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[0:00] And as we end chapter 5, we'll be picking up in verse 17, and that's, again, the high priests and the Sadducees are going to come and get these guys, and then eventually as we move into chapter 6, probably not tonight, you know, Stephen's going to be brought before them.

[0:16] And the scriptures that came to mind were in John 16, 33, Jesus said, And then in 1 John 5, verse 4, John writes, For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world.

[0:44] And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. And so the scripture we look at tonight is all about how God has overcome, Jesus has overcome, the Holy Spirit's already overcome, these people are just walking it out.

[0:58] And according to what the Lord tells us, he says he's overcome. And then 1 John tells us that this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. So it's like, well, which is it?

[1:10] How is this the victory that overcomes the world, our faith? And I think it's that Jesus has already won the victory. You know, we play, we like to play board games and stuff, or card games or whatever as a family.

[1:21] And it's like, someone will win, and then invariably it's like, well, let's see who comes in next. Let's play it out. And it's kind of like that. It's like, we're on the Lord's team. He already won. But everybody still wants to play it out and see how it's going to end, you know.

[1:33] And so we have a victory that's overcome the world, our faith. Our faith doesn't, but the object of our faith does. Jesus has already overcome. And so as these guys walk out the book of Acts, as we walk out the book of Acts, we're just kind of playing out the rest of the game.

[1:50] But the victory is already won, and Jesus has that victory. All right. So we have just come through. We finished Ananias and Sapphira.

[2:02] Or Ananias and Sapphira were finished. One or the other. The Lord is purifying his church, continuing to keep it pure, because as we said before, that there's one very small branch right now.

[2:16] One small stalk coming up. And it's not to the point yet where the birds of the air are coming and roosting in it. And the animals of the field coming under its shade.

[2:27] It's just one very small stalk. And so the Lord is making sure that it will start out pure. And as we've gone through this, I've been trying to figure out how to teach it. Like, do we try and go through a whole chapter?

[2:37] Or do we just, you know, look at a principle and pull that out for application? And I think the way it's shaping up is Acts is kind of event by event by event. And you don't really know how much time is between some of these events.

[2:49] Is it a month? Is it a week? Definitely the beginning here seemed to be pretty quick in succession. I don't think we're like years into the New Testament. I think we're still a few months in after Pentecost.

[3:01] And so after that, with, you know, Ananias and Sapphira and Peter tells us about how Peter's walking through the streets and people are bringing him out to have his shadow cast on them to be healed.

[3:14] Then we come to verse 17, where it changes again. We have a new story. So, Lord, we offer up your word to you again. Just open it now.

[3:25] Speak to us. And I just pray that Holy Spirit, like you promised, Jesus, you promised that the Holy Spirit would bring all things to remembrance. I just pray that you would do that now. In Jesus' name, amen. So, verse 17 says, Then the high priest rose up, and all that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees.

[3:41] And they were filled with indignation. If you remember that, again, like we said, the Pharisees have kind of disappeared. We've got the Sadducees here. It's the high priest, his family, his cohorts, his yes-men, whoever.

[3:55] They're filled with indignation. That indignation is born out of envy. They're envious of what they're seeing happening with Peter. People are coming out, bringing their sick out.

[4:07] They're laying them in the streets. They're seeking them out. And they're not just healing, if you remember. They're teaching and preaching. At the beginning of chapter 4, when Peter and John were taken with the lame man by the council, and it says in verse 2, They were grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

[4:31] We're going to find out in a little bit that they filled all of Jerusalem with this doctrine. So, Peter and the other apostles and those that were there in the upper room are very active in their teaching of the people.

[4:44] And there's this indignation that's happening among the Sadducees and the high priests who have nothing to offer. They're kind of just existing on tradition, on authority, on whatever they had held over from their positions of power.

[4:58] But they don't really have anything. And when they're held up in front or compared to those who actually have substance, instead of realizing that they don't have substance, they instead envy and are indignant at those who challenge them.

[5:12] And so they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

[5:28] This is one of those, it's like three verses in this monster event. You know, verse 18 just says, They laid their hands on them. Oh, brother, lay my hand on you.

[5:38] And put them in the prison, in the common prison. And it's like, well, no trial, nothing. Just grabbed them and threw them in the common prison. And so how many of them were there?

[5:49] I don't know. Men, women, children, just men. It was just the apostles. They just grabbed the leaders. We don't know, but they've been put in prison. Now, were Peter and John there? Well, yes, because Peter's going to give an answer later.

[6:01] We don't know if John was there, but Peter's one of these guys. He's part of them. He's put in there. And so Peter has gone through this already. He had spent a night with John and the lame man, now healed, in prison.

[6:14] And so he's there, you know, telling these guys, hey, don't worry. The Lord's going to take care of us one way or another. But then something remarkable happens. And the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth.

[6:29] Mark chapter 16, verse 19 says, And so the apostles have been put in prison.

[6:54] The angel comes and lets them out, opens the doors and brings them forth and says, Go stand and speak in the temple. There's two different tracks here, two different peoples.

[7:05] You've got those that are the apostles that are preaching the word. And then you've got this other group of people who are on a completely different line than what God is actually doing in the world. They think they're part of it.

[7:16] They think they're doing God's plan in some religious sense. And they have a whole agenda and whole plan that they are going to enact. And God is doing something different, though. And their agenda and their plan is doing nothing to interfere with God's plan.

[7:30] In fact, it's actually enhancing it. It is going to be used for his glory. But an angel shows up and tells them, And man, is that some awesome assurance of direction or what?

