Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24439 - God Will Do What It Takes To Stir You Up - Acts 8:1-5

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#24439 - God Will Do What It Takes To Stir You Up - Acts 8:1-5 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's word with pastor and author.
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Ed, Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora,
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Colorado to learn more about the many resources available,
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through abounding Grace, Media, or to tune into our live stream
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Services. Visit us online at Calvary,
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co.'s Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now, here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Hey man, would you take your
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Bibles and open them to Acts chapter 8.
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We start a new chapter today in our verse by verse study,
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through the book of Acts. We're learning how it is to be
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the church. Not just talk about the church,
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not just think about the church, but we have a responsibility to
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be the church because we are the church.
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It's not a building, not a location, but we are the very
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Temple of the Holy Spirit and the title of our message today
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is God will do. What it takes to stir you up,
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God will do what it takes to stir you up.
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And the reason why is because we have a tendency to settle down
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into Times of comfort and ease. It's a very natural response to
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living life and I'm sure you've noticed just how easy it is to
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settle down to be in a place of comfort and ease or we might
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even describe that as coasting along or Our way that that's
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described as phoning it in, you're not really making major
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progress, taking steps of Faith but you're also not going
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backwards at the same time, you're just coasting along and
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you liked it. But let me say to you today that
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coasting along as a believer in Jesus is not a good place to be.
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It's God's desire that you are continually moving and growing
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going from glory to glory and strength.
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The string, Peter would Put it this way in second Peter, you
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can just jot it down in chapter 3 in verse 17.
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He said this you. Therefore beloved since, you
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know, this beforehand beware lest you also fall from your own
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steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked,
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but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and
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Savior. Jesus Christ to him, be the
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glory, both now and forever. It is God's will for you and I
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to To grow in his grace and his knowledge, it's God's will for
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you. And I not to fall from our
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steadfastness and the early church here by the time we get
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to chapter 8 in the book of Acts is in a relatively good place.
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And the reason why they're in a relatively good place is because
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of their steadfastness. You remember back in Acts?
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Chapter 2 and verse 42, we learn one of the secrets of their
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strength and the Bible says that they continued steadfastly.
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SLI in the apostles Doctrine in prayer and fellowship and in the
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breaking of bread, they were a steadfast community of Jesus
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followers who continued on going forward, and they come to a
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place in chapter 8, where now, God is going to stir them up,
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why? Because they need to be stirred
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up up until this point, they've been very faithful in Jerusalem.
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They've been very faithful in ministering the gospel in their
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home. Base and their city.
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But again, hold your places in chapter 8, turn back to chapter
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1. It wasn't God's will for them to
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be faithful only in Jerusalem. There was a much broader calling
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upon their lives. Even today.
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There's a much broader calling on your life but remember,
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before Pentecost, Jesus before he ascended into heaven, his
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final words to the Believers are found here in verse 8 of chapter
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1, speaking about the coming of the Holy Spirit.
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What he said, but you shall receive power when the Holy
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Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in
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Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the
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Earth and so far, some commentators believe it's been
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about a year now, from the beginning of the church to
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chapter 8, so far, the church has been very faithful in
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Jerusalem. You could say that the early
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church Church is not really in Disobedience by the time we get
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to chapter 7 and 8 but they're also not really moving out to
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obey. Acts 1:8 either, they're just
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coasting along they're comfortable and content.
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But in a dangerous way instead of reaching out they've sort old
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sort of huddled together. Kind of like a little holy
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Christian Church huddle we're going to hang out with my
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Christian friends, do my Christian thing and we're just
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let the world go and be the But that's not God's will for your
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life, the call of God in your life then for the Believers
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then. And for us now is to infiltrate
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this culture not to isolate ourselves and I mean especially
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in a season of where our world is just going south, very
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rapidly, just like God predicted would happen in the last days.
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There is this temptation for the church just to pull away, run
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away isolate and let the world be the world.
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You know, I wouldn't be unusual. Unusual to go.
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You know what the world's going so far away from God.
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And so Antichrist, we should just get together with a group
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of Believers and go to the Rocky Mountains and live in a cave
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together. You know what, you're not going
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to like that very much because Believers have issues, too.
