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Acts chapter 24 · Scripture Unscripted

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  Acts chapter 24, let us pray. Our Lord God who reigns on high,
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  we thank you, Lord Jesus, for another day.
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  We thank you, Father, that you woke us up.
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  You put us on our feet. You put us on mission.
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  Today God, I pray in the name of Jesus for your name to be
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  exalted higher than all of the kingdoms of this world.
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  God, I pray in the name of Jesus for Yahweh everlasting to have
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  the last word. Lord, we serve the God of
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  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God, we just want you.
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  We want to be found doing whatever it is that you want us
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  to do. Today, God, I pray that you will
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  fill us with the Holy Ghost. Today I pray that we can keep
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  your name. Holy God, we pray for your
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  Kingdom and your will, Lord, right here on this earth, just
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  as it is there in heaven. God Almighty, let us get out of
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  our own way. Father, we serve you
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  wholeheartedly. We're sold out to the King of
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  Kings and the Lord of Lords. King, Jesus, Lord, we are
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  desirous to come and learn from you, to be fed from you.
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  God, we are desirous to be filled with the Holy Ghost to
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  day, not just halfway, not just some are in part, but God, a
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  fullness, A completeness, a overflowing God into our
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  communities, into our neighborhoods, into the highways
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  and hedges and byways. God, I pray that you'll call
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  many to repentance, that you'll call many into forgiveness of
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  their sins. God, I pray that you'll call
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  many into the Kingdom. Lord and where we are.
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  Father, I pray that they can be. Lord, we pray right now in the
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  name of Jesus Christ for Jerusalem, for the peace of
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  Jerusalem. God, we pray in the name of
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  Jesus Christ for the ethnic Jews.
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  God, we pray that you, Lord, will have your will and have
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  your way and that we are watching your clock.
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  We're watching, Lord, and we are in tune with what you're doing
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  because we are fixated upon Israel.
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  And so, Lord, bring about our salvation, bring about our
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  rewards, bring about King Jesus, second Advent.
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  Lord, we want you more than we want sin and self, more than we
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  want protection. Lord, more than we want liberty,
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  more than we want a nice cushy life.
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  God, we pray right now for King Jesus to come back.
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  We pray, God, Maranatha, that He has come and He is coming and He
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  will come, Lord, and we bank on those promises.
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  We live our lives sold out. Lord, we throw all of our own
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  common sense aside, God, all the things that the world tries to
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  sell us. Lord, I pray in the name of
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  Jesus that we will see our redemption drawing near.
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  I pray in the name of Jesus that we will see that you are high
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  and lifted up over this entire universe.
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  You are the only uncreated God the Father, God the Son, God the
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  Holy Ghost. And Lord, we just approach you
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  with fear and trembling. God, we're working our salvation
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  out. Lord, we approach you, God, as
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  the bride. Lord, we are waiting patiently,
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  Lord, for you to make every wrong thing right and for you to
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  come, Lord and gather us. Lord, and where you are we want
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  to be. Lord, we just want to see your
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  face. We want to see your glory.
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  God, heal us today. Heal our bodies for your
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  service. Lord, heal our minds for your
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  service. Let us be found doing your will
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  today. Lord, we get out of our own way.
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  We acknowledge you. We're praying that you'll direct
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  our steps today. Help us not to live in the past
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  or in the future, but help us to lock in for today.
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  Father, teach us your eternal words.
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  Teach us your eternal paths. Teach us your eternal ways,
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  Father. And as we open up your Word, let
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  your Word read us. Hide it in our hearts so that we
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  might not sin against you, Father God.
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  You are our everything. You are All in all.
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  You are the all sufficient sacrifice.
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  You are the atonement for all of our sins.
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  You, Lord, are all that we desire.
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  Wash us in the blood today. Let us gird up our loins so we
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  can stand in your presence. Father.
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  We enter into the throne room boldly, God.
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  We enter into the holiest of holy places.
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  God, rain down the Shekinah. Glory upon us today.
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  Father, let us exude your light into everywhere that we go
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  today. Lord, I pray that we can mirror
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  and model the life of Jesus Christ for this wicked and dark
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  and perverse generation. God, I pray that it'll be you.
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  That is the first thing on our minds, and it'll be you that's
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  the last thing on our minds. Lord, You are the Alpha and the
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  Omega, and God, we just say yes and Amen to all the promises
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  contained in the 66 books Canon, Father, from Genesis to
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  Revelation, the infallible, inerrant word.
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  God, we say yes and Amen to every single syllable, every
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  jot, and every title. Father, you are the way, the
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  truth, and the life, and we desire to come unto you.