[7:41] To have an angel tell you, go and preach. Oh, I wondered if I was supposed to talk to that person or not. And I guess I should. Go and speak in the temple all the words of this life.

[7:53] John 6, 63, It is the spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Verse 68, So Jesus has told them, The words I speak unto you, they are life.

[8:12] And then Peter says, Well, Lord, we know you have the words of eternal life. So the angel says, Go and speak to the people all the words of this life. All of them. Don't hold anything back. Be faithful.

[8:24] And so when they heard that, They entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. So there's faith in action there. Because they put their trust in what the angel said. They put their trust in the word of God.

[8:36] And they went forth and did it. You know, it wasn't, Maybe a few of them were thinking, I'm just going to go home. I got released from prison. You know, praise the Lord. I'm out of here. But they also had no delay.

[8:47] There was no hesitancy. Early in the morning. When were they released? Were they released in the middle of the night? Or were they released in the morning? Either way, as soon as it was feasible, They were there early in the morning. Maybe they'd split up and gone home And then all gathered back together.

[9:01] But that must have been pretty neat. A pretty neat time to be together. Preaching the word. You know they were just jazzed up. Filled with the Holy Spirit. And excited. God had just freed them from prison.

[9:13] And given them a direct order. Go and preach in the temple. So this is happening. Unbeknownst to the high priest and all the religious leaders. You have now, These guys are preaching in the temple.

[9:26] And then, you know, Scene fade to black. And then over here, In the home of the high priest or wherever. But the high priest came, In verse 21, And they that were with him, And called the council together, And all the senate of the children of Israel, And sent to the prison to have them brought.

[9:44] So everybody who's anybody is there. So who is there? We'll find out later Gamaliel's there. Because he's going to give his advice. In verse 34. But who sat at the feet of Gamaliel?

[9:55] Who was taught by Gamaliel? Paul. Paul sat at his feet. Paul was there, Holding the coats when Stephen gets stoned. So most likely, Paul is here as well. He's part of this council.

[10:07] He's there. As Saul of Tarsus. And they commanded that they would bring them from the prison. But when the officers came, And found them not in the prison, They returned and told them.

[10:22] Saying, The prison truly found we shut, With all safety, And the keepers standing without before the doors. But when we had opened them, We found no man within. Nobody there.

[10:35] Everybody is gone. 2 Timothy 2.9 says, Wherein I suffer trouble, Paul's saying this to Timothy, As an evildoer, Even unto bonds. It's like, It's like they think I'm a criminal.

[10:47] But, The word of God is not bound. And so these men, Expecting them to be in the prison, Expecting to have bound the work of God, Expecting to have bound the thing that they were indignant at, They had no authority and no ability to do that.

[11:04] Sometimes God allows prison, So he can deliver from prison. That's what I was thinking about the part where God, He's overcome. Every situation that he allows us to go into, Is specifically so he can show us, He's overcome that situation.

[11:16] So, Faith by nature has to be tried, Or it's not faith. The trying of our faith worketh patience. And that patience have her perfect work, That you may be perfect until you're wanting nothing.

[11:29] Without trial, There's no evidence of your faith. You have no evidence that it's there. And your faith is what? Your trust in God. How great is your trust in God? Is it great enough in this trial?

[11:40] Well, yeah. You know, It's okay. Like Peter and John. Oh, They put us in prison, But then, Okay, Then they let us go. Oh my word, We're putting this time, And the angel came. Whoa, No problem. Well, It's not going to continue to go that way for these guys.

[11:53] But God's stepping them through this process of their faith. So, God often allows prison, Expressly so he can deliver from prison. But if I was put in prison, I wouldn't be thinking about the time I'm, You know, As God didn't deliver me, I would be really upset, And really terrified, And praying that he would deliver me.

[12:12] Now! And, But God has his purposes. And part of that purpose, Right now for these men, Who are off preaching in the temple, Is to be a witness to this council.

[12:23] So they came back, In verse 23, And they said, And that's the world.

[12:38] The world can do their best effort, They can do their best attempt at locking up, But ultimately, When you open the doors, There's nothing there, Because they can't contain what they're trying to contain.

[12:50] They can't contain the church, They can't contain the Holy Spirit, They can't contain the word, And they can't contain us. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us. Now, That does not mean we are the church triumphant, That marches across the land, You know, To take this world for God, And make our own kingdom.

[13:05] But, When we are in God's will and purposes, Then the best, This is the best that the world can do. They think they got it, They open their hand, And there's nothing there. And, God's gone off in a different direction with his people.

[13:18] Now, When the high priest, And the captain of the temple, And the chief priests heard these things, They doubted of them whereunto this would grow.

[13:30] How sad. That was their result. That was their reaction to this. Instead of thinking, Wow, Look what God's doing. Whoa. I mean, When is the last time that, You know, Someone just like vanished through thin air, Seemingly out of the prison.

[13:45] And faith and fear, Are mutually exclusive. And we see that they doubted, Of them whereunto this would grow. The word didn't produce faith in their heart. We're called to, What?

[13:58] Sow seeds. Right? We were talking about this at youth group the other night. That we're not called, To, Produce evidence of God's existence. We're never called to prove that God exists. We're simply to bear the light, Of the truth and of his existence.

[14:12] And then we're going to come across those who, Either they will say, That's foolishness, Because the wisdom of God is foolishness to this world. That the gospel is foolishness to the Greek, A stumbling block to the Jew.

[14:24] And so they're either going to receive it, And say, Well, That's crazy. That's foolishness. Or they'll have years to hear. And in the parable of the sower, What was the ratio? Well, It was four to one.

