SNBS Intro to Paul's Conversion

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Good evening and welcome to Sunday Night Bible Study with Pastor Josiah Shipley. It may be a little bit shorter of a lesson tonight, but we're going to start learning a little bit about the
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Apostle Paul and we're going to read some scripture on it and get some lessons from it, but I want to give you an overview of Paul's conversion and maybe draw a couple lessons from that and then we'll move on.
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I don't know exactly what direction we're going to take this in, starting the life of the
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Apostles and that type of stuff, but we're going to start with Paul and see where it takes us. We might end up doing an overview of some books, we might end up doing a type of biography of Paul, but this is what we're doing in person, it's going to be a little bit different online, but we're going to see how it goes and hopefully it will be fruitful and edifying for you.
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So, we're going to start in Acts chapter 9, so if you guys go ahead and turn there, we're going to be in Acts chapter 9, we're going to start there.
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Hope everyone is doing well. Remember, even though I pre -record these videos for Sunday nights,
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I do go back and read all the comments, so feel free to interact, ask questions, those type of things.
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For those of you that have been enjoying them, the past, oh I don't know, seven weeks we've been doing live question and answer sessions on Saturdays, those have been fun, we've had some very intriguing questions, some fun ones, some hard ones, some in between, so all types of questions.
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Questions like what does this verse mean to, is smoking weed a sin, to divorce, to all types of stuff.
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So, we'll keep mixing it up on Saturdays, sometimes we'll do them live, question and answer, interactive style, sometimes we'll do them pre -recorded, it just depends, but hopefully you've been enjoying them, hopefully you saw the one from yesterday afternoon.
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Back on Sunday night Bible studies, we've been out for a week or two due to the youth trip and that type of stuff, and I told you we'd be starting on the life of the apostles, particularly
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Paul, so we're going to start today with his conversion experience, Acts chapter 9.
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So, a couple things to keep in mind, first off, it's helpful to separate conversion from salvation, in that conversion is a part of salvation, but it's not the whole of salvation.
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Remember, God saved you past, present, and future, God chose you for salvation before the foundation of the world, and he died for you before you were ever born, and so on and so forth.
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Well, at a point in time, he regenerated you, so the Bible speaks of that's where he made your soul alive again, that's what
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John chapter 3 talks about, okay, and Titus chapter 3. So, at your point of regeneration, when the
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Holy Spirit awakens you, you call to God, whoever calls on the name of the
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Lord shall be saved. You recognize him as Lord, it's not that you made him Lord, we probably need to quit saying that, you didn't make him
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Lord, he is Lord, he's always been Lord, even before you knew it. It's when you acknowledged him, right, that's what the
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Bible says, trust the Lord with all your heart, lean on him, and all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.
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Believe on the name of the Lord, he's already Lord before you believed it, okay, whoever calls on the name of the
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Lord, you didn't make him Lord, you called on him, you trusted in him. So, at that moment in time, at that moment in time, when you were regenerated, that's your conversion experience, okay, that's your conversion experience, and also that's when justification happens, that's when you are rendered innocent, then you are elected before time began, thus your salvation is secure, because it was never in your hands, but conversion happens at a moment in time, and you are redeemed, and then you, the
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New Testament also speaks of a salvation to come, that's our glorification, that's when it all is finalized, our bodies are resurrected, and that type of stuff, hopefully
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I didn't lose you there, but my point is, finally, in Acts 9, when we talk about Paul's conversion, or Saul, then later
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Paul, we are speaking of that moment of regeneration in his life. Now, you heard me a minute ago say,
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Paul, the Apostle Paul, okay, and if you don't know much about him, it's okay to ask, okay, I will go back and read the comments, it's okay to ask, his original name was
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Saul, God gave him the name Paul, as he did with many people in the Old Testament and the
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New Testament. So, here's what we know about Saul, soon to be Paul, coming in Acts 9, he is a
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Pharisee and he's very zealous. Now, Pharisees were a sect of Judaism that were very, very strict, very conservative, not in a good way, they believed that righteousness came by the law, and not by faith.
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They believed that God owed them blessings and promises because they obeyed his law.
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They made new laws, that were not found in the Bible, that's called legalism, legalism is making anything a law of God that is not a law of God, that's what legalism is, break down the word legal law.
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They made things a law of God that God never included in his law, they added to it. Revelation has something to say about that.
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At any rate, Paul is quickly advancing, according to the book of Galatians, quickly advancing in Judaism, he is becoming a rising star, because he is very zealous.
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Acts 9, 1, but Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the
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Lord. Okay, so the Pharisees did not like Christians after Jesus left. They didn't like Jesus, if you remember, because Jesus went against their religious philosophy and traditions.
