Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / I'm Baptized, Now What? | Acts 9:17-26 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

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I'm Baptized, Now What? | Acts 9:17-26 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Can you please pray with me before we open God's Word?
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Lord, we thank you for this time, for these testimonies, for
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the the freedom to be able to gather in a place like this, to
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worship You without fear, and to hear from your voice.
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And we pray now, Lord, with all that we've already heard and
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experienced, there can be an excitement and even a reflection
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that might cause us to be distracted from what You want to
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say at this time. We pray that you still our
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hearts and tune our ears to hear what you have to declare to us.
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We love you and we honor You, and we believe that you will say
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something now in Jesus name, Amen.
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It is an undeniable pattern in the Scriptures that when a
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person professes their faith in Jesus Christ, their next
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priority is to be baptized. And regardless of what
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traditions may suggest, the Bible clearly indicates that
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baptism follows belief. We heard it from Brother John
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who boldly said it. Baptism follows belief.
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And as much as water baptism is important, it is not the
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entirety of what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
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I've personally seen over the years that when people learn the
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importance of what we just observed, they rightly pursue
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it, and they sometimes pay a high price for it.
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But then they find themselves without direction afterward.
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What's next? What now?
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And I've personally seen over the years that when some people
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get baptized, they virtually disappear after they don't get
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connected to the local church, a local church.
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There's no observable growth. And unfortunately, sometimes you
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even see people revert and go back to their old ways.
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And this is not an uncommon trend.
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I'd like to explain baptism in this way.
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It's similar to a wedding ceremony.
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The wedding ceremony is a time where you in a celebratory
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fashion, invite others to witness a covenant that you are
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making with someone else. But like a wedding ceremony,
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baptism is just one event. What follows a wedding ceremony
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marriage, and it is no different with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Then when you and I put our faith in Him, and then we
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declare that faith saying I am unified, I am one.
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My heart belongs to this Lord, the only Lord and the only
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Savior. You are now committed to a
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daily, lifelong relationship with Him.
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And I'm persuaded that for churches who teach on the
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importance of baptism, they must also instruct believers what
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their lives should look like after that initial step of
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obedience. And that is what I want to
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convey to you today from the word of God.
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And this is not just for those who stood before us this
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afternoon. This is going to be a reminder
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for every genuine follower of Christ in this place so that you
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can, by hearing these directions, reflect on your own
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life and say, is my life consistent with the model that
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is presented to me in the Bible of what my life should look
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like? And the way we're going to
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accomplish this is looking particularly at one, one of the
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most influential and exemplary disciples of Jesus, the Apostle
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Paul. You know, what's interesting is
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that when you read the Bible, you will not find a record of
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the baptisms of the original 12 disciples.
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But the Holy Spirit has preserved for us the conversion
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story, the baptism, and the first steps of Paul's movements
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after his baptism. And that's what I want us to
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look at together, to gather in a brief amount of time, 4 things,
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four things that every genuine Christian should expect and
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pursue after putting their faith in Christ and publicly declaring
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their allegiance to Him. Mimi in your Bibles in Acts
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Chapter 9, beginning in verse 17.
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And let's read a few verses together and listen, Christian
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believer, this is also, I hope going to be a means for you to
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equip yourself so that you can help and guide other people in
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the infancy of their faith when they want my ask you what does
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my life look like now you can offer these points, among other
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things, Acts Chapter 9 beginning here in verse 17.
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Here's what we read. So Ananias departed and entered
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the house, and laying his hands on him, He said, Brother Saul,
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the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you
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came, has sent me, so that you may regain your sight and be
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filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like
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scales felt from his eyes, and he regained his sight.
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Then he rose and was baptized, and taking food he was
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strengthened. For some days he was with the
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disciples at Damascus. Four things, four things that
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should follow your public declaration of profession of
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faith. Notice here that after Paul and
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his personal transformation and public profession met with some
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disciples, that's what you read at the end of verse 19, right?
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For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
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The the point is so clear. It's undeniable that when a
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person brings their heart to Christ, when a person links
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themselves to the truth, their fellowship changes.
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You have to understand that when Paul first arrived at the
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Damascus, he hated the disciples of Jesus Christ.
