Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good evening. Welcome to Voice in the Wilderness. I'm Don
Noble of Pure Art Ministries, and I welcome you today
with exceedingly abundantly and overflowing joy. Before I get into
my message, I just want to make a note of
the fact that the Vatican has elected a new pope.
(00:22):
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, sixty nine years old, was elected
pope on May eighth, becoming Pope Leo the fourteenth. And
I may have mentioned this not too long ago, but
I was in a gathering with several Christians. We were praying,
(00:43):
and this was I would say this happened in early February.
So as we were praying, I had a very quick
vision and I saw white smoke coming up like out
of a out of a pipe or something. I just
(01:05):
saw that white smoke for an instant and I quickly
thought to myself, Oh, my goodness, Pope Francis is going
to die. There's going to be a new Pope. And
at that point in time, Pope Francis was not in
the hospital, but then subsequently he developed a lot of
(01:28):
problems with pneumonia et cetera and ended up in the hospital,
and then most recently passed away, So I you know,
I was kind of bewildered about that vision because it
was so quick, so brief, But yet I knew in
(01:51):
my spirit, like when I saw the white smoke, I
knew in my spirit that Francis was going to pass
away and a new pope was going to come forth.
So just want to congratulate my Catholic friends and the
(02:11):
Catholic Church for electing this new pope. There are things
yet to discover about him, and this tonight's message is
not about him, but just to say that it's wonderful
to have an American being raised to the highest position
(02:31):
in the Catholic Church. And I think, at least from
what I've recently learned, he is very pro life, so
that is very good. He is against the transgender agenda
and that's positive, and against the LGBTQ agenda. So there
(02:54):
are some very positive things about this pope that I
hope we'll bring unity in the church. And I know
my conservative, very conservative Catholic friends and some family have
not not been happy with Francis, And to be honest,
(03:19):
he really was a Marxist in his thinking and beliefs.
So it'll be interesting to see how Pope Leo the
fourteenth navigates these future waters, political waters and spiritual things.
And we do pray that the Holy Spirit will guide
(03:43):
him in all his official matters and spiritual matters, and
certainly give him the wisdom of Heaven to know what
decisions would be best for the Catholic Church. So I
see that I'm hoping. I'm hoping and believing that this
will be a good candidate that they elected. So we
(04:09):
shall see in the coming days. Tonight's message is titled
whatever Happens. This is Part one. I will finish it
up next week with part two. How many times have
you told someone that you were in a conversation with
(04:32):
and you said to them, you won't believe what happened,
or you might say it this way, Can you believe
this happened to me? The result being something bad occurred
and you did not expect it. So is an unexpected
(04:53):
negative outcome and the plan that you thought was going
to unfold didn't and it was a different result. So
now you're upset, you're frustrated, disappointed, and you're asking God,
how did this happen? God? Where are you in this?
(05:19):
Why would you let this happen? Those are often the
questions that you and I and many believers ask of
the Lord when we perceive that the turn of events
(05:40):
are not what we certainly expected or prayed for. The
Apostle Paul in writing to the Philippian Church, which by
the way, supported Paul more than any other church, he
wrote in Chapter one of Philippians twenty seven and I'm
(06:01):
reading it out of the International New International Version, the NIV,
and this is what it says. Paul wrote, whatever happens,
conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.
When I read that scripture recently, it was like a
(06:22):
dagger went into my heart. You talk about the Holy
Spirit bringing, you know, like conviction in a strong way,
not condemnation, but conviction. Wow, that scripture hit me so hard,
(06:44):
and I realized that there were certain situations where I
did not conduct myself in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
Now I'm not saying that I went out and got
drunk or did some flagrant sin, but I just knew
when I read the scripture, and I felt the Spirit
(07:08):
really prick my heart just like ooh, I knew. I
just knew that I could have said things nicer I
could have avoided losing my temper. And for me it
was like a wake up call. I really hope that
(07:29):
this message tonight will be a wake up call for
you as much as it was a wake up call
for me. And as you know, we are it's almost
like we're inches away from Jesus' return to gather his
(07:50):
church and take us up the rapture. And so I
think sometimes these things have more weight to them because
he's trying to make his church what he called us
in Ephesians. In the Book of Ephesians, he called us
the glorious church, and He's coming back for the glorious,
(08:14):
triumphant Church. Amen. So for me it was like a
wake up call, and I began to really ask myself
some questions like do I really fear the Lord? Or
do I just say that I fear the Lord? And
(08:36):
was I truly being careful about my words and actions.
