Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24436 - Faithfulness Leads to Open Doors - Acts 6:7-15

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#24436 - Faithfulness Leads to Open Doors - Acts 6:7-15 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's word with pastor and author.
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Ed, Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora,
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Colorado to learn more about the many resources available,
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through abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream
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Services. Visit us online at Calvary, Co
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dot church or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now, here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Amen.
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Take your Bibles, open them to the book of Acts chapter 6.
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You can open a to places really Acts chapter 6 and Joshua
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chapter 17 Acts chapter 6, Joshua chapter 17 and I'm
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entitled. Our Bible study today,
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faithfulness leads to open doors, faithfulness leads to
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open doors. You know, we were looking at the
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qualities of the person that God uses we were studying in our
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men. Series, The Seven primary
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spiritual gifts that God has given to his church and it gets
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us excited to think about how God would want to use us.
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The how God will use us that our lives matter to God that he
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wants to expand his kingdom. He wants to see people get saved
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and he chooses to use us to be a part of the process and, you
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know, Jesus serving Jesus Is Never Done apart from Jesus.
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I know it's a simple statement but it needs to be said Serving
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him can never really be done apart from him, apart from an
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abiding relationship with him, apart from what we would call
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Fellowship, Koinonia Oneness. It's not by our might and it's
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not by our power or our smarts, or our wisdom, or some book that
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we read. It is by his Spirit.
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The Bible says, saith the Lord and God created not created us,
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not just to save us, but to have fellowship with him.
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He wants to bless you. He wants you to be a Channel of
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his love and mercy, and Grace, into a world that desperately
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needs it. He wants you to understand that
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you're the salt and the light in a very dark decaying World,
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anything less than that is a lower state of living.
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You're not living at the level that God has for you, and not
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growing from grace to grace' going from glory to glory and
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our weakness is always seen. Our daily weakness, our weekly
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or monthly weakness? The weakness.
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You're experiencing right now. The lack of intimacy with the
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Lord. The lack of abiding.
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It always comes from daily Fellowship.
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It's a lack of a daily fellowship with them.
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It's a lack of pressing into the things of God.
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And I love this section of the book of Acts that such a dynamic
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time in the early church and they're in a state where they're
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in fellowship with the Lord there in fellowship with all
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that he wants to do and they're under attack.
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I love now verse 7 of Acts chapter 6 it says the word of
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God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied, greatly in
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Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the
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faith. Now to say that God was moving.
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Might early in the early church would be a major understatement.
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I mean, God is moving in an amazing way here, in the first
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few weeks. And Sons of the early church.
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And as we're studying through the book of Acts, God Is On The
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Move throughout the these fundamental early stages are
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amazingly Dynamic and there's great attack.
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It says here that the word of God spread and the number of
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disciples multiplied. Greatly why?
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Well the reason why is that God use the leaders of the church to
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address a significant problem. Now there were a couple problems
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in the beginning. The first one really arose.
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Rose with ananias and Sapphira as they came to the apostles st.
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Giving of their offerings. Really let's go back, let's go
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back to what's really happening. The holy spirit is moving in
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such a powerful way that the early church is thinking what
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can I give, what can I give? What can I give?
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And they're selling everything that they have and they're
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bringing it to the early fledgling church.
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And saying here, we want to help the poor.
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We want to help the hurting. We want to help and then one of
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the men were highlighted Barnabas, he souls, he sells his
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property and he brings it to the apostles, nobody told them to do
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it. It wasn't asked, it was just a
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movement in the prompting of the Holy Spirit and they and he
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gives everything to the early church.
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Well, this inspired a couple ananias and Sapphira.
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The Bible says that they to sold a piece of property and they
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brought the proceeds to the church.
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Now if they didn't tell anybody, Everybody would think it would
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be just like Barnabas but you'll remember when we study it they
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didn't bring all the proceeds to the church.
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They only brought half. They brought half and said that
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they brought it all. But the but the Holy Spirit
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would have none of that the Holy Spirit revealed it Peter Peter
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spoke to them exhorted them, they experienced judgment.
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Unfortunately, so here the early church, there's giving giving
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giving and then by the time you get to the widows Things changed
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and, you know, a couple commentators are as reading kind
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of highlight this. What was the bigger problem in
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this early stage of the church? Was it ananias and Sapphira?
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And the Pas cracy or was it this issue with the Widow's now on a
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quick survey you may say, well the hypocrisy the hypocrisy,
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look how God judged it. But I would suggest to you that
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the problem, the bigger problem in the early church, was this
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issue with the Widow's. It had the potential of
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Destroying the church because something fundamentally changed.
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They went from, you know, the widow's.
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There was a concern that there was a distribution of the
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resources. There was a helping of widows
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just like the Bible says and so the Hellenistic widows those
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that were speaking Greek, they received resources and the
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Hebrew. Widows those that spoke Hebrew
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they received help, but the problem was is when they
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compared themselves when they compare themselves, they felt
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like they Were being neglected. And perhaps to some degree,
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there was some neglect, but the issue was, is they got upset.
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They started to mum murmur and complain and this was grad.
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Brought great potential and Temptation for the whole church
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to get caught up in it. And what changed fundamentally.
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I don't want you to forget this. They went from a season of.
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What can I give? What can I give?
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What can I give to now being a season?
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I haven't gotten enough. And that's a big change where
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you start out. Say I'm going to serve.
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I'm going to give everything that I have.
