"The Christian That Won't Quit" | Pastor Steve Gaines

well take your Bibles and turn with me last time I almost say this for a while to the book of Acts and I want all of us to stand for the reading of God's Word all right if you've enjoyed the book of Acts tell God right now would you do that and just thank him for the book of Acts amen I know it's hard to clap with the Bible in your hand I get it but look there in Acts chapter 28 this is the 34th sermon I preached out of the book of Acts and I thought what a great conclusion we have here today Paul is about to be in Rome and he wanted to go to Rome so much and then he wanted to go on to Spain and who knows maybe he did he did go to Spain but look there acts 28 verse 11 at the end of three months we've set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island that's the island of Malta where they had been stranded for three three months and which had the twin brothers for its figurehead after we set put in at Syracuse Syracuse is the capital of Sicily we've stayed there for three days from there we've sailed around and arrived at regum a day later a south wind sprang up and on the second day we came to Italy we came to pootie Oly which is a city on the coast of Italy that received these grain ships and there we found some Brethren some Christians who were in inviting to stay with them for seven days and we were invited to stay with them for seven days and thus we came to Rome and the Brethren when they heard about us they came from there they ran out from Rome as far as the market of a pious and the three ends to meet us and when Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage when we entered Rome Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who was guarding him he was under house arrest verse 17 after three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews and when they had come together he began saying that them brethren though I had done nothing against our people that is the Jews are the customs of our fathers yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans and when they had examined me they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death but when the Jews objected I was forced to appeal to Caesar not that I had any accusation against my nation for this reason therefore I requested to see you and to speak with you for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel they said to him we have neither received letters from Judea concerning you nor have any of the Brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you but we desire to hear from you what your views are for concerning this sect that's what he called they called Christianity it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere when they had said a day for Paul they came to him at his lodging in large numbers and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and from the prophets from morning until evening some were being persuaded by the things spoken but others would not believe and when they did not agree with one another they began leaving after Paul had one spoken since spoken one parting word the Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet this is Isaiah 6 verses 9 through following to your father saying go to this people and say you will keep on hearing but will not understand and you will keep on seeing but will not perceive for the heart of this people has become dull and with their ears they scarcely hear and they have closed their eyes otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return that is repent and I would heal them therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles they will also listen and when he had spoken these words the Jews departed having a great dispute among themselves and he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him preaching the kingdom of God teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered and all God's people said Amen be seated thank you so much today I want to talk to you about the Christian that won't quit I want to encourage you to catch the spirit of the Apostle Paul he was somebody who got knocked down pushed down shoved down but he wouldn't stay down I want to encourage you to be a Christian that won't quit should the Lord give you more life to live I pray that you will remain faithful and that you will be a Christian that will not quit how does that happen three simple things from this text number one you want to be a Christian that will not quit you have got to develop the pattern of fellowshipping with other believers I cannot tell you how important it is for you to be around other Christians who love the Lord you are going to be influenced by the people that are around you did you know that so if you're going to be influenced by the people around you get some people around you that love the Lord Jesus look at verse 11 at the end of three months we set sail they had been stranded on the island malte for about 90 days because their ship had wrecked it had been scattered all across the beach because it was wrecked on the wreath outside and the Bible says here Paul was still with Luke or Luke was still with Paul he said we set sail Paul was a medical doctor but he was more than a medical doctor he was a dear friend of Paul we know that Paul had a physical disease something was wrong apparently with his eyes he wrote these words to the Galatians he said but you know it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise her loathe but you received me as an angel of God as Christ Jesus himself where then is that sense of blessing you had for I bear you witness that if possible you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me something was wrong with his eyesight maybe he had been affected by the blinding vision that he had of the Lord Jesus on the way to Damascus but something was wrong with his eyes and the Bible says that he was ill but and Luke would minister into in that way but he would also minister to him with fellowship he was just probably the best friend one of the best friends besides Timothy that Paul really had so Paul even Paul the great godly Paul the coal laborer with Luke he needed other Christians verse 11 goes on to say on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island and which had the twin brothers for its figurehead now are the twin brothers