Oh, that's where it starts?
Yeah.
Oh, we're here next Thursday.
Yeah, yeah.
That's it.
Oh, no.
I don't think...
Yeah?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, is it from 5.30 till...
Till...
8.
Oh, I thought it is, don't you?
Until it starts.
So, probably a little bit before the thing.
Pretty much.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
All right.
Oh, you do?
Yeah.
What are we going over there to?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Nice.
Okay.
Thank you all for coming.
If you want to turn your hymnals, we'll get started this evening.
We'll go to our first song, 410.
Faith is the Victory.
Song 410.
There in the verse.
Faith is the victory.
Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world.
His banner over us, his love, our sword, the word of God.
We tread the road the saints above with shouts of triumph trod.
By faith they like a whirlwind's breath sweep on o'er every field.
The faith by which they conquered death is still our shining shield.
Faith is the victory.
Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world.
On every hand the foe we find drawn up in dread array.
Let tents of ease be left behind and onward to the fray.
Salvation's helmet on each head with truth o'er about.
The earth shall tremble neath our tread and echo with our shout.
Faith is the victory.
Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world.
To him that overcomes the foe, white raiment shall be give.
Before the angels he shall know his name confessed and have.
The onward from the hills of light our arts will love a flame.
We'll vanquish all the hosts of night.
In Jesus' conquering name.
Faith is the victory.
Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world.
Brother Mo, would you lead us in prayer this evening, please?
Dear Father God, thank you for giving everybody your safety, Lord.
I pray that you help us to be attentive tonight.
I pray that you fill in with the Spirit.
I pray that you can preach a bold and accurate sermon in your name.
I pray. Amen.
Amen.
Let's go right here on the same page.
411.
Sing our second song of the evening.
Hold the fort.
Song 411.
There on the first.
Oh, my comrades, see the signal waving in the sky.
Reinforcements now appearing.
Victory is nigh.
Hold the fort, for I am coming.
Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven.
By thy grace we will.
See the mighty host advancing.
Satan leading on.
Mighty men around us falling.
Courage almost gone.
Hold the fort, for I am coming.
Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven.
By thy grace we will.
See the glorious banner waving.
Hear the trumpet blow.
In our leader's name we'll triumph over every foe.
Hold the fort, for I am coming.
Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven.
By thy grace we will.
Fierce and long the battle rages,
but our help is near.
Onward comes our great command.
Onward comes our great commander.
Cheer, my comrades, cheer.
Hold the fort, for I am coming.
Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven.
By thy grace we will.
Very good singing. If you need a bulletin, they are in that back cabinet for you.
On the inside we have our service times as well as our soul winning times.
And then we have our totals down below.
As well as we also have our Bible memory passage. Romans chapter number 8.
We're on verse number 2. So we've started a new Bible memory chapter.
Chapter 8, really good chapter. A lot of verses in this one.
So definitely try to get started and start working on it.
And you can get through that. On the right we have our expecting
prayers. If you'd please keep all of them in your prayers. We have several listed there.
And that's very exciting. Also we had brother John
Carter come for us this last Sunday and that was really great.
He was able to make it out here. I wanted to look up. I know that we have other scheduled
preaching. I need to get that put in the bullets in.
But this Sunday we're going to have brother Duncan. Brother Duncan Urbana is going to be coming back down here.
He's going to be preaching for you guys. And then the following
April 11th, brother Jesse Michael. He's going to be coming back
out here and preaching for you guys. And then the 25th of April
brother Nick Keneery. He's preached for you guys one other time.
He's visited here a few different times. He lives in the Austin area. He's going to be coming out here and preaching
for you guys again. And so lots of good preaching. Really excited
about that. Also we have our upcoming event.
So in preparation of Easter we want to have the Texas Oklahoma
Easter marathon. And I made a video about it
and put it out on the steadfast channel. But I put it on our website
purewordsbaptist.com. If you just do slash Easter. Or if you just
go to our site and click the schedule or the events. You can go
and you can look and it will have the events listed. And one of them is the Texas Oklahoma
Easter marathon. And right there it has another link that will take you
to the Easter page that then has a whole layout of all the different times
and the meeting places for everyone going soul winning.
And so it should be pretty easy to find. There's videos online. There's
a Facebook event. There's the YouTube. There's also like I said
if you go to our website. And for this time I don't know if I haven't remembered off the top of my head.
Let me go there. And I'll just read for you that way.
But if you go out to Pure Words Baptist and then you go to the
events. You can click on the event that we have and then scroll
down to Houston. And so Thursday the 1st
April 1st instead of having our regular scheduled
church service we're just going to have extended soul winning. And so
they're going to meet here at the church at 5.30. Brother Jeffrey
is going to have some maps for everyone and then head out until
about 8 p.m. And so the goal is just to do extra soul winning. And you know
if you are interested I preached a sermon a while back about the timing
of the Passover. And I believe that Thursday is actually supposed to be Good Thursday. They call it
Good Friday but it's really Good Thursday when Christ would have died. And so
the goal is just to have soul winning pretty much the whole time that Christ would have
been in the grave for the most part. Obviously we're not going in the night.
But I'm just saying generally speaking while he was there during the day we can go out and
try and do as much soul winning as possible. And so you know try to show up and
be with Brother Jeffrey and support him and do some extra soul winning
in support of Easter. You know a lot of people are thinking about Christ and those things
during this time. And so it's a great time to invite people to church. Also
Friday Brother Travis Howell
is going to have a soul winning time that evening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
And it's not meeting at the church it's meeting at a different location but it's in Houston.
It's 6000 Chimney Rock Road Houston Texas. So the address is just
listed very specifically. So if you want to join him for some Friday soul winning that would be
excellent. And then Saturday Brother Mo Mohaney
he's leading a time here at the church building their meeting from 10 to 12
and then from 2 to 4. And so please show up for these soul winning times
and you know you can always go soul winning in other areas. I think there was another time
with Brother Mo Hitt and I don't know why I don't have it on there. I need to
I need to add that online but he had another time.
I'll try to get that updated right away with Brother Mo Hitt's time but he had submitted one
I wonder if I have it if I can find it in my email real quick. I think that I
he sent that in to us for sure.
I'll look it up and I'll put it back out there just that way
we have it because I know Brother Mo Hitt was going to lead another soul winning time in his areas too.
