The Acts of the Apostles of Today

Transcript

now I know most people here uh x follow the daily reading plan x so I thought this evening it would be x nice if we could discuss some of the x events that we've been reading about in x The Acts of the Apostles and determine x if any of those events from history uh x have any uh bearing now 2 000 years x later for us who uh the present-day x Apostles and disciples x and as Jason said rather than to wait x till the end of class to deal with x questions I prefer a group appreciation x and the exchange of ideas on an ongoing x basis during the class so to that end I x encourage people to speak up and x interject their own opinions at any time x that I come up for air x and I like to do that because then the x thought is still fresh in our minds x so if you could leave your video on and x your mic's open that would be terrific x I'll also be uh looking for volunteers x to read throughout the class so if you x have your Bible handy that would be x great x so first I want to start off x [Music] x these readings from Acts x [Music] x excuse me x uh with the uh recorded conversations of x the Ethiopian x uh solo classes and Cornelius x I wanted to look at these examples from x the 8th 9th 10th and 11th chapters of uh x Acts x and again that's the conversations with x the Ethiopians of Saul and with x Cornelius three men who represent the x three major races of mankind that being x the black race the Asian race and the x European race all of whom I descended x from Noah's sons hands a ham Shem and x Jacob x so starting over in verse in chapter 8. x that's where we read about the uh x um x conversation between Philip and the man x of Ethiopia who would have been a x descendant of ham x uh like Peter A Philip is charged by an x angel of God to rise up and go to the x specific man x now I'm not sure if the messenger who x brought that instruction to x Philip uh would have been a Immortal x Angel sent by God or rather he was a x mortal man serving in the capacity of a x messenger I don't think it really x matters but if anyone wishes to x interject at this time please feel so x please feel free to do so x if not regardless of the nature of this x messenger x Philip goes on his way and finds the man x of Ethiopia sitting in his Chariot x reading from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah x which is a prophecy of the death of x Jesus Christ x so I guess the first question uh would x be well clearly Ethiopia is a gentile x population x and he held a very high position of x responsibility within the Royal x household x apparently this man desired to Worship x in Jerusalem x which is a distance of over a thousand x miles from EPL so he wasn't just there x as a random tourist he would travel with x a purpose and with an intent x so I guess that would beg the question x could he have been a convert to Judaism x any thoughts on that x if not uh yeah but Bob he I don't I've x always thought of him the eunuch as x being being a Jew that he was born a Jew x that he you know he was in a position of x authority and power within uh Candace's x um you know court and you know he was he x was part of that group of uh you know x Jews that kind of spread out all over x the world and you know made a made a x name for themselves as people that were x highly intelligent that knew how to read x and write which was an incredible skill x uh which all all kind of goes back to uh x the law and the importance of reading x and the importance of writing and x passing on the word of God you know the x laws of the Torah to the Next Generation x so x um yeah I I I I've always thought of him x as just a natural Jew x okay x very good I'm not dogmatic about this at x all yeah well we're not told so I guess x we can't be dogmatic I just wanted to x get to opinions and see what people x would think x um I think Bob that uh Rich's point x about his literacy ability to read I x think is a good one and it lends x Credence to the idea that you know as a x Jew he would have learned to have read x the scriptures and studied the x scriptures and of course if he's reading x Isaiah x um it was probably written in Hebrew or x I suppose by then it was probably x translated into Greek I don't know how x many other languages it would have been x available in x obviously English hadn't come around yet x [Laughter] x but x um you know I mean he would have x obviously had to have been a man of x Education he was certainly a man of x responsibility x uh Steve is that your hand up x yeah x um I was just wondering x um if he was uh x uh a scribe or or something like that x because not that many Jews x would know how to read and write I mean x uh you know I don't think that many knew x how to do that so the question is was he x from a particular uh place in Jewish x Society x and he knew how to read x um x yeah usually in the ancient world x um x yeah the scribes were definitely like an x upper class or a special class of people x because they had this amazing x um ability to copy down language x uh and you know they were highly sought x after you know a good scribe x uh you know was worth you know millions x of millions of gold coins if you wanted x to put it in in that type of uh you know