Latest / Scripture Unscripted / Acts chapter 15
Transcript
- 0:01Acts chapter 15 Let us pray. Our Lord God Almighty, you are
- 0:11the Most High, God worthy to be praised.
- 0:14You are worthy, worthy, worthy. You are the Most High.
- 0:20You are El Shaddai, El Elian. You are our everything.
- 0:26You're the very next breath and our lungs.
- 0:28You sustain everything seen and unseen, everything that teams in
- 0:33the earth and above the earth. God, you are the only uncreated.
- 0:38And God, we bow low today, Lord, we bow low in the presence of
- 0:44your Shekinah glory, Father, knowing that You are moving
- 0:49everything all around us, Lord, and it is in Your perfect and
- 0:56pleasing will that everything is in accordance with your
- 1:01prophecies. Lord, with the things that we
- 1:04don't understand, we just get out of our own way.
- 1:07We say yes and we say Amen to all of the unfulfilled
- 1:13prophecies of the word of God. Lord, we know that you are going
- 1:19to make sure everything arrives at the point of conjecture
- 1:24exactly pinpoint accurate to the letter Father.
- 1:30So we just say yes and Amen. And God, we desire to be
- 1:36enveloped with your presence this morning.
- 1:38We desire to be filled with the Holy Ghost this morning.
- 1:44Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ for divine
- 1:48revelation to day. Lord, I pray in the name of
- 1:52Jesus Christ for divine wisdom today.
- 1:56Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ for healing from on
- 2:01high. God, I pray that you will get
- 2:04rid of all of the malice and deceit, all of the dissension
- 2:09and discord. God, I pray in the name of Jesus
- 2:12against confusion, for you are not the author of confusion.
- 2:16God, you are perfect in all of your ways.
- 2:22And so, Lord, we come into the throne room boldly, only by the
- 2:28blood of Jesus Christ covering us.
- 2:31Lord, it is only by that name, the name that is above all
- 2:35names, that we boldly stand in your presence, Lord, and make
- 2:41our supplications known unto you.
- 2:44Lord Jesus, we are asking that you will turn the tides of all
- 2:52of the wickedness in the world. God, I pray against the occult
- 2:57in the dark magic. God, I pray against those that
- 3:01are practicing Satanism. Lord, I pray in the name of
- 3:06Jesus against the spirit behind those people.
- 3:09God, I pray in the name of Jesus that you will shut the mouths of
- 3:14the lions. God, bind the enemy, Father, and
- 3:18cast him into the judgment that you have a waiting for him
- 3:22today. Father, I pray in the name of
- 3:24Jesus, against all of the darkness that's in the world,
- 3:30God, let the name of Jesus reign supreme.
- 3:34And you keep calling those out of the fire.
- 3:37Keep calling those. And Father, I just pray that
- 3:43it'll be you and you and you alone who gets all the glory.
- 3:48Father, it's always been about you.
- 3:51It will always be about you. And so God, we get out of our
- 3:55own way and out of our own understanding.
- 3:57We acknowledge you today and are asking that you will direct our
- 4:01steps, that you will lead us in paths of righteousness.
- 4:06Lead us into the divine appointments that you have for
- 4:12us today. Lord, let us be found with the
- 4:15testimony of Jesus Christ on our lips today, sharing the good
- 4:20news of what He's done in our lives and what is perfect and
- 4:24pleasing will is for this world Gun.
- 4:28Let us abstain from sexual immorality, God, let us abstain
- 4:33from drunkenness and revelry. God, I pray in the name of Jesus
- 4:39that we will not abuse freedom today, God, but we will walk in
- 4:44that freedom knowing that we're in right standing with you and
- 4:48there's nothing that we could ever do to disappoint you,
- 4:52Father. And I pray, Lord, that as we
- 4:55walk in the reality that you are with us so that no one can be
- 5:00against us. God, I pray that we'll take back
- 5:03the strongholds of the enemy. God will tear down any of those
- 5:07that try to set themselves up against the knowledge of Jesus
- 5:11Christ. Lord, I pray that we'll never be
- 5:14put to dismay and that God, we will learn obedience and that
- 5:19we'll walk in obedience, and that we will hear your voice and
- 5:24obey your voice. God, let us get connected to the
- 5:27vine and produce much fruit today.
