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 --> 00:00:40,960 I enjoy, I'm sure you do do, telling people what you were 6 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,880 like before you were a Christian, because aren't you 7 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,200 glad that you're not the same way anymore? 8 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,720 The good news is that your life's been changed and it's 9 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,120 still being changed. We can look back and say, man, 10 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,400 I, I was a scoundrel. I was this, I was that, and all 11 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,000 those things are true. But God chooses to forgive us 12 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,440 and to give us a new life and to remember our sin no more. 13 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,720 And there's nothing like that, is there? 14 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,160 It would be a pretty boring story if I said Once Upon a time 15 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,800 I woke up, ate breakfast, did my chores, went to work, came home 16 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:18,280 and went to bed. The end. 17 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:22,320 Every good story needs some kind of Arc to it. 18 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,280 It needs some kind of tension and resolution. 19 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,720 Today in Pastor Clark's message, he encourages you to tell others 20 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,240 this story of how Christ completely changed your life. 21 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:38,000 No matter what that story is, I know it has a beautiful arc to 22 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,400 it that once you were dead in sin and now have been made alive 23 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,400 in Christ. Now here's Pastor Clark in the 24 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:49,560 book of Acts Chapter 21 with today's edition of Living Waters 25 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,240 of Grace. We are in the book of the Acts 26 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,880 today. If you turn in your Bibles to 27 00:01:54,880 --> 00:02:00,080 Acts chapter 21, I want to read the last few verses of the 21st 28 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,080 chapter to get us up to speed on what we're going to talk about 29 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,120 in chapter 22. So let's pray Father, we just 30 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,039 thank you Lord again for the scriptures that guide us, that 31 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,320 show us Lord, your will, that direct us Lord and everyday 32 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,000 life. God, you speak to us through 33 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,680 your word and we're so grateful that your Holy Spirit is with us 34 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,480 today and you are the teacher Holy Spirit and our hearts are 35 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,680 open to hear what it is you want us to understand how it relates 36 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:33,760 not any to history and and the relevance of everything written 37 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,640 in the scriptures, but also how it can apply to our lives today. 38 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,480 So God be glorified and blessed Lord your people. 39 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,280 And we ask these things in Jesus name, Amen. 40 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:50,240 So in verse 37 it says, then as Paul was about to be LED into 41 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,840 the barracks, he said to the commander, May I speak to you? 42 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,400 And he replied, Can you speak Greek? 43 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:00,520 Are you not the Egyptian whom some time ago stirred up a 44 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,760 rebellion and LED the 4000 assassins out into the 45 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,880 wilderness? But Paul said, I am a Jew from 46 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:12,880 Tarsus and Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city, and I implore you, 47 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:14,840 permit me to speak to the people. 48 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,040 So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the 49 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,120 stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. 50 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,360 And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the 51 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:29,000 Hebrew language, saying there was a big riot in Jerusalem 52 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,480 because of Paul and his influence with the Gentile 53 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:35,920 Christians. The Jewish people were very 54 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,240 uptight that Paul was spending time with Gentiles. 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,280 The Jewish people didn't like Gentiles. 56 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,040 There was a lot of prejudice. They didn't think they were 57 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:50,280 worthy of knowing the Messiah, let alone being brought into the 58 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,120 the church. And so Paul suffered a lot of 59 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,240 struggles because of his position and his call by Jesus 60 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,840 Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles. 61 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,840 And yet he he did love the Jews. And so in order to communicate 62 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,480 to the Jewish people, he spoke to them in their own dialect. 63 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,160 Now, Greek was the primary language that people spoke, but 64 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,040 he was going to speak to the Jewish people because their 65 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,560 heart language was Hebrew. And I found out like down 66 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:20,839 through the years when I was trained to be a missionary, 67 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,800 Cindy and I many years ago, that when you went into an area that 68 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:29,080 had a national language, whether it was French or German or 69 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,920 Indian or whatever, every people group would have their own 70 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,280 special dialect. You know, like in Pittsburgh, 71 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,200 it's Yens, right? If you're from Pittsburgh, you 72 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,360 know Yens, how Yens doing today? You say that somewhere else. 73 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,280 No one knows what you mean. But if you say that, they say, 74 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,800 oh, he's from Pittsburgh. He knows like what I think and 75 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:49,160 what I like and all that kind of stuff. 