Acts 15:36-16:40, What’s It Take?

Covenant Reformed Baptist Church

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Acts chapter 15 verse 36 all the way through chapter 16 hear the word of the Lord and After some days

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Paul said to Barnabas let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed The word of the

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Lord and see how they are doing Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called

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Mark But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work and there arose a sharp

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Disagreement so that they separated from each other Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus But Paul chose

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Silas and departed having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord and he went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches

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Paul came also to Derbe and Lystra a disciple was there named Timothy the son of a

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Jewish woman who was a believer But his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra in Naconian Paul wanted

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Timothy to accompany him and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places

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Before they all knew that his father was a Greek as they went on from their way through the cities

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They delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem so the churches were strengthened in the faith and they increased in numbers daily and they went through the region of Phrygia in Galatia having been forbidden by the

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Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia and When they had come to up to my SIA, they attempted to go into Bithynia But the

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Spirit of Jesus did not allow them so passing by Messia They went they went down to Troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night a man in Macedonia Was standing there urging him and saying come over to Macedonia and help us and when

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Paul had seen the vision immediately We sought to go into Macedonia concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them so setting sail from Troas We made a direct voyage to Sumatrace and the following day to Neapolis and from there to Philippi Which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia in a

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Roman colony We remained in this city some days and on the Sabbath day We went outside the gate to the riverside where we suppose there was in place a prayer and we sat down and spoke to the

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Women who had come together one who hurt hurt us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira seller of purple goods

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Who was a worshiper of God the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul and after she was baptized

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And her household as well She urged us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the

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Lord come to my house and stay and she prevailed upon us as We were going to the place of prayer

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We were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune -telling she followed

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Paul and us crying out these men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation and This she kept doing for many days

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Paul having become greatly annoyed turned and said to the spirit I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her

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And it came out that very hour But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone

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They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers and when they had brought them to the magistrates

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They said these men are Jews and they are disturbing our city They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept our practice the crowd joined in attacking them and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods and When they had inflicted many blows upon them they threw them into prison ordering the jailer to keep them safely

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Having received this order. He put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks about midnight

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Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and Immediately all the doors were opened and everybody's bonds were unfastened when the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open

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He drew his sword and was about to kill himself supposing that the prisoners had escaped But Paul cried with a loud voice do not harm yourself for we are all here and the jailer called for lights and rushed in and Trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas and then he brought them out and said sirs

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What must I do to be saved and They said believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household and they spoke the word of the

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Lord to him and to all who were in his house and He took them in that the same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once He and all his family then he brought them up into his house and set foot before them and he rejoiced

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Along with his entire household that he had believed in God but when it was dry when it was given when his day the magistrates sent the police saying let those men go and The jailer reported these words to Paul saying the magistrates have sent us have sent to let you go

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Therefore come out now and go in peace, but Paul said to them we have they have beaten us publicly

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Uncondemned men who are Roman citizens and have thrown us into prison and do they now throw us out secretly?

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No, let them come themselves and take us out The police reported these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were

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Roman citizens So they came and apologized to them. So they took them out and asked them to leave the city

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So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia and when they had sent the brothers they encouraged them and departed

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And the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word Well, do you want to get something done?

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but you don't You don't know what it takes to do it or whether you can do it who has the skills

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To do whatever it is you want done We think it's probably time to have those steps out front

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Replaced maybe with something more permanent than wood maybe with concrete If we can afford it, we're supposed to get a quote

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I think tomorrow something was coming to look at it But we need to find the right person or the right company to do it one with the skills and the equipment

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We all we also have a leak in the roof above the upstairs room that caused a hole in the ceiling

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Up there. We need someone to seal the leak first in the roof and then repair the ceiling. Maybe some things we can do ourselves

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Earlier this year. We wanted to the floor Cleanse thoroughly and stripped and then waxed and we got a few quotes from companies

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To do it and then we decided well, we could just buy the equipment ourself We get to keep the equipment in and and then do it ourself.

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And that's what we did We did okay job. I think today sometimes people like to do it themselves, you know, dyi

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But sometimes you need to find the right person the person with the skills to do it

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If you want to grow the church you want to take the gospel to the ends of the earth like what acts is about What does it take?

