Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24488 - How the Devil Comes After Us Pt.1 - Acts 25:1-12

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#24488 - How the Devil Comes After Us Pt.1 - Acts 25:1-12 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Hey man, open your Bibles to a couple places.
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Let's start in First Peter chapter 5, and then we'll end up
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in Acts chapter 25, First Peter 5, Acts chapter 25, and I've
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entitled our Bible study today, How the Devil comes after us.
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That's an encouraging title, isn't it?
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How the devil comes after us. But as my pastor taught so many
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years, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
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And it's important that we learn how the devil comes after us.
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We learn this element of spiritual warfare and understand
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even the most mundane things can be used against us as we see in
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the life of Paul. Notice with me in first Peter
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chapter 5 and verse eight. Really between verses 8 and 9.
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Verse 8 can start this Bible study and then when we get
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through Part 2, verse 9 can end it.
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So notice what he says, be sober, be on guard, because your
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adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion,
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seeking whom he may devour. And in our time today, we're
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going to look at a few ways that he seeks to devour us and the
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tools that he uses. And then at the end, we can
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apply this verse. Resist him, steadfast in the
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faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by
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your brotherhood in the world. Let me give you point #1 if
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you're taking notes right away, let's just start with the
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overarching, you know, banner of one of the open doors, probably
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the most common open door that the enemy loves to use in our
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lives. So #1 the devil attacks us
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through discouragement. Discouragement.
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Very, very common to be discouraged, perhaps even to be
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depressed. Or some of you have episodic
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discouragement, some of you kind of have that personality where
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you've lived with a melancholy for a very long time.
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But this becomes an open door for the enemy to really take
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advantage of us. Discouragement.
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It's you can define it as paralyzing, painful emotions
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that disturb the mind or alarm us or even terrify.
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And you can, you know, sisters or cousins of discouragement are
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worry and anxiety. And these are open doors that
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are often used against us. I came across an old fable that
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says the devil once held a sale and offered all the tools of his
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trade to anyone who would pay his price.
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So there he were, spread them out on a table.
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Each one had a label. There was the tool of hatred and
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the tool of malice and envy and despair, sickness, sensuality,
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all the weapons that everyone knows so well.
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But off to one side on the table lay this harmless looking wood
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shaped instrument marked discouragement.
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It was old and worn out, but it was priced far above all the
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rest. Someone asked the devil why, and
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he said, well, because I can use this one so much easily than the
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others. So very few people know that it
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belongs to me. So with it I can open doors that
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are tightly bolted against the others, and once I get inside, I
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can use any tool that suits me best.
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We are in a season of Paul's life in Acts 25 where
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discouragement is common. He has been in the same trial
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for over 2 years. He's been in prison or in house
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arrest. And you know, some people, like
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even commentators like, well, you know, it wasn't really
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prison. It was house arrest.
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Yeah, but he didn't do anything wrong.
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It's unfair and unjust. And while he could have come,
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people come and visit him, he couldn't leave.
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He was restricted. His desire was to preach the
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gospel. And there he is in house arrest.
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So in effectively it's just as bad.
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He can't do what he wants to do. And he didn't even do anything
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wrong. And we know he was discouraged.
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We know that for a fact because Jesus stood by him, remember,
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came to him and said, hey, coming to Jerusalem was the
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right thing. You testified for me in
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Jerusalem. You're going to testify for me
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in Rome. I still have work for you to do
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and the devil attacks through discouragement.
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This is so common we may not even recognize it.
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You just kind of discouragements become a a friend that you don't
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really want and it's just a part of your life and it you know,
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it's so tied to different circumstances and situations.
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I, I think of the weather. I think of the weather.
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You wake up in the morning, you look outside and it's dark and
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gloomy and grey and you go, great, Oh, it's going to be a
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horrible, it hasn't even started yet and you just saw the clouds
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and now it's cold and, and the weather has an effect.
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You might get up and see the sun.
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You go, oh, today's going to be great.
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But discouragement, you know, discouragement.
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This whole issue of weather is very, very common in the
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Northwest with all the gloominess and the rain up
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there. They deal with depression quite
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a bit up there just because of the weather.
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But you know, that discouragement that you have
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could be, it could just be spiritual warfare in the midst
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of a long trial like it is here with Paul reminding me in my own
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life. Would you turn over?
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We'll get to Acts in a moment. Turn over with me to Matthew
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chapter 6. These familiar words.
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I mean, if anxiety and worry are so closely tight, tied together
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with discouragement, then we really do need to remember what
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Jesus taught us and what He assured us and encouraged us in
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our discouragement. When you get to Matthew 6, I
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draw your attention to verse 25. Remember the teachings.
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Receive them to yourself today. Take this in as if the Lord was
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speaking to you, because He is, and notice what He says.
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Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life.
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Don't worry, don't worry. Jesus says I'm the Lord of your
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life, I've got you taken care of.
