Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #14804 - Your Life Can Bring Glory to God - Galatians 1:11-24

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#14804 - Your Life Can Bring Glory to God - Galatians 1:11-24 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to Galatians
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chapter 1, Galatians chapter 1. If you want to get ahead, you
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can also go to Jude. It only has 1 chapter, Galatians
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chapter 1 and Jude in a Bible study that I've entitled Your
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life can bring glory to God. Your life right now, sitting
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here in the 21st century, your life in Christ can bring glory
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to God. It doesn't matter what your past
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has been. It doesn't matter where you've
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come from. It doesn't matter the home you
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were raised in. It doesn't matter the mistakes
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that you have made. Your life can bring glory to God
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as you yield it and surrender it to Jesus, your life can bring
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glory to God. Paul wants them to understand
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the author of Galatians. Remember, he's writing to a
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group of churches that receive the simplicity of the gospel and
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it changed their lives. They were born again, God save
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them, save families, broke chains of addiction, all that
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you deal with. The Galatian believers, they
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were walking in the freedom that they have in Jesus Christ
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because they believe the real gospel.
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Remember the word gospel, it means good news.
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And here's the good news. Jesus Christ died for your sins.
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He was buried and he rose again the third day.
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That if you today will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
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and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
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you will be saved. That's the good news.
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They received it. They were born again.
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And then these false teachers come to town.
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The Judaizers today we may call them legalists.
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They came not with good news, but with.
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Bad news. They came to those that were
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born again already and said you're not saved.
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You're not saved the right way. What Paul said is not true.
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Don't believe him. He's not trustworthy.
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He just fears man. He, he is someone that wants to
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take advantage. And they, they were literally
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gaslighting. They were gaslighting the
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churches saying something that was untrue when they were
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actually doing it themselves. However.
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Being vulnerable in their sincerity to worship Christ,
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they follow these false teachers.
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To which Paul then says, I need to write them a letter.
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He couldn't go there, but I need to correct this by light writing
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them a letter. We learned so far that the
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letter is very strong. It's a rebuke.
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It is an exhortation. It's a very strong letter, so
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much so that remember we spent our whole time yesterday, our
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last time in our study in Galatians chapter 1 and verse
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10. It's so strong that Paul, it's
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almost like he had to pause for a moment and explain himself.
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He'll do this a couple of times, but he had to explain himself.
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He says, look, I know it's hard, but I didn't come to please man.
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I'm not writing this to make you guys happy or anyone happy.
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I'm writing this to please God. I'm telling you guys the truth
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because my life is dedicated to pleasing God and if I was
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worried about pleasing man that I wouldn't be a real servant of
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Christ, is what he said in verse 10.
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He's reminding them that sometimes in order to please
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God, you have to say the hard thing.
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It may not be well received. It may not be liked people might
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get. Upset.
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But the reality is, is that we all must learn to speak the
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truth. In love now.
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I asked you to open to Jude. Notice with me in chapter 1.
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There is only 1 chapter pick up there in verse three.
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You see this theme throughout the scriptures.
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It says in verse 3, Behold beloved, while I was very
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diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation,
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I found it necessary. That's why I just shared with
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you, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to
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contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered
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to the Saints for certain men, and it's always certain men.
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It's not never the majority. It's always a few group of
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people that want to disrupt your life.
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Not many, just a certain men have crept in unnoticed who long
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ago were marked out for this condemnation.
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Ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness
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and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Paul's doing the same thing here to the Galatian believers.
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Notice with me now in verse 11, Galatians chapter 1.
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But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which
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was preached by me is not according to man, for I neither
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received it from man nor was I taught it, but it came through
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the revelation of Jesus Christ. He shares with them the gospel,
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the the message that changed their lives because I I didn't
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get that from men, which was in great contrast to the false
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teachers that would lay their, the emphasis and the credibility
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of their ministry on men. I got it from this man, this
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man, this man, the traditions of men, They, they would build
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their credibility on man. And Paul goes, hey, listen,
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there's a couple of things we've learned so far.
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Number one, we learned from Paul in verse one that his ministry
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came from God and not man. Remember he says I was called
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not of men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ.
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So this is my calling and it came from God himself.
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I didn't get it from another man that that laid hands on me and I
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got it from God. He, he's the one that called me.
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My ministry is from God. And now #2 he's saying not only
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is my ministry from God, my message is from God as well.
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I didn't get it from man. It wasn't the Apostolic
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succession and only can get it from this man to give it to this
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man. He says none of that.
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God is at work here God gave me my ministry and he gave me the
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message, and it transformed your life.
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Verse 13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism,
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how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to
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destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond
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many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more
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exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my.
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Father's. Now he gets a little personal
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and reminds them of his story. His testimony is what we would
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call it today. He's already shared this with
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them. This isn't anything new, but
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he's using it as a way to build credibility of the faithful work
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of God in his life. And he goes, You know my.
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Story. You know my life.
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You know my past. You know my commitment to the
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law, You know my commitment to Judaism.
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You know me, you. You know how I surpassed
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everyone, everyone that I was near.
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I want you to remember who I am. Because the vessel.
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Of the message is very important.
