CHRIST Magnified In My Body

Welcome, and thank you for joining this message by David Entry at Carish Church.! In this season of Great Awakening, may God pull out His Spirit through His Word, refreshing! your heart and awakening you to His will.

Acts chapter 28 from 11. And after three months, we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Bullux.

And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. And from thence, we fetched a compass and came to Regium.

And after one day, the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli, where we found brethren and were desired to tarry with them seven days.

And so we went towards Rome. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Abbey, For Rome, and the three taverns.

Who, when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage. And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard.

But Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. And it came to pass that after three days, Paul called the chief of the Jews together.

And when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people or customs of our fathers, Yet I was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews speak against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar.

Not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause, therefore, have I called you to see you and to speak with you. Because that, for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain.

And they said unto him, We have neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came should or speak any harm of thee.

But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest. For as concerning the sect, we know that everywhere it's spoken against. And when they had appointed a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.

And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. Here ends the reading of God's holy word.

Let's pray, please. Father, we thank you and thank you and thank you again for the privilege to gather together, to express our devotion to you, and to hear your word taught.

We pray that as your word is taught, give us, through the supply of your spirit, illumination, understanding, insight. Give us sights so we can see what is shown.

Give us hearing so we can hear what is spoken. Give us a soft heart. Give us soft hearts so we can absorb and welcome your word, which is able to save our souls.

Thank you for the healing of the sick through the delivery of your word. Thank you for the setting of captives free through the preaching of your word. Thank you for the delivery of the truth of the gospel, which will save many and bring Christ to bear.

We thank you that from today, none of us will be the same again, both those in this building and those listening to this message anyway. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. All right. So we saw in our previous teachings that Paul was really sold out for the cause of Christ.

And we saw that they found themselves in Malta and a venomous snake fastened itself on his hands. And the barbarous people observing, making conclusion about him that he's a bad man and must die, were really surprised when they saw that he didn't die.

The lesson there was that, you see, never underestimate what God can do with a yielded vessel.

Sometimes you may not be able to trace the purpose or the intention of God behind the incumbent activities in their lives. Sometimes you may not be able to trace, why is this person going through this?

Why is this happening? Why am I going through this? Why is my promotion delayed? Why am I going? Because when you are willing to trace the purpose of God, you might not be able to explain it sensibly or for it to make sense.

But once a vessel or a person is wholly yielded to God, there's no telling how far God can take his life or use the outcome of his life for his glory.

So in Galatians chapter 1, we saw it recently, we read it. It says that in the last verse, verse 24, and they glorified God in me. And they glorified God in me.

That's what God wants to do with our lives. He wants to take credit through your life. He wants to be glorified through your life. The five solace of the Reformation, one of them, it says that, solar day Gloria, just for God's glory.

Not your glory. I'm not sharing with God. I'm not sharing with God. None of us is sharing with God. He says, all these things are done as salvation. The blessed things that God does in our life is all for his glory, to the glory of God alone.

God alone. So Paul said, and they glorified God in me. He actually said, this was, okay, let me put it this way. That's what I was trying to, I was establishing last week.

That Paul's motive and Paul's agenda in life was captured in Philippians chapter one, verse 19, verse 20.

In Philippians chapter one, verse 19, it said, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ.

This is so beautiful. Your prayer matters. Your prayer will change my story. He said, it will turn for my deliverance and not just your prayer and the supply of Jesus Christ.

As the spirit is supplied to me, I will never be a victim when people are praying for me and the spirit is being supplied. I cannot, you can't be a victim when prayer is going on for you.

Doesn't matter who hates you, who targets you. Ultimately, God is in charge. But he was asking for their prayer. And look at the next thing he said. He says that according to my earnest expectation and hope, that's the driving force of his life.

His mission, his vision, his ethos. He says that according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed.

But with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified.

You'd have touched that in my life. He said, my body, he was talking about his physical body. This body exists for the magnification of Christ. So whether I'm in the storm or I'm beaten by a snake, you see, whether soldiers attempt to kill me, whether I am in chains or I'm not in chains, my earnest expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed of anything, but rather Christ will be magnified in my body, whether I'm, that's a serious one, whether by life or by death.

He knew that Stephen died for the glorifying of Christ. Christ died for the glorifying of the Father and for the building of the church. So he said, me, my body is here for Christ's glory, to magnify, that's serious.

Actually, for Christ to be bigger. Me, my body, this body. He said, it's meant to make Christ bigger, whether through life or through death.

