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 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,760 The good news is a later on there was reconciliation between 6 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:45,040 Paul and John and so the good news is that they didn't stay 7 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,560 apart from one another forever. And God always wants Christians 8 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,360 and family and one another to be reconciled to one another. 9 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:57,440 The message of the gospel is reconciliation to God, but how 10 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,920 many of us are waiting for reconciliation to family or 11 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,480 friends or relatives or Co workers or or loved ones that 12 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,080 for whatever reason don't want to be around us or mad at us or 13 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,440 upset about something? Having a little spat with 14 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,720 someone is something we all go through, right? 15 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,640 Even the followers of Jesus had their moments of disagreement 16 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,520 among one another. But things get tricky when you 17 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,200 choose not to make amends. Have you thought about just how 18 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,120 crucial this really is? The Bible focuses on bringing 19 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,440 you and God back together. Hey, what's holding you back 20 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:34,520 from making amends with your friend? 21 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,880 Today, Pastor Clark shares some thoughts on the power of 22 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,800 reconciliation and the beauty of forgiveness. 23 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,800 Now here's Pastor Clark in the book of Acts Chapter 13 with 24 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:47,720 today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 25 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,000 The book of the Acts is a study of the early church and the work 26 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,840 of the Holy Spirit and the lives of those who serve the Lord and 27 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,280 those who have become believers as a result of hearing hearing 28 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,440 the Gospel. Their lives were changed through 29 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,960 the work of the Holy Spirit and the day of Pentecost. 30 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,160 And so today we're going to sort of review a little bit. 31 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,240 It's been a while, like I say, of what I covered last time I 32 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,280 was with you in the book of the Acts, Acts chapter 13. 33 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:18,960 And we're going to pick things up in the 13th verse as we 34 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,280 continue on in this particular chapter. 35 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:27,440 Now, this is Paul's first sermon publicly that is recorded in the 36 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,600 Bible. He had had messages up until 37 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:34,160 this point, but this is the one that he began to develop his 38 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,200 ministry with. And Paul, if you remember, was 39 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:42,640 present when Stephen, the first martyr, was giving his message 40 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,640 in the book of the Acts, in Acts Chapter 7, where he was 41 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,400 educating the Jewish people on what the Lord had done for the 42 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,680 nation of Israel from the beginning of time. 43 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,000 And Paul was actually there at that time, not as a Christian, 44 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,160 but as someone who persecuted Christians. 45 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,120 He hated the faith of Christianity. 46 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,840 And so he eventually was responsible for having Stephen 47 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,920 stoned and martyred. So it's interesting. 48 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:11,120 Here's a guy that heard a lot of this before, before he was a 49 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,560 believer. And now he's a believer. 50 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,560 And he's able to also, because of being saved now and being 51 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,760 called by God and having the Holy Spirit in him, he's able 52 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,400 now to communicate this to other people. 53 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:25,560 And that's what's powerful about the word. 54 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,320 It's a seed that's planted in all of our lives and sometimes 55 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,560 we think, man, I don't really get this or I don't understand 56 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,320 it the way I would like to, but be encouraged because God, when 57 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:41,080 he plants a seed, he begins to water it and he begins to work 58 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,680 with it. So eventually it brings forth a 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,440 harvest in all of our lives. Doesn't matter. 60 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,680 People that you know, you've talked to about the Lord and 61 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,800 given him the word and told him about the Bible and the 62 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,000 Scriptures, and they just like don't think about it or don't 63 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,000 respond to it. Doesn't mean they won't 64 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,640 eventually. So keep praying for the seed 65 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:03,880 that's planted in the heart of the people. 66 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:06,400 You sow the word of God into their lives. 67 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,920 We're going to look at the verse 13 through 15 initially and just 68 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:12,440 work our way through this chapter. 69 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,399 Now, when Paul and his party had set sail from Paphos, they came 70 00:04:16,399 --> 00:04:20,519 to Purga and Pamphylia and John, departing from them, returned to 71 00:04:20,519 --> 00:04:24,080 Jerusalem. So we we spoke briefly about 72 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:29,120 this fallout between the apostle Paul and John Mark. 73 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:31,880 John Mark was a cousin of Barnabas. 74 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,880 And for some reason there was some disconnect between these 75 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:36,520 two guys. We'll learn a little bit more 76 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,920 about it in the 15th chapter. But he was important to them in 77 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,440 this missionary journey. This was the first missionary 78 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,800 journey that the church had begun to do after Pentecost. 