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 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:38,960 They remembered the words of the Lord. 6 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,600 They did exactly that. They just forgot about it and 7 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,120 moved on. And it says they were filled 8 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,240 with joy and with the Holy Spirit. 9 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:52,040 So when your heart and mind submits to the issues in our 10 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,120 life, whether we like them or not, and we say, Lord, I'm not 11 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,680 real happy with this right now, but I trust you and what you're 12 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,280 doing in my life. And my heart wants to be soft 13 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,880 towards you and I want to be open and willing to accept what 14 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,920 it is you're doing in my life. But I want to praise you in it. 15 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,280 Have you ever found yourself in a spot where you're completely 16 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,800 stumped on what to do next? Navigating a trial? 17 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,480 Yeah, that's definitely no walk in the park. 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,000 It takes up all your thoughts, doesn't it? 19 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,680 So how often do you let go of those anxious thoughts and 20 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:28,480 simply hand everything over to God? 21 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,640 In today's message, Pastor Clark is here to remind you to put 22 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,640 your trust in God for all things. 23 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,600 Rest assured, everything God brings into your life is meant 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,200 for your benefit. Just have faith in Him now. 25 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,200 Here's Pastor Clark in Acts chapter 14 as he begins his 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:51,000 message called persecution. We are in the book of the Acts 27 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,240 studying about the work of the Holy Spirit in the body of the 28 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,080 church. That work of the Holy Spirit 29 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,240 continues today as we live in our own lives in the church, 30 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,160 serving the Lord. And we have to understand that 31 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,440 part of being a Christian is also dealing with adversity and 32 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,920 trials, right? I mean, that's part of how God 33 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:16,440 purifies us and helps us to grow in a closer relationship with 34 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,320 him. Sometimes we go through times of 35 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,760 dark valleys and we go through despondency or depression, or we 36 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,360 go through times of hopelessness, but we find that 37 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,680 in those times, that's when we cry out through the Lord the 38 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,440 most, and we need Him the most. And so God uses these things to 39 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,760 purify us and refine us. And when we get through them, we 40 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,040 begin to understand, Wow, if this wouldn't have happened in 41 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,520 my life, I wouldn't know the Lord the way I know Him now. 42 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,080 And so He loves us being couraged no matter what. 43 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,120 You might be caring today, what you might be struggling with, 44 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,640 what you might be going through, God is not abandon you. 45 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:55,120 He's with you. And His word is a lamp unto our 46 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,960 feet, a light unto our path. So let's pray as we get prepared 47 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,000 for this teaching today. Lord, we know and we understand, 48 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,840 Father, the challenges that we go through. 49 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,720 You teach us, Lord, how to learn about You, but also how to 50 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,880 depend on You and to trust in You in ways that we wouldn't 51 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,960 have learned if we hadn't been put in a position where we 52 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,160 desperately needed You, Lord, and all of us have been in those 53 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,080 places. And so, Lord, we are here today 54 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:29,160 to receive from you what your Holy Spirit has for your church. 55 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,120 And we pray the same for churches all over the world 56 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,840 today where believers are gathering in the Word of God. 57 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,000 Lord, that you would minister through the servants who stand 58 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,520 behind the pulpit. We're ordinary people. 59 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,480 We're broken ourselves. We are also fallen, Lord, yet 60 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,480 you have redeemed us. And Lord, even though we still 61 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,520 struggle, we're tempted, we still sin. 62 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,520 You choose to perfect the Saints through the work of the 63 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,000 ministry, through the teaching of the Word, You're changing us 64 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,120 all into your image and likeness. 65 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,360 We're all works in process. We're so thankful for Your 66 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,360 mercy, Your patience with each of us. 67 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,680 Lord, none of us have arrived. None of us have it all together, 68 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,040 only you have it together. And that's why we come to learn 69 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:18,040 from you and about you, because as our eyes are upon you, we 70 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,240 change and we become more like you. 71 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,720 So Lord, we just ask now for your favor on your word and 72 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,920 blessing on your people that Lord today you would give them 73 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,080 what it is they've come for. I can't give it to them, but you 74 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:32,240 can by your Holy Spirit through the word. 75 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,640 So Lord, our trust is in you and we pray these things in Jesus 76 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,600 name, Amen. So the title of the message 77 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,920 today is persecution. Has anybody ever felt like 78 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,360 they've been persecuted to have gone persecution? 