So I want to put that on the website. So just check the website and
check out the information that we have online and we'll get that updated.
And I'm really excited about our Easter service. Easter is going to be
and I'm really excited about our Easter service. Easter Sunday we're going to have
the Lord's Supper immediately following the evening service.
So the conclusion of the evening service we'll have the Lord's Supper. Brother Nick Goman is going to lead that
for us and so I'd encourage you to participate in that.
Also if you have any prayer requests that you would like to send in you can always
send those in via our website or I'm sorry email address
and we'll put those either in the bulletin or at least make an announcement in the midweek service.
And so that's pretty much all I have for announcements at this time.
Let's just go back a page to song 409.
409.
The fight is on.
Song 409 the fight is on.
The fight is on the trumpet sound
is ringing out the cry to arms is heard
far and near the Lord of hosts is marching
on to victory the triumph of the Christ
will soon appear. The fight is on
oh Christian soldier and face to face
in stern array with armor gleaming
and colors streaming the right and wrong
engage today the fight is on
but be not weary be strong and
in his might hold fast if God be
for us his banner or us will sing
the victor song at last
the fight is on a rousey soldiers brave and
true Jehovah leads and victory will assure
go buck along the armor God has given
you in his strength for forever will endure
the fight is on oh Christian soldier
and face to face in stern array
with armor gleaming and colors
streaming the right and wrong engage
today the fight is on but be
not weary be strong and in his might
hold fast if God be for us
his banner or us will sing the victor
song at last the fight
is leading on to certain victory the bow
of promise spans the eastern sky his
glorious name in every land shall honored be
the morn will break the dawn of peace is nigh
the fight is on oh Christian soldier
and face to face in stern array
with armor gleaming and
colors streaming the right and wrong engage
today the fight is on but be
not weary be strong and in his
might hold fast if God be for
us his banner or us will sing the
victor song at last
very good singing at this time we'll pass our offering plate and turn our
Bibles to Acts chapter number seven or eight I'm sorry Acts chapter number
eight
Acts chapter number eight we'll read the entire chapter before
this sermon
Acts chapter number eight we'll read the entire chapter before this sermon
verse one the Bible reads and Saul was consenting unto his death
and at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem
and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles
and devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him
as for Saul he made havoc of the church entering in every house and hailing men and women
committed them to prison therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere
preaching the word then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them
and the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did for unclean spirits crying with a loud voice
came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed
and there was great joy in that city but there was a certain man called Simon
which before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria
giving out that himself was some great one to whom they all gave heed from the least
to the greatest saying this man is the great power of God and to him
they had regard because that of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries
but when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom before him
and the name of Jesus Christ they were baptized both men and women
then Simon himself believed also and when he was baptized he continued with Philip and wondered
beholding the miracles and signs which were done
now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God
they sent unto them Peter and John who when they were come down prayed for them
that they might receive the Holy Ghost for as yet he was fallen upon none of them
only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus
and they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost
and when Simon saw that through laying on the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given
he offered them money saying give me also this power that in whomsoever
I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost but Peter said unto them
thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money
thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter for thy heart is not right
in the sight of God repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God
if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee for I perceive that thou
art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity then answered Simon and said
pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me
and they when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord returned to Jerusalem and preached
the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans and the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip
saying arise and go toward the south under the way that goeth down from Jerusalem
unto Gaza which is desert and he rose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia
a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians
who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for to worship
was returning and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the prophet
then the spirit said unto Philip go near and join thyself to this chariot
and Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said
understandest thou what thou readest and he said how can I except some man should guide me
and desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him
the face of the scripture which he read was this he was led as a sheep to the slaughter
and like a lamb dumb before his shearer so opened he not his mouth
and his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall declare
his generation for his life is taken from the earth and the eunuch
answered Philip and said I pray thee of whom speak of the prophet this of himself
or of some other man then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture
and preached unto him Jesus and as they went on their way they came unto a certain water and the eunuch
said see here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized and Philip said
if thou believeth with all thine art thou mayest and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ
is the son of God and he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down
both into the water both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him
and when they were come up out of the water the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip
that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing but Philip was found
at Azotus and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came
to Caesarea let's begin with a word of prayer thank you Heavenly Father for this evening
thank you for this church I pray that you would bless the preaching this evening
that you would help everyone to be attentive unto the words that are preached and that your words
could stir up our hearts to love you and serve you better in Jesus name we pray
Amen. We've been doing a Bible study through the book of Acts and Acts chapter number 8
is a really great chapter we just left off with the death of Stephen
and Stephen was one of the men that was ordained to
serve in the local church to minister unto widows but he did a lot more
according to the word of God he preached the word of God he did miracles and
a lot of people were added to the church because of Stephen's preaching because of
his ministry and the work he was doing yet he was so
effective that they ended up taking him to the rulers of the synagogues and he
preaches this great sermon he rebukes them and they end up dragging him out and
stoning him and killing him and the Bible told us in Acts chapter number 7
look what it says let's go back up a few verses and look at verse 58
it says and cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down
their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul so that's the
first time we're introduced to the character Saul the Bible describes him
as being a young man now it also
tells us here in verse number one of Acts chapter number 8 it says and Saul was
consenting unto his death so that same Saul that was mentioned in Acts chapter
number 7 where they laid the garments of the men that stoned
Stephen at his feet he was complicit in the death of Stephen
he was fine with the fact that they were killing Stephen he's probably just there
holding their garments protecting their garments making sure no one grabs them
he's a young guy he's letting the older men be the ones that actually hurled the
stones and killed Stephen but it's not because Saul himself
wouldn't have killed Stephen he's just not part of that group he's just
