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The Call of Jesus
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Welcome to lesson 18
"The Book of the Apostles".
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I love talking about the Book of the Apostles,
the Book of Acts,
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as we see in the New Testament.
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Here we have the Bible,
the Old Testament, the New Testament.
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And in the New Testament
we start with the four gospels:
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
Amazing.
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In those four gospels we read about Jesus,
how He walked around here on earth.
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All four gospels end up with Jesus dying
and how He rose up again.
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And then, after the four gospels
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
is the only historical book
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we have from the early church,
here in the Bible,
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where we read about how they
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
that was prophesied about,
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many, many, many years ago.
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When Jesus was hanging on the cross,
He said: "It is finished!"
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What is finished?
What was finished?
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Or what has begun?
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The old thing was finished
and something new has begun.
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We, when you understand it,
we are living in an amazing time today,
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a time that was prophesied about
many hundreds years ago.
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For example, Ezekiel and Jeremiah,
400 years BC prophesied about
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the time we today are living in.
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Ezekiel prophesied this
in Ezekiel 11:19-20:
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"I will give them an undivided heart
and put a spirit in them;
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I will remove from them their heart
of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
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Then they will follow My decrees
and be careful to keep My laws.
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They will be My people,
and I will be their God."
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Listen to these words.
These words Ezekiel prophesied
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400 years BC is something we today
are living in.
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In the time Jesus was walking on earth,
in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
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they did not experience it.
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Why? Because they were still
before the cross.
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When Jesus walked on earth
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,
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
with God where we can know Him.
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In the Old Testament it was only
for a few.
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It was only for the prophets
and a few selected people.
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But now, in the time we are living in,
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
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
read about.
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And one thing I really love about
the Book of Acts.
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In the Book of Acts we see this
being fulfilled.
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We see in the Book of Acts
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
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,
pictures of how the early church
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was obeying Christ,
how the believers were obeying Christ,
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how they actually went out in that harvest
that was ready,
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how they found that person of peace.
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For example, Acts 10,
with Peter and Cornelius,
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or Acts 16, with Paul and Lydia.
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There are clear, clear examples
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
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
where I looked at my life,
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and I was a Christian,
I loved Jesus, and I was radical,
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and I went to church,
and I did a lot of good things there.
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But then I started to see
the Book of Acts.
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And my life did not, at all,
looked like the Book of Acts.
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I dressed up every Sunday,
I went to church,
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I was even doing a few preaching
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
like we read here,
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I did not lead people to Christ,
like we read here,
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I did not baptize people in water and
Holy Spirit, like we read here,
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I did not cast out demons and heal the sick,
like we read here.
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So, I had religion in one hand
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
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,
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
like what we read here, in the Book of Acts.
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One of the things I needed to change
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
if you don't have obedience.
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Try to imagine if I'm standing
in the middle of a road here
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and there is a truck coming
from a side, and I don't see the truck.
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The truck is coming in full speed
towards me.
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And you are standing there,
on the side road,
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and you see the truck and you shout:
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.
Why?
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Because if I believe in you,
in your words,
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I will move.
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I will not be able to believe
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,
and I believe in you -
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I need to move.
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Why? Because to have faith in you
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
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
we move.
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We obey His words.
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That is the only way we can, actually,
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
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
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
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.
No.
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It's not talking about works by the law,
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but it's talking about obedience /
works by faith.
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And this is what we need.
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
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
without clothes and daily food.
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If one of you say to them,
'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,'
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but does nothing about the physical needs,
what good is it?
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In the same way, faith by itself,
if it is not accomplished by action
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(or obedience), is dead.
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,
and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
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You believe that there is one God.
Good!
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Even the demons believe that -
and shudder.
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You foolish person, do you want evidence
that faith without deeds is useless?
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Was not our father Abraham considered
righteous for what he did
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when he offered his son Isaac
on the altar?
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You see that his faith and his actions
were working together,
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and his faith was made complete
by what he did.
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And the scripture was fulfilled that says,
'Abraham believed God,
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and it was credited him to righteousness,'
and he was called God's friend.
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You see that a person is considered righteous
by what he does and not by faith alone.
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In the same way, was not even Rahab
the prostitute considered righteous
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for what she did
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)
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)
is dead.
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Faith alone is dead.
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We are not talking about
faith + works by the law,
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but we are talking about real faith
that leads to obedience.
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If you believe in Jesus,
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,
then you move.
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Now Jesus doesn't just say:
"A truck is coming!"
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He said many other things.
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And what we read here
we need to obey.
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And when we start to obey
the call of Jesus
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and start to step out
on His words,
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our life is going to look like
the Book of Acts.
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Why? Because Jesus is the same
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
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
will be like this.
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So, take some time and really
go through the Book of Acts
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and see their life, how they obeyed
the call of Christ.
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See how they were preaching
repentance, baptism in water
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and baptism with the Holy Spirit.
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And as we said last time,
you don't see a sinner's prayer.
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Many of the things we do today
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
in the churches
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we don't see in the Book of Acts,
and sadly,
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many things that were done
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
God gave us the Word.
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Because it's not our religion
that is the truth.
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It's the Word of God.
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So, I encourage you,
keep it simple.
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You have religion in one hand,
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and you have the Book of Acts
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
one time to get the sheep out among wolves.
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And we see that when they are out there,
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
many other things.
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He was thrown into jail.
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But he could also testify
that Christ was with him.
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When he went out there
Christ was with him.
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What do we see?
What have we been looking at?
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We have been looking at how
you find the person of peace,
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and how, when you find that
person, as Jesus said,
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you go to their house and you sit,
and eat and drink what they serve.
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And then you there heal the sick
and preach the gospel.
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And stay there.
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And this is what we see
in the Book of Acts.
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The Book of Acts is a confirmation
of the call Jesus gave us in Luke 10.
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You don't see fine, nice churches
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
working in His body.
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And this is what we need to do.
This is what we need to obey.
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Next time we are going to continue
and look at the gospel,
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but I want to start here
with the Book of Acts,
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because the Book of Acts is where
we really see how they were preaching.
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The Book of Acts is where we really see
how they responded to the preaching.
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The Book of Acts is where we really see
the biblical life,
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like how they got born again
and all of that.
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So, next time, I'm going to use
more time
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where we are going to look at the gospel
of the Kingdom,
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where I will give you the big picture,
from the beginning to the end,
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and what people need to do
to be born again.
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And what you are going to see,
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
what you have been told,
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maybe goes against
your church tradition.
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Sadly, I think it does,
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because we have come so far away
from the Bible,
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but it will not go against
what we read in the Book of Acts.
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That's why I took the time
in this video
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to really focus on the Book of Acts
and what that life was all about.
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And start, until the next time,
just read through the Book of Acts,
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and then see if that fits
with your life today.
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It should be like that.
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God bless you,
and see you next time
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where we are going to continue
looking at the gospel.
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Bye-bye!
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The Call of Jesus