AD Norris – The Apostles, Their Acts and Their Words – Class 5

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This is the 1981 Texas Scripted
Elk in Bible School.

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This is the 5th class on Apostle
Their Acts and Their Words by

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Brother Alfred North.
So far, very little has been

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said about Paul’s letters, or
any other letters except for the

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occasional quotation here and
there, and perhaps the odd hint

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as to when the letter might have
been written.

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You might like to have, though,
just for reference, some

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indication of where the various
epistles of Paul do fit in to

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the various phases of his life.
This, with one slight

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uncertainty, which I’ll mention
in a moment, is what I take to

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be that list First, somewhere
about the close of the first

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missionary journey, or perhaps
the beginning of the second, the

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letter to the Galatians.
Second during the second

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missionary journey itself, the
1st and 2nd letters to the

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Thessalonians.
Third during the third

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missionary journey, First
Corinthians, Second Corinthians

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and Romans. 4th.
During the imprisonments of

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Paul, possibly all of them in
Rome, but just possibly one of

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them a little earlier, say in
Caesarea.

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Philippians, Ephesians,
Colossians, and Philemon.

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And 5th those letters written
after the Roman imprisonment,

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and up to and including the
second imprisonment, at the end

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of which Paul would seem to have
been executed first, Timothy.

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Titus and Second Timothy.
I haven’t tried to get Hebrews

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into the list, not to give any
discussion as to the

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circumstances in which Hebrews
originated.

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It is my own view, for what it
is worth, that Paul must have

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been intimately associated with
that letter.

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Also, whether the actual writer
is possibly another matter.

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And that that would be.
Quite.

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Late sometime, perhaps during
the period of liberty between

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the 1st and 2nd Roman
imprisonments.

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The reason why one thinks that
Galatians may well have been the

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first of the letters to be
written is that it touches so

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intimately on the problems that
we met at the end of Acts

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Chapter 14 and the beginning of
Chapter 15, and with which the

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Council at Jerusalem was
concerned.

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The question as to whether
Gentile converts needed to

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become Jews before they could
become Christians, as to whether

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they did or did not need to be
circumcised and to keep the law.

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Since that matter was
definitively decided at the

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Council of Jerusalem, to which
Paul in Galatians makes no

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reference, then I think the
probability is that Galatians

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would have been written a little
before that council made its

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decision.
Sometime, perhaps while.

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Paul was still in Antioch,
having come back from his first

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missionary journey, and before
he and Barnabas went to

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Jerusalem to thrash the matter
out Galatians was.

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Deeply concerned with that
primary problem.

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Or the Gentile converts to be
Judaized.

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Must they accept the
blandishments, the reasonings,

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which led them to think that
they ought to become Jews?

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Otherwise Christ was of no
avail, and Paul’s answer to that

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was decisive.
It was rather like the answer

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the Lord Jesus Christ had given
himself anticipating this

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problem when he said you don’t
put a piece of new cloth into an

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old garment.
You don’t put new, still

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bubbling wine into old, brittle
wineskins.

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This is a new start, and though
it owes much to the preparation

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which the Old Testament gave, it
does not simply build upon the

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almost complete foundation of
Old Testament teaching and

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practice and put, as it were, a
Christian.

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Crown on top.
Of it.

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It starts a new way of life with
a saviour granting a new

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liberty.
And so far is it?

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From being possible to accept a
willing circumcision and Christ

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at the same time that Paul says,
I tell you that if you be

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circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing.

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You have to choose between the
two.

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You have to decide whether you
want the old, in which case you

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will not get Christ, or whether
you want Jesus Christ, in which

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case the old can be seen as
profitable shadows leading up to

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the coming of the Christ.
But you must no longer regarded

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as being of the essence of the
matter.

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It’s one of the many issues
between faith and works.

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If you try to save yourself by
what you do, then you’ll never

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get there because you’ll always
do too little.

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If you ask God to save you
because you trust, then you may

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get there because of the trust
itself.

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The Lord Jesus once put it in
the very important way when he

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said.
Ye then, when ye have done all

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these things, say we are
unprofitable servants, we have

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done that it was our duty to do,
and I take the Lord to mean

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something like this.
Imagine a king having an

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absolutely meticulous steward,
who never did anything wrong,

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who never wasted his master’s
goods, nor his.

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Master’s time.
Nor lost anything that belonged

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to his master, nor put it to bad
uses, intentionally or

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unintentionally.
But did every single task he did

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with the utmost perfection.
So at the end of the day, you’ve

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taken account of all that had
been done and you’ll find out it

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balance exactly.
Well then, says the Lord.

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What has that servant done?
He’s just not made a loss.

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He’s not made a profit.
Even when you have done all

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these things, say we are
unprofitable servants, we have

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just done our duty and only
just.

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God is no better off as the
result of our service, even if

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we were as good as that
exceptionally perfect steward.

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And we’re not, not any of us.
Only the Lord Jesus Christ has

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ever discharged with the utmost
perfection, without any flaw or

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fault, all that was laid at his
door to do.

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And even the Lord Jesus Christ,
though he could say I have

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finished the work which thou
gave us me to do, did not claim

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perfection on that score.
He said, I do cures today and

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tomorrow, and the third day I
shall be perfected.

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And he was talking about his
death.

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And when that word perfect is
used about the Lord Jesus Christ

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in the letters to the Hebrews as
three times it is, it tells us

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that God made the captain of our
salvation perfect through

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sufferings.
The Lord Jesus Christ is made by

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the promise of God.
A priest perfected, made perfect

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for evermore.
Being made perfect, he became

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the author of eternal salvation.
So the Lord Jesus Christ, now

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consummate righteousness arises.
Not only because he did no

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wrong, though that was essential
to it, as because he put away

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that which might do wrong by
causing it to be killed upon the

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cross.
So he had not only refrained

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from evil, he had now abolished
it for himself, and by dying in

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full trust in God became our
perfected priest.

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And that’s only the Lord Jesus
Christ.

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For the rest of us we have to
say not.

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We are unprofitable servants.
We have done it was our duty to

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do, but we have not done all
that it was our duty to do.

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We are servants showing a loss,
and that loss could be through

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carelessness or
misappropriation.

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Or through positive criminal
tendencies, as we take the

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things of God and make them our
own, so we can never be

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profitable servants.
If salvation is to be reckoned

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by works, we should never think
of standing in God’s temple and

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saying God, I thank you, though
I’m not as the rest of men,

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unjust, extortionate adulterers,
or even as this publican.

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I passed twice in the week.
I give 10% of all my income.

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That’s no way to talk to God.
For it only needs God to strip

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away the cloak of hypocrisy and
say that’s what you do as well,

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and those are the things you
don’t do.

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And the publican comes off
better, especially when he says,

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Lord, be merciful to me.
The.

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Sinner it’s.
Interesting the difference

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between the Pharisee and the
Publican in that parable.

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The.
Pharisee starts off by detailing

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before God his works he’s.
Talked off, moreover, in the

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near blasphemous situation of
going into God’s temple and

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praying thus with himself.
And saying to the God inside

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God, I thank you, that I’ve made
a very good job of myself.

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And.
Asking the God above to

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appreciate it.
The Pharisee in that picture is.

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The.
Kind of man, whom I’m sure all

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Texans and New Zealanders and
other Outlanders here will

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appreciate.
Like the Englishman who is a

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self-made man who worships his
creator.

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That’s.
What the Pharisee is like?

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He’s proud of what he does and
he thinks God should be proud of

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him.
He knows there’s a publican

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present.
He is probably rather pleased as

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a publican present.
Not.

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For any good, he can do the
publican, but for the good the

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publican can do to him.
God.

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Is only to see the two of them
side by side to say.

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How?
Very good that Pharisee is.

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Just look how bad the publican
is.

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He stands on the.
Publicans shoulders and looks

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taller than he was.
This.

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Pharisee in the temple.
The.

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Publican is quite different.
He’s no claims to make me more

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God, no works to parade.
No comparisons to make either.

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Whereas.
The Pharisee says I am not even

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as this publican and I am not as
other men.

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The.
Publican might, for all we can

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tell, be unaware there are any
other men.

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He doesn’t.
Take any notice of the Pharisee.

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He.
Doesn’t compare himself with

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other publicans.
He doesn’t say God.

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You shouldn’t think too hardly
of me, because there are others

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who are worse.
He just says, Lord be merciful

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to or Lord be propitiated to me
the Sinner.

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Not.
Just a Sinner, but the one, the

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only one he’s considering, like
Paul saying later who I’m the

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chief of sinners.
He can’t make any excuses for

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himself.
He doesn’t want to make any

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comparisons.
Humble.

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Though he is, he is perhaps wise
enough to see that he doesn’t

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want to be like that Pharisee,
so he doesn’t say make me like

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him, Lord.
He just says Lord be merciful.

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And.
That’s the kind of plea which

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every would be faithful disciple
of the Lord must in effect make.

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Lord.
I can’t do it by myself.

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Well, I’ve not been doing very
well at all.

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Please forgive me if my wrongs
and strengthen me to do right

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and receive me by the rebirth of
baptism as it proves.

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Into.
The company of your disciples

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looking for your Kingdom.
And.

