Well welcome back. We are in the
book of Acts. We are studying
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in Acts chapter 1 and we are
focusing on the promise of the
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Father or the work of the Holy
Spirit in the early church. And
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we've talked about how Jesus had
told his disciples to wait for
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the Holy Spirit and also how
Jesus had promised the gift of
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the Holy Spirit, how it was
expedient that he go away and
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otherwise he couldn't send
the Helper. A lot of people have
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stumbled over that and we've
touched on the idea that the
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expediency came from the fact
that it was Jesus ministry that
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provided some raw material
for the Holy Spirit to work in a
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special way in New
Testament times. However...
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Yeah, he's always been working,
right, because we took a little
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detour to John chapter 3 and
we spent a little time looking
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at the work of Christ through
the Holy Spirit in conversion.
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And we talked about conversion
being something that not only
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happens in New Testament times
but the new birth process is
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something that happened in
Old Testament times because
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Nicodemus was told by Jesus he
should have understood from the
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Old Testament scriptures.
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That's right. Now that was a
powerful point. I mean honestly
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it's for so many Christians, and
I don't say this disparagingly,
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but for so many Christians
the new birth is a New Testament
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experience. It's not something
that existed in the Old
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Testament times. So for Jesus
to be speaking to Nicodemus
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and act like he should
understand the new birth. I mean
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sometimes as a reader we're
looking at and saying what do
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you mean you should understand.
Isn't this a new concept. But
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evidently not because he tells
him you're a teacher in Israel
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and you should know these things
and by inference you should be
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teaching these things.
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That's right. In the Old
Testament we talked about how
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even David spoke about not
taking the Holy Spirit away
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from him because evidently they
knew, the Godly men and women
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of Old Testament times, that
it was the Holy Spirit that gave
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them inspiration, that gave them
the motivation, that gave them
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the inclination to want to
do right and without the Holy
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Spirit there's no way we could
have had godly examples in Old
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Testament times. You
know, Jim, it makes me think
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of Romans 7:14 where the apostle
Paul says: For we know that the
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law is spiritual, but I
am carnal, sold under sin.
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And he goes on to talk about
even though he knows to do the
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right he ends up doing the
wrong thing and when he knows he
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doesn't want to the wrong thing
he finds himself doing it anyway
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and he talks about this internal
struggle with his fallen nature.
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It's interesting there that
he brings out the law of God as
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being spiritual. And what I hear
you saying is the Holy Spirit's
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purpose is to make us spiritual.
If we're not spiritual, there's
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no way we're going to be able
to live in harmony with God's
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spiritual laws and ways. So
in Nicodemus, and you mentioned
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also in the experience of
David this conversion process.
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Yes, it was critical. It was
critical to Old Testament times
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and New Testament times. We're
taking a little bit of time in
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this session to talk about the
work of the Holy Spirit because
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in the book of Acts that Holy
Spirit is everywhere and you can
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see throughout the book of
Acts that the Holy Spirit is
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prominent in the lives of
the believers and there are
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different aspects to the work
of the Holy Spirit that we're
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focusing on today. We're
focusing on conversion and we're
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focusing on the process of
conviction and how the Holy
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Spirit leads us into truth
and we're going to talk a little
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bit about the power of the
Holy Spirit that was especially
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granted there in
the book of Acts.
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That's right and we'll be
touching on that throughout our
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study of the book of Acts
because of the prominence of the
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work of the Holy Spirit there.
But again, we don't want to
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forget that we started this
episode by looking at Jesus' own
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command to his disciples to wait
until they received the promise
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of the Father. In other words,
it was very important to Jesus
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that they understand the
importance of the power of the
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Holy Spirit not only in their
lives but in their ministry
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because it's not only in
changing us as individuals but
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also in bringing conviction.
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That's right. Let's talk about
conviction a little bit. If we
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could look back at John chapter
16, we've been there briefly.
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There's a special role of the
Holy Spirit that we see. John
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chapter 16 and beginning at
verse 8. This is right in the
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process of talking about Jesus
going away and sending the Holy
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Spirit and in discussing the
work of the Holy Spirit he comes
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right to the point in verse 8.
Jesus says: And when he has come
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he will convict the world of
sin and of righteousness and of
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judgment. Now the Holy Spirit
is often referred to as the
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comforter. And we're so thankful
for the comforting presence of
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the Holy Spirit, but the first
thing that we find that the Holy
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Spirit does when he comes
to us doesn't sound all that
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comforting. It says he will
convict us of sin. He will show
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us our guilt. He will bring us
to a sense of our lost condition
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He will show us something that
does not at all feel comfortable
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And if you look at the
progression of things here it
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says he'll convict the world
of sin, that's what's wrong, and
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and then he'll convict of
righteousness, that's what's
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right, that's what
we should be doing.
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Yeah, and it's important to note
there too when it comes to right
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and wrong, you know, everybody
has their own idea. And I've
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told people this. You know you
don't have to be a Christian to
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have a sense or an idea of right
and wrong. Everybody his some
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code of morality. But the Holy
Spirit is then one who tells us
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what's right and wrong according
to God's idea, not according to
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our idea. And he does it
through what we would call our
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conscience.
Also, I think even more
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primarily, we go to Ephesians
6 and we learn that the word of
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God is the sword of the Spirit.
So the Spirit uses the word
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and the truth of the word to
show us what's right and what's
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wrong. And when he brings that
conviction that leads us to a
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decision. And I think that's
why he follows by saying he'll
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convict the world of sin and of
righteousness and of judgment.