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He showed them their hypocrisy, and that they really didn't understand or believe what the Old Testament taught, because the
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Old Testament taught about him, they just preached the parts they liked and ignored the parts they didn't.
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Sound familiar? Good, sounds like a lot of churches today. So Paul, this is
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Acts 9, so this is a little while, a couple years after Jesus has left, has ascended to heaven, and Saul is sitting here, and he is finding people, verse 2 and 3, he is finding people that belong to the way, that is, they believe in Jesus, men and women, and he might bind them and bring them to Jerusalem.
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So what he's doing is, he's going in and out of houses, and imprisoning them, and taking them to Jerusalem, to be imprisoned, because they are
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Christians. So he is persecuting Christians. He, in Acts chapter 7, agreed, the
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Bible says, with Stephen being stoned to death. So he hates Christians.
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I want you to remember that. He is now on the road, walking to Damascus, with orders from the high priest to arrest anyone who is a
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Christian. That is what Paul, Saul, is on the way to do. Notice, he's not looking for God, he's not looking for Jesus, he's not on a mission trip, he is sinning.
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He is imprisoning and agreeing with the murder of Christians.
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That's the kind of man Paul was, who would soon write 13 books of the
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New Testament. Verse 3, now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him, and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying,
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Saul, Saul, who are you persecuting? I'm sorry, why are you persecuting me?
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And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you must do.
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The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were open, he saw nothing, so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.
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For three days he was left outside, and he neither ate nor drank. Okay, so Saul is on the road to Damascus in order to persecute and arrest
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Christians. God has other plans. And notice, a light shines from heaven, and Jesus appears, not in physical form, but Jesus appears and says,
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Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Quick note, please note that when you come after God's children, you're coming after God.
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Remember when Jesus said, if you feed one of my followers, if you give them drink, if you visit them, if you care for them, you say, you've done it to me?
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Well, the same goes true for when you hurt one of his little kids. It's as if you're hurting him.
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He didn't say, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting my followers? He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Let that soak in.
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Notice Paul's response. Who are you, Lord?
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Kurios. Now, it is true that kurios was used as a term of great respect. You're trying to respect a man you don't know, you might say kurios, but also kurios means
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Lord, Master. I like to think that as soon as Jesus opened his mouth,
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Saul knew exactly who he was talking to. A light shone from heaven. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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Saul says, who are you, Lord? I think Saul knew exactly who he was talking to. I think this question was rhetorical.
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Verse five, Jesus says, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but arise into a city and you will be told what you must do.
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See, you're on your way to persecute me, my believers, and I've got other plans. My plans always went out.
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Man had plans. God had plans. God's plans win every time.
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And what Joseph said in Genesis 50 20, yeah, my brothers who put me in slavery, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
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God's plan wins out every time, not some of the time, every time, even when we can't see it at the time.
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Ananias, one of the Lord's followers in Damascus, God appeared to him and said, hey,
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I need you to go find Saul and heal him of his blindness.
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And Ananias says, Lord, verse 13, I've heard of, uh, from many about this man, how much evil he's done to your saints at Jerusalem.
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And here he has authority from the chief beast to bind all who call on your name. Verse 15, but the
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Lord said to him, go for he's a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and the kings and children of Israel.
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I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. I'm going to show him how much he will suffer for my name.
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Verse 18, uh, 17, so Ananias departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him, he said, brother
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Saul, notice he's already, he's already calling him brother. Even though Saul hasn't yet,
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Saul hasn't yet acknowledged it. God has already told Ananias that Saul will become a believer.
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So Ananias goes ahead and calls him brother because God is sovereign. Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so you may regain your sight and be filled with the
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Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized and taking food, he was strengthened.
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Okay. So Saul is now a believer. Now what happened to Saul? Okay. Well, what happened to Saul was the
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Lord regenerated his soul. See Ephesians chapter two teaches we are dead in sin, dead.
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We are spiritually dead and we can only be awakened from our deadness and made alive,
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Ephesians chapter two, he has made us alive, Ephesians 2, 4. That's a working of God.
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It's a miracle of regeneration that every single person on this planet is born dead in sin and can only be made alive spiritually.
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After this moment, we now have Paul the apostle who writes 13 books in the
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New Testament, we'll talk about these in the weeks to come, but I want to point something out to you, did you notice that Paul wasn't searching for God?
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See, Paul didn't find Jesus. Jesus found him. Why did we love him? Because he first loved us.
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Ladies and gentlemen, believers, listen to me. This is important for you to understand. You're not saved because you were good enough to start looking for Jesus and had enough sin.
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Well, when I came to my senses, I went and I sought after Jesus. No, you were dead in sin. You sought after Jesus because Jesus had already found you.
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Let me say that again. You only sought out for Jesus because Jesus had already found you.
