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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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My name is Pastor Josh, and I
want to thank you for listening to

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this podcast.

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I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

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you in the word of God.

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Now, come along.

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Let's look into the Bible and
see what God has for us here today.

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Well, we're in the Book of Acts.

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If you have your Bibles, turn
there with me.

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Last week, we looked at what
happens when the Lord closes a door.

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We talked this morning about
how we can be thankful for conviction,

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not something that we're
normally thankful for.

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We don't usually go around the
table and say, lord, I'm thankful

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for when you convicted me on
that sin.

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Well, maybe we should.

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But one other thing that we
don't normally give thanks for around

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the dinner table, around
church is when God closes the door.

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You haven't heard a lot of
people stand up and say, well, I

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was thankful when God stopped
me in my tracks when I was trying

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to do this for him, and he
stopped me.

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But I can tell you some of the
most impactful blessings that God

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has had in my life is when he
told me no, when he closed the door,

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when he changed my direction.

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And if you go back, I know
last week we had chili on our minds,

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but very quickly, before we
went to our chili cook off, we did

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talk about that door that was
closed for Paul and his missionary

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group.

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So let's go back and review
that very quickly.

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It says that Paul had a desire
to go to Asia to preach the word.

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Something that we would say
is, that's a good thing.

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God, though, had other plans.

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God closed the door for him to
go to Asia at that point and then

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actually closed the door again
when he wanted to go to a different

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place and directed him to a
place called Macedonia.

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Now, at the time, Paul
probably had no idea why God closed

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those doors and moved him to a
place of Macedonia.

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But we're going to see in this
passage of scripture the reason why

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that God wanted to open a
bigger door to minister to the people

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of Europe.

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Macedonia is in Europe.

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And so Paul had a desire to go
to Asia.

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Now, in your mind, don't think about.

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I mean, you can think about a
world map, but their world was a

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lot smaller in their minds.

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Okay, so we're talking roughly
about Turkey and the area of Turkey

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and Greece and that region of
the world.

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And so Paul wanted to go to
the Asia side to preach.

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God had a plan for him to go
to Macedonia the European side, to

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open that door.

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Paul had no idea what God had
in store, but he did know that God

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spoke to him by way of a vision.

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And there was a man from
Macedonia that called out for help.

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And what does Paul do?

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Even though he didn't
understand, even though it wasn't

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his will, he obeyed God's plan.

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He obeyed God's will and said,
okay, we're going to go help the

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people in Macedonia.

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And what did he do to help them?

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Well, he brings them the Gospel.

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That's the number one thing
that we do when we need to help people.

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We can help people
financially, we can help people when

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it comes to their physical
needs, but ultimately we must help

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them with the cause of the gospel.

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So that's what Paul does.

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It says there in verse number 10.

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And after he had seen the
vision, immediately we endeavored

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to go into Macedonia.

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So immediately Paul obeys.

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Immediately Paul goes, and it
says, assuredly gathering that the

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Lord had called us to preach
the gospel unto them.

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So Paul says, God wants us to preach.

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We're going to do that.

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We're going to obey.

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Now we're going to pick up a
verse number 11 and we're going to

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see more about this door that
is opened in Macedonia.

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We're not going to cover all
of it here this evening, but what

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we are going to do is we're
going to see that God has a better

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plan.

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When we have a plan, sometimes
God has a better plan.

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So if I didn't say we're in
Acts, chapter 16, verse number 11,

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it says, therefore loosening
from Troas.

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They were in Troas and we came
with a straight course to Samothrassia

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and the next day to Neapolis.

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Now he's describing real
places and he's describing their,

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their path via ship to
Macedonia, verse 12, and from thence

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to Philippi.

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That's a place that you
probably are familiar with, the Philippian

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Church.

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He goes to Philippi, which is
the chief city of that part of Macedonia.

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So he obeys, he goes to Macedonia.

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This is a trip Paul and his
missionary team made.

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They had crossed, if you know
anything about world geography, they

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had crossed the Aegean Sea
from the continent of Asia to the

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continent of Europe.

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And this was a big step, and
this probably a bigger step than

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Paul even really understood
that he was opening a door to a whole

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new realm of people.

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And so they sailed straightway
to these places and the perfect winds

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would have directed them about
156 miles.

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And the Bible says that that's
you Know, obviously, the path that

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they took, it doesn't.

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It says abiding certain days there.

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They stayed there a certain
amount of time there in Philippi.

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And when they went there,
verse 13.

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And on the Sabbath, we went
out of the city by a riverside where

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prayer was wont to be made,
and we sat down and spake unto the

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women which resorted thither.

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So immediately they begin to
preach the gospel.

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And this is verse number 13.

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And so the fact that the
Jewish believers there in Philippi

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were meeting by the riverside
and not in the synagogue meant that

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there were not a lot of people
that knew the truth of God at that

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point.

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If they would have had at
least 10 people, they would have

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had a synagogue, a meeting space.

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They were meeting down by the river.

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So this is a small group of
people which we know eventually is

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going to multiply in exponentially.

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So, so Paul goes and he goes
to the small group of people specifically,

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he mentions the ladies, and he
begins to preach the Gospel there

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in verse 14.

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And a certain woman named
Lydia, a seller of purple of the

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city of Thyatira, which
worshiped God, heard us, whose heart

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the Lord opened, that she
attended unto the things which were

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spoken of Paul.

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And so they're here on the
Sabbath day worshiping, and they

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come across this lady named Lydia.

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And anyone who was a seller of
purple, that phrase there, you might

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say, why was that added there?

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Because a seller of purple
dealt in value, luxurious product.

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Anything that was in purple
was something luxurious because it

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was a very difficult process
to make this dye.

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Today we take for granted when
we walk into a store, you can find

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any color of material and just
walk in and it's there available

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to you.

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But back then, they didn't
just have artificial dyes.

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They had to do a special
process to get this purple.

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And so only rich people could
obtain this purple product.

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And so the dyes that were used
in making purple were expensive and

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they were highly regarded.

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And so this woman was, as we
see here, the first convert in Europe.

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And one might say, you know,
obviously the door that was open

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through that closed door in
Asia, So the door was closed in Asia,

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now it's opened in Europe.

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And now we see the first
convert here in this lady named Lydia.

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Now, she's from a place called Thyatira.

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Now you.

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That might not ring a bell to you.

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You might say, never heard of Thyatira.

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Well, if you've read the book
of Revelation, there is eventually

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a church of Thyatira, which
there's a lot mentioned about that

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church.

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We're not going to get into
that right now.

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But we do know that that
place, Thyatira, was a place where

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that purple dye and the purple
fabric was used and sold very frequently.

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And we know that that church
at Thyatira was one of the seven

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churches that God addresses in
Revelation, chapter two.

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And he says, I know thy works
and charity and service and faith,

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and thy patience and thy
works, and the last to be more than

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the first.

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And then he talks about them
having the spirit of Jezebel.

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We're not going to get into
that story.

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But just so that you know, she
was from the place that the church

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of Thyatira was from.

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Most likely because she goes
back to Thyatira and preaches the

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gospel, teaches the gospel,
verse 15.

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And when she was baptized in
her household, she besought us, saying,

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if ye have judged me to be
faithful to the Lord, come into my

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house and abide there.

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And she constrained us.

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So what we can see here is
that the Lord opens her heart.

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If you go back to verse number
13, it says, they begin to go and

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preach.

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And then Lydia hears this, and
it says that she was already worshiping

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God there.

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She heard them, and her heart
was opened by the Lord.

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The heart the Lord opened.

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Now, I think that's important
to notice when we are sharing our

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faith with people.

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It is not our job to open
someone's heart.

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It is not our job to be the
Holy Spirit.

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It's not our job to make that
person a convert.

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It's our job to present the truth.

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It's God's job to open their hearts.

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And I think so many times we
put too much pressure on ourselves

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to say the right thing or do
the right thing.

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And we miss the point that
conversion, someone's salvation is

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a miracle that God works in
their life.

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It's not what we do.

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All we do is present the truth
of the gospel to them.

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And so what I think that we
need to see here is that even Paul,

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he didn't come in and force
people to be saved.

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All he did was preach the truth.

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And those that were ready to
hear the truth, they were open to

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the cause of the gospel, and
they make a decision to follow.

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And she made a decision to follow.

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It says that her heart was open.

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She attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul, and she

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was baptized.

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She follows in obedience.

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The baptism is not what saves
her, but we know that she follows

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in obedience right away.

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And so before Lydia was
converted, the Lord opens her heart.

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This was a work of God.

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And so therefore, what we know
is that she gets saved.

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And what we can pray for as
evangelists, now all of us are evangelists

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to some degree, right?

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We are all called for the
Great Commission instead of praying

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for, hey, you know what, this
or that.

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When it comes to evangelism,
what we need to pray for is open

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hearts.

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Pray that the grace of God
precedes us when we go to someone's

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life, you know, and so if
you're dealing with somebody, maybe,

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maybe you have the opportunity
to know that you're going to be dealing

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with someone very soon about
the gospel.

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Pray.

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Pray that their heart is open
to the truth.

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And that's what happens here.

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The heart is open and she
follows in obedience.

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And so she basically, after
she follows in obedience and baptism,

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it says here that she
immediately gets into her spiritual

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gift, which is kind of unique, right?

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We think that sometimes it's
going to take years for someone's

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spiritual gift to manifest
itself and in their life.

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But immediately she goes right
into the gift of hospitality.

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Do you see that happening there?

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It happens right here in verse 15.

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And when she was baptized in
her household, she besought us.

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Now, by the way, we do see
that because she's converted her

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household converts.

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Now that's not a prince.

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A lot of people teach the
principle that if you're saved, your

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whole house is saved.

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Now, we don't believe that.

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We don't believe that just
because I'm saved now, my whole family

237
00:10:53,825 --> 00:10:55,449
is covered in salvation.

238
00:10:55,577 --> 00:10:58,417
But what that does mean is
that if I get saved, it's a lot higher

239
00:10:58,481 --> 00:11:00,909
probability for my family to
get saved, right?

240
00:11:01,017 --> 00:11:04,965
There's that familial legacy
that happens when one person's converted.

241
00:11:05,045 --> 00:11:09,093
You break the chain of that
rebellion in your life and you say,

242
00:11:09,109 --> 00:11:09,373
you know what?

243
00:11:09,389 --> 00:11:12,293
I'm going to make a difference
for the cause of the gospel by getting

244
00:11:12,349 --> 00:11:15,477
saved and by imparting this
gospel message to my family.

245
00:11:15,581 --> 00:11:18,957
I can tell you that I'm a
third generation Christian.

246
00:11:19,141 --> 00:11:24,389
I'm thankful for the fact that
my grandfather trusted in Jesus Christ.

247
00:11:24,517 --> 00:11:26,837
And that story is an amazing story.

248
00:11:26,861 --> 00:11:29,357
I've alluded to it sometimes
in my preaching.

249
00:11:29,501 --> 00:11:31,693
But my grandfather was a
pretty rough guy.

