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This is Living Waters of Grace, 
the teaching ministry of Clark 

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Wofford, senior pastor of 
Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, 

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County of Greensburg, PA. 
Now here's Pastor Clark as he 

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continues teaching through God's
Word. 

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How exciting this is for Phillip
and how exciting it is for you 

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and me when you have a chance to
tell someone about what the Lord

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has done for you. 
And how much more exciting it 

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is. 
Whenever they start responding 

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and their eyes start lighting up
and they're getting questions 

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and they want to know and maybe 
they get to the point. 

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Well, how can I know this? 
Jesus, there's nothing more 

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exhilarating in life to have the
opportunity to see God bring 

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someone into salvation because 
you were faithful to tell them 

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about Jesus. 
Amen. 

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Sometimes you won't be received 
well when you go out telling 

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people about Jesus. 
Eventually you'll find someone 

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receptive to the message and 
you'll be able to lead them to 

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Christ. 
The love and salvation of the 

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Lord can reach more people 
through you. 

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Pastor Clark will explain in 
today's message that that's what

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a healthy relationship with 
Christ looks like, growing in 

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him every day and telling others
about what he did for them. 

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It's good news that's meant to 
be shared with everyone around 

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you. 
Now here's Pastor Clark in the 

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book of Acts Chapter 8 with 
today's edition of Living Waters

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of Grace. 
If you have your Bibles there, 

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turn in your Bibles to Acts 
chapter 8. 

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What was it like to be in the 
Roman Empire at the time that 

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Christianity first began? 
I think at times for us in this 

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country, we we feel like the way
we are working right now as a 

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nation is, is not real good 
obviously. 

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But we have to understand that 
this is not uncommon in world 

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systems. 
And I wanted to just review a 

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few things regarding the 
terrible sexual morality that 

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was going on in the time of the 
Roman Empire when the apostles 

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were first starting out with the
Gospel Society at that time was 

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deliberately throwing off any 
kind of vision that Christians 

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would have for sexual ethics. 
Things that were once considered

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unthinkable at that time were 
now being deemed natural and 

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good. 
And this time that we're living 

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in isn't the first time that 
Christians have had to live in 

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times of of sexual immorality. 
The New Testament church was 

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birthed in a time where the 
world was utterly opposed to 

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Christian morality. 
Just not today. 

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Not just the day we're living 
in, but the days that our 

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brothers and sisters first were 
brought into the Kingdom of God 

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in the book of the Acts. 
Most of the New Testament texts 

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that Paul had wrote, we're 
dealing with sexual immorality 

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within the world and within even
the community of the church 

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predominantly at that time in 
Roman cities. 

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And so there's these three ugly 
features of Roman sexuality. 

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And I'm not going to get too 
graphic. 

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It's, it's pretty gross. 
But it was socially acceptable 

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at this time for a strong Roman 
man to have intercourse with men

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and women alike. 
Does it sound anything different

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than what we're experiencing 
today? 

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A real man would be having sex 
with his slaves, whether they 

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were male or female. 
He would visit prostitutes, and 

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he would have homosexual 
encounters even while being 

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married. 
The sexual relationship between 

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an adult man and an adolescent 
boy was unfortunately, all too 

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common. 
Pedophilia was understood to be 

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good and acceptable at the time.
The culture was full of extreme 

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promiscuity and inequality. 
Yet the system is evil as it 

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looks to in our eyes, was 
accepted and even celebrated by 

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Rome. 
Isn't it fascinating how our own

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country is celebrating this 
stuff now? 

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It was foundational to Roman 
culture, least not to protest 

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against it. 
To be loyal to the Empire, you 

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had to be loyal to the morality 
of the Roman Empire. 

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To the Romans. 
A biblical view would have been 

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very disruptive to the social 
fabric and demeaning of Roman 

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ideal of masculinity. 
Christianity at that time 

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condemned the Roman system in 
every part. 

