Though they're in the book of Acts, so Acts 13, it says,
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John,
and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men,
they marveled, and they took knowledge of them,
that they had been with Jesus.
Part of the sermon tonight is, they had been with Jesus.
They had been with Jesus.
So, you know, they look at Peter and John,
go this guy had been with Jesus.
Now I want you to think about what is it that really stood out
to these chief rulers in the temple that made them say,
Hey, you know, Peter and John, these people have been with Jesus.
What is it that's highlighted there?
And that's what I want to talk about here this night.
But let's start with verse number one.
Now it continues, you may recall how Peter and John had gone into the temple.
And remember that at the temple, there was a man who could not walk.
And then they, you know, perform the miracle.
He was able to walk.
He lived and praise God for his healing.
And so we're still on that same day of these events.
So there in verse one, it says,
And as they spake unto the people, so that's Peter and John, okay.
As they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple
and the Sadducees came upon them,
being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus,
the resurrection from the dead.
And so you have the priests, the captain of the temple, the Sadducees,
they've been grieved with this message that Peter and John are preaching.
Now, just very quickly, if you can come with me to,
keep your finger there, come into the book of Luke.
Luke chapter 20, Luke chapter 20, verse number 27.
And why would it be that the Sadducees are grieved with these words?
Why is it that they're grieved?
In Luke chapter 20, verse number 27.
Luke chapter 20, verse number 27.
Luke 20, 27 says this,
Then came to him, that's the Jesus, certain of the Sadducees,
which deny that there is any resurrection.
So what do we learn about the Sadducees?
They don't believe in a resurrection of the dead, all right.
So this is a doctrine that is foreign to them, okay, completely foreign.
So when you understand that, come back with me to the book of Acts,
Acts chapter 4, you understand why especially the Sadducees are being grieved.
If they're teaching, you know, Peter and John are teaching,
the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
And the Sadducees are like, no, this is false doctrine.
We don't like this teaching about the resurrection,
which I don't know why they'd be against, it's such a great teaching.
It's such great promise and hope that one day we too be resurrected from the dead.
But it continues in verse number three,
and laid hands on them, okay, they don't like the preaching,
and put them in hold until the next day, for it was now even tied.
Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed,
and the number of the men was about five thousand.
There's a few things I want to unpackage here in these verses.
So we see that when they took them, they put them into like a temporary holding cell,
a bit of a prison cell there in the temple area, and they held them overnight.
They had to hold them the next day.
The reason for it was because it was too late to bring them before the judgment.
That's what it says for it was now even tied, okay.
So it's now time of the evening or evening's about to roll around.
Of course evening is, you know, let's say 6 p.m.
All right, now if they've been preaching till 6 p.m. roughly,
they get arrested, they get thrown into a holding cell.
How long have they been preaching?
I'm not sure if you remember what time they arrived at the temple,
but we'll keep a thought there.
How long have they been preaching?
And then what else will we see here in verse number four?
Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed.
Of course, what is it that saves an individual?
Their faith, their belief on Jesus Christ.
And it says, and the number of the men was about 5,000.
5,000 people believed the gospel message of Christ resurrected from the dead.
I mean that is successful soul winning right there.
5,000.
Now how long were they preaching?
To get 5,000 saved in one day.
Does anybody know how long they've been preaching?
You probably know if you remember the sermon from last week.
When did they start preaching?
Come back with me to chapter three.
Acts chapter three verse number one.
Acts chapter three and verse number one.
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple
at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour.
Now that's the ninth hour of the day.
Okay, so the day starts at 6 a.m.
So nine hours later is 3 p.m.
And then they get arrested at evening time.
Say 6 p.m.
How long have they been preaching maximum?
Three hours.
Peter and John, two men, right?
Two men.
They preached for three hours and they had 5,000 saved.
I mean doesn't that just blow your mind?
That's if we, you know, just average it out, right?
2,500 salvations each man.
Now if you break that down per hour for each man,
that's 833 salvations per hour.
Now obviously in order to get that number,
they'd be preaching to larger groups, right?
You'd have to conclude that, right?
Larger groups.
Also how we preach the gospel,
we might take 15 to 20 minutes to get through a gospel presentation.
I would assume these people at the temple don't need that lengthy period.
They're familiar with the scriptures.
They're familiar with the law of Moses.
They understand that they're sinners.
And they know the story of Jesus, a man who's been taken and crucified.
And what they're preaching of course is the resurrection of Christ, okay?
And to give further credence to their message,
that man who was lame was now walking.
And they're saying it's by the power of Jesus that this man is able to walk.
And so really these people are close to the faith.
They understand the core doctrines,
at least the core concepts of where they stand before God.
They understand the Old Testament scriptures which is why they're at the temple.
And really all they need is a bit of a nudge.
The one you need to believe on is Jesus Christ.