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It's very important that you and I have credibility in our lives
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to be able to share with others the truth that their lives can
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be changed. And he says he says notice, he
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says, you've heard my former conduct, you've heard how I
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persecuted, but in verse 14, how I advanced in Judaism beyond
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many of my contemporaries and I was exceedingly zealous for the
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traditions. It's important to learn a few
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things about Paul here in his upbringing.
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First of all, he was a Pharisee. He was in the religious elite of
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the day. He was the religious.
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He would, he was a part of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of
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religious elite among the Jewish people.
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He studied under the most esteemed rabbi named Gamalio.
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Everyone. He would be the kind, He would
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be the one that you would want all your kids to study under.
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You would want to stunder study under Gamalio.
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And feedback that Gamalio gave of Paul was that he was such a
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voracious student that I couldn't keep him.
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I couldn't keep him stocked with enough books and resources that
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he would learn. He was that kind of student,
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just always learning. He committed to memory large
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sections of the Old Testament. It's even possible.
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We don't know for sure, but it was common in that day that the
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those that were ascending into the Pharisaical group would
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commit the entirety of the Old Testament to memory.
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But at the very least, large sections, it would be like you
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memorizing Romans, memorizing Galatians, memorizing Acts,
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putting it all to memory. He would do that with Isaiah.
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He would do that with a with Genesis and Exodus.
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He committed to memory areas of prophecy, areas of the law.
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He would be involved in his studies in question and answer
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groups. At first he would sit and
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listen, but then he would begin to answer himself.
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And he began to take leadership in these Q&A sessions.
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He would be the one that people would come to.
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He was very well versed in the scriptures and advanced in the
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religious studies. He also grew up in the Roman,
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Greco, Roman world. So he was familiar with the
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common culture of the day. He was familiar with the Grecian
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culture of idolatry. We learned that in Athens.
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Remember, he comes into Athens, he sees all of these idols he
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knew. Exactly what they represented he
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understood and used it as a tool to reach out to them.
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He also understood the Roman culture and Roman law.
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We also learned in the book of Acts that he used Roman law to
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save his own life. He goes are you to unity.
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You're going to kill a Roman citizen.
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I appeal to Caesar and that's exactly where they took him,
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spared his life. And it's because of these two
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worlds that Paul was able to say I've become all things to all
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men that I might win. The more you see God was
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developing him through this training.
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He thought he was going to go in One Direction, but God actually
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had another direction. And on top of all that, he was
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so zealous. You see what he said here of
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himself, how he purse verse 13, he persecuted the Church of God
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and he just adds this phrase beyond measure.
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You wouldn't even be able to measure it.
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He did it so much. He was so bad.
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It's like you just think of some things you were involved in in
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your life and you go me. I can't even count how many
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times I don't even know. I don't even know how much
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trouble I was in. I can't even remember it all.
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That's what he's saying. But when he's saying he
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persecuted the church, I don't want you to think in your mind
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like he came against a bunch of buildings.
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Well, you know, I was just going to try to tear that building
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down and explode that. It wasn't anything about
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buildings. There were no church buildings
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in the 1st century. There was the temple until it
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was destroyed, but the early church met in houses, in small
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cell groups until it grew and it grew and it grew.
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So he wasn't going after the institution of the church.
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He wasn't going after the organization.
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He was going after people. It's very important as he's
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writing this, he's very careful because what's happening with
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the Galatian believers, false teachers are coming in to
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destroy the church, and what are they doing?
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They're going after people because I know what it's like to
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go after people. Let me remind you, go back to
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Acts chapter 8. It's been many, many years since
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we studied Acts 8. But notice in Acts 8, when you
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get there, pick up how Luke describes what Saul was doing to
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the church. Acts chapter 8, verse 3, it
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says, As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every
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house and dragging off men and women, committing them to
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prison. Therefore, those who were
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scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
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He dragged out men, but he dragged out women.
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He was so zealous he would abuse and harm women, pulling them out
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of the house and you get the picture.
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Screaming and yelling and the children drag the children too
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and get the husband. We are going to destroy the
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church. Look at verse 9 or Chapter 9
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verse one. Acts.
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Chapter 9 verse one another description of soul.
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Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the
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disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest.
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He went to get permission to destroy the church, but notice
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it says he was breathing threats and murder.
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I thought that was interesting that there are two things that
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he's breathing because you know when you breathe, there's two
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motions to your breathing. You breathe in and you breathe
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out and everyone alive breathes. It is involuntary.
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You don't even need to think about it.
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You're breathing. If you right now you choose to
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hold your breath, you will pass out and start breathing again.
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That's how God made us, how important breathing is.
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So when we speak of breathing, we're speaking about the
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entirety of our lives. It what moves.
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Us and motivates us. What oxygenates our life?
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What? Fills us with life and what the
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set of Paul is what filled him with life.
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Was murder and threat toward the church?
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You could say he was wholly consumed, or, as he says, I
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persecuted the church beyond measure.
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I want you to be. I don't want you to be
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embarrassed by your testimony to the point where you don't share
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it. I don't want you to be afraid of
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your testimony. I know as well as you do.
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I wish there were so many things in my past that weren't there.