and why are they on the front of the ship all right what's going on here they were a carved likeness image of to Greek mythology figures they were brothers they were the sons of zoo and their names were castor and pollux and they were patrons of navigation and the Greeks believed that if you saw their constellation which was Gemini during a storm if you looked up in the Stars and saw Gemini which was the the mark and the constellation of Castro and Pollux it was a sign of good fortune and you would make it safely through the storm now why I'm telling you all that I don't know why Luke put it there I don't know but if it's there I want to tell you about it alright Luke and Paul then continued the bible says in verse 12 after we had put in at Syracuse we stayed there for three days from there we sailed around and arrived in ragam a day later a south wind sprang up and on the second day we came to booty Olli booty Olli was on the eastern shore of Italy it was the place where all the big grain ships like Paul was sailing on were coming into port from Alexandria and the Bible says for seven days Paul and Luke under house-arrest stayed with the believers there they there we found some believers some Brethren and were invited to stay with them for seven days and thus we came to Rome finally we get to Rome we come from Jerusalem where the church started we ventured out to Antioch where missions started we've gone all over the world but now finally we come to Rome Paul now would take foot and he would enter in eventually into Rome by foot and he would no longer sail the seas of the Mediterranean but notice what happened when he landed at booty Ola the Bible says in verse 15 the Brethren when they heard about us came from there as far as the market of a pious and three ends to meet us and when Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage some of the Roman Christians heard that Paul was there he had arrived at pootie Olli and they ran from Rome to meet him some came and they met him at the market of a pious that was forty three miles from Rome others met him a little later at the three ends that was thirty three miles from Rome the spread of the gospel to Rome and these believers from Rome encouraged Paul he was fellowshipping with people he was so excited that even at the the capital of the Roman Empire Rome itself God had planted churches and Christians had had come people had come to Christ and they were growing in grace and all of that encouraged him and as he fellowship with his believers he realized that his work was not in vain and finally Paul arrived in Rome he was under house arrest a soldier was watching him and he had his own living quarters able to share the gospel visitors look at verse 16 when he entered Rome Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who was guarding him Paul was a determined faithful witness of Jesus and yet even Paul who wrote half the New Testament even Paul needed the fellowship and the strength that was derived from Christian other Christian believers brothers in Christ like Luke like the Christians who met him in pootie Olli like all the Christians in Rome Christians that don't quit they understand the need for fellowshipping with other believers how many of you have ever grilled out I'm not talking about just on the fancy things we've got now but you remember those old grills that we used to buy that cost about $29.99 you know and and you got this big charcoal holder it's got a hollow insides got a handle so you don't burn your hand off and you just put all these briquettes in there and you you if you're a Baptist you don't just douse it a little like you know you might be from somebody else but you you did just pour that lighter fluid all over it and then you take a match and you get back a little bit you know you kind of throw it it how many of you ever done what I just said anybody out there now we're talking all right and then bloosh all of a sudden it blows up and after a while you look on there and the black coals or turning white and they're getting hot it's white hot and you saw steak is on the way and you take the little deal off and it all spreads out and what happens burning good inevitably though one or two of those briquettes falls away from the fire and what happens it gets hard and it gets cold right that's what's going to happen to you spiritually if you pull away from the fire of fellowship with other believers it doesn't take long for a briquette to fall away and get hard and cold and brother and sister it doesn't take long for you to get hard toward the things of God and cold toward the things of God when you get away from the people of God I thank God for the fellowship of the brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ are we perfect no am i perfect no but still all of us who are imperfect need to come together with the body of Christ so that we don't let the fire go out the Bible says in Hebrews 10 24 and 25 let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds how to stimulate how to keep each other on fire not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another how many of you need stimulation anybody out there how many of you need encouragement anybody out there encourage you want to know and all the more as you see the day the day of Jesus coming back the Day approaching drawing near hear me as we approach the second coming of Jesus Christ it's not going to get better in this world it's going to get worse but the good thing about is we have the Lord and we have one another let's stick together let's stay together and look at me let's don't get divided over race let's don't get divided over this person has more money than that person let's go don't get divided listen we're all all people created by God in the image of God Jesus died for all of us let's love everybody and I want to encourage you every one of you members at Bellevue Baptist Church you keep your spiritual eye open you look around and if you see somebody walking around here and they look a little bit lonely or maybe they look a little bit discouraged you make a beeline to them and be as kind and as christ-like to them as you could be don't just sit there in your own little world come in here and hear a sermon and then go out and not say to anybody anything to anybody look for a find yourself a