Nathan Schipper - Class 2: On Tour with Paul

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Guys, don't ever underestimate what an awesome experience it is to get 200 young people together in one room singing praise to God. God must be overwhelmed by the glory and the praise that we're giving Him when we do this together. And the people who may happen to listen to it, what an awesome thing.

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   And how many of the older brothers and sisters in our ecclesias would just love to hear 200 young people singing a song like that. It's a fantastic thing to do. Okay, yesterday we talked about being pleased to meet Paul. Yeah, pleased to meet Paul. Is that right? I think so. Yeah, it is. Pleased to meet Paul.

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   Does anybody remember what were the three quotes that I turned up and we all had a look at what were the three quotes, the progression of three quotes that Paul gives us that gives us an insight into how he saw himself? Does anyone know what those three quotes are?

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   Yes, where are you from? Wales. My aim at the end of this night is to have at least one score on everybody's country. Okay, everybody. That includes Canada. I know that's going to be hard. But no, everybody. Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3. Where are you from? UK. Nigeria. Nigeria. 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1. You're from Australia. Awesome.

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   Okay, those are the three quotes. And can anybody tell me what did the 1 Corinthians 1 say? Least of what? Least of the apostles. Least of the apostles. I don't need to ask where you're from, mate. What did Ephesians 3 say? Least of the least. No. Less than the least. Less than the least.

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   Of who? Least of the least. Where are you from? Australia. And what did 1 Timothy 1 say? Least of the apostles. One for all of you. No, no, no. Scott said that. Okay. Right, well done. Okay, so 1 Corinthians 15. He's the least of all the apostles. Five years later, I am the least of all the saints.

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   And then five years later, I am the greatest of all sinners. That was the little journey that the Apostle Paul went on over a 15-year period of his life. The older he got, the more he realized how great a sinner he was. And how dependent he was on the grace and the mercy of God.

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   Okay, tonight we are going on tour with the Apostle Paul. And I'm sure you guys have seen it over here. You know, like you see the advertising. You see bands coming in, personalities, actors, actresses, whatever they are. They fly in and it all seems so absolutely fantastic, doesn't it? It seems so glamorous.

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   Flying around the world, like on their private jet, they arrive. You know, they strut their stuff on the stage. They hobnob with the rich and the famous. They're overnight at the Savoy. That's your hotel here, isn't it? The big one, yeah. They're overnight at the Savoy. They've got this big puffy pillow. Huge bed.

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    You know, it seems absolutely glamorous when you've got your own personal butler. Gourmet meals. Drive around in a limousine. Sip champagne as you get transferred to your private jet. All the while waving at adoring fans. Just want signatures and souvenirs. Get on your private jet and you're off to the next city. I mean, could it get any better?

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    I remember like when I was a bit younger thinking wouldn't it be awesome just to be like one of their assistants wouldn't it just be like awesome to travel around the world as one of their assistants just to like get a little bit of a taste of what it would have been like well um we're going to experience what it was like being on tour with the apostle Paul and we're just going to get a small sampling of what it was like to tour with him and just see how good it was or how um good it wasn't now let's just get into Paul's mind for a moment it's been 11 years since he'd been told by his lord that he was going to be touring the world sharing the gospel and that whole 11 years he's been sitting in Tarsus his hometown does anyone know where Tarsus is what country is that in that wasn't that was the United States guy again yes it is Tarsus is in is in southern Turkey actually south eastern Turkey and Paul was spent 11 years there just waiting waiting and waiting hanging for the day that the lord would actually carry out his promise to send him to preach the gospel and you know he didn't send his resume to Barnabas and say mate I'm qualified I'm really good at this Jesus told me I'm the one I'm a good speaker I should be out there come on he spent 11 years just waiting he didn't send any messengers telling them that he was good that he was the one to do the job he wasn't out there