x framework but you know we remember as x well that Ezra was a scribe he was a x scribe of the law x um but he also had a tremendous x tremendous amount of power I mean he x brought back on the Jewish people so x oftentimes scribes also had uh the air x of the the ruler at that time whether it x was a king or a queen x and we know he was involved in keeping x the Queen's treasury so he certainly x must have been a man who had the skills x of a scribe of a mathematician a x treasurer obviously a man of the great x importance x so um the uh the uh the observation x Richard is a uh is a good one x um I suppose the the one thing that x might confuse me on that the only thing x that might cause me to wonder uh of x course he's from Ethiopia which uh in x general would be considered a a gentile x population x um even though Jews were scattered all x around x um x as a eunuch x uh Jewish law would have forbidden him x to be admitted into the community x we know that in uh Deuteronomy x um chapter 23 where it lists all the x various the qualifications a person has x uh what are these qualifications is that x nobody uh let's see Deuteronomy 23 1 no x one whose testicles have been crushed or x whose penis has been cut off may be x admitted into the community in the Lord x so he was obviously in a difficult x situation x and um x if he x go ahead x I guess yeah you can finish your thought x and I'll jump in when you're done okay I x was gonna say if he x why would he go to Jerusalem for the x intended purpose to uh worship x and why would he be uh reading the words x of a uh a Jewish prophet if uh if he x were a gentile x um perhaps he was intrigued by the x doctrine of the Old Testament the Laura x Moses x but because of his physical condition he x was not eligible to worship uh even x though he'd gone to Jerusalem for that x purpose so I think that's what I kind of x find a bit confusing that's why I bring x up the question x it seems like either either possibility x is possible and yet both possibilities x have x um a problem x so that's where we're at with that so x again anybody has any further uh x thoughts on the subject I'm wide open x yeah I was going to say Bob that there's x a that passage in Matthew where um we x read about some eunuchs being born that x way and others uh there are eunuchs who x have been made Unix by others very good x um just cross that one off my list okay x you had that brought you had that one x that was coming up perfect timing speed x perfect yeah okay so you know the I x guess what what goes on in my mind is x this idea that if he's going to be x serving in candacey's court x you know that he may be one of these x Unfortunate Souls that they say look we x don't trust you so uh you're going to x work with the queen we're going to make x you a eunuch young man I think that's a x very likely possibility x um obviously the Queen's uh the queen x was the top priority and if he had to x suffer so bad Steven correct yeah x I was I think I remember reading where x uh especially back at that time they x would make units because they wouldn't x want somebody who's up high uh to go and x then have children which then they'll x think oh x maybe I won't rule but my son will roll x or whatever so they made in Munich so x that they didn't have to worry about x that x but even so if he is a unit he is still x limited to his uh availability to go to x worship x um he now he would not have been a x naturally born Israeli obvious obviously x um x so x he was kind of well I hate to say he was x stuck between a rock and a hard place x given his condition but nevertheless uh x he really was x because if he wasn't eligible to worship x as he desired to x then I can see where he would have been x a man greatly described basically a man x without two countries because he's more x than a thousand miles away in Jerusalem x uh with a good represent intent x and yet he's stuck in this very x precarious situation x are you going to get into uh some of the x later chapters in Isaiah like Beyond 53 x no x so go right ahead if you'd like to Steve x yeah sure so you know it tells us that x the eunuch went away rejoicing x yeah and if he started reading in Isaiah x 53 x and uh you know continue reading along x the scroll x uh there are passages very shortly after x 53 that speak about the ability of those x who were quote unquote dry trees having x the ability to Worship in the coming x Kingdom in the temple x um x see if I can find it yeah so uh chapter x Isaiah chapter 56 if you'd like to turn x it up so this is you know same same x scroll that he's reading from just a x couple of chapters later in our in our x books x um x and it says in verse three x let not any eunuch complain I'm only a x dry tree x for this is what the Lord says to the x eunuchs who keep my sabbaths who choose x what pleases me and hold fast my x Covenant to them I will give within my x temple and its walls a memorial and a x name x better than Sons and Daughters I will x give them an everlasting name that x cannot be cut off x very good so it seems it seems to me x that you know the context is such that x here's a man that's excluded from x Worship in Jerusalem as you point out x and now as as someone's explaining