Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24491 - God Has Prepared You For That - Acts 26:12-32

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#24491 - God Has Prepared You For That - Acts 26:12-32 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles.
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Acts chapter 26 is where we are. Acts chapter 26, we're going to
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pick up where we left off last time.
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And I've been taught our Bible study.
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God has prepared you for that, whatever that might be.
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You can know today that God has prepared you for that.
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As my pastor would always teach us, God is preparing you for
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what He has prepared for you. Whatever you're walking into,
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whatever you're facing, whatever you're handling, even today,
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whatever you're going to have to deal with, whatever situation
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comes your way, God has prepared you for that.
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Even if it shocks you, even if you don't want to be in it, even
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if it's not how you thought things would turn out, God has
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prepared you for that. He is with you, Paul here in
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Acts chapter 26, and this whole section of his life is following
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the leading of the Lord. You could say that he is living
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out the will of God for his life.
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He's following the leading of the Lord.
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Even though most of the decisions of his life are being
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made for him. He doesn't get a lot of freedom.
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Remember, this all started with his desire to get to Jerusalem.
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He had a financial gift to bring the struggling church there.
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He delivered that gift. He's excited.
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He wants to rejoin with the church.
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He wants to be used mightily of God.
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But it didn't turn out the way that he thought.
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He didn't get the warmest welcome from the church.
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He he certainly didn't get a warm welcome for the religious
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elite. They accuse him.
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They plan ambushes of murder against him.
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They, they tell the authorities, They bring him to the
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authorities. He's arrested and for 2 1/2
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years now he's gone from the Sanhedrin, which was the
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religious Jewish court, to Felix, to Festus.
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And now we have him before King Agrippa here in Acts 26, and his
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wife Bernice and Festus and a whole bunch of other dignitaries
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there to have to answer to all these false accusations.
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Church, it's important that you and I learn that part of
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discovering the will of God listen, part of discovering the
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will of God is learning to submit to the difficult
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situations in our lives. We have been raised and grown up
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in a culture in a country that truly values freedom.
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And I don't know that any of us doesn't value freedom.
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We we love our freedom and it's a beautiful gift from God.
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However, that freedom is often misinterpreted.
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Where we think, you know, I have the freedom to do whatever I
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want, you don't have the freedom to do whatever you want.
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And thinking about freedoms, when decisions are taken away
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from us or when we face injustice or we face pain, there
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is a natural response to get that freedom back, a natural
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fight that comes out of us. And sometimes when it comes to
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the things of the Lord, you choose the posture of fighting
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God, like God has allowed this in Paul's life.
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And while there are so many things in his life he doesn't
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control, it's very important that he pays attention to the
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things he can control. And I think it's true for us.
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There are going to be things in our lives so much that we don't
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control. And when things, when things are
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taken out of our control, we have to be very, very careful
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and focused and intentional to pay attention to what we do
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control. And the one thing that Paul did
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control was his mouth and he used it for the glory of God.
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He embraced this difficult situation and he said, you know,
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this is where the Lord wants me and I'm going to take advantage
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of it. All along the way.
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Obedience and submission help a lot, especially when we don't
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like the situation that we're in.
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Pick up by way of review in verse 9.
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Now Acts chapter 26, notice Paul is speaking.
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He says, indeed, I myself thought I must do many things
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contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
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This also I did in Jerusalem and many of the Saints I shut up in
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prison, having received authority from the chief
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priests. And when they were put to death,
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I cast my vote against them. If you haven't already, and
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write in your Bibles next to this line here I cast my vote
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against them. Write the name Stephen.
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Them or people have names and lives.
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And this is, I believe the place where he cast his vote.
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Also, if you like to write in your Bibles, when he says I cast
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my vote, that's a strong indication that Paul or Saul of
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Tarsus, the Pharisee was a part of the Sanhedrin himself before
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his conversion. He is a part of the religious
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entity, the religious Supreme Court that came against him.
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He wants serve faithfully. That's how you cast your vote.
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I cast my vote. This is an official sanctioned
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murder really is what it becomes of Stephen.
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So he's given his testimony. He says, man, I've even voted
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against them. Verse 11, I punish them often in
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every synagogue and compelled them to blasphemy and being
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exceedingly enraged against them.
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I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
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As we learned last time, Paul is sharing his testimony once again
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of his BC days, his life before Christ.
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I believe reading this, listening to Paul Sherrod, it
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had to be hard for him. It had to be really, really hard
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to think back to these episodes where he literally destroyed
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families, destroyed lives. He, he literally took and threw
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people in jail for their belief in Jesus.
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I could hear the the screams and the cries and the trauma on
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children's faces as Saul of Tarsus, with permission of the
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religious rulers of the day, did great damage to the church.
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He was a radical rabbi, a Christian persecutor, and
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wanting to defend his own beliefs.
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He took it all out on the church, and I'm sure this
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haunted him, came against him. He had much to regret in his
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life before his conversion. Even as we do so many of us, we
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have so much that we regret, so much We wish we could change,
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but we can't. It's a part of our testimony.