That's the, you know, that's the last piece of the puzzle that they need.
And so I'm assuming their presentation probably isn't the average 15, 20 minutes that we do.
And again they're preaching at larger groups.
Now that is really amazing that they were able to see 5000 saved.
Come back with me quickly to Acts chapter 2.
Acts chapter 2.
Acts chapter 2 verse number 41.
This is of course the day of Pentecost.
It says then they that gladly received his word were baptised.
And the same day they were added unto them about 3000 souls.
So on the day of Pentecost they had 3000 souls.
How many preachers?
About 120.
There were 120 that were gathered together and the Holy Ghost came upon them,
fueled them with their power.
They're able to preach in other languages.
So 120 preachers were able to get 3000 souls saved.
And if you average that out, let's say again just average it out.
3000 souls saved, 120 preachers.
That's 25 souls saved per preacher.
We don't know exactly how long they were preaching.
Let's say half a day.
Let's say a full day.
They had 25 souls saved per preacher in one day.
And that's amazing.
25 souls saved per preacher in one day.
And now we have two men getting 5000 saved.
Again, 833 salvations per man per hour between Peter and John.
Now, here's what's interesting about that.
Those numbers are out.
They're high numbers.
But I know they're true because they're in the scriptures.
I know they're true, 100% true.
Because the Holy Spirit of God, which is in the radar of the Bible,
is confirming these are how many believed.
This is how many souls were added.
All right.
Now, we went to Fiji.
Remember, okay?
We had about 2000 souls saved.
And about, if you average it out per day, maybe 50 soul winners,
50 preachers out per day for an entire week.
So look, an entire week, 50 preachers, right?
If you just average it out,
that's 40 salvations per person in one week, okay?
For a whole week, okay?
That like, each preacher just average it out,
got 40 salvations on their trip to Fiji.
And I've heard criticisms toward us.
Those numbers aren't right.
It can't be possible.
Why aren't they at church?
Why aren't they just faithfully serving the Lord?
How do we know they're even saved?
Where is the Holy Spirit in all of this?
Our numbers are so small in comparison
to the numbers that we're reading about in the book of Acts.
In chapter two, in chapter four,
we're not even coming close to those numbers.
And we're being criticized that our numbers can't be right.
I mean, it's like they've not read the Bible.
It's crazy.
What is wrong?
This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
You'll soon see these men were filled
with the Holy Spirit of God,
and they were able to get out there and see thousands saved.
Man, like honestly, if we say we went out so many
for an entire week in Fiji,
which as you know is super receptive,
there are also people that just need a gentle nudge
to believe in Jesus.
They're almost already there.
You just gently nudge them and they understand,
oh, it's eternal life.
It's Christ alone.
It's not of works.
Yes, I want to receive that great message.
And even then we average 40 salvations,
not in one day, in an entire week per person.
Like we're not even coming close.
So those numbers are impossible.
Why are they all at church?
Look, these people are already at church.
They're in the temple, okay?
And guess what?
They weren't believers of Jesus Christ.
Just because you turn up to church doesn't mean you're saved.
Doesn't prove anything.
These people that were still gathering at the temple
still needed to believe in Christ.
5,000 souls saved between two men in a three hour period.
And then we get criticized, 2,000, not even close,
50 soul winners instead of two for a whole week.
Oh, 2,000 can't be right.
Well, I don't know what the numbers are exactly.
God knows.
That's what matters.
At the end of the day, God knows.
But I'm telling you, we witnessed 2,000 people decide
to believe on Christ alone by faith alone,
understanding eternal life,
decided to call upon the name of the Lord.
What more can we do as soul winners?
Besides to preach them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Go through the process that is outlined for us in the scriptures
and rejoice when we see one saved.
Rejoice when we see 10 saved.
Rejoice when we see 100 saved.
Rejoice when we see 1,000 saved.
And yea, if the Lord allows one day for us to see 10,000 saved,
I'll be rejoicing, not criticizing, not mocking, not criticizing.
There's something wrong with somebody that wants to criticize your work of soul winning.
Something wrong in the heart, in the soul, in the mind, some type of corruption.
Well, let's continue there in Acts 4.
It says in verse number 5,
and it came to pass on the morrow to the next day.
Remember there, it was too late to be judged, so they're being held overnight.
It came to pass on the morrow that the rulers and elders and scribes
and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander
and as many as were of the kindred of the high priests
were gathered together at Jerusalem.
Now just very quickly, the first two names that are brought up in verse number 6
is Annas the high priest and Caiaphas.
Now just very quickly, keep your finger there and come with me to Luke chapter 3.
Luke chapter 3, there's a reason why these two names appear first.
In Luke chapter 3 verse number 2,
I think it's just important to understand the condition,
the spiritual condition of the people in that day,
especially those that were working in the temple like the priests.