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Do we need certain people? The ones with the right skills maybe some like to call it, you know the right anointing

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Is that what we depend on do we depend on a certain few people? They are the ones who will get it done So we look for people who have maybe the magnetic personalities who are energetic and exuberant

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Natural leaders, you know kind of people that are drawn naturally drawn to them people persons Who know how to make others feel good?

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Draw people in so that we can evangelize them. That's what we need, right? We need those personalities to get the job done.

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I Know of a large church that has such a person is there quote pastor of discipleship? Who left a former church in a storm of slander and broken commitments that he's never apologized for The Lord Jesus said that if you know, your brother has something against you

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Drop whatever religious thing is that you're doing and go to him first and make it right

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But this man has gone years without trying to make his sin right and gotten a job probably fairly well -paying

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I guess and a church supposedly make making disciples Without really being one himself

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But that's what we'll do. You see if we think it's the right personality is all that matters

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Right, maybe we need the right technique About 200 years ago in this country people look back to the glory days of the

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Great Awakening in in in their grandparents generation and in long to recapture that they probably heard their grandparents talking about how great great

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George Whitfield was Jonathan Edwards was how there was a revival how many people were flooding in to the church and being converted and they wanted to experience that in their day and the country was growing

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West new immigrants were flooding into the country and and they wanted to know how to convert all these new people and to grow their churches among them how to spread their churches out into the frontier and Some like Charles Finney thought that they could make another awakened awakening happen with the right techniques

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That's what you need. You need to understand how it's done Master the steps of how to do the awakening and then just implement those steps

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You have the right kind of preaching you can have what he he he pioneered What's called the anxious bench a bench up front anyone's anxious about their souls would come and sit up front and then you could pray with them or they could pray for themselves, which later that evolved into the altar call and The invitation and then they even developed the right prayer, you know the sinners prayer

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And by all that they manufactured a so -called second great awakening and thought that they could manage people through conversion into being true

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Christians And it was like what's happening in the same time in the culture in the in the society industrialization just like people were beginning to to find that you could mass -produce things and Factories if you had the right machines you had the right organization.

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You had the right trained people the technicians So they thought you could mass -produce

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Salvation, you know with the right music and the right sermons the right preachers You can manipulate people through it all and outcome just like in the factories right income the the raw products and out comes the finished product you could

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Manufacture a awakening a revival a church incomes the new people and converted and out they go

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Converted if they just if you just set it up, right? That idea is still prevalent

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Over the past generation now the the image of it the style of it has changed

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Now with churches encouraged to be quite they all seeker sensitive so they ditch the old techniques, you know

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No longer a guy in a suit and tie. Maybe under a tent or Having what they call a revival

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Scheduled a revival someone once asked about in Yancey Ville when you have a revival

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Let me know and I thought when we have a revival, you'll know Because they'll the word will get out

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We can't schedule it but having a quote revival and and of course yelling and and About hell and reading the

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King James Version after the gospel quartet has finished their rendition of how great thou art And of course they we've ditched that old style

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At least most churches have some still claim to it And now the new style is there's a praise band led by a guy in the mandatory untucked shirt

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And jeans followed by a friendly looking guy when they're probably a cordless mic Informally sharing with you and the style has changed but really it's the same thing the philosophy hasn't changed at all

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It's a different technique But it's still all about the talent and the management of people to get the product you want supposedly conversions

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Now you might expect after having said all that then you expect me maybe to say the wheel and we don't need any of that We don't need people.

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We don't need experts. We don't need anyone with particular gifts Or their techniques or their knowledge how to engage people of different kinds of people

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We don't need anything about any of the strategy. We don't need any of that. God doesn't need you know that He doesn't use any of that when

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God wants to say that he then he'll do it himself That's what I was told in college by the way was the attitude that Calvinism leads to that it produces

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We always told the story about someone had William Carey It's gonna be the great pioneer of foreign missions

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And he was going around trying to get support for his going on to India as a missionary and someone told him young man

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Sit down when God wants to save the heathen. He'll do it himself The the moral of the story was that's what

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Calvinism does makes people like that discouraging missions when I wasn't told Was that William Carey himself was

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Calvinist the pot the the father of modern missions was a Calvinist And I also wasn't told

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Obviously there when God wants to say that he then he'll do it himself Probably was never actually said to him that whole story is just a myth that got made up somewhere along the line

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But it does I think that myth does encapsulate how I defined what's called hyper

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Calvinism That which is the idea that God doesn't use means That he that he doesn't work through he doesn't ask for he doesn't expect or raise up Missionaries or evangelists or churches or evangelistic programs or Individual Christians to go out to share the gospel

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He doesn't expect us to think or to strategize or to plan things when God wants to say that he then he'll do it himself is hyper

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Calvinism and it is unbiblical and wrong God uses means

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That means it means he works through things He works through people and he works through their strategies their plans.