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    promoting himself he wasn't keen to get onto the world stage and then all of a sudden there's a knock on the door and he finds himself in Acts chapter 11 in Antioch now just come to Acts chapter 13 he's introduced to the record in Acts chapter 11 being in Antioch but it's Acts chapter 13 where we really start seeing what was going on and the impact that the apostle Paul was having and in Acts chapter 13 we get a pretty good picture of what life was like in the ecclesia the ecclesia was growing rapidly lives were being transformed families were being united people simply couldn't keep up with the work every Sunday morning it was like one loaf and then the next week two loaves and then the next week three loaves more chairs we need more chairs we need more what do you guys call it goblets wine glasses what do you call it it was really scary really scary sitting at the back of the hall over there on Sunday you know like in Australia we had individual ones sitting at the back they're thinking oh no everyone's going to have had one and by the time it gets there what's going to be left it wasn't quite like that but that's what it would have been like for this ecclesia just more chairs more loaves of bread more wine glasses more people every single Sunday morning what did they have in terms of leaders we'll have a look at Acts chapter 13 and verse 1 now they were in the ecclesia that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers Barnabas Simeon Lucius Manian which had been brought up with Herod the

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    Tetrarch and Saul there is and Saul okay Saul was there so they had the dream team they had five choice preachers and they were united they were all heading the heading in the same direction the growth in this ecclesia was absolutely incredible and then suddenly God just stepped in and everything changed what happened who can tell me what happened in one sentence five words what happened yeah and Barnabas where are you from mate England exactly have a look at what it says in Acts chapter 13 and verse 2 as they ministered to who to the ecclesia now just note that right it doesn't say that they ministered to the ecclesia it says as they ministered to the Lord to Jesus and fasted the Holy Spirit said separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where unto I have called them and they laid hands on them they prayed and then what happens well they booked a ship to Cyprus that was it they were off and by the way it was no pleasure cruise right it was no Queen Mary too this was no pleasure cruise trip at all now what city is that who said that first yes of course it's Sydney that is Sydney now it's he got on a boat like do any of you have pet rats no good because if you did you wouldn't even put your pet rat on the boat that how they traveled in they were so dodgy the boats were incredibly dodgy and he jumped on a boat like that and traveled does anyone know the distance from Antioch to Cyprus Salamis was a city does anyone know

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    approximately 100 kilometers so about 60 miles right about 60 miles on a boat that you wouldn't even put your pet rat on I have a question for you how many times was the Apostle Paul shipwreck no twice who said twice unfortunately you're wrong I haven't been handing out smarties I'm sorry how many times was Paul shipwrecked no who said four the answer is at least four right because in second Corinthians 11 it says that three times he was shipwrecked and then Acts chapter 27 you remember on his way to Rome he gets shipwrecked again so at least four times the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked at least four times and who knows when that happened who knows when that happened but once would be enough for me right I probably wouldn't be too interested getting it back on a boat when I've been shipwrecked three times now you got back on it again and maybe more all we know of is that the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked four times now they arrive at Cyprus right and it's a fairly large island do you know they didn't just build a fire on the beach and wait for everybody to come wait for everybody to hear that they were there and then look everybody will get word that we're here and when they come around our little fire we'll be able to talk to them about the gospel no it doesn't say that at all it says that they went through the whole island preaching no trams no trains no island charter flights no segways no they had two legs from the hips to the ground and when they moved them they walked around