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And you're not going to be able to hide away from the way that
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sin has affected you, and me, and by the way, it's not God's
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will for you to run away to the mountains and leave the loss to
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be lost. He wants you to infiltrate.
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You are in this world. To not of this world.
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The Bible says and you are the very messengers of the Gospel,
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the heart of our church. When disciple and sinned, and
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every moment of every day you are sent into a very challenging
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culture that needs to see the salt and the light needs to
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experience. What a real believer looks like
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and sounds like it. It is the Great.
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Commission. Matthew chapter 28, and verse
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19, go, therefore, and make disciples.
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And if we choose just to hang around in a holy huddle, then
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we're going to miss out what God has for our lives.
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I mean, I think of this, all of our church, you know, it wasn't
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many years ago that our church was just 30 people or so, that's
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how things started. I mean, we go, 3040, I teach a
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great message. We go back down to 10, you know,
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that's how it was in the early days.
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And, and there was a Since though in those early days of
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this smaller group and you know we're just thinking oh it can't
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get better than this. And we're enjoying fellowship
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with one another and all that God wants to do.
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But occasionally there were those would say I love this so
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much. I don't want the church to grow
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and you're like what you don't want the church to grow that
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position alone is antithesis. It is the exact opposite of the
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love of God. The love of God.
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It is that the church grows that men and women they come out of
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the darkness and they come into the light that their sins are
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forgiven. It is God's will that the church
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grows not to stay in these little hole and, you know, as
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the church has grown. It's not just 100 little holy
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huddle. Now it's many and you have to
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guard yourself against just hanging out with other
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Christians talking Christian things and just having your own
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little holy Huddle's and not caring for the Lost.
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Even praying for the Lost, stepping into the lives of
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people that are outside of your regular group of friends, that's
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the Heart of Jesus. And that's where the early
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church is. I think, in some ways they're
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enjoying the ministry and the faithfulness of God in
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Jerusalem, and they're not necessarily in any kind of sin,
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but they're in a very dangerous place.
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They're not going backwards. Like, they're not in some state
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of Disobedience, they're not in a place of being prodigals, but
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they're also not pressing in and stepping out and they're just, I
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guess, you could say they're stagnant in some ways
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complacent. And let me just say I'm certain
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those words. Describe some of you today.
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Either here, listening to me downstairs on the radio online
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that you're just stagnant and complacent and you're content
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with where you are but not in a good way.
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God is reminding us today that he'll do whatever it takes to
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stir you up in love and good works.
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For some of you can just be a simple command that God wants to
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stir up and say okay, stir me up, Lord but others, it'll be
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circumstances for the early church.
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It was great, persecution. Notice with me, in verse 1 of
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chapter 8, it says, now Saul was consenting to his death at that
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time, a great persecution arose against the church, which was at
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Jerusalem, and they were all Goddard throughout the regions
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of Judea and Samaria except the apostles again.
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There are no chapter breaks, no verses in the original, Greek
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text. So this is going to read
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straight through the religious rulers, just stoned and murdered
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Stephen. The first martyr Jesus is
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standing to receive the first martyr in heaven and here they
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are Saul watching it. All says that he consented or he
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agreed, or he had a vote in the matter which many believe this
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is a prove that Paul is a young man was a part of the Sanhedrin,
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part of the religious rulers. We learned last time that they
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laid all the coats down before him and Saul's approving of it
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all. And this greatly affects him a
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greatly affects him. Saul is having to deal with the
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reality of everything that he heard.
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Everything he knows in the scriptures, everything that he's
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watching the final words of Stephen.
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It's all Opening to him, and what happens.
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The early church is experience up to this point.
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Great grace, they've experienced up to this point.
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Great power, they've experienced up to this point.
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Great pretense ananias and Sapphira and now they're
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experiencing great and widespread persecution and Satan
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the devil. Our enemy himself may try to use
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persecution to intimidate and scare us but God always uses it
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to spread the Gospel. It's always a Clarion call.
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Whenever pressure comes upon the church whenever difficulties
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come in, you know, that God is going to use those difficulties
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for the purposes of spreading the gospel, and it doesn't shut
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the gospel down as much as you would think the devil's learned
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that by now, it doesn't stop the gospel.