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He says don't worry about what you're going to eat or what
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you're going to drink, or even about your body.
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What you're going to put on isn't life.
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He says more than food and the body, more than clothing.
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And we say yes for sure. And then he says, verse 26, I
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love this. So practically he says, just
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look at the birds of the air. I did this yesterday actually,
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because I looked out the window, I saw the Gray clouds and I
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started to get bummed out. And then I sat back down,
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started doing my devotions, and I saw a shadow outside of the
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window there with the curtains closed.
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So I went over and over and it was a bird, a little cute little
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bird. I don't know what kind of bird
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it was, but it was just doing its thing.
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They're on the wire chirping away.
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And I remember, I just look at that.
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That bird has no care in the world.
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It's just doing what it does, flying around, pooping, whatever
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it does, you know, it's just like, it's just doing its thing.
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And Jesus says, I want you to pay attention to the birds
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church, because every time you see the birds, you have to
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remember they've got nothing to worry about.
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And aren't you more important than birds?
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You are not only that, he says, notice, he says don't worry
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about the birds for they don't sow, but the father feeds them.
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You're more value than they. And you say yes.
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And then verse 28 he says, why do you worry about clothing?
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I want you to pay attention to the lilies, pay attention to the
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flowers. Now we're coming into a season,
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aren't we, where the flowers are going to go away?
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But that only gives them when the flowers go away.
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It only makes us more desirous for springtime, right?
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So everything goes brown, but we want the springtime to come
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back. But while they're still with us,
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we look at the flowers and we're just like, oh so beautiful.
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The Lord takes care of them. They just are, just like the
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birds. They just are.
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And that is one of the ways to battle discouragement without
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any effort on your part at all. Just be who you are in Christ.
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You're so much more important than the birds, as beautiful as
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they are. You're so much more important
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than flowers, as beautiful as they are.
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You are the supreme creation of God.
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You are the only one, the only creation of God, that Jesus
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Christ came to die on your behalf, sacrificing his life for
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yours. And as you face discouragement,
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remember, remember it's used often by the enemy to get deeper
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into your life and to erode your faith and to make you a mess
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filled with worry, filled with anxiety.
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Then what happens? You so quickly leave from a
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place of abiding and trusting to a place of trying to control
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everything. And you find out I can't control
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anything. And now you're worried and
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anxious and faithless, which is a very vulnerable place.
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Remember this number one, the devil loves to attack through
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discouragement. Notice now in verse one of Acts
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chapter 25. Paul is clinging to hope.
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He is holding fast to faith. He's been battling and fighting,
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but we see him with this blessed determination.
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Notice now verse 1, chapter 25. Now when Festus had come to the
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province, after three days, he went up from Caesarea to
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Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the
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chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul, and they
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petitioned him. So now, two years later, a brand
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new high priest and the religious rulers, probably many
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of them, are the same. They hate Paul so much that even
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after two years they still want to harm him and hurt him.
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They were obsessed. They were obsessed with
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destroying Paul. But I also want you to
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understand Paul was also an obsessed man, but no longer,
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like we learned in Acts Chapter 9, wanting to destroy people.
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Paul is obsessed with the gospel, with the souls of men
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and women, and we see here standing now before a new
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political leader, a more reasonable one, but a new
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political leader nonetheless. He is going to be there in a
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moment, like having to face all these accusations.
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So here we are two years later. You would think Paul's in
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prison. You know, he's in house arrest.
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He's not doing anything. He hasn't been sharing in a
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broad scope, no planning churches, nothing that people of
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these Jewish leaders were upset with him about.
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And yet they still hate him. Which brings us to #2 #2 how the
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devil comes after us. Remember this.
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The devil's attacks are relentless.
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They are relentless. Here's how that works.
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And I'm sure you felt this before.
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I have going through a tough time, going through something
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difficult and it finally gets resolved.
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You're like, and you start to celebrate and you start to just
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be excited and you're like, this is so good.
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Lord, I know you came through. It was a long trial.
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It's so good. And then there's a thought
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whether you entertain it or not, it's still there.
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And there's this thought where, man, this has been such a long
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trial. I should now get a big break and
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never have to face anything. You know, at least give me a
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year, Lord, or two years or three years because this was a
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long one. And even before the trial, the
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first one is over. The enemy comes and starts the
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second one or the third one because he's relentless.
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Victories will come, years will pass.
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But remember, as a believer in Jesus abiding in Christ, you and
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I are forever targets of Satan's spiritual attacks.
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Now, we'll get into a little bit of this in our next study.
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I want to be careful here as we're talking about the devil
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here. Most of the issues that we face
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in life are actually not the devil's fault at all.
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He just tempts us and then we take over from there.
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So it's not like he's going to get all the credit for every bad
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thing we've ever done. But he's very the demonic realm
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was very active in the spiritual warfare in your life and mine.
