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Living Waters of Grace 12.05.25 · 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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  Paul says I did not know, brethren, that he was the high
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  priest. For it is written, you shall not
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  speak evil of a ruler of your people.
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  So regardless of what Paul thought about this man's
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  leadership and his call and his ability to lead, the people at
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  this time didn't like him. Hypocrite, scoundrel, Pagan, all
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  the different names you could put on him.
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  He knew the scripture said you're not to speak evil of a
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  ruler of your people. There are some pretty wicked
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  leaders all around the world, men and women, who have risen to
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  the top because of how low they were willing to stoop to get
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  there, to be transparent. It's really pretty upsetting to
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  think that these people are in charge.
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  Well, in his message today, Pastor Clark teaches that
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  despite what you might think of those in authority, you are to
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  respect that God has placed them there.
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  You don't have to like or agree with those wicked rulers, but
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  you are to trust that God knows what he's doing.
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  Now here's Pastor Clark in Acts chapter 23 with today's edition
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  of Living Waters of Grace. We are in the book of Acts
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  chapter 23. Today's message is based upon
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  being in a situation as the Apostle Paul is in trouble in
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  prison and a lot of hassle in Jerusalem because he sort of
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  blew through the the red lights, a warning that the Lord had
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  given him as to what he was to do in the days ahead in his
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  ministry. And something we all can relate
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  to. I think all of us have blown
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  through red lights in our lives, literally.
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  And the police pull us over when we do it, if they catch us.
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  And also situations in life where we're going to make a
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  decision and we have a decision to make.
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  And sometimes we think we know what the right decision is and
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  we just make it and we find out later on it wasn't the right
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  decision. Has that ever happened to
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  anybody? Happened to me numerous times.
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  And we're supposed to get counsel at times, you know,
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  whenever we have a decision that's sort of difficult.
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  First of all, if you're married, you ask your spouse and pray
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  about it. That's the best place to start.
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  And then you might have some friends, some Christian friends,
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  brothers and sisters that you can ask to pray and tell them
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  you have a, a decision to make and it's difficult.
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  One, you don't know what to do. Paul, in this situation, as
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  we've been studying in the book of the Acts, he was told by some
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  close people that were in ministry with him that he
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  shouldn't go to Jerusalem. He's going to have a lot of
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  problems up there and have a lot of headaches.
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  And then a prophet told him as well that he shouldn't go, but
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  he decided he was going to go anyway because his motive to go
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  was good. He wanted to go share the gospel
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  with Jewish people. But the timing wasn't right and
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  the way he was going about it wasn't correct.
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  And so when we study this this morning, you'll be surprised.
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  I think it's some of Paul's responses.
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  I'm glad these things are in the Bible because it makes us
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  understand that we're all human no matter what we are, pastor,
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  apostle, whatever gifting that we might have, none of us are
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  beyond making mistakes, right? Because we're human.
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  And we'll see how he did make mistakes and how God still used
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  him. But in Psalm chapter 19, and
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  this is something to think about all of us as we study this
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  chapter in Acts today, it says in verse 12, who can understand
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  his errors? Question mark, cleanse me from
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  secret faults and keep back your servant also from presumptuous
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  sins. Let them not have dominion over
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  me. The presumptuous sin is to
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  assume that what it is you're going to do is OK, no problems.
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  You can't see your heart or the outcome ahead of time.
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  And so you just forge ahead thinking that everything you're
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  going to do is going to be cool and it's going to work out and
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  be no problems. And then whenever there's
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  problems and it doesn't work out and it causes issues in your own
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  life and the lives of other people, you realize you were
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  presumptuous. You know, you assumed upon the
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  Lord about something that he didn't give you a green light
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  for. So whenever you have a, a sense
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  like, Hey, we need to do this or this is what we should do, I'd
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  encourage you as I got to encourage myself, pray about it
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  for a while. Wait on the Lord, give us some
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  time. And then once you sense a
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  clearance and feel free to move on as God gives you grace to
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  move on. And then it says, the psalmist
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  says this is David, and surely we all know he had some
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  presumptuous sins when he ended up in the affair with Bathsheba.
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  It says, let the words in my mouth and the meditation of my
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  heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and
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  my Redeemer. So the Holy Spirit, he works in
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  our lives and He speaks to us in our conscience and through the
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  Word and in our minds. And I hear him most of the time
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  pretty loud and clear. Whether I want to hear him all
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  the time, that's another story, right?