there but if he was part of the group he would have thrown the stones that's what the Bible is basically telling us
Saul would have killed Stephen and he was complicit in his death
you know in modern vernacular this would be like an accomplice to murder
an accomplice is someone who did not necessarily kill someone but
they assisted the killer they assisted the person that actually performed the murder
and it's a very serious crime it's not as serious as the person
that commits the murder yet it is a very serious crime
yet it is a very serious crime we see that Saul was literally
complicit in the death of God's people as how the Bible
starts it says in verse 1 again though and at that time there was
great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem
and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria
except the apostles now it's interesting as you read the
story of Acts and we're kind of going through this dialogue
we see in Acts chapter number 2 they're given this great power to preach
the gospel in other tongues and other languages and they get a lot of people saved
and then the Bible says that Peter preaches this great sermon and there's thousands added
under the church then you have Peter and John they are preaching
and doing mighty miracles and they're being persecuted but they're still adding
under the church and the church is growing then they have to add
this I'm sorry like a deacon essentially
they didn't call them deacons but they're like deacons they add these seven other men to the church
because the church is growing and expanding and multiplying and getting so big
well the devil is using the Jews and using people
like Saul to fulfill his will to destroy the church but here's the thing
it's actually God's will to end up bringing this persecution onto
the church at Jerusalem and the persecution notice this
it's so extreme that it says they were all scattered abroad throughout the region
except the apostles the apostles are not a huge group
I mean that's a small faction of the church I mean basically everyone in the church leaves
but the leadership you know the pastors and the teachers and everybody else
I mean we're talking about thousands and thousands of people
are literally driven away from this church which is in Jerusalem
and in fact you know later in the Bible
we'll find out where Paul wants to bring an offering to the poor saints
which are at Jerusalem now this is kind of crazy because we have to think
about is a church running thousands is probably not going to be
a poor church right but the church that just literally went from thousands
to like twelve or thousands to like fifty or something
overnight that might have a lot of problems you know it's okay for a church
to grow but a church to have that kind of a decrease is going to be really tough
you know and any time a church expands it always seems
like it's exciting it always seems like it's great it always seems like it's really positive
and when it decreases it always seems negative
but we shouldn't look at church attendance like that because frankly speaking
sometimes churches grow because the leadership
is becoming watered down because the leadership is not preaching the Bible
and they're just bringing in like wicked people or bringing in heretics
or bringing in a bad faction or anything like that you know and I've had to deal
with this you know going to steadfast when I took over steadfast our church
was not growing at first our church was weeding people out
it was getting rid of people in fact I've literally had
to put on a list of people thrown out of our church and steadfast
over a hundred people from the Jacksonville
from the Fort Worth from the Oklahoma City over a hundred
people okay now it started out that way because the Jacksonville
church just had like forty-five people just immediately like just get thrown
out and leave and create this rebellious faction with Adam Fannin
so that was about half of it but then even since then just you know five here
ten here another five here just keep adding up
and what's crazy about it I've never had to officially kick
anybody out of Pure Words Baptist Church you know now it may happen and it's not
that I won't I think I've already proven the fact that I will throw people
out of church the reality is though just because a church might be abounding with
people doesn't mean it's good you know and obviously I'm not against growing
I love the idea of growing and you know steadfast over the few years
that I've had it we've almost seemingly doubled in lots
of ways I mean we have like you know maybe about a fifty percent to seventy-five percent
increase in total attendance since the beginning but at times it was kind
of going down and it's kind of going back up and it's just got this little bit of an effect
and you know that's the reality of church you know there is no promise of church having
a big attendance or a little attendance or any of these type of things
and notice God's using persecution to literally alter
the course of this church dramatically I mean we're talking
about thousands of people being in this church to no longer being in this church
but the question you have to ask yourself is this going to have a net
positive effect on the cause of Christ and the answer is yes okay
because notice when they're scattered something happens when they're scattered abroad throughout the
regions let's read a few more verses and we'll get into it it says in verse two
preaching the word so what happened by him
bringing all this horrible devastation on the church would actually cause the gospel
to go out even further now before we read verse number four though
you would say all of this is horrifying I mean think about it
one of your greatest preachers one of your greatest leaders in the church
has literally just been murdered has just literally been killed has been executed
by the Jews not only that some of the greatest
people in the church some of the men and women I mean they're literally coming into your house
breaking down your door and grabbing you and just taking you to prison
I mean this is some severe persecution notice how the Bible
words it Saul's making havoc of the church you know what is havoc
it's like chaos I mean just destruction just
turmoil just he's just making this church just
he's just causing all kinds of problems for this church and I think in the
moment you know just imagine if all of a sudden you know they just take
one of our you take Dylan and they just kill him out in the street right in front of us okay
and then they just start grabbing some of the men and women in this church and they just start dragging them off to prison
in the moment we'd be thinking like wow this is really bad for
I mean we'd be thinking like what's happening you know especially
if we had been having all this success and all this great stuff
but what I like about this is no matter people still go out and preach the word of God
they just saw one of their leaders get killed they just saw people being held to prison
but they didn't stop preaching the gospel
why because these people have already got in their heart I'm going to preach the gospel for the rest of my life
I'm going to preach the gospel whether it rains
whether it's sunny whether prison is a threat whether my life
is a threat no I'm just going to preach the word of God okay and God
is using this great persecution these events to come upon this church
so that the word of God can increase and so any time we see
a church or an individual or something like that
or an individual or something happening to someone that's negative for them
but it's a net positive for Christ we should rejoice
you know even when persecution comes to us we should rejoice
you know they didn't stop preaching the gospel and you know what this is truly the idea
of being steadfast keep your finger and go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15
1 Corinthians chapter number 15
and you know a good name for a church a steadfast Baptist
church because why it's a biblical term found in the Bible look at
1 Corinthians 15 chapter 15 verse 58
therefore my beloved brethren
be ye steadfast unmovable
you say well they moved yeah but wait a minute this is what it means
always abounding in the work of the Lord so being steadfast
does that mean that you would never change your physical location no
being unmovable is that talking about your you know
I'm just so steadfast no it's not talking about being physically still
what it's talking about is always abounding in the work of the Lord meaning hey you put
me in prison I'll preach to the prisoners hey I go to this this city
preach to that city hey I go to this town go to that it doesn't matter
where you're at physically what matters is the fact that you're steadfast
you're never going to stop preaching the gospel you're never going to
stop preaching the word of God it doesn't matter what they do
it doesn't matter what they say you know the only way to shut you up is to do what they did
to Stephen that's the only way you're going to stop preaching the word but you know what
