Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24462 - World Missions Begin - Acts 13:4-12

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#24462 - World Missions Begin - Acts 13:4-12 · 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 To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Open your Bibles with you to that book of Acts Chapter 13.
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Acts Chapter 13. We're going to pick up where we
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left off last time. I've entitled our Bible study.
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Today, World missions begin. World mission begins right here
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in Acts Chapter 13, in the heart of the early church.
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You remember the book of Acts opens up with Jesus.
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This glorious scene he is encouraging the disciples.
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He gives them a command. He says, I don't want you to
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leave Jerusalem, wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit
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comes upon you. And he says in Acts chapter one,
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verse eight, he says, but you shall receive power when the
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Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses to me
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in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the
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earth. This is the heart of God.
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This is the heart of God for you and me.
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This is the heart of God for the world and getting the gospel
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out. He's chosen to use us.
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It started with that group, that small group right there at the
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very beginning, waiting in the upper room in Jerusalem.
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Don't leave here. You're going to receive power.
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And when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, your life's going to
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change. You're going to become
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witnesses. You're going to become
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messengers. You, you're going to have a
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heart for people. You're going to start caring.
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You're going to start caring more for their people's souls
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than you ever did in your whole life.
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And then he gives the location, and we read this.
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We've studied this, this is just review.
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We've already studied through Acts, this strategic plan of God
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to reach the World using US. In chapter five, we learn in the
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book of Acts that all of Jerusalem was filled with the
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gospel. They they accomplished filling
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and taking the gospel to Jerusalem.
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Then remember, persecution started.
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They they stayed in Jerusalem. They didn't leave.
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So God allowed persecution to come and it moved believers out
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of Jerusalem. They they left Jerusalem and
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went into the areas like they was predicted, Judea, Samaria, a
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revival was breaking out. And remember that revival in
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Samaria was amazing what God was doing.
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Then in chapter 12, we see the gospel coming into the Gentile
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city of Antioch. Antioch becomes home base now
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for the church and it's leadership and it it becomes a
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new place for world missions. There's still a church and the
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apostles are still in Jerusalem. But now missions is going to
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come through the reaching the world.
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The primarily the Gentile world is going to be reached through
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this gathering of believers in Antioch.
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And I don't want you to miss this.
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This is the plan of God. This was the plan of God from
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the beginning. Even though when Jesus ascended
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into heaven, he didn't leave like a binder or a manual on how
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to reach the World, he didn't exactly explain what they're
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supposed to do, how they're supposed to do it, what it's
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going to look like, what it's going to look like on this day,
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this month, this year, he gave them direction so that they
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might learn how to depend upon the Holy Spirit.
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And we'll see today in our Bible study just how.
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Evident and active and present, the Holy Spirit is in the
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missionary heart of the believer and how he moves upon us, if we
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will pay attention to him and be open to a fresh work of the
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Spirit, They had to depend upon the Holy Spirit.
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That's God's word to you today. You have to learn how to depend
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on the Holy Spirit. It isn't going to happen any
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other way. God didn't leave you a binder.
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I know He left us the Bible. But the intent of the Bible is
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not like a a a line by line list.
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I know some of you, some of you love to live by lists.
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Anybody, anybody loves to live by lists.
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You know, if you Ed, if you pastor, if you would just tell
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me these 10 things to do, man. That's all I'll do the rest of
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my life. Well, it's not going to happen
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that way. You just love lists.
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You like to know what's going on ahead.
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You're maybe you don't love lists as much as you.
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You like planning and you like to know the future, which is
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really just a way of saying you like a life where you have
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pretty much control over it and that's just how you are.
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It's your personality. Others of you, you're just like
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men and women of faith. Well, it doesn't matter.
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I don't. I'll just go wherever the flow
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is and I'll just do this and I'll just do that.
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I don't need to be there on time.
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I don't need a lot. I don't need maps.
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I don't need a direction. We'll figure it out.
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There's a tree turn left at the rock and whatever.
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That's how you. And we need you too.
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We need you to stir up faith for those of us.
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If you haven't learned by now, I kind of like, listen, I like the
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future. Like I need people with faith
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around me to stir it up. But you that are free flowing
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need people like me in your life to bring a little organization
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and a little bit of structure. And isn't it the sense of humor
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of God that he usually brings together in marriage planners
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and faith? And that's a big source of
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conflict. Many times in marriage.
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But you know, we forget that marriage is not a competition.
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It is by God to bring a compliment to one another that
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we get to work together. Just like in the body of Christ,
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we get to work together with our differences.
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But it is a frustrating thing that you want.
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What is God going to do? Because I wish he would plan it
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out for me. But he doesn't want to plan.
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Because if you did get 10, a list of 10 things, here's how
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you would live your life. You would pay attention to that
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list the rest of your life and not to the Lord.
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Now, I know you would have like you would worship God and you
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would. It's not like you would be
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apostate or anything, but you just wouldn't wake up in the
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morning and go wonder what's going to happen today.
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Instead, you wake up in the morning and say I'm on #3 and
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you'd work it down. And God wants you to trust him.
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That's what the Book of Acts is. He wants you to trust him.
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Paul and Barnabas or Saul and Barnabas at this point do not
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know what the future holds. They don't know.
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All they have is right here in verse one and in the in the
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church that was in Antioch there were certain prophets and
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teachers. Barnabas Simeon was called Niger
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Lucius of Cyrene, Manaean, who had been brought up with Herod
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the Tetrarch and Saul, and as they ministered to the Lord
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verse 2 and fasted. The Holy Spirit said, if you
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haven't marked that yet, make sure you mark.
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This is the first activity here of the Holy Spirit.
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He's speaking and we know he spoke probably through the
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prophets or teachers there now, and this is what he said.
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Now separate to me, Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I
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have called them. And God has called each one of
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us to a special place in the body of Christ, to a special
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work. We've looked at this in previous
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studies. Verse 3 Then having fasted and
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prayed, they laid hands on them and they sent them away.
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Then verse 4 so being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went
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down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus, and when
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they arrived in Salemus they preached the word of God in the
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synagogue of the Jews. They also had John as their.