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How can they hear without a preacher? Right. He calls the church here in this passage

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To reach the ends of the earth as CS Lewis says Christians are Christ's body the organism through which he works

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So he does raise up people Apostles and missionaries evangelists churches with evangelistic programs

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Jim jr Jim people to share to defend the faith people with with skills with gifts and expects them to use their brains

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Develop the best ways of reaching the people that they are called to reach What does it take to get the gospel to the ends of the earth?

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We see that here at the beginning of the miss second Missionary journey first we see five things first it takes teams

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Then it takes Timothy's Third it takes oh and I couldn't get it to alliterate. I'm sorry.

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I tried leading I know it's lame. It should all start with T But the first to do leading fourth or openings do it and finally miracles do it first though How are we gonna get this job?

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done It's not as easy as just calling on the people with the expertise You know the flamboyant personalities with the showmanship or the workmen

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You know, just like you have workmen who can pour concrete now fix the ceiling Maybe you just have workmen who could just say people but it's not

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But it's also it's not that but it's also not doing nothing

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Hoping that God does it and just giving up trying to do it ourselves when God wants to say behave It'll do it himself.

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So we're just not gonna do anything as though God doesn't work through means through people. He does first We need people

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And here they need people they need multiple people Teams of people at least they go out at least in teams of two

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At least that's how they start Paul says to Barnabas, let's go back to visit or oversee

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The literal worth the literal word translated visit their verse 36 to oversee to check up on To set in order

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Now if there's been problems a problem has developed since we've begun Maybe to help them to strengthen them to consolidate them the churches we planted the first time.

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Let's go back to them God uses means here Paul and Barnabas to strengthen and grow his church

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Barnabas thinks that's a great idea. He's all up for it and he knows Who he wants to take with him another of the means that he thinks

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God can use John Mark, you know the guy who started out with him last time, but he abandoned them.

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He left him to go back home You know, maybe he was just missing mama's cooking He want to go back to his comfy bed

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But now he's willing to try again To go with him on the second tour Paul didn't think that was a good idea

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We're reminded in verse 38 that Mark had withdrawn and the term is in the way that even

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Luke puts it is Disapproving he would he basically deserted Paul didn't excuse that it was a matter of integrity

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You if you commit to the team for a tour you stay for the whole tour

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It's like psalm 15 our psalm today who will sojourn or live in your

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Holy Hill with God Who lives with who communes with God who what are they like these people who live with God?

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Well the one who among other things swears to his own hurt and Does not change

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In other words, he keeps his commitments even if the situation changes

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So they're keeping it really hurts, you know, like at our wedding vows for better or for worse and He's and that's what the psalmist saying

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You make a commitment and if things turn out badly and it's still good if it's gonna hurt you to do it You still do it.

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It's integrity. If he says he's going to be our assistant for this journey He stays for the whole journey not turn back when it gets hard When you've had to sleep on the ground for so many nights in a row when the food is bad or just non -existent when people reject you

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You make commitments when you feel like making them so that you'll keep them when you don't feel like keeping them

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You realize that's the purpose of commitments when you're making vows, whatever you want to call them You you're looking for say when it gets tough.

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I'm gonna keep doing this if you don't keep them. It's worthless words It's like for us.

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We ask our elders and deacons to serve for terms to commit to a term in three years Part of that is to give them an out

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So at the end of that if they're not they don't want to they don't you've done up for it anymore They just don't want to do it for a while.

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Then when their terms expire, then they can just bow out. There's no problem But to abandon the service in the middle of a term or like here a tour.

