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Living Waters of Grace 12.08.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
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County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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continues teaching through God's Word.
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In your life and mine, the things that we've done or
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situations where we shared our faith that it's just been a
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complete bust is never in vain because the Lord promises His
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Word won't return void if people laugh at you or scoff at you or
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reject you or ridicule you because of what it is you
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believe and what you're committed to in your life.
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We should just trust God in that.
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Even though it didn't work out, we wish it would work out
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better, right? But sometimes it doesn't, and
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that's the mystery of life. If you ever woken up and thought
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to yourself, today is going to be a great day, and then
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everything went wrong, what a disappointment.
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When you start your day feeling like you're on top of the world
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and then experience Murphy's Law, whatever can go wrong will
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go wrong. Pastor Clark relates to you in
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his message today that even when sharing Jesus with others seems
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to go wrong, God is still pleased.
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You may not start a revival, but when you're faithful to plant
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that seed of faith, God will use it.
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Now. Here's Pastor Clark in Acts
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Chapter 23 with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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Paul says to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall
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for you sit to judge me according to the law and do not
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command me to be struck contrary to the law.
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So that wasn't a good way to start out when friends and
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influence people in a conversation before the
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authorities, right? He's antagonizing this high
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priest and everything he said is obviously true.
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But Paul responded out of an emotion that made him angry.
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Now, Jesus, whenever he was hit on the mouth, he didn't respond
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this way. Matter of fact, Jesus didn't
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open his mouth most of the time whenever he was being harassed,
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something we can learn from. But Paul not being God,
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obviously, and neither are we. When we get in a situation we
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don't like and we think it's unfair, we're going to fight to
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the end to prove that we're innocent.
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And Paul wasn't going to take any guff from these people or
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from this high priest. And so he basically says
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something to him that he's a hypocrite.
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Now, when I was in Israel and I saw the tombs and I was on the
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Mount of Olives and looking down, I remember Jesus talking
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about the Pharisees being like whitewashed sefolickers.
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In other words, the tombs, they look really clean and beautiful
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on the outside, but inside they were full of dead man's bones
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and corruption. And I'll never forget that.
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When I looked down and saw that, it just, you know, resonated and
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reminded me of that because they look beautiful, but inside they
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were just full of nothing but broken lives and dust and souls
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that will unfortunately be on their way to a Christ less
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eternity in hell because they never believed that Jesus was a
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Christ. But what's happening here is
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that Paul is tying him into this dead religion and this false
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leadership he had that he's contrary and he's judging
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unrighteously now. This guy eventually was caught
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up couple years later before Rome was sacked and the Jewish
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people had to scatter. But the Jewish people did find
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this guy and eventually assassinate him.
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So eventually he was judged for his crime of godless leadership
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in government. And it says in verse 4, and
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those who stood by said, do you revile God's high priest?
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So first of all, this was an impromptu meeting.
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And so there wasn't any kind of regalia and robes and all that
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kind of stuff. And him sitting on a throne like
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some big shot, he came in, sat there talking and listening and
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Paul wasn't even aware that the high priest was there.
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And this is interesting. In verse 5, Paul says, I did not
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know, brethren, that he was the high priest.
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For it is written, you should not speak evil of a ruler of
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your people. So regardless of what Paul
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thought about this man's leadership and his call and his
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ability to lead the people at this time, then like him,
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hypocrite, scoundrel, Pagan, all the different names you could
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put on him, he knew the scripture said you're not to
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speak evil of a ruler of your people.
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Now, I wonder how many pleasant things you or I have thought or
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said about Joe Biden lately. He's making a lot of crazy
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moves, isn't he? Yet he's the president of our
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country. He was elected.
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Whether you think he was elected fairly or unfairly, it's not the
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point. The point is God has appointed
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him to be the president right now, and I don't like it any
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more than anybody else, but he's our president, so I'm convicted.
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Like, do I pray for him? I'm commanded to pray for those
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who are in authority that the Lord would work in his heart,
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that he would cause him to come to some kind of reasoning in his
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mind to realize that the legislation that he's making is
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causing us not to be 1 nation under God anymore, but one
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nation under humanism and this immorality and this disgusting
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agendas. Every time we turn around some
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kind of new things coming down. So we're not.
