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Living Waters of Grace 12.15.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
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County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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continues teaching through God's Word.
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Paul had health issues and Timothy had health issues, so
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sometimes people were sick and they didn't get healed, and
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sometimes people were sick and they died.
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But then there was many times where God chose to do miracles
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right, like He still does today. You just don't know.
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You pray, you ask God to touch someone you love you care about,
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and sometimes they recover, sometimes there's a miracle,
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whatever. But other times nothing happens
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and you can't doubt God or disbelieve him.
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God does everything after the counsel of his own will.
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It's easy for us to dismiss the people of the Bible as
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fictional. You don't take a minute to
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remember that they were real people with real problems, with
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real commitment to God, not unlike ourselves.
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In today's message, Pastor Clark reminds us that the main
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characters in the Bible even had health issues and ailments that
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they dealt with throughout their lives.
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We don't know God's plan or reasons for why He does what He
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does, but we can know and remember that His plan is for us
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to go to heaven now. Here's Pastor Clark in Acts
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Chapter 28 with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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When you look at Paul and all you guys, I know you have
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challenges in your life, whether it's relationship issues or
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health issues or career issues, whatever you might might be
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challenged by Paul's an example that when life isn't going right
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or the way you were hope it would go.
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Paul never complained. He he never said I'm done.
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I quit, I'm not following Jesus anymore because I wasn't
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expecting this to happen in my life.
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This isn't fair. Why did this have to?
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Why did this have to happen? As you follow the Lord in your
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own life, you come to realize that there's a lot of things you
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don't understand why. And you can ask God why doesn't
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mean He's going to answer you and tell you why.
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There's a lot of things you just have to accept by faith and
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believe that no matter what you're dealing with, God has a
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plan. And Paul always kept his head
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down and kept praying and and asking God to strengthen him and
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lead him. So as we go into this chapter
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today, they just finished 14 days at sea, violent storms,
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winds, swells, almost the loss of life.
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And yet God promised that no one on the ship would die, that 246
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people, whatever how many there was, would survive and and be
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able to get through this storm. And so we're we're beginning to
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pick up where they the boat was destroyed.
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This pieces of wood and elements of debris.
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If you weren't able to swim the amount of distance from where
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the boat was moored into the sand, you had to grab a piece of
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wood and this flowed in into the sea of Malta.
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Malta is an island in between Tunisia in the South and Italy.
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The boot as you look on the map in the north, they were on the
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side of the island that didn't really have a whole lot going
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on. The other side of the island was
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where ships would dock and port over the winter time until the
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weather passed. So they would be able to start
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getting out in the water again and go where they were going.
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They were on the side. It was not familiar.
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So initially whenever they were being washed up onto the shore,
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they weren't really quite sure where they were at.
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So let's pick it up here in verse one.
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So when they had escaped, then they found out that the island
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was called Malta. And the natives showed us
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unusual kindness for they can kindle the fire and made us all
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welcome. Because of the rain, it was
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falling and because of the cold. So you can imagine it's the
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winter time. I don't know about you, but I
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don't like going into cold water.
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I don't even care if it's summertime.
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I don't like cold water. I don't like a cold shower.
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I want it to be warm. Well, they were freezing cold.
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Their clothes are soaked, they had no luggage to pull warm
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garments out of. They get up onto this piece of
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sand here, this place called Malta, and these wonderful
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people that lived on this island knew what they were dealing
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with. So they built this fire to be
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able to warm all these prisoners that were being washed up onto
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the shore to bring some relief to them as they were kindling
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this fire to make everyone welcome.
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It says that in verse 3 went, but when Paul had gathered a
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bundle of sticks. So here's Paul, he's the great
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apostle, and he had already told everybody in the ship that not
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one life would be lost. Prophetically, not one person
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died as a result of this storm. God protected them.
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You think everybody would be in awe of his ability to sort of
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see into things in the future and and tell people what God was
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going to do, the promises. But Paul never thought of
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himself as being anything other than a servant of the Lord.
