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Now, if you have your Bible with
you, we invite you to turn with 

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us, please, to the book of the 
Acts of the Apostles, the very 

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familiar chapter, chapter 26. 
We're going to read from verse 

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19, that passage of Scripture 
where the apostle Paul was 

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brought before King Agrippa. 
And of course, as a man says 

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just at the drop of a hat, Paul 
was always willing to give a 

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word of testimony and to tell 
exactly what the Lord had done 

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for him and how God had worked 
in his life. 

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And we break into the story, as 
Paul has been rehearsing before 

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King Agrippa and those who were 
with him in that court that day,

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how the Lord and mercy and in 
grace broke into Paul's life. 

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And we're reading there from 
verse 19. 

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And Paul says, Whereupon, O King
Agrippa, I was not disobedient 

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unto the heavenly vision, but 
showed first unto them of 

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Damascus under Jerusalem, and 
throughout the course of Judea, 

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and then to the Gentiles, that 
they should repent and turn to 

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God, and do works meet for 
repentance. 

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For these causes the Jews caught
me in the temple, and went about

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to kill me. 
Having therefore obtained help 

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of God, I continue on to this 
day, witnessing both to small 

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and great, saying none other 
things than those which the 

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prophets and Moses did say 
should come, that Christ should 

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suffer, that He should be the 
first that should rise from the 

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dead, and should show light unto
the people and to the Gentiles. 

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And as he thus speak for 
himself, Festus said with a loud

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voice, Paul, thou art beside 
thyself. 

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Much learning does make thee 
mad. 

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But he said, I am not mad. 
Most noble Festus, but speak 

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forth the words of truth and 
soberness. 

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For the king knoweth of these 
things before whom also I speak 

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freely, where I am persuaded 
that none of these things are 

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hidden from him. 
For this thing was not done in a

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corner. 
King Agrippa, believe us thy the

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prophets. 
I know that thou believest. 

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Then Agrippa said unto Paul, 
Almost thy persuadest me to be a

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Christian. 
Paul said I would to God, that 

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not only thy, but also all that 
hear me this day. 

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We're both almost and all 
together such as I am, except 

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these bonds. 
Now when he had thus spoken, the

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king rose up, and the governor 
and Bernice, and they that sat 

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with them, and when they were 
gone aside, they talked between 

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themselves, saying, This man 
doeth nothing worthy of death or

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of bonds. 
Then said Agrippa onto Festus, 

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This man might have been set at 
liberty if he had not appealed 

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unto Caesar. 
Amen. 

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May God bless to us the public 
reading of His own inspired and 

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His infallible Word. 
Let's just bow once again we 

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word of prayer and ask the 
Lord's help upon the preaching 

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of His Word. 
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee 

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again for all Thy goodness to 
us. 

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We thank Thee again for the love
of God in Christ. 

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We thank Thee for the Gospel of 
Christ that reaches down and 

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takes men and women from the 
depths of sin and cleanses them 

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in the precious blood of the 
Lamb and fits them out for 

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heaven and for home. 
Lord, we thank Thee tonight that

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the Gospel is still the power of
God unto salvation to everyone 

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that believeth. 
We pray just now Lord, that you 

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will shut us in with thyself. 
Come by thy spirits power and 

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granted thy word may go forth, 
and the power and demonstration 

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of God the Holy Ghost, and that 
someone within the hearing of 

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our voice and the House of God 
are on line, may come to know 

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Christ, whom to know his life 
eternal. 

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I take the promised Holy Ghost, 
the blessed power of Pentecost 

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to fill me to the uttermost. 
I take. 

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Thank God he undertakes for me. 
Amen. 

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Amen. 
As I said, the 26th chapter of 

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the book of the Acts of the 
Apostles, a very familiar one 

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where the great apostle Paul 
gave his testimony as he often 

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did before King Agrippa. 
You remember when Paul was saved

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in Acts Chapter 9, and when 
Ananias made his way through the

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city and went and laid hands on 
on Saul of Tarsus, as he was 

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known then. 
And Saul received his sight and 

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began to rehearse the things 
that the Lord had told him. 

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He began to tell him that God 
had spoken to me, Ananias. 

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And God has told me that I will 
bear his name even before kings 

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and before rulers and before the
Gentiles. 

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And I was thinking about these 
lovely words and this incident 

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and very familiar text of 
Scripture down there in verse 

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28, where Agrippa said to Paul, 
almost thy persuadest me to be a

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Christian and I want to take for
a theme or a title tonight. 

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What is a Christian? 
See, there are many, many 

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different philosophies and ideas
and theories in this world. 

