Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24495 - Acts Continues Today Through You - Acts 28:12-31

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#24495 - Acts Continues Today Through You - Acts 28:12-31 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles.
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Acts chapter 28, we're going to pick up what we left off last
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time and I've entitled our Bible study.
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Acts continues today through you because we come to the end here
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of chapter 28, which is the end of the book of Acts.
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But Acts continues as God is still working on the earth among
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us and through US. And what a privilege it is.
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The last section of the book of Acts is focusing on Paul's life.
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We met Paul not as Paul the apostle, the evangelist and
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church planter. We actually met Paul as Saul of
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Tarsus, the church hater. This respected rabbi was radical
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in his thinking and I believe he thought first hand, single
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handedly, he could destroy Christianity himself.
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And it was on the road to Damascus that Jesus met him,
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knocked him off his animal, and spoke to him directly.
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It's there I believe Paul was born again.
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Saul of Tarsus becomes Paul the apostle in that moment.
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And you'll recall God sent a message to Paul through Ananias
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and it was in Acts Chapter 9. You can jot it down in verse 15.
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It says the Lord said to him to Ananias, go, for he is a chosen
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vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the
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children of Israel. For I will show him how many
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things he must suffer for my name's sake.
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And if Paul had a life verse, I believe this was his life verse.
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What's a life verse, you ask? It's a passage of Scripture that
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God has given to you that covers your life.
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It's like a passage that you hold on to in difficult times, a
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promise that God gives you. You just know that you know, you
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know it's from him. And I think of this one where
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Paul's experiencing everything he's going through and he's
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like, no, the Lord said this was happened.
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He hasn't abandoned me. He's still with me.
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This suffering, this difficulty, this hardship.
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I remember what Ananias said. I remember the message he
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delivered and life verses are very important.
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I have many life verses in my life.
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I I remember the very first verse I ever memorized.
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I didn't know how significant it would be for the entirety of my
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walk with the Lord. It's Proverbs chapter 3, verses
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5 and 6. You may have memorized it.
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It was the first verse I ever memorized.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
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Lean not on your own understanding.
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Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He'll direct your paths.
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I really had no idea as a new believer that these two verses
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would encompass the battle of my whole life.
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Every part of those verses are a battle for me at one time or
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another. Trusting in God, acknowledging
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Him, leaning upon Him, following His direction, just walking by
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faith. It's a word that God spoke into
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my life very early on and has become a life verse.
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But it's not just one. You know, it's not just one God
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can give you many. Let me give you another one that
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God gave me over the years. It's Philippians chapter one
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verse 6 and he says being confident of this very thing
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being confident of this very thing that he who began a good
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work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ
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and how many times I've clung to that that passage and and
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appreciated what God has done in my life as I've hidden that word
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in my heart. So I'm might not sin against him
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because there are those seasons where you just wonder what are
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you doing? God, I don't understand this.
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I don't see how it fits. I'm not sure.
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I mean, am I still with you? Am I still like you're?
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You're just wrestling with life And the Lord goes, no, no, no,
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no. You remember this is my promise.
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I started something in your life.
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I'm going to complete it. I haven't brought you this far
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just to drop you. And so perhaps you have a life
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verse that you can cling to. If you don't, this could be the
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year where you just ask God. Now, you don't have to go
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through and hunt for one. I'm not asking you to go through
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and find one. But I am asking you to be
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sensitive as you're reading the Scriptures that God might reveal
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to you a verse that you can hold on to and say, that's for me.
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And you might even write the date down in your Bible and say,
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God gave me this verse on this day.
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Or you might have a date on there and the trial that you're
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going through or the victory you're experiencing or the the
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next step that God has for you so that you know, even as you're
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reading your Bible later on, should the Lord not return so
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quickly that you can read on and go, I remember, I remember 1998,
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that was a great year. Or I remember 2002, that was
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super hard. And the Lord gave me this verse.
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And then you hide it. You memorize it so you can carry
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it with you everywhere. One way to memorize Scripture is
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to just take a little 3 by 5 card and write it out.
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Put it in your back pocket or in your purse or up on your on your
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advisor in your car, and take it out.
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And just read it 1 little by little and memorize it one or
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two or three or five words at a time so that you're
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internalizing it, repeating it, meditating upon it.
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And you'll just be amazed how God will use it at key areas in
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your life to get you going forward.
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And Paul was told early on that he was going to suffer a lot.
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And you know what happened to Paul?
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He suffered a lot. And for those of you that have
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experienced suffering, you know suffering will cause you to
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doubt and to question everything that God is doing in your life.
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For some reason, we just think it's going to be easier or easy,
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only to learn that it's sometimes not easier and much
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harder and not easy at all to follow the Lord in a hostile
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culture. As we'll see in a moment.
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Even in the 1st century, there was already much opposition to
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the church, and how much more now as we see the day
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approaching. Jotted down Psalm 119 verse 14
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says I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as
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in all riches, that the word of God would be a place of
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rejoicing for us that life verse or two or three.
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Let me give you another one. Psalm 119, verse 111 says your
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testimonies I've taken as a heritage forever, for they are
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the rejoicing of my heart. We have that time where God
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would give us a verse, but then as you move forward, other times
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He uses His word to encourage us.