76 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,320 So to speak to the Jewish people in the Hebrew language was a 77 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,480 great way to get to their heart. So as we study in chapter 22 78 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,880 today, we're going to learn a little bit about again, Paul's 79 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:09,120 position and how he led his life many times, obviously under the 80 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,480 Lord's authority, but there was times when he led himself like 81 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,640 we do too. Paul was warned several times by 82 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,200 the Holy Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. 83 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,800 And I don't know about you, but sometimes the Lord tells you and 84 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,920 I not to do certain things and His will when we see it in the 85 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:28,680 Word. But do you ever not listen to 86 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,720 the Lord? I mean, we all have those times 87 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,680 where we think we know better. We're going to do what we think 88 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,280 is right. And so the Lord allows us, gives 89 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:39,960 us that liberty to, to make decisions. 90 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,760 And I remember growing up as a young man and I'd get in jams 91 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,480 once in a while and my parents would always say, well, you 92 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,520 brought this on yourself. You can't blame it on anybody 93 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,640 else. You brought this on yourself by 94 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,040 the decisions you've made, and we all can make a decision 95 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:57,440 sometimes that aren't that great. 96 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,760 So we're going to see a little bit about the jam that Paul was 97 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,760 in because he was warned not to go here. 98 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,520 Nonetheless, he went here anyway. 99 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:11,040 Now, as he's speaking to these people, they're they're pretty 100 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,720 uptight. It's a mob situation here and 101 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,880 starts out in verse one, brethren, Paul speaking, the 102 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,400 specific police force at the time was called the Antonio 103 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,640 Fortress and so on the Temple Mount, there was an elevated 104 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,640 area where there was a lot of soldiers, especially at the time 105 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,840 of Pentecost, because things could get out of control quite 106 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:36,960 easily and people would start to ride and do all kind of things. 107 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,800 So they had to have a multitude of soldiers there to keep people 108 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:43,360 in line. And so this is the folks that 109 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:48,320 came to Pauls rescue when the people wanted to basically kill 110 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,320 Paul. And so they gave him an 111 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,040 opportunity to seize up on the steps there with these soldiers 112 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,040 to speak to the crowd. Now this was Pauls dream, to 113 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,040 speak to his own people about the Lord Jesus Christ the 114 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:06,240 Messiah, to tell them what he had done for Paul. 115 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,280 And so he says, Brothers and fathers, hear my defense before 116 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,480 you now. Now the defense he has is from 117 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,800 the Greek word apologia, meaning apologetics. 118 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,360 That's where we get our word to serve the Lord and always be 119 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:25,320 willing to, as it says in Jude 3 verse 3, only 1 chapter in Jude 120 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:29,520 verse 3, content earnestly for the faith that was once 121 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,800 delivered to the Saints. So every time you and I are in a 122 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,600 position where people want to argue or disagree or not listen 123 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,640 to what it is we have to say about our relationship with 124 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,160 Jesus, we're like Paul. We're going to give a defense of 125 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,160 the faith that is really important for people to know 126 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,560 about. And so Paul is in the process 127 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,880 here of beginning to give this defense. 128 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,480 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew 129 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,560 language, they kept all the more silence. 130 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,280 So as I said, they were hearing Paul speak in their own heart 131 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:04,080 language, and they were tuned in. 132 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:11,200 Then he said, I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but 133 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,480 brought up in the city at the feet of Gemaliel. 134 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:20,040 Gamelio was the famous rabbi who taught people about the Old 135 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,040 Testament and the history of the nation of Israel. 136 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,760 Highly respected teacher, Paul was trained by Gamelio, and he 137 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,920 taught according to the strictness of our Father's law 138 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:33,640 and was zealous toward God as you are today. 