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I'm going to give myself to the Lord and then something changes.
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You like, you know what, I don't have enough, why do you have
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more than me? Why isn't this shirt or or like
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you know again back to the topic when I was mentioning earlier,
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maybe you're here looking for a church and you're trying to find
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a place spiritual we can raise your family and grow and be
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discipled. So you walk in the doors and
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your mindset, whether you say it or not, is you know, what is
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this church have for me and I apologize for changing my voice.
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You may not say, Like that. But that's the what do you have
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for me? What are you going to do for me?
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Ed? What's this church going to do
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for me? What do you have for my family?
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Let me just answer the question in case if we didn't answer in
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all the literature, we give, we have nothing for your family.
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Nothing. I mean, we're a very simple
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church. We teach the Bible, we sing
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together, we will hope the Holy Spirit.
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We want the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, but we don't think
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of that way here, we're not sitting around going, what can
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we get with this family and what can we do for them?
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And how can we, that's Not our approach to Ministry.
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So, when we have things here, you know, things for singles,
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things, for men, things for women.
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It's in a response to the need to disciple you.
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But let's say well yet, I'm going to come here because you
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have a Men's Ministry. Well I don't know if it's going
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to be here next week or two weeks from now.
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We don't know what the Lord is going to do.
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And so when you come into a fellowship thinking, what do you
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have for me? You're just setting yourself up
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for disappointment. You're setting yourself up.
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For great difficulties because no, there is no perfect Church.
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Except this one, there's no perfect now.
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Not even this one. Seriously, the moment I showed
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up imperfection it's no, there is no perfect Church.
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There's no church that's going to meet all your needs and I'll
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tell you why Jesus Christ. Solely can meet all the needs in
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your life, not a pastor, not a church, not a movement, not a
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community and that's where the early church is here.
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There's still in such an infancy, but the enemy of the
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souls, you know, we have a three-fold enemy, the world
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system are flush or old sinful habits and the Devil Himself.
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And they're just constantly pounding constantly,
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never-ending in your life, and if the enemy of our souls can't
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distract can't. Destroy you, he'll distract you
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and you'll just be the distracted.
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Your whole life. Never really doing anything for
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the Lord. And he doesn't like this
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situation that the situation of caring for the Widow's was an
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important one but it had potential and it revealed Hearts
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it's like what do you mean you didn't get enough there they are
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with something in their hands that was given to them from the
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church and they look at it and say it's not enough and that's
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just a prevailing thought in this consumer-driven culture
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that we've been raised in. I mean, this is the Water, we
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swim in. I mean you may be so used to
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that consumer-driven thought of creating a need and now you
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know, you don't even need it but they create the want and just
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like you're just so going from thing to thing and nothing
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satisfies you because nothing can satisfy you or me.
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And I love this with the early church, why is the word of God?
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Spreading and Y, is the number of disciples multiplied, greatly
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because the apostles solve the problem, The spirit.
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They didn't leave the word of God.
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They didn't leave their role, but they raised up these men to
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take care of this practical need.
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I also want you to see verse 7. This isn't like a church growth
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verse. And I realize, I may be only
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speaking of pastors and leaders and Elders today.
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But I Church growth doesn't come because you go to a seminar and
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church growth doesn't come because you read a book
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somewhere and they said, hey, do this and all people will show
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up. Now I can let me just say there
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are methodologies. He's and there are ways of doing
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things where you could fill seats in a room.
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No, doubt we could fill seats in this room and add services and
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it just a month, no problem. You know, how we would do it.
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One of the ways we would do it, is we buy a BMW and we would put
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on we would put advertisements on television or on the radio
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and say come on this day to this address and we have free raffle
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tickets and you can win a BMW. The place will be packed.
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I want what's my number? Which my What's my number?
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You can fill chairs, but that's not discipleship.
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You can have rooms filled with, doesn't mean the Lord's in it.
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So yeah, you could buy a book. If you do this, everybody will
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show up. Yeah, that's probably true.
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You can't create Church growth. No leader, no posture can create
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Church growth. I mean, if you believe the
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Bible, this what the Bible says, Jesus said I will build my
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church. If you think it's your church
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and you going to try to build it.
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But if you have part of what Jesus is doing, he'll take care
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of that and if he wants to build numerically, great.
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That's what's happening in early church.
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But you know what God is always doing, he's building internally
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always, he's always working on the inside.
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There is church growth here, but it comes from the lord.
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It's his work and you'll see mathematics all throughout the
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scriptures used to describe God's dealing with the church.
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Sometimes he adds sometimes he stood of tracks here, you see
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he's multiplying and it's all God's doing.
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It's his church, not only that notice in verse 7, at the end, a
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great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
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This is significant. this is significant because these are
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the hard-hearted religious people It could very well be men
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that cried out for the crucifixion of Jesus that are
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getting saved right now. These could be although they
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started out genuine. They live for three years
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knowing about Jesus hearing his teachings.
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Listening of listening to the stories, the true stories of his
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healings and resistance resistance, he's not the
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Messiah, he's not the Messiah, hard-hearted bam.
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Just at the time that the Lord wants to work, Priests are
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getting saved. I mean, this is amazing.
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What God's doing just in one verse that could have been
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undone by little bit of selfishness, a little bit of
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covetousness murmuring and complaining.
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I mean division destroys all the time.
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Now with the mathematics addition.
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Subtraction multiplication, I'm sure you've heard pastors before
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talk about blessed subtraction and almost always they talk
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about difficult people leaving and it's blessed.