So in the storm, God now, because of that desire and that mission, God allows him to go through the storm. Not to test him because it won't work.

Not to test him, but to save lives. So I believe that those on the ship will notice that this Christ thing is real. By the time they hang around, they realize that Christ will be magnified in the ship.

The captain of the sea, let's just begin to like this guy. The soldiers will realize that Christ is real. Then they landed in, why Malta? It could have been somewhere else. But this barbarous people must hear the gospel.

God is the God of all nations. And he knows that apostle, you are going to Rome, but you have to go through Malta. How he arrived, as for him, is not his concern. Whether he arrived in chains or he arrived free, he arrived in power, he arrives in submission, it wasn't an issue.

He must get. So he got to Malta. And as normal life was carrying, because, watch this, because his earnest expectation and hope was that Christ would be magnified in his body.

When the snake came for that body, Christ was magnified. Oh, I feel like Franchi. You see, when the snake came for that body, it would have been funny if the snake had just stung him and gone.

They might. You know, sometimes you get hurt, you think, oh, something, you say, oh, maybe it's a scratch. But this one, the snake stayed there. So everybody can see that. This snake is there. It's there.

And now, let's see what the conclusion. The people ended up saying that, ah, there's someone with a superior life here. So they'll be interested. What life have you got? This is, so they said, in fact, they went as far as saying he's God.

They said, this guy is God. This guy, why? Because he was living a certain God-saturated life. Now, God-saturated, listen, a God-saturated life is not so much about how anointed you are and blowing air and laying hands.

This thing that we are only restricted is just an anointing, anointing. I want more anointing. If you can begin to determine that you will be so saturated with God in your body, you'll be shocked what God can use you for.

Where others haven't been, even at work, even at school, even at uni, even on the train, even on the plane. So even in the storm, God has an agenda.

As long as your body, your life, your body is for the magnifying of Christ, that's what Paul lived for. This is good.

Are you ready for this? His life objective was not to teach doctrine. His life objective was to magnify Christ, whether through life or through...

If it's objective to teach doctrine, you can't teach when you are dead. You can't teach. There are a lot of things you can do when you are dead, but Christ can still be magnified in your death.

So Paul's life, his agenda for living was not him, not his breakthrough, but that Christ will be magnified in his life.

So when he got to Malta, the barbarians saw that this is a different thing. And then Publio's dad was sick. He heals him. And they realized, wow. So everybody was bringing...

They were bringing a sick. And to the extent that now, when they were living there, they honored them so much because they felt a man of God has come to change our story. So Bible said that. And they also honored us in many ways.

When we departed, they provided such things as were necessary. Do you know why? Paul. Because of Paul. Because of Paul. And I believe that Malta was never the same again.

Up to now, there's a bay in Malta called St. Paul's Bay. It's called St. Paul's Bay. That is the impact of a man who had yielded his body for the magnifying of Christ.

I see God will use you for things like that. You see, many of us underestimate what God can do with us because you are putting this emphasis of what God can do with you based on what you can do.

So, you think you have to fast 40 days. But you're not good with fasting. Every time you are fasting, by 11 a.m., you are faint. You feel like fainting. Every time...

How many of us have had... You can't think. You are just confused. And it doesn't work. You know, that's what sometimes happens in church.

When those of us with certain graces, we flaunt it in the face of people. Yeah. And others feel very sorry about themselves because... When we say, let's pray.

Sometimes someone looks at the way you are praying and thinks, God, so mean, when can I get there? He's thinking, when can I get... How long?

It's interesting. Who said how long? He said it. Blessings. Because one of the things I'm going to be saying in Isaiah chapter 6, how long? Well, let's...

Sometimes you're wondering, when will I get here? When will I be able to... So, those of us who can fast say, oh, recently I was doing 100 days. We say it with ease.

I was there and I had an encounter with the Lord. The Lord showed up in my room and he spoke to me. You see, these things make other people feel...

I'm not saying you can't say it, but that's what is trending, actually. Now, the modern day trending Christian norm norm is your encounters.

Your encounters. It makes us look so powerful. But really, sometimes when you look through it, it's nothing. You look through beyond the talk.

It's really nothing. So people get close to you, they realize, actually, you don't pray like you've been impressing us. Your wife knows you are fake. But, Paul, this kind of Paul life, Christ life, can be in full expression in any of us, at any time.

You don't have to be on puppet. You don't have to be in leadership. You don't have to be 20 years old in the Lord. You don't have to be 2 years old. You can be 3 days old in the Lord and yet, your body can be magnifying Jesus.

