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 --> 00:00:12,680 Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,400 of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,760 Whenever Jesus does that work, when we're born again, we are 6 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,960 given His nature. Even though we still have this 7 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,280 old nature trying to take over every once in a while, we have a 8 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,960 new nature, we have a new life, and not any that the Holy Spirit 9 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,160 comes into our life to live in us at the time we're born again. 10 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,160 And when He's in us, He gives us the ability to live a completely 11 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:02,280 different life. Amen. 12 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,319 We're not perfect, but we're certainly not the way we used to 13 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,920 be, right? Certain things bother us now 14 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,800 that never used to bother us. When you give your life to 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,160 Jesus, He makes you into a new creation. 16 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,160 Your old self has passed away and you've been reborn as a 17 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,440 child of God. Pastor Clark encourages you 18 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,680 today to submit to the process of transformation that the Holy 19 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,680 Spirit is working inside you. It may only seem like baby steps 20 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,520 right now, but once you've been faithfully serving the Lord for 21 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,920 a few years, you'll look back and not be able to recognize 22 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,240 your old self because of how much your life has been changed 23 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,400 by Jesus now. Here's Pastor Clark in Acts 24 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,160 Chapter 19 with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 25 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,600 We are in the book of Acts this morning and we're going to look 26 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:53,520 at Acts chapter 18, the last few verses starting in verse 24, and 27 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,440 then we're going to go into the 1st 10 verses of Acts chapter 28 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,040 19. Acts is a very exciting book 29 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,240 because it's all about the birth of the early church, the New 30 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,880 Testament church, and the work of the Holy Spirit and how He 31 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,000 got things moving in the lives of the Gentiles and the Jewish 32 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,160 people at that particular time. So I find that every time I I 33 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,400 study this book, sometimes I wish I was back in those days, 34 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,680 living in those days. But what's wonderful is that the 35 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,560 the Bible teaches us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and 36 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,040 forever. So the days we're living in are 37 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:29,800 just as good as the days in Acts. 38 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,280 Maybe we don't see as many signs and wonders and miracles, but 39 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,400 they still occur. And they happen when the Lord 40 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,000 decides he wants to use them for his glory. 41 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,960 And we can't make things happen, but God sure can make things 42 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,680 happen, can he any time of the day. 43 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,760 So let's pray as we seek his face. 44 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,600 Father, we're thankful today that we have the word of God. 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,720 And that's why we're here, Lord, to learn more about you, how to 46 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,240 follow you, how to know you, how to experience you in our daily 47 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,160 lives. Thinking this morning isn't you 48 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,160 said to Peter, if you love me, feed my sheep. 49 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:06,880 And Lord, that's what we do here. 50 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,840 We only want to feed your sheep. That's that's what you've called 51 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,760 us to do, no other agenda, no other idea, but just to simply 52 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:16,720 teach your words simply to your people. 53 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,480 We pray, Holy Spirit, today that You would take what is written 54 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,760 here and make it alive for each of us, that we might not only 55 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:28,200 learn and experience You in a new way, but that Lord, when we 56 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,800 leave here today, there would be something different in each of 57 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,440 our lives because we've encountered You in a special way 58 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:35,920 this morning. That's our prayer. 59 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,120 We pray your blessing, Lord, on all those who are struggling and 60 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,960 those who are afflicted and those who are challenged in 61 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,120 life. We think of the world we live in 62 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,640 today and the so many people who are hopeless, Father, so many 63 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,080 people are controlled by addictions and the bondage of 64 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,040 sin and not knowing how to get free, Lord. 65 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,720 And You're the only one that can set us free when we come to You, 66 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,680 whom the sun sets free, the Bible says is free indeed. 67 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,120 So we pray your power today, Lord Jesus, in the midst of your 68 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,800 church all over the earth would be setting captives free and 69 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:13,120 helping us as believers, Lord, not to get stuck and caught up 70 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:17,519 in bondages of addictions or sins again, but to stay close to 71 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:19,320 you and to keep our hearts open to you. 72 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,920 And so, Lord, we just commit this morning to you and we 73 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:28,120 praise you in Jesus name, Amen. So starting in the 18th chapter 74 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,400 chapter, and a 24th verse, I want to read this the rest of 75 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,080 the chapter. Now a certain Jew named Apollos, 76 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,560 born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the 77 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,880 Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in 78 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,640 the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and 79 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,640 taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only 80 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,520 the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in 81 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,440 the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard 82 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,120 him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God 83 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:04,360 more accurately. And when he had desired to cross 84 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,960 to Archaea, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to 85 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,440 receive him. And when he had arrived, he 86 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,560 greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he 87 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,160 vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the 88 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,400 Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. 