1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,240 Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,400 County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,160 Verse 18 Now for a time of about 40 years, we know they wandered 6 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:45,280 for 40 years in the wilderness sort of listening and not 7 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,760 listening, thanking God and complaining about things that 8 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:51,280 sound familiar if you ever do that. 9 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,320 I've been on the planet 71 years and I got my years of 10 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,720 complaining and whatever and then thanking God. 11 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,000 But it says He put up with their ways in the wilderness. 12 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,480 Isn't that wonderful that God puts up with us? 13 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,480 He doesn't give up on us. Pastor Clark just gave us 14 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,160 another way of God extending His grace to us. 15 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,880 Putting up with us. The holiness of God is something 16 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,800 we can't even fathom, and sometimes it really does feel 17 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,160 that way. God is putting up with us. 18 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:22,560 Well, there certainly is some truth to that. 19 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,920 We need to pause and ask the question, why does God put up 20 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,800 with me? It's because He loves me. 21 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:34,440 God's great love for me is what motivates him in everything that 22 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,600 he does in my life. Today. 23 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,720 You'll learn more about how God works in your life now. 24 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,920 Here's Pastor Clark in Acts Chapter 13 with today's edition 25 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:49,040 of Living Waters of Grace. Let's look at in the book of the 26 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:53,440 Acts, Acts chapter 13. And I'm really excited about 27 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,440 this chapter because I don't know about you, but sometimes I, 28 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:05,000 I forget the awesomeness and the simplicity of the gospel of 29 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,600 Jesus Christ. I get caught up in life and 30 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:09,880 teachings and Bible study and all that. 31 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:16,960 And it seems like the gospel. We all hopefully know it by now 32 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:18,840 if we've been Christians for any length of time. 33 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,120 But it takes on different layers, doesn't it? 34 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,200 As you get to know Christ better, it becomes deeper and 35 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,320 more precious and more living and alive. 36 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,360 We have to think about the Apostle Paul briefly, because he 37 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:34,040 was against the gospel. He persecuted Christians. 38 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,120 He hated the movement of Christianity. 39 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,120 What didn't accept Christ, didn't believe, you know, tried 40 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,520 to do everything he could to destroy this movement that can't 41 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,000 be destroyed. Over the last 2000 years, it 42 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,400 keeps growing exponentially all around the world. 43 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:50,960 And many of us here today have been recipients. 44 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,520 We've received this gospel and it's it's changed our lives and 45 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:59,160 continually changes our lives. But the transformation of Paul's 46 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,080 life, we read about what he does and his exploits and the 47 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,480 suffering he goes through being an apostle, the rejection, the 48 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,840 stoning, the imprisonment. People would ask him, why, Why 49 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,000 do you do this? And he said, it's the love of 50 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,560 Christ that constrains me. He was so compelled to share 51 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,640 what it is that Lewis and I and other pastors are sharing with 52 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:24,800 the congregations the good news of the gospel. 53 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,080 And so when we read this and study this, keep in mind that 54 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,800 there is this compelling internal work of God in the 55 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:39,240 apostle to share this message, this story, over and over and 56 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,160 over again. And it's what compels Pastor 57 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,080 Lewis and myself. No matter what is going on in 58 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,680 life, in the world, in our own personal lives, we can't wait to 59 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:50,760 get here to tell you more about Jesus. 60 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:52,720 And that's what we're called to do. 61 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,680 And we're thankful that you embrace that or you wouldn't be 62 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,520 here today. So it starts in verse 13 of 63 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:07,520 chapter 13, when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos. 64 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:12,040 They came to Purga and Pamphylia and John departing from them, 65 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:16,680 returned to Jerusalem, period. What happened to John? 66 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,600 John Mark, the one who eventually wrote the Gospel of 67 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:25,760 Mark, he's cousin of Barnabas. He's learning how to do 68 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,240 ministry. Young, young guy, he's with Paul 69 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,000 and Barnabas and all of a sudden he turns around and goes the 70 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,080 other way. Why did he leave the calling? 71 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,360 Well, it's, it's beautiful how the Holy Spirit can get into the 72 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,680 detail right here about the conflict that occurred between 73 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:51,240 basically Paul and John. Maybe some people think that 74 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,280 John was a little bit overwhelmed with the pressures 75 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:58,400 of the ministry. He began to see the potential of 76 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,440 losing maybe his life and the persecution, being imprisoned, 77 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,040 stoned. Maybe he was sort of 78 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,160 disappointed. It used to say Barnabas and 79 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,160 Paul. Now it's Paul and company. 