79 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,520 Initially it was in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, primarily, 80 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:53,880 where the gospel had gone and where people had become 81 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:55,680 Christians. Now it's going into the 82 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:00,320 uttermost parts of the earth. And so Paul is legitimately and 83 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,520 Barnabas, the first missionary sent out from the church. 84 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,240 They're learning as they go along. 85 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,080 So they have a team. And in any kind of ministry, you 86 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,440 have a team. You cannot do anything by 87 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,280 yourself when you're called by God. 88 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:15,200 You need Co laborers. You need people that will help 89 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,760 and encourage and pray and have the same vision, the same focus, 90 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:20,400 or you're just not going to be able to make it. 91 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,840 And so you get discouraged at times in life, You get 92 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:25,720 discouraged sometimes in the ministry. 93 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,240 And so the need to have brothers and sisters around you when 94 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,240 you're doing what you're doing is it gives you the ability to 95 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,280 keep on doing what you're doing. Because if you aren't having 96 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:42,080 help and encouragement and prayers, you just fade out. 97 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,600 You just get discouraged. Sometimes you just don't want to 98 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,120 do it. So John Mark, he was important 99 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,480 to them and it doesn't give all the details of why he decided to 100 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,600 back out. It could have been some conflict 101 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,520 because Barnabas used to be sort of the guy that was leading it. 102 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,240 And now Paul is the the primary focus along with Barnabas. 103 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:06,000 Maybe he was intimidated by what they were going to face. 104 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:09,280 He just saw some demonic activity with the sorcerer. 105 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,880 They were going into some regions where there was some 106 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,040 real Pagan worship and some danger. 107 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,480 Maybe he was just afraid of getting hurt or something. 108 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,480 We don't know. The good news is a later on 109 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,840 there was reconciliation between Paul and John. 110 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,640 And so the good news is that they didn't stay apart from one 111 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,000 another forever. And God always wants Christians 112 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,720 and family and one another to be reconciled to one another. 113 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,880 The message of the gospel is reconciliation to God. 114 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,040 But how many of us are waiting for reconciliation with family 115 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,640 or friends or relatives or coworkers or or loved ones that 116 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,160 for whatever reason don't want to be around us or mad at us or 117 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,000 upset about something? Don't ever let your heart get 118 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,040 hard because if it gets hard, then God can't do that work of 119 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,680 re establishing friendships and community and love. 120 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:05,520 And so it continues though after John Mark departed to go back to 121 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,960 Jerusalem, It says that when they departed from Purga, they 122 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,560 came to Antioch and Pasidia and went into the synagogue on the 123 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:18,320 Sabbath day and sat down. So is as devastating, I'm sure, 124 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,880 as it was for John Mark to leave them. 125 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,160 They didn't say, well, we're going to quit now. 126 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:26,080 We're not going to do this anymore. 127 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,000 We were a team and the team isn't together like it once was, 128 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,640 and so we can't do this anymore. We're just going to stop doing 129 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:35,760 it. No, this showed the perseverance 130 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,760 and the calling and the greatness of God upon Paul and 131 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,080 Barnabas's life. I'm sure they were broken 132 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,760 hearted over this, upset, whatever, but they focused on 133 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,000 what they needed to do. And So what was interesting in 134 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,640 those days, you didn't have a lot of churches like you do now 135 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,160 all around the world. There was churches in the 136 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,880 regions where they had planted churches, but they're in a 137 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,240 completely different area now. There is no New Testament church 138 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,760 yet in this particular place of Antioch or Presidia. 139 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,320 This is an Antioch of Syria. This is a different Antioch. 