Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / 1 Corinthians 15:9-19 - Evidence Of The Resurrection

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1 Corinthians 15:9-19 - Evidence Of The Resurrection · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  Good morning. Wow, what, what a wonderful
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  worship time. And this is the presence of God
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  in this place and they're so grateful for all of you who have
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  a heart to serve the Lord in different ministries like John
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  is here today. I, I went through that program
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  many years ago in the company I work for in Pittsburgh, an
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  optical company and the owner of the company was a Christian and
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  part of our monthly management meetings were going through
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  experiencing God together. It was really life changing and
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  I'm really at the time I really needed to experience God in the
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  deeper way. So if you feel that way or you
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  need the Lord more, which I believe we all do, take
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  advantage of that class. You won't regret it.
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  Invite some friends too. Maybe they don't want to come to
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  church, but they'll come to the class and then leave after.
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  But I would encourage you to also consider inviting some
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  people that need to, to really experience God.
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  So we're studying the resurrection now.
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  One of the help you guys and as well as myself to understand the
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  critical importance of understanding the literal
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  resurrection of Jesus Christ rising or raising from the dead.
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  Our our faith hinges on this truth.
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  It's pivotal, it's foundational. It's the most important aspect
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  of our belief as Christians. There's no other religion in the
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  world that has a leader and a savior like Jesus Christ who
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  died for our sins and conquered the grave and rose again from
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  the dead. And because he rose again from
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  the dead, that gives all of us as believers the hope that there
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  is truly everlasting life, eternal life.
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  And I don't know about you, but the older I get, the more I'm
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  excited about the fact that this isn't all there is.
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  This is just the beginning. And so we showed a short video
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  last week from the Chosen and it was Jesus coming up to Martha
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  after Lazarus death. And I want to read what that was
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  all about. Verse 17 of John Chapter 11.
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  So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the
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  tomb for days. This is referring to his friend
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  Lazarus. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem,
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  about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the women
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  around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their
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  brother. And we always need comfort.
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  When someone passes away that we love deeply, It's not an
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  immediate recognition that we'll see them again many times
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  because we're believers and we know that there's life after
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  death, the horror of death and the sadness of death and what it
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  does to everyone that goes through it.
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  Family I'm Speaking of and loved ones and friends is unlike any
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  other heartache that anybody could ever experience.
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  But in time God by his Spirit comforts us, the God of all hope
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  and the God of all comfort, and he gets us through the loss of
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  the loved one with the anticipation of the fact that
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  one day we will see each other again.
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  And heaven isn't that wonderful? And so they were grieving.
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  And Martha, she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him.
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  But Mary was sitting in the house.
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  Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother
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  would not have died. But even now I know that
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  whatever you ask of God, God will give you.
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  And Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again.
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  And Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the
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  resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the
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  resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
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  he were dead, yet shall he live, and he that believeth in me
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  shall never die. Do you believe this?
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  And she said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the
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  Christ, the Son of God who has come into the world.
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  And so I've done a lot of funerals in my life as a as a
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  pastor. And I know Pastor Lewis has as
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  well. And this might sound weird or
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  strange, but that's my favorite service to do.
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  Why in the world would I be excited about doing a funeral?
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  Because it's the greatest place to preach the gospel.
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  Most people at a funeral, many times are lost and they don't
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  understand the fact that there is life after death.
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  And if it's the person who passed away who's a Christian,
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  we can really emphasize the fact in that service that they are
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  alive in the Kingdom of God as we speak.
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  Some of you have lost a loved one this past year and you're
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  still grieving. And I remember doing the funeral
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  for your loved one and seeing your face and your expression in
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  the midst of the memorial service, the funeral, and seeing
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  the hope and the glow on your face and the trust and the
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  belief you have, knowing that you'll see your loved one once
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  again in the Kingdom of heaven. There's nothing like that.
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  And then the challenge to the people.
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  I always say like to know my audience when I'm preaching.
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  How many here today believe that there is life after death?
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  Just raise your hand, keep them up for a minute because I want
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  to zero in on you who haven't raised your hand.
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  It looks like we got 100% belief in that, which is awesome, but
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  it's important for us to realize that the belief that we have
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  needs to be communicated to people that have no clue about
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  what the resurrection is all about.
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  So I think about the the mind, how it works, and there's a lot
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  of people that don't believe in life after death for various
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  reasons, philosophical reasons, lack of hearing the gospel of
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  being impacted by smart people that don't know what they're
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  talking about. That that Hawkins got it passed
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  away. The sad he died without any
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  understanding that there was life after death.