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Galatians in its own way, is
concerned with dealing with that

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kind of problem, with dismissing
the demand for circumcision, and

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with criticizing those who do
demand it as being

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self-righteous persons who are
only to be compared with the son

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of Hagar, the Bondwoman, and not
with the son of Sarah the free

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Woman.
Whose desire is, moreover,

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punctuated by pride.
And they are led on by the

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desire to gain their own glory
by winning other people, as the

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Lord said about the Pharisees
who compass heaven and earth to

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make one proselyte.
And when?

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They have found him making
twofold, more a child of getting

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them themselves.
For.

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Those who trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ.

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There is a sharp contrast
between what Galatians calls the

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works of the flesh, which.
Are manifested.

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He gives an incomplete list
because everybody can add to the

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list of works of the flesh.
We all have our specialities and

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then an example of what we
rather inaccurately, sometimes

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caught as being the fruits of
the spirit and the.

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Apostle Ball doesn’t say fruits.
He says fruit.

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The.
Fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy,

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peace, gentleness, goodness,
hope, against which there is no

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law.
And.

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Whereas if it were the flesh
that which trusts in works or

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delights in them can specialize
in sinning.

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And.
Do this particular bad thing

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worse, or is it better than he
does the others?

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You.
Can’t specialize in

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00:12:49,880 –> 00:12:52,400
righteousness.
You can’t say I’ll have love,

221
00:12:52,400 –> 00:12:53,800
You have hope.
He’ll have joy.

222
00:12:54,000 –> 00:12:56,880
No, all those things are to
belong to the fruit.

223
00:12:57,640 –> 00:13:01,640
Of the Spirit with.
Its many blended flavours.

224
00:13:02,720 –> 00:13:04,200
There’s.
One fruit of the Spirit, and

225
00:13:04,200 –> 00:13:07,200
moreover, it’s.
Not the works of the flesh and

226
00:13:07,200 –> 00:13:09,320
the works of the Spirit.
It’s the works of the flesh and

227
00:13:09,320 –> 00:13:13,280
the fruit of the spirit.
Works are the things you do.

228
00:13:14,560 –> 00:13:16,320
Spirit.
Is that which makes it possible

229
00:13:16,320 –> 00:13:20,320
for you to bear so.
You bear the fruit of the Spirit

230
00:13:20,320 –> 00:13:25,640
by being on the Spirit’s tree.
I am the true vine, and ye are

231
00:13:25,640 –> 00:13:29,240
the branches.
If any man bear fruit, then he

232
00:13:29,240 –> 00:13:32,120
is proved that he may bear more
fruit, but.

233
00:13:32,120 –> 00:13:35,800
Except ye abide in me.
You cannot bear fruit.

234
00:13:36,240 –> 00:13:39,520
Says the Lord.
So the Lord’s teaching, and the

235
00:13:39,520 –> 00:13:41,800
Lord’s Baptism, and the Lord’s
discipleship, and the Lord’s

236
00:13:41,800 –> 00:13:46,880
mediation are absolute and
indispensable and complete when

237
00:13:46,880 –> 00:13:50,560
we get them, that is, at least
in part.

238
00:13:51,360 –> 00:13:53,280
The message of the letter to the
Galatians.

239
00:13:55,040 –> 00:13:57,840
And because it’s the 1st place
where it’s done, it might be

240
00:13:57,840 –> 00:13:59,800
right to point out that that
letter to.

241
00:14:00,640 –> 00:14:01,920
He.
Describes the manner of the

242
00:14:01,920 –> 00:14:06,200
conversion from a work bound
person to a spirit LED person

243
00:14:06,200 –> 00:14:08,160
when he says.
They.

244
00:14:08,160 –> 00:14:10,400
That our Christs have crucified
the flesh.

245
00:14:12,080 –> 00:14:18,800
With the affections and lusts.
The word crucify is used.

246
00:14:19,400 –> 00:14:22,480
Very.
Obviously about the crucifixion

247
00:14:22,480 –> 00:14:25,040
of the Lord, that was when it
happened physically.

248
00:14:26,040 –> 00:14:28,200
When he was nailed so terribly
to the cross.

249
00:14:30,280 –> 00:14:32,000
The.
Word crucify is used of the

250
00:14:32,000 –> 00:14:36,520
disciples of the Lord who are,
it seems, almost deliberately

251
00:14:36,520 –> 00:14:39,000
compared with the two
malefactors hanging at the

252
00:14:39,000 –> 00:14:42,880
Lord’s right hand and his left
when Paul says I have been Co

253
00:14:42,880 –> 00:14:47,520
crucified with Christ.
SUS Taro crucified together with

254
00:14:49,400 –> 00:14:55,000
and when the Lord says we have
been Co crucified with him in

255
00:14:55,000 –> 00:14:59,080
Romans chapter 6.
We joined the company of the

256
00:14:59,080 –> 00:15:03,600
Lord upon Gallows Hill when.
We seek to become his disciples.

257
00:15:03,720 –> 00:15:06,760
As the Lord asked, if any man
will be my disciple, let him

258
00:15:06,760 –> 00:15:09,080
deny himself and take up his
cross.

259
00:15:11,120 –> 00:15:14,160
And follow me.
And.

260
00:15:14,160 –> 00:15:16,640
Despite all our modern
weakenings of expressions like

261
00:15:16,640 –> 00:15:19,840
deny oneself.
And bearing one’s cross.

262
00:15:21,200 –> 00:15:22,160
In.
Roman times.

263
00:15:22,160 –> 00:15:24,480
There was only one reason for
bearing your cross, and that was

264
00:15:24,480 –> 00:15:26,520
because you had been condemned
to death by execution.

265
00:15:28,880 –> 00:15:30,320
And that.
Is what the Lord says to his

266
00:15:30,320 –> 00:15:33,240
disciples.
If any man will come after me,

267
00:15:33,240 –> 00:15:36,880
then do as I am doing, deny
himself as it were, try himself

268
00:15:36,880 –> 00:15:39,560
and decide that He’s not fit to
live any longer and get himself

269
00:15:39,560 –> 00:15:42,560
crucified.
He that loseth his life for my

270
00:15:42,560 –> 00:15:46,360
sake shall save it.
And so Paul in the lessons of

271
00:15:46,360 –> 00:15:49,920
the Galatians itself can say, I
have been Co crucified with

272
00:15:49,920 –> 00:15:51,840
Christ.
Nevertheless, I live.

273
00:15:53,520 –> 00:15:55,240
And.
Yet no longer I but Christ

274
00:15:55,240 –> 00:15:57,560
liveth in me.
And the life which I now live in

275
00:15:57,560 –> 00:16:00,480
the flesh, I live by faith, the
faith which is of the Son of

276
00:16:00,480 –> 00:16:02,760
God, who loved me and gave
himself up for me.

277
00:16:05,560 –> 00:16:08,560
So that to the Apostle Paul that
description he later gives,

278
00:16:08,560 –> 00:16:12,640
which we know so well of.
The impulse of baptism in the

279
00:16:12,640 –> 00:16:17,800
Christian experience is that of
starting again by crucifying the

280
00:16:17,800 –> 00:16:20,000
flesh first.
We often, unaccountably, miss

281
00:16:20,000 –> 00:16:22,160
out that bit.
And.

282
00:16:22,160 –> 00:16:24,200
Then burying it in the waters of
baptism.

283
00:16:25,360 –> 00:16:26,720
And.
Then start again a new

284
00:16:26,720 –> 00:16:28,840
resurrection life with our risen
Lord.

285
00:16:30,360 –> 00:16:34,800
We that are baptized into deaths
into the Lord Jesus Christ says

286
00:16:34,800 –> 00:16:37,440
Paul, are baptized into his
death our old.

287
00:16:37,440 –> 00:16:39,680
Man.
Hath been Co crucified with him

288
00:16:39,880 –> 00:16:44,320
that the body of sin might be
destroyed, and the true

289
00:16:44,320 –> 00:16:47,040
Christian baptism is not.
The.

290
00:16:47,040 –> 00:16:50,280
Burial of a living creature.
It’s.

291
00:16:50,280 –> 00:16:54,800
The burying of a dead one.
We count ourselves dead upon the

292
00:16:54,800 –> 00:16:57,360
cross of Christ, and we say I
want that buried.

293
00:16:58,800 –> 00:16:59,880
And.
That’s when you go into the

294
00:16:59,880 –> 00:17:04,359
waters of baptism, then to start
life again as a new creature.

295
00:17:07,280 –> 00:17:10,200
That was in the letters of the
Galatians, the message Paul

296
00:17:10,200 –> 00:17:12,400
preached, and then the letter to
the Romans, that which he

297
00:17:12,400 –> 00:17:14,359
elaborated.
And it.

298
00:17:14,359 –> 00:17:16,560
Was that message which he and
the others carried throughout

299
00:17:16,560 –> 00:17:19,119
their preaching lives as they
went throughout the Roman world?

300
00:17:22,200 –> 00:17:23,520
When?
We return now to Paul’s

301
00:17:23,520 –> 00:17:25,440
preaching.
We find him about to set out

302
00:17:25,440 –> 00:17:28,280
with Silas.
Having.

