
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representing their dead parents don't terrify
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them at home. I mean, the world is in the lap
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of the evil one. This is real stuff. But Philip
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liberates how? Through the Word of God. And so
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what you need to understand is the gospel goes
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from the Jews, then it goes to the Samaritans,
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and then it goes to the Gentiles. And every time
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that happens, The Spirit of God and the wisdom
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of God the Father and Jesus is He wants to make
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sure these groups stay unified. Remember when
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they were just all Jews, but they spoke two different
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languages? Remember the division? The Greek -speaking
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Jews and the Hebrew -speaking? I mean, that was
21:29
a problem. Well, now you've got Samaritans. Well,
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what are most of the people in Jerusalem going
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to think if you say, oh, the Samaritans are now
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Christ followers. Oh, no way. And so God doesn't
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baptize them in the Holy Spirit. In other words,
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that external manifestation, it doesn't say it
21:44
here. But I would assume, because it's visible
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and you can see it, it's probably the same as
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Acts 2. They spoke in other languages. There
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was a manifestation of God's power and God's
21:52
spirit when Peter and John came. And so what
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they did is they wanted to authenticate to keep
21:57
the unity of the church. You know, it happens
21:59
different ways through Acts. And so they go and
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they say, oh, it's for real. They've received
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the word. I mean, all of Peter's and John's prejudice
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as they're going out the window, they pray for
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them and then boom. Now they're brought into
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the body of Christ. You'll see the same thing
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happen in Acts 10 a little bit later. And so
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God keeps the preservation of the unity. But
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the real issue going on here is between evil
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and good. The people following after Simon, or
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now it's the truth of the word of God. Here's
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the truth I want you to get. The power is in
22:34
the message, not in the messenger. The power
22:38
is in the message, not... in the messenger. These
22:43
people, they've only been Christians two years.
22:47
Philip's only been a Christian two years or less.
22:51
If you would go through, it'd be interesting,
22:53
in my Bible, every time preach or proclaim, I
22:58
highlighted it. This is normal, ordinary, regular
23:02
people running for their life, and every time
23:05
you see the yellow, what it is, is the word of
23:08
God is going out. See, it's not you don't know
23:12
enough. It's not you're not bold enough. It's
23:14
not that no one would ever believe you. It's
23:16
not that they're going to ask questions you can't
23:17
respond. The power is in the message, not in
23:21
us messengers. But here's the deal. When you
23:26
begin to share that message, Satan's tactics
23:30
will go from division and subtlety to often frontal.
23:34
We saw that in Santa Cruz. I mean, it was crazy.
23:37
The first couple years there, we experienced
23:40
things that I thought only happened in books.
23:42
But we saw hundreds of people come to Christ,
23:44
and there was all these Satan worshipers and
23:46
all this weird stuff, and it got frontal. And
23:48
what I want you to know is you don't have to
23:49
be afraid. You don't have to be afraid. But I
23:53
will tell you, there's all kind of Christians
23:55
that, you know, you start growing, you start
23:57
sharing, you start living. As you press against
23:59
things, you'll experience some frontal attack.
24:02
And guess what the goal is? To get you to isolate
24:04
and say, oh, well, that's for someone else. Here's
24:07
the application. Fear not. Greater is he that
24:11
is in you than he that's in the world. But see,
24:15
we say that, and it's up here, but it's not in
24:16
here. There's not a boldness. There's not a power.
24:19
These people had conviction. They knew that there's
24:21
nothing more powerful than the gospel of Jesus
24:23
Christ. Just let it loose. God works through
24:26
his word. But we know that. Greater is he that
24:30
is in me. But down deep, I don't think we believe
24:33
it a lot. Teresa and I were walking downtown
24:36
many, many years ago, Santa Cruz, like weird,
24:38
weird, and weirder, right? I mean, we love Santa
24:41
Cruz, but let's, I mean, we've seen things that
24:43
we go, and you just go, eh, Santa Cruz, right?