The apostle Paul was a man who knew about trials
and tribulations Acts twenty verse, verses thirteen through twenty four.
I just want to start there first. But you know
(09:00):
this apostle Paul, boy, what a guy. He He was
the real deal. And he and Now the Book of
Acts is written by Luke. So Luke's writing from verse
thirteen I'm reading to twenty four. It says, then we
(09:20):
went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assis, there
intending to take Paul on board, for so he had
given orders, intending himself to go on foot. And when
he met us at Asses, we took him on board
and came to Middeling. We sailed from there and the
next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived
(09:46):
at Samos and stayed at Tragillium. The next day we
came to Militis. So Luke is very detailed here. He's
telling us from what's the to what city to what city?
What city verse sixteen. For Paul had decided to sail
past Ephesus so that we would not have to spend
(10:10):
time in Asia, so that he would not have to
spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be
at Jerusalem if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Now
you may remember when you read the Old Testament, there
were three feasts that were mandated, mandated for every Jew
(10:33):
to attend right passover Pentecost Feast of Tabernacles. So there
were three feasts of the many feasts that were mandatory.
So Paul's trying to get to Jerusalem for the day
of Pentecost Verse seventeen From Milodus, he sent to Ephesus
(10:56):
and called for the elders of the Church. And when
they had come to him, he said to them, you
know from the first day that I came to Asia
in what manner I always lived among you, serving the
Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which
happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How
(11:19):
I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it
to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,
testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see now
(11:44):
I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing
the things that will happen to me there, except that
the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains
and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me,
(12:07):
nor do I count my life dear to myself, so
that I may finish my race with joy and the
ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus, to testify
to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed,
now I know that you, all among whom I have
(12:30):
gone preaching the Kingdom of God, will see my face
no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that
I am innocent of the blood of all men, for
I have not shunned to declare to you the whole
counsel of God. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to
(12:50):
all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God, which he
purchased with his own blood. For I know this that
after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you,
not sparing the flock, and also from among yourselves men
(13:13):
will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw away the
disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch and remember that for three
years I did not cease to warn every one night
and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you
to God and to the word of His grace, which
(13:35):
is able to build you up and give you an
inheritance among all those who are sanctified. The key scripture,
and that's in that set of set of scriptures, is
verse twenty four Paul says, but none of these things
(13:55):
move me. Now he tells us that he has a sense,
he says, because he says, I see now I go
bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things
that will happen to me there. But he, you know,
he has some sense that something's going to happen when
(14:19):
he gets to Jerusalem. And the Holy Spirit has shown
him that in every city he's had chains and tribulations
await him. Imagine if you're if you're listening to me,
and you are an evangelist, that means you've gone to
(14:40):
many cities to preach the gospel. Have you found chains
and tribulations awaiting you at every city that you've preached in?
I doubt it, But hear this, this man, this apostle,
Paul says, every city I go to, chains and tribulations
(15:03):
await me, and the Holy Spirit testifies to it. And
yet he can say, but none of these things, None
of these things move me. Nor do I count my
life dear to myself, so that I may finish my
(15:25):
race with sadness. No, No, Paul says, so that I
may finish my race with joy and the ministry, the
ministry I received from the Lord Jesus to testify of
the Gospel of the grace of God. I tell you
(15:50):
what a servant of the Lord, what a leader? So
do you think that Paul asks the question, Hey, can
you believe? Can you believe what happened to me when
I was in Melodis? Can you believe what happened to
(16:11):
me when I was in Aphesis? I mean, come on,
I have been to Chiaus and I've been to Assasin Trajillium.