303
00:17:28,280 –> 00:17:32,920
Left Barnabas and Mark to go to
Cyprus upon what we call the 2nd

304
00:17:32,920 –> 00:17:38,560
Missionary Journey, He.
Takes a not unfamiliar course,

305
00:17:39,600 –> 00:17:41,480
goes.
Northwards through Syria, around

306
00:17:41,480 –> 00:17:44,800
the corner into Silesia, his own
home province, confirming the

307
00:17:44,800 –> 00:17:48,320
Ecclesias, and then goes on to
that central part of Asia Minor

308
00:17:48,640 –> 00:17:50,600
focused upon the.
The.

309
00:17:50,600 –> 00:17:54,840
Capital and important cities of
Antioch in Pisidia, Derby

310
00:17:55,320 –> 00:17:56,600
Iconium.
And.

311
00:17:56,600 –> 00:17:59,160
Lystra.
That’s.

312
00:17:59,160 –> 00:18:03,040
A confirmatory piece of work
going to Ecclesias already in

313
00:18:03,040 –> 00:18:07,040
existence.
Now as ACTS Chapter 16 brings

314
00:18:07,040 –> 00:18:10,600
out, there is new work to be
done, the new field to be opened

315
00:18:10,600 –> 00:18:11,720
up.
And.

316
00:18:11,720 –> 00:18:14,680
For the purpose Paul has added
to his company, One Timothy

317
00:18:16,800 –> 00:18:18,600
Timothy.
Who?

318
00:18:18,600 –> 00:18:21,960
Was taken and circumcised by
Paul because they all knew that

319
00:18:21,960 –> 00:18:26,280
though his mother was a Jewess,
his father was a Gentile Greek.

320
00:18:28,320 –> 00:18:30,080
And.
That creates a problem perhaps.

321
00:18:31,680 –> 00:18:33,080
For.
Paul, who would give way to

322
00:18:33,080 –> 00:18:36,400
nothing in the Jewish claim that
believers needed to be

323
00:18:36,400 –> 00:18:39,960
circumcised, is now found taking
someone becoming a believer and

324
00:18:39,960 –> 00:18:44,000
circumcising him.
One has the impression that he

325
00:18:44,000 –> 00:18:46,840
was baptized 1st and circumcised
subsequently.

326
00:18:48,280 –> 00:18:51,040
But.
At least it happened, in which

327
00:18:51,040 –> 00:18:54,400
case the claim of Paul’s of the
Galatians, Neither Titus who was

328
00:18:54,400 –> 00:18:57,640
with me, was compelled to be
circumcised, might seem a little

329
00:18:57,640 –> 00:18:59,480
inconsistent, a little
compromised.

330
00:18:59,720 –> 00:19:01,320
Why Titus not?
And Timothy?

331
00:19:01,320 –> 00:19:07,160
So it must rest.
One feels sure in the fact that

332
00:19:08,400 –> 00:19:10,320
Timothy, who would have been an
object of.

333
00:19:10,320 –> 00:19:14,240
Suspicion to Jews, had he not
undergone circumcision as an

334
00:19:14,240 –> 00:19:17,920
adult, for they would have
suspected that rightly, perhaps.

335
00:19:18,440 –> 00:19:22,800
In the fact that his father was
a Greek, this had been ignored

336
00:19:24,440 –> 00:19:25,720
was.
To go with Paul on all his

337
00:19:25,720 –> 00:19:27,600
troubles, we’ll enter with him
into synagogues.

338
00:19:28,360 –> 00:19:29,760
Would.
Be found in the company of Jews

339
00:19:29,760 –> 00:19:31,720
seeking to win them first to the
Kingdom of God.

340
00:19:31,920 –> 00:19:35,240
And it would have been a quite
unforgivable travesty of Jewish

341
00:19:35,240 –> 00:19:38,720
expectations that a synagogue
which is close to Gentiles and

342
00:19:38,720 –> 00:19:41,600
is not open to those who are not
circumcised should have been

343
00:19:41,600 –> 00:19:45,960
invaded against their law by a
man who was not circumcised.

344
00:19:46,680 –> 00:19:48,360
So.
Becoming all things to all men,

345
00:19:48,360 –> 00:19:51,560
to the Jews as a Jew, Paul,
himself a circumcised Jew, made

346
00:19:51,560 –> 00:19:54,840
his companion the same so that
they might have free access to

347
00:19:54,840 –> 00:19:57,120
the place where they could then
preach the meaning of the gospel

348
00:19:57,120 –> 00:20:01,720
of Christ.
Well, as they went their way

349
00:20:01,720 –> 00:20:07,040
through Asia Minor, Paul and
Silas and Timotheus, they tried

350
00:20:07,040 –> 00:20:09,520
to go to two places where they
weren’t allowed to go or.

351
00:20:10,080 –> 00:20:11,040
At.
Least they weren’t allowed to

352
00:20:11,040 –> 00:20:12,800
work.
They.

353
00:20:12,800 –> 00:20:16,160
Were since Acts, chapter 16
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to

354
00:20:16,160 –> 00:20:20,280
preach the word in Asia, and
then they essayed to go into

355
00:20:20,280 –> 00:20:22,520
Bethania, but the Spirit
suffered them not?

356
00:20:23,960 –> 00:20:25,200
Live.
At your leisure, you look at the

357
00:20:25,200 –> 00:20:27,640
maps of Asia Minor which your
Bibles will contain.

358
00:20:27,880 –> 00:20:31,000
You will notice that to have
preached in Asia would.

359
00:20:31,000 –> 00:20:33,520
Have led them to take a long
time before they got to the

360
00:20:33,520 –> 00:20:35,400
coast.
And.

361
00:20:35,440 –> 00:20:38,160
Deprecia and Bethania would
involve the northeast diversion

362
00:20:38,160 –> 00:20:40,320
from the route to the coast,
which might have meant that they

363
00:20:40,320 –> 00:20:42,040
wouldn’t have got there at all,
but would have finished up in

364
00:20:42,040 –> 00:20:44,080
the Black Sea area.
And.

365
00:20:44,080 –> 00:20:47,560
Clearly God had something else
for them to do so.

366
00:20:47,560 –> 00:20:50,880
Beside you they mustn’t visit,
and in Asia they must not delay.

367
00:20:51,800 –> 00:20:53,760
They must keep on going till
they came to the coast.

368
00:20:53,760 –> 00:20:56,720
And when they got to Troyers on
the coast, it was then that they

369
00:20:56,720 –> 00:20:58,480
had the vision of the man of
Macedonia.

370
00:20:58,760 –> 00:21:03,080
Paul did, who appeared to him by
night and said come over us in

371
00:21:03,080 –> 00:21:06,880
Macedonia and help us.
And.

372
00:21:06,880 –> 00:21:11,560
We set the record, rightly
dividing that God had called

373
00:21:11,560 –> 00:21:18,360
them to cross that area and go
into Europe went we did, but

374
00:21:18,360 –> 00:21:20,520
we’ve not been talking about we
up to that point.

375
00:21:21,840 –> 00:21:23,480
We’ve.
Been talking about Paul and

376
00:21:23,480 –> 00:21:27,120
Silas taking with them Timothy
and they went on doing this and

377
00:21:27,120 –> 00:21:29,480
they weren’t allowed to do that.
And they were instructed to do

378
00:21:29,480 –> 00:21:31,480
the other, and suddenly the
writer says we.

379
00:21:34,000 –> 00:21:36,440
But it is no doubt correctly
believed that there are we at

380
00:21:36,440 –> 00:21:37,840
this point because Luke has
joined them.

381
00:21:39,520 –> 00:21:41,000
That.
The author of the acts can put

382
00:21:41,000 –> 00:21:43,480
these things in the first person
because he is there and

383
00:21:43,480 –> 00:21:46,440
experiences them in the first
person and joins in the company

384
00:21:46,440 –> 00:21:50,360
of those who do what they do.
Luke is in the company.

385
00:21:51,520 –> 00:21:52,520
He.
Doesn’t seem at this stage to

386
00:21:52,520 –> 00:21:54,240
have travelled very far with
Paul.

387
00:21:54,400 –> 00:21:56,680
He went with him across into
Europe, and certainly to

388
00:21:56,680 –> 00:22:00,360
Philippi, but not much beyond
that it seems, for later The

389
00:22:00,360 –> 00:22:02,520
narrative goes back into the
days, and the Pauls and the

390
00:22:02,520 –> 00:22:03,920
Pauls and Timothy’s and so
forth.

391
00:22:04,160 –> 00:22:06,760
Paul is back without Luke’s
company, though he joins me

392
00:22:06,760 –> 00:22:10,040
again later, and this as we know
his beloved attendant very close

393
00:22:10,040 –> 00:22:14,480
to the time of his death.
So they crossover from.

394
00:22:14,520 –> 00:22:17,760
Asia Minor and they go into
Europe and the Gospel reaches

395
00:22:17,760 –> 00:22:20,720
our continent, well, mine for
the first time.

