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#24490 - Your God is Big - Acts 26:1-11 · 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 Acts chapter
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26 is where we are. Acts chapter 26.
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We're going verse by verse through the Bible.
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We're going to look at a few verses today.
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I've been tottered our Bible study.
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Your God is big. Your God is big.
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It's very important to realize that we're studying.
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Remember a season of Paul the Apostle's life where he has had
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the series of open doors before him to share the gospel before
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very important men. He first faced Felix and then he
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faced Festus, and today he'll be standing before King Agrippa.
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Remember, they gathered together with great pomp and
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circumstance. It's a huge deal, a huge
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opportunity. And these open doors with all
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the political leaders have come in amazing ways.
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And you go, man, I like open doors and I do too.
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When I think of open doors, I think of it as the typical way
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that we use those phrases. You know, open door always
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equates to something good. You know, you open door, let's
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go through. God said yes.
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And we think of a closed door as, oh man, that's a bummer.
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God said no and we can't go forward.
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But today I want you to see that all of these open doors have
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come through a 2 1/2 year trial. So you have a little bit of
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both, you have a great difficulty, and then you have
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all these opportunities that come as a great difficulty,
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which is important for us. Just to pause and acknowledge
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that I, I don't know exactly what everyone's going through
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today and what you're facing, what you walked in here with,
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but I do want you to know this, whatever it is, God is going to
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use it to open doors so that you might love and serve others.
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I know, man, we'd rather have it happen some other way for sure.
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Me too. But I embrace what God is doing
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in my life and I follow the leading of the Holy Spirit no
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matter what. And to think that a 2 1/2 year
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trial could actually be the place where God opens doors for
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you. You need to have your eyes open
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for that. Because over and over and over
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again with Paul here, he's sharing his testimony, his life
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story before very important men. He has been accused, you know,
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he's on his way to Jerusalem, first of all, after all the
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success in planning churches. But that's where his heart is.
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His heart is to reach Jerusalem. His desire is to reach his
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people, his people, the Jewish people.
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His desire is to redeem some of the things, like go back to his
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city, redeem some of the things that he broke, the mistakes that
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he made. And yet when he gets to
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Jerusalem, it's not what he thought.
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It's been one problem after another.
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Not even the church welcomed him so warmly.
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And here he is now before King Agrippa, standing strong
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nonetheless. And I believe Paul walked into
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every situation with the same unswerving attitude.
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And that's this. How can I glorify God in this?
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That's the question asked How? Can I glorify God in this?
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What decision will bring him the most glory?
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What decision will fulfill what Jesus taught us to seek first
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the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, Then all these
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other things. So many mistakes are made when
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other things take priority over seeking God first.
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It's vital that we learn to follow in the footsteps of Paul.
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Pick up with me in verse 1 of chapter 26.
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Now then, Agrippa said to Paul, You are permitted to speak for
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yourself. So Paul stretched out his hand
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and answered for himself. I think myself happy, King
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Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you
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concerning all the things of which I'm accused of by the
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Jews, especially because you're an expert in all customs and
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questions with which have to do with Jews.
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Therefore, I beg you to hear me patiently, Paul, very
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respectful. Thank you for allowing me to
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speak. I'm very happy to talk to you.
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And I know you, Agrippa. I know you because you know the
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scriptures. History would tell us that
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Agrippa was a student of the scriptures.
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The rabbi's, the leaders of the day would also recognize this.
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He was interested in the religion of the Jews and studied
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the scriptures to know more about it.
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So Paul's building this bridge with him to go.
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Hey, I know I'm happy to talk with you.
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I'm happy to finally get an audience of all these false
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charges that have come against me.
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And what does he do again for the third time now.
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And this has been a theme in our as we've studied through the
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previous chapters. And now again this chapter, this
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is the third time that he gives us testimony.
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So everybody listening to me that is born again has a
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testimony, a testimony of God's work in your life.
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And nobody can really argue with your testimony because it's
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yours, You know, who knows your testimony better than anybody?
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You do because you lived it. And as you'll see here,
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sometimes we have to share hard things, difficult things of
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where we came from. But Paul's testimony is God's
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story. It's the amazing work of God in
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his life. But he's not the only one.
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We all have a story to share of what God has done, a bridge to
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build. Every single one listening to
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me, whether you're here, you're live on the radio right now
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watching online, every single one of you that is saved and
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born again and filled with the Holy Spirit has a God story.
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And you really have no idea how powerful that story is until you
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share it because you know, you're like, oh, you know,
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there's not much to my story. There's not much to my like or
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there's way too much to my story.
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And you kind of hold it back, either embarrassed by it, which
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I know there are many things in my life that I'm certainly
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embarrassed by, or, you know, thinking it's insignificant, but
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you don't need to worry about that kind of stuff.