- 5:30We love you, King Jesus, and it's in your holy and precious
- 5:33name that I pray. Amen.
- 5:38Let's start in verse one and certain men which came down from
- 5:45Judea taught the brothers and said except you be circumcised
- 5:50after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.
- 5:54So here is a very interesting point that you need to really
- 5:57lock in and pay attention to. There are a lot of Judaizers who
- 6:02are wanting to circumvent the grace of God and their wanting
- 6:09even in this day, in this hour, this rise of the Hebrew roots
- 6:15movement where people want to put back on works.
- 6:19And it's not that we're saved by works so that any man should
- 6:24boast. It is by grace, and grace alone,
- 6:28friends, that we are saved. And here these certain men have
- 6:34crept in unawares, and a little bit of yeast ruins the whole
- 6:39batch. And you need to understand that
- 6:42we got to be aware of the yeast of the Pharisees that creep into
- 6:49the camp. And there's always a Judas in
- 6:51the camp. Don't forget it.
- 6:53And here they are trying to make legalism the standard.
- 6:58And let's see what old Paul has to say about this.
- 7:02To when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension
- 7:08and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and
- 7:12Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem
- 7:17unto the apostles and elders about this question.
- 7:22So imagine that there was no small argument.
- 7:26This is a salvific issue. And that is just a word that
- 7:32means it's of the utmost importance of how we are to be
- 7:37saved, how we are to be made right with God.
- 7:42And what you need to understand is you cannot be made right with
- 7:46God unless you are covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.
- 7:52It is not by walking an aisle, it is not by getting dunked in
- 7:57some water, and it is not by praying a little Jingle of a
- 8:03prayer. This is of utmost importance
- 8:08that you know that you know that you know that you know that you
- 8:14are heaven bound. It is of the utmost importance
- 8:18to do away with the hopes. So maybe so theology, we can
- 8:25know so by confessing with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord
- 8:34and that in believing in our hearts that God raised him from
- 8:38the dead and you shall be saved. That is the whole point of the
- 8:44whole matter. And it's not a question of when
- 8:49did you? It's not a question of can you
- 8:52tell me the day and the hour and where were you?
- 8:55What were the sights and sounds and smells?
- 8:58What you need to understand it is not a question of have you
- 9:03ever. The question is, are you now?
- 9:08And if you are not sure, if you do not have assurance of faith,
- 9:15you can take that today and you can be sure and then tomorrow do
- 9:19it again. His mercies are new every day,
- 9:23and we need to go to the wellspring of life every moment
- 9:28of every day for the rest of our lives.
- 9:31We cannot check out, we cannot unplug, we cannot
- 9:35compartmentalize our lives with This Is Us on Sunday morning and
- 9:39Wednesday night, and This Is Us on Friday and Saturday night.
- 9:44It doesn't work that way, friends.
- 9:46You know who's connected to the vine by the way that they
- 9:49produce fruit. You know who's connected to the
- 9:52Lord Jesus Christ by the way that they love each other.
- 9:57This one another ring one another is proof that we are
- 10:02His. And you should hear His voice
- 10:06and obey His voice and know His voice.
- 10:09And if you are not 100,000% sure of your salvation, you can make
- 10:15it right today. As long as there's breath and
- 10:18your lungs, you have hope. And there is a chance for
- 10:24anyone, no matter how wicked they are, to come to the saving
- 10:29knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 10:32As long as there's breath in your lungs.
- 10:34But if you are to die in your sins, If you are to die without
- 10:40ever placing your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be
- 10:46eternally separated. There is no more chances for
- 10:51those who have no more breath in their lungs.
- 10:55That is the great divider, friends.
- 10:57And if you woke up this morning, God's given you another chance
- 11:01and He's not done with you. Verse 3 And being brought on
- 11:07their way by the church, they passed through Phoenix and
- 11:10Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and
- 11:14they caused great joy unto all the brothers.