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And he represented being a servant because here, instead of
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him sitting around like some kind of big shot, he went out to
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find other sticks to keep this fire going.
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And he gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the
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fire. Little did he know what was
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going to happen next. It says the Viper came out
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because of the heat and fastened onto his hand.
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So it's cold. The snakes are tired or sleeping
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when it's cold. They get near the heat and all
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of a sudden they wake up. And it bit Paul.
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And it was scary because the way it bit him, the the snake was
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dangling from his hand, bit into his hand, right?
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How would you like that to happen to you?
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George told me he went to bed last night and he shook his
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pillow out and all of a sudden there was a spider about that
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big on his pillow. He showed it to Tracy.
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She screamed. He's like, how in the world did
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a spider get into our our house? We have exterminators.
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But so I'm thinking like every night, I better check my pillow
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too. But you wouldn't have expected
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Paul didn't expect when he got these sticks.
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He's just looking down and picks them up.
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This looks like sticks, but one of them happened to be a snake
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and it it bit him. It was a poisonous snake.
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So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand,
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they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer
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whom though he has escaped the sea, yet justice is not allowed
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to live. They thought in Pagan terms,
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mythology, that because this happened, that Paul had to have
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been some kind of bad, bad dude. And so even though he made it
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through the sea, they didn't believe in a creator like we do
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a God. But they they felt that fate now
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would deal with this and the consequences of his crimes,
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whatever they might be, would cause him to be taken out and he
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would he would die. So they assumed that this was
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going to happen to him, but he shook off the creature into the
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fire and suffered no harm. And it reminds me of what it
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says in Acts 16. And a lot of times it's taken
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out of context, but Acts 16 was written to the apostles.
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Jesus was speaking to them about the signs that would follow
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them. And one of them was they would
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be able to pick up a snake, not intentionally to try to prove
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that they were, they had supernatural power in them.
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But there there would be no snake that would be able to hurt
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them or harm them and that they would also be able to lay hands
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on sick people and they would be miraculously healed.
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So this was an indication of that promise that the snake was
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not going to destroy his life. However, they were expecting
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that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead, but
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after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to
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him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God.
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So isn't it interesting how the public, the community can have
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one opinion every one day and think you're wonderful and the
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next day they want to say crucify him just like they did
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to Jesus, right? So never take the flattery and
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applause of people seriously because they might be your fan
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one day and the next day they can't stand your guts.
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It's like the athlete this time of year, baseball, you got a
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good baseball player when he gets up at a plate like
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McCutcheon, he's a great ball player and everybody's cheering
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him and here, here, oh man, we're going to win because of
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his athletic ability. And then he goes into a slump.
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And then the next thing, you know, if you're a ball fan and
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you watch ball, you hear people booing and hissing.
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Isn't that interesting? So that's what you guys are with
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preachers too. One Sunday you'd say, wow, that
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was a great message. The next song, and you call
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yourself a preacher, you know, I mean, but we don't listen to
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that, do we, Lewis? We just keep on keeping on.
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So anyway, they they're trying to make him feel like a big
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shot, but he knows that's not true.
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So in verse 7, it says in that region there was an estate of
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the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius,
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who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.
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So Paul had favor on himself and upon justice, the centurion, it
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was handcuffed to Paul because of Paul's exemplary behavior in
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his testimony. And there was really nothing he
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did wrong to be considered guilty of any crime.
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God's favor was was upon him. So he got to meet this man in
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Malta who was put in position of being in control of that
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particular island by the Roman Empire.
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And so he was invited to be a guest in this house.
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I'm sure Luke was also invited as well as art to curse that
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they were with him on this journey in the on the boat and
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they were also on the island who had survived the the storm.
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It says he received us and entertained us courteously for
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three days. What a blessing a favor and
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verse 8 and it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a
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fever and dysentery. So I I think there's always a
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bigger reason why we find ourselves in situations or
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circumstances or relationships with people beyond this meeting
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people. God knew that Paul had the
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ability by the Holy Spirit to do a miracle here and this is what
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we're we're going to see here. So they're being entertained in
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this home and it it becomes knowledge that this man's father
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has a sick with a fever and dysentery.