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Paul sitting in prison, in house arrest, comparatively
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ineffective. And he's still the target of the
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schemes of the devil. Why?
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Because the devil never takes a day off Never.
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He never lets his guard down. He's always looking relentlessly
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coming after us. And notice how it happened.
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You see this, you guys that read ahead, You see this, It's two
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years later, that first situation with the nephew that
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got exposed that those guys over 40 people have had this pack to
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kill him or they would never eat.
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Remember them? Well, notice two years later
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they want him in verse three, they are asking a favor against
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him that he would summon him to Jerusalem while they lay in
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ambush along the road to kill him.
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So they asked a very simple favor, Hey, can you just bring
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Paul back to Jerusalem? Just send him back to Jerusalem.
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But behind the scenes, they've set up an ambush so that while
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he's on the way, they're going to kill him.
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And there's just always things behind the scenes that we don't
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know about, but that God does. And that's why staying in
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constant communication with our heavenly Father is so important.
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Read your Bible, pray every day, walk in the Spirit, because
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there's things that God knows that you and I don't know that
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we need to know. And the only way that we will
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know is by staying in tune with the Lord.
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And here they're want to kill him.
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They have an ambush set up for him.
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And it's almost like, man, if I was probably just like, didn't,
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didn't we already go through this?
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And it's happening again. And the answer is yes.
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Which brings us to #3 not only does God, does the devil use
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discouragement, not only is he relentless, but thirdly, this is
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his goal. The devil wants to see you
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ruined and destroyed. He wants to see you experience
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death, spiritual or physical, but that is his goal.
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Jotted down in John chapter 8, verse 44.
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The Bible says you are of your father, the devil Jesus taught
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and the desires of your father you want to do.
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He was a murderer from the beginning and doesn't stand in
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the truth because there's no truth in him.
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When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources because
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he's a liar and the father of it.
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Two things we learn about the devil here.
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Number one, he's a liar and #2 he's a murderer.
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That's his desire for us. Do you know the most popular
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weapon, the most popular way that the devil brings about ruin
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and destruction and death in our lives?
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You might want to jot this down so you have eyes wide open.
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It's sin. It's sin.
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It sounds simple enough, but I want you to remember the wages
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of sin. Is death not merely eternal, but
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also temporary? If He can tempt us and draw us
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away from the Spirit into the flesh, we will experience death.
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You will see it in relationships.
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You will see it in your effectiveness.
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You will see it in your desires for the things of God.
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They all die when you're involved, and I'm involved in
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sin. Sometimes it's a small thing,
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sometimes it's a large thing. That's why it's never wise.
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And you will hear me until I have until my last breath
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teaching. I will never stop.
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I will never stop warning you to don't mess around with sin.
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Just don't do it. Don't think you're smarter than
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God. Don't make it.
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And a lot of people do this with pastors.
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They make it like a problem with the pastor.
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Who do you think you are? You're so judgmental.
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Stop it. I care for you.
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It's not about me. Sin will wreck your life.
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It will destroy you. And as a believer, it will be
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worse. Why?
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Because now you're redeemed, sinning against knowledge.
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The consequences are worse and they get progressive.
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Don't forget this. This is a big deal.
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You know, don't try to get to the edge of sin.
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Like don't ask these kind kind of questions.
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What we know, Pastor? How close can I get to something
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before I sin? Why do you want to get so close?
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Why are you tempting the Lord that way?
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You know, those that that are trying to get close to sin
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without sin, you know what happens?
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They sin because that's the trajectory.
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Like if you had your, you point your life like right when you
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guys in just a few moments, you're going to head out, you're
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going to get out of the parking lot.
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Many of you are going to go home and you know how you're going to
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go home? You're going to park.
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You're going to point your car in the direction of your house.
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That's how you get home. You're not going to point your
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car in the opposite direction because that's not going to get
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you where you want to go. You're going to get in the car
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and you're going to know, you know the way home already.
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You don't need a map. You already know you'll make a
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left or a right. You'll make a left or right out
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here and you will head home. And the way you go is the way
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the way you point your car, the way you you point your life is
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the way you're going to go. And I know it sounds simple
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enough, but this is what the reminder here.
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Paul doesn't know any of this at all.
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He's just like chilling in prison.
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He doesn't know anything about this.
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And Festus, it appears, doesn't know anything about it either.
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It seems like it's a it's a little addition that Luke gives
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us in the text that it's happening behind the scenes.
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But God knows and God protects Paul from this ambush because in
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verse 4, notice it says Festus answered that Paul should be
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kept at Caesarea and that he himself was going to go there
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shortly. Therefore, he said, let those
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who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this
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man. Circle that phrase, Accuse this
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man. If you like to write in your
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Bibles, you should get a paper Bible and write in it.
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But if you're using your phone, your iPad, you can figure out
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how to circle it or mark it or put a little note there.