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It's your story. I know, I know that many of us
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wish that things were different years ago, but they're not.
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They're different now and they have been for many years.
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Or as Paul as he'll share some of the things.
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I'm sure it was so hard for him to say and to share what he was
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involved in. But nothing will bring you more
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happiness in the moment than rehearsing what God has done.
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Because you know, you're not just sharing it for others.
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When you're sharing it, you know what?
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You're hearing it yourself. There'll be times on sharing
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things. And I'm like, man, that's my
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story. God is alive in my life.
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He is still working in my not only has he worked in the past
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and not only is he working in my life today, but it reminds me
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that there's a future. God has a future for me and my
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family by faith. And it what's true for me is
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true for you. So there he is.
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Hey Agrippa, I love you to talk to you.
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Not in any way intimidated by his power or his authority.
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Verse 4. My manner of life from my youth,
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which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at
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Jerusalem. All the Jews know.
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So if you'd like to write in your Bible circle, verse 4 or in
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the in the margin right next to it, these letters BC.
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What Paul is doing is he's sharing his BC days.
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You know what BC days are before Christ.
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This is all going to happen before he met Jesus on the road
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to Damascus, his BC days. We have our BC days and thank
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God that those days are BC and they're not today.
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Like thank God he delivered us. Thank God he saved us.
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Thank God he changed our lives. Like these are BC days.
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And so Paul goes back. He goes from a youth.
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I've been committed to worship God.
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The Jews know, the accusers know.
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The religious leaders, as we learn, are the Sanhedrin.
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They know I served with them. This is my commitment to honor
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God. He says they know that I wanted
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to live as a Pharisee. Notice verse five.
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They knew me from the 1st. And if they were willing to
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testify, which they're not, you know, usually accusers and lie,
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they like anonymity. They like to hide behind, they
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like to say things and then run away that they're, they're not
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going to, they're not willing to say anything.
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But if they were, he said that according to the strictest sect
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of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.
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I mean, this decision to live as a Pharisee was the highest
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attainment for a man. I mean, he was Pharisees,
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remember, where the Conservative sect of Judaism, they had a
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commitment to the word of God. Even so, they had an over
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commitment as they even added to the word of God their own
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traditions. Paul was a Pharisee.
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We'll see in a moment that he was also most likely a part of
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the Sanhedrin before his conversion.
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And here he is because like, look, my life is an open book.
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As he said before. If everybody knows me here, they
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know me already. If they want to say something
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about it, they can. I know they won't.
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But they would talk about my zeal and my commitment and my
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desire to worship God. These BC days, these before
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Christ days started out for him as a desire to worship God.
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And you Bible students, by the way, this is the third time.
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We won't get into the depth of it this time.
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It will be next time. But this is the third time Paul
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shares his testimony, and it's the largest account in the Bible
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of his testimony. He gives the most information
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about his transformation in this chapter.
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So he goes, you know, from about the age 13, Paul would live in
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Jerusalem. He studied under the famed Rabbi
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Gamalio. We learned that he grew up among
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these same men. He watched them.
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They watched him aspiring to be a leader among the Jews.
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And he says in verse 6, now they all know it, if they would speak
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up, they would. And verse 60 says, and now I
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stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to
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our fathers, to this promise our 12 tribes earnestly serving God
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night and day hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King
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Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.
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Paul is on trial. Because of his faith, because of
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the promise. Again, if you like to write in
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your Bible, circle that word, the promise, It's actually a
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technical phrase referring to a promise, the promise in the
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Scriptures, the promise of the coming of Messiah.
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That's why he's being, he believes that the promise has
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been fulfilled. He has committed no crimes.
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He has done nothing wrong and that's why he's standing there
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because they're upset. They're upset that Christianity
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got a Pharisee and many other Pharisees were converted as
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well. But this one most significant,
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he goes, look, I'm, I'm being judged for the hope of the
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promise made by God to our fathers.
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And this is the same promise everyone reading, reading the
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scriptures verse 7 ascribe to aspire to day and night.
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They want it to for Hope's sake, King Agrippa, I'm accused for
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Hope's sake. The hope of the coming of
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Messiah. It's all throughout the Bible,
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Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, same promise
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that those reading the scriptures were looking for.
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But he's already come, Jesus, Paul says, and I'm living for
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him now. And then he asked this great
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question. Verse 8.
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Why should it be thought incredible by you that God
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raises the dead? Remember, that's how he divided
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the group. In that group of the Sanhedrin,
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the Jewish Supreme Court, you had primarily two groups.
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You had the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
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The Pharisees believed in the resurrection.
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The Sadducees did not. They were more.
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They would be more like the liberals of the day.
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They would not take things literal.
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They did not believe in miracles.