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Assistance. So let's pause there for a
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moment and spend some time on this section, you know, takers.
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I want you to note this. We'll get to it in later
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studies, but this is where John Mark shows up.
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This is where John Mark shows up right here and he is related to
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Barnabas. And you'll see he causes some
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problems later on in their relationship.
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But this is John Mark, and you might just need to jot that down
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so you can remember that as we get to him later on.
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But here we see the gospel going out through Barnabas and Saul.
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They will be the vessels or the people in this early stage that
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God has chosen to take the gospel to the world.
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The gospel. What is the gospel?
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Turn over to 1st Corinthians chapter 15.
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Let me give you a very simple, authoritative answer of what the
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gospel is. We often refer to it as the Good
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News, and it is. And let me show you first, John
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or excuse me, First Corinthians chapter 15.
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Here is a very simple explanation of the gospel.
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And here in the Bible, we get it.
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It's. I know people have complicated
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it. I know seminary will will you
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know some guys, some seminaries. They'll spend years and years
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trying to define the gospel. Save your money.
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Here it is right here. First Corinthians chapter 15,
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verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare to
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you the gospel which I preach to you, which you also received,
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and which you stand, by, which you are saved, if you hold fast
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that word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain.
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And here it is. For I deliver to you first of
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all that which I received, that Christ died for our sins
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according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he
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rose again the 3rd day according to the Scriptures.
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That's the gospel. We have sinned.
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We are separate from God. God saw that and out of love
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send his son Jesus Christ. He died for your sins, just like
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the Bible said. According to the scriptures, he
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was buried and he rose again from the dead.
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That's the gospel. There's a life of separation for
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every man, woman and child apart from Christ because of our sins.
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You don't need a pastor here today to convince you that you
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have sinned. Against God.
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You already know that. It's intrinsic.
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You know you're not a perfect person.
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I know often times I'll try to convince people of their sin by
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just simply asking the question, Have you ever made a mistake?
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So let me do that. Have anyone here, have you ever
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made a mistake in your life? Yes.
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Anybody. OK, good.
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Because you're a bunch of sinners.
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That's why what we refer to as mistakes.
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And we're very quick to admit it.
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The Bible calls sin. Except that sin.
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Is a much greater It's the gravest mistake that you can
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ever make in your life. So much so the Bible says that
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if you die in your sins that you will spend eternity apart from
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Christ. That's a significant thing to
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learn, that you are in a bad condition.
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You you are in a bad shape apart from Christ.
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And it's not just you have sinned.
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The Bible makes it very clear we have sinned.
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If there was ever any doubt that you know I'm good or I'm better
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or I'm not like them, if there was any doubt in our minds, God
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put it this way. We have all sinned and fallen
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short of the glory of God. So the difference among us
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today, the difference in the room, the difference with you
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connected by technology, The difference today is not whether
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we've sinned like there are some that haven't, some that haven't.
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That's not the difference. The only difference is, is that
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some of us has sinned a lot more and a lot worse, and others
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haven't. That's it.
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And we're all going to have to stand before God, our Creator,
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and answer for our lives. This is the gospel, friends,
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that your sins can be forgiven, that God's sin is only begotten
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Son Jesus Christ because he loves you to die, be buried, and
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Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.
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You see the wages of sin? What sin gives what the end
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result is if you don't deal with this in your life spiritually.
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The wages of sin, the Bible says, is death.
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You know, if I was just to end there, it would bump people out.
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That's not good news. What do you mean?
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The way wages of sin is death. That's not good news.
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But the gospel doesn't end there.
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You see, even though the wages of sin is death, the gift of God
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is eternal life. Through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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And He's ready to forgive you today.
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He's ready. He's probably more ready than
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you are to receive you into his family, to break that
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separation, to give purpose and direction for your life the way
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God created you, to show you that your life matters, that
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you're needed and wanted in this world.
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I mean, when you look at the world today, you're just like
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it's out of control, upside down.
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Why? Because they've turned their
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back on God. That's why this world is not
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governed by God. It is not looking to God.
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The world in which we live has invented ways to eliminate God
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from their life. And you know what?
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You have too Listen, not blaming on people.
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You doing your own thing. You, you living your own life.
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You're just like, I don't need God.
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I don't want God. You know that.
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That's that's on you, man. That's going to be on you.
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I know of which I speak. I mean I'm not speaking some
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abstract thing that I learned somewhere.
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I live this. I lived it.
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Unfortunately, I'm not proud of that.
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I live this life. I know.
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I know what it's like to get up on the party scene.
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I know what it's like. All I know what it's like to
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live a separate life from God. And it's a miserable condition.
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It's miserable. And I'm so grateful.
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God was patient with me. And God has been patient with
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you so that today, in just a few moments, you can even say it.
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You could do it right now, even while I'm talking.
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But here's what the Bible says. If you confess with your mouth
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the Lord Jesus. When you believe in in your
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heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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And let me tell you, friend, you need to be saved.
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You need to be rescued. God sent a savior in the world
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to save those who need to be saved.
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That's what we're reading. Why would God separate Paul or
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Saul and Barnabas for the work of the ministry?
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Because the world needs to be saved.
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I mean, you might even be challenging that in your mind
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right now. And that's fine.
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That's good because now you're listening to me and we're having
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a dialogue in your head. And that's wonderful.
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But let me ask you this question.
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If you look at your life and you see because you know you
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sometimes you're like, but I'm a good person, and I'm sure you
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are. I'm sure you are.
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I wouldn't argue with that. I'm sure you're a great person.
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I'm sure you're a wonderful person.
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We get to know you. There's all kinds of great
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attributes about you. But when it comes to the things
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of God. You have to ask this question.
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If you're a good person, how good enough is good to live
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eternity with God? I mean, is it your measurement?
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Like you did three good things this year and that's all that's
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needed? Or your moral your more moral
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than someone else? Is that what the standard is?
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And and I can answer that question for you.
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The standard of good is perfect. Which means none of us stand
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before God. Perfect.
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Only Jesus does. And He invites you into a
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relationship with him today that your sins and life are forgiven.