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Go back, hold your place in Acts 28.
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Go back to 23 for a moment at the beginning of the trial or
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right at the beginning of the trial that Paul is facing right
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now, which has encompassed many years, many years, which is
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another area of difficulty that surprises us because in the
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early days when we're dealing with trials, we're kind of used
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to trials. They have a beginning, a really
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quick middle, and then they end really fast.
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You know, you're driving to church and it's like, oh, I had
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a flat tire, but then I got out and somebody came, they changed
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it, and now I got to church and the trials over by the time I
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got to church. But you know when trials aren't
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always over that quick, are they There, as you get older and
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you're longer, you're walking with the Lord.
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You understand this about difficulties.
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There's often a beginning and you know the end is coming.
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But then the middle gets longer and longer and longer and
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longer, drawing out of us faith and trust and a deeper spiritual
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life and prayer life with the Lord.
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Paul's in one of those trials and you remember he got into a
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difficulty just really wrestling with the reality of his life
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discouraged. And notice in verse 11 it says
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the following night the Lord stood by him and said, be of
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good cheer, Paul. For as you have testified for me
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in Jerusalem, so you must now also bear witness at Rome.
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And God encouraged him in the moment, but this wasn't the end
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of his trial. He's still going to have
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difficulty. He's still going to have to
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answer false accusations. He's going to be in storms.
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There's a shipwreck up ahead. The guy's going to get bit by a
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venomous snake that won't let go.
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Like he's got more trouble up ahead.
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And I believe this verse or this word that was given to him in a
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dream is what he held on to. Jesus comes and says, hey, I
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know Paul, it's not happening the way you thought at
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Jerusalem, but you're supposed to be here and you're going to
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make it to Rome. Which brings us to chapter 28,
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verse 16 that we saw last week. It says now when we came to
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Rome, Now when we came to Rome, he got there.
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God was faithful to His word, that no matter what come, what
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came Paul's way, God's word would not fail him, that he will
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see the end, that God's word to him was settled.
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Do you know that God's word to you is settled whether you
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believe it or not? When God says something, He
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means it. When he gives a promise, he
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keeps it. Again, jot this down.
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Psalm 119, verse 89. Psalm 119, verse 89 is so good.
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It says forever. O Lord, your word is settled in
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heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all
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generations. So even here, as I have a
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precious baby in my arms and we're praying over this baby,
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we're praying over her future. God's Word is settled to her as
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well, faithful to every generation in heaven.
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There is no debate about God's Word.
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No, nobody's arguing about it. Nobody's doubting it.
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They can look down, they can say, you know what?
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God's word is true. God's Word is faithful.
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God's Word is reliable. Nobody's arguing about God's
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Word in heaven. It's settled.
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But you know it's settled for you too, by faith.
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By faith you can trust in the promises of God.
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Nothing less will help you or help me in every stage in life.
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Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5.
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He says that man shall not live by bread alone, but by what
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every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
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Why? Over and over you'll hear me
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say, sometimes strongly, sometimes lightly, but always
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with great confidence, that it's important church, that we read
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our Bibles and pray every day. That simple decision that you
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make to read your Bible and pray every day, we'll see accelerated
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spiritual growth in your life, accelerated growth God has for
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you if you will just get to know the Word so that you get to know
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the author you receive and you pray and God uses it in your
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life. So by way of review, let's pick
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up in verse 16 and we'll go through our text today.
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Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the
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prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was permitted to
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dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
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Remember, he's not in prison, but he is imprisoned.
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He's in house arrest, so he's chained to a Roman guard.
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Every four hours, one changes. He does.
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His freedoms are severely limited and where he can go.
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But he has an apartment, he has a house.
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People can come and go to him, as you'll see in a moment.
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But here he is in Rome. He's still under arrest, waiting
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to see Caesar. Verse 17 It came to pass after
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three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together.
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So when they had come together, he said to them, Men and
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brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or
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customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from
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Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had
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examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause
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for putting me to death. But when the Jews spoke against
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it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything
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of which to accuse my nation. For this reason, therefore, I
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have called for you to see you, and to speak with you.
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Because of the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain.
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And that's where we left off. Verse 21.
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And they said to him, We neither received letters from Judea
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concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came, reported,
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or spoken any evil of you. But we desire to hear from you
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what you think. For concerning this sect, which
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is Christianity, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.
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So when they'd appointed him a day, many came to him at his
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lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the
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Kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the
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law of Moses and the prophets. From morning till evening, while
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Paul's mobility is restricted, people can come and go from him.
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He calls from the leaders of the Jews to come to him because he
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couldn't go into the synagogue. So he calls the synagogue to him
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and he asked them. And in this dialogue you go,
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hey, we don't know anything about you, Paul.
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We don't know anything. Nobody said anything bad about
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you. But we are interested because
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we've heard about Christianity. And if you know about
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Christianity and you're a Christian yourself, we want to
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hear about it. We want to hear everything you
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have to say about it. And I want you to notice first
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of all, in verse 22, they describe Christianity as being
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spoken against everywhere. Do you see that spoken against
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everywhere? Things are really no different
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than as they are now. It is simply not a popular thing
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to be a Christian in our culture today, although there are many
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believers, because it's not popular or favorable in many
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sections of culture. Here's what's happened.