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Romans 3, 11 says, there is no one who seeks God. There's no fear of God before their eyes.
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The only reason anyone ever seeks God is because God has already found them because he's not far from each one of us.
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A similar passage, uh, not about an individual Paul, but about a nation Israel.
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I read this on a question and answer recently. This is Deuteronomy 7, 6 through 9.
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Deuteronomy 7, 6 through 9. Jesus, excuse me,
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God is speaking to the people of Israel. For you are a people holy to the Lord, your
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God. The Lord, your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the people showing the face of the earth.
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It is not because you are more numerous in number than any other people that the Lord has said his love and chose you. For you are the fewest of all people, but it's because the
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Lord loves you and is keeping an oath he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out of the mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
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Know therefore that the Lord, your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his covenant and steadfast love with those who love him as keep his commandments to a thousand generations.
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I mean, make sure you guys just got that. It's not because you are more in number, but the Lord said his love on you and chose you.
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But verse 8, but it's because he loves you. Let that sink in. Why does God love you? Because he loves you.
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And yes, also because God promised their fathers that he would care for their children, carry on their lineage.
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And God keeps his promises, tightest ones as he cannot lie. If you read that again,
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I want you to dwell on that. That's Deuteronomy 7, 6 through 10.
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And it says in the question, why does God love you? And the answer is because he loves you.
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Parents, you may be able to understand this a little better. Why do you love your kids? Because you love them.
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It's not because you were better, they're better than anyone else. It's not because of it. It's because you love them.
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You see, God didn't choose Paul because he was smarter, because he was stronger, because he was younger or older, more intelligent, sorry, he said smarter, more spiritual, he was an unbeliever.
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See, he believed in God. So he thought, but the Bible says, if you reject Jesus as a son, you never believed in the father.
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That's what Jesus told the Pharisees. If you had believed the father, you would believe me. That's what he told them. And they had memorized the first five books of the
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Bible, memorized them. By the time they were 12, you see, the Pharisees honored him with their lips, but their hearts were far from them.
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Saul was not looking for God, but God found Saul and said, I will show him how much he will suffer for my name's sake.
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Here's a way to describe why God chose Paul in Israel. 1 Corinthians 1, starting in verse 18.
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For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who have perished him, but to those of us who are being saved, it's the power of God, for it is written,
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I will assure the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning of all the world. Where is the one who is wise?
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Where's the scribe? Where's the debater of this age? Has God made foolish?
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Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know
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God through wisdom. It pleased God through the foolishness of what we preach to save those who believe.
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For the Jews demand signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the
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Jews and folly to the Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
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For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
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Consider your calling, brothers. Not many are wise according to worldly standards, not many are powerful, not many are of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
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God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being may boast in the presence of God.
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God chose what is weak, shameful, foolish, to shame the wise, to shame the strong, so that no human being can boast.
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There is no human being on this planet. That's why we're saved by grace and that works. That's why God chooses who's weak.
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That's why God chooses the underdog. So that all glory can be given to God and none to man.
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Paul is about to write 13 books in the New Testament. In Ephesians, we read that some of what he's writing, he knows is new revelation.
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He knows it's scripture. Peter recognizes it as scripture. But Paul says, if he's to boast, he's to boast in the cross, because he knows it is all of grace.
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The more you understand grace, the less arrogant and proud you'll be. Let me say that again. The more you understand grace, the less arrogant and proud you'll be, because grace shows it's all of God and none of it is of us.
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We would do well to remember that constantly and remember that humility. So we can share it with other people. There is an introduction to Paul on his conversion.
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We will continue speaking to Paul for a few weeks and then starting in September, I believe, sometime in September, maybe mid -September, we will start the canon of scripture while we have some books of the
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Bible and while we don't include others. All right. I love you guys very much. Um, thank you for tuning in tonight.
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Make sure you share these videos. Please guys, Witten Media Ministry on YouTube. I don't care if you use
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YouTube. Sign in, go like some videos, share some videos, subscribe. It really helps us with our ministry.
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You can do the same thing on the Witten public Facebook page. Don't forget, we need more questions for question and answers.
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Send them through the public Witten Facebook page messenger. Um, also the best hymn history
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I've probably heard. Brother Andrew had a special guest. Brother Bill Floyd sang a song that he wrote called
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I am redeemed or I have been redeemed. Uh, it was awesome.
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Wow moment from Thursday night included a, uh, really awesome lady by the name of Rachel Shipley of Wifey on Hebrews 10, 24 and 25.
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That was pretty awesome as well. All right, guys, enough promoting. I love you all very much.
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As always leave comments and questions and I will see y 'all soon. Uh, join us 10 30 tomorrow morning for the
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Jeff serving. Nope. That was this morning. My apologies guys. Tomorrow 10