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I mean, you look at the history of the church today you and I
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are a part of the church because the church has withstood every
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single persecution it's ever faced.
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I mean, I look at it in the context of our own country and
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our own times in the last few years and there's been great
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pressure upon the church and great things to come against the
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church and man, listening to some Pastor these days.
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They make it sound like Jesus is a wimp.
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Oh, we've got to fight and stand up and we got to go and like,
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Jesus can't do it without us. He's just fine without you
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believe me. He is the king of kings and the
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Lord of lords, and he is the one building his church.
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And as you watch persecution, I I want you to be careful.
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As you reading the book of Acts or persecution all throughout
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church history. God has always used persecution
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and pressure to spread the gospel.
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It is never stopped the church. It only in boldin's.
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The church to press on to move forward with a singular purpose
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of the Gospel. That's the key.
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You want to be careful, not to adopt other things and that
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their methodologies, that would dilute the The power of the
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Gospel. What is the gospel?
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The gospel is the good news that your sins can be forgiven.
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That it puts you on the other end of the god, that loves you.
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That you can escape the Judgment in the wrath of God.
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Why? Because he loved you so much
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that he sent his only begotten son to die in your behalf and
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that if you will, repent of your sins today.
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Oh, by the way, the very beginning of the Gospel actually
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starts like this, you are Center separated from God, that is the
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condition of your life. Apart from God, or you could say
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it this way, the Bible puts it this way, we have all sinned and
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fallen short of the glory of God, and that you need to
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understand the wages of sin is death.
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But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our
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lord that if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and
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believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you
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will be saved. If the gospel is more powerful
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than any other mechanism of change on the Earth today and
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Jesus is still saving Souls, if the church ever gets sidetracked
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on something other than the gospel.
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If the church ever tries to mix the gospel with something else,
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it dilutes its power and then the church becomes a laughing
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stock because the only Power of change Paul would even put it
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this way in Rome, he to the Romans he would tell them.
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The Romans are City. Rome was just a city of great,
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debauchery and sin, and Antichrist behavior.
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And what did Paul wrote to them? I am not ashamed of the gospel
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for it is the power of God unto salvation, for all, who believe
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the Jew first. And also, for the Greek, or the
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Gentile. That is God's heart.
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And that's what the early church is going to learn.
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They don't put up a fight, they just go with the flow of the
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spirit, they don't defend themselves, they just continue
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to do. What God's calling to do, even
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if it means death dying as Stephen did.
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So the devil tries to use persecution to smother God's
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work to dilute God's work to distract God's workers, but God
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will use it to build you up. You can jot it down again.
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In first John chapter 4 and verse 4 says you are of God
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little children and overcome them because he who is in you is
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greater Greater than he who is in the world, isn't that good?
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He who is in, you is greater than he who is in the world.
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And so God is going to use the same persecution to spread the
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gospel to build your faith and to encourage you, I think of the
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church in China before the cultural revolution in China, in
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the 1940s, some estimate, there were about 800 thousand,
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Believers in China and roughly 600 missionaries and then in the
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1940s, everything changed. The government completely
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changed, they come down hard on Christians, they expel all the
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missionaries and the church has to go underground and of course,
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we all know not Underground. The underground church today has
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grown to hundreds of millions of Believers.
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And you know what? There are people in, this is
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something that might be humbling to you, but there are people in
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China right now, praying about coming to the u.s. to evangelize
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you and praying for our church, they look at the church in the
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west, and they go. What is wrong with them?
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Where have they gone, what have they done?
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And there are people, you know, the underground Church in India,
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the underground Church in North Korea, the church in South
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Korea, the church underground Church in China, they are
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praying for us in many ways sending missionaries to the
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states. In order to evangelize the
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United States because they see such a great need Among Us
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That's why even though persecution is horrible, it's
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inevitable. Jesus said that in this world,
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you will have tribulation but respond with good cheer because
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he's overcome the world and even though it comes, it never hurts
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the church in the long run. God is always working Among Us.
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Persecution does to the church. What wind does to seed it
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scatters it only to produce a greater Harvest.