I mean, why would the Lord allow all this tribulation
and chains for me? Hmmm? Acts fourteen, Let's go there,
(16:41):
And I think, Paul, who wrote this scripture, whatever happens,
whatever happens, chains, no chains, tribulations, no tribulations, whatever happens,
I'm going to conduct myself in a manner where they
of the Gospel of Christ. Okay, Acts Chapter fourteen. We're
(17:07):
gonna look at verses nineteen through twenty eight. Now it
says then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, came
where they came to Lystra. And so if you look
at the previous scriptures like verses one through eighteen, you'll
(17:28):
see the picture there. And the scripture tells us those
in that set of scriptures prior to verses nineteen through
twenty eight, that in Lystra, Paul had healed a lame man.
This man had been crippled from his mother's womb, he
had never walked, and it stirred up these people. It
(17:53):
stirred them up. They thought that Paul was a god,
and they were Barnabas was a god, and they thought
Paul was Hermes and Barnabas was Zeus. And they were
trying to lay wreaths at their feet and worship them.
And Paul was like, oh no, no, no, no, no,
we can't have any of this. No. So that's what
(18:17):
happens in the prior scripture. So then the Jews came
from Antioch and Iconium there to Lystra where all this
is taking place, and having persuaded the multitudes, that is,
the Jews persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged
(18:39):
him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
Now did we just not read that? Paul said, like,
none of these things move me. He was stoned, they
thought he was dead. He probably thought he was dead.
(19:00):
But see that didn't move Paul, It just didn't move him.
He said, none of these things. I don't count my life,
dear to myself. I've got to finish my race with joy. Period.
So we have to grasp that as believers, because he's
(19:23):
speaking that to us too. And whatever happens, whatever happens
in our life, we need to be able to say,
it's not gonna move me, and I don't count my life, dear.
I've got to finish my race with joy. That's where
(19:45):
we need to be. Okay, let me go on. So
they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered
around him, he rose up and went into the city,
so they obviously laid hands on him, prayed over him,
and boom, he comes back to life. And the next
(20:09):
day he departed with Barnabas to Derby, and when they
had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples,
then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. Okay, I mean,
he's just asking for it. They just tried to stone
him and kill him, and boom, he's up back on
(20:33):
his feet. He goes to Derby, he's preaching again. He's
making a lot of disciples, and now he's going to
return to the place where these Jews were trying to
kill him. So he returns, and it says in verse
twenty two, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them.
It means encouraging them, cheering them on to continue in
(20:56):
the faith, saying, we must, through many tribulations, enter the
Kingdom of God. Oh my goodness, who's preaching that? Do
you hear that? Out of any pulpit in America? Does
anybody say that Paul said this, we must must, through
(21:19):
many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God. I have never
heard a preacher preach that. Never. And here we are
Paul sayg that. Who's he saying that too? He sang
it to you, and he sang it to me, and
he's sang it to every believer in Christ. Oh. Yeah, see,
(21:43):
you got to read your Bible because you'd think I
was making that up. I know you would think I
was making that up, But I am not. Its acts
Chapter fourteen, and it's verse twenty two, we must, through
many tribulations, enter the Kingdom of God. Oh. So, when
(22:07):
they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting,
they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphilia.
Now when they had preached the word in Perga, then
they went down to Italia. From there they sailed to Antioch,
(22:33):
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work which they had completed. I'll say one thing, Paul,
was a moving and grooving here they were going. They
were moving like a train. They were moving from city
to city, preaching the Gospel and making disciples. I mean,
(22:54):
no grass was growing under their feet Verse twenty seven. Now,
when they had come and gathered the church together, they
reported all that God had done with them, and that
he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
(23:19):
Paul had an unction. He had a mission not only
to preach the gospel, not only to go to these
cities and share the good news of the Kingdom of
God and to get people saved. But it was more
than that. For Paul. He felt the important need to
(23:43):
disciple these new believers. You know that rarely goes on
in the churches today in America. It really does. Very
few people are discipled if they get saved, they're kind
of like on their own, like figured out for yourself.
That is so horrible. Jesus told us to make disciples.
(24:05):
He didn't say make converts. He said make disciples. We
are to be discipling those that we bring into the
Kingdom of God. And Paul that mandate was on his
life because he understood. And here's the thing. If you
(24:28):
bring someone to Christ and they don't get discipled, and
you aren't part of discipling them, they'll just fall back
into their old ways, into their old life, and they'll
never lead a victorious life. In fact, they'll just backslide.