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It'll it'll rock your world. You'll become a better man.
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You'll become a better woman. God will begin to immediately
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work on all the issues in your life and in your marriage.
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I mean, I remember for the sake of testimony, I remember as a
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born again believer. This was a very humbling.
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I mean, I knew I was bad, but I didn't really know how bad it
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was until I was born again and God began to open my eyes and
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I'm like wow. And and God had to take me as a
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23 year old kid and and he had to take me back and teach me
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every attribute of life. I I needed to learn how to be a
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man, a real man. I needed to learn how to be a
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husband. I'd already been married.
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I needed to learn how to be a dad.
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We already had a kid. I needed to learn how to be a
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better son because of my parents.
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I need to learn how to become a better employer employee.
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I need to learn. I I needed to learn every aspect
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of life from God's perspective. And that's very humbling.
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A lot of times that's what holds you back.
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You're so successful. You've been come so far.
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You know I don't need any direction.
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I don't need God. God is good for you.
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I don't. And the reality is, God is
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waiting. He's knocking on the door of
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your heart even right now. Inviting you to himself.
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I'm not asking you to join a church or follow me like I'm
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some like you. God.
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God has sent his son to die. I didn't send my son to God sent
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his son to die for you. And he rose again so you might
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receive him and live for him and not yourself anymore.
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That's what's happening here. The word of God is coming
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through Barnabas and Saul to the people they're meeting in John
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Chapter one. The Bible declares Jesus.
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It says that he came and dwelt among us.
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He took on human flesh and dwelt among us.
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We're going to be talking about that.
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Christmas gets closer. There's a technical word for
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that, a theological word for that.
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We refer to that as the Incarnation.
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It's God becoming flesh. Becoming human flesh.
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So, so that Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man.
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And I've gone into that in depth in other studies, but that is
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the incarnation. But by way of application,
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understand that the process and the progress of the gospel.
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What God wants to do is take the gospel and make it Incarnate in
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you so that you're living out the gospel, that it's alive in
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you. This good news?
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One of the ways it's alive in you is through your testimony
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and what God has done in your life.
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Like, like you know, as as a as a pastor, Some people have
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these, you know, they have thoughts about pastors that are
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just simply wrong. Like it's like one of those
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thoughts is like, well pastor when you share the gospel, you
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just teach Bible studies. Everywhere you go you take your
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Bible and wherever you're at, if some need, you just take out
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your Bible and you give them a 45 minute Bible.
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It's like if I was at Safeway sharing the gospel with someone
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at the tomatoes that I see crying and I go up and say, are
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you? OK, you know, did the tomatoes
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do that much to you? They're like, are you so sad?
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Why are you so sad at the tomatoes?
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And they go, oh, you don't understand, Such and such goes
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on. And I'm like, OK, I'm going to
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lay my hands on it and pray or at least ask permission.
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And you know, can I pray for you right here in Safeway at the
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tomatoes? It's not.
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Oh, you're having a problem here, let me get a crate over
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here. Sit down here.
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We'll move this stuff out of the side.
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I've got a 45 minute Bible study for all of your problems.
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Or on the plane or wherever I'm at.
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We're not going around like I do exactly what you do.
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If I see a need, I'm going to talk to them.
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I'm going to pray with them. I'm going to invite them to
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church. I I might have a Bible on my
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car. I'm going to go out and give to
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them. I'm going to run to my car.
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Go get it. Don't leave.
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Don't leave the tomatoes. I'm going to stay here because I
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want to give you a Bible or I might have a book.
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I'm going to give them or something along the lines.
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So that the reason I share a silly illustration like that is
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because you you think, well Ed, that's what you do and this is
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the way you do it. But it's not what I do, it's
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what we do as a church. It's Incarnate.
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The Holy Spirit is in you so that you take the word of God
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wherever you go that the gospel is lived out for.
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You don't have to give a 45 minute Bible study.
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All you need to do is tell people what God has done in your
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life. That's powerful.
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You look at it and you know, you look at it and some people are
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looking. I don't believe that.
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I don't believe that. And you know, you're successful.
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Your story's unbelievable. You're not making it up.
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You're not exaggerating. You're just like, no, I'm bro,
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this is my life. I know.
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I know it's true because I was there.
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Like I was there. I lived it.
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It's true. I'm telling you.
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And it could be true in your life, too.
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You know, even in services we'll have people come up and what
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God's doing in your life? Minister to a brother recently
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who came up and responded to the message and was able to talk to
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him. And you know, you could see he
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was torn up. You know you could see that the
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man this brother like, so he comes up, I put my arm around
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him and he's just reeking of alcohol like he's absolutely
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have been drinking, man. It's and that's probably a big
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source And so I'm praying with I'm talking to him and my first
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thing out of my mouth is here, here.
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I don't know what your story is, but I'm telling you right now,
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you need to stop drinking. It's going to improve your life
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almost immediately. If you stop drinking, you got to
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stop. He goes, I know, I know.
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And tears are streaming now. He's a big, strong man, too.
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Like, I could see, like, God's working in this man.
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And he began to share with me everything.
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My my marriage is this. My kids are this.
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And I'm just like, my heart's breaking with them.
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You know, you got to stop drinking.
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But, you know, before we even ministered to him, one of the
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one of the things I, the thing I really had to tell him was this
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question. Did you drive here?
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Because if he drove here, we're not letting him drive home
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because people that are wrecked by life, they still make all
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these decisions and we want to help him know we're going to
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make sure he didn't drive here. Someone dropped him off, which
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was really great. It just put him in a position to
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receive like God is working in his life.
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He's evident. He's been here and I've learned
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he's been here for a few weeks and responded to the gospel and
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such and but he still has some things he has to work on.
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And this is not true. In your life.
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There's still things you have to work on and there's things that
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can immediately improve your life.
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For some of you, it's a sin, it's a burden.
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Yeah, it's for some of you, you need to get saved.
21:48
For some of you, you need to step into obedience.
21:51
You need to get back to your first love.