80 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,600 Paul's taking on the the influence of the leader, and 81 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,120 maybe he didn't like that and he wanted Barnabas to continually 82 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,000 sort of head these mission situations up. 83 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,160 Maybe he was as homesick and he wanted to get back home. 84 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,920 Some people believe because he was a devout Jew, that he didn't 85 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,760 like this idea of Gentiles getting into the Kingdom so 86 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,040 easily when they had to follow the law throughout the Old 87 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,520 Testament and do all the rituals and kosher foods and all that. 88 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:38,360 No longer is that important anymore. 89 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,040 It's just faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone. 90 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,320 Some people think that maybe he went back to Jerusalem and got 91 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,440 people stirred up to the Judaizers that Paul had to deal 92 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:53,000 with in the book of Galatians to tell the people that there's 93 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,240 only one gospel. It's not a gospel of works plus 94 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,200 grace. It's a gospel of grace alone 95 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,080 completely. And that's hard for religious 96 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,680 people to accept that we can be forgiven of every sin that we 97 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:12,720 possibly could commit yesterday, the day and forever and go to 98 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,560 heaven because of what Christ has done for us as we asked him 99 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,480 to forgive us. A lot of people can't be that 100 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,080 easy. I felt. 101 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,560 I asked you guys to pray about, pray for that. 102 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,560 I met in Lancaster, had dinner with him again, and started this 103 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:31,120 building upon the relationship. He's still not a customer, and 104 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,840 he's hard guy to be around because he's just so lost in the 105 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:38,800 darkness and the drinking and the tragedies of his own life. 106 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,800 And we went to a restaurant. So we began to talk about trials 107 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,280 and difficulties of life. And he was surprised that I have 108 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:47,160 them too. He just thought that he had. 109 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,600 And we all have them, right? And as we begin to talk, I 110 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,760 shared with him that the only way I can get through life every 111 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:58,840 day is by being close to Jesus. And he said, I need to start 112 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,680 wearing sunglasses to our dinner because he's sobbing as we're 113 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,600 talking, you know, And so when we were all done, I, I said, you 114 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,240 know, this is more important to me than business, seeing you 115 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,040 come to know Jesus. So I said, I got something for 116 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:16,000 you in the car. So I went out to the van and 117 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,760 gave him one of our Bibles that we have to give away to people 118 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,000 in the Bible promise handbook. And he gave me a big hug. 119 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,640 So please continually pray for Mark and, and the people I know 120 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,880 that you're burdened for you're trying to share the good news of 121 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,280 the gospel with. We just plant the seed and God 122 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:36,120 is the one that increases and gives the harvest, right? 123 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:43,160 And so I pray for Mark as well. So it it stops there and it 124 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,160 continues. But one thing to to think about 125 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:51,640 and we'll get there later on that in chapter 15, Barnabas and 126 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,600 Paul had a falling out. Be like Lewis and me having a 127 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,280 falling out. One week I'm here and he's not 128 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,680 here. And the next week or maybe after 129 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,080 that, he's here and I'm not here. 130 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,840 What happened to Clark? Well, we had a falling out. 131 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,480 I mean, boy, that that's doesn't sound good in the church, does 132 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,080 it? Doesn't sound good as brothers 133 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,160 and sisters in Christ. But it happens. 134 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,160 Relationships get rocky sometimes and the devil always 135 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,440 wants to sow discord or disagreement among the brothers 136 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,120 and sisters is to split the church or the, you know, scatter 137 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:22,480 the sheep. It just happens. 138 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,200 It's one of the more heart wrenching things. 139 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:31,400 And so Barnabas, you know, he, he takes off and he goes his own 140 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,559 way. Eventually, you know, he works 141 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,919 with John and others and, and Paul ends up working with Silas 142 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:39,919 and eventually he ends up with Timothy. 143 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:45,200 But the good news is, is in the book of Second Timothy, chapter 144 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,120 4, I'm just going to read that real quick because this will 145 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:49,600 segue into the rest of the place. 146 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,760 We're heading Second Timothy 4 verse 6. 147 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,280 This is Paul. He's getting ready to pass from 148 00:08:57,280 --> 00:08:59,920 this life. He's he's fought the good fight. 