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    and that's what they did the whole way through their country they preached the gospel from one end to the other and when they got to the other end they got onto another canoe and cruised across to purga and do you know what happened at purga what happened at purga sorry no yes who said that whales do you want a packet of smarties exactly one third of this preaching team right just went missing in action one third of the preaching team just said sorry i'm going home i'm out of here packed his bags and took off now just imagine you're on tour right just imagine you're on tour and your key assistant your key assistant your manager just hands in his resignation effectively effective immediately and says i'm going home imagine what that would have been like if i was paul if i was paul i would have been tempted to write my resignation notice to the ecclesia at antioch put it in the mail and say i'm sorry john mark one of yours pulled out on me too hard find somebody else not paul not paul not barnabas at all they didn't do that but check out what was coming just have a look at what was coming fast forward to acts chapter 14 they find themselves in a city called iconium acts chapter 40 and verse 1 and it says that they went both together into the synagogue of the jews and spake and a great multitude both of the jews and also of the greeks believed okay then verse 8 tells us that after preaching the gospel there they went to another city called lystra and they found there a certain man who was impotent in his feet and he'd been

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    a cripple from his mother's womb who never had walked and what did they do they healed him they healed this man and then all of a sudden the people start honoring them the people start revering them the people start saying verse 11 they lifted up their voices saying the gods have come down from us in the likeness of men and they called barnabas jupiter paul mercurius because he was the chief speaker and you know what the people who knew nothing about it the people were who were in entire ignorance the last people to understand what was going on to understand that they were being worshipped was the apostles themselves the last people a language right they're all speaking a different language kind of like me coming here we speak the queen's english in australia coming here you guys you sound like americans and it's just so hard for us to understand what you're saying sometimes no not really i'm joking but the apostles were in ignorance they didn't understand what was going on and what was being said but what a tempting moment right what a tempting moment what an awesome opportunity for the apostle paul and for barnabas to start getting a big head you know when the message is powerful when the delivery is good you can make the mistake of getting treated like a god people start wanting signatures they start wanting souvenirs and it's pretty easy to let it go to your head and start expecting such adoration not paul and barnabas right because the record tells us that quite to the contrary they're ripping their clothes off they're just ripping their clothes off no i don't want this

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    no no no this is not at all what i want they didn't want to embrace for a moment the adulation of the crowd you know guys deflect all attention from yourself deflect it that's exactly what they did they just tried to deflect all attention from themselves all of it just check out verse 19 how short-lived was this perceived popularity the opposite extreme was just moments away right they're being honored as gods the people thought gods had come down from heaven now have a look at verse 19 the opposite extreme is just minutes away can someone read verse 19 thank you now who's going to do it go for it welcome to the world of human praise one minute people are bowing down to you honoring you as gods next minute they're throwing tomatoes or worse still stones and that's exactly what's going on here paul's trying to dodge stones but he'd just been honored as a god it sort of reveals the instability and the uselessness of mere popularity it's a perilous cliff with very very jagged edges and here's a question for the welsh other people will know it as well australia has a prime minister or had a prime minister of welsh origin do you know who it was i said the welsh yes you were right julia gillard she's actually of welsh origin now oh sorry sorry sorry i'll give the i won't put up there the next time wales get one julia gillard was our prime minister and in the last couple of months she was she had sandwiches thrown at her twice she's our prime minister and young kids and people were throwing sandwiches at her vegemite sandwiches welcome to the

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    well vegemite is good gear welcome to the world of human praise it's what it's like honored one moment stone the next and that's exactly what's happening to the apostle paul and to barnabas and you know what it says in verse 19 that they stoned him and then they dragged him just imagine that right imagine that just imagine being hated so much that people start throwing rocks at you and then when you're unconscious instead of calling triple nine they leave you for dead no they actually drag you out your skin gets ripped off they thought he was dead that's how lifeless his body was he clearly didn't use his arms to protect himself does anybody want to volunteer for a demonstration of what that might have been like no it doesn't surprise me no one would right no one would want to volunteer for what the apostle paul just went through here but you know such was the suffering such was the trial and such was the pain that he went through to share the gospel which sheds so many blessings on us so many blessings on us people who sometimes treat it with such little care and passion should i go today should i go to the meeting should i preach today heads i do tails i don't that's what he went through to share the gospel and you know lying in a pool of blood he gets up and he walks into the city the same city that had just stoned him he sleeps the night no dorchester no puffy pillows if you were stoned in wolverhampton the next day you'd be running the opposite direction wouldn't you well no that's not the apostle paul

