Welcome to 3ABN's
Fall Camp Meeting,
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Homecoming 2018.
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Featuring inspired
messages from your 3ABN family
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and uplifting Christian
music, all to prepare your heart
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for the coming of the Lord.
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Hello and welcome to
our Fall Homecoming 2018.
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Happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath.
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Happy Sabbath,
panel. Happy Sabbath.
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Happy Sabbath to you at home.
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What an incredible privilege
and blessing to be able
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to open up God's
Word on His holy day
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and to study together.
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This is our
Sabbath School panel,
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and normally, when we do
the Sabbath School panel,
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we're just looking
into a camera lens,
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into a camera screen,
but today is Camp Meeting,
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and we have our
3ABN family with us now,
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and we're so excited.
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We are on lesson number 13.
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It's the very last
lesson of our journey
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through the Book of Acts.
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Before we get into that,
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I want to introduce
our panel at this time.
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To my left is
Pastor Kenny Shelton,
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Pastor John Dinzey,
Miss Mollie Steenson,
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and Pastor Ryan
Day who is a newbie,
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you could say, on the
3ABN Sabbath School panel.
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We already actually
recorded quarter number four,
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we already did it, and
Ryan was on that panel.
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So you get to see him.
And he did an incredible job.
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Each one of these men
and women are anointed,
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and the Lord uses
them in a powerful way.
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And I'm so blessed to share
and serve with each one of you.
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Before we go any further,
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we want to go to
the Lord in prayer.
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And, Pastor
Kenny, would you pray
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for us this morning?
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Let's pray, shall we?
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Our kind loving Heavenly Father,
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as we approach Your throne
on this special Sabbath day,
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we come to give You praise,
give You honor, give You glory.
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Thank You for who You are.
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Thank You that You love
us with an everlasting love.
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Thank You for second chances.
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Thank You for the opportunity
and privilege to come together
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to study Your Word today.
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We're promised
from the Word of God,
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where two or three
are gathered together,
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there You will be in our midst.
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We invite the
Holy Spirit now, again,
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to take possession of
each and every one of us,
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not just those who
are here on the panel
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but each and every one
that sits here together
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and, of course, the invitation
comes from all of heaven,
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come down and dwell
among us, give us wisdom,
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give us
strength, give us courage,
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give us the message that
needs to be brought forth
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from our lesson today.
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We give You praise
and we thank You again.
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Bless us now and may we...
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As we turn ourselves over to
the power of thy Holy Spirit,
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may we realize that
it is You living in us
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and that You'll
bring forth those things
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that someone needs to hear today
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and will bring us
closer to Jesus Christ.
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We thank You and
praise You. In Jesus' name.
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Amen. Amen.
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This quarter, we're
studying the Book of Acts.
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And when I think of
Acts, I think of the outpouring
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of the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost and, as it were,
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the birth of the new church.
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Then the
expansion of that church
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and the persecution
that began with Stephen
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and the spread of the Gospel.
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I think of the conversion
of Paul and the Gospel
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going to the Gentile world
and then becoming Christians.
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I think of the
issues, Pastor Kenny,
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and the challenges that
arose in the early church,
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whether Gentiles
could become Christians.
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And the entire
issue they discussed
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at the Jerusalem
Council over circumcision
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and if Gentiles
had to be circumcised
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in order to become a Christian.
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I think of Paul's
three missionary journeys
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and his arrest in Jerusalem
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and then his
final journey to Rome.
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The whole book of
Acts, the 30 years it spans
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from the ascension
of the Lord Jesus Christ
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to Paul's imprisonment there,
it's really about evangelism.
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The entire Book of Acts is
about the spread of the Gospel.
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What is the hindrance to
the spread of the Gospel?
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I would submit to you
today that the only limitation
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to sharing the
Gospel is two things.
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There's two variables in that.
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First is my own
willingness to share.
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Second is another
person's willingness to hear.
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Those are the two variables.
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My willingness or
unwillingness to share.
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You know, sometimes,
I'm unwilling to share
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because I'm unworthy.
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I think I'm not
good enough to share
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or maybe it's my inability,
"I'm not qualified to share."
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Maybe it's my fear, "I'm
afraid to speak for Jesus,
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I'm afraid to share."
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Maybe it's my
failure, "I've messed up
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before trying to evangelize.
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I surely can't do it again."
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Maybe it's my
apathy and indifference.
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Have you ever been there?
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I don't even love
other people enough to want
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to share the Gospel with them.
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Sometimes, I'm even
ashamed to admit this,
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it has been my
disobedience and my rebellion,
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I refuse to share
when the Lord Jesus
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has asked me to.
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So no matter what state
you find yourself in today,
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God can forgive,
and change, and cleanse,
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and give us a
passion to share the Gospel.
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That's the first variable,
my willingness to share.
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The second
variable is another person's
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willingness to receive.
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That too is dependent on
the work of the Holy Spirit.
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My God says, "A new
heart also I will give you,
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and a new spirit I
will put within you,
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I will take
away the stony heart,
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I will give you
a heart of flesh."
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My God says,
"Whoever comes to Me,
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I will never cast aside."
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My God says, "I am the
Lord, the God of all flesh,
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is there
anything too hard for Me?"
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My God says, "I will make rivers
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and streams of
water in the desert."
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My God says, "I will
write My law in your heart
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and in your mind."
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My God says, "If
anyone is in Christ,
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he or she is a new creation,
old things have passed away.
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Behold, all
things have become new."
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God can work on people's
hearts anytime, anywhere.
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Stephen was stoned to death.
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Now he was willing to
share, but it appeared like
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the other people were
not willing to receive
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because they killed him.
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But yet, Paul was
convicted and converted.
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Paul was stoned
when he was in Lystra
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on his first missionary journey.
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He was willing to
share, but it seemed like
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the other people
didn't want to receive.
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But yet, when he came
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on the second
missionary journey,
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Timothy joined
the work at that time.
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I think of the
Lord Jesus Christ,
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He was willing to
share and yet, at the cross,
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everybody forsook Him and fled.
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It seemed like they
were not willing to receive.
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And what happened?
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In a matter of a few
years, the entire world
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was turned upside down
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'cause people were
willing to receive.
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Now the last couple
weeks, we looked at Paul,
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remember he returned from
the third missionary journey,
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he was arrested in Jerusalem,
he spent two years in prison
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in Caesarea, he appeared
before Festus, and Felix,
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and King Agrippa.
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And Agrippa said,
"You almost persuade me
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to become a Christian."
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And then Agrippa said to Festus,
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remember at the end of Acts
26, "This man might have been
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set free but yet he
appealed to Caesar."
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So lesson 13 has to do
with Paul as a prisoner,
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making the journey to Rome.
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This took place
in the fall of AD 60.
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There's a little
differentiation maybe,
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but for the
purposes we're using today,
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we're going to say
it was the fall of AD 60
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and he arrived in Rome
in the spring of AD 60.
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It was a journey of 2,300 miles.
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Mercy. And a long journey.
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And a lot of things
occurred during that journey.
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So let's turn to Acts 27.
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I have the first portion
before we get to the shipwreck.
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Acts 27.
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And I want to look at
four snapshots of the journey.
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We're going to
look at the prologue,
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the beginning of the
journey, the perplexity,
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the problem and
decision that arose,
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the problem and
then the promise.
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So the four
snapshots are the prologue,
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the perplexity, the
problem, and the promise.
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So let's look at the prologue.
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This is a journey
from Caesarea to Crete.
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Acts 27:1.
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"And when it was decided
that we should sail to Italy,
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they delivered Paul
and some other prisoners
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to one named Julius,
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a centurion of the
Augustan regiment."
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Now a centurion
commanded probably 100 soldiers.
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Some references say 80,
but maybe 80 to 100 soldiers.
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And the centurions always
led their men from the front.
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So you can imagine,
there was a high turnover rate
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because a great deal
of them gave their lives,
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they led their
men from the front.
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So Julius was a centurion.
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He was a Roman,
and he was a kind...
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as we're going to
discover in the story,
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a kind and fair centurion.
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We believe Luke
went on this journey,
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it's written we,
and Luke traveled
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with Paul as a prisoner.
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Let's look at verse 2.
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"So entering into
ship, we put to sea,
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meaning to sail along the
coast of Asia, Aristarchus,
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a Macedonian of
Thessalonica, was with us."
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Now who is Aristarchus?
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In Greek, it comes from
two words, aristos and arcos.
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Aristos meeting
best, arcos meaning leader.
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So literally, that
means he was the best leader.
00:10:21.75\00:10:24.95
Paul had first met him on
his third missionary journey.
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And he's mentioned
there in the Book of Acts
00:10:29.66\00:10:31.76
as traveling with Paul.
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Then we see the
second mention here.
00:10:33.90\00:10:35.80
And the next mention of
him is as a fellow prisoner
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in the Book of Colossians
and the Book of Philemon.
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He's mentioned as a
fellow prisoner of Paul.
00:10:41.97\00:10:44.51
So I don't know for
sure, but maybe he was actually
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traveling as a
prisoner at this time with Paul.
00:10:47.08\00:10:50.85
Verse 3.
00:10:50.88\00:10:52.21
"And the next day
we landed at Sidon,"
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Sidon's probably
70 miles north of
00:10:54.12\00:10:57.15
where they were in Caesarea,
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"and Julius treated Paul kindly,
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and gave him liberty to go to
his friends and receive care."
00:11:00.39\00:11:03.83
There again, we see the fairness
00:11:03.86\00:11:05.29
and the kindness
of this centurion.
00:11:05.33\00:11:08.86
"When we had put
to sea from there,
00:11:08.90\00:11:10.23
we sailed under
the shelter of Cyprus,"
00:11:10.27\00:11:14.40
we sailed under in
Greek, literally means,
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we sailed close by.
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So they sailed close
by the Island of Cyprus.
00:11:18.47\00:11:21.54
And why did they do that?
00:11:21.58\00:11:23.71
Because the winds were contrary,
00:11:23.75\00:11:26.88
which means hostile.
00:11:26.92\00:11:28.68
So the winds were not so good.
Now I'm terrible on a boat.
00:11:28.72\00:11:35.09
I just want you
all to know that.
00:11:35.12\00:11:36.46
I am... I get seasick.
00:11:36.49\00:11:38.73
I mean, I get
seasick really bad.
00:11:38.76\00:11:41.53
So if I were on that
and the winds were hostile,
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I can't even imagine.
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I get sick on a calm river.
00:11:46.60\00:11:48.54
I mean, I just
could not handle that.
00:11:48.57\00:11:50.51
So the winds were contrary.
00:11:50.54\00:11:52.11
They sailed close to the island.
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"And when we sailed over the sea
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which is of
Cilicia and Pamphylia,
00:11:56.38\00:11:58.51
we came to Myra,
a city of Lycia."
00:11:58.55\00:12:01.28
Myra is the southwest
part of Asia Minor or Turkey.
00:12:01.32\00:12:05.12
Then they boarded
an Alexandrian ship.
00:12:05.15\00:12:08.26
Now Alexandria
was an important city
00:12:08.29\00:12:10.63
that supplied Rome with grain.
00:12:10.66\00:12:12.26
This is a large ship.
00:12:12.29\00:12:13.63
There were 276
passengers onboard the ship.
00:12:13.66\00:12:17.87
And they had a
great deal of cargo
00:12:17.90\00:12:20.67
'cause they lightened
the ship several times
00:12:20.70\00:12:22.50
and they even
tossed the grain overboard.
00:12:22.54\00:12:25.17
Well, that's the prologue,
the beginning to the story.
00:12:25.21\00:12:27.38
Now we have the perplexity.
What happens next, verse 9.
00:12:27.41\00:12:31.48
"When much time had been spent
and sailing was now dangerous
00:12:31.51\00:12:35.25
because the fast
was already over,
00:12:35.28\00:12:37.45
Paul advised them saying,
00:12:37.49\00:12:38.82
'Men, I
perceive that this voyage
00:12:38.85\00:12:40.29
will end with
disaster and much loss,
00:12:40.32\00:12:42.39
not only of the cargo in
ship but also our lives."'
00:12:42.42\00:12:45.59
Now the fast
that he's referring to
00:12:45.63\00:12:47.10
is the Day of Atonement
that took place from, what,
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mid-September to mid-October.
00:12:50.30\00:12:51.93
So we're talking
late fall by this time.
00:12:51.97\00:12:54.80
Not that the Day of Atonement
00:12:54.84\00:12:56.17
took a whole
month to take place,
00:12:56.20\00:12:57.54
I just mean every year
00:12:57.57\00:12:58.91
it was a slightly different day.
00:12:58.94\00:13:00.28
So they said...
00:13:00.31\00:13:01.81
And travel in the
Mediterranean summer
00:13:01.84\00:13:03.65
is the best time to travel,
once you hit September 14
00:13:03.68\00:13:07.65
to November 11, travel is risky.
00:13:07.68\00:13:11.22
You get to November 11 and
travel is life-threatening.
00:13:11.25\00:13:14.89
And Paul's saying,
"Wait a minute, guys,
00:13:14.92\00:13:16.42
maybe we should hold up here
00:13:16.46\00:13:18.39
and stay here and
spend the winter."
00:13:18.43\00:13:21.03
That is the perplexity.
Then we have the problem.
00:13:21.06\00:13:26.87
The centurion listened
to the officers of the ship,
00:13:26.90\00:13:29.87
Pastor Kenny, and they decided
to pursue, and what happened?
00:13:29.90\00:13:33.17
We know the story,
a violent storm arose.
00:13:33.21\00:13:36.81
Yes.
00:13:36.85\00:13:38.18
And they feared for their lives.
00:13:38.21\00:13:39.75
It says in verse
20, "When neither sun
00:13:39.78\00:13:41.48
nor stars
appeared for many days,
00:13:41.52\00:13:43.12
no small tempest beat on us,
00:13:43.15\00:13:44.92
all hope that we would
be saved was given up."
00:13:44.95\00:13:48.46
They were completely discouraged
00:13:48.49\00:13:49.96
and thought they
were going to die.
00:13:49.99\00:13:51.53
And then the
Lord gave the promise.
00:13:51.56\00:13:55.00
Acts 27:23.