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  He just said it's done. The only wisdom he gave to
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  people was whatever you do, do not speak to aliens,
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  supernatural beings. I don't know how he came up with
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  that or what why he said that. But that was one of the things
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  he was known for after he died. But he had no faith and he had
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  debates with believers and and he he just never came to the
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  knowledge of the fact that Jesus died for him and that he needed
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  a savior. Now you may be here today or you
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  may know people that have their reasons why they don't believe
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  that there's life after death. And so in the Bible, Proverbs
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  chapter 3, verse five and six says trust in the Lord with all
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  your heart. Lean not into your own
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  understanding in all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will
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  direct your path. So for us, logic or philosophy
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  is secondary to our thought processes.
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  Intellectually, if we're Christians, we're really
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  Christians. We know the foolishness of man's
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  thought processes and the things that maybe we were taught when
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  we were in school or college or whatever books we read,
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  philosophy books that they have no ability to speak the truth
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  that the Word of God can speak to us.
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  This, this book, this Bible, everything you have need of in
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  your life that means while you're living and while you're
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  preparing to pass on to eternity has the clear answers for what
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  the human heart longs to know. You don't have to buy a bunch of
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  different books of Barnes and Noble to try to convince
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  yourself of some kind of truth. That's a lie written by man.
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  You can go right to the main book, the source of truth, the
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  word of God, which is the words of life from Jesus, and clearly
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  learn the truth and by God's grace and believe the truth.
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  And when you believe the truth, your life changes.
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  When you don't know the truth, your life is very, very dismal
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  and depressing. I can't imagine what it must be
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  like because I've never been in that place where I'd lost a
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  loved one that knows the Lord, that I didn't believe with 100%
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  conviction that I was going to see them again.
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  But that's not what happens to people that don't know Jesus.
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  They're hopeless, they're despairing, they're depressed,
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  they're fatalistic, and they think that life has no purpose
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  or no meaning, no reason. Now, when we study, excuse me,
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  First Corinthians 15, which is where we're at today, there was
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  so much credible documentation historically of eyewitness
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  accounts that saw Jesus after he rose again from the dead.
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  It wasn't like a rumor. It was a reality and people
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  confronted him in his resurrected body after he rose
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  again from the dead on the third day.
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  The evidence is 100% historical, 100% reliable, and 100%
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  convicting for people to be able to trust in and believe in
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  without any shadow of doubt. And so Paul was referencing the
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  different people that had seen Christ.
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  And I'll just read the verses up to where we're going to start
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  today. Moreover, brethren, first one of
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  chapter 15. I declared you the gospel which
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  I preached you, which also you received, in which you stand, by
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  which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I
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  preached you, unless you believed in vain.
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  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received,
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  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and
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  that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
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  according to the Scriptures. So everything we teach,
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  everything we believe, everything we stake our very
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  lives upon is what is found written in this reliable book
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  called the Bible, as was prayed this morning.
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  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's
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  profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and
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  instruction of righteousness, that the person of God may be
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  thoroughly furnished, equipped into living a life that would
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  please God. And the Word of God is sharper
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  than any 2 edged sword. It's able to Pierce and divide
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  asunder the heart and the flesh, the joints in the marrow.
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  It gets into the deep recesses of what makes you a human being
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  and causes you to be alive and to breathe.
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  And it says that that word and the power of the Holy Spirit is
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  a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
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  So today as I'm preaching, I have complete confidence that
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  the Holy Spirit is doing something in your heart that I
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  could never do, and I have no business thinking I could do.
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  It's His word that'll convince you.
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  It's his word that'll convict you.
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  It is his word that will encourage you.
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  And it is his word is what alone can save you from your sin and
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  your despair and your hopelessness.
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  And then he says he was seen by Cephas.
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  That's Peter, the one who denied Jesus.
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  Then by the 12, the rest of the other 11 that were still alive,
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  that you know Judas had committed suicide after
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  betraying and denying. After that he was seen by over
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  500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the
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  present, that some have passed away or fallen asleep.
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  After that he was seen by James. That's the half brother of
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  Jesus. He became the first apostle,
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  first leader in the church in Jerusalem, then by all the
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  apostles, then last of all, he was seen by me also as by one
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  born out of due time. So Paul's now going to give his
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  story about how he came to faith in Jesus Christ.
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  Now he wasn't one of the original 12.
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  He came on the scene much later on and the church in Corinth
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  gave Paul a lot of problems. This this book of Corinthians is
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  a corrective letter for a church.
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  It was really messed up. It had a lot of weird thoughts
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  and actions and ideas and attitudes.
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  And so Paul, being the founder of that church, had written
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  letters to bring them back into a place of biblical stability
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  and reliability. So Paul says I experienced
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  Jesus. Now how did Paul experience
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  Jesus himself? Like to go over to Acts, the
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  book of the Acts, Chapter 9, we're going to read how Paul
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  came to faith in Jesus Christ and what type of person he was.