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If you like to write in your Bibles in there in verse 1, I
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want you to circle the phrase, great persecution, great
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persecution. And that the end in verse 1
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toward the end, it says scattered circle, the word
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scattered and then you can write a little arrow between the two
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because great persecution leads to a scattering, a moving God
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uses disruptions in our lives. To move us from one place to
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another. Again, I think of the last few
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years of very hard, very challenging, lots of decisions,
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lots of division, and then, you sort of, get out of the last
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couple years and everybody's going, I just wanted to go back
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to normal. I just wanted to go back to
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normal. It will never go back to normal.
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God doesn't want you to live in normal.
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He's taking you in a new direction.
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There's a new fault. He's taking us forward, not
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backward. And he's taking us forward
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before the gospel. That's God's heart for you.
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Even some of you might be clinging, I wish you would go
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back to the way it was. It will never go back to the way
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it was. God is doing a new thing among
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us using the steady steadfastness of his word that
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never changes. The God is moving us forward,
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and he wants us to participate. You use, whatever it is a stir
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you up. He won't let you settle and I
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want you to think of the persecution just here with
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Steven a chapter 7, the religious Rulers, like they
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felt, I believe with Jesus, they have just taken out one, strong
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voice, this man, Stephen they've wiped out Stephen and silenced
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one voice. But little did they realize that
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murdering Stephen? They were Awakening.
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Many more voices to take his place so many replace the one.
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And Saul here is consenting to it.
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All Saul doesn't know how his life is going to go.
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You got to remember that. We have the advantage.
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We know how it's going to go down.
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We know there's a chapter 9. We know Saul becomes Paul.
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We have that knowledge, but Saul doesn't know what's going on in
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his life and the church doesn't know, either, they don't know
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that this guy that's coming after them.
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Wreaking havoc in their lives is going to get saved and write
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most of the New Testament. They solved doesn't know that.
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This group is going from Judea Samaria in this persecution,
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that it will be him. A few years later that is used
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to start the worldwide Mission with a guy by the name of
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Barnabas. He doesn't know any of that yet.
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He is living with this anger and frustration against the church
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single-handedly wanting to take it out.
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Notice in verse 2. It says devout.
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Men carried Stephen to his burial and they make great
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lamentation over him. So it's a very sad.
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A time, very challenging, very difficult.
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And in this sad challenging difficult time verse 3.
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As for Seoul, he made Havoc of the church entering every house
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dragging off men and women committing them to prison.
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Again, if you like to ride in your Bibles and verse 3 circle,
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the word Havoc, it means injury isyou know to injure someone it
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also means ravaging someone It speaks to us of like a wild
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brutal animal. That's how saws acting right
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now. He's acting like an animal
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killing imprisoning intimidating.
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I mean, he's very mean. Here dragging out women innocent
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men and women who have done nothing wrong, but if gone
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against his religious ideology he's single-handedly.
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Wiping people out throwing him in prison.
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After they've I mean this church.
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Has been through great persecution from the very
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beginning in order to step into following Messiah.
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You'll recall, we learn this all throughout our study in Hebrews,
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they had to leave everything and everyone they needed to make a
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higher decision of Love toward Christ, no matter the cost.
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It's a cost that not all of us. Although some of us have paid
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parts of this family is turned on us, upset with us, won't
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involve on I get that some of us have experience on a smaller
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scale. The great pain of people turning
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against you because of your faith.
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But here is a group of people, the very Foundation, is they
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lost it all? Then they come together and it's
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no, it's no surprise that they would want to hang out with one
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another and encourage one, another and share, what little
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they have with each other and some of them sold land.
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And they gave all the proceeds because this is all they had.
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And I know that many of you and your church family and your
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church life, whether you experience it now or in the near
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future, we have found that some relationships in the body of
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Christ, can be closer than even our own blood relations, because
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there's a spiritual connection that isn't always shared with
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those that are closest to us. That's them.
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They lost a very Stephen was a stellar, man.
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He was someone that that was used greatly of God.
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A faithful man. He was, you could say their
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spokesperson not one of the Apostles, but another generation
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and the reward is they saw another one of the men that they
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love like Jesus viciously murdered.
