1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,900 Well, we're going to go ahead and be in the book of Acts, Acts, 10 00:00:26,050 --> 00:00:27,170 chapter 22. 11 00:00:27,890 --> 00:00:29,250 Acts, chapter 22. 12 00:00:29,250 --> 00:00:33,530 We're continuing on in our sermon series, Authentic Church through 13 00:00:33,530 --> 00:00:34,050 Scripture. 14 00:00:34,050 --> 00:00:38,810 And we are tracking, really at this point, many of the struggles 15 00:00:38,810 --> 00:00:43,970 of Paul because he was told by his peers not to go to Jerusalem. 16 00:00:43,970 --> 00:00:44,290 Why? 17 00:00:44,290 --> 00:00:49,250 Because they had word that he would face persecution there in Jerusalem. 18 00:00:49,250 --> 00:00:52,810 But I don't believe that God was telling him not to go to Jerusalem. 19 00:00:52,810 --> 00:00:54,970 We know that through his obedience, and we know that through 20 00:00:54,970 --> 00:00:56,450 his testimony here where, when. 21 00:00:56,450 --> 00:00:59,550 When he says he doesn't have issues with his conscience. 22 00:00:59,870 --> 00:01:01,790 We're going to see that in Acts, chapter 23. 23 00:01:02,590 --> 00:01:06,110 But I do think that there are times in our life where people can 24 00:01:06,190 --> 00:01:09,950 see that we will go through difficulties and assume that those 25 00:01:09,950 --> 00:01:12,430 difficulties are something that we should avoid. 26 00:01:12,430 --> 00:01:14,790 But the Bible actually tells us that there are certain difficulties 27 00:01:14,790 --> 00:01:18,110 that we are to go through for the cause of the Gospel. 28 00:01:18,110 --> 00:01:20,510 And we see that certainly that's what Paul is doing here. 29 00:01:21,070 --> 00:01:25,470 So Paul goes to Jerusalem, and the prophecies were correct. 30 00:01:25,470 --> 00:01:25,790 He. 31 00:01:25,980 --> 00:01:27,180 He did get persecuted. 32 00:01:27,820 --> 00:01:30,300 He was put in bonds, which we're going to see here now. 33 00:01:30,700 --> 00:01:34,940 And last week we saw what he did when he was persecuted. 34 00:01:34,940 --> 00:01:36,380 Basically, they put him in chains. 35 00:01:36,380 --> 00:01:40,540 They were leading him up to the Antonio Fortress, and he turns 36 00:01:40,540 --> 00:01:44,980 to the Roman guard and in Greek basically asks him, can I preach 37 00:01:44,980 --> 00:01:46,620 to the people that are persecuting me? 38 00:01:46,780 --> 00:01:48,300 And he grants that request. 39 00:01:48,540 --> 00:01:51,740 And Paul turns to his people, the ones that are persecuting him, 40 00:01:52,420 --> 00:01:56,700 and speaks in their native tongue, Hebrew, and essentially preaches 41 00:01:56,700 --> 00:01:57,220 the Gospel. 42 00:01:57,220 --> 00:01:57,980 And what does he do? 43 00:01:57,980 --> 00:02:01,460 He gives his testimony as a way to preach the Gospel. 44 00:02:01,460 --> 00:02:02,900 He gives his testimony to him. 45 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:06,060 They were actually in many ways going along with what he was 46 00:02:06,060 --> 00:02:10,340 saying until he said, I have been called to preach the message 47 00:02:10,340 --> 00:02:11,780 of God to the Gentiles. 48 00:02:11,780 --> 00:02:14,220 And we see the response to that in verse 22. 49 00:02:14,220 --> 00:02:18,100 And they gave him audience unto this word, the word Gentile, 50 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,080 and then lifted up their voices and said, away with such a 51 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:26,280 fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live. 52 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,360 And so they listened until Paul mentioned the Gentiles. 53 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:32,840 And then the Jewish mob was outraged. 54 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,080 And they basically said, he doesn't deserve to live. 55 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:36,400 Why? 56 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,800 Because he's preaching the message to the Gentiles. 57 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:40,040 And the Gentiles are unclean. 58 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:41,720 The Gentiles are not equal to us. 59 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,440 The Gentiles cannot find God the same way. 60 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,040 And, and that's really the message that Paul was preaching. 61 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,120 Paul was preaching a message that said that Jews and Gentiles 62 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,960 could find salvation the same exact way through Jesus Christ. 63 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,880 Now, Paul was not preaching that the Jews should turn their back 64 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,719 on their traditions, even on their ceremonies. 65 00:03:00,719 --> 00:03:03,920 He said, that's fine, go ahead with those, that's totally fine in 66 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:06,800 your culture to do that, but don't expect that to save you. 67 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,240 And the Jewish people were okay with hearing that they were 68 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,160 saved through all the things that they were doing. 69 00:03:12,450 --> 00:03:14,850 And the Gentiles were saved with how they can do it. 70 00:03:15,010 --> 00:03:17,770 But they were not okay with hearing that the Gentiles and the 71 00:03:17,770 --> 00:03:19,410 Jews were same, saved the same way. 72 00:03:19,810 --> 00:03:21,890 And so that's why they're upset. 73 00:03:21,970 --> 00:03:23,250 That's why they're upset with Paul. 74 00:03:23,250 --> 00:03:25,970 Not so much that he was preaching to the Gentiles, but that 75 00:03:25,970 --> 00:03:29,250 he was preaching the same message to the Jews and the Gentiles, 76 00:03:29,250 --> 00:03:30,530 Jesus Christ alone. 77 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:33,970 And that's important for us to learn from here because there's a 78 00:03:33,970 --> 00:03:37,570 lot of temptations in our world today that can draw us to a 79 00:03:37,570 --> 00:03:41,100 place to preach a message of Jesus, plus something else. 80 00:03:41,900 --> 00:03:46,300 And we have to go back to the understanding of what Scripture says, 81 00:03:46,300 --> 00:03:49,020 that we are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ. 82 00:03:49,260 --> 00:03:51,060 There are other things that are added to our faith. 83 00:03:51,060 --> 00:03:52,780 We're very clear about that in Scripture. 84 00:03:52,780 --> 00:03:53,100 Right? 85 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:56,300 Spiritual maturity is a process that happens after salvation. 86 00:03:56,460 --> 00:03:59,020 But we can't expect someone to be spiritually mature to understand 87 00:03:59,020 --> 00:03:59,420 Christ. 88 00:03:59,740 --> 00:04:03,580 We can't expect people to adhere to our way of doing things 89 00:04:03,580 --> 00:04:04,380 to come to Christ. 90 00:04:04,790 --> 00:04:06,830 We preach Jesus Christ and him alone. 91 00:04:06,830 --> 00:04:09,990 And that is truly what the Gospel message really is. 92 00:04:10,390 --> 00:04:12,590 And so here, in this case, they're upset. 93 00:04:12,590 --> 00:04:13,510 They want to kill him. 94 00:04:14,230 --> 00:04:16,270 And what, what is Paul going to do here? 95 00:04:16,270 --> 00:04:19,390 We're going to see that Paul is led away because they're trying 96 00:04:19,390 --> 00:04:20,670 to pull him away from this mob. 97 00:04:20,670 --> 00:04:23,950 Because really the, the Roman soldiers, all they're about is just 98 00:04:23,950 --> 00:04:26,550 not causing chaos here in, in the public square. 99 00:04:26,870 --> 00:04:29,550 And so we're going to see what happens here, that eventually the 100 00:04:29,550 --> 00:04:31,900 Romans begin to scourge Paul. 101 00:04:32,220 --> 00:04:34,260 But Paul is going to appeal to something else here. 102 00:04:34,260 --> 00:04:37,100 And I think that what we can see is that Paul uses discernment 103 00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:40,340 here to claim something that he wasn't claiming in other places 104 00:04:40,340 --> 00:04:40,780 in his life. 105 00:04:40,780 --> 00:04:42,540 And that is that he is a Roman citizen. 106 00:04:42,700 --> 00:04:44,260 And so go with me to verse 23. 107 00:04:44,260 --> 00:04:47,499 And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust 108 00:04:47,499 --> 00:04:51,540 into the air, this is all their way to show that they're upset 109 00:04:51,540 --> 00:04:55,380 with Paul, that they want him dead, that ultimately they're mourning 110 00:04:55,380 --> 00:04:56,380 over what he's preaching. 111 00:04:56,540 --> 00:04:57,220 Verse 24. 112 00:04:57,220 --> 00:04:59,700 The Chief Captain commanded him to be brought into the castle. 113 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:01,490 That's the Antonio fortress. 114 00:05:01,490 --> 00:05:02,730 Remember we talked last week. 115 00:05:02,730 --> 00:05:06,570 That's the tower, that's on the corner of the Temple Mount. 116 00:05:06,570 --> 00:05:09,290 That basically is the watchtower over what's going on. 117 00:05:09,290 --> 00:05:12,370 They said we're going to rush him up to the castle and bid that 118 00:05:12,370 --> 00:05:14,250 he should be examined by scourging. 119 00:05:14,570 --> 00:05:17,250 Now that's a fancy way to be examined by scourging. 120 00:05:17,250 --> 00:05:19,930 And basically they're going to beat him until they get the truth. 121 00:05:20,330 --> 00:05:22,930 And, and we're going to talk a little bit about what Roman scourging 122 00:05:22,930 --> 00:05:23,370 look like. 123 00:05:23,370 --> 00:05:26,540 Some of you are familiar with, with the situation with Jesus right 124 00:05:26,540 --> 00:05:27,940 before he went to the cross. 125 00:05:28,180 --> 00:05:31,460 But Paul is going to go through the same procedure here and 126 00:05:31,460 --> 00:05:32,260 be scourged. 127 00:05:32,660 --> 00:05:36,940 And it says that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. 128 00:05:36,940 --> 00:05:39,380 They want to know why they're upset with Paul. 129 00:05:39,780 --> 00:05:41,460 They, they want to know what's going on. 130 00:05:41,460 --> 00:05:44,340 What are you preaching, what's causing such a stir with the people? 131 00:05:44,820 --> 00:05:45,700 Verse 25. 132 00:05:45,700 --> 00:05:47,940 And as they bound him with thongs. 133 00:05:48,180 --> 00:05:50,820 And so essentially what this is, is they're, they're taking each 134 00:05:50,820 --> 00:05:54,610 arm and they're stretching his arms around the pole so his back 135 00:05:54,610 --> 00:05:57,170 could be fully exposed to the, the flogging. 136 00:05:57,250 --> 00:06:00,690 And, and they're going to beat him and, and persecute him this way. 137 00:06:01,170 --> 00:06:03,570 So it says that they bind him with thongs. 138 00:06:03,570 --> 00:06:08,850 Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, is it lawful for you 139 00:06:08,850 --> 00:06:13,010 to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? 140 00:06:13,170 --> 00:06:14,570 And Paul knows the answer to this. 141 00:06:14,570 --> 00:06:18,370 It was against the Roman law for them to scourge someone who was 142 00:06:18,370 --> 00:06:21,330 not guilty, and specifically in this case, a Roman citizen. 143 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,160 And so the commander orders Paul to be scourged to get the truth 144 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:25,640 out of him. 145 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,720 And that phrase they're examine under scourging essentially 146 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:30,600 just means that they're going to try to beat it out of him. 147 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,640 And this was more than just a rod or a whip. 148 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,080 It was done to basically cripple someone. 