139 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,120 So Paul's complimenting them even though they don't know 140 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:40,000 Jesus yet and they are having a difficult time with Paul's 141 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:45,600 position with the Gentiles, their understanding that Paul 142 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:49,640 was once like them and and he's trying to become all things to 143 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,400 all people. He's trying to find a bridge 144 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,320 where he can talk to them and they'll be open minded to listen 145 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,400 to what he has to say as opposed to trying to alienate them. 146 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,680 And that's something we can learn from whenever we're 147 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,440 talking to people about the Lord. 148 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,880 Got to find places of commonality, especially in 149 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:08,840 regard to the way you used to live before you came to know 150 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,200 Jesus, because everybody that doesn't know Jesus is living 151 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,800 usually in ways that are contrary to the will of God and 152 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:17,320 the Scriptures. They don't know any better 153 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,920 because they're lost. And so you have to have a place 154 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,480 of meeting them and just not pounding them with the gospel. 155 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,640 You have to find a way into their hearts. 156 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,760 And this is what Paul's attempting to do here. 157 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:32,080 And he's telling them that he was taught by someone who 158 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,680 believed the very same things that they believed. 159 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,760 And, and honored the Jewish tradition, the Old Testament 160 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,080 law. And there was this rumor going 161 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,920 around that Paul didn't respect the Old Testament law or Moses 162 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,360 or their traditions. That was never true. 163 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,800 Paul was a Jew and he still allowed himself to be a 164 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,000 participant in some of their traditions. 165 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,480 There anything Paul was upset about in regard to how the Jews 166 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,760 understood the truth of God was that they didn't believe that 167 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:07,120 Jesus was a Messiah #1 and #2 the Jews, and to this point 168 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,680 would be believing to the point that they have to do something 169 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:16,600 themselves in order to receive forgiveness from Elohim, the God 170 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,840 of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They have to do works. 171 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,160 They have to follow kosher rule, they have to follow all the 172 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,760 laws. They think their justification 173 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:30,120 comes by the works of the law. And we know in the New Covenant 174 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,160 that the Lord knew it would be impossible for any of us to 175 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:37,840 become justified or forgiven based upon something we would do 176 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,880 or some rules we would follow, like the 10 commandments. 177 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,400 We honor the 10 commandments, but we break the 10 178 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:46,480 commandments. Every one of us have broken the 179 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,360 10 commandments. We still break them at times. 180 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,200 We've broken all 10 and you might say, well, I've never 181 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,840 murdered anybody with the Bible says if you hate someone, you've 182 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:58,600 already murdered them in your heart. 183 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:03,800 That's pretty radical, isn't it? He says that's not commit 184 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,000 adultery. But if you've ever looked upon a 185 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,200 woman with less men, I'm sure everyone of you have had that 186 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:11,640 problem. I know I have. 187 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,880 And you got to ask the Lord to help you right all the time and 188 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,040 keep your eyes looking in the right direction, right. 189 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,000 He says if you look at a woman with less in your heart, heart, 190 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,480 what have you done? You've committed adultery from 191 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,160 God's perspective. Now you might be self-righteous 192 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,360 and say, well I never did it all the way. 193 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:32,800 Well, God looks at the heart and the heart is desperately wicked 194 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,560 and it needs redeemed. No matter what you think about 195 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,880 your own heart. God sees our heart as being 196 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,280 impure, and that's why he had to send a Savior to die and forgive 197 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,280 us and pay the price for our sin on the cross by shedding His 198 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,560 blood. We're all forgiven if we've come 199 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:53,320 to Christ and trusted in what He's done for us and received 200 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,640 that forgiveness of his blood, cleansing us from all of our sin 201 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,440 and all of our unrighteousness. And He's justified us because of 202 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,400 what Christ has done, not by anything we could do. 203 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,000 So this is the whole message of what Paul wants to communicate 204 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,600 to them. So he tells them, I was zealous 205 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:12,600 toward God just as you are today. 206 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,320 So he's complimenting them for their zeal in regard to what 207 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,440 they believe the truth is, and then he begins to tell them a 208 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,920 little bit more about his life in verse 4I persecuted this way 209 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:28,160 to the death. In other words, the way is the 210 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,880 capital WAY is the a gospel of Jesus Christ and everybody 211 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,240 identified with Christianity as the way and it's right here the 212 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,560 way WAY Jesus said I am the way I am the truth. 