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And yet if I was to say about a 
communist or a Socialist or a 

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Conservative or Labour or some 
other title like that, people 

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would, generally speaking, know 
what we were speaking about. 

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And those systems of thought and
ideas are well known. 

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I might speak about an 
evolutionist and we would know 

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what an evolutionist believes. 
It's no coincidence that when 

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God was sending a great revival 
across the nation, Darwin 

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published his book The Origin of
Species, which was, in my 

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opinion, badly named. 
It should have been fairy tales 

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for adults. 
That would have been a better 

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name for it. 
But I remember a young fellow in

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the town where I ministered and 
he'd be very, very well 

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educated, he'd become a doctor, 
He'd been in the Royal Navy, he 

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had went up the ranks but in a 
incident he was shell shocked 

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and so eventually he was retired
out of the Navy. 

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But everybody knew him in the 
town. 

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He was a lovely young man, very 
well spoken and he walked all 

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the time. 
He, he walked in and out the 

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streets and up and down and 
everybody called him by his name

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and called him the Walker. 
But everybody knew him and he 

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was friendly to everybody. 
When he met me in the street he 

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said hello vicar. 
He always called me vicar. 

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And then he, he used to say how 
are your parishers doing? 

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I think he meant parishioners. 
I hope they weren't perishing. 

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How are your perishers doing? 
But I remember one day I was in 

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a a men's shop, clothes shop. 
And he came into the shop and he

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looked to the the owner of the 
shop and he said, what? 

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What kind of jackets have you 
have you anything, you know, 

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flamboyant? 
Have you anything Brighton and 

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gay? 
That word gay did not have the 

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connotation that it has in this 
day in which we are living, 

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shows how much the language that
we use has changed. 

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He was talking about some. 
It was a nice colour, it was 

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bright, shiny, it was beautiful 
to look at. 

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And he was wanting to to get 
dressed up either on what 

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occasion he was looking for 
that, but that's the way things 

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are. 
But none, no word has been 

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bandied about and everybody 
claims it like the word 

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Christian. 
I remember we used to have a WE 

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group come to sing for us in 
Mount Marion Free Presbyterian 

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Church and one of the WE girls 
one night was giving a word of 

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testimony. 
I was just talking about people 

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being Christians and says, you 
know, some people say if you're 

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born in a Christian country, 
you're a Christian. 

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She says if you're born in the 
garage, it doesn't make you a 

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motor car. 
And you can be born in a 

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so-called Christian country, not
be a Christian. 

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And some of the great big cults 
call themselves Christian, and 

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in reality, there is nothing 
Christian about them. 

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So I want to think with you for 
a moment or two as we read this 

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incident about Paul. 
What is a Christian? 

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And you'll notice that when we 
read Paul's testimony and he 

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tells King Agrippa Har that he 
saw this light brighter than the

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noonday sun, and he heard a 
voice, and a voice spoke to him 

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from heaven. 
And he cried out, Who art thou, 

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Lord? 
And the one he blasphemed, and 

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the people of God whom he 
persecuted, Saul of Tarsus, fell

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before the Lord Jesus Christ. 
As the Lord spoke to him, shone 

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the light round about him 
brighter than the noonday sun. 

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And he cried, Lord, who art 
thou? 

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Who art thou? 
Lord he? 

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On that day he exercised a 
choice, And the one who was so 

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religious and the one who was so
antagonistic to the Christians 

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and to the people who were 
called people of that way who 

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followed Christ, he made a 
deliberate choice and he called 

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the Lord Jesus Christ Lord, and 
he made him his Lord and took 

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him as his Saviour. 
And he started out on that great

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journey that would bring him 
home safe to heaven. 

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When he eventually was martyred 
for his faith, he could say, I 

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am now ready to be offered, and 
the time of my departure is at 

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hand. 
I fought a good fight. 

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I finished the course. 
I have kept the faith. 

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Henceforth there has laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, 

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which the Lord the righteous 
Judge will give to me, and not 

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to me only, but unto all of them
also the love His appearing. 

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Saul of Tarsus exercised a 
choice, and every time the 

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gospel is preached, gospel 
preachers exhort men and women 

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to take Christ as their own and 
personal Saviour. 

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They exhort men and women to 
repent of their sin, to turn 

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away from their sin to receive 
the Lord Jesus Christ into their

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life as a Roman personal Saviour
and in the the Providence of God

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and God in his grace and in his 
mercy and brings people to 

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meetings such as this. 
And they, they hear the word of 

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God. 
Maybe they've been born into a 

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Christian home and they know the
way of salvation. 

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They've had a Bible, a copy of 
the Bible for themselves. 