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It's our BC days. And we mean to make sure that
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it's our BC days. We need to make sure that it's
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in our past, not in our present. But because things can be so
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hard to revisit, it prevents many of you from not sharing
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your testimony at all. Like you just don't want to go
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there. You just don't.
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And I, and I get it. I understand.
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I'm one of those when I, when I start on one memory, my mind
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automatically connects it with another and another.
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And I was that and I did that and I remember that.
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And then there was that week and then there was that year and,
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and on and on. I, I can, I can relate to that,
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but it's no reason not to share the work of God in my life, that
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this is my life. And yeah, I wish I, I truly,
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truly wish it could change. But then, you know, then it
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becomes a philosophical issue too, right?
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Because if you change things and you wouldn't be the person you
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are today. Like it's, it's just enough to
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say, no. I want to every opportunity, I
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want people to know what God has done in my life.
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It's a powerful, powerful tool that every one of us has, but so
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few use it. And one of the reasons why is
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because of your past. I mean, it's the greatest tool
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you have, but it's one of the most difficult things for you to
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do. And it's important that you
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learn to do this. I think of this room right now.
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I mean, in this room, I don't know, I know many of your
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stories, but a lot of your stories, I don't know.
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I mean, I look out, it's just a room full of people that want to
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worship God. They're a room full of people.
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I mean, you took a shower today. You look your best.
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That's wonderful. It's great.
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Outwardly, everything's great. But you know, inwardly your
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past, your story now that's powerful.
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I'm always encouraged when I hear these strong stories.
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I mean, I'm standing there'll be time standing there where I'm
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listening and I'm like, that really happened.
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I mean that that's that that you really endured that and and
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there may be some response of, you know, I'm proud that you
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made it through or I'm so happy that you're walking with the
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Lord because it's just powerful. I've been walking with Jesus for
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many, many years in this now and still the miraculous story of a
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transformed life blows my mind. Man, it's just so encouraging to
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hear it now. Of course, you have to be ready
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to share it. Sometimes someone will share
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their testimony with me and they'll go, they'll start
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something like this, well, you know, back in the womb.
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I'm like, no, no, no, that's a little too far.
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We don't need to go back to the womb.
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Just give me the shorter version.
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Give me like the Twitter version, the X version, 280
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characters. That's all I got time for.
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Like give me. And you need to have different
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versions of your testimony so you can give it at different
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times because someone you may only have a short amount of
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time. Now, what do they talk?
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You know, they, they talk about when you're pitching something,
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you need to have an elevator pitch, right?
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Like something that is going to be very quick and to the point.
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You have to have it ready there. But then if you have a little
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bit more time and a deeper relationship with someone, you
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can go a little bit deeper, but you have to be ready.
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The room here is filled with the miraculous.
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Did you know that the miraculous like some of your stories, it's
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unbelievable what God has done, but very believable when you
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know God that did it. It's like man, it's so good.
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And that's where Paul is. It's the power of his testimony.
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Even though he had to visit some real difficult things.
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Just know that the Lord has delivered you from them.
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Again, pick up in verse 12, he says while thus occupied.
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And again when you're reading through the Bible, sometimes
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just reading slowly, what do you mean Paul thus occupied?
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Another way of saying this, you could say Paul was saying while
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I was on my way to murder people, innocent people, that's
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what thus occupied. When my life was filled with
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rage and anger, when I was a completely engulfed man with
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rage and anger toward Christians, while I was occupied
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by my flesh and I journeyed, it says verse 12, to Damascus with
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authority and Commission from the chief priests.
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At midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven,
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brighter than the sun shining around me.
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And those who join journeyed with me.
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And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice
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speaking to me that's saying in the Hebrew language, Saul.
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Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
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So I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I'm Jesus whom
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you're persecuting, but rise and stand on your feet, for I've
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appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister
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and a witness both to the things which you have seen and the
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things which you I have will yet reveal to you.
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I'll deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from Gentiles
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to whom I now send you to open their eyes and to turn them from
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darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they
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may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those
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who are sanctified by faith in me.
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While I was on the way, God stopped me.
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He stopped all of us. He says with this bright light
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on my way to kill God stop me, prevented me, and he reached me.
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I want you to be encouraged. Church looking at Paul's life
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here because many would think at this stage that Paul is
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unreachable. I actually did a Bible study
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back earlier in Acts. If this is something you want to
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dig a little deeper on, I think I titled it No One's beyond the
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Reach of God because it's important that we realize that
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no one is beyond the reach of God.
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No one. You may even have some names pop
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into your mind right now. Some people in your life, you
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go, I don't know about like, like like Saul.
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You got to look at Saul for a second.
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Just just consider Saul, if we all knew, if he was alive now
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and he wasn't on an animal, a donkey, or a horse on his way to
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Damascus, but instead we found out that he hopped a private jet
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and he's on his way to Aurora and he timed it just to be at
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this service. If we knew about that a week
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ahead of time, I can consider all the different things that we
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would do. We call a prayer meeting, OK, we
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know Saul's coming, and they'll be people in the prayer meeting
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praying for his salvation. But they'll also be people in
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the prayer meeting praying that we take Saul out, let's protect
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the girls, let's protect the kids, let's protect the
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families. He's not going to do that here.
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And so there's going to be a whole group of people.