149 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:39,400 It was done to be. 150 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,640 In many, in many cases in history, people died through this 151 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:44,280 scourging. 152 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,680 So this wasn't just a little slap on the wrist. 153 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,760 This was going to be a serious beating that he was about to undertake. 154 00:06:51,530 --> 00:06:55,450 It was customary, though, but only upon people who were not Roman 155 00:06:55,450 --> 00:06:56,250 citizens. 156 00:06:56,810 --> 00:06:58,410 So Paul is a Roman citizen. 157 00:06:58,410 --> 00:07:01,050 There's something very unique about Paul in the concept that he 158 00:07:01,050 --> 00:07:02,410 is a Jew of Jews. 159 00:07:02,970 --> 00:07:03,330 He. 160 00:07:03,330 --> 00:07:03,930 He is. 161 00:07:04,330 --> 00:07:05,970 Was at one point a Pharisee. 162 00:07:05,970 --> 00:07:10,490 So he was in culturally a Jewish person and biologically, physically 163 00:07:10,490 --> 00:07:13,730 a Jewish person, but also he is a Roman citizen. 164 00:07:13,730 --> 00:07:17,060 So this brings a lot of diversity to Paul's ministry because 165 00:07:17,060 --> 00:07:19,500 we know that Paul has a heart for the Gentiles, we know that he 166 00:07:19,500 --> 00:07:20,500 has a heart for the Jews. 167 00:07:20,820 --> 00:07:24,220 What better person to have a heart for both than someone who can 168 00:07:24,220 --> 00:07:25,700 identify with both sides? 169 00:07:25,860 --> 00:07:29,340 And so the idea here is that Paul is a Roman citizen, and they're 170 00:07:29,340 --> 00:07:30,900 going to actually doubt that at first. 171 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:34,340 Verse 26, when the Centurion heard that, he went and told the 172 00:07:34,340 --> 00:07:37,340 chief captain, saying, take heed what thou doest, for this man 173 00:07:37,340 --> 00:07:37,940 is a Roman. 174 00:07:39,140 --> 00:07:39,620 Now they. 175 00:07:39,620 --> 00:07:41,780 So they don't doubt that he's a Roman citizen, but they're going 176 00:07:41,780 --> 00:07:43,540 to doubt how he became a Roman citizen. 177 00:07:43,970 --> 00:07:46,130 The reason why they don't doubt that he's a Roman citizen, 178 00:07:46,130 --> 00:07:50,090 because if Paul said he was a Roman citizen and he wasn't, he would 179 00:07:50,090 --> 00:07:50,770 be put to death. 180 00:07:51,090 --> 00:07:52,850 So that was that serious of a thing. 181 00:07:52,930 --> 00:07:55,090 They know that no one would lie about that because they'll. 182 00:07:55,090 --> 00:07:56,450 They'll research it, they'll know. 183 00:07:56,690 --> 00:07:59,490 And so they don't think that he's lying, but they think that he 184 00:07:59,649 --> 00:08:00,890 came about it in a different way. 185 00:08:00,890 --> 00:08:01,650 Verse 27. 186 00:08:01,650 --> 00:08:04,810 Then the chief captain came and said unto him, tell me, art thou 187 00:08:04,810 --> 00:08:05,210 a Roman? 188 00:08:05,210 --> 00:08:06,610 He said, yeah, yay. 189 00:08:06,690 --> 00:08:07,970 Yes, I am a Roman. 190 00:08:08,050 --> 00:08:11,770 And the chief captain answered, with a great sum obtained 191 00:08:11,770 --> 00:08:12,610 I this freedom. 192 00:08:12,610 --> 00:08:13,170 Meaning this. 193 00:08:13,170 --> 00:08:15,730 The chief captain said, I had to buy my freedom. 194 00:08:15,970 --> 00:08:17,330 I had to pay a lot for this. 195 00:08:17,330 --> 00:08:18,450 What did you have to pay? 196 00:08:18,770 --> 00:08:21,530 Because obviously he's looking at Paul and he says, what did you 197 00:08:21,530 --> 00:08:21,770 pay? 198 00:08:21,770 --> 00:08:24,050 And Paul said, but I was born free. 199 00:08:24,290 --> 00:08:27,930 Paul has already gone through his background where he was born. 200 00:08:27,930 --> 00:08:32,210 It says back in chapter 21, verse 39, that he was a Jew of Tarsus, 201 00:08:32,370 --> 00:08:36,020 a city of Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city, meaning this. 202 00:08:36,020 --> 00:08:36,220 He. 203 00:08:36,220 --> 00:08:38,300 He was born in a Roman province. 204 00:08:38,620 --> 00:08:38,900 And. 205 00:08:38,900 --> 00:08:41,820 And what we can understand through this is that at some point, 206 00:08:41,820 --> 00:08:45,780 someone in Paul's family either maybe bought their freedom 207 00:08:45,780 --> 00:08:50,620 or did something for a Roman soldier or Roman citizen that allowed 208 00:08:50,620 --> 00:08:53,420 his family to be considered a Roman citizen. 209 00:08:53,820 --> 00:08:55,260 So that's what Paul is here. 210 00:08:55,340 --> 00:08:56,460 And Paul claims that. 211 00:08:56,460 --> 00:08:58,860 Paul doesn't always claim this, but he claims it in this case 212 00:08:58,860 --> 00:08:59,900 for a certain reason. 213 00:08:59,980 --> 00:09:01,740 And he says, I, I was born free. 214 00:09:02,430 --> 00:09:06,350 And so the leader here, this, this captain says, hey, I, I've bought 215 00:09:06,350 --> 00:09:06,670 that. 216 00:09:06,830 --> 00:09:07,910 How could you buy that? 217 00:09:07,910 --> 00:09:09,150 He says, I, I didn't buy it. 218 00:09:09,390 --> 00:09:11,070 I was given it in my birth. 219 00:09:11,390 --> 00:09:14,870 And so the Roman citizen, Roman citizenship was given to Paul 220 00:09:14,870 --> 00:09:15,510 through his birth. 221 00:09:15,510 --> 00:09:18,230 And some commentators would speculate that Paul's parents or 222 00:09:18,230 --> 00:09:21,470 grandparents must have been awarded the rights of citizenship 223 00:09:21,630 --> 00:09:23,310 for something that they did in the past. 224 00:09:23,710 --> 00:09:27,790 We don't know entirely for sure, but Paul was a rare, rare individual 225 00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:32,260 in the fact that he was educated and intelligent as a devout 226 00:09:32,260 --> 00:09:37,700 Jew, but also had exposure to Gentile culture and Gentile ways 227 00:09:37,700 --> 00:09:39,300 of doing things as a Roman citizen. 228 00:09:39,700 --> 00:09:43,940 And so God would use this unique background in Paul in a special 229 00:09:43,940 --> 00:09:47,540 way and equip him to minister both to the Jews and the Gentiles. 230 00:09:48,180 --> 00:09:50,740 And I thought about that this week, and it could just be a historical 231 00:09:50,740 --> 00:09:54,030 fact, or we could look at God's providence in his design for 232 00:09:54,030 --> 00:09:56,670 Paul to prepare him for what he's going to call him to do. 233 00:09:56,910 --> 00:09:58,750 And I do believe that there are no mistakes. 234 00:09:58,750 --> 00:10:02,510 I believe that God prepares us for where he calls back in many cases 235 00:10:02,510 --> 00:10:06,310 in my life to say, lord, I know exactly why you allowed me to 236 00:10:06,310 --> 00:10:08,710 go through what I went through so that now I'm able to understand 237 00:10:08,710 --> 00:10:10,109 how to minister in this way. 238 00:10:10,350 --> 00:10:13,190 And I think all of us could have somewhat of a testimony that 239 00:10:13,190 --> 00:10:16,270 during the time that we were going through something or the place 240 00:10:16,270 --> 00:10:18,510 that we came from, we didn't know why that was the case. 241 00:10:18,510 --> 00:10:19,710 But again, there's no accidents. 242 00:10:19,980 --> 00:10:23,020 And I do believe that God ordains a path for us to go. 243 00:10:23,180 --> 00:10:26,460 And I think that he equips us in the place that he calls us to 244 00:10:26,700 --> 00:10:27,100 minister. 245 00:10:27,180 --> 00:10:30,220 So that's exactly what we can see here as a lesson that Paul was 246 00:10:30,220 --> 00:10:32,500 prepared to do such a thing that he is called to do. 247 00:10:32,500 --> 00:10:34,620 And we know ultimately Paul goes to Rome. 248 00:10:35,180 --> 00:10:37,820 We're studying in the book of Romans that Paul had a heart to go 249 00:10:37,820 --> 00:10:40,300 to Rome to minister to those people there in the capital. 250 00:10:40,860 --> 00:10:44,380 And God does call Paul there and he ministers to many people, 251 00:10:44,380 --> 00:10:47,290 but we're going to see his path to get there here through the 252 00:10:47,290 --> 00:10:48,050 book of Acts. 253 00:10:48,690 --> 00:10:50,530 And so let's go back here. 254 00:10:50,690 --> 00:10:54,690 Verse 29, he says, I was freeborn, I was born free. 255 00:10:54,690 --> 00:10:55,570 Verse 29. 256 00:10:55,730 --> 00:11:00,650 Then straightway they departed from him, which should have examined 257 00:11:00,650 --> 00:11:00,890 him. 258 00:11:00,890 --> 00:11:03,650 So the basically the people that were about to examine him through 259 00:11:03,650 --> 00:11:04,770 scourging, they back away. 260 00:11:05,010 --> 00:11:06,890 And the chief captain also was afraid. 261 00:11:06,890 --> 00:11:12,740 Why is he afraid because if he punishes Paul, and Paul's a Roman 262 00:11:12,740 --> 00:11:15,260 citizen, he could get in trouble for the very same thing that. 263 00:11:15,260 --> 00:11:17,820 That Paul was going through here. 264 00:11:17,820 --> 00:11:20,620 And so after he knew that he was a Roman because he had bound 265 00:11:20,620 --> 00:11:20,820 him. 266 00:11:20,820 --> 00:11:21,740 So he knows he's in trouble. 267 00:11:21,740 --> 00:11:23,780 He knows he did something he should not do. 268 00:11:23,780 --> 00:11:27,780 And so we see here, though, I believe God providing a victory for 269 00:11:27,780 --> 00:11:28,580 Paul in this case. 270 00:11:28,580 --> 00:11:32,060 Obviously, God has a plan for Paul, and Paul's not done with. 271 00:11:32,460 --> 00:11:33,980 With what God has him to do yet. 272 00:11:33,980 --> 00:11:34,300 And. 273 00:11:34,300 --> 00:11:36,220 And I think that, you know, one of the things that I. 274 00:11:36,220 --> 00:11:38,340 I try to tell people, and it's kind of a silly way to go about it, 275 00:11:38,340 --> 00:11:39,020 but it's true. 276 00:11:39,410 --> 00:11:42,290 I think it's biblical that if you're still drawing in breath, God's 277 00:11:42,290 --> 00:11:43,170 not done with you yet. 278 00:11:43,570 --> 00:11:44,610 And I think that's true. 279 00:11:44,610 --> 00:11:47,770 I think that if God calls us home, then he's. 280 00:11:47,770 --> 00:11:49,890 He's done, we're done, the race is over. 281 00:11:50,610 --> 00:11:54,330 But if we still have breath, God is calling us to do something. 282 00:11:54,330 --> 00:11:55,890 It might be different than it used to be. 283 00:11:56,210 --> 00:11:59,170 I might not be able to minister like I used to, or I might 284 00:11:59,170 --> 00:12:01,650 be not able to minister in a way that I used to minister. 285 00:12:01,650 --> 00:12:04,770 But here at this case, God has a plan for Paul. 286 00:12:04,870 --> 00:12:05,030 And. 287 00:12:05,100 --> 00:12:07,380 And so God preserves Paul through this difficult time, and 288 00:12:07,380 --> 00:12:10,340 God's going to preserve you through that difficult time as he 289 00:12:10,340 --> 00:12:11,260 has a plan for you. 290 00:12:11,980 --> 00:12:13,740 I know sometimes the race gets difficult. 291 00:12:14,060 --> 00:12:17,580 Paul talks about life being a race, the Christian walk being a 292 00:12:17,580 --> 00:12:17,900 race. 293 00:12:18,140 --> 00:12:23,620 Micah was out running, and he's in this series where they race, 294 00:12:23,620 --> 00:12:24,100 okay? 295 00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:28,300 And so they have this mile race, and it's amazing to watch him 296 00:12:28,300 --> 00:12:30,060 run, because inside of me, I don't. 297 00:12:30,060 --> 00:12:32,020 I didn't know the word to say because I didn't want to say I had 298 00:12:32,020 --> 00:12:32,990 pride, okay? 299 00:12:32,990 --> 00:12:34,830 But all of you that have watched your children do something 300 00:12:34,830 --> 00:12:37,390 that you enjoy, you have that joy in your heart, okay? 301 00:12:37,390 --> 00:12:38,830 It's just like, wow, look at him go. 302 00:12:38,990 --> 00:12:41,590 And as he was running around that last stretch, I was looking 303 00:12:41,590 --> 00:12:42,710 at him and he was looking tired. 