And that's what we have been called for. So then, how it plays out sometimes, like a pastor, I have to lead myself diligently to study scriptures to be able to teach accurately.

So that is also a way, my dedication to the teaching will also be a reflection of how my, personally, sometimes I can use Church DP2 to learn things, but it's God, I want to impress people.

So you can go and chew and pour, chew and pour, but the thing is actually not inside you. You are just doing a job. No, it's more than that. When you are yielded, so when we say we are doing Jesus' campaign, when you are actually yielded to Jesus, whether there are Church members or no Church members, the thing is running in your heart.

It's an ongoing campaign. Jesus' campaign, you make it my body campaign. Praise the Lord. So he went through all this.

And then Bible says that after three months, they left Malta. That's when the winter was over. They should have waited. The winter, they should have waited. And then they found a ship.

You know, those days, the Nile territory, the Nile territory was very fertile. So the best wheat used to grow in that area, Nile territory. So they used to always transport because Rome was the capital of the world now.

So you used to transport the best wheat, grains, to Rome. So there were always ships going. So instead, we found another ship from Alexandria, an Alexandrian ship, which has just finished docking for the winter.

Three months later, the figure with the twins, which had just wintered in the island. So they should have wintered somewhere. Because that was a bad time to travel. So we just wintered and then they put the prisoners on.

And then from there, let's look at the next days. From there, we landed in, not Syracuse. Not Syracuse. The first time I heard it about 20 years, no, 21 years ago or so.

I said, oh, so Syracuse is in the Bible. Syracuse. We landed in Syracuse and stayed there three days.

And then from Syracuse, from there, we circled around and reached Reggio. And after one day, the south wind blew and the next day, we came to Piucioli.

That sounds Italian, right? Yeah. They're already now in Italian territory. So they sailed north from Sicily. And then there are two other places. We have the Appi Forum and the Three Tavids.

These are all places. That tells you how authentic this document is. Appi Forum is about 43 miles from Rome. And then Three Tavids was about 30, 33 miles from Rome.

Okay? So do you know what happened? Why is it important? When the believers in Rome, because when they go to, let's look at the text again. There's something I want to draw to your attention. The text says that and after one day, the sun came to Piucioli.

The next verse says that, and we found in Piucioli, we found brethren. Everybody say brethren. Brethren. What does that mean? Disciples. Other disciples. We found some brethren.

Brethren are other Christians. That tells you at that time, the gospel had spread all through everywhere. So they got there in Piucioli and they found believers there.

Okay, Amplified Bible says that we found some believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days and so we came to Rome. So they spent some time with their believers. It's so nice.

Listen, sometimes you're a stranger somewhere and so you find a believer. You can be a stranger in some strange land. You go there, you don't know anybody. When you find a believer, it feels home. I'm telling you, I've experienced that before.

You find a believer, it feels home. And so they found this, they look at the ordeal of this journey or this voyage and then they came to Piucioli found some brethren and the brethren said, stay with us.

Spend some time. Stay with us. And so it says that afterwards, they came to Rome. That's their final destination. And they went to us from there and when their brethren heard about us, now, this is interesting.

See, this is the second type of brethren. Did you notice that? There's a first type of brethren in the previous Bible. We found some brethren. This one, they found them in Piucioli. But when they left and they were making their ways towards Rome, their brethren, what does it mean by their brethren?

Their brethren in Rome. Their brethren in Rome, some brethren, people, believers in Rome heard about us.

What does that mean? They heard that Apostle Paul is still alive and Apostle Paul is coming. Romans chapter 1, you know, he said, I've been meaning to come to you time and again, time and again.

He said, for I long to see you that I may impact onto you some spiritual gifts so to the extent that you may be established. Before he got to Rome, they were reading his letters all over.

Because he sent them. This was sent, this letter was sent when he went to Philippi. So that's many, a while ago, he wasn't, at that time, he wasn't a prisoner.

He was a missionary traveling around. That's when he sent the letter to Rome. So they've read about him and he's always, for some reason, Paul has always wanted to go to Rome. Because Rome was the capital of the empire, the imperial capital.

He had to go there and infect the capital with the power of the gospel. That is why he wrote in Romans chapter 1, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation.

He was determined to come to Rome. They've read about him. They've read his letters. And so finally, they heard that the long-awaited moment has drawn near. They heard that Apostle Paul was coming.

They traveled. Those times, there is no train. It's no car. And many of them will go on foot. 43 miles. Why are you going?

