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Living Waters of Grace 11.03.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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  Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County
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  of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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  continues teaching through God's Word.
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  They go to another place, preach God saving people, and churches
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  are being planted. They go back to the places they
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  were just at because they need to do some stuff.
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  Now you don't just give the gospel to someone, say have a
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  nice life, I'll see an eternity. The job of the person who leads
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  someone to crisis, to disciple them so they get strong in the
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  Lord, to teach them the Word so they can be able to stand on
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  their two feet trusting in God. And that requires teaching and
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  spiral study. Hiring someone and thinking
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  they'll hit the ground running without any bumps along the way
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  is a bit unrealistic. It's also like that with someone
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  who's just starting to believe in Jesus.
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  It's not realistic to think they'll jump right into working
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  with God as soon as they find salvation.
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  In today's message, Pastor Clark shares some great reasons for
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  encouraging new believers dive into the Bible and join in on
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  those engaging Bible studies. Getting to know God's Word can
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  really boost their spiritual growth.
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  Now here's Pastor Clark in the book of Acts chapter 14 as he
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  continues his message called persecution.
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  When your heart and mind submits to the issues in our life,
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  whether we like them or not, and we say, Lord, I'm not real happy
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  with this right now, but I trust you and what you're doing in my
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  life and my heart wants to be soft towards you and I want to
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  be open and willing to accept what it is you're doing in my
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  life and I want to praise you in it.
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  Count it all joy when you follow the diverse trials and
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  temptations. The Bible says that the trying
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  of your faith works. Patience.
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  I want to be, and I'm sure you do too.
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  The kind of person that I'm not complaining or I'm not groaning
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  and moaning. That I accept God's sovereign
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  hand in my life and say, God, you have a plan in this and I
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  want to praise you because in the power of praise there is
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  deliverance and you're passing the test when you praise God for
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  what it is you're going through. If you're moaning and groaning,
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  the Lord's OK, we got to go through this for a while now
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  you're still not getting it, are you?
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  You're still not praising me in spite of the storm.
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  And so these guys are in the midst of it, but they are filled
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  because their hearts are open to God and they're filled with joy
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  by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now in verse 14, the adjourned
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  and he starts in these other regions.
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  Now it happened in Iconium and this is the area of Galatia at
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  the time, it's the Roman Empire. A lot of pagans in these
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  countries are going to no church yet until the gospel gets there
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  and Paul and Barnabas are used by the Lord to see people become
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  believers and churches are established.
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  They went together to the synagogue.
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  So the beauty of this thing is they had a place to go to get
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  people to hear when they couldn't find a synagogue, they
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  preached in the streets. But because of Paul and Barnabas
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  being Jewish people, they were accepted in the system of
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  Judaism because they had knowledge of the Old Testament.
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  So they were given the opportunity to speak.
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  I'm sure after they spoke, the Jews were upset.
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  Like we should never let these guys say anything.
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  It's ruining our ministry, right?
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  People are leaving and following them, but that's what happens,
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  right? So they, they spoke to a great
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  multitude, both of the Jews and the Greeks believe, but the
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  unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their
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  minds against the brother. This is the work of the devil.
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  Whenever you're anywhere where the truth of God is going forth,
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  people can say things about whoever the teacher is.
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  They can say, well, they're hypocrites or they're this or
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  they're that. If we're honest, we all have
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  areas of hypocrisy in our life, right?
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  Is anybody perfect here today? If you tell me guys, you're
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  perfect, I'll just ask your wife or I'll ask your husband, right?
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  But you know, this is the patience of God, right?
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  And he chooses to use weak and foolish things that confound the
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  what God never looks at the vessel and says, well, boy, I'm
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  going to pick you because like you're like no one I've ever
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  created. And boy, people are going to be
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  blown away with your homiletic skills and your preaching
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  ability. God's like, forget that.
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  Let me fill you and let me speak through you because I don't want
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  you getting in the way of what it is I want to say.
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  But all the time someone will come to someone and say, you
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  know, with this person, you know, I saw them, you know, say
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  this or they acted this way or whatever.
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  And so people seem to have a tendency to want to judge you
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  instead of judging themselves. And the enemy wants to pull the
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  church down and destroy it and destroy the people that minister
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  in the church through slander and hatred and unbelief and
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  criticism. That's why it says in Ephesians,
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  let all bitterness and wrath and clamor and evil speaking be put
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  away from you, and be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one
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  another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
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  So this continual, habitual need to forgive, right?