213 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,280 I am the life. No man comes to the Father but 214 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,640 by me. And so Paul hated people that 215 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,480 proclaimed the way he binded them and delivered them into 216 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,600 prisons, both men and women, as also the high priest bears me 217 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:58,320 witness on all the counsels of the elders from whom I also 218 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,760 received letters to the brethren and went to Damascus to bring in 219 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:06,400 change, even those who were there to Jerusalem to be 220 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,280 punished. So Paul was a bad dude. 221 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,360 He hated Christians and he was involved in in persecuting them. 222 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,200 And so he's telling them what he was like his life before Christ. 223 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:22,760 And I enjoy, I'm sure you do do, telling people what you were 224 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,600 like before you were a Christian, because aren't you 225 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,840 glad that you're not the same way anymore? 226 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,280 The good news is that your life's been changed and it's 227 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,560 still being changed. We can look back and say, man, 228 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:39,760 I, I was a scoundrel. I was this, I was that. 229 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:44,240 And all those things are true, but God chooses to forgive us 230 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,600 and to give us a new life and to remember our sin no more. 231 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,920 And there's nothing like that, is there? 232 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:51,720 And that's good news. That's what you want to tell 233 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,160 people that are all hung up in their sin and bondage and 234 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,320 depressed and discouraged and overwhelmed and drinking and 235 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,280 drugging, trying to kill the pain or whatever, because 236 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:02,920 they're hopeless. They don't think there's an 237 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,000 answer. And sin has a way of damaging 238 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,120 life and it ruins people's lives. 239 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,160 And so Paul's whole focus here is to tell them, this is the way 240 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:12,760 I was. But let me tell you what God 241 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,040 did. So it happened in verse 6 as I 242 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,240 journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon. 243 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,720 Paul was just living his life like he always did every day. 244 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,160 Little did he know that God was going to intervene and change 245 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,800 the very course of his life for the rest of his life. 246 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,720 Suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me and I 247 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,920 fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, 248 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:44,600 why are you persecuting me? So right away they're able to 249 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:49,200 think as they're hearing this, that Paul did what we're doing 250 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:53,200 right now to Paul, you wonder how they they process that. 251 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:55,000 How are they thinking about that? 252 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:59,920 And he's beginning to tell them the story of how he had become a 253 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:02,800 Christian. And this is a witness. 254 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,000 And you can learn about witnessing your faith by this 255 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,440 reading this chapter. How did Paul talk about what 256 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,320 happened to him? You and I can do the very same 257 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,040 thing, and I'm sure many of you have. 258 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,920 When you have an opportunity to have a conversation with someone 259 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,760 about your faith, you tell them how you came to know Jesus 260 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,280 Christ. And this is exactly what he's 261 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,920 doing. He's being a witness and telling 262 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,040 the story of what the Lord had done for him. 263 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,320 And so he hears this voice, Who are you, Lord? 264 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:36,840 He says to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are 265 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,240 persecuting. Now, you got to keep in mind 266 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,200 that the Jewish people did not believe that Jesus was the 267 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,320 Messiah. They think it's a cult. 268 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,120 They think it's a setup. What was taught was that Jesus 269 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,000 really didn't raise again from the dead. 270 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,400 They stole the body and they took him. 271 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,520 And so to this day, it's commonly believed, as it tells 272 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:58,680 us in the gospel by the Jewish people for the most part, that 273 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,840 Jesus was just a good guy, good teacher, but that was it. 274 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,840 The idea of him being raised from the dead is is not true. 275 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,520 That's what they believe. And so those who were with me 276 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,000 indeed saw the light. So he had witnesses around him 277 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,680 when this was occurring, and they were afraid. 