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The Christian sexual ethic 
limited intercourse to married 

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man and wife that protected 
children and gave them dignity. 

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Christianity did not simply 
represent an alternative system 

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of morality, but one that 
condemned the existing system, 

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the system that was foundational
to Roman identity and stability.

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Christians were considered 
outsiders. 

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Christians were traitors. 
Christians were dangerous. 

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Their brand or morality 
threatened to destabilize all of

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society. 
No wonder then they were scorned

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and even persecuted. 
Right now, as I read this 

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article, I can't seem to grasp 
this fact that we're living in 

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times that are so similar to 
what this empire had lived and 

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experienced. 
Our early Christian brothers and

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sisters had to understand the 
difficulty at the time that this

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unconfession of biblical 
chastity in a safe culture was 

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what they wanted and what 
obviously we want today as well.

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The morality that was being 
taught and practice stood out is

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unnatural to the Roman world. 
My pastor in Philadelphia says 

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Whatever happened to this 
normal, good old fashioned sin, 

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Right. 
Sin is so warped now and weird. 

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I mean, it used to be like 
adultery, That's bad enough, but

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pedophilia? 
And how much deeper and darker 

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can the culture and the society 
go into in regard to immorality?

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Christian sexual ethics that 
limited intercourse to a 

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marriage between a man and a 
woman, a woman, was not merely 

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different from the Roman ethics,
but yet they utterly brought 

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down their own institution of 
what they thought was normal in 

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the beginning. 
And it just became more and more

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perverse as the days went on. 
This is why the Christians faced

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so much hostility at the time. 
And this is a very same thing 

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that's happening today in the 
halls of our government. 

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We are having people who are 
legislating immorality. 

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It's a minority group that's 
wanting you and me to slowly 

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embrace same sex marriage or 
eventually this pedophilia idea.

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It's it's like the frog in the 
firing pan that the heat keeps 

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being turned up. 
The media keeps talking about 

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the pros and cons or whatever. 
And after a while you get tired 

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of hearing it. 
And your response might be, 

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well, it doesn't really affect 
me. 

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I'm not going that way. 
What does affect you? 

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It affects me. 
It affects everyone. 

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It affects your kids. 
What's being taught nowadays in 

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public school systems is just 
beyond our dreams. 

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I mean, when I was a kid in 
school, we had the Pledge of 

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Allegiance and we said the 
Lord's Prayer and we had the 10 

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commandments. 
None of that's there now. 

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This is how far we've fallen as 
a society and a culture. 

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Now, the good news is, is that 
in the 1st century, the 

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Christians were men and women of
great courage. 

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They confess their values and 
their morality in a spirit of 

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bravery. 
They confess and practice 

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Christian morality. 
And today we need to be brave as

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well and have the willingness to
obey God rather than men, even 

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in the face of persecution. 
So when you think about Philip 

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and all these guys in the early 
book of the Acts, sometimes 

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we're reading this sort of like 
in a vacuum. 

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We have to really think about 
what were they living in at the 

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time? 
What was the culture like? 

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It was worse than what we're 
dealing with right now. 

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So take heart, take courage. 
The majority of the people in 

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our country are pro-life. 
The majority of the people in 

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our country are pro marriage 
between a man and a woman. 

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The majority of the people in 
our country are against 

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pedophilia. 
So don't let the media think 

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that it's the other way around, 
OK? 

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They're making millions of 
dollars to twist our minds and 

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to water down our convictions. 
That's why it's critical to vote

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a lot of some when Christians, I
don't vote. 

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It's not worth it. 
It's definitely worth voting. 

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You need to vote. 
Every vote counts. 

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And if you don't vote, you're 
basically living apathetically 

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and complacently in a world that
you still have the ability to 

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have a voice. 
The good news is, is that we are

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to be salt and light in the 
world. 

