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Acts chapter 19 · Scripture Unscripted

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Acts chapter 19, Let us pray. Our Lord God, here we are again.
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Lord, we are coming to you today in full reverence to your holy
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Scriptures. Lord, we are coming and we want
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to sit at your feet. We want to lay like dead men at
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your feet, God, Help us to gird up our loins.
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Help us to stand in your holy presence.
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Father, as we move through all of these words today, God, I
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pray that you will make them crystal clear in our minds.
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Lord, sear them into our very being.
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Let them become part of our thought process are synopsis
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God. Let them become part of our
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emotional intellect, God. Let them become part of the
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maturation God, that you desire for us.
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Lord, as we read these words, these eternal words, Father, let
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us feel the gravity of each syllable.
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Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that we can bless your
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holy heart by the opening of your scriptures and the reading
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of your scriptures and the desire to come in to know you
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more and to learn from your eternal paths.
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Holy Spirit, you guide us. Holy Spirit, you direct us.
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Holy Spirit, work within us mightily in the inner man.
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I pray that we can connect on a level that we have never been
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able to experience in the past. Father, I pray that as these
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words get spoken, Lord, that the ground beneath us and the
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rafters above us, God, are shaken With your holy presence.
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Bring your glory, Father, all around us, encompassing us.
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God, I pray for power from on high to take all of these words
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to the end of the world. Father, every continent, in
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every people group. Lord, I pray that you give us
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divine encounters and divine appointments today.
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Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that we will be found bold
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by speaking Your word to those who seem hostile towards it,
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Lord, That we will not shrink back and try to save our skin,
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Father. But I pray for a zeal to consume
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us, Father. I pray that the zeal of Your
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house has eaten us up, Father, that we cannot help but to
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bubble over and bubble out the divine truth that is contained
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in these books from Genesis to Revelation.
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God, the complete authority of your Rhema, your spoken word.
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Father, help us not to be disillusioned.
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Help us not to be in confusion. Help us not to believe all of
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the lies that are bombarding us daily through media and through
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images and through advertisements and consumerism.
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Father, help us not to buy into the lie that we have lack.
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I pray in the name of Jesus we can walk in the full authority
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that you have wrought for us on the cross, Jesus Christ, that we
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can be holy because you are holy.
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I pray in the name of Jesus for a sound mind today God.
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I pray in the name of Jesus for willing bodies today, God.
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I pray in the name of Jesus that you will give us more of who you
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are. Help us to love you more.
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Help us to go to new heights into sense the new depths of
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your love for this generation. Thank you God for giving us
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life. Thank you God, for giving us
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breath. Thank you God for giving us
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clean drinking water and food to eat.
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Thank you, God for giving us your complete word.
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Help us to walk in our bridal identity today.
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Help us to let go of this world and to lock eyes with you, God,
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and not turn back, but to keep our resolute faces set like a
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Flint towards Jerusalem. God, we pray for the nation
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Israel. God, we pray for the Jews at
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large all around this world. Father, I pray God for you to
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protect them. Lord, I pray in the name of
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Jesus for you to encompass them, Father, and to see them through,
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Lord, so that they can come into the fold, so that they can admit
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that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
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I pray that over every Jew. I pray that over the land of
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Israel. God, I pray for Jerusalem.
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Lord, I pray for that beautiful land or that peculiar land, God,
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the center of the earth. We thank you, Father, for all
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the divine revelation, all the divine truth that you have
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entrusted to us. God, the complete infallible
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word that we possess in our hands.
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God, I pray that we will be overcome and overwhelmed by your
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presence today through the reading of the Scriptures.
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We love you, King Jesus, we worship you in spirit and truth.
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We cry out. Maranatha, come Lord, come.
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We look up and we see our redemption drawing near, Lord.
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We see the leaves on the fig tree.
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We know that summer is near. God.
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Bring about all of your purposes and plans and prophecy, God, and
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let us see you rightly today. Give us divine counsel.
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Holy Spirit, guide us. Hide me, hide my words, and hide
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my thoughts. I decrease as you increase.
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And it's all about King Jesus. It's always been about King
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Jesus. It will always be about King
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Jesus. We get out of the way, we give
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you center stage, and it is you and it is you alone that we are
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here for. And it's in the mighty name of
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Jesus Christ that I pray. Amen.
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Let's start in verse one. And it came to pass that while
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Apollo's was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper
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coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples.