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He was there to persecute them, arrest them, harass them, and
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even have some of them executed. And the very object of his
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hatred now became his delight. Listen, this is an undeniable
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mark of a person who has truly been transformed by the gospel.
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You will desire to be with Christians now.
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If somebody were to ask you, I'm speaking to the Christians.
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If somebody were to ask you, doubting their own salvation,
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how can I know that I am truly a follower of Christ?
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How can I know that Christ really transformed my life?
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What answers would you give them?
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What truths would you encourage them to reflect on?
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John the Apostle gives US1 trait that I believe is oftentimes
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overlooked. It's not taken into account.
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He says this in first John 314 And we know that we have passed
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out of death into life because we love the brothers.
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If we do not love, we abide in death.
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So notice what he's saying here, that one of the marks that you
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have went from death, spiritual death, to life is that you have
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a new found affection for fellow Christians, That you have a
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longing to be in their company, that you have an ambition to
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serve them and be served by them.
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Those are inseparable signs of a person who has and possesses
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saving faith, and to be void of this kind of love warrants a
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legitimate examination of the authenticity of your salvation.
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That's not my claim. That's not my standard.
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That's what John says. Notice what he says at the end
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of the verse. Whoever does not love abides in
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death, and he qualifies. What kind of love?
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He's talking about love for the brothers.
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Whoever doesn't have this kind of love, this kind of care and
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commitment to a group of Christians as well as the
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Universal Church, that person has every right to think about
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whether or not they are truly followers of Jesus.
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And this is such an important point to the Holy Spirit to God
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himself who authored this book that he repeats that
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qualification more than once in the book of first John.
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If you don't believe me, look at first John 51 at another time
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that those who've been born of God will love those who have
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also been born of him. So then, if one of the
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indications that I have been changed this the seal of God's
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salvation has been placed on my heart, being love for others,
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how do I know if I'd love others?
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How do I measure that my love for the brethren is legitimate?
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And you don't have to guess, he explains.
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Look at verse 16 of first John 3.
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By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us and we
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ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
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There it is. The way that you know that this
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love from God has changed you is that you are willing to lay down
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your life for your brothers and sisters in Christ.
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Now what does that mean exactly? Does that mean that if the
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opportunity arises that I should actually die in the stead of
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another? Perhaps in some instances that
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is the case, but I don't think that's the main point that John
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is trying to get across. To lay down my life is not
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necessarily a one time event, a one time great act of sacrifice.
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It's a lifestyle, it's a way of living.
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And that's what he says in the very next verse.
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I mean, the Bible explains itself.
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Look at verse 17 first, John 317.
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But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in
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need, yet closes his heart against them, how does God's
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love abide in him? So the thread is there, if you
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have been changed by God, you're going to love the brothers.
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And the way you can know that you love the brothers is that
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you're willing to lay your life down for them.
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And the way you know that you've laid your life down for them is
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in practical ways. If you see a brother in need and
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you close your heart against them, how does God's love abide
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in you? This is not theoretical or
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sentimental. It has action behind it.
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And so let's let's consider the implications of this.
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If I've been saved, I'm going to love the brothers.
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But the way in which I love the brothers requires listen very
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carefully, requires me to be intentional and committed to
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brothers and sisters. In other words, I'm going to
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pursue something greater than a superficial, shallow interaction
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with other Christians. I'm going to be acquainted with
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other Christians and know them well enough where I am aware of
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their needs. And then based on that, the
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wisdom that I've been given and the resources, maybe at times I,
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I tried to meet that need. So here's a question for all of
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us in here. Do you have that heart for the
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church? Do you have that kind of love
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for fellow Christians? Do you pray for them?
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Do you bless them by your presence?
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You know how much it blesses people when we come to the House
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of God. Do you do you seek to discover
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your gifts so that you can share those gifts with others?
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Do you even beyond the service times, Are you associated with
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Christians enough where you can assist them if they need
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assistance. And one of the things that
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blessed me so much about this church, this local body is the
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organic fellowship that God has created in this place.