21:53
There's things that can improve your life immediately so that
21:56
the gospel can live through you. Because ultimately what what I
22:01
like to do is with a brother like that who just felt he felt
22:04
defeated in the sense where stop drinking.
22:05
I don't think I could ever do that.
22:06
I could look him in the eye and say no you and and this is, this
22:10
was an amazing thing. I I have it in my mind like
22:14
right now I see. I told him to look in my eyes.
22:17
I said you've got to look in my eyes.
22:19
And he stared at me through his glide.
22:21
He's staring at me. And I said I want you to look at
22:23
me in the eye and I want you to hear this from my voice.
22:27
I have been sober from a life like yours for 30 plus years,
22:32
and God can do the same thing in your life.
22:36
That's the gospel Incarnate. He didn't need a Bible study.
22:40
He didn't need. He just needed to be told of the
22:44
victory and the power that's available in Jesus Christ.
22:47
And that's what the world needs. Guys, this is it.
22:50
This is our life. This is what the world needs.
22:53
Your testimony. Sure, you know the word.
22:55
We'll get to it in a moment. We need to know the word and
22:57
such. But man, this is what the world
22:59
needs. You see the news like if you
23:01
don't see what's going on, you just got to watch the news.
23:03
Just for 1/2 hour, Just 1/2 hour Broadcast and you'll see man,
23:07
sin has wrecked everything. It's just wrecked everything.
23:11
Every corner, every just so much damage.
23:15
But if you're always watching the news more than 1/2 hour, you
23:19
may be deceived in thinking that God is not active.
23:22
He is. He's changing lives, drawing
23:25
people into himself, rescuing prodigals, saving marriages,
23:29
affirming like he is working now in a world that seems out of
23:34
control because of sin. And he hasn't stopped until he
23:37
returns. He hasn't stopped.
23:40
God has always been on the outreach.
23:41
So notice as they're sent out in verse four, it says they were
23:45
sent out by the Holy Spirit and notice where they went.
23:47
They went to what does it say in verse 4, Cyprus.
23:50
Of course, they went to the city of Seleucia, but they sailed to
23:54
Cyprus. Now it's interesting.
23:56
This is where you read the Bible.
23:58
Why is Cyprus so significant? Well, you'll remember back when
24:02
we studied in the beginning of Acts that when we met Barnabas.
24:06
Where is Barnabas from? Cyprus.
24:10
So it makes sense when they're beginning.
24:12
You know what an exciting time this must have been?
24:14
The call of God. The work of God.
24:17
Hey man, where we want to go. This is amazing.
24:19
The church is praying for us. We're we're launching out.
24:23
Where are we going to go? I don't know.
24:24
We're just going to go by faith. But someone must have said, hey,
24:27
why don't we just go to Barnabas?
24:28
I know people there. I mean, let's go to Cyprus.
24:30
I know people there and they end up going to a place where
24:34
Barnabas already had relationships.
24:36
Well, it reminds me and I don't want to develop it today, but I
24:38
just want to say it. It reminds me that you know,
24:41
everything with following the leading of the spirit and stuff
24:43
doesn't always have to be super hyper spiritual.
24:47
Well, you know, I'm not sure what to do and I don't know, I'm
24:49
going to pray about it. I'm going to get up in my, like
24:52
it doesn't always have to be like that.
24:53
Like like these, like these, like these invite cards.
24:56
You know, we get them out and you know, you don't need to go
24:59
home. OK.
24:59
I'm going to lock myself in the closet and I'm going to pray for
25:02
10 days and I'm going to pray for 10 days and give ten of them
25:05
away. And I just know I'm not going to
25:06
talk to anybody. And the Lord's is going to tell
25:08
no, no, no, no, no. But you, I mean, I guess you can
25:11
do that, but you don't have to do that.
25:13
All you need to do is take the card and the first person you
25:16
see, you can invite them. That's it.
25:18
Be practical. Or let's go back to Safeway
25:20
again. You shop at Safeway all the
25:21
time. Why don't you give one to
25:24
someone you always see at Safeway?
25:25
You know why? If you always see them, guess
25:28
what? They always see you.
25:30
Like if you're going through the same checkout thing and the same
25:33
person, the same gal is there, they know you, you know them and
25:37
you're just like, hey, why don't you come to church.
25:39
It's right here. You know the Safeways right here
25:40
is just walk across the street after work.
25:42
We'd love to have worship God with you and celebrate the birth
25:45
of Christ. It doesn't always have to be
25:47
hyper spiritual. Sometimes the leading of the
25:50
Holy Spirit is just so obvious and practical.
25:53
It's just right in front of you. You don't, you don't have to
25:57
work it up. Because sometimes what happens
25:59
with Christians is they get so hyper spiritual about things
26:03
that they stay in that zone and never do anything.
26:06
So they come out of their per closet after 1010 days of no
26:10
water and, you know, no food and anything.
26:12
And they say, where you been? I've been in my closet praying.
26:14
What am I supposed to do with these cards?
26:16
Like, bro Christmas already passed.
26:18
Man, you pray through Christmas? Well, you know, I guess I no,
26:23
no, no. Just just invite someone.
26:25
Have a love for them, pray for them.
26:27
Just like, hey, I'd love to have you come.
26:29
You don't have to be. You don't have to get into that
26:31
realm where you're so caught up in stuff where you just see
26:34
God's leading you, He's using you.
26:37
Just go for it. You don't have to be a pastor.
26:39
You don't have to know all the Bible.
26:41
Just be faithful and obedient. Before we move on, I want you to
26:47
notice back in verse 2, the work of the Holy Spirit.
26:50
Here in verse two, we see that the Holy Spirit is speaking.
26:55
In verse four, we now see the Holy Spirit is sending out.
27:00
Then when we get to verse nine, it says Paul was filled with the
27:06
Holy Spirit. This is the pattern.
27:09
God speaks, He calls, he sends, and then he fills.
27:15
This is the work of the Spirit in your life.
27:17
It's not just for some big step, it's for every step where God is
27:21
speaking. You're reading the Bible.