Stephen through his sacrifice through his great martyrdom is going
to influence a lot of people to still continue preaching I mean
if Stephen can preach unto death why can't you preach while you're on the run why can't you preach
when things are happening to you that are not as bad they can't kill
everyone in the church they can't kill all thousands of these people you know and
really what they try to do is they try to kill one person to scare everybody else
they're not going to kill everybody typically they'll just take one person
to make an example out of them so if you're not that example you don't have to worry about it
and you know what there's strength in numbers there's strength in numbers
that you go out and you keep preaching the word of God and the Lord
is going to be with you now what I like about this story is it goes straight it's just like horrible
horrible horrible but immediately the Bible just with no
hesitation just immediately goes into the good doesn't it
I mean it's just like they're going to jail I mean you know there's
everybody sad Stephen was dead but verse four but they're preaching the word of God
but we see there's good right out of this bad
go to Acts chapter number 20 go to Acts chapter number 20 I'll show you another verse here
about the apostle Paul and it's interesting
I think that the Lord it's almost like he has a sense of humor for Paul
because Paul brings some of the worst persecution
on the church he ends up getting to be one of the people that
experiences some of the greatest persecution you know it's kind of like you
reap what you sow there Saul and you know but the reality is that
suffering or being persecuted is actually not a bad thing
I'm going to get to that but I want to show you this verse look at Acts chapter 20 verse 22
the Bible says and now behold I go bound in the spirit in Jerusalem
not knowing the things that shall befall me there save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth
in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me but
none of these things move me neither count on my life dear
unto myself so that I might finish my course I like this
with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus
to testify the gospel the grace of God notice he says the same wording
I'm not moved by these things and what is it saying in the verse before it's saying
the Holy Ghost is saying no matter what city you go into Paul bonds and
afflictions are waiting you there saying that he's never going to get to go
and preach the gospel to any city where there isn't some
form of persecution just every city if he goes there he's either going to prison
or he's going to be afflicted in some way and when we read through his ministry that's what his ministry
is like I mean his ministry is one of the most tumultuous ministries
constantly on the flee constantly on the run constantly
stoned and beaten and shipwrecked and in prison and in perils of robbers
and perils of my own countrymen it's just all over the place for the apostle Paul
but he's not moved he says you know what I'm still going to preach the gospel
I'm still no matter what I'm just going to preach the gospel he's already
settled it in his heart that he's going to preach the word of God he's going to preach the gospel and I think
that you kind of have to have this done in your heart before the persecution
comes so when the persecution comes it's not a question of what's going to happen
it's not going to move me hey I already am aware
of those things that are going to happen hey bonds you can't scare me with bonds
hey afflictions you can't scare me with afflictions none of these things move me
he says hey I'm going to preach the gospel well what if they murder
Stephen in front of you well he's going to keep going these people
keep going Govewood
let's stay on this thought for a moment go to Mark chapter number 4
go to Mark chapter number 4 you say well then why would someone
quit you know like why do people they start preaching the gospel
or they start serving God and then they
quit okay well the Bible tells us the Bible gives us
the answer to every single question you could think of Mark chapter 4 look at verse 16
and these are they likewise
which are sown on stony ground who when they have heard the word
immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves
and so endure but for a time afterward
when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake
immediately they are offended now in other verses they say by and by
because by and by means immediately but what is the Bible
teaching the Bible's teaching there's plenty of people they love hearing the gospel
they love free salvation they love church when it's easy
they love the church that has no persecution
they love the church where there's nothing going wrong they love the church
where Saul's not going to come in and threaten them they love the church
where Stephen's not going to be drug out and stoned to death
but as soon as it happens notice what it says as soon
as there's persecution as soon as there's affliction
immediately they're gone just hey there's any kind
of problem see ya buddy and look I've seen it
I've seen people they're excited about church they're zealous they're going soul winning
they're not even like they're an active participant in church
they're going to church they're going soul winning but then some
layer of persecution hits the church you know a fag protest or something
or you know some negative thing online or their family member
they're mad about them going they found out about our church or something you know or whatever
just anything and they're just gone never see them
you know their work finds out or something you know most workplaces
don't care okay I'm just saying like they're so afraid of their own shadow
that just anything just a little damsel just saying do you know Christ and they're just
like tucked tail between their legs and I don't know the man you know
I don't know what you're saying and the reality is why is that
person do that because they have no root in themselves they haven't already decided
deep down in their heart I'm going to preach the gospel they don't have a relationship
with the Bible they're not art that's not their lifestyle look if your
lifestyle is reading the Bible getting up and reading in the morning
and praying and depending on the Lord for every one of your circumstances
you depend upon the Lord financially you depend upon the Lord
spiritually you depend upon the Lord emotionally you depend on the Lord for
every area of your life well when you're not like that
when you don't have these roots deep down what do a root what do roots do
let's think about it because God uses carnal examples to expound what is a
root a root goes down into the soil and then what
the purpose of a root to get nutrients from the soil and to get water
from the soil okay so if you don't have any roots what happens
well back up to verse four let's look at the carnal example verse number
four and it came to pass as he sowed some fell by the wayside and the thousandth year
came and devoured it up and some fell on stony ground where it had not much
earth and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth but when
the sun was up it was scorched and because it had no root
it withered away so what's the carnal example well the carnal
example is this some kind of a grass or herb or whatever it is
plant comes up well what's affliction to a plant
a hot sun okay what is a hot sun going to do
to a plant well that plant is going to need extra nutrients
or extra water or it's just going to die it's going to wither away that sun's going to scorch
it and it's going to be destroyed so what's going to protect this plant
from dying from a hot sun or from a little bit of heat you know a little bit of pressure
being put on it right it's going to have deep roots that are
near some kind of a water source or near and getting extra nutrients
okay so if I'm not getting any nutrients or any water
I can easily be destroyed I can easily be withered away
or scorched or burned up so when it comes to the Christian life
if I'm not being fed by the word of God if I'm not
getting those essential spiritual waterings
and essential spiritual nutrients from the word of God you know I never
read the Bible and I don't pray and I'm not trusting in the Lord in any
area of my life then as soon as I get a little heat well forsake the church thing
you know what when my daily life when my daily walk is
constantly trusting in the Lord and constantly reading the Bible and constantly
in prayer and doing these things well when the heat comes
guess what my routine is oh going back to the Bible and going back to praying
and you know when you're constantly reading the Bible and praying and seeking the Lord you know you're going to inevitably do
preach the gospel to people that's just part of your habit you're going to just
keep doing it that's your life it's not about well there's a hot
sun it's like okay preach the gospel there's a cool sun you know you know it's the
overcast or whatever you're still going to preach the gospel so how do these