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So look how no man is an island. We are to do this faith journey
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together as brethren. We are to do this faith journey
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as a community. And you see the beauty of Jesus
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inviting 12 men to do life with him.
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And they saw him in every season.
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They saw Him as he walked this earth, three years in his
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earthly ministry. And it is a model for you and I
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that we are not to just be rogue agents out here, but we are to
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be disciples who make disciples and get on the disciple cycle.
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Friends, that is the purpose and that is the plan.
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We cannot just preach a fire sermon to get many to come to
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repentance and to salvation and then leave them as orphans.
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That should not be our heart. We shouldn't just leave The
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Dirty work and the messy work for others.
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Yes, there is an office of evangelism and praise God for
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those people, but it has to be both.
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We have to come and evangelize and show people that their need
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for the Lord Jesus Christ, their need for repentance, and then we
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must birth them out. We must do like Paul did, and he
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was very concerned about the health of the early church, and
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we should be very concerned about the health of the
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disciples that come alongside us.
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And you see here that Paul is desirous to always keep
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accompany to. He said unto them, Have you
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received the Holy Ghost since you believed?
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And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether
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there be any Holy Ghost. So here you can see that these
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disciples were down by the water, when John the Baptist was
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baptizing people unto the repentance of their sins,
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telling them that the Kingdom of God was at hand.
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And he was telling them that there was coming one after him,
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whose sandals he was not worthy to tie to loose.
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And he said that he baptized with water, but there was coming
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one who would baptize with the Holy Ghost.
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And here Paul wants to know what kind of baptism have they had?
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Have they just been dunked in water or had they received the
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blood of the lamb covering them? And here you're going to see how
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there is a progression as we walk through with the Lord.
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Yes, we walk the aisle, we get dunked in the water, we pray the
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little Jingle of a prayer, but God has to give us the down
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payment of the Holy Spirit. And there have been many who saw
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their need for repentance and they prayed the prayer and they
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got dunked in water, but they have not received the Holy
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Ghost. And it is a divine encounter,
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and God has to give you this Holy Ghost.
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He's the one who seals you. And it all has to do with our
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ability to recognize Him as the most supreme.
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It's dying to self. It's dying to the world around
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us. It is locking eyes with Him that
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He is well pleased to seal us with the Holy Ghost and to mark
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us for all of eternity to write our names in the Lamb's book of
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Life. You cannot come to the Lord on
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your own terms. You cannot just see your need
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for repentance but still hold on to yourself, hold on to your
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sin. You cannot, you must let go of
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all of it, friends. And that is where we are emptied
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of self, that we are full of the Holy Ghost.
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And that is what Paul wants to know here.
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Have you just been dunked in water, or are you washed in the
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blood? Three.
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And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized?
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They said unto John's baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John truly
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baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the
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people that they should believe on him, which should come after
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him, that is, on Christ Jesus. So John was just preparing the
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way. He was making the paths straight
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for people to be able to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior,
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which is when you are marked with the Holy Ghost as a down
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payment. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name
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of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon
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them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spoke with
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tongues and prophesied. 7 And all the men were about 12.
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So here you can see some very interesting theological debates
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that happened. Were these men actually saved
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prior to Paul coming or were they just prepared for this
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feeling of the Holy Ghost that had come?
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And this is laying on of hands in the speaking out in tongues.
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Is this the marker for all people to be able to receive
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salvation? And what we all need to
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understand is that John's peculiar ministry was to prepare
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the hearts of the men and women for the Lord Jesus Christ and
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for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
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And Jesus said unless he went to the Father, that the comforter
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would not come and that we would do greater things.
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And here you can see all of Jesus's words coming to fruition
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and how Paul recognized that these people, they were walking
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in their own understanding and they had not yet received the
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divine counsel that is available to every blood bought born again
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believer. And you need to know that as
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Paul baptized them in the name of the Father and the Son and
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the Holy Ghost, they were sealed in that moment for all of
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eternity. And they were not leaning on
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their own understanding, but they had received the Holy
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Spirit who was going to give them the divine counsel and the
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divine direction that we all have as believers.
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Friends, when you come to the Lord and you let go of sin and
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self, and you realize that you cannot save yourself and that
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you are in desperate need of Jesus Christ, and He is well
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pleased to give you the Holy Spirit and to seal you for all
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of eternity. And then here is a very special
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outpouring of the Holy Ghost that we saw on the Day of
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Pentecost and that we have seen throughout the book of Acts,
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this laying on of hands in the House of Cornelius.