And in Luke chapter 3 verse number 2,
it says Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, plural.
The word of God came upon John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
So do you want to notice that Annas and Caiaphas are high priests,
literally at the same time.
Can you come with me to Matthew 26?
Matthew 26 please, Matthew 26.
Matthew 26.
So we have Annas as the high priest when John and Peter are arrested.
Well in Matthew 26 when they start to plan to take down Jesus to kill him,
it says in Matthew 26 verse number 3,
it says,
Then assembled together the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people
unto the palace of the high priest who was called Annas, no Caiaphas,
and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him.
One more passage.
Come with me to John 18, John 18, John 18.
So we see in the Bible that both Caiaphas and Annas are operating as high priests at the same time.
Okay, now is that biblical?
No, those only ever appointed one high priest starting with of course,
I forgot his name, Aaron, thank you, Aaron, right?
And then when Aaron was passed away,
the high priest positioned the office will be passed down to one of his sons.
Okay, so biblically speaking, you can see that the spiritual condition,
they're not even following the roles properly.
Okay, they're not doing things according to God's ways.
But why is it that Annas and Caiaphas are both high priests?
Well the book of John kind of explains it to us.
John 18 verse 12,
Then the band of the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him
and led him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas,
which was the high priest that same year.
So what do we learn?
That Annas is the father-in-law to Caiaphas.
Caiaphas married Annas' daughter.
Okay, and so you know, he's got like his special privileges.
Oh, you're my son-in-law.
You get to take up the office of the high priest as well.
You know, you get the big bucks.
I don't know what they paid back then.
Okay, you get the prominent position, you get highlighted as a high priest.
But I want to show you that the high priest at this time, they're corrupt.
Like, I know the high priest is supposed to be like this holy position,
position close to the Lord, overseeing all the operations of the temple.
But there's great corruption in the land of Judah at this time.
You know, two men holding the priestly line and it's a son-in-law.
It's not even one of the actual sons.
It's been passed on to the son-in-law.
So they're not even following the procedure that God has laid out for us in the Lord of Moses.
But anyway, come back with me to Acts chapter four and verse number seven.
Acts chapter four and verse number seven.
When they had set them in the midst, they asked,
by what power or by what name have you done this?
Then Peter, look at this, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them,
ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel.
So he's about to speak to this group here.
Now I just want you to notice that he's filled with the Holy Ghost.
Okay.
Because in chapter two, he was filled with the Holy Ghost.
Now he's filled with the Holy Ghost in chapter four.
And later on in this chapter, you're going to see that he's filled with the Holy Ghost again.
Now again, I'm just addressing this doctrine out there.
I don't know.
I don't know why.
I don't know.
I don't see why it's difficult to understand,
but we need to be constantly filled with the Holy Ghost.
If we're going to do something great for God.
Okay.
We need to, it's like we need to be renewed as we've been filled with the Holy Ghost,
as we go about and serve him for his kingdom's sake.
Some people hold the view that, no, you're filled the moment you're saved.
And that's it.
You know, you're always filled with the Holy Ghost.
And to teach otherwise is heresy.
I've heard that too.
I don't know why.
I don't know what the big deal is, but I want you to notice that once again,
the fact that it's like, if Peter was only filled with the Holy Ghost once
and never needs to be fueled again, like these verses are redundant.
Like, why do you have to keep bringing up that he's filled with the Holy Ghost?
Like if you're already by default filled with the Holy Ghost the moment you're saved,
you don't need to keep reminding us that you're filled with the Holy Ghost.
Okay.
The fact that they're constantly telling us that he's filled with the Holy Ghost
is not to tell us that he got saved or he's still saved,
but rather he's being empowered by the Holy Ghost to act, you know, for the name of Christ.
Anyway, let's continue then verse number nine.
For we, sorry, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man,
by what means he is made whole.
Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
So he says, look, if you want to examine us because this man's been made whole,
we'll tell you exactly why.
Because Jesus helped him, because Jesus healed him.
It's by the name of Jesus that this man is whole before you.
Then he says these words, and please don't miss the meaning behind this.
Verse 11, this is the stone that, speaking of Jesus,
this is the stone which will set at naught of you builders,
which has become the head of the corner.
He goes, Jesus' stone was set at naught, naught zero.
You disregarded Jesus.
You thought of him as nothing.
It's the same stone which says in verse number 12,
neither is there any salvation in any other,
for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
It's the name of Jesus whereby we must be saved.
Not the name of Yeshua or Yeshua,
whoever you want to pronounce it, you got to go back to the Hebrews.
It's all been changed.
The name of the Savior's been lost.
That wicked Hebrew roots movement.
No, the New Testament was written to us in the Greek.
Okay, it was written to us in the Greek,
translated in a perfect translation into English for us English speakers.
His name is Jesus.
Now, this is so important that they bring up this,
the stone which the builders rejected.