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And, and sometimes I learn of things myself that we're not
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necessarily a part of a program or an effort from the leadership
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that when somebody in this place has to go through surgery or or
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become sick, there's an initiative that people in this
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church take. They go on rotation to cook
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meals and maybe to visit or to offer something beyond just you
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being here for a service. That's the work of the Holy
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Spirit of God. That's the mark that his love
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has been embedded on our hearts. And notice here that as I'm
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about to present these points, this is not here's what you got
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to do to show that you really belong to God.
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That's that you're putting the cart before the horse.
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What I'm about to explain, what I've been explaining is here's
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what you will do because you've been born of God, this will be
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the natural spring and overflow of what God has done in your
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soul. Do you love the brothers?
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It is a oxymoron. It is a contradiction to say I'm
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a Christian. I love God, but I'm not sure if
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I love people who claim to love God.
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That's foreign to the Bible. That does not make sense.
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What you have here is Paul, after he has his own experience
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with Christ, meeting with the disciples.
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Let's go back to Acts 9 and look at a second point.
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So we read for some days that he was with the disciples at
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Damascus. Look at verse 20 of Acts 9.
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And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue, saying
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he is the Son of God. And all who heard him were
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amazed and said, is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem
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of those who called upon his name?
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And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them
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bound before the chief priests? So when you experience Christ,
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he saves your soul. Not only is your relationship
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with the believing community different, your engagement with
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the lost, with the unbelieving, is also marvelously altered.
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Notice what Paul does after he meets with the disciples to
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recuperate and to be strengthened.
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He immediately finds the nearest synagogue to preach Christ.
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I love that word immediately. It's something that a genuine
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Christian in this place can attest to, that when you have
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had your eyes open to the goodness of God, you have in you
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this deposited urgency and zeal to share what happened to you.
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Is that not true? It's this level of excitement
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that almost makes that ambition effortless.
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I remember first become a Christian and I missed a lot of
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appointments because when I would go to the grocery store,
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whenever I had to pick up food or whatever the case may be,
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there would be so many of these conversations that would come
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up. And I've seen that with other
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believers as well. They just consumes you
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everything orients around. How can I share what Christ has
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done in me to others? And that's precisely what you
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see in Paul's life here. It doesn't mean here that he was
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immediately placed in office of leadership or of of being
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trusted with some kind of responsibility in the church.
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You know, the Bible warns against new believers taking on
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such roles, but it doesn't mean that we can't go out there and
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share and tell others. And Paul's life proves to us
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that that desire, that that goal to make Christ known doesn't die
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off with time. At least it shouldn't.
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You see here throughout his life in the Scriptures that it was
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something that remained consistent.
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And at the same time, the trajectory of Paul's life proves
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that when you truly experience Christ, you will have this
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desire to share Him, and it will remain with you through all your
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days, even though you might have to battle fear and maybe
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spiritual lethargy. That's all real.
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That's all common. We can't be.
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We can't be unrealistic with those temptations.
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Paul's example teaches that Christians do not disassociate
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with the unbelieving world in a cult like manner.
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When you come to faith in Christ, what happens is that now
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those relationships with those that you might have once sinned
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with and and we're unbelieving with, there is now a redemptive
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purpose in your interactions with them through wisdom and
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prayer and dependence on God. You, you want to show them who
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Jesus is. And I want to tell you that it
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doesn't just happen through communication.
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He did preach Christ in the synagogue.
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But I want you to look at verse 21 again.
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Look at what the people said when they learned that this was
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Paul telling others about Christ and all who heard him were
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amazed and said, is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem?
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I mean, they already knew he was causing chaos in the Christian
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community. He was the number one persecutor
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against the church. They learned it all the way up
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to Damascus. This Paul now that was causing a
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tornado, and Jerusalem has now come here to do the same.
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But they realize, what has he not come here to do this for
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this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priest?
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So in other words, this audience, they weren't just
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amazed at what Paul was saying, they were astonished by what he
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was no longer doing. He was preaching Christ.
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But they knew who this Paul was before.
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He has come to persecute Christians, but he's not
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persecuting Christians anymore. What's the lesson?
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This man's message was consistent with the man.
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He did not just verbalize his change.
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His life was a living advertisement of it.
