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The Call of Jesus

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Welcome to lesson 18[br]"The Book of the Apostles".

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I love talking about the Book of the Apostles,[br]the Book of Acts,

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as we see in the New Testament.

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Here we have the Bible,[br]the Old Testament, the New Testament.

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And in the New Testament [br]we start with the four gospels:

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Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.[br]Amazing.

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In those four gospels we read about Jesus,[br]how He walked around here on earth.

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All four gospels end up with Jesus dying [br]and how He rose up again.

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And then, after the four gospels[br]we have the Book of Acts,

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the Book of the Apostles.

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It is a very special book

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because the Book of the Apostles[br]is the only historical book

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we have from the early church,[br]here in the Bible,

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where we read about how they[br]were living the life of Christ,

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how they obeyed the call of Jesus.

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We are now living after the cross.

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We are now living in an amazing time[br]that was prophesied about,

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many, many, many years ago.

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When Jesus was hanging on the cross,[br]He said: "It is finished!"

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What is finished?[br]What was finished?

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Or what has begun?

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The old thing was finished[br]and something new has begun.

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We, when you understand it,[br]we are living in an amazing time today,

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a time that was prophesied about[br]many hundreds years ago.

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For example, Ezekiel and Jeremiah,[br]400 years BC prophesied about

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the time we today are living in.

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Ezekiel prophesied this [br]in Ezekiel 11:19-20:

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"I will give them an undivided heart[br]and put a spirit in them;

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I will remove from them their heart[br]of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

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Then they will follow My decrees [br]and be careful to keep My laws.

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They will be My people,[br]and I will be their God."

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Listen to these words.[br]These words Ezekiel prophesied

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400 years BC is something we today[br]are living in.

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In the time Jesus was walking on earth,[br]in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,

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they did not experience it.

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Why? Because they were still[br]before the cross.

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When Jesus walked on earth[br]He could not give them the new spirit

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Ezekiel prophesied about.

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But after He ascended to Heaven,[br]He sent His Holy Spirit down here,

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and we are living in this exciting time.

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We, in Christ, can be forgiven,

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and we, in Christ, can get a relationship [br]with God where we can know Him.

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In the Old Testament it was only[br]for a few.

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It was only for the prophets [br]and a few selected people.

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But now, in the time we are living in,[br]God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh.

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Last time we looked at religion.

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Religion tries to change a person and [br]make a person looks nice outside.

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But Jesus is giving a new heart.

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Jesus is putting a new spirit in us.

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Jesus is doing what we have just[br]read about.

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And one thing I really love about[br]the Book of Acts.

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In the Book of Acts we see this[br]being fulfilled.

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We see in the Book of Acts[br]how the early church, after the cross,

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was preaching the gospel.

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We also see how they responded[br]to the gospel they have heard.

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We also see how they got born again.

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The Book of Acts gives a lot of examples,[br]pictures of how the early church

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was obeying Christ, [br]how the believers were obeying Christ,

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how they actually went out in that harvest[br]that was ready,

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how they found that person of peace.

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For example, Acts 10, [br]with Peter and Cornelius,

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or Acts 16, with Paul and Lydia.

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There are clear, clear examples[br]in the Book of Acts

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how they continued the work of Christ.

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The Book of Acts is like a mirror where [br]we see how the early church was living,

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how they obeyed Christ.

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It is like a diary.

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There was a time in my life[br]where I looked at my life,

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and I was a Christian,[br]I loved Jesus, and I was radical,

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and I went to church, [br]and I did a lot of good things there.

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But then I started to see [br]the Book of Acts.

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And my life did not, at all,[br]looked like the Book of Acts.

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I dressed up every Sunday,[br]I went to church,

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I was even doing a few preaching[br]in the church,

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and I was helping in the church,

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but I was not led by the Holy Spirit[br]like we read here,

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I did not lead people to Christ,[br]like we read here,

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I did not baptize people in water and[br]Holy Spirit, like we read here,

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I did not cast out demons and heal the sick,[br]like we read here.

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So, I had religion in one hand[br]and I had the life in the other hand.

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And there was a mistake somewhere.

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And I believe the mistake is not found[br]in the Bible.

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The mistake is found in our life.

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So, I needed to change something.

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I needed to change something,[br]and I did it.

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I changed something in my life.

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And now, my life looks so much more[br]like what we read here, in the Book of Acts.

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One of the things I needed to change[br]was obedience.

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We need obedience.

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Faith is obedience.

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You don't have faith[br]if you don't have obedience.

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Try to imagine if I'm standing[br]in the middle of a road here

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and there is a truck coming [br]from a side, and I don't see the truck.

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The truck is coming in full speed[br]towards me.

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And you are standing there,[br]on the side road,

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and you see the truck and you shout:[br]Torben! Move! Move! A truck is coming!

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And I look at you.

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I believe you.

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I believe you are real.

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I believe you exist.

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I believe in your words.

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And stand still.

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No, it doesn't make sense. [br]Why?

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Because if I believe in you,[br]in your words,

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I will move.

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I will not be able to believe[br]what you are saying and stand still.

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Yeah, only if I want to die.

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But if I want to survive,[br]and I believe in you -

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I need to move.

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Why? Because to have faith in you[br]is not to have faith that you are real,

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that you walk on earth.

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No. I have to have faith in your words.

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Like, to believe in Christ is not only[br]to believe that He one time lived.

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It is to believe Christ.

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Believe His words.

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And if we believe His words[br]we move.

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We obey His words.

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That is the only way we can, actually,[br]show that we believe.

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Faith without obedience is dead.

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And it's so clear. I want to read[br]the following from the book of James.

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And when you read these words here,

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it's so important to understand that[br]when we talk about works,

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it's not talking about works of the law.

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It's not about trying to earn[br]our salvation, because we cannot.