It's mandatory to have discipleship for new believers, and being
(24:55):
a teacher I have. I have actually just it has
broken my heart to watch what happens in the churches
today where there's no discipleship, because I so strongly believe
in it. So I'm going to conclude this message tonight
(25:15):
with just saying this, because I'm definitely going to have
a part two, and I don't know, the Lord may
lead me to a part three. But whatever happens Philippians
one twenty seven, whatever happens conduct yourself in a manner
worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Paul conducted himself in
(25:42):
a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. And Paul
went through more tribulations, more difficulties than I would say
than any believer, certainly any believer in the New Testament,
and more than any believer today that I know of.
(26:05):
So your situation couldn't be as tough as Paul's. I
don't think anybody in the United States has ever been
stoned and left for dead. If you have, that's really
news to me. But you know, we all think that
(26:25):
these situations that we encounter that are tough and rough,
you know, we feel like it's the end of the world.
Where's God? Where you would let this happen to me? Lord?
Paul didn't say that. He didn't say, Paul, He didn't say, Lord,
you'd luck this happen to me. They stoned me. I
(26:46):
almost died. No, no, no, Paul said, none of these
things move me. And I don't count my life dear
to myself. Brother and sister, I'm speaking to myself as
much as I'm speaking to you. We must not count
(27:09):
our life so dear, and we shouldn't let all of
the things that seem to move us move us. But
just stick with this. Whatever happens, just say this to yourself.
I will conduct myself in a manner worthy of the
(27:29):
Gospel of Christ. Amen. Well, this is Don Noble. You
can go to www dot purehart dot today to listen
to this podcast again. You can download the iHeartRadio app,
go to podcasts Pure Heart Ministries and listen twenty four
to seven. I would really love for you to sew
(27:50):
a financial seed into this ministry. You can send a
check to Pure Heart Ministries PO Box eighty five, PO
Box eighty five, Grove West, Virginia, two six six. If
the Lord should move on your heart, I would be
ever so grateful and keep praying for this ministry. And
(28:14):
I'll tell you what, I certainly look forward to being
back with you again next week. And so this is
Don Noble saying Shalom shalom, Peace be unto you.
Good evening. Welcome to Voice in the Wilderness. I'm Don
Noble of Pure Art Ministries, and I welcome you today
with exceedingly abundantly and overflowing joy. Before I get into
my message, I just want to make a note of
the fact that the Vatican has elected a new pope.
(00:22):
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, sixty nine years old, was elected
pope on May eighth, becoming Pope Leo the fourteenth. And
I may have mentioned this not too long ago, but
I was in a gathering with several Christians. We were praying,
(00:43):
and this was I would say this happened in early February.
So as we were praying, I had a very quick
vision and I saw white smoke coming up like out
of a out of a pipe or something. I just
(01:05):
saw that white smoke for an instant and I quickly
thought to myself, Oh, my goodness, Pope Francis is going
to die. There's going to be a new Pope. And
at that point in time, Pope Francis was not in
the hospital, but then subsequently he developed a lot of
(01:28):
problems with pneumonia et cetera and ended up in the hospital,
and then most recently passed away, So I you know,
I was kind of bewildered about that vision because it
was so quick, so brief, But yet I knew in
(01:51):
my spirit, like when I saw the white smoke, I
knew in my spirit that Francis was going to pass
away and a new pope was going to come forth.
So just want to congratulate my Catholic friends and the
(02:11):
Catholic Church for electing this new pope. There are things
yet to discover about him, and this tonight's message is
not about him, but just to say that it's wonderful
to have an American being raised to the highest position
(02:31):
in the Catholic Church. And I think, at least from
what I've recently learned, he is very pro life, so
that is very good. He is against the transgender agenda
and that's positive, and against the LGBTQ agenda. So there
(02:54):
are some very positive things about this pope that I
hope we'll bring unity in the church. And I know
my conservative, very conservative Catholic friends and some family have
not not been happy with Francis, And to be honest,
(03:19):
he really was a Marxist in his thinking and beliefs.
So it'll be interesting to see how Pope Leo the
fourteenth navigates these future waters, political waters and spiritual things.