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And then here in the church, we have security.
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We have security that you see. We have security that you don't
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see. And so we're going to have a
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special meeting. We're all going to be.
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We'll meet him at the corner. We'll meet him down the street.
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Saul's not messing with this church.
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But I would hope somebody in that prayer meeting would say,
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but wait, wait a minute, what if Saul got saved?
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We should be praying for his salvation.
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And I could already hear, no, no, no.
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I pray for his salvation. OK, go ahead and pray for his
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salvation. Go ahead.
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Yeah, go ahead. We'll wait.
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We'll wait. And then you'll start praying.
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Take them out, Lord, take them out.
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OK, We'll go ahead and pray like Saul would have.
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Definitely, if he was coming here today with this mindset, he
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would have definitely got a posture.
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We would take a defensive, protective posture, which is
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wise. Actually.
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There's wisdom in that. We wouldn't want the flock to be
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vulnerable. So you have the outward wisdom,
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but then you have to ask yourself, what's your heart on
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the matter? Do you actually even think he
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could be changed? Nobody thinks he's going to be
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changed here. Nobody.
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I mean, I, I don't know, maybe there's some prayer meetings,
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somebody behind the scenes. Not that I know that absolutely
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nobody. But from the text, this guy, you
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just want him out of your life. You don't want him to come into
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your church service. He's going to be difficult.
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But remember, before Paul's conversion, he was angry, he was
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upset, but he wasn't unreachable.
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There's a bright light. God has a bright light for every
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person living on the earth. Your mom, your dad, your
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brothers, your in laws, your boss, the people in your life.
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God has a bright light. Not only that, I want you to see
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something in Paul's life. There's a few things that we're
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going to develop in this section that I want you to understand.
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There's something else about Paul here.
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Paul, he is, will solve Tarsus at this point, before his
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conversion, it says right here, he's exceedingly enraged.
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He's got permission from his spiritual leaders to do damage
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to people, to take people out, to destroy their lives, to crush
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a religion. He's a very schooled, smart man.
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He's a rabbi. He was a Pharisee.
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He was a part of the Sanhedrin, the religious leadership of the
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day. You could say that Paul was a
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very religious man, very religious.
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He had a lot of religious activity in his life, but he had
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no relationship with God, which is important for us today.
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It's far more important than Saul of Tarsus.
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It's far more important for you to actually ask yourself, are
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you very religious without a relationship with God?
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Are you very religious? Difficult times and culture,
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difficult times politically, difficult times economically
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stirs up people to want to become more religious, to have a
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taste of perhaps hope to have a taste of, of, you know, maybe
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there's more to this life, but I, I don't want.
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So what happens is people come to church more often.
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You may not say you're, you may not even claim yourself as to be
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religious, but now you're a churchgoer.
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You didn't used to be a churchgoer, but now you're a
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churchgoer. You go to church, which by the
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way, I think is a great decision to make.
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I think it's better to be here than there because you are
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presenting yourself to God, but you're just a churchgoer.
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That's what you are. Or you might have adopted a few
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more moral decisions. You're a little bit more moral
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than you used to be. You, you break less laws or
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you've given up a few things here and there for the sake of
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your family, for the sake of the culture.
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And you, you're a little more moral.
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You know, you recycle now, or you drive an electric car, or
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you're just starting to make decisions you think are going to
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be better for the world, but you have no connection to God.
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You're religious. You have no relationship with
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God. It's not coming from him.
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It's coming from you. You, you bought a Bible maybe,
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or download the app and at least you have it on your phone.
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You don't read it, but you have it.
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Which again, these are great decisions, but I don't want you
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to leave here today thinking that just because you're going
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to church means you're saved. And just because you are moral
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means you have a right relationship with God.
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Just because you are going through all of the emotions
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without any emotion means that you're going to be OK with God.
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You're not Jesus. Put it this way.
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Jesus said unless a man is born again, he will not see the
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Kingdom of God. It this is what has to happen.
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He says it in his testimony. This is a couple of definitions
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of what it means to be born again.
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Look at verse 18, you and I, we need to go from darkness to
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light. Do you see that?
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That's a definition of salvation.
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We need to go from the power of the devil.
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It says from Satan to God, or you could say it this way.
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You need to go from serving yourself to submitting to the
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God who created you. You have to do something about
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your sin, the sin that separated you and me from God, a perfect,
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righteous God, our creator. It's needed that you are born
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again. Paul is a religious man, but
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very, very lost. I mean, just because you're
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going to church, you know, you think of Paul, he's very
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religious, but he's still an angry man.
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He's very religious, but he's still bent on destroying and
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what what's important for you in this section here, those of you
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this that applies to it's so important for you to realize
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when you see this in Saul's life, you see it in his life
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very religious. He had all the robes, all the
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respect. Saul would have been someone you
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want your kids to follow. You would want your kids to
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study under, you know, if you got your kids got a degree, you
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want to be in the school with Rabbi Saul, with Rabbi Gamaliel
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and that whole school of thing. This is the guy.
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This is the one that you would say, you know, my son, he's
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connected to Saul, my daughter connected to this is the one,
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except that this is the same man destroying lives.