- 11:18So imagine that here they are, they're being sent back to
- 11:21Jerusalem by these Judaizers and they're saying that you have to
- 11:26be circumcised in order to be saved.
- 11:30And you got to come through Moses to get to Jesus.
- 11:33And it's just as much heresy as the Catholic Church that
- 11:37preaches we've got to pray through Mary.
- 11:40Mary was just a human being. She is not a deity for.
- 11:45And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of
- 11:49the church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared
- 11:52all things that God had done with them.
- 11:55So imagine that they're passing through Samaria and they are
- 12:00giving much encouragement, letting these half breeds know
- 12:04that God is for the Gentiles too.
- 12:07These were descendants of the Assyrians mixed in with the Jews
- 12:11whenever the Assyrians came in and took over the northern
- 12:15Kingdom, this country of Samaria.
- 12:17And we know how Jesus felt about him because he revealed his
- 12:21deity to the woman, the Samaritan woman at the well.
- 12:26And we know that he told the story of the Good Samaritan.
- 12:29So we know that Jesus Christ is for the whole world.
- 12:32And if they would have just gotten out of their own
- 12:35legalistic approach to God Almighty, they could have seen
- 12:38it all. But here they are.
- 12:40They're trying to demand circumcision.
- 12:43They're trying to demand the lineage of Abraham and Moses.
- 12:47And let's see what they're going to say at this council in
- 12:50Jerusalem. 5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the
- 12:57Pharisees, which believed, saying that it is that it was
- 13:03needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law
- 13:07of Moses. Here goes these Pharisees again,
- 13:10and see, this group of Pharisees had come into the faith in the
- 13:15knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
- 13:19So we can give them much credit on this, but they're still
- 13:22holding on to their legalism and the Pharisaical spirit is still
- 13:28alive and active today. That is where you see the
- 13:31duplicity and hypocrisy within the monuments built by human
- 13:36hands where God does not abode in those buildings.
- 13:39Friends, we are the Church, we are the ecclesia, called out
- 13:43ones, and we are called out to all nations and all people
- 13:47groups. And God does not dwell in a
- 13:50building, He dwells in US. Do you not know that you are the
- 13:54temple of the Lord? Friends six and the apostles and
- 14:01elders came together to consider this matter.
- 14:06So here they are. They're asking themselves, and
- 14:09if they would have just gone back to the story of Cornelius
- 14:12and if they would have just gone back to the story and the vision
- 14:16and the trance that Peter fell into on the rooftop where the
- 14:21sheet was let down and all of the clean and unclean were let
- 14:25down, which was a picture of the Church of God.
- 14:28And you can see that Peter was given divine revelation to show
- 14:33that the Gentiles were welcomed in.
- 14:35And then the Holy Ghost fell upon that camp and God stamped
- 14:40them with their approval before they ever got circumcised.
- 14:44So here they are trying to drudge up this legalism, and
- 14:50it's no different today. You have so many people that are
- 14:53going off on these tangents and they're losing they're ground
- 14:58and they are circumcising, literally circumcising people
- 15:04and it would never amount to anything and it does not please
- 15:09God when you demand circumcision or if you demand the Speaking of
- 15:14tongues to be saved. It doesn't work that way
- 15:17friends. It is by the Holy Ghost that
- 15:20indwells you and empowers you and seals you that you are saved
- 15:26friends. And it is the down payment that
- 15:29God Almighty is pleased to give anybody who comes to him
- 15:34honestly, anybody who comes to Him and goes through Jesus
- 15:39Christ and the blood of Jesus Christ as the atonement for our
- 15:43sins, for the remission of our sins, for the cleansing of our
- 15:47sins. It is only the blood, the
- 15:49perfect blood spilled on Calvary that makes us right with God
- 15:53Almighty. And blessed is the man who sins
- 15:56will never be counted against him.