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  And when we forgive, we're to move on and keep going on
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  looking toward the Lord. That's something we can't do
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  without the grace of God in our lives.
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  You have bitterness in your heart.
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  You want to slander people. You, you want to get even with
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  them. You want to be vindictive toward
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  them. You got to like, say, Lord, this
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  is not you. Help me to forgive.
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  Well, how many times do we forgive?
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  Jesus says 70 * 7. That's 490 times for the same
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  offense. That's the picture of you keep
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  forgiven, right? So what happens is they're
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  trying to poison the mind of these people.
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  Therefore, they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in
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  the Lord. Those guys knew what people were
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  saying. They felt that they experienced
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  it, but they didn't say, you know, get thin skin and then
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  say, well, this isn't fair. We're just trying to do what God
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  wants us to do. We're not going to do this
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  anymore. It's hurting our feelings or
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  whatever. No, they just kept being
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  faithful. It says they spoke boldly in the
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  Lord who is bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting
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  signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
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  So this Apostolic authority ability, sometimes God showed up
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  in signs and wonders and they did miracles.
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  Lots of times there was no miracles.
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  It wasn't anything. And Paul in and of himself, it
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  was a special anointing that came at times and in seasons for
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  God to be glorified in the midst of a situation where people
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  would get their attention taken by some miraculous situation.
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  So the multitude of the city in verse 4 was divided, part sided
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  with the Jews and part with the apostles.
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  So like in in our world today, you have a group of people who
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  are followers of Christ and then you have a group of people who
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  are against Christ, right? It's always that way, even
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  sometimes, unfortunately, in churches.
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  And when this issue happened, this violent attempt was made by
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  both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers to abuse and
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  stone them. They became aware of it, and
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  they fled the Lystra and Derby cities of Iconia into the
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  surrounding region. And they were reaching the
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  gospel there. So they understood the attempt
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  to take them out, to kill them, basically to assassinate them.
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  They were smart enough to know that they needed to get out of
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  that town and move to next place.
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  But the stoning never stopped. Paul remembers when Stephen was
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  stoned, he was part of that group that had Stephen Stone,
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  the first martyr in the book of the Acts of New Testament
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  Church. So now Paul's going to
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  experience some of the same things that those have gone
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  before him. So now they go to Lystra, verse
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  8. And in Lystra, a certain man
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  without strength in his feet was sitting a cripple from his
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  mother's womb. So this guy didn't have a
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  temporary paralysis. This didn't happen after he was
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  born. He was born with the inability
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  to walk. He had never walked.
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  This man heard Paul speaking. He heard the gospel.
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  You heard the message, Paul observing him intently.
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  And so you have an audience. You're speaking.
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  I see your eyes, you see mine. Sometimes I get fixated on
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  someone in the room because I sense there's a heavy burden in
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  their lives. There's something going on.
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  I don't know what it is, but the Lord does.
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  And I just say, Lord, you know, speak to them, whatever it is
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  you need to say to them. And sometimes I see people who
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  who are eager to want to follow Jesus deeper and I pray and I
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  said, Lord help cultivate that in their lives.
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  Help them to sense that and want to follow you.
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  And if I can be of any help, show me how myself or the elders
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  can be of help and the others in the church that are wanting to
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  serve people. So he's looking intently and he
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  sees that he had faith to be healed.
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  He's looking at this man and he says he has faith to be healed.
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  Now this is interesting because God does all things according to
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  counsel of his own will. And some of these faith
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  churches, they'll teach, well, the reason you're not healed is
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  you don't have enough faith, right?
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  You hear that? But there's this element too,
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  that when we come to God, we have to pray believing, and
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  that's where we struggle. I believe, Lord, help my
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  unbelief. But God honors belief, simple
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  belief. And so this man is hungry for
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  the Lord, but he also has something happening in his
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  spirit that Paul recognized that this guy can believe God for
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  anything right now in his life. And that's rare.
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  That doesn't happen all the time, but he senses that
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  something can happen here. The Holy Spirit obviously was
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  speaking to Paul about this. So Paul, think about this.
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  I mean, sometimes like people came for healing.
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  They didn't get healed. Other times they got healed.
