Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / November 11 - Acts 5

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November 11 - Acts 5 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends. It's Sean.
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  Here it is, Monday. It's the 11th of the 11th.
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  And if it's 11:00, you should press pause and have a minute of
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  silence because today is Remembrance Day, the 11th of
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  November, where we remember the sacrifice of all those men and
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  women who went out there and fought for our freedom so that
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  we can enjoy our lives, feel free to pursue the things that
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  our heart leads us to. What an amazing thing.
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  Yes, that is today, 11:00. I will be at the Cenotaph in
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  Hobart leading the service there as chaplain.
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  What an honour for me. But it is not 11:00 right now.
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  So we are going to talk through, read through this chapter.
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  And this chapter is a tricky one, one that people find a bit
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  tricky because it's the first time in the New Testament when
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  God strikes people down dead and it feels very Old Testament.
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  But as this new church begins to grow, God wants them to be very
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  clear that the God that they worship is not some impotent
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  idol that is being worshipped or some made up God.
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  No, this is the living God, the God of the people of Israel who
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  took them out of the land of Egypt and indeed raised Jesus
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  from the dead. So that is why God shows his
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  power in this way. And one thing that I'm sure that
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  you may have picked up about God is that he does not deal well
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  with hypocrisy. So let us read this chapter
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  together. Acts chapter 5.
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  But there was a certain man named Ananias who with his wife
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  Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to
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  the apostles, claiming it was the full amount.
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  With his wife's consent, he kept the rest.
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  Then Peter said, Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your
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  heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit and
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  you kept some money for yourself.
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  The property was yours to sell or not sell as you wished, and
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  after selling it, the money was also yours to give away.
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  How could you do a thing like this?
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  You weren't lying to us, but to God.
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  As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and
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  died. Everyone who heard about it was
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  terrified. Then some young men got up,
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  wrapped him in a sheet and took him out and buried him.
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  About 3 hours later, his wife came in.
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  Not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, Was this the
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  price you and your husband received for your land?
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  Yes, she replied. That was the price, and Peter
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  said, how could the two of you even think of conspiring to test
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  the spirit of the Lord like this?
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  The young men who buried your husband are just outside the
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  door, and they will carry you out too.
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  Instantly she fell to the floor and died.
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  When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they
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  carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
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  Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else.
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  They heard about what had happened.
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  The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and
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  wonders among the people, and all the believers were meeting
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  regularly at the temple in the area known as Solomon's
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  Colonnade, but no one else dared to join them.
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  Even though all the people had a high regard for them, yet more
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  and more people believed and were brought to the Lord.
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  Crowds of both men and women. As a result of the apostles
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  work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and
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  mats so that Peter's shadow might fall across some of them
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  as he went by. Crowds came from the villages
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  around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil
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  spirits, and they were all healed.
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  The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees,
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  were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and
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  put them in the public gaol. But an Angel of the Lord came at
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  night, opened the gates of the gaol and brought them out.
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  Then he told them, Go to the temple and give the people this
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  message of life. So at Daybreak the apostles
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  entered the temple, as they were told, and immediately began
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  teaching. When the high priest and his
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  officials arrived, they convened the High Council, the full
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  assembly of the elders of Israel.
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  Then they sent to the apostles to be brought from the gaol for
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  trial. But when the temple guards went
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  to the gaol, the men were gone. So they returned to the council
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  and reported it. The gaol was securely locked,
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  with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the
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  gates, no one was there. When the captain of the temple
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  guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed,
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  wondering where it would all end.
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  Then someone arrived with startling news.
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  The men you put in gaol are standing in the temple teaching
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  the people. The captain went with his temple
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  guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence,
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  for they were afraid the people would stone them.
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  Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where
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  the high priest confronted them. We gave you strict orders, never
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  again to teach in this man's name, he said.
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  Instead you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching
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  about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death.
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  But Peter and the apostles replied, we must obey God rather
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  than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised
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  Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a
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  cross. Then God put him in the place of
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  honour at his right hand as Prince and Saviour.
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  He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their
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  sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these
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  things, and so was the Holy Spirit who is given by God to
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  those who obey Him. When they heard this, the High
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  Council was furious and decided to kill them.
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  But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert in
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  religious law and respected by all the people, stood up and
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  ordered that the men be sent outside the council chamber for
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  a while. Then he said to his colleagues,
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  Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do with
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  these men. Some time ago there was that
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  fellow Theodus, who pretended to be someone great.
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  About 400 others joined him, but he was killed and all his
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  followers went their various ways.
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  The whole movement came to nothing after him.
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  At the time of the census there was Judas of Galilee.
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  He got people to follow him, but he was killed too, and all his
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  followers were scattered. So my advice is, leave these men
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  alone. Let them go.
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  If they are planning and doing these things merely on their
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  own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will
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  not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves
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  fighting against God. The others accepted his advice.
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  They called in the apostles and had them flogged.
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  Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of
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  Jesus, and they let them go. The apostles left the high
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  Council, rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer
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  disgrace for the name of Jesus. And every day in the temple and
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  from house to house, they continued to teach and preach
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  this message. Jesus is the Messiah.
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  Well, Jesus, following that logic, here we are 2000 years
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  on, I think it's fair to say you are no passing fad.
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  You are the Son of the living God.
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  You are the Messiah. You are our Saviour and we
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  worship you here in this modern world, 2000 years after those
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  apostles first started spreading the word.
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  Our Lord, your church stretches from horizon to horizon.
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  Your love and Your grace fill the earth, and we just want to
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  tell the world about it. Thank you for that incredible
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  gift you give us that you have given countless generations of
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  people through the ages. And here we are, Your beloved
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  children, living in your fatherly and loving embrace.
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  We love you, our Father. We are grateful for you and we
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  praise you all in the loving name of Jesus, Amen.