1
00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:14,440
Now when Galileo was proconsul 
of Achaea, the Jews with 1 

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accord rose up against Paul, 
brought him to the judgement 

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seat. 
You remember in the verse 

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previous it's in red in most of 
your Bibles. 

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00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,040
Don't worry Paul, don't keep 
telling, keep talking, keep 

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00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:28,400
preaching. 
I'm with you. 

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00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:31,640
No one will attack you or hurt 
you. 

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And then the next verse is on. 
But notice, remember, God's not 

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going to keep us out on 
difficulties, but he will enable

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us to deal with what comes 
forward. 

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And here we're going to see this
time Paul's not going to be the 

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one beaten up. 
He's not going to be hurt. 

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And so they bring Paul took him 
to the judgement seat. 

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That's the magistrate saying, 
this fellow persuades men to 

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worship God contrary to the war.
When Paul was about to open his 

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mouth, the magistrate Gallio 
said to the Jews, Look, if it 

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was a matter of wrongdoing or 
wicked crimes or Jews, there 

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would be reason why I should 
bear with you. 

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But if it is a question of words
and names of your own law about 

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your religion, you look after 
it. 

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I'm only here for crime. 
I'm only going to deal deal with

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anything that's that's been a 
law that's been broken according

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to the laws of the land, not 
what your religion is for. 

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I do not want to be a judge of 
such matters. 

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I don't want to have anything to
do with it. 

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And so he drove them from the 
judgement seat and said, get out

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of here. 
Don't waste your time. 

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Then all the Greeks took 
Sosthenes. 

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He was the ruler of the 
synagogue and belted him, beat 

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him before the judgement seat. 
But Gallio took no notice of 

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these things. 
So here's a man you know, often 

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we talk about, well, you may 
persecuted. 

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Oh, yeah, You know, the people 
that work me really cold against

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me because they know I'm a 
Christian and someone gave me a 

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funny look because I had my 
Bible like when I was eating 

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lunch. 
That's not persecution. 

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00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,600
This is persecution when you get
beaten up for being a Christian.

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00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:35,200
That's persecution when you get 
beaten up simply because you're 

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a believer for his faith. 
So Paul remained. 

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He says, OK, I'm, I'm, I'm 
staying for a good while. 

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00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,240
Then he took leave of the 
brethren, those the brothers and

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sisters in Christ, and he set 
sail for Syria. 

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00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,760
Priscilla and Aquila, they 
joined him on the ship. 

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Now he had his hair cut off at 
Centria. 

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Why? 
For he had taken a vow. 

46
00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:14,400
And I'll deal with that and what
he's doing in a few verses, 

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because someone asked me on 
Sunday, one of the young guys 

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said, what's the what's the, 
what's this? 

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00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:25,560
What's the go with the the vow? 
And I explained to them, and 

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we'll do that tonight. 
And when he came to Ephesus and 

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he left them there, Aquila and 
Priscilla, but he himself 

52
00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:41,120
entered the synagogue, as was 
the custom reasoned with the 

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00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:46,200
Jews, gets the Bible out, goes 
through the text, says see this,

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00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,000
see this, see what's talking 
about this. 

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And then the Lamb, the Lamb of 
God, the sacrifice, this is him,

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this is Jesus. 
He's the one when they asked him

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to stay a longer time with them,
he did not consent but took 

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leave of them, saying I must by 
all means keep this coming feast

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00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:14,040
in Jerusalem. 
Now Paul has taken the vow of a 

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Nazarite, the Nazarite vow 
during that. 

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Now here you go. 
Well, why is he doing this? 

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He's a Christian. 
That's got to do with anything. 

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Well, it's a period of constant 
concentrated focus on the law, 

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on the Lord. 
What happens when you take a 

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00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:35,480
Nazarite vow? 
You don't drink any wine, you 

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don't have any grapes, and you 
don't cut your hair. 

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00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:46,240
So to take a Nazarite vow, you 
shave your hair, all the hair, 

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and then you keep keep that. 
No, you don't keep that. 

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00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,120
Actually, you shave all your 
hair. 

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00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,440
And then when you get to 
Jerusalem where Paul was 

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heading, he gets his head cut 
again. 