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  Now, Saul, that's what his name was before he became Paul.
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  The apostle, still breathing threats and murder against the
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  disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked
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  letters from him to the synagogues that Damascus said if
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  he found any who were of the way, meaning people who were
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  following Jesus, whether men or women, he might bring them bound
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  to Jerusalem. So Paul's whole life was
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  involved with persecuting people that believed in Jesus Christ,
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  people like us, to bring them into prison and eventually have
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  them martyred and killed because of their faith in Christ.
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  As he journeyed, he came near Damascus.
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  So this is just like another normal day Paul out there.
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  How many Christians can I get and get him in jail and see him
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  kill that? That was his joy.
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  That was his, his vision in life.
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  And as he's journeying, he comes near Damascus and suddenly a
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  light shone around him from heaven.
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  So this, this bright light. And we believe it's the Shekinah
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  glory, the the very presence of the living God that was seen in
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  the temple in the Old Testament and showed up in specific times
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  when God was really about ready to do a big, big thing in which
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  he is about ready to do in Paul's life.
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  Paul's encompassed by this light.
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  Then he fell to the ground. This light was so bright and so
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  intimidating, it weakened his knees and he fell on his face to
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  the ground. And he heard a voice saying to
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  him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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  This is Jesus himself speaking to Paul vocally.
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  Not only did Paul hear this, but the people who were with Paul
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  actually heard this voice too. And he said, Who are you, Lord?
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  He didn't have to. He didn't have to guess at this
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  point in time. Immediately he knew who he who
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  he was dealing with. He calls him Lord.
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  Then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
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  It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
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  In other words, now that the reality of who I am is being
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  revealed to you, you can't kick against my ways anymore.
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  And so he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what do
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  you want me to do? I wish there was more.
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  People like Paul when they came to faith in Jesus Christ would
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  be like Paul on their face. And the first thing they would
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  say after they got saved was, Lord, what do you want me to do?
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  The world would be completely different, wouldn't it?
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  Then the Lord said to him, Arise and go to into the city, and you
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  will be told what you must do. And the man who journeyed with
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  him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no one.
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  Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened,
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  he saw no one. He was blind because of the
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  light, but they led him by the hand and brought him into
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  Damascus. And he was three days without
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  sight, and neither ate nor drank.
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  I find it interesting how God uses a symbolism of three days.
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  Three days Christ in the tomb rises again.
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  On the third day Paul's blinded for three days.
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  So Paul runs into the sky by the name of Ananias.
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  Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias.
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  And to him the Lord said in the vision, Ananias.
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  And he said, Here I am Lord. And the Lord said to him, Arise
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  and go to the street called Straight and inquire at the
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  House of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus.
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  For behold, he is praying. So not only is Paul waiting for
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  his sight to be recovered and restored, but he's actually
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  talking to God. He's he's having a conversation
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  with him, he's praying. He's he's probably got all kind
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  of thoughts and, and the Lord is communicating to him.
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  And this is wonderful relationship that's beginning to
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  develop now because he's now a follower of Jesus Christ.
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  And in a vision, this Ananias, he's seen a man named Ananias
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  coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive
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  his sight. Fascinating how the Holy Spirit
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  gave Paul this vision that it's going to be OK, You're going to
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  be able to see again this guy Ananias.
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  And Ananias answers, Lord, I've heard from many about this man,
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  how much harm he's done to your Saints in Jerusalem.
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  And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who
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  call upon your name. So Ananias is like checking it
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  out with the Lord. You really sure you want me to
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  go to see this guy Like I'm I'm my knees are shaking and I'm
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  intimidated. I I don't want to I actually
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  don't want to do this. But Ananias is obedient and the
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  Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear
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  my name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.
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  For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my
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  sake. So I I find it fascinating he's
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  telling Ananias like the plan he has for Paul.
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  So think about your own life or the, the person you, you, you
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  see in your, your world is like the worst person you could ever
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  like, want to have a friendship with someone you just like,
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  don't want to be around or or be even even near, like Maduro,
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  right? The guy that just got captured
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  in, in Venezuela, just a wicked, wicked leader and ruler, right?
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  Is that guy beyond God's hand to salvation?
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  Maybe he's going to get saved in, in the American prison here.
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  That would be wild, wouldn't it? That would be cool, right?
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  That's what we should be praying for.
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  Amen. But anyway, we all have our own
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  thought processes about people and what we think should happen.
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  If you were on the planet at the time and you were a Christian in
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  the church in Jerusalem, and all of a sudden you get news that
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  this guy saw who used to kill Christians is now one of God's
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  main spokespeople, what would you think about that?