life group and don't go in there say well I bet they're not gonna like me come on guys go in there and say you know what I'm gonna love them and they're gonna love me and if they don't I'll go find somebody that will don't get mad about it if you don't hit it off right with somebody and it's kind of like dating do you remember that well I barely do but you know what if it doesn't work I've been go find somebody else go find another spot but find some believers you can do life with and get some friends get involved be proactive you said well I'm waiting on them to come to me don't wait on them to come to you you go to them you take the initiative because you need fellowship and a Christian that won't quit surrounds himself or surrounds herself with people that love God and it doesn't matter what color their skin is and it doesn't matter what their age is and it doesn't matter what they have or don't have it matters that they love Jesus and they're part of the body of Christ and I want my heart to stay warm for Jesus I want my heart to stay burning in the fire of fellow ship I am NOT going to pro se the assembling of myself together I'm not going to do it because we're two or three have gathered together in his name there Jesus is in our midst and I want to be where Jesus is Amen well if you want to be a Christian that doesn't quit fellowship with other believers secondly if you want to be a Christian like Paul that don't just won't quit faithfully share the gospel something happens to you when you share the gospel it doesn't happen any any other way there's just something about sharing the gospel faithfully and old Paul was faithful to this looking for seventeen after three days you got to by the way just a little side go study the phrase three days in the Bible just go study it's amazing I think there's something to three days Jesus rose from the dead in three days and here Paul waited three days just something about that go look it up and it'll be a great study for you Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews Paul waited as long as he could you know waited three days said I got to tell somebody about Jesus so after he had been in Rome for only three days he engaged in sharing the gospel as was his custom on his missionary journeys he started with the Jews why because he had written to the Roman Christians he had written to the Christians there in Rome these words in Romans 1 14 through 16 said I'm under obligation I'm in debt both to the Greeks and to the barbarians most of the wise and of the foolish so for my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome I'm not ashamed of the gospel it is the power of God for salvation everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek so he starts with the Jews the leading men of the Jews verse 17 and when they came together he began saying to them brethren though I hadn't done nothing against our people or customs the customs of our fathers yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the roman sounds a lot like what happened to Jesus Jesus said I'm going to be delivered by the Jews to the Romans and now Paul is saying I have been delivered by the Jews to the Romans Paul was putting himself in a christ-like manner not that he was Christ but that he was Christ alike and he was following the steps of his Lord verse 18 and when they had examined me they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death I was innocent verse 19 but when the Jews objected I was forced to appeal to Caesar not that I had any accusation against my nation for this reason therefore I requested to see you and to speak with you for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel now how did these leaders of the Jews respond they played it cool they acted as though they'd never heard of Paul which is highly unlikely Paul's conversion to Christ was known abroad as well as it was in Jerusalem by the Jews and the Gentiles and Bible says in verse 21 they just kind of played it cool they said to him we've neither received letters from Judea concerning you nor have any of the Brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you that doesn't mean that they didn't know him but he's saying we don't have any bad information but you know that they had heard otherwise you know that they had heard that Paul had converted from Judaism from killing Christians to becoming a champion of Christ so you know they had heard about him so I believe they're just telling a lie but at any rate they played it cool but verse 22 we do desire to hear from you what your views are for concerning this sect Christianity it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere now the meeting with the Jewish leadership was over but soon they would reconvene and they would bring not only the leaders that were there but they would bring other Jews to Paul's rented residence and he would give them from morning till night one of the greatest sermons and it wasn't just a monologue it was a dialogue he answered questions and he preached to them the gospel of Jesus look at verse 23 when they had set a day for Paul they came to him at his lodging in large numbers he was explaining that word means he was setting forth he was declaring to them by solemnly testifying it means to solemnly sincerely affirm and bear witness about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade trying to influence them win them over convince them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and from the prophets from morning until evening if you want to know what a preacher ought to be that's what a preacher ought to be he ought to be preaching the kingdom he was testifying about the kingdom of God it was kingdom preaching it was persuasive preaching he was trying to persuade them to repent of their sins and believe savingly in Jesus and to receive him as Lord and Savior it was Christ centered preaching it was about the virgin birth of Jesus the sinless life of Jesus the atoning death of Jesus the bodily resurrection of Jesus that Jesus was the Messiah Jesus is the Anointed One crucified but raised from the dead and blessed the one who took away our curse in our sin Christ centered it was concerning Jesus it was biblical preaching it was exegetical it was all taken out of the text of the law of Moses and from the prophets and he would go