396
00:22:21,400 –> 00:22:23,160
There.
They are in Europe and they’re

397
00:22:23,160 –> 00:22:25,440
preaching in Philippi, the place
where there wasn’t a synagogue,

398
00:22:26,560 –> 00:22:29,280
the place where they had to go
to the Riverside, where the

399
00:22:29,280 –> 00:22:32,080
women, the Jewish women, were
accustomed to resort in prayer

400
00:22:32,280 –> 00:22:35,480
and talk with them and convert
them, and where they gained the

401
00:22:35,560 –> 00:22:38,840
welcome edition of Lydia, the
seller of purple from thyatira.

402
00:22:41,160 –> 00:22:43,680
And it was in Philippi that they
roused the anger of the populace

403
00:22:43,680 –> 00:22:45,120
and were caused to be put into
prison.

404
00:22:45,440 –> 00:22:49,120
And that splendid story of the
Philippian jailer comes to our

405
00:22:49,120 –> 00:22:52,520
notice.
It.

406
00:22:52,520 –> 00:22:54,840
Would sometimes be worthwhile to
look at the stories of

407
00:22:54,840 –> 00:22:57,640
conversion that Acts give to us
in detail, for they all have

408
00:22:57,640 –> 00:23:02,240
their splendid story to tell
Acts Chapter 2 that we’ve talked

409
00:23:02,240 –> 00:23:04,400
about already.
Where?

410
00:23:04,400 –> 00:23:07,320
Peter’s pointed preaching causes
them to be pricked in their

411
00:23:07,320 –> 00:23:10,800
hearts, and then in their object
repentance they turn to back to

412
00:23:10,800 –> 00:23:12,320
them.
And then we learn the disciples

413
00:23:12,320 –> 00:23:14,120
were filled with joy with the
Holy Spirit.

414
00:23:16,280 –> 00:23:19,160
Or the occasion in Acts Chapter
8 where Philip is sent after his

415
00:23:19,160 –> 00:23:22,520
work in Samaria to join himself
to the company of the chariot in

416
00:23:22,520 –> 00:23:25,800
which the Ethiopian Chamberlain
was being taken back to

417
00:23:25,800 –> 00:23:27,880
Ethiopia.
There.

418
00:23:27,880 –> 00:23:30,640
They found him in his chariot
reading Isaiah the prophet.

419
00:23:32,760 –> 00:23:36,840
That in itself is an object
lesson that man had gone to

420
00:23:36,840 –> 00:23:40,720
Jerusalem to worship.
While he was there, he had

421
00:23:40,720 –> 00:23:45,040
doubtless seen and participated
in the observation of various

422
00:23:45,040 –> 00:23:48,400
peasts, including the sacrifices
of slain beasts, and perhaps he

423
00:23:48,400 –> 00:23:51,880
had heard rumours of other
things that have been happening

424
00:23:51,880 –> 00:23:54,120
in that place of late.
For.

425
00:23:54,120 –> 00:23:56,440
Certainly, as he goes home, he’s
reading his Bible.

426
00:23:58,280 –> 00:24:00,000
How?
Many people in our company, when

427
00:24:00,000 –> 00:24:02,480
they had to go to an experience
for which they have diligent,

428
00:24:02,480 –> 00:24:04,720
prepared, prepared, do their
homework again on the way home.

429
00:24:06,440 –> 00:24:07,600
Not.
Many, but this man did.

430
00:24:08,880 –> 00:24:10,000
He.
Was reading his Bible when the

431
00:24:10,000 –> 00:24:12,360
peak had been reached, he was
going back to humdrum life.

432
00:24:12,960 –> 00:24:14,560
Perhaps Bible reading was his
habit.

433
00:24:14,560 –> 00:24:16,840
Certainly he had some good
reason for wanting to read it

434
00:24:16,840 –> 00:24:18,520
then.
And he read that place of the

435
00:24:18,520 –> 00:24:21,040
scripture where it is written.
He was led as a sheep to the

436
00:24:21,040 –> 00:24:23,840
slaughter, as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before

437
00:24:23,840 –> 00:24:26,240
her shearers is done.
So he opened not his mouth.

438
00:24:26,240 –> 00:24:29,280
And when Philip was called by
God to join himself to that

439
00:24:29,280 –> 00:24:33,440
man’s charity, he said a home
speaketh the prophet this of.

440
00:24:33,440 –> 00:24:37,640
Himself or of some other man?
And Philip, beginning at that

441
00:24:37,640 –> 00:24:39,720
scripture, preached to him
Jesus.

442
00:24:41,160 –> 00:24:43,200
What better scripture could
there have been?

443
00:24:43,200 –> 00:24:47,560
The 53rd chapter of Isaiah,
where just before Philip joined

444
00:24:47,560 –> 00:24:49,000
him, the man would have been
reading.

445
00:24:49,600 –> 00:24:52,400
He was wounded for our
transgressions.

446
00:24:54,240 –> 00:24:57,440
The chassis with of our peace
was upon him.

447
00:24:59,040 –> 00:25:01,160
He was bruised.
For our iniquities.

448
00:25:02,520 –> 00:25:04,880
All we, like sheep have gone
astray.

449
00:25:06,240 –> 00:25:08,800
Lord the Lord hath laid upon him
the.

450
00:25:08,800 –> 00:25:13,240
Iniquity of us all I want to
know about that man who bears

451
00:25:13,240 –> 00:25:17,000
our transgressions, dies for our
sins, upon whom my iniquities

452
00:25:17,000 –> 00:25:19,840
are laid, that is my saviour.
Where can I found him of whom

453
00:25:19,840 –> 00:25:23,800
speaketh the prophet this of?
Himself or of some other man.

454
00:25:26,400 –> 00:25:30,160
And we have passed from the
guilty, sin ridden, murderous

455
00:25:30,160 –> 00:25:35,720
Jews of Pentecost to the highly
respectable, rich and pious.

456
00:25:36,400 –> 00:25:40,760
Jew of Ethiopia going to
Jerusalem to worship and the

457
00:25:40,760 –> 00:25:45,160
remedy is the same for both
repentant be baptized to the

458
00:25:45,160 –> 00:25:47,480
Jews of Pentecost.
And.

459
00:25:47,760 –> 00:25:50,000
See here is water.
What does hinder me to be

460
00:25:50,000 –> 00:25:55,600
baptized to the Ethiopian
Chamberlain going back to his

461
00:25:55,600 –> 00:26:00,280
country?
And he is baptized when he

462
00:26:00,280 –> 00:26:02,440
believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ with all his heart.

463
00:26:02,840 –> 00:26:05,760
And like those full of joy in
the Church of Jerusalem that day

464
00:26:05,760 –> 00:26:10,280
of Pentecost, this man goes on
his way rejoicing and.

465
00:26:10,280 –> 00:26:13,440
Although the context of it acts
is that the spirit of the Lord

466
00:26:13,440 –> 00:26:17,440
caught away Philip and he was
founded Ashdod, and he went on

467
00:26:17,440 –> 00:26:19,480
his way rejoicing.
We know very well he didn’t

468
00:26:19,480 –> 00:26:20,760
rejoice because Philip had left
him.

469
00:26:21,880 –> 00:26:23,400
He rejoiced because of what he
left him with.

470
00:26:24,800 –> 00:26:26,240
And.
That was the salvation he had

471
00:26:26,240 –> 00:26:28,760
received.
So that’s another.

472
00:26:30,760 –> 00:26:32,680
And then, of course, we’ve.
Moved on, as we have already

473
00:26:32,680 –> 00:26:36,400
moved on, with some attention
being paid to it to the maximum

474
00:26:36,400 –> 00:26:38,720
of the gentile Cornelius, and
the manner in which that

475
00:26:38,720 –> 00:26:41,840
household was made happy and
rejoicing when Peter left them

476
00:26:41,840 –> 00:26:45,240
with the gospel in their hearts.
And now?

477
00:26:45,240 –> 00:26:48,440
We come to Philippi.
And.

478
00:26:48,440 –> 00:26:52,320
Paul and Silas are cast
undeserving of any punishment

479
00:26:52,320 –> 00:26:54,640
into jail and placed in the
inmost prisoner there.

480
00:26:54,640 –> 00:26:58,400
Peter made fast in the stocks
and they.

481
00:26:58,400 –> 00:27:01,360
Sing hymns while they’re there
their.

482
00:27:01,360 –> 00:27:04,040
Own joy undisturbed by the
tribulations to which they are

483
00:27:04,040 –> 00:27:09,600
going, and the smarts and aches
in their open wounds, And the

484
00:27:09,600 –> 00:27:12,600
other prisoners hear them.
And.

485
00:27:12,600 –> 00:27:14,800
Suddenly the doors are open and
the shackles are loosed and

486
00:27:14,800 –> 00:27:17,520
everybody is free and the jailer
comes in and sees what has

487
00:27:17,520 –> 00:27:19,960
happened and is about to drop
his sword and commit suicide,

488
00:27:20,280 –> 00:27:22,520
knowing that his life will be
worth nothing if these people

489
00:27:22,520 –> 00:27:24,560
escape and it comes to higher
authorities ears.

490
00:27:26,920 –> 00:27:28,560
And then?
There is Paul’s do thyself no

491
00:27:28,560 –> 00:27:32,840
harm.
We are all here and the.