79 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:46,840 We all have. If we're we're Christians, the 80 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:51,440 Bible says all that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer what 81 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,000 persecution? And I think when we first come 82 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,320 to Christ and we're new believers, we skip over that. 83 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:58,800 We don't. Maybe that's for someone else. 84 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,160 That's not for me. But none of us get through it 85 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,840 without dealing with adversity and persecution. 86 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,360 The Apostle Paul and Barnabas are on their first missionary 87 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,040 journey. This is basically the inception 88 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,720 of the Great Commission, where Jesus said to go into all the 89 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:17,160 world and preach the gospel to every living creature, baptizing 90 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,280 them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching 91 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,000 them to observe all things whatsoever. 92 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,280 I've commanded you, and lo, I'm with you always, even unto the 93 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:27,160 end of the age. That's the Great Commission. 94 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:31,000 So they have been in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. 95 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,360 Now they're spreading out into the other regions of the world. 96 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,040 And because of what they've done, that gospel has gone 97 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,360 throughout the earth. And we're recipients of the 98 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,880 seeds that were initially planted in these early stages of 99 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,600 the New Testament church. And so it talks about in my 100 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,520 Bible, the heading, and I'm going to finish up verse 13. 101 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,120 Just read it. Blessing and conflict at 102 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,920 Antioch. So persecution comes in a form 103 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,520 of people who hate Jesus, hate the gospel, hate the word of 104 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,480 God, hate holiness, hate righteousness, hate repentance. 105 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,400 They just want to live as pagans, right? 106 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:08,760 And many of us, all of us, probably at one time, we were 107 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,160 all lost in our sins before Christ saved us. 108 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,400 We lived that way too. We didn't want to hear anything 109 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,640 about this kind of stuff we're talking about today. 110 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,200 Then the Lord saves us. He softens our hearts, and he 111 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,680 gives us a desire to want to go this way, right? 112 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:27,160 To follow the path of Christ. So we pick up persecution and 113 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,280 adversity because we live for Christ. 114 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,320 We try to represent him and sometimes we pick up persecution 115 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,080 and adversity from employers or even in families. 116 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,640 Sometimes we go through it even in a church. 117 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,440 Lord, we're sometimes God allows things the enemy works and tries 118 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,760 to divide the church and to scatter the sheep and just get 119 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,080 people to stop falling the Lords, you know, because of 120 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,520 relationship issues or whatever, you know. 121 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,720 So when we study the word, we have to understand that we are 122 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,240 all sinners still. Things have happened to us in 123 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,720 all of our lives that we don't think has been fair or we don't 124 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,160 like. And so we get bitter at times. 125 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,480 We get hard. We get in a place of being 126 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,600 unwilling to forgive. We get bitter. 127 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:12,760 And that's not what the Lord's like. 128 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,240 When he died on that cross, He had his arms out and we all knew 129 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,960 what we were doing. But he says, Father, forgive 130 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,200 them so they know not what they do. 131 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,480 So as we study this today and you think about your own trials, 132 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,480 your own persecution, the things that have happened to you that 133 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,880 you don't think's fair, if anybody has hurt you, if 134 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,360 anybody's offended you, if anybody's injured you in some 135 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,640 way, allow the Lord to give you grace to forgive. 136 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:44,280 Because we can't be followers of Jesus if we don't forgive. 137 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:49,640 It tells us in the Lord's Prayer forgive us our trespasses as He 138 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,640 forgives us our trespasses. Then later on in John it says if 139 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,960 we don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will our 140 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:58,920 heavenly Father forgive us of ours. 141 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:00,920 That's shocking, isn't it? You can. 142 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,320 So I prayed the prayer. I asked Jesus to come into my 143 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,200 heart. That's all well and good, but if 144 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,000 we're not forgiving people, there's a disconnect, right? 