89 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,120 So Apollo's an interesting man, man who was called by the Lord 90 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,680 to serve him at this particular time. 91 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,960 But there was one problem. He didn't have all the 92 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:32,880 information yet in regard to the Gospel. 93 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,160 He only understood up until the baptism of John. 94 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,760 He was baptized by John and John was on the other side of the 95 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,120 cross. He was still part of the Old 96 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,720 Testament, the covenant. And when John the Baptist came, 97 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,880 he told the Jewish people in the desert, he was crying out a 98 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,600 repent for the remission of sin. And he was the one who came to 99 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,600 to prepare the way of the Lord. And so Apollo's, his whole 100 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,280 formation, if you may, his spiritual development was based 101 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:05,040 upon his experience with John the Baptist. 102 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:10,280 Up until this point, he hadn't really understood that Jesus had 103 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,440 actually come and died on the cross, was crucified and also 104 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,760 resurrected. He wasn't aware of the fact that 105 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,240 the Holy Spirit had come to dwell inside the lives of those 106 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,920 who would believe in Jesus Christ, but he didn't know the 107 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,400 Old Testament Scriptures. He did know that these 108 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:30,360 scriptures prophesize about this event of what had happened in 109 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,600 Pentecost and Jesus and his resurrection. 110 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,080 So in this particular section, we just read it. 111 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,640 Really beautiful. He's preaching the Lord's using 112 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:43,800 him, but up to a certain point. And so Aquila and Priscilla, who 113 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,880 were disciples of the apostle Paul, could sense that he was 114 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,000 missing some information in his preaching. 115 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,440 Wasn't that he was a heretic or he didn't know what he was 116 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,920 talking about. He only knew what he knew 117 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,760 because of only what he had experienced up until this point. 118 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,920 And so it says that they took him aside privately and they 119 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,240 explained to him the way of God more accurately. 120 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,960 And and this is a wonderful thing in the Scriptures and we 121 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,760 see the humility of a servant of God. 122 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,080 All of us are works in process. All of us are learning about the 123 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,880 Lord and the ways of God. And there's not one of us in 124 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,640 here that can say that we know it all right, that we're still 125 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,080 not in process of learning and growing and developing in our 126 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,600 spiritual of life. And Apollo's whenever Priscilla 127 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,120 and Aquila approached him, he said, well, don't you realize 128 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,640 like I'm, I'm part of this Apostolic movement and who are 129 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,040 you to tell me like whatever. No, he humbled himself and he 130 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,240 sat down and he listened. And it says they explained to 131 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:43,600 him more excellently the way of the word of God. 132 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,040 And so he received it at that time and he, I'm sure, was 133 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,360 greatly encouraged because he got the rest of the information. 134 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,040 And so this is really important to realize when we go into 135 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,600 chapter 19, because the apostle Paul is going to run into some 136 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:01,120 people that Apollos ministered to before he had the rest of the 137 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,120 information. And so it says in chapter 19, 138 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:08,840 verse one, and it happened when Apollos was at Corinth that Paul 139 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,320 having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. 140 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,800 Now Ephesus was a very prominent city at the time. 141 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,160 Ephesus is is in modern day Turkey today. 142 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,200 That's where that particular city is. 143 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,720 At the particular time though that this was written, it had a 144 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,760 lot of influence. It was about 300,000 people. 145 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,799 It was a port city by the rivers, a very fertile ground. 146 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,440 It was really a place of a sort of a cosmopolitan area of a lot 147 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,520 of people from different backgrounds in the world were 148 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,760 there for people who are into philosophy and a lot of various 149 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:49,960 kind of teachings of, you know, mysticism and various thoughts 150 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,000 of people that really didn't know Jesus. 151 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,000 And, and it was also the center of one of the seven wonders of 152 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,600 the world at the time, Temple of Diana. 