27:24
He's just speaking to you. That's one of the benefits of
27:27
reading the Bible every day. You don't know what he's going
27:28
to say. There's going to be the facts of
27:30
the Bible. But then, you know, you might
27:32
read something and it might remind you of someone.
27:34
Like, for example, just something very simple here.
27:37
It says that they, in verse four, they sailed to Cyprus.
27:43
So you wake up in the morning, you have your breakfast, you
27:45
have your coffee, You're going to go to work.
27:47
You're going to take care of the errands and the chores for the
27:50
day. You're you're not thinking about
27:51
sailing. You're not thinking about
27:52
anything, but you're reading it. And you're like sailing.
27:54
And it reminds you of a time you went sailing with friends.
27:58
And then in that reminder, you think, man, I haven't talked to
28:00
that person in a long time. I think I should reach out to
28:03
them. And then there you are at a
28:05
place where God has impressed upon you someone from the past
28:11
just because of a little word right here.
28:13
And that's not the point of the text.
28:14
The point of the text wasn't to remind you, but because you've
28:17
been faithful and you open up the Bible.
28:20
And when you open up the Bible, you're not just reading it to
28:22
reading it. What you're doing is God, I want
28:24
to hear from you. And so he may use just a word
28:27
like that and say, oh, that's amazing, that happens.
28:30
It happens to me all the time where a passage will remind me
28:34
of a situation or a person. And all that's waiting for you,
28:39
all that's waiting for you is to do it where you have this
28:44
opportunity. You know, I forgot I God spoke
28:47
to me and I haven't done it yet, do it or or I haven't been in a
28:53
service where I've really heard the Lord in a long time.
28:56
Well, he's always speaking. So then you just have that
28:58
sense. You know, I need to pray for
29:00
myself that I hear from God and hear the word of God speaks.
29:07
And all that's left so many times is for you to act.
29:11
And I wonder who's listening to me today.
29:14
That's exactly your life. I don't hear from God.
29:17
I don't know what the future. And then I say, OK, if that's
29:20
the condition of your life right now, what's the last thing God
29:23
told you to do that you haven't done?
29:26
Because that's what he's waiting for.
29:28
God is speaking and he's moving, and he's leading.
29:31
The question is, is are you obeying and cooperating and
29:34
submitting yourself to him? You want to experience the
29:38
dynamic of being led by the Spirit, having the Spirit speak
29:41
to you, having the Spirit call you and lead you.
29:44
Having the Spirit send you and and having the Spirit fill you.
29:49
It's important that you're in a position of obedience that you
29:54
do. Remember what Jesus said, that
29:55
you do what Jesus said this, and I'll paraphrase.
29:58
He says if you love me, you'll keep my commandments.
30:03
That's where love is meets the road.
30:04
I do what Jesus tells me to do. No matter what the world thinks,
30:09
no matter what my family thinks, no matter what my friends might
30:11
think. I'm going to obey God because
30:14
he's the one that saved my life. And because of that, I'm going
30:16
to love my family and I'm going to love my friends, and I'm
30:19
going to be faithful to be the best man that I possibly can be.
30:23
And for you, the best woman that you can be.
30:25
God is on the move, and he's working that.
30:28
So they go to Silucia. They end up in Cyprus, very
30:30
practical. 60 miles away, hometown of Barnabas.
30:33
They worshiped Venus there. Why did they go to Cypress
30:36
besides the the Barnabas hometown?
30:38
Well, Cyprus was really bad. They worshiped the goddess
30:43
Venus, which required. It jacked the whole island up
30:46
because it required, first of all worship of Venus required
30:49
that every woman think about this.
30:52
Every woman had to be a temple prostitute for a year.
30:55
I mean, what were they thinking? And then of course that's
30:59
corrupting all the men taking advantage of the women and their
31:02
friend's daughter. It's just wicked.
31:05
It's not God's will for them. God's will for them was to be
31:08
right with him. So he sends to He loves Cyprus
31:11
so much that he sent these guys to the island to share the truth
31:16
with them. That's how much he loves them.
31:17
So good. So pick up with me now.
31:19
In verse 6 it says Now when they had gone through the island of
31:24
Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew
31:28
whose name was bar Jesus, who was with the Proconsul Sergius
31:33
Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and
31:36
Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
31:40
This was their ministry. It's how world mission started.
31:43
They get to an island. They find two guys at the we
31:46
know their ministry is much bigger, but two guys are
31:48
important, and for the sake of contrast, God wants us to see
31:51
this. And this makes sense if you pay
31:54
attention to the Bible when you're reading it for you look
31:58
for this, and you also pay attention in your own life and
32:01
look for this. You'll see it all the time.
32:04
And here, this is what you'll see.
32:05
Excitement and progress. God's doing great things.
32:09
You're so excited. Leave a Bible side.
32:10
Man, that was amazing. God spoke to my heart.
32:13
I want to. I want to move forward.
32:15
I want to step out. I want to hand out a card.
32:17
I've never done that before. All of that.
32:18
There's this great progress. Think God's changing your life,
32:21
changing your mind, Everything. And there's always going to be
32:25
with that progress, great resistance.
32:28
Just like here. They're ready to do great
32:31
things. Sergius wants to hear the
32:32
message. And then there's this guy
32:34
Alimus. And we've taught Bible studies
32:38
on this, but I I describe it this way.
32:40
Wherever there's great progress for the Christian, there will
32:43
always be great resistance. It says right here as you read
32:48
ahead in verse 8. But Alimus the sorcerer for so
32:53
his name is translated withstood them.
32:56
Circle that word and next to it you can write, resist against or
33:00
undermine, because that's what he's doing here.
33:02
He withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the
33:06
faith. There's always going to be an
33:08
Alimus, you'll remember. Back in Samaria there was Simon
33:12
the sorcerer. That's what he was doing, the
33:14
same thing. And wherever there's great
33:16
progress, there's always going to be great resistance.
33:19
And we have a phrase for that. I taught about it a few weeks
33:22
ago. It's called spiritual warfare,
33:26
Spiritual warfare. There is a war in the spiritual
33:29
realm that is being fought against you to hinder your
33:32
progress following Jesus. You want to do something and for
33:36
the Lord, and you step into it and boom, the enemy's right
33:39
there. Ready.