The builders being them, the high priests, you know, the Sadducees, the captains,
those that take prominent positions of leadership in the temple.
Now, I want you to notice this.
Keep that in mind that Peter is saying this to them.
Okay, and then come with me to Luke chapter 20.
Come with me to Luke chapter 20.
We're going to Luke a few times.
Remember Luke, like the book of Acts is like Luke part two.
Just always keep that in mind when you're studying for the book of Acts.
It's kind of like Luke part two.
But in Luke chapter 20, Luke chapter 20, verse number one,
there is a reason why Peter is choosing to use these words.
Okay, it's not just a random passage of scripture that he's decided to use.
In Luke chapter 20, verse number one, it says,
And it came to pass that on one of those days, as he, that's Jesus,
taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel,
the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders.
So the same people, right?
The chief priests, the scribes, the elders, and spake unto him, saying,
Tell us by what authority doest thou these things?
Or who is he that gave thee this authority?
Now we're not going to drop down to verse number 16,
drop down to verse number 16.
What we have here is the parable of the vineyard.
Okay, where the vineyard, the owner of the vineyard,
lends out his vineyard to the husband's men.
And then you know that he sends his servants and they get beaten and killed.
He ends up sending his son, right?
The owner of the vineyard sends his son and his son gets killed.
All right, I won't go into that parable in any great length,
but let's pick it up in verse number 16.
It says in Luke 2016,
He shall come and destroy these husband men and shall give the vineyard to others.
And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.
So when who heard it?
The chief priests, all the same people that are in the temple.
Okay, they're hearing this parable being taught.
And he's saying, look, you're going to kill the son of the vineyard owner.
And when you do that, when the owner comes, he's going to destroy you.
And like, they're like blown away by it.
God forbid, right?
And then it continues in verse number 17.
And he beheld them and said,
What is this then that is written?
The stone which the builders rejected?
The same has become the head of the corner.
He's asking them, what do you think about the scripture?
The stone which the builders rejected?
Like he's asking them a question.
Like, what's your view on the scripture from the Old Testament?
Then he continues, Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken,
but on whomsoever it shall fall, it would grind him to powder.
And the chief priests and the scribes that same hour,
sought to lay hands on him, and they feared the people,
for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
So they understand.
Oh, you're saying you're the stone that the builders rejected.
You're saying we're the ones that are rejecting you.
Like they're getting what Jesus is saying between the lines.
Okay, they know this parable is about them.
That's why they're so angry.
They want to kill Jesus.
Now, what does this mean?
Let's look at the stone again, verse number 18.
Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken.
And I believe this is just a reference of, you know,
people that are, how can I put it?
They're stumbling at the stone.
Okay.
But look, just because you stumble at the stone,
and the Jews were stumbling at the teachings of Christ.
Okay.
But it's okay to be broken by it.
Like it's okay to get to a point where you may need to humble yourself
and recognize that, you know, this stone is needed.
This is the stone which I am to believe on in order to be saved.
But if you stay in that position, you know,
Jesus Christ says that, but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind into powder.
You know, and he's speaking of himself as the stone.
He says, look, if you reject the stone,
you're going to be grounded into powder.
You're going to be destroyed.
And so again, these chief priests, these are, I guess,
Sadducees, these people, these chief captains of the temple,
they know that Jesus taught this about them being destroyed by Jesus.
And then we get to Acts 4.
Peter and John arrested.
And what's Peter teaching?
Oh, by the way, the stone that builders rejected, that's Jesus.
Like think about what they're receiving at that point in time.
Like think about how they're processing this information right now.
Jesus preached that and the stone's going to destroy,
grind to powder those that reject him.
And now Peter's telling everybody that stone was Jesus.
And they know it's about them because their Christ reject us.
Let's continue in Acts 4, verse 113.
And I believe this is important because when you look at verse 113, it says,
now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John,
okay, now did they speak with boldness?
Of course they did.
But they're very bold to bring up this doctrine again.
They hated Jesus so much they tried to kill him when Jesus taught this.
They're like, these guys are bold to say this.
We've heard it before from Jesus.
And now they're bringing it up and they're making it clear
that the stone which the builders rejected is Christ.
So they see the boldness, look at this,
and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.
They're like, these guys, like Peter's a fisherman.
These guys are fishermen.
They're blue collar workers.
How do they know to bring up scriptures?
How do they know how to expound the word of God?
They're speaking to the priests.
They're speaking to the spiritual and religious leaders.
And they're able to expand the scriptures
and show everybody that the scriptures were always about Christ.
So they go, man, these are fishermen, unlearned and ignorant men.
They marveled.
And they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.
Now, why did they marvel and why do they recognize that they had been with Jesus?
Because Jesus taught the same doctrines.
That's why the stone which the builders rejected, that's a teaching of Jesus.