24:46
So, I mean, the musicians are out, the crazy
24:49
stuff's going on, and there's this big ruckus,
24:51
and it's outside of a bar area, and people are
24:54
starting to gather, and there's this guy, you
24:56
could tell he's the bouncer, you know, the black
24:58
t -shirt, and he's about this wide, and then
25:00
when he turns this way, you ever seen those guys,
25:01
their chests are this thick? At six months old,
25:04
they start lifting weights. I don't know how
25:05
they do it. Big, big arms like this, and there's
25:07
like two drunk guys, and this guy can't handle
25:10
them. Someone has called the police. A crowd
25:12
is gathering, and a police car comes. And this
25:15
police car comes out, and I'm just kind of like,
25:17
honey, get back, but I don't want to miss out
25:18
on what's going to happen, you know? And so it
25:21
pulls up on the curb just a little bit, and it's
25:26
like, I wonder what's going to happen. The door
25:28
opens. And now, ladies, what I'm about to say,
25:30
this is not a pejorative comment. Listen to the
25:33
entire story before you think, he's down on women.
25:35
I'm not down on women. But I'm thinking there's
25:38
this huge, strong bouncer that can't handle these
25:41
two guys that are just, I mean, they're sauced.
25:45
The car pulls up, the door opens, and out steps
25:48
like a 4 '11 woman police officer. And I'm going,
25:53
this is going to be good. And what I saw there
25:58
became a picture in my mind about spiritual warfare
26:00
I've never forgotten. That young woman got out,
26:03
got behind him about 20 feet. Gentlemen, stand
26:06
down. And all of a sudden, three heads went around.
26:11
And then she's got her hand on here and she's
26:14
unclipping her gun. And they got sober instantly.
26:18
And then she said, gentlemen, right now, hands
26:21
on the front of the car hood. Do you understand?
26:27
I mean, you know, and I'm thinking the bouncer
26:31
couldn't do it, but a little four foot eleven,
26:33
five foot woman can. You know why she can? Because
26:35
she's got a badge right here that says the full
26:38
authority of the state of California is behind
26:41
her. For us, we're in Christ. The full authority
26:47
of the God in heaven and his resurrected son
26:50
and his shed blood. We are in Christ. Second,
26:53
she had a weapon that they didn't. Man, you can
26:57
be big, you can be strong, kung fu, karate, a
27:00
.45 relieves all of that. And you don't have
27:04
to be very big to shoot it. And the Bible says
27:08
that we have the sword of the Spirit, which is
27:10
the spoken word of God. And when you understand
27:15
who you are and how to use that, God's going
27:18
to mobilize us, thousands and thousands and thousands
27:21
of people into... the people that share, who
27:24
are not ashamed to say, I love Jesus. I'm not
27:27
anti -intellectual. I'm not a bigot. I'm not
27:30
politically correct. I love Jesus. It is the
27:32
name above every name in heaven and on earth.
27:35
And his word is true. And I live in one of the
27:38
most politically correct places in all the world.
27:41
And I'm unashamed of the gospel for it is the
27:45
power of God to salvation. And the issue is you
27:49
won't have to be weird. And it will often happen
27:52
in your suffering and in your pain and in the
27:55
mate that left you and in the upside down house
27:57
and the child who's having a struggle and in
27:59
your loneliness and in your cancer biopsy. And
28:02
they will watch your life and they will watch
28:04
the power of Jesus in you. And you know what
28:06
will happen? They're open. Your neighbors are
28:09
open. Your co -workers are open. The people where
28:12
you work out are open. The people at the coffee
28:14
shops are open. Where you get your dry cleaning
28:16
done are open. 87 % of all the people in America
28:19
pray, Christian or not. They're looking for hope.
28:23
Not from weird, zealous, better than Christians,
28:26
but real people handling real problems and where
28:31
you just love them. That's what God's going to
28:35
do. But he's not going to do it. There's no big
28:38
program coming, people. There's no big formula.
28:40
There's no superstars we're shipping in. It's
28:42
going to be us. Notice what happens. After this
28:49
big good versus evil event, there is a warning.
28:58
And the warning occurs in this man named Simon.
29:02
And the warning is going to have to do with genuine
29:05
versus counterfeit faith. And here we pick up
29:09
the story in verse 18. When Simon saw that the
29:15
Spirit was given through the laying on of the
29:16
apostles' hands, he offered them money and said,
29:19
Give me this ability so that everyone whom I
29:22
lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.
29:25
Peter answered, May your money perish with you
29:27
because you thought you could buy the gift of
29:29
God with money. You have no part or share in
29:33
this ministry because your heart is not right
29:35
before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray
29:39
to the Lord. Perhaps he'll forgive you for having
29:42
such a thought in your heart. And it's not that
29:44
God would be unforgiving. Peter's saying, man,
29:47
you've got to come clean from the heart for real.