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There's nothing I can do about it.
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They're there. I fully participated in them and
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in the event in the Acts themselves, you know, they
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aren't, they don't make me happy.
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They don't make me proud. I was sharing with his sister
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after first service when or maybe even earlier when I share
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a part of my testimony, it's like this beyond measure.
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That's just, I'll just say it's beyond measure.
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You don't need to know all the details.
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It's worse and however far I go, it's worse.
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And I have friends in my life that each time I go back to
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California and we start talking about the good old days, I
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always learn something worse that I didn't know about that I
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forgot or Marie might share something.
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She's been we she and I've been together many, many years,
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believer and unbelievers. She'll share things with me.
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I'm like, whoa, it was worse beyond measure.
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But you know, it's part of my story.
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I'm not that person anymore that that person has died.
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I'm a new creation in Christ. It's very important that you
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grasp that that you are a new creation in Christ.
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I mean, if believers today would just.
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Believe that and live on that truth.
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Your life will be dramatically changed.
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No, what happens is, well, you know what's going on, man.
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Why do you have such a name? Well, you know, I've just always
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been an angry person. I'm just always, I always said,
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well, wait a minute. Are you a believer?
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Are you born again? Yes.
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Well, then you're not an angry person anymore.
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This, at this very moment, right now, you think you wish Joel was
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here. I get it.
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But you got to grasp this because your testimony is the
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bridge into people's lives. It's like, oh, you know, I've
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always been angry. No, no, no, no, no.
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The the reason why, the the reason why you adopt that
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identity, the reason why you won't live as a new creation,
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The reason why you always take us back two years ago of how you
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always, somebody told you you're just an angry person.
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And now you believe that is because you're using it as an
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excuse for present sin. You're looking back to the past
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so that you can excuse your sin today.
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So while you may have been an angry person, why you?
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While you may have had thoughts in the past, maybe you've had
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some. You've wrestled with your
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asexual identity and who you are.
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May that be a part of your past. You are a new creation in
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Christ, so you believe in the newness of life and God.
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You will begin to fulfill God's divine destiny for your life, if
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you will. Stop messing around with all of
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the lies that you have believed your whole life and believe God
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and begin to live in obedience because let it be said, your
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excuses for your present day sin have nothing to do with your
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past. They have everything to do with
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today. What is God doing today?
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If you're a new creation in Christ and old things have
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passed away, then let them pass away.
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Bury him, leave him behind and walk in the newness of life.
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That's what Paul's doing here. He's not embarrassed.
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By his. Testimony.
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He's not afraid of it. He's not celebrating it either.
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He's just like, look, guys, these guys are coming in with
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the story, with the line. They're coming in like I'm the
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one that fears man, and I'm the one that hurt you.
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And I'm the one and I'm just telling you that I used to hurt
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people, but I don't hurt people anymore.
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I bring the good, the message of the good news that by grace
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through faith, you can be saved. Because remember the Judaizers,
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the legalists, they came in and they don't, they didn't state,
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they said no, no, no. The gospel is not just believe.
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The gospel is believe and which every legalist does, there's
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always a list, There's always some read this extra book and
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then you can be saved. Do this extra thing, eat this
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extra way. There's always something added,
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always something added that the legalist will come and Paul,
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he'll just, he'll. Come and go.
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No, no, no, no. It's just faith, a gift of God,
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grace and the legalists come in. No, you have to be saved in what
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to. Keep the whole law.
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If you keep the whole law, then maybe you'll be saved.
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And then if you're a man. You have to be circumcised.
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It's like, whoa, no, no thank you, no, no thank you.
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I'm already saved. God has already done the work.
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It's a finished work on the cross.
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Isn't that what Jesus said? It is finished, all that's
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necessary and that newness of life will lead to what the Bible
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calls the Bible calls these works of righteousness.
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They come from salvation works of righteousness.
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You start, you live a different life.
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But they don't save you. And Paul says I used to be what
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they're accusing me of, but I'm not that anymore.
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I'm a different person. I was zealous.
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Notice, I want to point out a few things as we wind down here.
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Notice at the end of verse 14. He was exceedingly zealous.
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For the traditions, not for God, not for not as as before he was
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saved. Saul of Tarsus was exceedingly
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zealous for the traditions of man and the teachings of man and
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the interpretations of man specifically through the school
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of Gamaliel, because there were other rabbis with rabbis with
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different teachings. He was a student of Gamaliel.
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So he was very zealous for what he was taught by men.
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It's not much different today. You know, this is zeal.
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I see many, many believers getting off track, being
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exceedingly zealous for something other than the gospel.
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They call it the gospel, but it's really not the gospel.
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It's something else. It's tradition.
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It's some interpretation. It's someone's popular, trending
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viral opinion. And they're really zealous about
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it, don't you know? And they're running off in this
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and running off in that. If somebody caught their ear and
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some new cause and some new, and you're exceedingly zealous for
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all the wrong reasons. I can't tell you how many times
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this has happened where maybe we're dealing with an issue here
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in our own congregation or administering to another pastor,
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helping him deal with an issue in his congregation.
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And we're talking about the situation.