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They did not believe in the supernatural, whereas the
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Pharisees did. So Paul picked up on that,
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remember? And he cried out Reza, and
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divided the crowd. And that's when they flipped
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out. That's when they were trying to
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pull him apart and he got saved. He's saying, you know what,
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Agrippa? You know the Scriptures, you
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read them. Why is it so incredible?
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Why do people think it's so incredible that God would raise
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the dead? You know the Scriptures, You
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know God's power. Well, I want you to.
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Take this phrase. And it might be a phrase you
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memorized this week, and I want you to use it a little.
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Differently, consider this phrase in your life.
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Why should it be thought incredible by you that God?
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And then you fill in the blanks. Why today are you coming to
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worship? Or again, maybe you're not
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coming to worship, but you're here from a distance and you,
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you what? Why?
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Why do you think it's so incredible?
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That God would come through for that.
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Like you're having trouble paying the rent and it's a real
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trouble paying your mortgage. Why do you?
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Think it's so incredible that God won't pay your mortgage,
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that he won't take care of you. Maybe your kids have gone
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sideways. You raised your kids, though, in
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the ways of God, maybe even raised them in this church, and
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now they're going sideways with all sorts of decisions.
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You just think, I don't know, I don't know what's going to
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happen. Why do you think it's so
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incredible that God couldn't bring your kids back or couldn't
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help you with your finances and the difficult times we're living
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in? Why do you think it's so
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incredible that God couldn't come through for you, couldn't
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transform that friend, couldn't admit?
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Like, why do we think? I mean, obviously for us as
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believers, we know that we have those seasons of faithlessness.
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But I'll tell you another reason why we don't always factor in
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the power of God into our problems.
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I mean, you think about it on human terms.
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When it comes to the resurrection, it's impossible.
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I mean, it's truly impossible. The resurrection from the dead,
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if it was just left to humanity, it's not going to happen.
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I mean, really, if you think of anything excluding the power of
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God, many things look impossible.
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So outside of our reach. I mean, today that's a bit,
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there's a big movement today just to minimize and ridicule
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the Bible. It's it's predicted, but it's
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happening right before our eyes. There are many today who look at
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the Bible and say it's filled with myths and fairy tales and
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silly and it's an old ethic and it's old fashioned.
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And why do you follow that stuff?
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I mean, even today it is infiltrated the church.
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There are churches today, so-called, where there'll be
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somebody standing before a pulpit minimize, if they even
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have a Bible, minimizing it, undoing it, making fun of it.
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Why? What's the days in which we
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live? Days that were predicted in the
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Scriptures, there'll be people standing in churches.
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They don't mention the resurrection, they don't mention
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the blood of Jesus Christ and a number of other doctrines like
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sin and repentance. Why?
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Because it's so offensive or it doesn't really, it doesn't
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really reflect the. Progressiveness of our times.
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No, no, no. Listen.
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The Bible is relevant every day, all day.
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There's never a time when the Bible won't answer.
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Some issue that's happening in our culture, as we learned last
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week, didn't we? Threefold enemy, the world, our
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culture, the flesh and the devil.
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We fight it constantly, but the Bible is the only source of
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truth, objective truth, not subjective truth.
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You see, when you and I, when we open the Bible, this is the
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important thing. When we open the Bible, we yield
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to the Bible. The Bible doesn't yield to us,
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We yield to the truth. God our Creator has given us
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direction on how to love Him and serve Him.
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Far from being a book of do's and don'ts, it's a book of
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invitation. It's a Book of Revelation,
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revealing to us how far we've fallen.
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The source of all pain and agony in the world send the source of
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pain and agony in our own lives. Choosing to live in such a way
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where we don't honor God, we don't glorify Him in our lives.
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When we factor God out, then man, just about anything else
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can go. I think of people making fun of
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the Bible today. You know, one of the big popular
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things that gets made fun of where somebody, you might be
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talking to somebody, you don't believe that Bible.
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I do. Oh, you don't really believe
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that Jonah was a real person that was swallowed by a fish, do
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you? I'm like I do.
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I yes I do. Well, you know, if you Google
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it, you can find out that it's been bit debunked.
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Like the people on Google were there when it happened.
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They don't, they weren't there. There's so much evidence that
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the Bible is true that would lead to what's in the Bible is
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true. But here, you know, I'm not a
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scientist. I never have been.
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And we thank God for those that serve in the military protecting
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us, right? Amen.
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For that, they're back. We're so grateful for them.
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You guys that have served on behalf of our country, thank you
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very much. I know that much sacrifice has
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come, but can someone call Buckley and tell him we got
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service right now to come back in an hour?
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But at any rate, so, so I'm not, I'm not in the realm of science.
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I, I've never been that way. I'm not smart that way.
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I didn't do good biology, chemistry, none of that.
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I, I, I know that if you were to look at science, some of you
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could probably feel, you know, you're so smart in that area,
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you could probably figure out something, put this together and
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go, you know, I think Jonah would be plausible.