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I know there are many among us today that are a little
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embarrassed about being a Christian, and there's various
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reasons for that. Of course.
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We have a bad reputation and we often are misrepresented.
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We might even made our own mistakes along the way.
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But you have nothing to be embarrassed about.
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The finished work of Jesus Christ.
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You have nothing to be embarrassed about.
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But but we are like like here, here, let me illustrate it for
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you. You know, if you go back to work
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tomorrow, as many of you will, yesterday was a big day in
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Colorado, big football day in Colorado, right?
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We had three of our teams play. And no doubt that will be a
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conversation tomorrow. And it will be very easy to talk
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about it. You engage in conversation, you
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talk about football, Maybe you have a shared hobby you enjoy.
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So you're talking about hobby. You talk about the gifts
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exchange. There's so many things that will
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be easy to talk about. But for some of you, it's super
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hard for you do to engage in a real conversation about your
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savior. Like, for example, learning how
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to build a bridge. So you talk about football.
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Nothing wrong with that. You watch the games, you read
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the articles, your hopes are dashed.
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Whatever it might be, it wasn't a good day.
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And you want to talk about that, maybe share a little bit of
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that. But nonetheless, there's always
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another week, right? There's always a next week.
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And it's like, all right, we'll wait for the next week.
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But as you're talking, you're not looking to build a bridge to
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talk about maybe what you learn on your Bible study.
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What do you do on Sunday? Well, and dude, what do you
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mean? What do you what do you mean?
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I was at church. I worshipped the King of Kings
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and the Lord of Lords. I mean, I'm not advocating you
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good go, you know, with the Bible and stand up on your desk
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and start preaching everybody and thumping them in the cube
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farm. You know, boom, boom, boom.
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Here, here's my word. Take this and take this, you
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sinners don't do that. I'm not advocating that.
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But you know that little feeling where easy to talk about
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football, easy to talk about baseball, especially after the
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recent World Series, very, very easy to talk about baseball.
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And it's easy to talk about these topics.
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But when it comes to the things of the Lord, is it because you
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really are a little embarrassed and afraid to step out on faith?
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It could be in this coming year that God has something brand new
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for you. You have nothing to be
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embarrassed about. God is worthy of the message
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that would come from your lips, sharing your testimony, perhaps,
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or what God's been doing in your life, or a real battle that
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you're in the midst of that God is helping you through, or a
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real battle that you've had victory over in the past.
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And it is your past. It's not your present.
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And you can testify to the power and the presence of God on the
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earth today. But here, because it's spoken
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against, there seems to be a little more silence than there
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needs to be. And Paul, of course, is the
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example. You know, when Paul says, follow
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me as I follow Christ, he means it.
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And he was speaking out. He's not concerned about the
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consequences. He's going for it in a very
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kind, respectful way. Because we see that in verse 23.
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They appointed a day. So now there's an appointed
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time. Many came, it says.
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And he did a couple of things. Notice #1 He explained, and #2HE
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solemnly testified. He explained and solemnly
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testified of the Kingdom of God. That word explanation is the
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same word that was used in Acts chapter 18 for Priscilla and
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Aquila as they explain the scriptures to Apollos.
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They were giving forth a well reasoned, logical presentation
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of the facts and that's what Paul's doing.
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He's teaching, he's explaining, but he's also testifying.
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Testifying is a more personal. So here's the word of God and
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then your testimony here is what it looks like in real life, or
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at least in my life. So this is what God said he
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would do. And let me tell you now what he
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did do because he did it in my life.
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And Paul, I'm sure a giving testimony of all the work that
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God has had him do throughout that region and all the churches
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that he planned and all the people that he met, all the
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trials that he went through. And notice it says as he's
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explaining and testifying, he then was persuading them
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concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets
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from morning to evening. Can you imagine what a time this
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must have been morning and evening talking about the things
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of the Lord. I know there have been times in
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my life where, you know, you've been sitting in a Bible study
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and you know, there are, there are those Bible studies where
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you're like, man, I, I hope this ends really soon here.
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Can I get an Amen on that? No, no, don't they Amen?
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I'm the one teaching right now. So, but I have, I've been in
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Bible students like, OK, I'm all right, what time?
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I mean, I've had a few of them, but most of the time I'll be
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sitting in Bible study and I'll lose track of time.
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Like the Lord is just teaching and I'm flowing and I'm
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receiving and I'm learning and it's a powerful time.
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I believe that's what they were going through until you'll see
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in a moment they heard something they didn't like, which is
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always a challenge when you hear something you don't like.
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But I love this word persuading. It reminds me.
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It reminds me that persuading has the idea of not arguing.
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We've been conditioned, I think more in this season than others,
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that arguing is the way to go. And I don't mean arguing like
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apologetically giving facts. I mean, arguing, I mean like
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because of social media, everybody thinks that their
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opinion is the one that needs to be shared and just go for it.
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Go for it, go for it, go for it. And you might be winning
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arguments, but you're winning no souls.
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That kind of arguing. But here you see in a very key
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area, imprisoned in Rome, that he's persuading.
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And one of the things that's very important if God is going
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to use you and me to persuade is this.
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You need to add this to your spiritual arsenal.
