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Speaker 1: Let us pray, then, said Paul, unto him, God shall

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Speaker 1: smite thee thou wit at wall, for sittest thou to

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Speaker 1: judge me after the law and commandest me to be

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Speaker 1: smitten contrary to the Law Acts twenty three three. Heavenly Father,

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Speaker 1: when deceitful people plot against me to hinder and derail

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Speaker 1: the purposes of my life, Like Paul in to day's reading,

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Speaker 1: I thank you that you have a special messenger that

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Speaker 1: will relay the plans of the enemy to those who

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Speaker 1: can shift and redirect my steps to safety. Move on

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Speaker 1: my behalf to day and direct my life to the

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Speaker 1: place of safety, surrounded by men and women who are

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Speaker 1: dedicated to helping me get to the final destination in

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Speaker 1: my life. I declare that no plan of the enemy

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Speaker 1: will thwart thee eternal plans of God. I declare that

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Speaker 1: even in the midst of hatred and violence, you will

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Speaker 1: preserve me because you have purposed me to do great

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Speaker 1: things on your behalf Jesus. Therefore, I will not be

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Speaker 1: moved by the shouts and words of others. I will

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Speaker 1: not allow their ignorance to overshadow my significance. I acknowledge

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Speaker 1: today that I am called, and because I am called,

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Speaker 1: no man can cancel what you've already approved in Jesus' name. Amen,

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Speaker 1: thanks for making prayer a priority in your life to

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Speaker 1: hear the Bible come to life. Stay tuned for the

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Speaker 1: Bible in a Year, brought to you by Bible in

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Speaker 1: a Year dot.

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Speaker 2: Com whitewashed tombs.

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Speaker 3: In our last story, Paul attempted to make peace with

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Speaker 3: the Jews in Jerusalem by adhering to their ceremonies. However,

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Speaker 3: his reputation for starting churches preceded him. Paul was universally

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Speaker 3: hated among the Jews in Jerusalem, so they beat him

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Speaker 3: and tried to kill him. Luckily, he was saved by

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Speaker 3: the Judge of Jerusalem, where Paul would get a fair

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Speaker 3: trial as a Roman citizen. Now we see that the

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Speaker 3: Jews refuse to let Paul receive a fair and just trial.

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Speaker 3: They are held bent on killing him, so the judge

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Speaker 3: is forced to send him away to the governor one

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Speaker 3: step closer to Rome. Inspired by the Book of Acts, Galatians, Philippians,

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Speaker 3: First Thessalonians, Ephesians, and First Corinthians.

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Speaker 4: Hello and welcome once again to the Bible in a

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Speaker 4: Year podcast. Jack Graham you are joining over twenty seven

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Speaker 4: million people who have downloaded this amazing opportunity to share

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Speaker 4: the Word of God together. Thank you and be sure

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Speaker 4: and tell someone else about how they can also walk

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Speaker 4: through the Bible with us through the Bible in a year.

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Speaker 4: In our previous episode, Paul returned to Jerusalem. He sought

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Speaker 4: to be at peace, even participating in Jewish religious traditions

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Speaker 4: in order to demonstrate to believing Jews, that is, Jews

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Speaker 4: who believed in Jesus, that he was not rejecting or

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Speaker 4: despising ancient tradition. However, this peace was soon shattered as

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Speaker 4: unbelieving Jews from Asia, who had heard of Paul's ministry

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Speaker 4: and despised him, stirred up the entire city against him.

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Speaker 4: It nearly cost Paul his life, but he had appealed

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Speaker 4: to the Roman judge on the basis of his Roman

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Speaker 4: citizenship and his life was spared, though he would have

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Speaker 4: to stand trial with the Jewish religious Council. So today

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Speaker 4: we'll hear as Paul appears before the Pharisees, Sadducees, and

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Speaker 4: elders of Jerusalem. The divided panel will fail to come

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Speaker 4: to a conclusion about Paul and Paul would be referred

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Speaker 4: to the governor for trial. This frustrated counsel will plot

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Speaker 4: to kill Paul, but God will once again spare his life.

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Speaker 4: So listen now to the reading of God's work.

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Speaker 3: Paul stood before the council of pharisees and elders. The

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Speaker 3: judge was above them, all observing their dialogue to make

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Speaker 3: a decision. Dried blood was kicked on the side of

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Speaker 3: Paul's face as he looked at the crowd. His knee

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Speaker 3: was swollen from yesterday's beating. It throbbed as he stood

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Speaker 3: before his accusers. My brothers, I have lived my whole

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Speaker 3: life with a clear conscience. I the High Priest, slapped

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Speaker 3: Paul on the side of his face. He ordered the

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Speaker 3: other men to do the same. One by one, they

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Speaker 3: struck him. With every blow, Paul became more and more angry.