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And we have the ability, by the 
power of the Holy Spirit and the

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Word of God, to stand our ground
and not to compromise and not to

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neutralize and not to be 
apathetic or complacent, but to 

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be bold and be loving and be 
gentle. 

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Because people that embrace 
these convictions of immorality 

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are lost. 
They don't know Jesus, OK? 

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Many of us were embracing those 
values at one time before the 

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Lord saved us, right? 
It's important to understand 

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that. 
So when we study the book of the

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Acts here today, Philip is 
called the evangelist. 

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He's the only man in the New 
Testament called literally the 

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evangelist. 
We're called in the Bible, all 

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of us as Christians to do the 
work of an evangelist. 

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And that means simply being open
to sharing your faith with 

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someone that doesn't know 
anything about Jesus, OK. 

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And so we pick it up here in 
verse 26. 

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And this is the the whole issue 
here. 

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Previously, Philip was down 
there preaching the gospel in 

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Samaria. 
Big revival happened. 

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A lot of people got saved. 
Now the Lord is working in his 

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life to work with one person. 
So one person to God isn't more 

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important than 1000, right? 
God is not looking at numbers or

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population. 
He's looking at one heart, one 

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person at a time. 
And so Philip is sensitive here.

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An Angel of the Lord in verse 26
of Acts 8 spoke to Philip saying

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arise and go toward the South 
along the road which goes down 

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from Jerusalem to Gaza. 
It's interesting in a Bible you 

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can read these things and read 
them quickly and not sort of 

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reflect on the fact that this is
a big deal that an Angel spoke 

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to him. 
Now was he more important than 

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you or me? 
I've never had an Angel speak to

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me yet I, I, I welcome that if 
that's what the Lord's will is 

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for me. 
But then how do I discern if 

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it's a an Angel of darkness or 
an Angel of light? 

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They, they both can sort of 
float in the same atmosphere 

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and, and work in the same way. 
But the interesting thing about 

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the word of God is, and we're 
taught throughout the Scriptures

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that God's main focus and main 
way of speaking to your heart 

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and mind is through the word of 
God, the written word of God by 

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the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Amen. 

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I don't need an Angel to know 
what the Lord wants me to do. 

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And you don't either. 
I got Genesis through Revelation

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and there's more information 
than I actually need to have 

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that I need to follow and, and 
and accept and and live live in,

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you know, but this Ethiopian 
eunuch is, is a man in a 

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chariot, this worshipping in the
Jewish sense driving down the 

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road and we're going to read 
what what happens here. 

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So Phillip is getting this sense
of of God wanting to do 

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something arise and go toward 
the South along the road which 

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goes down from Jerusalem to 
Gaza. 

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There's two roads that go down 
that way. 

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This one was more of the 
difficult Rd. 

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This is the desert. 
And so he arose and he went, and

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behold, a man of Ethiopia, a 
eunuch of great authority under 

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Candace, the queen of The 
Ethiopians, who had charge of 

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all her treasury and had come to
Jerusalem to worship, was 

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returning. 
Now, when you read this, I don't

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know about you, but like, I like
to look things up when I read 

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something. 
I'm like, what's the eunuch? 

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Does anybody ever look at that 
definition? 

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Sex change operations were 
happening back in the 1st 

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century. 
The church That it's a 

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castration of a male, they have 
no ability to have sexual 

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relations. 
That people who were in empires 

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and cruel and controlling wanted
to make sure that those who 

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served them weren't having 
sexual union with their 

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concubines or trying to 
overthrow a government by 

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developing another group of 
people. 

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And for some reason this was 
accepted back in those days. 

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I I don't hear much about it 
now. 