And now they're bringing it up.
They've been with Jesus.
And brethren, what I learned from this
is that you can be unlearned and ignorant.
But if you want to be wise, if you want to be seen as wise,
you might be a little bit timid, but you need the boldness.
You need boldness and wisdom.
It comes by spending time with Jesus.
That's where it comes from.
Spending time with Jesus.
Peter had learned the doctrines that Jesus taught and now he's teaching others.
Brethren, how do we spend time with Jesus?
We open his Word.
I mean, Jesus is the Word of God.
We open the written Word of God and we read of the Lord and we learn doctrines.
We learn what Jesus taught and then we teach others the same teachings that Jesus taught.
So far, I'm loving going through the book of Acts because I'm just seeing constantly
how Peter, when he preaches, is constantly using scriptures.
And it shows that he's not this unlearned man.
Like he's studied the scriptures.
He knows what it's about.
He has spent time with Jesus.
He's learned under the preaching of Jesus Christ.
And now he's bold and very wise.
And obviously, this is why they arrested these men.
They don't like the preaching of Christ.
Verse number 14.
And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Like they can't say, oh, you guys are just full of garbage
when the man that they healed is standing right next to them.
Drop them to verse number 22.
This is why they can't say anything about it.
Look at verse number 22.
For the man was above 40 years old, on whom this miracle of healing was showed.
So this man's been lame for decades, 40 years.
Like they can't turn around and say, oh, you just, you know, it's just,
it's just, you know, it's all fake.
You know, you just got an actor to pretend he couldn't walk.
And then you raised him and he could walk.
No, this guy has been 40 years like this.
All right, like we've seen him for decades just sitting there
at the temple, unable to walk.
Everybody has seen him.
Everybody knows that he's lame.
You know, everybody knows that he can't walk and they're preaching Christ.
And there's the man that they healed right there.
And I think, what can they say?
It's like by the power of the name of Jesus, this guy's been made whole.
Verse number 15.
They're like, how do we stop this preaching of Jesus?
Let's command that they don't preach anymore.
It's a high priest.
He's got authority.
He's the spiritual leader.
It's kind of like me.
Okay, I've got rule in the house of the Lord.
Let's say one day, it's not going to happen.
But one day I say to you, stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Stop preaching in the name of Jesus.
Hey, I'm the pastor.
I'm telling you, stop preaching in the name of Jesus.
What are you going to do?
Well, we've got to obey the pastor.
He's got the rule in the house of the Lord.
Now you obviously have to obey the higher power.
And it's exactly what we see play out here.
It says in verse number 18.
And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all,
nor teach in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered and said unto them,
whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
For we cannot speak the things which we have seen and heard.
He asked them the question, should we do what God says or should we do what you say?
You tell us, you judge, you tell us.
Of course, the right answer is do what God told you to do.
It doesn't matter what man of authority, what spiritual leadership and headship they have
as a spiritual leader in the house of the Lord.
You have to do what God says first.
Brethren, if I ever teach something wrong, if my doctrine is corrupt,
and I just, I mean, even by mistake, even just
ignorantly make a mistake in my doctrine, you do what Jesus tells you.
You do what God tells you.
He is above.
He is the head of this church, not Pastor Kevin Sepulveda.
Jesus Christ is the head of this church.
Now I do want to touch on something that I've never really thought about until COVID.
The COVID days, bring it up again, Pastor Kevin, whatever.
I heard a lot of strange things during COVID.
I'll just say that.
A lot of teachings that I've never really come across before.
In fact, COVID is something I've never really come across in general.
This is a worldwide event, right?
Whatever you believe about it, like obviously I think it's garbage, but
you know, whatever you believe about it, I don't really care right now.
But there's a time when our governments stopped us to be able to meet in the house of the Lord.
You remember that?
There was a time when the governments asked us to not go knock doors.
You say, well, that's persecution, Pastor Kevin.
And so, you know, the right thing to do is to preach Jesus Christ regardless.
Let's disobey the commands that came by government or the health organizations.
And people pointed me to these passages.
We can't close down the church.
We need to continue soul.
And I've always said, hey, if you want to continue soul, then go ahead.
I don't mind.
I don't want to do things contrary to your conscience.
You do what you need to do.
But I always find that quite interesting because actually,
they never asked us to stop preaching in the name of Christ.
During that time, what happened?
Started live streaming.
We started live streaming just before COVID really started to hit.
Both at Blessed Hope Baptist Church and our new Life Baptist Church.
Blessed Hope Baptist Church and our new Life Baptist Church.
I don't know about you, but this pastor was still preaching in the name of Jesus.
And we were able to reach more people.
More people became aware of our church.
Like a really classic example.
Some of you guys know Brother Emilio from Melbourne.
He came across us during COVID live streaming.
Okay, found us, started to listen to our preaching.
Got on fire for the Lord.