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He's so this, this is the man that was great religious
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respect, but he isn't connected to God because this is not God's
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heart. And this is what it looks like
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when we see you. We see your religion, but we
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also see you're still an angry man.
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We see your religion, but we still still hear you, what you
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say and how you act. And it doesn't look good on
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Saul. God saves him and it doesn't
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look good on you. And today you can be saved.
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Today it can all change for you where you don't have to go
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through the motions anymore. I mean, going through the
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motions, you're not even getting anything for it.
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There's nothing, no benefit coming because now your heart's
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just getting harder and harder toward the things of God.
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If you rest in religious activity, I notice again you
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might see it in your Bibles. Coming back to verse 14, you'll
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notice the difference between black letters and red letters.
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In the new King James, they put the red letters.
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A lot of versions of the Bible are red letter editions.
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And if you didn't know what that was for, the red letters always
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revealed to us that Jesus is talking.
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The red letters are words of Jesus out of his mouth.
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So here we have an episode of Saul of Tarsus on his way to
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Damascus. And Jesus himself comes to him.
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And he says to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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And it's always encouraging to be reminded that when somebody
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is going after you, they're going after Jesus.
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When somebody harms you, they harm Jesus.
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Like Jesus is your protector. Jesus is your guard.
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Jesus is your advocate. You are not alone in the battles
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that you're facing right now. Even though I might feel that
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way, like Paul's, like he doesn't know.
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He didn't know he was going after Christians.
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He didn't realize that he was actually going after the
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shepherd, the great shepherd. By the way, Saul knew about the
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Good Shepherd. He knew Psalm 23.
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He knew that the Lord Yahweh was his shepherd.
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He knew the provision of God. And now Jesus is coming to him.
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Why are you going after me? And he says the next thing, It's
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hard for you to kick against the goads, the goats.
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It's a strange phrase for our modern day years, but let me
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help you with it because it comes to us from the 1st century
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agrarian from the farm. A goat was a long stick, but you
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know, like a like a broomstick that size, except that it didn't
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have the broom part of it. Instead, it had a very sharp
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point to it that was a goat and someone that was driving the
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plow with the oxen in front of the plow as they didn't have
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modern machinery that we have. If the oxen didn't want to work,
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the, the one behind the plow would take the stick and just
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poke them, keep them moving the goad they would move in.
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Of course, you know the oxen didn't like it, so he'd kick
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against it, didn't want anything to do with it.
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And that's the phraseology. It's hard for you, Paul, to kick
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against the prodding, the goading that God has been given
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to you. And what we might use today
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theologically to describe the goading of God is the conviction
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of the Holy Spirit where you know that you're wrong, you feel
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that you're wrong, you're reminded that you're wrong,
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you're being goaded, you're being moved on, and nobody
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likes. So you're kicking it and you
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don't like it and you don't want it.
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Even me talking about religion a moment ago, you fight me on it.
23:05
But I'm the wrong man to fight because I get to share with you
23:08
the truth, because I love you, not because I want to harm you.
23:13
And so all this fighting and all this kicking, it's a hard life.
23:17
And now Paul is getting to the place where it's hard for you,
23:20
huh? You can't do it anymore.
23:22
It's been a hard life, but it's finally coming to a close, Saul.
23:26
It's coming to a close. Hard to kick against the goads.
23:31
Be careful. Would you be careful?
23:35
Don't let anyone deceive you, not even yourself.
23:38
Don't even be deceived yourself into thinking that the life of
23:42
sin is an easy life. It's not.
23:46
It's a hard life. Don't be deceived.
23:51
Don't be deceived. It's hard for an unbeliever, but
23:54
it's especially hard for a Christian who dabbles in
23:58
compromise, wants to take shortcuts, thinks that, you
24:02
know, something that God says isn't really what he means.
24:05
And so, oh, you know, I can do that.
24:06
I I can engage in that. I can do that.
24:09
And because it's not going to be hard.
24:10
No, it's going to be hard. It's probably going to be harder
24:12
than we can even describe for you.
24:15
It's going to be hard. I want to show you this because
24:17
I quote it all the time, but I want you to see it in your
24:19
Bible. Would you turn over to Proverbs
24:21
chapter 13 with me, Proverbs chapter 13.
24:26
This just wisdom from the Lord today.
24:29
Don't be deceived to think that compromise is going to get you
24:31
where you want. It's going to be easy.
24:33
Sometimes as Christians, as believers, you know, you, you
24:35
know, I think of that when we're talking about testimonies.
24:38
A lot of us have these testimonies with really ugly
24:40
things in our life. But then there are the kids that
24:42
were born into godly homes, born into Christian homes where you
24:45
think, well, I don't really have a testimony.
24:47
I don't really have a testimony. I think I need to go get one.
24:49
You do not need to get one because it's going to be hard.
24:54
It's going to be harder than hard because you know the truth
24:58
you got like like our our testimony, those of us got saved
25:01
later in life, which we wish we didn't do any.
25:03
I mean, trust us. Please trust me.
25:05
I really wish a lot of my life was not I like I didn't behave
25:10
that way. I really do.
25:12
But here's what happened when I got saved.