- 16:00I pray that that's you. I pray that you have been
- 16:03covered in the blood of Jesus Christ, and not just dunked in
- 16:06water. 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up
- 16:18and said unto them, Men, brothers, you know how that a
- 16:27good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by
- 16:35my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe he's
- 16:41talking about Cornelius there. I pray that you have gone and
- 16:46read that passage. And God, which knows the hearts,
- 16:56bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost even as He did
- 17:01unto us. He's talking about the day of
- 17:03Pentecost. He's talking about when Jesus
- 17:07breathed on them. He's talking about how the Holy
- 17:11Ghost has come and has given them their seal for all of
- 17:16eternity. And he said that God was pleased
- 17:19to do that for the Gentiles. 9 and put no difference between us
- 17:27and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
- 17:31It is by faith that you come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 17:36You must believe that God is, and you must believe that Jesus
- 17:41Christ died on the cross for your sins.
- 17:45You must repent and turn from sin and turn from self and turn
- 17:51to a living, risen holy Savior. And you must come in to the
- 17:59presence of God through the all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus
- 18:04Christ on the cross. That is the only way.
- 18:07He is the only way unto the Father.
- 18:10You cannot come unto the Father unless you go through Jesus
- 18:16Christ. And he's saying there's no
- 18:19difference between the Gentiles and the Jews with salvific
- 18:25issues, friends. And now, therefore, why tempt
- 18:30you God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which
- 18:34neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
- 18:40So here Peter rightly calls their minds back to whenever
- 18:47there was idolatry in the land of Israel, right before the
- 18:53Babylonian captivity. And then you can see that there
- 18:59was idolatry even here during the time of Pontius Pilate and
- 19:06during the time of Herod. And you can see that the
- 19:10Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Sanhedrin thought because of
- 19:15their lineage to Abraham and thought because they had the
- 19:19temple and they had the law that they were eternally sealed.
- 19:25And here Peter is letting them know outright that they cannot
- 19:32rely on their lineage. They cannot rely on their
- 19:39genealogy to get them into heaven.
- 19:43And you're not going to get to heaven by grandma's faith.
- 19:47You're not going to get to heaven by your parents faith.
- 19:50It does not matter if your grandpa built and helped build a
- 19:54church. You have to come to the saving
- 19:58knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ for yourself and have a
- 20:03personal relationship with God Almighty through his Son Jesus
- 20:08Christ and be known by him. And just to sit and know that
- 20:14God is. And God is moving mightily in
- 20:19our midst even today, friends, and he is calling many unto
- 20:24himself, and many to salvation, And Peter's letting them know
- 20:30they could not bear that weight, So why are they pushing it on to
- 20:34the Gentiles? 11 But we believe that through
- 20:39the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as
- 20:43they. So that's what Peter is saying,
- 20:46that the Jews are not getting there because of their lineage,
- 20:52that they have to come unto the Father through Jesus Christ,
- 20:56just as the Gentiles do as well. 12 Then all the multitude kept
- 21:01silent and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring
- 21:07what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles
- 21:11by them. So imagine that everyone was
- 21:16silent. What a miracle of God this is.
- 21:23What a miracle that the Holy Spirit would cause them to hold
- 21:27their peace. And this was no small issue.
- 21:32We are talking about the greatest issue on planet earth,
- 21:37how to be saved. And they were quiet because
- 21:47Peter rightfully called them back to the time where God was
- 21:53pleased to pour out His Holy Spirit upon the Gentiles who had
- 21:58not been circumcised. And we would do well today and
- 22:02this day and this hour for such a time as this, to remember that
- 22:07we are saved by grace and not by works, so that any man should
- 22:12boast. And many of us are uncomfortable
- 22:17with the vast amount of freedom and grace that we are given.
- 22:23But if you show me somebody who is abusing grace, I will show
- 22:28you somebody who does not know our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 22:33Because if you truly know Jesus Christ, you will never want to
- 22:39sin and it will convict you when you do it.
- 22:45Just as Paul tells us in Romans Chapter 7 that he does the
- 22:50things that he doesn't want to do and he doesn't do the things
- 22:54that he does want to do. And you can see that when you
- 22:58sin, it will cut you to the heart, it will convict you.