people step so when I learn about these people they're getting persecuted but they're still preaching the word
of God what does that tell me they had roots in themselves they had root in
themselves they weren't just you know ready to be offended
because look persecution will come go through the Romans
chapter 8 go to Romans chapter 8 the Bible says gain all
that will I'm sorry gain all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution the Bible makes it clear if you
want to try and live godly
there will be opposition to that and let me make it clear what that means
I'm not saying that it's only related
to soul winning okay gain all that will meaning they
want to live godly shall suffer persecution
what is living godly doing anything the Bible says
okay not lying you will be
persecuted not stealing you will be persecuted
not drinking alcohol you will be persecuted
going to church you will be persecuted having a godly
family you know using the rod of correction that God gave us
on your children you can suffer persecution for following any
of God's not committing fornication you can be persecuted for it
not wanting to be an adulterer you can be persecuted for it not
wanting to look upon the opposite gender with lust
you can be persecuted for hey not wanting to go drink and smoke
and do drugs and not being lazy on the job and not
wanting to do evil you can be persecuted for and look if you
want to serve God if you want to follow God's commandments there will be
opposition to that people will persecute you it's
every area of your life and of course you know soul winning
is one of the greatest works we can do it's the first works so of course if you do that
you're going to face opposition you're going to face some level of persecution
the devil is not just defenseless in the
sense that he's just thinking like I don't know what to do these guys are going soul winning
no he's going to bring every single demon out he's going to get everyone
to attack you he's going to bring your family members and your friends and he's going to get the cops
and he's going to get the government and he's just going to pressure you and he's going to try and beat you
down he's going to try to wither you down he's going to try to destroy you and you know what
he wants to distract you even sometimes he can't get an enemy
to destroy you so he'll just distract you how will
he distract me well he'll just bring a bunch of problems into your life
I don't know like covid that seems like a lot of problems
you know it's annoying right people are just so worn down
from the last year and a half I mean I'll admit it like it feels like
you're just fighting these uphill battles that are just stupid you know people are
worried about their employment they're worried about their food they're worried about
going into the store they're worried about dealing with psychos
everyone looks like they want to rob me because they're wearing masks all the time you know just the
just the emotional turmoil of being around all these psychos
and these people that are so brain dead and brainwashed today it's just
annoying and you know what the devil just thinks well if I can just beat you up
every single day every single moment then you finally are just like well I'm just so tired
I don't want to go to church now I'm just so tired I can't even serve God I'm just so tired
I can't read my bible I'm always worried I'm always thinking
I mean what's going to happen next and what are the democrats going to do next and
and what are the republicans going to do next and what are you know what's going to happen in the government
what's happening online and what are they going to censor next and which Dr. Seuss book
do I need to get now and you know I don't even know where to go and just people
just get so freaked out. Why?
To stop you from serving God to get distracted from serving the Lord
you know the devil is just using anything and everything that he can
to stop you from doing that which is right
what's one of those tactics? Persecution. Persecution
shall come. Persecution has come and it will come and look it's
not going to get easier. And what it says in verse 35 who shall separate us
from the love of Christ shall tribulation or
distress or persecution or famine
or nakedness or peril
or sword. You know the bible says
very clearly that nothing is going to separate you from the love
of Christ. Let's keep reading. As is written for thy sake we are killed
all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
All these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us
for I am persuaded that neither death nor light nor angels nor principalities nor
powers nor things present nor things that come nor height nor death nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Notice he says hey you know what all those things are going to come
we're like sheep led to the slaughter in this world. I mean the bible says the
whole world lies in wickedness and we shine as bright
lights. And you know what happens when you're in a dark room and someone is shining a bright light
they're like turn that light off. Someone get that light.
Someone break that light. Someone flick that light switch off. You know they don't like the light
the light is an approach unto them so they want to turn it off
and the brighter you shine the more there's going to be angst against your light.
They're going to try and shut your light down. But I got good news for you
no matter what they do nothing will stop Christ from loving you.
And you know who's in charge of everything? Christ.
Hey he can do whatever he wants. And so you should not
fear you should not worry about what the world can do unto you.
You need to worry about just being pleasing unto God and serving the Lord and being
steadfast in your heart and not being one that has a stony heart
but rather you need to take those stones and break them up in your heart
and start making good places for the roots of God's word to
creep in. You want the word of God to get real deep into your heart so that
when the turmoil and the tribulation and the difficult things come you
can withstand them. And what could be better than knowing that God's on your
side? If God be for us who can be against us?
Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.
These early Christians they're really mature
in lots of ways. I mean when you think about it I mean these guys are able to withstand
great persecution and they're still going out and preaching the word. They're still being steadfast.
They're still saying nothing's going to move us. They're still going out. I mean what after you've
been tossed out of your church and tossed out of your city and you're on the run I mean what else
you got to lose? But yet they're going to still keep preaching the word of God.
They're going to still be steadfast. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 3.
We are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is meet because
that your faith growth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other
aboundeth so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for
your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations
that ye endure. Notice Paul's talking with his church and saying you guys
got all kinds of persecutions. You guys got all kinds of tribulations.
Verse 5 which a manifest manifest token
of the judgment of God that you may be counted worthy
of the kingdom of God for which he also suffered.
Now let me explain something to you. And I think for some people
they just really don't get it. But
if you're persecuted for doing that which is right
if you're experiencing some kind of tribulation or some kind of affliction
for doing that which is right God has
looked at you and deemed you worthy of
such persecution. Being persecuted is an honor.
Being persecuted is a great reward
for being a godly person. If you're never persecuted
if you're never afflicted you know what that tells me?
You're not godly. Not only are you not godly you're not even
trying to be godly. Because the Bible says ye in all that
will live godly. You know that verse isn't saying like you've already arrived
it's just saying you're just trying. Like even just attempting to be godly
you're going to face opposition. So you say man I have no opposition.
That means that you're just not godly in any way. The fact
that you're experiencing opposition, the fact that you're going through persecution
is a manifest, it's an obvious token of the fact
that you've been deemed worthy in God's sight to suffer
for his sake. To suffer like he did.
We shouldn't look at persecution in a way of oh man
this is terrible. The Bible doesn't paint that picture. The Bible says
that persecution should bring joy. It should bring
rejoicing. The Bible says be exceeding glad
for great is your reward in heaven. I mean
it's kind of like whenever you're in grade school
and the grade teacher is going to basically mark
your report card and they're like A++
that's what persecution is like. And whenever you're like
everything is going great and there's no opposition that's like an F.