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Circle this. Accuse this man to see if
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there's any fault. He's not coming to Jerusalem.
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But you guys, you should send some people down to Caesarea and
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you can bring your accusations. Then notice verse 6.
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And when he would remain among them more than 10 days, he went
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down to Caesarea. The next day, sitting on the
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judgement seat, he commanded Paul to be brought.
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And when he had come, the Jews had come down from Jerusalem,
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stood out and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which
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they could not prove. Now in this verse, I want you to
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circle many serious complaints and then write a little arrow
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back up to these accusations because a lot of false
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accusations come through seemingly serious complaints.
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They're hidden where there's these complaints are not
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serious. They're all made-up.
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They're just accusations, and they're false.
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Which brings us to point #4 we've learned discouragement as
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a tool. We learned that the devil's
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relentless. We've learned that he wants to
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see you die and your life die, and your relationships die and
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your fate die #4 this is an obvious one.
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But the devil is the accuser of the brethren.
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He's the accuser again. Jot it down.
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Revelation chapter 12 verse 10. And then I heard a loud voice
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saying, in heaven now salvation and strength in the Kingdom of
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our God and the power of His Christ have come for the accuser
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of our brethren who accused them before our God.
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Day and night has been cast down.
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He is the accuser of the brethren.
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Now his position has seemed to change so that his accusations
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are no longer against God directly, but his accusations
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are very, very common. And you know, the most common
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way you and I deal with accusations is in our head.
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In our head. It's almost like the devil or
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demonic realm, like drops a little fod or or maybe you know,
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you have an overbearing dad or a mean dad or a mean mom, or you
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have somebody to just drop. They're being used as
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instruments to discourage you and to bring you down and just
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drop this little accusation in your head.
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And then you take it from there. Accusations, you'll be accused
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of not being good enough to be a Christian.
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You'll feel and hear accusations of you're not doing it right,
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you're not repenting right, you're not being, you're not
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really even saved. You're just faking it.
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You're not taking Christianity seriously enough.
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And on and on and on the list goes.
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And certainly many of you listening to me have heard that
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in your head. You've said that in your head,
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and you live in a perpetual place of guilt and shame.
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I want you to tie together now the attacks of the enemy.
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When he is accusing, he's wanting to stir up guilt and
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shame. Now, let me say at the outset,
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guilt is a good emotion when it is used properly.
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Guilt is the acknowledgement that you did something wrong and
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you want to make it right. So there is a good thing about
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guilt. We should feel guilty when we do
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something wrong and there is a response to that to make it
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right. By the way, if this is an area
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of your life, I want to say it right now.
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If this is an area of your life, you need to get the Bible study
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that I taught in First Corinthians.
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I don't know what number it is or what it is, but it's the
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Bible study on the topic of godly sorrow and worldly sorrow.
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An absolute essential for you to learn the difference between,
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you know, feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, which comes
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from God and leads to repentance, and the condemnation
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of the enemy or even you condemning yourself that pushes
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you farther away from God. There's a big difference and I
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think it's at least one study, maybe 2 studies in First
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Corinthians. They're on the app, they're on
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the website. Godly sorrow, worldly sorrow,
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very, very powerful for you to learn.
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Because if you don't learn this, the guilt that God wants to use
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to draw you to himself, not the guilt that people use to
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manipulate you, make you feel bad.
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You know, be all legalistic, not that that's not real guilt.
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You don't need to pay attention to that at all.
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Some overbearing dad or don't even, you don't need to pay
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attention to that. You can hear from the Lord.
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He will always use guilt to draw you to him yourself always, and
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to have your life be clean at the end where you can just like,
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oh, I feel so much better. That's good guilt.
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But if you don't deal with it properly, here's what's going to
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happen. You're going to go from guilt
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into living a life of shame. And it's important you see the
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distinction between the two. Guilt, true guilt that comes
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from God would equal this. This thought, this is what you
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would think in your mind. I have done something wrong.
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That's what guilt will speak to you.
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That's the language of guilt. I have done something wrong and
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then you set out to make it right.
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I have done something wrong. But shame is so much worse,
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shame, and it's very destructive for a believer because what
24:16
shame is, it's not merely I did something wrong.
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Shame goes into the realm, I am wrong, I'm wrong.
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But in Christ, I want you to know there's nothing wrong with
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you. He loves you.
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His blood has forgiven you. He is your advocate.
24:36
The Bible says we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
24:40
Christ the righteous. He is your strength, He is your
24:43
refuge. And you don't need to live under
24:47
this cloud of shame. If you come to the Lord and come
24:52
clean, you experience forgiveness.
24:54
But what shame does is it pushes you away from people.
24:57
It pushes you away from relationships.
24:59
It pushes you away from God. And you know what it feeds?
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Do you know what shame feeds you?
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You guys want to guess what shame feeds related to this
25:09
Bible study discouragement. And you know what discouragement
25:13
ends up becoming depression or a serious bout of discouragement
25:18
If you don't like the word depression.