140 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,480 And so where they would go to have fellowship, if you may, or 141 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,280 communion or, you know, talk about the things of God, they 142 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,240 would go to the synagogue. And what was interesting in 143 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:21,240 those days is if you were a learned person in regard to the 144 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,840 Old Testament, because the New Testament wasn't written yet, 145 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,640 you would be invited to speak within the synagogue if you had 146 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,600 some degree of knowledge and ability to communicate the 147 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,799 things of God. And so they came, This was a 148 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:36,240 Saturday, the Sabbath day, and they sat down. 149 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,919 And So what they would do in their liturgy as a Jewish 150 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:45,240 followers of Elohim or Jehovah, they would read the law and the 151 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:49,000 prophets every every Saturday they would read the law and the 152 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,920 prophets. It was predictable what they 153 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:54,640 did. They did the same way all the 154 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,720 time. So you think about all these 155 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,520 people that came to synagogue and there was quite a few people 156 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:01,720 that did. They were hearing the 157 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:08,880 testimonies of what the law said regarding God's holiness and 158 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,960 man's ability to be righteous unless they followed the law 159 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,040 100%. The other thing was the prophets 160 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:21,560 were given to foretell and prophecy regarding the coming of 161 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:24,520 their Messiah. So they were, they weren't 162 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,600 ignorant. They were aware of the 163 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,560 Scriptures. But for some reason what they're 164 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,880 going to hear today in the synagogue is something they 165 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,920 never heard before and it's going to rock their world. 166 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,600 They're going to hear about justification by faith alone, by 167 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,280 grace alone and Christ alone. They had never heard anything 168 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,800 like that before, nor did Paul until he became a believer, 169 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:51,000 right? And when we heard it and we 170 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,360 became believers, our lives have been completely transformed. 171 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,440 I'll never be the the same again. 172 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,200 So it says after this they read the law and the prophets, the 173 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,880 rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying men and brethren, if 174 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,960 you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 175 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,240 So they were given the privilege to be able to stand up and 176 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,640 communicate the good news. And what an opportunity. 177 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,000 I'm sure Paul's sitting on the edge of his seat. 178 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,240 I can't wait to tell these people the good news. 179 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,760 They've been hearing bad news their whole life that they got 180 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,440 to be perfect and no one could be perfect. 181 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:31,880 None of us could be perfect. There's none that are righteous, 182 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:33,960 is there? There's not one of us that are 183 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,120 righteous apart from the grace of God. 184 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:43,440 So in verse 16 we go now here then Paul stood up and motioning 185 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,480 with his hand said, men of Israel and you who fear God 186 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,640 listen. So in this group of people there 187 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:55,640 won't only Jewish people, but there was God fears and this was 188 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,760 the Gentiles. They were proselytes of Judaism 189 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:00,360 at the time. They were intrigued with 190 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:06,320 historical truth about the Creator, but they didn't have 191 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:08,400 all the pieces, nor did the Jewish people. 192 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:11,760 So Paul's going to begin to put the puzzle together for them. 193 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:16,920 Verse 17, The God of this people, Israel, chose our 194 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:21,520 fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in 195 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,080 the land of Egypt. With an uplifted arm, He brought 196 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,840 them out of it. So we know in the beginning when 197 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,800 Moses was chosen to be the deliverer, he was able to be 198 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:39,840 called by God the raise up his staff to have that Red Sea open 199 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,880 up and for the children of Israel to be delivered from the 200 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,480 bondage of Pharaoh in Egypt. So he, we all know the history, 201 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:52,240 He brought Israel out through the sea away from the bondage of 202 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,360 Pharaoh in Egypt. And verse 18 now for a time 203 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,800 about 40 years, he put up with their way in the wilderness. 204 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,720 And we know how crazy it was and how they acted. 205 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,480 After all these miracles of what God had done, how they began to 206 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,520 complain and forget about the goodness of God and his miracle 207 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,720 working hand. They began to complain about all 208 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,480 kinds of things. Not enough water, not good food, 209 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,680 whatever. God provided mana, he provided 210 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,480 rock water out of the rock. Miraculously, it still wasn't 211 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,800 good enough for them. And so God was patient. 40 212 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,520 years. He put up with their ways in the 213 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,440 wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven 214 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,880 nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land to 215 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,120 them by allotment. So they're being reminded as 216 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,120 Paul's talking about all the things they've heard and been 217 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:44,760 taught for years in the synagogue through the Torah, 218 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:46,200 through the law and the prophets. 