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 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:41,320 You know, it blows my mind and humbles me, but I get a chance 6 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:48,360 to talk about this Holy Savior Jesus Christ as a sinful man to 7 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:54,400 you as sinful people. God chooses to use broken 8 00:00:54,400 --> 00:01:00,840 people, people whose lives have been messed up, people who have 9 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,920 done heinous things like Paul proclaimed himself what he had 10 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:06,520 done in the kind of life he lived. 11 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,880 Have you ever noticed how different people that God used 12 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,360 in the Bible were never the ones you would pick? 13 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,160 Moses had a stutter. Jacob was a con man. 14 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,560 Rahab was a prostitute. David was an adulterous 15 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,080 murderer. Paul persecuted and killed 16 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:26,200 Christians. Do you see what I mean? 17 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,880 God used all of those people despite their shortcomings. 18 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,160 Today, Pastor Clark wants you to know that God doesn't pick 19 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,880 people for their ability or personality, but for their 20 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,840 availability. Are you available to be used by 21 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,080 God now? Here's Pastor Clark in Acts 22 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,120 Chapter 22 with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 23 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:53,440 He says in verse 16, and now why are you waiting and rise and be 24 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,320 baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the 25 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,640 Lord. And what's interesting here is 26 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,960 that Paul is chosen. He's already saved. 27 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:06,640 He's already believed on the Lord. 28 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,039 It isn't baptism. It's going to wash away his 29 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:11,760 sins. The translation is a little bit 30 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:16,200 hard to understand and how it came across into the Greek, but 31 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,120 basically what it means is that you call upon the name of the 32 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,480 Lord, then you're baptized. You don't get baptized until 33 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,960 you're a Christian. Baptism doesn't precede the born 34 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,400 again experience. A born again experience occurs 35 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,800 first. You're washed in the blood of 36 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,680 Jesus, of your sin, and the water represents this cleansing, 37 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,400 but has no power in itself to cleanse you of your sin. 38 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,440 Baptism is an outward sign of what's happened inwardly. 39 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,360 And so now Paul is going to be baptized, and that's important. 40 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,240 If you've become a believer and you haven't been baptized yet, 41 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,440 you need to be baptized because that's obedience to the Lord. 42 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,600 So now it happened. When I returned to Jerusalem and 43 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,360 was praying in the temple, I was in a trance. 44 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:07,920 So the time between the words of Ananias and this time of being 45 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:11,200 in Jerusalem now in verse 17 was about three years. 46 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,920 Paul went into the desert of Arabia and he heard the Lord 47 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:20,240 speak to him and teach him about the Old Testament and all the 48 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,600 things that began to be part of what the New Testament would be 49 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,360 proclaiming as the message of the gospel that Paul had 50 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:33,000 received from the Lord himself. And so he's, he's explaining now 51 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,520 he's coming back after that period of time. 52 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,560 And when I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the 53 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:43,360 temple that I was in a trance. This idea of a trance, this is 54 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,560 somewhat rare and very unusual. And in regard to biblical 55 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,400 teaching, there's only three people in the New Testament that 56 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,000 had a trance. That was Apostle Paul, Apostle 57 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,560 Peter, and Apostle John in the Book of Revelation. 58 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,280 Peter, when he had the vision and the trance, when he was 59 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,960 sitting up on the roof praying in the hours of prayer, and he 60 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:10,040 was able to see through the vision of these animals that 61 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:14,840 would be perceived as being not good to eat because they weren't 62 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,360 kosher. God saying don't reject 63 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,279 anything. All this food is given for good. 64 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,280 And so Peter was released from that bondage of Judaism at the 65 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:26,680 time. So here we are, Paul's having 66 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:32,040 this experience and he senses the Lord speaking to him and he 67 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,440 hears this direction here. Make haste and get out of 68 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,200 Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony 69 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,200 concerning me. Now, this is prior to what was 70 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,320 happening right now and what we're reading about. 71 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,280 It sort of blows my mind that he was warned by God himself not 72 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:51,320 to, you know, get out of Jerusalem. 