25:21
And then before you know it, you're immobile.
25:24
And you know what happens to people that deal with guilt and
25:27
shame and depression? You know what happens?
25:30
It's very, very easy to flip the card real quick and then play
25:35
the role of a victim and be mad at everybody the rest of your
25:37
life, living with bitterness. And some of you are like, how
25:43
did I get here? Well, that's part of sitting
25:46
down with someone and talking it out or even praying it through
25:48
so we can walk you back and say it started right here.
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Unforgiveness. It started right here.
25:54
You were discouraged and the enemy gotcha.
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It started right here and you can come to that place.
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Oh Lord. And you come back.
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You almost sometimes you're dealing with that kind of stuff.
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You feel like you're born again again.
26:05
You're like, oh, this is so good.
26:07
I got my joy back. I'm so encouraged this at the
26:11
end of service today, we're going to sing this amazing song
26:13
on joy. And you're like, oh, the joy of
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the Lord is my strength. Don't you want that in your
26:17
life? But the enemy doesn't.
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And we see this in Paul's life, the accuser, these guys come.
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I mean, how does it feel after all these years?
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He hasn't done anything in two years and they still come with
26:29
these fresh accusations and these complaints.
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I mean, how would you feel? You're just standing there going
26:34
what, like do these this guy doesn't even know me.
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I'm not even I haven't even met this high priest before.
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But the enemy doesn't give up. Notice with me.
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Now it says in verse 8, Paul answered for himself.
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Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the Temple,
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nor against Caesar have I offended anything at all.
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And that was his answer. So again, if you like to write
27:00
in your Bibles as you should write the word confidence here,
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That was his answer. He was very confident.
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And another word very simple. Again, last time he had to give
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an answer. He had a simple answer by
27:12
sharing his testimony, which is very powerful.
27:15
He'll do that again, but in this case, he senses, you know what?
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Enough, enough. They're wrong.
27:25
And notice what he says. But Festus wanting to do the
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Jews a favor. Now again, historians tell us
27:31
that Festus was a better leader than Felix, but you can still,
27:36
he's still a politician here. He's looking to the future,
27:39
trying to do the Jews a favor. He tells Paul, are you willing
27:43
to go up to Jerusalem and there be judge before me concerning
27:46
these things? Now, you know, if Paul was all
27:48
caught up in the accusations, if he was all caught up trying to
27:51
defend himself and if he was all caught up in his self
27:54
righteousness, it would have been easy for him to say, I want
27:56
to go to Jerusalem. I need to go back.
27:59
I want to go back and answer for myself.
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But that's not where he's at. He's very eager to get to
28:04
Jerusalem the first time, but he's in a different space now,
28:06
completely different place. He's asked, do you want to go up
28:09
to Jerusalem? And Paul says this in verse 10.
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I stand at Caesar's judgement seat where I ought to be judged
28:16
to the Jews. I've done no wrong, as you very
28:19
well know. For if I'm an offender or if
28:22
committed anything worthy of death, I don't object to dying.
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I will take the penalty for whatever law I broke, he says.
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But if there's nothing in these things of which these men accuse
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me, no one can deliver me to them.
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I appeal to Caesar, which is his right as a Roman citizen.
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You remember then Festus, when he had conferred with the
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council, answered, you've appealed to Caesar.
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To Caesar you shall go. You know what this is called in
28:48
the Bible? Fulfilled prophecy.
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Didn't Jesus tell him he's going to Rome, and to Rome he's going,
28:55
just like God said. There isn't one word that God
28:57
has ever spoken that has failed. And here he is.
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He's heading to Rome just like God said he would.
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But it's so neat because one of the things I see that two years
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in house arrest may have done, you know, if I put myself in
29:09
Paul's shoes, wanting to be defensive or defend myself, if
29:12
it seems like these two years in house arrest has humbled the man
29:17
and humility equals life. Humility equals life because he
29:23
was given the choice. You want to go to Jerusalem?
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All said no, I don't want to go to Jerusalem, I need to go to
29:30
Rome. And he said that in such a
29:33
humble way that the governor, the person that had his life in
29:38
his hands, gave him the choice and he took the humble route.
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I need to go to Rome and I'll take whatever penalty is.
29:48
If I've done anything wrong, I will pay the price, but I'm
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going to Rome now. This act, this invitation that
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Festus gives him gives us another attack of the enemy
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here. I don't want to skip over it.
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It's important that we see it when he asked Paul to go to
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Jerusalem. This reminds me of something the
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devil loves to do to us, and that is number 5.
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He loves to remove us from places of safety.
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He loves to remove us from places of safety.
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Paul was 100% safe under Roman rule, under the authority of the
30:23
government. He was 100% safe in jail and
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being under the authority going to Caesar.
30:30
But the invitation was, can you leave this?
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Because we know what's happening.