149 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,160 He he's finishing his his ministry. 150 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,840 He says in verse 6 from already being poured out as a drink 151 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,080 offering and the time of my departure is in hand. 152 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,280 I've fought the good fight, I've finished the race, I've kept the 153 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,680 faith. Finally there is laid up for me 154 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,280 the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 155 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,480 judge will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but 156 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,520 also to all who loved disappearing. 157 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:27,000 And then he says be diligent to come to me quickly for Demas, 158 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,000 and this is someone else that was in the ministry had says 159 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,040 forsaken me having loved this present world and has departed 160 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:38,760 for Thessalonica Creations for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. 161 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,480 Only Luke is with me and Luke was a physician. 162 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,640 Mark had issues of illness and disease and other problems like 163 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:50,000 malaria, he said. But then he says get Mark and 164 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,480 bring him with you for he is useful to me for ministry. 165 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,680 Isn't that beautiful? The falling out is no longer a 166 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:01,320 falling out. There's reconciliation, they're 167 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,520 doing ministry again together, they're serving together again. 168 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,800 And that's the Lord's intention all the time. 169 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:12,040 Sometimes we have to give one another space and pray and wait 170 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,240 on the Lord for the reconciliations to occur, 171 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,480 whether it's in church or business or family or sons and 172 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,160 daughters or you know whatever right marriages. 173 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:27,640 We we have to trust God to do the work that only he can do and 174 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:31,200 so that that encourages me because if you just stop there 175 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,880 and think well, what in the deal is up with Mark and Paul. 176 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,120 The good news is it didn't stay that way and you always pray 177 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:43,440 that relationships can be re established and us personally 178 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,440 have responsibility to be humble and forgiving and not keep a 179 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:51,320 record of offenses are wrong. Like Corinthians tells us, First 180 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,720 Corinthians 13, love doesn't keep a record of wrong. 181 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,080 So when we have our hearts clear and we're not thinking about 182 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:00,960 things that have occurred to us from other people or whatever, 183 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,280 we're able to wait on the Lord and and let it go until God does 184 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,360 something. So they depart for Purga and 185 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:12,400 they come to Antioch and Pasidia and this is about 100 miles 186 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:14,400 north. It's quite a trek. 187 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,880 They go up about 3600 feet high elevation. 188 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,880 Paul was struggling at the time with his health and some people 189 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,280 believed he had malaria. So he had to get into more 190 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:29,200 comfortable climate conditions to continue the work and after. 191 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,120 So they they go into the synagogue. 192 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,720 And what's interesting, when Paul was doing the missionary 193 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,760 journeys, he was very strategic. He looked for cities of 194 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,600 influence to start with. And cities of influence would 195 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,840 always at least have 11 synagogue. 196 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,560 And so because he was a Pharisee, a member of the 197 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:50,240 Sanhedrin, he had academic credentials. 198 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:54,040 He was schooled by Gamaliel, and everybody respected his 199 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:56,240 background. And a lot of people didn't know 200 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,520 at this point his conversion. But he's in the synagogue with 201 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,480 Barnabas, who came from Cyprus, and also a very stellar 202 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,200 intellectual in regard to theology. 203 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,000 They're there and they're like celebrities in the synagogue 204 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,840 and, and so they, they normally have their readings and 205 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,560 writings, reading the prophets and all the history of, of the 206 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:19,720 Bible teaching in the Old Testament that Messiah would one 207 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:24,560 day come and save Israel. There they are visiting not to 208 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,200 be critical, but they're there to share the good news. 209 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,040 So because of their degrees and their knowledge and their 210 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,120 expertise and respect from Jerusalem, they're wow, 211 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,520 someone's here from Jerusalem. Let's let's see if they want to 212 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,560 tell us some stuff. So they give them the, the 213 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:42,840 platform to to begin to talk and little did they know what was 214 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,800 going to begin to be talked about. 215 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,960 And that's the, this is Paul's first sermon in the book of the 216 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,120 Acts. It's very similar to Peter's 217 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,640 first sermon. And also Stephen, the one who 218 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,040 was martyred that take the history of Israel. 