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  Father. Thank you Lord Jesus for
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  Calvary. Thank you, Lord Jesus that your
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  beard was plucked out. Thank you Lord Jesus you spat
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  upon and the crown of thorns pushed upon your forehead.
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  Thank you, Lord Jesus for spilling out the water from your
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  side. Thank you Lord Jesus for the
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  nail pierced hands and feet. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you
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  were resurrected so that we have the hope of the resurrection and
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  the same power that raised you from the dead.
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  God lives inside of us. So, Lord, we yearn for you.
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  We lean into you, we lay our head on your chest.
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  Father, teach us, talk to us, whisper to us in that still
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  small voice. We love you, King Jesus, and
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  it's in your holy, holy, holy, worthy, worthy, worthy, glory,
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  glory, glorious name that we pray.
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  Amen. Let's start in verse one.
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  And after five days, Ananias, the high priest descended with
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  the elders and with a certain orator named Tertullus who
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  informed the governor against Paul.
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  That's exactly what they did. They descended.
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  They regressed. They are supposed to be the ones
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  who are housing the Holy Word of God.
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  They were the stewards of the spoken Word of God.
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  They've been taught time and time and time and time and time
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  again about following after Yahweh, and here they are,
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  erring grievously. Here they are descending down
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  into the depths of hell, friends, and they've bought,
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  they've brought their little friend, the lawyer Tertullus,
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  because he is to give some kind of farce statement, some hoopla
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  garbage about Paul and all of the accusations that were false.
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  And here he is, just like a lawyer, just like them, to twist
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  the truth for their own benefit. Let's see how they fare in this
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  courtroom of God with God as the witness.
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  Let's see how they fare too. And when he was called forth,
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  Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we
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  enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto
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  this nation by your Providence, so here's a bunch of flattery.
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  And this flattery is nothing but wickedness.
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  Be wise, be careful. Beware of flattery friends.
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  Anytime somebody is flattering you, it is to your destruction
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  and demise. They are the ones that kiss you
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  on the cheek as they sell you out.
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  Friends, be careful, beware and be wise.
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  Anytime someone tries to approach you with flattery, they
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  will kiss you on the cheek and stab you in the back. 3 We
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  accepted always and in all places, most noble Felix, with
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  all thankfulness for notwithstanding that I be not
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  further tedious unto you, I pray you that you would hear us of
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  the clemency a few words. 54 We have found this man a pestilent
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  fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout
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  the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
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  So here is one of the most complimentary compliments that
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  Tortulis gave Paul. He called him a leader of the
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  sect of the Nazarenes, and we know that he's talking about the
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  way. We know that he's talking about
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  Jesus of Nazareth, the branch, and we know that this little
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  town was despised and it was looked down the nose upon.
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  And here they were trying to relegate him to some commoner,
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  not knowing that Paul was in connection with the King of the
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  universe, the one who spoke everything into existence.
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  And here they want to worship creation rather than the
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  Creator. And it's no different than in
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  our day and our our friends. It's no different then when
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  people choose money over God, choose greed over God, choose
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  their own lifestyle over God, choose they choose morality over
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  God. They approach God from a
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  moralistic approach and they think that God should behave in
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  the way that the humans understand.
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  And it doesn't work that way. God is in heaven and does
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  whatever he pleases. Don't forget it.
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  And the best thing we can do is learn the spoken words.
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  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not one of these
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  words. Friends, learn these spoken
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  words and you'll learn the heart of God and it'll spell Jesus.
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  Period. All of Genesis, all the way to
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  Malachi and all the way from Matthew to Revelation spelled
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  Jesus, period. And that is what you need to
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  know. That is the heart of God
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  friends, is to exalt King Jesus to His rightful place and for us
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  as the Bride to come in to the groom to come into the bride
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  chamber. We have this love sick longing
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  to be restored unto our groom. We just want more of him.
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  I am my beloved and He is mine. Yes, that is what the bride
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  says. 6 who also has gone about to profane the temple, whom we
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  took and would have judged according to our law.
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  So they just wanted to ambush and murder him.
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  And by God's Providence he pulled him away from there
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  because he had many books to write that you and I would be
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  edified and built up through. And we're going to read those
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  books together, friends, and you're going to see how Paul
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  used this imprisonment to write 1/3 of our New Testament.
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  Praise God, Hallelujah. Inspired by the Holy Spirit,
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  These are God's words on a page that Paul is about to start
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  writing while he's in custody. Seven.
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  But the chief Captain Lysius came upon us and with great
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  violence took him away out of our hands.
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  Lies, lies and more lies. They were not trying to give
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  Paul a fair trial. They just wanted to murder him.
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  Just like they murdered his Messiah.