[14:34] Right? You had those that fell among thorns, Stony ground, And on the path. None of them were producing any fruit. And then you had those that fell on the good soil. So the ratio, It's not very efficient.

[14:46] It's not very good. But that's not what we're supposed to be about. We're just supposed to scatter. And then the Lord will take care of the increase. Because Paul said, I watered, I planted, Apollos watered, But God gives the increase.

[14:58] And so, Some will hear and receive. Some will have ears to hear. And then some, Like these guys, It's just going to continue to be to them, Affirming them in, Unfortunately, Their unbelief.

[15:14] So they doubted unto where this would grow. Then came one and told them, Saying, Behold, The men whom you put in prison Are standing in the temple And teaching the people.

[15:26] I love this. Some unnamed guy. And what's an unnamed, Very often the unnamed servant, The unnamed messenger in scripture represents, The Holy Spirit. And he very specifically says, The men whom you put in prison, They're in the temple.

[15:39] And they are teaching the people. You should be in the temple preaching And teaching the people. Sadducees. This is your place. You should be there. Instead of being so indignant That someone else is doing your job, Just start doing your job.

[15:52] Just start getting out and teaching the people. Happens to us too, doesn't it? By nature. When somebody else is, You know, Walking with the Lord Or taking steps of faith Or we see God moving their life, Our flesh reacts a little bit with like, A little bit of indignation.

[16:08] Like, Oh, well, Who do you think you are? You know, Wow, that's, Okay, great. That's wonderful. You know, Not all of us can do that. It's just natural for our flesh To react that way And have that thought.

[16:22] You know, Scripture tells us to rejoice With those that rejoice. It's not easy, Always. Our first response is to think, Well, Is that somehow casting a light upon me?

[16:33] And it will happen. As you walk with Christ, Closer with the Lord, The reaction among believers Will be, They will have a sense That you are somehow judging them. That you're somehow Casting, you know, Them in a not so good light.

[16:47] And it has nothing to do with that. It's just, You're walking with the Lord And he wants to draw you as well. Or wants to draw them as well. But the result is, The flesh results in indignation.

[17:01] And with envy. And so one comes, And he puts it right in front of their face. And he says, Wake up, guys. They're out doing what you should have been doing. And so here now we're going to see, What do they end up doing?

[17:15] Simple obedience is born from tested faith. And so the angel tells them to go And to teach the people. And they do it. It's simple. They just obey. It seems so large, Like, They were just in prison.

[17:26] They're released. They're going to go stand in the temple. They might get taken again. They might get killed. They might, He just said, Go and teach. Just go do it. And don't worry about the results. I usually look at the results, Or potential results, Before I make a move.

[17:41] And think, Well, What could the results be? Is it worth? All that effort. And the results might not be what I think they are. Or not going to be what I expect them to be. Well, That's not what the Lord ever asks us to do.

[17:53] He asks us just to be faithful in what He calls us to do. And He speaks just as plain as this angel did. When He speaks to us through His word. And so they're teaching the people.

[18:05] And then, Verse 26, When the captain with the officers, When the captain with the officers, And brought them without violence. For they feared the people, Lest they should be stoned.

[18:18] And Peter said, Hold it! And He said, People, Rise up! Stand up! It's time to take over! It's time to overthrow the Sanhedrin! We can bring in a righteous system! And we can turn this nation around!

[18:30] It is time! Listen to me! You're on my side! I've got you! I've got your vote! I mean ear! And we can do this! Now, You know, Jesus had said to Peter, In Matthew 10, Verse 18, He said to them, You shall be brought before governors and kings, For my sake, For a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

[18:52] But when they deliver you up, Take no thought of how or what you shall speak, For it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. For it is not you that speak, But the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you.

[19:06] And you shall be hated of all men for my namesake. But he that endures to the end shall be saved. And so we can see from that scripture right in there, Jesus expected them to take over the government And take over the world.

[19:20] No, not at all. He said, And so Peter and these disciples, What is in their minds? Okay, well Jesus had said what? We're going to be taken in front of these governors, In front of these leaders, In front of these rulers for what?

[19:33] For a testimony against them. We're to go and share with them. That's the whole point. We're going to be delivered up, But we're not to take any thought what we shall speak, For it will be given us in that hour. Who wants to miss out on that?

[19:44] For it's not you that speak, But the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you. Do you want to miss out on that? Do you want to miss that opportunity When God puts you in a place to do that? Or do you have another agenda? It's like, well, I've got to make sure this happens.

[19:55] Well, I've got people counting on me. What I'm supposed to do. Forget that. What's the Lord doing? And what is he calling you to do? Not what he's calling you to do as filtered through your culture, Or filtered through whatever.

[20:07] But what is the word saying? And so here you have these people, Filter the Spirit, The beginnings of the church. The people are listening to them. The people are on their side. And their reaction is, This is what Jesus said.

[20:20] And so they go and they faithfully do this. And so they brought them. And when they had brought them, Verse 27, They set them before the council and the high priest, Or before the council.

[20:33] And the high priest asked them, Saying, Which is kind of comical. Like, I mean, The elephant in the room is, Guys, If you couldn't keep us in prison, What makes you think you can keep us here?

[20:45] Now? Like, if we wanted to turn and walk out of this room, How are you going to stop us? We're only here by our own goodwill and choice. You couldn't keep us with the guards. You couldn't keep us with the doors shut.

[20:57] You're not going to keep us now. But, Here we have this high priest. He can't see any of that. And he just says, Did not we straightly command you?