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  And I'm sure at times Paul's like, God, I don't know how this
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  works. Why can't it work all the time,
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  you know? But it doesn't.
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  And probably the reason it doesn't is, is that we would
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  think we had something to do with it, right?
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  Do you ever pray and really believe and you see God do
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  something and touch someone and you're like, wow, you know, I'm
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  going to do this all the time. And then the next time you pray
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  and it doesn't happen and you're like, why did it happen the one
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  time and why didn't it happen the other time?
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  That's the mystery of God and his plan, his sovereign plan.
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  So he says to this guy, and this would take some real faith on
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  Paul's part. Stand up straight on your feet.
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  And he leaped and he walked. Now, what if Paul would have
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  said, stand up straight on your feet and then nothing happened?
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  That would be somewhat like embarrassing, I guess.
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  And they say, well, why did you say that?
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  I don't know why I said that. I just was hoping or maybe, but
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  somehow, you know, again, God's sovereignty, there was such an
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  complete evidence that something miraculous was going to happen
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  here, that God did something miraculous.
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  Now, when the people saw what Paul had done and they think
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  it's what Paul did, it's what the Lord did, right?
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  They raise their voices saying in the Laconian language, the
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  gods have come down to us and the likeness of men.
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  So these people are into Pagan worship.
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  They're Pagan worship of false deities and idols, and Barnabas
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  they called Zeus and Paul they called Hermes.
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  So this Greek mythology, these people believe that these false
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  gods would provide rain and crops and prosperity and all
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  these things. This is what they worship.
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  This is what they called out to. And somehow they're conveying
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  this fact that the miracle happened because Paul and
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  Barnabas are actually Incarnate Zeus and Hermes, these
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  mythological gods. And they say Hermes about Paul
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  because he was the chief speaker.
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  Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their
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  city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending the
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  sacrifice of the multitude. Big celebration here, Miracle.
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  So let's get the leader of this cult and bring these fancy, you
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  know, kind of flower things, garlands, whatever they were
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  putting around their necks to bring down and pay homage to
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  these false gods. And they wanted to sacrifice
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  with all these people. Now, these people were hearing
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  the gospel. They saw the miracle.
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  Some of them, I'm sure, became true believers.
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  And a lot of them are just caught up in the atmosphere.
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  So it says in verse 14, when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard
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  this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude
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  crying out and saying, men, why are you doing these things?
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  We also are men with the same nature as you and preach you
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  that you should turn from these useless things to the living God
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  who made heaven, the earth, the sea and all things that are in
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  them. So right away there's humility.
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  Could Paul and Barnabas like faked it for a while?
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  They would these guys really think we're special.
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  So maybe because they think we're something we're not, we
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  can like get them focused on their need to believe using
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  humanistic technologies, you know, or kind of improvisation
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  of making something that isn't right look like it's right when
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  it's actually wrong. And that's what happens in the
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  false teaching churches. People set themselves up as
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  gurus. People look at these people like
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  they're really something. They're manipulated.
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  And their whole agenda is to have people lift them up and not
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  the Lord be lifted up. And so people's faith is not in
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  the living God, it's in some man.
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  And that's idolatry. And so what's happening here
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  immediately, Paul and Barnabas know what they got to do.
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  This element of tearing their clothes apart was this evidence
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  of their brokenness, their desperation, crying out and
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  saying, why are you doing this? This is an abomination.
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  We're men that's like you. We have the same nature.
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  We have the same struggles. We have the same fears.
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  We have the same doubts. We have the same unbelief.
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  We have the same struggles in life.
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  We're nothing. God is everything.
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  Christ alone is the healer. He's the king.
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  He's the Lord. He's the savior.
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  We're just messengers of what it is we're called to do.
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  And you need to turn from these useless things.
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  They didn't beat around the Bush.
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  What you're worshiping, what you're following is absolute
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  nonsense. It has no power and no ability.
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  We need Paul's teaching that we need to look to the God.
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  So God can't work in these guys through Old Testament
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  Scriptures. They knew nothing of it, these
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  people. So he used creation.
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  And the Bible tells us in Romans that even by creation, every man
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  knows that there's a creator. Even the unbelievers, the worst
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  Pagan person, when they look up at the stars at night, they know
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  in their conscience that there's a God, but they refused to
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  acknowledge Him because of their sin.