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And then you can see it here again, this outpouring of the
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Holy Ghost which is preparing them to go out and to be
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witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ unto all of the world.
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And we should be praying for this very special outpouring,
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this revival spirit that comes in and wrecks us.
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And we cannot be the same afterwards.
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We cannot keep going back to our vomit.
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After the Lord pours out His Spirit upon us, we will be
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undone and marked with His goodness and grace, and we will
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go to our last dying breath, telling every single person we
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meet about the Lord Jesus and what He's done in our lives and
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what is available to them. And you cannot shut it up.
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You cannot put it under a bushel.
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You cannot hide the light under the lamp stand.
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You must go out and be filled with the Holy Ghost and keep
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your lamps full of the oil, friends, keep your Wicks trimmed
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and be wise as you go through this life.
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And that is what you're going to see here.
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As Paul goes in and lays the hands on these men, they receive
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the Holy Ghost and then they start prophesying and they're
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full of the Holy Ghost. And there was about 12 men. 8
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And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for the space
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of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning
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the Kingdom of God. So here you can see that Paul's
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motive was to always find the synagogue first and to go and
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preach Jesus Christ to the Jews 1st and then after being
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rejected he would turn and go unto the Gentiles.
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But it is the model that we see Jesus when he sent out the
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disciples 2 by two and he said for the House of Israel 1st.
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And you see Paul modeling that here.
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And it is only after being rejected that Paul goes unto the
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Gentiles. And we see that God's heart is
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for Israel. God's heart is for the Jews,
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friends. And we are just the unnatural
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that's grafted in. Praise God.
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Hallelujah. We can know the God of Abraham.
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We can know the God of Isaac. We can know the God of Jacob,
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which is Israel, friends. And that is the only one true
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living God. And he chose Abraham to be the
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father of faith and that he would have more descendants than
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the stars in the sky, than the grains of sand on the seashore.
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Friends, we need to know that that we are eternally blessed
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through the faith of Abraham. Praise God, we can have that
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lineage. Praise God, we can know that God
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is the great I am, and we cannot serve another Master.
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We cannot serve 2 masters. We cannot serve both God and
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mammon. We cannot serve both God and
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self. We cannot serve both God and
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idols. It is God and it is God, and it
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is God alone that we worship in spirit and truth, and that is
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what pleases Him. 9:00 But when many were hardened and did not
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believe, but spoke evil of that way before the multitude, he
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departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily
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in the school of 1 tyrannis. So here we can see that whenever
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he gets kicked out of the synagogue because the Jews
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unbelief, he finds a House of peace.
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He finds a person of peace in this Tyrannus.
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And perhaps this Tyrannus was a very powerful teacher and he
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invited Paul to come in and to dispute the truth and the
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reality. And we need to speak truth in
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love, even if it looks as if it's a disputing.
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We need to know that God has called us to speak the truth in
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love and we possess the truth. And it is very easy when you
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know the truth. It's very easy to wield that
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around as that two edged sword and to do much damage by making
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a point. But we must wield the sword of
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truth and to make a difference in people's lives, not just to
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be right, but to actually be able to make a difference in
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people's lives who are hostile towards God Almighty.
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We need to know that God's heart is to bring many unto
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repentance. 10 And this continued by the space of two
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years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of
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the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
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So for two years Paul stayed in the school of tyrannis,
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disputing about Jesus Christ and showing them that he is the
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Messiah. And the effect after two years
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of staying there was that all of Asia heard now they all had to
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make a decision. And that is what you need to
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understand is that once you have received the good news of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, you are no longer ignorant and you must
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make a decision. And you will either come
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honestly and realistically and come and accept Him as the Son
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of God, or you will become hostile and try to explain him
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away and you desire to go back to your lifestyle.
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But it doesn't work that way. You must make a decision.
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You have a grave responsibility once the gospel has been
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presented to you and you can no longer try to claim ignorance,
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which he would never be able to in the 1st place because all of
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creation proclaims His name. We can see that there is a one
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true living God, the only uncreated who spoke everything
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into existence, and even the rocks will cry out if we do not
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give Him His due praise. Friends, you must understand
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that 11 and God brought special miracles by the hands of Paul.