Going to meet a man of God. Why? Is he Jesus? Is he Jesus? See the way the carnal people say. Why are you treating him like, is he Jesus? Is he Jesus? Oh, you don't understand. Read your Bible. It says, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach.

Ephesians chapter 6. Those who God used to bring the gospel, when you hear they are coming, if you belong to God, when you hear they are coming, you get excited. When you are backslided, when you hear that it's time for church, oh, another church service.

They met brethren. The brethren came. Some of them will be coming with their tambourines, with their instruments. They are coming to meet Apostle Paul. Happy for them.

Traveling. Three taverns. Travel on foot. Miles. 43 miles is long. I know some of you don't know what it is, but I'm telling you.

It's long. Because they've heard that the apostle is not dead. The apostle is finally coming to Rome. And he's coming as a prisoner, but they don't care. They don't care.

They were happily coming to meet Apostle Paul. They traveled to Epipharum and three inns, or Tavins. When Paul saw them, oh, oh, hallelujah.

When Paul saw them, you know, previously, as I was studying this, I thought when Paul saw them, he was encouraged because he was discouraged. No. It wasn't because he was discouraged. Because he said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain.

But, those of you who are into discipleship, when you see somebody getting it, is it not encouraging? Ah. So, Paul saw them and was encouraged.

Paul saw the believers and was encouraged. Let's go to the next verse. Now, finally, when we came to the room, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul, everybody say, but Paul.

That means that he wasn't part of the prisoners who were delivered today. Because, he said, he delivered the prisoners, but Paul was permitted, he was allowed to dwell by himself. I'm sure, obviously, the centurion knew who he was dealing with and he also had made this matter clear.

If you come around Paul, he will tell you his problems. What do I mean? He will tell you, I have not done anything wrong. That was, he hadn't done anything wrong. So, they left him to be by himself.

But, this is what it's called, house arrest. They assign a guard to him. So, every day, that was so good. Every day, he had a guard, a soldier.

It's the elite, elite forces, soldiers, guards, guards of Caesar. So, because, those prisoners were high profile prisoners or very important prisoners, when Paul came, they assigned some of the elite guards to take care of him.

So, every time, do you know how they do? They chain the prisoner to you. So, you think that Paul was chained to the soldiers. No, rather, the soldiers were chained to Paul. and, he was at home, but he had, he was free.

People were, he had a rented house. Wow. So, there's nothing wrong to rent. He had a, Airbnb. He rented a house and people were allowed to come and visit him in and out.

And, Paul was with the soldiers. But, you know, I'm sure you are suspecting something will be happening. Can you imagine the soldier who was assigned to be with Paul? Normally, it's six soldiers every 24 hours.

So, every soldier, your shift is four hours. So, after every four hours, a new soul comes. After every four hours.

So, okay, can I tell you, when he got to Rome and he was under house arrest, he couldn't travel, but he was there, but he could write. So, that's when he wrote Philippians.

He wrote Ephesians. He wrote Colossians and Philemon. These are the prison epistles from Rome. His first prison sentence when he was in prison. Even though he was in prison.

You understand? So, Ephesians chapter 3, verse 1. I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ. Do you see that? He didn't say, I'm a prisoner of Rome. He didn't say, I'm a prisoner of Caesar.

He said, I'm a prisoner of Christ. Chapter 4, verse 1. The same thing. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1. It talks about, I, Paul, a prisoner. People. Ephesians 4, 1. Talks about him being a prisoner of the Lord.

I, therefore, the prisoner. Okay? So, he was in prison. Even though he had liberty, he was not a freed man. And that's where he wrote Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon.

Now, why am I saying this? When you look at Philippians, it tells you, that's why we read Philippians chapter 1, verse 20, that he says that his endless expectation was that in his body, whether by death or by life, Christ will be magnified.

Then verse 21 says, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. So, that tells you, he was in prison, he was writing to encourage the people. In Colossians, he says that, don't be sorry for me.

I said, I rejoice in my suffering for you. So, he was actually, he, if you want to know how Paul felt and his state when he was there, you have to read those epistles. Does that make sense?

So, when you read Philippians chapter 1, verse 12, there's something deep in there. Look at verse 12 and 13. I think you will like this. Philippians 1, 12 and 13 says, but I want you to know, brethren, that, I think we should all read it together.

Let's go. I want you to know, brethren, that the things you have have actually turned out for the federns of the, can you imagine? He said, I want you to know that the things which happened to me, all these things that I've been going through has actually, they have actually turned out for what?