29:50
For I see that you are full of bitterness and
29:53
you're captive to sin. Then Simon answered, pray
29:56
to the Lord so that nothing that you've said
30:00
will happen to me. And then when Peter and John
30:03
had testified and proclaimed the word of the
30:05
Lord, they returned to Jerusalem. And then notice
30:07
what they're doing. They're preaching the gospel
30:10
where? In many Samaritan villages. I mean, there's
30:15
a breakthrough. But it's very interesting. This
30:17
is like there's a story and there's like in parentheses.
30:21
By the way, Simon, everyone who, quote, believes
30:26
intellectual assent. and goes through some external
30:29
ritual, baptism, communion, raising a hand, walking
30:33
forward, here's the truth. Intellectual assent
30:39
and external ritual does not constitute saving
30:42
faith. Simon sought to use God. In the paragraph
30:51
before it said, and Simon believed. The same
30:56
word is used in James 2, verses 19 and 20. It
31:00
doesn't always mean saving faith. It says the
31:02
demons also believe and shudder. The demons believe
31:05
that Jesus is the Son of God. The demons believe
31:07
He's the Savior of the world. The demons believe
31:09
in His deity. But they don't have personal saving
31:14
relationship. They intellectually agree with
31:16
those truths. Second thing, there's a lot of
31:19
people that have kind of ritual. Everyone else
31:22
is getting baptized. Simon says, hey, man, I
31:25
had this kind of power. They got more power.
31:27
I want that power. Simon tried to use God. There
31:30
wasn't a change of heart we learn later. He wants
31:33
the benefits of the power for his own personal
31:36
use. He intellectually agrees with what's happening,
31:39
but there's no internal transformation of heart.
31:44
Now, I'm going to say something, and you need
31:46
to just ask God to give you real ears to hear
31:49
right now. For the last probably 15 to 30 some
31:52
years, there's been sort of a new gospel. And
31:56
it's made it into the church and it's gone all
31:58
around the world. And the new gospel goes something
32:02
like this. You may have tried Buddhism, self
32:09
-help books, seminars. You may have worked at
32:15
this job, tried that. And somewhere along the
32:19
line, someone said, why don't you try Jesus?
32:23
Jesus came and paid for your sin. He wants to
32:26
make you healthy. He wants to make you wealthy.
32:28
He wants to make everything work out. Just believe
32:32
in Jesus. You'll be upwardly mobile. Your kids
32:34
will all turn out right. And basically, Jesus
32:37
has very subtly become your personal self -help
32:40
genie to fulfill your agenda. And what you really
32:44
want to do is use him to get what you want, what
32:47
you think will make you happy and fulfilled.
32:49
That's a big word now, fulfilled. Now, when things
32:53
get kind of hard or when the hard side of following
32:57
this Jesus, it's like, you know, I'm really not
32:59
interested in that. It's what can he do for me?
33:02
It's a consumer mentality. It's a Simon mentality.
33:07
A lot of what is very clear about what it means
33:10
to follow him, Christians, about 8 out of 10
33:13
in America, just disregard about very clear teaching
33:17
about morality, very clear teaching about relationships,
33:20
very clear teaching about commitment. About 8
33:23
out of 10, their lifestyle, their priorities,
33:26
their speech, their love or lack of love, it
33:29
doesn't line up with Jesus. Now, here's the danger.
33:37
This is from Jesus' lips. The most famous sermon
33:42
Jesus ever gave was called the Sermon on the
33:44
Mount. And he said, watch out for false prophets.
33:48
Chapter 7, they come in sheep's clothing, but
33:50
inwardly they're ravidish wolves. It's by their
33:53
fruit you'll recognize them. And then he says
33:56
that good fruit is on good trees and bad fruit
33:58
is on bad trees. Regardless of what the externals
34:00
people say, it's the fruit, the evidence, the
34:03
results. He says, not everyone who says to me,
34:06
Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,
34:07
but only the one who does the will of my Father
34:10
who is in heaven. On that day of judgment, many
34:13
will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy
34:15
in your name? Didn't we drive out demons and
34:19
perform many miracles? And then I will say to
34:21
them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me,
34:25
you evildoers. You had external religion. We
34:28
even got involved in some service. But he said,
34:30
you know something? There wasn't a change of
34:32
heart. There wasn't real relationship. He says,
34:37
therefore, everyone who hears these words of
34:38
mine and puts them into practice. He's like a
34:42
wise man who builds his house on the rock and
34:44
the rain comes down and the waters rise and the
34:46
wind blows and it beats against it, but the house
34:48
remains because it's on the rock. But every single
34:50
person who hears these words of mine and does
34:53
not obey is like a person who builds their house
34:55
on a sand and the rains come and the streams
34:58
rise and the wind blows and they're gone. My
35:03
observation is we may have hundreds of thousands,
35:07
if not millions of people in the church. that
35:11
are convinced that they have personal relationship
35:14
with God, but by the fruit of their life, maybe
35:19
there's a great possibility they don't. Maybe
35:22
they're like Simon. You intellectually believe.