30:34
There's an ambush. They're going to kill him on the
30:36
road. He doesn't know that, but he
30:39
senses somehow and not, no, that's not, I'm not going, I'm
30:42
not doing that. I need to go to Rome.
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This is the place he remained in a place of safety.
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Jot it down in Psalm 46 and verse one.
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It says God is our refuge and our strength, a very present
30:54
help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear even
30:58
though the earth shall be removed and though the mountains
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be carried into the midst of the sea.
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We read in the Psalm today in Psalm 142 what refuge God is,
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what a place of safety he is no matter what you're going
31:09
through, that is the invitation. Leave the place of safety.
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So what does that look like? Well, sometimes it looks like
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this sense of people just getting upset at their church
31:18
and running, getting upset. Now, let me be clear here.
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There are certainly times when God moves us on from one church
31:25
to another. I left the church to come here.
31:27
I'm not speaking about the Lord leading.
31:29
I'm not speaking about this, this, this life of prayer and
31:32
you go, I think it's time. That's not what I'm speaking
31:34
about. I'm talking about people that
31:35
get upset. You know, some little things,
31:38
something I said on the pulpit, something about, oh, you know
31:40
what, we got to get out of here, honey, I don't like this church
31:43
anymore. And they go from church to
31:44
church to church, and they're not in a place of safety
31:46
anymore. You've been ripped off by the
31:49
enemy. When you're in a good church
31:51
with solid spiritual leadership, little things and friction is
31:54
going to happen. That is not a time to run away.
31:57
It's a time to press in. You're in a place of safety
32:00
here. You, you don't believe me.
32:01
Let me just let me just let me just help you out a little bit.
32:04
It is very, very hard for the devil to have tempted you for
32:09
the last 90 minutes. Did you know that?
32:11
Why? Because you're in a place of
32:13
safety. You're in God's house right now
32:15
and you're worshipping the God of the house.
32:17
And so some of you are all being tempted, but most of you are not
32:21
because you're in a place of safety, because some of you came
32:23
in wrestling and fighting. So you're fighting it right now.
32:25
Well, you're this is the best place to fight because this is
32:27
where victory is found right here, 90 minutes.
32:30
You got victory in the Lord. You are strong in the Lord.
32:33
You're in a place of safety. But you know, if you get upset
32:37
with the pastor, you get upset with the person somebody like,
32:40
and you start taking things into your own hands, you are not in a
32:43
place of safety. Did we not learn on a global
32:47
scale during the pandemic how the enemy went after the
32:52
fellowship of the church? Did you?
32:55
You guys probably don't know this, but I live in this space,
32:58
so I'm always reading and studying and listening to these
33:00
things. But did you know that some
33:02
churches stayed closed for over 2 years?
33:09
Can you imagine? I think for us, it was four or
33:11
five weeks and we're like, we saw for what it was and we got
33:14
to get back. We, we got to be a place of
33:17
worship. But two years, the poor flock of
33:20
God, you can't take away what God has given to you.
33:24
You can't let the world take away.
33:26
As a matter of fact, the Bible demands it.
33:28
Do not forsake the gathering of together.
33:32
Don't forsake it. Why?
33:34
Because it's a place of safety. God gave us the church.
33:38
Oh, you know, our church here. This I can only speak for
33:40
ourselves. Not a perfect church.
33:42
Lot of flaws, lot of difficulties.
33:44
But you know why? Because you're here and I'm
33:48
here. I mean, we're just people,
33:51
right? Growing in the grace of God.
33:52
That's really what it amounts to.
33:55
But God has given us the church as a place of safety, a place of
33:59
strength. And he would love to have you
34:01
running around upset instead of pressing in and putting your
34:06
roots down, growing in grace. Because when you're, it's like
34:09
some another example of this is when people move, you know, you
34:12
might get a new job. This happens a lot.
34:14
Somebody gets a new job, they come up, Pastor Ed, pray for me
34:16
and get a new job. And here's the order that really
34:19
wrecks them. They get a new job, they buy a
34:21
new house, then they look for a church and then they find out,
34:25
oh, you know, we live on this side of town and the church is
34:28
over there and I can't really go and I don't.
34:30
And before you know it, they left this fellowship, vibrant,
34:33
serving, overflowing in the fruit of the But then they get
34:37
to where they're going and they end up not going to church at
34:40
all. It made me remember one family
34:43
in particular many, many years ago.
34:46
I mean, there's this story is over and over again, but I just
34:48
remember this one family in particular that this whole move
34:51
for this new job and everything ended up in divorce.
34:54
And they weren't like that when they left.
34:57
This was a place of safety for them.
34:59
As a matter of fact, they came here that way and God used the
35:02
ministry here and the people here to really establish them
35:06
and see God give victory in their life.
35:08
And then another big move with a big promotion.
35:10
It was a good job, but there's marriage and their kids didn't
35:14
survive it. You got to be in a place of
35:16
safety. Let me give you a couple more.