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I think it's plausible that, but I'll give you something that's
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greater than plausible because God has made it easy for people
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like me and perhaps some of you, and it's not anyway,
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scientifically, it's not what Google has to say or what Snopes
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has put on. Here's what, here's what I know
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to be true. Jesus himself in his ministry
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taught that Jonah and the big fish literally happened.
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And so it's very simple to me. I believe Jesus told me the
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truth. That's it.
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He's either telling me the truth or he's a liar.
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And I'll tell you right now, Jesus Christ is not a liar in
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any way. You can trust Him.
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The very things that are used to minimize the Bible.
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I just saw an article recently on the New York Post.
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I just saw an article and I I meant to bring in here and I
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didn't print it out. That is affirming that science
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has come up to the point where, you know, when Jesus told them
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to cast the net on the other side, that we figured out
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exactly how that happened in the sea.
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You weren't there. You don't know.
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We don't need science to prove that, although any attempt at
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scientifically affirming the Bible will be successful because
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the Bible is true. But you got to understand, this
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is the world in which we live. But let's just bring it down a
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notch here. Let's bring it down a notch to
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our own lives, just our lives, our own home.
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When you choose to factor the power of God out of the
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situation, it will lead to hopelessness.
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When you minimize the Bible, it might have been true for them,
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but not for me. When you minimize the reality
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that God can take a man. Who he told to do something and
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decided that man decided to go in the opposite direction.
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That God has ways that we don't have.
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He has tools available to him that we don't have.
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And that if he wants Jonah in Nineveh, he'll do whatever it
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takes to get the guy there and take him along the journey to
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teach him some lessons. And he'll do that the way he
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wants to do that, when he wants to do that, anytime he wants to
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do that. But when you look at our own
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lives, when we face difficulties, it's important to
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always evaluate them in terms of the power of God.
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If man is the center of everything, then there are a lot
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of impossibilities. We'll just wait for you guys.
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We do appreciate you. There was a brother in the
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church not too long ago. That was working up at Buckley.
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He was the liaison of some sort, community liaison.
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He invited me to go with him up to Buckley, do a great tour.
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It was fantastic. They took us in this big plane
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to Texas to go see a graduation, which was very emotional,
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unbelievable. But one of the things we saw is
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they took us up and they showed how they refueled those planes
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in mid air and they had to come in and look, and I'm like, whoa,
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that was amazing. But anyway, just they're gone.
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But it was such a great man. It was just such a so grateful
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to have Buckley in our community.
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But anyway, so if you factor God out of you, factor God out of
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the situation, you're going to be discouraged.
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The impossibilities in your life are going to bring hopelessness
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and difficulty. I mean, truly, if everything was
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left up to us, what do we have? We're so limited in our power.
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We're limited in our resources, we're limited in our abilities.
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So many decisions, unfortunately, are made for us
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or made against us or made to us.
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But with God in the picture, what's impossible for God?
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What's truly impossible? Nothing.
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And when we bring God into this situation, we have hope.
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Now, let's come back a few more things before we head out.
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We got Paul standing here. He's been passed off from leader
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to leader. He's been in a house arrest for
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2 1/2 years. You know, some people would look
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at this and go house arrest. He had a nice little apartment
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and people could come and go. But I don't think you would
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understand the significance of having your freedoms restricted
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and also not being able to do what your heart's desire is to
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do. He doesn't want to be stuck in a
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house all day. It was a real, although he
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wasn't the Mamertine prison which he would experience.
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It was restriction. So here he is in a great place
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of difficulty, standing there with such confidence, standing
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there with, I mean, in the midst of all this, taking advantage of
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every, every open door. But in the midst of difficulty,
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we ask the question why? And I'm sure you've asked it
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before why? You know, in other.
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Bible studies. I've shared with you that why
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isn't always the most effective question to ask.
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It's better to ask questions like who?
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Who is your God? Who do you trust or what?
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What does God want to do through this?
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Those are questions that that the answers will come for you
23:18
because when you ask the question why, here's what
23:21
happens. Number one, you usually don't
23:22
get the answer you're looking for.
23:25
And two, if you had the whole, if, if God was able to give you
23:28
the whole why answer, it would just lead to more questions
23:32
because you wouldn't understand God's ways.
23:35
You would want to do it a different way.
23:37
I mean, when my son passed away, why was a big That was a big
23:40
question and I asked it multiple times.
23:43
Sometimes I still ask it. But I ask.
23:45
It with a different reverence these days, recognizing, well, I
23:50
have part of the answer. I'll give you part of the answer
23:52
for your situation as well. You might have walked in here
23:55
with a why question. You might be listening.
23:56
You might why. I'll tell you why it's not going
24:00
to be satisfying for you, but I'll tell you why.