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    not taking the fastest route in the other direction not paul he pushed aside the stones wiped the dust and blood from his face and climbed straight back onto the platform that is authentic raw passion for the gospel because the morning he woke up he walked 40 miles to derby 40 miles to derby with splitting headache and none of them skin hanging off his back bruised battered open wounds and he walks 80 kilometers no limousine no segue successfully preaches to the people in derby makes disciples there and then happens to return home via the same city that stoned him don't know what you would do but i'd probably bypass that city but no he went back through that city saw the brothers and sisters all the way back home now let's just get our whoopsie where am i no that's right come back to acts chapter 14 or come sorry to the end of acts chapter 14 acts chapter 14 they come back through um the same ecclesias that they had just established and they arrive back at antioch and it says this verse 26 and thence they sailed to antioch from where they had been recommended to the grace of god for the work which they fulfilled and when they were come and had gathered the ecclesia together they rehearsed everything that had gone on you know the ecclesia would have been really excited right these guys have been sent out to go and preach the gospel who knows where to countries they hadn't been to and they head off there and they come back at the ecclesia and all the ecclesias together it's sunday morning and they all know that paul and barnabas are

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    going to be there they're all excited to hear about the promotion of the gospel how many ecclesias have been established how many believers they've met what has gone on and it says verse 27 they rehearsed all that god had done with them i don't know about you but for me i'd probably be walking in there on crutches putting all my arms in like a what do they call those things bandages slings you know showing them all the bruises and scars that i've got no no no it says they rehearsed all that god had done with them is that great or what there was no big time interviews right no big time big time interviews saying mission accomplished let's have a press conference shall we and tell everybody how awesome it was tell everybody what we did how great a job it was no no they just reported how god had worked through them can somebody read for me 1 corinthians 3 verse 7 fantastic paul never forgot that the person who plants is nothing the person who sows is nothing the person who waters is nothing all the glory goes to god who gives the increase and so when they came back it was all about god it wasn't about them it wasn't about how they'd been bruised and beaten and stoned no no it was none of that it was all about god because all glory and all praise belongs to god you know the responsibility to share the gospel the responsibility to preach the gospel is ours to embrace but the credit is god's all credit is god's for whatever happens when we preach whatever

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    happens doesn't matter how many people come to the lecture you might have brought two people to the meeting you might have brought 10 people to the lecture you didn't bring them god did he's the one who gives the increase don't take the glory for yourself get all the attention off yourself as fast as you can get out of the limelight it's not your work all glory belongs to our father and in all the trials and in all the successes of paul and barnabas and paul and silas in everything they did all of the glory went to god all of it now fast forward to acts chapter 16 because in acts chapter 16 we find the apostle paul back on the road again and on this trip he happens to pass again through the through the same ecclesias that he established on his first trip and he gets to antioch which is the furthest away from his hometown and he's like okay let's go west let's go and preach the gospel further west shall we let's try north let's try west and see what happens well it says acts chapter 16 and verse 6 can someone read verse 6 7 and 8 for me yep acts 16 no that's it fantastic thank you very much okay so what's going on here guys they pass through antioch and they pray for open doors now in the bible that's language for an open door is i go through the door if you it's actually a really interesting study go through the bible and have a look at open doors and shut doors very interesting but they pray for open doors right and ready hearts