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Traction. And and I want today, I want to
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give you a different angle on that phrase, because let me just
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say if you're a difficult person, today if you're a
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difficult person in the church, if you're a difficult person in
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this church, it is not God's desire, nor ours for you to be
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subtracted. That's not our desire.
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Let me tell you what God's desire is.
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It's not that you be a blessed subtraction, but that you repent
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and change, that's God's heart for you.
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We don't want to see you walk out and be a trouble to House.
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You're not that's not a blessed. Subtraction what a what a
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blessed subtraction would be is that you change and you are a
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different man and a different woman fully committed to
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following Jesus Christ in the life of this church.
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That's God's will for you. Hey, it doesn't always happen.
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People do leave, you know, there are you know, there are people
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that are I think it was Professor Greg Laurie that said
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the people that that are a blessing when they come.
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They show up and there are others that are a blessing when
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they go and that happens. But God's desire for you is not
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for you to be so hard-hearted and resistant and neither for me
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as a pastor. We want to see changed.
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We see your life change. We see your marriage restored,
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when see your prodigals come home.
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We want to see your attitude about well complaining and
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murmuring, just stop and start building the kingdom instead of
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tearing one another down. But here's the other angle, I
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want to give you There is a blessed subtraction that you and
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I should embrace, but it's personal.
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It's a subtraction of our attitudes and our change.
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It like God wants to do a work on the inside.
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Things need to go things need to go.
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That's an important for you to consider today.
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God wants to do the same thing that he's doing the early Church
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in your life right now. He wants you to grow and it can
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happen fast, and it can happen powerfully.
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He wants to add to your spiritual growth.
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Oath. He wants to multiply your
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spiritual growth but he also wants to clear things out if
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you're ready and willing God is ready.
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And willing to clear things out of your life that are hindering.
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You and holding you back from progress.
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Holding you back from Victory, holding you back from what God
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really wants to do, which reminded me of Joshua's.
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Would you turn with me? Joshua chapter 17, Joshua
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chapter 17, some of you are looking Your clock and going Ed,
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are we really going to finish the chapter?
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Yes, be patient with me. Joshua chapter 17, the children
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of Israel are taking the land. They are finally walking in the
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promises of God. They have fought the battles
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under the leadership of Joshua and they're getting their
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allotments. They're getting the places where
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they're going to raise their families and are going to build,
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and they're going to grow, and they're going to live in the
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land and here in In Joshua 17, there's a little pause.
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Because there is a hesitancy the children of Joseph.
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Ephraim and Manasseh. They are.
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They are hesitant. And so notice with me in verse
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14 of Joshua chapter 17, it says, then the children of
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Joseph. Spoke to Joshua was saying, why
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have you given us? But one lat, and one portion to
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inherit, since we are a great people inasmuch as the Lord has
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blessed us until now. So Joshua answered them.
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If you are a great people then go up to the Forest Country and
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clear place out for yourself there.
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In the land of the parasites and the Giants, since the mountains
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of Ephraim are too confined for you verse 16.
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But the children of Joseph said the mountain countries not
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enough for us and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land
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of the valley have Chariots of iron.
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Well those who are bet Shan and the towns and those are on the
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valley of Jezreel and Joseph Joshua, spoke to the house of
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Joseph. The Ephraim and Manasseh saying
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you are a great people and have great power.
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You shall not have only one lat. The Mountain Country shall be
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yours and although it is wooded you shall cut it down to its
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farthest extent shall be yours for you shall drive out the
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Canaanites though they have iron chariots and are strong.
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Now, I want you to tie this together with the Widow's for a
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moment in the early church because here they are Standing
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on the Promises of God. They've just come through all
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the Warfare, all the victories. They're starting to get the
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land, they're hearing all the promises that they heard from
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their fathers and their grandfathers.
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This is it and they're Anse, not enough.
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This is enough. Or you could even say not good
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enough, not big enough. Not the best location.
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And it has great potential to do, big damage to the nation of
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Israel. Let alone damage to their own
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hearts, and I'm not going to develop this in-depth.
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I've already done it, another Bible study, but I want to
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consider a few things just by way of reminder, because God
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wants to clear some things out in your life.
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He wants to change your heart in your attitude, the way you view
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things. First of all, if you're there
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today then this is what God is saying to you.
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Number one, Joshua tells them develop what you have.
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Be happy with what you have today.
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Develop it, that's what Joshua says, you know, just go up and
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take the land, take it, it's yours.
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If you are a great people then don't ask for more, but take
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care of be faithful. That's the New Testament.
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Principle be faithful. Be faithful with what you have.
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That's important. That's what God has for you.
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There's a popular phrase today. You may have heard it.
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It really encompasses this Double and if you've heard it,
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finish it with me Bloom where you're planted.
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So if you never heard that before, now you know wherever
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you're planted like the song today man, bear fruit there.
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Be faithful where you are. Don't always, don't live your
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whole life wondering. What's up?
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What's up, ahead? What's up ahead?
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Why does she, why does he No, be faithful, God rewards
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faithfulness. Secondly, he tells them in verse
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18. He says, you know what?
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I will give you a little bit extra, but you're gonna have to
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go up and clear out the wooded areas.
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You see that the Mountain Country shall be yours and it's
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wooded. You shall cut it down.
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So he tells them to take care of the upper areas and cut down and
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make it inhabitable now a couple of things on this.