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And it's like, man, if these guys were just as passion and
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zealous for that, for the gospel as they are for that, there be
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no stopping the church. But now we're trying to talk
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them into what are you doing? You can't, don't do, don't go
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that way. That's not the heart of Jesus.
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Oh, it is the heart of Jesus. I read a book and I read, I saw
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YouTube video and this is the heart of Jesus.
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No, bro, that's that guy's interpretation.
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That's what you're zealous for. You're following a man.
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Now, if you would just be that excited about the gospel, if
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you'd be that excited about being a husband, if you'd be
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that excited about being a wife, being a faithful employer, the
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Church of the the church would turn this world upside down.
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But sometimes this is your testimony and you got to really
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take it to the Lord. The time is short and I know
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it's real. We deal with it far more often
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than you realize. I know it's real.
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Get your eyes back on the Lord. Don't be zealous for traditions.
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Don't be zealous for the teachings of men.
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Don't be zealous for you know, even things that get handed down
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through denominations and movements.
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And don't be zealous for those things.
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You be zealous for the Lord. He'll never let you down.
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He'll lead you and guide you in every generation.
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He'll give you wisdom for the moment.
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He'll give you strength for today and hope for tomorrow.
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No man can ever do that. I'd be able to hand you a few
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teachings. Might be able to say, hey, I
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know you're following God, but now you need to follow two
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books. I mean, if anybody ever tells
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you to follow two books, here's what I want you to tell them.
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You ready? No, I'm not following two books.
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I got, I got my nose in one book.
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I'm a I'm a person, I'm a man or a woman of one book.
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And that's the Bible. It has to be.
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There might be many, many good books, but there's only one
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great book, and that's God's Word.
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All persecuted. He was exceedingly zealous and
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his testimony was giving him credibility.
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It was beginning to remind them. I remember he shared that with
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us before your testimony is powerful.
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We we looked at this in depth in our study and acts.
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You can look the studies up. But listen, your your testimony
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is God's work in your life. You know why he's sharing
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portions of his testimony throughout this letter.
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It's because he's showing them what grace looks like.
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This is grace. I don't understand and I'm
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listening to them in circumcisional No, no, no, no,
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no. Just remember my life.
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That's Grace, a guy that. A guy that.
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I mean, this is ironic, is it not?
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This is one of the ironic places in the Bible where Saul of
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Tarsus is on his way to Damascus to destroy the church and come
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against the Gentile believers. But as we'll see in a moment, it
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was those very Gentile believers that God was preparing Paul to
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reach. He had one motive, but God had a
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completely different motive. Notice, look, look at verse 15
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now. But when it pleased God, who
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separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His
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grace again, that he met grace face to face, but grace was with
23:55
him all along, from the moment he was conceived in his mother,
24:01
from the moment of conception when life begins in the womb.
24:06
You know there's babies in the womb, right?
24:08
Did you? I know that?
24:08
Talk to me, Church. It's a baby in the womb.
24:11
A baby. A baby.
24:14
And if you allow it to develop long enough, a baby will come
24:17
out of the womb and we'll even get the privilege of praying
24:20
over it. A baby in my arms that was in
24:24
the womb not too long ago. A different Bible study
24:27
altogether for sure. But remember it is a baby in the
24:30
womb and God has a plan for that baby in the womb.
24:34
That's what he says here when it pleased God who separated from
24:36
my mother's womb. The calling of God was upon Paul
24:40
saw before he ever even knew it, ever even knew it.
24:44
What was his call verse 16 to reveal?
24:46
His son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles.
24:49
What do you mean, Paul? The Gentiles you were trying to
24:51
kill drag out of the house. Yes, Yep, that was God's plan
24:56
all along. I was so completely against his
24:58
plan. But God didn't give up on me.
25:03
He says I didn't immediately confer with flesh and blood.
25:06
That means he didn't look for the approval of man.
25:08
He just did what God called him to do.
25:10
Notice what happens. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to
25:12
those who are apostles before me.
25:14
But I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus.
25:19
After three years. I went up to Jerusalem to see
25:21
Peter and remained with him with a cup for a couple of weeks.
25:24
But I saw none of the other apostles except James.
25:27
The Lord's brother Now concerning the things which I
25:30
write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.
25:33
Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia,
25:36
and I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea, which were in
25:41
Christ. They were just hearing.
25:42
He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once
25:46
tried to destroy. And look at the end there.
25:49
And they glorified God in me. No matter what your past is, no
25:54
matter what you've been in, God's plan will be accomplished.
25:58
And people, men and women, boys and girls, family, friends, Co
26:02
workers, bosses will glorify God in you.
26:07
They will see God's glory. What a great and marvelous
26:11
change that happened in Seoul. How important it is for you and
26:15
me to seek the promotion of God and not ourselves and give all
26:20
glory to Him because He shares His glory with no man, Paul
26:25
says. I was a Jews Jew until I met
26:26
Grace face to face. But really, the truth is, Grace
26:29
was there all. Along from the moment I was
26:31
conceived that God's grace was upon me.
26:34
He knew exactly what He was going to do with my life
26:37
separated from his mother's womb.
26:39
He can look back on his life now as many of us can can look back
26:43
on our life and go. Oh, that's what God was doing.