And we do pray that the Holy Spirit will guide
(03:43):
him in all his official matters and spiritual matters, and
certainly give him the wisdom of Heaven to know what
decisions would be best for the Catholic Church. So I
see that I'm hoping. I'm hoping and believing that this
will be a good candidate that they elected. So we
(04:09):
shall see in the coming days. Tonight's message is titled
whatever Happens. This is Part one. I will finish it
up next week with part two. How many times have
you told someone that you were in a conversation with
(04:32):
and you said to them, you won't believe what happened,
or you might say it this way, Can you believe
this happened to me? The result being something bad occurred
and you did not expect it. So is an unexpected
(04:53):
negative outcome and the plan that you thought was going
to unfold didn't and it was a different result. So
now you're upset, you're frustrated, disappointed, and you're asking God,
how did this happen? God? Where are you in this?
(05:19):
Why would you let this happen? Those are often the
questions that you and I and many believers ask of
the Lord when we perceive that the turn of events
(05:40):
are not what we certainly expected or prayed for. The
Apostle Paul in writing to the Philippian Church, which by
the way, supported Paul more than any other church, he
wrote in Chapter one of Philippians twenty seven and I'm
(06:01):
reading it out of the International New International Version, the NIV,
and this is what it says. Paul wrote, whatever happens,
conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.
When I read that scripture recently, it was like a
(06:22):
dagger went into my heart. You talk about the Holy
Spirit bringing, you know, like conviction in a strong way,
not condemnation, but conviction. Wow, that scripture hit me so hard,
(06:44):
and I realized that there were certain situations where I
did not conduct myself in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
Now I'm not saying that I went out and got
drunk or did some flagrant sin, but I just knew
when I read the scripture, and I felt the Spirit
(07:08):
really prick my heart just like ooh, I knew. I
just knew that I could have said things nicer I
could have avoided losing my temper. And for me it
was like a wake up call. I really hope that
(07:29):
this message tonight will be a wake up call for
you as much as it was a wake up call
for me. And as you know, we are it's almost
like we're inches away from Jesus' return to gather his
(07:50):
church and take us up the rapture. And so I
think sometimes these things have more weight to them because
he's trying to make his church what he called us
in Ephesians. In the Book of Ephesians, he called us
the glorious church, and He's coming back for the glorious,
(08:14):
triumphant Church. Amen. So for me it was like a
wake up call, and I began to really ask myself
some questions like do I really fear the Lord? Or
do I just say that I fear the Lord? And
(08:36):
was I truly being careful about my words and actions.
The apostle Paul was a man who knew about trials
and tribulations Acts twenty verse, verses thirteen through twenty four.
I just want to start there first. But you know
(09:00):
this apostle Paul, boy, what a guy. He He was
the real deal. And he and Now the Book of
Acts is written by Luke. So Luke's writing from verse
thirteen I'm reading to twenty four. It says, then we
(09:20):
went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assis, there
intending to take Paul on board, for so he had
given orders, intending himself to go on foot. And when
he met us at Asses, we took him on board
and came to Middeling. We sailed from there and the
next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived
(09:46):
at Samos and stayed at Tragillium. The next day we
came to Militis. So Luke is very detailed here. He's
telling us from what's the to what city to what city?
What city verse sixteen. For Paul had decided to sail
past Ephesus so that we would not have to spend
(10:10):
time in Asia, so that he would not have to
spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be
at Jerusalem if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Now
you may remember when you read the Old Testament, there
were three feasts that were mandated, mandated for every Jew
(10:33):
to attend right passover Pentecost Feast of Tabernacles. So there
were three feasts of the many feasts that were mandatory.