the x scroll to him he realizes that despite x sort of his physical impurity that x prevents him from uh worshiping he will x eventually through God's grace be given x the ability to worship and to have a x name that can't be cut off very good x very good x um actually I would like uh if anybody x has their Bible open to Acts chapter 8 x uh could I have a show of hand somebody x who would be willing to read a few x verses why x Ellen x um x if you could please read Acts chapter 8 x verses 35 through 38. x okay then Philip again with the passage x of scripture and told him the good news x about Jesus as they traveled along the x road they came into some water and the x eunuch said look here is my water why x shouldn't I be baptized and he gave x orders to stop the Chariot demos x developing you and it went down into the x water and they'll baptized him x thank you x by the time that uh this gentleman and x Philip were finished it was obvious that x there was only one thing that could x possibly hinder this man from being x baptized x and that would have been his own x disbelief x and since they were in the desert it x makes sense that they must have been at x an oasis since water was available and x after his confession of faith x he was baptized x and I think that probably x um opened a whole new world to this man x who I think probably felt isolated x in many ways even though as Steve x pointed out he did have a x he did have a path of Hope x he probably felt like he was somewhat x isolated and this was a brand new stock x for him and obviously a uh a step in the x right direction it was a truly amazing x encounter x and of course it was the first of the x three encounters all together and I x think it was probably x um you know the kind of a situation that x uh completely saved this man's sanity x and put him on a whole new path that he x could enjoy for the rest of his life x so anybody have any other thoughts on x that before we move on to uh x um chapter nine x okay x so when we get to chapter nine we read x about solved who would of course been a x descendant of Hashem x and uh I don't know any better way to x put it than he was a villain of such a x degree in the eyes of the early x Christians x but if ever there was a man in need of a x change of name that was Saul x this man had to have a new identity he x was not going to be able to survive x going through life uh being known as x solved x he really had to put on another name x um and not only put on the name of Jesus x but he had to get rid of the old name x because he was just a little bit too x well known in his hometown x so um x after after World War II Bob you didn't x see many uh boys being named Adolf x non-exam and I've never run into anyone x with a surname Villas so yeah x yeah x it it really it would have been x literally on that line I think it really x would have been x um and I'll tell you the honest truth I x had a tough time x [Music] x um trying to simplify a list of the x accomplishments of uh Paul x um we know how x um he was struck blind on his way to x Damascus x for three days he was without sight x he didn't eat he didn't drink he x couldn't see x and you know that's not unlike uh Jonah x when he was in the great fish x personally I think Jonah was dead but x even if he was alive for those three x days he couldn't have been able to see x he couldn't have been able to eat he x couldn't have been able to drink x and when Jesus was in the Tomb and we x know he was dead he obviously couldn't x see drink or eat either x so I you know I think there's a um x know a strong connection to be made x there x and um it this time the job didn't fall x to Phillip this time it fell to uh x ananias and again considering uh Saul's x reputation x um x if we were to look up the phrase in the x dictionary strong of Faith there would x probably be a picture of ananias right x there if there were any pictures of x ananias x um x I mean we're speaking of a man who just x days before had literally dragged x Christians before the authorities and it x stood by at the stoning of Stephen x um could I get somebody to do another x reading please x Jason thank you could you please read x Acts chapter 9 verses 10 through 18. x Acts chapter 9 verses 10 through 18. x and it was a certain disciple at x Damascus named ananias and to him said x the Lord and Division ananias x and he said behold I am here Lord x and the Lord said unto him arise and go x into the street which is called straight x an inquire in the house of Judas for one x called Saul of tashus for behold he x prayeth x and hath seen in a vision a man named x ananias coming in and putting his hand x on him that he might receive his sight x then ananius answered Lord x I have heard by many of this man how x much evil he hath done to thy sayings of x Jerusalem x in here he hath this Authority from the x chief peace to bind all that call on thy x name x the Lord said unto him go thy way for he x is a chosen vessel unto me to be in my x name before the Gentiles and Kings and x the children of Israel for I will show x him how great things he must suffer for x my name's sake x and ananias went his way and entered x into the house and putting his hands on x him said x brother Saul