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They can read the word of God in
their own language. 

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They've heard the gospel at the 
street corner of the open air 

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preacher. 
They've read gospel tracts, but 

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maybe they've never made that 
choice and receive Christ as her

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Saviour. 
Way back in the Old Testament 

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Scriptures, before Moses the man
of God died, he preached a great

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sermon to the people. 
And the way back there in the 

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book of Deuteronomy and 
Deuteronomy chapter 30 and in 

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verse 15, Moses says these 
words, Deuteronomy chapter 30 

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and verse 15. 
See, I have set before thee this

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day life and good and death and 
evil, and that I command thee 

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this day to love the Lord thy 
God, to walk in his ways, to 

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keep his commandments and 
statutes and his judgments, that

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thy mayest live and multiply. 
And the Lord thy God shall bless

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thee in the land, whether thy go
to possess it. 

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But if thine heart turn away, so
that thou wilt not hear, but 

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shall be drawn away, and worship
other gods and serve them, I 

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denounce unto you this day that 
ye shall perish. 

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Moses was calling them to 
choose. 

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Says I have set before your life
and death. 

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Talks about blessing and cursing
in every gospel meeting. 

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The way of life was presented 
for the Bible says the wages of 

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sin is death, but the gift of 
God is eternal life. 

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And when Moses died and God 
buried him and his successor, 

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Joshua came to the forefront and
Joshua led the people. 

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You remember that Joshua also on
that great occasion he he called

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to the people the way back there
in the book of Joshua and Joshua

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chapter 24 and on verse 15. 
He says, if it seem evil unto 

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you to serve the Lord, choose 
you this day whom you will 

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serve, whether the gods which 
your father served that were on 

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the other side of the flood or 
the gods of the Amorites, and 

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whose land ye dwell. 
But As for me in my house we 

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will serve the Lord Moses, 
Joshua, faithful preachers of 

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the word of God. 
Moses when he stood at the 

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burning Bush, he complained that
he was slow of speech. 

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He complained that he could not 
go and speak to Pharaoh. 

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And God was gracious and God 
said, I send Aaron your brother 

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with you. 
But my when Moses came to the 

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end of the journey, and when he 
preached that great Sherman and 

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he called and he says, I said 
before your life and death and 

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blessing and cursing, therefore 
choose. 

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He says, my doctrine shall drop 
as Jew and drop as the real he 

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had been blessed. 
And Joshua says, choose you this

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day whom he will serve. 
Remember old Elijah, the great 

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prophet of God. 
Elijah fought with the prophets 

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of Baal and there on Mount 
Carmel they had the contest and 

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the prophets of Beale jumped up 
and down and squealed and yelled

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and cut themselves and cried for
Beale to answer but of course 

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there was no answer. 
Elijah says let the God that 

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answers by fire serve him. 
Do you remember Elijah in First 

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Kings and in chapter 18 the 
Bible that says there if the 

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Lord be God, follow him. 
First Kings 18 and 21 her long 

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hauled ye between two opinions. 
If the Lord be God, follow him, 

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but if Beal, then follow him. 
And the people answered of never

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a word and you remember her. 
But Elijah prayed, God sent the 

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fire, fire from heaven fell like
that. 

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They slew the false prophets and
the people said the Lord he is 

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God. 
I ask you the question tonight. 

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Choose you this day whom you 
will serve. 

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Choose life, choose blessing. 
But I ask you, how long? 

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How long halt ye between two 
opinions? 

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That means to stagger from one 
place to another. 

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How long are you staggering from
doing what's right and holding 

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onto this world? 
Elijah says if Beale be God, 

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follow him. 
But if the Lord be God, follow 

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him. 
In this world today, Beale could

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be represented by the pleasures 
and the power and the things 

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that this world has to offer and
all the temptations and all the 

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the things that prestige and all
that this world can give. 

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My men are looked upon as gods, 
whether they be pop stars or 

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sports stars or whatever they 
might be. 

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People say, I would love to be 
like that. 

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I would love to have what they 
have. 

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I would love to do what they do.
But her long holiday between two

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opinions. 
The spiel be God and I just says

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follow him. 
If the Lord is God, then follow 

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him and I think about those 
words of the Lord Jesus Christ, 

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our Saviour, when he himself 
calling men and women to follow 

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him. 
He said strive to enter in at 

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the Strait gate for Strait as 
the gate and narrowest the way 

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that leadeth unto life. 
But why does the gate? 

250
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Why does the gate that leads to 
destruction when the Lord Jesus 

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said strive? 
It's the word in the original 

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00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,360
agon also may I means to to 
agonise. 