00:13:55.03\00:13:57.03
Paul says, "There
stood by me this night
00:13:57.07\00:13:59.07
an angel of the
God to whom I belong
00:13:59.10\00:14:02.57
and whom I serve,
saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul,
00:14:02.60\00:14:05.81
you must be
brought before Caesar
00:14:05.84\00:14:08.14
and indeed God has granted you
all those who sail with you."'
00:14:08.18\00:14:13.21
So in my remaining time
before Pastor Kenny picks up,
00:14:13.25\00:14:16.55
what are the
takeaways from this lesson?
00:14:16.58\00:14:19.45
I came up with three.
00:14:19.49\00:14:21.12
Number one,
everyone has an influence.
00:14:21.16\00:14:24.33
Yes.
00:14:24.36\00:14:25.69
Paul wasn't a
leader on the ship.
00:14:25.73\00:14:27.06
He was not even
a paying passenger.
00:14:27.10\00:14:29.06
He was a prisoner.
00:14:29.10\00:14:30.67
Yet, his influence
was powerfully felt.
00:14:30.70\00:14:34.24
Yes.
00:14:34.27\00:14:35.60
You have an
influence over other people.
00:14:35.64\00:14:37.01
It doesn't matter your money.
It doesn't matter your status.
00:14:37.04\00:14:40.48
It doesn't matter your position.
00:14:40.51\00:14:43.24
It doesn't even
matter who you are.
00:14:43.28\00:14:44.98
It matters who you know.
00:14:45.01\00:14:47.98
Paul had influence
because he was connected
00:14:48.02\00:14:51.72
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:14:51.75\00:14:53.25
Number two, anyone can
witness anytime, anywhere.
00:14:53.29\00:14:58.43
Amen.
00:14:58.46\00:14:59.79
We already
discussed Paul was a prisoner.
00:14:59.83\00:15:01.40
I don't know if he was seasick.
00:15:01.43\00:15:03.13
And the leadership, remember,
he had counseled to winter
00:15:03.16\00:15:05.80
in this one
place, the leadership
00:15:05.83\00:15:07.64
had overruled his counsel,
00:15:07.67\00:15:09.90
that's not the
perfect conditions
00:15:09.94\00:15:11.37
to be a witness when
people are against you,
00:15:11.41\00:15:13.58
and maybe you're
not feeling so good,
00:15:13.61\00:15:15.21
and life isn't
treating you well, and yet,
00:15:15.24\00:15:17.88
in spite of that, he
lived a Christian life
00:15:17.91\00:15:21.05
and he witnessed.
00:15:21.08\00:15:22.42
Number three,
nothing can keep God
00:15:22.45\00:15:25.15
from fulfilling His
purpose or His promise,
00:15:25.19\00:15:29.79
not the winds or the waves,
00:15:29.82\00:15:31.29
nor the fear and hopelessness,
nor even shipwreck.
00:15:31.33\00:15:35.90
God had called Paul.
00:15:35.93\00:15:37.27
Remember He said,
"You're going to go witness
00:15:37.30\00:15:39.90
for Me in Rome"?
00:15:39.93\00:15:41.67
Nothing.
00:15:41.70\00:15:43.04
Satan tried, couldn't
prevent God's purposes
00:15:43.07\00:15:45.34
from being
fulfilled in his life.
00:15:45.37\00:15:47.64
So what is God's
purpose in your life?
00:15:47.68\00:15:49.41
God's purpose in
your life is to save you.
00:15:49.44\00:15:51.31
He's not willing
that any should perish
00:15:51.35\00:15:53.42
but that all
should come to repentance.
00:15:53.45\00:15:55.68
God's purpose in your
life is to forgive you.
00:15:55.72\00:15:58.09
If we confess our
sins, He's faithful
00:15:58.12\00:15:59.99
and just to forgive
us and to cleanse us
00:16:00.02\00:16:02.56
from all unrighteousness.
00:16:02.59\00:16:04.46
God's purpose in your
life is to transform you.
00:16:04.49\00:16:07.83
"Be not conformed to this world,
00:16:07.86\00:16:09.60
but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind."
00:16:09.63\00:16:12.83
God's purpose is to
make you entirely new.
00:16:12.87\00:16:16.10
If anyone's in Christ,
he or she is a new creation.
00:16:16.14\00:16:20.08
And why does God do
that? Why does He forgive us?
00:16:20.11\00:16:22.31
Why does He save us?
Why does He transform us?
00:16:22.34\00:16:25.81
Why does He make us new?
00:16:25.85\00:16:27.98
To enable you and
I to be His witness.
00:16:28.02\00:16:32.55
We are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood,
00:16:32.59\00:16:36.79
His own special people, why?
00:16:36.83\00:16:39.19
So that we can
proclaim the praises of Him
00:16:39.23\00:16:41.46
who called us out of darkness
into this marvelous light.
00:16:41.50\00:16:46.20
Pastor Kenny, you
have the shipwreck.
00:16:46.23\00:16:49.70
Thank you. I think
she covered it well.
00:16:49.74\00:16:51.47
Praise God.
00:16:51.51\00:16:53.78
That now gives us
a lot to think about,
00:16:53.81\00:16:55.68
and it's certainly a
good solid foundation.
00:16:55.71\00:16:57.78
Thank you for that.
00:16:57.81\00:16:59.15
You know, again, the privilege
just having Monday's lesson
00:16:59.18\00:17:01.95
is the shipwreck.
00:17:01.98\00:17:03.52
And what's the first
thing I think about, shipwreck,
00:17:03.55\00:17:05.65
I keep thinking about disaster,
I keep thinking about deaths,
00:17:05.69\00:17:08.62
and destruction,
and so on first comes
00:17:08.66\00:17:10.83
in your mind when you
think about a shipwreck.
00:17:10.86\00:17:12.96
But this lesson, at least to me,
00:17:12.99\00:17:14.40
brings out several
points and maybe a couple.
00:17:14.43\00:17:16.53
I'll just mention here.
00:17:16.56\00:17:17.93
I think one of
them is that, you know,
00:17:17.97\00:17:19.53
that God always has a plan.
00:17:19.57\00:17:23.10
God always has a plan.
00:17:23.14\00:17:24.91
And it's always
interesting for us,
00:17:24.94\00:17:26.88
and He's never caught off-guard.
00:17:26.91\00:17:29.81
He's always
prepared. He has a plan.
00:17:29.84\00:17:31.81
He wants to see us
participate in that plan.
00:17:31.85\00:17:34.72
But, you know, we find out
that sometimes we have plans.
00:17:34.75\00:17:39.05
But our plans need tweaking.
00:17:39.09\00:17:42.12
You know, we need adjustments.
00:17:42.16\00:17:44.59
God's plan never
needs adjustments
00:17:44.63\00:17:46.66
'cause His plan
is always correct
00:17:46.70\00:17:48.16
and it's always true.
00:17:48.20\00:17:49.53
But with us, sometimes we
have to make some changes.
00:17:49.56\00:17:51.77
So again, shipwreck here
is just an interesting thing
00:17:51.80\00:17:54.67
to me, at least in my
mind, 'cause I like boats,
00:17:54.70\00:17:57.51
but I get easily seasick too.
00:17:57.54\00:17:59.41
But I try to fight
it sometimes, you know,
00:17:59.44\00:18:01.94
to get on them, put
little patches on here
00:18:01.98\00:18:04.41
and little patches
back here and try to get
00:18:04.45\00:18:06.28
through without getting sick.
00:18:06.31\00:18:08.25
But I like boats.
00:18:08.28\00:18:09.98
And this boat here
seemed to me, that it must be,
00:18:10.02\00:18:13.62
you mentioned a big boat.
00:18:13.66\00:18:15.82
It seemed that it could be
at least over 200 feet long.
00:18:15.86\00:18:18.89
You studied a
little bit about 200...
00:18:18.93\00:18:21.10
Weighed
probably over 1,200 tons.
00:18:21.13\00:18:24.77
So it wasn't just a
little bitty boat out there
00:18:24.80\00:18:27.20
being tossed around.
00:18:27.24\00:18:28.57
This was a big boat.
00:18:28.60\00:18:29.94
And there was...
00:18:29.97\00:18:31.31
Naturally, we had the
prisoners that were on there.
00:18:31.34\00:18:34.01
You know, we had the
sailors that were on there.
00:18:34.04\00:18:36.98
Certainly, Paul and
his men were on there.
00:18:37.01\00:18:39.35
And it was loaded, I think
you might have mentioned wheat,
00:18:39.38\00:18:42.95
things that were,
you know, of necessity,
00:18:42.98\00:18:45.22
and this was brought about
sometimes us making bad choices
00:18:45.25\00:18:48.29
and decisions, it's
when we get into the point
00:18:48.32\00:18:50.76
to where there's money involved.
00:18:50.79\00:18:53.76
If you don't mind, I'll
just bring that in this lesson.
00:18:53.80\00:18:55.40
There was money involved
because the ship was loaded
00:18:55.43\00:18:58.00
not only with prisoners
and so on and so forth,
00:18:58.03\00:19:00.04
but it was loaded
with valuable stuff
00:19:00.07\00:19:01.90
that was being
shipped, which was wheat.
00:19:01.94\00:19:04.61
Egyptian wheat, I
believe that it was there.
00:19:04.64\00:19:06.88
So anyway, we
know this in, what,
00:19:06.91\00:19:08.64
276 people that were
aboard this ship, and we also...
00:19:08.68\00:19:13.52
And I think it'd be a good
time to bring out a point here
00:19:13.55\00:19:15.98
is we know that the
ship was going down.
00:19:16.02\00:19:18.32
That was the prophecy.
The ship was going down.
00:19:18.35\00:19:21.16
But also, the
soldiers also knew this,
00:19:21.19\00:19:24.26
they were
accountable for the prisoners.
00:19:24.29\00:19:27.60
So they thought before
they would abandon ship,
00:19:27.63\00:19:30.80
that was the
necessity for them to go ahead
00:19:30.83\00:19:32.73
and kill all of the prisoners.
00:19:32.77\00:19:34.87
And I'm sure that
was talked around,
00:19:34.90\00:19:36.34
I'm sure everyone knew that.
00:19:36.37\00:19:38.17
And so there was a little bit
of a fright going on, saying,
00:19:38.21\00:19:40.61
"Oh, we're going to be...
00:19:40.64\00:19:41.98
You know, some of
us may be killed here."
00:19:42.01\00:19:43.75
But naturally
because of the relationship,
00:19:43.78\00:19:46.48
centurion and certainly
Paul, everyone was spared.
00:19:46.51\00:19:49.75
I thought that
was just beautiful.
00:19:49.78\00:19:51.75
Now the soldiers
thought, you know, before,
00:19:51.79\00:19:54.59
"We have to swim for it."
00:19:54.62\00:19:56.22
I don't know if
you've ever been on a boat
00:19:56.26\00:19:57.59
and you thought
"Man, the only way
00:19:57.63\00:19:58.96
I get out of this
thing is to swim for it."
00:19:58.99\00:20:01.16
That's kind of an
awesome thing to think about.
00:20:01.20\00:20:03.77
And notice this boat, I
thought was interesting.
00:20:03.80\00:20:08.10
The boat, during this storm,
was coming absolutely apart.
00:20:08.14\00:20:14.11
And they certainly had
plans for that, and certainly,
00:20:14.14\00:20:16.64
a ship this size would be scary.
00:20:16.68\00:20:19.28
There's no doubt about it.
00:20:19.31\00:20:20.78
But they had the
promise that, you know,
00:20:20.82\00:20:22.28
the ship would go down
but all would be saved.
00:20:22.32\00:20:25.22
But look who was
bringing the prophecy.
00:20:25.25\00:20:28.29
You know, Paul was
bringing a prophecy,
00:20:28.32\00:20:29.72
they didn't really trust him,
they didn't really believe him.
00:20:29.76\00:20:32.69
During these two weeks,
we find out the centurion,
00:20:32.73\00:20:35.86
he had respect for Paul.
00:20:35.90\00:20:37.23
Because he had respect for Paul,
00:20:37.27\00:20:38.60
then he was going
to spare Paul's life
00:20:38.63\00:20:39.97
and all the other prisoners.
00:20:40.00\00:20:41.34
That was a blessing.
00:20:41.37\00:20:42.90
If anyone ever had
close contact with Paul,
00:20:42.94\00:20:47.14
not just saying
we knew Paul and...
00:20:47.18\00:20:49.44
Close contact with Paul,
00:20:49.48\00:20:51.28
you knew that he
was a man of God,
00:20:51.31\00:20:53.38
you absolutely knew.
00:20:53.42\00:20:55.12
He changed your life,
he changed this man's life
00:20:55.15\00:20:58.05
he was chained
to in just a matter
00:20:58.09\00:20:59.95
of a few short days.
00:20:59.99\00:21:01.86
And I'm sure if Paul
would say something like this,
00:21:01.89\00:21:04.03
if someone said, boy, you
know, see God working here,
00:21:04.06\00:21:07.06
what do you
think Paul would say?
00:21:07.10\00:21:08.43
Galatians 2:20,
what would he say?
00:21:08.46\00:21:11.03
"Not I, but Christ."
00:21:11.07\00:21:13.47
He would give the
credit where the credit is due.
00:21:13.50\00:21:15.37
A lot of times we don't do that.
00:21:15.40\00:21:16.74
We like to push the
credit toward ourselves.
00:21:16.77\00:21:18.64
And we need to do when
things like this happen,
00:21:18.67\00:21:20.68
give God the praise,
the honor, and the glory.
00:21:20.71\00:21:23.75
Paul warned...
00:21:23.78\00:21:25.81
He warned us of the
approach of this storm,
00:21:25.85\00:21:28.08
going to be a bad storm,
things were going to happen.
00:21:28.12\00:21:30.89
You mentioned winter,
winter was approaching,
00:21:30.92\00:21:32.89
it was not a good time to sail.
00:21:32.92\00:21:34.52
But we realize here, remember,
00:21:34.56\00:21:35.96
that there was
valuables on that ship.
00:21:35.99\00:21:38.99
And with this wheat,
it needed to be delivered
00:21:39.03\00:21:41.16
and the captain, you
know, didn't know what to do.
00:21:41.20\00:21:43.80
And so even the owner
of the ship was called in.
