Latest / Scripture Unscripted / Acts chapter 14

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Acts chapter 14 · Scripture Unscripted

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  Acts chapter 15. Let us pray, oh Lord Jesus
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  Christ, who raised on high, we love you, Father, We love
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  everything about you. We say yes and Amen to all the
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  promises that you've given us in this book.
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  God, we raise up our shield. Lord, we do war with the word of
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  God. We thank you for your spoken
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  word. We thank you that you were life.
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  We thank you that you are true. We thank you that you're the
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  way, God. We get out of the way, Lord, and
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  we come into the way with you. Lord, lead us in paths of
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  eternal places. God, lead us in righteousness
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  and holiness. God, help us to stand on the
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  truth. Help us to stand on the Bible.
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  Help us to pray for the Jews. God, help us, Lord, to love the
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  Jews. God, I pray in the name of Jesus
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  for a supernatural protection around that land and around
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  those people. Lord, I pray God, that you will
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  bring all of your prophecies into fruition, Lord, and bring
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  them into the fold. Lord, bring them back.
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  God, I pray in the name of Jesus that this world Father will be
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  set ablaze with the Holy Ghost. Lord, I pray for revival to
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  break out in the name of Jesus, from the King to the cattle.
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  God, I pray for every nation to be on fire for the gospel of
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  Jesus Christ. I pray that it goes out to the
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  ends of the earth. Lord bless this ministry.
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  Lord, bless this time. Father, Holy Ghost, fill us
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  today. Holy Ghost, you direct our
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  steps. Holy Ghost, we love you, we love
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  you, love you so much. Discipline us and correct us and
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  give us sound minds and give us sound doctrine in theology.
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  God, we just want to say whatever it is that you want to
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  say to this generation, I get out of the way and I decrease as
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  you increase. Holy Spirit, we love you, King
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  Jesus, and this in your holy name that we pray.
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  Amen. Well, let's start in verse one.
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  And it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together
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  into the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great
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  multitude, both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
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  So you can see that they would go into a a new city and they
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  would first start in the synagogues.
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  And you remember when Jesus was here in his earthly ministry,
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  what he told the Syrophoenician lady, He said that it was not
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  proper to give the meat to dogs. And she said, yes, but even the
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  dogs get to eat the crumbs. So here you can see that it is
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  God's model that they would first start in Israel, first
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  start with the Jews, and then as the Jews rejected and as they
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  heard, then it would spread unto the Gentiles. 2 But the
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  unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds
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  evil affected against the brothers.
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  So imagine that. Imagine how they were
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  infiltrated and it was said that these men were spreading evil
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  and it was actually the Jews that were the evil ones.
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  And isn't that some deep psychology when you have
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  somebody doing wrong, but they're trying to get you to do
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  wrong so that you're the one that actually gets the blame?
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  And that's what you're seeing here.
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  This is child's play. But God is not going to be
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  outmaneuvered His way and His will shall be done 3 long time.
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  Therefore they abode, speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave
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  testimony unto the word of His grace, and granted signs and
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  wonders to be done by their hands.
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  So imagine that they couldn't be pushed out, snuffed out.
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  They could not be shut up or shut out.
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  They stayed there a long time, even though these Jews were
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  stirring up evil against them. And we need to have that same
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  tenacity. We need to have that same
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  perseverance. We cannot let people shut us up
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  and shut us down about our God. He is worthy to be praised,
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  friends, give him his due honor and glory.
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  For but the multitude of the city was divided, part held with
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  the Jews and part with the apostles.
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  So Jesus said, Do you think that I have come to bring peace?
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  No, but a sword. And he was talking about the
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  division and the line in the sand that we must crossover.
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  There is no neutrality with Jesus Christ.
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  You are for him or you are against him.
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  And you can see they were divided and they had to make a
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  decision. And he's still doing the same
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  thing today. 5 And when there was an assault made both of the
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  Gentiles and also of the Jews, with their rulers, to use them
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  despitefully and to stone them. So here the Christians who were
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  teaching the good news of Jesus Christ, they were stoned and
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  beat. 6 They were aware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derb,
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  cities of like Anaya, and unto the region that lies round and
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  about. 7 And there they preach the gospel.