253
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It's the word that's used when 
our Saviour knelt in the Garden 

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of Gethsemane in the midst of 
the olive trees and he agonised 

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until he sweat as it were great 
drops of blood. 

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But Jesus says strive to enter 
in and he says the Kingdom of 

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heaven is taken even by violence
of men take a hold upon it and 

258
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and want to be saved for man's 
drowning in the sea and someone 

259
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throws him a lifeline. 
My He'll take every bit of his 

260
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energy and every bit of his 
strength and every bit of his 

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power and every bit of his 
ability to lay hold upon the 

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lifeline. 
The old Gospel him says 

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throughout the lifeline, across 
the dark wave, dear friend, 

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tonight Paul exercised his 
choice and he chose Christ. 

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Choose you this day whom you 
will, Sir. 

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Paul not only exercised his 
choice, he experienced the 

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change. 
He was a persecutor. 

268
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He was a blasphemer. 
He he rounded up the people of 

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God, He put them in fetters, he 
put them in prison, He gave his 

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voice against, he held the 
garments of the people who 

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stoned the godly Stephen. 
But he was changed because that 

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day he came face to face with 
the Lord Jesus Christ. 

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He could sing that hymn if it 
had been written in His day. 

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What a wonderful change in my 
life has been wrought since 

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Jesus committed my heart. 
Thank God for the testimonies I 

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00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:32,760
have heard for years from I was 
saved even before I was saved. 

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Thank God for men and women, for
young people, for boys and 

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girls. 
Some saved at their bedside, 

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00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:45,480
some saved in their youth, some 
saved when they were children 

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00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,320
and they came to know the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

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And God has blessed them, God 
has kept them, and God will keep

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them. 
Some men and women save from a a

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prodigal lifestyle, save from 
the terrible sins that this 

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world has to offer. 
And I don't need to go into them

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all, but they've been saved and 
there's a change. 

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There's a change some see, if 
they were steeped in religion 

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00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,840
and they thought religion is the
way and they thought ceremony is

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the way and they thought all the
ordinances, the church, that's 

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the only way I can get into 
heaven. 

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00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:33,720
But then they, they, they, they 
came to know Christ made a 

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00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:38,360
choice and they received him and
they realised salvation is not 

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00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:42,080
on the church, it's not on a 
creed, it's not on a preacher, 

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00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,840
it's not on a cleric, it's in 
Christ and in Christ alone. 

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I sometimes think those lovely 
words in the prayer that the 

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00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:53,840
Lord Jesus Christ taught his 
disciples. 

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Then he said, and at the end of 
the pressures for thine is the 

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Kingdom, the power and the 
glory. 

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And I was thinking about it just
the other night there as I read 

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it again in the Scriptures, 
thine is the Kingdom. 

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Remember when Jesus talked to 
Nicodemus, he says Nicodemus, 

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except a man be born again, he 
cannot even see the Kingdom of 

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00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,880
God, let alone enter it. 
Nicodemus, you need the new 

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00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:24,560
birth. 
You need to be born of the 

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00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:28,200
Spirit, with life from above 
into God's family, divine. 

305
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,640
If you want to get to heaven, 
you must be born again. 

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00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,000
God has a Kingdom. 
Tell me tonight for it. 

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00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:38,360
Have you entered it? 
Are you part of God's Kingdom? 

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00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:45,840
Thine is the king, the power. 
Have you experienced it? 

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00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:52,280
Remember people and I worked on 
the factory and there are people

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00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:53,840
who said, oh, Christianity's all
right. 

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00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,280
For some of you young fellas, 
some of you young girls, 

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00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,040
Christianity's all right. 
You don't you haven't tasted 

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00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,920
some of the things of the world.
I could never change. 

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I could never stop this. 
I could never stop that. 

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00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:11,120
I could never stop the other. 
But when they came to Christ at 

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00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:16,480
the moment, the power of sin was
broken because thine is the 

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00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,000
Kingdom. 
It's God's Kingdom and he has 

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00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:24,560
the power and he has the glory. 
Are we, have we entered into 

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00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,280
God's Kingdom? 
Are we saved? 

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00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,760
Have we experienced the power of
God in our lives? 

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00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:34,520
Are we enthralled by by the 
glory of God? 

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00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,400
There's a glory that awaits the 
people of God. 

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Are we enthralled behind? 
Can I just say because our time 

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00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:51,280
is gone, Paul exercised the 
choice to Christ as a saviour. 