35:25
Do you believe in Jesus? Yes. Do you believe
35:26
in the Son of God? Yes. Do you believe he died
35:27
on the cross? Yes. Do you believe he rose from
35:29
the dead? Yes, intellectually. Have you ever
35:32
recognized that your life has offended a holy
35:36
God, and you have to turn from that sin, and
35:39
it's in... receiving that grace and following
35:42
him, not just the parts that you like. And it's
35:46
not about him fulfilling your agenda. It's he
35:50
is God and you follow him with loyalty and therefore
35:54
the fruits are a compassion and a love and a
35:57
sacrifice and a commitment where you become more
36:00
and more like Jesus, where his word is precious
36:02
to you, where you talk to him, where there's
36:05
tough issues, but he is transforming your life.
36:13
See, for a lot of people, you just come once
36:15
a month or a couple times a month. You check
36:16
a box. You're a shade more moral than the next
36:20
person. But Jesus is a self -help appendage to
36:33
you as you live your life. And God brought you
36:37
in this room on this day so you could fear not
36:41
and settle the issue today. If there's any doubt
36:44
in your mind, you don't have to be afraid thinking,
36:47
you know, some of you are better thinking right
36:48
now. You know, I'm not sure. I've never thought
36:54
about it like that. And it's so crept into the
36:57
life of the church, it's just, let's just stop
37:01
right now. Let's settle that. For some of you,
37:03
you're not sure. Today is the day of salvation.
37:06
If you've never placed your faith and repented
37:09
of your sin and said, I want to follow Him, let's
37:11
do that right now. Lord, I ask you because you
37:14
know every heart, you know every situation, and
37:17
you love us. God, it is out of your great love
37:22
that you paid the price for our sin. Not that
37:26
that would be the end, but a beginning. Could
37:29
I invite you not just to follow along in a prayer,
37:31
but a transfer of trust and focus from you to
37:35
accept the forgiveness of Christ and follow him.
37:39
In your mind or heart, just pray, Dear God, I
37:45
admit I need you today. I don't want to use you
37:50
or manipulate you. I want to submit and follow
37:57
you. I ask you to forgive me right now. I believe
38:03
you died and paid for my sin. I believe you rose
38:08
from the dead bodily and you sit at the right
38:12
hand of the Father. And I ask you to come into
38:16
my life. And I tell you, I want to follow you.
38:21
And I desperately need your help. Lord, will
38:25
you convince and overwhelm those who in their
38:31
heart of hearts have turned from sin to follow
38:33
you? Would you flood them with your love? in
38:37
courage, in faith, in Christ's name. Amen. Now
38:43
we're going to see something that's absolutely
38:45
amazing, beginning in verse 26 and to the end
38:49
of the chapter. The gospel is now going to do
38:51
what Jesus said. After two years, it's stuck
38:53
in Jerusalem. It was meant for evil by the enemy,
38:57
fear and isolation, but the Spirit of God said,
38:59
mm -mm, baby, we're going to do the spiritual
39:01
jujitsu, judo move. And I'm going to use this
39:05
persecution, this fear to take these two -year
39:07
-old Christians to Samaria. And then I'm going
39:09
to take them to the Gentiles. And now the gospel
39:12
is going global. Everything I said is going to
39:15
happen. It's going to start to happen. And here's
39:17
the way it's going to happen. He's going to choose
39:18
what we call a prime mover. He's going to plant
39:21
the gospel even before the church gets there
39:23
through a unlikely person that we would say could
39:27
never be ready to hear about Christ. He's an
39:29
Ethiopian eunuch. He's like one of the cabinet
39:33
members of the queen. Candace, you'll read in
39:35
just a minute, that's a queen title. The government
39:38
of Egypt at this point in time is run by a woman.