25:13
God delivered me out of sin. I was stuck in it.
25:18
There was no way out and he took me out.
25:21
And that's a pretty dramatic testimony.
25:22
Those seem to get all the attention.
25:24
But I think of believing like a kid that was born, a child was
25:28
born into a believing home, grew up in the church.
25:31
Parents took everything seriously about the things of
25:33
God. You have an even more powerful
25:36
testimony because you weren't saved out of sin.
25:39
You know what? You were saved.
25:40
You were saved from it, which is so powerful.
25:45
Like you need to trust us on this.
25:47
You do not need to learn the hard way like you have been
25:50
saved from so much pain and agony, so much discouragement so
25:55
much, so many problems, so many interpersonal issues, so much.
26:00
It's a powerful testimony. And here's what the Bible says.
26:03
Notice with me on verse 15 of Proverbs 13.
26:07
It says good understanding gains favor, but the way of the
26:12
unfaithful stay with me. The way an unfaithful is hard.
26:16
Now I don't typically quote the new King James actually, because
26:19
I memorize this in the old King James.
26:22
So this is how you hear it. Usually when I quote it without
26:24
looking it up, I use the old King James version which says
26:28
the way of the transgressor is hard.
26:31
The way of the transgressor. Here's one from the amplified
26:34
version. It takes birds and just keeps
26:37
adding colorful descriptions to them.
26:39
It says the way the transgressor is hard, like the barren dry
26:44
soil or the impassable swamp. Now think about being stuck in
26:50
an impassable swamp. You thought you could get
26:54
across. You took the first few steps so
26:57
confident and then boom you got stuck and you can't get out and
27:03
before you know it the alligator saw you and now you're scared.
27:10
Now you're fearing for your life and now you're freaking out.
27:16
It just sounds like sin to me. You thought you could do it and
27:20
now you're learning and you don't have to.
27:23
You don't have to. This isn't a path you need to
27:26
go. You don't need to be stubborn so
27:29
many times. As with most unbelievers, most
27:33
backslidden, most rebellious prodigal kids, they're stubborn.
27:40
In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel will be described as
27:43
hard hearted and stiff necked. Description of stubbornness.
27:49
Not a characteristic to be happy about or to be proud.
27:52
You know, I'm just so stubborn. Well, you don't give it to the
27:55
Lord, it's hurting you. It's not OK.
28:00
It's not OK to be stubborn toward the goading of God, the
28:03
leading of the Holy Spirit. Billy Graham would call it the
28:05
hound of heaven. He would describe the Holy
28:07
Spirit as continually going after us, the hound of heaven.
28:10
He doesn't want you to be hard hearted and difficult to deal
28:14
with. He wants you soft and moldable.
28:17
Paul had been fighting Jesus for a long time, most likely started
28:20
with the stoning of Stephen. But God had a light, had a time
28:25
and an appointment. Let me also just say this out
28:28
loud. For those that are kicking
28:32
against the goat, it's hard. But also let me also add this.
28:36
For those of you close to someone kicking against the
28:39
goads, it's very hard for someone in proximity.
28:44
For some of you that are unequally yoked, it's very hard
28:47
for you. For you parents that are dealing
28:50
with a rebellious prodigal child, it's hard for you.
28:56
For those of you that have a boss kicking against the goats,
28:59
it's directly effects you and it requires, almost requires you
29:04
like double duty to abide in Christ, double duty in your
29:08
prayer life. Enough for them, but also for
29:11
you. Some of you will listen to a
29:13
Bible study like this and have to go home to a home where you
29:17
can't share it with anyone. You have a very difficult
29:21
situation. Some of you made the decision to
29:25
be unequally yoked after you were a Christian, and now you
29:29
know that my warnings are real. They're real.
29:33
Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
29:36
The Bible says some of you are married, like Marie and I.
29:39
We were married as unbelievers and I got saved before her.
29:44
It's hard for the one kicking and it's hard for the one close
29:47
to them. And just pray for them abide in
29:51
Christ. He's your strength.
29:56
Not only that, in this section where Jesus is speaking to him,
30:00
notice in verse 16 tells him to get up and This is why I
30:03
appeared to you. I'm going to make you a minister
30:06
and a witness the things you've seen and things in the past and
30:11
also things in your future. I'm going to reveal things to
30:13
you and I'm going to deliver you is the rest.
30:16
I've appeared to you. God says, Jesus says, because
30:19
I'm going to make you a minister.
30:20
Now before you dismiss this for yourself, don't because the word
30:24
minister just means servant. Somehow it's become some title
30:28
of a specific role in the church.
30:30
A minister, a pastor, a preacher, clergy.
30:33
That's not what the enlistment is.
30:35
This word in the Greek just means servant.
30:38
Paul, I'm going to make you a servant and I'm also going to
30:41
make you a witness, which is what happened earlier.
30:44
The promise that was given in Acts chapter 2.
30:46
Remember, stay in Jerusalem, the baptism, the Holy Spirit and
30:49
what you will be my witnesses. This is for every believer.
30:54
Every believer has a calling into ministry and service as
30:59
unto the Lord. It changes your whole
31:01
perspective as you kind of put the pieces together in this
31:03
testimony. It's powerful because when you
31:06
and I are born again, it changes our whole perspective.