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He experienced a change. 
The Bible says 2nd Corinthians 

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00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,480
517. 
If any man, it means any man, 

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00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:02,920
any woman, any boy, any girl, 
any teenager, any old age 

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00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:08,600
doesn't matter. 
Our age, our nationality, our 

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00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,440
background, whether we're 
educated or illiterate doesn't 

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00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:17,040
matter. 
If any man be in Christ, he is a

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00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:23,440
new creature and the old things,
thank God they pass away and all

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00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:28,720
things become you. 
Paul made a choice and and he 

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00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:34,000
experienced the change and you 
expected are coming. 

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00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:45,800
The one he denied, the one whom 
he thought could not have risen 

335
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:51,200
again from the dead. 
He realised he is alive, He's a 

336
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,880
living Saviour. 
And just as the Angel said in 

337
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:59,800
Acts 111, ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? 

338
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:05,600
This Jesus, this same Jesus 
shall come again. 

339
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,680
Unlike manner as ye have seen 
him go. 

340
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:14,560
Paul was living for the Lord 
Jesus, and whether he would live

341
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:22,080
or die, he knew that one day he 
would see Christ face to face as

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00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,640
it happened. 
As a grippa said, he might have 

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00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,000
been settled free had he not 
appealed unto Caesar. 

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00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:31,920
But God told them, you're going 
to be a witness even in Rome 

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00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:37,440
also. 
And then he was and prisoned, 

346
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:45,760
brought out and martyred. 
But it was his crowning day, his

347
00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:50,680
glory day, when he'll go from 
this scene of time to be with 

348
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:52,480
the Saviour whom he loved, whom 
he served. 

349
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,600
You know, we we're we're living 
in the old Nicholson used to 

350
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,200
talk about it in his gospel 
campaigns used to say we're not 

351
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,200
looking for the undertaker, 
We're looking for the upper 

352
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,760
taker. 
We're looking for the Lord Jesus

353
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,520
Christ to come back again. 
We know not when they are may 

354
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:10,440
come. 
We know when the day may come, 

355
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,000
morning, night or noon, but 
thank God we know this. 

356
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:21,720
The Lord Jesus Christ is coming 
back again, coming back again. 

357
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,080
But whether he we are alive and 
remain in this world when He 

358
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:31,960
comes or whether he calls us, 
takes us out to be with Himself,

359
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:40,320
The thing is, you must be ready.
You must have made the choice. 

360
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:43,840
He must have experienced the 
change. 

361
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:50,800
Are you looking for him? 
Can you say, Fred, it's well of 

362
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,600
my soul, the old Gospel hymn, it
is well, it is well of my soul. 

363
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,240
You say, Fred, I can put my head
on the pillow tonight, knowing 

364
00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,200
of the truth and of a certain 
day. 

365
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:06,000
If the Lord Jesus Christ were to
come, or if he were to call me 

366
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:11,720
out to meet him, I'm ready to 
go. 

367
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,440
I used to sing a wee gospel hymn
in the books of the Bible, these

368
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:25,280
words we are told, a man turned 
from God to silver and gold. 

369
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:33,360
But you have to wear a headache.
Don't turn away, turn to Christ.

370
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:41,560
Turn now, today if you hear his 
voice, harden not your heart, 

371
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,280
but receive them. 
May the Lord bless these simple 

372
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,920
thoughts tonight to our hearts. 
Let's bow together and be word 

373
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,520
of prayer. 
Can I just say we're your 

374
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,800
servant for Jesus sake? 
And if you have never taken that

375
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,920
step, the old gospel hymn says 
only a step to Jesus, then why 

376
00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,600
not take it now? 
Come and thy sin, confessing to 

377
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:05,960
Christ the Saviour by only a 
step. 

378
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,600
Only a step. 
Come, he waits for thee. 

379
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:14,840
Thou shalt receive a blessing He
freely offers thee. 

380
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,360
Will you come tonight? 
It's only a step, Step from sin 

381
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,880
to grace. 
Step tonight from death to life,

382
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:28,760
from the power of sin and Satan 
unto the glorious gospel of 

383
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,000
Jesus Christ. 
Father in Heaven, we thank thee 

384
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,000
again for the simplicity of the 
Word of God, for thy presence 

385
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:36,880
with us. 
Bless your word. 

386
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,320
We pray it should be 1 still 
outside of Christ. 

387
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,160
Lord, give them grace even to 
tell us of their need. 

388
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,960
Help us to show them the way, to
point them to the Lamb of God 

389
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,080
that taketh away the sin of the 
world. 

390
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,000
Separate us now with Thy 
blessing. 

391
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,320
Take us all to our homes in 
safety and abide with us. 

392
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,760
For we ask all these things in 
Jesus name and for God's eternal

393
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:01,520
glory. 
Amen.