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Number one in the Bible, Tops are often associated with
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closeness and intimacy with God we will even use that phrase.
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When we go do Retreats, you know, we take a men's Retreat or
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a women's retreat or a marriage or cheat and will singles
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retrieve will go down especially when we go to Vail or
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Breckenridge and we're literally going to the mountains for a
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time away. And we'll talk about you have
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that Mountaintop experience, so encouraging, so wonderful and
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you come down the mountain Into The Valleys of reality,
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mountaintops mountaintops. Very important, they speak of
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your closeness to God. They speak of your worship life.
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They speak of how God wants to draw, you near to himself.
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And so, that leads me to the question and it begs the
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question, doesn't it? How's your Mountaintop lately?
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How is your life of devotion in the Lord?
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Everything that is difficult in your life.
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That every problem, you're facing every distance.
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You feel from God is directly related to your Mountaintop.
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It's directly related to whether you even have a devotional life
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with him. Whether you even have a prayer
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life, whether you even care about developing your
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relationship with God. You know, relationships only
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Human Relationships relationship with God, they only develop two
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ways with two ingredients. Same thing for all of us.
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Time and testing time and testing.
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The more time we spend together, the more things we go through
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together and work out together, the stronger, our relationship
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goes and it's the same with God. The more time you spend with
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him, the more issues you work out together with him, the more
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intimate, you become as a follower of Christ, as a son, or
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a daughter of the king. I mean, think about think about
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the things that happen in the Bible.
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I mean, if you're not taking time to read your word every
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day, Day. You're not taking time to pray
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on a regular basis, just a life of prayer, a life in the word,
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you're missing out on a lot of things that happen at the
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Mountaintop. I mean, I think of Moses, he
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received the law and the Mountaintop.
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I mean, that is the primary way where God gave his Direction,
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and you're missing out hearing God's word.
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If you're not meeting him there in the word, I think of Elijah,
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Elijah, battled on the Mountaintop, and there are just
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some battles that need to be fought between you and the Lord
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like with One, the Lord. You gotta fight those battles
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together and you need to do that in your Mountaintop and your
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personal relationship with him. It was there that Jesus appeared
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on the Mountaintop that member when he turned the Bible says he
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transfigured. And he became as white as snow
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where Peter James and John Saw His glory, some of you need a
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fresh look of the glory of God and it can't happen.
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Like, you know, if all the difficulties at work and the
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issues on I-25 and all the things that are happening in
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this world is just not going to happen.
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It's not going to happen. You need to get a loan with the
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Lord regularly. Not compulsively like well I
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have to do this because now I'm a Christian that that's not
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relationship. Relationship is what do you have
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for me today? Lord, I know.
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I don't even know what today is going to bring, but I know I
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can't face anything without hearing from you without meeting
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with you. I think of the disciples, they
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drew near to God, they do near up on a Mountaintop in prayer.
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It was a powerful time. This You are bombarded.
23:46
I just you got to. You got to hear me out please.
23:50
I beg you. Listen to me like you are not
23:53
going to get a developed walk with Jesus on your phone all day
23:59
scrolling through other people's lives.
24:02
It's not going to happen. Scroll.
24:04
Scroll scroll. So I mean, hours and hours and
24:08
hours. Of all, whether it's politics,
24:12
whether it's other people's lives, whether it's like,
24:14
whatever it is that socially engineering, our minds, not
24:19
going to get you the intimacy that you need with Christ.
24:23
I'm not in, don't misunderstand me, I'm not in any way saying
24:26
that looking at pictures everyone so it's not that big a
24:28
deal. But the what do you think is
24:30
going to happen in your life when you spend hours and hours
24:34
and hours? Looking at all that stuff, it's
24:38
going to affect you. Do we really believe that were
24:42
the exception to the biblical? Truth that?
24:44
What you sow is what you reap. All that's for everyone else and
24:48
not for me and it is affecting the church.
24:51
Do you really think when you're dabbling in pornography, that
24:54
that's not going to jack your head up.
24:56
Do you really believe that? Can you take pornography to your
24:59
mountain top and say, well, wait a minute.
25:02
Lord, I'm gonna have my Bible. Open here, and my phone open to
25:04
this junk over here. It doesn't make sense.
25:07
You want to stay away from sin, draw near to God.
25:11
You can't take sin with you. You can't just like, well, I'm
25:14
gonna go to devotions and sin. Nobody says that.
25:18
Now you might battle in your mind.
25:19
You might have spiritual warfare.
25:21
That's different. But no wonder you're into this
25:24
stuff that you're in and no wonder you haven't been on a
25:28
Mountaintop in a while. That's what Joshua says.
25:32
He's go up to the mountain, top. And then notice what he says?
25:35
He says need to cut down the trees.
25:38
Now jot this down, you can look at it later.
25:40
But in Deuteronomy chapter, 20, God gives instruction to the
25:43
children of Israel on how to cut down trees.
25:47
Here's what happened. You're going through the word,
25:49
you reading through the Bible in a year and you get to
25:51
Deuteronomy, you're reading some stuff in.
25:53
Leviticus you got what is this all about, you know, how does
25:56
this even apply to my life? But God is very specific on why
25:59
he said Use when he said things and in Deuteronomy twenty, he
26:04
gave the children of Israel. Instructions of how to inhabit
26:07
the land and very precise instructions, how to deal with
26:10
trees when they cut them down. He says this, he says in
26:14
general. He says, if the trees bear
26:17
fruit, don't cut them down. But the dead ones are ones that
26:21
have no fruit, cut them down using however, you want.