31:09
And there's another perspective I want you to consider today.
31:13
If you just step back for a moment and consider this, OK,
31:16
Paul hates Christians, Saul Tarsus hates Christians.
31:21
He's on his way to Damascus. He's going to kill him.
31:24
He's got permission. Very religious, very angry,
31:27
breathing in and out, murders and threats.
31:30
Not a guy you want to meet. Not a guy you want to come in
31:33
contact there. There's really nothing
31:36
redeemable outside of this man when you meet him.
31:40
And yet Jesus is talking to him. I want you to notice that.
31:46
Let me frame it for you. You ready?
31:48
Jesus is talking to his enemy. Well, what's so important about
31:56
that, Ed? Listen, Jesus is speaking to his
32:02
enemy because God loves his enemies.
32:08
And we have a lot of instruction on this in the Scriptures.
32:11
So much instruction that we may overlook it, we may not even pay
32:14
attention to it. Be good to our enemies, bless
32:17
them, don't curse them. That's the teaching of Jesus.
32:20
Take care of the Samaritan. That's the teaching of Jesus,
32:22
like the whole Bible is about reconciliation, reconciliation
32:27
of man to God and reconciliation between man, between themselves
32:31
because of what sin has done. So the teaching is so much that
32:34
we might miss it, but I want you to see it from a different angle
32:37
here. I want you to understand it.
32:38
In our current cultural climate right now, where we live, where
32:41
we're breathing, where where we are, we need to start rethinking
32:47
how we deal with our enemies. We need, it starts in our
32:51
thinking. We need to start rethinking how
32:53
we see our enemies, how we speak to our enemies, how we pray for
32:57
our enemies. Because I know some of you right
32:58
now, you're praying for enemies. And while I just pray the Bible,
33:01
Pastor, I just pray the Bible. Matter of fact, we read it
33:03
today. I pray Psalm 58, verse 6.
33:06
Break their teeth, Lord, break their teeth.
33:09
It's biblical. Yeah, but you have forgotten
33:13
that Jesus Christ, his body was broken, superseding broken
33:19
teeth. We don't pray for broken teeth
33:22
anymore. We pray for the blood of Jesus
33:25
Christ to cleanse from all sin. That's what we pray now.
33:30
But you know how hard it is you, you have, you have a difficulty,
33:34
a real enemy. These are real enemies of God.
33:36
You know, apart from Christ, the Bible says we're real enemies of
33:39
God, people that make themselves a friend of the world.
33:41
James says enemy of God, living in darkness, enemy of God.
33:46
And what does Jesus do to his arch enemy?
33:49
He speaks to him. He talks to him.
33:54
We wrestle not with flesh and blood church.
33:56
The battle is not with the person, it's spiritual.
33:59
How much better, how much more powerful the church today on the
34:03
earth? How much more effective if
34:06
rather than winning the argument politically, rather than winning
34:10
the argument economically or or educationally or health wise or
34:14
school wise, whatever might be, how much better for us to win a
34:17
soul for all of eternity by sharing the gospel, by loving
34:23
people. Jesus had a plan for soul and
34:27
Jesus has a plan for your enemy. I mean, you think of the you in
34:32
your neighborhood right now. You know, you got a neighbor
34:34
that maybe voted differently than you do and you know that
34:36
because of the sign they put. So how do you feel about that?
34:39
How do you deal with that? How do you talk about that?
34:42
That's what you need to think about.
34:45
Because if you don't, if we don't rethink this, we will be
34:50
very ineffective for the gospel. Wait a minute, I share the
34:53
gospel. I feed the poor.
34:55
But what about your neighbor? Well, you know, we don't talk
34:58
about them, break their teeth or break their teeth because I
35:01
don't agree with them and they don't agree with me.
35:04
I mean, welcome to the world. Here.
35:07
Here's a news flash. You ready?
35:09
You ready? News flash might be brand new
35:11
for you. Not everybody agrees with you,
35:16
and you don't agree with everyone.
35:18
And the bridge is what? The blood of Jesus Christ.
35:26
I wonder how you talk to your enemies.
35:27
I wonder how you talk about your enemies.
35:31
I wonder what you think about them.
35:33
Because I'll tell you right now from the Scriptures, Jesus, he
35:37
talks kindly to his enemies. He tells them how much, hey,
35:42
you're coming after me. But I have a plan for your life.
35:46
You hate my guts, You persecute me.
35:47
You kill people that love me, but I have a plan for your life.
35:52
It's been hard, hasn't it? It's been hard and these little
35:57
subtle things and not so subtle things in our culture and our
36:01
world and in our country. You just got to spend some.
36:05
I'm asking you, I'm actually begging you to spend some time
36:08
seeking the Lord on this matter because here's an example here
36:12
you want to follow. And we wouldn't have to set up
36:16
if Saul was coming here today, after this, we would welcome
36:20
him. We'd save a space for him.
36:22
We'd give him the pulpit and we'd like yes, all because Jesus
36:26
went after his enemies in a loving way.