So Paul's trying to get to Jerusalem for the day
of Pentecost Verse seventeen From Milodus, he sent to Ephesus
(10:56):
and called for the elders of the Church. And when
they had come to him, he said to them, you
know from the first day that I came to Asia
in what manner I always lived among you, serving the
Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which
happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How
(11:19):
I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it
to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,
testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see now
(11:44):
I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing
the things that will happen to me there, except that
the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains
and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me,
(12:07):
nor do I count my life dear to myself, so
that I may finish my race with joy and the
ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus, to testify
to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed,
now I know that you, all among whom I have
(12:30):
gone preaching the Kingdom of God, will see my face
no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that
I am innocent of the blood of all men, for
I have not shunned to declare to you the whole
counsel of God. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to
(12:50):
all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God, which he
purchased with his own blood. For I know this that
after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you,
not sparing the flock, and also from among yourselves men
(13:13):
will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw away the
disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch and remember that for three
years I did not cease to warn every one night
and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you
to God and to the word of His grace, which
(13:35):
is able to build you up and give you an
inheritance among all those who are sanctified. The key scripture,
and that's in that set of set of scriptures, is
verse twenty four Paul says, but none of these things
(13:55):
move me. Now he tells us that he has a sense,
he says, because he says, I see now I go
bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things
that will happen to me there. But he, you know,
he has some sense that something's going to happen when
(14:19):
he gets to Jerusalem. And the Holy Spirit has shown
him that in every city he's had chains and tribulations
await him. Imagine if you're if you're listening to me,
and you are an evangelist, that means you've gone to
(14:40):
many cities to preach the gospel. Have you found chains
and tribulations awaiting you at every city that you've preached in?
I doubt it, But hear this, this man, this apostle,
Paul says, every city I go to, chains and tribulations
(15:03):
await me, and the Holy Spirit testifies to it. And
yet he can say, but none of these things, None
of these things move me. Nor do I count my
life dear to myself, so that I may finish my
(15:25):
race with sadness. No, No, Paul says, so that I
may finish my race with joy and the ministry, the
ministry I received from the Lord Jesus to testify of
the Gospel of the grace of God. I tell you
(15:50):
what a servant of the Lord, what a leader? So
do you think that Paul asks the question, Hey, can
you believe? Can you believe what happened to me when
I was in Melodis? Can you believe what happened to
(16:11):
me when I was in Aphesis? I mean, come on,
I have been to Chiaus and I've been to Assasin Trajillium.
I mean, why would the Lord allow all this tribulation
and chains for me? Hmmm? Acts fourteen, Let's go there,
(16:41):
And I think, Paul, who wrote this scripture, whatever happens,
whatever happens, chains, no chains, tribulations, no tribulations, whatever happens,
I'm going to conduct myself in a manner where they
of the Gospel of Christ. Okay, Acts Chapter fourteen. We're
(17:07):
gonna look at verses nineteen through twenty eight. Now it
says then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, came
where they came to Lystra. And so if you look
at the previous scriptures like verses one through eighteen, you'll
(17:28):
see the picture there. And the scripture tells us those
in that set of scriptures prior to verses nineteen through
twenty eight, that in Lystra, Paul had healed a lame man.
This man had been crippled from his mother's womb, he
had never walked, and it stirred up these people. It
(17:53):
stirred them up. They thought that Paul was a god,
and they were Barnabas was a god, and they thought
Paul was Hermes and Barnabas was Zeus. And they were
trying to lay wreaths at their feet and worship them.
And Paul was like, oh no, no, no, no, no,
we can't have any of this. No. So that's what
(18:17):
happens in the prior scripture. So then the Jews came
from Antioch and Iconium there to Lystra where all this
is taking place, and having persuaded the multitudes, that is,
the Jews persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged
(18:39):
him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
Now did we just not read that? Paul said, like,
none of these things move me. He was stoned, they
thought he was dead. He probably thought he was dead.
(19:00):
But see that didn't move Paul, It just didn't move him.
He said, none of these things. I don't count my life,
dear to myself. I've got to finish my race with joy. Period.
So we have to grasp that as believers, because he's
(19:23):
speaking that to us too. And whatever happens, whatever happens
in our life, we need to be able to say,
it's not gonna move me, and I don't count my life, dear.
I've got to finish my race with joy. That's where
(19:45):
we need to be. Okay, let me go on. So
they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered
around him, he rose up and went into the city,
so they obviously laid hands on him, prayed over him,
and boom, he comes back to life. And the next
(20:09):
day he departed with Barnabas to Derby, and when they
had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples,
then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. Okay, I mean,
he's just asking for it. They just tried to stone
him and kill him, and boom, he's up back on
(20:33):
his feet. He goes to Derby, he's preaching again. He's
making a lot of disciples, and now he's going to
return to the place where these Jews were trying to
kill him. So he returns, and it says in verse
twenty two, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them.