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00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,000
And the hair that has grown 
during the period that you've 

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00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,560
taken the Nazarite vow, it's 
burnt as an offering. 

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And so it's saying to the Lord, 
Lord, during this period of 

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time, I, I just set my heart to 
be closer to you, to want to 

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know you more, to give my life 
over to you even more. 

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And during that time, I had cut 
my hair at the beginning. 

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And this is how, how much my 
hair is grown. 

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00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,720
So I've cut it again and, and, 
and I'm giving that to you, 

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Lord, as an offering. 
And they burn it. 

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00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:41,200
And so it's not something that 
was common in amongst believers 

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00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,840
and the Bible doesn't tell us to
do that anywhere, but it's 

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00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:51,080
something quite significant 
where even the Apostle Paul who 

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00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,600
loved the Lord, was close to the
Lord, was passionate for the 

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Lord, wanted to get closer to 
the Lord, wanted to be be nearer

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00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:02,080
to God. 
And that's something that 

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00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:06,000
tonight we're going to see this 
as, as the Lord is going to 

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00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:10,640
speak to us through this, this 
on that very theme tonight about

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00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:15,880
your relationship with God. 
Is it better now than last 

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00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,680
Easter? 
Is it better now than Christmas 

91
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:25,120
or has it slipped? 
Are you closer to God now? 

92
00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:31,480
Are you more fervent for him 
now, or has it taken a, a second

93
00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:36,680
step back? 
It's something that I think you 

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00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:42,480
and I need to do constantly, not
cut our hair, but there's a 

95
00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:47,040
period of time I think that you 
and I should set aside and go, 

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00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,440
Lord, I want more. 
I need more. 

97
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,920
Not to be settled with where 
you're at now. 

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00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,560
Not to be settled with while, 
you know, I teach Sunday school,

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00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,000
I do this. 
I'm in the worship team, you 

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00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:06,120
know, all right, I'm pretty. 
Every pastor worth their salt 

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00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:12,960
wants to be closer to God next 
week, closer to God tomorrow, 

102
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,520
wants to know the Lord more 
intimate now than before. 

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00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:23,880
We want it in our marriage. 
We want our children to to be 

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00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,240
hungry for God, desperate for 
God. 

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00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:34,640
So Paul says, look, I, I want 
I'd stay, but this period that 

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I'm taking this Nazarite vow, 
I've got to get to Jerusalem 

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00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,720
because only at the temple can 
my I make my offering. 

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00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,160
But I'll return to you now. 
He says these two words, God 

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willing. 
We say Lord willing and he 

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sailed from Ephesus. 
Now here's something else again.

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00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,840
I hear people and you know 
Easter plans. 

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What are your Easter plans? 
Let me add 2 words to every plan

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that you ever make, whether it 
be Easter, Christmas, whatever, 

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anniversaries, birthdays, 
whatever. 

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Lord willing. 
Lord willing. 

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00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:19,400
Because if you are a believer, 
you don't run your life anymore,

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you don't make the plants, you 
go, well, what do you mean I 

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don't make the plants? 
Well, let me quantify that a bit

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more. 
James. 

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Chapter 4 says this. 
Come now, you who say today or 

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00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:38,679
tomorrow we will go to such and 
such a city, spend a year there,

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buy and sell, we'll make a 
profit. 

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Whereas you do not know what 
will happen tomorrow for what is

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your life. 
My nephew, we were talking about

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the other day, he passed away on
Saturday, 1:00 PM Sunday, Sunday

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00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:04,560
1:00 PM five, just over 5 to 6 
weeks ago. 

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00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:08,840
He said, man, I've got a sore 
stomach, really sore. 

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00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:13,760
Not not till then. 
Took him to the emergency. 

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The emergency said we'll do some
tests. 

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00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:18,840
He said, yeah, it's really 
painful. 

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Thought it might be what? 
Who knows what bendicitis, 

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twisted bowel, something. 
Just whatever. 

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00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,920
Doctor comes out, says you got 
your phone 3:00 in the morning, 

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00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:39,440
need to ring your wife. 
Grabbed his phone, Ring his 

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00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:41,320
wife's number. 
She woken up. 