00:21:43.83\00:21:47.30
Think about this, the
owner of the ship called in,
00:21:47.34\00:21:48.94
the owner of the ship's saying,
00:21:48.97\00:21:50.31
"Look, I've got
all this wheat on here,
00:21:50.34\00:21:51.67
I've got all
these supplies on here,"
00:21:51.71\00:21:53.94
and the Egyptian wheat
and it had to go to Rome,
00:21:53.98\00:21:57.55
"and we can't let it
sit here, and spoil and rot,
00:21:57.58\00:21:59.95
we need to sail."
00:21:59.98\00:22:01.82
Well, he said, "It's
not a good time to sail."
00:22:01.85\00:22:04.45
What are we going to do?
00:22:04.49\00:22:05.82
And so for several
days, they just sat around,
00:22:05.85\00:22:08.46
they talked about it,
and they just wondered
00:22:08.49\00:22:10.09
what was going
on, winds were bad,
00:22:10.13\00:22:12.26
seems like it was stormy.
00:22:12.29\00:22:13.63
But all of a
sudden, it calmed down.
00:22:13.66\00:22:15.86
Now I'm not sure who
did the calming down.
00:22:15.90\00:22:18.47
The winds were calmed down,
the waves calmed down because,
00:22:18.50\00:22:21.54
you know, I think
the enemy knew the plan,
00:22:21.57\00:22:23.34
the things that
were going on here.
00:22:23.37\00:22:25.31
And so it calmed down
enough that the owner said,
00:22:25.34\00:22:28.01
"Look, let's sail, captain.
00:22:28.04\00:22:30.45
We've got to get
this merchandise there
00:22:30.48\00:22:32.71
because there's a lot of
money and so on and so forth.
00:22:32.75\00:22:34.88
I think we can make it."
00:22:34.92\00:22:36.79
But, you know, just a little bit
00:22:36.82\00:22:38.15
out all of a sudden,
00:22:38.19\00:22:39.52
the south wind
turned to the north wind,
00:22:39.55\00:22:40.89
then all of a sudden, it
was a horrible nightmare.
00:22:40.92\00:22:44.19
Well, we find out
that as these winds blew
00:22:44.23\00:22:46.73
and so on and so forth
that the boat had to be...
00:22:46.76\00:22:50.20
I want to call it wrapped.
It was absolutely coming apart.
00:22:50.23\00:22:53.74
I can imagine, and
I think you can too,
00:22:53.77\00:22:55.50
these great timbers
of this boat, you know,
00:22:55.54\00:22:59.51
it was put together
properly, no doubt about it.
00:22:59.54\00:23:03.04
But when you think
about this thing, it was a...
00:23:03.08\00:23:05.75
We could call the storm
something like a cyclone,
00:23:05.78\00:23:08.68
a cyclonic storm.
00:23:08.72\00:23:11.39
That means you think
about the hurricanes,
00:23:11.42\00:23:13.39
if you're familiar with
that, you think about tornadoes,
00:23:13.42\00:23:17.16
you think about these
winds, winds that rotated around
00:23:17.19\00:23:21.70
and around which
would have an eye in it
00:23:21.73\00:23:23.90
that we view all the
time as the storm's coming.
00:23:23.93\00:23:26.84
This was a horrible
storm, tore everything up.
00:23:26.87\00:23:30.64
They couldn't even
steer the ship anymore.
00:23:30.67\00:23:32.37
They couldn't guide it.
Absolutely could not guide it.
00:23:32.41\00:23:35.28
It was completely
out of their control,
00:23:35.31\00:23:37.18
and they wanted to give up.
00:23:37.21\00:23:38.55
"If we can't guide this
thing, what's going to happen?
00:23:38.58\00:23:40.15
We're all going to perish."
00:23:40.18\00:23:41.75
And so they began
to take, they said,
00:23:41.78\00:23:43.12
"Look, here's our only chance,
it's starting to come apart."
00:23:43.15\00:23:45.55
I assume, just let
me assume for a minute,
00:23:45.59\00:23:48.49
if you don't mind.
00:23:48.52\00:23:51.03
Hello, we just want
to assume, don't we?
00:23:51.06\00:23:53.29
We want to assume that...
00:23:53.33\00:23:55.46
'Cause it did say the ropes,
but I assume the ropes were
00:23:55.50\00:23:58.40
like maybe as big as your arm,
not just some little scrawny,
00:23:58.43\00:24:02.67
you know, ropes.
00:24:02.70\00:24:04.41
These were heavy-duty big ropes
that they wrapped completely
00:24:04.44\00:24:09.11
around this ship from the bottom
00:24:09.14\00:24:11.21
all the way up,
00:24:11.25\00:24:12.58
and they brought them together,
00:24:12.61\00:24:13.95
and I want to
say come along them.
00:24:13.98\00:24:15.82
They cranked and
tightened those things
00:24:15.85\00:24:17.42
so that it was in...
00:24:17.45\00:24:18.79
So it would be impossible
almost for the ship to go down
00:24:18.82\00:24:22.09
even though God said
that it would go down.
00:24:22.12\00:24:25.09
But they did their best.
00:24:25.13\00:24:26.63
So I want you to think
about that for a moment,
00:24:26.66\00:24:28.20
and we'll talk about it
in a few minutes we have left
00:24:28.23\00:24:30.43
'cause it's
very, very important.
00:24:30.47\00:24:31.80
A lot of people say, "Well,
I just want to follow Jesus
00:24:31.83\00:24:33.50
and I want to...
00:24:33.54\00:24:34.87
All I have to do is
just kind of sit back
00:24:34.90\00:24:36.24
because He's
paved the way for me."
00:24:36.27\00:24:37.67
I believe in humanity and
divinity working together.
00:24:37.71\00:24:40.74
I believe we
have to do our part.
00:24:40.78\00:24:42.71
These men were doing
their part to be saved.
00:24:42.74\00:24:45.38
They didn't want to be drowned.
00:24:45.41\00:24:46.88
And so they were
doing all they knew
00:24:46.92\00:24:48.25
how to do in order to keep
00:24:48.28\00:24:49.62
the boat
together from shipwreck.
00:24:49.65\00:24:50.99
Well, we find
that these strong ropes
00:24:51.02\00:24:53.59
were put on there that
didn't hold it together either
00:24:53.62\00:24:55.89
'cause God had already said
what was going to be happening.
00:24:55.92\00:24:59.19
At a time like
this, what was it,
00:24:59.23\00:25:01.16
14 days or something like this?
00:25:01.20\00:25:04.33
And they were...
Weren't they fasting?
00:25:04.37\00:25:06.70
They were
fasting, they didn't eat,
00:25:06.74\00:25:08.37
they didn't drink.
00:25:08.40\00:25:09.74
And so they were just
fighting for their very life.
00:25:09.77\00:25:11.74
A lot of us would last
an hour or two and say,
00:25:11.77\00:25:13.34
"That's it, I
want go to McDonald's."
00:25:13.38\00:25:14.71
Think, just think.
00:25:18.61\00:25:19.95
I mean, that makes
14 days with no food.
00:25:19.98\00:25:21.75
You know, all of
a sudden, you know,
00:25:21.78\00:25:23.52
Paul was quiet for a while,
but he arrived on the scene.
00:25:23.55\00:25:26.79
And I don't know
00:25:26.82\00:25:28.16
if it's something
you like to hear it,
00:25:28.19\00:25:29.52
but I know when I make
a big boo-boo, you know,
00:25:29.56\00:25:31.93
I don't like somebody coming
at me and saying, "I told you."
00:25:31.96\00:25:35.63
No one does.
00:25:35.66\00:25:37.00
And really, it almost
seems like Paul did it,
00:25:37.03\00:25:38.47
but it wasn't with
that attitude at all.
00:25:38.50\00:25:40.20
He said, remember
00:25:40.24\00:25:41.57
when they were
getting ready to go down,
00:25:41.60\00:25:42.94
"I told you this
was going to happen,
00:25:42.97\00:25:44.71
we didn't have to sail."
00:25:44.74\00:25:46.07
But then he said, be
what? Be of good cheer.
00:25:46.11\00:25:49.91
Yeah.
00:25:49.94\00:25:51.28
"Be not afraid, the
boat's going to go down
00:25:51.31\00:25:53.11
but not a life will be lost."
00:25:53.15\00:25:55.55
You know, at that point in time,
00:25:55.58\00:25:56.92
that'd be good news to me.
00:25:56.95\00:25:58.35
Even if I kind of doubted,
I didn't even know the guy
00:25:58.39\00:26:00.46
who said it, I'm thinking,
"Boy, this guy's courageous,
00:26:00.49\00:26:04.03
this guy has
faith, he's encouraged me,
00:26:04.06\00:26:06.39
he's strengthened me."
00:26:06.43\00:26:07.76
And, of course, they
had seen his fruits before
00:26:07.80\00:26:10.63
and some of them.
00:26:10.67\00:26:12.00
So they understood that.
00:26:12.03\00:26:13.37
So he had this way about him,
which was the winning of souls.
00:26:13.40\00:26:17.84
He was winning souls.
00:26:17.87\00:26:19.21
He was witnessing, and
as our lesson brings out,
00:26:19.24\00:26:21.14
during all of
this time of commotion.
00:26:21.18\00:26:23.41
So he told the man,
"You know what we need to do?
00:26:23.45\00:26:25.48
We need to stop right
now and get some food.
00:26:25.51\00:26:28.12
Let's all take some food.
00:26:28.15\00:26:30.15
Let's all eat
because, basically,
00:26:30.19\00:26:31.89
you're going to
have to swim for it.
00:26:31.92\00:26:33.25
And if you're going
to have to swim for it,
00:26:33.29\00:26:34.62
you're going to need a
little bit of strength."
00:26:34.66\00:26:36.12
Isn't that right?
00:26:36.16\00:26:37.49
Some of those
may bring that out.
00:26:37.53\00:26:38.86
Quickly, three things come
alive to me in this lesson,
00:26:38.89\00:26:41.63
at least my part of it, for me.
00:26:41.66\00:26:43.23
Number one, God has a plan,
00:26:43.26\00:26:46.17
and the importance
of following it exactly.
00:26:46.20\00:26:50.77
God has a plan.
Does He not have a plan?
00:26:50.81\00:26:52.24
You see Him working it out here.
00:26:52.27\00:26:53.98
He's going to take
Paul to Rome regardless.
00:26:54.01\00:26:57.18
The weather wasn't going to stop
00:26:57.21\00:26:58.55
and the enemy
thought he could, you know,
00:26:58.58\00:26:59.95
man is not going to
stop him, being imprisoned,
00:26:59.98\00:27:02.05
prisoner didn't stop him,
the boat was going on through.
00:27:02.08\00:27:04.65
So God has a plan. Quickly.
00:27:04.69\00:27:06.05
Desire of Ages 208 says this,
"He, Jesus," oh, I love this,
00:27:06.09\00:27:09.76
"accepted God's plan for him.
00:27:09.79\00:27:12.13
Day by day, the
Father unfolded His plan.
00:27:12.16\00:27:15.56
So should we depend
upon God that our lives
00:27:15.60\00:27:18.27
may be the simple
outworking of His will."
00:27:18.30\00:27:23.00
That's beautiful, day by day.
00:27:23.04\00:27:24.67
This is the way...
00:27:24.71\00:27:26.04
Number two, I found in
here divine intervention
00:27:26.07\00:27:28.81
or we call it providence.
00:27:28.84\00:27:30.85
This is what
we're... This is it.
00:27:30.88\00:27:32.21
Our lesson
brings this out clear.
00:27:32.25\00:27:34.05
Again, Desire of
Ages page 313 says,
00:27:34.08\00:27:38.09
"In the book of
God's providence,"
00:27:38.12\00:27:39.92
interesting wording,
00:27:39.95\00:27:41.29
"in the book of
God's providence,
00:27:41.32\00:27:43.26
the volume of life,
we are on each page,"
00:27:43.29\00:27:47.90
notice this, "the page contains
every particular," of what,
00:27:47.93\00:27:52.13
"of our history, even the
hairs of our head are numbered,"
00:27:52.17\00:27:56.14
notice that, "God's children
are never," notice this,
00:27:56.17\00:27:59.51
"never absent from His thought."
00:27:59.54\00:28:02.14
I just got excited
when I read that part.
00:28:02.18\00:28:04.01
We're never
absent from His thought.
00:28:04.05\00:28:05.91
Regardless, if you're
going down in the ship maybe,
00:28:05.95\00:28:08.68
going through
the storms of life,
00:28:08.72\00:28:10.75
you're never
absent from God's thought.
00:28:10.79\00:28:12.99
You're always there with Him.
00:28:13.02\00:28:14.59
Number three, divinity
and humanity working together.
00:28:14.62\00:28:20.10
This is what it's all
about, we think about here.
00:28:20.13\00:28:22.23
This lesson, each person
first of all had the assurance
00:28:22.26\00:28:24.97
of what, they had
the assurance of...
00:28:25.00\00:28:27.14
what, they're
going to make it through.
00:28:27.17\00:28:28.90
That's divinity working.
00:28:28.94\00:28:30.31
You're going to make
it, you're not going to die.
00:28:30.34\00:28:32.47
But also you notice this
right here, for humanity,
00:28:32.51\00:28:35.28
man had to do his part,
man had to put forth an effort,
00:28:35.31\00:28:39.85
we have to do, as the
Bible says, a strive to what,
00:28:39.88\00:28:44.65
a couple Bible passages,
strive to enter into what,
00:28:44.69\00:28:47.72
into the gate.
00:28:47.76\00:28:49.09
Strive here in the
Greek means to agonize.
00:28:49.12\00:28:51.69
That means there's an effort
that has to be put forward
00:28:51.73\00:28:53.70
on our part rather
than sit back and say,
00:28:53.73\00:28:55.33
"God is going to do it all,
00:28:55.36\00:28:56.70
I'll just live
the way I want to do."
00:28:56.73\00:28:58.23
You know, we got to
work out our own salvation
00:28:58.27\00:29:00.27
with fear and trembling.
00:29:00.30\00:29:01.90
Bible is very
clear in Revelation
00:29:01.94\00:29:03.27
that we have to be overcomers,
00:29:03.30\00:29:05.41
"will I grant to sit
with me on the throne."
00:29:05.44\00:29:08.21
First Timothy 6:12 says,
00:29:08.24\00:29:09.81
"We have to fight
the good fight of," what?
00:29:09.84\00:29:12.95
"The good fight of faith."
00:29:12.98\00:29:14.62
I love that one right there.