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In this case, he was stoned to death, which is a horrible way
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to die. And salt takes advantage of
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their weakness. It doesn't make sense.
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You would think when you're hurting, you get immediate
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Comfort, but there are those that like to take advantage of
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your weakness. Unfortunately.
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And so you're in a weekend, stay in there.
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Just like, man, the enemies just pressing in harder and harder.
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Some of you might even have asked this question, when will
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it let up or as we read in the psalm?
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Today, Psalm 86, hey, I called out to the Lord in my trouble.
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Isn't it trouble that often calls causes you to cry out to
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God? And you know, Saul here he is.
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This bothered him. I believe the rest of his life.
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This this scenario his attitude in this brief part of his life,
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bothered him, we know because he mentions it many times later on
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in his writings. It's one of the reasons why I
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believe when Paul came to that place where he's writing to the
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Corinthians and he pleads with God, three times to remove that
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thorn in his side. I believe part of that
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difficulty in his life was regret over his past.
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That he could just never Shake how bad he was and how he
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treated people, all in the name of God.
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Now, for some of you, you came from a very difficult background
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like me. I got saved later in life.
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Lived a very rebellious life against God and those around me.
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And and I can relate to that thought because there are many
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things that I regret, I don't dwell on them, but they just
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come back and it becomes a real battle in my mind.
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A real spiritual Battle of just having to deal with the
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realities of my past. Sometimes it may come out like
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this. You may look at your past and
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you go, you know what? If I knew then what I know now,
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I wouldn't have made you ever think that way that's the, but
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think about in a heaviness of like, oh, it's so much.
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So Paul would give to us some of the most encouraging scriptures
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on how to deal with our past. How can we not think of Romans
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8:1 there is therefore now, no condemnation for those that are
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in Christ, I think of Again, where Paul was writing to the
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Corinthians and he said there is the that you are now a new
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creation in. Christ, old things have passed
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away and all things have become new, you know, Paul, he dealt
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with this his whole life and First Corinthians, I'm we're not
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going to this could be a good Bible study in and of itself.
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But when won't develop it I'll just give you the scriptures in
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First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 9.
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He mentions his unworthiness. In Galatians, chapter 1 and
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verse 13. Paul looks back and he admits
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that he tried to destroy the church.
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When he wrote in Galatians chapter 5 of The Works of the
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flesh, he didn't mention them all.
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But one of the ones that he mentioned was an outburst of
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Wrath, we learn in Acts chapter 9, that he was an angry man.
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He would Breathe In and Out threats and murder and here we
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see in verse 3, he creates Havoc among innocent And then later at
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toward the end of his life when he's writing, and he's just so
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close to seeing the Lord himself.
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You know, he describes himself as the chief of sinners.
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Now, Paul saw some centers in his life and experience a lot of
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sin as he went with the gospel into various parts of the world.
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But as he sitting down to encourage young Timothy
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considering Timothy's Ministry, having to consider his own, his
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conclusion is I've seen a lot of sinners in my life, but I'm the
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worst. I'm the worst.
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And today God would remind you even as you assess your own
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life, that there is no condemnation for you.
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Perhaps like Paul your past bothers, you.
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But you need to move forward. Trusting that God has a new
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Fresh work for you. You can't live in the past.
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Here are Saul of Tarsus is on the, he's before he still living
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in Rebellion against God. And he's both physically and
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emotionally hurtful to people with no shame, no shame.
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I don't want you to get in the picture, I don't want you to get
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the in your mind, you know, when it says the persecution is
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coming, saw and others are coming as a church and the
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church scatters and they leave Jerusalem.
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I don't want you to associate that with just moving to another
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city, like like they have a you Haul truck and they're packing
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up everything in boxes and honey call the Mover because
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everything's ready and we'll head off to a new house.
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You need to understand what we're dealing with here.
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First of all, this is a group of people that gave up everything
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to follow Christ, but still had to live in the same community,
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so they had nothing to start with.
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And now, you know, if it's just about a year later, they have
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about a years of life, but they're living at the poverty
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level. They're living in, desperation,
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the only encourage them, they have is with other believers and
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then they have to leave. Give back to reality and they're
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whatever job they can. They can muster up whatever
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little income. They have whatever little things
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they were able to. Now persecution comes and they
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just leave everything they run away.