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So Paul went in to him and prayed.
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He laid his hands on him and he healed him immediately.
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This man was healed. This is a miracle.
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And Paul and the apostles had this gifting as the Holy Spirit
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LED, not as Paul willed all the time because Paul had health
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issues and Timothy had health issues.
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So sometimes people were sick and they didn't get healed, and
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sometimes people were sick and they died.
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But then there was many times where God chose to do miracles,
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right, like He still does today. You just don't know.
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You pray, you ask God to touch someone you love you care about,
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and sometimes they recover, sometimes there's a miracle,
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whatever, but other times nothing happens.
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And you can't doubt God or disbelieve him.
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God does everything after the counsel of his own will.
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And we're not all guaranteed to be healed.
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I wish we would be if we would. If we had that ability, we would
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be spending a lot of time in hospitals, wouldn't we?
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Going from bed to bed, laying hands on sick people to see them
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recover. But whenever we do go to the
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hospitals and visit people or sick people, we do lay hands and
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pray if perchance God would decide to deliver them and and
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raise them up. So there's a there's a
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difference and how God works physically in regard to bringing
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people back to health again. Sometimes it's miraculous
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through the laying of hands and praying, but many times it's
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through the skilled hands of nurses and doctors and
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physicians assistants who have the ability because of their
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ability and science and and knowledge to provide certain
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medicines that are also gifts of God that people would be able to
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recover. And so this is what happens in
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the next verses. So when this was done, the rest
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of those on the island who had diseases also came and were
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healed with the Greek word in this sense is gradual healing,
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where the word in the Greek on the issue of Pubia's father was
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immediate healing. So 1 was miraculous healing and
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the other one was healing done through a process of time
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because Paul and those guys were on that island for three years.
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So there was a lot of people that were sick that needed
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treatment and Doctor Luke was with them to be able to help
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with medical assistance as well. It says in verse 10.
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And they also honored us in many ways.
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And when we departed, they provided such things as were
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necessary. So these people had such an
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appreciation for the ministry of the gospel.
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I'm sure the word was preached. I'm sure people became believers
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as a result of Paul and those guys being on that island for
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for three years. And the people showed their
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appreciation by providing offerings, gifts, material
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things to take with them on the ship.
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Because you got to realize these guys lost everything in that
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storm. In verse 11, after three months,
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we sailed in an Alexandrian trip, a ship whose figurehead
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was the twin brothers, which had wintered at the island.
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Three months winter's over. Now they're able to get back
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into the sea and head up toward Rome, which is where Paul knew
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he was being called. God promised that he would get
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to Rome and give his defense and also have a chance to share his
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faith with the Jews in Rome as well as the Gentiles.
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It's interesting. It says this ship had a
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figurehead. So on the top of the in the
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front of the, of the, of the bow there, there would always be
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like these idols. And these were Greek
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mythological gods that represent extended Pagan deities.
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And they believe because of these things being on the boat,
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they would be protected in storms, which, you know,
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obviously wouldn't work. But nonetheless, that's what
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these people believed. And that's the significance of
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the the twin brothers, a figurehead there.
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And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.
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So Syracuse is about 70 miles up the coast from Malta.
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The weather is awesome, gentle breezes, unlike the storm that
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they encountered when the ship was destroyed those 14 days.
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Everything's smooth sailing now. And they, they went up to
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Syracuse was the capital city of Sicily and Italy.
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So they're, they're real close to getting to Rome.
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From there we circled around and reached Riggium that was another
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90 miles up the coast. And they were making this within
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a day or so. It wasn't taking weeks because
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the water was real calm. And after one day the South wind
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blew and the next day we came to Patole.
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And Patole was about 180 miles north of this riggium.
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And they got up there in about a day and a half.