26:25
And that's a very important application for our lives.
26:29
Because when you receive a strong word like this or
26:31
exhortation, you could just kind of look back and see all bad,
26:34
all bad, all bad. But when you go back to the
26:36
Mountaintop and you start clearing out the wood and
26:38
carrying out the dead wood. I'm certain, you will see areas
26:41
of life that were fruitful. It's not all lost.
26:44
There are trees that have been fruitful.
26:46
They might, they may not have enjoyed the fruit.
26:48
You may not have shared the fruit but there are there are
26:51
things in your life that have been fruitful that God has used.
26:54
Don't mess. Don't cut those down, nurture
26:57
them, fertilize them, take care of them, but the deadwood's
27:01
gotta go. It is just got to go, you won't
27:05
make no substantive Improvement in your life, unless you change
27:10
and you know the biblical language for change in the Bible
27:14
is repentance and repentance is closely connected.
27:19
According to Paul, when he wrote to the Corinthians with Godly
27:22
sorrow, And I mean, if you have no Godly emotion over the
27:26
condition of your life, then you're very far from repentance.
27:30
It doesn't mean you're going to have to, you know, work your way
27:32
for 20 years to get there. It's just like, man, like Psalm
27:35
51. I have sinned against you and
27:38
you alone, God, David dealt with his sin.
27:41
Then he started to reconcile with the situations in his life.
27:44
God wants to clear things out. Just like the Widow's.
27:47
He had to deal with the Widow issue.
27:48
He didn't get rid of the Widow's.
27:50
He helped them. He didn't get rid of them.
27:53
He didn't say. Oh, blessed, subtraction, see
27:55
you later. No, he disciple them.
27:57
He sent Godly men into their lives leaders, so that they
28:02
might grow through this. And the church might multiply,
28:06
it's important that we pay attention to these things
28:09
because the Lord wants to do a work.
28:11
One more thing on this. Before we move on, is I want you
28:14
to notice that the places where they were going to inhabit, the
28:17
enemy was still there. Did you notice that the enemy
28:20
still there? I mean, they're And right there
28:22
in verse 15, the perizzites and the Giants, and then you get to
28:26
the Joseph's, like, wait a minute, the Canaanites are there
28:29
and notice in verse 16, Mark that word.
28:31
They dwell in the land because they never really did fully
28:35
drive out the enemy. So the enemy is a squatter, the
28:39
Canaanites dwell, they lived there and they have Chariots of
28:41
iron. It's mentioned again, in verse
28:43
18. So when you're taking the
28:47
direction, you're receiving today and you're starting to
28:49
make substantive change, you just got to realize there will
28:52
be a fight for your spiritual progress.
28:55
The enemy will not give up quickly.
28:57
I mean I think of it, I know it's silly but just think of it
29:00
in your backyard, you've had a squatter living there for two
29:03
years and a tent there in their backyard and for two years,
29:06
you've never done. Don't worry about it.
29:08
It's no big deal but then God awakens you.
29:10
And just like no, you cannot live in my backyard.
29:13
Get out and the dudes go. Say, what do you mean?
29:15
This is my backyard. I've been here for two years and
29:18
you're like, no, I pay the mortgage, but you haven't done
29:21
anything for two years. And now, the squatter that
29:24
doesn't belong. There starts to fight you.
29:26
It's like, it's, my house is my house and my house.
29:28
He's like, no, get out. And you got a right to get that
29:32
tent throwing out of there, you know, you might want to help
29:34
them with a few dollars to find a place to live, that's fine.
29:37
You want to be a nice Christian about it.
29:38
But hey, when you're dealing with the Enemy, you deal with
29:42
the Enemy. Get him out of your backyard.
29:46
I don't care if he dwells there. You go.
29:48
Take care of him. You drive him out.
29:51
Is what it says in verse 18. You can't live in a place of
29:55
compromise and he's fortified. If you've given the enemy room
29:59
in your life, for any amount of time, I want you to understand,
30:03
he still has chariots. And he still has the armaments
30:09
that are much greater than what you have.
30:11
The human resources you have and never match the enemy but you
30:15
know, the victory is yours in Christ.
30:17
You don't need to take on the enemy hand-to-hand combat.
30:20
You need to abide in Christ and he'll take care of your enemies,
30:23
but you won't abide in Christ. You see how it all ties together
30:25
unless you're at the Mountaintop.
30:28
Matter of fact, what's instructed here for this family
30:31
is you you need to live on the mountain top.
30:36
It can't be just an event where you acade, you need to clear out
30:40
everything so you can live up there and I see what a beautiful
30:43
picture for us church. We need to live on the
30:45
Mountaintop. There's going to be battles in
30:48
the mountain. Tops are going to be battles in
30:49
The Valleys but our lives must be consumed with the Lord, okay.
30:56
With all that in mind, come back to Acts chapter 6. notice the
31:02
very next verse, In verse 8, it says and Stephen let's pause
31:08
there for a second who is Stephen.
31:11
Well you know who Stephen is, Steven was one of the table,
31:14
waiters he was the guy we learn. In verse 3 with had a good
31:18
reputation. He's full of the holy spirit and
31:21
wisdom. Now we learn.
31:23
He's full of faith and power. He did great wonders, and signs
31:27
among the people Steven, this is that, Steven, the man that just
31:31
said, here I am use me here, I am.