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You ready? It is the skill of listening.
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Listening is so important. First of all, when you choose to
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listen to someone, I mean really receive what they're saying,
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whether you agree or not, you are placing value on that person
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as someone created in the image of God.
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And it's challenging, especially when you don't agree.
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It's challenging to listen to someone.
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But the Lord will give you strength.
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He will give you the ability to listen.
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Listening gives you the opportunity to know where
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they've come from. Listening gives you the
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opportunity to know how they form their opinions, how they
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form their beliefs. Listening makes you open to
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receive from the Holy Spirit an answer to give to them.
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But you know what we do far too often.
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At least I see this in my own life.
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Perhaps you see it in yours. Listening isn't always
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listening, it's just hearing. And what I mean by that is while
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you hear them say something, you latch onto something, start
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thinking in your mind what you're going to say, what you're
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going to say, what you're going to say, and you don't hear
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anything else that they're saying that that's not
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respectful where you may have the argument.
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But I'll tell you this, whatever great argument you come up with,
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God has an answer that's better than that.
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You can trust Him. You don't need to try to
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formulate. You can listen carefully, good
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eye contact. Maybe if it's a real strong
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conversation, you could take notes down so you don't forget
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anything. But you're valuing the person in
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front of you long before you give an alternative view.
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I mean, you're, you're looking at earning trust.
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When you listen to someone genuinely, you're earning their
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trust. It's almost like this.
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You're earning their trust for the second conversation and the
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third conversation, and you're knowing and remembering that
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some people plant, some people water, but only God gives the
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increase. And you and I were just coming
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along for the ride of what God has for us, and he was
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persuading them. It says here in verse 24.
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Some were persuaded by the things which were spoken and
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some disbelieved. Some were persuaded in
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opposition to the disbelief, Some believed some believed the
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truth of the Kingdom of God and entered in I believe, to a
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relationship with Jesus Christ, their Messiah, which God used
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his teaching or explanation, his testimony and his persuading and
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some were persuaded. But notice secondly, some
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disbelieved. This is an interesting word in
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the Greek language. It's only used seven or eight
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times in the New Testament and it has the idea, the truth of
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choosing not to believe because, you know, there is a theology
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that's out that says, oh, you don't have any choice in the
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matter. You know, you're either saved or
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you're not saved. And that's just the way it is.
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No, no. Over and over and over in the
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Bible, this word is used to describe the ability to choose
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not to believe something that you fully understand.
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Let me show you. Let me show you just one use.
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Would you turn over to we're Luke 24?
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Notice this, the same word is used in Luke 24 and when you get
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there, go to verse 11, same word, similar situation.
23:47
Luke 24, verse 11 it says and their words seem to be like idle
23:56
tales. Remember they came and said
23:59
spoken, Speaking of the resurrection.
24:01
Their words seem like idle tales and they did not believe them.
24:07
They heard, they understood, and the choice was made not to
24:13
believe. So you have a group of believing
24:16
and unbelieving people, both by choice.
24:20
And it's really unfortunate that you kind of look at this and
24:23
some would emphasize, well, you know, Paul, here he is, he's not
24:26
successful. He gets to Rome and only a few
24:28
people believe and a lot of people disbelieve.
24:31
But you know, it's all about perspective.
24:33
It reminded me of that of that time on Mars Hill in the book of
24:37
Acts. Remember, Paul was on Mars Hill,
24:39
Acts 17, and he's had all the success, all the success.
24:43
He gets to Mars Hill, not much visible success, just a few
24:47
people were saved and not many. And commentators and teachers
24:51
will look at that and go, well look, he did it wrong and if he
24:54
would have done this or done that, he could have been more
24:57
successful. No, no, no, no, no, no.
25:00
The Lord sees success in your life and mine by your
25:05
faithfulness, by your faithfulness.
25:09
And whether it's many or it's few, that's up to him.
25:14
What's up to you and me is to be faithful, to be ready to be used
25:18
by him, to be open, to be used by him.
25:21
And so here we have back in acts a group of people that didn't
25:26
believe. But I, I would like to emphasize
25:29
those that were persuaded. I mean, if there was just a few
25:32
people, it's similar to what I shared, you know, on our
25:34
Christmas services, there wasn't a massive response.
25:39
And if you're not careful, you go, wait a minute, there were so
25:41
many people here and where was all the response?
25:44
Listen, if only one person responded to the invitation and
25:47
their life was changed, is that not enough?
25:51
I mean, it is enough. And when you meet them, you know
25:54
that that person's connected to a husband or a mom or a dad or
25:58
kids, and they work with like 1 is enough.
26:01
God still saves one person at a time and He uses some for many,
26:07
some for less. He uses some for many in a
26:10
season and some for less in a season.
26:12
The outcome is up to God. How we get there is to be
26:17
faithful to what He's called us to do.
26:20
So be careful even how you see yourself and how God has chosen
26:23
to use you and where you are and how you view success.
26:27
Just remember, God defines success as faithfulness, so be
26:32
faithful and what God has called you to do and let him sort out
26:36
the end. Now verse 25 when they did not
26:40
agree among themselves. Now they're arguing with one
26:43
another. They departed after Paul had
26:45
said one word and this is what he said.
26:48
The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to
26:51
our fathers saying go to this people and say hearing.