36:29
It's a powerful, powerful truth. It's worth a lot of prayer this
36:32
week. Well, notice the rest of the
36:35
chapter here as we wind down. Therefore, verse 19, King
36:38
Agrippa, I wasn't disobedient to the heavenly vision.
36:41
I declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem,
36:45
throughout all the region of Judea, then to the Gentiles,
36:48
that they should repent, turn to God and do works befitting of
36:52
repentance. For these reasons the Jews
36:54
seized me in the temple, tried to kill me.
36:56
Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand
37:00
witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things
37:03
than those which the prophets and Moses said would come, that
37:06
the Christ would suffer, that He would be first to rise from the
37:09
dead, and will proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the
37:12
Gentiles. A great response.
37:13
I was obedient, my life was changed and I lived obediently.
37:17
Got into a lot of trouble because of it.
37:20
Verse 24 Now, as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a
37:24
loud voice, Paul, you're beside yourself.
37:27
Much learning is driving you mad.
37:30
But he said, I'm not mad. Most noble, Festus, but speak
37:34
the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also
37:38
speak freely, knows these things and I'm convinced that none of
37:42
these things escapes his attention since this thing was
37:45
not done in a corner. Again, if you like to write in
37:48
your Bibles those two times, the word mad driving learnings
37:52
driving you mad. And Paul says I'm not mad is the
37:54
word mania. And it really is the accusation
37:57
that you think it is. He says you're out of your mind,
37:59
you're not thinking straight. You've lost all rational
38:02
ability. We we might say that today
38:04
you're out of your mind or we might say you're crazy and we
38:07
like, we mean you can't think straight.
38:10
You're not living in reality. That's what Festus is saying
38:13
here. And Paul says, hey, I'm not
38:17
created. Everybody knows about this
38:19
stuff. They all know it wasn't done in
38:22
a corner. King Agrippa, verse 27.
38:25
Do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.
38:30
And Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become a
38:35
Christian man So close. Look what his testimony did, it
38:40
connected with all the seeds that was planted and he was that
38:43
close. I wonder how many of you today
38:45
are that close, You're that close and in a few moments you
38:50
have a chance to go right over the line.
38:52
You don't have to be that close, but Festus and Agrippa, they
38:56
lose out today. Verse 29 And Paul said, I would
38:59
to God, that not only you, but also all who hear me today might
39:05
become both almost and all together such as I am, except
39:09
for these chains. And when he had said these
39:11
things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice
39:14
and those who sat with them. And when they had gone aside,
39:17
they talked among themselves, saying, This man is doing
39:20
nothing worthy of death or chains.
39:22
Then Agrippa said the Festus, this man might have been set
39:25
free if he had not appealed to Caesar.
39:30
So his testimony is powerful. Recognize.
39:33
Finally he gets the stamp of innocence.
39:36
You're innocent. He finally gets it.
39:39
Except that he's not set free. Why?
39:43
Well, because he wanted to claim his Roman citizenship, remember.
39:47
Hey, I'm a Roman citizen. You beat Romans.
39:49
Oh, no. Well, you know, I want to go to
39:51
see Caesar then, and that's he's on his way to see Caesar.
39:54
But on the way he's been declared innocence.
39:57
And they just basically say if he wouldn't have asked for room,
40:00
we would have let him go by now. Which is the final thought I
40:03
want to share with you today because this is a big deal with
40:05
Christians. And that is you and I.
40:07
We make our steps of faith, we move forward in obedience.
40:11
And then when it doesn't turn out the way we thought it would
40:13
turn out, one of the things we begin to consider is maybe I
40:17
made a mistake. Man, what was my Paul here?
40:22
What was my problem? Why don't I appeal to Rome?
40:24
Why don't I go to Rome? I could be free right now.
40:26
Now I'm still in prison. I mean, that would have been a
40:28
valid thought. We don't have that in the
40:30
Scriptures. But I think it would have been a
40:31
valid response. Because you think, you know, you
40:34
got to the end. You finally got the innocence.
40:36
Hey, you know what? If he didn't ask, if you didn't
40:38
ask to go farther, I would have let you go.
40:40
I would have given you everything you wanted, but
40:41
because you wanted more, you got to go.
40:44
And so we have to ask the question.
40:46
We have to ask the question and you ask it in your life.
40:49
I have to ask it in mine. Things don't go the way I want.
40:52
I thought it was going to be one way.
40:53
I did everything like I had a sister come up after service
40:56
yesterday with some really, really difficult things.
41:00
And she's beating herself up for a lot of bad decisions.
41:02
And I had to remind her of something because I don't know
41:05
the whole story, but I do know this.
41:08
I told her, I looked her now. I said you could have done
41:10
everything right and still be suffering like this.
41:15
You could have made all all these decisions you made well.
41:17
You could have made them right and still suffer because
41:21
sometimes you can make all the right decisions and still suffer
41:25
greatly because you live in a fallen world.
41:28
We have to be careful. We think, well, if I do good,
41:30
only good comes. No, we do good because God is
41:33
good and he's worthy of our obedience.
41:36
The outcome is up to him. We get worried about all these
41:39
secondary causes. Like, again, let's go back to
41:42
Saul, Paul for a minute. Let's go back like, well, is he
41:45
going to Rome Because is he going to Rome because this is
41:49
the judgement of God of all the things he's done in the past?