145 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,240 So we want to be a Church of mercy and forgiveness in our own 146 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,200 lives toward one another and toward those in the world. 147 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,720 So it says in verse 42. So when the Jews went out of the 148 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,280 synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be 149 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:22,880 preached to them the next Sabbath. 150 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,360 So certain people heard the gospel, they were excited, they 151 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,440 believed, and obviously there were people there that wouldn't 152 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,240 believe, just like there may be here today. 153 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,480 So when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and 154 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,120 devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to 155 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,520 them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 156 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:46,640 And so we're here today by the grace of God, we are faithful to 157 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,120 be in the Word. We show up for no other reason 158 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,680 but that we're all testifying together when we're together, 159 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:56,480 that we're continuing in the grace of God, no matter what we 160 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,520 might be dealing with. On the next Sabbath, almost the 161 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:01,800 whole city came together to hear the word of God. 162 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,280 Wouldn't that be awesome, you know, for next Sunday that there 163 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,400 wouldn't be enough room for people to come in here because 164 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,920 the whole city is beginning to hear about the grace of God at 165 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,320 Calvary Chapel. That would be a prayer that we 166 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:15,720 should all have. All these people were excited 167 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,680 about salvation and what the Lord can do. 168 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,040 But it says that when the Jews saw the multitudes and these 169 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,040 were the people that were still not believing, they were filled 170 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,600 with envy. They had never seen so many 171 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,440 people in the synagogue before. And they weren't coming for the 172 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:32,600 law. They were coming for the grace 173 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,040 of God that was setting them free from all their sin and 174 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,480 their bondage and contradicting and blaspheming. 175 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,400 They oppose the thing spoken by Paul, so there's always 176 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:45,960 adversity and push back to the message of God's grace and 177 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,120 forgiveness. They're jealous of the impact 178 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,640 that the Word is making on these people because of the grace of 179 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,400 God. And they're also slandering the 180 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,600 preachers, the teachers, the apostles, anybody that has 181 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,720 anything to do with communicating these things they 182 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,440 are adamantly opposed to. And that's what's happening in 183 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,720 our culture today. The world we live in, in the 184 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,560 arena that we are all experiencing, we know there's a 185 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:15,000 real push back toward Christianity in our country and 186 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,440 in the rest of the world. And so it says they blaspheme. 187 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:23,000 They opposed the things spoken by Paul. 188 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,960 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that 189 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,760 the word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you 190 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,480 reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. 191 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,600 I love how Paul really puts it in her face, well, if you guys 192 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,680 don't want this and you don't want to have everlasting life, 193 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:43,520 OK, what am I going to do for you, right. 194 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,920 And he said, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 195 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,240 For so the Lord has commanded us. 196 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:53,600 I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for 197 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:55,360 salvation to the ends of the earth. 198 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,440 So that the gospel initially came to the Jewish people. 199 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:02,280 Jesus said his own did not receive him. 200 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,560 He came to his own. They didn't receive. 201 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,400 And so the whole goal of God from the beginning of time was 202 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:11,120 to take the gospel to every people group in the world, every 203 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:16,520 tribe, tongue and nation. There's no discrimination with 204 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,000 the Lord in regard to the good news of the gospel. 205 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,600 It's for all people and all places, everywhere. 206 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,520 And so they are rejecting this. But the Gentiles and some of 207 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,160 these Jewish people are believing. 