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And so the second point here is that when you have truly
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experienced Christ, when you make that public declaration of
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faith as some did today, your life leaving this place is going
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to look different. The only thing about you being
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change in baptism, If it's only getting wet, then you got it
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wrong. It's about an internal
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transformation that others will be able to recognize over time.
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You're not the same person. Not just based on what you're
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saying, but I can see it. And that was the case with this
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amazing man of God. Is there anything else in this
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man's example that shows us what should become of a person who
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follows Jesus Christ wholeheartedly?
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Absolutely. Let's come back to our text in
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Acts 9, verse 22. But Saul increased all the more
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in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus.
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By proving that Jesus was the Christ, He increased all the
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more. And what kind of strength does
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the Holy Spirit referring to here?
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Spiritual strength. You see, when the gospel becomes
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real to us and we respond to it in faith, we want to grow in our
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knowledge of the One who saved us and our conformity to who He
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is. Something that was absolutely
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irrelevant to you and you were disinterested in that you were
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indifferent to, now becomes this burning passion.
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I want to know the one who saved me, and I want to buy his power,
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Live like him. That's not optional.
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That is something that is definite with somebody who has
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encountered the power of the cross.
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You know what's amazing? This is not the only reference
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to growing and strength in this chapter.
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We read it earlier when Paul after he encountered Christ on
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the road to Damascus, he was so moved by he was so impacted that
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he fasted for three days. We read that in Acts Chapter 9
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and after Ananias comes commissioned by Christ to open
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his eyes and to be baptized, what do we read back in verse 19
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and taking food, he was strengthened.
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In that case we're talking about a physical refreshing and
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recovery. But back in verse 22 is
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spiritual. So this is the point that I'm
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trying to wake the the way in which Paul was strengthened
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physically parallels the way you and I will be strengthened
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spiritually. What did he do?
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He ate what happens to a person who is really saved really
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transformed that that what they did and their public declaration
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was was authentic. You're going to have a new
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appetite for the word of God. You're going to hunger for it,
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you're saying. Is that really what that's
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talking about? We'll look back at verse 22.
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The connection of increasing in all more strength is related to
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confounding the Jews who live in Damascus and proving that Jesus
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was the Christ. So we're talking about an
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increase of strength and effectiveness in the knowledge
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of what he believed in. So here's the point.
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This is what you and I have to understand, that when somebody
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is saved, they will become more aware and they will acknowledge.
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That through the proclamation of the faith, the explanation of
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the faith, the defending of the faith, that they have invested
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time to study the faith, meditate on the faith, and grow
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in the knowledge of the faith. Now, Paul here is not saying
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that all of us are going to become preachers, but what he is
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showing is that his appetite for the truth is reflective on all
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of us who will truly follow Jesus Christ.
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He was able to now be more efficient and able to confound
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and to prove how. Where did that come from?
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Because he was diligent, because something in him now needed to
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rewire everything that he learned about the world, about
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God, and Christ honored that and help them to grow in true
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spiritual strength. Do you have an appetite for the
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things of God? I'm not saying do you have an
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uninterrupted discipline of reading.
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I'm just saying down deep inside, can you say I really
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want to know God more? Does it bother you when you hear
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maybe a sermon like this that I'm not familiar with?
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That used to bother me when I first got saved that I would
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come into meetings like this, conferences, brand new baby in
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Christ. The preacher would get up there
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and name books of the Bible. I don't know where they were.
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I would just go and have people around me saying no, no, it's on
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the right side, not the left side.
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And that irked me. If I really believe that Jesus
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said, and this is the means by which this is the the database
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of who he is, then I got to know him.
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I want to know I'm not so I can win debates and arguments, so
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that I can know who saved me. That will become true of you if
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you really experience the gospel.
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That was true of this man Paul, and that's why the end of second
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Peter, the very last verse of second Peter, Peter the apostle
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says, but grow, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
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Jesus Christ. Grow.
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Are you growing or has nothing changed even after you got
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baptized? Then what does it mean?
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What does it mean? It's like getting married,
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spending all that money for that ceremony, and days and weeks and
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months and years go by and you don't know anything about your
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wife more than you did that day. See, when we put it in real
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practical terms, we're like, that sounds silly, but we
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tolerate it in the church when it comes to our faith.