24:02
Why is? Paul in prison.
24:03
Why is he restricted? Why is he falsely accused?
24:06
Why is he suffering? Why is he?
24:08
Standing before King Agrippa. Why is he headed to Rome?
24:11
Why? I'll tell you why.
24:12
You ready? It's God's will.
24:18
And you're like, I don't like that answer.
24:20
I know. But it's the will of God.
24:23
He's not paying the price right now for generational sins.
24:27
There's no such thing as generational sins, by the way.
24:30
Different Bible study altogether.
24:32
But he's not paying the price for generations behind him.
24:35
He's not even paying the price right now for his past sins, his
24:38
own failures. He's not paying the price for
24:41
his present sins. There isn't really anything
24:44
reflect. All he wanted to do is go to
24:46
Jerusalem and love people and serve people and help people.
24:49
He's not. This isn't this isn't any of
24:52
those things that we might associate with having to go
24:55
through difficulties. He's in prison today.
24:58
He has gone from Felix to Festus to Agrippa all the way to Rome
25:05
in the field. Why?
25:06
It's the will of God. For his life, and that's what
25:09
you can say for the why question for you, you ask why?
25:12
This is the will of God for your life.
25:15
This is what He's doing. God says I'm going to use this
25:18
situation for my purposes, for the advantages of the Kingdom.
25:23
That's why I think he's using these days in which we live.
25:26
These are some wild days. There's some difficult times.
25:30
Let me show you something. Turn over to Second Timothy,
25:32
chapter 3. I mean, these are wild times,
25:35
especially when an election season comes up and there's just
25:38
just wildness out of control. Difficulties surround us.
25:43
Let me show you what the Bible has to say.
25:45
I'll give you some insight. You can put on some Bible
25:47
glasses so that you can interpret the world in which you
25:49
live. Notice with me in Second Timothy
25:52
chapter 3. You go, why is this all
25:54
happening? Why is it happening now?
25:57
Those are good questions to ask. Well, notice what he says here.
26:00
He says, but know this, that in the last days, perilous times
26:06
will come, you know, times of deep stress, times of great
26:09
difficulty. And and so just as I read some
26:12
of these things, if you think you see them in the in the world
26:15
today, just say yes with me. OK?
26:16
So here we go. For the men will be lovers of
26:19
themselves, yes. Lovers of money, yes.
26:22
Boasters, yes. Proud, yes.
26:25
Blasphemers, yes. Disobedient to parents, yes.
26:29
OK, you come along with me. Think of them all, unthankful,
26:33
unholy, unloving, unforgiving slanders without self-control,
26:37
brutal despisers of good traitors, headstrong, haughty,
26:42
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of
26:46
godliness but denying its power. And from such turn away.
26:52
I mean, we're watching this with our own.
26:53
This is what? This is the world in which we
26:55
live. And you go, come on, Pastor.
26:59
Man. My grandma used to say that.
27:01
My great grandmother used to say that.
27:03
Yeah, but it's worse now than it's ever been before.
27:07
It's worse now than it's ever been before.
27:09
Why? Because God uses these
27:12
circumstances to prepare people to receive a message.
27:18
I dare say that some of you are in church today or some of you
27:22
are in this church today because a crisis hit and God got your
27:27
attention through the crisis. And you stumble through the
27:31
doors of a church. You flip on a radio somewhere.
27:34
You finally read that Bible a friend gave you.
27:37
Why? Because of crisis.
27:39
God used the crisis to prepare you for the message.
27:43
And that's the world in which we live.
27:45
It's lived out in political hatred.
27:47
It's lived out in protest, increasing crime, fear.
27:52
But God is using all of that. He allows human times to come
27:56
into places, even windows of time, or we sometimes like to
27:59
say seasons of time, so that it will stir up the comfortable and
28:07
prepare people for the message. You know, we've been studying
28:11
the book of Acts now almost three years, we're almost done,
28:14
but almost three years. So for three years, every
28:17
weekend you've heard this phrase, be the church.
28:19
You see it behind me, be the church.
28:20
I've taught you many times that those in the world apart from
28:24
God will always be the world. The world will act like the
28:26
world, sound like the world, operate with its own values and
28:29
old systems. That's the way it's going to be.
28:32
The world will be the world, but only the Church can be the
28:35
Church. Only the church can live out the
28:39
principles of Jesus through our lives.
28:42
Nobody else is going to do it for you.
28:44
Let me put it this way. Only you can be the church.
28:47
Only you, only you can be the church in a world that's gone
28:52
upside down, This is the open door for you and me.
28:56
This is where we stand strong. We look for those moments and
28:59
say, you know what? There's a deeper meaning to
29:00
everything that's going on that there is something deeper
29:04
talking about peace and hope and righteousness and goodness.