And we've seen him in WA.
We've seen him, was he in Fiji?
Can't remember.
He was in Fiji.
I mean, we saw him in Melbourne recently.
Saul went in with us.
I mean, a lot of good came out of temporarily transitioning to an online service.
And so we have a lot more subscribers because of COVID.
We have more people listening to the name of Christ being preached than if it wasn't for COVID.
Like I just rejoice at it.
I just think, you know what?
God's always got a way to figure things out.
And the truth is, we were never asked to stop preaching in the name of Christ.
It's just that as a general rule, like the Mormons weren't allowed to preach,
if you want to put it that way, in the name of their God.
What else?
The JWs weren't preaching in the name of their God, whatever it is, right?
This was a general approach.
It's not like our church was targeted and some people felt that way.
You know, listening to conspiracy videos and all that.
Churches are being targeted.
Yeah, but so is the pub, right?
I mean, I don't think the pub is so holy serving the Lord so faithfully
that they've been persecuted to shut down their doors.
And so were stadiums and so were community centres.
And so were many businesses where people had to work from home.
But there was no direct attack on the name of Jesus.
Jesus was preached.
It just took an online forum for a period of time.
Some people found clever ways to preach online.
Some people started making phone calls to random numbers, trying to preach through that.
Some people jumped on different types of social media networks
to be able to preach to people through that system.
I never got so many phone calls where I was able to give the gospel to people
because they were confused about current events.
And I just say that because we've not yet faced a time where we could not preach in the name of Jesus.
Maybe we faced a time where we couldn't operate the way we would prefer,
but we were never asked to not preach in the name of Jesus.
And I tell you this, if the government ever says you cannot preach in the name of Jesus,
then we disobey that and we serve the Lord no matter what.
We serve the Lord no matter what.
If they're like, oh, the Buddhists can meet, the Roman Catholics can meet,
the Mormons can meet, the JWs can meet, but not you independent fundamental Baptist,
you've got to stop preaching.
Then we disobey that command and we serve and preach Jesus Christ regardless.
But I want to highlight that because I've had that feedback.
You know, we obeyed man rather than God.
Well, God doesn't tell us how often we need to meet for church, does he?
God doesn't tell us how often we need to preach the gospel, does he?
We have preferences.
We might even have biases, but that's just you.
That's just how you think of things, right?
God was able to use other methods to make sure the name of Christ was preached.
And I rejoice in that.
But I want to make it very clear, according to what we're seeing here,
this church will always, and this pastor will always preach in the name of Christ,
even if the government says no.
Now, thank God that's never happened.
And that's why we're commanded to pray for kings and governors, people in authority,
so we can be at peace, so we can serve the Lord faithfully all the days of our life.
What do I have to verse 21?
Acts chapter four, verse 21.
So when they had further threatened them, so they again, oh, you can't do it, right?
Or else, I don't know what else.
They let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people.
I mean, they just had 5000 souls saved, right?
Because of the people, imagine they say, oh, these guys are wicked.
These guys are false prophets.
You have a riot of 5000 people that just got saved.
What are you doing to these men?
We're so thankful to hear about Jesus.
Finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people.
But all men glorified God for that which was done.
For the man was above 40 years old, on whom the miracle of healing was showed.
And being let go, they went to their own company
and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
So they go back, I assume to their 120, maybe the 3000 that were added to the church.
They go back to their churches.
And then verse number 24, and when they heard that,
so when the other believers hear about it,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said,
Lord, thou art God, which had made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is,
who by the mouth of thy servant David had said,
why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ.
Now they're quoting a very famous psalm.
Does anyone know the psalm?
Psalm two, very famous.
Okay.
I just want to show you something very quickly in Psalm two, which you already know.
But come with me to Psalm two anyway.
Psalm two and verse number one.
Let's have a look at what they're quoting.
Psalm two, verse number one.
Psalm two and verse number one.
Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed saying.
So you can see here in Psalm two, speaking of Christ, it says anointed.
Okay.
And yet the, uh, when it gets repeated for us quoted for us in the new Testament,
it's against the Lord and against his Christ.
So you can see that the term Christ or Messiah is, uh, means anointed, the anointed one.
That's the definition behind it.
That's the anointed one.
That's why when you can read Psalm two, you know, Oh, this is about Christ.
I mean, it's kind of obvious, but if you needed a new Testament confirmation,
you can go to Acts of the four and you can clearly see that Psalm two is all about Jesus Christ.
Now you're there in Psalm two, come down, drop down to verse number 10, verse number 10.
So the heathen rage, the people imagine a vain thing.
The kings of the earth gather themselves together, rulers take counsel against the Lord.
And again, they're using this passage to speak of the high priests,
the people in religious authority in the temple of that day.
But I love verse number 10, because we have these instructions,
like our God is so like, I just don't understand how long suffering and merciful he is,
because they're so wicked.