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And it's, it's interesting here because this was the main port
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that you would go into, to go on to the road that would take you
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down to Rome, which is, you know, about, you know, so many
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miles. I guess it was about 100 miles
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down to Rome from this place. And also Paul would be able to
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see the, the naval fleet of the Roman Empire, which was quite
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impressive up up the coast. He would see all the ships
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there. I'm sure that was interesting to
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him. And when they got to this
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pitole, it says in verse 14, we found brethren and we're invited
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to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.
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So how exciting would that have been?
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You get the Rome and you have a an entourage of Christian people
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wanting to see you and meet with you and hang out with you and
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fellowship with you. You wonder how in the world
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these people became Christians. You know, Paul wasn't at that
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point in time in the book of the Acts evangelizing up there, but
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you got to realize that in Acts 1/8 when the Holy Spirit came
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down upon the church and it and it told us that you shall
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receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
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You shall be witnesses of me in all Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria
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and the other most parts of the earth.
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So all those people, those 3000 people that got saved in the day
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of Pentecost through Peter's sermon were able then to go
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after the persecution started into all the different regions
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of Asia Minor. And some of them got up into
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Rome and, and preached the gospel and planted churches.
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So there, there's believers there and, and Paul's obviously
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excited to, to hang out with them.
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And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they
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came to meet us as far as a pre forum and three ends.
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Now a pre forum was about 40 miles from Rome and three ends
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is about 30 miles from Rome. So there's more people coming to
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me, Paul. And when Paul saw them, he thank
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God and he took courage. And I don't know about you, but
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I need to be encouraged in my faith.
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You guys encourage Lewis and I Pastor Lewis and I you, you
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come, you're you're faithful, You're you're interested in the
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things of God, you're in the word.
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You want to follow Jesus, you love him.
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You're living life and your challenge.
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You got struggles and trials like everyone else, but yet you
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know the faithfulness of God and this would be able to be in a
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room worshipping with Gina and the team and hearing your voices
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and, and just being reminded that you're in a world right now
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that is not real interested in Christianity.
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You're in a world where there's cultural wars.
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You're in a world where where people are making big deals out
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of nothing, right? And trying to get their
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positions as as being front and center as being normal versus
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being abnormal. You know what we're dealing with
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all this stuff every day and, and sometimes you can feel
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alone. You can say was anything
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changing or is anything shifting or is there any hope or is there
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any possibility of of, of maybe seeing a move of God's Spirit
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again and a survival to bring people to faith and get serious
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about being followers of Jesus Christ.
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Well, there is every time we gather together as a church,
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Jesus promises whenever two or three or more people are
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gathered together, he is there in the midst of us, isn't he?
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He's right here with us. So I get strength as being with
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you guys and I can leave here today and be encouraged that
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we're not alone. We are not the minority of the
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world says we are. We are really a majority in the
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sense of God's Kingdom eventually going to be coming on
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earth as it already is in heaven.
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So we have every reason to be joyful and happy people, right,
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and not be down and discouraged and complaining about the
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condition of the world. Jesus said in the world you will
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have tribulation, but be of good cheer.
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I have overcome the world. He has Amen.
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He's overcome the world, and we can be overcomers, walking by
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faith, staying in the Word, being prayerful people.
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I'm looking for opportunities in this life to speak into the laws
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of people who are hopeless or may be searching for an answer.
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And so now when he came to Rome, he eventually gets to Rome.
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The centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the
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guards. So all these people that
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survived this incident and Glendon and Malta are now in
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Rome, and every one of them are accounted for.
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And Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with a soldier who
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guarded him. So again, God's favor.
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Paul wasn't a vicious murderer or someone who had committed
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some horrific crime. He committed no crime.
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So he's able to live in his own house, but he's chained to
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someone six hours, and God takes a break.
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Someone else chained to him for six hours.
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This is just how he's permitted to dwell.
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And so the soldier says, guarded him.
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And it came to pass after three days, verse 17, that Paul called
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the leaders of the Jews together.