That's like you failing. Now who would be excited to go home and show mom
I got an F. You're not doing good then. Now here's the
reality. As much as you should actually want persecution
you shouldn't try to obtain it. That's not what
I'm teaching. Obviously I could walk into a mosque
and start screaming Muhammad's a pedophile and there's
going to be some persecution. There's going to be some affliction.
But that's casting my pearls before swine. That's not using discretion.
That's not really being biblical. What you should do is you should be trying to live peaceably
with all men and just serving God quietly and just allow the persecution
to come. Because this is what I'll promise you. You try to serve God. You try to
live godly. You try to do that which is right. Persecution will just find you.
It'll identify you. Just like a dark room
someone turns on the light. It's not going to be questionable where the light is.
But if you're hiding your light no one's going to know where you're at. You're not going to experience any kind
of persecution or tribulation. What you will suffer is the consequences
for your sin. God will be mad at you. God will punish you.
And I don't want to suffer punishment. I'd rather suffer persecution. So here's the thing.
When my life is going badly but it's because
I'm going to church or serving God or trying to do that which is right
it's actually great. But you know what? When my life's going badly and I think
about it and I'm like wow I was kind of stupid or I didn't do that right or I'm
making bad decisions that's not a good place to be in.
I've been in both. I've been in both in my life where I'm looking back and my life is a train wreck right now.
And I'm thinking like well I shouldn't have done this and this is a bad decision
and I can't believe I did that. That's not a good place to be in.
But when you look at your life and you're like wow my life's a train wreck but I wouldn't do anything differently.
I'm doing that which is right. I'm doing that which is honest. I'm serving God.
I'm good standing with the Lord.
That's a great place to be in. You should actually be rejoicing.
That's what the Bible teaches. Go to Acts chapter 5.
We already read this but I want to drill it in. Go to Acts chapter number 5
and let me prove this to you from the Bible.
Acts chapter 5 look at verse 41.
And they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
What does the Bible say? Hey Peter and John they were literally
like yeah woo. We went to jail. We got beat
for the cause of Christ. That means Christ found us worthy to suffer
for him. They didn't suffer for any wrongdoing. Peter and John didn't do anything wrong.
They healed a man. Think about it.
You're going to church to pray and on your way
you heal a man who's been lame from his birth
and that's why they got beat. That's why they went to jail. Are you going to really tell me
that's punishment? That was obvious persecution. So when they leave
that situation they can say yes. Yeah!
Woo! We got to suffer for the cause of Christ.
And you say that's a weird emotion. That's the right emotion. The wrong
emotion would be like oh man I healed this guy
and nobody likes me now and I got all this persecution. I got beat.
Look at my back. This hurts.
This is terrible. They're like sweet did you see this one?
This one's a really big scar. That one's going to scar horribly. That's awesome!
Why they have the right attitude. They're rejoicing about it.
Go to Luke chapter 21. Go to Luke chapter 21.
Not only that but when God doles out punishments
He actually is going to save the
righteous, those that are doing right, more than He's going to save the backslidden.
Obviously we understand righteous can just refer to the saved
but can also refer to your current status in the sense of
are you doing right? Are you a righteous person in your daily life too?
Are you following God's commandments? Are you a godly person?
It's a very famous scripture talking about the coming of Christ and the end times
and all the evil that was going to happen. I'm just going to jump into the
passage here but look at verse 34.
...worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass
and to stand before the Son of Man.
If you're living godly you can be considered worthy to suffer
persecution but you can also be counted worthy to escape
God's wrath and God's judgment and God's tribulation and horrible
things that would come upon people. So it's a double win
because whenever you suffer that persecution in many cases, not all
but almost all, you're going to be delivered anyways.
Go to 2 Timothy 3.
In Stephen's case obviously he's an exception but
there's going to be some people that suffer a martyr's death. We have to understand that.
We have to accept that. But the majority of the Bible, when you
study the Bible and you study the men of God that take hard
stands, that do that which is right, that are living the righteous life, they're the guys
that are spared. Think of Noah and his family, they're spared.
Think about Daniel in the lion's den, he's spared. Think about constantly
throughout the Old Testament the guy that's standing through, Jeremiah.
I mean everyone's killed but Jeremiah.
Everyone's just destroyed and decimated and just horrible things are happening.
Just famine, death by famine, death by the sword.
Women are killing their own children and eating them. I mean just the most
horrific things are happening. Jeremiah makes it through.
But he suffered persecution the whole time. He's in the dunk pit
so he's worthy to suffer the persecution but then he was also worthy to what?
Survive through all of God's wrath, survive through all of God's judgment and
the tribulation that he's bringing upon them. Well the Apostle Paul is the same
type of person. Look at 2 Timothy 3, look at verse 10.
It says
But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life,
purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium,
at Lystra. What persecutions I endured, but notice this,
but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
But out of them all the Lord delivered me. And then you get the famous
verse that I already quoted. Yea, and all that will of God
then Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So here's the thing,
Paul was able to be delivered out of all of it though
and he was able to be rescued out of all of it. And there's going to be lots
of people that suffer great persecution but the Lord is going to deliver them.
And Paul had great confidence in the Lord. Go to chapter 4 and look at verse 16.
At my first answer no man stood with me
but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me
that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might
hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve
me into his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Now that's confidence. The Apostle Paul is saying hey the Lord is going to deliver me.
Hey I'm going to be delivered, the Lord is going to preserve me.
The Lord is going to keep me on this path. And that's really the goal
and the life of most Christians. 99% of us
if you follow God's will perfectly he's going to deliver you
and he's going to take you through. And even if you have to be a Stephen
you know what? I guarantee he's got great rewards in heaven.
Stephen's not up in heaven and just like God why did you let me get killed?
That was a bad idea.
That was a bad idea. No, you know what? Stephen motivated
the Apostle Paul and notice what happens to the church. They all get driven out.
Now would this church have sent that many people out organically?
No. Go back to Acts, if you would go back to Acts 8.
And I know I spent a little time on that point but I think it's important to really think about this.
Would that church have sent all these people out? Would all those people have gone out preaching the word?