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  So He's appealing to them. Look, the heaven, the earth, the
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  sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations
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  allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.
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  Nevertheless, He did not leave himself without witness.
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  In that He did good. He gave us rain from heaven and
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  fruitful seasons. So God, in his grace, even in
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  the midst of all people and people that hate him and reject
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  him, God allows the creation to be a blessing to all humankind.
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  You know, because of the rain, we have crops and it feeds all
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  of us throughout the earth, throughout the world.
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  And he does this, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
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  And with these sayings, they could scarcely restrain the
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  multitudes from sacrifice to them.
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  These people were still blind and not listening, and they
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  wanted to pay homage and glorify these people, Paul and Barnabas,
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  like they're something they're not.
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  So then it says in verse 19, the Jews from Antioch and Iconium
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  came there to this place. And having persuaded the
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  multitudes, and these are all the people out there that are in
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  this midst of this group right now, they stone Paul and drag
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  them out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
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  So the persecution gets more than just some words.
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  Now their lives are being placed in jeopardy, and I don't know
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  how many of us would continue if we knew our lives were in
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  jeopardy. Only the grace of God would keep
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  Paul going, or you or me or anyone else.
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  You get stoned by a group of people, you start saying, well,
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  I think my ministry is ending now.
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  I'm going to let someone else take over, right?
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  But the Lord is like, no, Paul, you're going to keep going on.
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  You're going to eventually be martyred one day, but this isn't
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  the day you're going to be martyred.
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  And it says, however, in verse 20, when the disciples gathered
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  around him, he rose up and went in the city.
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  Some people think he was dead and somehow they prayed and he
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  was resurrected. The scriptures don't indicate
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  that, but he was probably close to death.
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  And the fact that he was able to get up from the severe stoning
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  shows that the Lord supernaturally did something in
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  his body because the next day he got up with Barnabas and they
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  went to another place to continue preaching in Derby in
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  verse 21. And when they had preached the
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  gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to
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  Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. So they go to another place,
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  preach God saving people and churches are being planted.
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  They go back to the places they were just at because they need
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  to do some stuff. Now.
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  You don't just give the gospel to someone, say have a nice
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  life, I'll see an eternity. The job of the person who leads
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  someone to crisis, to disciple them so they get strong in the
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  Lord, to teach them the Word so they can be able to stand on
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  their two feet trusting in God. And that requires teaching in
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  spiral study, learning to pray. Many of you are disciples.
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  You are growing more and more every day.
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  You're digging into the word, you're listening.
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  Many of you are teaching the word.
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  You're discipling other people. And so they went back to
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  strengthen the soul of the disciples, exhorting them to
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  continue in the faith. Don't give up no matter what
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  happens in a persecution. And boy do they have it back in
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  those days in the church like some place in in the world right
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  now in third world countries. If you become a believer and
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  they find and out in somebody's 1040 window areas like India,
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  Malaysia, Pakistan, you're martyred many times, you're
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  rejected by your family and it'll cost you your very life.
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  It's hard to believe that China, other places like that.
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  He said to them, we must through many tribulations enter the
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  Kingdom of God. He didn't candy coat being a
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  believer. Being a believer is a challenge.
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  You're going to have adversity from the places you never
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  dreamed, and sometimes it'll come from the people that you
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  love the most. You just don't understand.
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  But it happens. And he said we must, through
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  many tribulations, enter the Kingdom of God.
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  So our pilgrimage toward the heavenly city will be at times
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  challenged by very deep trials and tribulations.
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  If he didn't tell them that and they started going through this
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  and they didn't know that this is part of the Christian
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  experience, they would have wanted to quit.
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  And you and I would too. Thank God that the Bible covers
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  everything that we could possibly go through in our human
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  life and says in verse 23. So then when they had appointed
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  elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they
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  commended them to the Lord and whom they had believed.
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  So the foundation of a New Testament church is plurality of
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  leadership. It is not a one man show.
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  I don't lead this church alone. I lead it with George and Lewis
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  and John. They're elders, and we're
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  accountable to God, first of all, for what it is we do, and
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  we're accountable to you. We need to be doing what it is
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  that God's told us to do to equip the Saints for the work in
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  the ministry. You're the Saints, and the
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  purpose of being here today is to just not be entertained.