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00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:46,920
Got your husband with us, Need 
to tell you he's got three 

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00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,920
months to 12 months, 12 months 
to 18. 

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If we can treat it less, if we 
can't plans. 

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00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,320
James says it for what is your 
life? 

140
00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,280
It is even a vapour that appears
for a little time and then 

141
00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:11,520
vanishes away. 
Instead, James says to every 

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00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:16,920
believer, you and I tonight, you
ought to say, if the Lord wills,

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00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,880
we shall live and do this or 
that. 

144
00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,000
You see, here's the deal. 
You go. 

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00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,240
What's such? 
Is that such a big deal, Keith? 

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00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:33,000
Yes, it is because, you know, 
particularly when I was working 

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with the police, people would 
say, can you do our wedding? 

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You know, can you do this? 
We make these plans. 

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And I would tell them, well, if 
I'm still alive, I'll book it 

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00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,280
in. 
I'll be out if I'm still alive. 

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00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:49,200
And I wasn't joking. 
I thought, oh, that's pretty 

152
00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,080
funny. 
I was dead serious. 

153
00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,960
Because I know how frail life 
is. 

154
00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,720
I know that my breath now God 
gives me. 

155
00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,080
But is God going to call me home
tonight? 

156
00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:11,080
Tomorrow I don't know. 
And so when I say Lord will, it 

157
00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,480
means that I know that I am 
living for God. 

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00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,400
I'm living for his will, living 
for his purpose. 

159
00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:23,720
My old life is done, dusted, 
gone, you say? 

160
00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:25,280
Well, Keith, that's a bit, you 
know. 

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00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,200
Well, what do you mean? 
We have to become monks and nuns

162
00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,880
and we'll go into a monastery? 
No, because the Bible tells us 

163
00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:35,440
otherwise. 
Going to the book of Ephesians 

164
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,560
talks about being a father, 
being a mother, talks about how 

165
00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,000
to be a good worker. 
Don't be a man pleaser, you 

166
00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,560
know, work hard, work 
diligently, study to show 

167
00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:45,720
yourself approved. 
Study the word of God. 

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00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,080
Go out and all to the world, 
preach the gospel, look after 

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00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:55,640
the poor, you know. 
But all this is wrapped up in 

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00:11:55,640 --> 00:12:00,440
what is God's will for me now? 
My life is his. 

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00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:07,720
I've taken up a cross, I've 
denied myself, and I follow him.

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That's what Christianity is. 
The other stuff is a religious 

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00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:17,360
playground. 
And we live in a Western society

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where most of the time on Sunday
People go for their hour for a 

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00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:27,680
religious playground. 
And you know, it's often they'll

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mock more traditional churches 
where they go through this. 

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It's no different when you play 
and you give God the crumbs of 

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your life. 
I think it's it's, it's a dis 

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justice exactly to Christ dying 
on the cross to his suffering to

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what Easter is all about but our
life and our purpose for living.

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Paul says I'll be back, God 
willing. 

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00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,720
I don't know, because my life is
in God's hands. 

183
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,240
And so he sailed from Ephesus. 
That's modern Turkey. 

184
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And when he had landed at 
Caesarea back in Israel, we've 

185
00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,480
been there and gone up and 
greeted the church. 

186
00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:15,520
He went down to Antioch. 
Where's that? 

187
00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,480
Syria. 
Because you always go down from 

188
00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,560
Jerusalem. 
You always go up to Jerusalem. 

189
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,440
And when you leave Jerusalem, 
you always go down to Jerusalem,

190
00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,120
no matter where you're going. 
And after you spend some time 

191
00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,920
there, departed, went over to 
the region of Galatia, Phrygia, 

192
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,440
in order strengthening all the 
disciples. 

193
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:40,840
He's beginning his third 
missionary journey now, a 

194
00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,760
certain Jew named Apollos, born 
in Alexandria. 

195
00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:49,440
So Apollos is his name. 
He's Jewish and he's Egyptian. 

196
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,480
Alexandria is where he comes 
from. 

197
00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,400
He's an eloquent man, mighty in 
the Scriptures. 

198
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,720
In other words, man, the 
Scriptures that he's aware of, 

199
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:10,280
he knows well, came to Ephesus 
and this man had been instructed

200
00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:15,040
in the way of the Lord and being
fervent in spirit. 