208 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,440 So the Lord has commanded us. I've set you as a light to the 209 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,720 Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the 210 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,120 earth. Now when the Gentiles heard 211 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,520 this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, 212 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,760 and as many as had been appointed to eternal life 213 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,280 believe. This is a fascinating verse 214 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:51,400 because God, in his all knowingness, his omniscience, 215 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:56,160 understands that there's going to be a people that are called 216 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,480 out by Him that will believe even before we're created. 217 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,920 That's a mystery of God's sovereignty, His election. 218 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,320 Why is it we're chosen here today? 219 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,400 Why is it that we've believed? Why is it that we've come to 220 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,880 faith in Christ where we heard the Word and it resonated with 221 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,800 us and we came out of death unto life because of the Holy Spirit 222 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:20,080 making us capable of believing the gospel? 223 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:22,520 There's so many people that still don't believe. 224 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:27,560 Why? In the mind of God, he wants the 225 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:30,640 gospel to go to everyone. We don't know who's going to 226 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,920 believe who isn't, and sometimes people don't believe until their 227 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,760 deathbed. So you never stop praying, you 228 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,320 never stop preaching, you never stop giving the gospel. 229 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,200 You're always wanting to share the Lord with people. 230 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,200 And so and then it says in the word of the Lord was being 231 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,440 spread throughout all the region. 232 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,360 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and 233 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,720 the chief men of the city, and they raised up persecution 234 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,680 against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from the region. 235 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,920 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came 236 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,640 to Iconium, and the disciples were filled with joy and with 237 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,760 the Holy Spirit. So Paul is dealing with 238 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,600 adversity as as we do. Something happens in your life 239 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,280 as a believer, and you might be tempted to quit. 240 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,720 Pastors are tempted to quit all the time because of some of the 241 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,560 pressures they deal with or whatever, but we're called to 242 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,480 persevere. And if we're really the Lord's, 243 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,040 there's this doctrine called the perseverance of the Saints. 244 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,400 If we're really saved, we don't give up, do we? 245 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:34,360 We just keep on keeping on because God is in US, the Spirit 246 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,720 of God's in US, and he gives us a capacity to not give up even 247 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:39,080 when we're thinking about it, you know? 248 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:44,480 And so this beauty of this wisdom of God is that in spite 249 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:49,240 of John Mark leaving them in the ministry prior to this, that was 250 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,600 a set back. Now they're going in and they're 251 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,880 excited that people are believing and getting saved, but 252 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,880 now they're going to get stoned. People are going to try to kill 253 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,040 them. They just keep keeping on. 254 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,280 And the wisdom of this, you know, the Lord said to the 255 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,840 disciples when they were out on the road that if you get hassled 256 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,080 or people don't listen to you and they don't receive you, he 257 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:12,080 said shake the dust off your feet, meaning don't let it 258 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,400 bother you. Don't let it bring you down. 259 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,920 Don't let it discourage you. Just keep your eyes on the Lord 260 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,840 and what He's told you to do, and He'll leave you to some 261 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:22,760 other people that will eventually want to hear. 262 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,520 And so as they did that, they remembered the words of the 263 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:28,560 Lord. They did exactly that. 264 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,240 They just forgot about it and moved on. 265 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,560 And it says they were filled with joy and with the Holy 266 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:36,920 Spirit. So when your heart and mind 267 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,920 submits to the issues in our life, whether we like them or 268 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,600 not, and we say, Lord, I'm not real happy with this right now, 269 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,320 but I trust you and what you're doing in my life. 270 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,600 And my heart wants to be soft towards you. 271 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,760 And I want to be open and willing to accept what it is 272 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,520 you're doing in my life. And I want to praise you in it. 273 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,400 Count it all joy when you fall into diverse trials and 274 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,920 temptations. The Bible says that the trying 275 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:05,640 of your faith works. Patience. 