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Does it make sense? No desire to know Christ, No
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desire to pick up this word and read it.
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I'm not saying that every single day you're going to have that
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ambition. I'm just saying, is it even
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present? Is it even there?
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Are you convicted about not having it now Paul shows us here
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that you'll have it. Yes, it'll be challenged.
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That's why there's commands like in Second Peter 318 grow because
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we need to be stirred. We need to be reminded.
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But if it's not evident, it's nowhere to be found.
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If a message like this doesn't move you, oh, you, you have, you
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have every right to step back and ask some questions.
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There's one more thing. We talked about how Paul met
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with the disciples after his transformation.
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You, you will want to be with Christians.
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You, you will want to be with the church.
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We saw that he testified of Christ, not just in Word, but
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also in deed. You, you want to, you want to
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live in a way where people know that you're associated with
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Christ. And yes, there might be
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hesitations and yes, you might have to battle with some things,
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but you want to, you want to. Thirdly, you're going to grow in
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spiritual strength. You're going to want to eat
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because like a baby that comes out of the womb after a
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delivery, that baby naturally is inclined to eat, give me food.
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It's no different with a spiritual birth.
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If there's no appetite after a spiritual birth, that would be
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concerning, just as it would be concerning for a newborn baby to
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not have an appetite. There's one more thing.
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Let's come back to Acts 9, verse 23.
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When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but
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their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates by
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day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him
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by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,
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luring him in a basket. One thing that you can expect
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following Jesus eventually, it's not just that love for people,
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not just a wanting to tell people about Christ, not just a
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love for the word of God and growing and strengthened in your
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spirit, You will also experience at some point in some way
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suffering at the hands of others, suffering at the hands
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of others. And we see here that in verse
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23. And when many days had passed,
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what happened? The Jews plotted to kill him.
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Why? Because nothing disturbs Satan
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more than a robust, consistent, steadfast, serious Christian who
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takes their calling seriously, who, yes, grows, but also from
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that growth spills over, serves God's people, and even serves
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this unbelieving world. Satan, as powerful as he is,
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he's finite. He is limited.
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He has limited resources. And so he has to be strategic
25:25
and he reserves his efforts for those who are actually walking
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wholeheartedly with his enemy, the Lord Jesus Christ, your
25:34
friend and your Lord. And that's what we see with
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Paul. Paul now was growing on Satan's
25:40
most wanted list and he wasn't going to waste any time to try
25:44
to stifle, derail or maybe even destroy him.
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He saw where this man was going and we wanted to put an early
25:50
end to it. And So what happens?
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What we learn here that one of the ways in which Satan tries to
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hinder holy men and holy woman by of God is by causing people
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from outside and within to be an obstacle.
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Pay attention to what I said from outside and from within.
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From outside, I mean people who do not believe in Jesus, and
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they're not just neutral about it, they actually hate what you
26:22
believe in. They might believe contrary,
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they might not claim to believe anything at all, but they
26:28
despise what you adhere to. And that was true with these
26:33
unbelieving Jews. They saw Paul as a threat and so
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they came against them to the point of wanting to kill him
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because he was sharing this soul saving message with others and
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it was making an impact. Now I'm aware that what I'm just
26:44
sharing with you right now about Paul being actually targeted
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unto death does not resonate with probably all of us in this
26:52
place because we don't pay such a price for what we believe in
26:57
here in the West. But can I remind you that the
27:00
Christian experience in America is a minority?
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The majority, statistically speaking, the majority of
27:09
Christians, when they are contemplating following Jesus,
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you know what they have to ruminate over?
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Am I willing to go to jail for many, many years?
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Am I willing to have my family taken from me?
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Am I willing to endure torture? Am I willing to meet execution?
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That's what Christians and other parts of the world are thinking
27:30
about. So I was thinking about this
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last night. I thought if I was speaking to a
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room filled with people who lived under a communist regime
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or in a culture that advocates killing your own family,
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dishonouring you publicly, I would want to point point to
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Paul's example here and show them that as much as you will
27:54
face hostility and and even threats on your life, when you
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follow Jesus Christ, you win God's protective favor.