These rulers, they're trying to stop the preaching of the gospel.
They're trying to stop Peter and John, you know, preaching of Christ and performing amazing miracles.
I mean, they're Christ deniers, they're working against the Lord.
And then we get to verse number 10, be wise now, therefore, O ye kings,
be instructed, ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, that's Jesus, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way.
Remember the stone, turn them into powder, destroy them, kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Look, Psalm 2 is written for a reason, we see that it plays out,
at least, you know, I believe it's applicable to any rulers of the earth,
but at least we're seeing that one of the applications
was on these high priests and these religious leaders.
And even though they're Christ rejecters, even though they hate the Lord,
and they hate these preachers, when you look at Psalm 2, God's given them another chance.
But be wise, right, you thought of John and Peter as unlearned and ignorant men,
and now you realize they're not.
You can see their boldness, you can see that they've been with Jesus,
you can see the power that God's given them to raise a man who could not walk, to heal him.
It's like God's given them like another chance, be wise, kiss the Son,
like love the Lord, love Jesus, stop rejecting him, stop fighting against the Lord.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him, put your trust in Jesus.
When I look at this Psalm, I know we don't have the writings there in Psalm, in Acts 4,
but I have no doubt that Peter and John were telling these guys,
like I know you arrested us, I know you hate our guts, but trust the Lord.
And this is your chance to be saved too, it's your chance to have your soul delivered from hellfire.
It's your chance to have your soul delivered from hellfire.
I love our Lord's long suffering.
You know, sometimes we think, man, surely these people, they're done for,
surely they're reprobate or something, right?
Maybe some of them are, but you know, Psalm shows us, man,
like God's given them just another chance, get it right, kiss the Son, you know, honor the Lord.
Anyway, Psalm 4, Psalm 4, verse number 27.
So, you know, the believers of the church, they're all praising the Lord here.
It says in verse number 27, for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles,
and the people of Israel were gathered together,
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
So they recognize, even though these people sought to kill Jesus,
Herod and Pilate of course, you know, ordered for Jesus to be crucified,
that they understand that God's counsel determined this to happen.
God will use the hands of wicked men, you know, to crucify and to kill the Son.
Verse number 29, and now, Lord, behold their threatenings,
and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness
they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal,
and the signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together,
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and they spake with the word of God with boldness.
Once again, what gives you boldness?
Well, spend time with Jesus, but particularly here, be filled with the Holy Ghost.
They're filled with the Holy Ghost again, you know what I mean?
Peter was already filled with the Holy Ghost,
and now he's together with the other believers,
and they're all being filled with the Holy Ghost.
That's why in Ephesians 5 18, it says,
but be filled with the Spirit, but be filled with the Spirit.
You see, being filled with the Spirit of God, with the Holy Ghost,
is an ongoing renewal.
Thank you for those that preach, sorry, that read the scriptures before the preaching,
and I often hear you say,
hey, can you please fill the past with the Holy Ghost?
I need it.
I need it to be able to speak with boldness.
You know, I need it because I don't want my ignorance
and my unlearned state to come through.
I need the help and the power of the Holy Ghost
to bring to remembrance the things that I prepared to preach for you tonight,
and every time I preach.
But we need to be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Then we can be able to do great exploits for the Lord.
Verse number 32,
and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.
Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own,
but they had all things common.
You see, when you have a bunch of believers together,
this is how we ought to act,
like not comparing ourselves one with another.
Look at my car.
I mean, look, if you've got a nice car, praise God, I can rejoice with you, okay?
But there's no competition, okay?
It's not one's better than the other, okay?
There is no competition amongst God's people.
There ought not to be.
What verse am I reading from brethren?
I lost it.
Verse number 32,
but they had all things common.
They all shared whatever they had, one with another.
Verse number 33,
and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
and great grace was upon them all.
Let me just say very quickly this teaching of,
you know, why don't we have apostles today?
Or why doesn't the average independent fundamental Baptist church,
you know, appoint people into the position of apostles?
One thing we learn here is that the apostles in verse number 33
witnessed the resurrection of Christ.
That's one thing, okay?
And you may recall when we saw Acts chapter one,
and when Matthias was chosen,
it was Matthias and who's the other person?
Forget his name.
But when they were determining who would take the 12th spot as an apostle,
they said, well, it has to be someone that's seen Christ
from the time he was baptized to seeing his resurrection.
So one of the commonalities you see is that an apostle
had to see the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now I've not seen Christ in his resurrected body, have you?
That's why we don't have apostles today.
That that office is done away with.
It was necessary in the early church.
We read about the, you know, the importance of the apostles.
You know, when we talk to see our officers laid out for us in the Bible,
but that office is done.
And then people say, no, no, no, the church needs the apostles.
That's why it's listed in books like the Corinthians,
first Corinthians and such.