219 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:48,600 And so they're probably thinking, well, you know, we 220 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,200 know all this. What's the point here? 221 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,480 Why is he? Why is he telling us this? 222 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,280 Again, He's reviewing to them what God has done. 223 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,560 No man has done any of this. God has done this all himself 224 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:02,840 for their nation because he loved them. 19 refers obviously 225 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,400 to Joshua when he took over for Moses and went in and took care 226 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,280 of Jericho and set the people free in the nation to be able to 227 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,520 go in and get the land that God had promised them. 228 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,760 Prophetically it says he distributed their land to them 229 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,000 by allotment. So just like Stevens message in 230 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:25,480 Acts 7, Paul had witnessed these things themselves by being a 231 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:27,960 Jewish follower of God for years. 232 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,200 He knew the history of the nation of Israel because he was 233 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,960 obviously a Jew. And now he's a born again 234 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,960 Christian. And so we think of the 235 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,920 opportunity that only God can give us to speak His Word. 236 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,800 At any given time. We might have plans to want to 237 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,680 have an opportunity to tell someone about what the Lord's 238 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,880 done for us. But only God can open up the 239 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,640 doors in the perfect timing to give us that opportunity and 240 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:02,120 that audience to be able to declare the gospel to people. 241 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:04,520 And we need to pray for the Lord to give U.S. 242 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:09,720 Open doors so that we might be able to do what it is that God's 243 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,200 called us to do, as Paul and Barnabas are doing here. 244 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,920 And verse 20. After that he continues as to 245 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,960 what God has done. And the brothers who teach on 246 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,400 Wednesday night regarding the Old Testament, we've been 247 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,240 through all these different books of the Bible in the Old 248 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:28,000 Testament, given the history of Israel. 249 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:33,200 And it says he gave them judges for about 450 years to sort of 250 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:35,280 control and keep things on track. 251 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,760 So they didn't get so crazy, but they had good judges and they 252 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,440 had bad judges. And then they did that until 253 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,800 Samuel the prophet was lifted up and he was a good leader. 254 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:46,880 And after that they asked for king. 255 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,960 So God gave them Saul, who ended up being a bad leader and the 256 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,400 son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years. 257 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,240 And when he had removed him, he raised up for them. 258 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:03,360 David is king, to whom also he gave testimony and said, I found 259 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,680 David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who would do 260 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:13,880 my all my will. David is pictured here in a way 261 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:18,240 of someone who is beginning to lay the foundations of what it's 262 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,840 going to look like when Christ becomes the ruling king and 263 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,520 reigning king during the millennial Kingdom that we're 264 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,920 all looking forward to that thousand year reign that Christ 265 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:30,320 will rule and reign on the earth. 266 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,680 David was a prototype in some ways, and his life was 267 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:39,440 indicative of the Messiah that was to come out of his own seed 268 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,320 and his loins. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would 269 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,400 eventually be born. And so all this foundation that 270 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,280 God's laying here through Paul's teaching is to remind them that 271 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,440 there's a point to everything God's done since the beginning 272 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:58,840 of time, and that point was to eventually bring a Savior named 273 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,760 Jesus for the whole world. This is not Jewish people, but 274 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:07,360 also Gentile people. And so David, we know his 275 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,880 history from when he was a young man and dealt with the giant 276 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:16,720 Goliath and how he grew up and how he loved God and wrote many 277 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,760 of the Psalms that we also know his downfall and failing with 278 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,320 Bathsheba. And yet God forgave David for 279 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:28,320 his sin when David repented. And David wrote that beautiful 280 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:33,760 51st Psalm to remind us of God's goodness, that when we're broken 281 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,840 over the mistakes we've made in our lives or the tragedies of 282 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:38,640 the difficulties that we've been through. 283 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,640 Bible says that God is near to the broken hearted and those who 284 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,000 have a contrite heart. Aren't you glad he's that way? 285 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,000 People maybe will lose patience with you. 286 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,200 People will perhaps give up on you or walk away from you and 287 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,080 leave you. But Christ promises he will 288 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,840 never leave us or forsake us. And he says if we seek Him with 289 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,320 all of our heart will find him there. 