73 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:53,880 And Paul, I'm sure, man, I just want to be here and tell him 74 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,040 what what you did for me and give him my testimony. 75 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:59,400 He's saying they're not going to receive your testimony and 76 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:00,560 they're going to want to kill you. 77 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,320 Get out of Jerusalem. Well, guess what? 78 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:05,400 He's here in Jerusalem right now. 79 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,800 He's already been told several times by the Holy Spirit not to 80 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,800 go there, and he wants to give his testimony and he's given it 81 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:13,880 now. And you're going to see they're 82 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:15,400 not going to receive it here either. 83 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,160 So be encouraged, you know, whenever you're telling people 84 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:20,960 about your relationship with the Lord and they don't want to hear 85 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,120 it. Paul didn't have a successful 86 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,720 day every day of his life when he was preaching. 87 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,960 In this instance, it's just really, really difficult. 88 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,720 So I said, Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned 89 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:35,480 and beat those who believe in you. 90 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,720 And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed and he 91 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,200 was the first martyr in the New Testament. 92 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:43,760 You remember reading about that earlier in the book act. 93 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,720 I was also standing by consenting to his death and 94 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,240 guarding his clothes, the clothes of those who were 95 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,880 killing him. Then he said to me, depart, for 96 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:55,160 I will send you far from here to the Gentiles. 97 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,200 So Paul's trying to argue with the Lord there a little bit and 98 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,800 regard to leaving Jerusalem and said, man, I just want to tell 99 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,480 him, you know, like what I was like and how I was responsible 100 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,120 for Stevens martyrdom and all this stuff. 101 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,240 And the Lord again makes it real clear. 102 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:16,560 Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles. 103 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,400 Now Paul is interesting because I just wanted to reference 104 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,640 something in regard to what this guy had to go through and his 105 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:29,960 life as he served the Lord and also the importance of what it 106 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:35,240 means to be an apostle in First Corinthians chapter 15 verses 107 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,560 one through 10. I want to read that briefly. 108 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,840 To be an actual apostle, you had to be an eyewitness of Jesus. 109 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:44,880 Personally, I don't know how in the world people call themselves 110 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,800 apostles today, but they do, unfortunately. 111 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,840 It says. Moreover, brethren, verse 1 of 112 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:54,560 chapter 15 and 1st Corinthians, I declare to you the gospel 113 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,960 which I preached you, which also you received, in which you 114 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,920 stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that 115 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,560 word which I preached you, unless you believed in vain. 116 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,680 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, 117 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,880 that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 118 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,760 that He was buried, and that he rose again the third day 119 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,040 according to the Scriptures. That's the gospel. 120 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:23,280 And Paul received that from the Lord himself to proclaim to all 121 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:27,680 those people that got saved even before Paul was an apostle 122 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,240 through Peter's sermon in the book of the Acts, and that he 123 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,000 was buried. He rose again the third day 124 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,400 according to the Scriptures. He was seen by Cephas. 125 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,040 Of course he was seen by Peter. Then by the 12. 126 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,920 After that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom 127 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,320 the greater part remained to the present time, But some of fallen 128 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,520 asleep passed away. After that he was seen by James, 129 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,280 then by all the apostles. Then last of all, he was seen by 130 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,640 me also as one born out of due time. 131 00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,120 So Paul physically saw Christ, experienced him and was in a 132 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,200 legitimate an apostle, but his humility says in verse 9 For I 133 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,520 am the least of the apostles, who I'm not worthy to be called 134 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,720 an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. 135 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,520 But by the grace of God I am what I am. 136 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,920 And his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more 137 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,600 abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God 138 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,600 which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or 139 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,560 they, so we preached and so you believe so Paul always had his 140 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,799 feet grounded, no matter what his his title was, his calling, 141 00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:37,280 his authority, his gifting. He knew what he was in and of 142 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,240 himself apart from the grace of God. 143 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,919 And that's something we all need to continually remember what we 144 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:48,400 are apart from the grace of God. We're sinners saved by grace. 