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  So this is the Lord's hand at work.
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  They would stay long enough in one place, but never to get
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  comfortable, just long enough to scatter the seed and let it take
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  root, and then God would move them along. 8 And there sat a
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  certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple
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  from his mother's womb, who never walked.
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  Now in the same heard Paul speak, who steadfastly beholding
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  him and perceiving that he had faith to be healed in said with
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  a loud voice, stand upright on your feet, and he leapt and
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  walked eleven And when the people saw what Paul had done,
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  they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of like
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  Kanaya, the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
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  So here you can see that they were steeped in idolatry.
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  And even though Paul here is preaching Yahweh, he's preaching
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  the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he's preaching the name
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  of Jesus Christ. They're so steeped in their
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  idolatry that because of this miracle, they think that the
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  gods have come down. 12 And they called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul
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  Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the
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  priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought ox
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  and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with
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  the people. So they think that the gods had
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  come down in the form of these men.
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  Let's see how Paul corrects them. 14 Which when the apostles
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  Barnabas and Paul heard of, they ripped their clothes.
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  And they? Ran in among the people crying
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  out and saying. Sirs, Why?
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  Do you these? Things we also are men of like
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  passions. With you.
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  And preach. Unto you that you should.
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  Turn from these vanities unto the living.
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  God which made heaven and earth. And the sea, and all things that
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  are. In IT 16.
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  Who in times past suffered all nations to walk?
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  In their own ways. 17 Nevertheless, he left not.
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  Himself without witness. In that He did good and gave us
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  rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts and
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  with food and gladness. 18 And when these sayings scarce
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  restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto
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  them. So you can see here that Paul
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  rebukes them and tells them do not try and sacrifice unto us,
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  we are mere men. And you remember what happened
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  to Herod whenever he tried to receive worship of men, he was
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  eat up with maggots. And you can see here that Paul
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  and Barnabas are smart enough to refuse this kind of worship.
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  And it is a grave warning to all mankind for all time sake to
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  never ever receive worship. You will be snuffed out and done
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  away with every time. You will not be able to go on
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  like that. You might have a sinful fun
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  season where you think it's all fun and games until it's not. 19
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  And there came there certain Jews from Antioch, Iconium, who
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  persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, they drew him out
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  of the city, supposing he had been dead.
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  So these men came for many miles to persecute them.
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  They learned their whereabouts and they came and they tried to
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  kill him. And this is a satanic attack.
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  This is a demonic, dark attack on Jesus Christ and the gospel
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  of Jesus Christ. And he's trying to shut down the
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  early church, but you cannot. It will continue on through all
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  the ages. The Word of God will prevail
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  through every type of government.
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  The Word of God will prevail through every single generation
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  from now to the end of time. Heaven and earth shall pass
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  away, but not one of these words.
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  And His Word never returns. Void, friends, and God shall not
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  be mocked. And you can see it here that
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  these men are trying to snuff them out.
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  But God's about to do a miracle. They thought that Paul was dead,
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  because whenever they would stone somebody, they made sure
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  that they were dead. Dead.
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  But what did God do? 20 Howbeit, as the disciples
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  stood stood round and about him, he rose up and came into the
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  city. And the next day he departed
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  with Barnabas to Durb. So perhaps Paul was dead and he
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  was resuscitated back from life. And you can see here, he didn't
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  just run for his life and flee, he went back into the city
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  before he departed. What boldness, what a mighty
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  miracle work of God it is that Paul was not killed.
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  They stood round and about him, thinking that he was a dead man
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  but God. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city
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  and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to
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  Iconium and Antioch. You could not stop this man.
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  He was unstoppable because he was fueled by the Holy Ghost.
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  And that is available to us as well.
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  Whether we die going out and preaching the gospel of Jesus
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  Christ, or whether God lets us live to a ripe old age and we go
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  by the way of our fathers, or whether we are taken up and out
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  in the midst of it all. We need to be found doing the
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  Lord's work, no matter the cost. Count it before you come,
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  because it cost Him everything. 22 Confirming the souls of the
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  disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that
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  we must, through much tribulation, enter into the
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  Kingdom of God. So you can see here he's
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  revisiting these little outposts of these early churches that
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  were started, and he's making sure to fan the flame of these
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  little lambs. And that's what we need to be
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  found doing, feeding the lambs and feeding the sheep.