- 23:04And that is the seal of the Holy Ghost.
- 23:06And we can sear our consciences and we can grieve the Spirit.
- 23:13And I believe we could grieve the Spirit into silence so that
- 23:18you're numb to it all. And that is somebody who is in
- 23:23grave danger. Friends, they have tasted and
- 23:28they have seen and they have experienced the moving of the
- 23:32Holy Spirit and they are putting him back to public shame.
- 23:39They are nailing Jesus Christ up on the cross again.
- 23:44They're abusing grace, and that is someone who doesn't truly
- 23:48know our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot just let sin abound so
- 23:55that grace can abound. Far be it from us believers. 12
- 24:07Paul and Barnabas are declaring all of the miracles.
- 24:11They're declaring all the wonders that God has been doing
- 24:16in the midst of the Gentiles. So what's going to happen in
- 24:20this little council here? 13 And after they had held their
- 24:25peace, James answered, saying, men, brothers, listen to me.
- 24:36So we can see here that this is Jesus, half brother James.
- 24:42And we can see that James wrote the epistle by that same name,
- 24:48the book of James. And we can see here that he is
- 24:52the prominent leader in Jerusalem for the early church.
- 24:56And this was a man who grew up with Jesus, who refused to see
- 25:02Jesus as the savior of the world until after he was glorified.
- 25:07And now he has risen to a prominent figure in the church
- 25:14in Jerusalem. And he's telling everyone,
- 25:16listen, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, this Pharisaical sect, listen to
- 25:24me. And he's about to wax
- 25:26eloquently. 14 Simeon has declared how God at the first
- 25:33did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his
- 25:41name. So imagine that.
- 25:44Imagine that Father Abraham, before he was called, he was a
- 25:52Gentile up on a mountain and God was pleased to choose him out of
- 25:58every single person on planet earth.
- 26:03Imagine that. And it is through this choosing
- 26:09of the Gentiles, 1 Gentile, out of the whole earth that God
- 26:13chose to bless the Jews. And He's still blessing them
- 26:17today. And we would do well to stand
- 26:19with the nation Israel, because you need to know that He is
- 26:25still blessing them and He is still for them, and they are a
- 26:32peculiar nation unto Him. And God loves them.
- 26:37And it does not supersede the love that He has for the
- 26:40Gentiles. It does not supersede the love
- 26:44that He has for the world at large.
- 26:48But you need to know that they are the chosen people for the
- 26:53Messiah to come through. What an amazing privilege that
- 27:00this nation holds, and how amazing will it be when they
- 27:06come into the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, when
- 27:11they see that they are a blessed people because God chose them to
- 27:17be priests for the world, and He chose them for Jesus Christ to
- 27:24come out of them and to save the entire globe through their
- 27:34bloodline. How amazing is that?
- 27:3715 And to this agree the words, the prophets as it is written.
- 27:4516 After this I will return, and we'll build again the Tabernacle
- 27:50of David, which has fallen down, and I will build again the ruins
- 27:54of it, and I will set it up, 17 that the residue of men might
- 27:59seek after the Lord. And all the Gentiles upon whom
- 28:04my name is called, says the Lord, who does all these things.
- 28:0918 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the
- 28:15world. So we know that we can't even
- 28:17come unto the Father unless he draws us to himself.
- 28:24Imagine that. And he's saying here that he is
- 28:28desirous to bless the entire world through the Jews and that
- 28:37they will be saved by Jesus Christ and Jesus alone.
- 28:43And there is a lot of hostility towards the reality that Jesus
- 28:49is the only way and that Jesus came through the bloodline of
- 28:53the Jewish nation. Praise God, Hallelujah.
- 28:56And it is a satanic attack anytime you see anti-Semitism
- 29:01against the Jewish nation. It is satanic at its core.