26:56
You'll hear, but you won't understand seeing.
26:59
You'll see and not perceive. For the heart of this people has
27:03
grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing.
27:08
Their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their
27:11
eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with
27:14
their heart and turn, so that I should heal them.
27:18
Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has
27:22
been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it.
27:28
This ticked them off, made them upset as Paul speaking the truth
27:33
to them, quoting from Isaiah here, quoting from Isaiah that
27:38
says, hey, look, you guys can hear, but you refuse to hear,
27:41
and you guys can see, but you refuse to see.
27:44
Why? Because your hearts are dull
27:46
toward God. And dullness leads to hardness
27:51
and hardness leads to great, great difficulty.
27:55
Great sin comes in our lives when our hearts are hard toward
27:58
the Lord, and that's what he's saying here, and it upset them.
28:03
It's very challenging when you're explaining, when you're
28:06
testifying, when you're persuading.
28:09
There will come a moment in your conversation, no doubt, that you
28:11
say something biblical and truthful, not the way you said
28:15
it, just what you said. That's very painful and
28:17
offensive to the person listening, and this is their
28:20
reaction. You're just wanting to help
28:22
them, just wanting to help them along the way, just wanting to
28:25
be accurate to the text, just wanting to be faithful.
28:28
But here is an example of there will be those that don't
28:31
receive. There will be those that hear
28:33
process and not like what what you're they're not picking up.
28:37
What you're putting down, I think is this phrase these days.
28:40
They don't like it and they get upset and they walk away.
28:44
It's a mixed response. What a joy to Paul's heart that
28:47
some were persuaded and what a broken heart comes when some
28:51
were upset. And there is that tendency to
28:54
focus on the unbelief. Not many, not many, not many.
28:57
No, no, no. It's the ones that do are so
29:00
encouraging. And here Paul, he shares with
29:03
them Isaiah. And it's just a tragedy to see
29:08
people decide not to believe. Now one thing I want to show you
29:14
before we get into the rest of the text.
29:16
Here is in verse 25, you'll notice that Paul says the Holy
29:20
Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet.
29:25
Do you guys notice that the Holy Spirit spoke rightly through
29:28
Isaiah the prophet? Here is the affirmation and the
29:33
reaffirmation of what we know as the inspiration of the Holy
29:38
Scriptures, the inspiration of the Bible we believe here at
29:42
Calvary, and what's known as the plenary inspiration of the
29:47
original autographs, those that were written down by the authors
29:52
at the time. We believe that that is the
29:55
unadulterated, inspired word of God.
29:59
The Bibles that we have in our hands today we also believe are
30:02
inspired as it reflects an accurate translation of the
30:07
original text through a series of manuscripts that exist now.
30:11
If you want more information on this, on the detail of the
30:14
inspiration of the Scriptures you hold in your hand, I did a
30:16
couple Bible studies earlier on and I think the titles were Why
30:21
You Can Trust Your Bible. And we went into much, much
30:24
depth on the belief of the plenary inspiration of the
30:27
Scriptures, of the Bibles we hold in our hands today.
30:31
Plenary I include, which isn't a word that we use very much, but
30:35
I include that it's very important you understand that
30:38
the word plenary means complete. We believe that the Bible is
30:43
completely inspired, not just portions.
30:47
One way you might say that because you'll hear this and
30:49
it's making a resurgence again. And you know, things come and go
30:53
in the life of the church. I hear it more and more where
30:55
you will hear people say that the Bible contains the word of
31:00
God but is not the word of God. And we don't believe that.
31:03
We do not believe that this book merely contains the word of God.
31:06
We believe this book is the word of God, and there's a big
31:10
difference because if you come across someone that says, well,
31:13
I believe that something's in the Bible, just understand
31:16
what's being said there. First of all, that means they
31:18
believe that some things are not supposed to be in the Bible.
31:21
And #1 or #2 they're also saying that I believe that in the
31:25
Bible, but I don't believe that they are making themselves the
31:28
authority above the Scriptures. So they are now the ones that
31:32
choose what belongs and what doesn't belong.
31:35
And it's important that you realize that the entirety of the
31:38
Scriptures is inspired. Let me give you a couple verses.
31:41
Second Timothy chapter 3 in verse 16 says this.
31:47
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's
31:51
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
31:56
instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be
32:01
complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
32:06
All Scriptures inspired in Peter second Peter chapter one verse
32:10
20. Knowing this first, that no
32:13
prophecy of Scripture as if any private interpretation for
32:17
prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God
32:21
spoke as they were moved or that word could also be translated,
32:25
carried along by the Holy Spirit.
32:28
Now one of the arguments also that comes with the Bible is
32:30
someone will just dismiss and say, well, I don't believe in
32:32
the Bible because men wrote it. It's just a book written by men.
32:35
They're actually partially correct that that's a partially
32:39
correct statement. The Bible that we have in our
32:42
hands was written down by men. But the idea that they have is
32:47
like, you know, there's a group of 10 guys in robes around a
32:49
campfire just writing the Bible in one night.
32:52
What do you think, Moses? I don't know, Peter.
32:54
What do you think, Paul? And we just all write it
32:56
together. But that's not how the Bible
32:58
came to be. The Bible was written on
33:00
multiple continents over 1500 years, 40 different authors.