250
00:11:31,869 --> 00:11:34,945
He was running with the wrong
crowds, doing the wrong thing.

251
00:11:35,245 --> 00:11:40,077
And there was a guy who came
and they were friends from before.

252
00:11:40,181 --> 00:11:44,261
Actually, this guy used to run
with my grandfather in the bad path.

253
00:11:44,413 --> 00:11:46,693
And he comes back and he's
talking to my grandfather and he's

254
00:11:46,709 --> 00:11:49,517
like, hey, I want you to come
to my church.

255
00:11:49,621 --> 00:11:50,357
He's like, your church?

256
00:11:50,381 --> 00:11:51,085
What are you talking about?

257
00:11:51,125 --> 00:11:51,957
I don't do things with church.

258
00:11:51,981 --> 00:11:53,973
He goes, well, I'm actually a
pastor now.

259
00:11:54,109 --> 00:11:56,845
He goes, I went and got saved
and went off to Bible college.

260
00:11:56,885 --> 00:11:59,273
And I'm back and I got a
church over here.

261
00:11:59,329 --> 00:12:00,593
It's called Providence Baptist Church.

262
00:12:00,609 --> 00:12:01,497
I'd love for you to come by.

263
00:12:01,521 --> 00:12:04,449
And my grandfather was like, I
don't know about that, but since

264
00:12:04,497 --> 00:12:06,345
this guy, we had a
relationship before, we're going

265
00:12:06,345 --> 00:12:06,833
to come on out.

266
00:12:06,849 --> 00:12:08,085
And he took his family.

267
00:12:08,545 --> 00:12:11,177
I think my grandmother got
saved first, and she was praying

268
00:12:11,201 --> 00:12:11,977
for my grandfather.

269
00:12:12,041 --> 00:12:15,841
He got saved, and then in so
doing, my dad and my aunt were born

270
00:12:15,873 --> 00:12:16,457
in the church.

271
00:12:16,521 --> 00:12:19,177
Basically, they were babies
and they got saved.

272
00:12:19,241 --> 00:12:21,537
And ultimately that was the
church that I was raised in.

273
00:12:21,561 --> 00:12:23,665
And I was presented with the
gospel there.

274
00:12:23,825 --> 00:12:26,801
And ultimately then I was able
to present that gospel to my family.

275
00:12:26,833 --> 00:12:28,401
You see how that can happen?

276
00:12:28,473 --> 00:12:31,417
That can affect a whole
household, that can affect generations.

277
00:12:31,561 --> 00:12:35,257
It's not to say that that's
automatically going to happen, but

278
00:12:35,281 --> 00:12:36,897
we can see that there's
influence there.

279
00:12:36,921 --> 00:12:39,841
And we see that her house is
baptized as well.

280
00:12:40,033 --> 00:12:44,433
And so it says here that she
was baptized in her household, and

281
00:12:44,449 --> 00:12:45,649
she besought us.

282
00:12:45,817 --> 00:12:49,025
Basically, she begged us, if
ye have judged me to be faithful

283
00:12:49,065 --> 00:12:52,633
to the Lord, come into my
house and abide there.

284
00:12:52,689 --> 00:12:54,217
And she constrained us.

285
00:12:54,401 --> 00:12:57,761
And so what we can see here is
that immediately Lydia set about

286
00:12:57,833 --> 00:12:59,281
in doing a good work for the Lord.

287
00:12:59,313 --> 00:13:02,617
Now, the good works are not
what saved her, but the good works

288
00:13:02,641 --> 00:13:04,065
are not what kept her saved.

289
00:13:04,185 --> 00:13:07,849
But we see immediately she had
a desire to do good to those around

290
00:13:07,897 --> 00:13:10,673
her, specifically through this
area of hospitality.

291
00:13:10,809 --> 00:13:15,495
Her hospitality is an awesome
example of how she could exercise

292
00:13:15,625 --> 00:13:17,211
that spiritual gift in her life.

293
00:13:17,323 --> 00:13:20,771
She was probably already
naturally hospitable, but now when

294
00:13:20,803 --> 00:13:24,131
she gets saved, there's an
opportunity for God to indwell her

295
00:13:24,163 --> 00:13:27,723
in the spirit and allow her to
do that work in the name of the Lord.

296
00:13:27,819 --> 00:13:28,987
And that's what she says she
does here.

297
00:13:29,011 --> 00:13:31,747
She says, if you found me
faithful to the Lord, come over to

298
00:13:31,771 --> 00:13:32,443
my house.

299
00:13:32,579 --> 00:13:35,483
Now, not all of us are gifted
in the area of hospitality.

300
00:13:35,619 --> 00:13:40,135
Now all of us should strive to
be more hospitable.

301
00:13:40,675 --> 00:13:41,555
It's very interesting.

302
00:13:41,595 --> 00:13:43,939
This isn't a passage
necessarily on spiritual gifts, but

303
00:13:43,947 --> 00:13:45,895
I think that we should touch
on that for a moment.

304
00:13:45,935 --> 00:13:49,111
The passage of scripture in
Romans that talks about our spiritual

305
00:13:49,143 --> 00:13:51,663
gifts list a bunch of
different things that not all of

306
00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:54,055
us are supernaturally gifted
with, right?

307
00:13:54,135 --> 00:13:57,287
So the Bible says that there's
the gift of prophecy, there's the

308
00:13:57,311 --> 00:14:00,063
gift of hospitality, there's
the gift of mercy.

309
00:14:00,159 --> 00:14:01,047
And it goes down the line.

310
00:14:01,071 --> 00:14:02,555
There's the gift of teaching.

311
00:14:03,055 --> 00:14:06,943
And you might say, well, I'm
not gifted in hospitality, so that

312
00:14:06,959 --> 00:14:08,255
means I don't have to be hospitable.

313
00:14:08,335 --> 00:14:09,751
It's not what that's saying.

314
00:14:09,943 --> 00:14:13,975
I'm not gifted in mercy, so
therefore, I don't need to be merciful.

315
00:14:14,015 --> 00:14:14,167
No.

316
00:14:14,191 --> 00:14:17,481
The Bible says that there are
things that we are supernaturally

317
00:14:17,553 --> 00:14:21,217
gifted in that come just to us naturally.

318
00:14:21,401 --> 00:14:23,641
But there are other things in
our life that we need to grow in

319
00:14:23,673 --> 00:14:25,217
in those areas of our
spiritual gifts.

320
00:14:25,281 --> 00:14:28,265
I'm gonna tell you, like,
there are certain things that I struggle

321
00:14:28,305 --> 00:14:29,505
with in my life.

322
00:14:29,665 --> 00:14:30,961
It doesn't naturally come to me.

323
00:14:31,033 --> 00:14:33,457
I don't naturally think about
being hospitable to someone.

324
00:14:33,561 --> 00:14:33,817
Okay.

325
00:14:33,841 --> 00:14:35,697
That's just not my natural inclination.

326
00:14:35,841 --> 00:14:38,809
But God has touched my heart
many times and said, you need to

327
00:14:38,817 --> 00:14:39,801
be more hospitable.

328
00:14:39,953 --> 00:14:42,723
Now, I'm gonna tell you,
there's nothing that anyone has to

329
00:14:42,739 --> 00:14:44,907
do to twist my arm to start
teaching or preaching.

330
00:14:45,011 --> 00:14:46,067
Like, I just love that.

331
00:14:46,091 --> 00:14:47,251
I'm gonna come up and I'm
gonna do that.

332
00:14:47,283 --> 00:14:49,723
No matter what the case might
be, whether someone wants to hear

333
00:14:49,739 --> 00:14:51,531
it or not, I'm willing to preach.

334
00:14:51,683 --> 00:14:52,891
Some of you are like, you know what?

335
00:14:52,923 --> 00:14:54,099
I'm naturally hospitable.

336
00:14:54,147 --> 00:14:55,171
That's all I can think about.

337
00:14:55,243 --> 00:14:57,379
I could never get up in front
of someone and talk.

338
00:14:57,547 --> 00:14:58,307
Well, you could.

339
00:14:58,371 --> 00:14:59,587
I guarantee you, you could.

340
00:14:59,691 --> 00:15:02,003
But the truth is that there's
some things that naturally come to

341
00:15:02,019 --> 00:15:02,315
us.

342
00:15:02,395 --> 00:15:05,291
And that's what we should
immediately recognize in our spiritual

343
00:15:05,323 --> 00:15:06,999
life, is something that we
need to go towards.

344
00:15:07,107 --> 00:15:08,351
And that's what she does here.

345
00:15:08,463 --> 00:15:10,239
She says, come into my home.

346
00:15:10,407 --> 00:15:13,487
And so this is an awesome
opportunity for her to exercise her

347
00:15:13,511 --> 00:15:15,087
obedience and her thankfulness
to the Lord.

348
00:15:15,111 --> 00:15:19,647
And so I would tell you one of
the ways that you can display to

349
00:15:19,671 --> 00:15:22,207
the Lord your love for him and
your thankfulness to him is just

350
00:15:22,231 --> 00:15:25,391
to act in what he has already
gifted you in when it comes to those

351
00:15:25,423 --> 00:15:26,407
spiritual gifts.

352
00:15:26,551 --> 00:15:28,815
Now, I would encourage you,
that's a really interesting study,

353
00:15:28,855 --> 00:15:30,127
to go through your spiritual gifts.

354
00:15:30,151 --> 00:15:32,927
And I have a spiritual gift
assessment test that you could go

355
00:15:32,951 --> 00:15:33,333
through.

356
00:15:33,439 --> 00:15:36,969
And very quickly you can see,
if you're honest, what God has naturally

357
00:15:37,017 --> 00:15:39,545
gifted you in when it comes to
your spiritual walk.

358
00:15:39,705 --> 00:15:42,241
But I will say that there's an
opportunity for all of us to grow

359
00:15:42,273 --> 00:15:44,737
in every one of those
categories, and that is the way that

360
00:15:44,761 --> 00:15:47,321
we display our love for the Lord.

361
00:15:47,393 --> 00:15:49,513
If you say you love God and
you say you're thankful, what does

362
00:15:49,529 --> 00:15:50,017
the Bible say?

363
00:15:50,041 --> 00:15:50,761
We obey Him.

364
00:15:50,833 --> 00:15:53,129
We obey him by following his
will in our life.

365
00:15:53,217 --> 00:15:56,305
We obey him by exercising what
he has gifted us with.

366
00:15:56,425 --> 00:15:57,729
We don't hoard that for ourselves.

367
00:15:57,777 --> 00:16:00,615
The Bible says that spiritual
gifts are for those around us to

368
00:16:00,655 --> 00:16:03,863
work into other people's
lives, to edify them in the cause

369
00:16:03,879 --> 00:16:04,607
of the gospel.

370
00:16:04,711 --> 00:16:09,719
So my spiritual gifts should
be exercised this way to edify other

371
00:16:09,767 --> 00:16:11,799
believers and to evangelize
the lost.

372
00:16:11,927 --> 00:16:13,655
That's the whole point of our
spiritual gifts.