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Because notice what happens when many days had passed, the Jews
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plot to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul.
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How how it was made known, we're not exactly told, but you see
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this, this, this consistent thing in Paul's life, in the
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book of Acts, that God often intervened in his life
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providentially, that he invisibly maneuvered things to
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make sure that Paul understood ahead of time of what was coming
28:28
his way. And why I bring that up is
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because there is a day coming and it did come where Paul would
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be imprisoned and he wasn't going to get out.
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Paul would be imprisoned and what historians believed to be
28:41
in his 60s and he would have his head locked off for his faith.
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But until then, nothing or anyone could pry him out of
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God's hand as long as it was placed on Him.
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And the promise is no different for you and I God will not allow
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anything to happen to you as a follower of His Son that does
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not align with His perfect will, and He will protect you and
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provide for you until your testimony on the earth is
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complete and you're ready to graduate into glory.
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And this, this truth only becomes more powerful when you
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realize how Paul reflects on this point.
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You don't have to turn there. But as he's speaking to the
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Corinthian believers, he reflects on his resume of his
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suffering for Christ. And he touches on this moment,
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but he gives even more insight of what happened.
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Let me read this to you. It's in 2nd Corinthians 1132 and
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33. He says at Damascus, the
29:38
governor under King Eritas was guarding the city of Damascus in
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order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a
29:46
window in the wall and escaped his hands.
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That detail is not mentioned in the narrative acts.
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He mentions it later on. Paul does.
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And notice what he says here, that the Jews were not the only
29:56
ones playing to kill him. The Jews had the government
30:02
hired to find, arrest and kill Paul.
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And so that's why you find 24 hour surveillance in Paul's
30:11
whereabouts. And here's the point, the extent
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of God's protection that despite spies, armies, secret government
30:21
agents, nothing could thwart God's protection over Paul's
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life. One with God is majority doesn't
30:29
matter who stands before you or around you.
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And what was true for Paul is true for you and I.
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You will and you will endure. Listen, we celebrated today, we
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cry today. There's an atmosphere of peace
30:42
and joy and acceptance here. But let me speak to those who
30:45
just got baptized and they remind those who've been
30:47
following Christ. When you walk out of those
30:50
doors, not everybody's going to celebrate your faith when people
30:56
might find your testimony online, that might give a more
31:00
reason to hate you, despise you, do anything to try to harass
31:04
you. But I also mentioned that
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there's even hindrance, potential hindrance from within.
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And what I mean by within is the intentional and unintentional
31:18
offense that might come from the Christian community.
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Notice I said intentional because there are professing
31:23
Christians who are capable of hurting, and unintentional that
31:27
sometimes Christians can do things accidentally due to their
31:31
own fallen nature. Not maliciously, but that be
31:34
enough for Satan to give you a reason to not be full, fully
31:38
committed to the cause of Christ.
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Where am I getting that from? In our final passage of Acts 9,
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Look at what happens in verse 26.
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And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join
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the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not
31:53
believe that he was a disciple. So you have to understand what's
31:58
going on here. Paul left Jerusalem as one of
32:02
the greatest Pharisees and Jewish religious leaders of his
32:05
time. He has permission to go into
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Damascus and to arrest Christians.
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He goes and Jesus arrests him, opens his eyes, reveals them
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that he's sinned against God and that there's forgiveness.
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He receives that forgiveness and now he has a whole new call.
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Now he's preaching Christ in Damascus and at some point here,
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according to Galatians, he goes away into the Arabian wilderness
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and he receives personal tutor and learning from Christ.
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And then he is now ready to go back to Jerusalem for the first
32:37
time since he left there as an unbeliever in Christ.
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And you have to remember that Jerusalem was the main hub of
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the church at this time. And what do we learn when he
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goes back to Jerusalem and they learn that this is the same Saul
32:51
of Tarsus who hurt and destroyed so many of our community is a
32:56
believer. They didn't believe him.
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Nice try, Paul or Saul. We know who you are, and we know
33:05
that this is some elaborate scheme to really, you're a spy.