153 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:05,080 It was about 425 feet long by about 250 feet wide. 154 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:10,520 It had 127 columns about 50 to 60 feet high. 155 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,320 So it was an amazing structure. People would go to Ephesus just 156 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,320 to see their architecture that was influenced by Athens and all 157 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,280 the Greek scholars and those who knew how to build pretty amazing 158 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,400 structures. It was there, though, 159 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,880 unfortunately, to represent a false God, Diana. 160 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,280 Diana was a concoction of people at that time. 161 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,440 They believed perhaps a meteorite came down and crashed 162 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,960 and they had this, a big stone and they chipped away at it and 163 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,920 they turned it into this horrific looking deity of many 164 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,560 breast. On this particular woman, Diana, 165 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:52,160 she was a fertility God and people would go to worship her 166 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,240 and the temple prostitutes would be there. 167 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,440 Approximately 150 temple prostitutes were available every 168 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,200 day for men to go in and have relations with. 169 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,360 And this is all part of their horrific Pagan religion. 170 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,320 So there was nothing really good about this structure other than 171 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:12,000 it was pretty amazing to see. They even found coins later. 172 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:17,160 This place was destroyed around the 3rd century and by the 173 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,000 Goths, it was completely taken down. 174 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,920 But they did find coins in the area when they did the 175 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:27,120 excavation that on one side had the inscription of this temple, 176 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:32,520 Diana, on the other side Nero. And so, again, just a very 177 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,840 difficult place to be to try to preach the gospel. 178 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,440 But Paul had a real heart to be in Ephesus. 179 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,120 He actually stayed in Ephesus probably longer than any other 180 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,320 city that he had ministered to in his missionary journeys. 181 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,600 This is the third missionary journey now that Paul's on and 182 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,720 he's getting ready to eventually face his martyrdom. 183 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,000 Anyway, he's he's running into these people here. 184 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:59,800 It says he finds some disciples and he says to them, did you 185 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,160 receive the Holy Spirit when you believe? 186 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,200 That's quite a open-ended question, isn't it? 187 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,680 If you don't understand the context of what was being talked 188 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:12,320 about prior to this, you might think, well, is there something 189 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,320 maybe I'm missing in my life, or have I received the Holy Spirit? 190 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,200 We'll get into that in a minute. But the reason Paul asked them 191 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:25,440 this was that he understood that these people only were impacted 192 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,480 up until the baptism of John, and there was something missing 193 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,200 in them in their lives. The Bible tells us that his 194 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,480 Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we're the sons of 195 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,520 God, sons and daughters of God. You know how you meet someone 196 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,160 for the first time and you just know in your heart they got to 197 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:45,920 be a believer because there's this witness, the Holy Spirit, 198 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:51,320 you to them and them to you. We had a a long day yesterday. 199 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:56,720 16 of us were certified by Red Cross to know how to use the AED 200 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,160 that's on the wall back there and also to do CPR. 201 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,160 So you're in good shape right now, but we don't want to 202 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,920 practice on any of you guys. But what was interesting though, 203 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,600 two of the people there, a couple times they dropped some 204 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,880 names of some people that only Christians would know. 205 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:13,880 And there's a marriage course out there called Love and 206 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,640 Respect. It's really a fun thing to go 207 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:16,760 through. You can Google it. 208 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,360 And it's when men and women, husbands and wives have conflict 209 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,240 in their marriage. This former pastor started this 210 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,240 ministry and talked about how men look through blue glasses 211 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:28,360 and women look through pink glasses. 212 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,560 And our worldview sometimes and how we perceive life is 213 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:33,840 completely different. A woman sees things different 214 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,400 than men. Anyway, this young woman who was 215 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,160 one of the leading trainers, she says, Oh yeah, love and respect 216 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:41,960 or something. So finally at lunch, I asked 217 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:43,920 them if they were believers and they were. 218 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,960 And I just sensed that her and the fellow that that help with 219 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,520 us. But whenever you're around 220 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,920 people that don't know Jesus, you also know that too. 221 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,480 You just censor something missing in their life and so you 222 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:59,360 want to somehow be able to be used to impact them, to tell 223 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,040 them about what the Lord's done for you and how they can also 224 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,720 know Jesus like you do, so that they can have the same wonderful 225 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,040 encounter with the Lord who loves them. 226 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,640 And so Paul's asking them this open-ended question and they 227 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,520 said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy 228 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,520 Spirit. Now John whenever he preached, 229 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,600 it was obvious anybody that was around that he talked about a 230 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:25,800 baptism that would come by Jesus. 