41:52
Of course not. Is it the judgement of God
41:55
because, you know, he might have wavered in faith and was
41:57
discouraged? No.
42:00
Is he going to Rome because of unfair political decisions?
42:03
Because there's there is an A political figure that you don't
42:07
want there. Is he going to Rome because of
42:08
that? No.
42:10
Is he going to Rome because of unjust laws?
42:13
No. The exact opposite this He's
42:15
going to Rome because of a law that he enacted that he that he
42:19
desired to be used for him. Is he going because it's unfair?
42:23
No, even though the leaders are corrupt, the politicians are
42:28
corrupt, the law could be better because they should have just
42:31
freed him right there. Like there are a lot of
42:33
secondary causes. But let me remind you why he's
42:36
going to Rome. He's going to Rome.
42:39
You ready? Because it's the will of God for
42:42
his life. That's why.
42:47
It's the will of God for his life.
42:48
You know how sometimes you cry out in your trial, what's going
42:52
on, Lord, why is this? Why is this?
42:53
And you think the answer is going to save you from future
42:57
pain, but the answer from heaven is that you're their son because
43:01
it's my will for your life. And you go, can I have someone
43:06
else's will for their life? Like, but then God's drawing you
43:10
to himself saying, you're going to get through this.
43:12
You're going to be fine. You're going to grow in grace.
43:15
Everything's going to be great. Trust me.
43:18
And that's where Paul is trusting the Lord.
43:20
Why? Because he was prepared for
43:22
that, just like you're prepared for your that God's preparing
43:27
you and he's readying you for what's up his head.
43:30
And by the way, he's going to Rome, he's going to be
43:32
protected. He's in chains, but he's
43:34
surrounded by Roman guards. There's not going to be any
43:36
ambush that kills him. Nobody's going to be messing
43:38
with him. He going free of charge.
43:40
He's getting a free trip, he's getting free food.
43:43
And he has a brand new prison ministry that he gets to start
43:46
in. And all the people you can read
43:48
in of what God's going to do in his life because as he learned
43:50
to submit and obey, and you and I need to as well.
43:53
So Lord, we thank you for the lessons in Paul's life here.
43:57
We have much to learn, much to grow in, and we want to.
44:03
And so help us, Lord, help us to grow and obey.
44:07
And I pray for those that are here today that this is the day
44:10
that they turn their lives towards you this very moment.
44:14
And I would just say, if you're here, friend, and you know you
44:18
need to get your life right with God, you want to ask for the
44:20
forgiveness of your sins, you want to be born again.
44:23
You know, this is the day, this is the bright light.
44:27
And I want to invite you to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as
44:29
your Savior in this moment, in this room.
44:32
And if that's you, would you just stand to your feet?
44:35
I'd like to pray with you that today would be the day that you
44:39
confess your sins before God, confess your belief in the
44:44
resurrection of Jesus and you don't leave here going.
44:47
You almost persuaded me, Pastor, or you know, not really
44:49
interested in that. I was kind of I don't really
44:52
like what you said, but rather humble yourself before God.
44:57
You know, it's hard. I know it's hard.
45:01
And so why are you still kicking and fighting?
45:05
I just want to give you that opportunity today.
45:08
So you don't like get to the edge and go.
45:09
You almost persuaded me. No, you can go all the way.
45:14
I don't really expect to see Agrippa in heaven.
45:16
I don't expect to see Festus in heaven.
45:19
I don't know, maybe something happened, but according to the
45:21
Bible, it just doesn't seem like they got there.
45:25
They stopped short. Maybe you're the religious one.
45:27
I talked about religion, Religion, religious.
45:30
But inside, you know you're separate from God.
45:32
If that's you, just stand to your feet.
45:33
I want to pray with you before we leave so that you can know
45:38
that you know that your life is right with God.
45:45
God bless you in the back. You guys online or listening on
45:50
the radio right now. I know we don't see you
45:52
downstairs, but God does. I really believe that.
45:56
I trust that truly I do. God bless you guys right here.
46:00
God bless you brother. I know God's been working in
46:03
your life a lot. Who else would say that's me?
46:12
Bless you, ma'am, truly right here in the middle.
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Anyone else? It's a pretty high and holy
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moment, you know, The whole atmosphere shifts and
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anticipation of what God wants to do, and it's a powerful
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thing. It's wonderful, brother.
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Can you go back and stand on their mind?
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Somebody's coming. Got it.
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Got it. Anyone else?
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Well, pray with me, right? The Bible says if you confess
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with your mouth, the Lord Jesus believe in your heart.
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God raised him from the dead. So I want to help you confess
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with your mouth. You could say, God, I admit that
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I've sinned against you, and I ask you to forgive me of all of
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my sins. I believe you sent Jesus to die
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for me, and I believe you rose again from the dead to save my
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soul. I repent and turn away from my
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sins and my sinful past, and I choose to follow you.
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Help me God and Father, I pray for those that respond today
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that it's real and genuine that true life change will come from
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them and in their lives, in their families.
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The Spirit of God would just envelope them with their your
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great love in Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
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Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.