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Acts chapter 16 · Scripture Unscripted

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Acts chapter 16 Let us pray our Lord God who reigns on high,
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thank you God. Lord, help us to keep your name
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holy today. Help us to not blasphemy your
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holy name today. Lord, Your name is the name that
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is above all names, Yahweh, Adonai, Yeshua, Hamasiyah, you
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are a Spiritu Santo. Thank you Father, we pray for
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your will to be done in our lives.
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God, not our own selfish self seeking will.
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God, we just want to be found doing your will, God, and I pray
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for your will to be done here just as you have put it all
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together there. Lord, I pray for your Kingdom to
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come. God, I pray for the thousand
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year reign of Christ to come. God, I pray that your Kingdom
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will be performed today. Lord, let it overlap into this
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day. Father, I pray that your people
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who are called by your name will be your ambassadors, God, and be
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ministers of reconciliation for today, God, and be peacemakers
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everywhere that they go today, God.
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Let us not be fearful and let us do away with cowardice, God, but
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let us be bold, knowing that you are for us and that no one can
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be against us. God.
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I pray for Our Daily Bread today as we open your scriptures, as
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we open your word, God, feed us the bread of life.
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Let us feast on the flesh of Christ today.
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Let us drink of his blood. Today let us remember the
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sacrifice on the cross, the lashes that he took God, the
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plucking out of his beard. God, the spit and the slap on
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his face. God, the crown of thorns pushed
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into his head. God, the nails in his hands and
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his feet. Father, I pray in the name of
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Jesus that the holy water that was spilled out from his side.
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Lord, we drink deeply of that. Perfect water and blood bread.
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God, I pray that these words become real to us.
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I pray that these words are alive inside of us.
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Let them quicken in the inner man today.
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God, I pray that you'll forgive us for all the times that we
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have sinned and trespassed and all the times we've came up
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short. God, and help us to extend that
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forgiveness to those who don't ask for it or even deserve it.
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God, I pray that we can live in the reality of the forgiveness
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that we have received. A debt we could never pay back.
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God, it was insurmountable and it was pressing on us and
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squeezing us like a Python. God and you, Lord Jesus Christ,
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are the heavy lifter, and you lifted that up.
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Your yoke is easy and your burden's light.
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So let us extend that forgiveness out to those all
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around us, Lord, and walk in grace and walk in the fullness
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that you have for us. Lord, I pray against all the
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schemes of the enemy. God, I pray against the fiery
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darts of the devil. God, I pray against all the
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demonic haunts. God, I pray against the occult.
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Lord, I pray against the New Age.
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God, I pray against all witchcraft.
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God, I pray against all Satanism.
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God, I pray against those practicing divination.
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God, I pray against any dark spirit, any demonic heart that
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is trying to overtake humanity. Father, I pray against all of
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those spirits. Or we know that people are not
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the problem, but it is the demonic influence and the
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demonic oppression and the demonic possession that we pray
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against today. Lord, set the captives free
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today. Let us bring the key, the keys
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that you snatched from hell, Lord, that were given to you.
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God, let us by faith go in and unlock all the chains that
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people have placed around themselves by dibbling and
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dabbling in witchcraft. God, I pray that we can go in
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and dismantle all of those chains in the name of Jesus
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Christ. Lord, I pray that you'll help us
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to walk in freedom today. Help us to walk in the reality
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that we are yours and we are called by your name and we are
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stamped with the seal of approval.
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God and our names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
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Thank you Jesus, for that reality.
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God deliver us from all of the cares and snares and traps that
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are set before us. God, bring us up to new heights.
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Lord, let us walk with you new heights.
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God, I pray against all of the schemes of the enemy.
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Lord, we just want to be where you are, or we press towards
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you. Lord, we pulsate towards the
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light. God the SON.
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Father, we are reverberating God with the goodness of Jesus
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Christ. Lord, fill us today with the
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Holy Ghost. Thank you God, for yours is the
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Kingdom. Lord, we dismantle all the
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wicked darkness. God, we war on our knees against
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it. God, and we raise up the banner
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of Jesus Christ. That is the Kingdom Lord of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Yours is the power.
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There's no power, God, that has been given to any entity, any
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created being that did not come from you.
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You are the sustainer of life. You are the sustainer of all
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life forms. You are the sustainer of
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everything seen and unseen, God, and it is in your divine purpose
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and plan, God, to leave things the way that they are because
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you could stop it at a moment's notice.
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But Lord, you get the most glory when we choose You, Father, and
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it is beyond our comprehension, Lord, that you keep the things
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here in this world that we don't understand.