219 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,520 And what happened is Israel moved through the process of 220 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:02,840 being delivered out of Egypt into eventually the promised 221 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:05,560 land and then the history of what they had to deal with in 222 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:08,400 their rebellion and their backsliding and their own 223 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,040 unbelief. And so Paul's going to review 224 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,600 some things with them. And so he says they're there on 225 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,840 the Sabbath day. And after the reading of the law 226 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,160 and the prophets, which was traditional in the synagogue, 227 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,440 verse 15, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying, 228 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,280 men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the 229 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:28,800 people, say on. So they just didn't interrupt 230 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,000 the meeting. They were invited to talk about 231 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:33,760 what it is that they wanted to talk about. 232 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,560 Then Paul stood up and motioning with his hand. 233 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,600 Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. 234 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:46,000 So the respect of the Jewish people and their religion, men 235 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:47,880 of Israel. And then there would be 236 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,080 gentiles. There are those that are fearing 237 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,600 God, haven't embraced Judaism fully, but they're interested. 238 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,480 They're there in the in the meeting because they're 239 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,760 interested. You're here today in this 240 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,760 meeting because obviously you're interested in learning more 241 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,840 about the Lord and following him or why would you be here, right? 242 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,240 So the God of this people, this is Paul's message. 243 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,480 Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they 244 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,680 dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and when with an 245 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:20,200 uplifted arm he brought them out of it. 246 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:24,520 And we know Moses raised his staff, the water separated and 247 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,680 and the sea, and they were able to escape the attack of the 248 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:33,080 wicked Pharaoh. And the Lord delivered him out 249 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,040 of that bondage in Egypt, that terrible place to be where they 250 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,440 were abused and taken advantage of and this terrible, terrible 251 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,760 existence. Verse 18. 252 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,080 Now for a time of about 40 years, we know they wandered for 253 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:50,480 40 years in the wilderness, sort of listening and not listening, 254 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,880 thanking God and complaining about things that sound familiar 255 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,400 if you ever do that. I've been on the planet 71 years 256 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,960 and I've got my years of complaining and whatever and 257 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,760 then thanking God. But it says He put up with their 258 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,400 ways in the wilderness. Isn't that wonderful that God 259 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,760 puts up with us? He doesn't give up on us. 260 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,040 And verse 19 and when he had destroyed seven nations in the 261 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:17,080 land of Canaan, he distributed their land to them by allotment. 262 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:21,320 So we know when Joshua went in to the, you know, promised land, 263 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,320 he was instructed because Moses had been taken off the scene 264 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,400 then. And they did battle and they had 265 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,480 wars and and they eventually conquered and they had all this 266 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:34,600 real estate that God promised prophetically that would be the 267 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,680 inheritance of the the 12 tribes of Israel. 268 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:42,800 And so this, the history and and these guys in the synagogue know 269 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:44,600 this stuff. This has never been anything 270 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,560 they never heard of before. After that, verse 20, he gave 271 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,600 them judges for about 450 years. So the judges were set up to 272 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:56,560 roll on issues of law and morality and justice and that 273 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,480 kind of stuff and never really worked out that well because 274 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,360 you'd have good judges. You have bad judges just like we 275 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,120 have good presidents, bad presidents. 276 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,080 I mean, you know it, it just happens, right? 277 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,920 So until Samuel the prophet came along and when Samuel the 278 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:14,320 prophet came along in verse 21 and afterward they asked for 279 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,120 king. So they're asking pray and 280 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,000 asking for king. We need to be have someone in 281 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,200 charge here instead of a group of these judges. 282 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,760 So God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of 283 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,360 Benjamin for 40 years. And when he removed him, now 284 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,680 Saul was not a good king. And you can read the history the 285 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,200 guys are teaching through the Old Testament on Wednesday 286 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,760 nights and they really cover it very, very detailed like we do 287 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:45,240 Sunday morning in the New Testament, that the history of 288 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:50,880 Saul was completely corrupt. So God eventually removed him. 289 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,640 Then he raised up for them David as king, King David. 290 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,200 Everybody knows about David, right? 291 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,680 You learn about David and Sunday school, David and Goliath. 