35:18
If you're thinking about another place of say, another place that
35:22
the enemy wants to tempt you when you're going.
35:24
Oh, by the way, when you move, if you do take a job, if you do,
35:27
go and let me finish that thought.
35:28
If you do head out, God has you in a new job.
35:30
Here's the order. You ready?
35:32
New job, new church, Then buy the house.
35:35
Do it in that order. Find the churches, even if you
35:37
have to fly out there a couple of times.
35:39
Well, but, Ed, it's so expensive.
35:41
It's worth it. It's worth every penny to find a
35:44
home church. It's kind of like the Jewish
35:47
wedding ceremony, you know, they would come together, they'd be
35:49
betrothed, they'd get engaged, and then the groom would leave
35:53
to get his house in order so he could set everything up.
35:57
And then he would return at an unexpected time to bring his
36:02
bride to what he established. So make sure you do that,
36:06
please. Obviously it's not the only
36:10
reason why there's spiritual warfare when you move.
36:12
But I'm telling you, you need, you need to leave from one
36:14
church to another church and stay there so that the Holy
36:17
Spirit can use you. Psalm 1 bear fruit.
36:20
So important. I think that emphasis today is
36:22
for someone listening to me. You could even be listening
36:24
online. You know, with COVID and
36:26
everything in the pandemic, people left the church and never
36:29
came back. It's very common and I don't
36:33
just mean our church, like I don't just mean here, although
36:36
we saw that here. But here's what happened.
36:38
They stayed home. They started watching YouTube
36:41
and started following some whacked out person on YouTube
36:44
and that's their church now. Now they'll never tell you, hey,
36:46
where you been? I'm watching some whacked out
36:48
guy onto YouTube and they'll never tell you that, but I'm
36:50
listening to him when people are still forwarding me.
36:53
Like why would you even listen? This is not open your Bible.
36:56
It's not even close to being the truth, but they were vulnerable
37:01
outside of a place of safety. And what happens exactly what
37:05
the Bible said in the last days. We will raise up for ourselves
37:08
as believers, raise up for ourselves teachers that will
37:10
tickle our ears and we need to pray because there are people
37:14
watching right now. Perhaps you're listening.
37:16
You go, that's me. I know you need to come back to
37:18
your church family, to your church family.
37:21
God created it. Another way that the enemy loves
37:24
to do that is isolation. Get you alone.
37:27
Another way the enemy likes to remove you from safety is
37:30
temptation. He tempts you to leave away.
37:34
I think of because since it's close to my heart, I use it.
37:37
I think of people that were delivered from alcohol.
37:39
The last place you need to get close to is alcohol.
37:43
God delivered you from that. But the place of safety, no
37:48
alcohol take you from that. You start dabbling in it again
37:52
and before you know it, it's just as bad or worse than it was
37:57
when you were delivered. And you can apply that to
38:01
anything that God delivered you from.
38:03
Stay in a place of safety because when you go into the
38:07
arena, unsafe places to try to get too close to sin, it'll
38:13
wreck you. Well, let me have one last
38:17
thought and then we'll continue this Bible study next time.
38:20
But this is so important in light of the ACT attack of the
38:22
enemy. I don't want to give him too
38:24
much time because I want you to see something that the devil's
38:27
trying to do. He's trying to undermine your
38:32
destiny, ultimately kill, steal and destroy.
38:37
But if he's not going to kill, steal and destroy you, he's
38:39
going to take away your grand purpose in life.
38:42
So let me ask you this question. Listen to me carefully.
38:45
You should ask this question of yourself.
38:47
What do you think your purpose in life is?
38:51
Why am I on the planet earth? Why was I born in this
38:56
generation? Why do I live in this
38:59
neighborhood? Why do I come to this church?
39:01
Why do I work at this? But why am I alive?
39:06
What is my purpose in life? I believe apart from asking
39:12
where my soul is in relation to God, this is the most important
39:15
question you should ask of yourself.
39:17
That you should be asking What am I doing here?
39:20
Why am I here? Why did God save me?
39:23
Or for some listening to me, why am I still fighting God?
39:26
Why? Those are good questions to ask
39:31
and in light of that, I want you to watch Paul here.
39:34
This isn't something I want you to see on the road to Damascus.
39:40
Acts Chapter 9. It was clearly revealed to him
39:44
what his purpose in life was. It was to follow Christ.
39:49
It was clear Paul had one passion, one goal.
39:55
No matter who was in front of him, Jew or Gentile, poor or
39:58
rich, whether he was successful or he failed or whether he
40:03
stumbled or he ran, he knew he had one purpose.
40:07
And that was the share, the hope found in faith in Jesus Christ.
40:12
That was his purpose. It was his purpose in his
40:14
thoughts, in his speech, in his decisions, Even when he was beat
40:19
up, almost killed, threatened with being killed by the
40:22
government, thrown in prison, he was a focused man.