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But Father, we get out of our own understanding and we say yes
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and Amen. And we step in to the glory God
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that you have. We step into that Shekinah glory
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where we cannot even open our mouths.
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We are so wrapped up in the Spirit, Father.
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And I pray God for your glory, Lord, to shine all around us
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today. And it's in Jesus Christ, holy
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and precious name, that I pray. Amen.
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Let's start verse one. Then came he to Derb and Lystra
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and beheld a certain disciple there named Timothy, the son of
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a certain woman which was a Jewess and believed, but his
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father was a Greek. So Timothy was half Jew, half
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Greek. And Paul took a special notice
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of this very special young man, and we're going to see that Paul
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thought of him as a son too, which was well reported of by
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the brothers that were at Lystra and Iconium.
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If you remember, this was the town that tried to make Paul and
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Barnabas into gods whenever they were trying to sacrifice to them
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after they healed the man there and they were stoned right
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afterwards. And that's what you need to
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know. Anytime that there's false
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worship that comes upon a human being, it will be met with real
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persecution when they realize that they're just human.
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And that is why we have to guard ourselves against any kind of
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false worship. Humble yourselves, live in
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humility friends, and God will exalt you.
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Three him Would Paul have to go forth with him and took and
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circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those
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quarters, for they knew all that.
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His father was a Greek. So we just got done reading a
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whole chapter about if the Gentiles needed to be
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circumcised, and the answer was emphatically no.
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We turn the page and you find that Paul here has circumcised
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Timothy because they're about to go unto the Jews.
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Is Paul airing and is he walking in legalism?
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And the answer is no. Paul knew that he did not need
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to be a stumbling block for the Jews, and he knew that if he was
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to take Timothy along with him that it was for the love that he
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had for them, not because it was salvific.
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It had nothing to do with Timothy's salvation and that is
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what is of the utmost importance that you need to understand.
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The whole issue in the last chapter was concerning
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salvation. Timothy was saved before he was
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circumcised, but Paul thought that it was of a matter of
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loving and not being a stumbling block that he would circumcise
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Timothy so that he would be of use to him in the synagogues to
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with the Jews and not so that he would be saved.
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He was already saved before he got circumcised.
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Don't miss it. Four.
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And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the
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decrees for to keep, and were ordained of the apostles and
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elders, which were at Jerusalem. 5 And so were the churches
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established in the faith, and increased in numbered daily.
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The Holy Spirit is breaking out and the numbers are being added
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to daily and we cannot manufacture this growth.
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It is only by God. We just sow the seeds, we
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scatter the seeds we plant, but God gives the increase. 6 Now
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when they had gone through Fersia in the region of Galatia,
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and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in
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Asia. So here you can see how God is
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desirous to give Paul the entire continent of Europe, which you
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and I have been eternally blessed because of the Spirit of
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God putting a blockade in front of Paul, being able to go to
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Asia Minor which was in the Roman province. 7 After they
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were come to Misha, they essayed and to go to Bithynia, but the
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spirit suffered them not. 8 And they passing by Misha, came down
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to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul.
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In the night there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him,
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saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us.
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So here was the entryway into Europe and Paul through Jesus
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Christ is going to win the continent of Europe and look at
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how God's divine purposes will be carried out.
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And he could not go the way that he wanted to.
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And the Bible just tells us to acknowledge the Lord and He will
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direct our steps, and we do not have to fear on missing out of
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the best abundant life that God wants for us.
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And that abundant life does not mean luxuries and does not mean
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materialism. That abundant life means being
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filled with the Holy Ghost and living on purpose for God every
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day of your life, for the rest of your life, for however long,
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for how many days that you have on this earth.
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The abundant life is dying to self and being filled with the
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Holy Ghost. And he's, this Macedonian man is
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beckoning Paul to come there. And this is a beautiful vision,
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and you can see how 2000 years removed from this moment, you
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can see how the whole world was set on fire by the obedience of
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Paul. Listening to this vision, I pray
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that you're in a place with the Lord that He is pleased and can
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trust you when He gives you a vision that you know it's from
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Him. And not only do you just go
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around telling everybody all about it, but you actually obey
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when God speaks to you. It's not enough just to receive
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the vision, but we need to obey it and we need to, first of all,
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know that it's from God, and then second of all, when we know
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that it's from Him, we obey and we walk in it.
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Walk with that mantle on you, no matter what it looks like all
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around you. Walk knowing that God is in it.
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Tim. And after he had seen the
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vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia,
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assuredly gathering that the Lord has called us for to preach
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the gospel unto them. This immediate, immediate
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obedience. Friends, once you have
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acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, your very
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next step is baptism. Once you have been baptized,
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then you need to be in the Word daily.