[21:10] That you should not teach in this name? I mean, this is kind of cringy. Like, But the angel said we should. We were let out of prison, dude. But we told you not to.

[21:21] There's no authority here. Absolutely none. This guy has nothing. He's been proven to be powerless, To be impotent, To have no authority. And yet, He's still playing out this charade.

[21:34] And behold, You've filled Jerusalem With your miracles and healings. That's not what he's worried about. That's happened.

[21:45] And remember, That is what we just read in Mark. That comes along In, Behind The teaching and preaching To verify, And it's working with the disciples And apostles saying, Yes, This is a work of God.

[21:58] Remember when the man That was lame is healed. He said to the Pharisees That, Well, We know this man's of God Because nobody can do such miracles, Only God. There was a, One of the teachers of the law That came to Jesus And said, Master, We know that God is with you For no man can do such things.

[22:15] So, It wasn't a question of, Well, Is this really of God or not? It was. Because the miracles And we're proving that. But that was not the focus. Behold, You filled Jerusalem With your doctrine.

[22:29] And you intend to bring This man's blood upon us. What a phrase. It already was upon them. But unfortunately, It wasn't upon them. Right? It was upon them already. They already have His innocent blood on their hands.

[22:39] But if only they would let The blood of Jesus Come upon them, Then they would understand And they could be cleansed And saved. So, All of Jerusalem Has been filled. Jerusalem, How many millions And millions of people?

[22:51] And this, What? 5,000? 8,000? Believers have filled Jerusalem With this teaching. With this doctrine. So, They've been doing a good job With this.

[23:03] It's interesting though, When they go, Where are they teaching? Where do they find themselves Daily? In the temple. They're in the temple. They're not going door to door And proselytizing like, Hey, Have you heard that Jesus Rose from the dead And that he has ascended Into heaven?

[23:16] I'm here to tell you. And if you take this Little pamphlet, Then if you come to this meeting. No, It was almost more An atmosphere of like, Well, We're all together. And we're all excited About Jesus.

[23:27] And we're just teaching The believers. And we're inviting anybody Who wants to join in. There wasn't so much This attempt To go out so much And do what we would consider To be soul winning today.

[23:37] As much as it was just We're going to speak And anybody who's in the vicinity Who wants to hear Can hear. You know, We kind of do that today. I mean, Anybody could come tonight.

[23:48] Anybody can go to Any of these churches On a Sunday morning. There's still churches That teach the word. But people don't want it. And so, If God calls us to go out To be evangelists And to go door to door, Great.

[24:01] But if not, I don't think we, I don't think Acts Bears out Our modern idea Of evangelism. It seems to be Very focused.

[24:12] And then we look At what Paul, Paul writes All his letters Are to the churches. To the church, To the church, To the church, To the church. And the idea is As the church, If the church is healthy And growing, Then believers Will be added by the Lord Daily, Such as to be saved.

[24:27] And he's going to work With his people To do that. So all Jerusalem Has been filled With this doctrine, But I don't think It was by some Concerted effort Of Peter and the boys To try and make that happen, I guess is what I'm saying.

[24:44] So then Peter And the other apostles They answered And said Mic drop We ought to obey God Rather than men.

[24:57] True authority. Peter answers With true authority. He said, God is the authority. God's your authority And my authority. I ought to obey God Rather than men And you ought to obey God Rather than men.

[25:09] Peter was Under authority. The true authority Is Peter under authority Then had authority. There's no such thing As being without authority. That's called anarchy.

[25:20] We think that Without authority Is freedom, But it's not. It's just lawlessness And anarchy. And most likely Will lead to Depression, Anxiety, Fear, And self-centeredness.

[25:32] Because when we are Under authority What does authority do? Authority gives us A framework With which we can Live our lives within. Authority is like A fence That the sheep Can stay in.

[25:42] It gives me a framework To know I'm safe I'm cared for You know Keller and Lily Just got married Keller is now An authority In his household. Right? That doesn't mean He's I can tell you what to do I can tell you what to do Right?

[25:56] That's not what I am In my household Believe me That's not what I am In my household But what does it mean? It means I'm responsible To create a safe place With boundaries That those within my authority Can flourish within.

[26:10] They can be comfortable And safe to do that. They're not always Questioning and wondering Oh, can I do this? Can I not do that? Is this safe? Is that not? And then there's A comfortability of Hey, I know who I am Because of the authority.

[26:20] Now that's because I'm under authority. I have authority in scripture That lays out My boundaries And who I am. We each individually Have that same authority But that then gives us authority All right? My job I work Where I'm a lot of times The only person Representing My firm My engineering firm And the owner On a job I have no Like I have no authority As in Because of my Wisdom, skill, knowledge And ability Most of the people there Have a lot more than me And what they're doing But I have authority Because I'm under authority Of who I represent That if I say something It's like Well, we gotta always listen to him You know?

[26:56] So There's nothing That I have of myself If I remove myself From that authority I'd probably be laughed Off the job site And it's the same in Christ Remember when The sons of Sceva We're eventually Gonna get to them guys When they went in And tried to Cast out the demons And he said I adjure you In the name of Jesus Whom Paul preaches You know, come out of him And the demon responded And said Paul I know And Jesus I know But who are you?

[27:22] And he leapt on them Ripped their clothes off And sent them out of the house Naked They have no authority There is nothing there We don't have any authority Apart from Apart from this My experiences Don't give me authority They don't They give me They give me a platform For which to apply the word Is what experience does But experience doesn't Create authority And so here Peter has true authority Who's Peter?