40:26
Now, at this point, some people go, boy, you know, wait a
40:28
minute. He was an apostle.
40:30
He was a very important man. Let me just tell you something.
40:33
Paul was no more important fulfilling his purpose than you
40:37
are fulfilling yours. We are equal now, maybe God used
40:42
him differently, but we are all equal in living out God's
40:45
destiny for our lives. Like, like you have a purpose.
40:48
God has a plan there. There is a debt and you're like,
40:51
well, you know, maybe that's for pastors or apostles.
40:53
No, no, Paul worked, he worked a lot and he worked hard.
41:00
He didn't just like, well, you know, in order to be effective,
41:02
I need to quit my job and I work full time for a church.
41:05
No way. He made tents during the day and
41:08
he ministered at night. He probably made tents and
41:10
minister while he's making that. Like this was his focus.
41:13
This was his purpose. And I want to leave you with
41:16
these two verses. Would you turn over now to
41:18
Matthew chapter 6 because some of you are so well, what's the
41:21
purpose, Ed? What's the purpose?
41:23
I'm going to help you and I want you to pray over this because
41:26
the enemy is undermining your destiny, getting you distracted,
41:31
perhaps discouraging you, depressing you.
41:36
And we, I know I've seen this true in my own life.
41:39
Cooperate with him far too much. And it doesn't have to be gross
41:42
sin doesn't have to be disqualifying sin.
41:46
It doesn't have to be, well, you know, the brother was here.
41:48
He's not here anymore. It could be the brother that's
41:50
still here and the sister that's still here, but falling prey to
41:55
the tactics of the enemy and not living out what your purpose is.
41:58
Here's what your purpose is. Matthew chapter 6, verse 33.
42:01
Jesus made it clear, seek first the Kingdom of God and His
42:07
righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.
42:10
You want to know what your purpose is?
42:12
Seek the Lord, follow him, obey him, read your Bible, pray every
42:18
day like follow the Lord, He will lead you.
42:22
Reduce everything you have, all the goals you have in life.
42:25
I want to be married. I want to get an education, I
42:27
want to be successful. I want to be CEO, I want to be a
42:30
business owner. All wonderful goals in this
42:32
world, Hold on to those, but put them down a little bit.
42:35
And in your other hand, elevate. Seek God first.
42:39
Get it all by seeking the Lord. Be the best boss.
42:42
Seeking the Lord, Get that master's degree, seeking the
42:45
Lord, get your PhD seeking the Lord, All these other things
42:50
will follow. You've got to seek the Lord
42:52
first. Don't put him on the shelf and
42:54
go. I'll get back to him.
42:55
You may never. Your purpose is to seek the Lord
42:58
#2 turn over to Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
43:03
Ecclesiastes chapter 12. You want to know what your
43:06
destiny, your purpose in life is.
43:08
Here it is. And this is amazing to me.
43:10
And I think you would agree that Solomon, Solomon, the man in the
43:16
Bible, except for Jesus, that was filled with the most wisdom.
43:21
Remember, that's what he asked for.
43:22
The wisdom of God lived most of most of his life not according
43:27
to the wisdom that God gave him. And that's what Ecclesiastes is.
43:32
He experienced so much pain and difficulty because of his sin.
43:35
He became very sarcastic and cynical.
43:38
You hear it in the letter. But at the end he finally comes
43:42
to his senses, he finally gets to the place he he says when I
43:45
see when under the sun you like my regular life very, very hard,
43:50
but in the sun very, very good. Notice what he says chapter 12,
43:54
verse 13. Let us hear the conclusion of
43:57
the whole matter. Here's what's your purpose in
44:00
life. Fear God and keep his
44:03
commandments. For this is man's all.
44:08
For God will bring every work into judgment, including every
44:10
secret thing, whether good or evil.
44:12
This is it. This is our all.
44:16
It's encompasses everything. Why is Ed here?
44:20
Well, Ed, you're supposed to pastor a church.
44:22
No, come second or you should teach the Bible.
44:25
No be a good husband. No, dad, no, no.
44:28
Here's my all right here. Fear God, keep his commandments.
44:34
Seek him first and his Kingdom and righteousness.
44:38
That'll make me a better pastor and a better friend and a better
44:41
dad and a better husband if I seek him first.
44:45
He's my all. And I invite you to follow the
44:48
example of Paul as he stood there in every situation
44:53
honoring God first. So good.
44:56
So, Lord, thank you for Your word as it speaks to us and we
45:00
know that it's a, it's an, it's really amazing thing thinking
45:04
about the attacks that we face every day, but we also look to
45:07
you, Lord, you're our strength and you're our protector and we
45:10
trust you with our lives in Jesus name, Amen.
45:14
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study,
45:17
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
45:20
For prayer, call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
45:30
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45:33
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45:39
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45:41
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.