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And then once you have received divine revelation, you need to
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obey what it is that the Lord God is revealing to revealing to
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you. 11 Therefore loosen from show as we came with a straight
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course to Sam Athresha in the next day to Neapolis.
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So you can see here that this was a quick two day journey. 12
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And from there to Philippi, which is the chief city of that
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part of Macedonia and a colony, and we were in that city abiding
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certain days. So here you can see that Galatia
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was mentioned back in verse 6. That's where you get the book of
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Galatians. And here he just mentioned
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Philippi and that's where you get the book of Philippians.
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So you can see God moving. And Paul is going to be
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instrumental in writing our New Testament. 13 And on the Sabbath
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we went out of the city by Riverside, where prayer was
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won't to be made. And we sat down and spoke unto
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the women which resorted there. So here they came into Philippi
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looking for a synagogue. There is no synagogue.
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So the only Jews or the only believers of the way would be
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sitting by this little Riverside.
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And Paul's going to go down being led by the Holy Spirit for
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a divine encounter. And that's how we should operate
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our lives every day. No matter where you go, if it's
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your workplace, if it's the grocery store, if you're on
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vacation, if you're in school, if you are in the hospital, you
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always ask God for divine appointments.
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And that is what Paul has done here.
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And God is faithful to lead people into your lives who are
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desperate for the word of God. And we will overcome the enemy
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by the blood of the lamb and by the words of our testimony.
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And we need to share our salvation story with every
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single person we come in contact with.
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And you need to develop a testimony that is quick, a 2
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minute testimony, friends. So when you're in the line of a
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grocery store, a bank, if you're in the line of anywhere you are
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that you can share your testimony in a moments notice
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and your testimony just involves 3 chairs.
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The first chair is what was your life like before Christ.
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The second chair is what happened when you encountered
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the Lord Jesus Christ and He saved you from sin and self.
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And then the third chair is what does your life look like now?
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And we need to know those three chairs and we need to be able to
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develop our testimony. And this is my testimony,
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friends. I was a alcoholic and a drug
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addict. I was a liar and a thief.
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Then I hit rock bottom through a series of events, through the
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death of a friend and through being incarcerated and through a
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failed marriage and a failing engagement, and by faith.
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I reached up and grabbed God's hand and He pulled me up out of
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the muck in the mire that I had made in my life, and I
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acknowledged that my way was not working and I needed him.
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My life now looks like a complete filling of the Holy
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Ghost, empowered to do the work that God has given me to do, a
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complete assurance that I know that I know that I'm going to
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bust heaven wide open. And that is the simplicity of
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sharing our faith with those and looking for divine appointments
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to share our testimony. And I pray that you have
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developed your testimony and it's good to hear yourself say
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it. It's good to be reminded of how
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far the Lord has brought you. 14 and a certain woman named Lydia,
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a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worship God,
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hurt us, whose heart the Lord open and she attended unto the
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things which were spoken of Paul.
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So this is the first convert in Europe and you can see Lydia
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here. She has a lucrative business of
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selling a very luxurious cloth, this purple that was made by the
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crushing of a mollusk shell to extract this purple dye.
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And it would, it was a very expensive product because of how
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many of those shells that it took to make the die.
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And here you can see that she's hungry for the word of God.
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She's wide open. And we need to look for these
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divine appointments, friends. And God opened her heart.
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And you look at the Thyatira here.
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This is the same church that's mentioned in the Book of
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Revelation. So we know that it took off like
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wildfire. 15 And when she was baptized and her household, she
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begged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the
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Lord, come into my house and abide there.
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And she constrained us. Praise God, Hallelujah, this
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Lydia. Praise God, Hallelujah that Paul
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was not so legalistic, that he thought it was a weird thing to
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be in the company of this woman. And you can see how Jesus
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modeled his ministry and he was not afraid to have the women
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around him because he looked at them like mothers and he looked
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at them like sisters and he looked at them like daughters.
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And there was no perversion here.
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And that is what we're called to.
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And there have been many, many people that are in ministry who
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do not understand this fact. And they are so steeped in all
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of their perversions. And Satan himself has asked to
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sift them. And they get found out through
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time. And we have got to get to a
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place where we see women as daughters and mothers and
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sisters and as family. And they are not objects
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friends. 16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain
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damsel possessed with the spirit of divination met us, which
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brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
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So most of what we find in the practice of fortune telling is a
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bunch of garbage and it is just a show.
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But you need to understand that there is limited real power that
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is available to those who give themselves over to the demonic
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realm. And it is seen whenever King
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Saul goes and finds the witch and asks her to bring Samuel
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back. It is found whenever Moses and
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Aaron are standing in the court of Pharaoh and his magicians
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turn the stabs into snakes. You need to understand that it
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is nothing to mess around with. It's not fun and games.