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We're not having it. And they shut the door in his
33:10
face. Now, we don't blame these
33:13
Christians in Jerusalem, do we? No, we understand where we might
33:19
be. If we understood that a
33:20
terrorist who was killing Christians by the droves that
33:24
was ravaging the church one day shows up here and we just heard
33:28
some things, we would be on guard.
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At the same time, you can imagine the potential hurt that
33:35
Paul felt because remember now we read earlier when many days
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had passed. Paul was consistent since his
33:45
conversion. Paul was preaching Jesus Christ
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and Paul on a daily basis risked his life because of his
33:53
allegiance to the truth. And because of that, he lost the
33:57
fellowship and the love and the affirmation of those that he
34:00
wants stood with and the people that he desperately needed.
34:04
Now, as a Christian stiff armed him, where is he going to go?
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I've met too many Christians who've allowed offense from
34:20
other Christians, deter them and derail them to the degree that
34:26
they are never the same as they once were.
34:30
They live in isolation, there is an open wound, and they never
34:36
move on to know the full potential that God has for them
34:41
as an ambassador. I've seen it so many times.
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Can I tell you something in my own history, in my own walk with
34:49
the Lord? I've been walking with the Lord
34:50
for about 12 years now. I've been more attacked by
34:53
professing Christians and unbelievers, but I've also read
34:58
my Bible enough to know that disappointment from supposed or
35:03
even genuine disciples is to be expected.
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Paul knew it at the beginning of his faith, and Paul was followed
35:13
by that internal tension at times till his last moments on
35:17
the earth. Can you imagine if Paul came to
35:20
the church in Jerusalem and they treat him that way and he goes,
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You know what? If this is what it means to be a
35:24
Christian, forget about it. I also believe in Christ.
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I won't deny him, but I'm just going to do this thing solo.
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What would become of the church? What would become of the Bible?
35:34
And yet you have so many today, even today, perhaps you drug
35:38
your feet together. You did not want to be here
35:40
because the church has turned you off and you're just here out
35:43
of reluctance. But you're going to go back into
35:46
your old ways. You're not going to know what it
35:48
means to love the brethren, to be loved by the brethren, to
35:50
know what God has in store for you and your content.
35:56
And I'm here to tell you, did you miss the memo that following
36:01
Jesus Christ is a promise of enduring some kind of suffering,
36:05
whether that suffering is persecution from outside or
36:07
Christian stepping on your toes from time to time from inside.
36:13
Shake it off, Christian, shake it off by the power of the Holy
36:19
Spirit. Let Christ heal you.
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Keep your eyes on Him and just commit to the cause no matter
36:26
what, no matter what. You know when Paul would go and
36:30
preach at a certain city and I'm ending it here, and he would see
36:33
Christians come together and the church would be established in
36:36
the infancy of their belief, he would preach a similar message.
36:40
He had a simple model, and I want to quote it to you from
36:42
Acts 1422. He would go back and he would go
36:46
on a cycle, right? He would go on this tour to
36:48
these churches to strengthen the souls of the disciples,
36:52
encouraging them to continue in the faith and reminding them
36:55
that through many tribulations they must enter the Kingdom of
36:59
God. Not some tribulations, many,
37:03
many from outside, many from within.
37:06
The government might turn on you, Christian.
37:08
Your boss might find out that you got baptized and you became
37:10
public and you're a bigot now, so you're going to lose your job
37:15
and even maybe even from inside a leader, spiritual leader,
37:19
might disappoint you. Christians who are not mature or
37:22
have the love of Christ developed yet in their hearts
37:25
might mistreat you. What are you going to do?
37:27
Turn your back on Christ? Diminish your devotion to Him.
37:32
Allow yourself to remain deflated.
37:34
That's not God's will for you. And He told us ahead of time
37:38
what many people are unwilling to say to Christians, even when
37:40
they first became Christians. Christians, you're going to face
37:43
many tribulations. But let me also say this, It
37:45
will be worth it because He is worth it.
37:49
Our Lord and our Savior experienced many tribulations.
37:51
For what? Because He's committed to saving
37:53
you, redeeming you, restoring you.
37:59
So may He receive our unwavering commitment as well.