278 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,280 They saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of him who 279 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,360 spoke to me. So in other words, they knew 280 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,760 there was some kind of noise, but they couldn't articulate 281 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,080 what the noise meant. Only Paul understood what was 282 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,040 being said because God was speaking directly to Paul. 283 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,040 So I said, what shall I do, Lord? 284 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,960 And that was the big question. What should I do now that I know 285 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:42,480 that your Messiah I know that you got me and that I'm in need 286 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,120 of a savior and that that you're the truth and the one that I've 287 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,080 been persecuting and the one I've been hating and the people 288 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:53,240 that followed him that I've been persecuting, I know messed up in 289 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:54,560 my life. I need help. 290 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,280 What do what do I do? What a beautiful simple 291 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,320 question. I said, what shall I do Lord? 292 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,599 And the Lord said to me, arise and go into Damascus and there 293 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:08,880 you will be told all things which are appointed for you to 294 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,560 do. The Lord, when he works in our 295 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:17,640 lives, He never shows us way down the road like what life's 296 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,280 going to look like in the future. 297 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:25,599 None of us know the journey. We're just told to follow the 298 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:30,120 Lord and the trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and not 299 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:33,200 to lean into our own understanding and all our ways. 300 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,240 Acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths and the problem 301 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,120 we all have. I know I have at times is that I 302 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:43,520 don't let him many times direct my path. 303 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,240 I think I need to direct it or I think I know what's best. 304 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,680 And whenever we choose to follow our own will or our own 305 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:57,000 direction, it never really works out best because God has a 306 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,840 perfect will and a perfect plan. And so it tells us in Hebrews 307 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:08,640 that the just shall live by faith, and you can't please God 308 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:13,400 unless you walk by faith. Those who come to God, it tells 309 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,760 us in Hebrews, must first believe that he is and that he's 310 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,240 a rewarder, those who diligently seek him. 311 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:25,880 And so God expects from me a diligence in my heart to learn 312 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,320 how to follow him in a deeper way every day of my life. 313 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,760 And so he's asking God what he's supposed to do. 314 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,000 And the Lord this tells him, you just do this first thing and 315 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,480 then you'll find out what's going to be appointed for you to 316 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,080 do. And since I could not see for 317 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,960 the glory in verse 11 of that night being led by the hand of 318 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,960 those who were with me, I came into Damascus. 319 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:56,480 And so he's in this place right now that he can't see anything, 320 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:58,960 but he's really seeing everything for the first time 321 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,920 because Christ is shown him who he is. 322 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:07,360 He's become a follower of the Messiah, which is miraculous. 323 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:12,480 The least likely person to become a Christian would be Saul 324 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:15,520 of Tarsus. And there might be people in 325 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,080 your life, your family, your world, that you think is 326 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,720 impossible to ever become a believer. 327 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:27,880 Don't think that way because God is able to do anything, and when 328 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:32,080 He chooses to come after someone and work in their life, no one's 329 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,800 going to stop that. No one can prevent it. 330 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,800 It's just a beautiful thing of God's sovereign hand and how he 331 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,360 moves, how he works, So he's told. 332 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:45,480 He comes in verse 12 to a certain Ananias, A devout man 333 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,960 according to the law. This man that Paul was the first 334 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:54,320 encounter was a Jew. He followed the law. 335 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:57,960 He had a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there. 336 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,640 So in other words, Paul didn't find some cult leader to work 337 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,040 with in his new encounter with the Messiah. 338 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,680 He was with a credible believer and a credible witness who was 339 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,640 respected by the community of the Jews. 340 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,280 He came to me and he stood and said to me, Brother Saul, 341 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:22,840 receive your sight. And at that same hour I looked 342 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:24,640 up at him. So. 343 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,080 Paul had no ability to physically see because of the 344 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,680 light that had shown on him. He needed a healing. 345 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:36,800 So the Lord sends him to this man called Ananias, and Ananias 346 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:41,360 is able to minister to him and let Paul receive his sight 347 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:44,400 again. Then he said, the God of our 348 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:49,040 fathers has chosen you, that you should know his will and see the 349 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:52,680 just one and hear the voice of his mouth. 