231 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,600 And of course, the baptism of the the Holy Spirit of placing a 232 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,080 lost person into the body of Christ is something that only 233 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,640 the work of the Lord can do with the Holy Spirit cooperating with 234 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,400 the Lord through the Father of the Holy Trinity. 235 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,360 But these guys that were here were so clueless that they 236 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,160 didn't even really, and this is hard for me to grasp. 237 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,000 I'm sure you do too. But you got to realize there's 238 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,080 no Internet. There's no newspaper, there's no 239 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,440 telephone. These people are spread out all 240 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,240 over the the known world at the time. 241 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:58,600 And to get news to people took time. 242 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,640 And you had to have people that knew the good news to bring the 243 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,120 good news, right. And Ephesus at this time had 244 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,560 really not anybody like that there. 245 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,640 There was no church there yet. And so Paul's asking them this 246 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,600 question and he said to them, into what then? 247 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,240 Were you baptized? And then here's the big answer. 248 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,720 So they said into John's baptism. 249 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:19,760 So Paul, you know, obviously the light goes on. 250 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,480 Well, they only knew up and to the point of what John the 251 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,840 Baptist had prepared for people to know at the time. 252 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:32,640 Now Jesus was baptized by John and the the picture of what had 253 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:37,680 occurred, the dove ascending from heaven upon the Lord, you 254 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,720 know, baptizing him was was a powerful experience and the 255 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:46,560 voice this is my beloved son and who am I who I am well pleased 256 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,680 and John was so humbled by this whole experience. 257 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,920 Everybody was trying to lift him up as though he was something. 258 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,880 He says I'm not even fit to tie the shoelaces of of Jesus. 259 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,960 I'm this the forerunner. I'm the one that this prepared 260 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:01,880 the way of the Lord, but I'm not the Lord. 261 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,800 Of course, everything took off after Jesus baptism, but these 262 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,440 people here had not experienced what you and I have experienced 263 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:15,160 or Paul at the time. And I was thinking about this 264 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:19,640 this morning preparing as I was getting ready to come in here. 265 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,120 I don't know if you remember what it was like when you didn't 266 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:31,040 know Christ, but I had some flashbacks of thinking about the 267 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:36,000 bondage I was in to live a life of nothing but sin. 268 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:41,320 All I could do was sin. I had no way of stopping sin, 269 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,840 even though my conscience would tell me the things I did were 270 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,880 wrong and not right. I didn't have any power to 271 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,640 change my ways. Down deep inside I knew I needed 272 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,120 to get it together, but I didn't know how to get it together 273 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,680 because I habitually kept living my life in the same pattern 274 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,680 every day. And that's what lost people do. 275 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:04,080 That's what people without Jesus Christ are living like. 276 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,000 They're living under the power and the bondage of sin. 277 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,640 They don't have the ability to to break out of it. 278 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,920 Now they might go get some counseling or try to get some 279 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,400 help that way, but that's temporary. 280 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,440 That's like a Band-Aid because you, you have a corrupt, fallen 281 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,360 Pagan nature. And no matter how much you try 282 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,760 to do good, you, you can't be good enough ever to be accepted 283 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,520 to God. You need Jesus to save you from 284 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,760 your sin and you need to come to the point in your life that you 285 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,080 realize you need to be saved from yourself sin. 286 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:40,640 I knew when I was 20 years old that I needed a miracle of some 287 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:45,360 sort to Get Me Out of the pattern of life I was living and 288 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,720 I hated it. I would go to bed at night and I 289 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,440 would this be in such despair and depression and 290 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:56,200 discouragement of my addictions to so many different things that 291 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,400 were not right. And it wasn't till Jesus Christ 292 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:06,240 came into my life and I was given the gospel and I realized 293 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:11,319 that He died for my sin to save me and to forgive me, but also 294 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:15,000 to free me from my sin. That's the big missing 295 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:16,760 connection. Sometimes when we preach the 296 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:18,960 gospel, we tell people to believe on Jesus. 