145 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,520 I'm the least deserving person to be in this church preaching 146 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,080 to you the gospel of Christ because my life was stained by 147 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,040 so many horrific things. I don't want to bore you with 148 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,960 the details, right? But you know, it blows my mind 149 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,800 and humbles me that I get a chance to talk about this holy 150 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:14,840 Savior Jesus Christ as a sinful man to you as sinful people. 151 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:22,640 God chooses to use broken people, people whose lives have 152 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:28,080 been messed up, people who have done heinous things, like Paul 153 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,080 proclaimed himself what he had done in the kind of life he 154 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,840 lived. And perhaps some people might 155 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,600 think, well, if they knew everything about me, why would 156 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:39,880 they want to even listen to what I have to say? 157 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,160 Well, that's the hope that somehow God knows that whenever 158 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,560 we are honest about our lives and we tell people where we've 159 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:50,720 come from and what he's done, then a light goes on in their 160 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,040 head and they start thinking, maybe he'd do that for me. 161 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,400 I'm not as bad as you, Clark, so he'd accept me faster. 162 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:02,360 But that's the good news, isn't it? 163 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,240 Christ died for sinners, and Paul always took the credit for 164 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:11,600 being the worst of all sinners. And so they listened to him 165 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:16,160 until this word, verse 22, and they raised their voices and 166 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,160 said away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not 167 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,640 fit to live. They were uptight because 168 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,600 hanging out with Gentiles was the worst thing that you could 169 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:28,800 do. And so all of a sudden they cut 170 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:30,560 them off. They didn't want to hear 171 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:35,120 anything he had to say anymore about what Christ had done for 172 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,600 them. And you think about the 173 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:43,160 persecution and all that stuff that he went through from them 174 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,760 because he was telling them about persecuting Christians at 175 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,560 this point in time. Like despite everything he said, 176 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:52,320 at least outwardly had no meaning or impact. 177 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,800 Now we have no idea what God used in their lives long down 178 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,440 the road after this that they might have become believers 179 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:00,880 because of this testimony of Paul. 180 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,200 You can't always go by what you see happening outwardly. 181 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,640 God's always doing something inwardly, and He promises His 182 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,040 word won't return void. It'll accomplish the purposes 183 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,520 for which He sends it. They're crying out. 184 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:15,080 They're tearing off their clothes. 185 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,360 This big ruckus are throwing dust in the air. 186 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,040 The commander orders him to be brought into the barracks and 187 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,360 says that he should be examined under scourging so that he might 188 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,160 know why they shouted so against them. 189 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,720 They want to beat Paul now. They want to take him up into 190 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,760 this area. And scourging was a way of 191 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,240 getting the truth of confession out of someone. 192 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,720 They would whip with this cat of nine tails with glass and 193 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:47,120 leather and pieces of steel and take his shirt off and tie him 194 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,840 to post with his back tight, and they would just start lashing. 195 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,240 Well, let me tell you, what did you do, Paul? 196 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:55,120 What did you say? He's not going to say anything. 197 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:57,520 Maybe the first one a second all the sudden starts hurting, 198 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,240 bleeding agony. I'll tell you the truth. 199 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:01,640 Stop. I'll tell you the truth. 200 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,800 And then they lighten up on the lash a little bit because 201 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,280 they're getting what they want. Well, there was nothing really 202 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:11,280 for Paul called to to have to defend because he's already told 203 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:16,880 everybody what's going on here. And I think about Jesus, he was 204 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,400 lashed and he didn't open his mouth. 205 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:21,720 Why? Because he had nothing to 206 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:23,880 confess, did he? He's perfect. 