[27:47] Peter's nobody He's a fisherman A bumbling fisherman You know He's Peter's bait and chop shop Cut off ears And catch you a fish Peter's got nothing He denied Jesus If Jesus didn't restore him What was Peter?

[28:04] But here he is Taking the word of God At face value The Holy Spirit In this moment Gives him this response So simple And the word Is always so simple God's way is so simple Look how simple it is He said go and preach In the temple Okay We'll go do that Uh oh We got captured again You didn't tell us What would happen Don't worry about it And then Here they are The pomp The ceremony Gamaliel's there Ananias and Kephi Not Ananias That's Sapphira Ananias and Caiaphas I almost said Ananias and Kephyrus Kephyrus Ananias and Caiaphas You have Paul there Considered like You know He calls himself The Pharisee of Pharisees And Peter From Galilee Nobody liked anybody From Galilee Right It'd be like Somebody from Gastonia You know Expected to speak Eloquently You know Some Going before the Senate Y'all

[29:05] Jesus He says You ought to We ought to Obey God Rather than men Yes we ought to But unfortunately There's many who Do not choose to The God of our fathers Raised up Jesus Whom you slew And hanged On a tree Him Has God Exalted With his right hand To be a prince And a savior For to give repentance To Israel And forgiveness Of sins We read it so often We know it so often But imagine Put yourself there You've brought these guys in You're questioning Who they are You don't like them They've stripped you Of your authority They blatantly disregarded you And now this guy Standing in front of you And says to you The God of our fathers Your God Raised up Jesus Whom you slew And you hanged him On a tree And we know that Anyone who's hanged On a tree Is cursed And so you considered Him cursed But him as God Exalted With his right hand Why does it say His right hand It could have said But him as God Exalted To be prince and savior With his right hand

[30:05] Because all through Scripture You know we see Where the right hand Is the hand of power Of strength Of authority And saying that God by his right hand Has raised up Jesus And set him as prince As authority And a savior Guys you can't do Anything against this man This Jesus is outside Your realm You can't touch him And God has exalted him In power and authority For what purpose?

[30:29] To squash you like a bug And give your kingdom to us No For to give repentance to Israel And forgiveness of sins Not to make the world A better place Ouch Jesus didn't come To make the world A better place We're not going to find That anywhere in here We're not going to find As we go through here That the apostles Are all about Spreading the good news That Jesus came To make the world A better place Jesus came To give us A better place Apart from this world Which is not a good place He came to take us Out of the world Right?

[31:02] He didn't come to Perfume the dung heap He came to rescue us Out of it It's still the same today We can say the same thing God has exalted Jesus By his right hand A prince and a savior Whoa Jesus is a prince Jesus is in charge Jesus is at God's right hand He can make all decisions And authority And power Yes And the decision he's made Is that he has come To give repentance And forgiveness of sins To any who would receive it Now that Result of that Can make the world A better place Yes Your world should be A better place I should make my world That which I have Sphere, influence And authority A better place If I have authority Over people If I'm a boss Somewhere If I am put in a place Of government Or authority Or wherever God Raises me to My world That I have A sphere of influence over Should be a better place But what does Jesus say?

[31:59] We just had read it But you should be hated Of all men For my namesake That's just how it is They're gonna hate you Because the world Love darkness And hates the light Where were we at?

[32:16] And when we were witnesses Verse 32 And we Are his witnesses Of these things That's that word You know When Jesus said In chapter 2 You shall be witnesses Unto me In first Judea And Samaria In Jerusalem Judea Samaria In the outermost Parts of the earth That martyr That word for martyr To be a witness To give of oneself To exemplify The truth of something else So here we stand guys We are witnesses And look at this And so is the Holy Spirit Whom God has given To them That obey him Ooh there's a lot in there So the Holy Spirit Is also a witness We'll keep going And then we'll Because verse 33 Pretty much explains What that means When they heard that They were cut To the heart And took counsel To slay them Man I wish I said They were cut to the heart And repented But it's just proof That they are not Those who have ears to hear They are not You know Jesus said My sheep hear my voice And they follow me

[33:16] These guys have heard his voice And they're not following But look what it says About the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit's right there Giving witness You know When the Jehovah's Witness Or the Mormon Comes along Or those who seem So assured In their false faith And false doctrine They have no reality They don't have The Holy Spirit They don't have a witness Of that I can be Confused Unsure And not well trained In my theology And have the truth And witness Of the Holy Spirit And stand Toe to toe With the person Who has whatever They think they have And that's all I need to tell them It's like Well guys You don't have anything real You know you don't Have anything real I have peace Do you have peace?

[33:52] You don't If you ask a Mormon Well I have five minutes Left to live Can you tell me How to get saved? They'll tell you Well you know Hopefully you've done Enough good works Hopefully It's like no I don't want I need to know Can you give me assurance?

[34:05] Well nobody can know But hopefully And hopefully They don't have anything There's nothing there That doesn't exist We have this assurance Of the Holy Spirit Who works with us Then what does it say?

[34:16] He's That God gives the Holy Spirit To them that Obey him Like oh okay I gotta walk in obedience To have the Holy Spirit Well yes But what is it What is the work of God? The work of God Is to believe And then we go back to faith That faith is that victory Which overcomes the world As we put our trust in Jesus We're obeying And those that have trusted him Will obey him Because what's the point Of trusting him If you're not gonna obey him?