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    but a revelation of some sort prevented them from going west into the territory that was to later become known as the seven ecclesias you know where um all the seven ecclesias who are mentioned um and they've just totally escaped me low to see her and and all the all the rest of them they were prevented from going there okay we'll go somewhere else and they started going there and they were prevented from going there as well you know there's times in our life where we have a similar experience isn't there we step out in faith we um we're going to do something we don't know where it's going to take us there's so much that's unknown we make headway in our walk and then a door slam shut just just missing our nose and we don't know where to go we don't know where to turn but just like paul and silas and timothy no reason is given sometimes so how do we respond well just like they did they marched on and it happened again the same thing happened again the spirit didn't permit them eventually they passed by two country or two cities they traveled west and hit this coastal city called troas and it was there that they received a revelation you know guys that must have been seriously hard luke offers absolutely no insight into how these men responded to three dead ends all we know is that they continued on and just kept going but that must have been incredibly hard traveling miles and miles and miles for days only to get to your destination to find out that you're

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    not needed or you're not wanted there do you guys do like pamphleting yeah you do you call it pamphleting yeah okay i just want you to imagine for a moment right that you're at pamphleting and it is a typical english summer day so there's blue sky in the morning and then just as you start pamphleting a storm comes just like we've had today no no just imagine that you're at pamphleting right and you come to this street and you've got a couple of houses at the beginning and it's a really big long cul-de-sac and you look down the end of the cul-de-sac and right at the very end of the cul-de-sac there is one lone house and i bet some of you are thinking i wouldn't do it and those thoughts would go through our mind can i really be bothered walking to the end of the street and yes you muster up the courage and you muster up the strength and say yes i'll do it and you walk all the way down to this end of the cul-de-sac and when you get there no junk mail and what do you do sorry post it through anyway okay that that might be the case but i know what would happen to me all these adjectives would come into my mind i was like pamphleting is such a waste of time like it is such a waste of time i've got better things to do than this pamphleting is so outdated let's do it something let's do it differently let's use social media like this is ridiculous i've walked 500 meters down the road and i've got no junk mail why am i wasting

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    my time doing this all because one letterbox was closed these guys had three and they just kept going instead of turning back to antioch they just continued on and on and on and walked into the seaside city of troas and if you were to read second corinthians chapter 2 and verse 12 it would say that they received an open door where they came across an open door now what sort of travel distance are we talking there you know about 600 miles 600 miles right no planes no buses no trains no just their two legs from their hips to the ground and acts chapter 16 tells us that in in troas verse 9 a vision appeared to paul in the night there stood a man of macedonia and prayed him saying come over into macedonia and help us you know notice that the record doesn't say that the vision appeared to silas or to timothy no it says it just appeared to paul and it was imploring paul to come over the water and this light goes on in paul's head ah i get it now this is all about taking the gospel into europe this is all about taking the gospel further this is about wider outreach this is taking the gospel to places it's never been before now just imagine right imagine you're on tour with the apostle paul you're in your bed it's the middle of the night paul's in a bed somewhere near you you're asleep and paul comes and wakes you up and says hey i've just received a vision we've got to go over to europe we're going to go over to philippi i don't know what you'd be like but i'd be tempted

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    paul back to sleep get a little bit more sleep mate i hope you don't have any more bad dreams not they not they right look what it says it says they packed their bags no waiting for any more information they didn't wrestle with the details no waiting for the right time no waiting for the right weather no weak excuses like i get seasick or this is too far from home i don't have the funds or i'll miss my mummy no sooner had god said go and it says they left immediately they left immediately now let's just get our bearings right okay this is where they started antioch over here which is oh sorry right here which is antioch north lebanon today right from here they're headed up to or there's conya which is iconium antioch was about here so they walk from here all the way through derby lystra iconium and antioch and then from there bithynia is up here my sea is around here they walk all the way over to troas and they receive a vision that says actually we want you to come all the way over the water over to here to a place called philippi and that's exactly what they did they jumped on a boat and they took off and they landed in philippi and on arrival what did they find what did they find on their arrival i'm going to put a slide up on the platform or up on the platform up on the screen and i want you to read acts chapter 16 and verse 13 to yourself to yourself and tell me what was the difference between the images on the screen and what acts 16 and verse 13 says