373
00:16:13,735 --> 00:16:16,287
Our spiritual gifts are not
there for people to see us and to

374
00:16:16,311 --> 00:16:16,919
praise us.

375
00:16:17,007 --> 00:16:19,439
Our spiritual gifts are not
there for us to earn money.

376
00:16:19,527 --> 00:16:23,327
Our spiritual gifts are not
there for us to earn power or praise.

377
00:16:23,431 --> 00:16:25,423
Our spiritual gifts are there
for two reasons.

378
00:16:25,519 --> 00:16:30,221
To edify the saints, for
building them up and for evangelizing

379
00:16:30,253 --> 00:16:30,981
the lost.

380
00:16:31,133 --> 00:16:32,541
And that's what Lydia does here.

381
00:16:32,573 --> 00:16:34,477
She doesn't evangelize the
lost necessarily.

382
00:16:34,581 --> 00:16:38,301
What she does here is she
edifies Paul and the missionary team.

383
00:16:38,333 --> 00:16:42,021
Okay, so now immediately we
see another story happening.

384
00:16:42,093 --> 00:16:46,625
Right after the conversion of
Lydia and her family.

385
00:16:47,125 --> 00:16:49,197
We see in verse 16, something
else happened.

386
00:16:49,221 --> 00:16:50,789
This is actually a very
interesting story.

387
00:16:50,917 --> 00:16:54,087
And for some of you, you might
perk up with this because it speaks

388
00:16:54,111 --> 00:16:55,807
of things that kind of perk
our interest.

389
00:16:55,871 --> 00:16:59,263
And verse 16, and it came to
pass as they went to prayer.

390
00:16:59,439 --> 00:16:59,799
So.

391
00:16:59,847 --> 00:17:02,951
So they're praying, and we
don't know exactly how long this

392
00:17:02,983 --> 00:17:06,447
took, but it says that a
certain damsel, a young lady possessed

393
00:17:06,471 --> 00:17:09,835
with a spirit of divination,
met us.

394
00:17:10,295 --> 00:17:14,295
And so they move from Asia to Europe.

395
00:17:14,415 --> 00:17:16,343
They begin to preach, and
immediately they see a conversion

396
00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:16,727
with Lydia.

397
00:17:16,751 --> 00:17:18,303
And they're like, okay, maybe
this is.

398
00:17:18,399 --> 00:17:19,831
Maybe this is where God wants us.

399
00:17:19,863 --> 00:17:23,236
We see fruit, and immediately
they face opposition.

400
00:17:23,380 --> 00:17:25,812
Satan immediately opposes them.

401
00:17:25,948 --> 00:17:27,116
That's what we'll see.

402
00:17:27,260 --> 00:17:30,172
We will see throughout
scripture and we will see throughout

403
00:17:30,228 --> 00:17:34,468
experience that when you
present the gospel, there is pushback.

404
00:17:34,636 --> 00:17:36,148
There always will be pushback.

405
00:17:36,236 --> 00:17:40,244
And in this case, we see
pushback through a demon possessed

406
00:17:40,284 --> 00:17:40,864
girl.

407
00:17:41,524 --> 00:17:44,532
It says that she was possessed
with a spirit of divination.

408
00:17:44,708 --> 00:17:46,944
When you say, what is a spirit
of divination?

409
00:17:47,345 --> 00:17:48,525
Well, literally.

410
00:17:48,985 --> 00:17:52,465
Literally in the Greek, it
says spirit of.

411
00:17:52,585 --> 00:17:55,205
And you will never guess what
the Greek word is there.

412
00:17:55,545 --> 00:18:01,857
It's P, Y, T, H, O, N, a
spirit of python.

413
00:18:02,001 --> 00:18:03,245
Now, what's a python?

414
00:18:03,545 --> 00:18:05,049
A serpent snake.

415
00:18:05,217 --> 00:18:07,925
So literally in the Greek, you
would read it and you would say,

416
00:18:08,425 --> 00:18:10,057
it says the spirit of Python.

417
00:18:10,121 --> 00:18:10,825
Literally.

418
00:18:10,985 --> 00:18:14,633
And that would have been
linked to the pagan ways of the Greek

419
00:18:14,689 --> 00:18:15,607
gods there.

420
00:18:15,761 --> 00:18:19,579
They would have said that the
spirit of Python was the spirit that

421
00:18:19,667 --> 00:18:21,203
was there in this region.

422
00:18:21,339 --> 00:18:24,595
And so it's essentially the
spirit of Satan is a spirit of evil.

423
00:18:24,755 --> 00:18:28,535
And so there's this spirit of
evil that has possessed this girl.

424
00:18:29,435 --> 00:18:31,091
We know this is demon possession.

425
00:18:31,203 --> 00:18:35,963
Now, again, this can be
something that our culture has, you

426
00:18:35,979 --> 00:18:39,043
know, emphasized in Hollywood
in a wrong way.

427
00:18:39,139 --> 00:18:42,015
I'm going to tell you that
this is a real thing.

428
00:18:42,375 --> 00:18:44,231
Demon possession is a real
thing, okay?

429
00:18:44,263 --> 00:18:45,335
We cannot deny that.

430
00:18:45,415 --> 00:18:49,031
Now, everybody that you come
across is not demon possessed, okay?

431
00:18:49,063 --> 00:18:51,215
Sometimes there's a lot of
people that will turn to that.

432
00:18:51,295 --> 00:18:53,767
Like, every single person that
has an attitude is demon possessed.

433
00:18:53,871 --> 00:18:55,079
There's a demon in everything.

434
00:18:55,167 --> 00:18:58,431
I'm going to be very, very
cautious with my teaching on this

435
00:18:58,463 --> 00:19:01,407
because there are some circles
of Christians that believe that every

436
00:19:01,431 --> 00:19:05,759
single thing that's negative
is a spirit of Satan, okay?

437
00:19:05,847 --> 00:19:06,679
It's demonic.

438
00:19:06,767 --> 00:19:07,855
Like, this is the demon of this.

439
00:19:07,895 --> 00:19:08,695
This is the demon of this.

440
00:19:08,735 --> 00:19:09,913
That's not the case.

441
00:19:10,079 --> 00:19:13,061
But what I will say that most
of our problems stem from our own

442
00:19:13,093 --> 00:19:13,589
flesh.

443
00:19:13,717 --> 00:19:16,125
Most of the problems that we
deal with in our life are from our

444
00:19:16,165 --> 00:19:19,077
own issues of our own sin and
the worldly influence that comes

445
00:19:19,101 --> 00:19:19,661
from that.

446
00:19:19,773 --> 00:19:22,765
But there are occasions where
demons do possess human beings.

447
00:19:22,805 --> 00:19:24,509
We see that in the time of Jesus.

448
00:19:24,557 --> 00:19:27,981
Now, I would say that we
wouldn't look at the exception as

449
00:19:28,013 --> 00:19:28,845
the norm.

450
00:19:29,005 --> 00:19:31,893
Now, why do you think that
there was so much demonic activity

451
00:19:31,949 --> 00:19:33,665
right around the life of Jesus?

452
00:19:33,965 --> 00:19:38,317
I believe that certainly Satan
was trying to thwart the plans of

453
00:19:38,341 --> 00:19:38,985
God.

454
00:19:39,625 --> 00:19:41,145
So Jesus comes to this earth.

455
00:19:41,185 --> 00:19:43,657
I believe that there was more
demonic activity around the time

456
00:19:43,681 --> 00:19:46,925
of Christ and the early church
than throughout all of history.

457
00:19:47,425 --> 00:19:49,937
And so that's why we see so
many occasions of that.

458
00:19:49,961 --> 00:19:55,545
But we see this young girl and
we see what she was doing, which

459
00:19:55,585 --> 00:20:00,497
brought her masters much gain
by thus saying what was happening.

460
00:20:00,561 --> 00:20:03,049
She was making money for her master.

461
00:20:03,097 --> 00:20:04,343
She was a slave girl.

462
00:20:04,489 --> 00:20:09,363
She was making money for her
masters by basically fortune telling.

463
00:20:09,539 --> 00:20:11,695
Now you would say, how could
she fortune tell?

464
00:20:12,555 --> 00:20:13,699
Do we believe?

465
00:20:13,867 --> 00:20:14,555
Okay, this is.

466
00:20:14,595 --> 00:20:17,083
This is a whole study in
angels, okay?

467
00:20:17,179 --> 00:20:18,475
Angels and demons, okay?

468
00:20:18,555 --> 00:20:20,735
Because essentially a demon is
just a fallen angel.

469
00:20:21,115 --> 00:20:22,523
Does a demon know the future?

470
00:20:22,579 --> 00:20:25,411
I don't think theologically a
demon can know the future.

471
00:20:25,563 --> 00:20:28,691
I don't think a demon can be
omnipresent like God.

472
00:20:28,803 --> 00:20:30,699
I don't think a demon can read
your mind.

473
00:20:30,747 --> 00:20:31,611
I really don't think that.

474
00:20:31,643 --> 00:20:33,211
I don't think they have that power.

475
00:20:33,363 --> 00:20:36,835
But what demons do have is an
opportunity to observe things in

476
00:20:36,875 --> 00:20:37,491
secret, right?

477
00:20:37,563 --> 00:20:40,819
They're able to travel,
they're able to communicate.

478
00:20:40,987 --> 00:20:44,515
And so I don't believe that
she was seeing the future for these

479
00:20:44,555 --> 00:20:47,731
people and basically knowing
their hearts.

480
00:20:47,803 --> 00:20:51,387
But what we do know is that
for some way she was getting demonic

481
00:20:51,451 --> 00:20:55,579
power to see people's private
lives so that she could basically

482
00:20:55,627 --> 00:20:58,491
see their inclinations, know
what they're doing in private, and

483
00:20:58,523 --> 00:21:02,213
therefore be able to fortune
tell and she was making money for

484
00:21:02,229 --> 00:21:02,453
them.

485
00:21:02,509 --> 00:21:04,797
Now, some people would say she
wasn't doing anything, she was just

486
00:21:04,821 --> 00:21:05,621
playing tricks.

487
00:21:05,733 --> 00:21:08,021
I do believe that there was
some kind of supernatural thing that's

488
00:21:08,053 --> 00:21:11,661
happening here and she was
making her master's money.

489
00:21:11,853 --> 00:21:12,717
Verse 17.

490
00:21:12,821 --> 00:21:14,749
And the same followed Paul and us.

491
00:21:14,917 --> 00:21:17,461
And by the way, when you see
us, this is Luke speaking.

492
00:21:17,573 --> 00:21:19,597
Luke is now part of the
missionary team.

493
00:21:19,701 --> 00:21:22,069
So Luke is now speaking like,
hey, it's us.

494
00:21:22,117 --> 00:21:22,669
Now he's not.

495
00:21:22,717 --> 00:21:25,007
Before he was talking about
them, now he's talking about us.

496
00:21:25,101 --> 00:21:26,975
So this is firsthand account
of Luke.