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  Friends, you who have been walking with the Lord for a long
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  time, you should by now be off the milk and be able to teach
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  others. And by much tribulation we enter
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  into the Kingdom of God. And it is by violence that we
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  take the Kingdom of God. Friends, praise God, Hallelujah
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  23 and when they had ordained them elders in every church and
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  had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on
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  whom they believed. So here they're just instituting
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  the parameters for a healthy church.
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  And we need to know that there have been many church
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  government, church leadership, business meetings that were very
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  worldly. And we need to push the world
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  out and we need to make sure that we're connected with the
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  Lord Jesus Christ and don't bring all of the garbage that
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  should not be in the church into that.
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  There are many people who have gone in thinking that they have
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  done the Lord great service. In all of actuality, all they're
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  doing is driving wedges and operating in their own
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  understanding. We need to fast, we need to
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  pray, we need to seek the Lord on how He would appropriate said
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  funds. We need to fast, we need to
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  pray, we need to seek the Lord on who should and should not be
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  in leadership, and we need to know where they stand with God
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  Almighty. And if there's anything, any
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  stumbling blocks in their lives for that season, they need to be
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  removed from those offices. And others who are full of the
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  Holy Ghost should be put in their stead until they are
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  restored back into their positions.
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  And there have been many churches who are going by the
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  wayside because they kept holding on to the ways of the
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  world. And God is desirous to do a new
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  thing, friends. And he's using unlearned men.
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  And this whole professionalizing the pulpit has led many
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  unconverted but very learned men to stand and preach heresy and
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  to preach the world system over their congregation.
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  And there have been many revivals that the Lord got a
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  hold of a pastor and he would go down and give his life to the
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  Lord, even though he had been pastoring that church for many
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  years. Let's just think about it,
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  friends. Just because you've got a plaque
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  on a wall doesn't mean that you're full of the Holy Ghost.
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  He is beyond our little ways that we try to professionalize
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  the pulpit, the suit and ties, Friends.
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  He wants a man who's completely sold out to him and whose faith
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  is much greater than all of their sensibilities and much
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  greater than the IQ level that they possess. 24 And after they
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  had passed through the city of they came to Panthea. 25 And
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  when they had preached the word Perga, they went down to Italia.
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  26 And from there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had
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  been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they
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  fulfilled. 27 And when they were come and had gathered the church
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  together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and
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  how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
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  We'll end on. 28 And there they abode long time with the
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  disciples. How amazing is this 1st century
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  church being fueled and funneled by the Holy Ghost?
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  And by the way, it's available to us.
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  It's available for now, and we cannot just think that it's
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  business as usual whenever the churches all around us are
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  shuttered and whenever there's no hunger for the Word of God.
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  Whenever God is being marginalized.
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  We need men to rise up and to increase their faith and to
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  believe every single syllable inside of the 66 books that we
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  find in the Canon of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
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  It's not the Bible plus anything else.
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  It's not the Bible plus your favorite pastor.
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  It's not the Bible plus a certain denomination.
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  It's not the Bible plus another piece of literature.
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  It's not the Bible plus concordances and commentaries.
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  It's not the Bible plus anything.
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  It's the Bible that we stand and we build our life upon.
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  And you'll never be put to dismay.
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  Friends, God will be well pleased to use you in the arenas
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  that you find yourself in. And if you'll get out of your
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  own way, and if you'll acknowledge the Lord, he'll
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  direct your steps. And you will find yourself in
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  the greatest adventure you've ever found yourself on, whether
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  it's from here to all the way around the world, or whether it
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  is in your hometown or whether it's in your own house, your
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  workplace. Preach the word in season and
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  out of season. And always be ready to give an
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  account for the hope that you possess.
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  Friends, I hope that you've been blessed by this chapter.
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  I know I sure have. I'm praying for you.
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  I love you. So does God, so does our Lord
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  Jesus Christ. Back here tomorrow, God bless
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  you.