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Speaker 3: Blood dripped down from his ears. Paul paused for a

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Speaker 3: long moment. You whitewashed tomb. He scowled, his voice raised

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Speaker 3: for the whole room to hear. His bones shook with anger.

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Speaker 3: He could no longer endure their hypocrisy. You judge me

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Speaker 3: because I broke your law. But here you are raising

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Speaker 3: your hand against a brother, disobeying your own law. Shut up,

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Speaker 3: One of them shouted, don't you know you are speaking

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Speaker 3: to the high priest. Paul rolled his neck back and

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Speaker 3: thought for a moment. He looked at the crowd. He

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Speaker 3: saw that some of them were Pharisees and others were Sodoces. Perfect,

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Speaker 3: Paul thought to himself. The Pharisees believed in resurrection from

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Speaker 3: the dead, spirit and angels. Sodyces, however, did not. It

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Speaker 3: was a highly debated topic of the time and caused

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Speaker 3: a great amount of division in the culture. Rather than

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Speaker 3: argue with his accusers, he decided to pit them against

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Speaker 3: one another. My brothers, please forgive me, Paul said, with

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Speaker 3: an apologetic smile. I was simply hoping in the resurrection

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Speaker 3: from the dead. I presume that is why I am

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Speaker 3: on trial. Paul remained silent after this. He could hear

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Speaker 3: mumbles and murmurings from the crowd. Small conversations arose from

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Speaker 3: different corners of the room, and soon the entire court

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Speaker 3: house was in an uproar, Pharisees and soughtyces arguing over

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Speaker 3: spiritual matters. Paul chuckled to himself, remembering when he was

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Speaker 3: as petty and prideful as they were. They argued for

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Speaker 3: a while, but eventually turned their regression towards Paul. Afraid

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Speaker 3: that he might be ripped to shreds, the judge took

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Speaker 3: him away and made arrangements for him to go to

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Speaker 3: the governor for a trial. So Paul spent yet another

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Speaker 3: night in a cold jail cell. He could hear the

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Speaker 3: clamoring of people outside. His heart ached for the Ephesian Church.

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Speaker 3: He prayed that they were living in their identities. He

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Speaker 3: missed the philip In Church. He thanked God for their

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Speaker 3: partnership in the Gospel. He worried for the Corinthan Church.

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Speaker 3: He prayed that their hearts would turn back to God.

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Speaker 3: He rejoiced over the Thessalonian Church. He prayed that they

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Speaker 3: would remain steadfast and unbroken. He anguished over the Galatian Church,

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Speaker 3: yet he had hoped that they would reunite with the

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Speaker 3: Gospel of grace. All these people Paul had seen grow

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Speaker 3: and follow Jesus. He loved them all with a father's heart.

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Speaker 3: He worried that he would never see any of them again.

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Speaker 3: As Paul closed his eyes and drifted slowly to sleep,

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Speaker 3: he felt the comforting voice of God's spirit, saying, be

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Speaker 3: strong and courageous, for I am sending you to Rome.

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Speaker 3: As Paul slept soundly in his cell, the Jews plotted

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Speaker 3: to kill him. The next day, under the cover of night,

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Speaker 3: they conspired to murder him. It was their plan to

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Speaker 3: ask the judge for another trial, and while Paul was

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Speaker 3: being led to the court house, they would send thirty

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Speaker 3: men to kill him. It was a simple plan, but

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Speaker 3: fool if they could get the judge to agree to

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Speaker 3: another trial. However, an agent of the Lord was present

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Speaker 3: in the shadows, an unknowing minister of his will was

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Speaker 3: listening in on their conversation. A small boy hid between

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Speaker 3: two beryls, listening to the Jews conspiring to kill Paul.

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Speaker 3: This little boy was Paul's nephew. Paul's nephew informed the

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Speaker 3: judge about the plot to kill him, so the judge

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Speaker 3: gathered two hundred men to escort Paul to Felix the Governor.

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Speaker 4: We begin today's reading with Paul addressing the Council of

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Speaker 4: the High Priest, Pharisees and elders of Jerusalem. He was

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Speaker 4: barely able to get his first words out before the

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Speaker 4: High Priest and an Aas turned to violence, ordering those

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Speaker 4: near Paul to strike him on the mouth and silence him.

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Speaker 4: In response, we hear Paul rebuke them in Acts twenty three,

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Speaker 4: verse three, saying, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.