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All miracles are very special, but these are going to be very
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special in the sense that Paul gets to be the one who has the
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Shekinah glory that's resting upon him.
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And as people see the power that God has given him, their faith
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is increased and the healings come. 12 So that from his body
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were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs, aprons, and the
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diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of
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them. There was no power in the aprons
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or handkerchiefs. The only power is in the name of
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the Lord Jesus Christ and by placing our faith on Him.
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It's not the size of your faith, but it's who your faith is
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placed in, which is Jesus Christ.
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So as these pieces of cloth were brought into the midst of the
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sick folk, their faith was increased in the Lord Jesus
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Christ, and it brought about these special miracles. 13 Then
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certain of the Vagabond Jews exorcist took upon them to call
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over them, which had evil spirits, the name of the Lord
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Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.
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So they had no personal relationship with the Lord Jesus
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Christ. They'd only seen the power that
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Paul possessed by proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ over
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the people and over their circumstances, and they saw the
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healing power. They saw the demons driven out.
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And so they thought that they could just call upon the name
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who Paul was calling upon, and that would have the same effect.
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But let's see what happens. 14 And there were seven sons of
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Siva, a Jew and a chief of the priest, which did so.
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So these seven sons of Siva, they thought that they could
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just go out, these exorcists, they could just go out and
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adjure these unclean, evil, demonic spirits by the name of
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that guy that Paul preaches about.
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What's his name? Oh yeah, it's Jesus.
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They thought that just by remembering that name.
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And you need to understand that Jesus was a common name during
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this time. And it is by knowing Jesus
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Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, you need to understand that the Son
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of God is healing and salvation is in his name.
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And so they thought that just by remembering this common name of
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the time that that was enough to drive out the demonic spirits.
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But let's see what the fallen angels, these demons, let's see
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what they think about 07 sons of Siva trying to come and use the
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name that Paul preaches. This Jesus 15 And the evil
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spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know and Paul I know, but who
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are you? So that's what you need to know.
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There's a lot of theology here that we could camp out on, but
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suffice to say that even the demons know that there is one
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God, Yahweh, and they tremble. It's not enough just to know
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that God exists, but we must have a relationship with God
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through His Son Jesus Christ. And that is the power that's
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available to us is through Jesus Christ.
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And it is the name that is above all names, friends.
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And it has the power to dispel all darkness and all malice.
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It is the power to drive out demons.
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And some things only go out by prayer and fasting.
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And we need to know that it is Jesus's name that possesses all
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the power in the entire universe, period.
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And here these seven sons of Siva, these exorcists thought
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that they could just call upon his name that they didn't have a
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relationship with and that would work.
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And it doesn't. These evil spirits are not
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intimidated by empty words that mean nothing.
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It is by knowing Jesus and being known by Jesus that we have the
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power available to break chains, to drive out demons and to heal
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the sick friends and to put people back in their right
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minds. It is by the name of Jesus
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Christ and Jesus alone that that happens.
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And praise God, Hallelujah, He has given us this ministry and
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He has given us this ability through His name.
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But you must be connected to Him.
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It's not just by saying His name that these things happen.
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It is only by being connected to him.
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Friends and these seven sons of Siva, they did not know Him.
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They were not known by him. They were just going through a
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show and it was all just a big show for all the people there.
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And these demons were not driven out.
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They were not impressed by men and by our own power.
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If you go up against the demonic, 10 times out of 10,
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you're going to lose. They are eternal.
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They've been here much longer and they will crush you.
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But it is when you go at them with the name of Jesus Christ
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that the darkness flees, that all the demonic hosts, they
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cannot stand in the same presence as the name of Jesus
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Christ, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
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That is who we call upon, and that is who the darkness flees
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from. It is not just saying the name
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that somebody else believes in. 16 And the man in whom the evil
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spirit was leapt on them, overcame them, prevailed against
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them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
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That is what's going to happen to you if you try to go up
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against the demonic all by yourself.
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If you try to go up against the demonic and you're not truly
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connected to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And this is what you need to understand.
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This is the power that's available to us is only by Him.
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It's not by wisdom, it's not by might, it's not by power, it's
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not by recantation. It's not just by recitation.
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We cannot just go around thinking that we can go out like
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we always have. And we didn't realize that the
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Spirit of the Lord had left US like Sampson.
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And that is what you need to understand, that we only speak
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and we only do what the Father tells us to.