33:40
He's right there through circumstances, through
33:42
situations, all he's just right there.
33:44
He attacks the mind, he attacks the emotions.
33:46
We studied all that in depth. Eight ways the enemy you attacks
33:50
eight ways you can withstand him.
33:52
Because that's the answer. The answer, Church, is to stand
33:54
fast in your faith. The answer is to resist the
33:58
devil and he'll flee from you. Well, we don't have to give the
34:00
devil so much credit. Like he's old, so powerful, and
34:03
we don't know what to do. He he is powerful, but not more
34:06
powerful than our God. I mean, I mean the the devil is
34:10
smart, but not smarter than God. He's under the authority of God
34:14
and you can resist him. But you can also expect Elimus,
34:17
there's always going to be resistance.
34:19
And around the church here we've even adopted a new phrase among
34:23
the staff and team and leaders is that there is a new thing.
34:27
And I know it's not new, but it's kind of new to me.
34:29
It's like unusual spiritual warfare, like, you know, the
34:33
normal stuff, you know, the things that come.
34:36
But then there are like, where did that come from?
34:39
And I've never seen that. I've been dealing.
34:40
I dealt with the situation not too long ago, where as it was
34:43
being described to me. One of the things that was
34:46
happening, like when it was described to me, like what was
34:50
described to me, I didn't even know existed.
34:53
I mean, I don't. I'm not a guy that lives with my
34:55
head in the sand. I I understand the world I live
34:57
in the world for, like, I. But the the enemy is inventing
35:01
things to destroy lives that I hadn't even learned about yet.
35:05
And I'm like, bro, I didn't even know that was a thing.
35:08
Destroying this kid's life, He's going to resist.
35:14
He is actively resisting, trying to withhold, trying to
35:18
undermine, trying to get your life and your eyes off of the
35:23
Lord. Because he knows if he can get
35:25
you off your balance, you're done.
35:28
You're wiped out. If he can get you into the realm
35:31
of your flesh, you're wiped out. If he can get you back into the
35:34
world, you're done. He'll wipe you out.
35:39
And here are Limas's He's a sorcerer.
35:41
And that's the word means what it means.
35:44
He was into astrology, the occult, all kinds of black
35:48
magic, which is forbidden in the scripture.
35:50
But what made him, what made him dangerous is he took all that
35:53
junk and he mixed it and made it sound like it was the Bible.
35:57
And you know, we have people doing that today.
35:59
You got to be careful. Stay away from the things that
36:02
God tells you to stay away from and not, you know, these false
36:05
teachers. This this guy was a false
36:07
teacher. He definitely was wrong in every
36:11
way, but there was also this guy Sergius.
36:14
Don't miss him, because when you're fighting all the
36:16
spiritual warfare and going through things, people like
36:19
Sergius get missed. Don't miss him because as much
36:22
as there is the enemy coming against us, there's also guys
36:26
like this that are in our lives that need our help and want our
36:30
help. Sergius Paulus, He was notice
36:32
it. The Bible says he was an
36:33
intelligent man. And I've learned over the years
36:36
that there are plenty of intelligent people in this world
36:39
that want intelligent answers to their probing questions in life.
36:43
There are plenty of people that that are asking questions about
36:46
God, asking questions about the Bible, asking questions about
36:49
church, and they deserve an answer and they've come to you.
36:53
This is why the Bible says to study, to show yourself
36:56
approved. A Workman that doesn't need to
36:58
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
37:01
Because all all these questions in the world, there are good
37:04
answers. You don't need to be intimidated
37:06
by things you've never heard before.
37:07
I hear questions all the time. I'm like, man, I've never seen
37:10
it that way before. I've never thought of it that
37:12
way before. And the Holy Spirit is there to
37:14
help you give the answers to those that are asking the
37:19
questions. You know, the problem is many
37:21
times, especially with pastors, pastors are in the pulpit
37:24
answering questions that people aren't asking.
37:27
And you want to be able to answer the questions that people
37:30
are asking. You want to know what's
37:32
happening in the culture. You want to be able to be
37:34
sensitive to what's happening so the Holy Spirit can use you.
37:37
And I know it's intimidating because you come and people ask
37:40
you questions. Well, I don't know.
37:41
I have no idea. I don't.
37:42
I don't even know that, you know, you should call the
37:43
church, and I'm going to tell you right now.
37:45
Don't tell them to do that. You are the church.
37:48
And so here's a tactic, something you can use.
37:50
Somebody asks you a hard question.
37:52
You could say, wow, that's a good question.
37:54
I've never heard of that. Why don't you give me a week?
37:57
Give me a week and I'm going to find the answer to that.
38:00
And then I'm going to come out. I'll give you the answer, but
38:01
you just got to give me a week because I've never heard that
38:03
before. And what will happen is God will
38:06
encourage you because there's great resources.
38:08
You can have great places, like you'll be able to study, you'll
38:12
learn it for yourself and then it'll become yours.
38:14
So that when you give them an answer, you're not just giving
38:16
them someone else's answer, you're giving them your answer.
38:19
It'll build your faith too, because it'll make you go into
38:21
the word. It'll make you search and and
38:24
don't be intimidated because I mean that.
38:26
That's one of the reasons why we have resources downstairs for
38:29
you. That's one of the reasons why we
38:31
have Calvary live, so we can answer questions in real time.
38:35
And look, you know, you get a question here and there that you
38:38
don't know. So do I.
38:39
And I've been walking with the Lord for a long time, But the
38:42
way people are seeing the world today is forcing me to look
38:46
differently so I can have an answer even for them.
38:50
Not just to dismiss them and not just no, like Sergius Sergius
38:54
had. He wanted answers and he calls
38:57
for Saul and Barnabas. They come, there's resistance.
39:01
And notice Saul loves Sergius so much.
39:04
It says in verse 9. Then Saul who is called Paul,
39:07
which by the way, I know I've been back and forth Saul and
39:10
Paul because that's how we know him.