304 00:12:42,710 --> 00:12:46,990 And then as soon as he saw our family, it was me, Alicia, Nora, 305 00:12:46,990 --> 00:12:47,510 and Silas. 306 00:12:47,510 --> 00:12:48,350 And he saw us, right? 307 00:12:48,350 --> 00:12:48,789 And he. 308 00:12:48,789 --> 00:12:50,830 And he got an extra burst of energy, right? 309 00:12:50,830 --> 00:12:53,030 And I think that's sometimes what we need in our life. 310 00:12:53,030 --> 00:12:54,830 Sometimes we get tired in our race. 311 00:12:55,470 --> 00:12:58,550 Sometimes as we're running, we get that fatigue and we feel that 312 00:12:58,550 --> 00:12:59,590 pain, and we think, you know what? 313 00:12:59,590 --> 00:13:00,510 It's just not worth it. 314 00:13:00,690 --> 00:13:03,250 And then all of a sudden, we see in scripture what God has called 315 00:13:03,250 --> 00:13:03,810 us to do. 316 00:13:04,130 --> 00:13:07,090 We see those other Christians doing the same thing and we get excited 317 00:13:07,090 --> 00:13:08,050 and we push forward. 318 00:13:08,050 --> 00:13:11,490 And as Paul says, I press toward the mark, I, I push forward. 319 00:13:11,730 --> 00:13:13,250 And I think that's something that we have to understand. 320 00:13:13,250 --> 00:13:16,530 Paul here, probably in his, in his life was doubting some things. 321 00:13:16,530 --> 00:13:17,810 I, I don't know for sure. 322 00:13:18,130 --> 00:13:21,610 But in, but in any case, Paul is going through some severe persecution 323 00:13:21,610 --> 00:13:22,850 throughout this period of his life. 324 00:13:23,010 --> 00:13:24,290 But yet he pushes forward. 325 00:13:24,770 --> 00:13:27,930 And so I believe that there is this opportunity for us to see that 326 00:13:27,930 --> 00:13:28,450 lesson here. 327 00:13:28,450 --> 00:13:31,140 So look at verse number 30 with me on the morrow. 328 00:13:31,140 --> 00:13:34,060 Because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused 329 00:13:34,060 --> 00:13:36,420 of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands and commanded the 330 00:13:36,420 --> 00:13:39,460 chief priests and all the council, all their council to appear 331 00:13:39,460 --> 00:13:42,060 and brought Paul down and set him before them. 332 00:13:42,060 --> 00:13:45,819 So he says, before we say that Paul is guilty, we need to pull him 333 00:13:45,819 --> 00:13:47,140 before their council. 334 00:13:47,140 --> 00:13:50,420 And this is specifically talking about the Jewish Sanhedrin. 335 00:13:50,660 --> 00:13:54,060 The Sanhedrin was basically the leadership council of the Jewish 336 00:13:54,060 --> 00:13:55,780 people, specifically their religion. 337 00:13:56,220 --> 00:13:59,700 So he says we need to pull Paul down before them and we need 338 00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:01,500 to see what they're actually accusing him of. 339 00:14:01,500 --> 00:14:04,540 We need to make sure we're not falsely accusing Paul for something 340 00:14:04,620 --> 00:14:05,500 that he hasn't done. 341 00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:06,860 Okay, so that's what we have to understand. 342 00:14:06,860 --> 00:14:07,700 That's what he's doing here. 343 00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:10,060 Now you have to know a little bit about the Sanhedrin. 344 00:14:10,380 --> 00:14:12,540 The Sanhedrin was made up of two groups. 345 00:14:12,860 --> 00:14:15,980 It was made up of the Pharisees, which you all are probably 346 00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:16,620 familiar with. 347 00:14:16,620 --> 00:14:17,620 You've heard that term before. 348 00:14:17,620 --> 00:14:18,940 Paul was a Pharisee. 349 00:14:19,100 --> 00:14:21,500 The Pharisees were by the book, they were by the letter. 350 00:14:22,170 --> 00:14:26,810 They did believe in the afterlife, they did believe in eternity, 351 00:14:26,810 --> 00:14:28,410 they did believe in spiritual things. 352 00:14:28,490 --> 00:14:31,410 But there was another group of people named the Sadducees that made 353 00:14:31,410 --> 00:14:32,490 up the council as well. 354 00:14:32,570 --> 00:14:35,290 The Sadducees has some other varying viewpoints. 355 00:14:35,450 --> 00:14:38,330 And so what we can see here in this case is that there are two different 356 00:14:38,730 --> 00:14:40,490 groups of people and Paul is going to actually. 357 00:14:40,490 --> 00:14:42,330 Cause there's going to be some division here. 358 00:14:42,330 --> 00:14:45,090 And Paul's going to have some division as he meets before them. 359 00:14:45,090 --> 00:14:46,730 And actually Paul's not going to have division. 360 00:14:46,810 --> 00:14:50,600 What he says is going to stir some division with the group here. 361 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,360 And so verse number one, and Paul earnestly beholding the council, 362 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,160 said, men and brethren, I have lived. 363 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:56,320 This is verse 1 of 23. 364 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,560 Have lived in all good conscience before God unto until 365 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:00,160 this day. 366 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,480 And so in this case, what we can see is that Paul is giving his 367 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:05,400 testimony that he's living in a good conscience. 368 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:06,440 He hasn't done anything wrong. 369 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,400 He says, I don't believe that I have done anything wrong in what 370 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:10,680 I have done so far in my life. 371 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:12,000 Now they think he's done wrong. 372 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,530 They think that he's telling people basically, hey, you can be 373 00:15:15,530 --> 00:15:17,890 Gentiles, live like Gentiles, don't be Jews. 374 00:15:17,890 --> 00:15:20,250 Remember, they even called him an anti Jew, basically. 375 00:15:20,410 --> 00:15:22,850 So he says, I'm living in good conscience and that's the way that 376 00:15:22,850 --> 00:15:23,730 we all should live our lives. 377 00:15:23,730 --> 00:15:26,650 By the way, I hope that obviously none of us are perfect. 378 00:15:26,650 --> 00:15:27,610 Paul wasn't perfect. 379 00:15:28,010 --> 00:15:30,609 But there is a place in our life that we can live with a good 380 00:15:30,609 --> 00:15:30,970 conscience. 381 00:15:30,970 --> 00:15:34,010 We can live before God with clarity and freedom. 382 00:15:34,010 --> 00:15:36,250 And that's what Paul says that he's doing here, verse two. 383 00:15:36,490 --> 00:15:42,520 And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him 384 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:44,400 to smite him on the mount. 385 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:46,440 So what does Paul do? 386 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:47,840 Paul gives his testimony. 387 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,160 Paul says, I believe that I'm living with a clear conscience. 388 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,880 And what does the leader of the group do? 389 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,320 He says, hit him in the face, Hit him in the mouth. 390 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,760 Now obviously he is not acting the way that he should act. 391 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,040 And so Paul is before the council, Paul is giving his testimony. 392 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,040 And ultimately Ananias is not happy about that. 393 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:12,170 And Paul's claim of a good conscience offends this high priest. 394 00:16:12,490 --> 00:16:17,450 And he thought that someone who would do this should, should, 395 00:16:17,450 --> 00:16:18,730 should face their punishment. 396 00:16:18,730 --> 00:16:20,090 And so he says, hit him. 397 00:16:20,090 --> 00:16:21,850 And they do strike him actually here. 398 00:16:22,490 --> 00:16:23,450 So verse 3. 399 00:16:23,450 --> 00:16:28,490 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall. 400 00:16:29,050 --> 00:16:31,090 Now you might not know what he's talking about here. 401 00:16:31,090 --> 00:16:31,850 Why did wall was. 402 00:16:31,850 --> 00:16:33,850 What's he, what's he saying here, whited wall? 403 00:16:33,850 --> 00:16:36,810 Well, he's essentially explaining to them that hey, you 404 00:16:36,810 --> 00:16:40,930 look pure on the outside, but obviously on the inside you're corrupt, 405 00:16:41,730 --> 00:16:42,690 you're a hypocrite. 406 00:16:42,690 --> 00:16:46,130 Basically, you look religious, you hold the religious position, 407 00:16:46,370 --> 00:16:48,490 but in your heart you're not living the way that you should live. 408 00:16:48,490 --> 00:16:53,570 And this is a echo of what Jesus said to the religious people 409 00:16:53,570 --> 00:16:54,090 at that time. 410 00:16:54,090 --> 00:16:58,850 He said that your whited sepulchers basically clean and pure 411 00:16:58,850 --> 00:17:01,810 on the outside what it looked like, but on the inside, not clean. 412 00:17:02,380 --> 00:17:05,180 He says, for sit us down to judge me after the law. 413 00:17:05,180 --> 00:17:06,580 So he says, you're trying to practice the law. 414 00:17:06,580 --> 00:17:08,060 And Paul knew the law, by the way. 415 00:17:08,220 --> 00:17:10,180 It's not like he was surprised by this. 416 00:17:10,180 --> 00:17:14,500 He knew the law and commandeth me to be smitten contrary to the 417 00:17:14,500 --> 00:17:14,780 law. 418 00:17:15,980 --> 00:17:19,100 And so Paul exposes the Hypocr guilty can be beaten. 419 00:17:19,100 --> 00:17:20,780 And they hadn't found him guilty yet. 420 00:17:21,100 --> 00:17:24,540 And so Paul had not been found guilty of anything, but yet they 421 00:17:24,540 --> 00:17:25,260 strike him. 422 00:17:25,820 --> 00:17:28,140 And so Paul's words back to Ananias. 423 00:17:28,140 --> 00:17:29,500 We don't know how Paul said it. 424 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:32,120 I like to think that Paul said it with some passion. 425 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,520 But either way, Paul says, hey, you know what? 426 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:36,680 If you're going to strike me, God's going to strike you. 427 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,480 And he speaks to this understanding of sowing and reaping, 428 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,480 obviously, that we know in Scripture that he says, if you're 429 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,320 going to live this way, God's going to hold you to that. 430 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:44,360 Verse 4. 431 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:48,840 And they that stood by said, revilest thou God's high priest? 432 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:51,720 They're like, how can you say this to this leader? 433 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,290 Then said Paul, I wish not, I knew not, brethren, that he was the 434 00:17:56,290 --> 00:17:56,810 high priest. 435 00:17:56,810 --> 00:17:59,970 For it is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy 436 00:17:59,970 --> 00:18:00,250 people. 