350 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:57,120 So God chose Paul just like he's chosen you and me. 351 00:20:57,880 --> 00:20:59,760 You know what God has done for us. 352 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,720 Sometimes I think we don't quite understand it. 353 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,680 It's it's, it's so profound and it happens and we need to 354 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,400 reflect on what this actually means. 355 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,800 It says in Ephesians chapter one, verse 3, blessed be the God 356 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,800 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with 357 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:21,000 every spiritual blessing and the heavenly places in Christ, just 358 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,600 as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. 359 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,120 We've been chosen just like Paul was chosen. 360 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,920 It's awesome. It wasn't by some coincidence or 361 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:40,080 some good luck that we know Jesus and we can follow Him and 362 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:46,600 love Him and serve him. He specifically chose you and me 363 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:51,160 and before we could ever do anything good or bad, says he 364 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,240 chose us before we were even born. 365 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,640 Chose us before the foundation of the world, that we should be 366 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,360 holy and without blame before Him. 367 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:06,600 And love having predestined us to adoption, we became part of 368 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,760 his family as sons by Jesus Christ Himself, according to the 369 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,400 good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His 370 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,680 grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved this 371 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,440 privilege of being chosen by God. 372 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:29,440 And so Paul's chosen by God and he hears the voice of God's 373 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:34,480 mouth, and it says in verse 15, For you will be his witness to 374 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,160 all men of what you've seen and heard. 375 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:43,600 And that's the privilege that Paul has to be a witness to the 376 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,720 gospel of Jesus Christ. Like you and I have been given 377 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,640 this privilege to be a witness. Now, Paul took this seriously, 378 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,200 didn't he? He was a legal counselor, a 379 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,080 Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, a very important 380 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,360 individual in the society at the time. 381 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,720 And after this experience happened, his prestige and his 382 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,360 notoriety and all the great things that people thought about 383 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:12,200 him as a Jew no longer mattered. Matter of fact, he said, I 384 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:17,400 consider all these things of the past loss for the Excellency of 385 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,280 the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. 386 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:26,560 He was willing to be perceived as a loser and a heretic and 387 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,400 anarchist and all these terms of slander that people put on him 388 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,680 that he might please Jesus Christ. 389 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,960 And so this eating of God is spoken through the mouth of 390 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,320 Ananias by the Holy Spirit. As to what Paul's future is 391 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:47,880 going to begin to look like, he says verse 16 And now why are 392 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,720 you waiting and rise and be baptized and wash away your 393 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,320 sins, calling on the name of the Lord? 394 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:00,400 Thanks for joining us on today's edition of Living Waters of 395 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,560 Grace, a ministry of Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland. 396 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,240 Today, Pastor Clark is teaching about the book of Acts. 397 00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:10,760 And as we learn more about Acts, it becomes clear that the early 398 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,760 church didn't miss a single opportunity to share the gospel. 399 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:18,800 In nearly every chapter, you see apostles like Peter and Paul 400 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,640 stepping into conversations, crowds, and crises with 401 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,160 boldness, ready to proclaim the name of Jesus. 402 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,280 Their example challenges us to consider how we might step into 403 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:35,040 gospel moments in our own lives. What doors might God open this 404 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,720 week for you to speak truth, offer hope, or live out your 405 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,000 faith in a way that points others to Him? 406 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,560 The story of Acts reminds us we are part of the same mission. 407 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:49,240 Today, let's live with eyes open and hearts ready to respond. 408 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,080 We hope you are challenged by today's message. 409 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,680 If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to see you in 410 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:00,680 person this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 411 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,160 Unit 6B. For more information, visit 412 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:08,160 calvarychapelonline.com. You can also join our e-mail 413 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,920 list, give online, or submit a prayer request right from the 414 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,160 site. 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