verse by verse verse with verse verse / verse all Scripture it was laborious preaching if you can if you will it was from morning until evening some of you think I preached a long time you should have been there for Paul Paul was a gospel preacher the best there ever was aside from Jesus himself and as always he preached the gospel and as always he got a mixed response I like to tell preacher you know you get discouraged sometimes you preach your heart out you give the invitation nobody comes to receive Christ but you know what it is our job to bring the food we cannot make anybody eat it it's our job to deliver the sermon but we can't make anybody and God won't even force anybody to be saved the preacher don't get discouraged because the best God had was Paul and even when Paul preached some people said no some said yes but some said no look at verse 24 some were being persuaded by the things spoken but others would not believe John had talked about this in his gospel when he said in John chapter one verses eleven twelve Jesus came to his own and that's the Jews and those who were his own the Jews did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name aren't you glad that we can receive Christ and we can become children of the Living God and when the crowd began to disband Paul gave a final shot if you will a final word it was kind of like somebody got up and walked out and on the way out Paul's a hey on your way out let me give you a word let me give you a word from Isaiah chapter 6 when they did not agree with one another they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word the Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers saying go to this people say you will keep on hearing but you will not understand you will keep on seeing but you will not perceive for the heart of this people has become dull with their ears they scarcely hear they have closed their eyes God didn't close them they closed their own eyes otherwise they might see with their eyes hear with their ears understand with their heart and return that is repent and I would heal them I want to say this to you God's Word wounds you spiritually that he might heal you spiritually well when you're wounded by the word don't turn away from it and reject it draw near and let God heal you with salvation because if you don't if you reject the Word of God there comes a point we don't know when it's for each individual there comes a point when you reject the Word of God your heart will become callous and you will never hear the voice of God again it's exactly what Isaiah was saying God was saying to Isaiah chapter 6 his win Isaiah saw the Lord lofty exalted sitting upon the throne and he said woe is me I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among the people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the glory of the Lord and God healed him he touched his lips with that burning coal and the Bible says that he now was called he said go who-who whom shall I sin who will go for me and Isaiah said here am I send me and God said okay you go but I want you to know that I'm sending you to a people that won't listen to you and so paul takes that Jesus by the way took this same text in Matthew Mark Luke and John this same text Jesus took it and rebuked the Jewish leaders and that's exactly what Paul does he just follows what Christ did he takes us at hey I just want you to know God wrote something about you you have hardened your heart you have refused to listen to God you have refused to see the Word of God you think that you know everything but God tried to save you God wanted to turn East your forefathers did this Isaiah said that your forefathers did this and guess what like father like son like parent like child you're acting just like the Jews did in the days of Isaiah and I want to say this to you you have turned away from this but the Gentiles will listen they will listen and people will get saved you may think that you're going to stop Christianity Paul was saying but hear me Paul said nothing not even the rejection by the Jews will stop the glorious advancement of the kingdom of God through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ Oh Paul Wow we need some more guys like you therefore verse 28 let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles they will all listen and for the most part there might be a few Jewish people who've been saved here today but I want to say this to you for the most part where are the Gentiles he was talking about amen and we have embraced the gospel of Jesus all the Gentiles they will listen and I believe from here on in Paul didn't put the Jew first he said you know what I mean I'm a gospel preacher the Gentiles are open I am going to the ones that are open and he preached the gospel I love how Acts ends oh it's so beautiful when he had spoken these words the Jews departed having a great dispute among themselves I'll get to the ending of it in just a minute but he was faithfully sharing the gospel you know something happens - yeah I don't it happens to me I can preach a sermon and it's great I enjoy preaching that that's wonderful but I can't tell you what happens to me when I share the gospel one-on-one with a lost person when I share my testimony or when I just share the gospel I got a call recently for my son he has started doing door-to-door witnessing around his church right around his church he's taken a map and he and his two staff members they go out there they're good friends three fine young men and they go out and they just knock on the doors he said dad he said the other day I knocked on the door these two people opened the door a man and a wife and they said come on in I went I took an hour to share the gospel with them and dad they got saved they just got saved that they repented of their sins they believed in Jesus I came back a week later and guess what they still believed they were saved they really understood what they were doing they're gonna join our church I'm gonna back I think it's today's baptizing them and he said dad he said I'm telling you it's just unbelievable they were right under our noses and we never would have seen them or known about them had we not not knocked on the door and just said hey I'm Grant games I'm pastor at Calvary Baptist Church and we've got a gift for you and we're