437 00:18:01,450 --> 00:18:02,970 And so this is interesting here. 438 00:18:04,090 --> 00:18:07,050 They ask him, how could you say evil to the leader? 439 00:18:07,770 --> 00:18:10,850 And Paul basically excuses himself saying that I didn't know 440 00:18:10,850 --> 00:18:14,250 the man who commanded me to be punched was the leader. 441 00:18:14,730 --> 00:18:18,330 And I, I, I, I thought about this because I'm like, is he, is 442 00:18:18,330 --> 00:18:19,090 he lying here? 443 00:18:19,090 --> 00:18:21,530 Is he just saying like, he's not acting like the leader, so I'm 444 00:18:21,530 --> 00:18:22,650 not treating him like the leader. 445 00:18:23,510 --> 00:18:25,870 But I, I looked it up and I was reading a little bit about it, 446 00:18:25,870 --> 00:18:28,190 and it's not unreasonable since Paul had been away from the 447 00:18:28,190 --> 00:18:32,470 council, that maybe he just didn't know that this was the leader, 448 00:18:33,750 --> 00:18:35,750 or maybe he didn't recognize him. 449 00:18:37,430 --> 00:18:38,070 Some, some. 450 00:18:38,070 --> 00:18:40,150 Actually, I was reading one commentary that said that Paul's 451 00:18:40,150 --> 00:18:42,230 eyesight was so bad that he didn't know who said it. 452 00:18:42,390 --> 00:18:44,750 And so maybe it was just the fact that he literally didn't see 453 00:18:44,750 --> 00:18:45,910 the person who said that. 454 00:18:46,310 --> 00:18:48,270 But either way, Paul says, hey, you know what? 455 00:18:48,270 --> 00:18:49,510 I didn't know that you were the leader. 456 00:18:49,510 --> 00:18:52,320 I know that I'm not supposed to say bad about the leader, even 457 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:54,280 though the leader is acting in a sinful way. 458 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:54,880 Verse 6. 459 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:59,720 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the 460 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,520 other Pharisees, he cried out in the council. 461 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:09,760 So Paul is going to use his wisdom of their beliefs to talk to 462 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,360 them and really get them to fight against each other. 463 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,120 And so he reads his audience, which I think is an important thing 464 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:15,400 to do. 465 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:16,840 We should know who we're speaking to. 466 00:19:17,090 --> 00:19:19,770 We should know who's accusing us, we should know who's coming against 467 00:19:19,770 --> 00:19:20,130 us. 468 00:19:20,370 --> 00:19:23,650 And so he saw that they were not open to the gospel. 469 00:19:24,850 --> 00:19:29,130 He looked at their actions and obviously they had made their feelings 470 00:19:29,130 --> 00:19:31,650 plain and clear about what they thought about Paul. 471 00:19:31,970 --> 00:19:34,690 And so Paul isn't going to preach the gospel to them at this 472 00:19:34,690 --> 00:19:34,810 point. 473 00:19:34,810 --> 00:19:35,730 He's already done that. 474 00:19:36,450 --> 00:19:40,050 What he could do now is try to get, get out of there and, and use 475 00:19:40,050 --> 00:19:44,430 God's wisdom to have them get divided here. 476 00:19:44,990 --> 00:19:49,190 So Paul knew that one of the sides of the council were Sadducees 477 00:19:49,190 --> 00:19:50,990 and one of the side was Pharisees. 478 00:19:51,230 --> 00:19:55,070 So Paul's desire here, his plan was to divide. 479 00:19:55,070 --> 00:19:56,110 The saints didn't. 480 00:19:56,430 --> 00:20:00,110 And he knew that this would cause a great controversy between 481 00:20:00,110 --> 00:20:01,310 the two party parties. 482 00:20:01,950 --> 00:20:04,510 And even though he's not lying, this is a true claim. 483 00:20:04,750 --> 00:20:07,830 The, obviously the, the centerpiece of the gospel that Paul 484 00:20:07,830 --> 00:20:10,640 was preaching was a resurrected Jesus and ultimately 485 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:11,800 the resurrected saints. 486 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:13,920 So Paul's not just saying something that he doesn't believe. 487 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:15,160 He's preaching the gospel. 488 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,640 He knew that there was going to be a resurrection of the dead 489 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,480 one day, ultimately because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 490 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,760 If you don't think that he does, read First Corinthians, chapter 491 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:26,040 15. 492 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:30,560 But we see the outcome of this because one side is for the resurrection, 493 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:31,480 the other side's not. 494 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:32,680 Verse 7. 495 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:37,130 And when he had said so, said there arose a dissension between 496 00:20:37,130 --> 00:20:40,810 the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the multitude was divided. 497 00:20:41,290 --> 00:20:44,730 And so Paul picked the issue that was a hot button issue for them. 498 00:20:45,130 --> 00:20:48,050 And the way that he put it was in such a way that the Pharisees 499 00:20:48,050 --> 00:20:50,010 would ally with him. 500 00:20:50,330 --> 00:20:53,730 And he led them to argue out with those Sadducees that were there. 501 00:20:53,730 --> 00:20:57,850 And so the Sadducees were considered to be more of liberal 502 00:20:57,850 --> 00:21:00,770 in their theology, liberal in their theology of their day. 503 00:21:00,770 --> 00:21:05,170 They denied the reality of the afterlife, they denied the concept 504 00:21:05,170 --> 00:21:06,210 of the resurrection. 505 00:21:06,370 --> 00:21:10,450 And we can see that through the book of, well, you see in the 506 00:21:10,450 --> 00:21:13,930 Gospels and you can even see it here as it's described in verse 507 00:21:13,930 --> 00:21:14,530 number nine. 508 00:21:15,330 --> 00:21:16,330 Well actually verse eight. 509 00:21:16,330 --> 00:21:17,570 Let's go, let's go back one. 510 00:21:17,730 --> 00:21:20,890 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither 511 00:21:20,890 --> 00:21:23,410 angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. 512 00:21:23,410 --> 00:21:24,930 And there arose a great cry. 513 00:21:24,930 --> 00:21:28,290 And the scribes that were of the Pharisees part arose and strove, 514 00:21:28,290 --> 00:21:32,420 saying, we find no evil in this man, but if the Spirit or an 515 00:21:32,420 --> 00:21:35,180 angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. 516 00:21:35,980 --> 00:21:41,140 And so usually in this case the Sadducees and the Pharisees were 517 00:21:41,140 --> 00:21:44,060 enemies, but now we're seeing that that's actually coming to pass. 518 00:21:44,380 --> 00:21:47,020 And they said, let's not fight against God because he's saying the 519 00:21:47,020 --> 00:21:47,500 right thing. 520 00:21:47,740 --> 00:21:50,020 The Pharisees basically said, hey, let's. 521 00:21:50,020 --> 00:21:51,540 Let's not get into this tussle. 522 00:21:51,540 --> 00:21:52,620 Let's go ahead and let him go. 523 00:21:52,620 --> 00:21:53,900 Let's not allow this to happen. 524 00:21:54,300 --> 00:21:55,980 And so Paul gets out of it. 525 00:21:55,980 --> 00:21:57,980 And so that's important to see here. 526 00:21:58,970 --> 00:22:01,570 So obviously we see the dissension that happens in verse 527 00:22:01,570 --> 00:22:01,770 10. 528 00:22:01,770 --> 00:22:04,930 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing 529 00:22:04,930 --> 00:22:08,170 lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded 530 00:22:08,170 --> 00:22:11,770 the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them 531 00:22:11,770 --> 00:22:13,930 and to bring him into the castle. 532 00:22:14,410 --> 00:22:19,050 And so we see Paul is pulled away from the conflict, verse 11. 533 00:22:19,130 --> 00:22:22,410 And the night following, the Lord stood by him. 534 00:22:23,370 --> 00:22:27,210 And so I want you to see here after this conflict because. 535 00:22:27,210 --> 00:22:29,770 Because remember, set yourself in Paul's shoes for just a moment 536 00:22:29,770 --> 00:22:30,050 here. 537 00:22:30,130 --> 00:22:31,810 Remember, Paul is traveling. 538 00:22:32,130 --> 00:22:35,330 He's told by a bunch of people, don't go to Jerusalem. 539 00:22:35,810 --> 00:22:38,850 Paul says, I know God has told me to go to Jerusalem. 540 00:22:38,850 --> 00:22:40,850 I'm bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. 541 00:22:40,850 --> 00:22:43,650 But now he goes to Jerusalem and faces all this conflict. 542 00:22:44,050 --> 00:22:44,370 If. 543 00:22:44,370 --> 00:22:47,170 If it was me, okay, if I was Paul, I'd start to be doubting. 544 00:22:47,170 --> 00:22:48,290 I'd start to say, you know what? 545 00:22:48,290 --> 00:22:48,850 Maybe I. 546 00:22:49,090 --> 00:22:51,170 Maybe God doesn't have what's best for me. 547 00:22:51,170 --> 00:22:51,410 May. 548 00:22:51,410 --> 00:22:52,850 Maybe the struggle is difficult. 549 00:22:52,850 --> 00:22:53,970 Maybe it's too difficult. 550 00:22:54,310 --> 00:22:56,710 Maybe I misread what God had for me in my life. 551 00:22:57,350 --> 00:23:00,030 There's been times in my life where I've thought that same thing. 552 00:23:00,030 --> 00:23:01,190 I've thought, you know what, Lord? 553 00:23:01,190 --> 00:23:03,550 I thought that you wanted me to do this. 554 00:23:03,550 --> 00:23:06,350 But now when I'm looking around and seeing what's going on, 555 00:23:06,350 --> 00:23:07,190 I'm not sure. 556 00:23:08,150 --> 00:23:12,630 But as Paul goes through this storm, as he goes through this trial, 557 00:23:13,430 --> 00:23:15,910 we see God assuring him at the end that he's with him. 558 00:23:16,310 --> 00:23:18,790 And I think this is important for us to see that sometimes in the 559 00:23:18,790 --> 00:23:20,150 midst of the storm, God is silent. 560 00:23:21,260 --> 00:23:23,420 But God does speak to us in the. 561 00:23:24,060 --> 00:23:25,740 Even sometimes in the midst of the trial. 562 00:23:25,740 --> 00:23:28,860 But in this case, when Paul gets through this, God speaks to 563 00:23:28,860 --> 00:23:29,540 him in verse 11. 564 00:23:29,540 --> 00:23:32,100 And the night following, the Lord stood by him and said, be of 565 00:23:32,100 --> 00:23:35,980 good cheer, Paul, for as thou has testified of me in Jerusalem, 566 00:23:35,980 --> 00:23:38,380 so must thou bear witness also at Rome. 567 00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:43,900 And so Paul is rescued by the Roman commander, and he's taken there 568 00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:45,660 back into bonds. 569 00:23:45,660 --> 00:23:49,600 And that following night, which obviously was a difficult time 570 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,120 for Paul, and. 571 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:54,360 And you know, because Paul had a heart for the Romans, but he Also 572 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,440 had a heart for the Jews, Paul had a heart for the Gentiles, but 573 00:23:58,440 --> 00:23:59,640 he had a heart for his own people. 