Welcome back to
Books of the Book.
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Before the break we were looking
here in Acts chapter 14 at a
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miraculous story of healing by
the Apostle Paul in the city of
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Lystra. You know, Mark, we read
through this story but there are
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a couple points that are very
important to take a look at.
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In verse 9, it says that when
this lame man, this cripple who
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was crippled from his mother's
womb heard Paul speaking, Paul
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observed him intently. Now first
of all, this kind of speaks to
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the fact that Paul is always
watching and looking for the
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heart of his hearers, looking
for the response of those,
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that's right, looking for signs
of conviction, looking for those
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who may be open to the truth
that he's sharing. And he looks,
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and he's observing this crippled
man intently and it says that
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from an observation, it says,
And seeing that he had faith to
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be healed said with a loud voice
Isn't that fascinating. He's
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speaking and the Bible says...
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Sometimes you get the impression
in the New Testament that it's
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up to the apostles who they
heal. I'm going to pick this guy
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I'll pick this guy and
I'll just heal them but...
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That's right. But it didn't
seem that way. He was intently
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looking and he saw probably from
the words that he was speaking
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and the openness that he could
see, perhaps the longing eyes of
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wanting something better and
he was looking at this man...
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Perhaps tears in his eyes as
he heard about Christ and his
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crucifixion... And it
says he saw that he had
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faith to be healed. It makes me
think of a story in the gospels.
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I want to look at a story in
the gospel of Luke and chapter 5
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where it says the same thing
about Jesus. If you look in Luke
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chapter 5 and verse 17. It says,
Now it happened on a certain day
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as he was teaching that there
were Pharisees and teachers of
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the law sitting by who had come
out of every town of Galilee,
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Judea and Jerusalem and the
power of the Lord was present
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to heal them. Then behold men
brought on a bed a man who was
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paralyzed whom they sought
to bring in and lay before him.
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And when they could not find
out how they might bring him in
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because of the crowd, they went
up on the housetop and let him
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down with his bed through the
tiling in the midst before Jesus
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So here you see this paralytic
and he's got four friends who
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see that Jesus is an opportunity
for him to be healed and so they
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come to the home and there's no
room for them. There's too big
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of a crowd and you would think
that they would walk away, that
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that would be it. We can't get
in, there's no way to get in.
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But they had such confidence
that Jesus could heal and they
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had such desperation in a sense
that the only hope for this
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paralytic was Jesus that they
climbed up on the roof and they
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removed some of the tiles and
they lowered the man down and
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the Bible says in the next verse
in verse 20, When he (that is
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Jesus) saw their faith...
You know we think of faith as an
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internal belief, but it is
visible when acted out in our
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life and Jesus could tell by the
fact that these men went to such
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pains to bring this man in. He
knew that they must believe that
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he was able to heal. And faith,
if it is real and genuine, will
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always lead someone to action
and we see that all throughout
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the Bible. And here we see it in
this story where Paul observes
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that this man had faith to
be healed. We don't know exactly
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what it looked like but we know
that it can be seen, it can be
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visible because we saw that in
the story of Jesus. But after he
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heals him and he's walking and
leaping just like the man did
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in Acts chapter 3, it's
fascinating to me that these
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Gentiles in Lystra say the
gods have come down to us in the
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likeness of men. The gods have
come down to us in the likeness
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of men. It's the gospel even
though they didn't understand
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it. In fact, Jesus is God and
Jesus did come in the likeness
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of men. They almost say it in a
disbelieving way and yet we know
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that it's true that Jesus
did come in the likeness of men.
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But unfortunately
the record says...
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Well you know, Jim, it makes me
think of Daniel chapter 2 when
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the magicians of Nebuchadnezzar
when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream
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and he wanted to know the
dream they said the only one who
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knows the dream are the gods
whose dwelling is not with flesh
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In other words, for them
the gods don't have anything...
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You know we are not
worthy of their notice.
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That's right, that's right. And
we recognize that even for those
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who were understanding of the
true God that the Bible says in
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John chapter 1 and verse 11 that
he came to his own but his own
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received him not. So God did
come to his own and this is a
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primary distinction between
true Christianity and all false
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religions and these were pagans.
They had understanding of false
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religion which gives you a sense
that if you want to be accepted
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by the gods you need to go
to them. You need to somehow
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improve your behavior to be
brought into their favor or, as
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you remember when the prophets
of Baal danced around the altar
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on that day when Elijah stood
on Mt. Carmel, that they were
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crying out to the gods and
cutting themselves thinking that
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they had to do something that
would show their dedication and
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sacrifice in order to cause
the gods to look favorably upon
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them. And you look at the
different religions of the world
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Islam and the eastern religions
Hinduism and the like. The
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deities involved all are seeking
for humanity to do something to
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gain favor, whereas in
Christianity God did come, God
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did come in the likeness of a
man. He came after us instead of
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us having to reach after him.
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And we see that actually picked
up as in the response of the
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apostles. In verse 14 it says,
When the apostles, Barnabas and
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Paul, heard this they tore their
clothes and ran in among the
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multitude. Now this was a Jewish
custom of tearing the clothes
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which was expressing rending the
heart, deep, intense anguish and
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in this part it says, They ran
among the multitude crying out
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saying, Men why are you doing
these things. We also are men
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with the same nature as you and
preached to you that you should
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turn from these useless things
to the living God who made the
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heaven, the earth, the sea
and all things that are in them.
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Now first of all, I think back
just a few chapters where Peter
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was delivered from prison and
the angel touched him and woke
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him up. And at the same time the
angel touched Herod and struck
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him. Herod was vaunting himself
and the people said, He is a god
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and how men like that praise.