Yeah, but we have the writings of the apostles.
Like we do have the apostles with us.
We do have the prophets with us.
We just have to open God's word and say, okay,
what do the prophets and what do the apostles teach?
And so we do have the teaching.
We do have the grounding of the apostles.
We don't have to appoint someone as an apostle today to teach us, okay?
Because they've not seen the resurrection of Christ, okay?
And we have the writings of the apostles that Christ chose anyway
to write, you know, New Testament scriptures for us.
Let's continue verse number 34.
Neither was there any among them that lacked,
for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them
and brought the prices of the things that were sold
and laid them down at the apostles' feet.
And distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
Now, remember, they just had 3,000 saved on the day of Pentecost,
5,000 saved.
So obviously, we're not going to be able to do that.
5,000 saved.
So obviously, that's a great number of people, right?
And obviously, within those numbers, there were people with needs, okay?
Maybe there were other men who were unable to walk.
Maybe there were other disabilities amongst those numbers.
People that were unable to just work, okay, and make a living for themselves.
So they all of one accord of one heart say, hey, look,
some of us have more than others.
We're willing to sell our land, sell our houses,
to make sure that everybody has what they need.
And that's how, I mean, the Bible is not saying
that you need to sell your land or sell your house, all right?
I mean, number one, I think the fact that you live in Australia,
it's very hard to say I have great need as far as your possessions go, okay?
But secondly, what we learn here is that what people are doing, okay,
this is not a commandment that you have to go and sell your land or sell your house.
And I've come across people like that.
And like, not that someone had a house and says,
oh, I'm going to sell it all for the cause of Christ.
But rather lazy men that say, what's the point of working?
Because you can see in these passages, they sold their lands and houses anyway.
So what's the point of it all?
You know, I don't want to work.
I just want to serve the Lord.
You can serve the Lord at your work.
We're commanded to work.
One of the 10 commandments.
Yeah, we don't honor the Sabbath day like they did in the Old Testament.
But we also have that men are to labor for six days.
Six days, shout that labor, okay?
We have commandments that men ought to provide for their own,
or they're worse than an infidel, worse than an unbeliever.
If you can't take care of the family that God has given you.
So, you know, in light of the scriptures holistically,
we have to understand if people are selling the land, the houses,
and praise God, they have done that.
Some people have been sacrificial in their giving toward even new life at this church.
You know, but we can't neglect our own.
We still have to work jobs.
We still have to look after our wives and look after our children, take care of their needs.
But of course, if you have excess that you don't need,
we can see that it's perfectly biblical and right to take and be generous.
One of the greatest things when you have a little bit too much
is the ability to be generous.
To come alongside somebody that you know is struggling with whatever they need,
and you have to come along and be a help unto them.
You know, we've had times when people had to move house,
and we've come together.
Hey brother, we'll help out those that are available and free.
We'll come and help you move boxes.
We'll come and help you move furniture.
You know, we'll be a blessing to you because we love you.
We've had opportunities to serve in capacities like that over the years.
And so there are other ways, there are many ways that we can give.
There's been times where, you know, someone's had even a financial need,
and we've come together as a church and put a special collection together
for that individual person.
And so this is good things that believers ought to do.
Look out for the needs of others.
And if you have the ability to help out, come out, come alongside and help a brother in need.
Verse number 36, we get introduced to a really important figure in the Bible.
And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas,
which has been interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
having land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Barnabas gets introduced to us for the first time, known as the son of consolation.
That's what his name means.
And that's the name of the apostles gave him.
I mean, that's the kind of character that we see Barnabas is, the son of consolation.
He's the kind of person that if someone's going through a hard time,
will come alongside and encourage and build them up.
Like he had that heart.
He had that personality.
He had that great love for his brethren, that whenever he saw a need,
he comes alongside, brother, don't worry.
It's in the Lord's hands.
I'm praying for you.
Oh, you need some financial aid.
Good.
I've just sold my land.
Here's something for you to help you to get on your feet.
And he's that kind of person Barnabas.
He becomes such an important figure that without him, Paul would not be able to do
his ministry and his service for God.
If it not be someone for like Barnabas in his life.
But we'll read about that later on in the chapters moving forward.
All right, brethren, title for the sermon tonight was,
they had been with Jesus.
They had been with Jesus.
How do I know that you're with Jesus?
Well, boldness, we saw, and wisdom of the scriptures.
All right.
You're teaching what Christ taught.
You speak of the words that are contained in the Bible.
You've learned good doctrine.
You're able to show us in the Bible where that doctrine lies.
You're able to expand the scriptures.
You know, been through the Holy Ghost,
been utilized by God to do a great work for him.
To see Saul saved.
It doesn't have to be Fiji.
It can just be around the corner.
That shows me that you've been with Jesus.
All right, let's pray.