574 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,200 If you question that, read Romans chapter nine. 575 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:07,400 And, and so Paul is preaching to his people and they reject him. 576 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:12,360 And so he probably in many cases was the discouraged, defeated, 577 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,740 perhaps even to the point of thinking that he had wasted his time. 578 00:24:16,380 --> 00:24:19,020 And, and so what we can see here is that the Lord comes and meets 579 00:24:19,020 --> 00:24:20,220 him right in his need. 580 00:24:20,860 --> 00:24:23,100 And so it says that the Lord stood by him. 581 00:24:23,260 --> 00:24:26,380 And, and we see the presence of God there with him. 582 00:24:26,700 --> 00:24:29,780 And so Jesus promises that he's going to be not just with Paul, 583 00:24:29,780 --> 00:24:30,780 but he's going to be with us. 584 00:24:30,860 --> 00:24:32,140 Think about the Great Commission. 585 00:24:33,260 --> 00:24:36,820 The great commission is that we are to go and make disciples in 586 00:24:36,820 --> 00:24:40,350 this world and preach the gospel, teach people. 587 00:24:40,830 --> 00:24:45,310 And at the very end, verse number 20 of Matthew 28, Jesus says 588 00:24:45,310 --> 00:24:48,350 teach, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever, whatsoever 589 00:24:48,350 --> 00:24:49,310 I've commanded you. 590 00:24:49,790 --> 00:24:53,950 And the last thing that he says after the command is this. 591 00:24:54,590 --> 00:24:57,070 I am with you always, even to the end of the world. 592 00:24:58,030 --> 00:25:01,470 So what God does promise us, he doesn't promise us perfection. 593 00:25:01,630 --> 00:25:05,470 He doesn't promise us complete circumstantial peace. 594 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:09,280 He promises us his presence which brings the peace of God in 595 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:10,520 the midst of difficulties. 596 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:16,560 Think about the story of Jesus and his disciples on the boat in 597 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:17,160 the storm. 598 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,600 What did Jesus say before they got in the boat? 599 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:20,840 We need to go to the other side. 600 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:21,960 We're going to the other side. 601 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:26,600 So the promise of God to the disciples was this, we're going to 602 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:27,400 get to the other side. 603 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,920 And everything was okay until they got out into the water. 604 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:31,760 And what happened? 605 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,140 The storm came, the difficulties came and, and, and so 606 00:25:35,140 --> 00:25:38,740 those storms were coming in on them and collapsing on top of them. 607 00:25:38,900 --> 00:25:41,940 And they began to fear and they began to doubt God. 608 00:25:42,100 --> 00:25:42,500 Why? 609 00:25:42,580 --> 00:25:44,500 Because of this circumstances. 610 00:25:45,060 --> 00:25:48,220 The presence of God in Jesus Christ was with them. 611 00:25:48,220 --> 00:25:49,300 He was with them on the boat. 612 00:25:49,300 --> 00:25:51,220 They didn't feel like he was doing the right thing at the right 613 00:25:51,220 --> 00:25:51,540 time. 614 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:54,700 Jesus was sleeping, if you remember, how can you be sleeping? 615 00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:55,940 You don't care that we die. 616 00:25:56,020 --> 00:25:57,860 And obviously we know that Jesus was there. 617 00:25:57,860 --> 00:26:00,900 But the, the test was, are they going to trust Jesus in the 618 00:26:00,900 --> 00:26:01,700 midst of the storm? 619 00:26:01,940 --> 00:26:04,340 And all Jesus has to do is say, peace, be still and it's over. 620 00:26:04,340 --> 00:26:06,380 And he says, you know, you don't have any faith. 621 00:26:06,380 --> 00:26:07,060 What's going on? 622 00:26:07,460 --> 00:26:09,100 The same thing here with Paul, right? 623 00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:12,060 He's tested in his faith to preach the Gospel there in Jerusalem. 624 00:26:12,060 --> 00:26:15,020 And ultimately, as we're going to see here, Preach it even on to 625 00:26:15,020 --> 00:26:15,380 Rome. 626 00:26:15,780 --> 00:26:18,460 But what we have to understand is that sometimes in the midst of 627 00:26:18,460 --> 00:26:19,620 the test, God is silent. 628 00:26:20,100 --> 00:26:21,540 A while back, I said, you know what? 629 00:26:21,540 --> 00:26:25,060 A good teacher teaches and prepares an individual for a test. 630 00:26:26,670 --> 00:26:29,870 But during the test, the teacher is silent in many cases. 631 00:26:29,870 --> 00:26:31,790 In most cases, a good teacher should be silent. 632 00:26:31,790 --> 00:26:33,750 I don't think a good teacher should be telling their students 633 00:26:33,750 --> 00:26:36,630 the answers to the test, you know, trying to pad their stats, 634 00:26:36,630 --> 00:26:37,110 so to speak. 635 00:26:37,110 --> 00:26:38,230 Okay, that's not a good teacher. 636 00:26:38,230 --> 00:26:39,950 A good teacher would say, I'm going to be silent. 637 00:26:39,950 --> 00:26:42,309 Now, the beauty of the Christian faith is this. 638 00:26:42,309 --> 00:26:44,110 And I think Brother Bob mentioned this to me one time. 639 00:26:44,110 --> 00:26:47,470 He said, yes, God is sometimes silent in the midst of the test. 640 00:26:47,470 --> 00:26:48,790 But we have an open book test. 641 00:26:48,790 --> 00:26:50,030 It's right here, okay? 642 00:26:50,030 --> 00:26:52,110 We've got everything we need right in front of us so he doesn't 643 00:26:52,110 --> 00:26:52,750 leave us alone. 644 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,000 But the truth of the matter is, is that sometimes we know that 645 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,480 there's going to be those times of testing, but then we always 646 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,000 know that God is going to comfort us. 647 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,120 And he says, be of good cheer, Paul, because you testified for me 648 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,520 here in Jerusalem, and so you will need to testify there in Rome. 649 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,600 And so Jesus's presence for Paul here was an opportunity for 650 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:15,840 him to know that God is with him in the midst of all of this. 651 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,880 And sometimes that's all we need to be reminded of, is that God 652 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:20,000 is with us in the midst of this. 653 00:27:20,950 --> 00:27:22,630 And so Paul might have felt alone. 654 00:27:22,630 --> 00:27:27,070 He was literally alone, at least in the concept of him being 655 00:27:27,070 --> 00:27:29,510 physical and not having any of his friends there with him. 656 00:27:30,150 --> 00:27:31,430 But he wasn't alone. 657 00:27:32,230 --> 00:27:35,550 Even if everybody on his team forgot about him, even if his own 658 00:27:35,550 --> 00:27:38,150 country forgot about him, Jesus was enough. 659 00:27:38,150 --> 00:27:40,150 Jesus was better than anything else. 660 00:27:40,630 --> 00:27:42,350 And so we could say it this way. 661 00:27:42,350 --> 00:27:46,070 It was better for Paul to be persecuted and in jail and be in 662 00:27:46,070 --> 00:27:48,500 the will of God than to be anywhere else in his life. 663 00:27:48,980 --> 00:27:49,780 He could have run. 664 00:27:49,780 --> 00:27:53,060 He could have been like Jonah and run from his call. 665 00:27:53,860 --> 00:27:56,180 But we even know in the story of Jonah, he couldn't run away from 666 00:27:56,180 --> 00:27:56,980 the call of God. 667 00:27:57,380 --> 00:27:58,660 And it's the same thing with our life. 668 00:27:58,660 --> 00:28:01,940 The safest place to be, the best place to be, the most peaceful 669 00:28:01,940 --> 00:28:04,780 place to be, is to be doing what God has called us to do. 670 00:28:04,780 --> 00:28:10,220 And so Paul says, you know what, God, you've called me to do 671 00:28:10,220 --> 00:28:10,500 this. 672 00:28:10,500 --> 00:28:11,540 He was encouraged. 673 00:28:11,620 --> 00:28:13,460 He had that second win, so to speak. 674 00:28:13,670 --> 00:28:16,750 And we know that from this point on, from this point on in the 675 00:28:16,750 --> 00:28:19,510 book of Acts, basically, Paul is in bonds. 676 00:28:20,230 --> 00:28:23,790 He is not going to be what we would call a free man for the rest 677 00:28:23,790 --> 00:28:24,870 of the Book of Acts. 678 00:28:25,190 --> 00:28:28,430 We know he is a free man in Jesus Christ, but from here on out, 679 00:28:28,430 --> 00:28:31,390 he's going to be bound, he's going to be shipwrecked, he's going 680 00:28:31,390 --> 00:28:34,270 to have all these issues, but we don't see it hold him back at 681 00:28:34,270 --> 00:28:36,070 all for preaching the gospel. 682 00:28:36,630 --> 00:28:39,830 And so Paul had been miraculously delivered from jail 683 00:28:39,830 --> 00:28:40,470 cells before. 684 00:28:41,140 --> 00:28:43,220 You remember that with, with Paul and Silas, he. 685 00:28:43,220 --> 00:28:44,100 They sang and. 686 00:28:44,100 --> 00:28:46,180 And obviously God pulled them out of jail. 687 00:28:47,380 --> 00:28:50,100 And a lot of times that's what we expect to happen in every sense. 688 00:28:50,340 --> 00:28:50,740 Right? 689 00:28:51,220 --> 00:28:52,100 We love that story. 690 00:28:52,100 --> 00:28:54,780 We love the story when Paul is in jail and he cries out to God and 691 00:28:54,780 --> 00:28:57,860 God breaks the doors open and he can come right out. 692 00:28:58,660 --> 00:29:00,180 But that's not always God's will. 693 00:29:00,660 --> 00:29:03,460 It's not always God's will for us to have that type of victory. 694 00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:06,740 Because if it was God's will in every case, why is Paul ever in 695 00:29:06,740 --> 00:29:07,300 the bonds? 696 00:29:07,300 --> 00:29:09,460 Why is Paul ever, ever in Roman control? 697 00:29:09,620 --> 00:29:12,420 Well, we know that ultimately it was God's plan for him to go this 698 00:29:12,420 --> 00:29:12,740 way. 699 00:29:13,780 --> 00:29:18,740 And so we often demand or expect that God would deliver us 700 00:29:18,980 --> 00:29:21,140 from our circumstances in every case. 701 00:29:22,340 --> 00:29:25,540 But sometimes God wants us to be in the midst of those circumstances 702 00:29:25,540 --> 00:29:28,940 for us to, number one, learn lessons and number two, to be tested 703 00:29:28,940 --> 00:29:31,300 in our faith, and number three, to proclaim the gospel in 704 00:29:31,300 --> 00:29:32,420 the midst of difficulty. 705 00:29:32,420 --> 00:29:34,500 If you go back to the beginning of the Book of Acts, what 706 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:35,700 spread the gospel the best? 707 00:29:36,530 --> 00:29:38,130 Persecution, Pressure. 708 00:29:39,010 --> 00:29:43,490 When we become complacent in what we believe and by what we do, 709 00:29:43,490 --> 00:29:47,090 we often lack in our fervency for spreading the gospel. 710 00:29:47,730 --> 00:29:51,210 And so we sometimes think that when we surrender to Jesus, we're 711 00:29:51,210 --> 00:29:52,850 surrendering from all problems. 712 00:29:53,410 --> 00:29:56,250 But sometimes God is going to allow problems to happen so that 713 00:29:56,250 --> 00:29:56,930 we can push forward. 714 00:29:56,930 --> 00:29:57,130 And. 715 00:29:57,130 --> 00:29:57,690 But what does he say? 716 00:29:57,690 --> 00:29:59,090 He says, be of good cheer, Paul. 717 00:29:59,730 --> 00:30:00,850 He says, I'm with you. 718 00:30:01,010 --> 00:30:02,210 I want to comfort you. 719 00:30:03,750 --> 00:30:07,430 Jesus was there to give him the understanding of his love for 720 00:30:07,430 --> 00:30:09,790 him and to spur him on for service. 