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It is not a joke. A lot of people sear their
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conscience and grieve the spirit by thinking that horror films
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are just a joke and they're just entertainment, Thinking that
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demonic secular music is just fun and all they care about is
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the beat. They think that playing with
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tarot cards and Ouija boards is just fun and games and there's
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no power behind it and in the physical it is just an object.
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But the problem is when we open ourselves up to the demonic and
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they find an open door, When they find an open window, they
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will come in. And you need to understand what
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Jesus Christ taught us. He said that when an unpure,
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impure, unclean spirit is driven from a man, he goes out and
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finds 7 spirits more wicked than himself.
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And they come back and find the house swept and clean and they
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come in and the final state of that man is worse than the
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former. And you need to understand this
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is reality. And here they have this demon
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possessed girl who has limited knowledge that is given to her
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by the demons who are not omniscient.
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They do not know our thoughts, but they can predict human
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behavior. And they are giving her insight
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into the things that will happen and she's able to harness that.
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And these men, these owners of this demonic girl is using her
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for their selfish, greedy gain. And how despicable is this whole
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scene And God Almighty is going to deal with it. 17 The same
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followed Paul and us and cried, saying, These men are servants
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of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation.
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So 2 little things you need to see in this.
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First of all, Luke here says showed us meaning that the
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physician Luke has come on board with Paul and Timothy perhaps as
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their personal doctor. But he's also getting insight
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into all of these things which he's going to write to
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Theophilus, the gospel of Luke. And then he's going to write to
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Theophilus the book of Acts and how amazing is the divine wisdom
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of God Almighty to separate Barnabas and Paul to give him
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Timothy and Luke to carry the word of God into Europe.
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And then you also need to see that this demon possessed girl
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is trying to be a cheerleader for Paul.
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And Paul does not want this kind of recognition coming from this
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kind of source. And is very similar when you see
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the demon possessed the demoniacs of Jesus's earthly
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ministry and he tells them to be quiet and to come out of them.
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And Paul is just modeling the ministry of the Lord Jesus
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Christ. And we should do the same.
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We should not accept any kind of promotion from demonic activity.
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And here they knew that Paul was indwelled with the Holy Ghost
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and that he was preaching the right way, but it still did not
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stop Paul from driving this spirit out. 18 And this did she
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many days, but Paul being grieved, turned and said to the
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Spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out
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of her. And he came out the same hour.
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So immediately this Anaconda, this immediately this Python
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spirit comes out of this girl. And this is the spirit that
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tries to choke out all of the fruitfulness in US, tries to get
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us to end our lives prematurely, tries to get us to believe all
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the lies of the enemy. This is what has gripped her and
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we would do well to pray against this Python spirit in the name
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of Jesus Christ. Paul was smart enough to see
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that he had no power within himself to do anything.
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That it is only by the name that is above all names, the name of
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Jesus Christ. Bring that name upon your lips
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today. Speak it verbally today into
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your circumstance, into your room, into your workplace, into
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your car, onto your body. Friends, pray over everything in
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the name of Jesus Christ and watch the demons flee.
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They cannot be in the same place where that name is spoken.
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Don't forget it. 19 And when her Master saw that the hope of
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their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew
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them into the marketplace unto the rulers.
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We also need to know that some of these demonic influences and
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demonic spirits, these fallen angels, we need to know that
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some things only go out by prayer and fasting.
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If you have prayed in the name of Jesus Christ and there's
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still some demonic activity and influence over somebody, fast
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and pray and watch them flee. Friends, Jesus did teach us that
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20 and brought them to the magistrate, saying these men
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being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city 21 and teach
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customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to
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observe being Romans. So here you need to know that
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just because these people, Paul and Silas, that because they had
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looked like Jews, they were being relegated to Jews, even
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though they didn't even have a synagogue in that city.
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And here you can see that Paul is being accused of subverting
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the Roman culture, and they did not realize at this time that he
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was actually a Roman citizen himself. 22 And the multitude
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rose up together against them, and the magistrates ripped off
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their clothes and commanded to beat them.
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Imagine that, friends, this is mob rule, this is delusion.
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They delighted themselves in evil and refused to love the
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truth. They were after selfish, greedy
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gain. And here these men are being
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beaten for just telling the truth. 23 And when they had laid
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many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging
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the jailer to keep them safely. So for the Jewish people and for
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they the Roman citizens, there would have been some limitations
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upon the amount of stripes that they could receive.
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But because they did not know that these men were Roman
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citizens, they do not number how many stripes they received.