the Lord even Jesus that x appeared unto thee in the way as thou x camest hath sent me that thou mightest x receive thy sight and be filled with the x Holy Spirit x and immediately there fell from his eyes x as it had been scales and he received x sight forthwith into Rose x and was baptized x I mean that's amazing x and again I don't want to under x emphasize x the character of this man x um x ananias x I mean he he could have you know no I'm x no way Jose am I getting near this guy x he's a he's dangerous he's uh powerful x uh I would last 10 seconds in front of x him there is no way that I'm getting x anywhere near this saw he has Authority x he has the paperwork he's Licensed to x Kill literally x I'm not getting involved but that's not x what happened x and what a testimony to a man's faith x that he would you know take the word of x God x and say okay this is what I've been x required to do this is what I'm going to x do and he did it and he went in under he x went right out into the street and under x Paul and it says he put his hands on him x he embraced him x brother Saul he calls him x you have been chosen x God has a plan and a purpose for you x and even though we may not be x Us in you know in that same situation uh x directly nevertheless you know we should x consider ourselves in a situation where x we're of the same world x you know we are one inch away from the x corruption and the uh sin of society x and yet by the grace of God we have um x taken the opportunity to put on the name x of Christ through baptism through our x own accord x and even though we do live in a uh world x full of uh evil we have the opportunity x for everlasting life because we've made x this decision x now we may not have been cast into it in x the situation of uh Saul and I don't x think any of us had his kind of x background either x but nevertheless I mean it's something x that we don't want to take for granted x God went to the time and trouble to x reach out to his creation and give his x son as a sacrifice x and say look it here's the situation x because of the fact that you men this x creation has sinned and you disobeyed me x you're going to die x and that's exactly what we deserve x but I'm going to make I want to make x available a way to get around death x now we live in a world now where you x know we're worried about the covet virus x and we worry about cancers and heart x conditions and all sorts of other things x that people can die of x and yet at the end of the day it doesn't x matter because we have one thing x that can keep us from death x we have the name of Christ in US x and when we put on Christ we become x Abraham's seed and heirs according to x the promise x and as such we have the opportunity for x everlasting life x and that is such an amazing opportunity x and again something that we just simply x cannot take for granted x excuse me x and you know we think of the boldness of x ananias but we also have to consider the x fact that we too uh have been bought x with a price and because of The x Obedience of Jesus to do his father's x will now we have a hope of everlasting x life as well x and we'll probably never have to suffer x the kind of uh problems that uh Paul x went through x because after his converging I mean he x went through so much x I mean just as travels alone x I mean I don't know how many thousands x of miles that man must have traveled I x think I remember once adding it up and x it was several thousand miles x for all the uh Journeys he took x and you know you consider you know what x he went through with the imprisonments x and the beatings and being kicked out of x town and being bitten by a deadly snake x and I mean the list just goes on and on x we could sit here for an hour easy you x know just coming up with you know events x in this man's life never mind exploring x the x um the events in any kind of detail x so when those was about three years of x Paul's uh Ministry x you know he he accomplished more in x those three years than most men x you know would accomplish in a lifetime x and you know such an amazing x transformation x to go from one extreme to another x and to his credit to accept that x and x to um know to listen to the uh to x the offer that was placed before him x because God had chosen him x and and that's just an amazing thing x anybody have any particular special x um x uh thoughts on about Paul or anything x about his ministry that really uh x really touches home with them x okay Bob yeah Jason bring a lot of good x points out there and I I think it just x shows how x these are real people and when ananias x his first response is uh I don't really x think so I'm not comfortable doing that x given a situation x but he goes anyways he does something x that he's uncomfortable with and that x allows him to grow and it allows Paul to x grow and the idea where he puts his x hands on on Saul and says brother x brother Saul and no doubt that made a x huge impression on Paul and if in in x possibly when he was regulations chapter x 3 uh where Paul says for all of you were x baptized into Christ have clothed x yourselves with Christ there is neither x Jew nor Greek slave nor a free male nor x female for you are all one in Christ x Jesus and