292 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,320 What do you, what do you think about when you hear the word 293 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,720 David? I think more about David and 294 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:06,440 Bathsheba. What happened there? 295 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:11,520 Then David and Goliath and David and Bathsheba committed adultery 296 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:18,200 and they ended up having a tremendous heartache in the 297 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:19,720 nation of Israel because of that. 298 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:24,359 And eventually David admitted to his sin when Nathan came to him 299 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,800 and about a year after the event, but not only did David 300 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,920 commit adultery, he set up Uriah, her husband in battle to 301 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,040 be killed. So David is an adulterer and a 302 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:43,720 murderer. And the Lord says about him, he 303 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,800 gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a 304 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,200 man after my own heart who will do my will. 305 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,320 David failed as many of us have failed in many different ways in 306 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,160 our life. But God knows our hearts. 307 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:03,240 None of us are perfect. He knows that we draw near to 308 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:07,200 Him and the times of difficulty. When we make mistakes, we don't 309 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,720 justify them and are proud and ignore the work of the Holy 310 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:12,240 Spirit. If we're really saved, the Holy 311 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,200 Spirit's in us. He begins to tell us why there's 312 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,160 problems or what needs to be addressed. 313 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,080 In Psalm 51 is written where you can see the desperation of David 314 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:28,360 crying out to God for his sin. Oh Lord, restore to me the joy 315 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:32,040 of my salvation. Take not thy Holy Spirit from 316 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,720 me, created me a clean heart of God, and renew a steadfast 317 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,200 spirit within me. Then I'll teach transgressors 318 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,720 your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you. 319 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:46,240 And farther on down than that Psalm, it says a broken and a 320 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,120 contrite heart God will not despise. 321 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:54,640 And so whenever we allow God to show us our issues every day, 322 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,080 this is something I want to deal with, or this is something that 323 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,280 needs to be corrected, or this is he, he, he's our God, the 324 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:05,880 Holy Spirit and he, he leads us if we were willing to listen to 325 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,520 what it is that God requires of us. 326 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,840 And it's always the challenge of changing our mind from one thing 327 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,080 to what it is that God wants. That's repentance. 328 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:20,360 It's not like groveling or beating ourselves up or woe is 329 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:22,720 me kind of thing. It's just like, Lord, I hear 330 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,440 you. I need to make this right. 331 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:31,120 I need to stop this thing. I need to forgive this person. 332 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,400 I need to worship you. I mean, whatever it might be, a 333 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:37,760 host of things that you and I hear every day. 334 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:41,160 And whenever we hear the voice of God, we have one or two 335 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:46,480 decisions to make. We either listen and yield, or 336 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,080 we just stuff it and blow it away. 337 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,200 And we've all been in either of those places. 338 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,840 We know the benefit of doing it God's way. 339 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:56,880 It really makes life a lot easier, right? 340 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:01,320 And we also know the challenge of not the one at God's way and 341 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,840 the consequences of what that creates in our lives and the 342 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,040 lives of our families and church body and and other 343 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,840 relationships. So whenever you see the Lord 344 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:17,600 through Paul use this verse, God wasn't saying well Dave is no 345 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:22,960 good because he did this or he wasn't able to be used by me 346 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,440 because he did this. David was able to continually 347 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,520 use be used by God even though there was consequences for his 348 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:33,160 sin in the nation to still accomplish his will through 349 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,480 David's life. And that should encourage you 350 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,800 and me. God uses imperfect people. 351 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,480 And if you study the Bible for any length of time, you know 352 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,960 that a lot of the people that are famous in the Bible didn't 353 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:49,880 have a perfect history, did they? 354 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:56,200 And so here we are today, and God wants to use our lives and 355 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,520 he wants to use your life in the life of someone who doesn't know 356 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,840 Jesus, who's broken. If you're sitting there 357 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,280 thinking, well, who am I to tell anybody about Jesus? 358 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,240 I had a terrible life and I committed terrible sins. 359 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,640 Well, if we are saved, we know the good news is that God 360 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,600 forgave us of our terrible sins, and he gave us a new heart and 361 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,600 he gave us a new life, right? To be able to present. 362 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,120 The good news of the gospel is that Christ died for sinners, 363 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:27,280 which we all are. And so it's just this beautiful. 