39:41
Her son is thought to be divine, their direct
39:44
descendant from the sun god. And this eunuch
39:47
who's a proselyte, or at least a god -fearer,
39:49
has come to Jerusalem to worship because monotheism
39:51
is so attractive in this warped world. And he
39:54
has a copy of the text. He's a wealthy man. He's
39:57
a leader. He has platform. tremendous influence,
40:01
and he's on this chariot coming back from Jerusalem,
40:05
back toward Africa. And Ethiopia here in this
40:07
context isn't the Ethiopia that we know. It goes
40:10
all the way from northern part of Africa down
40:12
to Sudan. Let's pick up the story as the gospel
40:15
goes global, as the plan unfolds. Jesus said
40:18
that we'd receive power and the Holy Spirit would
40:20
come upon us and we would be witnesses. Jerusalem,
40:25
Judea, Samaria, now we're going to see the uttermost
40:28
parts of the world. Now an angel of the Lord,
40:30
verse 26, said to Philip, go to the south, to
40:33
the desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.
40:36
So he started out on his way and he met an Ethiopian
40:38
eunuch, an important official in charge of the
40:40
treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.
40:43
This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and
40:45
he was on his way home and sitting in his chariot
40:47
reading the book of Isaiah. And the spirit told
40:51
Philip, go to that chariot and stay near it.
40:56
Then Philip ran up to the chariot, and he heard
40:58
the man reading Isaiah the prophet. And I love
41:02
this. This is the way you share. You don't have
41:04
to preach at people. You just ask good questions.
41:07
Do you understand what you're reading, Philip
41:09
asked? How can I, he said, unless someone explains
41:13
it to me. So he invited Philip to come up and
41:15
sit down with him, and then he begins to read
41:18
out of Isaiah 53, speaking of Christ. He was
41:21
led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb
41:24
before the shearer was silent, so he did not
41:26
open his mouth. In his humiliation, he was deprived
41:29
of justice. Who can speak of his descendants?
41:32
For his life was taken from the earth. And the
41:35
eunuch said to Philip, tell me, please, who is
41:39
the prophet talking about, himself or someone
41:41
else? Then Philip began with that very passage
41:46
of Scripture and told him the good news about
41:50
Jesus. See what he does again? Philip's two years
41:53
old in the Lord. But for two years, Philip's
41:56
been digging in and all those Old Testament passages
41:58
which lead to Jesus. And he's been going to those
42:01
meetings on the weekends where Peter or John
42:03
or James preaches. And he's been going to those
42:05
small group meetings in the homes and talking
42:06
about this new Messiah and how it works. You
42:08
know, how's it play out in your marriage? How's
42:10
it play out with your kids? How's it play out
42:11
with your finances? And all of a sudden... God
42:14
says, go on this road, and he starts walking
42:16
on this road, and pretty soon there's this chariot
42:19
of a very important, influential man who's intimidating
42:22
because he's wealthy and he's powerful, and Philip's
42:25
going, who am I? And God says, hey, just go walk
42:28
by the chariot. So he goes and walks by the chariot.
42:30
As he's walking by the chariot, the practice
42:32
in this time in the world, whenever people read,
42:35
they read out loud. And so as he stands near,
42:38
he's hearing this guy, and he's going, this is
42:39
unbelievable. I mean, I'm supposed to stand by
42:42
this chariot. This Ethiopian guy is reading the
42:45
book of Isaiah. And so he has a moment of boldness.
42:49
He goes, hey, like, do you get what you're, you
42:51
know what that's about? The guy goes, not really.
42:54
Why don't you come on up and sit down? And notice
42:57
he just, then he just said, he took from that
42:59
passage and began to explain. Do you realize
43:02
there's a God who loves you? Do you realize the
43:05
problem of sin has been addressed? Do you realize
43:07
there's purpose and hope? Do you realize there's
43:10
a heaven? Do you realize that you can know this
43:12
God personally through the son that he sent,
43:14
Jesus? Do you realize that your whole world and
43:17
purpose can be transformed? And by the way, here's
43:19
what happens. It's a gift of God by grace. You
43:23
receive it by faith. And then you go public.
43:25
And, you know, I was baptized because baptism
43:28
back then had a much bigger picture of total
43:30
identification change. You know, it's like I
43:33
had an old uniform, I'm putting on a new uniform.
