Paul

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Pauls Third Missionary Journey ConcludedActs
2017-38Message 3 in our 14-part series on the
Acts of the Apostles.

• Sunday, July 20, 2014
• Speaker Doug Virgint

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Acts 2017-38

• Our outline
• Pauls plan for the rest of his ministry
• Pauls plea to help the poor Christians in
  Jerusalem
• Pauls passion for church leadership
• Pauls presentation of the Gospel
• Conclusion

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Acts 2017-38

• Our outline
• Pauls plan for the rest of his ministry
• Pauls plea to help the poor Christians in
  Jerusalem
• Pauls passion for church leadership
• Pauls presentation of the Gospel
• Conclusion

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1) Acts 20 17-38 Pauls plan
Now after these events Paul resolved in the
Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia
and go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been
there, I must also see Rome. (Acts 1921)
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Acts 2017-38

• Pauls plan
• Visit Jerusalem with a gift from Gentile
  churches to the poor Christians there
• Visit the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to
  reinforce the leadership
• Visit Rome, and further west, to present the
  Gospel (Spain, and perhaps even Britain)

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Acts 2017-38

• Paul is rushing through the Aegean sea to get to
  Jerusalem ASAP
• He passes by the island of Chios (where Homer was
  born)
• He stops at Samos, the birth of Pythagoras, the
  great mathematician
• a2 b2 c2

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Acts 2017-38

• Our outline
• Pauls plan for the rest of his ministry
• Pauls plea to help the poor Christians in
  Jerusalem
• Pauls passion for church leadership
• Pauls presentation of the Gospel
• Conclusion

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Acts 2017-38

• Visit Jerusalem with a gift from Gentile churches
  to the poor Christians
• In Galatians, Paul adds one detail to James
  decision at the Acts 15 Jerusalem council
• Only they asked us to remember the poor, the
  very thing I was eager to do. (Galatians 210)

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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift
F.F. Bruce has written an important book that
traces Pauls passion to collect these gifts and
take them to the poor in Jerusalem.  Paul,
Apostle of a Heart Set Free
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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift
At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem
bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and
Achaia have been pleased to make some
contribution for the poor among the saints at
Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and
indeed they owe it to them.
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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift
For if the Gentiles have come to share in their
spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of
service to them in material blessings. When
therefore I have completed this and have
delivered to them what has been collected, I will
leave for Spain by way of you. (Romans 1525-28)
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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift
Now concerning the collection for the saints as
I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also
are to do. On the first day of every week, each
of you is to put something aside and store it
up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no
collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will
send those whom you accredit by letter to carry
your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable
that I should go also, they will accompany me.
(1 Corinthians 161-4)
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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift

• Paul made that commitment at the Jerusalem
  conference
• Many Christians in Jerusalem were desperately
  poor and were banished from the temple and all
  Jewish charity

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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift

• Paul wished to show off the generosity of Gentile
  churches to the Jewish believers
• Paul remained a devout Jew to the last and wished
  to demonstrate his Jewish piety to the Jewish
  Christians in Judea
• He felt that this gesture from Gentile Christians
  would help heal the tensions between the strong
  Jewish Christians and the new non-Jewish churches

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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift

• Why was Paul so desperate to arrive in Jerusalem
  for the feast of Pentecost?
• A large crowd of pious Jews from around the world
  was still in Jerusalem.
• It was at the day of Pentecost that God showed
  his will to call all nations to him through
  preaching in many languages. On that day the
  Spirit was given and the church was founded.

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2) Visit Jerusalem with a gift

• Why was Paul so desperate to arrive in Jerusalem
  for the feast of Pentecost?
• To a Jew, the feast of Pentecost was a joyous
  time, to celebrate the harvest and to bring the
  first fruits to God as an offering.
• Paul no doubt saw this collection as a first
  fruits offering from the Gentile Christians.

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Acts 2017-38

• Our outline
• Pauls plan for the rest of his ministry
• Pauls plea to help the poor Christians in
  Jerusalem
• Pauls passion for church leadership
• Pauls presentation of the Gospel
• Conclusion

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3) passion for leadership

• Paul seizes his last opportunity to influence the
  future of the church he had founded in Ephesus.
• He knows that the most important way he can spend
  the one day he has available is to meet the
  leaders one last time.

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3) passion for leadership

• The most pressing need in our churches in this
  church is not to copy the latest program that
  worked somewhere else
• It is not to follow the latest trends.
• It is to develop real Biblical leadership, from
  within the local church.
• Leaders who follow Pauls model and,
  ultimately, Christs model!