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Speaker 4: Are you sitting to judge me according to the law,

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Speaker 4: and yet contrary to the law, you order me to

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Speaker 4: be struck. In calling out the hypocrisy and the hatred

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Speaker 4: of those who were judging him, Paul's words harkened back

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Speaker 4: to Christ's own condemnation of the Pharisees, whom he called

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Speaker 4: whitewashed tombs. White Washing walls or tombs does not change

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Speaker 4: what is behind the exterior visage, and the council's grandstanding

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Speaker 4: and piety did not change the condition of their unbelieving hearts,

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Speaker 4: the fact that they desperately needed genuine salvation. They needed

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Speaker 4: Jesus Christ, the Messiah and savior of the world. Paul

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Speaker 4: then noted that among these men there was no unity.

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Speaker 4: The council was made up of Pharisees as well as Sadducees,

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Speaker 4: the latter of which did not believe in bodily resurrection

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Speaker 4: from the dead. Knowing he could not argue his way

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Speaker 4: out of this situation, Paul made use of the disagreement

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Speaker 4: among these men, stating that he was being put on

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Speaker 4: trials simply because he had hope in the resurrection. In this,

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Speaker 4: Paul was completely truthful, because he did have great hope

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Speaker 4: in the resurrection of Jesus and therefore the resurrection of

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Speaker 4: his own body, because of what Christ had accomplished and promised.

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Speaker 4: Jesus said, I am the resurrection in the life, and

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Speaker 4: he that believes in me, though he be dead, he

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Speaker 4: will live. And though the Pharisees didn't hope in the

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Speaker 4: same way in the resurrection, they found themselves backed into

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Speaker 4: a corner. They could not condemn Paul for affirming something

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Speaker 4: that they believed so dearly, the resurrection of the dead,

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Speaker 4: so some advocated for his release. As the dissension among

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Speaker 4: the group grew more and more heated violence began to erupt.

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Speaker 4: The Roman judge, who stood observing the proceedings, was worried

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Speaker 4: that Paul would be ripped to shreds, so he shut

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Speaker 4: things down and sent him back to the barracks. That

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Speaker 4: very night, the Lord appeared to Paul to comfort and

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Speaker 4: strengthen him, telling him to take courage because this was

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Speaker 4: not the end of the road for him. You see,

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Speaker 4: even in the moment of trial, God was working out

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Speaker 4: his purposes. Just as Paul had testified to the Gospel

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Speaker 4: in Jerusalem, he would soon have the opportunity to go

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Speaker 4: to Rome and to share Jesus Christ at the very

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Speaker 4: seat of power. More than a simple side note to

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Speaker 4: this story, this is the main point. God works all

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Speaker 4: things for the good of those who love Him and

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Speaker 4: are fulfilling his purposes. This is Romans eight twenty eight

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Speaker 4: in the New Testament. Let me quote it. For God

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Speaker 4: is working all things together for the good to them

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Speaker 4: who love the Lord, to those who are called according

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Speaker 4: to his purpose. Of course, Paul was not out of

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Speaker 4: danger yet. As he sat in his cell that not

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Speaker 4: in Jerusalem, the leader there began to plot his murder.

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Speaker 4: They planned to ask the judge for another trial the

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Speaker 4: next morning, but this was only to kill him before

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Speaker 4: he could even arrive at the courthouse. But as we know,

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Speaker 4: God had a bigger and greater plan for Paul. So

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Speaker 4: it should come as no surprise that their plan was uncovered.

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Speaker 4: Paul's own nephew overheard them and alerted Paul, who warned

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Speaker 4: the centurion who was guarding him. So as we close

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Speaker 4: today's reading, we heard how God provided safe passage for

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Speaker 4: Paul to leave Jerusalem, not under the cover of night,

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Speaker 4: but with a Roman escort of two hundred soldiers. The

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Speaker 4: Gospel was marching on, headed to Caesarea and Felix the Governor.

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Speaker 4: We'll get to that the next time. Dear Lord, how

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Speaker 4: we thank you for the reminder that our lives are

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Speaker 4: always in your hands, that we could be courageous and

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Speaker 4: fearless in the face of death. Lord, we thank you

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Speaker 4: for the power of the resurrection and the promise of

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Speaker 4: the Gospel that Jesus lives. May we live in the

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Speaker 4: power of His cross and resurrection every day of our lives,

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Speaker 4: and may we always be faithful to share this good

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Speaker 4: news with our neighbors and the nations. In Jesus' name, Amen,

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Speaker 4: thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.

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Speaker 4: I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Let me encourage

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Speaker 4: you to go ahead right now and download the pray

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Speaker 4: dot Com app and make the Word of God and

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Speaker 4: prayer a huge priority in your life. Let me also

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Speaker 4: encourage you to tell others about this podcast because you

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Speaker 4: can pass the word to others, and if you want

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Speaker 4: more resources on how to tap into God's power for

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Speaker 4: living the Christian life, be sure to visit Jack Graham

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Speaker 4: dot org. That's Jack Graham dot org. We would love

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Speaker 4: to connect with you right now.