721 00:30:09,790 --> 00:30:12,710 And that is what we believe God is doing in our life. 722 00:30:13,110 --> 00:30:16,390 And so we can be of good cheer in the midst of difficulty. 723 00:30:18,149 --> 00:30:23,510 Jesus is not asking Paul to do something impossible here and again. 724 00:30:23,510 --> 00:30:26,150 Remember, he just was betrayed by his own people. 725 00:30:27,110 --> 00:30:32,600 He was thrown in jail, he was scourged again, basically lied about 726 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:34,680 and now thrown back in the jail. 727 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:36,240 And what does Jesus say? 728 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,920 Jesus doesn't come and say, okay, Paul, pout about this, make 729 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:41,160 people feel sorry for you. 730 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:43,000 He says, be of good Cheer. 731 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:46,200 And I don't believe God asks us to do something that is impossible 732 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:46,680 to do. 733 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,480 So he says, paul, have, have cheer. 734 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,120 This is exactly why, if you read the book of Philippians, this 735 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,360 is exactly why Paul can say, rejoice in the Lord always. 736 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:54,600 And again I say rejoice. 737 00:30:55,270 --> 00:30:58,150 Paul understands that it's not his circumstance and his location 738 00:30:58,310 --> 00:31:01,350 that gives him comfort and peace and joy. 739 00:31:01,830 --> 00:31:04,630 It's who he's with in the presence of God. 740 00:31:05,750 --> 00:31:09,150 So Jesus, even this echoes what Jesus teaches in Matthew chapter 741 00:31:09,150 --> 00:31:09,430 nine. 742 00:31:09,510 --> 00:31:12,950 He told the bedridden paralytic guy to be of good cheer. 743 00:31:13,510 --> 00:31:17,430 Jesus tells many of the people that he heals be of good cheer. 744 00:31:17,750 --> 00:31:20,030 And as Christians, I think that we have to be the same way. 745 00:31:20,030 --> 00:31:21,590 We have to be characterized by our joy. 746 00:31:21,590 --> 00:31:21,910 Why? 747 00:31:22,420 --> 00:31:25,300 Not because our life is going the way we expect it to go, but because 748 00:31:25,620 --> 00:31:28,580 we are walking with God and we're being used by God. 749 00:31:28,660 --> 00:31:31,140 So he says, you testify for me in Jerusalem. 750 00:31:32,340 --> 00:31:34,020 What is he essentially telling Paul here? 751 00:31:34,020 --> 00:31:34,580 Good job. 752 00:31:35,060 --> 00:31:37,020 And, and we wouldn't think that Paul did a good job. 753 00:31:37,020 --> 00:31:39,820 If, if we sent Paul to Jerusalem and said, paul, preach 754 00:31:39,820 --> 00:31:43,340 the gospel in Jerusalem, we would expect him to come back and 755 00:31:43,340 --> 00:31:44,980 say, hey, all these people got saved. 756 00:31:45,620 --> 00:31:48,420 But we would, we would look at Paul's preaching there in this. 757 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:50,720 And so I think that that's what God is telling us. 758 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:52,880 God is telling us that there's more to do. 759 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:56,480 So where's our Rome? 760 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:57,400 Where's our Jerusalem? 761 00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:58,480 Our Jerusalem's right here. 762 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,720 Sometimes our Jerusalem is in a place where we can be heard. 763 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:03,960 Think about that. 764 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,160 I mean, even Jesus, when he goes back to Nazareth, they have 765 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:08,160 a hard time listening to him because he's so familiar. 766 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,640 And sometimes the people that are around us, the most familiar 767 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:12,400 people, it's the hardest people to minister to. 768 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:14,880 But at the end of the day, sometimes we're called to go out 769 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:15,120 further. 770 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,760 We're called to go into Rome, we're called to go into opposition. 771 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,120 And let's just say here we, we live in modern day Rome, we live 772 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:23,360 in a corrupt culture. 773 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,440 But God is calling us to go and to proclaim the gospel. 774 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:31,840 So Paul, you know, Paul's gonna face his enemies with, with 775 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:36,280 joy, knowing that they've completely, they're completely powerless 776 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:38,960 in contrast to God and God's strength. 777 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,600 And so this is what Dr. 778 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,280 I believe this is one of the instances that drives Paul forward 779 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:45,960 to do some wonderful things here in the next few chapters by 780 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,640 proclaiming the gospel to people that normally wouldn't get 781 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:49,240 the gospel. 782 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,880 We're going to see a guy named Felix, we're going to see a guy named 783 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:52,360 Agrippa. 784 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,360 And those individuals are not going to be individuals that Paul 785 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,200 would naturally have their ear. 786 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,160 But because of this, Paul is going to have an opportunity to preach 787 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,280 the gospel to some very influential people. 788 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,000 And we never know who God is calling us to preach the gospel to. 789 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,640 And we don't know what doors God's going to open for us. 790 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,880 And Paul is going through a difficulty here, but to have more 791 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,920 doors open for the gospel to be preached. 792 00:33:13,340 --> 00:33:15,180 So you might be going through a difficulty now, and you might not 793 00:33:15,180 --> 00:33:16,580 know why you're going through that difficulty. 794 00:33:16,580 --> 00:33:19,220 It might be that God is opening doors for you to preach the 795 00:33:19,220 --> 00:33:21,260 message of the gospel to people around you. 796 00:33:21,820 --> 00:33:24,900 Folks, I can tell you that there, there isn't necessarily a 797 00:33:24,900 --> 00:33:28,700 lot of excitement for me when maybe God exposes to me that, hey, 798 00:33:28,700 --> 00:33:30,700 you gotta go through this difficulty to win people. 799 00:33:30,860 --> 00:33:32,740 To me, I say, why me? 800 00:33:32,740 --> 00:33:34,140 Why do I have to go through this pain? 801 00:33:34,140 --> 00:33:35,460 Why can't I be somebody else? 802 00:33:35,460 --> 00:33:36,420 But hey, you know what? 803 00:33:36,420 --> 00:33:39,180 God has called us for a specific thing to do in our life. 804 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,840 And, and I think that none of us are, are called to do what Paul 805 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:43,440 did here. 806 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,920 I don't think maybe you are, but God is calling you to something 807 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:48,360 unique. 808 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:52,480 And it might be that there is some apprehensions of that because 809 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:53,280 we think that the. 810 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:53,840 I mean, I. 811 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:56,680 I know for me, one of the things that I thought about when 812 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:01,480 I was praying about going into the ministry, specifically vocational 813 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:05,120 ministry, was, Lord, if it was almost like I didn't want to make 814 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:06,600 a deal with God because I knew that was wrong. 815 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:07,440 I knew that was wrong. 816 00:34:07,610 --> 00:34:10,050 But it was almost like this unwritten thing that say, lord, if 817 00:34:10,050 --> 00:34:12,650 I commit to you, I understand that everything. 818 00:34:12,730 --> 00:34:14,850 I believed everything was going to go smoothly. 819 00:34:14,850 --> 00:34:16,330 I thought everything was going to be okay. 820 00:34:16,330 --> 00:34:18,050 I thought that the trials would go away. 821 00:34:18,050 --> 00:34:19,930 I thought that temptations would go away. 822 00:34:20,010 --> 00:34:24,250 That's how ignorant I was, okay, at the point where I thought, 823 00:34:24,250 --> 00:34:26,610 well, I have a lot of trials now and I have a lot of temptations 824 00:34:26,610 --> 00:34:29,210 now, and these temptations will just fly away once I become 825 00:34:29,210 --> 00:34:30,570 a pastor, because I'll have that. 826 00:34:30,730 --> 00:34:31,770 Because it was the position. 827 00:34:32,090 --> 00:34:34,810 It was, it was the thought that that position will protect me. 828 00:34:35,300 --> 00:34:38,180 Folks, we know that no matter what position we hold within this 829 00:34:38,340 --> 00:34:40,820 earth, we're attacked. 830 00:34:40,820 --> 00:34:44,100 The Bible says that that is part of the process of being a Christian. 831 00:34:44,340 --> 00:34:47,220 But the beauty is this, that God can be with you through it. 832 00:34:48,020 --> 00:34:50,900 And some of you understand that peace that passeth all understanding. 833 00:34:52,020 --> 00:34:55,420 And that is the greatest, one of the greatest Gifts that we can 834 00:34:55,420 --> 00:34:58,460 have as Christians that we can look to him in the midst of a trial 835 00:34:58,460 --> 00:35:00,820 and say, I still love him, I'm still thankful. 836 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,680 And, And I know that the more we proclaim that, the more we will 837 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:06,600 be tested in that. 838 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:11,040 I, I will say that a lot of times in our life, we, We. 839 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:13,960 We take the Christian life and we make it something that's theoretical. 840 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,040 Like, I don't know about you guys, but when I get to family events, 841 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:19,200 what do they say? 842 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:21,160 The two things you're not supposed to talk about at family 843 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,960 events around the table is religion and politics. 