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They're running away for their lives.
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They're not just moving to another state.
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They're not just moving on for a more comfortable life.
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They are living and leaving for their lives.
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And notice when they did, it says in verse 4 there, for those
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who were scattered when everywhere.
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What does your Bible say? They went everywhere, preaching
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the word and that's all that God would have from you for you to
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be a witness. That's the work of the holy
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spirit in your life and they went preaching the word.
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What else do they have to give? They have no possessions.
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They have no status, they have nothing.
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So they come into a new area Judea and Samaria.
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Which is now another step down. Unfortunately, in the
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prejudicial minds of the Jews of Jerusalem.
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And they've got nothing. But the word they have nothing,
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but the word it reminded me. You know, how, during the last
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couple years, we had a lot of people leave move away from the
28:37
church, move out of state, and it mostly was a political
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decision. I don't like all the politics of
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Colorado. So I'm going to move to another
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state, and that'll be better there.
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Well, listen, God may use politics to move you, but I'll
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tell you this. This, when you get to that new
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state, preach the word that's your purpose.
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It's not to find a more comfortable place for you or
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ideas that chain. I mean, if you've been around
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for a while and you've seen political Cycles, come and go,
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you know, that things change a things change all around us, but
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the word of God never changes. And so, the church has to be on
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Mission. You don't have a choice.
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I mean, in real way, you do have a choice, but here's the choice.
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Idiots or Disobedience. And so when you think of it that
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way you just like you don't really have a choice to disobey.
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It's God's will for you when your scattered, you know, maybe
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it's a job, change. Maybe it is some kind of
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decision. I don't want to be here anymore.
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Whatever it is fine. When you land and you guys that
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moved away, you probably clicked me off.
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Don't click me off right now wherever you landed.
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This is God's will for your life treats.
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The word. It's not just a pastor.
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You look at that and you I know some would go.
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I'm not a preacher. These weren't preachers.
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These were moms dads kids. It's not great.
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Not only that. I don't forget, don't miss in
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the end of verse 1. These aren't in the apostles
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because the apostles stayed in Jerusalem, they saw their
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calling, they needed to be there so that they might continue to
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minister to the fledgling Church in new Believers in Jerusalem
30:12
that would stay behind. But for those that were
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scattered, They're just people like you and me there's a
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responsibility for us to be faithful with the word of God,
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which is one more reason why you should read your Bible and pray
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every day. What do you have to give accept
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that? What you've taken in in every
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sphere of society? Don't look down on where God has
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you, where you're working, where you're living, God has you there
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on purpose so that he might use you?
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In other people's lives, even if where you are comes because of
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pressure or persecution. It's so amazing to me because a
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couple things with Saul here and we'll develop this much more
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when we get to acts 9, but there's a couple things three
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things in particular. Number once, all reminds us,
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Saul reminds us that the grace and the love of God is
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sufficient to break through all the barriers of hate and anger
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that so many Used to hide and protect their hearts from the
31:17
truth. So many of the people that are
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angry and and hateful are just in a position of protection, not
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wanting God to be anywhere near the softness of their heart.
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And you got to keep praying for them because who would have
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thought if we didn't have chapter 9, what we would think
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the end for Saul would be. I don't know how many of us
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would Purdue all the dudes going to get saved and radically
31:39
changed the church forever. I don't know, any of us would
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have come to that conclusion, we'd probably start praying,
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take them out, Lord, take them out, get rid of them, he's
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hurting us. He just tried my mom and threw
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her into prison and that would be a natural response.
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But God had a plan for soul and God has a plan for the people.
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You're praying for right now, too.
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The people that are hard-hearted coming against you, the those
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that are in Rebellion against God and we must guard our hearts
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as like, I like to tell people in the ministry here, I like to
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remind us that we need to cultivate a soft heart while we
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have a thick skin. We need to keep a thick skin and
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a soft heart. And usually the opposite
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happens. We have a hard heart and then we
32:22
have a soft skin. So everything, bothers us.
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And only hardens are hard, but it's God's heart for us.