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Four things. Four things that a person who
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places their faith in Jesus and professes it from the place of
38:11
baptism should expect and pursue.
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You have love for the brethren. You're going to live as a
38:16
testimony who Christ is and what his gospel is all about.
38:19
You're going to want to grow in strength, and you're going to
38:23
expect to endure some suffering. And all along the way, the same
38:28
Jesus who saved you will shepherd you, He will guide you,
38:33
He will empower you, He will forgive you when you stumble.
38:37
If you do stumble along that path, even if you for a season
38:40
do not honor those directions. He is even now today ready to
38:44
say, would you come back to my complete will for your life?
38:47
So I'm ending it by I want to just address two types of people
38:50
here. For the person who is not a
38:52
Christian, I want to let you know that you can become who you
38:54
were created to be, but it is only through Jesus Christ.
38:58
Jesus Christ was sent to die for sinners, to die on the cross, to
39:02
shed his blood so that He can cover every sin and wrong that
39:06
you have committed. Every and anything that you have
39:10
done can be wiped clean once and for all.
39:13
If you acknowledge that you have sinned and that He is the
39:16
Savior, that there's no other way to be pleasing to God but
39:19
accept that payment, You repent and you trust, and in that
39:23
moment you will know that you are saved.
39:27
Have you done that? Now let me ask you this because
39:29
you might be turned off by this message.
39:30
Why are you turned off? What about what I just said is
39:34
so offensive to you? What about what I just said to
39:38
you cause you to recoil? Whatever.
39:41
Think about it. Don't let your emotions take
39:42
over. Think about it, the implications
39:44
of it, God loving you and paying the price for you so that you
39:48
can have eternal life. Do you love your sin that much?
39:54
Has your sin, Has your sin really saved you for anything or
39:56
saved you for something? No, it's only disappointing you
39:59
and it's only going to set you up for more disappointment, hurt
40:01
because you weren't created for sin.
40:03
You were created to know your Savior.
40:06
Accepting today, I plead with you that you would put your
40:09
faith in this Jesus for the person who has confessed Christ.
40:14
You even made your your faith go public.
40:17
Are you walking with Him with a heart that's committed to Him?
40:21
Do you remember what it was like when you stood before 10 or 20,
40:24
maybe thousands, and you said I will follow them all the days of
40:26
my life? Is that true of you today?
40:27
Or has money now become your master?
40:31
Have you idolized your family? Are you more ambitious and
40:35
excited about your job, your body, your health, your
40:39
experiences, your travels? Whereas at one point you had a
40:43
brimming longing that no matter where you went, what you had,
40:47
you have all you need in Jesus. And it was so real to you.
40:51
It wasn't a duty. It wasn't twisting your arm to
40:53
make Him known by way of word and example.
40:55
I want to tell you today that this Jesus is so compassionate
40:59
that though you might be cold today, He can warm your heart.
41:03
He can melt your heart, and He could bring you exactly where
41:06
you need to be. Let's pray if the priest team
41:17
can join me so that once we finish praying, we can sing to
41:21
the Lord. I want to just ask you and give
41:23
you a little bit of time to reflect on the things that were
41:25
shared, not just from the world, but throughout this time, and
41:35
ask the Lord to help you and wherever you need help.
41:51
Lord, we ask in absolute humility that you would make
41:57
yourself real to us again, and perhaps for the first time to
42:01
those who who who don't know you.
42:04
Lord, we have testified of your gospel.
42:07
We've sung about your gospel. We've preached from your word
42:10
about the gospel. But now we're praying that by
42:12
your Spirit you make this gospel real to us.
42:18
Lord, we thank you for saving us.
42:20
Help us live for you from that place of gratitude to honor you.
42:24
Lord, where we need to repent, help us repent where we fallen
42:28
short. Lord, strengthen us.
42:31
Thank you for the simplicity. Thank you for the confirmation
42:33
of your word of what it means to be a disciple of your son.
42:38
Lord, we, we sing about your power now.
42:41
We sing about what you're able to do, what you have done, and
42:44
Lord, what you can do through us for other people.
42:48
We give you glory. We give you all the thanks and
42:50
the honor in Jesus name, Amen. Amen.