31:34
I want to serve you wherever you want.
31:36
Tell me what to do, I'm ready to do it and he was assigned to
31:41
take care of the problem. With the Widow's.
31:43
You could say, he was assigned to wait the tables and served
31:46
them, make sure they had everything that they needed.
31:48
Whatever he was asked, he was whatever he was asked.
31:51
He did it and his faithfulness and Ministry, we will learn,
31:55
open a tremendous door for him. His faithfulness to do, what was
32:00
before him open to Door, why? Because there are no small
32:04
responsibilities and the church, there is nothing too small for
32:09
our attention and Service. As Believers, as someone once
32:12
said. And I quote, I have never seen a
32:15
responsibility in the church. That was too big for a man, but
32:18
I have seen many men too big for God.
32:23
And it's true. There is that hesitation at
32:26
times by some to serve in what they view as seemingly
32:30
insignificant things. But there are no insignificant
32:34
things, I've seen it so many times in the life of the church
32:40
where there's a brother or sister, I want to be used
32:42
greatly Lord. I want to be used greatly in the
32:44
Lord and go. Well, you know, why don't?
32:45
Why don't you we come here early on Sundays?
32:47
Why don't you come and help us straighten out the chairs?
32:50
All, I'm not call to straight and chairs.
32:55
They never say it that way, but in their hearts, they do.
32:59
I'm not called I know. I'm called to teach.
33:02
Okay, then while you're straightening chairs, teach
33:04
yourself about humility. How about that?
33:08
But there is a battle going on where somehow straightening
33:12
chairs is insignificant me, tell you something, God is interested
33:16
in Street chairs. Why?
33:19
Because anything we do for him, we want to do with Excellence,
33:21
we even give them our best, we want to do the best that we can
33:24
with what we have, but it's more than straight and chairs.
33:26
You know? The straight and chairs, hold
33:29
people. And God cares about people.
33:33
And so, that little touch of a straight and chair putting
33:35
things in order, are all to facilitate an environment where
33:39
people can worship unhindered without distractions.
33:42
God cares about chairs. He cares about trashy, cares
33:45
about all the things that you might think he cares about
33:48
widows that are arguing with one another and causing a real big
33:51
stink in the church. He cares, he loves widows, he
33:54
wants them taken care of and he wants them, not arguing and want
33:57
complaining, and not murmuring. And so he raises up men and
34:01
women that are full of Holy Spirit and devoted to him so
34:05
that we might be vessels to serve the precious people.
34:08
The church nothing is below us. Nothing.
34:11
There isn't anything below any one of us like God has called us
34:15
to serve him. And the reward for faithfulness
34:19
like Steven here is more. Unfaithfulness the reward for
34:24
unfaithfulness is what you have is taken away from you.
34:27
But the reward for faithfulness is more, Steven gets more here
34:31
because he's served the Widow's faithful.
34:33
Lee and he's going to have a tremendous open door where he's
34:36
going to preach the gospel. He's going to be used in great
34:39
ways. Stephen when he stepped into
34:41
serving, the Widow's had no idea that we would be reading about
34:44
him until the Lord comes back. He wasn't doing it.
34:48
Well you know I'll get a page in the Bible if I do this he wasn't
34:52
doing that. That way he was serving the lord
34:55
with his best and that's God's mandate upon us that we give
34:59
them our best and that we don't look at.
35:02
Well that's And I'm not called to that and really I get I get
35:06
tired a little bit to the like, I'm not called to that.
35:09
Can I just, can I just ask you? Please stop using spiritual
35:14
language to a make excuses for your bad behavior.
35:18
You are called to serve, the Lord, doesn't matter what's
35:22
next. We are called to serve the Lord
35:24
that in here out there. How about this one?
35:28
Some of some of you are going to be very uncomfortable.
35:29
You are called to serve the Lord at work.
35:32
Take that At. You're a messenger of the Gospel
35:36
at work. All I got hate those plays, I'm
35:38
only are okay, not real, good servant you're there to serve,
35:44
you're there to serve your boss. You don't like your their serve,
35:47
the co-worker. You don't like, you are a
35:49
messenger of the gossip. You are an ambassador of Christ.
35:53
So give your best church because that's what God rewards.
35:56
Like the early church. He's clearing things out.
35:59
Clearing things out. Clearing things out.
36:01
Why? Because it's going to get
36:02
better. The Just going to go Global very
36:07
shortly. It's gonna be glorious and I
36:10
feel the same thing in this season of our church and
36:14
different season of our church. I taught through the book of
36:16
Acts verse by verse is my third time now.
36:18
Well, I pause the rest of the studies.
36:20
I go know the church is at this place.
36:22
This group our church, we need to remember what God does and
36:25
what he wants to do. But I can say in the previous
36:28
two times, I haven't felt the anticipation that I feel this
36:31
time that there is something ahead.
36:34
For the life of this church, that will be glorious in the
36:37
realm of building the kingdom. And some are go.
36:40
Well, what is it at? I don't know yet.
36:42
I don't have the Bible written. Like they, I don't know what the
36:46
page when I turn to page at still blink.
36:48
Still blank. I'm not sure yet, but I do know
36:50
this as God. We allow God to clear things out
36:53
in our hearts. He'll reveal to us.
36:55
He'll show us, we just follow him.
36:57
That's it, just follow him, see what he's doing.
37:00
So here, you know, he is Stevens raised up and he's going to Be
37:05
used greatly the first 90. Then there arose some Mark that
37:09
word. Some there are always some that
37:12
want to make your life miserable.