492
00:27:32,840 –> 00:27:35,920
Man trembling and afraid, coming
and saying, Sirs, what must I do

493
00:27:35,920 –> 00:27:40,000
to be saved?
Perhaps not a conscious

494
00:27:40,000 –> 00:27:42,400
lawbreaker like the Jews of
Pentecost, but certainly a

495
00:27:42,400 –> 00:27:45,880
brutalized man doing brutal
things in the jail at Philippi.

496
00:27:46,120 –> 00:27:48,880
And now, but not only safe from
taking his own life, by the

497
00:27:48,920 –> 00:27:52,960
timely intervention of the
ambassadors of the Lord it.

498
00:27:52,960 –> 00:27:55,880
Says What must I do to be saved
the night long, preaching to him

499
00:27:55,880 –> 00:27:59,240
and his family, the washing of
their stripes and their baptism,

500
00:27:59,240 –> 00:28:01,200
his baptism and his household’s
baptism, too.

501
00:28:03,160 –> 00:28:04,440
And.
Again, the rejoicing in that

502
00:28:04,440 –> 00:28:07,680
household as well when Paul and
Silas leave.

503
00:28:11,000 –> 00:28:12,920
Things.
Do not go well in Philippi.

504
00:28:12,920 –> 00:28:16,040
There’s that being taken by the
Romans and submitted to

505
00:28:16,040 –> 00:28:19,080
indignities, but on that
occasion.

506
00:28:19,080 –> 00:28:21,640
At least there is some little
redress, because when the

507
00:28:21,640 –> 00:28:24,080
magistrates send us, they let
those men go.

508
00:28:24,080 –> 00:28:27,080
Paul, with a surprising show of
vigour, says no.

509
00:28:27,080 –> 00:28:29,960
They have beaten us openly,
being Romans and uncondemned.

510
00:28:29,960 –> 00:28:31,560
Let them come themselves and
take it out.

511
00:28:34,000 –> 00:28:35,080
It.
Almost looks a little

512
00:28:35,080 –> 00:28:41,240
vindictive, doesn’t it?
But it wasn’t that they were

513
00:28:41,240 –> 00:28:44,840
Romans and they did have their
rights.

514
00:28:46,280 –> 00:28:47,640
But.
It is certainly the right of

515
00:28:47,640 –> 00:28:50,880
every believer in all ages to
take advantage of any law passed

516
00:28:50,880 –> 00:28:53,640
in his favour which does not
injure anybody else.

517
00:28:55,080 –> 00:28:57,080
As.
When your country exempts

518
00:28:57,080 –> 00:29:00,800
Christadelphians from the draft
and they are as conscientious,

519
00:29:00,800 –> 00:29:03,560
objectors are allowed to have
their liberty or worry in the

520
00:29:03,560 –> 00:29:05,280
past and, we hope, maybe in the
future.

521
00:29:06,600 –> 00:29:08,680
Or.
When those making contributions

522
00:29:08,680 –> 00:29:12,640
to Christadelphian causes can
make them tax deductible and so.

523
00:29:13,040 –> 00:29:15,640
Could make some funding of their
contributions at the cost of

524
00:29:15,640 –> 00:29:18,680
what the state would otherwise
have taken only a variety of

525
00:29:18,680 –> 00:29:21,160
other ways We are entitled to
use the laws of our country.

526
00:29:21,320 –> 00:29:24,040
When the law says yes, you are
welcome to this, we acknowledge

527
00:29:24,040 –> 00:29:27,880
your right to it.
And so it was with Paul and his

528
00:29:27,880 –> 00:29:31,120
Roman citizenship.
If that could be used in the

529
00:29:31,120 –> 00:29:33,480
Lord’s service, it was right and
permissible to use it if.

530
00:29:34,040 –> 00:29:35,280
He.
Could be spared some of the

531
00:29:35,280 –> 00:29:38,400
indignities that would have been
inflicted upon you had he not

532
00:29:38,400 –> 00:29:39,960
been a Roman.
And it was right they should be

533
00:29:39,960 –> 00:29:41,920
spared them.
He said that plenty as it was.

534
00:29:42,680 –> 00:29:44,200
And.
In ours, conscientious objectors

535
00:29:44,200 –> 00:29:46,680
are allowed to have their
liberty or worry in the past

536
00:29:46,680 –> 00:29:48,120
and, we hope, maybe in the
future.

537
00:29:49,440 –> 00:29:51,480
Or.
When those making contributions

538
00:29:51,480 –> 00:29:55,440
to Christadelphian causes can
make them tax deductible and so

539
00:29:55,720 –> 00:29:58,400
make some funding of their
contributions at the cost of

540
00:29:58,400 –> 00:30:01,400
what the state would otherwise
have taken only a variety of

541
00:30:01,400 –> 00:30:03,880
other ways we are entitled to
use the laws of our country.

542
00:30:04,000 –> 00:30:06,160
When the law says yes, you are
welcome to this.

543
00:30:06,160 –> 00:30:10,520
We acknowledge your right to it.
And so it was with Paul and his

544
00:30:10,520 –> 00:30:12,760
Roman citizenship.
If.

545
00:30:12,760 –> 00:30:14,320
That could be used in the Lord’s
service.

546
00:30:14,320 –> 00:30:16,040
It was right and permissible to
use it.

547
00:30:16,600 –> 00:30:17,880
He.
Could be spared some of the

548
00:30:17,880 –> 00:30:20,960
indignities that would have been
inflicted upon him had he not

549
00:30:20,960 –> 00:30:23,080
been a Roman, and it was right
that he should be spared them.

550
00:30:23,200 –> 00:30:27,440
He suffered plenty as it was,
until the need to make a public

551
00:30:27,440 –> 00:30:29,720
demonstration to those
magistrates, that there were

552
00:30:29,720 –> 00:30:31,640
rights that must not be
contravened.

553
00:30:31,640 –> 00:30:34,320
Belonging to Roman citizens was
there and was justified.

554
00:30:34,520 –> 00:30:36,600
And needed to be declared to the
people at large.

555
00:30:36,600 –> 00:30:39,280
It was right to say let them
come themselves and fetch us

556
00:30:39,280 –> 00:30:43,160
out, but they.
Left the city for all that.

557
00:30:43,160 –> 00:30:45,400
It was not really very safe for
them to stay there now and.

558
00:30:45,760 –> 00:30:46,800
The.
Next port of call was

559
00:30:46,800 –> 00:30:48,600
Thessalonica.
And.

560
00:30:48,600 –> 00:30:51,040
There they preached the Lord’s
words earnestly, and quite

561
00:30:51,040 –> 00:30:54,000
evidently A considerable number
accepted the faith, because it

562
00:30:54,000 –> 00:30:56,240
must have been quite quickly
afterwards, during the same

563
00:30:56,240 –> 00:30:58,960
journey, that the Thessalonians
received 2 letters from him.

564
00:30:59,960 –> 00:31:01,240
And.
Almost surprising thing, in a

565
00:31:01,240 –> 00:31:02,520
way.
The.

566
00:31:02,520 –> 00:31:05,240
Two such letters should have
gone so soon when the church had

567
00:31:05,240 –> 00:31:08,200
been founded so recently.
There were obviously problems

568
00:31:08,200 –> 00:31:10,320
there.
Problems that Paul learned only

569
00:31:10,320 –> 00:31:13,440
too well when he only narrowly
escaped by with his life and was

570
00:31:13,440 –> 00:31:16,440
sent away from there because the
Jews were after him and found a

571
00:31:16,440 –> 00:31:19,920
temporary hiding place in Berea.
No it.

572
00:31:19,920 –> 00:31:21,520
Was not a comfortable life for
the apostle.

573
00:31:21,520 –> 00:31:24,400
Wherever he went, the Jews were
there looking for him, and if

574
00:31:24,400 –> 00:31:27,520
they weren’t there, they came
from the last he left behind and

575
00:31:27,520 –> 00:31:30,120
came and sought his life and
sought to do him harm.

576
00:31:31,680 –> 00:31:33,240
And.
For Berea, too, though they were

577
00:31:33,360 –> 00:31:36,200
some of them more noble than
those of Thessalonica, in that

578
00:31:36,200 –> 00:31:39,760
they received the God Word with
gladness, and examined it daily.

579
00:31:39,760 –> 00:31:42,360
Whether these things were so,
and therefore many of them

580
00:31:42,360 –> 00:31:44,640
believed.
Berea.

581
00:31:44,640 –> 00:31:47,200
Has not left its mark among the
history of the Community and the

582
00:31:47,200 –> 00:31:52,560
way that Thessalonica did and.
From there, he goes to Athens.

583
00:31:54,320 –> 00:31:55,880
In.
Athens having gone alone because

584
00:31:55,880 –> 00:31:59,440
there was work for Timothy and
Silas to do in the area of

585
00:31:59,440 –> 00:32:02,400
Thessalonica and Philippi which
they had not finished, and he

586
00:32:02,400 –> 00:32:04,520
preferred to be left alone
rather than bring them away

587
00:32:04,520 –> 00:32:06,120
prematurely.
He.

588
00:32:06,120 –> 00:32:09,000
Found time on his hands.
He.

589
00:32:09,000 –> 00:32:10,720
Preached in the synagogue of the
Jews.