in the neighborhood praying for folks how can we pray for you and then that just led into sharing the gospel and they just got saved it and I'm telling you he just kept on say they got saved they got saved they gotta say well you tell me that's not gonna fire him up when he preached it is firing me up right now I mean I'm just telling you don't you understand there's something about sharing the gospel that just excites you when you love somebody you talk about them if you don't talk about somebody in a loving way you don't really love them the way you think you do and if you love Jesus you're gonna talk about him if Jesus is in your heart he's gonna come out of your mouth Jesus Christ wants you to be a witness of verbal witness for him tell somebody you're testing when's the last time you just said look here's what it was like before I knew Jesus here's how I came to Jesus and here's what it's like since I met Jesus now if you're seven years old you're Sam you know I used to steal cookies and now I don't steal cookies amen I mean do whatever you got to do but Jesus changed my heart I'll tell you what you steal cookies you'll steal something else later on if you don't find Jesus amen now some of you parents out there steal cookies too alright I know about that but if you will just faithfully share the gospel you'll be a Christian won't quit well I want to be a Christian that doesn't quit I don't want to fizzle out do you I don't want to quit I want to run into the arms of Jesus how am I gonna do that number one I'm gonna fellowship with other believers number two I'm gonna faithfully share the gospel and then number three I'm gonna focus my life on the kingdom of God I'm not gonna focus my life on money I'm not gonna focus my life on things I'm not gonna focus my life on houses I'm not to focus my life own careers I'm not gonna focus my life just on family I'm gonna focus my life on the kingdom of the Living God I'm gonna seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto me I'm gonna be a kingdom man that's what you got to be safe look at verse 30 and he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him he couldn't go to them all but that didn't prevent them from coming to him can you imagine getting an invitation would you please come and let me tell you about Jesus signed the Apostle Paul now how about that how about that for a good evening amen where are you going I'm going to hear this Paul guy well you better watch out he's gonna tell you about Jesus that's what I want to hear I've heard so much about and I've seen my friends and they've gotten saved and they've changed their lives God's changed them and I want to go and so they were being persuaded to hear the Christ and the Bible says last verse chapter 31 last verse and Acts here's how Paul went out preaching the kingdom of God teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered he didn't focus on politics he didn't ask somebody if they were a Democrat or a Republican he didn't focus on all the stuff that we think you got to focus on he didn't focus on secondary issues he preached the kingdom of God he taught about the Lord Jesus Christ he didn't focus on material wealth he focused on the kingdom of God his laser focus was to get the gospel to Los people so that they could be saved and he was a Christian who would not quit take your bulletin very quick and look at the picture on here I love this picture I'm gonna find it I'm gonna frame it it's one of the greatest pictures don't you know that's Paul he is imprisoned physically but look at that little smile on his face he's looking up to the Lord and he's thinking back about how good God had been down he's thinking back I think about the kingdom of God that came to him he's thinking back when he first heard a great Christian witness from Stephen when he was being beaten to death of those rocks he heard Stephen say Father forgive them they don't know what they're doing just like Jesus has said on the cross he couldn't get that out of his mind he was thinking about old Stephen said boy he's he's alive now he's thinking about when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and the lights shone and he heard the voice all Saul why are you persecuting me who are you lord I am Jesus whom you are persecuting now go and he went to the house of Judas and he came and God sent him a soul-winner named Ananias he remembers maybe in that picture maybe he's remembering and a nice coming there and sharing the gospel with him and him getting saved and filled with the Holy Spirit and then maybe he's thinking about what it was like to go back to Tarsus for a little while and spend that time there telling people about Jesus and maybe he remembers wasn't remember what it was like when the Jews at Jerusalem when he came back to Jerusalem didn't really want anything to do with him but Barnabas was there to bring him into the fold and maybe he was thinking about that day when he and Barnabas and three other prophets were ministering to the Lord in prayer and God said set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to the work which I have called them and maybe he was thinking about going off on that first missionary journey maybe he was thinking about Elemis the magician who tried to come against them and rebuking him and the demons in him and God making him blind and then winning Sergius Paulus the Roman leader of that Island to the Lord on Cyprus maybe Paul in that picture was looking back as he had thought about how he had sought the kingdom of God and he had been stoned probably to death by people at Lystra but then the Christians came around him and they laid hands on when they prayed for him and he just got up you don't get up from a stoning I wanted a son he got up and he walked back out and he started preaching the gospel again maybe he was just thinking about some of those great times like that maybe he was thinking about when he went to the Jerusalem Council and they said you don't have to become a Jew to become a Christian he rejoiced he went out there as the one who would take the gospel to the Gentiles maybe he was thinking about that night then he was at Troas and the Spirit of God wouldn't let him go north and will let him go south but the speech so he just sat down and he prayed and God gave him of a vision there was a man