29:09
And how does it, how does it start with your own peace and
29:12
hope? That's your testimony, your own,
29:15
the work of God in your own life.
29:17
That's the bridge. Well, let's finish up here a
29:20
couple more things. Verse 9.
29:23
Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the
29:28
name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem,
29:33
and many of the Saints I shut up in prison, having received
29:36
authority from the chief priests.
29:38
And when they were put to death I cast my vote against them, and
29:43
I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to
29:46
blasphemy. And being exceedingly enraged
29:49
against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
29:55
This must have been hard for him.
29:58
This had to be hard for them. As he begins to tell a story,
30:02
he's like, you know what? I put a lot of innocent people
30:04
in prison. He says it right there in verse
30:08
10. I had authority, so I wasn't
30:11
doing it illegally, But the law was wrong and the authority was
30:16
wrong. He was wrong, he says.
30:21
And when they were put to death, these are innocent people.
30:24
They've done nothing. They're living their life even
30:28
according religiously to the scriptures that are being
30:30
taught. He's throwing innocent people in
30:33
jail, watching them die. Notice what he says here.
30:36
He says I cast my vote against them.
30:39
Well, we know an episode. These people have names and
30:45
families and lives. And we know at least one name
30:49
that he cast the vote against. We know, you know, remember what
30:52
his name was? Steven, these are not just
30:58
nameless people. These are not nameless people in
31:01
our culture. They they have names and
31:03
families. Steven was one of them.
31:05
Not only that, notice what he says.
31:07
I punish them. I made life hard for them in
31:10
every synagogue, everywhere they were.
31:12
I compelled them to blasphemy. I made them say things they
31:17
would never say, and then being exceedingly enraged against
31:21
them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
31:26
So can we pause just for a second and talk about?
31:30
The real root or a real root of the mistakes, the sinful
31:34
mistakes Paul made? He had an anger problem.
31:37
Do you see that? He was exceedingly enraged.
31:42
That's part of his testimony. And I know sometimes you don't
31:44
want to share your testimony because it's very embarrassing
31:46
or maybe you and have have shameful thoughts looking back
31:50
at your testimony. But you got to understand
31:52
something as a believer. The blood of Jesus Christ has
31:54
washed you clean. I know it's hard sharing these
31:58
things. I know it's hard.
31:59
I mean, as I share testimony time to time, I'm still learning
32:02
things. I'll go back to California, I'll
32:04
hang out with my friends and they'll share some new thing.
32:06
And I'm like, yeah, it's just of course we wish we didn't live
32:10
that way. Of course we wish we would have
32:11
done thing, but we didn't. And we just have to walk forward
32:16
in the newness of life. And you never know again where
32:20
your story is going to connect with someone else that they've
32:22
never told anyone. But because of your testimony,
32:25
they became naked before God and all their whole life is exposed.
32:30
Paul had an anger problem. Do you, do you have an anger
32:34
problem, one that you just dismissed and you know, you just
32:37
like it's no big deal. I've always been that way.
32:41
Anger is a big, big problem in the church.
32:44
It can cause a lot of damage. Let me show you Turn over to
32:47
Matthew chapter 5 again. This seems to be a theme that's
32:52
come up the last few weeks. So the Lord.
32:53
Speaking, confirming, but let's be reminded how Jesus taught us
32:59
about anger, especially in our current day when you get to
33:03
chapter 5. Draw your attention to verse 21,
33:07
Matthew 5. Jesus is teaching us and he said
33:10
you have heard that it's said to those of old you shall not
33:12
murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement.
33:16
So just stop right there. If we were listening to Jesus,
33:18
we're like, well, I'm not a murderer.
33:19
No big deal. This message doesn't apply to
33:21
me. I'm not a murderer.
33:23
But then you would have to keep listening, wouldn't you?
33:25
Because if you heard one thing, but notice what he says.
33:28
But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a
33:33
cause shall be in danger of the judgment.
33:36
And whoever to his brother says to his brother Raqqa shall be in
33:40
danger of the council. And whoever says you fool, shall
33:43
be in danger of Hellfire. Again, you're listening to
33:49
Jesus. And you might go, well, I've
33:50
never called anybody Raqqa, so I'm got to pass.
33:53
I don't even know what that word means.
33:54
I've never used it. And I don't call anybody fools.
33:57
I don't use that word either. So I must be OK.
34:00
Well let me give you an alternative word that seems to
34:02
be more popular today than fool Christian.
34:06
How about this? How about when you not you don't
34:10
call someone a fool you say? You idiot or what?
34:14
An idiot seems to be a real common word thrown around in
34:18
Christians mouths these days. I know it's popular in the
34:20
world, but why us? Why would we demean someone by
34:25
using the word idiots? Because we really think we're
34:27
better than them because that's what that word does.