590
00:32:11,440 –> 00:32:13,320
And.
Waiting for his friends came

591
00:32:13,640 –> 00:32:16,480
across the area of Pagos.
And.

592
00:32:16,480 –> 00:32:22,440
There he saw or there he had
seen an altar to an unknown God.

593
00:32:24,880 –> 00:32:26,920
And.
This pride, his enthusiasm, and

594
00:32:26,920 –> 00:32:29,960
his zeal to such an extent that
he wasn’t content to wait till

595
00:32:29,960 –> 00:32:34,680
his friends arrived ordinary.
The Lord, who had wisely

596
00:32:34,680 –> 00:32:38,160
provided that by two and two his
first disciples should go out,

597
00:32:38,360 –> 00:32:40,680
no doubt expected that that
custom will continue to be

598
00:32:40,680 –> 00:32:42,840
followed, at least not less than
two and two.

599
00:32:42,840 –> 00:32:45,560
That disciples would not be left
to stand alone, but would be

600
00:32:45,560 –> 00:32:48,080
given the brotherly support and
love of a companion.

601
00:32:49,720 –> 00:32:51,160
But.
This time it was too much that

602
00:32:51,360 –> 00:32:55,080
to an unknown God, and Paul
proceeded to reason.

603
00:32:55,080 –> 00:32:58,120
Against it, and was taken by
those who questioned with him to

604
00:32:58,120 –> 00:33:01,120
the Arial Pagas to the Mars
Hill, as we call it.

605
00:33:01,840 –> 00:33:03,680
Heavily.
Overshadowed by the Parthenon,

606
00:33:03,680 –> 00:33:07,000
where the great things of Greek
idolatry looked down upon him,

607
00:33:07,000 –> 00:33:10,040
and Paul seemed in a very puny
position as he stood there.

608
00:33:11,960 –> 00:33:13,800
Mind you, the Parthenon is in
ruins.

609
00:33:15,520 –> 00:33:16,840
And.
At the foot of the Areopagus

610
00:33:16,840 –> 00:33:19,120
there is a plate bearing the
whole of Paul’s speech to the

611
00:33:19,120 –> 00:33:21,200
men of Athens in Greek letters.
Until this day.

612
00:33:21,440 –> 00:33:26,080
It’s nice to see it there.
His method has his His message

613
00:33:26,080 –> 00:33:29,560
has lived he.
Stood there he.

614
00:33:29,560 –> 00:33:32,720
Didn’t mince his words, but said
ye men of Athens, I perceive

615
00:33:32,720 –> 00:33:35,760
that in all things ye are, or
that can be watered down to

616
00:33:35,760 –> 00:33:38,480
somewhat religious, but I think
the authorized versions 2

617
00:33:38,480 –> 00:33:40,480
superstitious conveys the idea
better.

618
00:33:42,360 –> 00:33:43,640
You.
Seem to think that if you

619
00:33:43,640 –> 00:33:45,920
worship all the gods there are
and make provision for the ones

620
00:33:45,920 –> 00:33:49,160
there might be, but you haven’t
met them yet, everything will go

621
00:33:49,160 –> 00:33:50,720
well.
You.

622
00:33:50,720 –> 00:33:52,760
Seem to think that when there is
pestilence in the land, you let

623
00:33:52,760 –> 00:33:54,800
forth a flock of goats, and
everywhere they come to rest you

624
00:33:54,800 –> 00:33:56,920
build an altar and make that out
to a God.

625
00:33:56,920 –> 00:33:59,560
We offer a sacrifice there.
Things will go well with you,

626
00:33:59,600 –> 00:34:01,680
but it’s not right.
There aren’t so many gods.

627
00:34:01,680 –> 00:34:04,000
There’s only one and he’s not
like goats or any other living

628
00:34:04,000 –> 00:34:06,360
creature.
He can’t be likened to any

629
00:34:06,360 –> 00:34:09,280
living thing, and images of him
should not be made the God who

630
00:34:09,280 –> 00:34:11,600
made the earth.
Of whom certain of your own

631
00:34:11,600 –> 00:34:14,800
prophets, poets, have said, we
are also his offspring.

632
00:34:14,800 –> 00:34:17,679
God who made the world ought not
to be worshipped with men’s

633
00:34:17,679 –> 00:34:19,920
hands by artifacts of human
making.

634
00:34:22,960 –> 00:34:25,239
It’s an interesting thing that,
rather surprisingly, Paul’s

635
00:34:25,239 –> 00:34:26,880
message to the Gentiles of
Athens.

636
00:34:26,880 –> 00:34:31,800
The sophisticated philosopher
Gentiles of Athens at one point

637
00:34:31,800 –> 00:34:34,840
makes contact with Stephen’s
message to the Jews in Acts

638
00:34:34,840 –> 00:34:38,679
Chapter 7.
For Stephen had said to them,

639
00:34:38,800 –> 00:34:41,639
having gone through their
various places of worship and

640
00:34:41,639 –> 00:34:44,840
Solomon’s final erection of the
temple, how be it the most?

641
00:34:44,840 –> 00:34:46,760
I dwelleth not in temples made
with hands.

642
00:34:47,960 –> 00:34:50,600
I set the prophet, Heaven is my
throne and earth is my

643
00:34:50,600 –> 00:34:52,600
footstool.
Where is the house that you will

644
00:34:52,600 –> 00:34:54,159
build me?
And where is the place of my

645
00:34:54,159 –> 00:34:57,520
rest and?
So Paul in Athens says How be

646
00:34:57,520 –> 00:35:00,400
it?
God dwelleth not in temples made

647
00:35:00,400 –> 00:35:03,280
with hands, but.
In every place he that worshiped

648
00:35:03,320 –> 00:35:08,000
him is acceptable to him.
Now.

649
00:35:08,080 –> 00:35:13,480
There’s a very important thing I
think arises out of the speeches

650
00:35:13,480 –> 00:35:15,920
which the various apostles and
preachers of the gospel are

651
00:35:15,920 –> 00:35:20,560
known to have made in the Acts
of the Apostles, and some of the

652
00:35:20,560 –> 00:35:22,840
ways in which their letters are
known to have been written.

653
00:35:24,680 –> 00:35:26,600
Paul.
Was all things, as we said, to

654
00:35:26,600 –> 00:35:29,480
all men and so.
No doubt were the other

655
00:35:29,480 –> 00:35:31,960
preachers is that as they had
the same versatility of

656
00:35:31,960 –> 00:35:36,040
preaching as Paul did.
So when Peter preached at

657
00:35:36,040 –> 00:35:37,920
Pentecost, it was Jewish
history.

658
00:35:38,760 –> 00:35:40,720
And.
These writings of David that led

659
00:35:40,720 –> 00:35:44,440
him up to Jesus Christ.
And when Paul preached in the

660
00:35:44,440 –> 00:35:47,920
synagogue of Pisidian Antioch,
it was Jewish history, and again

661
00:35:47,920 –> 00:35:50,200
the lightings of David that led
him up to Jesus Christ.

662
00:35:51,920 –> 00:35:54,920
When Paul wrote his letter to
the Galatians, it was messages

663
00:35:54,920 –> 00:35:57,760
from the law that provided his
principal objective in arriving

664
00:35:57,960 –> 00:36:00,600
at the conclusion to which he
wished to lead them.

665
00:36:02,920 –> 00:36:06,320
But when Paul wrote to the
Thessalonians, he concentrated

666
00:36:06,320 –> 00:36:08,800
upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Made.

667
00:36:08,800 –> 00:36:12,320
Minimal references to the
prophets that went before took

668
00:36:12,320 –> 00:36:15,480
them at their own standards and
tried to preach Jesus on Jesus

669
00:36:15,480 –> 00:36:17,920
own merits as he were with that
as the starting point.

670
00:36:19,400 –> 00:36:23,040
And when he went to Athens, he
started off with their idolatry

671
00:36:23,040 –> 00:36:26,440
and their vain philosophy and.
LED them through to the one true

672
00:36:26,440 –> 00:36:29,240
living God, who made heaven and
earth, and the final assurance

673
00:36:29,240 –> 00:36:31,920
given unto all men that God
raised Jesus from the dead.

674
00:36:34,680 –> 00:36:37,320
I think there’s some occasion to
search our own hearts and our

675
00:36:37,320 –> 00:36:43,320
own practices in connection with
this I.

676
00:36:43,320 –> 00:36:47,080
Would not for a moment say that
a lecture with Daniel too, as

677
00:36:47,080 –> 00:36:49,000
its foundation is a wrong
lecture to give.

678
00:36:49,000 –> 00:36:51,800
I have.
Done it, and will doubtless, God

679
00:36:51,800 –> 00:36:55,880
willing, do it again.
I would not say that.

680
00:36:56,920 –> 00:36:59,080
The.
Adducing of fulfilled prophecy

681
00:36:59,080 –> 00:37:02,360
as witness to the truth of God’s
word is the wrong thing to do

682
00:37:03,560 –> 00:37:05,080
insofar as it lies within my
power.