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  They murdered our Messiah. And the Jews of this day are
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  coming into the saving knowledge that Jesus Christ is the
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  long-awaited Messiah. But there are many who are in
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  denial, and they will not realize that Jesus is the
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  Messiah until they have to go through the seven-year
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  tribulation whenever they see the Antichrist and the rebuilt
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  temple demanding to be worshipped as God.
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  And is it is the abomination of desolation that is spoken of by
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  the prophet Daniel. And you're going to see it
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  whenever we get into Revelation, friends.
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  You're going to see it as we get into Thessalonians and as we get
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  into the Epistle of Peter. You're going to see it, friends,
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  as we've seen it in the past. You're going to see that these
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  things must happen, but woe to the one whom they come through.
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  8 commanding his accusers to come to you by examining of whom
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  yourself may us take knowledge of these things, whereof we
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  accuse him. Nine.
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  And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were
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  so. This is a mock trial.
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  This is just a hearing. This is a bunch of garbage.
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  This is an upended uproar of nothing but nonsense.
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  Friends, Paul has done nothing wrong.
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  He is not worthy of imprisonment, much less
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  execution. And here, because of envy, they
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  want to murder him. And look at how his life is
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  mirroring and modeling our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  And do not be surprised whenever you follow hard after God
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  Almighty, whenever you're completely sold out to the King
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  of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Do not be surprised if you get
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  marginalized, if you get overlooked, if you get passed
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  over. And praise God, Hallelujah for
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  the Passover, whenever this world is going by the wayside.
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  And you and I, we can lock eyes with Jesus, who is the author
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  and the perfecter of our faith, and he's going to take us by the
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  hand and he's going to lead us home.
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  Brothers, sisters. 10 Then Paul after that the governor had
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  beckoned unto him to speak, answered For as much as I know
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  that you have been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do
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  the more cheerfully answer for myself.
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  Paul didn't hire a lawyer. Paul was his own advocate.
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  And do you not know that you will judge the angels?
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  And do you not know that you will judge the world?
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  And how much more are we able to judge amongst brothers and
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  sisters in their disputes? Do not take it to the Pagan
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  courtroom, friend. We should keep ourselves
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  spotless and blameless from this wicked and dark and perverse
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  generation. 11 Because that you may understand that there are
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  yet but 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 And
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  they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man,
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  neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues nor in
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  the city. Paul saying, check my track
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  record. Where's the witnesses?
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  This is their word against mine. There is no substantiality to
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  any of their accusations. It's all a farce. 13 Neither can
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  they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. 14 But this
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  I confess to you, that after the way which they call heresy, so
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  worship I, the God of my Father's, believing all things
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  which are written in the law and in the prophets.
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  Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it to
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  the last iota, the last letter, friends.
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  And that is what Paul is saying, that he has not given up on the
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  law. He is desirous of a better word,
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  a more fulfilled word of Jesus Christ fulfilling it.
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  And as we lock eyes with Jesus Christ and as we love God with
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  all of our hearts and all of our minds, all of our strength, and
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  we love our neighbors as ourselves.
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  All of the laws satisfied friends 15 and have hope toward
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  God, which they themselves also allow that there shall be a
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  resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
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  While Paul just hits him with a 123 Mike Tyson punch out right
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  there, friends. He lets them know that they're
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  going to have to give an account for all of these wicked ways
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  they will be before the great white throne.
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  And they're going to try to say, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in
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  your name. We cast out demons in your name.
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  We perform miracles in your name.
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  And he's going to say, depart from me, for I never knew you.
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  It is not enough to know God. We must be known by Jesus.
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  Friends 16 And herein do I exercise myself to have always a
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  conscience void of offense towards God and toward men.
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  That is the calling that is placed on our lives.
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  Friends. We should live an unoffendable
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  life and we should not offend God by using our liberty to sin
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  all the more. Far be it from US17 Now after
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  many years, I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings. 18
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  Where upon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the
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  temple, neither with multitude nor with tumult.
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  He sang that he came to fulfill his vow, and he did not bring
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  any Gentiles into the inner court. 19 Who ought to have been
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  here before you, and object, if they had ought against me.
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  He's saying, Where are your witnesses?
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  You have none, because this is all a lie, and is that of envy,
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  that you want to murder me. 20 Or else let the same here say if
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  they have found any evil doing in me while I stood before the
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  Council. 21 except it be for this one voice that I cried
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  standing among them, touching the resurrection of the dead.
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  I am called and questioned by you this day.
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  So here he has made 2 little snippets, 2 little instances
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  towards the resurrection and he is speaking boldly for the Lord
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  Jesus Christ who was resurrected from the dead.
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  He was the 1st. And we have the down payment of
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  the Holy Spirit which gives us the ability, friends, to rise.