276 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,800 I want to be and I'm sure you do too. 277 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,680 The kind of person that I'm not complaining or I'm not groaning 278 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,960 and moaning, that I accept God's sovereign hand in my life and 279 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,040 say, God, you have a plan in this and I want to praise you 280 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,120 because in the power of praise there is deliverance. 281 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,360 And you're passing the test when you praise God for what it is 282 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,880 you're going through. If you're moaning and groaning, 283 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,480 the Lord says, OK, we got to go through this for a while now 284 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:32,440 you're still not getting it, are you? 285 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,320 You're still not praising me in spite of the storm. 286 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,800 And so these guys are in the midst of it, but they are filled 287 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,080 because their hearts are open to God and they're filled with joy 288 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,760 by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now in verse 14, the journey 289 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:50,000 starts in these other regions. Now it happened in Iconium and 290 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,560 this is the area of Galatia at the time, it's the Roman Empire. 291 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,800 A lot of pagans in these countries are going to no church 292 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,200 yet until the gospel gets there and Paul and Barnabas are used 293 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,800 by the Lord to see people become believers and churches are 294 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:05,720 established. They went together to the 295 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,040 synagogue. So the beauty of this thing is 296 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,880 they had a place to go to get people to hear when they 297 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,360 couldn't find a synagogue. They preached in the streets. 298 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:17,840 But because of Paul and Barnabas being Jewish people, they were 299 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,640 accepted in the system of Judaism because they had 300 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,200 knowledge of the Old Testament. So they were given the 301 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,320 opportunity to speak. I'm sure after they spoke, the 302 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,320 Jews were upset. Like we should never let these 303 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,760 guys say anything. It's ruining our ministry, 304 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,360 right? People are leaving and following 305 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:34,760 them. But that's what happens, right? 306 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,080 So they, they spoke to a great multitude, both of the Jews and 307 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,680 the Greeks believed, but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the 308 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,600 gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brother. 309 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,480 This is the work of the devil. Whenever you're anywhere where 310 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:52,840 the truth of God is going forth, people can say things about 311 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,960 whoever the teacher is. They can say, well, they're 312 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:57,920 hypocrites, or they're this or they're that. 313 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,520 If we're honest, we all have areas of hypocrisy in our life, 314 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:03,840 right? Is anybody perfect here today? 315 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,280 If you tell me guys, you're perfect, I'll just ask your wife 316 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,440 or I'll ask your husband, right? But you know, this is the 317 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,800 patience of God, right? And he chooses to use weak and 318 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,480 foolish things that confound the what God never looks at the 319 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,640 vessel and says, well, boy, I'm going to pick you because like 320 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,359 you're like no one I've ever created. 321 00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,440 And boy, people are going to be blown away with your homiletic 322 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:27,079 skills and your preaching ability. 323 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,120 God's like, forget that. Let me fill you and let me speak 324 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:33,320 through you because I don't want you getting in the way of what 325 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,040 it is I want to say. But all the time someone will 326 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,920 come to someone and say, you know, with this person, you 327 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,320 know, I saw them, you know, say this or they acted this way or 328 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:45,920 whatever. And so people seem to have a 329 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,760 tendency to want to judge you instead of judging themselves. 330 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,320 And the enemy wants to pull the church down and destroy it and 331 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:57,280 destroy the people that minister in the church through slander 332 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,240 and hatred and unbelief and criticism. 333 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,640 That's why it says in Ephesians, let all bitterness and wrath and 334 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,080 clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, and be kind, 335 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,640 tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for 336 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,120 Christ's sake hath forgiven you. So this continual, habitual need 337 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,720 to forgive, right? And when we forgive, we're to 338 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,760 move on and keep going on looking toward the Lord. 339 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,200 That's something we can't do without the grace of God in our 340 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,160 lives. You have bitterness in your 341 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:27,760 heart. You want to slander people. 