00:29:14.65\00:29:16.15
And again, work
out your own salvation,
00:29:16.18\00:29:17.65
in Philippians 2:12.
00:29:17.69\00:29:19.72
Last paragraph
right here, last thought,
00:29:19.75\00:29:21.56
Desire of Ages, 123,
00:29:21.59\00:29:24.56
"Christ humanity was
united with divinity,
00:29:24.59\00:29:27.43
He was fitted for the conflict
by the indwelling of divine
00:29:27.46\00:29:31.43
of the Holy Spirit, He
came to make us partakers
00:29:31.47\00:29:34.50
of divine nature
that we may attain
00:29:34.54\00:29:37.57
to perfection of character."
00:29:37.61\00:29:40.54
That's always brought
in. That's always good what?
00:29:40.58\00:29:42.91
Divinity,
humanity, working together
00:29:42.94\00:29:45.55
that we may be
victorious Christians
00:29:45.58\00:29:47.95
and gain victory
over sin in our life.
00:29:47.98\00:29:49.82
My brother. Praise the Lord.
00:29:49.85\00:29:52.79
Thank you very much.
00:29:52.82\00:29:54.29
Well, we switch now to
Paul, not in the water,
00:29:54.32\00:29:58.56
not on a ship but on land.
00:29:58.59\00:30:00.90
And so we now
move to Paul in Malta.
00:30:00.93\00:30:05.43
This takes us to Acts 28.
00:30:05.47\00:30:08.20
If you'll follow me, Acts 28,
00:30:08.24\00:30:09.87
we're going to
read several verses.
00:30:09.90\00:30:11.77
In Acts 28, we have verse
1, "Now when they had escaped,
00:30:11.81\00:30:17.15
they then found out that
the island was called Malta."
00:30:17.18\00:30:21.48
Now if you have the King James,
00:30:21.52\00:30:22.85
I'm reading from the
New King James this time,
00:30:22.88\00:30:25.09
you may notice
that it says Melita.
00:30:25.12\00:30:28.32
And this was the
name it is believed
00:30:28.36\00:30:31.29
before it was
changed to the name Malta.
00:30:31.33\00:30:35.00
Melita is the word they believe
comes from the Greek word,
00:30:35.03\00:30:38.77
which means honey.
00:30:38.80\00:30:40.24
And it is believed
that on this island,
00:30:40.27\00:30:42.40
they produced large
quantities of honey.
00:30:42.44\00:30:45.84
And so I just want to say
this in passing, you know,
00:30:45.87\00:30:49.78
the description that Paul gives
here concerning the sailing
00:30:49.81\00:30:56.08
and everything, he used
about 16 nautical terms.
00:30:56.12\00:30:59.95
And the accuracy of where
they were going, the storms,
00:30:59.99\00:31:05.03
it confirms the historical
accuracy of the Book of Acts.
00:31:05.06\00:31:11.17
And research has
been done on this,
00:31:11.20\00:31:13.47
there's an expert
sailor and scholar
00:31:13.50\00:31:16.30
by the name of James
Smith that researched all this
00:31:16.34\00:31:21.24
and said, "This is irrefutable,
00:31:21.28\00:31:24.85
this is historically accurate."
00:31:24.88\00:31:27.68
And as a matter of
fact, when you look
00:31:27.72\00:31:31.35
at Greek literature
and Roman literature,
00:31:31.39\00:31:34.19
this book gives
you more information
00:31:34.22\00:31:37.43
about navigation and the
seas as it was in that time
00:31:37.46\00:31:40.66
than any other
source outside of the Bible.
00:31:40.70\00:31:44.57
So this book, this
description here in chapter 27
00:31:44.60\00:31:48.57
is historically accurate.
00:31:48.60\00:31:52.11
So let's move on.
00:31:52.14\00:31:53.48
So here, it says in verse 2,
00:31:53.51\00:31:55.44
"And the natives
showed us unusual kindness."
00:31:55.48\00:31:58.71
Boy, that's really nice to
get shown unusual kindness,
00:31:58.75\00:32:01.48
I like that, "For they kindled
a fire and made us all welcome
00:32:01.52\00:32:06.22
because of the
rain that was falling
00:32:06.25\00:32:08.39
and because of the cold."
00:32:08.42\00:32:09.99
Isn't it nice
that when you're cold,
00:32:10.03\00:32:12.59
you're
shivering, and it seems like
00:32:12.63\00:32:15.86
when you're cold and
wet, it's even worse.
00:32:15.90\00:32:20.50
Man, it just brings
that, even more cold you feel,
00:32:20.54\00:32:25.41
and then you come to this
nice warmth, it's wonderful.
00:32:25.44\00:32:29.24
And this is nice.
00:32:29.28\00:32:30.98
Apparently, they
saw what was going on
00:32:31.01\00:32:33.05
and they said,
"If anybody survives,
00:32:33.08\00:32:34.82
they're going to
need this nice warm fire."
00:32:34.85\00:32:38.09
But, you know, I
have to say this.
00:32:38.12\00:32:40.86
God promised Paul that
not one person would be lost.
00:32:40.89\00:32:45.43
I have to say
that's a miracle. Yeah.
00:32:45.46\00:32:47.20
God performs a miracle
to save each and every one
00:32:47.23\00:32:50.70
of those people
that were on that ship.
00:32:50.73\00:32:54.47
And I think when
all is said and done,
00:32:54.50\00:32:58.11
God is going to reveal things
that are going to surprise us,
00:32:58.14\00:33:02.14
shock us, "You mean all
those people on that bus,
00:33:02.18\00:33:06.05
on that train, on
that plane were saved
00:33:06.08\00:33:08.25
because there was a
Christian in there?"
00:33:08.28\00:33:10.75
Praise the Lord. Amen.
00:33:10.79\00:33:12.69
You know, God makes a difference
00:33:12.72\00:33:14.46
when you're a praying
Christian and you put yourselves
00:33:14.49\00:33:18.59
in the hands of the Lord.
00:33:18.63\00:33:19.96
Paul had a mission.
00:33:20.00\00:33:21.33
He had to go to
Rome, not to defend himself
00:33:21.36\00:33:24.53
but to preach the Gospel.
00:33:24.57\00:33:27.10
So let's continue.
00:33:27.14\00:33:29.00
It says here, "But when Paul
had gathered a bundle of sticks
00:33:29.04\00:33:33.88
and laid them on the
fire, a viper came out
00:33:33.91\00:33:37.45
because of the heat
and fastened on his hand."
00:33:37.48\00:33:40.52
Wow.
00:33:40.55\00:33:41.88
Some people say, "Well, man,
we just got out of that mess
00:33:41.92\00:33:44.75
and now here's another one."
00:33:44.79\00:33:47.96
So here's this thing
that comes out, a viper,
00:33:47.99\00:33:50.83
fastened on his hand.
00:33:50.86\00:33:52.19
Now Paul was not
a guy to sit around
00:33:52.23\00:33:53.56
and have other people
work while he just watched.
00:33:53.60\00:33:56.26
"Good work, guys.
Keep up the good work.
00:33:56.30\00:33:58.97
Let me know when
you're done." No, he was busy.
00:33:59.00\00:34:01.50
He was trying to help out.
00:34:01.54\00:34:03.00
Now something happens.
00:34:03.04\00:34:05.54
See...
00:34:05.57\00:34:06.91
So when the natives
saw the creature hanging
00:34:06.94\00:34:08.94
from his hand, they
said one to another,
00:34:08.98\00:34:11.45
"No doubt this
man is a murderer,
00:34:11.48\00:34:13.95
whom though he
had escaped the sea,
00:34:13.98\00:34:16.62
yet justice does
not allow to live."
00:34:16.65\00:34:20.59
They had a sense of
justice on this island,
00:34:20.62\00:34:22.56
and it is believed that the,
I think they pronounce it Dike,
00:34:22.59\00:34:27.10
the some kind of
justice, God of justice,
00:34:27.13\00:34:30.57
now claims his life
because he was a murderer
00:34:30.60\00:34:33.87
and he deserved to die.
00:34:33.90\00:34:35.50
He didn't die on the sea,
00:34:35.54\00:34:37.21
so now he has
to die on the land.
00:34:37.24\00:34:40.51
But God has a
purpose for everything
00:34:40.54\00:34:44.48
that happens to God's children.
00:34:44.51\00:34:47.02
And notice what happens here.
00:34:47.05\00:34:49.68
"So when the
natives saw the creature..."
00:34:49.72\00:34:52.85
Well, verse 5, I
already read that one.
00:34:52.89\00:34:55.99
"But he shook off the
creature into the fire
00:34:56.02\00:34:58.83
and suffered no harm.
00:34:58.86\00:35:00.40
However, they were
expecting that he would swell up
00:35:00.43\00:35:03.67
or suddenly fall down
dead, but after they had looked
00:35:03.70\00:35:07.20
for a long time and
saw no harm come to him,
00:35:07.24\00:35:10.17
they changed their
minds and said he was a god."
00:35:10.21\00:35:15.18
Wow.
00:35:15.21\00:35:16.54
"Wait a minute, this
guy is not a murderer,
00:35:16.58\00:35:17.91
he's a God."
00:35:17.95\00:35:19.88
Now I have to
say something to you
00:35:19.91\00:35:21.25
because the Bible can
give you a lot more information
00:35:21.28\00:35:24.85
than it already does.
00:35:24.89\00:35:27.52
We are given highlights here.
00:35:27.56\00:35:29.86
When Paul knew that
they looked at him that way,
00:35:29.89\00:35:33.23
Paul took this opportunity
to preach them Jesus.
00:35:33.26\00:35:37.50
Amen. He took this opportunity.
00:35:37.53\00:35:40.97
Lest they start
worshipping and he took...
00:35:41.00\00:35:43.67
You see this in
other places already,
00:35:43.71\00:35:45.77
I think it's Acts 17,
00:35:45.81\00:35:48.24
when they wanted to worship him
00:35:48.28\00:35:49.84
and what was the
name of the other guy
00:35:49.88\00:35:51.21
that was with him,
he said, wait a minute,
00:35:51.25\00:35:52.68
one is Apollos and one is...
00:35:52.71\00:35:54.45
No, Paul took this opportunity
to preach the Gospel.
00:35:54.48\00:35:58.32
See, this tells
you, this was people
00:35:58.35\00:36:01.82
that worshipped false idols,
00:36:01.86\00:36:03.96
idols, all idols
are false anyway.
00:36:03.99\00:36:06.96
They worshipped pagan gods.
00:36:07.00\00:36:10.97
And so Paul was bringing light
00:36:11.00\00:36:13.74
to the people that had darkness.
00:36:13.77\00:36:15.30
And so God blessed,
took this opportunity
00:36:15.34\00:36:17.51
to bring light to these people.
00:36:17.54\00:36:19.34
"However, they were expecting
him that he would swell up
00:36:19.37\00:36:21.74
or suddenly fall dead
but after that he had looked
00:36:21.78\00:36:23.58
for a long time saw
no harm come to him,
00:36:23.61\00:36:25.41
they changed their minds
and said that he was a god."
00:36:25.45\00:36:28.08
Now he leaves it right there.
00:36:28.12\00:36:29.45
It says, "In that region there
was an estate of the leading
00:36:29.48\00:36:32.15
citizen of the island
whose name was Publius
00:36:32.19\00:36:35.26
who received us
and entertained us
00:36:35.29\00:36:37.03
courteously for three days."
00:36:37.06\00:36:39.59
Isn't that wonderful?
00:36:39.63\00:36:40.96
God had everything set
up for Paul and the people.
00:36:41.00\00:36:44.83
It must have been a large estate
00:36:44.87\00:36:46.63
because there were a
lot of people on that ship.
00:36:46.67\00:36:49.84
Now it
continues, "And it happened
00:36:49.87\00:36:51.21
that the father
of Publius lay sick
00:36:51.24\00:36:53.74
of a fever and
dysentery," or dysentery,
00:36:53.78\00:36:57.25
"Paul went into him, and prayed,
00:36:57.28\00:36:59.85
and laid his hands
on him and healed him."
00:36:59.88\00:37:02.58
Now when Paul
prays, what does he say?
00:37:02.62\00:37:07.06
He prays and he says
in the name of Jesus.
00:37:07.09\00:37:11.19
So opportunities
were coming to Paul
00:37:11.23\00:37:15.26
to present the name of Jesus.
00:37:15.30\00:37:18.10
And the message
was left in Malta.
00:37:18.13\00:37:23.71
Now if I have
time, I want to share
00:37:23.74\00:37:25.07
a modern-day story about Malta.
00:37:25.11\00:37:27.78
It's going to be
very interesting.
00:37:27.81\00:37:29.24
So let's continue.
00:37:29.28\00:37:30.61
So here...
00:37:30.65\00:37:33.68
"And it happened that the
father of Publius lay sick
00:37:33.72\00:37:35.95
of a fever and
dysentery," apparently,
00:37:35.98\00:37:38.59
he had tried medical
means, nothing could happen,
00:37:38.62\00:37:41.59
"Paul laid his hands
on him and healed him."
00:37:41.62\00:37:45.13
Glory goes to God.
00:37:45.16\00:37:46.53
"So when this was done,
the rest of those on the island
00:37:46.56\00:37:49.96
who had diseases
also came and were healed.
00:37:50.00\00:37:54.17
They also
honored us in many ways
00:37:54.20\00:37:56.07
and when we were departed,
00:37:56.10\00:37:57.44
they provided such
things as were necessary."
00:37:57.47\00:38:01.64
You see, God provides for
the needs of His children.
00:38:01.68\00:38:04.01
Doesn't He?
00:38:04.05\00:38:05.38
Can anybody
testify that God provides
00:38:05.41\00:38:06.75
for your needs here?
00:38:06.78\00:38:08.12
Let's see.
00:38:08.15\00:38:09.48
Praise the Lord,
practically every hand went up.
00:38:09.52\00:38:10.85
And if your hand didn't go up,
00:38:10.89\00:38:12.85
it's because
you're missing something.
00:38:12.89\00:38:15.66
God provides for His children.
00:38:15.69\00:38:17.99
And so
opportunity after opportunity
00:38:18.03\00:38:20.80
was given to preach the Gospel.
00:38:20.83\00:38:23.33
Now you might
say, "Wait a minute,
00:38:23.37\00:38:24.97
isn't Paul one
of God's children?