37:14
Amen. Have you met them yet?
37:17
Let me say that again. There are always some that want
37:19
to make your life miserable. She's only like three people
37:24
here, have miserable situations. I'm gonna give you one more
37:27
chance. I don't want to hear people on
37:28
the radio in their car louder than you.
37:30
There are always some that want to make your life miserable.
37:35
So. Okay, so there's more than just
37:37
the three of us and you're making progress for the Lord,
37:40
you're taking big Steps of Faith.
37:42
You're doing things. That no one else is doing.
37:44
It's like this me is for me and my house.
37:46
I'm going to serve the Lord and then boom.
37:49
There always some Here they are. They came from the synagogue of
37:53
the freedmen cyrenians and alexandrians those from cilicia.
37:57
They started fighting see that word fighting you think the
38:01
enemy is going to go without a fight?
38:03
No way. Not only that, they weren't able
38:06
to resist the wisdom and the Spirit, by which he spoke verse
38:09
10. So now they're really ticked
38:11
off, because everything he say makes sense, it's biblical and
38:15
they can't resist it because the spirit of God is there.
38:18
So then they ramped it up. They Secretly induced men to
38:23
say, we have heard him speak Blasphemous words against Moses
38:27
and God, and they stirred up the people, the elders, the scribes
38:31
and came upon him and seized him and brought him to the council.
38:35
They also set up false Witnesses.
38:38
Who said this man does not cease to speak Blasphemous words
38:42
against this. Holy place on the law.
38:44
For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will
38:48
destroy this place and change the Customs which which Moses
38:51
delivered to us and all who sat in the council looking
38:56
steadfastly at him. Saw his face as the face of an
39:00
Angel. Interesting verbs that you see
39:03
here. Let's just look at him again.
39:05
Secretly induced verse 11 stirred up, verse 12 Came Upon
39:13
seized brought him verse 13. Set up false Witnesses.
39:21
And that, what's the end result as they're looking at him, he's
39:25
got this glory on his face like his like an angel.
39:29
You can be sure that there are always some that want to disrupt
39:33
the work of God in your life. There will always be some and a
39:37
lot of their tactics are found right here.
39:40
Lies, deceit, getting people stirred up, you know, if I was
39:46
teaching this to the kiddos and Sunday school or I'm teaching it
39:50
to the junior high or high schoolers, I would paraphrase it
39:53
a different way and I would say something like this and they
39:56
weren't able to reach the resist, the wisdom and spirit of
39:58
which he spoke. So then they secretly posted
40:02
things on Twitter against him. And they stirred up people on
40:06
Facebook to come against him with lies, and they got this
40:10
thing. That was doctored it with
40:12
Photoshop, a picture and got it viral.
40:14
So, everybody's talking about what a bad person Steven is but
40:18
it's all lies, it's not true. None of this is true in Stevens,
40:22
life 0. And we need to walk in the
40:26
spirit so we can discern when lies and deceit come that want
40:30
to cause division. They're like no there's all
40:32
secrets. You wouldn't know unless the
40:34
Holy Spirit revealed it this is secret, they secretly did this.
40:37
Why? Because they're they're fake.
40:39
They want to present themselves as something they're interested
40:42
in. What's oh, look at me and what I
40:43
look like. But inside their Jesus said,
40:45
they're dead men's bones, they look good on the outside, but
40:48
they're filled with dead men's bones.
40:49
So they talked about him behind his back and they're hiring
40:52
these guys. So they could be liars and
40:54
setting it on. Up.
40:55
So the case goes against even. But even so God, affirms Stevens
40:59
has known, this guy is filled with my spirit, he's full of my
41:02
glory. Look at him, look at him, watch
41:05
him. You see it's not true.
41:09
With every great progress, there's always going to be
41:11
resistance and sometimes is going to be lies and sometimes
41:15
going to be weird stuff. I mean, I have found over the
41:17
years that the enemy really, really, really likes to attack
41:21
things in your life that you value.
41:25
You know, if you stood a would say, you know, I'm a very honest
41:27
person, the enemy will send things that that people will
41:30
accuse you of being dishonest. The you know what it does it
41:32
gets you off your game. It's like now you're going to
41:35
try to prove to everybody that you're honest.
41:37
You already know you're honest but it makes you uncomfortable.
41:39
And I'm going to fight where it and then it doesn't matter.
41:42
You're stuck because no matter what you say, one, you're trying
41:45
to affirm the truth, they already think you're a liar.
41:47
The other one is you're defending yourself.
41:49
So, if you, if you were really true, then you wouldn't defend
41:52
yourself. It's no win.
41:53
It's a no-win situation. That's how the enemy Works.
41:56
He puts you into a corner, and there's no way out.
41:59
And when you try to fight your way out, it just make things
42:02
look worse. And as our pastor taught us so
42:04
many years, Pastor Chuck he would tell us, he just let the
42:07
Lord be your Defender. You just stand there and do what
42:10
God's called you to. You.
42:11
Just go forward, let the Lord be your Defender.
42:13
Maybe the truth will come out in this lifetime, but I promise you
42:18
100%, take it, take it from me, on the authority of God's word
42:23
at the bema seat and the Judgment seat of Christ.
42:25
The truth will come out because truth is truth.
42:28
No matter what people say about it, you can't change the truth.