342 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,200 You, you want to get even with them. 343 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,040 You want to be vindictive toward them. 344 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,760 You got to like, say, Lord, this is not you. 345 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,280 Help me to forgive. Well, how many times do we 346 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,720 forgive? Jesus says 70 * 7. 347 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,480 That's 490 times for the same offense. 348 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,400 That's the picture of you keep forgiven, right? 349 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,840 So what happens is they're trying to poison the mind of 350 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,920 these people. Therefore, they stayed there a 351 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,000 long time, speaking boldly in the Lord. 352 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,120 Those guys knew what people were saying. 353 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,680 They felt that they experienced it, but they didn't say, you 354 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,800 know, get thin skin and then say, well, this isn't fair. 355 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,120 We're just trying to do what God wants us to do. 356 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:06,640 We're not going to do this anymore. 357 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,280 It's hurting our feelings or whatever. 358 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,080 No, they just kept being faithful. 359 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,880 It says they spoke boldly in the Lord who was bearing witness to 360 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,760 the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by 361 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,360 their hands. So this Apostolic authority 362 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:26,400 ability, sometimes God showed up in signs and wonders and they 363 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,680 did miracles. Lots of times there was no 364 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:30,160 miracles. It wasn't anything. 365 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,320 And Paul in and of himself, it was a special anointing that 366 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:37,640 came at times and in seasons for God to be glorified in the midst 367 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,920 of a situation where people would get their attention taken 368 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,960 by some miraculous situation. So the multitude of the city in 369 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,720 verse 4 was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the 370 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,000 apostles. So like in our world today, you 371 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,760 have a group of people who are followers of Christ, and then 372 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,200 you have a group of people who are against Christ, right? 373 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,160 It's always that way, even sometimes, unfortunately, in 374 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,680 churches. And when this issue happened, 375 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,960 this violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews 376 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,080 with their rulers to abuse and stone them. 377 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,040 They became aware of it, and they fled the Lystra and Derby 378 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,160 cities of Iconia into the surrounding region, and they 379 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,640 were reaching the gospel there, so they understood the attempt 380 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,840 to take them out, to kill them, basically to assassinate them. 381 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,000 They were smart enough to know that they needed to get out of 382 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,160 that town and move to next place. 383 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:32,920 But the stoning never stopped. Paul remembers when Stephen was 384 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,000 stoned, he was part of that group that had Stephen Stone, 385 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,280 the first martyr in the book of the Acts in New Testament 386 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:39,880 church. So now Paul's going to 387 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,720 experience some of the same things that those who have gone 388 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,600 before him. So now they go to Lystra verse 389 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,280 8. And in Lystra, a certain man 390 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,680 without strength in his feet was sitting a cripple from his 391 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:54,960 mother's womb. So this guy didn't have a 392 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,800 temporary paralysis. This didn't happen after he was 393 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,640 born. He was born with the inability 394 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,240 to walk. He had never walked. 395 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,280 This man heard Paul speaking. He heard the gospel. 396 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,600 You heard the message, Paul observing him intently. 397 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,440 And so you have an audience. You're speaking. 398 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,360 I see your eyes, you see mine. Sometimes I get fixated on 399 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:18,320 someone in the room because I sense there's a heavy burden in 400 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:20,080 their lives. There's something going on. 401 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:21,680 I don't know what it is, but the Lord does. 402 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,080 And I just say, Lord, you know, speak to them, whatever it is 403 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,920 you need to say to them. And sometimes I see people who 404 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,960 are eager to want to follow Jesus deeper and I pray and I 405 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,080 say, Lord, help cultivate that in their lives. 406 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,000 Help them to sense that and want to follow you. 407 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,320 And if I can be of any help, show me how myself or the elders 408 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,120 can be of help and the others in the church that are wanting to 409 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,600 serve people. So he's looking intently and he 410 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,160 sees that he had faith to be healed. 411 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,080 He's looking at this man and he says he has faith to be healed. 