290 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:07,040 There's no one like the Lord. And that's 51st Psalm in 291 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,520 reference to David's downfall is probably one of the most 292 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,480 beautiful things that you could possibly read on the mercy of 293 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,040 God, where David prayed to the Lord. 294 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:20,839 Take not your Holy Spirit from me. 295 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,480 Restore to me the joy of my salvation. 296 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:27,680 And many of us have been through hard times in life, maybe not 297 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,880 sinning like David, but maybe other things have happened to us 298 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,120 and we've lost our joy. We've lost the sense of God's 299 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,400 intervention in our life and remembering his patience and His 300 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:43,080 kindness and how he is always willing to come and bring us 301 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,560 back to himself, no matter where we've been or what we've done or 302 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:48,280 what we've personally gone through there. 303 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,040 There's no one that will be like that to you in this world, in 304 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,560 this life, but Jesus. And so he says to the Lord in 305 00:17:55,560 --> 00:18:00,720 his prayer, create in me a clean heart, O God, which is what we 306 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,640 all need, clean hearts. And we can't create that in 307 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:06,440 ourselves. That only can be done by the 308 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,920 work of God's Spirit. Creating me a clean heart of God 309 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,040 and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 310 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,520 Give me this kind of temperament, Lord, that it's 311 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,760 stable. It's not up and down all the 312 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,360 time and praising God and complaining, you know, it's just 313 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:29,160 like this calm walk of perseverance and trust in God, a 314 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,400 steadfast spirit. And then he says, then I'll 315 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,360 teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted 316 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:38,280 to you. The work of God through David's 317 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:42,880 life really became impactful after he had fallen and gotten 318 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,960 right with God again. And so when we study the Bible 319 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,320 and we study these truths of the New Testament, the Old 320 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:55,360 Testament, each of us have to think, OK, where am I right now 321 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:57,160 with these teachings I'm hearing? 322 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,760 What does this have to do with my life right now or where I'm 323 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,040 at, or what I'm thinking or what I'm struggling with? 324 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,960 It has everything to do with our own lives. 325 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:10,600 Because as we read the story of God's love and his redemption, 326 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:16,080 his mercy, his patience, it should speak to us that if God's 327 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,280 been this way to Israel all these years, he's certainly the 328 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:23,440 same to us. Even as believers that struggle 329 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:28,200 at times that get depressed or get discouraged or get hopeless 330 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,400 or make mistakes or do stupid things. 331 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,680 God is not looking for perfect people. 332 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,160 He's always looking for a broken people that he can heal and 333 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,560 restore and renew and give hope to again, over and over and over 334 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,840 again. And then he says in verse 23 335 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,120 from this man's seed. And that's David according to 336 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,320 the promise God raised up for Israel as Savior Jesus. 337 00:19:55,160 --> 00:20:00,080 So the seed that was planted through the relationship that 338 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,800 David had with his wife and carried on down through 339 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,160 generations eventually brought forth this Messiah named Jesus. 340 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:11,080 It was prophesized and verse 24 after John, this is referring to 341 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,160 John the Baptist had first preached before his coming, the 342 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,440 baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 343 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,000 And as John was finishing his course, he said, Who do you 344 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,680 think I am? Of course, people were, you 345 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,080 know, adoring John the Baptist. He was a strange guy. 346 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,520 He, he wore like weird clothing. He ate locusts and wild honey. 347 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:36,080 He was out there man, look like a wild man. 348 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,560 But yet his message was so dynamic and it compelled 349 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:46,640 countless thousands of people to come and listen to the message 350 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,920 of repentance. So all these people are coming, 351 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,160 they're under conviction and they're repenting of their sin 352 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:57,000 and they're getting prepared for the Messiah because John was the 353 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,880 one that was to prepare the way of the Lord. 354 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,680 But John had a check here with these people. 355 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,760 He said, who do you think I am? They're lifting them up and 356 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:06,880 thinking he's great. He says I am not he. 357 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,960 But behold, there comes one after me, the sandals at whose 358 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,000 feet I'm not worthy to lose. So. 359 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,160 So John the Baptist was a very humble man, wasn't he? 360 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,520 Which is what all we should be as servants of the Lord. 361 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,160 Who are we? We're just people that have been 362 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,640 given the privilege to talk about what he's done. 363 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:30,080 But we're not worthy to lose the sandals of Jesus either, are we? 364 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:35,560 But he chooses to use us. That's the remarkable thing of 365 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,400 of God's grace. He uses ordinary people. 