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It's not about trying to obey the law

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and then we obey so good that we are saved. [br]No.

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It's not talking about works by the law,

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but it's talking about obedience /[br]works by faith.

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And this is what we need.[br]James 2:14-26:

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"What good is it, my brothers and sisters,

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if someone claims to have faith[br]but not have deeds

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(or works, or obedience)?

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Can such faith save them?

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Suppose a brother or sister is [br]without clothes and daily food.

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If one of you say to them,[br]'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,'

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but does nothing about the physical needs, [br]what good is it?

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In the same way, faith by itself, [br]if it is not accomplished by action

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(or obedience), is dead. [br]But someone will say,

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'You have faith, and I have deeds.'

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Show me then your faith without deeds,[br]and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

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You believe that there is one God. [br]Good!

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Even the demons believe that -[br]and shudder.

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You foolish person, do you want evidence[br]that faith without deeds is useless?

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Was not our father Abraham considered[br]righteous for what he did

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when he offered his son Isaac[br]on the altar?

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You see that his faith and his actions [br]were working together,

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and his faith was made complete[br]by what he did.

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And the scripture was fulfilled that says,[br]'Abraham believed God,

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and it was credited him to righteousness,'[br]and he was called God's friend.

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You see that a person is considered righteous [br]by what he does and not by faith alone.

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In the same way, was not even Rahab [br]the prostitute considered righteous

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for what she did [br]when she gave lodging to the spies

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and sent them off in a different direction?

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As the body without the spirit is dead,

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so faith without (obedience, works)[br]deeds is dead."

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These were not my words.

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That was the Bible.

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Faith without obedience (works)[br]is dead.

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Faith alone is dead.

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We are not talking about [br]faith + works by the law,

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but we are talking about real faith[br]that leads to obedience.

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If you believe in Jesus,[br]and Jesus says: "A truck is coming! Move!"

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- then you move.

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Why? Unless you want to die,[br]then you move.

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Now Jesus doesn't just say:[br]"A truck is coming!"

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He said many other things.

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And what we read here[br]we need to obey.

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And when we start to obey[br]the call of Jesus

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and start to step out[br]on His words,

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our life is going to look like[br]the Book of Acts.

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Why? Because Jesus is the same[br]yesterday, today and forever.

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But if you don't obey Jesus' words,

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if you don't have true, biblical faith[br]in Christ, and therefore don't obey,

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of course your life will look like this,

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while the Book of Acts [br]will be like this.

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So, take some time and really[br]go through the Book of Acts

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and see their life, how they obeyed[br]the call of Christ.

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See how they were preaching[br]repentance, baptism in water

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and baptism with the Holy Spirit.

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And as we said last time,[br]you don't see a sinner's prayer.

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Many of the things we do today[br]in the churches

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we don't see in the Book of Acts.

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Many of those things we do today[br]in the churches

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we don't see in the Book of Acts,[br]and sadly,

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many things that were done[br]in the Book of Acts

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many don't see in the churches.

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But, there is a reason[br]God gave us the Word.

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Because it's not our religion[br]that is the truth.

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It's the Word of God.

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So, I encourage you,[br]keep it simple.

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You have religion in one hand,

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and you have the Book of Acts[br]in the other hand.

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What is correct?

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Don't build on your own experience.

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Experience can change over night.

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We need to obey this.

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Until now we have been talking about

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how the harvest is great

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and how the workers are few

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and how we need to be sent out

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as sheep among wolves.

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And there's persecution out there.

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What do we see in the Book of Acts?

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We see that the harvest is great.

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We also see that there is a few workers.

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We even see how God used persecution[br]one time to get the sheep out among wolves.

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And we see that when they are out there,[br]among the wolves,

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they experience persecution.

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They paid a price, and it was not easy.

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Paul experience stoning and [br]many other things.

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He was thrown into jail.

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But he could also testify [br]that Christ was with him.

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When he went out there[br]Christ was with him.

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What do we see?[br]What have we been looking at?

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We have been looking at how[br]you find the person of peace,

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and how, when you find that[br]person, as Jesus said,

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you go to their house and you sit,[br]and eat and drink what they serve.

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And then you there heal the sick[br]and preach the gospel.

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And stay there.

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And this is what we see [br]in the Book of Acts.

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The Book of Acts is a confirmation[br]of the call Jesus gave us in Luke 10.

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You don't see fine, nice churches[br]and programs in the Book of Acts,

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like we do often today.

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You see raw and real life,

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the spirit of Christ [br]working in His body.

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And this is what we need to do.[br]This is what we need to obey.

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Next time we are going to continue[br]and look at the gospel,

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but I want to start here [br]with the Book of Acts,

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because the Book of Acts is where[br]we really see how they were preaching.

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The Book of Acts is where we really see[br]how they responded to the preaching.

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The Book of Acts is where we really see[br]the biblical life,

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like how they got born again[br]and all of that.

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So, next time, I'm going to use[br]more time

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where we are going to look at the gospel[br]of the Kingdom,

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where I will give you the big picture,[br]from the beginning to the end,

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and what people need to do [br]to be born again.

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And what you are going to see,[br]when we show the big picture,

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is what people need to be born again

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maybe goes against [br]what you have been told,

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maybe goes against [br]your church tradition.

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Sadly, I think it does,

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because we have come so far away[br]from the Bible,

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but it will not go against [br]what we read in the Book of Acts.

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That's why I took the time[br]in this video

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to really focus on the Book of Acts[br]and what that life was all about.

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And start, until the next time,[br]just read through the Book of Acts,

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and then see if that fits [br]with your life today.

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It should be like that.

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God bless you,[br]and see you next time

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where we are going to continue[br]looking at the gospel.

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Bye-bye!

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The Call of Jesus