if you belong to Christ then x you are Abraham's seed and is according x to the promise so x Paul he had just feeling that inclusion x now x once he's been exposed to gospel and x recognizes that it's for everybody it's x for Jew it's for Gentiles the Ethiopian x it's for For All Mankind uh there's no x exclusions and that really comes through x in the in the power of uh Paul's words x absolutely x and um you know we look at uh people x like this through history and we say you x know how how could anybody live a life x like that well you know we have a great x opportunity before us as well x I mean we have x um x we have luxuries at our disposal can you x imagine Paul if he had been able to jump x into his automobile and drive where he x was going or hop on a plane and uh go up x to Greece and to the various places he x uh visited you know just in a couple of x hours x I mean if you look at what he x accomplished with the uh tools he had at x his disposal can you imagine what he x could do if he had the uh benefits that x we have today x instead of his parchments he wanted his x Apple iPad x okay bring me my iPhone 14. x seriously I mean x what this x is such a small amount of time x it's really incredible x and you know again you know not to beat x a dead horse but I mean when an ananias x goes up and he puts his hands on him as x Jason was just saying remember Paul is x uh Saul is still blind at this point x he hasn't gotten his eyesight back yet x and to have somebody just come up and x put their arms on you and I call you by x name x and basically you know tell you hey x everything is going to be fine and God x has chosen you for a particular uh x reason now of course any Paul believed x in God obviously he was a Pharisee x um you know everything that he's been x going up to that point was because he x thought that's what God wanted him to be x doing x he wasn't a criminal I'll try and you x know he wasn't Billy the Kid out x murdering and stealing he thought he was x doing something with a purpose and a x cause in accordance with God's will x and you know that kind of attitude can x still be around today x you know people do all sorts of things x because they think they're doing it for x a good reason x when in fact they're not x and x I think that's uh you know again x something I think that we can draw a x lesson from out of the acts x no we can't always rely on doing things x our way Jason x sorry you mentioned there as well that x long list of x um things that Paul went through you x know Shipwrecked he was beaten twice you x know x and just everything he suffered and x going back to the verses that we read x the x where Christ says for I will show him x how great things he must suffer for my x namesake and just wonder if that wasn't x the back behind as he as he was being a x servant and and doing everything that x was asked of him to spread the gospel x absolutely and he kept this up right up x until the end now x I know it's a popular x um thought that Paul would probably x beheaded but of course the scriptures x don't tell us what really happened to x Paul but either he was probably executed x or he died in confinement that would be x you know the most likely scenario I x think but either way I mean he was worn x down to the very last molecule really x I mean he gave every ounce of what he x had x for his faith x and if he was executed he did so gladly x if he died in prison he did so gladly x and you know I think it's just an x amazing thing we don't usually have to x worry about things like that in this day x and age x um but you know it certainly was a x reality for him and I think it's x something that we really do need to draw x a lesson from Stephen I believe your x hands up x yeah x um x just where Paul goes and talks about how x his persecution it always bothered him x uh of of Jews and so that was a x great motivator for him throughout his x life I think x and it was always in the back of his x mind x and he had persecuted these people and x and he had persecuted the Lord and and x he just it always motivated him so that x that's one thing I think that helped him x to continue on he was motivated by that x oh absolutely I mean he probably never x got that out of his head north study x you know it was a great motivator and x I'm sure we have a lot of people living x today who come to a knowledge of the x truth x who have a past that they're probably x not uh very happy with x and x there's nothing wrong with that because x you know as the saying goes what doesn't x kill us makes us stronger and I think in x this case that's true x I think you'll learn you can learn from x your mistakes we should learn from our x mistakes because whether we grew up with x a bible-based background or not x irrelevant I mean we are all sinners we x have all done things that we regret x I assume does anybody here with nothing x to regret you can put your hand up but x I'm pretty confident that's true x uh certainly is in my case x and again it goes right back to what I x was saying 10 minutes ago because we x have the Hope in Christ who died for us x we have the opportunity of Salvation x because if we had to rely on our own x character and our own morals and our own x abilities to