497
00:21:27,675 --> 00:21:29,027
So verse 16, it came to pass.

498
00:21:29,051 --> 00:21:30,963
And when we went to prayer, a
certain damsel possessed with the

499
00:21:30,979 --> 00:21:32,187
spirit of divination met us.

500
00:21:32,251 --> 00:21:34,851
And then it says in verse 17,
the same followed Paul and us and

501
00:21:34,883 --> 00:21:38,975
cried, saying, these men are
the servants of the most high God

502
00:21:40,075 --> 00:21:42,975
which show unto us the way of salvation.

503
00:21:43,355 --> 00:21:44,695
You say, what in the world?

504
00:21:45,195 --> 00:21:48,411
She's the one that's possessed
and she's the one speaking the truth.

505
00:21:48,443 --> 00:21:51,775
She's basically preaching for
Paul and the rest of the guys there.

506
00:21:51,955 --> 00:21:53,799
Now you would say, what's
happening there?

507
00:21:53,847 --> 00:21:57,919
Well, essentially what's
happening is that the demon possessed

508
00:21:57,967 --> 00:22:03,647
girl, though she was demon
possessed, is giving a demonic testimony

509
00:22:03,791 --> 00:22:07,555
to the divine credentials of
these preachers.

510
00:22:08,495 --> 00:22:11,863
The demons must submit
themselves to the power of God.

511
00:22:11,959 --> 00:22:15,551
Even though they don't believe
in God as their savior, they all

512
00:22:15,623 --> 00:22:17,015
recognize who Jesus is.

513
00:22:17,055 --> 00:22:20,035
They all recognize those that
preach the truth of the gospel.

514
00:22:20,625 --> 00:22:23,785
The Bible says in the book of
James that all demons believe that

515
00:22:23,825 --> 00:22:25,805
God exists and they tremble.

516
00:22:26,545 --> 00:22:30,833
We even know that when Jesus
encounters those demons in that one

517
00:22:30,889 --> 00:22:36,489
individual, back in the
gospels they basically said, jesus

518
00:22:36,577 --> 00:22:37,929
don't kill us, right?

519
00:22:38,017 --> 00:22:40,577
Immediately they recognize
Jesus power.

520
00:22:40,681 --> 00:22:43,769
And then they have to ask
Jesus permission to be even moved

521
00:22:43,817 --> 00:22:44,305
out of that.

522
00:22:44,345 --> 00:22:44,665
Right?

523
00:22:44,745 --> 00:22:48,525
And so there's this
interesting dynamic of the demons

524
00:22:48,605 --> 00:22:51,837
actually recognizing the role
of Jesus and the role of the gospel,

525
00:22:51,981 --> 00:22:54,613
whether or not, you know.

526
00:22:54,669 --> 00:22:56,589
Well, we know for sure they
don't believe it.

527
00:22:56,717 --> 00:23:00,037
But what we can see here in
this case is that they recognize

528
00:23:00,101 --> 00:23:03,325
this and they basically say,
this is the guys that are preaching

529
00:23:03,365 --> 00:23:03,917
Jesus.

530
00:23:04,021 --> 00:23:06,065
These are the ones that are
preaching salvation.

531
00:23:06,525 --> 00:23:09,245
And so I think that's very interesting.

532
00:23:09,325 --> 00:23:13,189
And so they're giving a
testimony to the divine credentials

533
00:23:13,237 --> 00:23:14,985
and to the message that they
are preaching.

534
00:23:15,365 --> 00:23:17,573
And the Bible says that she
didn't do it just once, she did it

535
00:23:17,589 --> 00:23:18,453
many times.

536
00:23:18,629 --> 00:23:20,757
And this, did she many days.

537
00:23:20,941 --> 00:23:24,173
But Paul being grieved,
basically the original Greek is that

538
00:23:24,189 --> 00:23:25,225
he was annoyed.

539
00:23:25,725 --> 00:23:28,613
He was annoyed that this girl
was following them around and there

540
00:23:28,629 --> 00:23:32,021
was this demonic possession
that was hindering what was going

541
00:23:32,053 --> 00:23:32,533
on.

542
00:23:32,669 --> 00:23:33,845
So he's like, he's grieved.

543
00:23:33,925 --> 00:23:34,845
This is bothering him.

544
00:23:34,885 --> 00:23:35,677
This is vexing him.

545
00:23:35,701 --> 00:23:37,221
He's like, we gotta get rid of this.

546
00:23:37,293 --> 00:23:41,095
So what is Paul's response to
this demonic influence, this demonic

547
00:23:41,135 --> 00:23:44,559
possession, this demonic
interference to the gospel being

548
00:23:44,607 --> 00:23:45,351
presented?

549
00:23:45,503 --> 00:23:47,175
Well, we see what he does here.

550
00:23:47,335 --> 00:23:52,055
He says he turned and said to
the spirit, not to the girl, to the

551
00:23:52,095 --> 00:23:56,847
spirit, I command thee in the
name of Jesus Christ to come out

552
00:23:56,871 --> 00:23:57,595
of her.

553
00:23:57,975 --> 00:24:01,767
And immediately he came out of
the same hour.

554
00:24:01,871 --> 00:24:03,375
So we know that right away.

555
00:24:03,455 --> 00:24:05,917
It comes out as the demon leaves.

556
00:24:06,111 --> 00:24:07,937
Now, what did Paul do?

557
00:24:08,041 --> 00:24:09,081
It was very clear what he did.

558
00:24:09,113 --> 00:24:11,125
He proclaimed the name of
Jesus Christ.

559
00:24:11,465 --> 00:24:15,097
And what we have to do in our
lives is anytime you're thinking

560
00:24:15,121 --> 00:24:19,177
about demonic influence or
you're thinking about evil, you always

561
00:24:19,241 --> 00:24:21,489
have to present that with the
truth of who Jesus Christ is and

562
00:24:21,497 --> 00:24:22,525
what he has done.

563
00:24:23,065 --> 00:24:30,129
I can tell you that if we try
to respond to evil, specifically

564
00:24:30,177 --> 00:24:33,735
demonic influence, with our
own wisdom, we're going to fall short.

565
00:24:34,155 --> 00:24:34,975
Okay?

566
00:24:35,955 --> 00:24:38,707
And I don't want to scare
anyone here this evening, but what

567
00:24:38,731 --> 00:24:39,555
I will say is this.

568
00:24:39,595 --> 00:24:40,499
This is real stuff.

569
00:24:40,547 --> 00:24:43,455
And demons have been around a
lot longer than we have.

570
00:24:44,235 --> 00:24:45,707
They have a lot more
experience than we have.

571
00:24:45,731 --> 00:24:47,643
They have a lot more access
than we have.

572
00:24:47,779 --> 00:24:51,451
So therefore, for us in our
own power to try to fight, that would

573
00:24:51,483 --> 00:24:51,747
be.

574
00:24:51,811 --> 00:24:55,363
Would be worthless because we
cannot overcome them in our own strength.

575
00:24:55,499 --> 00:24:59,397
But what we can do is we can
say, you know what, Lord, I'm trusting

576
00:24:59,421 --> 00:25:02,437
in you and I'm trusting in my
relationship with Jesus Christ, who,

577
00:25:02,461 --> 00:25:05,637
one who has authority over all
evil, to come into my life and not

578
00:25:05,661 --> 00:25:06,469
allow that influence.

579
00:25:06,517 --> 00:25:08,005
Now, I will say this.

580
00:25:08,125 --> 00:25:12,437
I do not believe that a
Christian, someone who's indwelled

581
00:25:12,461 --> 00:25:15,269
by the Holy Spirit, can be
possessed by a demon.

582
00:25:15,317 --> 00:25:17,045
I don't believe that that is
the case, okay?

583
00:25:17,165 --> 00:25:21,269
I believe that the Holy Spirit
indwelling an individual and a demon

584
00:25:21,317 --> 00:25:23,559
cannot be possessed at the
same time, okay?

585
00:25:23,637 --> 00:25:25,507
Because essentially what
happens as a Christian is you are

586
00:25:25,531 --> 00:25:26,939
indwelled by the Spirit.

587
00:25:27,027 --> 00:25:28,603
The Spirit lives within you.

588
00:25:28,699 --> 00:25:29,819
I don't believe a spirit.

589
00:25:29,907 --> 00:25:32,523
The Spirit, the Holy Spirit
can live within you and the demon.

590
00:25:32,579 --> 00:25:34,907
So what I will say is that for
a Christian I don't believe that

591
00:25:34,931 --> 00:25:39,083
there can be demon possession,
but what I do believe in is demon

592
00:25:39,139 --> 00:25:41,895
oppression or demon influence
in our life.

593
00:25:42,395 --> 00:25:45,163
And so I'm not saying that
every single case that we have in

594
00:25:45,179 --> 00:25:46,371
our life is from a demon.

595
00:25:46,403 --> 00:25:50,319
But what I am saying is that
there can be demonic activity, there

596
00:25:50,367 --> 00:25:54,615
can be evil influenced in our
life because of the Gospel.

597
00:25:54,655 --> 00:25:57,115
If we're living for Christ, we
are going to face pushback.

598
00:25:57,655 --> 00:26:01,995
And I'm being very cautious
tonight because I don't want to over

599
00:26:02,695 --> 00:26:05,103
dramatize this.

600
00:26:05,279 --> 00:26:09,671
But what I will say is the
more you stand for the cause of the

601
00:26:09,703 --> 00:26:14,007
Gospel, the more you publicly
profess the truth of Jesus Christ,

602
00:26:14,151 --> 00:26:17,321
the more you will be opposed
by evil in this world.

603
00:26:17,463 --> 00:26:20,213
If you want to live
apathetically and you want to be

604
00:26:20,229 --> 00:26:24,461
a lukewarm Christian, don't
expect any evil to come towards you

605
00:26:24,493 --> 00:26:25,573
because you're already living.

606
00:26:25,669 --> 00:26:29,389
Satan has already got what he
wants in our life if we're not living

607
00:26:29,437 --> 00:26:31,661
boldly for the cause of the
Gospel, because he can't take your

608
00:26:31,693 --> 00:26:33,861
soul, he can't take your
eternal value.

609
00:26:33,893 --> 00:26:34,621
What does he want to take?

610
00:26:34,653 --> 00:26:36,145
He wants to take your influence.

611
00:26:36,725 --> 00:26:37,957
He wants to stop it.

612
00:26:37,981 --> 00:26:40,317
He doesn't want any
multiplication to happen.

613
00:26:40,421 --> 00:26:42,365
He wants it to stop with you.

614
00:26:42,525 --> 00:26:44,933
And if that's where you are in
your life, if you're like, you know

615
00:26:44,949 --> 00:26:45,197
what?

616
00:26:45,261 --> 00:26:47,661
I don't want to live boldly
for Christ.

617
00:26:47,853 --> 00:26:50,541
Satan has already gotten what
he wants to have happening in your

618
00:26:50,573 --> 00:26:52,581
life just for you to stop.