26:47
Oh, that's why God had me there. That's why I didn't get that
26:50
job. That's why that person stepped
26:53
on. All of these things start to
26:55
make sense the farther along you are in the will of God.
26:58
They don't make much sense in the moment.
27:01
They're very frustrating and very hard.
27:03
But now we see this is the work of God in us as we have been.
27:07
Separated from our mother's womb.
27:12
He looks back as far as he. Can and he can see God's hand on
27:15
his life. The calling of God was upon him
27:18
before he was even a Christian murderer creating havoc even
27:23
though he was sidetracked and distracted for a season.
27:27
We even see this in the life of Jeremiah.
27:29
Remember in Jeremiah one verse 4, it says the word of the Lord
27:33
came to me saying before I formed you in the womb, I knew
27:37
you before you were born. I sanctified you and ordained
27:41
you a prophet to the nation's God's hand.
27:46
And it's important that we remember that with our kids,
27:49
that God's hand is upon our kids lives.
27:51
Even if today some of them are sidetracked and distracted, some
27:55
of them are not walking with the Lord, not living for the Lord.
27:58
We need to be praying for them. We need to be reaching out.
28:01
We need to be bringing them to the throne room of Grace to find
28:04
help in time of need. Those prodigal kids, and you
28:07
know, prodigal kids have all kinds of ages.
28:09
They can be 16, they could be 60.
28:11
Prodigal is prodigal. And we need to be praying for
28:14
them. We need to have hope in their
28:15
lives. We need not to be so caught off
28:18
by their behavior, but rather taking their behavior to the
28:22
Lord and going God, you have a plan for the you spoke a word
28:25
into my life. I gave my son a word that is
28:28
baptism. God, you know you're working as
28:31
like bring him home. Bring her home.
28:33
It's a very exciting thing to know that even in the midst of
28:36
see, we have to stop talking to our kids all about their sin and
28:40
start talking about God's calling in their life.
28:42
Now I'm not advocating and you approve of sin, don't
28:44
misunderstand me. But some of these prodigal
28:46
relationship, they're all just fighting and fighting and
28:49
fighting and fighting and fighting about a person that
28:52
doesn't want to listen to you and it's just set to sin.
28:55
So go, let him sin and. Speak to the person that God's
28:58
hand is upon. Speak to that little girl that
29:01
you brought home from the hospital.
29:02
Speak to that little boy you gave a word when you were
29:05
praying for him at a baseball. Like speak to the kids to draw.
29:09
Out faith from them and remind them.
29:12
Like Paul, like Jeremiah, God has a plan for you even before
29:15
you were in the womb. You can fight it and you can
29:18
live a miserable life. But mom and dad, that's not what
29:20
we want for you. We want you to come back.
29:22
Can I get an Amen on that? You need to change your mind.
29:25
Otherwise you'll be frustrated, you'll be angry and the wrath of
29:29
man does not produce the righteousness of God.
29:32
Never, ever, ever. But let's step back one more.
29:35
To me, this is a very exciting. And motivating thing, parents,
29:39
as you look at your kids, your young kids, you look at your
29:42
young kids and when they're playing, you can think while
29:44
they're playing God's hand is upon that kids life.
29:47
You can look at your kids when they're doing their homework.
29:49
God's hand is upon. God has plans for that son.
29:52
God has plans for that daughter when they are playing ball, when
29:56
they're on on the soccer field, when they are in gymnastic,
29:59
whatever your kids are into playing Roblox, I think that's
30:03
the new thing. Did I say that right?
30:05
Some of you older kids are playing that Minecraft,
30:08
whatever, when they're on, when they're doing, when they're
30:11
there, you have to remember God's hand is upon their life.
30:14
God has a purpose for your kids. God has a calling upon their
30:18
lives. He is already working in your
30:20
kids lives. Did you know that already?
30:22
Working, preparing, fashioning, nurturing them in the direction
30:26
that He's ordained and He has promised to work all things.
30:30
Together for the good, for those that are called those that love
30:33
God and called according to His purpose.
30:34
Now I do want to mention one thing.
30:37
I having raised my kids into adulthood and having to think
30:40
about all the mistakes I made and I made plenty Marie and I, I
30:43
made way more than Marie, but together we made plenty of
30:46
mistakes. I, I, I want to tell you
30:47
something that's super important because as parents.
30:51
You get easily. Caught up in the culture and you
30:54
waste your energy and time not speaking to your kids in the
30:58
calling of God upon their lives and, and here's what I want to
31:01
say, parents, you. Have a singular purpose.
31:05
You have one purpose with being entrusted with that child.
31:08
One. And it's not what school and
31:11
college they go to. It's not what career they have.
31:15
It's not where they buy a house or who they marry or any of
31:18
those things that are all important and have a place.
31:22
That's not your singular purpose.
31:24
Your singular purpose is not to make sure that they're out all
31:27
the games and they do everything all the kids are doing and
31:30
you're running around running yourself ragged.
31:32
You have one singular purpose. You ready?
31:34
Get that kid to Jesus. That's the purpose.