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I don't think it's a slight thing Paul didn't think so and probably

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Barnabas agreed with him, but but he thought Mark had learned his lesson I think

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Barnabas probably agreed with Paul what Mark did was wrong, but Barnabas is remember. He's the son of encouragement

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He's always believing the best in people. Come on mark and he'll do better next time. I believe in him

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He's giving the benefit of the doubt and Mark is probably begging to go along. He's profusely apologizing for ditching them before Promising not never to do it again and Barnabas believes him

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Paul is not so sure. He's not willing to take the chance So they disagree and in verse 39 they have a sharp

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Disagreement whether they're actually yelling at each other you know who knows but personal conflict breaks out both sides won't give in and the result is they split up Barnabas takes mark no matter what

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Paul says and heads off to Cyprus Barnabas which Barnabas is home territory and where they started the first missionary journey last time and Paul takes

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Silas One of the one of the men remember from last week selected by the Apostles to go with Paul and Barnabas and Vouch for that letter that the

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Apostles wrote in that last chapter in chapter 15 about how we don't have to keep the law of Moses But they've split the team of Paul and Barnabas has split over mark

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So who's right Was Paul too tough Is he too stern?

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Is he too unforgiving or is Barnabas too slack see too indulgent. He not upholding standards of integrity.

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I Think both of them were right. Just look at the fruit First now instead of just having one team of missionaries.

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They have two they've doubled the outreach and second mark is salvaged and And later we know he was useful to Paul himself.

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He wrote the gospel of mark, which is a major contribution He's also Paul says near the end of his life mark is useful

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So Paul did later accept him back and maybe at this point if Paul hadn't been so stern

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Mark wouldn't have understood the seriousness of his breaking his commitment If Barnabas had been so gracious Mark may never have become useful and salvaged mark needed both the sternness of Paul To understand the importance of integrity of faithfulness

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There's sometimes ministry isn't just glorious rewards as floods and floods of people coming in and great numbers big success

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Winning winning winning and sometimes just trudging through Sometimes it's keeping going even after others like himself mark fall out

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He needed both the sternness of Paul and the graciousness of Barnabas We now need both

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Sternness at lack of integrity at unfaithfulness to understand. That's a serious thing and We need graciousness willing to give second chances to people who are who are willing to try again

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So by the beginning of chapter 16, we have two teams and from now on we'll only be following one That's Paul's he takes

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Silas and committed by the church notice that in chapter 15 verse 40 the church

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Does mission not just individuals going off as free agents the church? That's not just them separately, even though they they some stay

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They are supporting them and they're sending them Commending them to the grace of God They are committed to the grace of the

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Lord by the church and set out back to the churches that they had planted in chapter 14 and there

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They get back there. Remember Durbin and Lystra Where Paul had been stoned that did coming back to the town where you've been stoned, you know, he's back

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That's the guy we threw rocks at. Yeah, that's there He is back and there though at that Durbin and Lystra.

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I'm not sure it says exactly which what they find a replacement for Mark Timothy Early on this second journey.

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They get a new partner a disciple He's the son of a Jewish woman named Eunice was also a believer and his father was a

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Greek And so because his father was a Greek he wasn't circumcised as a baby Yeah, he had a good reputation with the church there and Paul thought he would be just the partner they needed

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Mark wouldn't do Timothy will but being partly

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Jewish and yet uncircumcised That's a big problem That would cause problems with the

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Jews that he would be preaching to you know He was already kind of open to the criticism unjust criticism

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But the criticism that Paul is against the law that he doesn't really believe that the the laws from God that is inspired

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And so if he took along with him this this Jewish young man, who's uncircumcised that would be a reason to His accusers would just prove say hey look at this.

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He doesn't believe in the law of Moses He doesn't really believe it's from God. It would be a stumbling block. It would be an obstacle

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To being heard by Jewish people But here's the problem remember last week what he said, you know, he had written to the

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Galatians That if you accept circumcision That Christ is of no advantage to you

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It's pretty strong words, isn't it? So what's Paul going to do? If he takes

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Timothy as he is He's not being I guess in our terms seeker sensitive

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He's turning off really any chance that Jewish people will listen to him But if he circumcises

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Timothy, so it'd be acceptable then Hasn't he just compromised that conviction?

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You know that he argued so strenuously for in Galatians or what we heard last week in chapter 15 that no small

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Dissension and debate with those saying that he had to be circumcised to be saved Has he come is he contradicting himself?