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  Go home and do my thing. But somehow something from the
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  Word will come to you today and you'll use this in your life
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  with whoever you are meeting with during the week and your
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  job, your home, your neighborhood, your community,
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  the Bible studies you might have.
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  You're learning to grow in the grace and in all these you've
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  got. And God uses the elders and
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  others in the church to be able to teach and equip the people
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  and strengthen them. And every church there should be
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  elders. And that's the way the church
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  started the day. There's too many churches that
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  are being led by one person. And when that person begins to
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  crack and to fail, there's no one to hold him up and to help
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  him. And then he crashes and burns.
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  I'm thankful that whenever I go through trials and struggles, I
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  have people that can help me when I need a break.
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  I can have other guys do what it is I'm called to do to get re
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  energized, you know, and spend time with the Lord in prayer and
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  have them teach me what I need to know in some seasons of my
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  life. That's what I'm so grateful for
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  this church and the men who are learning to teach the word of
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  God. It makes the church more strong,
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  it makes it more powerful, it makes it more healthy.
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  The women who are teaching the women, the men who are teaching
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  the studies, the one-on-one ministries, all these things,
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  the small groups, the youth groups, everything is happening.
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  The women's groups, God is using this to make you stronger in the
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  Lord. And whenever the church ignores
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  the foundation of what the New Testament said about how the
• 21:59
  leadership is to be established, it begins to become powerless.
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  After this, it says the Lord commended them to the Lord.
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  He commended these people, the churches, the elders and whom
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  they had believed. And after they had passed
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  through Pasidia, they came to Panfilia.
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  Now when they had preached the word in Purga, they went down to
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  Italia. From there they sailed to
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  Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God
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  for the work which they had completed.
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  So they go and all these regions now and what's exciting, they're
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  going home, right? This is the first missions
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  conference. They're coming back to the
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  church that prayed for them, that supported them, that sent
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  them out, and they're going to give a report to the church on
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  what the Lord has done in verse 27.
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  And now when they had come and gathered the church together,
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  they reported all that God had done with them and that he had
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  opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
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  So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
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  So we have missionaries we support.
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  We committed this to be a Church of missions and outreach.
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  We support crew in different parts of the world working on
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  college campuses. We support the mission in Spain
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  for sports ministry. We support Lifeway crisis
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  pregnancy center in the area, these people that we support in
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  the mission. And so we are grateful when they
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  come and they give us an update on what it is they're doing.
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  And so part of the budget and you're giving goes toward these
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  missionaries and supporting them.
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  But the purpose of the gospel right now, through Grace Radio
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  and through our own lives wherever we go out and the
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  people we rub shoulders with, get people coming to hear the
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  Word of God. Because when people hear the
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  Word of God, that's how God saves them.
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  Without the preaching, there is no message.
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  And so we're all called to be able to share this wonderful
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  message of the gospel. We're so glad you joined us
• 23:58
  today on this edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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  Pastor Clark is teaching through the book of Acts, which is the
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  only book that chronicles the history of the early church
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  immediately after Jesus's ascension.
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  It gives us a front row seat to how the Gospel began to move
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  outward, starting in Jerusalem and reaching into the heart of
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  the Roman Empire. In just three decades, a small
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  group of frightened ordinary believers became a bold, spirit
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  empowered movement that transformed the known world.
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  Acts is not just a history lesson.
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  It's a reminder of what God can do when His people are
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  surrendered, obedient, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  Their perseverance still inspires us today.
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  May we follow their example and live faithfully for Christ in
• 24:47
  our own time. We hope today's message
• 24:50
  encouraged you. Living Waters of Grace is a
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  ministry of Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland.
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  If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to have you join
• 25:00
  us in person. Our Sunday service begins at
• 25:02
  10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.
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  Be sure to visit calvarychapelonline.com to
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  confirm times and learn more. If you are in the Greensburg
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  area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency.
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  Please pray about supporting this outreach.
• 25:23
  Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO, Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601.
• 25:31
  Stay connected through Facebook, YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel
• 25:35
  Westmoreland app. Join our e-mail list, submit
• 25:39
  prayer requests, and give online all at calvarychapelonline.com.
• 25:46
  Thank you for tuning in and spending this time in God's
• 25:48
  Word. Be sure to join us again for
• 25:50
  Living Waters of Grace.