619
00:26:52,773 --> 00:26:54,893
And so what I would encourage
you to do is that if you say, you

620
00:26:54,909 --> 00:26:55,545
know what?

621
00:26:55,845 --> 00:26:58,469
I've heard some people say, I
don't want to live boldly for Christ

622
00:26:58,517 --> 00:27:00,573
because I don't want to face
any evil in my life.

623
00:27:00,669 --> 00:27:03,469
Folks, that's the wrong
perception because you're essentially

624
00:27:03,517 --> 00:27:05,493
already playing into the evil.

625
00:27:05,589 --> 00:27:07,821
You're already playing into
what Satan wants for you.

626
00:27:07,973 --> 00:27:10,661
And so what I would say to you
is live boldly for Christ and trust

627
00:27:10,693 --> 00:27:11,021
in him.

628
00:27:11,053 --> 00:27:15,779
And so what we can see here is
that the power of God is far more

629
00:27:15,827 --> 00:27:17,731
powerful than the power of evil.

630
00:27:17,843 --> 00:27:20,067
And so Paul cast out this demon.

631
00:27:20,251 --> 00:27:26,667
Paul was annoyed, you know, he
didn't appreciate this free advertising,

632
00:27:26,731 --> 00:27:29,147
so to speak, this free
preaching from this demon.

633
00:27:29,291 --> 00:27:30,963
He didn't appreciate the source.

634
00:27:31,099 --> 00:27:36,475
And so Paul knew that if he
identified with Christ, Paul knew

635
00:27:36,555 --> 00:27:39,607
that the demons tremble in the
sight of Christ.

636
00:27:39,731 --> 00:27:40,527
He presented that.

637
00:27:40,551 --> 00:27:43,519
And so Jesus cast out demons
in his own authority.

638
00:27:43,647 --> 00:27:46,711
Paul was careful to speak to
the demons only in the authority

639
00:27:46,743 --> 00:27:47,835
of Jesus Christ.

640
00:27:48,495 --> 00:27:54,275
And so he spoke beyond the
girl and he spoke to the evil itself.

641
00:27:55,135 --> 00:27:59,511
And so the demon comes out
immediately and therefore they have

642
00:27:59,543 --> 00:28:00,475
victory here.

643
00:28:00,895 --> 00:28:01,955
Verse 19.

644
00:28:02,455 --> 00:28:06,055
Well, we think that it's
victory until the girl's masters

645
00:28:06,135 --> 00:28:07,435
find out what happened.

646
00:28:07,905 --> 00:28:12,521
Because what's happened is, is
that there are people profiting off

647
00:28:12,553 --> 00:28:13,485
of evil.

648
00:28:13,985 --> 00:28:15,845
You say that can happen?

649
00:28:16,225 --> 00:28:17,761
Yes, all the time.

650
00:28:17,913 --> 00:28:19,965
That's actually the norm in
this world.

651
00:28:20,265 --> 00:28:23,025
People will always attach
themselves to evil and people will

652
00:28:23,065 --> 00:28:24,641
always profit from evil.

653
00:28:24,833 --> 00:28:27,465
Look around at different
things that are going on in our world

654
00:28:27,505 --> 00:28:32,321
today and I'll be careful
because we have a mixed crowd.

655
00:28:32,433 --> 00:28:36,249
But if you look into
advertising, if you look into Hollywood,

656
00:28:36,417 --> 00:28:39,305
if you look into anything with
the cause of getting people to throw

657
00:28:39,345 --> 00:28:43,385
money at things, there's
always an appeal to sensuality, there's

658
00:28:43,425 --> 00:28:45,385
always appeal to evil.

659
00:28:45,545 --> 00:28:48,209
There's a darker side to things.

660
00:28:48,337 --> 00:28:51,921
And I will tell you that evil
will always look for a profit.

661
00:28:52,033 --> 00:28:57,081
And the Bible even says that
the love, the love of money, not

662
00:28:57,113 --> 00:29:00,497
money itself, but the love of
money is the root, literally the

663
00:29:00,521 --> 00:29:02,605
root of all types of evil.

664
00:29:03,125 --> 00:29:07,341
So what I would tell you here
today is that a lot of times when

665
00:29:07,373 --> 00:29:10,837
we, you know, sometimes people
say follow the money, right?

666
00:29:10,981 --> 00:29:11,661
Follow the money.

667
00:29:11,693 --> 00:29:14,229
And a lot of times you will
follow that money right to an evil

668
00:29:14,277 --> 00:29:14,997
source.

669
00:29:15,181 --> 00:29:16,501
And that's what we see here in
this case.

670
00:29:16,533 --> 00:29:22,325
They were exploiting this
young girl in the evil of the demon

671
00:29:22,445 --> 00:29:22,909
for money.

672
00:29:22,957 --> 00:29:25,265
Let's see what happens here
when that's taken away.

673
00:29:26,405 --> 00:29:30,059
This is what will happen when
truth is addressed to evil.

674
00:29:30,107 --> 00:29:30,763
Verse 19.

675
00:29:30,859 --> 00:29:34,495
And when her master saw that
the hope of their gains was gone,

676
00:29:34,995 --> 00:29:38,843
so, so what we can see that,
that God frees this young girl from

677
00:29:38,859 --> 00:29:43,603
the bondage of the demon, but
he also frees her from the bondage

678
00:29:43,659 --> 00:29:46,339
of these masters, which that's
what God always does.

679
00:29:46,387 --> 00:29:48,795
God frees us from the bondage
of evil.

680
00:29:48,835 --> 00:29:50,579
He frees us from the bondage
of sin.

681
00:29:50,627 --> 00:29:54,791
He frees us from the bondage
of having to go back to that well

682
00:29:54,863 --> 00:29:55,887
of evil.

683
00:29:56,031 --> 00:29:58,951
And it says there that they
had lost their hope.

684
00:29:59,103 --> 00:29:59,751
What did they do?

685
00:29:59,783 --> 00:30:04,167
They caught Paul and Silas and
drew them into the marketplace unto

686
00:30:04,191 --> 00:30:05,035
the rulers.

687
00:30:06,095 --> 00:30:11,551
And so these masters, whoever
these masters, were very offensed

688
00:30:11,583 --> 00:30:12,879
by what Paul did.

689
00:30:12,927 --> 00:30:16,015
And specifically Paul, but
also Silas, because Paul and Silas

690
00:30:16,055 --> 00:30:18,711
are linked together, they have
an issue with this.

691
00:30:18,863 --> 00:30:20,135
And so what happens?

692
00:30:20,175 --> 00:30:20,655
Verse 20.

693
00:30:20,695 --> 00:30:24,447
And brought them to the
magistrates saying, these men, being

694
00:30:24,511 --> 00:30:27,695
Jews, do exceedingly trouble
in our city.

695
00:30:27,735 --> 00:30:30,039
So they're getting in trouble
for doing the right thing.

696
00:30:30,207 --> 00:30:32,599
They're getting in trouble for
proclaiming the truth.

697
00:30:32,727 --> 00:30:35,519
They're getting in trouble for
freeing this young girl from this

698
00:30:35,567 --> 00:30:36,595
exploitation.

699
00:30:37,695 --> 00:30:39,751
And it says, and what do they do?

700
00:30:39,823 --> 00:30:40,551
They're accusing them.

701
00:30:40,583 --> 00:30:44,279
They teach customs which are
not lawful for us to receive.

702
00:30:44,327 --> 00:30:46,687
Neither do observe being Romans.

703
00:30:46,871 --> 00:30:49,159
And the multitude rose up
together against them.

704
00:30:49,207 --> 00:30:53,705
And the magistrates rent off
their clothes and commanded to beat

705
00:30:53,745 --> 00:30:54,325
them.

706
00:30:54,865 --> 00:31:00,033
So it goes from verbal
accusations now to physically harming

707
00:31:00,089 --> 00:31:00,545
them.

708
00:31:00,665 --> 00:31:02,177
This is persecution.

709
00:31:02,361 --> 00:31:06,881
Paul and Silas are being
persecuted not for doing wrong, but

710
00:31:06,913 --> 00:31:09,009
for doing good, for preaching
the gospel.

711
00:31:09,137 --> 00:31:11,617
Now you would say, wait, I
thought we were supposed to praise

712
00:31:11,681 --> 00:31:13,441
God and thank him for closed doors.

713
00:31:13,513 --> 00:31:18,273
Because, like, God stopped
Paul and Silas from going to Asia

714
00:31:18,329 --> 00:31:21,053
to preach and now moves them
to Europe.

715
00:31:21,149 --> 00:31:23,869
And now it's like, hey, great,
Lydia's saved.

716
00:31:23,957 --> 00:31:24,461
Now we're gonna.

717
00:31:24,493 --> 00:31:27,065
And then all of a sudden,
we're gonna be beaten for this.

718
00:31:27,525 --> 00:31:29,957
Sometimes God leads us to a
place that doesn't make a lot of

719
00:31:29,981 --> 00:31:30,585
sense.

720
00:31:30,885 --> 00:31:32,265
But then we see more.

721
00:31:32,605 --> 00:31:33,733
Verse 23.

722
00:31:33,869 --> 00:31:39,269
And when they had laid many
stripes upon them, they cast them

723
00:31:39,317 --> 00:31:43,629
into prison, charging the
jailer to keep them safely, meaning,

724
00:31:43,717 --> 00:31:45,935
hey, look now, gonna beat you.

725
00:31:46,055 --> 00:31:47,519
Now we're going to imprison you.

726
00:31:47,567 --> 00:31:49,991
And now we're gonna put
someone over you so that you can't

727
00:31:50,023 --> 00:31:50,871
get out.

728
00:31:51,063 --> 00:31:52,595
This looks pretty bleak.

729
00:31:53,055 --> 00:31:56,455
This looks like, you know,
Paul and Silas, maybe they had a

730
00:31:56,495 --> 00:32:00,831
chance to question whether or
not God had the right thing in mind

731
00:32:00,903 --> 00:32:02,999
when he called them to Macedonia.

732
00:32:03,167 --> 00:32:04,407
I don't know about you.

733
00:32:04,551 --> 00:32:06,567
I mentioned this morning I'm
thankful to be in Delaware.

734
00:32:06,631 --> 00:32:10,769
I don't know about you, but if
I was called somewhere, and immediately,

735
00:32:10,927 --> 00:32:15,917
almost immediately, they begin
to put me before a court and try

736
00:32:15,981 --> 00:32:20,573
me and falsely accuse me and
beat me and throw me in prison, I

737
00:32:20,589 --> 00:32:22,957
might start to think, well,
maybe I wasn't supposed to come to

738
00:32:22,981 --> 00:32:23,785
this place.

739
00:32:24,445 --> 00:32:26,693
And there is a test here.

740
00:32:26,829 --> 00:32:28,869
There is the test of persecution.

741
00:32:28,997 --> 00:32:31,285
There is a test for them to quit.

742
00:32:31,445 --> 00:32:34,065
And it says, verse 24.