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I'm glad that this is isn't a 
requirement for people, but 

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strange, isn't it? 
And so this person is a eunuch 

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and he's basically not able to 
ever have a family or have 

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children, but he's committed to 
this woman, Candace, the queen 

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of The Ethiopians. 
Now, Ethiopia at that time was a

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large area that covered just not
Ethiopia, but down into Sudan 

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and those various regions. 
He was a man of great authority,

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it says. 
And he handled the treasury of 

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this whole land of Ethiopia. 
It's a very, very prominent 

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person. 
He had come as a seeker to 

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Jerusalem to find out about 
Jehovah God. 

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And as he's there, he's still 
thinking about things and he's 

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sitting in his chariot and he's 
reading Isaiah the prophet. 

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Now to have a, a scroll back in 
those days, the, the Bible 

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wasn't complete like it is here 
now that we have what a blessing

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00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,800
what we have. 
You had to buy it in scrolls and

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specific books. 
And it was it was quite 

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00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,280
expensive. 
And so he's up there with this 

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big scroll reading the writings 
of the prophet Isaiah and the 

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Spirit. 
The Holy Spirit in verse 29 said

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to Philip, go near and overtake 
this chariot. 

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00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,080
So he had to run. 
It says in verse 30. 

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So Philip ran to him and heard 
him reading the prophet Isaiah 

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00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:04,480
and said, Do you understand what
you are reading now in your 

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00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:06,880
life? 
In my life, the Holy Spirit is 

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speaking to us all the time 
about all kinds of different 

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things that the Lord wants us to
do. 

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I would trust you hear His 
voices. 

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00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:19,360
I desire to hear His voice too. 
What is the will of God for your

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00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:21,440
life and mine? 
What is it that the Holy Spirit 

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00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,760
is wanting you and me to do on a
daily basis? 

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00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,120
God sets up divine appointments 
all over the face of the earth 

251
00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:32,840
for one-on-one connections with 
people to talk to them about 

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00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:34,480
their struggles or their 
problems. 

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00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,400
I got a phone call this morning,
the wrong wrong time to answer 

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00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,600
the phone. 
I was in the radio room and just

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00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,760
felt compelled to answer the 
phone and the person on the 

256
00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,240
phone was saying that they 
needed some help. 

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00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,160
And usually they start with 
church, starting with A and they

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00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,960
work the way all the way down to
the end of the alphabet to try 

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00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,320
to get money with this person 
had a girlfriend that needed 

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00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,400
help and she didn't have any 
place to stay. 

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00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,960
And this guy couldn't help her 
because his father wouldn't help

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00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:02,400
him or something. 
All these excuses. 

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00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:06,080
I said, well, why don't you come
to church today and we can meet 

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00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,800
you and we can talk and maybe, 
you know, think about what might

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00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,280
be the next step for you and her
and he. 

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00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,160
And he said, well, where's the 
church at? 

267
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,160
And I told him, he said, well, I
don't know if I can get there. 

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00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,120
I said, well, we're here every 
Sunday at 10:30, right? 

269
00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,040
They like you to send them a 
check or put them in a hotel and

270
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,360
you never meet them and you 
don't have any ability to have 

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00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,720
any kind of opportunity. 
But I said you really need to 

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00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:29,880
get connected with a community 
of believers. 

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00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,800
You can have a family and you 
can get help and you can find 

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00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,440
out about the Lord and the ways 
of God and that kind of stuff. 

275
00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,560
But he wasn't interested in 
that, you know. 

276
00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,400
And so, but I think about 
everything being being a divine 

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00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,440
appointment. 
You show up somewhere, someone 

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00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,000
tells you something and you have
a chance and to tell them about 

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00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,000
your relationship with the Lord,
that's a divine appointment. 

280
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:52,840
The appointment is really 
divine. 

281
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,680
Whenever the person starts 
asking questions and they're 

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00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,920
interested in what it is you 
have to tell them, like in this 

283
00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,960
instance here with this 
Ethiopian eunuch and Philip. 

284
00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:07,000
And so the, the response to this
question, he says, well, how can

285
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,440
I unless someone guides me? 
And he asked Philip to come up 

286
00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,920
and sit with him. 
So no question in Philip's mind 

287
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,040
was, wow, God's up to something 
here. 