207 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,560 Christ had nothing to to say. And he went through that for you 208 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:35,360 and me. And so Paul is being set up 209 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:39,200 here. And Paul then says to him in 210 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,840 verse 25, as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the 211 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,800 centurion who stood by, is it lawful for you to scourge a man 212 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,840 who is a Roman and uncondem? And they're going to freak out 213 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:51,320 here. He's a citizen of Rome. 214 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:55,920 It's illegal to take someone and scourge him as a Roman citizen. 215 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,880 And when the centurion heard that, he went and told the 216 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,160 commander, saying, take care of what you do, for this man is a 217 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,680 Roman. Then the commander came and said 218 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:06,400 to him, tell me, are you a Roman? 219 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,480 He said yes. And the commander answered with 220 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,000 a large sum. I obtained the citizenship. 221 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,640 So he's bragging he became a citizen of Rome. 222 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,360 You can't buy this. But he obviously bribed someone. 223 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:22,600 And Paul said, but I was born a citizen. 224 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:24,520 He's a legitimate citizen of Rome. 225 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,480 Then immediately those who were about to excourage him withdrew 226 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,840 from him. And the commander was also 227 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:35,520 afraid after he found out that he was a Roman and because he 228 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,480 had bound him. Now, when you think about the 229 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,800 apostle Paul, I want you to go to 2nd Corinthians Chapter 11. 230 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,520 As we begin to conclude here, Second Corinthians Chapter 11, 231 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:54,840 verses 22 to 28, think about this and I and as I read this in 232 00:13:54,840 --> 00:14:01,520 Acts 916, Ananias spoke by the Lord's leading, where the Lord 233 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:06,360 said, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for 234 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:12,200 my name's sake. Paul lived a life of sacrifice 235 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:17,800 and suffering beyond what any of us will ever experience in verse 236 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,000 22 suffering for Christ disheading. 237 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,720 Are they Hebrews? So am I are they Israelites? 238 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,920 So am I are they the seed of Abraham? 239 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:36,120 So am I so Paul identified with his own people group that 240 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:41,000 rejected him and rejected Christ and then he begins to talk about 241 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,400 what this cost him. Are they ministers of Christ? 242 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,560 I speak as a fool. I am more and labor's more 243 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:54,400 abundant and stripes above measure imprisons more 244 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,520 frequently and deaths often from the Jews. 245 00:14:57,520 --> 00:14:59,920 Five times I received 40 stripes. 246 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,320 So he escaped the beating and the lashing that I'm reading 247 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,960 about an axe, but he still went through it. 248 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,120 It says Five times he received 40 stripes. 249 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,680 Can you imagine that? How in the world did that guy 250 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,640 survive and live through all that loss of blood and pain? 251 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,360 Three times I was beaten with rods. 252 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,440 Once I was stoned publicly, they stoned him and threw rocks at 253 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:24,600 him. Three times I was shipwrecked. 254 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,160 A night and a day I have been in the deep. 255 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:32,960 He was in the ocean for a long time, floating around in the 256 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,440 water, cold, dark, probably thinking about sharks and what's 257 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,720 going to happen and a day. I've been in the deep. 258 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,560 I mean, if I was like that, I'd be thinking of that, you know, 259 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:46,760 when the sharks coming, I'd be trying to move. 260 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:50,480 Now it's I'd be freaking out. He's been in journeys often, in 261 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,600 perils of waters, and perils of robbers, and perils of my own 262 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,840 countrymen, and perils of the Gentiles, and perils in the 263 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,680 city, and perils in the wilderness, and perils in the 264 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:01,960 sea, and perils among false brethren. 265 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:06,200 And weariness and toil, and sleeplessness often, and hunger 266 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,720 and thirst and fastenings often, and cold and nakedness beside 267 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,160 the other things. What comes upon me daily? 268 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,920 My deep concern for all the churches. 269 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:23,520 What a example of someone who's totally giving over to the Lord. 270 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,520 I haven't experienced any of those things, and you haven't 271 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:30,280 either. We might experience someone 272 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:34,200 laughing at us because we're Christians, or scoffing at us 273 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,840 because of our faith or thinking we're crazy or whatever, and we 274 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:39,600 got all upset over that, don't we? 275 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:42,920 You read this, you think? Lord, thank you for saving me 276 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:47,000 from going through this stuff. Of course, Paul couldn't have 277 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,160 gone through it except for the grace of God and God's strength. 