33:05
It is a very unique book that if anyone asks you who the author
33:10
of the Bible is, here's the answer.
33:12
You ready God Here we see the Holy Spirit spoke.
33:17
Jesus spoke forth the word also, though not only the Holy Spirit
33:21
and the Son of God, but also Father the Father spoke through
33:25
holy men of God through the years where they did write down
33:28
what God wanted them to. We believe in the inspiration.
33:32
This is just one of those verses where you see it.
33:35
The Holy Spirit spoke through Isaiah.
33:37
So Isaiah and was the one that wrote it down, the Holy Spirit
33:40
was the one that inspired it. And he quotes Isaiah and he says
33:44
this is exactly what God said would happen.
33:47
This is exactly what God said would happen that you're, you
33:51
would see, but you wouldn't be able to see truly.
33:54
And you'd hear, but you really don't hear.
33:57
And your hearts are so far from God.
33:58
Jesus would say the same thing as he was teaching and they come
34:03
together and they're upset. And now the word of God is going
34:08
to the Gentiles, which is where right now the success we're
34:11
living in the times of the Gentiles where the success and
34:14
the power of the gospel is really really seen among those
34:19
that are Gentiles non Jewish. But there's coming a day in the
34:23
final seven years of human history will God will turn his
34:26
attention back to the Jewish people and you'll see an
34:28
outpouring among the Jews like you've never seen before.
34:32
It's amazing thing. The church will be raptured out
34:34
and then the God will turn his attention once again to Daniel's
34:38
70th week. And that time period will be God
34:41
pouring out his spirit on the Jewish people like never before.
34:44
And we pray for that to happen sooner rather than later.
34:48
But notice now in verse 29, when he had said these things, these
34:52
words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among
34:55
themselves. And then Paul, throughout two
34:57
whole years in his own rented house, received all who came to
35:01
him, preaching the Kingdom of God, teaching the things which
35:05
concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one
35:09
forbidding him. And that's the end of the book
35:11
of Acts. That's how it ends.
35:13
It just ends abruptly. Yes, Amen.
35:16
It ends abruptly, but notice it ends abruptly with Paul doing
35:19
what he started out doing. Nothing changed.
35:23
You look at your life right now and you go, oh, there must be
35:25
something more, There must be something more.
35:27
Listen, you have all that you need in Christ and if God has
35:31
called you to preach, then preach the rest of your life.
35:34
And as God called you to teach, then teach the rest of your
35:36
life. And if God has called you into
35:38
the business world, then be the faithful business person the
35:41
rest of your life as a follower of Christ at the beginning of
35:44
Paul's life and now as the book of Acts ends, what's he doing?
35:48
The same thing. Now we have a chat.
35:50
We have a problem, don't we, with the same thing because we
35:54
get bored with the same thing. We want something new and
35:57
certainly God brings new things into our lives, but this is a
36:00
great example. What is he doing at the end?
36:02
Preaching and teaching and he's doing it notice with all
36:06
confidence and nobody's stopping him taking every advantage of
36:11
the situation even though it's not a comfortable thing that
36:14
he's in. He's imprisoned, his freedoms
36:17
are limited, he is sharing with people that don't want to hear
36:21
from Him. And how important it is for us
36:24
to continue on and not let our hearts grow dull.
36:29
To continue on doing what God has called us to do, following
36:32
his lead, trusting in him, acknowledging him, following his
36:36
direction, knowing that his will for our lives is much better
36:40
than anything we could ever come up with, that we would remain
36:44
faithful. How do how do we how do we
36:47
develop a dull heart? It doesn't happen overnight.
36:52
It happens through a series of seemingly insignificant
36:56
decisions that are quite unspiritual and unchristlike,
37:01
not reflective of what God teaches us in the Word.
37:04
And so we received this as a warning to us today that
37:08
Isaiah's teaching here cannot be used to describe our lives.
37:13
You know how it looks today. How it looks today is how
37:16
believers use the Gray area of their life, the Gray area.
37:20
And I know there are different views on that.
37:21
Some of you are more black and white, some of you allow for
37:24
more Gray areas. But those decisions that we make
37:27
that maybe the Bible doesn't speak directly against, so we
37:30
have freedom to make that decision.
37:32
How you make decisions in the Gray area, which is also another
37:35
Bible study that I shared. It's so important how to make
37:38
decisions in the Gray area because it will direct and it
37:41
will determine the direction of your life.
37:45
You know that what happens is that someone will come and see
37:47
something in your life and go, hey, brother, you really
37:49
shouldn't be doing that. And you know that you're in a
37:52
dangerous place and your heart is becoming dull when your first
37:55
response is some defensive thing.
37:57
Don't judge me, brother. Slow down.
38:01
Hit a nerve, huh? What do you mean don't judge?
38:04
You know what Jesus said? Jesus said judge not, lest you
38:06
be judged. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:08
But Jesus didn't say that. As your friend, I can't come and
38:11
tell you something. He didn't say that.
38:13
He said I can't judge you hypocritically.
38:16
But you know, we all need someone that will come to us and
38:18
say, hey, you need to see this in your life.
38:20
You need to consider it. And it's usually in a Gray area
38:23
thing. I'll give you an example.