201
00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,280
Now, what does that word fervent
in spirit mean? 

202
00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:19,240
And you know what it means 
literally in the Greek. 

203
00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:26,200
It means bubbling, bursting with
enthusiasm. 

204
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:38,240
There's two THS there and this 
guy is on fire for what he knows

205
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,600
about God. 
And here's the here's another 

206
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,160
little step back. 
You know, people get saved and 

207
00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:45,440
well, you know, I'd like to 
witness to people, but you know,

208
00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,200
I've got to study the Bible a 
lot more. 

209
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:54,000
No, no, tell them what you know 
in the in the Scriptures and the

210
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,760
gospel, we find out. 
I don't know, once I was blind, 

211
00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,920
but now I can see. 
That's all in you and I. 

212
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,440
The other one said, well, what? 
Previously I was lame. 

213
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:10,160
Now I can walk. 
And he told, tell people with 

214
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,640
the enthusiasm of what's 
happened to your life, what you 

215
00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,840
know, you don't have to wait to 
get up. 

216
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,360
Well, you know, and I'll learn 
the Greek and the Hebrew and 

217
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:24,120
I'll study that. 
No, tell them what you know now 

218
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,160
about your life. 
Fervent in spirit, he spoke and 

219
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:30,840
taught accurately the things of 
the Lord. 

220
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,440
And notice this. 
But though he knew only the 

221
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:40,840
baptism of John, and so he knew 
only of repentance before God, 

222
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:45,520
because John's baptism was about
repentance, he was preparing the

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way for the Messiah to come. 
So he began to speak boldly in 

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the synagogue. 
When Aquila and Priscilla heard 

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him, they took Apollos aside and
explained to him what the way of

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God more accurately. 
Why would they do that? 

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They noticed in his scriptures. 
They noticed what he spoke 

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00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,160
about. 
There was a limited area that 

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he, he pounded out. 
He would get so far and, and, 

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00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:27,000
and but it wasn't, wasn't there 
wasn't that I, you know what he 

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00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,880
doesn't know about that. 
Otherwise he'd be, he'd be 

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telling us that as well. 
And when he desired to cross to 

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Archaea, the brethren wrote, 
exhorting the disciples to 

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receive Apollos. 
And when he arrived, he greatly 

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00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,360
helped those who had believed 
through grace. 

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00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,440
And now he's got he's got the 
full picture of grace. 

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He knew about repentance and 
that's what we need to know 

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00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:58,600
about. 
But what you need after 

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00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:05,560
repentance is what grace. 
Martin Luther, he knew about 

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00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,520
repentance. 
He knew nothing about grace 

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00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,839
until he read that just shall 
live by faith. 

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00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:23,240
And faith means grace, the grace
of God, for he vigorously 

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00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:28,200
refuted the Jews publicly 
showing from the scriptures that

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Jesus is the Christ. 
So he's got her all together. 

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00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,040
Man, there was a vacuum. 
Aquila Priscilla just like 

246
00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:38,600
tweaked, tweaked the way I was 
holding the ball a little and 

247
00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:44,920
said, well, wow, that all I yes,
now I seal that and now I just 

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00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:50,520
got on with it. 
Apollos had great ministry in 

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00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:56,640
Corinth, but he at that time had
only known about salvation. 

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00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,840
And it happened while Apollos 
was at Corinth that Paul, having

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00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:07,040
passed through the upper 
regions, came to Ephesus and 

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00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:11,400
finding some disciples, he said 
to them, did you receive the 

253
00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,600
Holy Spirit when you believe? 
Notice there's a common theme 

254
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,800
here. 
These guys love the Lord and 

255
00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:22,080
there's something missing in 
their lives, something missing 

256
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,320
in their lives. 
And what's missing is they don't

257
00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,400
understand the work of the Holy 
Spirit in their walk with God. 

258
00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:37,200
So they said to him, well 
actually we've never even heard 

259
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,640
that there's a Holy Spirit, 
never even heard about the Holy 

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00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,600
Spirit. 
And he said to them, well, how 

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00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:47,760
were you baptised? 
What was your baptism? 