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And it was divine wisdom for Paul and Silas to remain silent
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about their citizenship, because something magnificent is about
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to happen. 24 who, having received such a charge, thrust
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them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the
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stocks. So they were chained to these
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stocks, which would have been cuffs, and they would have been
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contorted into positions that were very uncomfortable. 25 And
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at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto
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God, and the prisoners heard them.
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Imagine that they have been beaten, they have been falsely
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accused, they have been contorted into positions that
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are very uncomfortable, and they count it all as joy.
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And I pray that you can do the same, and it's going to make an
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eternal difference for the jailer. 26 And suddenly there
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was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison
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were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and
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everyone's bands were loose. 27 And the keeper of the prison,
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awakening out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
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drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
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the prisoners had fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice,
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saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.
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They could have ran, friends, they could have left.
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But by divine wisdom Paul knew to be still, and by grace he
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calls out to this jailer about ready to kill himself.
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Do not do so. 29 Then he called for a light, and he sprang in,
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and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas.
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Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
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And this jailer has caught that. The jailer heard them singing,
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even though they had been beaten and treated wrongfully and
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despised and rejected like their Lord.
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Here they are singing songs. And I pray that we, as we are
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going into martyrdom, as we are going into outright persecution,
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we can bring the songs of salvation on our lips, which
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will be a great witness unto all of our persecutors, and God will
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be well pleased to save some. 30 And brought them out and said,
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Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
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31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall
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be saved, and your house. So we know that this man was
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repentant, and then we know that all he has to do is believe on
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the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
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And then by divine wisdom Paul knew that it would have a ripple
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effect into his family. 32 And they spoke unto him the word of
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the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took
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them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and
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was baptized. He and all his straightway
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imagine that this jailer cleaning out all of their wounds
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and then the jailer and his family being baptized in the
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middle of the night. 34 And when he had brought them into his
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house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God
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with all his house. Praise God, Hallelujah, we love
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you, Lord Jesus. This jailer and his family will
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be with us forever more. We'll get to meet them and see
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them. 35 And when it was day, the magistrate sent the Sergeant
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saying, let those men go. This was how they kept their
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finger, they kept their thumb on the people was by propagating
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fear amongst the masses. And that is the enemy's greatest
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tactic. He has no fangs, he has no
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teeth, he has no claws. All he has is a weak roar that
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that just tells lie after lie after lie and he instills fear.
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And then we wrap the chains around us, we lead ourselves off
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into hell. And that is the tactic of the
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enemy. And you can see here that they
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have publicly beat them and publicly put them into jail, and
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then they're just going to release them.
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And that would instill fear into the population. 37 But Paul said
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unto them, They've beaten US openly, uncondemned being
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Romans, and have cast us into prison.
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And now they try to thrust us out privately.
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No, truly, but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
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So here Paul shows that he's a Roman citizen, that he had
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rights that they had violated. Imagine that.
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And now we're going to see how these leaders of this city felt.
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And they knew they had done something wrong, and Paul's
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calling them out. 38 The sergeant's told these words unto
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the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that they were
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Romans 39 And they came and begged them, and brought them
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out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
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They're trying to cover them their tracks.
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Look at how a lot of politicians in our day and our hour around
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the world, around the globe, when they're caught red handed,
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they try to just cover their tracks and that's what's
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happening. We'll end on 40.
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And they went out of the prison and entered into the House of
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Lydia. And when they had seen the
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brethren, they comforted them and departed.
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So Paul says you can't just get rid of us so easily.
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We've got work to do. So here Paul received carte
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blanche blank check. He had got them off of the scent
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of all of these wild dogs, all of these ravenous wolves, all of
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these people being used by Satan.
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He had won this privilege of being able to encourage those in
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the faith, and he left on his own accord.
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And that is what you're going to find whenever you're following
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after the Lord Jesus Christ. If He is for us, no one can be
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against us, and we would do well to see that even in the jail,
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even through the beatings, God was in it, and He had a divine
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plan and purpose for it all. Let's get out of our own way and
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out of our own understanding. You've got the mind the size of
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a soda can, and we worship a God with the mind bigger than all
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the oceans put together. His mind is larger than the
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universe, known and unknown. And we would do well to just say
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yes and Amen to all the promises contained in the 66 books, the
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Canon of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
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Nothing added and nothing subtracted.
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The infallible, inerrant Word of God that is profitable to save
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men and to bring them into redemption and to bring them
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into their assurance of faith. It is the word of God and the
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word of God alone. I hope you've been blessed by
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this chapter. I love you.
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I'm praying for you. We'll see you back here
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tomorrow. God bless you.