00:38:25.00\00:38:28.20
Why would God allow
him to be shipwrecked
00:38:28.24\00:38:31.91
and suffer through
all this situation?"
00:38:31.94\00:38:35.24
You know, I said that
God miraculously saved
00:38:35.28\00:38:38.55
every one of them.
00:38:38.58\00:38:39.91
I don't know how
many wild animals
00:38:39.95\00:38:41.48
that were in the water.
00:38:41.52\00:38:43.08
I don't know
anybody hear about sharks,
00:38:43.12\00:38:45.52
sometimes they are not friendly.
00:38:45.55\00:38:48.72
I don't know if anybody here
had a situation with a shark,
00:38:48.76\00:38:51.69
but sometimes they're hungry
and they don't want to play
00:38:51.73\00:38:55.20
with you, they want to eat you.
00:38:55.23\00:38:57.17
So they were miraculously saved.
00:38:57.20\00:39:01.10
So we praise the Lord for that.
00:39:01.14\00:39:03.24
Paul was used by God to bring
light to this island of Malta.
00:39:03.27\00:39:08.54
It is about 17
long by 9 miles wide,
00:39:08.58\00:39:14.22
not very big but
the Gospel needs to go
00:39:14.25\00:39:16.75
to every kindred
tongue and people.
00:39:16.79\00:39:19.42
And God brought Paul
there to preach the Gospel.
00:39:19.45\00:39:22.79
You know, if you
look at a map of Malta,
00:39:22.82\00:39:25.26
you'll see that there's a place,
00:39:25.29\00:39:26.83
an area called St. Paul's Bay.
00:39:26.86\00:39:31.53
Now it's interesting, I
told you a modern-day story,
00:39:31.57\00:39:33.60
I think I can work it in.
00:39:33.64\00:39:35.54
I was working in
pastoral ministries at 3ABN
00:39:35.57\00:39:37.94
and a phone call came in.
00:39:37.97\00:39:40.11
And after I said the
usual thank you for calling
00:39:40.14\00:39:44.08
Three Angels Broadcasting
Network prayer line,
00:39:44.11\00:39:46.45
guy said, "Who is this?
00:39:46.48\00:39:47.88
Who am I talking to?"
00:39:47.92\00:39:49.58
I said, "You're
talking to John Dinzey."
00:39:49.62\00:39:51.39
"John, John, I
need your help, John.
00:39:51.42\00:39:54.32
This is Tony."
00:39:54.36\00:39:55.69
I don't remember his
name, but I'm calling him Tony.
00:39:55.72\00:39:57.69
"This is Tony.
00:39:57.73\00:39:59.06
I'm calling you
from the island of Malta.
00:39:59.09\00:40:02.06
Have you ever heard of Malta?
00:40:02.10\00:40:03.77
Paul was here, the
Apostle Paul was here."
00:40:03.80\00:40:06.33
And I said,
"Yes, I know, I know."
00:40:06.37\00:40:08.50
He goes, "I need your help.
00:40:08.54\00:40:09.87
I need to find a
Seventh-day Adventist Church."
00:40:09.90\00:40:13.24
"Oh, I can help you with that."
00:40:13.27\00:40:14.74
He says, "I've
been watching 3ABN,
00:40:14.78\00:40:18.71
and I know I have to go
00:40:18.75\00:40:20.08
to the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:40:20.12\00:40:21.45
because I have learned
the truth of the Bible there,
00:40:21.48\00:40:24.89
and I need to go to a
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:40:24.92\00:40:26.72
Help me, John. Help me, John."
He was talking just like this.
00:40:26.76\00:40:30.63
And I said,
"Well, let me help you."
00:40:30.66\00:40:32.66
And, you know,
it's not so easy to find
00:40:32.69\00:40:36.06
Seventh-day Adventist
churches on the Internet
00:40:36.10\00:40:39.17
in other countries.
00:40:39.20\00:40:41.17
So I said, "I'm going to
have to ask you to give me
00:40:41.20\00:40:43.51
a little bit of
time to call you back
00:40:43.54\00:40:46.21
because I don't
have that in my records.
00:40:46.24\00:40:48.91
Can I have your
number?" He gave me his number.
00:40:48.94\00:40:51.28
And I asked him, "How
are you watching 3ABN?"
00:40:51.31\00:40:55.95
He says, "I'm watching
with a satellite dish."
00:40:55.98\00:40:59.05
Praise the Lord.
00:40:59.09\00:41:00.46
You know, it's
amazing, this is a miracle.
00:41:00.49\00:41:02.62
Anybody can watch
3ABN with a satellite dish
00:41:02.66\00:41:05.16
all over the world.
00:41:05.19\00:41:06.83
You see, God...
00:41:06.86\00:41:08.20
I'm going to say
it again, Mollie,
00:41:08.23\00:41:09.63
this is a
channel of divine origin.
00:41:09.66\00:41:11.70
Amen.
00:41:11.73\00:41:13.07
That God is using to
reach people all over the world.
00:41:13.10\00:41:14.80
I have a minute and 35
seconds. Let me finish.
00:41:14.84\00:41:17.31
I called him back. I
called the conference.
00:41:17.34\00:41:19.81
I said, "Where is
00:41:19.84\00:41:21.18
the Seventh-day
Adventist Church?
00:41:21.21\00:41:22.54
I've got a
person that wants to go
00:41:22.58\00:41:23.91
to the Seventh-day
Adventist Church in Malta."
00:41:23.95\00:41:25.31
And they say, "Yes, yes,
we have one, we have one."
00:41:25.35\00:41:27.82
Gave me the address, and
I called Tony back and said,
00:41:27.85\00:41:32.59
"Tony, I've got
the address for you."
00:41:32.62\00:41:35.16
And I gave him the address.
00:41:35.19\00:41:37.73
And he was so
happy that he called back
00:41:37.76\00:41:42.56
and he said,
"John, thank you so much.
00:41:42.60\00:41:44.53
I found them, what a blessing.
00:41:44.57\00:41:47.14
Keep on preaching God's Word."
00:41:47.17\00:41:49.17
And so God is using Three
Angels Broadcasting Network
00:41:49.20\00:41:53.88
to reach the people of Malta,
to reach people all over this
00:41:53.91\00:41:57.61
wonderful world
that needs Jesus Christ.
00:41:57.65\00:42:00.35
And I want to encourage you
to continue to pray for 3ABN
00:42:00.38\00:42:04.09
that we will not only
reach the people of Malta
00:42:04.12\00:42:06.35
but every kindred
tongue and people.
00:42:06.39\00:42:09.22
Amen.
00:42:09.26\00:42:10.59
And I believe that
God had a purpose for Paul
00:42:10.63\00:42:13.80
even though the devil
tried to stop the purposed,
00:42:13.83\00:42:16.00
he was going to go to
Rome, and the devil was trying
00:42:16.03\00:42:18.27
to stop this but God
made it possible for Paul
00:42:18.30\00:42:23.04
to reach Rome.
00:42:23.07\00:42:24.41
And we're going to hear about
that through Sister Mollie.
00:42:24.44\00:42:27.24
Thank you, Pastor Dinzey.
00:42:27.28\00:42:29.24
I'm always
encouraged when I hear
00:42:29.28\00:42:33.08
the other people share
about our Sabbath School lesson,
00:42:33.11\00:42:36.65
the different days.
00:42:36.69\00:42:38.39
I am always so
encouraged. Thank you so much.
00:42:38.42\00:42:41.32
You know, in
Malta, after Paul left,
00:42:41.36\00:42:45.13
there was a group of believers.
00:42:45.16\00:42:46.66
Of course, there was.
00:42:46.70\00:42:48.03
If Paul is going to be there,
00:42:48.06\00:42:49.86
is he going to share
about the Lord Jesus Christ?
00:42:49.90\00:42:53.10
And there was a group
of believers formed there.
00:42:53.13\00:42:56.44
Well, I'm going
to do the same thing
00:42:56.47\00:42:58.77
that Jill, Pastor
Kenny, and Pastor Dinzey did,
00:42:58.81\00:43:01.88
lay the foundation
of Paul going to Rome.
00:43:01.91\00:43:05.95
What I have is
Wednesday and it's Paul in Rome.
00:43:05.98\00:43:10.09
Finally.
00:43:10.12\00:43:11.55
Do you know? I'm in Acts 19:21.
00:43:11.59\00:43:15.46
That's when Paul first says
00:43:15.49\00:43:20.36
that he purposes in his spirit
00:43:20.40\00:43:23.40
when he had passed
through Macedonia and Achaia,
00:43:23.43\00:43:26.33
to go to Jerusalem, saying,
'After I have been there,
00:43:26.37\00:43:30.87
I must see Rome."'
00:43:30.91\00:43:32.64
Now five years later,
isn't that about what it was?
00:43:32.67\00:43:36.78
Five years later is
when this comes to pass.
00:43:36.81\00:43:40.42
But we want to see
if this was Paul's will
00:43:40.45\00:43:44.32
for his life,
00:43:44.35\00:43:46.55
Paul's desire or God's desire.
00:43:46.59\00:43:51.56
And while he was,
he went to Jerusalem,
00:43:51.59\00:43:57.00
what happened in Jerusalem?
00:43:57.03\00:43:58.83
He got arrested, did he not?
00:43:58.87\00:44:00.84
And, you know, we
talk about him going
00:44:00.87\00:44:04.11
before the different
leaders there of the Romans
00:44:04.14\00:44:08.14
and they couldn't find
anything to charge him for.
00:44:08.18\00:44:13.01
And they could
have released him.
00:44:13.05\00:44:15.05
But had they released him,
00:44:15.08\00:44:16.89
what would have
happened to Paul?
00:44:16.92\00:44:19.02
The Jewish people, they weren't
00:44:19.05\00:44:21.12
just going to
give him a few stripes.
00:44:21.16\00:44:23.43
What did they want to
do? They wanted to kill him.
00:44:23.46\00:44:26.66
He had to be in the
hands of the Romans,
00:44:26.70\00:44:30.37
and he appealed to go to Rome,
00:44:30.40\00:44:32.53
and that
actually saved his life.
00:44:32.57\00:44:35.44
Now while he was in the
barracks, in the prison,
00:44:35.47\00:44:41.11
they're still in
the Jerusalem area.
00:44:41.14\00:44:44.45
It says, Acts 23:11,
00:44:44.48\00:44:49.98
"But the following night,"
00:44:50.02\00:44:51.52
now he's in the barracks,
"the Lord stood by him,
00:44:51.55\00:44:55.09
and said, 'Be of good cheer."'
00:44:55.12\00:44:57.36
Now he's a prisoner,
he's in the barracks,
00:44:57.39\00:44:59.69
he's going to Rome.
00:44:59.73\00:45:01.36
"Paul, for as you have
testified for Me in Jerusalem,
00:45:01.40\00:45:06.40
so you must also
bear witness at," where?
00:45:06.43\00:45:10.84
"At Rome."
00:45:10.87\00:45:12.21
So do we know this
was God's will for Paul,
00:45:12.24\00:45:15.11
not just Paul's will for Paul?
00:45:15.14\00:45:18.45
And again, from the time
he made this determination
00:45:18.48\00:45:23.05
until nearly five years.
00:45:23.08\00:45:25.42
Let me read our scripture
text, our memory text today.
00:45:25.45\00:45:29.22
It's Acts 27:24.
00:45:29.26\00:45:31.83
"Do not be afraid, Paul,
you must stand before Caesar."
00:45:31.86\00:45:36.60
Do you know when the angel
of the Lord told Paul that?
00:45:36.63\00:45:40.14
It's in the midst of
the driving of this...
00:45:40.17\00:45:43.30
in the midst of the storm,
at the height of the storm.
00:45:43.34\00:45:46.74
And he says to Paul,
"Paul, don't be afraid,
00:45:46.78\00:45:50.88
you've got to
stand before Caesar."
00:45:50.91\00:45:53.15
So we see God's
beckoning hand all along.
00:45:53.18\00:45:56.45
And, you know, I just wanted
to speak to each one of us,
00:45:56.48\00:46:00.69
have any of you ever had
what you felt was a directive
00:46:00.72\00:46:06.33
from God and it
hasn't come to pass?
00:46:06.36\00:46:10.97
I see hands going up.
00:46:11.00\00:46:12.93
Don't be discouraged.
Don't be discouraged.
00:46:12.97\00:46:17.77
If God has given you that desire
00:46:17.81\00:46:20.54
and you stay faithful to God...
00:46:20.58\00:46:23.08
Now what is the prerequisite
there, stay true to God,
00:46:23.11\00:46:27.58
leave your heart
and life open to God.
00:46:27.62\00:46:30.09
He will bring it to pass.
00:46:30.12\00:46:31.85
I want to read this
quote out of the Desire of Ages
00:46:31.89\00:46:35.12
from Ellen White.
00:46:35.16\00:46:36.73
She says, "Like the
stars in the vast circuit
00:46:36.76\00:46:41.50
of their appointed paths,
God's purpose knows no haste."
00:46:41.53\00:46:48.34
We get in a hurry, do we not?
00:46:48.37\00:46:50.51
"Oh, God says it and I want
it to happen just like that."
00:46:50.54\00:46:53.91
"God says He's going to
provide a husband for me,
00:46:53.94\00:46:57.61
okay, where is he?"
00:46:57.65\00:46:59.41
But it might be
five years from now
00:46:59.45\00:47:02.55
when you get that perfect man.
00:47:02.58\00:47:04.72
God knows no haste,
but He also knows no delay.
00:47:04.75\00:47:10.43
How many of you would
rather have God's perfect timing
00:47:10.46\00:47:14.20
than to miss
God's perfect timing?
00:47:14.23\00:47:16.93
Amen. That's what we need.
00:47:16.97\00:47:18.73
Okay, that is something
I wanted to encourage us
00:47:18.77\00:47:21.94
with from this story of Paul,
from seeing all of the delays.
00:47:21.97\00:47:26.84
Paul's confidence
remained in his mighty God,
00:47:26.88\00:47:30.51
and God brought it to pass.
00:47:30.55\00:47:33.11
Now let's continue our story.
00:47:33.15\00:47:37.05
Paul and his
companions are finally able
00:47:37.09\00:47:41.66
to continue their journey.
00:47:41.69\00:47:43.02
Now how long did
they stay at Malta?
00:47:43.06\00:47:44.73
I think it was
about three months.