297 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,839 He'll forgive you of your sin. You go to heaven and you don't 298 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,000 have to worry about going to hell and he loves you and all 299 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,480 those things are true, but you have to 1st realize that you're 300 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,280 a Sinner and that you need to turn from your sin. 301 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,760 That's called repentance and that you need Christ to do a 302 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,000 miracle in your life so that you don't stay stuck in your sin, 303 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,080 right? And whenever Jesus does that 304 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:46,840 work, when we're born again, we are given his nature, even 305 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,720 though we still have this old nature trying to take over every 306 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,920 once in a while, we have a new nature, we have a new life, and 307 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,240 not any that the Holy Spirit comes into our life to live in 308 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:01,160 us at the time we're born again. And when he's in us, he gives us 309 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,440 the ability to live a completely different life. 310 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:05,400 Amen. We're not perfect, but we're 311 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,400 certainly not the way we used to be, right? 312 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,760 Certain things bother us now that never used to bother us. 313 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,400 And there's certain things that we used to do that we detest 314 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,160 now. And there's no longer, we, we no 315 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,640 longer can do them. That's the work and the power of 316 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,360 the Holy Spirit. So these people that Paul's 317 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:25,000 speaking to, they have this desire to believe, but they're 318 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,720 missing these key ingredients. They're missing the power of the 319 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,120 cross and the and the resurrection, and they're also 320 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:35,280 missing this power of the Holy Spirit Spirit, God the Holy 321 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,280 Spirit, because they haven't received him yet. 322 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,640 And so Paul says to them, John in verse 4, indeed baptized with 323 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,400 the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they 324 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,600 should believe on him who would come after him, that is on 325 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:52,160 Christ Jesus. So they were prepared to believe 326 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,640 in the Messiah. Apollos preached the fact that 327 00:18:55,840 --> 00:19:00,160 John proclaimed the baptism of repentance, being prepared for 328 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:04,000 the one who was prophesized in the Old Testament to be the 329 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,280 Messiah. OK, but the Messiah has now 330 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,640 already come. He's been crucified, He's been 331 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,680 buried, He's been resurrected and the Holy Spirit came down 332 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:18,600 upon the church in the 2nd chapter of Acts at Pentecost to 333 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,560 begin to dwell inside the life of the believer for the first 334 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,400 time. And the Old Testament, the Holy 335 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:28,000 Spirit came upon people and then he would take off when they 336 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,840 offended him or they sinned. The, the, the power of the Holy 337 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:34,720 Spirit. Even in the the times of Gospel 338 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,960 when Jesus was walking, the Spirit was working in and 339 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,320 through Christ. And Jesus even said that the 340 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,800 apostles at one time received the Holy Spirit and he blown on 341 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,920 them the, the wind of the Spirit and they, they sensed the 342 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,640 presence of God, but there was no indwelling of the Holy Spirit 343 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,120 until Pentecost. This is the great teaching of of 344 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,920 the book of the Acts, the power of the Spirit, God the Holy 345 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:02,040 Spirit coming to indwell in US and to stay in US and to be the 346 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:07,440 guarantee of our salvation and the reality of our experience 347 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,840 being real until the day that we're taken out of here. 348 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:15,240 So Paul said yes, John and Dee baptized with the baptism 349 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,560 repentance. Saying to the people that they 350 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,640 should believe on him who would come after him, that is on 351 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,640 Christ Jesus. So they're already in man. 352 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,200 They're like ready. OK, so when they heard this, 353 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,560 they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 354 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,880 They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 355 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,200 Many of you, I trust, hopefully all of you who are born again 356 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:39,360 have been baptized in water. Baptism does not save you, but 357 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:42,760 it is a confirmation that you have been saved because it's the 358 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,520 first sign of obedience after you become a believer. 359 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,360 For Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel into 360 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:52,200 every living creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father 361 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,040 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 362 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:56,880 And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. 363 00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:59,280 And baptism is, is an awesome thing. 364 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,240 When you get baptized and some of you have had the privilege of 365 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,640 baptized, baptizing it, you come out of the water, smile and it's 366 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,800 just like it's just a blessing because you're doing what it is 367 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,840 that Jesus told us to do. That's the first sign after you 368 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,120 become a Christian that I want to follow you Lord. 369 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,800 And when you're baptized, you're identifying with his death as 370 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,920 you go into the water, his burial, and then as you come out 371 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,120 of the water, his resurrection. You're affirming, I believe that 372 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:28,080 Christ Jesus is my Lord, that he died for my sins and he was 373 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,720 buried on the on the 3rd and he rose again on the third day 374 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,520 according to the Scriptures. And how how awesome is that? 375 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:39,000 You know, to be able to identify with the with the Lord Jesus. 