The federns of the gospel. Then look at the next verse. He says that, so that it became evident to the whole palace guard. Did you see that?

You know why the palace guard? The whole palace guard and to all the rest that maintains are in Christ. So the palace guards who had the opportunity to come, they go and tell the others that this guy, he's actually a Christ man.

So every six hours, to the extent, I believe there goes to a time some guards, when it's time for, to change, the shift to change. He said, you know what?

Can you, can I run your ship for you? I want, I want, can I do, you can go home, go and take care of your, I want to, I want to, and it's not just that. People were coming to Paul and he was preaching to them.

But this guard who is changed to Paul, they didn't have a choice but keep listening to this preaching. Keep preaching. Then when the people have gone, they may ask Paul, tell me the things you have to, can you tell me more?

Can you tell me more? So to the standard, now in Caesar's household, their palace, Philippians chapter four, verse 22, look at that. This is nice. I think we should all read it out together.

Philippians 4, 22. Let's go. All the saints greet you, but especially, those who are in Caesar's house. Ha! Now even people in Caesar's household, family members, their household have become saints.

He said, all the saints in Rome, I'm writing to Philippians and I'm telling you that all the saints greet you, especially those in Caesar's household. Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Does it make sense when he says that, that in my body, Christ will be magnified? In my body, whether in chains, whether in life or death, Christ will be magnified.

Now, in the imperial capital, not just the imperial capital, in the palace of Caesar, there were believers there. Believers!

who were true Christians, who were true Christians, and now they were sending their greetings to the Philippian believers. Please send them our greetings. Send them our greetings.

Send them our greetings. No wonder he said, I have to go to Caesar. I'm telling you, you cannot tell the limits of what God can do with a life yielded to Christ in totality.

A life yielded to God in totality, it flows with ceaseless praise. It becomes, hmm, I think in fragrance, 2 Corinthians 2, verse 12, verse 13, verse 14.

Let's look at that. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 15. Velcro verse 14 and 15. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14 and 15. It says that, now, thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through, now, thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every places.

So, watch this, watch this. The core of what I'm trying to drive your attention to is, it was actually going to be in the verse 24, but it's okay, we can take, the core is that, when they came to Paul, they heard the word.

Now, when you hear the word, you never remain the same. Never forget this. Nobody hears the true gospel and ever remains the same.

You are either better off or worse off. You either embrace it and it gets you closer to God, or you reject it and it shifts you farther from God.

So, later on, you realize, when the Jews came and he spoke to them, some did not believe and he says that, where did Isaiah say? Isaiah said that these people, they will be listening but they won't hear.

They will be watching but they won't see and I will punish them. Jesus quoted that scripture, Paul quoted that scripture. Isaiah, on Isaiah chapter 6, he said, woe is me when he saw the Lord on the day King Uzziah died.

I saw the Lord sitting in his glory and I said, woe is me. Then he says, I heard a voice, who shall we send and who shall go? And he said, here am I, send me.

Then the verse 9 says that and he said, go and tell these people, keep on hearing but do not understand. Keep on seeing but do not perceive. Next verse. But do not perceive.

Make the heart of these people dull and their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return and be healed.

The next verse. And then he said, how long? How long? How long, oh Lord? These people, that you have sent me to their stubborn people. I'm preaching the womb.

You said the womb here. See, it's not like God will block your ears but once you turn your heart, he will help you. Once you turn your heart away from the word, God will say, okay, that's what you want.

He will act. He will help you so that you'll be hearing and not getting it. It's a very dangerous thing to hear God's word and not embrace it because you are never the same.

You are either worse off or better off. The people who came to Paul, they kept hearing, they kept hearing and many of them became better off. Many of them heard the gospel and they became better off and so Paul, in prison, the guards were coming.

He spoke to them and they were changing. He will speak to them and they were changing till they got, and then, Bible says that, three days after he got into Jerusalem, three days, he didn't wait for the wheat to grow under his feet.

Three days. He said, I don't have time. He called for the leaders. He said, can I have a meeting with you? And then when they came, he told them, he told them that, you know, I am innocent.

I have not done anything wrong. And then when he started talking to them, I realized that it's time. So I'll continue next week. Did you receive something?

Hallelujah! we're so glad you joined us for this message by david entry we pray the word has inspired and strengthened you you can connect with david entry on instagram linkedin and other social platforms and you can listen to more messages on all major streaming platforms and the carish church app remember to like share and spread the blessing you