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  It wouldn't, like, connect right away.
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  There's got to be a mistake. Anybody but Paul, anybody but
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  Saul. And I think about my life and
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  your life and how God saved us from wherever we were and
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  whatever we were doing. I had dreamed last night and I
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  was praying and I was thinking about this message.
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  And, and then all of a sudden, I, I, I sensed that I needed to
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  have a, a life confession. A life confession going back
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  into my earliest years of my sin and rebellion against God and
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  him flashing in front of my eyes and my memory, all the things
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  I've done that were so sinful and ugly in a mess.
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  And just like, I mean, it was, it was graphic, it was painful.
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  It was like, God, can I get a redo?
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  I'd love to have a redo. And he says, yeah, the redo is
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  repentance. I'm long-suffering, I'm
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  forgiving, I'm patient, I'm gentle, I'm merciful.
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  You just come with all that dirt, all that guilt, all that
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  memory stuff, and you and you just give it to me and ask for
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  me to forgive you. And I will forgive you, for I
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  choose to remember your sins no more.
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  How beautiful is that? How good is God?
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  How patient God is. Cindy and I were praying this
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  morning about this message and the importance of God's mercy.
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  And who are we to judge anybody for anything?
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  After you have a life repentance and a life confession, you
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  realize God is gracious, He's patient, and He will receive to
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  Himself anybody that comes to Him with a heart of knowing they
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  need Jesus. And he won't say, huh, Not you.
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  Your list is too long. There's too much dirt, too much
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  baggage, too much. You're beyond help, Clark.
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  You're beyond ever getting saved.
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  God is not like that. He seems to choose like the
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  worst of the worst, and then He chooses to use them for His
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  purposes. That's what's astounding.
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  That's what's so wonderful. So Ananias went his way, entered
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  the house and laying his hands on him, he said brother Saul.
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  And it was cool. He didn't say the Saul.
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  He said brother. He's a brother now in Christ.
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  He's part of the family. The Lord Jesus who appeared to
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  you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive
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  your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales.
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  He was able to see, and he received his sight at once, and
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  he rose and he was baptized. So when he had received food, he
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  was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with
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  the disciples at Damascus. This is fascinating.
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  He, he, he gets saved, he gets filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  And what's the next thing he does?
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  Immediately he's preaching the Christ.
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  And the synagogue said he is the Son of God right away.
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  He's sharing his faith, telling people what Jesus has done for
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  him. Then all who heard were amazed
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  and said, is this not he who destroyed those who called on
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  his name in Jerusalem, and has come here for the purpose, so
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  that he might bring them bound to the chief priest?
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  But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the
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  Jews who dwelled in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the
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  Christ. You talk about an encounter with
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  the Lord and someone who's qualified by the by the Lord to
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  speak to these people in Corinth that were really messed up in
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  their understanding of what this faith in Jesus Christ really is
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  truly all about. And then Paul, he also writes
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  the book of Galatians and he says in Galatians chapter 1,
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  something very fascinating as well.
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  Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through
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  Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead,
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  and all the brethren who are with me.
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  Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus
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  Christ who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us
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  from this present evil age according to the will of God and
• 25:07
  our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.
• 25:10
  Amen. This is several thousand years
• 25:12
  ago and Paul is saying to the church in Galatia that Jesus is
• 25:17
  the one who gave himself for your sins that he might deliver
• 25:21
  you from the present evil age. We're living in an evil age
• 25:24
  right now and he's still the one that delivers people in the
• 25:29
  midst of this evil age from their sins.
• 25:32
  But anyway, Paul then says, I marvel that you are turning away
• 25:35
  so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a
• 25:39
  different gospel. So they were being deceived by
• 25:42
  false teachers and false preachers to to not understand
• 25:46
  the grace of God. They were putting legalism on
• 25:49
  them and they were giving them a bunch of rules and different
• 25:51
  things saying, well, you got to do this.
• 25:53
  If you're really saved, you got to do this.
• 25:55
  And if you if you do this, you're not saved.
• 25:57
  And this a lot of crazy stuff, right?
• 25:59
  And so this different gospel, Paul says is not another, but
• 26:04
  there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel
• 26:08
  of Christ. And then Paul so convicted and
• 26:11
  committed to the truth of what the word of God and the Holy
• 26:14
  Spirit teaches that even if we are an Angel from heaven preach
• 26:18
  any other gospel to you, then what we have preached you.
• 26:22
  Let him be accursed, as we said before.
• 26:25
  And so we say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you
• 26:30
  than what you have received, let him be accursed.
• 26:34
  For do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men?