- 29:05Never forget that. 19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble
- 29:13not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God, 20
- 29:21but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of
- 29:26idols, from fornication, and from things strangled, and from
- 29:34blood. So these little notions towards
- 29:44the Gentiles are so that they can intermingle with their
- 29:50Jewish brothers without offending them when they come to
- 29:57the table, when they come to eat and Koinonia, when they come to
- 30:02one another, one another, and to love on each other as we are
- 30:08called to do. This is so there's no stumbling
- 30:12block. And it's very similar to what is
- 30:15mentioned when it comes to the restrictions of alcohol, to not
- 30:19be drunk and to not be a stumbling block to your brother
- 30:23who, you know, struggles with it.
- 30:26And it is sin to know what to do and not to do it.
- 30:30And it is sin to know that your brother struggles with an issue
- 30:34and you do it outright because of the grace that you have.
- 30:37And that is what is referenced here, that they should abstain
- 30:41from anything that's going to offend their Jewish brothers. 21
- 30:48For Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him,
- 30:53being read in the synagogue every Sabbath day. 22 Then
- 30:58pleased it, the apostles and elders with the whole church to
- 31:02send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and
- 31:07Barnabas, namely Judas, surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men
- 31:15among the brothers. So here they're being sent back
- 31:18with this little letter telling the Gentiles to abstain from
- 31:23idols and anything strangled, and to abstain from blood and to
- 31:29abstain from fornication. And this would have been the
- 31:35intermingling of marriage relationships amongst familial
- 31:41members which Moses had demanded.
- 31:47As we go through this life, it is of no profit and no benefit
- 31:54for there to be incestual relationships or for there to be
- 32:00any kind of relationship with a family member of you taking one
- 32:09from your son or your son taking one from you.
- 32:12And it is outlined that that is the fornication that is spoken
- 32:17of against here. They would have known to not
- 32:20have sexual relations before marriage. 23 and they wrote
- 32:29letters by them after this manner.
- 32:31The apostles and elders and brothers send greetings unto the
- 32:35brothers which are of the Gentiles in Antioch, in Syria
- 32:40and Silesia. 24 For as much as we have heard that certain which
- 32:45went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your
- 32:51souls, saying You must be circumcised and keep the law, to
- 32:56whom we give no such commandment, there it is in a
- 33:00nutshell, There it is. That is the cause for rejoicing,
- 33:06for jumping up and down, friends, That is your
- 33:10commandment, and that is my commandment, to walk in the
- 33:15grace and to remain in the grace of God.
- 33:19Praise the Lord. 25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled
- 33:24with 1 accord, to send chosen men unto you and our beloved
- 33:30Barnabas and Paul. 26 men that have hazarded their lives for
- 33:35the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have sent,
- 33:40therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same
- 33:47things by mouth. So not only was this letter
- 33:50sealed for their benefit, but they also were going to get
- 33:56confirmation from the Council and the assembly by mouth,
- 34:00because it was that important, it was that grandiose and heavy,
- 34:09that we need to know that we are right by God only by the blood
- 34:13of Jesus Christ alone. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost
- 34:18and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these
- 34:22necessary things. So you can see here that they
- 34:25are in 1 accord in full concordance with the Holy Ghost,
- 34:31As if the Holy Ghost is writing this inspired word.
- 34:38Friends. 29 that you abstain from meats offered to idols, and
- 34:44from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication
- 34:50from which you keep yourselves. You shall do well, fare you
- 34:56well. So they are saying to don't
- 35:00offend your Jewish brothers when you come to the table. 30 So
- 35:04when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch, and when they
- 35:09had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the
- 35:13Epistle, 31 which when they had read, they rejoiced for the
- 35:19consolation. 32 In Judas. And Silas, being prophets also
- 35:24themselves, exhorted the brothers with many words, and
- 35:28confirm them. 33 And after they had tarried their space, they
- 35:32were let go in peace from the brothers unto the apostles. 34
- 35:38Notwithstanding, it pleased Silas to abide there still. 35
- 35:45Paul also, and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching
- 35:50and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also.
- 35:54So they're building this church up.
- 35:57And this is of the utmost importance, that Paul was not
- 36:03just one to birth a church, but he was also one to help grow it
- 36:08up in the faith. 36 And some days after Paul said him to
- 36:14Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brothers in every city
- 36:19where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do.