743
00:32:34,365 --> 00:32:36,581
This is talking about the
prison guard who, having received

744
00:32:36,653 --> 00:32:40,141
such a charge, thrust them
into the inner prison and made their

745
00:32:40,173 --> 00:32:42,025
feet fast in the stocks.

746
00:32:42,805 --> 00:32:47,421
So there's multiple checks and
balances that they're putting there

747
00:32:47,453 --> 00:32:49,517
so that Paul and Silas cannot
get out.

748
00:32:49,661 --> 00:32:50,945
So they beat them.

749
00:32:51,325 --> 00:32:53,773
Well, they disrobed them
first, then they beat them.

750
00:32:53,949 --> 00:32:55,385
They throw them in jail.

751
00:32:55,965 --> 00:32:59,345
They put a guard over them,
and now they chained them down.

752
00:33:01,405 --> 00:33:03,105
And what was their response?

753
00:33:04,575 --> 00:33:06,295
What was Paul and Silas's response?

754
00:33:06,335 --> 00:33:09,519
They could have responded
with, I'm going to question you,

755
00:33:09,567 --> 00:33:10,195
God.

756
00:33:12,175 --> 00:33:13,115
We quit.

757
00:33:13,535 --> 00:33:14,475
That's enough.

758
00:33:14,855 --> 00:33:17,515
They could have responded in
many different ways.

759
00:33:18,575 --> 00:33:21,151
They could have pouted.

760
00:33:21,223 --> 00:33:22,983
They could have said, woe is Me.

761
00:33:23,159 --> 00:33:24,679
We didn't deserve this.

762
00:33:24,847 --> 00:33:26,511
We need to get out of here.

763
00:33:26,703 --> 00:33:28,671
We need to recant our faith.

764
00:33:28,783 --> 00:33:30,725
We need to go back to Asia.

765
00:33:30,895 --> 00:33:31,673
What do they do?

766
00:33:31,729 --> 00:33:35,485
It says, and at midnight, Paul
and Silas prayed.

767
00:33:36,305 --> 00:33:41,169
Their response to the
opposition is they rely on the Lord.

768
00:33:41,217 --> 00:33:42,005
They pray.

769
00:33:42,705 --> 00:33:45,965
Prayer is not just something
that we do.

770
00:33:47,105 --> 00:33:49,161
It's who we are as Christians.

771
00:33:49,273 --> 00:33:54,241
It should be our natural
response to good, our natural response

772
00:33:54,273 --> 00:33:55,009
to bad.

773
00:33:55,137 --> 00:33:57,241
It should be the way that we
communicate with God.

774
00:33:57,313 --> 00:33:57,481
It.

775
00:33:57,503 --> 00:33:59,069
It should be the way that we
ask him for things.

776
00:33:59,117 --> 00:34:02,821
It should be the way that we
help other people.

777
00:34:02,973 --> 00:34:03,677
It's prayer.

778
00:34:03,741 --> 00:34:07,981
Prayer is the immediate
reaction to difficulty in our life.

779
00:34:08,173 --> 00:34:10,589
And they prayed, but they
didn't just pray.

780
00:34:10,637 --> 00:34:16,621
Because here's what I would
have done if I stayed true.

781
00:34:16,773 --> 00:34:19,317
I would have prayed and said,
lord, get me out of here.

782
00:34:19,461 --> 00:34:21,917
Lord, strike all these people down.

783
00:34:22,101 --> 00:34:26,415
Lord, I want you to, you know,
put fire and brimstone on Macedonia.

784
00:34:26,495 --> 00:34:27,471
I'm done with them.

785
00:34:27,543 --> 00:34:27,703
No.

786
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:28,791
What do they do?

787
00:34:28,983 --> 00:34:31,475
And they sang praises unto God.

788
00:34:32,615 --> 00:34:36,175
Now, it's very hard to sing
praises to God when you're living

789
00:34:36,215 --> 00:34:39,155
in a place of bitterness and
anger towards him and towards others.

790
00:34:39,695 --> 00:34:44,159
They're praising God, and
through their prayers and their singing,

791
00:34:44,247 --> 00:34:45,295
what happens?

792
00:34:45,455 --> 00:34:46,935
And the prisoners heard them.

793
00:34:47,055 --> 00:34:49,315
They're a testimony to those
around them.

794
00:34:50,075 --> 00:34:52,603
And so what we can learn from
this, we're going to stop here at

795
00:34:52,619 --> 00:34:58,411
this verse, because we're
going to see next, not next week,

796
00:34:58,523 --> 00:35:02,035
but we're going to see in two
weeks a miracle happen.

797
00:35:02,155 --> 00:35:04,299
We're going to see something
amazing happen.

798
00:35:04,467 --> 00:35:07,411
We're going to see that God
miraculously intervenes in their

799
00:35:07,443 --> 00:35:09,055
life for his purpose.

800
00:35:09,555 --> 00:35:13,619
We're actually going to see
that folks are converted, they're

801
00:35:13,667 --> 00:35:16,495
saved because of the testimony
of Paul and Silas.

802
00:35:17,555 --> 00:35:18,731
So what do they do here?

803
00:35:18,763 --> 00:35:25,715
It says that they prayed and
sang praises unto God and the prisoners

804
00:35:25,755 --> 00:35:26,091
heard them.

805
00:35:26,123 --> 00:35:28,655
They're a testimony in the
midst of their trial.

806
00:35:29,075 --> 00:35:36,655
You know, a lot of times we as
Christians don't see the opportunity

807
00:35:37,115 --> 00:35:41,699
and the privilege it is to be
a testimony to people when we're

808
00:35:41,747 --> 00:35:43,259
going through that trial.

809
00:35:43,427 --> 00:35:44,739
This is a trial here.

810
00:35:44,867 --> 00:35:45,947
This is a trial.

811
00:35:46,091 --> 00:35:46,923
I'm looking around.

812
00:35:46,979 --> 00:35:49,339
This is a trial that I don't
think any of us have faced.

813
00:35:49,507 --> 00:35:52,731
I'll be safe to say that I
don't think any of us have gone and

814
00:35:52,763 --> 00:35:57,075
cast out a demon and then
after casting out a demon, had people

815
00:35:57,115 --> 00:35:59,859
whip us, try us, and chain us
up in prison.

816
00:35:59,947 --> 00:36:04,587
Okay, so none of us have faced
this, but most of us, if not all

817
00:36:04,611 --> 00:36:09,731
of us, including myself, have
been tempted to not see a trial as

818
00:36:09,763 --> 00:36:11,979
an opportunity to bring people
to Christ.

819
00:36:12,027 --> 00:36:14,291
We see a trial as something
that we need to get out of right

820
00:36:14,323 --> 00:36:14,895
now.

821
00:36:15,755 --> 00:36:17,523
And that's not what they do.

822
00:36:17,659 --> 00:36:20,243
Of course they want to be out
of prison, but immediately they go

823
00:36:20,259 --> 00:36:21,695
to prayer and praise.

824
00:36:22,515 --> 00:36:23,099
That's the.

825
00:36:23,147 --> 00:36:26,331
That's the first response when
we go through a difficulty, is prayer

826
00:36:26,363 --> 00:36:27,095
and praise.

827
00:36:27,435 --> 00:36:30,603
And if we respond with prayer
and praise, what happens is, is that

828
00:36:30,619 --> 00:36:34,531
we become a testimony to the
prisoners around us.

829
00:36:34,723 --> 00:36:37,055
Folks, you are living in a world.

830
00:36:38,665 --> 00:36:43,449
You are living in a society,
in a community that has prisoners

831
00:36:43,497 --> 00:36:44,041
all around you.

832
00:36:44,073 --> 00:36:44,937
They're not in prison.

833
00:36:45,001 --> 00:36:48,017
So to say, I'm not talking
about the real prison down the road.

834
00:36:48,081 --> 00:36:49,305
I'm not talking about that.

835
00:36:49,425 --> 00:36:52,201
I'm talking about people that
are unsaved.

836
00:36:52,273 --> 00:36:56,125
The Bible says that they are
living in bondage to sin.

837
00:36:56,665 --> 00:36:59,753
And so therefore, you have
prisoners all around you.

838
00:36:59,929 --> 00:37:03,121
Every day that you walk into
work, every day you go to Walmart,

839
00:37:03,193 --> 00:37:05,513
every day that you drive
through your neighborhood, there

840
00:37:05,529 --> 00:37:09,057
are people that are in bondage
all around you, whether they know

841
00:37:09,081 --> 00:37:09,945
it or not.

842
00:37:10,025 --> 00:37:11,521
Most of the time, they don't
know it.

843
00:37:11,673 --> 00:37:13,937
All of the time, I would say,
is they don't know it.

844
00:37:14,121 --> 00:37:17,041
And so for me to be a
testimony to the prisoners around

845
00:37:17,073 --> 00:37:19,081
me, what I have to show them
is the difference.

846
00:37:19,193 --> 00:37:20,921
Because all of us are going to
face trials.

847
00:37:20,993 --> 00:37:26,725
Your neighbor, let's say your
unsaved neighbor, gets cancer.

848
00:37:27,065 --> 00:37:27,845
Okay?

849
00:37:28,225 --> 00:37:30,997
Let's say you go through a trial.

850
00:37:31,121 --> 00:37:33,541
We're all going to go through
trials whether we're saved or not.

851
00:37:33,573 --> 00:37:35,613
The Bible says life is difficult.

852
00:37:35,789 --> 00:37:40,821
So how we respond to the
trials that we are in gives us the

853
00:37:40,853 --> 00:37:43,549
opportunity to be a testimony
to the prisoners around us.

854
00:37:43,637 --> 00:37:45,869
Paul and Silas were chained
up, but they weren't prisoners.

855
00:37:45,997 --> 00:37:48,797
They were free in the power of
God because of what God had given

856
00:37:48,821 --> 00:37:50,341
them in their relationship
with Christ.

857
00:37:50,453 --> 00:37:55,381
And so they're acting, and the
people, they're like, I would happen

858
00:37:55,413 --> 00:37:57,245
to think that the prisoners
are like, how are these guys?

859
00:37:57,285 --> 00:38:00,357
They just got tried and
beaten, and now they're singing praises

860
00:38:00,381 --> 00:38:00,901
to their God.

861
00:38:00,933 --> 00:38:05,165
What kind of God do they
praise for being in jail?

862
00:38:05,205 --> 00:38:05,549
Right.

863
00:38:05,637 --> 00:38:09,437
There's a difference in their
response to the bondage, right?

864
00:38:09,501 --> 00:38:12,981
The physical bondage, because
they are spiritually free.

865
00:38:13,173 --> 00:38:16,421
And the way that we live our
lives is a testimony to those around

866
00:38:16,453 --> 00:38:19,265
us, whether it be a good
testimony or a bad testimony.

867
00:38:19,605 --> 00:38:21,237
What have I done for Jesus?

868
00:38:21,421 --> 00:38:24,149
And it's a question that I
think all of us need to answer because

869
00:38:24,317 --> 00:38:27,117
we are going to face those
times where we feel like we're in

870
00:38:27,141 --> 00:38:30,237
the prison and we're chained
up and we've gotten beaten down.