from Macedonia said come over here to us which was modern-day Europe he would leave Asia come over here to us and help us and the next day said we perceived that God want us to go he goes to Philip I and he comes in there and he meets the lady named Lydia and God opens her heart to hear the gospel and then he cast a demon out of a girl that was working with as a fortune-teller and when he cast that demon out she could no longer be a slave to these men and they beat him and they threw him and pray in prison but at midnight he started praising God with Silas and God sent an earthquake and though all the doors were open all the chains fell off and all of a sudden the jailer comes in falls at his fate at his feet and says sir what must I do to be saved and he got saved and he baptized the very man that put him in stocks he baptized the jailer and he baptized his whole family and the next day they released him and he walked out and there was a church at philippi and he went out of town he he went to Thessalonica and there he started to church they ran him out of town he went to Berea there he started to church they ran him out of town he went to Athens and he preached on Mars Hill a great sermon about the Lord Jesus Christ and even there Dionysius and some other people got saved and he left behind a church and then he came to carve a seaport town with all these sailors and with all this immorality and he had no idea that this would be the place that God would set down in revival and God sent a one and a half year long revival while he was preaching the gospel in that whole area got saved in Corinth was one of his favorite churches and they went on and on and on went to Ephesus the Bible says in chapter 19 and he would preach the gospel people would get saved and they brought their demonic satanic paraphernalia out and they burned it in the middle of the street and God was moving mighdal and he went on and on and he stood before Festus and Felix and all these Agrippa and all these kings and he shared the gospel and he went on and on he's looking in that picture he's just saying God you've been faithful to me God you've allowed me to preach the gospel for all these years he didn't have any money he didn't have a house he didn't have a family he didn't have the stuff that you we think makes you successful in life but I want to say to you the most successful person in all the world at that time was the Apostle Paul because he was a Christian who loved Jesus who would not quit no matter what no matter what that's how he wrote words like these therefore having been justified by faith we have peace through God through our Lord Jesus Christ but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us I'm convinced that neither death life angels principalities things present things to come nor powers height depth any other thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart god raised him from the dead you shall be saved therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord and he has said to me my grace is sufficient for you Paul power is perfected in weakness most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my asthenia my weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell in me I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not i but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and is my Savior Ephesians 6:12 our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers the powers the world Force's of this darkness the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain I can do all things through him who strengthens me my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches and glory through Christ Jesus I am already being poured out as a drink offering the time of my departure my death has come I have fought the good fight I have finished the course I have kept the faith in the future hits forth there is laid up for me not an RA not a retirement plan his forth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord Jesus the righteous judge will award to me on that day that day that day that I've looked forward to that day and not only to me but also to all who has loved his appearing I am not ashamed of the gospel I will tell the world about the gospel amen I have decided to follow Jesus let's all stand up I have decided to follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back no turning back not gonna quit no turning back no none go with me still I still I will follow though none go with me still I will fall though none go with me still I will fall no turning back no turning back my cross I'll carry till I see Jesus Microsoft carry till I see Jesus my cross I'll carry till I see Jesus no turning back no turning [Music] bow your heads with me just for a moment in this sacred moment we didn't just finish a sermon today we finished a lot of sermons today we have lived for a year and a half as a church in the book of Acts will you today deep in your soul say I recommit myself I'm a Christian but I recommit myself to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to Jesus Christ himself I will have done with lesser things I will seek first the kingdom I will share the gospel I will fellowship with other Christians I will be a Christian who will not quit whatever happens in Washington whatever happens in this world whatever North Korea does whatever Russia does whatever America does I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ first and foremost and I will not turn my back on my lord I will not turn my back on the church I will not turn my back on the gospel so help me God if that's your heart raise your hand high raise it high keep it up Lord you see our hearts you see our hands we will be Christians 24/7 everywhere we go we will be ambassadors for Jesus Christ and we one day will be able to look back and say I fought the good fight I finished the course I kept the faith henceforth in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness and not only for me but for all who love your appearing I will be sold out I will live for Jesus in Jesus name if that's your prayer say men

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

Views: 1,778

Rating: 4.875 out of 5

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Id: eVHImcFQfPQ

Length: 47min 16sec (2836 seconds)

Published: Tue May 01 2018