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In other words, our decision
whether we go the way of sin or
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the way of righteousness,
whether we respond to the Holy
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Spirit's drawing or whether
we don't is going to have
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consequences. There's a judgment
that will ultimately determine
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and will bring upon us a result
based upon that decision. If you
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look further down the passage
in verse 13 he gives a wonderful
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promise. He says: However, when
he the Spirit of truth has come
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he will guide you into all truth
So here we have a picture and
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I don't think that what he's
promising here is simply that we
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would know and understand right
doctrine. I believe that's true.
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But I think that if we are
reading in the context we can
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see that being guided into
the truth is being guided into
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making right choices about
the truth. In other words, he's
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showing us sin, he's showing us
righteousness but if he's going
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to guide us into the truth it's
through this process of learning
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how to live the truth. But we
can be thankful that unlike some
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who say you know we can't really
know what's truth, like Pilate
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who said what is truth, Jesus
promises here that if we are
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willing that the Spirit of truth
will guide us into all truth.
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Well what's powerful, Jim, is
also... I mean we're reading in
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John 16. In John 14 when Jesus
talks about the Holy Spirit he
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calls him the Spirit of truth.
In John 15 when he talks about
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the Holy Spirit, he calls him
the Spirit of truth. This isn't
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an incidental title that he
gives. Again in chapter 16 the
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Spirit of truth and again in an
age where people are just asking
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like Pilate did what is truth
God says here's truth and the
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Holy Spirit bears witness to
truth. And you talked about the
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sword of the Spirit of God,
the word of truth. Jesus himself
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when he was praying in John
17 said sanctify them Father by
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thy truth, thy word is truth.
So you see this element of truth
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and we see the truth being used
to bring that conviction. The
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Holy Spirit reaching into our
hearts basically and again the
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description of a sword. You know
when you think of a sword coming
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on you you're not thinking
comfort. But it's interesting
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that I believe what the Lord
is saying that the only kind of
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real true comfort that can
be experienced is when we yield
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ourselves to the truth.
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That's right. It brings peace to
the heart when we find not only
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what our carnal desires
would want us to do but when we
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actually come to a point of
finding a different, a better,
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way of getting rid of that
conviction of the Holy Spirit
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and that is by surrendering.
Surrendering to the will of God.
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And finding the truth in our own
life. This is what brings peace
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and comfort to the soul.
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Right. And every one of us
experiences that approach of the
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Holy Spirit and we're going to
see throughout the book of Acts
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that there can be very
different responses to the
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conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes I think we would
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assume that well if it's the
Holy Spirit and it's true then
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sooner or later you just got
to give in to it but that's not
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the reality that we find in
scripture. We will find that as
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the Holy Spirit continues
to bring conviction different
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people respond to conviction
in different ways. Now the last
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thing you had mentioned is
the power of the Holy Spirit. We
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don't want to overlook that.
We go back to the book of Acts
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chapter 1 and we'll pick up
again in verse 6 and it says
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here: Therefore when they
had come together Jesus and his
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disciples, they asked him saying
Lord will you at this time
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restore the kingdom to Israel
and he said to them, it is not
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for you to know times or seasons
which the Father has put in his
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own authority but you shall
receive power when the Holy
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Spirit has come upon you and
you shall be witnesses unto me.
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And so he gives them the area,
the territory. They're going to
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start close to home and just
Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria
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and concentric... you picture
concentric circles just growing
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out, out, out, out. You're going
to be witnesses and this message
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is going to have a ripple effect
through the earth. But it comes
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when the Holy Spirit
comes and he brings power.
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I think that power is needed in
the book of Acts just like it's
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needed for us because it wasn't
easy for them to be witnesses.
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I believe that the Greek word
for witness is martus or as it's
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translated in Acts 22, martyr.
So there's this very clear sense
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that to be a witness is to be
sacrificial, to go against all
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odds to be facing dire
consequences and so they needed
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power, they needed courage
and the Holy Spirit was going to
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give them that. That's
right. And you see power
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not only you see the courage,
the power and the courage. You
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see the power in miracles were
going to be worked through the
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apostles and power in conversion
as people received the message
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and you've got people who are
in the heart of heathenism and
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you watch the conversion, the
change, the transformation of
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their lives. There comes a point
in the book of Acts where the
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religious leaders say you have
basically filled Jerusalem with
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your doctrine. Well how does
that happen when we start with
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12 disciples and then as we go
on in Acts chapter 1 we'll find
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120 and they spread the gospel
to the known world. How does
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that happen? It happened
through the power of the Holy
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Spirit. That's
right and as I think
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about that, you know what, I
wonder if sometimes we become
00:12:07.70\00:12:11.85
tempted to think that that
power is not available to us
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today. You know when we
talk about the acts of the Holy
00:12:15.78\00:12:20.04
Spirit in the book of Acts
and we look at all the wondrous
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things that happened, we're
tempted to think that what we
00:12:24.16\00:12:28.14
need is some special infusion
of power that is not really ours
00:12:28.18\00:12:33.31
but there's never anything
in scripture that says that that
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power does not remain with us.
We're looking at in the book of
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Acts are acts... In
other words, the Holy Spirit
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hasn't stopped working
for God's people today.
00:12:44.95\00:12:47.07
That's right. God's people
have stopped working through the
00:12:47.10\00:12:50.39
power of the Holy Spirit. And so
here we are in the book of Acts
00:12:50.43\00:12:53.81
which emphasizes not just the
acts of the Holy Spirit but it's
00:12:53.85\00:12:57.20
emphasizing the fact that
here were godly people who were
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willing to do something for God.
They were not just the musings
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of the apostles or the thoughts
of the apostles. This is not
00:13:06.02\00:13:10.66
merely intentions but the acts
of the apostles. And friends we
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invite you to continue studying
with us in the Book of Acts.
00:13:14.71\00:13:18.65