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  But I know that He's always speaking and always want to
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  direct me. And I want my words, the things
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  that I say and the things I think about in my life to be
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  pleasing to Him, to be acceptable to him because He is
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  our strength and our Redeemer. So powerful section of
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  Scripture. Psalm 19, the whole Psalm.
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  You can review it, but you can make that your own prayer.
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  Lord, keep me back from making stupid decisions that are going
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  to affect myself and others in my testimony and a very, you
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  know, not cool way. So that is the foundation I
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  wanted to sort of share before we look at the the book of Acts,
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  Proverbs 21 two says every way of a man is right in his own
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  eyes, but the Lord weighs his the hearts.
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  So lots of times we think what we're going to do is no problem,
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  no issues. And and then we find out later
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  that there was a big issue because we we weren't listening
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  and we weren't paying attention. So we're going to go to Acts
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  now. Acts chapter 23, if you have
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  your Bibles, but Acts chapter 23, let's pray.
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  Father, we thank you, Lord, for assembling us together here
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  today as brothers and sisters in Christ.
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  And Lord God, speak to all of us about what it is you want us to
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  consider today. Maybe some of us are on verges
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  of decisions or doing things that we are maybe not well
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  advised over from you and from our closest friends.
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  Lord, give us wisdom. We need wisdom from you to know
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  how to live this life every day to make the right choices.
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  So Lord, may your blessing be upon your body, your bride, your
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  sheep. Feed us Lord, from your word by
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  your Holy Spirit. And we ask these things in Jesus
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  name, Amen. So Acts 23.
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  I'm going to read the first 10 verses and then make some
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  comments. Well, I'm going to start with
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  first 30 the next day. This is the previous chapter.
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  This leaves into 23 the next day.
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  Because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by
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  the Jews, he released him from his bonds and commanded the
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  chief priest on all the council to appear, and brought Paul down
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  and set him before them. Then Paul, looking at earnestly
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  at the council, said men and brother.
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  And I have lived in a good conscience before God until this
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  day. And the high priest Ananias
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  commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
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  Then Paul said to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed law,
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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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  And those who stood by said, Do you revile God's high priest?
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  And Paul said, I did not know, brother, and that he was the
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  high priest. For it is written, you shall not
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  speak evil of a ruler of your people.
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  But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the
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  other Pharisees, he cried out in the council.
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  Men and brethren, I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.
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  Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am
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  being judged. And when he had said this, a
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  dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and
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  the assembly was divided. For Sadducees say there was no
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  resurrection and no Angel or spirit, but the Pharisees
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  confessed both. Then there arose a lot outcry,
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  and the scribes of the Pharisees party arose and protested,
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  saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an Angel
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  has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
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  Now when there arose a 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 get down and take him by force, and
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  among them bring him in to the barracks.
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  So Paul's intention of going to Jerusalem was to be able to
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  preach and and share the gospel and tell people about their need
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  of Jesus Christ, specifically the Jewish people, that they
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  might understand and believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah
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  that was prophesized throughout the Old Testament, had come and
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  was crucified, buried and rose again on the third day.
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  So now he's in a different setting here.
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  They're moving him to another group of people, the Sanhedrin.
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  This is a 70 or 71 Jewish leaders who rule according to
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  the Law of Moses to make decisions on judgment upon
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  people was made-up of Pharisees and Sadducees.
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  Pharisees were the conservative branch of the Sanhedrin, and the
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  Sadducees would be considered the liberal branch.
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  The Pharisees believed in a literal resurrection from the
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  dead. The Sadducees did not believe
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  that the body had a spirit or there was a literal
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  resurrection, that when you die, you just die.
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  So they were sort of at odds to begin with, but somehow they
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  rolled together. So Paul's looking at them and
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  he's thinking in his mind, how can I get these people to listen
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  to me? That was his whole focus.
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  So he says, men and brethren, He's calling them brethren
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  because Paul used to be a member of the Sanhedrin.
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  Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees before he got born again, before
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  he got saved on the road to Damascus.
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  He persecuted Christians, he hated the movement of God, the
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  way Christianity did not accept Jesus Christ didn't believe, and
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  until the Lord got ahold of him personally and he did become a
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  believer. But he's trying to not flatter
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  them, but find a way of entry into having an opportunity of a
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  conversation. And he says I've lived in all
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  good conscience before God until this day.
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  Now that came across, I'm sure to the leaders as well as the
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  big shot here that got upset with him, the high priest that
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  who in the world can honestly say that they've lived in all
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  good conscience before God until this day.
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  I don't know about you, but sometimes my conscience isn't
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  good. I'm sure yours isn't either.