- 36:23So imagine that he had a heart, he had a pastoral heart, he had
- 36:28a shepherd heart, that he wanted to make sure that all of the
- 36:33places that he visited and started a church, we're thriving
- 36:38and we would do well not to leave others on red.
- 36:42We need to be those who engage in our community.
- 36:47Engage, get in the fight, friends, charge the hill.
- 36:51Pray for your brothers and sisters when they're in their
- 36:55time of weakness. Intercede on the behalf of those
- 36:59who have no more prayers to pray because they're too weak.
- 37:03We need to stand in the gap, friends.
- 37:06And Paul had the heart to make sure that those who were new
- 37:13babes in Christ, that not only were they sucking on the
- 37:17spiritual milk, but they were graduating on to meet friends,
- 37:24graduating onto substance friends, making sure those who
- 37:28should be teaching are teaching and they're not just sitting by
- 37:33getting spoon fed every week. 37 And Barnabas determined to take
- 37:41with them John, whose surname was Mark 38, but Paul thought
- 37:46not good to take him with them, who departed from them from
- 37:52Panthea and went not with them to the work.
- 37:55So I don't know if you remember if you were following along in
- 37:59previous chapters, but John Mark just ghosted them.
- 38:04John Mark just left. It went back to Jerusalem and he
- 38:09did not have leave to do so. There was still much work to do
- 38:14and perhaps he was homesick. And here he's trying to come
- 38:17back in to the ministry of Paul and Paul saying not so.
- 38:25And it's going to cause a split here because God doesn't doesn't
- 38:34ever give up on us. And Barnabas, the encouragers
- 38:39trying to encourage John Mark and they were family.
- 38:43Barnabas and John Mark were family.
- 38:48And so he's saying, let's take him.
- 38:50And Paul is saying no because he's deserted us once.
- 38:53And you can see this divine knowledge of God Almighty to
- 39:02take these two and to put them in different trajectories that
- 39:07would spread the gospel even more like wildfire.
- 39:12And this is how God can use a negative situation for a
- 39:19positive outcome. Never forget that, friends, He
- 39:24can take your misery and turn it into a ministry, and it is in
- 39:30your weakness that he is made strong. 39 In the contention was
- 39:37so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from the
- 39:43other. And so Barnabas took Mark and
- 39:46sailed unto Cyprus. 40 And Paul chose Silas and departed, being
- 39:51recommended by the brothers unto the grace of God.
- 39:55We'll end on. 41 And he went through Syrian here confirming
- 40:00the churches. God is unstoppable friends, and
- 40:07it's still the same today. The will of God will come to
- 40:12fruition with or without you. Whenever a Barnabas leaves that
- 40:20Timothy comes on in, you're going to find out.
- 40:23That God is moving mightily in this early church and He's
- 40:27desirous to do the same for today.
- 40:30Get out of your own way. Be filled with the Holy Ghost
- 40:34today. Get in the Word, study the Word,
- 40:38own the Word, live the Word, pray without ceasing, and be His
- 40:43hands and feet to this wicked and dark perverse generation.
- 40:47They are ripe, the harvest is ripe.
- 40:51Friends, look up and see, but the workers are few.
- 40:58I pray that you're a bondservant unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 41:03I pray that you have counted the cost.
- 41:06You've put your hand to the plow.
- 41:08You've locked eyes with Jesus Christ, refusing to live
- 41:12distracted. I pray that is your story.
- 41:17Hope you've been blessed by this amazing chapter in the Word of
- 41:20God. These inspired words God
- 41:24breathed alive and active reading you as you open that
- 41:29book, hide them in your heart so that you might not sin against
- 41:33Him. Today I'm praying for you.
- 41:42I love you and so does God, so does the blessed Holy Spirit.
- 41:52And Jesus Christ himself is rooting you on.
- 41:56He's cheering for you today. Let's finish well.
- 41:59Let's run this race well. Friends, I love you.
- 42:06We'll see you back here tomorrow.
- 42:08God bless you.