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And if we are truly connected to the vine, then all of the
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resources and all of the power of all that is available to God
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is available to us, friends. And it is limitless.
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And we do not need to shrink back in fear.
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We do not need to be cowards. And that is what you need to
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understand here is that these seven sons of Skiva, they did
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not actually know Jesus Christ. They were not known by Him, and
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they left naked and wounded. And that is the goal of the
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enemy is to steal, kill and destroy.
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And in the beginning it might look as if it's all niceties and
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all pleasantries, but in the end it bites like a Viper. 17 And
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this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also, dwelling at
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Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord
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Jesus was magnified. You can see how this incident
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with the seven sons of Skiva actually caused fear of God to
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fall upon those people there in Ephesus, and God's name was
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greatly magnified. And we saw that after Ananias
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and Sapphira, when they tried to lie to the Holy Spirit, and they
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were dead, they fell dead. And then great fear fell upon
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them, and many came unto the Lord.
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And you see it happening again here. 18 And many that believed
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came and confessed and showed their deeds.
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So that's revival at its core. When the fear of God comes upon
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mankind, it will cause us to get right with Him and to uncover
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all the things that we don't think matter, to uncover all the
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things that we've been hiding. This is revival breaking out
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right here in Ephesus. 19 Many of them also, which used curious
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arts, brought their books together and burned them before
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all men, and they counted the price of them and found it
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50,000 pieces of silver. This is revival at its core.
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When God gets a hold of us and we work out our salvation with
35:09
fear and trembling, and we are in all struck of God's glory,
35:14
the Shekinah glory, we will bring out all of the idols that
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we've been worshipping. We'll throw them away, we'll get
35:21
rid of them. They'll have no more power over
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us. Friends, you need to know that
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this is the revival that we pray for, that people will come to
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the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and get rid of all
35:35
of their toxic activities, all of their witchcraft, all of
35:40
their New Age occult garbage. That they'll get rid of the
35:46
tarot cards and the Ouija boards, that they'll get rid of
35:49
their phones. They'll throw their phones away.
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They will get rid of their addiction to pornography.
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They'll get rid of their lying. They'll get rid of the stealing.
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They'll get rid of the all the extortion.
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They'll get rid of all of the laundering.
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They'll get rid of every single thing that is keeping them from
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experiencing the fullness of God.
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And when the Holy Spirit gets a hold of us, we cannot stay in
36:21
that sin, friends. And they did not care for the
36:26
worth of those things. And that's what you need to do.
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Go through your phone, go through your house, go through
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your workplace, go through the Hallows of your mind, and get
36:38
rid of every unclean, unprofitable thing that you've
36:42
allowed in. Consecrate the temple of God,
36:45
friends. Make it a place of prayer and
36:49
not a den of thieves, friends, get rid of all of the demonic
36:55
oppression and all of the demonic influence.
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Stop listening to all the secular garbage.
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Turn the news off and get in the word of God and get right with
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God, friends. That is the calling that is
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placed upon us. And they did not care for the
37:17
cost. But you don't know what I paid
37:19
for that. It doesn't matter.
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What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but to
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lose his soul? Friends 20 And so mightily grew
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the word of God and prevailed. That is what we pray for.
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That is what we press for. That is what we desire with all
37:40
of our hearts and minds and thoughts and emotions is that
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God's Word will prevail over every continent, every people
37:48
group, over every language, in every tongue, every nationality
37:52
and every false religion. And they, the God of Abraham,
37:58
Isaac and Jacob, will reign supreme over the entire world,
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over all of the universe. Friends 21 After these things
38:13
were ended, Paul purposed in the Spirit when he had passed
38:17
through Macedonia and IKEA to go to Jerusalem, saying after I
38:24
have been there, I must also see Rome.
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So God is giving Paul divine revelation that he is to go to
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Rome and Jesus. During Paul's three day fast,
38:37
when scales were still on his eyes, Jesus said I will show him
38:42
the things that he must suffer from my name.
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And so Paul is not unaware that he must go to Rome.
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And he was not taken by surprise.
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And it was the IT was by divine counsel and divine revelation
38:59
that this prophecy was coming out.
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And Paul knew that he was only to know Christ and to know
39:08
Christ crucified. And that is what we are to do as
39:13
well. Do not try to save your skin and
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shrink back in fear. God is not in fear.
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Fear and faith cannot cohabitate.