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  But Paul being apostle, boy, God was so upon this guy and
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  anointing him in such an intense way that he kept him on the
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  straight and narrow and on a very, very short leash because
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  he was responsible for so much of the beginning of the New
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  Testament church and also writing the scriptures that God
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  had given him for us to read as we're reading now.
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  So he's saying that his life was in good place spiritually
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  according to the law and according to the Gospel.
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  The high priest hears this Ananias, and this Ananias is a
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  bad dude. He's not a good leader.
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  He's a scoundrel actually. He's hateful, he's vindictive,
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  he's godless. And he commands those who are
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  standing by Paul to strike him on the mouth just to, to start
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  beating him, which is illegal. You, you can't do that, let
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  alone with a Roman citizen. First of all, there's no crime
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  that he's committed. All he's doing obviously at this
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  point in time is offending this guy's ego.
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  And then Paul says to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed
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  wall, 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 sefalickers.
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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
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  the 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,
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  listening, and Paul wasn't even aware that the high priest was
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  there. And this is interesting.
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  In verse 5, Paul says, I did not know, brethren, that he was the
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  high priest. For it is written, you should
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  not speak evil of a ruler of your people.
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  So regardless of what Paul thought about this man's
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  leadership and his call and his ability to lead the people at
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  this time, then like him, hypocrite, scoundrel, Pagan, all
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  the different names you could put on him, he knew the
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  scripture said you're not to speak evil of a roller of your
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  people. Now I wonder how many pleasant
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  things you or I have thought or said about Joe Biden lately.
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  He's making a lot of crazy moves, isn't he?
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  Yet he's the president of our country.
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  He was elected. Whether you think he was elected
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  fairly or unfairly, it's not the point.
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  The point is God has appointed him to be the president right
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  now. Now, I don't like it any more
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  than anybody else, but he's our president.
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  So I'm convicted. Like, do I pray for him?
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  I'm commanded to pray for those who are in authority that the
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  Lord would work in his heart, that he would cause him to come
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  to some kind of reasoning in his mind to realize that the
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  legislation that he's making is causing us not to be 1 nation
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  under God anymore, but one nation under humanism and this
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  immorality and this disgusting agendas.
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  Every time we turn around some kind of new things coming down.
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  So we're not. We'll have to be real careful,
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  all of us. And I'm telling you about
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  myself, doesn't matter who's in office or who you like, who you
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  don't like, you need to pray for those who are in office.
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  That's our responsibility as Christians and we need to do
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  that. And maybe if we began to do
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  that, maybe there would be some changes in our nation because
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  that man needs God's mercy, just like you and I do.
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  And there was times in our lives that we probably were worse than
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  the way Joe Biden acts or lives perhaps.
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  But this is a very clear statement that Paul said you
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  shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.
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  In verse 6 it says but when Paul perceived that one part where
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  Sadducees and other Pharisees, he cried out in the council men
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  and brethren, I'm 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 of that 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 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 where the Pharisees were wow, Amen.
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  That's what we believe that too. But the Sadducees in verse 8 say
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  there is no resurrection and no Angel or spirit, but the
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  Pharisees confess or believe both.
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  Then there arose a lot outcry and the scribes and the
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  Pharisees party arose in protest and saying we find no evil in
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  this man. So now the Pharisees are
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  supporting Paul. There's really no crime he's
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  committed. There's no reason for him to be
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  in chains or to be smacked around or to be persecuted right
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  now. Absolutely none.
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  And they're admitting there is no evil in him.
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  And so let's let it go. If an Angel or a spirit had
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  spoken to him and gave him this other revelation, they're saying
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  let us not fight against God. So now, when there arose of
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  great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be
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  pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go
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  down and take him by force from among them and bring him into
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  the barracks. So this was getting dangerous.
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  I mean, there was a big outroar here.
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  There was a potential here of murder upon Paul, and so they
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  had to get him out of there. It was this mass confusion.
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  So here's Paul. Now think about this.
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  It's like your greatest opportunity to share your faith
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  with your family, maybe on a holiday or someone you work with
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  and, and you think the timing's perfect and it's all set up and
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  you're just praying it's going to go well.
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  And you got all the verses lined up and you got your testimony
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  ready and you begin to tell the people about what Jesus has done
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  for you and it falls on deaf ears.
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  They begin to yell at you or complain or they don't want to
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  hear it. They bring up all your flaws and
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  faults that you've had in your life and saying, who are you to
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  say that you're a Christian? When you did this or you acted
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  this way, you said that and you know what it's like and you
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  would be deflated, 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
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  intention and my 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 distrust 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.