683
00:37:05,080 –> 00:37:07,280
I’ve done that too, and again,
God willing, will doubtless do

684
00:37:07,280 –> 00:37:11,880
it again.
I would say though that

685
00:37:11,880 –> 00:37:17,160
reference to prophetic matters,
especially predictive ones that

686
00:37:17,160 –> 00:37:21,360
haven’t happened yet, and a
concentration upon the purpose

687
00:37:21,360 –> 00:37:25,360
of God in.
How we know that by a certain

688
00:37:25,360 –> 00:37:27,920
route God will achieve the
fulfillment of His Kingdom in

689
00:37:27,920 –> 00:37:31,480
the future needs to be very
carefully watched and kept

690
00:37:31,480 –> 00:37:33,880
within bounds if we are not to
overbalance.

691
00:37:35,000 –> 00:37:36,080
The.
Preaching of the gospel.

692
00:37:37,880 –> 00:37:39,960
You.
Don’t find anything like that

693
00:37:41,200 –> 00:37:45,920
anywhere in the public speeches
of the New Testament, and not

694
00:37:45,920 –> 00:37:48,960
much of it anywhere in the
Epistles either.

695
00:37:51,080 –> 00:37:52,240
You’ll.
Find appeals to the Old

696
00:37:52,240 –> 00:37:54,280
Testament leading you to Christ
in Acts.

697
00:37:54,800 –> 00:37:58,880
When addressed to Jews, Paul,
Stephen, Peter.

698
00:37:59,920 –> 00:38:03,200
You’ll find appeals to their own
starting points in idolatry

699
00:38:03,200 –> 00:38:05,480
leading to Jesus Christ
addressed to Gentiles.

700
00:38:06,120 –> 00:38:09,800
In.
Acts chapter 17 You find Paul

701
00:38:09,800 –> 00:38:12,320
addressing King Agrippa and
while telling him that he knows

702
00:38:12,320 –> 00:38:15,120
that Agrippa believes in the
prophets going as soon as he

703
00:38:15,120 –> 00:38:17,440
can, from what the prophets have
said to whom they were talking

704
00:38:17,440 –> 00:38:19,680
about.
And getting there to Jesus

705
00:38:19,680 –> 00:38:24,240
Christ in his works.
And you find, without exception,

706
00:38:24,440 –> 00:38:26,960
that all these methods of
preaching are intended to lead

707
00:38:26,960 –> 00:38:31,560
people to showing faith in
Jesus, repenting and being

708
00:38:31,560 –> 00:38:34,680
baptized, believing the gospel,
and living the life that leads

709
00:38:34,680 –> 00:38:40,160
them to the Kingdom.
A case may legitimately be made

710
00:38:40,160 –> 00:38:43,920
out for avenues of approach
which give particular ways of

711
00:38:43,920 –> 00:38:48,080
interesting people in the first
place in the gospel which we

712
00:38:48,080 –> 00:38:50,720
have to preach, but if it don’t
get to the gospel pretty quick,

713
00:38:52,080 –> 00:38:54,360
we’re not getting a very
balanced message from the Lord

714
00:38:56,000 –> 00:38:57,600
we.
Preach Jesus Christ and Him

715
00:38:57,600 –> 00:39:00,840
crucified.
I determined to know nothing

716
00:39:00,840 –> 00:39:02,960
among you, said Jesus Christ and
Him crucified.

717
00:39:04,680 –> 00:39:07,360
They preached through Jesus the
resurrection of the dead.

718
00:39:08,560 –> 00:39:11,680
Go through Judea and Samaria
into the uttermost parts of the

719
00:39:11,680 –> 00:39:15,040
earth, and in all those places
you shall be witnesses with me

720
00:39:15,040 –> 00:39:17,480
of my resurrection.
The Lord Jesus Christ

721
00:39:17,480 –> 00:39:22,040
commissions them and.
I think our preaching of the

722
00:39:22,040 –> 00:39:25,400
gospel could well at an earlier
stage and more thoroughly be

723
00:39:25,400 –> 00:39:30,560
more Christ centred than it is.
The message is to bring people

724
00:39:30,560 –> 00:39:33,320
to repentance and
acknowledgement of the Lord

725
00:39:33,320 –> 00:39:37,160
Jesus Christ.
That’s what Paul does in Athens.

726
00:39:39,640 –> 00:39:41,600
In.
That very well known phrase

727
00:39:41,600 –> 00:39:47,200
which we read.
Or can easily read again the

728
00:39:47,200 –> 00:39:51,520
times of this ignorance God
overlooked but.

729
00:39:51,520 –> 00:39:54,320
Now commanded the all men
everywhere to repent.

730
00:39:56,080 –> 00:39:58,320
Because he has appointed a day
in the which he will judge the

731
00:39:58,320 –> 00:40:01,160
world in righteousness by that
man who he has ordained.

732
00:40:02,720 –> 00:40:04,520
Where?
All he has given assurance unto

733
00:40:04,520 –> 00:40:07,320
all men in.
That he hath raised him from the

734
00:40:07,320 –> 00:40:15,600
dead so God didn’t think so
hardly of those who were in

735
00:40:15,600 –> 00:40:18,800
their ignorance, and therefore
we’re not accountable.

736
00:40:20,440 –> 00:40:22,560
He will think very hardly if
those who were given the

737
00:40:22,560 –> 00:40:25,680
opportunity of light prefer to
remain in ignorance, or in

738
00:40:25,680 –> 00:40:29,080
ignoration, or in disobedience.
I.

739
00:40:29,080 –> 00:40:32,040
Am now telling you about the new
light, which has dawned, says

740
00:40:32,040 –> 00:40:35,000
Paul.
The message of the Lord Jesus

741
00:40:35,000 –> 00:40:38,160
Christ, and He commands all men
everywhere hearing that message

742
00:40:38,560 –> 00:40:40,720
to follow its consequences
through and repent.

743
00:40:42,720 –> 00:40:44,520
It’s.
Repentance and remission of sins

744
00:40:44,520 –> 00:40:47,440
being preached in his name,
beginning at Jerusalem, and now

745
00:40:47,440 –> 00:40:50,280
having stretched as far West as
Athens, which the apostle is

746
00:40:50,280 –> 00:40:53,200
talking about.
That is a cardinal thing in his

747
00:40:53,200 –> 00:40:55,040
message.
That is the burden of his

748
00:40:55,040 –> 00:41:00,720
preaching, and one of the
reasons he gives for repenting

749
00:41:00,720 –> 00:41:04,080
is that he has appointed a day
in.

750
00:41:04,080 –> 00:41:06,440
The which he will judge the
world in righteousness.

751
00:41:08,960 –> 00:41:11,600
Now the word judge can mean more
than one thing.

752
00:41:12,880 –> 00:41:15,040
It can mean passing an opinion
about somebody else that we’re

753
00:41:15,040 –> 00:41:18,120
told not to do judge not that he
be not judged.

754
00:41:19,800 –> 00:41:23,160
It can mean sit upon the throne
of Judgement on the Day of

755
00:41:23,160 –> 00:41:25,960
Judgement, judging the quick and
the dead, which the Lord Jesus

756
00:41:25,960 –> 00:41:30,800
Christ will do when he returns.
It can mean judging over the

757
00:41:30,800 –> 00:41:34,040
nations in the same way that the
judges of the Old Testament were

758
00:41:34,040 –> 00:41:37,600
rulers over Israel rule over the
world in righteousness.

759
00:41:37,600 –> 00:41:40,120
He will do that too, Lord Jesus
Christ when he comes.

760
00:41:41,760 –> 00:41:43,000
But it’s an interesting
question.

761
00:41:43,000 –> 00:41:46,360
Does that dress in this passage
mean he will rule the world in

762
00:41:46,360 –> 00:41:51,320
righteousness, which he will?
Or does it mean he will judge in

763
00:41:51,320 –> 00:41:54,520
the sense of passing judgement
upon deciding who is right and

764
00:41:54,520 –> 00:41:59,600
who is wrong, who is worthy and
who is unworthy and I?

765
00:41:59,600 –> 00:42:01,880
Don’t think in its context there
can be much doubt that that is

766
00:42:01,880 –> 00:42:04,840
what it means.
For the.

767
00:42:04,840 –> 00:42:08,240
Apostle says the times of this
ignorance got overlooked, but he

768
00:42:08,240 –> 00:42:11,360
now commands all men everywhere
who hear the message.

769
00:42:11,360 –> 00:42:14,520
It would mean wouldn’t it all
men everywhere to repent because

770
00:42:15,440 –> 00:42:17,360
he has appointed a day of
judgement.

771
00:42:18,600 –> 00:42:21,240
Now it wouldn’t be much useful
it telling the Athenians that

772
00:42:21,240 –> 00:42:23,960
they ought to repent of their
sins and be baptized, because

773
00:42:23,960 –> 00:42:25,680
one day Christ is going to rule
over the earth.

774
00:42:26,960 –> 00:42:29,960
That wouldn’t quite affect them.
But it.