871
00:38:30,341 --> 00:38:32,757
And what we can do is we can
say, you know, woe is me.

872
00:38:32,821 --> 00:38:33,597
I quit.

873
00:38:33,741 --> 00:38:35,105
This isn't worth it.

874
00:38:35,445 --> 00:38:37,869
I shouldn't have stepped up
for the faith.

875
00:38:37,957 --> 00:38:40,821
I shouldn't have proclaimed
the name of Jesus Christ to that

876
00:38:40,853 --> 00:38:41,357
person.

877
00:38:41,501 --> 00:38:42,893
And we could even say that maybe.

878
00:38:42,989 --> 00:38:45,677
Maybe Paul and Silas could
have been tempted to say, maybe we

879
00:38:45,701 --> 00:38:47,485
shouldn't cast out that demon
of that girl, right?

880
00:38:47,525 --> 00:38:48,989
Look what happened to us now.

881
00:38:49,117 --> 00:38:52,693
But instead, they praise him
and they proclaim the truth of God.

882
00:38:52,789 --> 00:38:54,357
They ask him for guidance.

883
00:38:54,501 --> 00:38:55,277
They pray.

884
00:38:55,381 --> 00:38:57,373
And I would encourage you to
think about that same thing in your

885
00:38:57,389 --> 00:39:04,637
life, because I me, I think
about in the concept of when am I

886
00:39:04,661 --> 00:39:05,345
thankful?

887
00:39:05,685 --> 00:39:08,421
I'm thankful for when
everything is going my way.

888
00:39:08,613 --> 00:39:11,965
I'm thankful for when my
family is all in order, and I should

889
00:39:12,005 --> 00:39:12,541
be.

890
00:39:12,693 --> 00:39:17,625
But am I thankful for those
moments when I'm in that dark prison?

891
00:39:18,165 --> 00:39:19,477
Can I praise Him?

892
00:39:19,581 --> 00:39:20,773
Can I sing those praises?

893
00:39:20,829 --> 00:39:21,173
You know what?

894
00:39:21,189 --> 00:39:26,111
There's been times where I've
sat in a service and I'm singing,

895
00:39:26,263 --> 00:39:27,915
oh, how I love Jesus.

896
00:39:28,855 --> 00:39:31,167
And I'm singing that just
because I'm a pastor and I'm standing

897
00:39:31,191 --> 00:39:31,519
up here.

898
00:39:31,567 --> 00:39:32,943
I'm singing that just because everyone.

899
00:39:33,039 --> 00:39:34,999
But in my heart of hearts, I'm struggling.

900
00:39:35,167 --> 00:39:36,471
I don't know if you guys have
ever done that.

901
00:39:36,503 --> 00:39:37,871
Maybe some of you said, well,
I just don't sing.

902
00:39:37,903 --> 00:39:39,703
Okay, when I feel that way, I
understand that.

903
00:39:39,839 --> 00:39:42,951
But for me, sometimes I'm more
concerned with other people around

904
00:39:42,983 --> 00:39:44,775
me, so I have to keep my front up.

905
00:39:44,935 --> 00:39:48,023
But there is a truth that many
times when we sing those songs and

906
00:39:48,039 --> 00:39:52,239
when we say those prayers and
when we sit in those Bible studies,

907
00:39:52,287 --> 00:39:53,279
we're not really there.

908
00:39:53,327 --> 00:39:54,995
That's not really where our
heart is.

909
00:39:55,495 --> 00:39:58,975
And I would encourage you to
be able to sing it as well.

910
00:39:59,015 --> 00:40:02,343
With my soul in the midst of a
difficulty and really have that as

911
00:40:02,359 --> 00:40:03,395
your testimony.

912
00:40:05,015 --> 00:40:09,855
How great thou art and really
mean that amazing grace how sweet

913
00:40:09,895 --> 00:40:12,675
the sound Victory in Jesus.

914
00:40:13,015 --> 00:40:15,807
And it was so appropriate that
we had that singing there, Ms.

915
00:40:15,831 --> 00:40:18,351
Lorna, because we have an opportunity.

916
00:40:18,463 --> 00:40:19,375
They're not in church.

917
00:40:19,455 --> 00:40:20,287
They're singing praises.

918
00:40:20,311 --> 00:40:21,795
In the middle of a prison cell.

919
00:40:22,295 --> 00:40:24,335
We can sing praises no matter
where we are.

920
00:40:24,455 --> 00:40:27,215
We can give thanks to the Lord
for wherever we are in our life.

921
00:40:27,255 --> 00:40:29,551
And so we're gonna see that
it's not in vain.

922
00:40:29,623 --> 00:40:34,215
We're gonna see that in a
couple weeks that the prison keeper

923
00:40:34,375 --> 00:40:36,839
sees Christ and trusts in
Christ through this.

924
00:40:36,927 --> 00:40:40,315
We're gonna see that there are
more People that come to the faith

925
00:40:41,535 --> 00:40:45,333
and ultimately see the truth
of God and that the closed door was

926
00:40:45,349 --> 00:40:46,285
not a mistake.

927
00:40:46,445 --> 00:40:48,469
The closed door to Asia was
not a mistake.

928
00:40:48,517 --> 00:40:51,621
It was actually an open door
for God to work in the life of Paul

929
00:40:51,653 --> 00:40:54,453
and Silas and God to work in
the life of people like Lydia and

930
00:40:54,469 --> 00:40:56,949
the prison keeper and all of
the people of Macedonia.

931
00:40:57,037 --> 00:41:00,365
And I'm gonna tell you, folks,
the Church of Macedonia plays a huge

932
00:41:00,405 --> 00:41:01,893
part in the New Testament.

933
00:41:02,069 --> 00:41:06,349
And that would have not
happened without Paul and his missionary

934
00:41:06,397 --> 00:41:11,899
team being open to that closed
door, closed door vision of God and

935
00:41:11,947 --> 00:41:12,867
following in obedience.

936
00:41:12,931 --> 00:41:18,003
Folks, what have we missed out
on in our life because we pushed

937
00:41:18,019 --> 00:41:19,295
through that closed door?

938
00:41:19,635 --> 00:41:21,867
God closed the door and we
said, I don't care.

939
00:41:22,051 --> 00:41:23,731
That's what I want to do, and
I don't care.

940
00:41:23,803 --> 00:41:25,923
God better bless it, folks.

941
00:41:25,979 --> 00:41:29,939
Sometimes the closed door is
the best thing God saved.

942
00:41:29,987 --> 00:41:32,419
And I wish I could tell you
all the stories of my life.

943
00:41:32,467 --> 00:41:38,721
I don't have time, but God has
saved me from a lot of pain and heartache

944
00:41:38,913 --> 00:41:41,369
and loss because of closed doors.

945
00:41:41,457 --> 00:41:44,465
There was things that I wanted
in my life that were not the right

946
00:41:44,505 --> 00:41:45,085
things.

947
00:41:45,825 --> 00:41:49,513
But because God closed that
door, I was able to look back and

948
00:41:49,529 --> 00:41:51,745
say, lord, you closed that
door for a purpose.

949
00:41:51,905 --> 00:41:55,585
I would not be able to do this
because I would have been somewhere

950
00:41:55,625 --> 00:41:56,205
else.

951
00:41:56,905 --> 00:41:59,977
So we usually celebrate when
open doors happen.

952
00:42:00,041 --> 00:42:02,585
When someone prays and says,
lord, send me here, and God sends

953
00:42:02,625 --> 00:42:03,801
them there, and everything is great.

954
00:42:03,833 --> 00:42:05,365
And those happen sometimes.

955
00:42:05,735 --> 00:42:08,551
But I would actually challenge
you to think about what happens when

956
00:42:08,583 --> 00:42:09,807
God closes that door.

957
00:42:09,911 --> 00:42:11,047
Is he wise enough?

958
00:42:11,111 --> 00:42:14,391
Is he powerful enough, Is he
loving enough to close that door

959
00:42:14,423 --> 00:42:15,423
for our protection?

960
00:42:15,559 --> 00:42:18,111
Or do we get upset with him
and say, well, he doesn't know better

961
00:42:18,143 --> 00:42:18,591
than me.

962
00:42:18,663 --> 00:42:20,575
I know exactly what I need in
my life.

963
00:42:20,735 --> 00:42:23,835
I would encourage you to
embrace those closed doors.

964
00:42:24,295 --> 00:42:27,195
So when we sit around the
table and we thank God this week,

965
00:42:28,855 --> 00:42:33,103
thank him for the good, but
also thank him for the conviction.

966
00:42:33,159 --> 00:42:34,995
Thank him for the closed doors.

967
00:42:35,415 --> 00:42:38,327
I think about all the doors
that I could have taken when it came

968
00:42:38,351 --> 00:42:39,195
to my life.

969
00:42:41,495 --> 00:42:46,831
And like, I say this a lot,
but honestly, there were.

970
00:42:46,903 --> 00:42:47,367
There were.

971
00:42:47,431 --> 00:42:49,519
I do not want to be where I am today.

972
00:42:49,607 --> 00:42:53,303
If you asked me 20 years ago,
10 years ago, where do you want to

973
00:42:53,319 --> 00:42:53,927
be?

974
00:42:54,111 --> 00:42:56,875
It wouldn't be where I am
today, but it's because.

975
00:42:57,175 --> 00:42:59,623
And I'm not just talking
physically, I'm talking about even

976
00:42:59,679 --> 00:43:02,671
spiritually, professionally,
all of that.

977
00:43:02,783 --> 00:43:04,615
But God changes our hearts.

978
00:43:04,655 --> 00:43:07,231
And those closed doors are
opportunities for us to be yielded

979
00:43:07,263 --> 00:43:10,315
to him and to see his power in
our life.

980
00:43:11,335 --> 00:43:15,031
And so as loving parents, we
know the power of.

981
00:43:15,183 --> 00:43:17,359
No, we know the power of a
closed door.

982
00:43:17,447 --> 00:43:20,063
And God is the most loving father.

983
00:43:20,119 --> 00:43:21,407
He's the perfect father.

984
00:43:21,551 --> 00:43:25,781
And sometimes he's going to
close the door and it's not fun.

985
00:43:25,973 --> 00:43:28,517
Sometimes it closes right on
our foot, and we're like, whoa, that

986
00:43:28,541 --> 00:43:30,061
didn't happen the way I wanted
it to happen.

987
00:43:30,093 --> 00:43:31,589
Sometimes that door hits us
right in the face.

988
00:43:31,677 --> 00:43:33,749
But what I will tell you is
that's the best thing.

989
00:43:33,877 --> 00:43:39,117
And so the closed door of Asia
for Paul at this point was the open

990
00:43:39,181 --> 00:43:42,149
door for Europe and the open
door for this miracle to happen,

991
00:43:42,237 --> 00:43:46,745
and the open door for all of
us when it comes to the gospel moving.

992
00:43:47,245 --> 00:43:48,465
And that's exciting.