278 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,000 So in verse 30, the next day, because he wanted to know for 279 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:58,240 certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from 280 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,640 his bond and commanded the chief priests and all their counsel to 281 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,880 appear and brought Paul down and set him before them. 282 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:11,319 You know, what's the application here today for me, for you is 283 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:15,760 the Lord speaking to you specifically about anything in 284 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,319 your life that needs to be taken care of? 285 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,960 In other words, He's been giving you some slack, time, patience, 286 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,680 but you still want to do what it is you want to do. 287 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:34,160 You think your decision or your way of running your life is the 288 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,880 best way to do it. But God has another plan. 289 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:46,080 His plan is perfect. And you're maybe in a situation 290 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,280 today that you're not happy about and things aren't going 291 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,200 the way you really would like them to go. 292 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,800 And there's conflict and there's obstacles and there's difficulty 293 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:05,120 because you're wanting to live life as a Christian even on your 294 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:09,680 own terms or as an unbeliever, maybe someone who hasn't come to 295 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,560 faith in Christ. You think that your way of 296 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:17,320 living life is OK and you don't need to make any adjustments. 297 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,880 You don't need to save your life's good and no big deal kind 298 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,960 of thing. Well, the Bible teaches us, as 299 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,400 does the work of the Holy Spirit, that there's a God that 300 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,360 all of us have to reckon with on a daily basis. 301 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:41,920 And we're either surrendering to this creator God and yielding to 302 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,840 what it is He's requiring of us and what it is He's calling us 303 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:51,280 to respond to, or we're blowing them off. 304 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:57,320 And there's a reason on the Turnpike why they have state 305 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,720 troopers. And whether you like them being 306 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:02,520 there or not, there's a reason they're there. 307 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,280 There's a reason why there's a medium strip in the middle of 308 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,240 the highway to prevent one car from crashing into the other. 309 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,720 There's a reason why there's speed limits, and there's 310 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,120 reasons why you have brakes in your car. 311 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,040 The reason why you have a speedometer. 312 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,760 It tells you where you're at and where they should slow down. 313 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,480 All these are pictures of God and His Spirit working in our 314 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:29,440 lives because God set up barriers and the Word of God is 315 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:34,120 the safest barrier and boundary to have in your life and around 316 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,120 your life. Because if you stay within the 317 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,880 confines of what the Bible teaches, you're going to have a 318 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,200 life that's going to be a lot better than trying to test the 319 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,200 boundaries we have these times in church. 320 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,120 We take the Lord's Supper and we need to think about like, well, 321 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,120 where am I with the boundaries of God? 322 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:54,120 What is it that I need to surrender to? 323 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,240 What is it that I need to yield to? 324 00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,240 What is it that needs to change in my life and recognize that 325 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,440 personally, you and God privately, what it is you want 326 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,680 to tell him or talk to him about or surrender to him or give over 327 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,440 to him. And you want to do that before 328 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:11,960 you take the supper because you don't want to take the supper 329 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,480 when God's telling you that these are the boundaries. 330 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:17,280 And yeah, yeah, yeah, Lord, I understand. 331 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,440 But I'm not ready to deal with that right now. 332 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,160 Then don't take the supper because that would be taking it 333 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,760 unworthily. You want to take it with a clear 334 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,360 conscience. Doesn't mean you're perfect, 335 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,080 doesn't mean everything's resolved, but you want things to 336 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,720 be taken care of. So Lord, I'm going to take this 337 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,600 in honor of you remembering why you died, why you came, what you 338 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,440 did. And I want to submit and be more 339 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,400 surrendered to you as Lord and Savior. 