What an honor. But Paul and
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Barnabas are not looking for
that. They're wanting to direct
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the attention to the God
of heaven and they bring a few
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interesting things up about him.
First of all, he is the living
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God, not like these other gods.
He made the heaven, the earth,
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the sea and all things that are
in them. That's characteristic.
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He's the creator God. Then it's
interesting in verse 16 he says,
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Who in bygone generations
allowed all nations to walk in
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their own ways. Nevertheless,
he did not leave himself without
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witness in that he did good,
gave us rain from heaven and
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fruitful seasons filling our
hearts with food and gladness
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and with these things they could
scarcely restrain the multitudes
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from sacrificing to them. Now
I just want to touch on that.
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God allowed the nations to walk
in their own ways. God never
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forced anybody to serve him,
but he always left a witness of
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himself and notice what he
says, He gave us rain, fruitful
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seasons filling our
hearts with food and gladness.
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It's interesting that there are
many people today who say well
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I can't believe in God because
of all the evil in the world.
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Well what about the good in the
world? What about the blessings?
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You know, if we're going to tag
God out because of the evil then
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we've got to give him the same
credit for the blessings and
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what the Bible is saying here
is... And the fact of the matter
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is the Bible tells us that he's
not the author of the evil, but
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he is the author of the
blessings, of every good and
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perfect gift. The apostles
say here that he did not leave
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himself without witness.
We've got the evidence of his
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creatorship, we've got the
evidence in the good that we see
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in the rain, the providence
we have, the food on our tables,
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etc., that the Lord is seeking
to bless and wanting to draw us
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to himself. You
know, I see in that verse
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also, in verse 16, Who in bygone
generations allowed all nations
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to walk in their own ways,
but you get the sense that he's
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saying, But not anymore. I
mean the gospel is going to the
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Gentiles now and there's
this clear sense that there's a
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message coming that they need
to now respond to. He's allowed
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them in bygone generations,
but now the times have changed.
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That's right. And of course they
are just not pleased with this
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message. So much so, it
says, that they take... Having
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persuaded the multitudes,
it says, the Jews from Antioch
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and Iconium came there and
persuaded the multitudes and
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they stoned Paul and dragged him
out of the city supposing him to
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be dead. Wow!
That's incredible! You know
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you look here in verse 18.
It says that they could scarcely
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restrain the multitudes
from sacrificing to them and yet
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these Jews come down and stir
up the crowd again. This is a
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continual theme. And they
persuade the multitudes, so much
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so that they stoned Paul and
dragged him supposing him to be
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dead. I mean that's miraculous.
In verse 20 it says, However
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when the disciples gathered
around him, as if to say, Oh our
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beloved Paul is gone It says, He
rose up and went, where? Back to
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the city. I can't even believe
it. It says, And the next day he
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departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
Business as usual. I mean it's
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incredible in verse 20. He is
stoned, dragged out, and he goes
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back in just for good measure
before he leaves the next day.
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Just say I wasn't intimidated
by it. I'm moving on. I've got a
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mission. So in verse 23 it takes
us on to the fact that, it says,
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They appointed elders in every
church. With prayer and fasting
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we saw that earlier in chapter
13 when he and Barnabas were
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sent out with prayer and fasting
They commended them to the Lord.
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They moved on through Pisidia,
Pamphylia, Perga, Italia and
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then they come back to their
home church in Antioch, report
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what's happened and the Bible
says there they stayed for a
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long time with the disciples.
And so they complete that first
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missionary journey and
what a powerful ministry.
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Amen, amen. You know there's
a couple verses that we passed
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over there that we need to focus
on there as we bring this to a
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close. In verse 21 it says,
And when they had preached the
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gospel to that city, okay, Derbe
and made many disciples, they
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returned to Lystra, Iconium and
Antioch strengthening the souls
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of the disciples. Now at first
reading that just sounds kind of
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like a common verse. They
returned to Lystra, Iconium and
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Antioch. But look at where they
actually returned. You look at
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chapter 13, verse 50. That's
Antioch. After Antioch it says
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But the Jews stirred up the
devout and prominent women and
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the chief men of the city and
raised up persecution against
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Paul and Barnabas and expelled
them from their region. So they
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are going back to Antioch where
they were expelled from. Then
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if you look at chapter 14 verse
5, it talks about what happened
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at the end of Iconium. And when
a violent attempt was made by
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both the Gentiles and Jews with
their rulers to abuse and stone
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them they became aware of it.
So back in Iconium there was a
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plot to abuse and stone them.
They went back there. And then
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if you look at verse 19 of
chapter 14, we just read it.
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The Jews from Antioch and
Iconium came there and having
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persuaded them they stoned him.
So these three places where they
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were clearly kicked out or
stoned or plotted against are
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the exact placed that Paul went
back to. And that's why it says
00:12:47.17\00:12:51.00
in verse 22, there,
Strengthening the souls of the
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disciples exhorting them to
continue in the faith and saying
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we must through many
tribulations enter the kingdom
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of God. Wow! You know, the thing
I like about the Apostle Paul is
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he practiced what he preached.
He said, you know what? It's
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through many tribulations that
we must enter the kingdom of
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God. And friends as we look at
this passage in Acts chapter 14
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and we think about the
difficulties that we experience
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and the challenges in our
own Christian life, we have to
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remember that they are all
preparing us. That tribulation
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is producing perseverance and
character and hope and we can
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be sure that God will see
us through just like he did the
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Apostle Paul. We'll see you
next time on Books of the Book.
00:13:35.95\00:13:39.34