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By circumcising him is he is he compromising the gospel? No It's not a compromise of that conviction because he's not circumcising

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Timothy for his salvation But because being Jewish his condition would interfere with spreading the gospel

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He doesn't believe now. He doesn't believe at all like these Judaizers these people going around preaching got to be circumcised keep the law of Moses like they were saying

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That all male believers need to be circumcised he doesn't believe that at all at this same time

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Paul has another protege another disciple named Titus. He talked about him in Galatians Who he was a

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Gentile and he's not at all He's not circumcised Paul did pressure him to be circumcised and asked him to be and he's saying look

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He's not going to be he's a need to be and uncircumcised Gentile is to be expected But an uncircumcised

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Jew is a stumbling block It prevents him communicating to the some of the people he wants to communicate to so as Paul would later say

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He's willing to become all things to all people so that he can save some

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So he's circumcised as Timothy. It's John Newton the author of amazing grace said Paul was a reed in Non -essentials.

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He's flexible. He'll go where he has to go, but he is an iron pillar in essentials

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What's it take to get the message out Adaptation putting the audience's sensitivity ahead of our comfort

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Here Jews won't listen if they know Timothy is uncircumcised So they adapt on Sunday evenings here

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We play rap music Christian rap music, but it's still the stylus rap because the kind of people we want to reach are at home with that kind of music

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It's there. It's their style We had was it last January February. We had a

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Chinese New Year reunion dinner here a Chinese notes Of course, we have Chinese words on the screen because we're trying to reach

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Chinese people Gotta learn to adapt if there were enough Indian people around here. We could reach them

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We'd have curry and on and eat with our hands You know get used to it. You don't want to do it. Well, so what we could reach

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Mexican people We'd have a Spanish Sunday school class and have Spanish notes and have burritos for our monthly meal

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Somebody'd say well, I don't like rap music. I don't like curry. I don't like burritos Timothy probably didn't like being circumcised either

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What we like Does it matter? You understand that it's not about our comfort.

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It's about reaching all kinds of people What it takes is a commitment to reach people that takes us past our comfort to adapting to be heard

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What's it take to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth Well takes

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Timothy's takes partners Willing to adapt to change to do whatever they had to do to remove the obstacles to keep people from listening

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You don't compromise the message now Not what we're saying here they go to those churches they planted earlier churches where teachers had come in and said that you had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses and some of the people in the

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Churches apparently had fallen for that You can read the book of Galatians You know Paul is taught writing to those churches are saying who has bewitched you who has put a spell over you that you're believing

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This so some of them might believe that and Paul doesn't go in there kind of, you know, 50 -50.

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No Compromising with him. No, they they strengthen them with the news from the conference in Jerusalem that there were saved by grace only through faith

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Only in Christ only he didn't compromise that for one inch. You don't compromise the message, but you do compromise your comfort

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They were strengthened by that and they grew Meanwhile Paul and Silas have picked up Timothy and they reach a new stage they go from consolidating nurturing bolstering established churches to to launching in a new territory

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Like they went they did what they originally set out to do encourage their established churches and now they realize hey

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Let's go into new places But where are they to go? What's it take to reach the ends of the earth?

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takes teams supported by churches Takes Timothy's willing to become all things to all people and it takes leading to be precise

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It takes the leadership of the Spirit They continue to head west through the regions called Phrygia and Galatia.

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These are just kind of provinces In what we now call Turkey Asia Minor and they come to the border of a region called

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Asia Now we use that term for a whole continent But here is just another region and Turkey and Asia Minor, but the

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Holy Spirit didn't allow them to speak the word there They pray and and know that the

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Spirit doesn't want them to evangelize here So they're led by the Spirit every step of the way now

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They have limited time and opportunities and they have to know where to invest about where We're to invest their time and opportunities to put their work the

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Holy Spirit leads them step by step. And so he's saying no Don't stop here.

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Not this town So they keep going and they're going further and further

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West probably village after village and the Spirit just says no not here. Keep going That means that they were sensitive to the voice of the

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Spirit. I saw someone just this morning It's a crazy thing, you know, the Bible sufficient. We don't need any be leading lead being led by the

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Spirit No, where'd you get that from? This is surely here a model for us to follow We need to be we need to be led by the

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Spirit that here They're not just willy -nilly speaking at every opportunity. They thought of going north to a region called

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Bithynia It's on the shore of the Black Sea the verse 7 says the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them and so another door

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Shut by the Spirit so they keep going west And finally they keep going so far west.