412 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,480 Now this is interesting because God does all things according to 413 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,520 counsel of his own will. And some of these faith 414 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,640 churches, they'll teach, well, the reason you're not healed is 415 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:02,920 you don't have enough faith, right? 416 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,640 You hear that? But there's this element too, 417 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:10,600 that when we come to God, we have to pray believing, and 418 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,000 that's where we struggle. I believe, Lord, help my 419 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,800 unbelief. But God honors belief, simple 420 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:23,760 belief. And so this man is hungry for 421 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,280 the Lord, but he also has something happening in his 422 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:32,800 spirit that Paul recognized that this guy can believe God for 423 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,080 anything right now in his life. And that's rare. 424 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:41,160 That doesn't happen all the time, but he senses that 425 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,600 something can happen here. The Holy Spirit obviously was 426 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,400 speaking to Paul about this. So Paul, think about this. 427 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,040 I mean, sometimes like people came for healing. 428 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,680 They didn't get healed. Other times they got healed. 429 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,360 And I'm sure at times Paul's like, God, I don't know how this 430 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:58,000 works. Why can't it work all the time, 431 00:22:58,440 --> 00:22:59,400 you know? But it doesn't. 432 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,080 And probably the reason it doesn't is, is that we would 433 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,280 think we had something to do with it, right? 434 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,320 Do you ever pray and really believe and you see God do 435 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,240 something and touch someone and you're like, wow, you know, I'm 436 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,680 going to do this all the time. And then the next time you pray 437 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,880 and it doesn't happen and you're like, why did it happen the one 438 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,720 time and why didn't it happen the other time? 439 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,160 That's the mystery of God and his plan, his sovereign plan. 440 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,560 So he says to this guy, and this would take some real faith on 441 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,840 Paul's part. Stand up straight on your feet. 442 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:31,200 And he leaped and he walked. Now, what if Paul would have 443 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,320 said, stand up straight on your feet and then nothing happened? 444 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,720 That would be somewhat like embarrassing, I guess. 445 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,680 And they say, well, why did you say that? 446 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:45,280 I don't know why I said that. I just was hoping or maybe, but 447 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,120 somehow, you know, again, God's sovereignty, there was such an 448 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:52,000 complete evidence that something miraculous was going to happen 449 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,880 here, that God did something miraculous. 450 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,200 Thanks for joining us on this journey through Acts. 451 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,200 On today's edition of Living Waters of Grace, Pastor Clark 452 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,280 shares that one of the most remarkable things about the book 453 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,880 of Acts is how it shows the disciples transformation. 454 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:14,760 The followers of Jesus we meet here are very different from the 455 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,560 often confused and fearful disciples in the Gospels. 456 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,680 After Jesus's death and resurrection, and especially 457 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,840 through the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles experienced 458 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,320 a profound change in their hearts and boldness. 459 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,120 Their faith became unwavering, and they move forward with 460 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:38,280 courage to spread the gospel despite opposition and hardship. 461 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,080 Acts reminds us that the same Spirit who empowered them is at 462 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:47,800 work in US today, shaping our hearts and giving us strength to 463 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,680 live boldly for Christ. Living Waters of Grace is a 464 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,240 ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland. 465 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,920 If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we invite you to join us 466 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:02,560 this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 467 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:07,200 Unit 6B. Visit calvarychapelonline.com 468 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,040 For more information where you can also join our e-mail list, 469 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:15,720 submit prayer requests, give online and download our mobile 470 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,200 app. If you are in the Greensburg 471 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,640 area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency. 472 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,160 Pray about helping support the new station that will reach 473 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,640 thousands more listeners. Send gifts to Grace FMPO Box 474 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:37,000 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. If you can join us in person, 475 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,960 you can subscribe to the Calvary Chapel Westmoreland YouTube 476 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,640 channel so you'll be alerted when new material becomes 477 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,920 available. We're so grateful that you 478 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,080 joined us today in Acts. TuneIn again soon for another 479 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,360 edition of Living Waters of Grace.