Probably not. Most likely no. But through
Stephen's sacrifice God is going to use
that horrible event to end up getting the gospel out of people.
So this is what I believe. I believe that if you're following God's commandments
and you're doing that which is right in the Lord's sight
the only reason God would ever let you just be decimated
by the enemy or destroyed by the enemy is because it's going to bring
a major impact to the cause of Christ. It's going to have some radical
effect on the cause of Christ that's according to His will.
So that would be the only exception. And in either way, why wouldn't
then great! You know if I'm thinking, okay well if I die even
more stuff's going to happen positively for the cause of Christ than if I live then go for it.
Otherwise you know the Apostle Paul was very convinced he was not going to die
because he says it's more needful for you that I abide in the flesh.
And for most of us it's more needful for other people like your children, your family,
or our church or whatever for you to abide in the flesh. And you know I feel confident
a lot of times the Lord is going to preserve me just because I feel like our church is right now
it's needful that I abide in the flesh. But if God decides
well you know what Pastor Shelley dead is better than alive
then you know that's just going to be my calling. You know that's going to be what happens.
But right now I don't feel like that's the case and I feel like as long as I'm serving the Lord
He is going to deliver me and He is going to preserve me and He's going to protect me.
You know what? Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.
Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when faced with the fiery furnace.
They said the Lord is going to deliver them. And they said but even if He doesn't
we're still not going to worship the false God. We're still not going to bow down.
They had confidence that the Lord was going to deliver them. Why? Because it didn't make sense for them to die
in that situation and guess what? The Lord did deliver them didn't He?
Look at verse number 5.
And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
So Philip's doing miracles here and Philip was also
one of the seven. So it was Stephen and Philip were in that same group.
Philip he is not being killed he's doing
great miracles. He's going out and following in the footsteps of Stephen.
Verse number 8 and there was great joy in that city.
But there was a certain man named Simon which before time in the same city used sorcery into which the people
of Samaria had given out that himself was some great one.
To whom they all gave heed from the least of the greatest saying this man is the great man they had
regard because that of a long time he had bewitched them. He believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom
of God in the name of men and women. Then Simon himself believed also and continued with Philip and wondered
beholding the miracles and signs which were done. So we see
it's very easy to trick people apparently. You know Simon this guy is a sorcerer and he's using
you know like false signs or whatever
sorcery or magic or something to basically trick people or deceive them.
But by a miracle not only do all these people get saved even Simon
himself is like yeah I'm a fake you know it's not real.
He realizes that Christ is the Lord and they all get saved. A lot of people are getting saved here.
And it says in verse number 14 now when the apostles
which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent
unto them Peter and John. Now remember they had to send to these guys the ones that stayed
the apostles. And the apostles are the ones with all the power. The apostles are the ones with the gift.
And so they're sending unto all these people that are getting saved they're hearing about it and they're like oh wow.
Verse 15 who when they were come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.
For as yet he was fallen upon none of them only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost.
So Peter and John come and notice Philip who's ordained
Philip who's doing miracles he still
is not able to lay hands in them to receive the Holy Ghost.
That's a special thing that's done by the apostles.
Yet you know you look at a lot of Charismaniacs and
Pinacrazies today and they all want to just go around
and everybody's speaking in tongues or whatever they call it you know it's really just gibberish speaking.
Rolling around on the floor not with the Bible's teaching.
And the Bible's showing us that the apostles are the ones that were giving out this gift to the Holy Ghost.
It wasn't just anybody and everywhere and these people had already been saved.
They had already been baptized and they still didn't have the Holy Ghost.
Because some Pentecostal churches teach and they have in the past that you have to
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost of speaking in tongues to even be saved.
They say that that's the evidence of salvation. Whereas these people are clearly
saved and they haven't even gotten the gift yet. But when they get this gift
they get it because of the apostles and Simon he likes this.
He's the first Pentecostal in the Bible. He's the first guy that's like I want this power.
I want to shake la la la la. I want to just knock some people
over or something. I can't wait to get this thing.
And it says in verse 18 when Simon saw that through laying on the apostles hands
the Holy Ghost was given he offered them money.
This guy he was in charge. You've got to think about this. This guy was like their leader.
He was like Joel Osteen's ministry. He's the
Joel Osteen of his area. And everybody likes him and he's just so great and wonderful.
And he's their leader and he's their pastor. But he's not even saved.
The whole town gets saved and he can't be content just being
part of the church. He's got to be in charge. So he's trying to buy his
way into the ministry. He's trying to purchase his way into the ministry. And look there's no new thing under the sun.
There's a lot of people that want to be in the ministry but they're not willing to just go
serve and be a local church member. So what do they do? They buy
their way in the ministry. You say how do you buy your way in the ministry? You can buy your ordination.
You can go to Bible college. Look you can even just buy an
ordination certificate. I mean you can just find there's these seminaries and these
colleges where you can just buy it. You know there's all these people that become an ordained minister to perform
weddings. They just pay fifty bucks or whatever. They just pay a hundred bucks and they're just
they'll be like they'll come up to me and they'll be like I'm an ordained minister.
We were going out soul winning in Dallas. This guy walks up and he's like I'm an ordained minister.
And he looked like he was high on meth. And I'm thinking like
okay. And he's like let me quote you some Bible. And I'm just thinking like
I want you to just walk away. You know Simon the sorcerer.
You can't buy the spiritual gifts of God. They're not for sale.
It's a special gift that's given to those that are found faithful.
It says in verse 19 saying give me also this power.
But Peter said to them thy money perish with thee. Because now it's thought
that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither lot
that is not a part nor lot in this matter for thy heart is not right
in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and
pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. Now that's not a kind
you know rebuttal. That's a sharp rebuke.
Why? Because people that want to be in the ministry because
they can be the leader or be in charge are wicked people.
It's a wicked thought. It's a wicked idea. Look the
person that's in ministry should have a heart to serve and to love
other people and being found faithful. Not trying to figure out how to weasel his way
in there. Not trying to figure out how to buy it. Not trying to figure out how to steal it.
Not trying to figure out how to just take it. But rather receive it.
Look you either receive the ministry or it's not for you.
It's not given to you. God's not giving the ministry to people that are trying to steal it, take
it, weasel their way in. And look when I find people or I know
about people that are trying to weasel their way in the ministry I expose them.