00:47:44.76\00:47:47.10
Then they caught a
ship, and they sailed,
00:47:47.13\00:47:50.07
and they docked at a couple
of ports before they got to,
00:47:50.10\00:47:53.27
and I underlined this in
my Bible, if I can find it,
00:47:53.30\00:47:56.94
it was...
00:47:56.97\00:47:58.31
Shelley pronounces this...
00:47:58.34\00:48:00.11
CA can do this, but
I think it's Puteoli.
00:48:00.14\00:48:03.65
And if that's not right,
00:48:03.68\00:48:05.01
you just give it your best shot.
00:48:05.05\00:48:06.61
But where it is, it's
in the boot of the Italy.
00:48:06.65\00:48:11.85
How many of you know
what I'm talking about,
00:48:11.89\00:48:14.09
the boot of Italy?
00:48:14.12\00:48:15.46
So that's down on the coast.
00:48:15.49\00:48:17.63
Do you know how...
00:48:17.66\00:48:18.99
Now Jill looked up
for me because that's in
00:48:19.03\00:48:22.33
the Bay of
Naples, it's in that area.
00:48:22.36\00:48:25.27
Jill looked up for me
just a few minutes ago
00:48:25.30\00:48:28.77
how far it is
from there to Rome.
00:48:28.80\00:48:32.37
Now we're assuming
everything is in the same region
00:48:32.41\00:48:37.85
as it was at that time.
00:48:37.88\00:48:39.31
That's a 150 miles.
00:48:39.35\00:48:41.52
Not only did Paul have to
go through all of these storms,
00:48:41.55\00:48:47.89
and tempest, and all
that he had to go through
00:48:47.92\00:48:51.16
to get to Italy, to
finally go up to Rome,
00:48:51.19\00:48:54.93
but then he had
to walk a 150 miles.
00:48:54.96\00:48:58.60
But when he got to
his final place of landing
00:48:58.63\00:49:02.77
before they started their trip,
00:49:02.80\00:49:04.47
do you know what
he found in that town?
00:49:04.51\00:49:07.21
A group of believers.
00:49:07.24\00:49:08.74
They were so
excited that Paul was there.
00:49:08.78\00:49:12.78
And they were so excited that
they even sent word to Rome,
00:49:12.81\00:49:17.99
"Paul is here."
00:49:18.02\00:49:19.59
Now think about this.
00:49:19.62\00:49:20.99
Paul, he wanted to go to Rome,
00:49:21.02\00:49:23.56
but do you think he
wanted to go to Rome in chains?
00:49:23.59\00:49:27.60
Do you think that was
his desire for his life?
00:49:27.63\00:49:31.80
"Oh, I'm going to
go to Rome in chains."
00:49:31.83\00:49:34.20
He could have been a
bit discouraged about that.
00:49:34.24\00:49:37.34
But it says that when
this group from Rome met him,
00:49:37.37\00:49:42.21
and that's Acts
28:15, the scripture says,
00:49:42.24\00:49:48.78
"He thanked God and
received new courage."
00:49:48.82\00:49:54.62
He was so encouraged.
00:49:54.66\00:49:56.49
Oh, we don't know how we
can encourage those around us,
00:49:56.52\00:50:00.96
when that group...
00:50:01.00\00:50:02.76
They didn't seem to mind one bit
00:50:02.80\00:50:04.90
that he was in chains.
00:50:04.93\00:50:06.37
All right.
00:50:06.40\00:50:07.74
So now evidently, now
he has to walk 150 miles.
00:50:07.77\00:50:13.24
Would that carry out if
he had to walk 150 miles?
00:50:13.27\00:50:16.24
Okay. Well, he gets to Rome.
00:50:16.28\00:50:20.02
So evidently,
Festus, in his report,
00:50:20.05\00:50:24.35
must have written that
according to Roman law,
00:50:24.39\00:50:29.29
Paul wasn't guilty of any crime.
00:50:29.32\00:50:32.26
And Paul wasn't
guilty of any crime.
00:50:32.29\00:50:35.03
Therefore, the most...
00:50:35.06\00:50:36.67
Now in my opinion, the
most amazing thing happened.
00:50:36.70\00:50:42.70
Was Paul a prisoner? Yes.
00:50:42.74\00:50:44.97
What happens to prisoners?
00:50:45.01\00:50:47.61
Do they get their own dwelling?
00:50:47.64\00:50:50.95
Where do prisoners go? Prison.
00:50:50.98\00:50:53.48
They go to prison.
00:50:53.52\00:50:55.35
The most amazing
thing, Pastor Kenny,
00:50:55.38\00:50:57.52
and my thinking on
this, he wasn't put in prison.
00:50:57.55\00:51:01.86
Where was...
00:51:01.89\00:51:03.22
He was allowed to
rent his own house.
00:51:03.26\00:51:08.06
Think of the liberty of that.
00:51:08.10\00:51:09.96
Now I kind of wanted to
make a little analogy here
00:51:10.00\00:51:15.54
with God.
00:51:15.57\00:51:17.21
When you're submitted to
God and you're saying, "Oh, God,
00:51:17.24\00:51:21.14
not my will for my life
but Your will for my life,"
00:51:21.18\00:51:24.58
He won't allow you
to be buried in prison.
00:51:24.61\00:51:27.58
That's right.
00:51:27.62\00:51:28.95
Paul could have been
buried in prison but he wasn't.
00:51:28.98\00:51:32.59
What happened to him?
00:51:32.62\00:51:33.96
He got planted in his own house.
00:51:33.99\00:51:38.86
Any of you had to make a move?
00:51:38.89\00:51:40.33
I've recently
had to make a move.
00:51:40.36\00:51:43.00
I had to leave Three
Angels Broadcasting Network
00:51:43.03\00:51:46.94
and move to Alabama,
which is another area
00:51:46.97\00:51:51.81
of God's great creation.
00:51:51.84\00:51:53.68
I've got a lovely
church in Alabama.
00:51:53.71\00:51:58.11
But here at 3ABN, this
ministry is on the cutting edge
00:51:58.15\00:52:03.12
of what God is
doing in the world today.
00:52:03.15\00:52:05.05
In my opinion, Three
Angels Broadcasting Network
00:52:05.09\00:52:08.56
is the greatest
evangelistic tool
00:52:08.59\00:52:11.23
in the hand of God today.
00:52:11.26\00:52:13.90
Now this is where the action is.
00:52:13.93\00:52:17.60
And so I could allow myself...
00:52:17.63\00:52:20.54
And I'm speaking to
you who are retirees,
00:52:20.57\00:52:23.87
all you ladies who have children
00:52:23.91\00:52:25.91
and you're taking care
of your children at home
00:52:25.94\00:52:28.38
or whatever your circumstance,
00:52:28.41\00:52:30.65
you can allow
yourself to be buried
00:52:30.68\00:52:34.72
or you can allow
yourself to be planted.
00:52:34.75\00:52:37.52
Amen. Paul got planted.
00:52:37.55\00:52:39.45
Now was he fruitful and
did he produce bountifully
00:52:39.49\00:52:44.09
for the kingdom of God?
00:52:44.13\00:52:45.66
Right there in
Rome, he was planted
00:52:45.69\00:52:48.70
but it takes a
little while because
00:52:48.73\00:52:51.50
when you're
planted, now, with Paul,
00:52:51.53\00:52:53.84
but I'm looking at
myself, when you're planted,
00:52:53.87\00:52:57.34
that seed has to go through
a thing called gestation,
00:52:57.37\00:53:01.71
it has to take
root, it has to grow,
00:53:01.74\00:53:04.91
and it has to prosper.
00:53:04.95\00:53:06.85
So I'm looking at this
with Paul, I'm not discouraged,
00:53:06.88\00:53:11.02
I am
encouraged, God can take us.
00:53:11.05\00:53:14.39
And there is again,
the same prerequisite.
00:53:14.42\00:53:17.19
If you submit
and commit yourself,
00:53:17.23\00:53:19.69
your life to the
Lord Jesus Christ,
00:53:19.73\00:53:21.86
if you don't get discouraged,
and if you say, "Oh, Father,
00:53:21.90\00:53:26.03
for my life, not my
will but Thine be done."
00:53:26.07\00:53:29.27
And I've got to
get back to the lesson.
00:53:29.30\00:53:32.74
Okay.
00:53:32.77\00:53:34.11
Paul, the first thing Paul
did every time he went to a city
00:53:34.14\00:53:38.45
was he went to the synagogue.
00:53:38.48\00:53:41.02
And he talked
with the Jewish leaders
00:53:41.05\00:53:44.05
in the synagogue.
00:53:44.09\00:53:45.42
Paul was the
apostle to the Gentiles,
00:53:45.45\00:53:47.66
but he loved his
Jewish brothers and sisters.
00:53:47.69\00:53:51.56
And so in this case,
he was in his own house
00:53:51.59\00:53:55.03
but he was chained to a guard
00:53:55.06\00:53:56.77
so he couldn't
go to the synagogue.
00:53:56.80\00:53:58.63
So he invited the
synagogue to come to him.
00:53:58.67\00:54:02.64
And so the Jewish
leaders came to his house
00:54:02.67\00:54:06.91
and he explained to them
all that had happened to him.
00:54:06.94\00:54:11.21
And I just want to
pick up in verse...
00:54:11.25\00:54:15.05
What verse do I
want to pick up in?
00:54:15.08\00:54:17.22
I guess I'll
pick up in verse 21.
00:54:17.25\00:54:21.32
Well, no, I'm going
to pick up in verse 20.
00:54:21.36\00:54:23.73
Because he's telling
them, "The reason I'm here,
00:54:23.76\00:54:26.43
the reason I'm
telling you this is because
00:54:26.46\00:54:29.40
for the hope of
Israel, I am bound in chains."
00:54:29.43\00:54:32.63
Paul's heart desire is
to share that the Messiah
00:54:32.67\00:54:38.94
that we have been looking
for all of these years has come.
00:54:38.97\00:54:43.71
And here is what
the Jewish leaders
00:54:43.75\00:54:47.58
said back to him,
"Then they said to him,
00:54:47.62\00:54:50.65
'We neither received letters
from Judea concerning you
00:54:50.69\00:54:54.39
nor have any of the brethren
00:54:54.42\00:54:56.76
who have reported
spoken evil of you.
00:54:56.79\00:54:59.63
But we desire to hear from you
00:54:59.66\00:55:03.06
what you think
concerning this sect,
00:55:03.10\00:55:05.23
we know that it is
spoken against everywhere."
00:55:05.27\00:55:07.54
"Do you know what
they said to Paul?
00:55:07.57\00:55:09.40
"Hey, Paul..."
00:55:09.44\00:55:10.77
And Paul is full
of the Holy Ghost
00:55:10.81\00:55:12.41
and you know what the
word is burning in his bones
00:55:12.44\00:55:16.75
and they say, "We want to hear."
00:55:16.78\00:55:18.31
Do you think Paul was quiet?
00:55:18.35\00:55:20.58
Oh, that's like...
00:55:20.62\00:55:22.48
I don't know if I
can say this or not,
00:55:22.52\00:55:24.52
that's like
saying succumb to a dog.
00:55:24.55\00:55:26.79
Paul went after...
00:55:26.82\00:55:28.92
He had this
golden opportunity...
00:55:28.96\00:55:31.36
I'm past my time.
No, you can go ahead.
00:55:31.39\00:55:32.99
You go right
ahead, Pastor Day. Amen.
00:55:33.03\00:55:37.13
You know,
listening to the panel,
00:55:41.20\00:55:43.30
listening to this study is...
00:55:43.34\00:55:45.07
It just really reminds us of
00:55:45.11\00:55:46.74
how incredibly
faithful Paul was.
00:55:46.78\00:55:50.75
Now Jesus is no doubt my
favorite Bible character.
00:55:50.78\00:55:54.28
But we all have that person
other than Christ that really,
00:55:54.32\00:55:56.99
you know, that we can relate to.
00:55:57.02\00:55:58.75
And when I think of
the message of scripture,
00:55:58.79\00:56:01.96
the faithful
people that followed God
00:56:01.99\00:56:04.09
and put forth that example,
00:56:04.13\00:56:06.56
one of my
favorite Bible characters
00:56:06.59\00:56:08.06
in the scripture is Paul.
00:56:08.10\00:56:10.17
And I mean, this guy
went through everything.
00:56:10.20\00:56:13.67
I mean, he experienced
being beaten several times,
00:56:13.70\00:56:16.30
even to the point... I
mean, he survived stoning.
00:56:16.34\00:56:19.07
You know, having
watched Stephen being stoned,
00:56:19.11\00:56:20.84
I'm sure he never knew
that he would end up, you know,
00:56:20.88\00:56:22.78
being stoned himself in
prison several different times.
00:56:22.81\00:56:26.11
I mean, most of us would
probably look at this guy
00:56:26.15\00:56:28.28
and kind of in a little
bit of a Job situation and say,
00:56:28.32\00:56:31.12
"Man, you know,
you must be cursed,
00:56:31.15\00:56:32.49
you must not be doing
what God wants you to do."
00:56:32.52\00:56:34.72
But Paul kept the faith.
00:56:34.76\00:56:36.62
He fought the good
fight, as we're about to read
00:56:36.66\00:56:38.66
in just a few moments.
00:56:38.69\00:56:40.03
But this guy was an
incredible man of faith.
00:56:40.06\00:56:42.96
And I think
there are some lessons
00:56:43.00\00:56:44.53
to be learned from that.
00:56:44.57\00:56:45.90
Even though he went
through all of these trials
00:56:45.93\00:56:47.67
and tribulations,
Christ was able to win
00:56:47.70\00:56:51.94
the victory through him.
00:56:51.97\00:56:53.61
And through Paul, He was able
to reach thousands of people
00:56:53.64\00:56:57.41
and completely transformed
00:56:57.45\00:57:00.12
the Christian
communities at that time.
00:57:00.15\00:57:03.05
My particular lesson is entitled
00:57:03.08\00:57:05.22
The Victory of the Gospel.
00:57:05.25\00:57:08.12
And if you've never been exposed
00:57:08.16\00:57:10.36
to the true biblical Gospel,
00:57:10.39\00:57:14.33
then you probably have
not gained that victory.
00:57:14.36\00:57:16.53
But the true biblical
Gospel brings victory,
00:57:16.56\00:57:19.77
and it will have victory.
00:57:19.80\00:57:21.97
I'm finding myself in
the latter part of Acts 20.