• 26:38
  For if I still please men, I wouldn't be the bondservant of
• 26:42
  Jesus Christ. So we go back to the Corinthians
• 26:46
  now, First Corinthians 15, and Paul is the spokesperson now to
• 26:53
  this church in Corinth regarding the gospel, the death, the
• 26:57
  burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Paul's testimony
• 27:03
  of grace. This is what Paul begins to to
• 27:07
  speak about regarding his own life.
• 27:12
  He says that I am the least of the apostles in verse 9, who am
• 27:17
  not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the
• 27:21
  Church of God. But by the grace of God, I am
• 27:25
  what I am. And His grace toward me was not
• 27:28
  in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet
• 27:34
  not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
• 27:39
  Where therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so
• 27:43
  you believe. Paul understood the grace of God
• 27:56
  and thank God he did because if he didn't we wouldn't understand
• 28:01
  or have the grace of God. God used him to be the
• 28:04
  spokesperson of the grace of God, not religion, not self
• 28:12
  works, righteousness, earning our way into the presence of
• 28:17
  God's forgiveness, but receiving it freely by the grace of God.
• 28:22
  Nothing you and I could do other than believe for he said Paul
• 28:27
  again. For by grace are you saved
• 28:29
  through faith, and this is not of yourselves.
• 28:32
  It's a gift of God, not of works.
• 28:34
  No one can boast, Amen. No one can boast.
• 28:40
  Paul received the grace and he gives the grace of God to others
• 28:46
  because he so was full of it and aware of it.
• 28:51
  Now if Christ is preached in verse 12 that he's been raised
• 28:58
  from the dead, how do some of among you say that there is no
• 29:03
  resurrection of the dead? Paul talked about the importance
• 29:12
  of of working for Jesus and he talked about his relationship
• 29:19
  along with the other apostles. And Paul wasn't working for
• 29:24
  salvation anymore or never did work for salvation.
• 29:27
  He was working his heart out for the sake of people to know Jesus
• 29:34
  Christ. This was on his thought in the
• 29:37
  morning when he got up and before he went to bed at night.
• 29:40
  Who can I tell about Jesus? There's a lot of work to be done
• 29:46
  and it can't be done by one person.
• 29:49
  Jesus said go into all the world as we speak into his disciples
• 29:53
  and preach the gospel to every living creature.
• 29:57
  Your responsibility and my responsibility is to share our
• 30:01
  faith as we're able by the power of the Holy Spirit with people
• 30:06
  who need to know the gospel. Paul was always looking for
• 30:12
  opportunities and ways to to change the conversation as we'll
• 30:17
  have the training in a couple weeks, I guess coming up to
• 30:20
  learn how to share your faith with people.
• 30:22
  A lot of people don't share their faith because they're
• 30:24
  intimidated. They don't know how.
• 30:26
  I encourage you to come to that training with Fred and Gideon's
• 30:30
  training. But there's nothing like sharing
• 30:35
  your faith and seeing someone get saved.
• 30:40
  It's, it's better than hitting the lottery.
• 30:42
  Believe me, I never hit the lottery but I know it's better
• 30:47
  when you see someone come alive and their whole life changes and
• 30:52
  you begin to hear them tell you, all I want to do is become a
• 30:55
  better person. I want my life to change.
• 30:59
  I don't want to do the same things I used to do.
• 31:01
  I'm working with a young man now that this got saved recently.
• 31:04
  He was telling me yesterday up here in the front of your
• 31:07
  praying the new believers Bible. All he wants to do is become
• 31:13
  more like Jesus and to see the hunger and the thirst and his
• 31:18
  life for the word of God and the understanding of his need of the
• 31:22
  Holy Spirit at a young age, 18 years old.
• 31:28
  Here I am, 75 in February, sitting with a guy.
• 31:33
  He's got his whole life ahead of him, ahead of himself.
• 31:36
  I'm thinking if he can catch this now and understand the
• 31:40
  power of the Holy Spirit in his life, oh ha, I'd love to trade
• 31:45
  places with him and get a get another shot, knowing what I
• 31:49
  know now. But I pray that Lord will use me
• 31:51
  to encourage him to to go deeper and to be used mightily.
• 31:56
  And the Lord, but that that was Paul's whole effort, his
• 31:59
  emphasis and his life every day. So now he's, he's saying this
• 32:03
  thing to them about him being the least of the apostles and
• 32:07
  not worthy to be called an apostle.
• 32:09
  And all these different thoughts and processes and comments he
• 32:13
  had about himself. It's interesting because
• 32:17
  everything he did, everything I'm doing, everything you do in
• 32:20
  regard to the Kingdom work is by grace, right?
• 32:24
  It's all by God's grace that we do what we do.
• 32:27
  So God does this work in you, gives you favor, gives me favor.
