Acts Part 15

Part 15

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Good morning. This is number 15 in our family series on Acts. It's um chapter 25. And in chapter 25, uh we learn that just like Paul, we are just along for the ride. I want you to picture yourselves in an old stagecoach in the old west. You're carrying a strong box filled with gold crossing Indian territory. The bandito cowboys want to kill you for your gold, and the Indians want to kill you for trespassing. And you, we, are without protection or escort that we can see. I want to read you something from 2 Kings. It says, Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp. So the king of Syria was going to set up a secret camp to wage war against Israel. But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there. So Elijah told the king of Israel what the Syrians were going to do. So God revealed to Elisha what Israel's enemies were going to do, and he forwarded that information to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. So God telling Elisha what to tell the king of Israel, how to protect himself, saved him at least twice. And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants, his counselors, and said to them, Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel? And one of its servants said, None, my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet, who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. And he said, The king said, Go and see where he is that I may send and seize him. It was told him, Behold, he is in Dolan. So he sent their horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. So they go to go and capture Elisha. When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, Alas, master, what shall we do? He said, Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So we are protected. We don't see him, but we are protected. I'm not even sure our American citizenship is going to protect us much. Chapter 26, Paul is on trial. You are on trial, just like Paul was because of your hope in the promise made to your fathers. Adam, Noah, King David, Isaiah, Joseph, Luke, Paul, Luther. That's why we're on trial. That's why. History is all about the scarlet line of Christ. There is a scarlet line, a bloodline running straight from Adam to your gut. And it's all about Christ. History is about Christ. Period. Period, period. But as you're on trial, you have an advocate, you have a lawyer, and he's a great one. He will tie your opponent's tongue in knots. And of course it's Jesus Christ the righteous. The real battle is the Lord's. I love what David said when he was getting ready to kill Goliath. And he said, This is why I'm doing it, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that the Jewish nation may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand. And that's exactly where we are. Goliath was a giant. Nobody thought David could win this battle. And nobody is going to think that we can win this battle. Okay? I know we can win it, but I certainly wonder how we're going to win it. How are we going to how are we going to fell this Goliath? But here's the fact Isaiah 55, 11 says that the word of God will not return unto him void, but will accomplish that to which it was sent, and to that which it testifies. The word of God is more powerful than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word of God is quick and powerful. It's alive and it's powerful, and it will do what it says it's going to do. And you have to keep on my in mind that you're in trial because the world hates your God. It hates your God. Against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Of course the Lord is the Father, the anointed is Christ, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. They don't want any ties, they don't want any restrictions. They want to come into this world and do whatever they want to do. They're like wild bully brats, completely untamed. Somebody in the New Testament says they're like wild beasts made to be taken and destroyed. That's all they are. They're beasts, out of control beasts. But he who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Those are the words of Christ. The Father said to him, You are my son, today I have begotten you. And you need to hear the Father telling you, you are my chosen vessel, to preach the word of God, to be instant, in season, out of season, to reprove, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. And then it goes on, ask of me, the Father is asking this, telling the son, ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possessions. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, and they've been warned for two thousand years, for six thousand years, they've been warned. Be warned, O rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him. So your sole duty is to take the stand and to be a faithful witness. Paul encouraged us by saying he was not disobedient to his heavenly vision. Our sole duty is to be a faithful witness. The results are not up to us. The results are not up to us. But God gives the increase. The results are not up to us. But his word cannot return empty. Cannot do it. Chapter 27. God is taking copious notes on our movements, on your movements. The only one, you're the only one between you and God, you're the only one who believes your movements don't matter. Your movements do matter. Whether you move every day, whatever you do, your movements matter. Your movements are encouraging people or discouraging people. You get up every morning, you make your bed, you go to work, you work hard, you come home, and you do your chores around the house. Your movements matter. And God is recording them. And each one of Paul's movements as he went to preach the gospel of Christ, they are copiously and with exactness written down for us to read. So every slow, boring day, it's recorded. Every difficult day, it's recorded. Every day your plans are opposed, it's recorded. Every dangerous situation is recorded. Every time foolish people don't take your advice, it's recorded. Every time you can't put two good days together, it's recorded. Every time your life is blown apart, like Paul's was with a hurricane. It's recorded. Every time you barely escape a trial with great difficulty, it's recorded. Every time you feel driven along by the currents of life beyond your control, it's recorded. Every time you abandon hope of surviving, it's recorded. Every time God gives you the light of hope in your darkness, it's recorded. And every time you are brought home and will be brought home safely to land, it's recorded.