39:11
This is actually the first time in the Bible he's called Paul.
39:15
His that Paul is his Greek name, Saul is his Hebrew name and his
39:19
Greek name, Greek name. Paul means little one.
39:23
And to think where he came from and the big head that he had and
39:25
pride and how he's against the church.
39:27
Now he's just the little one. That's what's important.
39:30
It's not Paul, It's God. And so here's Paul.
39:33
He's there. He's filled with the Holy
39:36
Spirit. He looks at intently at Alimus,
39:39
and notice what he says. O full of all deceit and all
39:43
fraud, You, son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness,
39:48
will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
39:51
And now indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall
39:55
be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.
39:58
And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around,
40:02
seeking someone to lead him by the hands.
40:06
So you look at this and go Whoa. I don't think I could ever do
40:11
that. Look at guy in the eye and call
40:13
him the devil. Well, Jesus did it in John
40:16
chapter 8. And I want you to know this is
40:19
not nobody has the ministry to going around telling people
40:23
they're the devil. OK, Because this is not normal.
40:27
This is unique. Paul is obviously walking in
40:31
something that we learn in First Corinthians chapter 12, the
40:35
manifestation or what we commonly refer to as the gift of
40:38
discernment. He cares so much about Sergius
40:43
and his future eternal life that he deals with this guy directly.
40:47
You're a liar. You're a fraud.
40:50
You're from the devil. You remember in John chapter 8,
40:52
Jesus did that with the Pharisees too.
40:54
He says you guys are of your father, the devil, and he just.
40:58
Wanted to call him out in that moment, you don't see it happen
41:01
very often. So it's not like God saying, oh,
41:04
I've been waiting for my ministry.
41:05
It's right here. I know who the devils are and
41:07
I'm like, you know, and social media kind of brings that out of
41:11
people too. Like, it's just not effective
41:13
unless the Holy Spirit filled with the Holy Spirit and it's
41:16
happening there many times. This just comes from this place
41:20
of man. I just want to tell people and
41:22
put them in their place. Well, God doesn't need you to
41:24
put people in their place. He needs you to love them and
41:27
tell you the truth. And yes, this is a demonstration
41:30
of love. I want you to see this because
41:32
you look at it and go, Whoa, Paul, what are you doing?
41:35
Well, I want you to see this in an angle as hard as it is to
41:38
hear these words, I want you to see what God is doing here.
41:42
He's being very merciful. He's being very merciful with
41:46
Elimus. Because if he gave in the moment
41:49
Elimus what he deserves, he would die on the spot.
41:54
That's what he deserved. Not only that, we see an example
41:59
earlier on in the book of Acts. Remember in the early stages we
42:02
had believers come Ananias and Sapphira.
42:05
They saw Barnabas sell their property.
42:07
They sold his property, then they sold their property.
42:10
But they only put brought part of the money there.
42:14
Lying that saying that they brought it all.
42:17
What did God do with them Through the gift of discernment
42:20
through Peter they died on the spot, brought holiness.
42:24
You know, we when we praying, we don't want to pray for the
42:27
judgement of God. We want to pray for the mercy of
42:29
God in our lives. We want mercy.
42:32
Of course, Jesus Christ, he took our judgement upon himself, but
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we want mercy from God. This guy, instead of being wiped
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out, he was blinded temporarily, taken out of the way so that he
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might now start thinking about his life.
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He had to deal with this and he's out of the way now so that
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Sergius can receive. Now notice what happens with him
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in verse 12 in. Verse 12 It says Then the
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proconsul believed when he saw what had been done, being
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astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
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The proconsul was saved. But I want you to be careful
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reading this this verse how he was saved.
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It says that he believed and that's necessary for salvation.
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You need to believe in God, and what you believe will dictate
43:20
how you behave. You believe in God, It will
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change your life from the inside out.
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You believe in the gospel. It'll change your life from the
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inside out. And it says he believed when he
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saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of
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the Lord. So he was He believed, He saw
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the work of God, and he believed.
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But what astonished him was the Word, and it's an important
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distinction to make. It wasn't the signs and wonders
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in this amazing this was the first miracle, the first
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conversion. These are all kinds of firsts.
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So we're going to learn in Paul's life.
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But he what do you? He wasn't.
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I mean it it it, I mean it was something to be said, like it
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was something to be said to watch this all unfold right in
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front of him, because I think there was a part of Sergius
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where he knew he was a liar and he knew he was deceiver.
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He wasn't. He was involved in all the
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occult and all that. It wasn't imparting life to him.
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He wasn't doing what Paul and Barnabas was able to do in a
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short amount of time using the word of God.
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He wasn't astonished at what he saw it he saw.
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It, and I'm sure he was like, whoa, but what he was astonished
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at was the word of God. What what got his attention,
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Where the power really is, is in God's word.
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And that power was demonstrated as Paul and Barnabas was sharing
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with him answers to his questions.
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Where they invited, He invited him and go.
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I got all these things. And what Saul Paul understood
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here is this. This guy needed to get out of
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the way. There was a demonstration of
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power that then brought validity to the word of God.
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Astonishment at the teaching is so important where you're
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reading the Bible. Even some of the simple things I
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know we get caught up on the things we don't understand.
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But like you're reading the Bible and these simple things
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like you're thinking, it's astonishing to think you mean
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God loves me. That God desires change in me.
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That after all I've done in my life, he's willing to give me a
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fresh start. That's astonishing.
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You take the Bible and you look in the mirror and you're just
45:32
like, This is amazing what God has done.
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Because if you're astonished at the truth of God's word, then
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here's what else you'll be astonished at.
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You'll be astonished at the grace of God in your life.
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And what he has done and what he's doing and what he wants to
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do in your life, because here's what happens.
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We just take things for granted. We just kind of expect these
45:53
things. We get caught up in the culture
45:56
and the consumerism of the culture, and we start demanding
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we leave self sacrifice and then we go back to self centeredness.
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We're not astonished at the Bible anymore, and we're not
46:06
astonished at the grace of God anymore, and we're not
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astonished at the love of God. We get caught up in all these
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other things that really aren't going to bring power and
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progress into our lives as believers.