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    if you're wondering yes that's me many years ago no sorry excellent you see guys they arrived at the river and they found all the women having a prayer meeting just sitting down around the river you know silas didn't whip out the lectern and then call paul forward to give an exhort no they sat down and shared the gospel one-on-one do you know the platform is not the best place the platform is not the most effective place the best work is done sitting down with people taking the time to talk one-on-one small groups sharing the gospel talking to the heart taking the time to do so with individuals and that's what they did and you know what verse 15 who would have thought that that lone house at the end of the cul-de-sac would have resulted in a baptism not just of the of lydia but verse 15 who can read verse 15 for me lydia and her whole house were baptized because paul pamphleted that one lone house at the end of the cul-de-sac now we know the story of acts chapter 16 or i assume you do let's just run through it in brief paul and silas and timothy healed a woman who was being mistreated by some slaves and they find themselves where being beaten right they find themselves being beaten verse 23 tells us or verse 22 the multitude the multitude rose up together against them the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded that they were to be beaten and when they had laid many stripes upon them they cast them into prison charging the prisoner to keep them safely by law how many stripes could a jew administer

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    sorry 39 that is exactly correct the jews could administer 40 stripes save one who's administering it here romans right now if you go to second corinthians chapter 11 you'll find paul says that he received stripes above measure which is more than 40 right above measure numerous times maybe one of those times was here right maybe one of those times at least 40 stripes i have a question for you why didn't paul take out his roman driver's license and waive his roman citizenship and say you can't do this to me big fella why didn't he do that no sorry no it's this is we don't know the exact answer to it right so i'm sorry it's a it's a rhetorical question i'm about to give you the answer you didn't give me the opportunity to this is what i think is the answer anyway i don't think paul could have brought it out i don't think he could have done it to himself how could i bring out my wild card how could i wave my roman driver's license and say you can't do this to me when i've done the same thing to believers so he didn't he never pulled out his driver's license but it shouldn't have happened to him he could have and it wouldn't have happened but he refused to do so and you know after that unenviable treatment they were thrown deep inside a roman dungeon with feet inside stocks no grand hyatt no that neither was it the wandsworth no not at all their feet were fast in stocks something like that you know i don't know exactly what they were

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    like to be honest with you it doesn't really matter but regardless of what type they were they lay there on plush thick carpet no they lay there with their backs open wounds bleeding welts they lay on cold ground after severe lashings how great suffering is that you know i wonder if they ever thought when they were lying there is this what god had in mind when that man appeared to us and said i want you to come over and help us is this what god had in mind well yes it is this is exactly what god had in mind it's all part of the plan we're on tour with paul is this really where god wanted us to be yes it is just picture the scene right there they are inside a prison bleeding welts all over them wounds untreated clothing not replaced no shower no toilet no telephone to call a lawyer such was life inside a roman prison in which paul spent about 35 of his life as a preacher that's what it was like and just a few hundred meters away was the luxury of lydia's home that he'd stayed in the night before and what did he do when he was in prison hey silas sing me a song sing me everybody hurts no no look at what it says that they did in prison it says in verse 25 and at midnight paul and silas prayed and sang praises unto god do you know prayer and praise in a prison isn't all that common songs of joy are not typically heard from men lying in prison in the situation and

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    in the circumstances that they were particularly with blue bleeding welts and open wounds no prayer and praise isn't common in prison full stop but you know what it actually says here it says at the end of verse 25 the prisoners heard them now of all the times that the word heard is used in the new testament the word that's used here is used once only and it means to listen with pleasure of all the times the word heard is used in the new testament heaps of times right it's used once only to mean to listen with pleasure and it's here in acts chapter 16 and there's paul and silas singing praises and worshiping god and all the other prisoners are listening and hearing it with pleasure and then all of a sudden all the doors are flung open all impediments to movement their escape is made possible all the bolts and the doors are gone they can just run on out of the prison and paul and paul and silas calls out no no no don't go anywhere don't go anywhere at all and verse 30 the jailer comes in he springs in he comes trembling before paul and silas he says sirs what must i do to be saved now i don't know about you right but verse 31 says they said believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house if that were me in that jail right right then i'd be suggesting that we get out of the jail pretty quickly because we've just had an earthquake and the whole thing could cave in but i'm thankful that paul wasn't like me because they sat there in that prison and they shared the