993
00:43:48,885 --> 00:43:51,723
I don't know about you, but
some of my favorite passages of scripture

994
00:43:51,829 --> 00:43:55,183
are the passages of scripture
that explains the spread of the gospel

995
00:43:55,359 --> 00:44:01,463
and how we, as, wherever we're
from, got to hear about the gospel

996
00:44:01,519 --> 00:44:03,799
because there were people who
are willing to spread the gospel.

997
00:44:03,887 --> 00:44:05,431
You understand that the gospel.

998
00:44:05,543 --> 00:44:07,275
There was one point in time.

999
00:44:07,655 --> 00:44:14,111
There was one point in time
when, like, less than 20 people knew

1000
00:44:14,143 --> 00:44:15,271
about the gospel, right?

1001
00:44:15,343 --> 00:44:19,575
Very quick, very early on,
Very, very early on when Jesus resurrected,

1002
00:44:19,695 --> 00:44:20,143
right?

1003
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:21,151
There was only a few people.

1004
00:44:21,183 --> 00:44:22,935
It was the ladies that went to
the tomb.

1005
00:44:23,095 --> 00:44:26,047
You could argue that the two
guards knew about what happened,

1006
00:44:26,151 --> 00:44:28,191
and you could argue that
Peter, James and John knew.

1007
00:44:28,223 --> 00:44:31,807
And you see, that spread from
just, let's say less than 100 people,

1008
00:44:31,911 --> 00:44:33,367
then 500 people.

1009
00:44:33,551 --> 00:44:36,743
Jesus came and visited, and
then we know that thousands of people.

1010
00:44:36,799 --> 00:44:38,675
And it started in one city.

1011
00:44:38,975 --> 00:44:40,871
Jerusalem is a small city, by
the way.

1012
00:44:40,903 --> 00:44:42,311
Like, it's not very big.

1013
00:44:42,423 --> 00:44:43,143
Jerusalem is.

1014
00:44:43,199 --> 00:44:44,423
You can see across it.

1015
00:44:44,519 --> 00:44:46,759
You can get up on the Mount of
Olives and see from one corner to

1016
00:44:46,767 --> 00:44:47,055
the other.

1017
00:44:47,095 --> 00:44:48,221
It's not a big city.

1018
00:44:48,343 --> 00:44:51,025
But the gospel message started
there in Jerusalem, and it spread

1019
00:44:51,065 --> 00:44:52,113
to Judea.

1020
00:44:52,289 --> 00:44:53,685
Judea is not big.

1021
00:44:54,665 --> 00:44:57,617
All of Israel is the size of
New Jersey.

1022
00:44:57,761 --> 00:44:58,525
Okay?

1023
00:44:59,065 --> 00:45:01,201
And so then, Amen, New Jersey.

1024
00:45:01,233 --> 00:45:01,785
Right.

1025
00:45:01,945 --> 00:45:05,377
And then Samaria to the
uttermost part of the earth.

1026
00:45:05,481 --> 00:45:07,513
Folks, we still are on that path.

1027
00:45:07,689 --> 00:45:10,617
And the sad part is, and I
don't want to get on my soapbox too

1028
00:45:10,641 --> 00:45:14,971
long here, the sad part is
there's people that live in the United

1029
00:45:15,043 --> 00:45:18,775
States that don't know the
truth of Jesus Christ.

1030
00:45:20,195 --> 00:45:21,575
Whose fault is that?

1031
00:45:23,035 --> 00:45:23,571
I don't know.

1032
00:45:23,603 --> 00:45:27,707
You could argue, I would argue
the only people responsible for proclaiming

1033
00:45:27,731 --> 00:45:30,135
the gospel is the church, right?

1034
00:45:31,195 --> 00:45:34,995
We can't blame the unsaved for
not knowing the truth of the gospel.

1035
00:45:35,075 --> 00:45:37,763
Like, you can't just like you
can't blame the unsaved for acting

1036
00:45:37,779 --> 00:45:39,415
like an unsaved person.

1037
00:45:39,745 --> 00:45:42,417
I just can't believe these
people that don't have Jesus, don't

1038
00:45:42,441 --> 00:45:43,285
honor him.

1039
00:45:43,625 --> 00:45:44,505
That's exactly.

1040
00:45:44,545 --> 00:45:48,441
Their nature is to live like
the world.

1041
00:45:48,513 --> 00:45:50,009
To live like who?

1042
00:45:50,177 --> 00:45:51,473
We live like our master.

1043
00:45:51,569 --> 00:45:53,969
The Bible says that before we
come to Christ, who's our master?

1044
00:45:54,057 --> 00:45:55,721
The Bible says that our master
is Satan.

1045
00:45:55,753 --> 00:45:57,057
We're children of this world.

1046
00:45:57,201 --> 00:46:00,961
Now where the problem comes is
when Christians who have a master

1047
00:46:00,993 --> 00:46:02,937
in Jesus Christ live like the world.

1048
00:46:03,121 --> 00:46:04,605
That's the travesty.

1049
00:46:04,955 --> 00:46:06,419
And so as a church, what do we do?

1050
00:46:06,467 --> 00:46:09,947
Well, you say, well, we rely
on that church across town that has

1051
00:46:09,971 --> 00:46:10,675
more resources.

1052
00:46:10,755 --> 00:46:11,531
No, no, no.

1053
00:46:11,603 --> 00:46:15,827
The Great Commission is for
all individuals to proclaim the gospel

1054
00:46:15,971 --> 00:46:16,523
message.

1055
00:46:16,619 --> 00:46:18,355
You say, well, I can't go to China.

1056
00:46:18,435 --> 00:46:20,535
I can't go to Europe.

1057
00:46:20,835 --> 00:46:23,123
Never says that you have to go everywhere.

1058
00:46:23,299 --> 00:46:26,095
It says that you have to start
in your Jerusalem.

1059
00:46:27,235 --> 00:46:31,583
If everybody here shared the
gospel with just a few people, we

1060
00:46:31,599 --> 00:46:32,663
could see a spread of that.

1061
00:46:32,759 --> 00:46:33,915
I always say this.

1062
00:46:34,415 --> 00:46:39,511
Think of the power of this on
a Sunday morning.

1063
00:46:39,663 --> 00:46:41,863
Let's say we have 200 people
sitting here.

1064
00:46:41,999 --> 00:46:46,183
Think about if 200 people just
impacted one person for the cause

1065
00:46:46,199 --> 00:46:50,039
of the gospel, that's 200 more
people that have been impacted by

1066
00:46:50,047 --> 00:46:51,795
the cause of the gospel in
that year.

1067
00:46:52,335 --> 00:46:53,607
Now, that's minimum.

1068
00:46:53,671 --> 00:46:54,679
That's minimum.

1069
00:46:54,847 --> 00:46:56,645
And I would encourage you to
say, you know what?

1070
00:46:56,775 --> 00:46:58,537
I want my one this year.

1071
00:46:58,681 --> 00:46:59,769
You say one.

1072
00:46:59,937 --> 00:47:01,481
I think pastors should ask for more.

1073
00:47:01,553 --> 00:47:03,569
I'm not asking for more than that.

1074
00:47:03,697 --> 00:47:06,745
If we can reach one for the
cause of the Gospel, it is worth

1075
00:47:06,785 --> 00:47:07,393
it.

1076
00:47:07,569 --> 00:47:11,497
So therefore, if all of us see
that one, if all of us have that

1077
00:47:11,521 --> 00:47:15,897
one that we are pursuing, hey,
we can see that multiplication happen.

1078
00:47:16,081 --> 00:47:18,561
And that's what the goal is
for us as Christians to see that

1079
00:47:18,593 --> 00:47:19,985
Great Commission living out.

1080
00:47:20,025 --> 00:47:22,185
So thank you for your
attention here this evening.

1081
00:47:22,305 --> 00:47:26,155
I did mention that I'm not
going to be here next week.

1082
00:47:27,055 --> 00:47:30,647
Lord willing, we will be back
on that Sunday.

1083
00:47:30,791 --> 00:47:33,595
But I don't know when that
plane flight gets in.

1084
00:47:34,455 --> 00:47:35,007
I think.

1085
00:47:35,071 --> 00:47:36,287
I think we're flying out.

1086
00:47:36,351 --> 00:47:38,655
Yeah, it's going to be really
tough for us to be back for the evening

1087
00:47:38,695 --> 00:47:39,111
service.

1088
00:47:39,223 --> 00:47:41,679
So either way, Pastor John
will be preaching on the evening

1089
00:47:41,727 --> 00:47:42,367
service.

1090
00:47:42,551 --> 00:47:46,415
I may or may not be here,
depending on travel and time.

1091
00:47:46,575 --> 00:47:50,757
But we definitely want to make
sure that you are here because Pastor

1092
00:47:50,781 --> 00:47:53,821
John, I know, has been
preparing sermons for Sunday morning

1093
00:47:53,853 --> 00:47:55,013
and Sunday night for a long time.

1094
00:47:55,069 --> 00:47:58,501
And it would be really, really
encouraging for him to have you all

1095
00:47:58,533 --> 00:47:59,341
out here.

1096
00:47:59,533 --> 00:48:00,637
He loves you all.

1097
00:48:00,741 --> 00:48:07,053
And I can tell you this, he is
a true servant of the church.

1098
00:48:07,109 --> 00:48:08,309
And I will say this.

1099
00:48:08,357 --> 00:48:11,237
Pastor John doesn't get to
preach as much as me, but we're looking

1100
00:48:11,261 --> 00:48:13,093
for more opportunities for him
to get involved.

1101
00:48:13,149 --> 00:48:15,589
Because you know what, you
know, he.

1102
00:48:15,637 --> 00:48:18,653
He is somebody who desires to
preach the word.

1103
00:48:18,749 --> 00:48:21,869
And as a pastor, I have to
practice what I preach about discipleship.

1104
00:48:21,917 --> 00:48:23,453
And so he's got to.

1105
00:48:23,549 --> 00:48:25,005
He's got to use those opportunities.

1106
00:48:25,045 --> 00:48:26,541
And so come on out, support him.

1107
00:48:26,613 --> 00:48:28,105
I know that he would be thankful.

1108
00:48:28,885 --> 00:48:31,509
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1109
00:48:31,557 --> 00:48:32,285
podcast.

1110
00:48:32,445 --> 00:48:34,985
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1111
00:48:35,365 --> 00:48:37,637
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1112
00:48:37,661 --> 00:48:41,343
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

1113
00:48:41,509 --> 00:48:44,255
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1114
00:48:44,715 --> 00:48:49,163
You can also email me directly
at joshmusaroiddletownbaptistchurch

1115
00:48:49,219 --> 00:48:53,683
dot com if you've enjoyed this
podcast, please subscribe and follow

1116
00:48:53,739 --> 00:48:56,735
along for future podcasts and updates.

1117
00:48:57,115 --> 00:48:58,227
Thank you so much.

1118
00:48:58,371 --> 00:48:59,163
God bless.

1119
00:48:59,299 --> 00:49:00,355
Have a wonderful day.