844 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:24,280 Right. 845 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:26,720 I'm going to tell you that those are the first two things that 846 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:28,280 we bring up at all of our family events. 847 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:28,760 Okay? 848 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,360 And so I gotta be careful with that. 849 00:35:30,870 --> 00:35:33,910 So if you invite me over, I promise you I probably will talk 850 00:35:33,910 --> 00:35:36,070 about at least the religion aspect of it. 851 00:35:36,390 --> 00:35:40,230 But the truth is, is that we start talking about things. 852 00:35:40,230 --> 00:35:42,790 We start talking about what we believe, we start talking about what's 853 00:35:42,790 --> 00:35:43,150 in the Bible. 854 00:35:43,150 --> 00:35:45,030 And you know what happens usually is we start talking about 855 00:35:45,030 --> 00:35:46,070 theoretical situation. 856 00:35:46,469 --> 00:35:48,590 Well, if this was to happen, what would you do? 857 00:35:48,590 --> 00:35:51,670 And we sit there and we, we wax eloquent about what we think 858 00:35:51,670 --> 00:35:52,390 we would do. 859 00:35:52,710 --> 00:35:55,390 But at the end of the day, you know, a lot of times is like, it 860 00:35:55,390 --> 00:35:59,140 sticks in our Christianity and our faith sticks in the theoretical 861 00:35:59,140 --> 00:35:59,740 side of things. 862 00:36:00,300 --> 00:36:02,500 But what happens when the rubber really meets the road and 863 00:36:02,500 --> 00:36:03,740 someone stands up against you? 864 00:36:03,740 --> 00:36:06,660 Or what happens when that gospel opportunity is standing right 865 00:36:06,660 --> 00:36:07,420 in front of you? 866 00:36:07,820 --> 00:36:10,700 Sometimes the reality of the fear of. 867 00:36:10,700 --> 00:36:12,140 Of man sets in. 868 00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:14,620 And the Bible says the fear of man is a snare. 869 00:36:15,260 --> 00:36:19,820 And so Paul could have used every reason to use, like, hey, I'm 870 00:36:19,820 --> 00:36:20,260 fearful. 871 00:36:20,260 --> 00:36:21,140 I'm going to back out. 872 00:36:21,140 --> 00:36:22,140 I'm going to not do this. 873 00:36:22,380 --> 00:36:23,580 But he said, you know what, Lord, I'm going to be. 874 00:36:23,580 --> 00:36:24,620 I'm going to be more bold. 875 00:36:24,780 --> 00:36:26,940 The more I'm persecuted, the more bold I'm going to get. 876 00:36:27,260 --> 00:36:29,260 And I think that's what we have to think about as Christians. 877 00:36:29,260 --> 00:36:32,460 I mean, the more we face opposition, the more we just keep 878 00:36:32,460 --> 00:36:33,020 trusting. 879 00:36:33,820 --> 00:36:35,900 The more we're tested, the more we trust. 880 00:36:36,380 --> 00:36:39,980 And that's the idea of facing our fears. 881 00:36:40,700 --> 00:36:42,540 And really, we face our fear with faith. 882 00:36:43,580 --> 00:36:45,340 Faith and fear don't mix. 883 00:36:45,980 --> 00:36:49,920 And so I look at Paul's life, and sometimes I put myself in his 884 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:52,600 shoes and I say, man, I would be so scared. 885 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:54,360 I would be so fearful. 886 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:56,440 But really, Paul was not. 887 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:58,760 I sometimes think Paul is a superhero. 888 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,120 I don't know if you ever read the passages of Scripture and you're 889 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:04,040 like, wow, Paul just was a different breed. 890 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:05,320 He was not a human being. 891 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:07,080 He was like some kind of super Christian. 892 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,640 Paul was just like another human being like us. 893 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,440 God gifted him as an apostle. 894 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,270 God gifted him with many things, but Paul was just another 895 00:37:15,270 --> 00:37:16,310 human being like us. 896 00:37:17,030 --> 00:37:20,990 And the Bible says, you ever think about, yeah, like Elijah, man, 897 00:37:20,990 --> 00:37:21,550 look at Elijah. 898 00:37:21,550 --> 00:37:23,630 Some of the powerful things he did in God's name. 899 00:37:23,630 --> 00:37:26,190 The Bible says in the book of James, he was just another human 900 00:37:26,190 --> 00:37:26,790 like us. 901 00:37:26,950 --> 00:37:28,790 But he trusted in God and had faith. 902 00:37:29,030 --> 00:37:31,710 And so I think that we sometimes sell short what God can 903 00:37:31,710 --> 00:37:33,670 do in our life because we lack faith. 904 00:37:33,830 --> 00:37:36,190 And at the end of the day, it's really that, that faith in God 905 00:37:36,190 --> 00:37:38,750 to trust that he's going to take care of it for us, not the way 906 00:37:38,750 --> 00:37:39,670 that we expect it. 907 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:42,160 Who knows if Paul expected to do this. 908 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,120 I don't know if he did or not, but I wouldn't have. 909 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:48,840 But God led him right here to a place in verse number 11 to say, 910 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:49,760 be of good cheer. 911 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,040 You testified for me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness 912 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:55,560 also at Rome. 913 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,760 Now some of you know the rest of the story. 914 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:03,520 Okay, what happened eventually, eventually, historically 915 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:07,350 speaking, what happened to Paul when he went to Rome, the ultimate 916 00:38:07,350 --> 00:38:11,350 end, yes, the ultimate end of Paul's life was that he was martyred 917 00:38:11,350 --> 00:38:11,950 for his faith. 918 00:38:11,950 --> 00:38:15,030 Now we would look at that and we would say, wow, I wonder if Paul 919 00:38:15,030 --> 00:38:17,470 would have moved forward and done that if he knew. 920 00:38:18,190 --> 00:38:20,990 My answer, I think biblically speaking, is yes. 921 00:38:20,990 --> 00:38:24,590 Remember back he says, I'm not just willing to go to Jerusalem to 922 00:38:24,590 --> 00:38:25,270 be in bonds. 923 00:38:25,270 --> 00:38:26,750 I'm willing to die for my faith. 924 00:38:27,070 --> 00:38:28,830 That's the kind of conviction Paul had. 925 00:38:29,070 --> 00:38:31,990 And there's no way that we can live this life of faith unless we're 926 00:38:31,990 --> 00:38:33,550 willing to say, I am all in. 927 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:34,440 Paul. 928 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:35,240 Paul was all in. 929 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:36,760 If anyone was all in, it was Paul. 930 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,960 And he knew that there was a risk of going before a guy named 931 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:40,360 Nero. 932 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,520 And some of you that are studiers of history know how evil 933 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,320 these individuals were that were leading Rome, specifically Nero 934 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:49,639 and, and Paul was like, I'm going to go preach. 935 00:38:49,639 --> 00:38:50,920 I'm going to go preach to these leaders. 936 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:52,200 And he wanted to do that. 937 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:55,240 And we live in a world today that we have opportunities to preach 938 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:56,040 the gospel to. 939 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,180 I would venture to say less evil than Nero, less. 940 00:38:59,650 --> 00:39:00,570 If you know any, just. 941 00:39:00,570 --> 00:39:02,890 Just do a Google search on what some of the things Nero did. 942 00:39:02,890 --> 00:39:05,370 I can't repeat some of the things that Nero did in mixed company. 943 00:39:05,370 --> 00:39:05,890 Okay? 944 00:39:06,690 --> 00:39:11,250 The reality is, is that, hey, if God has called People to preach 945 00:39:11,250 --> 00:39:12,130 to people like that. 946 00:39:12,850 --> 00:39:15,050 He has equipped you to preach to people that are around you in 947 00:39:15,050 --> 00:39:15,410 your life. 948 00:39:15,410 --> 00:39:18,090 And you can do it, we can do it together, and we can preach the 949 00:39:18,090 --> 00:39:19,050 gospel of Jesus Christ. 950 00:39:19,050 --> 00:39:21,930 So I wish I could tell you at the end of verse 11, Jesus comes 951 00:39:21,930 --> 00:39:23,250 and says, be of good cheer, Paul. 952 00:39:23,250 --> 00:39:24,330 Everything's going to be okay. 953 00:39:24,330 --> 00:39:26,290 They're all going to accept you tomorrow morning when you walk 954 00:39:26,290 --> 00:39:27,730 outside, know what happens? 955 00:39:27,730 --> 00:39:30,490 Verse 12, when it was day. 956 00:39:30,650 --> 00:39:35,130 So the next morning, just after Jesus speaks to Paul, certain 957 00:39:35,130 --> 00:39:37,690 of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, 958 00:39:37,850 --> 00:39:40,690 saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed 959 00:39:40,690 --> 00:39:41,050 Paul. 960 00:39:41,050 --> 00:39:43,050 Okay, so that's where we're going to pick up next time. 961 00:39:43,290 --> 00:39:45,810 After all of that, they even push harder. 962 00:39:45,810 --> 00:39:48,810 They say, we're not going to eat or drink until Paul is gone. 963 00:39:49,530 --> 00:39:52,730 And so he has a whole band of his own people turning against him. 964 00:39:53,090 --> 00:39:55,330 And so next week we're going to look at what happens here. 965 00:39:55,330 --> 00:39:56,450 How does Paul, how. 966 00:39:56,450 --> 00:39:58,450 And we do see the deliverance of God here. 967 00:39:59,090 --> 00:40:03,290 And I think this is the beautiful picture that nobody can 968 00:40:03,290 --> 00:40:04,210 do anything to us. 969 00:40:04,210 --> 00:40:07,250 If God has a plan for us, nobody can. 970 00:40:07,250 --> 00:40:12,690 So, so Paul has a whole group of people, whole band of people that 971 00:40:12,770 --> 00:40:15,330 were like, we're going to do everything we can to kill Paul. 972 00:40:15,330 --> 00:40:16,530 Paul is delivered. 973 00:40:16,770 --> 00:40:18,530 He's taken to a place called Caesarea. 974 00:40:19,100 --> 00:40:21,820 He's gonna have an opportunity to speak to a guy named Felix, and 975 00:40:21,820 --> 00:40:23,860 he's able to defend himself before Felix. 976 00:40:23,860 --> 00:40:27,100 And then ultimately Paul is going to appeal to go talk to Caesar, 977 00:40:27,340 --> 00:40:29,420 and he's going to go through some different steps. 978 00:40:29,420 --> 00:40:31,820 There's an interest, there's an interesting fellow named Festus, 979 00:40:32,060 --> 00:40:34,740 there's a guy named Agrippa, and there's all these different people 980 00:40:34,740 --> 00:40:36,380 that Paul is going to have a chance to talk to. 981 00:40:36,620 --> 00:40:40,180 And I think that this is a divine providence that God is going 982 00:40:40,180 --> 00:40:43,340 to allow for Paul to get to where he needs to go and the time 983 00:40:43,340 --> 00:40:43,980 that he has. 984 00:40:44,310 --> 00:40:45,430 And that's the same thing for us. 985 00:40:45,990 --> 00:40:48,190 You know, I, I, I'll close with this. 986 00:40:48,190 --> 00:40:51,830 You know, I think that some of you might be similar to me in the 987 00:40:51,830 --> 00:40:53,190 fact that you like to plan things. 