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00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,840
They said, notice like Apollos, 
John's baptism, What was John's 

263
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,720
baptism? 
A baptism of repentance, Only 

264
00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:02,200
repentance but not faith in 
salvation. 

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00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,320
Then Paul said, well, John 
indeed baptised with the baptism

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00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:12,320
of repentance. 
Squares that away, saying to the

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00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,120
people that they should believe 
on him who would come after him 

268
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,920
because John opened the door, 
then the Messiah came, and then 

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00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:27,520
when Jesus came, Jesus brought 
the life of a walk with God, not

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00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:31,080
just repentance. 
Now Jesus says every gift in 

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00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,040
heaven, every blessing, the 
riches of heaven are yours. 

272
00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:37,920
Now this is what's available to 
you. 

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00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:52,560
So when they heard this notice 
they were baptised. 

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00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,240
Now they've already been 
baptised, correct, at the 

275
00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:00,280
baptism of John. 
But Paul says, you know what, 

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00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,280
let's get you baptised. 
Because the Bible teaches us, in

277
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,960
the end of Mark and in the end 
of Matthew, about baptising 

278
00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,880
those who have received Jesus 
Christ as the Lord and Saviour. 

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00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:19,560
And so they were baptised in the
name notice of the Lord Jesus. 

280
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:25,560
And when Paul had laid hands on 
them, the Holy Spirit came upon 

281
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:29,320
them and they spoke with tongues
and prophesied. 

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00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:35,440
Now the men were about 12 in 
all, so we're talking a dozen 

283
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,320
men that Paul's dealing with 
him. 

284
00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:47,040
So here's the deal. 
It's just a small group, but 

285
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,320
Paul notices something, as did 
Priscilla and Aquila in 

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00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:55,080
Apollos's preaching. 
There's just not hitting the 

287
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,840
mark. 
And, you know, there are a lot 

288
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,920
of people that come to church 
and because of their upbringing 

289
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:05,120
and their culture, they go, 
well, I, you know, I've been 

290
00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:08,120
told that, well, the Bible is 
just for the priest to read. 

291
00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:11,000
And I don't read the Bible. 
It's I just, you know, but I 

292
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,320
love Jesus Christ and and and 
then there are others who you 

293
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,640
see there. 
They're struggling in their walk

294
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,360
with God. 
They're struggling in how to be 

295
00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,840
a husband, struggling with how 
to be a parent. 

296
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,640
They're struggling with their 
their daily walk with temptation

297
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:30,920
and and what's what's missing is
the power of the Holy Spirit 

298
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,400
acknowledged and be unloaded in 
their life. 

299
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:42,880
Paul says we're to be filled and
you all know it's in the Greek 

300
00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:51,360
means ongoing everyday go on 
being filled not with wine, but 

301
00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:57,440
with the Spirit of God. 
And so I think this is a problem

302
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,040
in the, in the modern Australian
church today as well, because 

303
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,120
when people talk about the work 
of the Holy Spirit, 

304
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,280
unfortunately, there's, there's 
like the pendulum swing. 

305
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,080
And some people think, well, 
that's when you just go crazy. 

306
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,720
You know, you used to run around
and, you know, people go wild 

307
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,720
and, and you know all that. 
And then there's the other 

308
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,480
pendulum swing where it's like, 
well, we don't want to go 

309
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,160
anywhere near that because we 
don't want anyone running around

310
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,440
going wild. 
Chuck Smith was always asked, 

311
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,560
well, where does Calvary Chapel 
sit in all this? 

312
00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:31,720
And he says, we sit in the 
middle. 

313
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,040
We know the work of God. 
We know the we need the power of

314
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:42,240
the Holy Spirit, but we know how
it should work. 

315
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,240
Why? 
Because we read the Bible. 

316
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:46,400
This is how the Holy Spirit 
works in our lives. 

317
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:53,120
And what's missing is people's 
knowledge like a police of and 

318
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:55,120
these men who said, I haven't 
even heard of it. 

319
00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:00,000
And they need to be taught how 
the Holy Spirit works in our 

320
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:05,320
lives. 
For example, people go, well, I 

321
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,840
want to know what to do in this 
decision. 

322
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,960
So they come out for prayer. 
We pray for them. 