366 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,280 And so he, he continues in this, this, this, the same emphasis of 367 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:48,160 Paul that Stephen gave in his message, message that God has 368 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:53,120 this love and concern and his hand upon the nation of Israel. 369 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,080 To this day. God has not given up on Israel. 370 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,320 There's a remnant there that will be very apparent in the 371 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,680 last days during the Tribulation period, where many Jewish people 372 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,840 will come to recognize that He's Messiah and they'll be martyred 373 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,720 for their faith. And those who are alive at the 374 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,760 second coming, the Bible says they'll see him. 375 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,680 Every eye will see him when he comes back, coming through the 376 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:20,800 clouds and into the strata of the earth and eventually landing 377 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,720 on the Mount of Olives. It says every eye will see him, 378 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,320 and it says they will look up and see him whom they've 379 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,640 pierced, and it'll break their hearts recognizing that they had 380 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,680 missed him and that He truly is their Messiah. 381 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:38,400 The focus of these things that we're looking at here are 382 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:45,360 emphasizing what God's done, the focus on what God does. 11 times 383 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,280 that God chose the fathers. He made the people great. 384 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,320 He led them out of Egypt. He put up with them in the 385 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,040 wilderness. He destined 7 nations in the 386 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,200 land to have their own space in Canaan. 387 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,880 He gave them land as an inheritance. 388 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:03,640 God gave them judges, he gave them Saul. 389 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,640 He raised up David. God brought Israel a savior 390 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,320 Jesus as he promised and a prophet John who said he wasn't 391 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,520 worthy. This remarkable. 392 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:17,440 And so we continue in verse 26, men and brethren, this is Paul 393 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,960 again preaching sons of the family of Abraham. 394 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,680 They were proud that they were descendants of Abraham. 395 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,320 And you remember what Paul said, that God could raise up the 396 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,360 stones to give praise to God. There was nothing special in the 397 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:34,640 sense or entitlement of being a child of Abraham. 398 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,840 It didn't automatically guarantee you salvation unless 399 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,800 you believe so. There was really no distinction 400 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:44,800 between a Jewish person and a Gentile person in God's eyes. 401 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,640 He came first to his own. The Bible says his own received 402 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:53,080 him not, but his picture and his vision of humanity was to be a 403 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,240 savior for the whole world and all people. 404 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,320 Thank you for listening to this edition of Living Waters of 405 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,560 Grace. Pastor Clark is teaching us 406 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:04,760 about the book of Acts in this series. 407 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:08,440 Acts is a powerful and unique part of Scripture, not just 408 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,240 because it records the spread of the gospel geographically from 409 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,400 Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, but also culturally. 410 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,040 Acts shows us how the message of Jesus moved beyond its Jewish 411 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,720 roots and began to reach the Gentile world. 412 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,360 What started with Peter leading a small group in the Upper Room 413 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:30,200 became a global movement with Paul taking the gospel to 414 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,440 cities, synagogues, and marketplaces across the Roman 415 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,360 Empire. Acts captures this vital 416 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:41,440 transition and reminds us that the good news of Jesus is for 417 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:46,120 all people in every place. May we be inspired to carry that 418 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:49,400 same gospel boldly into our world today. 419 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,160 Living Waters of Grace comes to you from Calvary Chapel, 420 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,120 Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA 421 00:24:56,120 --> 00:25:01,040 area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency. 422 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,120 Pray about helping support the new station that will reach 423 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:10,400 thousands more listeners. Send gifts to Grace FMPO, Box 424 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:18,360 716, Greensburg, PA 15601 also invite you to join us in person 425 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:23,240 this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 426 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,720 Unit 6B. To stay up to date, visit 427 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,560 calvarychapelonline.com where you can find our teaching 428 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:34,680 archive, submit prayer requests, join our e-mail list, or give 429 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,360 online. If you're outside the area, 430 00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:40,240 don't worry, you can still worship with us through the 431 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,000 Calvary Chapel Westmoreland YouTube channel. 432 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,400 Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss new content. 433 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,040 You're so thankful that you joined us today. 434 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,560 Be sure to tune into the next edition of Living Waters of 435 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:53,120 Grace.