[34:36] That's the whole idea That he says I'm worthy to be obeyed I'm worthy to be followed I'm worthy to be Lord Okay I'll trust you And I'll obey you Because I trust you But the Holy Spirit Always moves along The lines of obedience To God The Holy Spirit Will never work outside The lines of obedience To God So there's not a work Of the Spirit If it doesn't line up With the word Because he always works Along the lines of obedience And here it says that He's given to them That obey him Essentially Peter's saying To these guys You do not have The Holy Spirit They are cut To the heart Paul Is there Cut to the heart Paul's gonna be Cut to the heart When he watches Stephen Whose face shines Like an angel And then they rush Upon him After his message And they stone him And he says I see the heavens open And the Son of God Standing at the right hand Of God to receive me And they just can't Handle that Paul is being Cut to the heart So look There is one That's gonna respond

[35:37] There is one That will believe You never know These guys have Responded with Indignation They've responded With envy They have responded With fear And they're desiring To slay them And yet One of them At least Will come out of this And will That will have Done its work And been a witness To him They were cut To the heart What came out Of that heart A good man Luke 6 45 Out of the good Treasure of his heart Brings forth That which is good And an evil man Out of the evil Treasure of his heart Brings forth That which is evil For out of the abundance Of the heart His mouth speaks So their heart Was sliced open And what came out Blah Nothing good Then stood there up In the council Of the Pharisees One named Gamaliel And his name means My recompenser Is God A doctor Of the law And he had a reputation Among all the people And commanded to put

[36:38] The apostles forth A little space So here you have Gamaliel Famous in Jerusalem Paul sat at his feet A doctor of the law He had a reputation Among the people What good did it do him?

[36:51] He's been He's been around He's seen this whole scene With Jesus Jesus has been put to death Jesus is risen again The apostles are In power Giving witness To the resurrection Of the dead The world's being Turned upside down Jerusalem's filled With the doctrine And he's just Kind of like Interesting No faith His education Had done him No good And we're gonna see It almost sounds good As we go through this He's gonna say some stuff Which taken out of You know Taken at face value Sounds good But if it be of God You cannot overthrow it Lest happily you be found Even to fight against God You know Okay that sounds good But make up your mind If the Lord be God Follow him If it be of God Shouldn't he follow it?

[37:38] So here he interjects In the midst of all this Because they're starting To talk like Oh slay him Kill him Kill him And at least there's A cool head there To the Like okay We can't just Straight up murder These guys Alright There'll be a Big riot So he commands them To put forth A little space And he said unto them You men of Israel Take heed to yourselves What you intend to do As touching these men Good advice Take heed to yourself Don't worry about these guys What about yourselves But take heed to yourselves About what you intend to do As touching these men You know I think about How they're put forth For a space I wonder You know Inside this council room They're all like Stressed and consternation What are we gonna do?

[38:23] Oh my word Do we kill him? Do we not? Do we join him? Do we ship him off? And then their apostles Are put forth a space What were they doing? They're probably praying Or rejoicing Or like This is crazy Can you believe it?

[38:34] I mean Peter What was that? I don't know Where that came from I'm just from Gastonia You know He's like Whoa I don't know It's like Did you see their faces When you said that?

[38:48] It was like It was like The Lord took a knife And you know What does it say? The word of God Is sharp Is quick and active And sharper than Any two-edged sword Pierces Evening to the dividing Of thunder Of soul and spirit Joint and marrow And a discerner Of the thoughts And intents of our hearts So these men I think they had Opened before them Who they really were And why did they Want to kill them?

[39:09] Because they wanted To stop that The conviction We need to stop this I remember as a kid Being in church In my teens Early teens We were going to Calvary Chapel With a finger lace Up in New York And Pastor Bill Gallatin I don't know if any of you Ever heard of him Or heard of his teaching I always thought Like pictured That's what Elijah Probably taught Like He's just very like He spoke with such authority In the word But man Sometimes it's so convicting And I just couldn't wait For that message to end And it'd be like Phew Made it through another Sunday Whew Without having to change anything So stupid But But yeah That heavy conviction And then you just Wanted to stop I wish I had responded Earlier than I had But anyway So he says In verse 36 For before these days Rode up Rose up Theodos Boasting himself To be somebody To whom a number of men About 400 Joined themselves Who was slain And all

[40:09] As many as obeyed him Were scattered And brought to nothing After this Or after this man Rose up Judas of Galilee In the days of the taxing And drew away Much people after him He also perished And all Even as many as obeyed him Were dispersed So what's What's the whole point He's getting here The thrust of this is That these movements Fell apart After the deaths Of their leaders That as great As these people seemed As they had the ability To draw people To themselves Many people Were brought to them Said that 400 Joined themselves To this Theodos And then Judas of Galilee Drew many people After him Many movements What have you seen In your lifetime I mean I've lived A short life Comparatively And I have seen Person after person After person Touted as This is the guy And people follow And then he goes Off the scene And nobody hears About him again Until it's the next guy And it's the next guy And it's the next guy And so Gamaliel Is pointing out A very timely

[41:11] Principle here That all of these men They had the ability To draw people But once they passed Off the scene It didn't last And then he makes This right conclusion Where he's going To say that If it's of men It will come to naught But if it's of God You can't overthrow it But these movements Had no real substance To them They were just movements That's all they were If it had Remember the verse That says How does it go That that which That which is The things that are shaken That the things That are shaken May remain The things that Are not shaken Are eternal And the things That are shaken Are temporary I butchered that one But essentially The things that When God shakes up Your life And shakes things up The things that last Are eternal They have substance These don't have Any substance They didn't last Where Jesus was But to death He was put to death But this movement Is continuing Gamaliel is unfortunately Also judging himself

[42:12] Here with his own words Because he is saying To himself Well the proof Is in the pudding If it was of men It wouldn't last But it's not of men And it's lasted So hopefully Eventually Gamaliel Maybe Paul You picture Paul Going back And being like Hey I have something happen I need to tell you about This Jesus Is the real deal Hopefully we'll see him In heaven But at this point He says Okay And now I say unto you Refrain from these men Let them alone For if this counsel Or this work Be of men It will come to nothing But If it be of God You cannot overthrow it Lest happily be found Even to fight against God Is that true?