775
00:42:29,960 –> 00:42:32,200
Would be very important to tell
them that they ought to repent

776
00:42:32,200 –> 00:42:35,200
and be baptized because one day
Jesus Christ is coming back in

777
00:42:35,200 –> 00:42:37,800
judgement and.
They may have to answer for it

778
00:42:39,560 –> 00:42:42,120
so that the message must have
been relevant to that generation

779
00:42:42,120 –> 00:42:45,240
and every intermediate
generation before the Lord Jesus

780
00:42:45,240 –> 00:42:48,640
Christ returned to the earth.
This message of judgement,

781
00:42:48,640 –> 00:42:51,400
though it will involve the Lord
ruling over the nations, was for

782
00:42:51,400 –> 00:42:53,960
those who heard, then for those
who heard sins, and for those

783
00:42:53,960 –> 00:42:56,640
who now hear the gospel.
The message not only that Christ

784
00:42:56,640 –> 00:42:59,640
is coming to reign, but that if
you are deemed by him.

785
00:43:00,800 –> 00:43:03,240
To have known the gospel
adequately to be responsible to

786
00:43:03,240 –> 00:43:06,560
his call, then that day will be
a day of judgement for you.

787
00:43:06,560 –> 00:43:10,640
Also he has appointed a day in
which he will do that.

788
00:43:12,320 –> 00:43:15,120
In fact, it finds its place
together with a later message of

789
00:43:15,120 –> 00:43:20,040
Paul in the 24th chapter, when
he speaks to Felix in Caesarea

790
00:43:20,240 –> 00:43:22,640
about his faith.
He.

791
00:43:22,640 –> 00:43:25,840
Begins by talking about himself,
and he says, I have hoped toward

792
00:43:25,840 –> 00:43:28,520
God, which they, the Jews
themselves, also allow, that

793
00:43:28,520 –> 00:43:31,560
there shall be a resurrection of
the dead, both of the just and

794
00:43:31,560 –> 00:43:34,720
of the unjust, and says.
Therefore I exert myself to have

795
00:43:34,760 –> 00:43:37,040
a conscience void of offence.
In.

796
00:43:37,040 –> 00:43:40,240
Other words, there will be a day
when dead are raised, those dead

797
00:43:40,240 –> 00:43:42,720
will include just and unjust.
And I particularly want to be

798
00:43:42,720 –> 00:43:45,200
amongst the just.
And so I exert myself to have a

799
00:43:45,200 –> 00:43:47,120
clear conscience now in my
service to God.

800
00:43:48,320 –> 00:43:50,640
And then when he comes back for
a second interview with Felix,

801
00:43:50,640 –> 00:43:53,960
he tries to talk to him of
righteousness and temperance and

802
00:43:53,960 –> 00:43:57,920
judgement to come.
And that judgement to come,

803
00:43:57,920 –> 00:44:02,080
undoubtedly there means the
judgement which will sit to

804
00:44:02,240 –> 00:44:05,400
determine whether certain
persons and Felix was invited to

805
00:44:05,400 –> 00:44:07,800
think that he might be one of
them will.

806
00:44:07,800 –> 00:44:10,920
Be able to be.
Admitted into God’s Kingdom or

807
00:44:10,920 –> 00:44:15,440
denied admission and.
Felix plainly saw that when when

808
00:44:15,440 –> 00:44:17,920
he heard poor reasoning of
righteousness.

809
00:44:18,400 –> 00:44:20,640
And.
Temperance and judgement to

810
00:44:20,640 –> 00:44:24,560
come, Felix trembled.
Or.

811
00:44:24,560 –> 00:44:27,520
As the Revised Nation puts it,
Felix was terrified.

812
00:44:30,320 –> 00:44:32,120
It’s an interesting thing in the
technique of preaching the

813
00:44:32,120 –> 00:44:35,360
gospel.
That too isn’t it there.

814
00:44:35,360 –> 00:44:37,360
Are those around us who tell us
that the gospel is, and it

815
00:44:37,360 –> 00:44:41,720
certainly is, the gospel of
love, in which God so loved the

816
00:44:41,720 –> 00:44:44,040
world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever

817
00:44:44,040 –> 00:44:46,880
believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life.

818
00:44:47,040 –> 00:44:49,440
So love should be the keynote of
the preaching of the gospel, we

819
00:44:49,440 –> 00:44:51,080
are told.
And so it should, as far as it

820
00:44:51,080 –> 00:44:54,000
can.
But.

821
00:44:54,000 –> 00:44:56,840
Just as the love to a child may
sometimes involve, its justice

822
00:44:56,840 –> 00:44:59,960
meant so.
May the love which seeks to win

823
00:44:59,960 –> 00:45:03,600
people for Christ sometimes
involve a pitiless.

824
00:45:04,040 –> 00:45:06,840
Revealing of the consequences
that might follow if the love is

825
00:45:06,840 –> 00:45:09,840
not accepted.
And.

826
00:45:09,840 –> 00:45:13,440
As the Lord Jesus Christ
reported by John in John chapter

827
00:45:13,440 –> 00:45:17,000
3 tells us that God so loved the
world that he gave his only

828
00:45:17,000 –> 00:45:19,920
begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not

829
00:45:19,920 –> 00:45:23,400
perish, but have eternal life,
and adds For God sent not his

830
00:45:23,400 –> 00:45:26,560
Son into the world to condemn
the world, but.

831
00:45:26,560 –> 00:45:30,680
That the world through him might
be saved, so does he find it

832
00:45:30,680 –> 00:45:33,720
needful also to add, But this is
the condemnation.

833
00:45:34,920 –> 00:45:36,480
The.
Light is coming to the world,

834
00:45:36,680 –> 00:45:39,520
and men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds

835
00:45:39,520 –> 00:45:43,240
were evil.
And so for all the love that is

836
00:45:43,240 –> 00:45:45,640
shown in the Lord Jesus Christ,
there are some for whom it is

837
00:45:45,640 –> 00:45:49,480
needful to warn them.
If anyone hear my word and

838
00:45:49,480 –> 00:45:53,600
believe not, I judge him, not
the word that I have spoken, the

839
00:45:53,600 –> 00:45:59,760
same shall judge him at the last
day, And so to Felix.

840
00:46:00,920 –> 00:46:03,240
Reasoned with about
righteousness and temperance,

841
00:46:03,240 –> 00:46:06,080
there must be added, for the
sake of the possibility of

842
00:46:06,080 –> 00:46:08,640
conversion of that wicked man
something that might make him

843
00:46:08,640 –> 00:46:11,560
afraid, and then make him think.
Apparently it didn’t, but it

844
00:46:11,560 –> 00:46:14,560
might have done and.
So for a reason with him of

845
00:46:14,560 –> 00:46:17,200
righteousness and temperance and
judgement to come, and

846
00:46:17,200 –> 00:46:19,600
succeeded, at least to the
extent of making him fear and

847
00:46:19,600 –> 00:46:23,200
tremble and if.
That had led to that man being

848
00:46:23,960 –> 00:46:26,280
introduced into the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ and

849
00:46:26,280 –> 00:46:28,600
joining the company of the elect
then.

850
00:46:28,600 –> 00:46:33,520
Felix might, in a future day, as
some other people similarly

851
00:46:33,520 –> 00:46:37,320
warned, might do, Welcome.
The opportunity of going to the

852
00:46:37,320 –> 00:46:39,480
one who gave that message to
them and saying.

853
00:46:39,800 –> 00:46:42,240
Thank you for saying that.
That pulled me up in my tracks.

854
00:46:43,440 –> 00:46:44,800
I.
Went back and I learned and I

855
00:46:44,800 –> 00:46:46,720
obeyed.
And I wouldn’t have been here

856
00:46:46,720 –> 00:46:50,280
but for your word so.
A word of warning is right in

857
00:46:50,280 –> 00:46:52,800
its place.
And.

858
00:46:52,800 –> 00:46:56,920
To those supercilious
philosophical Athenians, Paul.

859
00:46:56,920 –> 00:46:59,200
Gave that same message.
Don’t.

860
00:46:59,200 –> 00:47:01,160
Suppose that, having heard this
word, it’s a matter of

861
00:47:01,160 –> 00:47:02,800
indifference whether you do
anything about it.

862
00:47:03,440 –> 00:47:04,880
There’s.
A command from God.

863
00:47:05,320 –> 00:47:07,520
You’re His creatures.
You’re his workmanship.

864
00:47:07,720 –> 00:47:11,080
Now become his servants and his
sons God.

865
00:47:11,080 –> 00:47:13,320
Hath appointed a day in the
which he will judge the world in

866
00:47:13,320 –> 00:47:15,440
righteousness.
So.

867
00:47:15,440 –> 00:47:20,360
Now he commandeth every man to
repent, and the assurance he has

868
00:47:20,360 –> 00:47:24,480
given that he will do so by the
man whom he has ordained is that

869
00:47:24,480 –> 00:47:26,720
he hath raised him from the
dead.

870
00:47:29,000 –> 00:47:31,080
And.
So Paul joins again the company

871
00:47:31,080 –> 00:47:34,600
of those who focus their
teaching on the cardinal point

872
00:47:34,600 –> 00:47:37,280
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that having been

873
00:47:37,280 –> 00:47:40,120
crucified for our sins, he was
raised up for our justification.

874
00:47:40,920 –> 00:47:42,200
And.
Takes us back to the empty

875
00:47:42,200 –> 00:47:43,800
grave.
And the.

876
00:47:43,800 –> 00:47:46,600
Risen Lord as the route to his
return.