988 00:40:53,590 --> 00:40:55,350 You like to have a direction. 989 00:40:55,350 --> 00:40:56,590 You like to know what's next. 990 00:40:56,590 --> 00:40:57,510 I like to know what's next. 991 00:40:57,510 --> 00:41:00,469 I do not like surprises or other people like surprises. 992 00:41:00,630 --> 00:41:04,350 I, I, I, I can't understand that, but I under, I, I understand 993 00:41:04,350 --> 00:41:05,350 that you like surprises. 994 00:41:05,350 --> 00:41:07,030 I don't understand how you can like surprises. 995 00:41:07,190 --> 00:41:08,870 I like to know what's happening. 996 00:41:09,030 --> 00:41:11,710 If someone comes up to me and says, hey, can I talk to you in like 997 00:41:11,710 --> 00:41:12,990 two weeks about something really important? 998 00:41:12,990 --> 00:41:17,470 I'm like, two weeks, I'm going to, I'm going to like literally not 999 00:41:17,470 --> 00:41:18,870 sleep till I talk to you about this. 1000 00:41:18,870 --> 00:41:20,630 Like, I want to take care of this right now. 1001 00:41:20,790 --> 00:41:22,550 So, so I say all that to say this. 1002 00:41:23,430 --> 00:41:26,390 Ten years ago, the. 1003 00:41:26,710 --> 00:41:31,110 I would have never planned for my life to look the way that I wish 1004 00:41:31,110 --> 00:41:33,430 I could tell you that I, I did, I planned this all out. 1005 00:41:33,430 --> 00:41:36,190 But God has ordained certain things to happen in my life and not 1006 00:41:36,190 --> 00:41:38,900 happen to my life for the good that I didn't understand. 1007 00:41:38,980 --> 00:41:41,140 I didn't know why things are happening in the way that they are 1008 00:41:41,140 --> 00:41:41,460 happening. 1009 00:41:41,460 --> 00:41:44,620 But ultimately now I can look back and say, thank you, Lord, because 1010 00:41:44,620 --> 00:41:48,100 you have the perfect plan in the perfect way and the perfect will. 1011 00:41:48,180 --> 00:41:50,860 And so I think that that's something that we need to look back 1012 00:41:50,860 --> 00:41:51,540 on and see. 1013 00:41:51,780 --> 00:41:54,140 But then also you might be in the midst of something right now 1014 00:41:54,140 --> 00:41:54,900 that you don't understand. 1015 00:41:55,620 --> 00:41:58,100 You might be able to say, now I don't understand it. 1016 00:41:58,100 --> 00:41:59,380 And I get that. 1017 00:41:59,620 --> 00:42:02,420 But who knows, in the future maybe you'll be able to look back 1018 00:42:02,420 --> 00:42:06,100 on this period of your life and say, hey, look, now I know why 1019 00:42:06,100 --> 00:42:07,420 God allowed me to go through that. 1020 00:42:07,740 --> 00:42:10,340 Because it's a testimony for his goodness and his grace to get 1021 00:42:10,340 --> 00:42:11,020 me through this. 1022 00:42:11,980 --> 00:42:16,340 And even what Paul says is, he goes, look for me. 1023 00:42:16,340 --> 00:42:21,019 To live is Christ okay, to die is gain. 1024 00:42:21,580 --> 00:42:24,580 So Paul says it's basically a win win, no matter what he's like, 1025 00:42:24,580 --> 00:42:28,340 if God keeps me here and preserves me, I get to preach the 1026 00:42:28,340 --> 00:42:28,780 gospel. 1027 00:42:29,340 --> 00:42:31,420 If God takes me, I get to be with my Savior. 1028 00:42:32,020 --> 00:42:35,140 So he's like, I can live in a win win situation no matter what 1029 00:42:35,140 --> 00:42:36,100 I'm doing in my life. 1030 00:42:36,340 --> 00:42:37,620 And so that's what we have to think about. 1031 00:42:37,620 --> 00:42:39,860 We have to think about the concept of, as a Christian, everything's 1032 00:42:39,860 --> 00:42:40,460 a win for us. 1033 00:42:40,460 --> 00:42:42,020 If we get to stay, we get to minister. 1034 00:42:42,340 --> 00:42:43,700 If we go, we're with him. 1035 00:42:43,940 --> 00:42:46,460 And so that's what he's, that's what Paul, that's, that's, 1036 00:42:46,460 --> 00:42:47,620 that's Paul's perspective. 1037 00:42:48,100 --> 00:42:52,220 And I think all of us to some degree must grow in that perspective 1038 00:42:52,220 --> 00:42:55,060 in our life to understand what it means to truly be walking in the 1039 00:42:55,060 --> 00:42:55,700 peace of God. 1040 00:42:55,940 --> 00:42:58,660 And I know that for me, I have to, I had to think about that daily. 1041 00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:01,520 I have to think about that more than daily. 1042 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:04,320 I had to think about that, maybe even on an hourly basis, just 1043 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,320 reminding myself that to be a believer in Jesus Christ means so 1044 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:08,720 much more than what I'm living for now. 1045 00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:09,840 It's for the future. 1046 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:11,280 It's for eternity. 1047 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,800 And so we're going to look more about that as we continue our 1048 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,680 study here in the Book of Acts. 1049 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:19,600 If you have any questions about this, this book of the Bible, 1050 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,240 there's so much more that we can get into, historically speaking. 1051 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,680 And as a studier of history, I would like to do that more. 1052 00:43:26,060 --> 00:43:29,540 Um, but also I'd like to get through the Book of Acts before the 1053 00:43:29,540 --> 00:43:32,420 Lord comes back, which it might be tomorrow. 1054 00:43:32,420 --> 00:43:32,740 Okay. 1055 00:43:32,740 --> 00:43:34,780 But what we have to do is we have to kind of get through things. 1056 00:43:34,860 --> 00:43:37,260 And so if you're like, hey, I'd like to discuss more about the. 1057 00:43:37,260 --> 00:43:40,140 The instance here in Jerusalem or more know more about the temple 1058 00:43:40,620 --> 00:43:43,580 or whatever it is, I'd love to talk to you more about that. 1059 00:43:43,580 --> 00:43:45,340 And if I don't know the answer, I'd love to point you in 1060 00:43:45,340 --> 00:43:47,340 the direction that we could find that answer. 1061 00:43:47,340 --> 00:43:49,220 And that goes for all the lessons that we're going through. 1062 00:43:49,220 --> 00:43:50,460 I want you to understand it. 1063 00:43:50,540 --> 00:43:52,380 Um, I also don't want to give you too much. 1064 00:43:53,190 --> 00:43:53,430 Right. 1065 00:43:53,590 --> 00:43:54,110 So I. 1066 00:43:54,110 --> 00:43:55,430 I think I mentioned this before. 1067 00:43:56,150 --> 00:43:59,550 You know, I like steak, but there's a certain part point in time 1068 00:43:59,550 --> 00:44:01,990 in my life where I eat so much steak that I just can't eat another 1069 00:44:01,990 --> 00:44:02,550 bite of steak. 1070 00:44:02,550 --> 00:44:03,950 And I don't want to eat steak for the next few days. 1071 00:44:03,950 --> 00:44:04,550 I want to. 1072 00:44:04,630 --> 00:44:05,630 Maybe the next few weeks. 1073 00:44:05,630 --> 00:44:07,750 I want to just go ahead and fast from that. 1074 00:44:07,750 --> 00:44:08,909 And that's sometimes how it is. 1075 00:44:08,909 --> 00:44:09,190 I. 1076 00:44:09,270 --> 00:44:11,110 I'd love to sit and talk to you for like. 1077 00:44:11,590 --> 00:44:14,390 Like days, but that's just not going to be the reality of it. 1078 00:44:14,390 --> 00:44:15,830 Yesterday, I'll give you one quick story. 1079 00:44:15,830 --> 00:44:16,790 I got to tell you the story. 1080 00:44:16,870 --> 00:44:17,510 Okay? 1081 00:44:17,750 --> 00:44:23,190 Yesterday, we went to this Memorial Day service at the cemetery 1082 00:44:23,190 --> 00:44:24,910 up here in Bear the Trail. 1083 00:44:24,910 --> 00:44:26,430 Life guys went, and we were. 1084 00:44:26,430 --> 00:44:29,590 We were volunteering, we were passing out flyers, and I showed 1085 00:44:29,590 --> 00:44:32,390 Micah, but, Micah, I love you, buddy, but I gotta tell you this 1086 00:44:32,390 --> 00:44:32,630 story. 1087 00:44:32,630 --> 00:44:34,190 It's more picking on me than you. 1088 00:44:34,350 --> 00:44:37,350 So he was looking at all the speakers, and there was like, the 1089 00:44:37,350 --> 00:44:39,870 governor was there, the lieutenant governor was there. 1090 00:44:39,950 --> 00:44:40,270 This. 1091 00:44:40,270 --> 00:44:40,550 This. 1092 00:44:40,550 --> 00:44:42,030 This general was going to be speaking. 1093 00:44:42,030 --> 00:44:43,790 He's like, dad, we're going to be here all day. 1094 00:44:43,790 --> 00:44:46,190 Because he's used to one person speaking for, like an hour 1095 00:44:46,270 --> 00:44:47,070 as it's on. 1096 00:44:47,310 --> 00:44:49,110 These politicians are only going to talk for a few minutes. 1097 00:44:49,110 --> 00:44:51,390 He's like, no way that that guy's going to preach forever. 1098 00:44:51,390 --> 00:44:52,150 And I'm like, I. 1099 00:44:52,150 --> 00:44:54,750 I've scarred my son to think that all all speakers speak long, 1100 00:44:54,830 --> 00:44:57,150 but but the reality is is they're really short. 1101 00:44:57,150 --> 00:44:59,750 So the point I'm trying to make is I'd love to talk to you more. 1102 00:44:59,750 --> 00:45:02,150 So if you'd like to grab some coffee, if you'd like to talk more 1103 00:45:02,150 --> 00:45:04,630 about what we're talking about, I like that kind of stuff. 1104 00:45:04,630 --> 00:45:07,270 So just let me know and we that let's go ahead and close in 1105 00:45:07,270 --> 00:45:09,070 a word of prayer and then we'll have a few announcements and 1106 00:45:09,070 --> 00:45:09,870 you'll be dismissed. 1107 00:45:09,870 --> 00:45:11,430 Lord, I thank you for this time that you've given us. 1108 00:45:11,430 --> 00:45:13,430 Thank you for this opportunity to continue to study the life of 1109 00:45:13,430 --> 00:45:13,790 Paul. 1110 00:45:14,170 --> 00:45:17,610 And I just thank you for the opportunity to see a great testimony 1111 00:45:17,610 --> 00:45:18,890 for the cause of the Gospel. 1112 00:45:18,970 --> 00:45:22,570 Lord, may we live boldly in our lives in confidence, knowing 1113 00:45:22,570 --> 00:45:26,090 that we can be of good cheer because of the call of the Gospel 1114 00:45:26,090 --> 00:45:26,570 in our lives. 1115 00:45:26,570 --> 00:45:28,330 Lord, I thank you for this church. 1116 00:45:28,330 --> 00:45:32,170 I thank you for those folks who over the years have sacrificed 1117 00:45:32,170 --> 00:45:35,210 and shown the love of Christ to many people. 1118 00:45:35,770 --> 00:45:38,370 And I pray that we can continue that in the time that you've 1119 00:45:38,370 --> 00:45:38,690 given us. 1120 00:45:38,690 --> 00:45:41,130 I pray that you keep us safe as we go our separate ways this evening. 1121 00:45:41,660 --> 00:45:44,060 We love you and we thank you for all that you do in Jesus name, 1122 00:45:44,060 --> 00:45:44,540 Amen. 1123 00:45:46,220 --> 00:45:48,780 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1124 00:45:48,780 --> 00:45:49,340 podcast. 1125 00:45:49,660 --> 00:45:52,060 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1126 00:45:52,700 --> 00:45:54,980 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1127 00:45:54,980 --> 00:45:58,460 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1128 00:45:58,780 --> 00:46:01,340 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1129 00:46:02,060 --> 00:46:06,800 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro middletownbaptistChurch.com 1130 00:46:07,590 --> 00:46:10,950 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1131 00:46:10,950 --> 00:46:13,750 along for future podcast and updates. 1132 00:46:14,390 --> 00:46:15,350 Thank you so much. 1133 00:46:15,590 --> 00:46:16,310 God Bless. 1134 00:46:16,550 --> 00:46:17,830 Have a wonderful day.