38:25
For many, many years in our beautiful state of Colorado,
38:28
marijuana was illegal. Remember those days smoking pot
38:32
illegal many, many years ago, but nonetheless, it was illegal.
38:37
So pastors would be asked this grade, this area, hey pastor, is
38:41
it OK to smoke pot? And many pastors would answer it
38:43
this way because it's an easy answer and it's a valid answer.
38:46
They would just say no, it's against the law.
38:49
But it's not the best answer or the biblical answer necessarily
38:53
because you know as well as I do laws change.
38:57
Guess what the law says today? Smoke to your heart's content.
39:02
We don't care. Smoke as much as you want, but
39:05
the question is still valid. Believer, should I be smoking
39:08
pot? The answer No.
39:10
Why? Well, I'll tell you why.
39:13
The Bible says to not be drunk with wine, which is in excess,
39:18
but instead be ye filled with the Holy Spirit and you go.
39:22
Wait a minute. This is not wine.
39:23
We're talking about pot here. OK, OK, I get you.
39:28
It's not wine. Well, what is the Bible teaching
39:31
us with that verse? The Bible's teaching us not to
39:34
be under the control of something that would be in
39:36
opposition to the Holy Spirit. Drunkenness means to be
39:40
controlled by to be under its influence.
39:43
So there is an opposition of being under the influence of a
39:46
substance that would then prevent you from being
39:48
controlled by the Holy Spirit. The answer's no, absolutely not
39:52
any substance. It's unwise.
39:55
If you're not asking the question properly, you may find
39:58
yourself in a position where you are purposely and intently
40:02
doling your own heart. So then now you're not hearing
40:05
from the Lord anymore, because that one's an easy one.
40:07
That's an easy one. The answer is no, you shouldn't
40:09
be smoking pot. It's very easy.
40:10
You shouldn't be under the influence.
40:12
I mean, seriously, if you really want to smoke grass, if that's
40:14
your deal, you want to smoke grass.
40:16
I got a little portion in the front of my house.
40:19
Just come and cut all you want, roll it up and smoke away.
40:23
Oh, no, pastor, that doesn't do anything.
40:26
That doesn't give you any any experience.
40:28
Oh, it's the experience you want.
40:33
So it's not just smoking any grass.
40:36
There's a particular type of grass that does something to
40:41
you, that brings you under its power, that brings you to that
40:45
biblical truth. We need to Start learning to ask
40:49
our questions. Not can I, but should I?
40:54
It's not just some hard line biblical answer, but is it the
40:58
wisest choice for you here? Let me give you a few.
41:02
In First Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 12, the Bible says
41:06
this. All things are lawful for me,
41:08
but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me,
41:12
but I will not be brought under the power of any.
41:16
That's a choice to restrict and say no to something that I may
41:20
have freedom to because it's legal, but I'm not going to be
41:23
under the power of anything. And that can apply to hundreds
41:26
of things or First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 23.
41:31
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.
41:34
All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify or
41:39
build you up or build me up. And it's important that we learn
41:45
how to live in such a way where we don't dull our own hearts by
41:49
all these little compromising decisions and things that may be
41:53
in the Gray area. But you know, the Bible just
41:55
very clear that if I'm, you know, because believers are the
41:58
ones that really ask these questions.
41:59
And believers usually ask them in such a way where they're
42:02
already full blown in something and they want to just know how
42:04
far they can go before they're in sin, but they're actually
42:07
already in sin. That's why you're asking the
42:10
question. It's the last part of the Holy
42:13
Spirit convicting you, and you know it.
42:17
And while you might be looking for a way out, you're actually
42:20
the Holy Spirit inside of you is looking for you, a way to rescue
42:23
you from yourself so that we don't turn around and go, hey,
42:26
look, your heart, you got ears, but you're not hearing me.
42:29
And you got eyes, but you're not seeing it.
42:32
And you, your heart, it's so dull.
42:34
It's so hard toward the things of God.
42:36
And you know, that's not God's will for your life and how
42:40
careful and important because you know, Christians, we have a
42:42
tendency. I have freedom, I have freedom,
42:45
I have freedom. I can do whatever I want.
42:47
While that might be true, there are limits that God places, but
42:50
you don't do you don't do things like you have freedom.
42:53
You have freedom to take another, another substance, you
42:57
know, another leaf, another plant.
42:59
You have freedom to take that plant.
43:01
You know, Poison Ivy. You have freedom to rub it all
43:03
over your body. I don't see you doing that.
43:07
Well, you know, pastor, I don't want to do it, but you have
43:10
freedom. Why aren't you?
43:12
Well, because you've processed it.
43:14
It doesn't make any sense. Why would I want to do that?
43:17
And it's some of these other things where God's taking you to
43:19
that place where now you see it. You don't need a pastor to tell
43:22
you because the Holy Spirit inside of you is your your
43:25
spirit's bearing witness with the Spirit of God.
43:28
You're coming to the same conclusion.
43:29
Why? I could do that, but that
43:30
doesn't make any sense. Why would I want to do that?
43:33
Why would I want to ruin my life?
43:35
Why would I want to throw God's money away for that?