00:57:22.00\00:57:26.04
These are the
latter verses of Acts.
00:57:26.07\00:57:29.08
And, of course,
there's an interesting scenario
00:57:29.11\00:57:31.35
taking place because Paul
is actually under house-arrest.
00:57:31.38\00:57:35.42
He's imprisoned but maybe not
in the traditional prison sense
00:57:35.45\00:57:39.69
that you might think,
00:57:39.72\00:57:41.06
but nonetheless
he is imprisoned,
00:57:41.09\00:57:42.42
he is under house-arrest.
00:57:42.46\00:57:43.79
And so he's
limited what he can do,
00:57:43.83\00:57:45.36
who he can preach
to, who he can see.
00:57:45.39\00:57:47.50
The government
is controlling that.
00:57:47.53\00:57:49.36
But nonetheless,
00:57:49.40\00:57:50.73
while this brother is in prison,
00:57:50.77\00:57:52.10
while he is under house-arrest,
he still is able to reach
00:57:52.13\00:57:54.47
people with the good news
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:57:54.50\00:57:56.81
If you have your Bibles
and you want to follow along,
00:57:56.84\00:57:59.04
I'm going to start reading
here in verse 23 of Acts 28.
00:57:59.07\00:58:03.85
Notice what the Bible says here.
00:58:03.88\00:58:05.75
I'm going to begin reading
in the New King James Version,
00:58:05.78\00:58:07.88
but then I'm going to
read the last couple of verses
00:58:07.92\00:58:09.75
from the King James Version.
00:58:09.78\00:58:11.12
Notice what it says here.
00:58:11.15\00:58:12.49
"So when they had
appointed him a day."
00:58:12.52\00:58:14.29
So obviously, he
couldn't just see anyone
00:58:14.32\00:58:16.12
just whenever he wanted to.
00:58:16.16\00:58:17.49
They had appointed
days that he could speak
00:58:17.53\00:58:19.63
or interact with people.
00:58:19.66\00:58:21.20
It says, "Many came
to him at his lodging,"
00:58:21.23\00:58:23.67
so this guy must have
been a powerful man of God
00:58:23.70\00:58:26.23
because the people
are coming to him, right?
00:58:26.27\00:58:27.84
They want to hear
the words of Paul.
00:58:27.87\00:58:30.11
So then, "Many came
to him at his lodging,
00:58:30.14\00:58:32.77
to whom he explained
and sodomly testified
00:58:32.81\00:58:36.18
of the kingdom of God,
00:58:36.21\00:58:37.71
persuading them
concerning Jesus,"
00:58:37.75\00:58:40.38
notice this, "persuading them
concerning Jesus from," notice,
00:58:40.42\00:58:45.69
"both the law of
Moses and the prophets."
00:58:45.72\00:58:47.66
So many people
want to, you know,
00:58:47.69\00:58:49.02
say that the Jesus is not
found in the books of the law,
00:58:49.06\00:58:51.49
perhaps in the Torah
or in the Law of Moses.
00:58:51.53\00:58:53.76
Is Jesus found there?
00:58:53.80\00:58:55.16
Absolutely.
00:58:55.20\00:58:56.53
There are biblical
examples right here.
00:58:56.56\00:58:57.90
He preached to them about Jesus
concerning the Law of Moses
00:58:57.93\00:58:59.83
and the prophets,
and it goes on to say,
00:58:59.87\00:59:01.80
"From morning till evening."
00:59:01.84\00:59:03.84
What a church service.
00:59:03.87\00:59:06.37
We have a couple
accounts in scripture
00:59:06.41\00:59:07.94
where Paul would have
these lengthy sermons,
00:59:07.98\00:59:10.15
one of which, one
guy fell asleep and,
00:59:10.18\00:59:12.41
of course, Paul resurrected him.
00:59:12.45\00:59:14.12
It's a good lesson
for us, not to fall asleep
00:59:14.15\00:59:16.05
when the preacher
is preaching, right?
00:59:16.08\00:59:17.42
Right. Absolutely.
00:59:17.45\00:59:18.89
But nonetheless,
from morning till evening,
00:59:18.92\00:59:21.12
and then verse 24,
notice what it says,
00:59:21.16\00:59:23.12
"And some were
persuaded by the things
00:59:23.16\00:59:25.73
which were spoken, and
then some disbelieved."
00:59:25.76\00:59:29.63
Verse 25, "So when they
did not agree among themselves,
00:59:29.66\00:59:34.30
they departed after..."
00:59:34.34\00:59:35.70
Excuse me, yes, "they departed,
after Paul had said one word."
00:59:35.74\00:59:39.27
Now notice this next part,
00:59:39.31\00:59:41.44
"the Holy
Spirit spoke rightfully
00:59:41.48\00:59:43.91
through Isaiah the
prophet to our fathers saying,
00:59:43.95\00:59:48.58
'Go to this people, and
say, 'Hearing you will hear,
00:59:48.62\00:59:53.69
and shall not understand,
and seeing you will see,
00:59:53.72\00:59:57.96
and not perceive.'
00:59:57.99\01:00:00.16
For the hearts of this
people have grown dull,
01:00:00.20\01:00:02.53
their ears are hard of hearing,
01:00:02.56\01:00:04.77
and their eyes they have closed,
01:00:04.80\01:00:08.34
lest they should
see with their eyes
01:00:08.37\01:00:10.57
and hear with their ears,
01:00:10.61\01:00:12.41
lest they should understand
with their hearts and turn
01:00:12.44\01:00:15.84
so that I should heal them."
01:00:15.88\01:00:18.38
I just want to
pause there for a moment.
01:00:18.41\01:00:19.81
There's another
part of scripture
01:00:19.85\01:00:21.55
where we find
this particular text
01:00:21.58\01:00:23.62
from Isaiah being quoted.
01:00:23.65\01:00:25.25
Paul is not the only one
01:00:25.29\01:00:26.62
that brings out
this particular passage.
01:00:26.65\01:00:29.09
There were three
different times that
01:00:29.12\01:00:30.86
three of the Gospel writers
01:00:30.89\01:00:32.23
bring this out
when Christ Himself
01:00:32.26\01:00:34.36
was communicating
the Parable of the Sower.
01:00:34.40\01:00:37.03
Jesus had just delivered
the Parable of the Sower,
01:00:37.07\01:00:38.93
I believe you can find this
in Matthew 13, also in Mark 4,
01:00:38.97\01:00:44.14
and also in Luke 8.
01:00:44.17\01:00:45.74
And we found out
that Luke is with Paul,
01:00:45.77\01:00:47.71
so Luke also records
this in his Gospel as well.
01:00:47.74\01:00:50.58
Jesus tells the
Parable of the Sower,
01:00:50.61\01:00:52.81
but then as the people
are just kind of perceiving,
01:00:52.85\01:00:55.08
you know, what is he saying?
01:00:55.12\01:00:56.45
Even the
disciples come to him say,
01:00:56.48\01:00:57.82
"Why do you
teach us in parables?"
01:00:57.85\01:00:59.19
He said, "Look,
some of these people,
01:00:59.22\01:01:00.56
even though they
have ears to hear,
01:01:00.59\01:01:01.92
they can't hear.
01:01:01.96\01:01:03.29
Even though they
have eyes to see,
01:01:03.32\01:01:04.66
they can't see the
things that you see.
01:01:04.69\01:01:06.39
They can't hear the
things that you hear.
01:01:06.43\01:01:07.76
I have to speak to
them in a special way."
01:01:07.80\01:01:09.76
But nonetheless, there's
a group of people out there,
01:01:09.80\01:01:11.93
there are people that
Christ wants to reach.
01:01:11.97\01:01:14.40
There are people
that Paul wanted to reach
01:01:14.44\01:01:16.37
with the Gospel.
01:01:16.40\01:01:17.74
But yet, they come,
they hear, they listen,
01:01:17.77\01:01:20.51
they close their ears,
01:01:20.54\01:01:21.88
they close their
eyes to the truth.
01:01:21.91\01:01:24.65
Now I just...
01:01:24.68\01:01:26.01
Before we go on any
further, I just want to...
01:01:26.05\01:01:27.72
I just made a note here.
01:01:27.75\01:01:29.08
When we do not heed
the message of scripture
01:01:29.12\01:01:33.52
or respond with disbelief,
01:01:33.56\01:01:36.16
we risk losing
the influential power
01:01:36.19\01:01:38.86
of the Holy Spirit.
01:01:38.89\01:01:40.23
Amen.
01:01:40.26\01:01:41.60
You see, even though Paul
was delivering the message...
01:01:41.63\01:01:43.93
I just want to remind you
of the latter part of verse 25,
01:01:43.97\01:01:46.90
it says, "Paul
had said one word,"
01:01:46.94\01:01:48.94
notice, and what was that word?
01:01:48.97\01:01:50.34
Notice what he
starts this message with,
01:01:50.37\01:01:52.71
"the Holy Spirit
spoke rightfully."
01:01:52.74\01:01:54.98
So even though they might have
rejected the words of Isaiah,
01:01:55.01\01:01:57.71
even though they might
have rejected the words of Paul,
01:01:57.75\01:02:00.35
whose word were
they really rejecting?
01:02:00.38\01:02:02.88
They were rejecting God's word.
01:02:02.92\01:02:04.82
Absolutely.
01:02:04.85\01:02:06.19
I made a note here, "To
reject truth," very simple,
01:02:06.22\01:02:08.82
but very profound,
01:02:08.86\01:02:10.19
"To reject truth is to
reject the author of it."
01:02:10.23\01:02:12.96
Amen.
01:02:12.99\01:02:14.40
When the truth comes to
us, my friends, it is our duty,
01:02:14.43\01:02:17.37
it is our responsibility.
01:02:17.40\01:02:18.73
And even though it may not
seem right at the moment...
01:02:18.77\01:02:21.60
What's that scripture
in Proverbs that says,
01:02:21.64\01:02:23.57
"There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man,
01:02:23.61\01:02:25.41
but the end thereof
are the ways of death"?
01:02:25.44\01:02:27.58
It may not seem
right to us at first
01:02:27.61\01:02:29.14
but, you know what, it
is that message from God.
01:02:29.18\01:02:30.88
We need to consider that.
01:02:30.91\01:02:32.81
And say, "Lord, is
there something here
01:02:32.85\01:02:34.55
that I need to hear?"
01:02:34.58\01:02:35.92
You know, while it seems that
01:02:35.95\01:02:38.22
there's a little
bit of a sad note here
01:02:38.25\01:02:39.85
that some walked
away in disbelief,
01:02:39.89\01:02:42.09
the Gospel was still
victorious in others' lives.
01:02:42.12\01:02:45.93
There's going to be two groups
of people in the last days,
01:02:45.96\01:02:47.80
my friends.
01:02:47.83\01:02:49.16
And this is kind
of a Ryan Day special,
01:02:49.20\01:02:51.83
but there will
be true Christians
01:02:51.87\01:02:54.00
in the last days,
01:02:54.04\01:02:55.37
and then there's a second
group I like to refer to them
01:02:55.40\01:02:57.07
as selftians, selftians.
01:02:57.11\01:03:02.48
It's kind of a play
on words here, Christian,
01:03:02.51\01:03:05.41
what's the root
word of Christian?
01:03:05.45\01:03:06.82
Christ.
01:03:06.85\01:03:08.18
And then you have a
second group, selftian.
01:03:08.22\01:03:10.92
Okay?
01:03:10.95\01:03:12.29
You're going to get this
in a little bit, I promise.
01:03:12.32\01:03:16.52
A Christian is
someone, root word, Christ,
01:03:16.56\01:03:19.13
who follows Christ
01:03:19.16\01:03:21.60
and, of course,
adheres to His Word.
01:03:21.63\01:03:23.30
A selftian is someone
who's going to follow self.
01:03:23.33\01:03:27.47
They might, you
know, they might allow
01:03:27.50\01:03:29.27
certain parts of
scripture to speak to them,
01:03:29.30\01:03:30.74
but at a certain
point, they put that wall up
01:03:30.77\01:03:32.84
and they say,
"Yeah, you know what,
01:03:32.87\01:03:34.21
that's where the
buck stops right there,
01:03:34.24\01:03:35.84
I'm going to follow
to a certain extent,
01:03:35.88\01:03:37.35
but from here on,
01:03:37.38\01:03:38.71
I'm going to go
on by my own ideas,
01:03:38.75\01:03:41.05
my own thoughts,
my own theories."
01:03:41.08\01:03:42.42
My friends, we have
to be fully submissive
01:03:42.45\01:03:44.79
to the Word of God.
01:03:44.82\01:03:46.42
This particular
passage brought to my mind,
01:03:46.45\01:03:48.62
the scripture found in
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.
01:03:48.66\01:03:52.63
Notice what it says here.
01:03:52.66\01:03:54.00
And then again,
this is Paul speaking,
01:03:54.03\01:03:55.60
and he's writing
under the influence
01:03:55.63\01:03:56.97
of the Holy Spirit.
01:03:57.00\01:03:58.33
It says, "And when
all unrighteous deception
01:03:58.37\01:04:00.27
among those who perish,
01:04:00.30\01:04:02.34
because they did not receive,"
01:04:02.37\01:04:03.87
notice, "the love of the truth,
01:04:03.91\01:04:06.37
that they might be saved.
01:04:06.41\01:04:08.64
And for this reason,
01:04:08.68\01:04:10.01
God will send
them strong delusion
01:04:10.05\01:04:11.68
that they should believe a lie.
01:04:11.71\01:04:13.21
That they all may be
condemned who do not believe,"
01:04:13.25\01:04:16.25
there's that
word, "believe the truth
01:04:16.28\01:04:17.92
but had pleasure
in unrighteousness."
01:04:17.95\01:04:20.02
This is a serious issue.
01:04:20.06\01:04:21.86
This is life or
death, my friends.
01:04:21.89\01:04:23.63
Paul's preaching.
01:04:23.66\01:04:24.99
They came to him, but
some walked away in disbelief,
01:04:25.03\01:04:27.56
but God would have His victory.
01:04:27.60\01:04:30.50
You know, it's interesting
how this passage ends.
01:04:30.53\01:04:32.07
I'm going to read the
latter verses of Acts 28:30, 31.