340 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,280 And if you do that, you know God's going to work in your 341 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,120 life. But every time you're in church 342 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:50,440 or listen to a Bible message somewhere, somewhere on the 343 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,160 radio, TV, whatever you do, reading your own devotions, God 344 00:20:54,160 --> 00:21:02,080 is wanting to reckon life with you and get us all to the point 345 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:07,720 of being able to reflect and say there's got to be some changes 346 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,800 that occur in my life. And I'm talking about myself 347 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,760 too. It's never a day or a Sunday or 348 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,360 a week that doesn't go by that God's speaking to me about going 349 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:24,360 deeper with him. Even as a pastor, I need to go 350 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:30,200 deeper with God. There's no get out of jail card 351 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,400 free. There's consequences to 352 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,760 rebellion and sin. So as we take a couple minutes, 353 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:42,880 let's think about blowing through the will of God and 354 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,320 passing by it, not considering it. 355 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,360 Maybe we can together today. Say, Lord, I don't know 356 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,280 everything about your will yet, but I'm willing to submit to it 357 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,400 if you reveal it to me through your word and show me what it is 358 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,640 you want me to do. I don't want to waste my life 359 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,480 anymore. I don't want to waste my time. 360 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:03,360 Waste your time or other people's time, my family's time, 361 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,960 my employer's time, I, you know, whatever relationships we have 362 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,920 that are needing to be dealt with, we just want to give this 363 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:12,520 to you. So Lord, just speak to us for a 364 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,160 couple minutes here. Lord, we need you. 365 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:21,720 Father, we thank you for the example Paul, and how real it is 366 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,280 as we watch him in a situation that if he wouldn't have gone to 367 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:30,080 Jerusalem, he wouldn't be in the crisis he's in right now, having 368 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,840 to spend the remaining years of his life and thank prisons and 369 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,360 and people abusing him. But Lord, we know in spite of 370 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:41,920 his mistakes, in spite of ours, you still use them for your 371 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,400 glory. You don't condemn us, and you 372 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,880 just teach us from not listening to You. 373 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,240 So we want to listen to you. So speak to us now. 374 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:59,890 Father, we pray. We're so thankful, Lord, that 375 00:22:59,890 --> 00:23:06,210 you tell us that if we confess our sins, agree with you, You 376 00:23:06,210 --> 00:23:11,770 are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us 377 00:23:11,770 --> 00:23:16,970 from all unrighteousness. We're thankful, Lord, that 378 00:23:16,970 --> 00:23:21,000 you're for us and not against us, that You love us and Your 379 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:31,720 will is perfect and good. Or we desire to be closer to 380 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,960 you. We desire to be able to hear 381 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,240 Your voice through Your Word by Your Holy Spirit. 382 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,320 We desire to walk with You closely. 383 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:47,320 Help us, Lord, in our weakness. Help us, Lord, in our double 384 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,840 mindedness, at times hypocrisy, whatever it might be, God, we 385 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,600 don't want to be that way. We want to be found faithful to 386 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,480 you, Lord. Thanks for joining us on this 387 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,440 journey through Acts. On today's edition of Living 388 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,840 Waters of Grace, Pastor Clark shares that one of the most 389 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,560 remarkable things about the book of Acts is how it shows the 390 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,640 disciples transformation. The followers of Jesus we meet 391 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,480 here are very different from the often confused and fearful 392 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:21,280 disciples in the Gospels. After Jesus's death and 393 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,640 resurrection, and especially through the power of the Holy 394 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,200 Spirit, the apostles experienced a profound change in their 395 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,960 hearts and boldness. Their faith became unwavering, 396 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,840 and they moved forward with courage to spread the gospel 397 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,400 despite opposition and hardship. Acts reminds us that the same 398 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:46,360 Spirit who empowered them is at work in US today, shaping our 399 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,960 hearts and giving us strength to live boldly for Christ. 400 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,000 Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel 401 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,480 Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA 402 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:02,120 area, we invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E 403 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:04,320 Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B. 404 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,640 Visit calvarychapelonline.com For more information or you can 405 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,920 also join our e-mail list, submit prayer requests, give 406 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,560 online and download our mobile app. 407 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,720 If you are in the Greensburg area, you can listen to Grace FM 408 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,360 on the new 91.7 frequency. Pray about helping support the 409 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:28,360 new station that will reach thousands more listeners. 410 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:35,760 Send gifts to Grace FMPO Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. 411 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,960 If you can join us in person, you can subscribe to the Calvary 412 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,680 Chapel Westmoreland YouTube channel so you'll be alerted 413 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,720 when new material becomes available. 414 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,360 We're so grateful that you joined us today in Axe TuneIn 415 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:51,880 again soon for another edition of Living Waters of Grace.