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3) passion for leadership

• Lets spend some time looking at Pauls model for
  Church leadership
• Our service is first of all for the Lord (19)
• we serve God rather than man
• our service is marked by humility (the servant is
  not greater than his Master)

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3) passion for leadership

• We also serve the Church
• teaching is the soul of a church leaders work
  (20, 27)
• it takes great courage to not shrink from
  teaching all God requires, especially when the
  Bible is countercultural
• the local church needs a plan to make sure all
  important truths are covered regularly (Paul
  spent 3 years in Ephesus)

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3) passion for leadership

• We also serve the Church
• pastoral work is also part of the leaders work
  in the local Church (31)
• this takes time and competence
• the true pastor applies the Word of God to
  peoples problems

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3) passion for leadership

• We must also serve those who know not Christ
• church leaders show leadership in evangelisation
  (21)
• they provide occasions in the life of the local
  church for this to take place

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3) passion for leadership

• We must also watch our own lives while we serve
  Christ and His Church
• an attitude of sacrifice
• not after the money (33-35)
• we are willing to suffer (19) (tears and
  trials)

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3) passion for leadership

• We must also watch our own lives while we serve
  Christ and his Church
• Paul has made tremendous sacrifices and suffered
  greatly
• But he is not retiring
• He is looking forward to travelling to Rome and
  even further west
• Spain and the British Isles

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3) passion for leadership
Paul had a passion to preach the Gospel to all of
the Gentiles to all the Roman Empire. He knew
that he was the apostle to the Gentiles. He had a
plan to accomplish Gods calling in his life
flexible, but a plan!
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Acts 2017-38

• Our outline
• Pauls plan for the rest of his ministry
• Pauls plea to help the poor Christians in
  Jerusalem
• Pauls passion for church leadership
• Pauls presentation of the Gospel
• Conclusion

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4) presentation of the gospel

• testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of
  repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord
  Jesus Christ (vs. 21)
• Two elements of Pauls gospel here
• repentance toward God
• faith in our Lord Jesus Christ

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4) presentation of the gospel

• Repentance toward God
• a change of mind that results in changed
  behaviour
• it involves our whole person intellect,
  emotions, will
• the conscious act of the sinner who turns from
  his sin to God

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4) presentation of the gospel

• Repentance toward God
• remorse sorry for consequences
• repentance sorry for act itself, for our sin
• John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, Paul - all called
  for repentance

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4) presentation of the gospel

• Repentance toward God
• true repentance is a gift from God
• God's kindness is meant to lead you to
  repentance (Romans 24)
• we need to realize that God is the Holy Sovereign
  of the universe and that our sin has insulted him
  and called down his judgment on us

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4) presentation of the gospel

• Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
• understanding that all our religion and the good
  things we do are inadequate to obtain Gods
  pardon and salvation
• believing who Jesus is God the Son, the second
  Person if the Trinity, who came to earth to save
  us

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4) presentation of the gospel

• Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
• understanding that God punished our sins in the
  person of Jesus Christ on the cross.
• on the cross, God the Father treated Jesus-Christ
  the Son as if He had committed all the sins I
  have ever committed.

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4) presentation of the gospel
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4) presentation of the gospel

• Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
• believing and accepting what Christ has done for
  me
• committing ourselves to serving and obeying
  Christ as Lord
• Lord Jesus Christ

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Acts 2017-38

• Our outline
• Pauls plan for the rest of his ministry
• Pauls plea to help the poor Christians in
  Jerusalem
• Pauls passion for church leadership
• Pauls presentation of the Gospel
• Conclusion

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5) Conclusion

• Is the Lord calling you to leadership in the
  local church?
• Our churches desperately need younger men and
  older men to be trained to take over leadership.
• No other calling is so rewarding and so
  important.
• Are you allowing some career or some ambition to
  get in the way of that calling?

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5) Conclusion

• If you are a leader in a local church, are you
  allowing a lack of humility, a refusal to
  sacrifice or improper motivations to ruin your
  ministry and your local church?
• Are you looking for a mentor and for training?

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5) Conclusion

• Are we as individuals and as a local church
  showing generosity to the poor people who
  surround us in Montreal and in the whole world?

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5) Conclusion

• Are those of us who are older getting lazy in our
  service? Are we continuing to serve the local
  church and the Lord perhaps in different ways?
• Does the Bible ever speak about retirement?

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5) Conclusion

• Have you truly repented of your sin?
• Have you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus
  Christ?

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Acts 20 17-38
Pauls third missionary journey concluded