It means encouraging them, cheering them on to continue in
(20:56):
the faith, saying, we must, through many tribulations, enter the
Kingdom of God. Oh my goodness, who's preaching that? Do
you hear that? Out of any pulpit in America? Does
anybody say that Paul said this, we must must, through
(21:19):
many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God. I have never
heard a preacher preach that. Never. And here we are
Paul sayg that. Who's he saying that too? He sang
it to you, and he sang it to me, and
he's sang it to every believer in Christ. Oh. Yeah, see,
(21:43):
you got to read your Bible because you'd think I
was making that up. I know you would think I
was making that up, But I am not. Its acts
Chapter fourteen, and it's verse twenty two, we must, through
many tribulations, enter the Kingdom of God. Oh. So, when
(22:07):
they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting,
they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphilia.
Now when they had preached the word in Perga, then
they went down to Italia. From there they sailed to Antioch,
(22:33):
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work which they had completed. I'll say one thing, Paul,
was a moving and grooving here they were going. They
were moving like a train. They were moving from city
to city, preaching the Gospel and making disciples. I mean,
(22:54):
no grass was growing under their feet Verse twenty seven. Now,
when they had come and gathered the church together, they
reported all that God had done with them, and that
he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
(23:19):
Paul had an unction. He had a mission not only
to preach the gospel, not only to go to these
cities and share the good news of the Kingdom of
God and to get people saved. But it was more
than that. For Paul. He felt the important need to
(23:43):
disciple these new believers. You know that rarely goes on
in the churches today in America. It really does. Very
few people are discipled if they get saved, they're kind
of like on their own, like figured out for yourself.
That is so horrible. Jesus told us to make disciples.
(24:05):
He didn't say make converts. He said make disciples. We
are to be discipling those that we bring into the
Kingdom of God. And Paul that mandate was on his
life because he understood. And here's the thing. If you
(24:28):
bring someone to Christ and they don't get discipled, and
you aren't part of discipling them, they'll just fall back
into their old ways, into their old life, and they'll
never lead a victorious life. In fact, they'll just backslide.
It's mandatory to have discipleship for new believers, and being
(24:55):
a teacher I have. I have actually just it has
broken my heart to watch what happens in the churches
today where there's no discipleship, because I so strongly believe
in it. So I'm going to conclude this message tonight
(25:15):
with just saying this, because I'm definitely going to have
a part two, and I don't know, the Lord may
lead me to a part three. But whatever happens Philippians
one twenty seven, whatever happens conduct yourself in a manner
worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Paul conducted himself in
(25:42):
a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. And Paul
went through more tribulations, more difficulties than I would say
than any believer, certainly any believer in the New Testament,
and more than any believer today that I know of.
(26:05):
So your situation couldn't be as tough as Paul's. I
don't think anybody in the United States has ever been
stoned and left for dead. If you have, that's really
news to me. But you know, we all think that
(26:25):
these situations that we encounter that are tough and rough,
you know, we feel like it's the end of the world.
Where's God? Where you would let this happen to me? Lord?
Paul didn't say that. He didn't say, Paul, He didn't say, Lord,
you'd luck this happen to me. They stoned me. I
(26:46):
almost died. No, no, no, Paul said, none of these
things move me. And I don't count my life dear
to myself. Brother and sister, I'm speaking to myself as
much as I'm speaking to you. We must not count
(27:09):
our life so dear, and we shouldn't let all of
the things that seem to move us move us. But
just stick with this. Whatever happens, just say this to yourself.
I will conduct myself in a manner worthy of the
(27:29):
Gospel of Christ. Amen. Well, this is Don Noble. You
can go to www dot purehart dot today to listen
to this podcast again. You can download the iHeartRadio app,
go to podcasts Pure Heart Ministries and listen twenty four
to seven. I would really love for you to sew
(27:50):
a financial seed into this ministry. You can send a
check to Pure Heart Ministries PO Box eighty five, PO
Box eighty five, Grove West, Virginia, two six six. If
the Lord should move on your heart, I would be
ever so grateful and keep praying for this ministry. And
(28:14):
I'll tell you what, I certainly look forward to being
back with you again next week. And so this is
Don Noble saying Shalom shalom, Peace be unto you.
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