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So when they had come together, he said to the men and brethren,
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though I've done nothing against our people or the customs of our
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fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into
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the hands of the Romans, who when they had examined me,
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wanted to let me go because there was no cause for putting
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me to death. So he's emphasizing again that
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he's not guilty of anything, and he's with these Jewish people
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that really don't know a lot about anything yet in regard to
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the gospel. All they know is by hearsay.
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There's a sect called The Way, which is the move of what is now
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known as Christianity, Christians.
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So Paul's expecting them to have all these complaints about who
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he is. And when the Jews spoke against
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it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar.
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Not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.
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So Paul made it clear I was never against the nation of
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Israel, and I never said anything derogatory about the
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Kingdom of the city, the plan of God.
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For this reason, therefore, I've called for you to see you and
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speak with you because for the hope of Israel, I'm bound with
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this chain. Though the hope of Israel is the
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Messiah who is to come, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
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Today the hope of Israel still is a Messiah.
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But unfortunately majority of Jewish people don't believe that
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Jesus is a Messiah. They're waiting for Messiah who
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will come, who will come as a conquering king to rule and
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reign in Jerusalem and and put everything in this world in
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place the way we know prophetically, it will be put in
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place when Jesus comes the second time and he lands on the
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feet of the Mount of Olives and he sets up and establishes
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Kingdom for the millennial reign of 1000 years that will come to
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pass at that point in time. When Jesus comes again the
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second time, there'll be this technology.
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We already have it now we're we're going to be able to see
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through TV and media and iPhones, whatever.
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What's that object coming from the middle of the universe?
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What's that bright light moving and, and this crowd of looks
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like an army with him. That's the Lord Jesus coming
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back with his Saints, and he's going to land.
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And the Bible says every eye shall see him.
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And the Jews in Jerusalem, it says when they see him, they
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will see him is the one whom they've pierced.
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And at that point in time, they'll realize that Christ is a
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Messiah. And a lot of people will come to
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be born again at that time, to come to be saved at the second
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coming of Jesus Christ. So Paul's reasoning with them,
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and it's explained to them this I'm bound because I'm telling
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you guys that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the hope of Israel.
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Then they said to him, this is interesting.
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We neither receive letters from Judea concerning you, nor have
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any of the brethren came and reported or spoken evil of you.
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So everything that was made to be like a big deal when he was
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in Jerusalem and they wanted to kill him and martyr to him.
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Martyr him. Now he's in the situation where
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no one's got any complaints. Isn't that amazing?
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They can't even accuse him of anything.
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Thanks for joining us on today's edition of Living Waters of
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Grace, a ministry of Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland.
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Today, Pastor Clark is teaching about the Book of Acts, and as
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we learn more about Acts, it becomes clear that the early
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church didn't miss a single opportunity to share the gospel.
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In nearly every chapter, you see apostles like Peter and Paul
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stepping into conversations, crowds, and crises with
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boldness, ready to proclaim the name of Jesus.
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Their example challenges us to consider how we might step into
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gospel moments in our own lives. What doors might God open this
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week for you to speak truth, offer hope, or live out your
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faith in a way that points others to Him?
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The story of Acts reminds us we are part of the same mission.
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Today, let's live with eyes open and hearts ready to respond.
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We hope you are challenged by today's message.
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If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to see you in
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person this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St.
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Unit 6B. For more information, visit
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calvarychapelonline.com. You could also join our e-mail
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list, give online, or submit a prayer request right from the
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site. If you can't make it in person,
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be sure to tune in on the Calvary Chapel Westmoreland
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YouTube channel. Subscribe so you never miss new
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teachings. If you were in the Greensburg
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area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency.
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Pray about helping financially support the new station that
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will reach thousands more listeners.
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Send financial gifts to Grace FM, PO Box 716, Greensburg, PA
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15601. Once again, we're so grateful
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you joined us today to be inspired by God's Word.
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Please tune in again for more Living Waters of Grace.