34:30
You know, when you declare someone an idiot, you're
34:32
immediately going, I am here and you are there.
34:37
It's become so common. And usually the word comes
34:41
through some frustration or some inequity.
34:47
Or perhaps you have a serious problem with anger.
34:51
And when you declare someone an idiot, you have murdered them.
34:55
It comes from a murderous heart and you can see how you'll be
34:59
limited in your effectiveness for the gospel.
35:03
You'll see how the enemy would use the world and the system of
35:06
the world to get you looking at people and the only value you
35:11
see in them is they're less and you are more.
35:14
It's a murderous heart has no place in US.
35:19
No need to make excuses for it. You've forgotten the power of
35:23
God. Anger is a very look all that
35:26
happened in Paul's life. It's interesting because
35:28
remember Luke is writing this. God has used Luke as the
35:32
instrument to write this down, but God has inspired it.
35:36
So go back to Acts 9 real quick with me.
35:38
Acts Chapter 9 as the Holy Spirit is inspiring Luke to
35:42
write. Notice how he describes Paul.
35:45
So this is the Holy Spirit through Luke describing a
35:48
situation where he wasn't even there.
35:51
And God says through Luke, then Saul still breathing threats and
35:56
murder against the. Disciples of the Lord.
35:59
He went to the high priest and he wanted into permission for
36:03
anyone of the way to be bound bring them bound to Jerusalem.
36:09
So here the Holy Spirit says that Saul was breathing threats
36:13
and murder and then when Paul. Says it to Agrippa.
36:17
He says that that's my I was. I was enraged.
36:22
It's another evidence of the inspiration of the Bible,
36:28
because that's another accusation against the Bible.
36:30
You know, men wrote the Bible. Yeah, men were the instrument of
36:33
the Bible, but God inspired it. Obviously, men wrote something
36:37
down. That's how we got it on paper.
36:40
But God was behind it. He's the author of the
36:43
Scripture. And to me, it's fascinating to
36:47
watch, to change life. Paul's not angry anymore.
36:52
He's not controlled by his anger.
36:55
He's testifying to being a changed man.
36:57
And that's the testimony God wants to bring into your life,
37:00
that you would be a changed woman, not controlled by anger
37:02
anymore, not overwhelmed by the circumstances and situations
37:08
where perhaps you factor God out and it's made you scared and
37:12
angry. And out of that anger, you find
37:16
yourself cultivating a murderous heart that holds us back from
37:20
the things of God. You see Paul here, he's a
37:23
changed man. He's standing there in the power
37:25
of God. That's how he's able to do it.
37:28
If you're going to believe in and testify of God, church.
37:31
Don't believe in a puny, weak little God of your own making,
37:35
OK? Don't, don't, don't factor in
37:38
your power here and maybe God there and I don't know and I'll
37:40
figure it out. No, no, no.
37:42
Believe in the one true God. Believe in the one true God
37:46
today who can do whatever He wants, whenever he wants,
37:49
however he wants. There are no limitations on him.
37:52
Believe in the one true God who loves you and promise to keep
37:55
you and will never leave or forsake you.
37:58
Know God intimately that will get you through that two year
38:02
trial, or that five year heartache, or that 10 year
38:06
hardship or that sudden tragedy or the reality of living in the
38:12
last days. You see, the hope in the world
38:14
today is not in man, it's in God.
38:18
True hope is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
38:25
He paid the price for your sins and mine.
38:28
If you'll just come to Him today that He is that powerful God.
38:35
Forgive us if we've misrepresented the power of God
38:38
to you. We're just human.
38:41
But I can tell you this, we want to grow, we want to be better,
38:45
we want to be used in greater ways.
38:47
We want to make an impact. We desire to see change come to
38:51
our city and to our state, to our nation and even to our
38:55
world. And it just starts here on this
38:57
little corner in your own life and mind.
39:01
You see, let me show you. Turn over to Joshua and this is
39:05
what we'll close Joshua chapter 23.
39:08
I love this. Usually when I'm asking you to
39:10
turn, I want you to see it so you can mark it on your Bible
39:13
app if you have it. Or you can mark it in your
39:15
Bible. But I want you to see this
39:17
because this is so powerful. You might even want to circle
39:20
it. You want to memorize it this
39:22
week. I mean, think about that phrase.
39:24
Think about that phrase. Who?
39:26
Why should it be thought incredible by you that God
39:30
raised? Why do you think it's so
39:32
incredible that God is going to show up in a mighty way?
39:36
It's not. It's normal for God and his all
39:39
powerfulness. Notice at the end of the history
39:41
with Joshua bringing the children of Israel into the
39:44
promised land that God promised to them from the very beginning.
39:48
Notice it says in verse 14, I mean, this is so encouraging to
39:53
be able to say this one day. You can say this to your spouse.