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  We will rise friends. We will be resurrected from the
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  dead, and the same power that rose Jesus from the dead will
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  raise us up, Friends. 22 And when Felix heard these things,
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  having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and
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  said, When Lycius the chief captain, shall come down, I will
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  know the uttermost of your matter.
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  So here Felix deflects. He doesn't want to have to deal
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  with all of the false accusations and lies of the
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  Jewish leaders. He doesn't want to have to deal
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  with it. He's much like Pilot in the
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  sense that he finds no fault in him, but he's afraid of the
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  people. And this fear of man has to go.
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  We must fear God, and everything else will bow, even if it costs
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  us our livelihood, even if it costs us our reputation, even if
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  it costs us our very lives. We cannot let the fear of man be
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  the driver. We must fear God and work out
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  our salvation with fear and trembling. 23 And he commanded A
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  centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and that
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  he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come
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  unto him. So here he knows that Paul has
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  done nothing wrong, but because he wants to appease the Jews, he
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  wants to appease all of the High Council.
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  He tries to have it both ways. He keeps them bound, but he
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  allows anyone and everyone to come and see him and to minister
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  to him, and he gives them much of liberty even though he's
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  under guard. And this is where you're going
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  to see Paul starting to write all of his epistles.
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  Praise God. Hallelujah for this eternal plan
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  of God Almighty, using this very learned man to edify the church
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  for thousands of years now. 24 And after certain days, when
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  Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he
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  sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
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  So here we see that Felix was very interested in what Paul had
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  to say, and he brought Drusilla, who would have been
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  knowledgeable of the laws and the decrees and the prophecies
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  of the Jews. Being a Jewess, he brought her
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  along with him to hear from Paul.
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  And Paul was speaking the eternal words of life.
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  Friends, Jesus Christ, the resurrection. 25 Any reasoned of
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  righteousness, temperance, judgment to come.
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  Felix trembled and answered. Go your way for this time.
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  When I have a convenient season, I will call for you.
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  So here Paul gets right to the point.
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  Here Paul is preaching to him, self-control.
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  He's preaching to him that there is a judgment that is coming
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  that they're going to have to go through.
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  He's preaching to him right living.
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  And here Felix was shaking in his boots.
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  He was fearful because he was not living the right way, and he
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  was not concerned about the life to come.
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  And what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but to lose
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  his soul Friends. And he just pushes them aside
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  and says, I'll call for you when it's convenient.
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  What a grave mistake we make. Today is the day of salvation.
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  Do not put it off for a more convenient time.
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  You do not know if this is your last day on planet Earth.
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  You do not know if this is your last week on planet Earth.
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  You do not know if this is your last month on planet Earth.
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  You do not know if this is your last year on planet earth.
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  Friends, today is that day. Make a decision for Christ
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  today. He is reaching out His mighty
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  outstretched hand. Grab a hold of it today and let
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  Him pull you up out of the muck in the mire of despair and
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  lostness and longing for Him and Him alone.
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  He is the only way. There is no peace outside of a
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  relationship with God through his Son Jesus Christ. 26 He
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  hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul,
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  that he might loose him. Wherefore he sent for him the
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  oftener, and communed with him. So here he was hoping for a
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  bribe. Look at how these politicians
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  are so steeped with bribery, they're so steeped with greed,
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  and they want to be bought off. It is no different in our day
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  and our our friends is happening all around us.
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  People want to be in these high positions, but they do not
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  realize that they are under the thumb of God Almighty, and
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  everything is getting moved along exactly according to plan,
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  and woe to the one whom they come through, even though they
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  must come. 27 We'll end here. But after two years, Portius
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  Festus came into Felix's room, and Felix, willing to show the
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  Jews of pleasure, left Paul bound.
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  How despicable Felix will go down in the history of mankind
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  as trying to appease man rather than following after God
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  Almighty. He had been given the gospel of
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  the Lord Jesus Christ and he was waiting for a more convenient
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  time to do the right thing and it is despicable in the sight of
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  God. Friends, we need to do the right
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  thing, practice integrity even when it's not convenient.
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  We need to be found teaching the Word of God in season and out of
• 29:18
  season, always ready to give a reason for the hope that you
• 29:23
  possess. Friends, don't hide your light.
• 29:28
  Let it shine bright. Friends, I hope that you've been
• 29:34
  blessed by this amazing chapter in the Word of God.
• 29:43
  I know I sure have. Praying for you.
• 29:52
  I love you. So does God.
• 29:57
  Put your full armor on today. Stay prayed up, walk in the
• 30:03
  Spirit, do not satisfy the lust of the flesh, be content with
• 30:08
  your wages, serve God and God alone and watch how things go
• 30:17
  well for you in this life and the life to come.
• 30:24
  Love you. I'll see you back here tomorrow.
• 30:27
  God bless you.