42:30
He can't alter the truth, but everybody can have an opinion by
42:33
the truth but people's opinions about the truth or not the
42:35
truth, amen? so, Stephen Faithful man filled
42:43
with the Holy Spirit good reputation.
42:46
He's going to be used in an amazing way, so much, so that
42:50
we're reading about him, 2,000 years later, why?
42:52
Because he was faithful and that's the word of the Lord to
42:55
you. Let him clear some things out,
42:57
offer them to him, get back to your Mountaintop.
43:01
It's not, it's not a have to like, okay, I have to do my
43:05
know, it's a get to. And I mean, if your devotional
43:08
life is stalled, you know, I don't read the Bible, I don't
43:10
like Get a new version, read it in a different version, read it
43:14
in a different way, approach it in a different way.
43:16
You know if it's not working for you in the mornings, then then
43:19
start something at night and if you're trying to pray at night
43:21
and falling asleep, try it in the morning.
43:23
You know, if it's something where your lunch time, you got
43:25
an hour, go out to your car, turn it on the air conditioning
43:28
or if it's snowing the Heat and just seek the Lord in your car
43:32
like switch it up, get rid of the excuses.
43:35
Wants God's flips that switch in your life once you just find the
43:39
value in the joy of God speaking to you, you will never go back.
43:44
God is going to speak. He has a word for you as an
43:46
encouragement for you. He has so much available to you
43:50
in this relationship. Go after a church deal with it,
43:53
get the enemy out of your backyard, get the enemy out of
43:56
your front room. Get the enemy out of here.
43:58
I mean, just declare it as unto the Lord.
44:00
And He devil, you have no place in this house.
44:02
You have no place in this marriage.
44:04
You have no place with my kids. You have no place in my mind.
44:07
You have no place. Do it as unto the Lord.
44:11
And watch God affirm it in your life because time is short.
44:16
And the coming of the Lord is at hand and The Souls of men and
44:19
women are at stake church. And to me I'm just so
44:21
encouraged. Because Stephen voice just like
44:25
us. I mean in so many ways, he's not
44:29
some senior pastor lead Pastor or seminary trained doctor.
44:34
It Mastery does not any of that. He's just he's not an elder,
44:39
he's not a super spiritual Saint doesn't even have a title I
44:43
guess if you gave him a title he's the Widow taker care of, I
44:46
don't know, they didn't have a title, just clean the table,
44:49
Steven. All right, how many more tables
44:51
are there? You know, that's it.
44:52
That's what he's doing. Just taking care of the needs
44:55
and he was just a guy that wanted to help around the
44:57
church. I can't like if you want to
44:59
serve the Lord just be around, you'll see there would be more
45:02
than enough to do. And if you can't be on the
45:05
property, then be around wherever you are just being
45:07
present, they'll be so much more to do so much, be present with
45:12
your kids, be present with your wife, be present in the, in your
45:16
singleness, be present as the boss, the CEO, the lawyer, the
45:19
doctor, whatever you're doing, just be present, the spirit of
45:22
God. Is there ready to connect?
45:24
You And you'll give you the words you need and the love you
45:27
need God wants to use you. If you'll be open to him and you
45:31
clear things out No, we don't want you to see you as a
45:35
blessed. Subtraction where you walk out
45:37
the door and take your problems to another church.
45:41
I think what God's heart is that the Blessed subtraction is
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actually inside of you. and some of your flesh and your pride,
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and your arrogance, and your rebellion and their
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hard-heartedness That's reduced and cleared out.
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You know, I find that so many times.
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The holy spirit is wanting to do that.
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Work in my heart. And so many times I just think
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the place that he calls me back to wasn't the day we moved here
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although that was glorious. You know the beginning of this
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church it wasn't the the day that we packed up and moved, it
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wasn't the different jobs. I had you know where he calls me
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cause you and me to the same place back to the time as a new
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believer. Back to the time of holding
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nothing back. Back to the time where I wasn't
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a Bible scholar. I didn't even own a Bible.
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I just love Jesus and I couldn't buy a Bible to the bible store
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opened at even have one. There was no phone in my hand, I
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could open up the Bible or Marie and I we make our decisions as
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from the Lord. Boom, we don't, that's go bad.
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But what about not? We'd even do that like in those
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days. Yeah, sometimes it was scary
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man. It was fun.
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I don't want to become some professional guy.
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It's like, well, I know, exactly.
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I have to change my voice to, I know exactly what you should do.
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I've no idea. Let's go back to the beginning
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and see what the Lord wants to do.
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That's repent. Remember from where we have
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fallen and repent and then repeat the first works.
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That's where it's at that. Where it's at is that simple,
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humble, dependence upon the holy spirit And all that he's added
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and all that he's done he gets all the glory for the great
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things he has done. It's not us never will be never
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was and never will be God is at work in your life so yield them
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today. So father I pray as we look at
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Stephens life that he might stir us.
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I know chapter 7 it's a big long sermon that could easily be
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overlooked but it's not. It is a man being used by you
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that the spirit of God using the word of God in the Power of God
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and that's what you're doing right now.
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So stir us up, encourage us, help us to respond to the
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expectations, the baking's of a pastor that we might grow in
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your grace and run with, while all that you've given to us in
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Jesus name, amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible. Study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
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Call us at 877 30 Grace, that's 877, 30. 04 703 to listen to
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this. Message in its entirety or to
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join us for our lives dream Services.
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Visit us online at Calvary. Co dot church or download our
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free Calvary Church app be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.