• 32:31
  And then his expectation of us is we're not going to be
• 32:35
  perfect. But boy, one thing he he's
• 32:37
  definitely like focus on. I hope you guys want to share
• 32:41
  this with other people because someone had to share it with you
• 32:44
  for you to know. So share this with other people
• 32:48
  so they can know. And Paul didn't rest in his
• 32:51
  laurels. He didn't want to be receiving
• 32:55
  this grace of God and being passive.
• 32:57
  He wanted to be active in his faith and sharing it with other
• 33:01
  people. He said in First Corinthians 39,
• 33:04
  we are God's fellow workers. So I was praying with Pastor
• 33:08
  Lewis this morning and he was talking about the work that
• 33:10
  needs to be done, the hard work that needs to be done in order
• 33:14
  for God's Kingdom to be brought on earth as it is in heaven.
• 33:19
  And it comes by everybody being mobilized and using their
• 33:23
  gifting and, and sharing what it is that God wants us to do.
• 33:29
  And a lot of Christians, they struggle at this point.
• 33:32
  They say, well, what am I supposed to do?
• 33:33
  And what, how, how do I do it? And you got to trust God.
• 33:40
  You got to have a heart like Jesus, obviously.
• 33:42
  And when he comes into your life, he gives you his heart
• 33:45
  that you begin to care about other people more than you care
• 33:48
  about yourself. Self love is one of the biggest
• 33:53
  sins that we all have. We, we love ourselves, we watch
• 33:57
  out for ourselves, we care about ourselves.
• 34:00
  We need to think about ourselves, right?
• 34:02
  But not obsessively where we're not thinking about other people
• 34:05
  and first of all, thinking about what it is the Lord wants us to
• 34:09
  do. So we need to go to work and
• 34:12
  work hard as you possibly can so that God's work and his plan in
• 34:19
  your life is accomplished. I often think about let when I
• 34:23
  pass and I'm in the presence of God and I'm in that like fire
• 34:27
  where he's trying my works and whatever was done by the Spirit
• 34:31
  of God for the glory of God comes out gold, silver, precious
• 34:35
  stone and whatever was about Clark, is this going to burn?
• 34:38
  I pray that there's some evidence when I'm before the
• 34:41
  Lord that my life was lived for a purpose that was worthwhile as
• 34:45
  opposed to wasting my life on social media or some other
• 34:49
  stupid thing, right? You got a phone, I'm sure, and
• 34:56
  it tells you how how many hours you're on social media.
• 34:59
  It's sort of embarrassing, isn't it?
• 35:01
  It's encouraging to say, well, last week it was 9 hours, this
• 35:04
  week at six hours. That's a step in the right
• 35:05
  direction. Maybe eventually it would be 10
• 35:08
  minutes because most of that stuff isn't even worth looking
• 35:11
  at, right? So I don't want to live my life
• 35:16
  in vain. And I'm sure you don't either,
• 35:19
  right? So he goes on to to talk about
• 35:22
  this debate. Why are some of you, and these
• 35:25
  are Corinthian believers supposedly that say there's no
• 35:29
  resurrection of the dead? And I'm going to read something
• 35:33
  here. Fascinating because like this is
• 35:36
  circular thought. If you read these verses and I'm
• 35:38
  sure you have in a path, you're like, what's he saying?
• 35:42
  Who's he talking to? Who has the problem?
• 35:45
  Is there some people that really don't believe he rose again from
• 35:48
  the dead? That wasn't the case.
• 35:50
  They all believed that Jesus rose from the dead.
• 35:53
  The issue was they didn't believe that they'd raised from
• 35:56
  the dead. OK, that that's that's the
• 36:00
  issue. So.
• 36:02
  So where does this thought come from?
• 36:07
  One must always be careful to separate people's personal
• 36:10
  beliefs from the church. Teaching popular traditions and
• 36:15
  personal beliefs have a way of taking a life of its own, as in
• 36:19
  the case of this text and this issue.
• 36:22
  Paul's face with the situation in Corinth that needed an
• 36:25
  immediate nipping in the bud and the matter and the question
• 36:29
  concerned the central belief They carried on their shoulder
• 36:37
  these false teachings. They probably had been under the
• 36:40
  influence of what's called Phelonic wisdom or philosophy.
• 36:44
  Phelonic was a an early philosopher and his writings
• 36:49
  were fascinating, but the whole focus was the writings and the
• 36:54
  philosophy of men were superseding the teachings of the
• 36:58
  Word of God. And this wisdom came in the
• 37:02
  sense that they believed that they already possessed eternal
• 37:06
  life. Well, that's a step in the right
• 37:07
  direction. The Christian and Corinth
• 37:09
  believed that they had eternal life, but to them the
• 37:14
  resurrection of the body would have been meaningless because
• 37:17
  they principally attached no importance to the body.