323
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,000
But here's the here's the real 
deal that I'd like to see is in 

324
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:20,120
James chapter 1 again says if 
you need wisdom, what, ask God. 

325
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,040
Yeah, but like, how's well, 
that's where you go into the 

326
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:29,320
word of God and the Holy Spirit 
will speak to you through the 

327
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,520
word of God. 
Well, I don't know. 

328
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,160
I've always had thought someone 
had to actually speak to me and 

329
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:36,840
and come over me and say 
something. 

330
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:41,400
No, God speaks you through the 
word of God. 

331
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:43,120
Actually, let's let's jump 
there. 

332
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,200
Hebrews chapter 1, go to 
Hebrews. 

333
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:52,440
It's Hebrews, Hebrews, James, 
Peter, Hebrews chapter 1 because

334
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:57,480
there's always someone who's in 
the pendulum again, or I heard 

335
00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:59,360
God's. 
I remember going to Bible 

336
00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:04,480
college and we had 40 people the
first night of a three year, 4 

337
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:08,320
year course and people said 
well, why are you here? 

338
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,640
Well, I was walking on the beach
and the waves hit and something 

339
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,480
appeared in the sand. 
I went wow. 

340
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,960
And then someone said well, you 
know, people prayed and they 

341
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,800
said no, they gave me ministry 
and then said these words over 

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00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:20,640
me. 
I went wow. 

343
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,160
I was there because I wanted to 
know the word of God and I was 

344
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:32,880
just busting to preach. 
Just had this, this fire within 

345
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,800
my soul that this is what I had 
to do and I didn't know how to 

346
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:41,000
do it. 
Hebrews chapter 1 says God, who 

347
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,720
at various times and in various 
ways spoke in times past to the 

348
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:49,480
fathers by the prophets, has in 
these where we you and I are 

349
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:54,240
living in these last days, 
spoken to us by his Son, whom he

350
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,760
has appointed heir of heir of 
all things, through whom he also

351
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,680
made the world. 
And it goes on and goes on. 

352
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:02,960
And So what does John chapter 
one say? 

353
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,800
In the beginning was the Word, 
the Word was with God, the Word 

354
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,720
was God and the Word came and 
dwelt amongst us. 

355
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,920
So God speaks to you, yes he 
does. 

356
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,080
How does he speak to you? 
When you open the Bible and you 

357
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,240
begin to read it, and you know 
as you open the Bible and you 

358
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:26,320
begin to read it, what happens 
is then the Holy Spirit ignites 

359
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,960
you. 
He hones in on that passage of 

360
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,600
Scripture and he burns it in 
your heart. 

361
00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,400
It gets it repeated in your 
mind. 

362
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,240
There's there's something going 
on, on and on. 

363
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:44,280
And you have this and that's the
Lord speaking to you through the

364
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:45,960
Holy Spirit, through the word of
God. 

365
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:52,880
Now, when I ask you tonight, as 
Paul laid hands on these, they 

366
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:57,080
were filled with the Spirit. 
And many people unfortunately 

367
00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,880
sit in church, they don't know 
that they've heard of it, him, 

368
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:04,800
the Holy Spirit, but that's 
about it. 

369
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,880
Oh, I don't know how it all 
works. 

370
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:08,640
That's all. 
It's all confusing to me. 

371
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,600
You know, tongues and 
interpretation and gifts. 

372
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,840
Oh, I just keep out of it. 
No, read the Bible. 

373
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,920
It's in the Bible. 
Would you do with that if 

374
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,400
someone said, well, salvation, I
don't know how you get saved. 

375
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:25,360
I mean, some say it through 
Jesus. 

376
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,440
I mean, I, I don't know how. 
I mean, he died on the cross. 

377
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,520
I don't know how all that works.
Oh, you're kidding, aren't you? 

378
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,720
You wouldn't say that about 
salvation, would you? 

379
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,480
But we do that with the work of 
the Holy Spirit. 

380
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,040
So but what if you really don't 
know? 

381
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,560
Or am I filled with God's power?
Well, the Bible will tell you 

382
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,920
about that when you read it. 
Are you living under God's 

383
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,720
divine influence? 
Because the Bible does say that 

384
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,920
you are baptised, we are in one 
body, them, and that the Holy 

385
00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:03,640
Spirit dwells in you. 
Paul says, don't you know that 

386
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:05,880
you are the temple of the Holy 
Spirit? 