39:56
You can say this to your kids and your grandkids.
39:58
You can say, behold, this day I'm going the way of the earth
40:02
and you know. In all your hearts and all your
40:05
souls, that not one thing has failed, of all the good things
40:10
which the Lord your God spoke concerning you, all have come to
40:14
pass for you, and not one word of them has failed.
40:21
You know what? What?
40:22
What strikes me the most of all this.
40:26
I see the faithfulness God. I see the power.
40:27
Of God. But Joshua made it.
40:29
He wanted to make sure as a leader in his final words, he
40:32
told them and you know, you know this.
40:39
And when you know something, all that's left is to believe it and
40:43
live out from it goes from know knowing something, believing
40:49
something and behaving some way. And you know your behavior
40:53
always indicates your belief. You know that, right?
40:56
So you get your beliefs in order.
40:57
Your behavior will follow. So, Father, thank you for the
41:00
privilege of your word today, speaking to our hearts,
41:03
ministering to us, reminding us of your faithfulness, growing us
41:08
in grace. Lord, I pray that you would have
41:11
your way with us as we grow in grace today.
41:14
And you know, some hard things, some encouraging things, some
41:19
challenging things are shared today, but all of them are used
41:22
by your Holy Spirit to bring about great surrender in US,
41:29
bringing about a great admission.
41:35
Like we get to that place, we go, you're so right, God, you're
41:38
so right. And today that may be the day
41:41
for you that you say it's so right.
41:45
I believe what you're saying there, pastor.
41:49
I believe that I have sinned against a holy and a righteous
41:53
God. And you have.
41:57
And I believe that Jesus Christ came to die for my sins.
42:01
And he has. Do you know the Bible says that
42:04
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
42:08
I believe that they buried him and they did.
42:11
And three days later Jesus rose again from the dead.
42:17
So that by faith in him, whoever confesses with their mouth the
42:21
Lord Jesus, and believes in their heart that God raised him
42:25
from the dead, you will be saved.
42:27
And today may be the moment that your testimony begins, the hinge
42:34
of who you are now and who you were then.
42:37
Your BC day start today. And I want to invite you to
42:40
receive the Lord Jesus right here, right now, that today
42:43
would be the day that you would say, you know what?
42:46
I believe I'm with you. I need that in my life.
42:50
I want my sins forgiven. If that's you and you for the
42:53
very first time, you'd say I need to follow God with my life.
42:56
Would you just stand to your feet?
42:57
I want to pray with you that today would be the day.
43:01
God bless you in the back. Who else would say that's me
43:04
over here on the side. You're going to have some
43:06
pastors come up to you. Don't be uncomfortable over
43:09
here. God bless you guys up front.
43:11
They're just here to help with the next decision.
43:14
That's all to comfort you. So up here, Pastor Roy in this
43:18
area, who else would say that's me?
43:21
You guys out online watching, watching on YouTube somewhere or
43:25
wherever you're watching on your phone or listening on Grace FM
43:28
right now. God sees you even though we
43:31
can't. Maybe you're downstairs in the
43:33
overflow. We don't see.
43:36
Who else would say that's me? Today's that day.
43:39
You can know that you know that you're in right relationship
43:44
with God. You can know that you know God
43:47
bless you guys up front. I'm going to get someone up here
43:58
in a second here looking around some good.
44:04
Come here, brother. Come over here and lay hands on
44:07
these guys with them. Anyone else I can't see straight
44:18
ahead in the wheelchair. Come on up, brother.
44:26
Anyone else to my right? All right, for those of you that
44:39
responded, let me just help you pray.
44:41
The Bible says if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus,
44:44
even if I see you don't see you, you can come up afterwards.
44:48
Lord, I just, I pray for those responding to you today.
44:53
Thank you for the privilege of seeing it happen, being a part
44:56
of life change, and for those of you standing or responding,
45:01
sitting wherever you might be, you can ask God.
45:04
You can repeat after me something like this.
45:05
You can say God forgive me of all of my sin.
45:10
I turn away from it today and choose to follow you.
45:15
I ask you to save my soul, help my life as I reject my sinful
45:25
past and accept my hopeful future through the blood of
45:30
Jesus Christ shed for my life and Lord, I know anyone anywhere
45:37
that would ask you to forgive them.
45:38
They'll come to you. You don't turn them away.
45:42
You receive them. You hear them and you honor the
45:46
step of faith. And so I pray it's real and
45:48
genuine of those touched today that you would have or just a
45:53
just a tremendous change would take place in their lives that
45:59
it would be real. And today we'd recognize men and
46:03
women, young men and women, born again of the Spirit into newness
46:09
of life. In Jesus name, Amen.
46:13
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study,
46:15
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
46:19
For prayer, call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
46:28
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
46:31
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
46:37
or download our free Calvary Church app.
46:40
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.