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They basically as far as they can go They're at the westerly shore of Turkey caught in a town there called

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Troas and there at Troas two momentous things happen

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One of them is just implied Paul Luke here doesn't describe it But you can read you can read you can see it's there and notice the implied one notice that in verse 8

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Luke writes that they went down to Troas and then in verse 10 we

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Sought to go to Macedonia This went from day to wee wee they picked up a new team member and Troas Luke himself

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Well second though the vision they need guidance the Holy Spirit has been closing doors for them along the way until they get to the end and then the vision in verse 9

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Paul has this has this vision of a Macedonian standing before him and urging him

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Come over to Macedonia and help us Notice how notice how that's put it's an interesting phrase.

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Is it the Macedonian come over across the sea? and help us Notice how the gospel is described

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It is helping people Some Christians in the last generation particularly have become a little embarrassed.

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Maybe maybe ashamed of Evangelism and missions like it's a disrespectful thing.

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It's kind of exploitation Maybe it's imposing our culture on others And so so they think what we should we should do things that really help people

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Like dig wells so they can have fresh water or set up clinics and run schools. It's all our fine things

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That that's helping people they think but here sharing the gospel itself planting churches that continue to evangelize is

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Helping people Now sure We might want to also help people's physical needs if we can dig wells to give them fresh water share our medicines our education

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But let's not accept the view that the gospel itself Is not helping people it is

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So they had door after door shut to them and then Paul gets this vision come over over this little stretch of the

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Aegean Sea to Macedonia and Help them with the gospel.

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They need guidance and now they've gotten it doors have been closed But now they see one is open.

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They are led by the Spirit, but not just by you know It's not just by being mystical. It's not well, they had the vision we're gonna go they conclude it says that is the team

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We use his reason that's one of their data. We've had the door closed here This vision says go over there.

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They all had it all up They couldn't come to a rational decision To a conclusion that God has called them to preach the gospel to Macedonia crossing over in technically what we now call

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Europe. I There and I've come eventually to Philippi the major city in the area

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Apparently, there's no synagogue to go to in Philippi, which is you know, Paul's strategy go there they could speak

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They have a forum. They have an opening So they need to find something else. They need to have find an opening a way to talk to people

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Where do you want to talk about spiritual things? They need an opening to share the gospel So they find a ladies prayer meeting out by the river.

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It's the best I can do but it's not bad You need an opening We've we use our gym as a way to create an opening

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Kids come because they like to come to the gym and play we host them We let them play and we use that as an opening

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We've been able to reach some Chinese restaurant people because restaurants What are the great things about restaurants is they're always open or not always a moon when they're open.

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They're open, right? They don't mind you coming by at any time when they're as long as they're open and sitting there and eating their food and and If they're not too busy, they'll talk to you.

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It's a great thing We're finding it hard to reach Chinese doctors or optometrists You know

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They might think it's a little weird if we just drop by their offices Sit in their waiting room and try to talk to them between patients.

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That doesn't work You know, but we try what it what's it take to get the gospel to the ends of the earth it takes openings

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Here at this opening they find Lystra. Our scheme is if I Lydia this was the city where they got

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Timothy Hey Lydia is a seller of purple goods Apparently she doesn't she's from tire tire us.

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It was apparently she's just she's there in Philippi You know on maybe she's out on traveling selling her purple goods

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She already believed in the Lord and now she needed to hear about the Lord's Christ She believed

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Notice why she believes in verse 4 verse 14. Why does Lydia believe?

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Because she was smart It's because she's intelligent enough to understand the gospel Maybe no, that's not it.

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That's not her doing it. Maybe the team did it, you know, they're they're experts They know how to create converts, right?

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So Paul Silas Timothy and now Luke they use the right techniques Silas saying a heart -wrenching song on his guitar.

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Well, Timothy played the organ and Paul preached the sermon while Luke offered free medical care and that drew him in Right, right technique you think that's what it was

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What's it take to get the gospel out in verse 14? It tells us exactly it takes the

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Lord Opening hearts so that she would pay attention and believe ultimately

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We can do what we can to create openings basketball rap music shared interest speaking

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Chinese dialects notes Whatever but all of that won't do it It takes the

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Lord opening people's hearts Did we in our own strength confide our striving would be losing?