43:37
Why would I want to go in the direction, Why would I want my
43:40
ears to to be stopped up and I can't even hear the Lord
43:43
anymore? And why would I want my heart to
43:45
be dull and I'm not even seeking the things of God.
43:47
That's where Paul is here and how careful we need to be
43:51
because all the way to the end, at least of the book of Acts and
43:54
I'm sure his life, Paul's preaching and teaching,
43:57
preaching and teaching, preaching and teaching.
44:00
That's God. He wants that.
44:02
I think it was Eugene Peterson, he he spoke to pastors and
44:05
leaders. He said this long obedience in
44:08
the same direction. That's God's will for all of us,
44:12
that we would just have this long obedience in the same
44:15
direction, just knowing that whatever God has showed us to
44:18
do, we're going to continue to grow in that as Paul does.
44:21
So here he is. He's not wasting his time in
44:23
Rome. We know that 4 letters, at least
44:26
4 letters that Paul that we have in the New Testament were
44:29
written for us in this imprisonment.
44:31
They're called prison letters, prison epistles, Ephesians,
44:36
Philippians, Colossians and Philemon, they were all written
44:40
during this time in Rome. And even though the book of Acts
44:44
ends, it really didn't end, did it?
44:48
But you go, why so abrupt that why?
44:49
Why is there no more explanation?
44:51
Well, one of my suggestions of why it ends so quickly here is
44:54
that Acts chapter one verse 8 has been fulfilled and you go,
44:58
what do you mean? Acts 18?
44:59
Well, many, many studies ago we looked at Acts 18 where Jesus
45:03
promised that the baptism of the Holy Spirit would come.
45:06
Remember, they would baptize the Holy Spirit and what they would
45:10
be witnesses to him. Where in Jerusalem did that
45:13
happen? Check.
45:15
Judea and Samaria, did that happen?
45:17
Check. Check.
45:19
And to the uttermost parts of the world.
45:20
Now here in Rome, check. Because all roads lead to
45:24
Rome's. Rome was the epicenter of the
45:27
entire world. Everything came from Rome and to
45:30
Rome. So at this stage of the book of
45:33
Acts, it's complete. And yet at the same time, for
45:36
every generation, it continues on.
45:39
It continues on for our little church, although it's not going
45:43
to start in Jerusalem for us. Where is it going to start?
45:45
In Aurora? So we have a responsibility
45:48
right here in Aurora and then in that surrounding area, Denver,
45:52
the metro area, the state of Colorado, the United States.
45:55
We have a responsibility as a church to continue on in the
46:00
work of God from the book of Acts and then to the uttermost
46:03
parts of the earth. And we have in our own church
46:06
many missionaries fulfilling that very part of of Acts 18
46:11
around the world, and even some of you praying right now about
46:14
heading off full time around the world.
46:17
Why? To fulfill exactly what the
46:20
Bible teaches. The book of Acts continues
46:22
through you today. It's not just done.
46:25
And we close the book and say that's it, that God is still
46:28
working on the earth today. Final question, what happened to
46:32
Paul? We don't know.
46:34
The Bible doesn't say. We do have some history though.
46:38
But Clement of Rome wrote this. He says that Paul eventually
46:43
gets released. Some believe he goes to Spain.
46:47
And when he returns to Rome, Paul does have a chance to stand
46:51
before Caesar Nero. And he stands before Caesar
46:55
Nero, sharing the gospel with him like he had in every other
46:58
place. And what's interesting is that
47:01
Nero's persecution of the church happens just after, according to
47:08
historical documents, just after Paul appears before him and
47:13
shares the gospel. And it was thought that Paul was
47:16
accused as the ringleaders of the Christians for burning down
47:20
Rome. You, you history guys, you know
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that Nero burned Rome down and blame the Christians that he
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went mad. And so if you put together what
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Clement says, it's a big possibility that as Paul was
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sharing the gospel with Cesar Nero with great confidence,
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teaching and preaching, it caused him to snap and he didn't
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recover. And he punished the people,
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destroying Rome, blaming it on the Christians, bringing about
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another great persecution among the believers because of the
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faithfulness of Paul and his resistance to the truth.
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Well, Lord, we thank you for the word and and we know that you
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have you have so much that you want to accomplish in and
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through our lives. And we want to be usable.
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Lord, we don't want to be using our freedoms in ways that don't
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build up in ways that are not helpful.
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We know that there are many challenges in the room today.
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And and Paul gives us that example.
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He just held onto his life verses.
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He clung to you God. He was filled with the Holy
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Spirit. He had some hard days.
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He had some good days, but what is his day?
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It's just preaching and teaching the Kingdom of God.
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His faithfulness, taking opportunity, every opportunity
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to testify of your faithfulness. Pour out your spirit on our
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little church. Lord, we want to be used in
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greater ways. We want to go through doors that
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you open that no man can close. We want to go through and stop
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at the doors that you close that no man can open.
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We just want that direction from you.
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Lord, we desire that empowerment of your spirit even as we go
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through it into a new year. May you be glorified in our
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lives, both individually, in our families, in our church family,
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as we recognize and we realize that the best is truly yet to
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come and our desire to walk in it and to meet you face to face.
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Soon and very soon we're going to see the King and it's our
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desire to live faithfully until then, in Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study,
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
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For prayer, call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.