gain salvation from debt we x weren't gonna We're not gonna do it x because each and one every one of us is x going to grow old someday and die x unless Christ comes back first x but that's the situation that we have x put ourselves in x it's not it's not God's fault that uh x people suffer it's not God's fault that x people grow old and die it's man's fault x because we're the ones who couldn't do x what we were told x and it's just as simple as that x it was in God's mercy x that he has given us an opportunity for x everlasting life x you know the old saying you know you x know why do bad things happen to good x people x because all us quote unquote good people x are sinners x that's why not God's fault x softball x somebody suggested that the title of x that book should be uh why good things x happen to bad people x yeah well I I would say that's probably x not far off Steve x and yeah I mean I mean x yeah I was gonna say when I think of uh x Paul x and all of the remarkable things that he x achieved in in his you know missionary x service to the Lord x I think the thing that's most remarkable x to me x is his ability to um x I don't know change his mind x you know it's a hard thing to change x your mind especially on something that x you are zealous about x now in Paul's kit in Saul's case you x know he had a an experience where he you x know came face to face with the Risen x Jesus x but nevertheless it would have been you x know it seems to me that it would have x been very easy for him to sort of go x into Arabia and just disappear and to x sort of live a quiet life x and to you know just be like you know oh x my bad sorry about that but I'm not x gonna you know x but he didn't you know he he went all in x and to me that's just a room to me I x think that's the most remarkable thing x when I consider that man x I agree x okay well let's see here we've got about x 10 minutes or so 15 minutes so I'd like x to uh finish up uh in chapter 10 uh with x the Cornelius x who of course would have been the x descendant of Jacob x and it might be worth noting that to x when Philip x was directed to go to the eunuch x uh there was no hesitation or x confrontation from either of these men x in fact Philip ran up to Fiona he ran up x to Greenland he was warmly welcomed x now when ananiah was sent out to the x street to approach Saul there was some x hesitation on his path oh whoa wait a x minute uh you know are you sure about x this x um but he nevertheless he went out and x he embraced Saul x and uh but in the case of Peter x um x Peter being sent to Cornelius there was x some pretty heavy resistance on Peter's x pot accompanied by verbal confrontation x between he and God x now clearly we know Cornelius uh was a x gentile and clearly Peter was known for x not hobnobbing when the Gentile x population I think that's a fair x statement x um in fact x I I believe the lessons that uh Peter x was taught as a result of his uh x interaction with Cornelius was probably x every bit of as important to him x as it was to Cornelius x now Peter uh from at the very beginning x uh he flat out refused to eat anything x that was uncommon or clean x God sends his vision of all these x unclean animals rise up Peter kill and x eat oh no now I know a test when I see x one no you know x you know I'm not getting close to this x stuff no thank you x [Music] x well Peter what God has cleansed you x don't call it common x and then Peter came to Cornelius having x realized that God had shown him not to x call any man come or unclean x because again this man was a chosen x vessel x of God x therefore it was a lesson for Peter and x I think for all of us x to remember that what God has cleansed x be it food to eat x or people called to the Waters of x baptism x that we do not regard them as common x or unclean or undeserving x because every person on earth is x deserving x of repentance and deserving x of the Waters of baptism x if they so choose to repent x you know there's nothing special about x any of us certainly x uh we were fortunate enough x to have whatever opportunities came to x us to bring us to a realization of the x things concerning the kingdom of God x and there's nothing x there's nothing special about us x compared to anyone else who should have x the same opportunity and the same x privilege if they so desire x and in today's reading of Acts chapter x 11. it says and the apostles and the x brethren x that were in Judea heard that the x Gentiles had also received the word of x God x and when Peter was come up to Jerusalem x they that were of the circumstances x circumcision contended with him x yeah contended can you imagine being x there I think contended is probably x putting it very mildly x yeah Peter I think we'd like to have a x word with you x but we we might even want to kill you so x you know get on over here x um x it was obviously a radical thing x repeated a break with tradition x but apparently Peter's explanation x satisfied the Brethren of that day x because when they had heard these things x they held their peace and they glorified x God x saying then half God also to the x Gentiles granted repentance x unto life x and you know that is to their credit x I mean they really were very x