288
00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:20,000
This guy's already prepared to 
hear about Jesus, and I just get

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00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,480
a chance to tell him about him 
and explain things to him. 

290
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,720
How exciting this is for Philip 
and how exciting it is for you 

291
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,000
and me. 
When you have a chance to tell 

292
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,280
someone about what the Lord has 
done for you and how much more 

293
00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,480
exciting it is whenever they 
start responding and their eyes 

294
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,720
start lighting up and they're 
getting questions and they want 

295
00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,680
to know and maybe they get to 
the point, Well, how can I know 

296
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,640
this Jesus? 
There's nothing more 

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00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:50,320
exhilarating in life to have the
opportunity to see God bring 

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00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:54,040
someone into salvation because 
you were faithful to tell them 

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00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:56,160
about Jesus. 
Amen. 

300
00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:58,840
My wife is talking about this 
over and over. 

301
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,080
We were praying the other night.
We had a profound discussion 

302
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:07,440
about life and aging and kids 
and grandkids and family and 

303
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,640
older moms and just everybody 
that's in our life and how we 

304
00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:14,079
want to be used by the Lord 
together as a couple and not be 

305
00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:18,240
thinking about ourselves or our 
opinions or our feelings. 

306
00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,599
But how can we more be more 
giving to others and less 

307
00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:26,560
focused on this ourselves? 
And she told me, and I mentioned

308
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:28,280
this briefly, but I want to 
bring it up again. 

309
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,640
She happened to be in a 
neighborhood where her mom lives

310
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,520
in a older development. 
And she had a chance to visit a 

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00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,560
neighbor about some unrelated 
matter. 

312
00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,640
And she went in and the woman 
was crying and her daughter was 

313
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,280
there. 
And Cindy said, what's wrong? 

314
00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:43,720
She's why going to break up my 
home. 

315
00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,600
My husband's died. 
I got to leave this place. 

316
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,640
I can't handle it myself. 
They're going to put me in a 

317
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,560
personal care home now and just 
seems like my life is this 

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00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,800
ending and I got all this stuff.
I don't know what to do with it.

319
00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,520
And and she was just overwhelmed
and distraught, this woman and 

320
00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,680
Cindy began to tell her about 
the Lord and she finally got to 

321
00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,040
the point of asking the lady if 
she could pray for her. 

322
00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,160
And she says, oh, I would, I 
would love that. 

323
00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,680
And so Cindy got to pray for her
and got to impact this woman for

324
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,080
Christ. 
And she said, Clark, that's all 

325
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,200
I want to have a chance to do in
life, to have those kind of 

326
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,120
opportunities, those kind of 
divine appointments, because she

327
00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:21,560
said there's nothing that makes 
you feel any better than that 

328
00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,200
kind of opportunity and 
experience, right? 

329
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,200
And you guys know you've been 
there, you've done it. 

330
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,080
And and so this is the 
opportunity that we're learning 

331
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:31,640
about today in the book of the 
act. 

332
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,760
This is Philip's encounter and 
God personalized it. 

333
00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,280
So you and I can sort of think 
as we study this together, how 

334
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:42,560
can I be like Philip and be open
to the Holy Spirit and be ready 

335
00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,280
to tell someone that they need 
Jesus? 

336
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,000
And so Philip runs over and he 
is going to begin to speak to 

337
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,720
him. 
In verse 31, this man says, I 

338
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,400
can't understand any of this 
unless someone guides me. 

339
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,080
And he asked Philip to come up 
and sit with him. 

340
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,200
The place in the Scriptures 
which he read was this. 

341
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,320
He was led as a sheep to the 
slaughter. 

342
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,680
This is from Isaiah chapter 53, 
verses 7 and 8. 