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We have to be real careful, all of us.
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And I'm telling you about myself, doesn't matter who's in
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office or who you like, who you don't like, you need to pray for
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those who are in office. That's our responsibility as
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Christians and we need to do that.
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And maybe if we began to do that, maybe there would be some
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changes in our nation because that man needs God's mercy, just
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like you and I do. And there was times in our lives
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that we probably were worse than the way Joe Biden acts or lives
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perhaps. But this is a very clear
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statement that Paul said you shall not speak evil of the
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ruler of your people. In verse 6 it says, but when
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Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and other
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Pharisees, he cried out in the council of men and brethren, I'm
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a Pharisee. He was proud to say that he was
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a Pharisee. He was a son of a Pharisee.
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Concerning the hope of the resurrection and dead, I'm being
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judged. So all Paul's wanting people to
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know is that Christ rose again from the dead.
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Amen. But Paul's whole focus was to
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let these people know the good news that there's life after
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death, there's forgiveness of our sins, and that we can
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believe on Christ as our Messiah and have the promise of
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everlasting life and never die. That's good news, right?
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And they're wanting to silence Him.
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Now what's interesting here is that when He said that the
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dissension began to occur in verse 7.
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And when He said this, the dissension arose between the
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Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
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Now He wasn't intentionally trying to cause some kind of
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uproar, but He was just stating a case relating to what His past
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was and the need for them to understand that there is a
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resurrection. Well, the Pharisees were wow,
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Amen. That's what we believe that too.
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But the Sadducees in verse 8 say there is no resurrection and no
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Angel or spirit, but the Pharisees confess or believe
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both. Then there arose a lot outcry
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and the scribes in the Pharisees party arose in protest and
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saying we find no evil in this man.
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So now the Pharisees are supporting Paul.
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There's really no crime he's committed.
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There's no reason for him to be in chains or to be smacked
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around or to be persecuted right now.
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Absolutely none. And they're admitting there is
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no evil in him, and so let's let it go.
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If an Angel or spirit had spoken to him and gave him this other
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revelation, they're saying let us not fight against God.
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So now when there arose of great dissension, the commander,
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fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them,
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commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from
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among them and bring him into the barracks.
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So this was getting dangerous. I mean, there was a big outroar
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here. There was a potential here of
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murder upon Paul, and so they had to get him out of there.
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It was this mass confusion. So here's Paul.
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Now think about this. It's like your greatest
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opportunity to share your faith with your family, maybe on a
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holiday or someone you work with and and you think the timing's
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perfect and it's all set up and you're just praying it's going
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to go well. And you got all the verses lined
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up and you got your testimony ready, and you begin to tell the
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people about what Jesus has done for you, and it falls on deaf
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ears. They begin to yell at you or
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complain, or they don't want to hear it.
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They bring up all your flaws and faults that you've had in your
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life and saying, who are you to say that you're a Christian when
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you did this or you acted this way or you said that and you
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know what it's like. And you would be deflated,
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right? You would be discouraged.
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You had the chance to tell them and it seemed like it didn't
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work out. Like Lord, why?
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I really practice, I was really prepared and my intention and my
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desire was to really be a blessing.
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And this is a mess. I've made a complete mess out of
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all this. Now if Paul would have listened
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to the people in regards to not going up to Jerusalem right now,
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all this wouldn't have gone down this way.
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But keep in mind that the Lord says all things work together
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for good to those who love Him and are called according to His
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purpose. So in your life and mine, the
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things that we've done or situations where we shared our
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faith that it's just been a complete bust is never in vain
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because the Lord promises His word won't return void if people
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laugh at you or scoff at you or reject you or ridicule you
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because of what it is you believe and what you're
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committed to in your life. We should just trust God in
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that. Even though it didn't work out,
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we wish it would work out better, right?
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But sometimes it doesn't. And that's the mystery of life.
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God causes all things to work out according to the counsel of
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His own will, not my will or your will.