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We're not the right man on our side the man of God's own choosing So Lydia has her heart open by the

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Lord and the result was Well, she's a believer. She's converted and she's baptized along with her family and she opens her home

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So let the team stay says she urged them if you judge me to be faithful to the Lord a true believer in other words

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Come to my house and stay open hearts lead to open homes

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Finally what to take to get the gospel to the ends of the earth Well, it's going to take miracles

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You see that from verse 16 that the team made a habit to go to that place of prayer

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Not only to pray but also, you know, maybe could pick up new people there every time Someone new to share with like Lydia somebody there'd be others coming.

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It's part of the hard work of gathering a Church, do you know would be? when we first starting we remember we were just first here is 2009 and We were going out with Joe sharing and after we're done sharing we would go

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Millie's Mary and I would go have lunch I made a list of all the Chinese restaurants in Danville and then figure we're gonna go to each one in order

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Over and over and over again and try to get an opening and we did that and that's how we got

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Some contacts although one of them one of them we got these people are so hard.

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They'll they'll never come They'll just never react. So we Almost crossed it off the list It was

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Joyce's That was another miracle that happened later, but you need a miracle it's it but you need this kind of hard work

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You just keep going where the openings are Well for them that go into this place of prayer and after a while a slave girl meets them

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Who who does divination now the Greek there were the Greek word there in verse 16? It's translated as she had a spirit of divination.

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I think it's actually literally she has a spirit of a Python And a weird which is referring to one of them their myths of their

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Greek gods that the spirit of the Python could help you See fortunes now her people would

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People then would would pay To go to her to have her tell their fortunes.

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So She was a cash cow for her owners. I've used a big source of income

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They're gonna get rich off of her they think but she followed Paul and the team around crying out probably probably shrieking

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These men are servants of the most high God Who proclaim to you the way of salvation?

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Something like that probably just hysterical kind of shrieking and the demons were telling the truth to her and she kept shrieking in this for days until Paul had finally had had enough and turned to her said to the spirit spirit of a

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Python in her I Command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to come out of her And it did

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At the power of God met the power of Satan and overcame it It's a miracle

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But now That the spirit of the Python is gone from her She can't tell fortunes anymore.

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She's not a good source of income, you know, she's a regular servant girl We got plenty of those so her owners greedy for what they can get out of her not carrying an offer her welfare sees

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Paul and Silas and dragged them into The marketplace and right before the rulers and for everyone else there and declared these men are

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Jews and they are disturbing our city They advocate customs that are not lawful for us Romans to accept our practice they're stirring up, you know, it's the resentment at foreigners the

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Just there and patriotism. They're trying to get all that Ginned up and the people to turn it against Paul and Silas and the rest of them.

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Of course, that's not their real complaint They really just wanted to get back at them at Paul and Silas for taking away their source of income

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But they were really driven by but anyway, the mob hears that Discharged and they believe it and they're enraged by it.

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These two men Policized they're seditious. There are these foreigners undermining our way of life.

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They are threats to peace and order you know, they're they're against us and when if you're a patriot you have to hate them and When a mob gets into their collective mind that someone is the enemy

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It's impossible to reason with them If you're even try to be for them try to be reasonable you must be with them and against us

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Some mobs get whipped into a frenzy. They will burn witches at the stake. They will lynch people.

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They will riot They will slander people. They will do whatever they have to to destroy the one they they are sure are their enemies

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So they attack them even even the rulers ordered them to be beaten with rods and with no trial

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No evidence just the shrill accusation of greedy people with an axe to grind Here after beating them severely, then they throw them into prison with their feet

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Locked in the stocks and think about it This is where the

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Holy Spirit led them to come and it's been a bad day

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For Paul and Silas, you know, you care what you say about it. It's been a bad. It's been a rough day So Paul and Silas aren't aren't, you know, aren't aren't on the top of the world

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But there aren't moaning at midnight either. They're praying and they're singing hymns

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Probably the from the book of Psalms. The other prisoners are listening to them Probably just amazed, you know, these two guys they've been roughed up so badly.