376 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,440 A matter of fact, in the book of the Acts, when people were 377 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,680 riding down on their carts and their horses and all that kind 378 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,800 of stuff, they could always tell that something was special was 379 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,440 going on when they saw people being baptized in the water. 380 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,600 And they would say those people are of the way, the way, the way 381 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,880 of the cross, the way of Jesus, as he's the one that says, I am 382 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,200 the way I am the truth. I'm the life. 383 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,960 No man come to the Father but through me. 384 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,800 And so this is an exciting time for these people. 385 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,600 Now they're they're they've been baptized in the name of Jesus. 386 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,280 And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the 387 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:15,960 Lord. And when Paul had laid his hands 388 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:21,040 on them, and this is really important to understand the 389 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:26,560 laying on of hands is a wonderful ministry and blessing 390 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,880 that we can all do for one another. 391 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,600 You pray for someone, you, you, you're compelled to lay hands on 392 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,760 them. There's nothing empowering in my 393 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,600 hands or your hands, But it's a it's a sign of a blessing and a 394 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:42,200 sign of contact that you just want to bring comfort. 395 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:47,320 And the Bible talks about the this movement of the Holy Spirit 396 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,640 through the elders and the leaders of the church, that if 397 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,920 any are sick among you, let him call upon the elders of the 398 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,760 church that they may anoint them with oil and pray for them. 399 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:58,320 And they lay hands on them, pray for them. 400 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,240 And sometimes there's healings that occur. 401 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,520 Sometimes God chooses to bring healing, but there's no 402 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,480 guarantee that healing comes every time we lay hands on 403 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,200 someone or every time we anoint someone. 404 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,320 The Bible tells us in First Corinthians 12 that the Holy 405 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:17,880 Spirit gives gifts, gifts of healing, gifts of all kind of 406 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:22,160 things in the Bible, that He does these things severally as 407 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,320 He wills. Not as I will, not as you will, 408 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,920 OK, but as God wills. But in the apostles, they were 409 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,880 special group of people. There's no more apostles. 410 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,720 Now some people claim to be apostles, but there is no 411 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,400 apostles in the sense of what was ordained by Christ. 412 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,720 Apostles had to be eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ in his life 413 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,760 physically. OK, that was the first and it 414 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,080 gives the signs of the apostles in in Hebrews. 415 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,280 They were gifted to do miraculous signs and wonders. 416 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,400 This was the sign of authentic apostles. 417 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,240 We're so glad you joined us today on this edition of Living 418 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,240 Waters of Grace. Pastor Clark is teaching through 419 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,560 the Book of Acts, which is the only book that chronicles the 420 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,360 history of the early church immediately after Jesus's 421 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,560 ascension. It gives us a front row seat to 422 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,800 how the Gospel began to move outward, starting in Jerusalem 423 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,720 and reaching into the heart of the Roman Empire. 424 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:24,200 In just three decades, a small group of frightened ordinary 425 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,960 believers became a bold, spirit empowered movement that 426 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,120 transformed the known world. Acts is not just a history 427 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:35,840 lesson, it's a reminder of what God can do when His people are 428 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,640 surrendered, obedient, and filled with the Holy Spirit. 429 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,440 And their perseverance still inspires us today. 430 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,920 May we follow their example and live faithfully for Christ in 431 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,280 our own time. We hope today's message 432 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,040 encouraged you. Living Waters of Grace is a 433 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,840 ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland. 434 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,280 If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to have you join 435 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,960 us in person. Our Sunday service begins at 436 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:08,360 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St., Unit 6B. 437 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,080 Be sure to visit calvarychapelonline.com to 438 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,440 confirm times and learn more. If you are in the Greensburg 439 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:20,320 area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency. 440 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,320 Please pray about supporting this outreach. 441 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:31,280 Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO, Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. 442 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:35,840 Stay connected through Facebook, YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel 443 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,360 Westmoreland app. Join our e-mail list, submit 444 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:45,600 prayer requests, and give online all at calvarychapelonline.com. 445 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,400 Thank you for tuning in and spending this time in God's 446 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,360 Word. Be sure to join us again for 447 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:52,000 Living Waters of Grace.