very sincere with their opinions and x varied sincere with the ways that they x felt they should be worshiping and to x have something of such a magnitude you x mean the Gentiles x have a path of salvation x can you imagine such a thing x we have a descendants of Abraham of x Isaac and Jacob x and you know forgetting the fact that x Abraham was a gentile because there was x no such thing as a Jew then x um only the Jews would have any path to x Salvation x so for this concept to come along then x Gentiles could be saved x it was unheard of x and yet to their credit x they embraced it x so I think that even today we need to be x careful x that we don't let tradition get in the x way of doing what's right because we're x very fortunate to live in a Time x where there remains a population who x seek to believe the things concerning x the kingdom of God x and x to that end it calls for building one x another up x and to refrain from tearing others down x in so doing we rejoice in the knowledge x that mankind x through baptism into Christ Jesus can x receive the gift of everlasting life x therefore let us consider the value of x these chapters and the value of the Acts x of the Apostles and may we as modern day x Apostles and disciples rejoice in the x lessons x of history as well as in this life and x may we continue to watch and pray every x day x so that's uh pretty much what I would x like to cover tonight x um the history of those three events and x how they culminate in today's reading x and the benefits that we hopefully as x Apostles and Disciples of this x generation uh can um can take with x us for the rest of our mortal existence x so that's what I have tonight if anyone x else has anything they would like to x interject please feel free to do so at x this time brother Jim boyko good evening x are you at your parents house yeah I am x yeah I am thanks uh so thanks for class x Baba you asked us to reflect on Paul and x I didn't come to mind right away but x when we were doing uh kids Sunday school x just a couple weeks ago or months ago we x were going through Paul's missionary x Journeys and it was just to me it was x incredible that he did the same thing x over and over again x um that is go to a synagogue preach to x the Jews x you know start to have some success get x run out of town sometimes get in bigger x trouble than that and then x go and do the same thing all over again x in the next city and then x to retrace his steps x knowing all the terrible stuff that x people had thought about him uh and done x to him while he was there uh he wasn't x afraid to go back for more so maybe x you've made that point x um in your class at some point but it x just to me that's a lesson for us in x being persistent and also not afraid x um x yeah we did touch on that Jim but it x certainly Bears to be repeated and it's x the truth I mean here's a man he had no x way I mean there was no great form of x communication you couldn't pick up your x cell phone you couldn't send the x telegram you couldn't do anything I mean x the only way to get a message from point x A to point B is to have somebody uh take x it that and he was already on his way x there so it's not like he could you know x send somebody in advance unless it was x well in advance to let someone know he x was coming and sometimes he did do that x but in general x um you found out about the future the x same way everybody else did you know you x went from day to day x and from place to place x and I mean that was one of the things x that was described of the modern of the x uh first century Believers wherever they x went wherever they found faith that is x where they fellowshipped x and uh we who consider ourselves to be x first century believers x you know certainly should be able to x benefit from that brother Stephen x yeah x we think of Cornelius x and x you notice it says and he and all his x family were devout God fearing he gave x generously to those in need and praise x to God regularly yes so we can see here x uh Gentile x going and deciding x since he was there he found out about x this and he decided this was something x he was interested in doing and not only x him but he his whole family were devout x he he was an example and so his entire x family and and also x in in Roman times x the slaves and every and children x they were all considered a family and uh x he was the uh father of the family and x the family was an extended family x including the slaves so that's quite x something we consider Cornelius his x whole family was devout x so it was not just x children but it was slaves and everybody x you know I had meant to read that x passage and I apologize I admitted that x um but I had originally had that in my x notes as a passage to read and I forgot x I apologize but obviously x um you know it's to his credit x um x and obviously God knows what he's doing x and it just goes right back to what he x said to Peter when I call somebody you x know you you don't stand in the way you x don't call that common or unclean x because God's a Creator and we're not x here except for the fact that he decided x to create x we're not here because of anything we x ever did we're here because that's x that's the way he wants it