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His will be done right. So we're to be obedient to do
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what He tells us to do, regardless of the potential
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consequences, especially in regard to sharing our faith or
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standing up for our faith. But Paul is, I'm sure,
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discouraged. Now he's in this prison.
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It's not a pleasant place to be. And this isn't verse 11.
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But the following night, the Lord stood by him and said, now
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the Lord is faithful to be with us and our failings.
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He's not like people who will reject us and tell us we're
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worthless or we're disqualified. Or, you know, the Lord is the
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God of the second chance, the third chance, the fifth chance,
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the hundred chance. He never gives up on us.
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He always comes to us to assure us and to encourage us and to
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love on us. He doesn't come to revile us or
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to condemn us or to to judge us as his kids.
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He's a loving father and he knows how to minister to us.
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He knew Paul felt like a failure.
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He knew Paul had the heads up not to go.
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And Jesus didn't say, well, the reason this has happened is
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because you didn't listen, right?
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Like I would as a parent, I'd say to my kids, if you wouldn't
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have done that, like I told you, you shouldn't, this wouldn't
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have happened. That's not the best way to
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minister to your kids. You should try to figure out a
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different way to get to them, right?
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But we're all the same way. That's how we all act.
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And it's just, you know, self righteousness or being judges or
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whatever. But this is the Lord here.
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He says to him, be of good cheer.
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Paul's down in the dumps, be of good cheer.
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You got to be kidding me. This is how God loves us.
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And he says Paul, for as you have testified for me in
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Jerusalem and he didn't give an attitude of how well it went or
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how bad it went. He just said you testified for
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me in Jerusalem. That meant something.
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So you must also bear witness at Rome, and Paul's greatest desire
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was to eventually get the room before he died to share.
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Paul loved being in the big cities and seeing the
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architecture and reading about the artwork and meeting all the
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interesting people. He loved to sightsee and he was
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a Taurus, but he was also an apostle and whenever he went
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into a city he wanted to become all things to all men that he
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might win some. He tried to have start up
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conversations to be able to find a place of relating with people
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on their term as opposed to speaking down to him.
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He was just that way and something we can learn by his
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methodology and evangelism. He didn't pound people on the
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head like many of us have done at times.
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And so he's encouraging Paul and I pray today, wherever you're at
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and spiritual and walking and life and circumstances and
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things that don't seem to be working out right the way you'd
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like him to, but the Lord's coming alongside of you telling
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you to be a good sheer, Don't be discouraged.
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Don't be dismayed for your Lord, your God is with you wherever
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you go. He promises He'll never leave us
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or forsake us. People will leave you, People
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will forsake you. But Jesus will never leave you,
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will He? He promises He won't.
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And when you're alone in your house or in your bed crying or
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going through some tough time or some situation because of life
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that happened that you weren't anticipating and people, maybe
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you're telling you you brought things upon yourself and you
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deserve or whatever, God won't minister to you that way.
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When you're his kid, he'll come and he'll tenderly restore you
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and build you up and strengthen you so you have the courage to
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go on. Be of good cheer means be of
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good courage. Don't give up.
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And so, and when it was day, some of the Jews in verse 12
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banded together and bound themselves under an oath,
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saying, and this is the insurrection group here, the
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people that really hate Paul, that they would neither eat nor
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drink until they had killed Paul.
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So they're fasting, preparing to do something they think is going
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to be a righteous act. Get rid of Paul.
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Now, there were more than 40 who had formed this conspiracy, not
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a few people. It's a big group.
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They came to the chief priests and elders and said, and what's
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interesting here, they're not going to the Pharisees.
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The chief priests and elders are representing the Sadducees, and
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these people that want to kill him are the group of the
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Sadducees. We've bound ourselves under a
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great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed
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Paul. Now you therefore, together with
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the council, suggest to the commander that he'd be brought
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down to you tomorrow as though you were going to make further
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inquires concerning him. But we are ready to kill him
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before he comes near. So this is a setup against the
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Apostle Paul. Paul's in a prison, no one to
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help him except the one who said of good cheer.
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He controls everything. He controls all the
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circumstances of all people and all places at this time in this
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next verse, only God could cause this to happen.