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    gospel and then what happens well it says that verse 33 he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized now correct me if i'm wrong the last time it happened to me water on open wounds tends to be a relatively painful experience yeah it can be a pretty painful experience and again i don't know about you but if i was paul i think i would be able to justify using the miraculous powers that god had given me to heal these wounds hey silas let's do this do this healing thing on each other shall we you heal me and i heal you no do you know it never happened they could have justified it by saying hey look this would provide fantastic evidence to the jailer and to his family that that we've got the gospel that this is true that this is right but no not once not once even though they had the spirit gifts even though they had the ability to heal people not once did they exercise it for themselves isn't that amazing not once did they use it to heal their own sufferings they used it to restore the health of others not themselves and so after receiving stripes above measure spending a night in a jail lying on your back as you had to do when you're in those stocks they finally get out of jail and acts chapter 17 tells us that they're on the road again straight on the road again 150 kilometers 90 miles to thessalonica you have got to be joking you've just been beaten within an inch of your life and he's straight back on the road 150

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    kilometer trek he just did not stop that's what it was like being on tour with the apostle paul he arrives in acts chapter 17 he shares the gospel with people in thessalonica and then leaves there and he arrives at another ecclesia or another city in verse 11 at berea he finds that they're more noble another ecclesia is founded but luke keeps us riveted to reality because um they didn't like him in thessalonica and they didn't like him in berea either and their reaction in verse 14 was fairly prompt and decisive they had to get out of there and they got out of there pretty quickly but it would prove to be another advance in the gospel cause because not only does paul leave this city with a newly planted ecclesia with a great culture but his escape takes him to another city the progress was like wildfire stamp it out in one location and it just flames up in another and that's exactly what it was like being on tour with paul you know being on tour with paul was one pretty high risk experience his whole life in fact was characterized by taking risks by acts of faith really was he a risk taker was paul really a risk taker i mean did he do anything or say anything controversial did he say anything that was different to what people had always heard to what people had always believed and like passionately clung onto and held onto well imagine being the first person to come out and say in public to people who'd prided themselves on circumcision to people who had used it as a symbol of being clean and unclean to people who had used it of well you're either god's people

32. 41:57

    or you're the scum of the earth you're an uncircumcised philistine imagine coming out and saying to those people that circumcision has no benefit imagine coming out and saying to them that circumcision availeth nothing whoa whoa just imagine what that would have been like to come out and say that for the first time and you know paul didn't just say it once every single city he went to he had the same message for the juice circumcision availeth nothing it means absolutely nothing there is no value there is no need for circumcision for salvation just imagine standing up on a platform in a chrysidelfian ecclesia for the first time propounding a teaching that is completely contrary to anything that was ever said from the same platform imagine saying for example that israel are not god's people wow wouldn't dream of it would we wouldn't dream of it for a moment but um paul did he stood up there and he said what needed to be said he was right he had the bible behind him but imagine the pressure imagine the sweat running down his face his heart beating every time he stood up in front of a new jewish audience and said hey circumcision is worthless it means absolutely nothing he wasn't concerned that people would sideline him he wasn't concerned what people would think of him he wanted to be accurate to the text he wanted to be accurate to god and yes he would have been roundly criticized for it sure he was judged because of it but you know he took the risk that faithfulness to god was of more value than the loyalty of men he stepped out in faith with god on his side