343
00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,800
Doesn't matter where you go in 
the Bible, you can always take 

344
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,360
wherever it is in the Bible and 
lead people to the truth of who 

345
00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:17,400
Jesus is. 
And as a slam before its shears 

346
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,920
is silent, so he opened not his 
mouth and his humiliation, his 

347
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:26,360
justice was taken away and who 
would declare his generation for

348
00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:28,680
his life is taken from the 
earth. 

349
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,160
Now you and I being believers 
right away, we know, hey, that's

350
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,280
Jesus, that's prophetical, 
that's been fulfilled in the 

351
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,480
death, the burial, resurrection 
of Jesus Christ. 

352
00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,720
But the eunuch is hearing and 
reading this for the first time.

353
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,560
So the eunuch answers Philip and
says, I ask of you, of whom does

354
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:50,040
this prophet say this? 
Of himself or of some other man?

355
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,840
And that's sort of the view of 
the Jewish people when they read

356
00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,280
Isaiah 53. 
If you ask a Jewish person, who 

357
00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,880
do you think that's about? 
They'll say, well, that's a 

358
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,960
prophet or that's about the 
Messiah. 

359
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,200
Or they might just be honest and
say we have no idea when we read

360
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,800
that what that's talking about. 
South Philip opens his mouth 

361
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,080
and, beginning at this 
Scripture, preaches Jesus to 

362
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,280
him. 
So not only did he cover this 

363
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:21,600
section of Scripture in Isaiah 
of this being fulfilled when 

364
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:26,320
Jesus came to earth, but he 
would go into the teachings of 

365
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,800
the Gospels and the experience 
that they've had already in the 

366
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,560
book of the Acts with the 
preaching of the gospel and how 

367
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,680
thousands of people are becoming
believers because they're 

368
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,560
hearing about Jesus saves for 
the first time. 

369
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:43,760
Jesus saves from sin, Jesus 
forgives sin, Jesus cleanses us 

370
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:47,160
from sin. 
And so when Philip is preaching 

371
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,480
to Jesus, to him, and they're 
going down the road, it says now

372
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,120
as they went down the road, they
came to some water, interesting 

373
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,880
water. 
And the eunuch said, see, here 

374
00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,000
is water. 
What hinders me from being 

375
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,600
baptized back in those days, 
they had public baptism. 

376
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,840
It wasn't done in the backyard 
of someone's home or in the YMCA

377
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:12,120
or in some church facility. 
They love going out into the 

378
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,440
community in the streams and 
lakes and rivers and get a big 

379
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,760
crowd of people around and have 
people publicly baptized. 

380
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,680
Because when that happened, the 
culture all the sudden said, 

381
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,880
something's going on here with 
these Christians. 

382
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,680
Every time I turn around, 
they're, they're, they're being 

383
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,880
dunked underwater and they're, 
they're following Jesus. 

384
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:33,240
What's going on here? 
And it convicts them. 

385
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,280
And maybe they're thinking I'm 
missing out on something or I 

386
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:38,720
should be baptized or I should 
follow Jesus. 

387
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,600
I mean, all kind of thoughts 
happen when people see other 

388
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:46,920
people baptized, as this man 
recognized right away the 

389
00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,160
significance of water, and water
represents purification and 

390
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,320
cleansing. 
He would have been taught that 

391
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:56,880
in the school of Judaism. 
But that water can't cleanse us 

392
00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,040
from our sin. 
It's a purification, right? 

393
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,320
Temporal. 
But it can't wash away sin, only

394
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,360
the blood of Jesus Christ. 
What can wash away my sin? 

395
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,680
Nothing but the blood of Jesus, 
right? 

396
00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,520
We sang about that this morning,
The blood of Jesus. 

397
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,640
That's without the shedding of 
blood. 

398
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:18,400
There is no remission of sin. 
If we walk in the light as 

399
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,680
Christians, as He is in the 
light, we have fellowship one 

400
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:23,440
with another. 
We have this communion, we have 

401
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,720
this oneness, we have this 
unity, and the blood of Jesus 

402
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,880
Christ, God's Son, cleanses us 
from all sin. 