• 37:22
  So there's people that live on the face of the earth that think
• 37:25
  the body is no good, it's worthless.
• 37:27
  It's just a tent to walk around and do your life in and when you
• 37:31
  die, there's no more need or importance of it.
• 37:34
  Well, the body is sacred and and God created it.
• 37:39
  It's so beautiful that whenever Jesus was on the Mount of
• 37:43
  Transfiguration, in his glorified state before his death
• 37:48
  and burial, resurrection, guess who showed up with him and
• 37:50
  physical bodies that were recognizable?
• 37:54
  Moses and Elijah, right, they could be seen Peter, James and
• 38:01
  John were there seeing this whole miraculous thing before
• 38:04
  their eyes. They were blown away and they
• 38:07
  they saw Jesus shining as he truly is, the glorified Savior.
• 38:12
  And we'll see him in heaven that way, this glowing and shining
• 38:16
  with brightness that is beyond comprehension.
• 38:20
  But the human beings, the sinful human beings, Moses and Elijah
• 38:26
  were alive and well in physical bodies, proving that there is
• 38:31
  life beyond the grave. And there was a temporal body
• 38:34
  because of the restoration of the physical body at the final
• 38:37
  resurrection hasn't occurred yet.
• 38:39
  But nonetheless, Vince, if you went to heaven tomorrow, you're
• 38:44
  going to see her. You're going to recognize her.
• 38:47
  She's going to be beautiful as she was here, and she's going to
• 38:51
  be strong and healthy and just, it's going to be awesome, right?
• 38:57
  And all you have lost loved ones.
• 39:00
  You're going to see them and you're going to be able to touch
• 39:04
  them and feel them. So what could have brought about
• 39:10
  such a thought? Corinth, and we studied this in
• 39:13
  the beginning chapters as a home to many popular mystery
• 39:16
  religions. The New Age religion was back in
• 39:19
  Corinth. Believe me it this didn't start
• 39:21
  in the in the 60s, which I've written and spoke about
• 39:26
  previously. These mystery cults claim that
• 39:29
  their initiates had already overcome death and we're living
• 39:32
  the life of the gods. While this is what we know about
• 39:35
  the mystery religions of that time, we can't be sure what
• 39:38
  extent these ideas influenced Corinthians.
• 39:41
  The Greek philosophy looked down on the resurrection is
• 39:44
  undesirable. They thought a pure spirit to be
• 39:47
  superior to a resurrected body. But within Judaism, we also know
• 39:52
  that the Sadducees remember the Sadducees.
• 39:55
  They were Sadducee because they didn't believe in the
• 39:57
  resurrection. They rejected the resurrection.
• 40:00
  They thought that the world beyond the dead was just wishful
• 40:04
  thinking. The bottom line is that some of
• 40:06
  the Corinthian Christians believe that they lived forever,
• 40:10
  but not in resurrected bodies. So that's heresy.
• 40:17
  So anybody that doesn't believe in the literal resurrection of
• 40:20
  the dead or what the true gospel is, is believing a false gospel
• 40:25
  and a lie. The Paul's reply to the
• 40:31
  Corinthians that Christians denying the dead men are raised.
• 40:35
  It's important to note the form of his argument is a circular
• 40:39
  one designed to reduce a logical absurdity.
• 40:42
  The position of his opponents. Paul shows how the resurrection
• 40:46
  of Jesus not and he proves his own resurrection, but it proves
• 40:51
  the principle of resurrection. He answers them head on.
• 40:54
  How can some of you say there's no resurrection of the dead?
• 40:57
  If there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not
• 41:00
  been raised, and then our proclamation has been in vain,
• 41:05
  and your faith is in vain. Paul says that there's several
• 41:09
  consequences of such a belief, and it goes on to highlight
• 41:12
  these things. Jesus was truly man and truly
• 41:18
  God. This physical resurrection of
• 41:20
  Christ from the dead is critical and pivotal to prove that He
• 41:25
  truly is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
• 41:29
  The reality of Christ's resurrection.
• 41:32
  The Christian faith is the foundation of what is, what we
• 41:38
  stand on, what we believe. So do you see how important this
• 41:41
  teaching on the resurrection is? I'm not scooting through this
• 41:44
  fast. I want to go through it slow.
• 41:47
  So not only do you understand the truth and the validity of
• 41:50
  it, but it it's going to impact your personal life as you move
• 41:55
  closer to death yourself or loved ones.