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One will push the other out. 22 So he sent into Macedonia two of
39:30
them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, and he
39:36
himself stayed in Asia for a season. 23 And the same time
39:43
there arose no small stir about that way.
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So we know that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the
39:51
life. And you can see here in the
39:54
early church that they were called the Way.
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And you see it mentioned multiple times here in this
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chapter about that way. You need to know that the way is
40:08
Jesus Christ and they were connected to the way.
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And you can also see that after a great and mighty revival.
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Once it has ended and by the way that is the Kingdom of God on
40:24
earth when we are experiencing A revival, the Shekinah glory on
40:28
earth. It is just a preview of what is
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to come for all of eternity, friends, the thousand year reign
40:37
of Christ and all into New Jerusalem and for all of
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eternity we will experience the presence of God in that way.
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But when it is ended, and it will end because there are still
40:52
purpose and plans for the evil one for now.
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And God is allowing Satan to roam the earth.
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God is allowing him to reveal the inner motives of men.
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And that is what you need to understand.
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There is no cat and mouse game that is happening between God
41:13
and Satan. There's no big chess game that's
41:18
going on where God's trying to outmaneuver and outpace Satan.
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It does not work that way. God is omniscient and God is
41:27
sovereign, and God is omnipotent, and he is not shaken
41:35
by all the things that are happening in the world.
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He's not pacing back and forth in heaven trying to figure out
41:41
his next move. God is the great I am and all we
41:51
do is we become still and we know that God is.
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And that is our call, friends. He's moving everything in
42:09
accordance with this plan. And so when this Chicano glory
42:14
is lifted so that his will can continue on, that is revealing
42:20
the wickedness in the hearts of men and their delusional then
42:26
comes always after a great revival comes persecution.
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So when we pray for revival, just know that when it ends,
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there will come a massive amount of persecution, and we're about
42:44
to see that here. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, A
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silversmith which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no
42:57
small gain unto the Craftsman. So here's this greedy gain.
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Here is this love of Mammon, and it's creeping in, and you can
43:07
see that these idols weren't getting sold.
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All of this Craftsman, all of this dead idol worship, the
43:16
cannot see, they cannot hear, they cannot speak, they cannot
43:20
do anything. It is an inanimate object that
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we place so much worship in, and it grieves the heart of God when
43:29
men choose false idol worship. And you're going to see here
43:34
that because this Demetrius his pocket was getting hurt, that
43:39
he's going to try to hurt the Church. 25 whom he'd called
43:48
together with the workmen of like occupation and said, Sirs,
43:52
you know that by this craft we have our wealth. 26 Moreover,
43:59
you see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost
44:03
throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away
44:08
much people, saying they be no gods which are made with hands.
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Praise God, Hallelujah, Paul got it right. 27 So that not only
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this our craft is in danger to be set at nothing, but also that
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the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her
44:30
magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the
44:35
world worships. So we can see here that Diana
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was just false goddess, this idol that was set up.
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And where is she now? She's gone by the wayside.
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And God Almighty prevails, and God Almighty reigns supreme.
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And we're still talking about Jesus Christ and the Jews are
44:55
still on the scene today. And look at how all of this
45:00
false idol worship has gone by the wayside, and you can see
45:05
that God will not be mocked. And it is.
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Word prevails for all time's sake, forever.
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Forever and ever. Heaven and earth shall pass
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away. But not one of these words,
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friends. 28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of
45:24
wrath and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
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29 And the whole city was filled with confusion, and having
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caught Gaius and aristocrats, men of Macedonia, Paul's
45:38
companions in travel, they rushed with 1 accord into the
45:42
theater. 30 And when Paul would have entered in to the people,
45:46
the disciples suffered him. Not so here.
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They grabbed 2 of Paul's disciples.
45:52
They rushed them in to the courtroom and Paul was going to
45:56
go in, but they would not let him because they didn't want him
46:01
to have to die prematurely. 31 And certain of the chief of
46:10
Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that
46:15
he would not adventure himself into the theater.
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So this certain of the chief of Asia, he did not want Paul to
46:23
have to suffer prematurely. 32 Some therefore cried one thing
46:30
and some another, for the assembly was confused and the
46:34
more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
46:37
So this is Satan working and these people are delusional and
46:42
we know that God is not the author of confusion and Satan
46:46
has thrown everybody into confusion and that's all you're
46:50
going to find whenever you go to serve Satan.