43:35
And so pick up the story. What happens? As they
43:38
traveled along the road, which came to some water,
43:40
the eunuch said, look, here's water. Why shouldn't
43:43
I be baptized? And he ordered the chariot to
43:45
stop, and then both Philip and the eunuch went
43:47
down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
43:49
Then they came up out of the water, and the Spirit
43:51
of the Lord suddenly snatched, literally, Philip
43:54
away, and the eunuch didn't see him again. But
43:57
he went on his way rejoicing. This was a great
43:58
baptism. He said, wow, this is amazing. I just
44:01
met God. I put my faith in Christ. Down, up,
44:04
whoo, there you go. Would that be just like amazing?
44:09
And Philip finds himself like, whoa, it was amazing.
44:12
Now I'm in a different city, Azotus. And he traveled
44:17
about preaching and sharing the gospel in all
44:20
the towns that reached to Caesarea. These are
44:23
normal. regular, ordinary people where God is
44:27
intervening and doing supernatural things. You
44:29
know why? Because he loves people. He loves your
44:33
boss. He loves your employees. He loves your
44:36
neighbors. He loves your relatives. He loves
44:39
the boss that you never think could ever be open
44:41
to Christ. Here's what I want you to get. Philip
44:45
obeys, prompting by the Holy Spirit. That's what
44:49
God wants us to do. You don't have to lay it
44:52
all out. You don't have to be a Bible scholar.
44:54
What would you have said this week? God, okay,
44:56
ready? This week, would you give me a little
44:59
nudge about when to tell someone about you and
45:02
maybe introduce them in some way to your word?
45:05
Or you know what? God, I'm not sure I'm ready
45:07
for that one. Could you just lead me to someone
45:09
who has a problem? And I'll ask them for coffee
45:12
or ask them for lunch. I won't even bring up
45:14
Jesus at first. I'll just love them. What would
45:16
happen if he said, you know, I understand you
45:18
just went through a divorce. You want to grab
45:19
a cup of coffee? I've actually had that in my
45:22
history. Just love to hear how I can help you.
45:25
Or I hear your son's in the hospital. Or I hear
45:28
you got a problem, health issue. Or you know
45:31
what? Man, I am so sorry. I heard the downsizing
45:34
happened and you were on the list. Can I buy
45:38
you dinner? You want to come over to our house?
45:40
What if this week each one of us were prompted
45:42
by the Holy Spirit to love someone, to reach
45:45
out in some way and connect with them? You know
45:48
what would happen? God will work. See, it's not
45:53
that he doesn't prompt. It's that our ears get
45:55
spiritual wax and we don't hear or we think it's
45:57
for someone else. Or we're so afraid, intimidated,
46:00
he'll ask a big spiritual question. Here's my
46:03
answer to the really hard ones. Are you ready
46:04
for this? You can use this. I don't know. I use
46:10
it all the time. What about this, this, and this,
46:12
and so -and -so says this, this, and this, and
46:13
this religion says this, this, and this? Great
46:15
question. I don't know. But, you know, would
46:17
you be willing to read a little bit and talk
46:20
about it? I'm just telling you people will. Philip
46:27
obeys a prompting that God had prepared a heart
46:31
to hear. Isn't that amazing? The enemy doesn't
46:36
want you to believe that. He wants you to be
46:38
afraid to share your faith. He wants you to be
46:41
afraid to go public. He wants you to be afraid
46:43
of what people might think. He wants you to be
46:45
isolated. And the truth is, God is sovereignly
46:49
working in the lives of people all around you
46:52
all the time. And the most unlikely people that
46:56
you think would never come to Christ, He's already
46:59
preparing. And the application is, fear not.
47:03
Boldly share the gospel every day in every way.
47:08
Not them, not some way, not our little huddle.
47:12
Boldly. Boldly. Here's what's true in the book
47:16
of Acts. You know you're filled with the Spirit
47:19
when you're bold. When you're filled with the
47:22
Spirit, sometimes there's manifestation, sometimes
47:24
there's not. Sometimes this happens, sometimes
47:26
it isn't. People always read through the book
47:28
of Acts and they want to pick out this or pick
47:29
out that. Here's one thing for sure that every
47:31
group can know. When you're filled with the Spirit,
47:34
you are bold. And the boldness isn't an arrogance.
47:39
It's a boldness where your conviction is that
47:41
the only hope for the world is Jesus, that the
47:44
Word of God is true, and you love those people.