31:38
Get that kid to the cross. Bring that person to a place
31:43
where they understand God. 'S love did you hear when I
31:46
prayed? I did a baby dedication last
31:48
night as well. The whole stage filled with
31:49
family. It's beautiful, it's wonderful.
31:52
2 little girls this weekend and I got these girls in my arms and
31:55
I'm thinking about their future and I'm praying about their
31:58
future. And what was I praying I was
32:00
like? When she comes to the place
32:02
where she understands, let her believe, Lord.
32:06
That's where she's headed. She may have a wonderful career.
32:10
She may be a sports superstar. She may be in a variety of
32:15
different places in this world, but those are all secondary as a
32:18
parent to getting that kid to Jesus.
32:23
But the exact opposite happens. I watch it all the time.
32:27
Many times our offices are filled with parents who have
32:31
chased after something else and forsaken their own kids, caught
32:37
up in the rat race of life and got to get ahead and got to make
32:42
sure and got to push, push, push.
32:47
Rather, the Lord wants you to lead them to the cross.
32:51
He wants you to tell Him about his love and His grace and His
32:54
mercy. One of the things that we chose
32:58
as parents with all of our kids, because you know, Marie and I
33:01
didn't start out in Christ. We were completely, we were
33:05
completely away from Jesus, especially even when our first
33:09
child was born as teenage parents.
33:12
And after we got saved, one of the things that I, that I made
33:15
the choice to do with Marie is that we would tell our kids our
33:18
story at age appropriate levels. They didn't know where they came
33:22
from. They need to know their house.
33:25
They need to know what a miracle Marie and I'm being married
33:27
really is. It's a miracle.
33:30
It's unbelievable. Like unbelievable.
33:32
Like all the things that Paul says.
33:34
I'm going through the study. I'm like, and, you know, for me
33:37
and be and even stuff I don't even know, it's a miracle.
33:40
My kids need to know they live in a miracle.
33:42
House. They need to know that this
33:44
family is a miracle. They need to know even our even
33:47
the the second kids, my my son and daughter like after Eddie
33:51
was born to us in high school, my son and daughter.
33:53
They need to know that if it wasn't for God, they probably
33:55
wouldn't even be here because we wouldn't be together.
33:59
It would have never happened. But God had a plan.
34:02
He had a plan that our family would be.
34:04
He had a plan that even when you're at the Red Sea and you
34:07
don't know how you're going to make it, God can make a way
34:09
where there is no way he can do that work in your life.
34:13
And it is the grace of God so that why other people can
34:17
glorify God through your life. I don't care what the story says
34:21
today, If you turn to Him today, He'll begin to work in your life
34:25
right away. And you want to be honest.
34:28
With those in your life, because your kids, they have their own
34:31
calling. You need to cultivate it, draw
34:34
it out, nurture it, pray over it.
34:36
Discern their gifts. Learn where they're strong in
34:39
their weaknesses. Love them.
34:41
Care. For them, it's not
34:43
transactional, it's relational. God has entrusted us with these
34:47
kids, and we need to get them to the Lord.
34:50
I mean, if you don't get them to the Lord, who's going to do it?
34:54
You've been entrusted, and that goes to grandparents, great
34:58
grandparents, aunts and uncles. God uses us all.
35:04
One more thing and then we got to go.
35:07
Well, two more things. I can't skip them.
35:11
Very important. First of all, I want you to
35:14
notice instead of going for the approval of man, God takes Paul
35:19
to the desert. Years of obscurity.
35:23
Scholars and commentators disagree.
35:26
You know, 6-7, ten years. It was a long time after Paul
35:30
was saved, before he started ministering, and God took him to
35:34
a place of obscurity, to the desert, the Arabian desert.
35:39
And in the Bible, the desert or the wilderness is often a
35:44
picture, a place that God speaks of where there's isolation and
35:49
loneliness and difficulty. I mean, it makes sense.
35:51
It's arid and dry. You're all alone.
35:54
But also in the Bible, the desert in the wilderness has
35:57
been a place where God is used to give great instruction to the
36:01
men that he's going to use. He's given a place of
36:04
instruction for the men that God is going to use greatly.
36:08
I mean, we think of Moses. You know, Moses spent a third of
36:10
his life literally in the desert, a third of his life to
36:14
prepare him for the final stage of his life.
36:17
I think of someone like John the Baptist with such a strong
36:21
announcement of Messiah. He had his years in the desert
36:24
eating locusts and honey, being alone.
36:28
Jesus himself had his moments in the desert, the 40 years or the
36:33
40 days of prayer and fasting. And then at the end there the
36:37
the enemy himself, the devil go, this is my shot.
36:40
And he took a shot at Jesus and lost, because he remember Jesus
36:44
taught us. Man shall not live by bread
36:46
alone. But by every word that proceeds
36:49
from the mouth of God, you might be in a desert today.
36:53
A dry time, a lonely time, feeling deserted by God.
37:00
You may even be feeling deserted by others and you're getting
37:04
really upset. These times of being alone get
37:07
people really upset. You're in a posture right now,
37:09
and you could be not even here but watching online or on the
37:12
radio today. And you're, this is you.
37:14
This is how you're thinking. I can't believe it.
37:16
Nobody cares about me. I'm all alone here.