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It's God's desire for us. To cultivate and keep a soft
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heart toward the loss, toward the marginalized, toward the
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outcast, toward those, that are spewing out, anger and hatred,
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because who knows? Who knows?
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The next person that's born again and God radically uses the
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change. Secondly, I want you to notice
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how God uses Saul to move the church in in number one, or at
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least the first way that God moves his moves.
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The church is that God for Versus the church out of a place
33:01
of complacency using Soul. He isn't going to allow the
33:06
church to stay in Jerusalem. It was his will to go to Judea
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and Samaria. So he uses saw this madman in
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this season of his life to move them and force them to move.
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And I'm reminded that difficulties always move us,
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difficulties, always move us. You want to be careful which way
33:25
your move because God is always going to move you toward him not
33:30
away from him. And then the next way I see how
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God used Saul is he forced the church to leave their homes?
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Leave. What little possessions they
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have and become absolutely dependent upon him again.
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I don't know if you've noticed in your life, I certainly have
33:48
in mind. The more comfortable and easy,
33:51
my life is the less I'm inclined to depend on God.
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It's in trouble that we cry out to him.
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It's in difficulty that we're broken and we are humbled, but
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when things are going well, we don't have a tendency to press
34:06
into the deeper things of God. So God uses this time to press
34:10
them and to move them. And then as they go out,
34:15
preaching verse 5, we meet Phillip will study him.
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Next time he goes down to the city of Samaria specifically and
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notice what he does. He preaches Christ, he doesn't
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complain. What's going on in Jerusalem,
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you know, none of them. They don't, they're not going
34:30
around. I can't believe what's
34:31
happening. Look, what they did to us.
34:33
There's no complaining no murmuring just Ministry.
34:37
And man that would be good for us to learn just serving the
34:41
lord abiding in Christ trusting him.
34:45
Not becoming like one author. I came across one author.
34:49
Reading not too long ago where he described the whole category
34:53
of unbelieving believers. Where?
34:57
Yes, we have a relationship with God, but we practically in our
35:00
lives live. Like, we're unbelievers, like,
35:03
we don't trust God, or what? He said, this, what he said it's
35:05
going to happen this. How it's going to go down.
35:08
Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, he was in,
35:10
you is greater than he was in the world, and it's like, yes,
35:12
Lord. Yes.
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Lord, I trust you even in those times where it's difficult and
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when it's hard, I don't know exactly.
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I'm not sure what God is going to do to stir you up.
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I don't know what it's going to take to stir you up.
35:31
I don't know what it's going to take for you to fulfill the will
35:34
of God for your life for you to go from Glory go.
35:38
I don't know. I don't personally know.
35:41
I'm not sure what it's going to take for you to step away from
35:43
your comfort and ease. To keep you from settling down
35:47
in some area of comfort. I'm not sure what it's going to
35:51
take for you to step up and take a step of Faith or be counted
35:54
for Jesus, but I do know this of all the things I don't know.
35:59
I do know this, God will do whatever it takes to stir you up
36:06
in these last days to serve him until he returns and so be open
36:12
Church. Don't wait for some Katastrophe
36:17
to stir you up. Choose today.
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Count the cost and follow Christ.
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Amen. So father, thank you again for
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the word as we learn about the early church being stirred up.
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There's so much more that you have for us.
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Forgive us. God for settling for lesser
36:35
things. I think that's a big deal when
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it comes to comfort and ease lesser things.
36:41
Diluting, the gospel. Leaning on the arm of the flesh.
36:48
In the work, you want to accomplish in the spirit,
36:51
neglecting God to turn to you. And leaning on.
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Our own thoughts and ideas and our own systems and whatever it
37:00
is. I just pray, you would settle
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our hearts today because I know that some right now are in the
37:06
process of being stirred up and it doesn't feel good.
37:10
It the circumstances aren't good.
37:14
And I pray you'd give the needed string.
37:17
The needed stability. And even bring back some in your
37:22
church. Today to a steadfastness of
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following you in Jesus name. Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible.
37:31
Study delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
37:35
prayer. Call us at 877, 30 Grace.
37:39
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37:46
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37:58
this week.