387
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,000
You are the dwelling place of 
God's Holy Spirit. 

388
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,600
So I asked you tonight as we 
close this, are you living under

389
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:21,600
God's divine influence? 
Is he directing you? 

390
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,120
Is he holding you, directing 
you? 

391
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,920
Oh, I want to go to Ephesus. 
Remember, Paul wanted to go to 

392
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:29,880
Ephesus. 
Don't go. 

393
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:39,600
Paul don't want you to go. 
Then quite a a period later, 

394
00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:43,760
Paul gets to go to Ephesus 
because God said now it's time. 

395
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,000
If he had a gone previously, in 
that time, nothing would have 

396
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,080
happened. 
God says you're not supposed to 

397
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:55,080
be here, it's not ready. 
Paul goes when God leads and 

398
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,440
everything breaks out, 
everything happens. 

399
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,280
You see, that's why people in 
our lives go, I don't know, it's

400
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:02,920
just just not working in my 
life. 

401
00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,240
It's because you're not led by 
the Holy Spirit. 

402
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:07,360
You're not listening to the 
voice of God. 

403
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,200
I don't know that personally 
because when I left Bible 

404
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,360
college, oh man, I just had all 
these great ideas. 

405
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:17,600
This is how we can get people 
saved. 

406
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,440
This is what we would do. 
And this is all do this and do 

407
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:21,440
that. 
Yep, Yep. 

408
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:27,200
And God let me run and run and 
run and burn and burn and burn. 

409
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:34,760
Nothing happened. 
You see, God works and God gets 

410
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:40,240
the glory when he works because 
he, he, he won't allow you if 

411
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:44,400
you go, oh look what I've done 
God no, because unless the Lord 

412
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:51,600
build the house and God always 
wants you, the Nazarite vow, God

413
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,720
always wants you to go deeper 
where you are tonight, 

414
00:28:55,720 --> 00:29:02,040
Wednesday, March 2026. 
You don't want to be in the same

415
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,720
position. 
Knowledge and closeness and 

416
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:11,160
nearness to God now you need to 
be closer, more passionate, more

417
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:16,040
in love, more driven than you 
are tonight, tomorrow and the 

418
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:20,440
next day. 
But what if I really don't know?

419
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,320
Spurgeon says this. 
He says give a man an electric 

420
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,400
shock and I warrant you he'll 
know it. 

421
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,400
But if he has the Holy Spirit, 
he will know it much more. 

422
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,120
It's not something to hope 
about. 

423
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,120
Well, I kind of, I would like 
that to happen to me. 

424
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:48,520
You can know, you can know many 
Christians today really know 

425
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:54,080
little or nothing mentally or 
experientially of the work of 

426
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:59,120
the Holy Spirit in their lives. 
If Paul came across your life 

427
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,880
and you had a cup of coffee with
him, sat down with you at 10:00 

428
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,960
tomorrow and you began just 
talking about you walk with God,

429
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,960
what you do in the church and 
how you're involved and how, 

430
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,000
what you what are you? 
What are you reading in 

431
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:14,360
Scripture now? 
What you know, where's your 

432
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,400
path? 
What does God would Paul go? 

433
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,640
You know what? 
Something's missing. 

434
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,920
You're missing something. 
You know what you're missing? 

435
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,600
You're missing the power of the 
Holy Spirit in your life. 

436
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,400
You can go back and read some of
the great men, John Wesley, 

437
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:42,200
Charles Wesley, there's a book 
called Strangely Warmed. 

438
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,120
He was serving God, walking with
God. 

439
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,280
But you know what? 
He's a bit like a pulse. 

440
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:59,240
And then the Holy Spirit hit him
and it changed his life, changed

441
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:06,760
his preaching, how results 
because God's power now he 

442
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:11,560
recognised. 
And the Lord then moved. 

443
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,200
And so that's where you and I 
are tonight. 

444
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,440
If Paul sat down with you 
tomorrow, what would he say? 

445
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,720
Something's missing. 
Just to know you.