364 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,680 So Paul's sermon is building on all these things. 365 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:39,200 And as David was the king, he then prophetically was the one 366 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,400 God used through the seed of David from this man. 367 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,760 See David verse 23. According to the promise God 368 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,280 raised up Israel up for Israel, a savior Jesus. 369 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,160 So Jesus is through the lineage of David through an adulterer 370 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,680 and a murderer. I mean you say God, why didn't 371 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,680 you pick someone perfect that never because well there is no 372 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:05,280 one perfect. I use people like you guys to do 373 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,680 my will so that when all this stuff comes through, we know 374 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,320 there's only one perfect 1 and that's Jesus Christ and God use 375 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,520 chooses to use us in this process. 376 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,760 After that verse 24, John had first preached John the Baptist 377 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,120 before his coming, the baptism of repentance that John was 378 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:29,400 challenging people to turn from their sin and turn toward 379 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:34,520 Messiah who is going to come. And many people came to that 380 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:39,840 baptism in the Jordan to be, you know, repenting, prepared for 381 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,280 the Lord who was to come repentance to all the people of 382 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,600 Israel. Verse 25 And as John was 383 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,360 finishing his course, he said, who do you think I am? 384 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,560 I am not he. Well, everybody thought John, 385 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,600 man, he's something else. He's out there in the 386 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,760 wilderness. He's not connected to this world 387 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:56,560 really. He's like a hermit. 388 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,320 He's just like very, very different and very godly and 389 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,440 very fiery in his eyes and just the passion he had for God and 390 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,000 nothing else. They might have thought he was 391 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,280 the one. Well, this guy, he's, he's 392 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,480 different. I mean, he's really challenging 393 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,080 me and my heart's convicted because of what he's saying. 394 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,240 He says I am not he. But behold, there comes one 395 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:21,640 after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to lose. 396 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:26,080 So you see humility in John. He didn't think he was anything. 397 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,720 He was just a voice in the wilderness, as the Bible says, 398 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,160 just like I'm a voice here today in the wilderness that we live 399 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,520 in today in this world, men and brethren. 400 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:41,240 Verse 26, Paul says, sons of the family of Abraham, Abraham, 401 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,600 Isaac, Jacob, the lineage of the nation of Israel through the 402 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:49,120 patriarchs. He's speaking to them and those 403 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:52,480 among you who fear God, the Gentiles who are sitting in the 404 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:58,440 synagogue seeking the truth. Thanks for joining us on this 405 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,440 journey through Acts. On today's edition of Living 406 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,840 Waters of Grace, Pastor Clark shares that one of the most 407 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,560 remarkable things about the book of Acts is how it shows the 408 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,640 disciples transformation. The followers of Jesus we meet 409 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,480 here are very different from the often confused and fearful 410 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:21,280 disciples in the Gospels. And after Jesus's death and 411 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,640 resurrection, and especially through the power of the Holy 412 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,200 Spirit, the apostles experienced a profound change in their 413 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,920 hearts and boldness. Their faith became unwavering, 414 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,840 and they move forward with courage to spread the gospel 415 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,400 despite opposition and hardship. Acts reminds us that the same 416 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:46,320 Spirit who empowered them is at work in US today, shaping our 417 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,920 hearts and giving us strength to live boldly for Christ. 418 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,960 Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel 419 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,760 Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA 420 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:02,080 area, we invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E 421 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,320 Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B. 422 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,480 Visit calvarychapelonline.com For more information where you 423 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,920 can also join our e-mail list, submit prayer requests, give 424 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,520 online and download our mobile app. 425 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,720 If you are in the Greensburg area, you can listen to Grace FM 426 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,360 on the new 91.7 frequency. Pray about helping support the 427 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:28,400 new station that will reach thousands more listeners. 428 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:35,760 Send gifts to Grace FMPO Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. 429 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,000 If you can join us in person, you can subscribe to the Calvary 430 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,720 Chapel Westmoreland YouTube channel so you'll be alerted 431 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,720 when new material becomes available. 432 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,360 We're so grateful that you joined us today in Axe TuneIn 433 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:51,920 again soon for another edition of Living Waters of Grace.