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So when Paul's sister son heard of their ambush, then we never
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heard of Paul's sister before, let alone his family.
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His nephew's there in this area. He happens to be walking by.
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Maybe he's out playing with his buddies.
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He goes down one of those alleys and he hears these guys talking
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about what it is they're going to do to Uncle Paul.
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So he goes and he went and he enters the barracks and told
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Paul what he had heard. He tells Paul everything that's
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going to go down. And then Paul called 1 of the
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centurions to him and said, take this young man to the commander
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for he has something to tell him.
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So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, Paul,
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the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young
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man to you. He has something to say to you.
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Now this is interesting. Most commanders wouldn't have
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any time for some young kid. Hey, get away from me kid, you
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bother me. You know I don't want to.
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But this commander was compelled by God, the sovereign God, to
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listen to what this kid had to say.
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And he asked him privately, what is it that you have to tell me?
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And he said, the Jews have agreed to ask that you bring
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Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were
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going to inquire more fully about him.
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But do not yield to them, for more than 40 of them lie and
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wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they
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would neither eat nor drink until they have killed him.
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And now they are ready waiting for the promise from you.
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So he gives them the whole skinny of what's going down
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here. And the commander in verse 22,
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let the young man depart and commanded him, tell no one that
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you've revealed these things to me.
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And he called in verse 23 for two centurion saying, prepare
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200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spear men to go to Caesarea
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at the third hour of the night and provide Mons to set Paul on
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and bring him safely to Phoenix. The governor and he wrote a
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letter in the following manner. So this is a setup.
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This is half the Garrison army that the high priest was working
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with. And this other guy here now is
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involved with getting Paul safely out of the city so he
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won't be assassinated. And this is a big entourage here
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of a lot of people. They were going to walk about 47
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miles to the first city, stay overnight.
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The next morning they were going to be on horseback and get Paul
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safely into Caesarea, a Roman province, and he would now be
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under the jurisdiction of the Roman government.
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And so Claudius Lyceus writes the letter that they're going to
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give to Felix whenever Paul's delivered their greetings.
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This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by
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them coming with the troops. I rescued him, having learned
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that he was a Roman. Now, of course, he was involved
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with wanting Paul to be beaten as well until he found out he
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was a Roman citizen. But he learned a lot about the
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issue that Paul wasn't really guilty of any crime.
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And so in verse 28, and when I wanted to know the reason,
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reason they accuse him, I brought him before the council.
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I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their
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law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death
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or change. And when it was told me the Jews
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lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you and also
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commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against
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him. So what a beautiful letter.
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I mean, Paul's guiltless. There's no reason for him to be
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treated like this, and he's passing them off to the next
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government leader in the province of Rome.
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Farewell then the soldiers in verse 31, as they were
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commanded, they took Paul and brought him by night at TI
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Pytis. That was the place 47 miles
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away. And the next day they let the
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horsemen to go with him and return to the barracks.
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And when they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to
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the governor, they also presented Paul to him.
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And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he
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was from. And when he understood that he
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was from Cilicia, he said that's a region of Syria.
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Paul came out of Tarsus and the all these regions are all part
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of this Roman area. He says I will hear you when
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your accusers have also come. And he commanded him to be kept
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in Herod's Praetorian. So what's beautiful here is that
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he is in. He's got it made.
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Now. This isn't like any kind of
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jail. He's in the palace of the
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leader. This is really nice place to be.
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Paul probably got there. I can't.
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The Lord really is with me, isn't he?
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It's my best life now, right? I got prosperity now.
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This is good. It goes from doom and gloom.
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To joy and excitement and that's how the Lord is many times we
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get in situations that seems all Hell's broken loose, we're in
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doom and gloom. We think there's no hope, right?
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We get there sometimes and then the Lord reminds us and in his
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time he changes the circumstances of our lives and
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they become completely different, don't they?
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And we can all give testimony of how good God's been to us, all
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of us in times of challenge of life.
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And I think the take away from this, at least for me, you know,
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sometimes you read a chapter and you say, like, how is this going
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to connect with anybody here? That's history, It's the Bible.