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  And that's the mystery of life. God causes all things to work
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  out according to the counsel of His own will, not my will or
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  your will. His will be done right.
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  So we're to be obedient to do what he tells us to do,
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  regardless of the potential consequences, especially in
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  regard to sharing our faith or standing up for our faith.
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  But Paul is, I'm sure, discouraged now.
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  He's in this prison. It's not a pleasant place to be.
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  And this isn't verse 11. But the following night, the
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  Lord stood by him and said, now the Lord is faithful to be with
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  us in our failings. He's not like people who will
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  reject us and tell us we're worthless or we're disqualified.
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  Or, you know, the Lord is the God of the second chance, the
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  third chance, the fifth chance, the 100th chance.
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  He never gives up on us. He always comes to us to assure
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  us and to encourage us and to love on us.
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  He doesn't come to revile us or to condemn us or to judge us as
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  his kids. He's a loving father and he
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  knows how to minister to us. He knew Paul felt like a
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  failure. He knew Paul had the heads up
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  not to go. And Jesus didn't say, well, the
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  reason this has happened is because you didn't listen,
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  right? Like I would as a parent, I'd
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  say to my kids, if you wouldn't have done that, like I told you,
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  you shouldn't, this wouldn't have happened.
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  That's not the best way to minister to your kids.
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  You should try to figure out a different way to get to them,
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  right? But we're all the same way.
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  That's how we all act. And it's just, you know, self
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  righteousness or being judges or whatever.
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  But this is the Lord here. He says to him, be of good
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  cheer. Paul's down in the dumps, be of
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  good cheer. You got to be kidding me.
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  This is how God loves us. And he says Paul, for as you
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  have testified for me in Jerusalem, and he didn't give an
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  attitude of how well it went or how bad it went.
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  He just said you testified for me in Jerusalem.
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  That meant something. So you must also bear witness at
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  Rome, and Paul's greatest desire was to eventually get the room
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  before he died to share. Paul loved being in the big
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  cities and seeing the architecture and reading about
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  the artwork and meeting all the interesting people.
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  He loved the sightsee and he was a Taurus.
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  But he was also an apostle and whenever he went into a city he
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  wanted to become all things to all men that he might win some.
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  He tried to have start up conversations to be able to find
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  a place of relating with people on their term as opposed to
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  speaking down to him. He was just that way and
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  something we can learn by his methodology and evangelism.
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  He didn't pound people on the head like many of us have done
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  at times. And so he's encouraging Paul and
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  I pray today, wherever you're at and spiritual and walking and
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  life and circumstances and things that don't seem to be
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  working out right the way you'd like them to, but the Lord's
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  coming alongside of you telling you to be a good sheer, don't be
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  discouraged. Don't be dismissed for your
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  Lord, Your God is with you wherever you go.
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  We're so glad you joined us today on this edition of Living
• 24:00
  Waters of Grace. Pastor Clark is teaching through
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  the Book of Acts, which is the only book that chronicles the
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  history of the early church immediately after Jesus's
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  ascension. It gives us a front row seat to
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  how the Gospel began to move outwards, starting in Jerusalem
• 24:17
  and reaching into the heart of the Roman Empire.
• 24:20
  In just three decades, a small group of frightened ordinary
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  believers became a bold, spirit empowered movement that
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  transformed the known world. Acts is not just a history
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  lesson. It's a reminder of what God can
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  do when His people are surrendered, obedient and filled
• 24:38
  with the Holy Spirit. Their perseverance still
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  inspires us today. May we follow their example and
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  live faithfully for Christ in our own time.
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  We hope today's message encouraged you.
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  Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel,
• 24:55
  Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA
• 24:58
  area, we'd love to have you join us in person.
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  Our Sunday service begins at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St.
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  Unit 6B. Be sure to visit
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  calvarychapelonline.com to confirm times and learn more.
• 25:14
  If you are in the Greensburg area, you can listen to Grace FM
• 25:17
  on the new 91.7 frequency. Please pray about supporting
• 25:22
  this outreach. Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO
• 25:26
  Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. Stay connected through Facebook,
• 25:33
  YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel Westmoreland app.
• 25:37
  Join our e-mail list, submit prayer requests, and give online
• 25:42
  all at calvarychapelonline.com. Thank you for tuning in and
• 25:47
  spending this time in God's Word.
• 25:48
  Be sure to join us again for Living Waters of Grace.