37:18
Nobody calls me anymore. My friends at church, what kind
37:21
of church is that? They don't even call me anymore.
37:23
And you can almost hear heaven say, oh, slow down.
37:26
I told them not to call you. Nobody's going to call you and
37:31
nobody's going to show up, God says, because this is time I've
37:34
reserved for you and me, and your help isn't going to come
37:38
from man, and your help isn't going to come from the.
37:40
Church. Right now I've got some deep
37:43
work that I'm going to do in your life.
37:46
And as soon as that deep work is complete, your phone's going to
37:49
start to ring again. But what happens?
37:52
You destroy yourself, you destroy your credibility, you
37:55
get mad at people, you start burning bridges and scorched
37:58
earth. And the people that do want to
37:59
help you, they had an impression to call you, but then Lord said
38:02
don't do it. They literally got that.
38:04
Don't do it. Don't call.
38:05
Wait, you know I don't. Want to waste, my friend?
38:07
No, you wait. I'll give you permission until
38:11
the work is done in you. How about this?
38:15
You're in a desert dry season today and you're bent out of
38:18
shape in some way that you haven't getting the calls.
38:20
Or you think people have deserted you and abandoned you,
38:23
which I'm pretty sure they haven't, but God has never
38:26
abandoned you. How about this?
38:29
In that time, who are you calling?
38:33
Well, wait a minute, I'm the one that needs the calls.
38:35
No, no, who are you calling? You're sitting there all upset.
38:38
I go, nobody's calling me. Who have you called last time I
38:41
looked? Those fancy phones you carry,
38:43
They work both ways. You can receive calls, but you
38:47
can also make calls. Why aren't you calling?
38:51
I think I know you just caught up in yourself.
38:56
You're very self-centered, nursing wounds and hurts and
38:59
you're in the desert, but you think you're alone and you're
39:02
not. Paul was not alone.
39:05
He was being prepared for future ministry because there would be
39:10
a lot of other alone times in his life.
39:12
You know, he would be alone a lot even though he was
39:16
surrounded by people. He also in the wilderness or at
39:20
least going back back home. I believe he spent many years
39:26
Syria, Cilicia in that region. He just went back to work as a
39:30
tent maker and he was faithfully working as a tent maker.
39:34
And I wonder even in that season where he was doubting, what's
39:37
God doing? What's happening?
39:39
And many today doubt the calling of God on their life because you
39:42
work a secular job, you don't work for the church.
39:45
There is that aspiration. I know that I'm going to be
39:47
doing the Lord's work when I work for a church now.
39:50
Now very few people work for churches.
39:52
Very few people work for this church.
39:54
We have a very small team because collaboratively we all
39:57
do ministry together. And so the highest thing to
40:01
attain is not to work for a church.
40:03
The highest place to attain is to be faithful where you are.
40:07
That no matter where your check comes from, whether your check
40:10
is signed by United Airlines or Uber, whether you work for
40:14
Amazon or the US Army, you are in the full time ministry right
40:20
there. You just got a new job and they
40:21
put you in that big room that we used to call the cube farm.
40:24
Have you ever heard that? The cubicle farm or it's just
40:26
cubicles as far as the eye can see, and here I am just sitting
40:29
here in this cubicle, nobody knows me.
40:31
What am I doing here? You're there to reach the people
40:34
that God brings to you. You are a minister of the
40:37
gospel. So peek over sometimes and go
40:40
hey bro, what's up though there you know and like bring in
40:42
doughnuts and buy coffee for people and be the church.
40:47
You don't need to work for the church to be the church you
40:49
already. Are don't doubt God's call upon
40:52
your life, Paul. He didn't need anybody to affirm
40:56
it. He didn't need man.
40:58
He didn't go for man to approve everything.
41:01
He he came to the place where he goes.
41:04
I know God's called me and I'm going to move forward now.
41:08
This is the last thing that has to, we have to say it in this
41:10
chapter, and that's there are men who believe they can call
41:15
themselves pastors and leaders without the approval of men.
41:18
And that's not what Paul's doing here.
41:21
We don't have permission to determine Our Calling.
41:25
We discover Our Calling. We don't determine it.
41:29
You would you would think that a person would say, OK, if I'm
41:32
going to be called to the ministry, then like somebody
41:34
came to me and said, pastor, I think I need to go.
41:36
I think I'm called to the ministry.
41:38
OK. The very first thing we're going
41:40
to do is we're going to treat that brother or that sister like
41:43
a tree and we're going to look for fruit.
41:46
What's been fruitful in their lives?
41:48
Like I, I think I'm the next pastor here in this church, bro,
41:52
Like you haven't even picked up trash around here.
41:54
Like what do you makes you think you can be the next pastor?
41:56
You haven't even served the people, you haven't even loved
41:58
the people, you don't even know the people.
41:59
And you kind of roll in and think you're going to, I'm going
42:02
to go plant the church. Well, you haven't even done a
42:04
little Bible study here at your own church.
42:07
So there is, there is the need for the elders and the leaders
42:10
of the church that you're in that you live in submission to,
42:14
to see God's gifting in your life and lay hands.
42:17
You can't take it upon yourself, The you.