46:53
When you go to serve self, when you go to serve Mammon is
46:56
nothing but confusion. And men are not settled and they
47:00
think that they can amass more wealth and that's going to get
47:04
them to be settled and it never does.
47:07
It only amounts to more confusion and we keep putting
47:10
more and more and more chains upon ourselves and it's choking
47:14
us out, friends, and it's only leading to confusion.
47:18
And whenever you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, honestly, he
47:21
settles you. When you come to the Lord Jesus
47:25
Christ honestly, you can walk in the light and you're not afraid
47:31
of the darkness. When you come to the Lord Jesus
47:34
Christ honestly, then you see that by seeking the Kingdom of
47:40
God first, everything that you could ever want and desire is
47:45
added to you, and His name is Jesus. 33 And they drew
47:55
Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward,
47:59
And Alexander beckoned with one hand, and would have made his
48:03
defense unto the people. 34 But when they knew that he was a
48:08
Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried
48:13
out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
48:19
Can you see this mob rule? They grab Alexander, but they
48:24
find out that he's a Jew. He's trying to quiet them down,
48:28
but when they find out that he's a Jew, they all cry out for two
48:32
hours. Great is Diana.
48:37
Can you hear it? They're shouting for two hours.
48:41
Great is Diana 35 And when the town clerk had appeased the
48:53
people, he said, you men of Ephesus, what man is there that
48:59
knows not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of
49:05
the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from
49:10
Jupiter? This is a bunch of false garbage
49:15
worship, and they're worshipping creation and not the Creator. 36
49:23
Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, you
49:28
ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. 37 For you have brought
49:36
here these men, which are neither robbers of churches nor
49:42
yet blasphemers of your goddess. So they were wise into not
49:47
blaspheming against this false religion in this mob rule would
49:54
have tried to kill them. But this town clerk, he just
49:58
comes on the scene, and he gets everybody to come to their
50:02
senses. 38 Wherefore, if Demetrius and the Craftsman
50:09
which are with him have a matter against any man, the law is open
50:15
and there are deputies, let them in, plead one another.
50:20
So he's saying we've got to go through the due process, we've
50:25
got to give them justice. There are people that are set up
50:30
that will hear this matter, and if they've done something wrong,
50:34
they will deal with them. 39 But if you inquire anything
50:40
concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful
50:45
assembly. So he's telling them that they
50:49
must go through the correct process if they want to do
50:54
anything to these men, and they must be found guilty before they
50:59
come to any kind of sentence upon them.
51:04
And all these people were is just following the crowds.
51:08
And you see it today. You see the same thing getting
51:11
modeled out today, friends. People go out in droves and they
51:15
don't even know why they're there.
51:17
They're supporting causes that are demonic.
51:22
And they just think that it's something to do for the evening
51:25
or for the week. And they don't even realize that
51:30
they are playing into the hands of the enemy. 40 For we are in
51:40
danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there
51:45
being no cause whereby we may give an account of this
51:50
concourse. So there is reasons, friends,
51:57
there is reasons that are profitable that we should stand
52:03
up for. But this town clerk was showing
52:08
these people that this was not a good cause for such an uproar
52:14
and they were in danger of being called into question by the
52:20
Roman authorities. We'll end on 41.
52:24
And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
52:30
So this town clerk was smart enough to understand that this
52:35
was all wrong. A big hoopla that they didn't
52:41
even know why they were there. It was nothing but the spirit of
52:44
confusion. And it was satanic at its core.
52:48
And they were trying to get rid of the way.
52:52
And it's no different in our day and our hour.
52:56
But you can't do anything with Jesus Christ.
52:58
He's here to stay. You can't do anything with this
53:04
with the church. Friends, you can try to speak
53:07
out against the Bible. You can try to speak out against
53:10
the church, but the gates of hell will not prevail and it
53:18
will outlast the test of time. Jesus Christ, the name of Jesus
53:23
Christ, the church, and the Word of God will stay standing when
53:28
everything else falls away, I promise you that.
53:32
I hope you've been blessed by this chapter.
53:37
I know I sure have. I'm praying for you, praying for
53:45
every single one of you. I'm praying peace over your
53:48
heart and mind today. I'm praying love and joy over
53:53
your heart mine today. I'm praying a special provision
53:59
and protection over your family. Just know that I'm interceding
54:04
and standing in the gap for all of the week.
54:10
I love you. We'll see you back here
54:16
tomorrow. God bless you.