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And he's astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
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How did he learn from the teaching of the Lord, from
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Barnabas and Paul? It was the gospel that
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astonished him. I mean, I'm sure the blinding
46:31
tripped him out, but it was the word of God that made a lasting
46:34
effect and. Let that be what God sends you
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out and sends me out with today. That you would be astonished at
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the grace of God and come back to a place where you're excited
46:46
and the joy of the Lord. Yeah, I know you're going to
46:49
bring pains with you. Of course you are.
46:51
That's the. I was just thinking of that
46:53
passage where we just lay aside the sin and the weights.
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That's so easily entangled us so we can run our race with joy.
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We're going to be carrying stuff, and the longer we live,
47:02
the more stuff we carry. But at the same time, we're
47:05
going to learn a new habit. We're going to cast our cares
47:07
upon the Lord. We're going to learn that so
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much of life is truly bittersweet.
47:12
There's a hard part to it, but there's a sweet part to it.
47:15
We're going to learn that God will empower us and it'll
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strengthen us that even in our worst condition, even our
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sadness and our sorrow and our difficulty and our battles, God
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is still with us and he's going to help us through and we're
47:28
going to make it through the other side in him.
47:31
And we're going to find the Sergius's.
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And occasionally we're going to have to deal with these these
47:35
guys that are resisting the gospel, but we're not going to
47:38
forget about the people that are ready and want to receive it.
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And that's the work of the gospel.
47:43
That's the missions right there. That's it.
47:46
And we'll see the rest of it. The whole rest of the book of
47:48
Acts is all the missionary journeys and just God taking
47:51
them there, taking them there, taking them there.
47:53
And then as you read ahead, you're going to learn, man, it's
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it was hard. It was, it was difficult.
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And Paul himself paid a very high price.
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For his calling and commitment to Jesus Christ.
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But I know that when we meet him in eternity and we get to talk
48:12
to him somehow, he'll probably be on repeat.
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He'll just repeat it. It was worth it.
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It was worth it. It was worth it.
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It was worth it. Because even out of his
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faithfulness, writing parts of the Bible and being used by God,
48:24
you and I are saved and we're growing today by the testimony
48:28
of his life. And I'm sure friends, you're
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going to be able to do the same thing.
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You're going to learn and you're going to be able to say it was
48:37
it is, it will be worth it in your life as you yield yourself
48:43
to the work of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
48:46
Amen. Father, thank you for the time
48:47
and your word today. Just, you know, we go and do so
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many different places in this text and and and so many
48:54
different thoughts. We just pray Your Holy Spirit,
48:57
we'd be faithful to bring it home to us and help us grow in
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Your grace. Help us.
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Help us. Help us to live a life that
49:10
pleases you. Because when we live a life that
49:12
pleases you, we're pleased and we're enjoying it.
49:17
And today, if you're here, as the Church is, praying, we just
49:21
want to invite you to receive the Lord Jesus Christ today, to
49:26
receive the forgiveness of your sins in a moment of time.
49:32
It's not. I was always this way.
49:34
It's not. I was Born This Way.
49:36
It is a moment of time where you yield your life, receiving the
49:40
forgiveness of your sins because you realize what Jesus has done.
49:44
And so today, if that's you, I'm going to invite you in this room
49:47
just to stand to your feet so that you can acknowledge
49:50
publicly your desire to follow Jesus Christ.
49:53
It's not necessary. God bless you, but it's helpful
49:57
as you have these point in life where you go.
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That was the day. That was the moment.
50:04
That was the room. That was the place.
50:07
God bless you here up front, you guys in the back.
50:10
Who else would say that's me and I know this is online.
50:13
God bless you here. God is working in your life,
50:16
Crystal, in a big way. Very much at work.
50:20
Who else would say that's me, Today's the day.
50:23
God bless you over here. And you're going to have someone
50:25
come up alongside of you, their pastors.
50:29
Don't be intimidated by them. They're just coming to make this
50:31
real for you, so you know you're not alone.
50:35
You guys out online or on the radio, you're not forgotten.
50:39
You guys downstairs, I think there's pastors down there to
50:42
minister to you, and God is on the throne right now, drawing
50:46
you to himself. He loves you that much.
50:48
God bless you over here. Thanks Josh.
50:56
Someone in the back and. That God would just use you to
51:01
encourage them and to come alongside of them.
51:05
Thank you, brother. Anyone else.
51:10
Today's the day. Now is the time.
51:15
This is it. God bless you.
51:21
Hey, some of you leaders, you see somebody that's not with
51:24
anyone get it, go over to them. You always have that
51:27
opportunity. Thank you, Dennis.
51:29
Anyone else? Today's the day.
51:33
And I say that because that's all we have right now.
51:37
The faithfulness of God in your life, His love for you.
51:44
And so the Bible says if we confess with our mouths, the
51:47
Lord Jesus believe in our heart that God raised him from the
51:50
dead, you'll be saved. That's what I want to help you
51:52
do. The way we express that would be
51:55
to talk to God. We call that prayer, but it's
51:57
just really talking to the God that loves you.
52:01
Calling you into relationship with him.
52:04
So you could pray a prayer like this.
52:05
You use my words or your own, but you could say something like
52:07
this. God, I admit that I've sinned
52:10
against you. And I ask you to forgive me of
52:14
all of my sins. I believe you sent Jesus Christ.
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To live for me, To die for me. I believe he rose again from the
52:27
dead to save my soul. I turn away and repent from my
52:34
sins today. And ask you to help me to follow
52:39
you all the days of my life. God, the men and women that are
52:46
crying out to you today. It's an emotional time.
52:51
It's a time of victory and celebration.
52:55
It's a time of life change. God may you pour out your spirit
52:58
on him, that it be real, powerful, lasting in their
53:04
lives. In Jesus name Amen, we pray
53:09
that. You've been encouraged by this
53:10
Bible study, delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church
53:14
for prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
53:19
That's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
53:25
entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
53:29
online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
53:34
Church app, Be Blessed As You Worship Jesus this week.