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They still have a heart to sing. That's amazing I don't think though that is that they're singing was that they were just escaping reality that they were they were just happy despite it all

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Like like it was nothing I think it's like Frederick Douglass explained why the slaves sang he said sorrow and desolation

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Have their songs as well as joy and peace Slaves sing more to make themselves happy than to express their happiness

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Paul and Silas saying praise to God with welts and sores and gashes on their back to make themselves happy Because as Paul would later write to the two

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Christians in this very town Where he's now imprisoned at in to the

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Philippians. He would write to them. I know how to be brought low in the stocks in prison beaten bloodied bruised

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I Know how that is. I know how to abound in any and every

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Circumstance I have learned the secret to facing plenty and hunger abundance and need boy, did he have a lot of need right now and then

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By the way, this is the context of that famous verse a lot of athletes like to quote

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This is not about how you can win NBA championships. This is the context I Can do all things

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Through him who strengthens me Even seeing at midnight with your back bruised and bloodied.

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That's the all things you can do What's it take to get the gospel to the end of the earth being able to sing while suffering and Miracles the miracle here is first the earthquake that opens every door and loosens every chain without Collapsing the building that's pretty good.

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And since the guards in those days were held responsible if a prisoner escaped The jailer wakes up and sees the door open to the prison and just assumes that the prisoners have all escaped and so he's about To you know get it over with I'm gonna be executed for their leaving anyway, so I suppose do myself in But apparently

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Paul has been holding them back and the other prisoners back and tells them that tells the jailer

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We're all still here They cared more about the jailers life than their own freedom least

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Paul and Silas did so that to the jailer That's a miracle So he brings torches and comes to Paul in silence.

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He falls down before them He's trembling with fear first. The prison has been shaken and now he is shaken

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Realizing what has happened. He's before men who have something supernatural and he asked sirs

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What must I do to be saved? Now the

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Lord has opened his heart too and they respond Believe in the

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Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved you in your household Notice that they don't say

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Be baptized. They don't say believe and be baptized. That's not what he must do to be saved.

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That's what he will do Once he is saved, but it's not something that has to be done to be saved

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So Paul and Silas teach the Word of the Lord to him in his household his wife and children and his servants he had there

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And you notice it doesn't say that he had the infants among them and it's really not proper Bible interpretation to assume

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Did you're not supposed to assume that there must be infants and then assume that they must have been baptized No Proper interpretation does not work that way

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The jailer washed them of their wounds from the beating and then Paul and Silas washed him and his family

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In baptism, he brings them home the jailer does he feeds them? Everyone's happy they rejoicing that they had believed in God again open hearts produce open homes

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The next day the magistrates that's the local rulers. Maybe they're realizing. Hey, we may have been a little rash yesterday

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We may have gotten a little carried away with that mob and broken the law The Roman governors over this area may be upset when they hear what we've done

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So they asked the police to go ask Paul and Silas, please leave But Paul stages a little sit -in

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He doesn't I'm not leaving anywhere till you come you're gonna come you're gonna come here. You're gonna apologize to me Paul and Silas are

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Roman citizens and saying you have violated our rights He goes he had a right sound like an

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American there, doesn't he? Yeah, he's found very American He had a right to a trial before punishment as a

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Roman citizen and Paul presses his rights Now some people have the attitude that it'd be a Christian it means you always kind of just let yourself be walked all over letting your rights be trampled on and Sometimes you have to be willing to give up your rights

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But here Paul wants to be able to come back here and he probably wants the church that he's living by here to be protected And so he's going to teach these local rulers a lesson.

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He makes them apologize before he'll leave so the next time a

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Mob descends on him or on any other Christian. They'll do their job and Uphold justice and not be swept along by the hysteria

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What's it take for the gospel to reach the ends of the earth? It takes for believers to use their rights to protect the church

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What's it take for the gospel to reach the ends of the earth? Yes, we need we need people.

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We need to think we need to strategize We need to be smart when God wants to save the heathen.

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He's not going to do it himself He'll do it through his body the church

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We all have a part to play in that and not the same part to play though Some are gifted in evangelism to be the upfront person to be the actual talking and some are not so gifted in it

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If God has done the miracle and open our hearts to believe though We are still part of the team part of the body that God works through to accomplish his mission.

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We need people willing to become all things to all people

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Because they care more about the gospel reaching others Than they care about their own comfort but most of all

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We need the spirit to open doors and open hearts. We need the miracle of faith

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For the Lord to we need for the Lord to do what only He can do we need for the right man to be on our side

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To shake not just buildings to shake people to shake hearts so that they tremble and they ask

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What must I do? to be saved What's it take it takes