[42:56] Well yes Those are true principles But they don't always Look that way That sounds really rosy Right there If it's of men It shall fail But if it's of God Nothing can crush it You know We are of God Let's go forth Right It sounds really rosy It sounds like Marching orders But it doesn't always Look that way It's true If it's of God Nothing can overthrow it But sometimes God God lets us go to prison Are we being overthrown then?

[43:19] No No God just wants to show That he can deliver Through that Sometimes He's going to let us Get beaten Sometimes We get beat We get beat down We get overcome Sometimes He lets His people get put to death So wait I thought if it was of God It couldn't be overthrown Well it's not being overthrown But it doesn't always look Like Gamaliel's painting it To look like here It's kind of like Job's friends Remember good old Job His friends Who are like Well Job If you have trouble in your life It's sin And if you don't Your life is blessed Well there's a certain truth to that Sin is going to bring you trouble In your life And righteousness will bless your life But it doesn't always play out In the way That we would expect Or not expect That we sometimes paint it In this world It doesn't mean That we're going to be Without tribulation Because Jesus said In the world You'll have tribulation But be of good cheer I've overcome the world So it's true Yes And again If it be of God

[44:19] Follow it He says If it be of God You cannot overthrow it Okay Great Have they been able to overthrow it? No So Come on guys Follow it And to him they agreed And when they had called the apostles And beaten them They commanded that they should not speak In the name of Jesus And let them go Whatever happened to this whole They agreed When he said And now I say And do you refrain from these men?

[44:50] Alright We'll refrain from them First we're going to beat them Like I don't think I don't consider that refraining But take heed This is Mark Of what we just had read in Matthew This is Mark's version of that Mark 13 verse 9 But take heed yourselves For they shall deliver you up to councils And in the synagogues You shall be beaten And you shall be brought before rulers and kings For my sake For testimony against them Imagine if we actually listened to the word And believed it And applied it to the circumstances of our life How different it would be It's like Man I'm really struggling with this person What is going on?

[45:27] Well in the world You're going to have tribulations But be of good cheer I've overcome the world Oh okay Lord But can you make this situation better? Because it's given me a lot of tribulation I've overcome that You know Lord I feel so bound up I feel like I'm just in prison over this I feel What are you doing?

[45:42] Why won't you deliver me? Well I've let you go into prison Because I have a purpose for you To bring you out You know Lord This I feel like I've just been dragged In front of Well yes I want you to be a witness to them And so here Jesus specifically said Hey They're going to Take heed to yourselves Isn't it interesting?

[46:02] Same phrasing That in verse 35 Gamaliel said Take heed to yourselves What you intend to do Is touching these men Jesus said Take heed to yourselves Pay attention guys How are you going to react? They're going to deliver you up And they're going to beat you And you're going to be brought before rulers and kings And it's for my sake But guys It's for testimony Against them I have a purpose in this And yes You're just You're just the back upon which I'm carrying the message But If God If it be of God You cannot overthrow it Lest happily you be found Even to fight against God You know it's happening today God is doing a work And we can be a part of that Or not a part of that Sometimes We can be a part of something that we wish Was the work God's doing Maybe it is And maybe it isn't Sometimes we're part of movement of people Sometimes we're part of the religious system But who cares Get in God's will Get in God's plan And follow that Because there's people in movements today That are inadvertently I think

[47:03] Fighting against God Because where Peter tells us Jesus came for the purpose To For repentance and forgiveness I think there's some people today That think Jesus came for the purpose Of Enriching their lives You know So You can be found To be working against God God had his purposes You know I'm going through Ezekiel On my own In personal time And It's essentially All through there Ezekiel is just telling Israel God is telling Israel Through Ezekiel Over and over and over Even when these The elders come And to seek God As Ezekiel's feet God tells Ezekiel He says You tell them What are you doing here To seek me You have abominations And idols in your lives And you come to seek me You know There's no There's no personal repentance Or personal holiness There's no desire for righteousness But they want God's Blessing On their life And he's pretty much Telling Ezekiel It's They will be taken into captivity They have gone too far There's nothing that can be done I will judge them And there comes a point where We stand up for truth

[48:06] And righteousness With the intent That salvation Can be brought to people And that people can grow in Christ Not with the intent That we clean up the world Right So We can Inadvertently End up Working against Where we think God always wants The ascent Of Of the church Of a nation You know He wants this nation To be righteous Maybe he doesn't The The iniquity of the Amorites Was not yet full When Israel Was going to go Into the promised land He said No no The iniquity of the Amorites Is not yet full It's not time yet So he waited Until their iniquity was full Lot In Sodom Think of Lot there He was in the city gates But by the time The angels came To get him out He had no witness left Nobody in his family Believed him He went to his son-in-laws And to his daughters And they laughed They were like Whatever You know And then the angels Had to just grab him And his wife And the two kids That were left

[49:06] That he was in a wicked system He was a righteous man That scripture tells us His soul was vexed daily And he was in the city gates Which means he was part Of the decision-making process And in the end His witness was destroyed Was it God's will For him to be there?