47:48
And when you do, God will prompt you. And in
47:52
your fear, here's His promise. I call it the
47:55
Matthew 2820 principle. After He told us to go
47:58
into all the world and make disciples, I love
48:00
this. I like it in the King James even. Are you
48:03
ready? Can I give a little King James here? And
48:06
lo, I am with you always. Don't be afraid. I've
48:13
given you a supernatural mission to bring people
48:15
from darkness into light. A darkness into light
48:19
that will restore marriages, that will change
48:20
people's eternities, that will change the whole
48:22
trajectory of families, that will cause people's
48:25
lives. and all the ripples from them to change
48:27
forever and ever and ever and ever. And you are
48:30
my ambassadors. You are my full -time workers.
48:34
I've entrusted my word and my truth to you. Don't
48:37
be afraid. I am with you. That's Chip Ingram
48:45
on Living on the Edge with a message called Intimidate
48:49
and Isolate from his series, The Jesus Revolution.
48:53
We'll hear more from Chip in just a moment, so
48:55
don't go anywhere. Today's message is on the
48:58
Living on the Edge podcast. Search for it and
49:01
subscribe wherever you stream audio. And for
49:03
the full unedited version of what Chip teaches,
49:06
find the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast. Philip was
49:10
nobody special. He wasn't an apostle. He wasn't
49:13
a trained evangelist. He was a two -year -old
49:16
believer who got scattered by persecution and
49:18
went straight to preaching wherever he landed.
49:21
When the Spirit said, Go stand by that chariot,
49:24
he ran. When the man in the chariot said, Can
49:27
you explain this passage to me? Philip sat down
49:30
and told him about Jesus. Intellectual assent
49:33
isn't saving faith. What God is after is a change
49:36
of heart, a transfer of trust, a life that looks
49:40
completely different after the encounter than
49:42
it did before. And right now, all over the world,
49:45
the gospel is moving. And here's Chip with a
49:47
word about what it looks like when ordinary people
49:50
refuse to be intimidated or isolated. If you
49:53
have a child or a grandchild who's walked away
49:56
from the faith, maybe a niece or nephew, I want
49:59
you to hold on to something from the book of
50:01
Acts. Saul of Tarsus wasn't just a skeptic. He
50:06
wasn't just indifferent to Christianity. He was
50:09
actively hunting down Christians, dragging them
50:12
from their homes, and watching them die. He was
50:15
the last person anyone would have ever expected
50:18
God to reach. And then Jesus showed up on the
50:22
road to Damascus, and everything changed. And
50:26
the message for every broken -hearted parent
50:28
is this. Nobody is too far gone. Nobody is outside
50:34
God's reach, and your prayers are not falling
50:37
on deaf ears. I've had literally hundreds of
50:42
conversations with parents and grandparents that
50:46
have shared their heartache and their pain. Their
50:49
daughter, their son, or their young adult who
50:53
no longer walks with God, doesn't go to church,
50:55
doesn't seem interested. But I've been around
50:58
long enough now. Five years, ten years later,
51:02
and saw God reach into their heart, move into
51:04
their life as their parents wouldn't give up.
51:07
They wouldn't compromise. They kept caring. They
51:10
kept in touch. They kept the door open. What
51:13
I want you to know is that we are committed to
51:16
helping you communicate in a way that really
51:19
reaches the next generation. And that's not just
51:21
the teaching, but we're working on some technology
51:24
right now. I call them algorithms for good that
51:28
is going to connect with the next generation
51:30
like never before. When you give to Living on
51:33
the Edge, you are saying to God, I care about
51:37
my kids and my grandkids, and I also care about
51:41
everyone else's. We have to reach this next generation.
51:45
Here's my question. Will you help us? And the
51:48
way to help us this June is to give. Give generously.
51:52
Give from the heart. Every dollar will be doubled
51:55
as we think about the next generation and what
51:57
God wants to do in them and through them. There
52:00
are sons and daughters and grandkids who need
52:03
someone to refuse to give up. Join the mid -year
52:06
match and put that conviction to work. Every
52:09
gift you send this month is matched dollar for
52:11
dollar. Give at livingontheedge .org or call
52:15
us at 888 -333 -6003. Or send your donation through
52:20
the mail by writing to us at Living on the Edge,
52:23
P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia 30024. Well,
52:29
I'm Dave Drury. Coming up, Satan has a fourth
52:32
agenda, and it may be his most effective yet.
52:35
It doesn't look dangerous. It looks like church.
52:38
Chip Ingram takes it on next time on Living on
52:41
the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored
52:47
by Living on the Edge.