42:20
You can't say, well, I'm a pastor and I don't care.
42:21
God calls me, Yeah, but nobody sees that in your life, brother,
42:25
just you. And you're going to hurt a lot
42:27
of people that way. Don't do that.
42:29
Work within the framework of your ministry of the church.
42:33
And if there's food in your life, you'll see it.
42:35
Pastor Jeff used to tell us, if you have a gift of teaching,
42:38
then who are you teaching? Well, I'm teaching myself in the
42:43
mirror. I'm doing really good in the
42:45
mirror. No.
42:46
Who are you teaching? Who's following you?
42:48
Who are you leading? Well, I don't know, Pastor.
42:51
Well, then open up your home, have people.
42:53
If people come back, you probably have the gift of
42:55
teaching. And that was one of the
42:57
methodologies that God was showing me that he was
43:00
developing that gift of teaching in my life.
43:01
So Paul did get by the way. Just Paul did get the
43:05
affirmation of the elders. You remember when it happened?
43:07
Acts chapter 15, that's when it all happened.
43:11
They dealt with this issue already, Gentiles, Jews,
43:14
circumcision, they already dealt it.
43:15
Acts 15, that's when he got the right hand of fellowship and the
43:19
authority that says yes, what His ministry is valid.
43:23
He was sent out in Acts 13 by the Holy Spirit and prayed over
43:26
by the elders, but he was affirmed in Acts 15 when his
43:31
message of grace was the message that was agreed upon in that
43:35
church council. So Lord, thank you for this
43:38
section of the Bible and thank you for the privilege of being
43:41
together. We honor you and glorify you.
43:45
I'm so grateful that our lives can be glorify, bring glory to
43:49
you, God, Not to diminish you or to take the attention off of
43:53
you, but to to really shine the light of your glory on the grace
43:58
that you've extended to us. We love you because you first
44:02
loved us. And as the church is praying
44:05
before we leave, I want to give you someone listening to me near
44:11
or far. You could be in a hospital bed.
44:13
You could be in a jail cell. You could be sitting in the
44:15
chair here. If you have never received the
44:18
Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, I want
44:22
to invite you today to do just that.
44:24
The good news, Jesus Christ died according to the scriptures.
44:28
He was buried and rose again according to the Scriptures, His
44:32
blood that was shed. God in human flesh is sufficient
44:36
to forgive us of all of our sins so that you can be a new
44:40
creation. You will be born again.
44:43
There will be newness of life. You will come alive spiritually
44:47
today. And so today, if you're here and
44:49
you say that I need to follow God, I want to choose.
44:52
I want to choose on my own volition, just like we were
44:55
praying for the baby. Now you're an adult and you get
44:57
to choose, or a young person, you get to choose of your own
45:00
volition, your own ability. Say I want to follow Jesus
45:03
Christ with my life for the very first time.
45:06
If there's anyone here, would you just stand to your feet?
45:08
I want to pray with you today. I want to help you.
45:10
The Bible says if we confess with our mouth, the Lord Jesus,
45:13
God bless you guys and believe in our heart that God raised him
45:16
from the dead, you will be saved.
45:18
I want to help you with that today.
45:19
I want you to confess with your mouth, admit that you sinned
45:23
against God. God, God bless you.
45:27
Who else would say, that's me? I saw a pastor get up, but he's
45:32
already saved. Who else?
45:36
We'll wait for you. I know we're a little over, but
45:39
this is a high and holy moment. This is God's appointment for
45:44
you. This is his will for your life.
45:47
We would say, God bless you. I see you there are pastors
45:52
coming up alongside of you. So don't be intimidated by that.
45:55
It's our way of following up. God bless you way in the back.
45:57
Over here. Over here.
45:59
Warren, is there anyone else? Today is the day.
46:05
Today this moment. Yeah.
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We honor you. God bless you guys.
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God bless you guys. Right here.
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If we have any other pastors in the house, we've got some
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missing folks here. Thank you.
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I want to follow up with everyone else.
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God bless you, right? So good.
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So happy for you. So good.
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The Lord is working here in wonderful ways that he would
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just pour out His Spirit. Can you go stand with her?
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Right here, Take that info pack. All right, well, let's let me
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help you with a prayer. If we missed you, please forgive
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us. Pastors will be up here after
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the service. You can always come up.
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We've run out of people today, which is so good.
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We have run out of. So let me help you.
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Confessing with your mouse is like prayer.
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So you can just pray to God. You can use my words or your
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own, but kind of stay on the same track.
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You could say, God, I accept your forgiveness for all of my
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sins. I believe you died for me,
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Jesus, and you rose again to save my soul.
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And I know I need to follow you and I want to, and I'm asking
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that you would help me. I want what that pastor said.
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I want to be born again, to be a new creation, turn away from my
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sinful past, turn my life to following you and Father.
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I know anyone anywhere near and far upstairs, downstairs.
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I really get that impression. Like in a jail cell right now.
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I get that we say it a lot, but I feel it.
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I sense it, that there would be new life, that these would be
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genuine, sincere responses to your love.
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Bless them. You said that anyone that came
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to you wouldn't cast them out. So bless them today in Jesus
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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 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.