• 41:57
  You're going to be able to tell them Jesus said I am the
• 42:00
  resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me though
• 42:03
  he were dead, yet shall he live, and he that believeth in me
• 42:07
  shall never die. Hallelujah, That's it.
• 42:14
  If we're not excited about this, we might as well turn the lights
• 42:18
  out, shut the building down, give the money away, it's in the
• 42:22
  bank account and just go live your life and do whatever you
• 42:25
  want to do. Who wants to do that?
• 42:28
  We got to keep on keeping on, keep on preaching the truth,
• 42:32
  keep on loving people, keep on sharing the gospel.
• 42:35
  I love it when I run into people in Calvary and they tell me,
• 42:38
  boy, I'm so excited. I got to tell someone about
• 42:40
  Jesus this week. Ted was telling someone about
• 42:43
  Jesus in the supermarket the other day.
• 42:45
  He's telling telling me and Lewis about it.
• 42:48
  My friend Gary's telling me people he runs into in the
• 42:50
  business world, he loves to tell them about what Jesus did for
• 42:54
  him. And you all you guys are like
• 42:56
  this. Keep doing it.
• 42:57
  This is what it's about. Christ died for our sins
• 43:01
  according to the scriptures. He was buried and he rose again
• 43:04
  the third day according to the gospel in the scriptures.
• 43:10
  There's a worship team can come forward.
• 43:12
  I woke some of you up, John. You woke up and I was yelling.
• 43:15
  You know, I do it more often, John.
• 43:18
  John listens even when he's sleeping.
• 43:20
  So that's good. Because you know, Joe folks,
• 43:23
  your pastor in Philly says I'd rather you fall asleep in church
• 43:27
  because at least like subliminally something's coming
• 43:30
  into your conscience. You'll, you'll remember what the
• 43:32
  Holy Spirit gives you, right? So that's a good thing.
• 43:35
  Well, let's take the Lord's Supper and we'll we'll continue
• 43:39
  in Corinthians next week and praise the Lord.
• 43:54
  Thank you for your hearts, for the Lord.
• 43:57
  I, Lewis and I were so blessed. We come here and you're hungry
• 44:00
  for Jesus. You're desperate for Jesus.
• 44:03
  You want to know him better, You want to follow him closer, You
• 44:06
  want to become more like him. That proves that you're a
• 44:09
  Christian. That proves that you know him
• 44:13
  and you got a heart that you want your loved ones to know him
• 44:16
  too. So we just keep, keep on keeping
• 44:19
  on. Lord Jesus, we're so grateful.
• 44:21
  Thank you for the Apostle Paul. Thank you for working in his
• 44:26
  life. Thank you for giving him the
• 44:27
  grace to do what he did until he was martyred.
• 44:31
  He was in prison. He's preaching the gospel.
• 44:33
  He was in the chains. He was preaching the gospel.
• 44:36
  He was in the streets of an empire that hated Christianity,
• 44:41
  much like our own country today. It didn't stop him, he just kept
• 44:46
  sharing Jesus with people. Lord, enable us to do that this
• 44:51
  week. Enable us to do it today with
• 44:54
  our loved ones, living on our faith and letting people see you
• 44:58
  in us. What really matters to us,
• 45:01
  what's most important to us, is you, Lord.
• 45:04
  It's because of your grace. You come after us, Lord, you
• 45:09
  chase us down. You grind away the vanity in the
• 45:14
  immaturity and our weaknesses, Lord, and you show us really
• 45:18
  what is most important to live for.
• 45:21
  Bless these dear people, Lord, Continually favor them and their
• 45:25
  marriages and singleness and kids and little kids next door.
• 45:30
  And this all the things you're doing on the air, on the Grace
• 45:33
  FM, on the YouTube, in the lives of each believer in this church,
• 45:38
  Father. Use them mightily, Father, so
• 45:41
  that our faith is not in vain, that we didn't waste our life,
• 45:47
  that we'll finish well, all of us together.
• 45:51
  And Lord, you've given us this supper to have frequently, to be
• 45:56
  reminded of what's most important, how we're learning to
• 46:01
  love you more, and how much you love us and how patient you are
• 46:06
  to us. Lord, on the night that Jesus is
• 46:10
  betrayed, he took the bread in his hands and he broke it and he
• 46:13
  gave thanks and he said, this is my body which is given for you.
• 46:19
  Eat this remembrance of me the same manner that night He took
• 46:32
  the cup, and he said, This cup is a new covenant in my blood
• 46:37
  which is shed for the forgiveness of sins of many.
• 46:40
  Drink this in remembrance of me for His awesomely eat the spread
• 46:48
  and we drank this cup. We show forth the Lord's death
• 46:52
  till he comes again. God bless you guys.
• 46:55
  Thank you for listening. Have a great week.