33. 43:57

    now just fast forward to acts chapter 18 and verse 23 we find ourselves at the end of another of paul's trips this time around 15 000 frequent fly points that's what he would have accomplished now let's just get this in our head for a moment right it's ad 54 he's just spent three years on the road literally literally on the road walking no car no limousine no bus or aeroplane he's probably got 50 candles on his birthday cake and the last 15 candles are nailed and battered with cuts all over and i mean all over them in fact paul tells us what those candles had experienced just sit back and let me read for you what those last 15 candles had experienced of the jews five times received i 40 stripes save one in stripes or in labors more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft three times i was beaten with rods once i was stoned three times i suffered shipwreck a night and a day i've been floating in the deep in journey's often in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils by my own countrymen in perils by the heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren in weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and thirst fasting often in cold and nakedness a not so inviting travel brochure of a christian preacher's life you know he might have celebrated his 50th birthday in prison or maybe clinging to a piece of driftwood and while most 50 year olds are thinking about jacking up their pension fund

34. 45:59

    thinking about retirement maybe a three-month holiday you know paul's folding his shirts he's packing his pants and he's put his shoes in his bag for another four years on the road you know i honestly couldn't think of anything worse than living out of a suitcase for four years spending four years on the road with no place called home i love my shower like my shower not the kids my shower i love like my house my bed my desk not somebody else's even the best hotels even the savoy it's not mine i can go and get the best room there but it's not my room it's not my house he didn't have any of that he got bashed he was imprisoned he was shipwrecked he was robbed wherever he went there was no nhs there was no royal anti-ok hospital no disability or welfare payments and if there was he would have been legible for both the average temperature was about 35 to 45 degrees hot humid and sweaty no ice packs no freezer packs just try to imagine life in the sandals of paul without air conditioning just try and imagine that traveling was downright dangerous johannesburg is known for carjackings right where paul traveled was well known for highway robbers and murders the man was addicted there is no other word for it would you go on tour with him would you throw your throw in your career your job your security for a few years on tour with paul would you take that risk you know i've asked myself sometimes whether i would do that because it's questions like those that force us to probe deep

35. 48:10

    below the surface of our incredibly comfortable lives incredibly comfortable but you know guys life is not about being happy comfortable and pain-free it's about becoming the men and the women that god wants us to be are you tempted to go on tour with paul does all that sound inviting you know on top of all those things he tells us that there was another thing that he had another burden and another pressure and he says in second corinthians chapter 11 on top of all those things cometh upon me daily the care of all the ecclesias he ached with anxiety for the ecclesias ached with anxiety for the brothers and sisters that he had shared the gospel with you know are you keen that's what it's like on tour with paul are you keen are you ready to go is that something you want to do who am i any guesses no no guesses at all no i'll give you a hint he's an artist or was an artist yes up the back did you put your hand up no sorry i thought somebody put their hand up anybody no sorry i can't hear you no no that is rafael and rafael was actually asked to paint the frescoes in the vatican and one particular occasion as he was painting these frescoes a cardinal from the catholic church happened to walk past him and pointed out to rafael and said hey the face of the apostle paul or the face of saint paul appears to blush and you know without even turning without even looking at the cardinal rafael said he blushes to see into whose hands

36. 50:51

    the church has fallen would he blush now it's fallen into your hands would he blush now dear all i hope this finds you in better shape than i am we've just returned from three years on tour about 15 000 frequent fly points this trip but it wasn't all that good for my physical health i'm still recovering from the severe flu i caught and i'm hoping to finally get some decent treatment for the countless lashings i received in philippi my body is a diary of scars but i'm in high spirits as the father has achieved some incredible things actually we need some assistance are you available to join us for a couple of months not sure where we'll be going or staying but it will definitely involve some risks the likelihood of two or three broken bones is pretty high no need for travel insurance the father takes good care of us no pressure but don't forget to wear some decent shoes and a few changes of clothes being on tour is not all peaches and cream you keen let me know paul p.s.

37. 52:04

    i'd rather be sailing than sinking but we may get shipwrecked as well yes