01:04:32.10\01:04:36.20
It says, "And Paul
dwelt two whole years
01:04:36.24\01:04:39.31
in his own hired house
01:04:39.34\01:04:41.48
and received all
that came to him,
01:04:41.51\01:04:44.38
preaching the kingdom of
God and teaching those things
01:04:44.41\01:04:46.82
which concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ,
01:04:46.85\01:04:48.62
with all confidence,
01:04:48.65\01:04:50.05
no man forbidding him."
01:04:50.09\01:04:52.22
You know, that's powerful.
01:04:52.25\01:04:53.59
That when you
read the account...
01:04:53.62\01:04:55.19
if you read the
account of Acts alone,
01:04:55.22\01:04:56.66
you didn't have any other...
01:04:56.69\01:04:58.23
perhaps any other
portion of scripture,
01:04:58.26\01:05:00.50
it ends on a very happy note.
01:05:00.53\01:05:02.06
And it kind of
throws some people off
01:05:02.10\01:05:03.53
because they
think to themselves,
01:05:03.57\01:05:04.90
"Why did Luke end
the story this way?"
01:05:04.93\01:05:07.04
He ends it on a
happy note, as if Paul,
01:05:07.07\01:05:08.97
you know, got out of
prison, preached the Gospel,
01:05:09.00\01:05:11.07
and it was a happy ending.
01:05:11.11\01:05:12.44
But we know that's not the case
when you continue on reading.
01:05:12.47\01:05:15.08
Perhaps some people believe
the last book that Paul wrote
01:05:15.11\01:05:17.81
perhaps was 2 Timothy.
01:05:17.85\01:05:20.02
And we find these
words in 2 Timothy 4.
01:05:20.05\01:05:22.72
I'm going to read verses 1-8,
01:05:22.75\01:05:24.39
but the portion I want
to focus on is verses 6-8.
01:05:24.42\01:05:26.92
But he says here
in verses 1-5 here,
01:05:26.96\01:05:29.86
he says,
01:05:29.89\01:05:31.23
"I charge you
therefore before God,
01:05:31.26\01:05:32.59
and the Lord Jesus Christ,
01:05:32.63\01:05:34.10
who will judge the
living and the dead
01:05:34.13\01:05:35.96
at His
appearing and His kingdom.
01:05:36.00\01:05:38.37
Preach the word,"
every time I read that text,
01:05:38.40\01:05:41.70
I hear CD Brooks,
there's a famous sermon
01:05:41.74\01:05:44.51
where he is...
"Preach the Word!"
01:05:44.54\01:05:45.87
He'd say, "Preach the Word."
01:05:45.91\01:05:47.24
And so we're preaching the Word.
01:05:47.28\01:05:48.61
He says, "Be ready in
season and out of season,
01:05:48.64\01:05:51.81
convince, rebuke,
01:05:51.85\01:05:53.65
exhort with all
longsuffering and teaching.
01:05:53.68\01:05:55.88
For the time will come,"
01:05:55.92\01:05:57.45
so this wasn't just
an issue in Paul's day,
01:05:57.49\01:05:59.65
this is going to be an
issue in the last days,
01:05:59.69\01:06:01.52
"for the time will come
01:06:01.56\01:06:02.89
when they will not
endure sound doctrine,
01:06:02.92\01:06:04.69
but according to
their own desires
01:06:04.73\01:06:06.63
because they have itching ears,
01:06:06.66\01:06:08.56
will they heap up for themselves
01:06:08.60\01:06:10.67
teachers,
01:06:10.70\01:06:12.03
and they will turn away
their ears from the truth
01:06:12.07\01:06:13.87
and be turned aside to fables.
01:06:13.90\01:06:15.87
But you be
watchful in all things,
01:06:15.90\01:06:17.97
endure afflictions,
01:06:18.01\01:06:19.34
do the work of an evangelist,
fulfill your ministry."
01:06:19.37\01:06:21.68
And here's the
verses I want to come to
01:06:21.71\01:06:23.14
because he
charges Timothy and us,
01:06:23.18\01:06:25.58
"Preach the Word,
lift up the truth,
01:06:25.61\01:06:28.42
scream it from
the mountaintops."
01:06:28.45\01:06:30.22
But then he says this because
he knows his time is short.
01:06:30.25\01:06:33.72
He says, "For I am
already being poured out
01:06:33.76\01:06:35.56
as a drink offering
01:06:35.59\01:06:37.99
and the time of my
departure is at hand.
01:06:38.03\01:06:41.03
I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race,
01:06:41.06\01:06:47.50
I have kept the faith.
01:06:47.54\01:06:49.80
Finally, there is laid up for me
01:06:49.84\01:06:51.81
the crown of righteousness,
01:06:51.84\01:06:53.88
which the Lord
the righteous judge
01:06:53.91\01:06:55.94
will give to me on
that day, and not to me only
01:06:55.98\01:06:58.81
but also to all who
have loved His appearing."
01:06:58.85\01:07:03.95
My friends, do we love Jesus?
01:07:03.99\01:07:05.32
Amen.
01:07:05.35\01:07:06.69
If we love
Jesus, the Bible says,
01:07:06.72\01:07:08.06
"We will be obedient to Him,
we will follow in His example."
01:07:08.09\01:07:11.56
You know, we may
endure afflictions,
01:07:11.59\01:07:12.96
we may endure trials and
tribulations and hardships.
01:07:12.99\01:07:16.36
But when we keep the faith
and we fight the good fight,
01:07:16.40\01:07:19.43
we are promised the
power of the Holy Spirit.
01:07:19.47\01:07:22.07
Acts 1:8, it says,
01:07:22.10\01:07:23.54
"When the when the Holy
Spirit shall come upon you,
01:07:23.57\01:07:25.57
you shall receive power
01:07:25.61\01:07:26.94
to be witnesses
to me in Jerusalem,
01:07:26.98\01:07:28.91
in all Judaea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
01:07:28.94\01:07:32.48
When we have the Holy Spirit,
01:07:32.51\01:07:34.32
we can indeed do the
work of that evangelist.
01:07:34.35\01:07:37.89
We can indeed do
the work of a minister
01:07:37.92\01:07:40.02
and be exactly who
God has called us to be.
01:07:40.06\01:07:42.69
Amen.
01:07:42.72\01:07:44.06
I just have one more
'cause my time is running out.
01:07:44.09\01:07:46.80
Boy, 13 minutes, goes by quick.
01:07:46.83\01:07:49.06
This comes from Counsels
to the Church, page 240.
01:07:52.07\01:07:55.90
"God has a distinct people.
01:07:55.94\01:07:59.94
A church on
earth second to none,
01:07:59.97\01:08:03.14
but superior to
all the facilities
01:08:03.18\01:08:05.05
to teach the truth,
01:08:05.08\01:08:06.92
to vindicate the law of God,
01:08:06.95\01:08:08.75
God has divinely
appointed agencies,
01:08:08.78\01:08:10.75
men whom He is leading,
01:08:10.79\01:08:12.42
who unborn the heat
and burden of the day,
01:08:12.45\01:08:14.39
who are cooperating with
heavenly instrumentalities
01:08:14.42\01:08:17.06
to advance the kingdom
of Christ in our world."
01:08:17.09\01:08:19.49
And it says this, I love this,
01:08:19.53\01:08:20.86
"Let all unite
with these chosen agents
01:08:20.90\01:08:23.03
and be found at last among those
01:08:23.06\01:08:24.63
who have the
patience of the saints,
01:08:24.67\01:08:26.17
who keep the commandments of God
01:08:26.20\01:08:27.74
and have the faith of Jesus."
01:08:27.77\01:08:29.80
My friends, as Seventh-day
Adventist Christians,
01:08:29.84\01:08:32.34
we are destined
to finish God's work.
01:08:32.37\01:08:35.24
Amen.
01:08:35.28\01:08:36.61
May we pray for the Holy Spirit
01:08:36.64\01:08:37.98
and may we allow
God to transform us now
01:08:38.01\01:08:40.45
and finish His work.
01:08:40.48\01:08:41.82
Amen. Amen.
01:08:41.85\01:08:43.32
Thank you so much, each
one of you on the panel.
01:08:43.35\01:08:47.02
I'm thankful this morning
01:08:47.06\01:08:48.59
to be a Seventh-day
Adventist Christian.
01:08:48.62\01:08:50.99
Amen. Aren't you thankful?
01:08:51.03\01:08:52.46
Aren't you
thankful for the truth
01:08:52.49\01:08:54.13
in the Word of God?
01:08:54.16\01:08:55.50
Amen.
01:08:55.53\01:08:56.87
I can't think of anything more
I desire at the end of my life,
01:08:56.90\01:09:00.20
and we never know
when that's going to be.
01:09:00.24\01:09:01.80
But at the end,
to hear those words,
01:09:01.84\01:09:04.04
"Well done,
01:09:04.07\01:09:05.41
thou good and faithful servant."
01:09:05.44\01:09:07.31
In the meantime, God
calls us to witness for Him
01:09:07.34\01:09:10.75
under the
anointing, and unction,
01:09:10.78\01:09:13.15
and power of the Holy Spirit.
01:09:13.18\01:09:16.38
We just have a few
moments left to this program,
01:09:16.42\01:09:18.89
and I want to give each
one of you an opportunity
01:09:18.92\01:09:20.86
for a closing thought,
01:09:20.89\01:09:22.22
either on your
day or something else.
01:09:22.26\01:09:23.83
We'll start with
you, Pastor Kenny.
01:09:23.86\01:09:25.53
Oh, thank you.
01:09:25.56\01:09:26.90
We forget we need a mike.
01:09:26.93\01:09:28.26
Yeah, I didn't wear mine
out like Sister Mollie did,
01:09:28.30\01:09:30.10
but I do have it here.
01:09:30.13\01:09:31.47
This comes from
Acts of the Apostles
01:09:34.47\01:09:36.07
on Friday's lesson.
01:09:36.10\01:09:37.97
Just a line I
thought was so good.
01:09:38.01\01:09:39.97
It just really touches
your heart when you see it.
01:09:40.01\01:09:41.98
Page 600.
01:09:42.01\01:09:43.35
It says, "All of heaven,"
01:09:43.38\01:09:44.75
think about heaven
waiting on us to move,
01:09:44.78\01:09:47.72
"all of heaven is
waiting for men and women
01:09:47.75\01:09:50.62
through whom God can reveal
the power of Christianity."
01:09:50.65\01:09:54.72
May God help each
and every one of us
01:09:54.76\01:09:56.56
to be that witness
01:09:56.59\01:09:58.36
that others
will see Jesus in us.
01:09:58.39\01:10:00.76
"Not I, but Christ."
01:10:00.80\01:10:02.50
And I think, this is the goal,
01:10:02.53\01:10:04.07
that's what we should
be striving for day by day,
01:10:04.10\01:10:06.43
to be ready for Jesus to come,
01:10:06.47\01:10:08.20
show the world, just
like Paul was, Jesus,
01:10:08.24\01:10:10.64
every opportunity, give Jesus.
01:10:10.67\01:10:13.27
It's my prayer for each
one and for myself today.
01:10:13.31\01:10:17.15
I would like to say that it
seems as if the Book of Acts
01:10:17.18\01:10:20.98
kind of ends with...
01:10:21.02\01:10:23.79
not really an ending,
01:10:23.82\01:10:26.05
and we are to
continue the Book of Acts.
01:10:26.09\01:10:30.13
The Lord wants to
pour out His Holy Spirit.
01:10:30.16\01:10:33.96
And He will pour
out His Holy Spirit
01:10:34.00\01:10:35.80
upon those
praying, waiting ones.
01:10:35.83\01:10:39.30
So I want to
encourage you to put yourselves
01:10:39.33\01:10:41.74
in the hands of the Lord
01:10:41.77\01:10:43.41
that He may continue
to do those great works
01:10:43.44\01:10:45.81
that He wants to
do in these last days.
01:10:45.84\01:10:48.24
Amen.
01:10:48.28\01:10:49.61
And if God has placed His plan
for your life and your heart,
01:10:49.64\01:10:53.42
don't give up.
01:10:53.45\01:10:54.78
It will come to pass, as
you stay faithful to Him.
01:10:54.82\01:10:58.59
And no matter where you are,
01:10:58.62\01:11:00.56
allow yourself to be
planted and not buried.
01:11:00.59\01:11:04.09
Produce for the kingdom of God.
01:11:04.13\01:11:06.46
Amen.
01:11:06.49\01:11:07.86
Seventh-day
Adventist, in our very name,
01:11:07.90\01:11:11.33
our purpose as a
people is right there,
01:11:11.37\01:11:15.30
Seventh-day Adventists.
01:11:15.34\01:11:16.74
On the Seventh
day, God ended His work,
01:11:16.77\01:11:19.21
He ceased His work,
01:11:19.24\01:11:20.58
He finished His work.
01:11:20.61\01:11:22.68
And as we are awaiting
the second coming of Jesus,
01:11:22.71\01:11:24.71
we are too, in these last days,
01:11:24.75\01:11:26.21
commissioned to co-labor
with Him in finishing His work.
01:11:26.25\01:11:28.82
I just want to read this
01:11:28.85\01:11:30.19
from the sixth volume of
the Testimonies page 295.
01:11:30.22\01:11:31.99
Very short.
01:11:32.02\01:11:33.36
It says, "Someone must fulfill
the commission of Christ.
01:11:33.39\01:11:36.42
Someone must carry on the work
which He began to do on earth
01:11:36.46\01:11:39.76
and the church has
been given this privilege.
01:11:39.79\01:11:42.43
For this purpose,
it has been organized."
01:11:42.46\01:11:45.03
Amen.
01:11:45.07\01:11:46.40
Thank you so much, Pastor Ryan,
Miss Mollie, Pastor Johnny,
01:11:46.43\01:11:48.87
and Pastor Kenny.
01:11:48.90\01:11:50.24
I want to close with a quote
01:11:50.27\01:11:51.81
I wrote it in the
flyleaf of my Bible.
01:11:51.84\01:11:53.74
Maranatha, April 5.
01:11:53.78\01:11:55.94
"There is no limit
to the usefulness of one
01:11:55.98\01:11:58.78
who put himself aside,
01:11:58.81\01:12:01.55
makes room for the
working of the Holy Spirit."
01:12:01.58\01:12:05.39
Make sure you stay tuned.
01:12:05.42\01:12:06.96
Divine Worship Hour
will be here in 15 minutes.
01:12:06.99\01:12:11.59