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It's true, we need to hear it. But like, where are you guys
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going to find some place to dig your heels in and say, hey, this
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is helping me. I can stand on this and be
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reminded of what I learned today.
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And it's going to help me realize that the Lord's with me
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and he's not going to forsake me or abandoned me.
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And so that's one thing I pray that you take away today, no
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matter what you're going through right now or what the challenges
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are, how difficult life might be.
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At times it is. Sometimes it's wonderful and
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everything's going great. Other times it isn't.
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But when you go to those times, it isn't wonderful and it's
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hard. Remember the promise of the
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Lord. He'll never leave you or forsake
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you. And he says be of good cheer,
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have courage. He said that to Joshua, Be
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strong, be not dismayed, neither be thou afraid, for the Lord thy
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God is with you wherever you go. Have not I commanded you, Be
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strong and of a good courage? Be not afraid, neither be thou
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dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go.
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And he says that to you and I every day.
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You're getting up for work, getting up to raise a kid,
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you're getting up to go to the doctor, you're getting up to pay
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the bills or whatever it is you got to do.
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You're in a maybe a hard marriage, maybe your kids are
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going crazy. Whatever he's saying, I'm with
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you. I'll help you, depend on me,
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trust in me, rely upon me. And he's faithful.
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If he wasn't faithful, none of us would be here today, but
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we're here because we know his promises are true.
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He's not a liar and he'll be with you to the very end.
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One be with you to the very end. And whenever you have a decision
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to make, and sometimes you make the wrong decision, don't beat
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yourself up because of the decision you've made.
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Learn from waiting on the Lord. Wait on the Lord for the
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decisions that you need to make in your life.
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Let's praise the Lord, Father. God, we thank you for the joy,
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Lord, your presence, your peace, Father, all the good things,
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God, that you give to us every day.
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And Lord, we're so thankful for your frankness and your reality
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and the simplicity of the Bible and how you teach us because we
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can relate to it as people, Lord, human beings failed,
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flawed people that you're perfecting and changing and
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making more like Jesus a little bit every day.
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And Lord, we thank you for that. We thank you for the Apostle
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Paul and his willingness, Lord, to serve you the way he did.
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And he never looked backwards. He just kept going forward.
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He kept depending on you until his eventual martyrdom, Lord,
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when you did take him home to be with you.
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We look forward to meeting him one day as we obviously looking
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forward to meeting you. But all these people that served
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you, boy, we could talk to them for hundreds of years about what
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they experienced, what they went through, what it must have been
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like, and share our stories as well, Lord, because they're just
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as powerful. The testimonies.
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Have your faith on us, love. Thank you for listening to this
23:58
edition of Living Waters of Grace.
24:01
Pastor Clark is teaching us about the book of Acts in this
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series. Acts is a powerful and unique
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part of Scripture, not just because it records the spread of
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the gospel geographically from Jerusalem to the ends of the
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earth, but also culturally. Acts shows us how the message of
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Jesus moved beyond its Jewish roots and began to reach the
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Gentile world. What started with Peter leading
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a small group in the Upper Room became a global movement with
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Paul taking the gospel to cities, synagogues, and
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marketplaces across the Roman Empire.
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Acts captures this vital transition and reminds us that
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the good news of Jesus is for all people in every place.
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May we be inspired to carry that same gospel boldly into our
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world today. Living Waters of Grace comes to
24:51
you from Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland.
24:54
If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, you can listen to Grace FM
24:58
on the new 91.7 frequency. Pray about helping support the
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new station that will reach thousands more listeners.
25:07
Send gifts to Grace FMPO, Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601 also
25:16
invite you to join us in person this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E
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Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.
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To stay up to date, visit calvarychapelonline.com where
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you can find our teaching archive, submit prayer requests,
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join our e-mail list, or give online.
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If you're outside the area, don't worry, you can still
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worship with us through the Calvary Chapel Westmoreland
25:42
YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe so you
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won't miss new content. We're so thankful that you
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joined us today. Be sure to tune into the next
25:50
edition of Living Waters of Grace.