403
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,880
Amen. 
If we confess our sin, he is 

404
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,640
faithful and just to forgive us 
our sin and to cleanse us from 

405
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,560
all unrighteousness. 
It takes the blood of Jesus to 

406
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,800
do that, the only sacrifice that
could take away our sin. 

407
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:48,760
And so Philip says to him, if 
you believe with all your heart,

408
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,720
you may. 
Now when you think about when 

409
00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:57,240
you first became a believer and 
the Lord brought you to the 

410
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:02,120
knowledge of your need of 
salvation, and you began to 

411
00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:06,920
think about, you know, this, 
this power of the of the cross 

412
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:12,400
and what it can do for you. 
You realize that first of all, 

413
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,240
when you believe, you were maybe
in front of someone that 

414
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,520
understood you were believing, 
or maybe you were by yourself 

415
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,040
when you believed like I was, 
but you knew that now you 

416
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,600
believed. 
You once didn't believe and now 

417
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,560
you believe a young man that 
used to come to this church. 

418
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,760
I'll never forget the story. 
Wonderful young man and friends 

419
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:33,120
of some good family here. 
And he had come from a Catholic 

420
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,920
background and he never really 
heard, he said, the Gospel. 

421
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,560
He just felt that he was hearing
about religion every Sunday. 

422
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:41,960
And so I got to know him after a
while. 

423
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,360
And I said, well, by the way, 
you know, how did you come here?

424
00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:48,120
And he told me and and then I 
said, were you a Christian? 

425
00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:49,520
And he said, yeah. 
I said, well, how did that 

426
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,320
happen? 
He said one Sunday. 

427
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,080
I'm just sitting here and all of
a sudden I believed. 

428
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,480
Isn't that awesome? 
Thanks for joining us on this 

429
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,440
journey through Acts. 
On today's edition of Living 

430
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,840
Waters of Grace, Pastor Clark 
shares that one of the most 

431
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,600
remarkable things about the book
of Acts is how it shows the 

432
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,640
disciples transformation. 
The followers of Jesus we meet 

433
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,480
here are very different from the
often confused and fearful 

434
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:21,280
disciples in the Gospels. 
After Jesus's death and 

435
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,640
resurrection, and especially 
through the power of the Holy 

436
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,200
Spirit, the apostles experienced
a profound change in their 

437
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,920
hearts and boldness. 
Their faith became unwavering, 

438
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,840
and they moved forward with 
courage to spread the gospel 

439
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,400
despite opposition and hardship.
Acts reminds us that the same 

440
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:46,360
Spirit who empowered them is at 
work in US today, shaping our 

441
00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,960
hearts and giving us strength to
live boldly for Christ. 

442
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,960
Living Waters of Grace is a 
ministry of Calvary Chapel 

443
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,800
Westmoreland. 
If you're in the Greensburg, PA 

444
00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:02,080
area, we invite you to join us 
this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E

445
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,320
Pittsburgh St. 
Unit 6B. 

446
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,480
Visit calvarychapelonline.com 
For more information, where you 

447
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,920
can also join our e-mail list. 
Submit prayer requests, give 

448
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,560
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449
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,720
If you are in the Greensburg 
area, you can listen to Grace FM

450
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,360
on the new 91.7 frequency. 
Pray about helping support the 

451
00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:28,360
new station that will reach 
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452
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:35,760
Send gifts to Grace FMPO Box 
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453
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:38,960
If you can join us in person, 
you can subscribe to the Calvary

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00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,680
Chapel Westmoreland YouTube 
channel so you'll be alerted 

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when new material becomes 
available. 

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We're so grateful that you 
joined us today in Axe TuneIn 

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00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:51,880
again soon for another edition 
of Living Waters of Grace.