[49:20] I don't think so No He looked at Ooh I can do something with that You know So be careful That's all I'm saying That That you make sure That you are not Inadvertently It says you're happily Less happily Not happily But you happen to Find yourself In a place Where you're actually Standing against What God is trying to do Whether in our own life Where we're trying to avoid The prison he's taking us to Or Whether we're trying to bring about An end that he's not about Anyway And to him They agreed And when they had called The apostles And beaten them They commanded They should not speak In the name of Jesus And let them go Well They kind of That's all they had left We can inflict physical pain on you Because we don't have any authority The angel can just release you You're only here Because you are agreeing to be here You know Back when it says The captain of the officers Brought them without violence Essentially Peter and the apostles Said Yeah okay We'll come with you Because they could have said You know

[50:21] We're not gonna go And the people might have stoned them The captain Or whoever Or they could have said You know what We have God on our side And the angel of the Lord Will deliver us Maybe they could have Called down fire from heaven I don't know But thankfully They did know What their place was In this scene And they let them go Whether they let them go or not Didn't really matter did it Because God could already Free them And they departed from The presence of the council Rejoicing That they were counted worthy To suffer shame For his name Interesting passage there What is it to be counted worthy So suffering for Jesus Results in spiritual strength It's just a spiritual principle That if we suffer for Christ It results in spiritual strength Well why?

[51:12] Matthew 10 32 Says Whosoever therefore Shall confess me before men Him will I confess also Before my Father in heaven Luke 12 8 Also I say unto you Whosoever shall confess me Before men Him shall the Son of Man Also confess before the angels Of God So as these men stand up Before these men A council of men They're standing before The council of heaven God the Father And his angels Are standing there as well And who are you going to Side with?

[51:41] Who are you going to Give your assent to? Whose voice Will you join yours with? And so The world can do what? Nothing And they also They can rejoice Because they know what?

[51:53] The shame The beating The angel released them From prison So God could have Just let them go They know that Everything that comes Is because God allows it That means God allowed Them to suffer shame And they can rejoice in that That just as Jesus said Hey the servant's not greater Than his master If they have done this To the master They shall do it to you So they were counted worthy To suffer shame And daily in the temple Here we go again And in every house They ceased not to teach And preach Jesus The location Didn't matter Didn't Did it But wherever they were It was the same They taught They preached They taught They preached Preached To send forth the message Teach To come in behind that And then bring edification And growth Romans 5 3-5 And not only so But we glory In tribulations also Knowing that tribulation Works patience And patience Experience And experience hope And hope Makes not ashamed Because the love of God Is shed abroad In our hearts By the Holy Spirit

[52:53] Which is given unto us I wonder how many times I've missed that When I've been too afraid To say anything When I haven't spoken up When You know And it's not usually Like even the Lord Puts something on my heart Like well you should Stand in the middle Of your job site And start preaching You know It's more like Just the response Of being like Well praise the Lord Or I'll pray for you You know And sometimes I'll And I just Don't let that out You know Or whatever And it's like After the fact I'll think Why didn't I That would have been My normal reaction You know In this setting I'd be like Oh praise the Lord You know But why didn't I Respond that way there And it's because The enemy is right there With his bushel Trying to play whack-a-mole You know Trying to always kind of Like cover it up Cover it up Cover it up Cover it up Oh no There's more light Popping out of him That's what he's Always trying to do And it's where Jesus said Let your light so shine Before men They may see your good works And glorify your Father In heaven So here we have Deliverance From start to finish Jesus overcomes

[53:55] And what overcomes Our faith Is the victory That overcomes the world Because Jesus has already won And we're just Finishing out the story And all of these guys As we're seeing them Walk through this They're living A living example of that That they're Receiving the suffering There doesn't seem To be fear They don't seem To be worried They don't seem To be anxious They're just kind of like Okay now we're in prison Okay now we're Before the Sanhedrin Now we're back out Teaching and preaching They're just They're constant In their faith In their response To the Lord and his word And everything else around them Is just whatever it is So Father we just thank you For the constancy Of your word And of your spirit We thank you for Just looking at this Section in Acts Lord The next event Lord again You're just putting Your church In front of The world In front of What would appear To be the hardest of hearts And yet out of that bunch Is going to come Our Bible The New Testament Because Because Paul

[54:55] Saul will be saved And become Paul And so that day When his heart Was cut Because it said They They were all Cut to the heart Paul's heart Was He was cut to the heart Cut open By the words of Peter And then someday Thinking Him and Peter Working together Being friends And But Lord imagine If If Peter And all the rest of them Were like You know what Thank you Lord For delivering me from prison You answered my prayers And they just went home Said wow And they lived off The glory of that The rest of their lives Remember that time We preached the gospel And God delivered us You wouldn't have condemned them Because there's no condemnation But they wouldn't have been able anymore To be part of this plan They would just fade off the scenes And they wouldn't be walking this out There'd be someone else Lord We'd be reading about So Lord let Us Have the same tenacity The same faith To stand before Our Father And the angels of heaven And not before men Lord I pray that for myself Specifically For boldness In the simple things To just do the simple things

[55:57]  When you say Hey I've released you from this Now Go and teach and preach When you say I'll give you what you need to speak And you give me a simple word to speak Before all of these whoever's And it just is a word That seems so basic We ought to obey God Rather than men And yet it cuts them to the heart Thank you for your word Lord Thank you for my brothers and sisters Take them to their homes And bless their families And their lives And bless their walks with you May they be about your business And not get caught up in The things that May happily Be found to Be contrary to what you're doing Show us what you're doing In this world And let us be a part of it To bring men Women Boys and girls To repentance To salvation To preach And then to teach And to build your church In Jesus name Amen