You say ah you're mean. Well I'm trying to be like Peter. So if I'm mean
then Peter's mean. And that's fine. Call me mean.
I don't see where he's nice to this guy. He's not being nice to this guy.
He's saying thy money perish with thee. He says
therefore of this thy wickedness. He says you have to repent of your wickedness.
He's rebuking this guy. He's wanting this guy to figure out. And notice
how he words it. Because I like the way that Peter words this. And some people might
not like this. But look what he says. Thou hast neither part
nor a lot in this matter. He says you're
never going to have. This is not for you. You already have exposed the fact
that you're not the right person to be in this position. You have exposed
yourself as being a self-willed person. As a person that doesn't have the right
heart. That doesn't have the right desires. You know what? You're not going to have this.
You're never going to have this. And he was telling him he still needs to
repent of his wickedness just to get right in the sight of God. But at the end of the day
you know when someone exposed themselves to this super self-willed
selfish you know all about themselves prideful person. That's like
the last person you want to put in ministry. You know that's like the worst attributes that someone
can show if they want to be in the ministries. They just have to be in charge. Or they're trying to take
it or trying to purchase it. You know that person needs to get their heart right
with the Lord. Just so that he doesn't smite them or something. And at
least Simon you know figures out that what he did was
wrong. Look at verse 24. Then answered Simon and said pray to
the Lord for me that none of these things which you have spoken come upon me.
Now maybe he was just a little bit confused or
naive to the situation. But it was a very evil sin.
I mean the apostle Peter is saying you're in the gall of bitterness and then the bond
of iniquity. Why? Because he already had it in his heart
of very wicked sin. I mean do you think God looks down on people with
a lot of kindness that are using sorcery
to trick people into following them. And they're giving him this praise
of being the great power of God when it's not even
of God. I mean this blast is a false teacher. Now he ends up
getting saved. He ends up you know sword. But
he still in his heart wants to just have this power and this preeminence that's
not from the Lord. Okay. And really he's just envious. And there's a lot
of people that are just envious of ministers. They're envious of the Lord's servants.
They're envious of the gifts of God. And they're not willing to earn it
legitimately. And so they try to fake it. They try to feign it. They go around. There's people
calling themselves apostles today. You can go to all kinds of churches today. It's apostle so and
so. And it's like you're not an apostle. You know. It's just
a fake thing. They're just Simon the sorcerer again. They're just trying to trick people and
convince people on these things. And what I like about
showing the Holy Ghost being given to them is this is different
than what the Pentecostals are teaching. And you say why? Well
keep your finger and go to Mark chapter 16. Go to Mark chapter 16.
They want to make it a sign about salvation. But it's not really
a sign about salvation. It's a sign that's confirming the
apostles themselves. It's confirming the Lord's ministers is what it's
actually doing. And it says in Mark chapter 16, look at verse 20,
And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them,
and confirming the word with signs. What's a confirmation of the
apostles' word? The Holy Ghost falling and them preaching with
these tongues. And look. This is a different Holy Ghost
than what you get at salvation. And I'm not saying there's multiple
Holy Ghosts. I'm just saying it's a different experience. Obviously there's one Holy Ghost.
There's one Spirit. But the moment you believe you're sealed
with the Spirit, that's different than what's
happening here when the Holy Ghost is coming upon them. They're
being filled with the Holy Ghost. They're having the fullness of the Holy Ghost coming upon them.
They're having the power of the Holy Ghost come upon them.
And they're able to speak a whole language that they never learned before. They're able to
do all kinds of other miracles and powers and wonders and things like that.
And this is just to confirm the apostles and confirm the word that they have. But here's the thing.
The apostles have the right gospel. The apostles have the right
message. You know what the Pentecrazies don't have? The right gospel.
Why would God give these crazy lunatics
any kind of power to confirm their word when
their word is a false gospel? The Pentecostals teach you can lose your salvation.
The Pentecostals teach that it's a repent of your sins gospel.
The Pentecostals don't preach any of the Bible correctly. They're a bunch of false
prophets and false teachers. There's nothing to confirm.
Why would God give them anything? Everything they have is satanic.
Everything they have is wrong. There's nothing legitimate about it.
It's just the same sorceries that Simons was using to get people
to follow him today. But you know what? The gift that was given here in Acts
is different. It's confirming the real gospel. So you say, well, how do you know the
Pentecostal speaking in tongues is fake? Because they have the wrong gospel.
Nothing about their ministry is going to be right.
If you have the wrong gospel, everything's wrong.
But at least they're righteous. They're not righteous in any way.
Well, at least they're doing this. No. It's just wrong. It's all wrong. God's not
having his power upon them. I'm not afraid of calling them out.
They have a different spirit. It's the wrong spirit. Look at verse number
24. Let's keep reading. Verse 25,
So they're going out and they're preaching the word of God to everyone. A lot of these
Samaritans and they're getting saved. Verse 26,
And Eunuch, of great authority, under Canas the queen of the Ethiopians,
who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for her worship, was returning
and sitting in his chariot, read, Isaias the prophet. Then the spirit said
to Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither
to him and heard him read the prophet Isaias and said,
Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man
should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
And the place of the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter
and like a lamb done before a shearer. So opened he not his mouth
and in humiliation his judgment was taken away. And who should declare
his generation for his life is taken from the earth? Now keep your finger
and go to Isaiah 53. Go to Isaiah 53.
And this is where he was actually at
in the Bible. And what's interesting is this. You know when they went soul winning
they didn't have Romans.
They didn't have Acts. They're in the middle of living Acts.
It's not been written down yet. They don't even have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as far as
the written version. They obviously experienced it physically and they could recall
certain things that the Lord had said to them on a one-on-one basis.
But if they're going to appeal to scripture, the only scripture they can appeal to
is the Old Testament. But you know what? Even from the Old Testament
it's the same Gospel. It's the same message that they're reading. And look, they're reading
Isaiah 53. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb
so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from
judgment and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off
out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Now who's Isaiah 53 about? It's about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's one of the clearest passages about him. He was what? Jesus was
oppressed. Jesus was afflicted. Yet even though he's afflicted, he didn't open
his mouth before Herod. He didn't say anything before the...
He wasn't trying to say, hey, you know who I am. You can't do this to me.
He just was silent. He was silent before.
He's like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers
is dumb. Dumb in this vernacular is not meaning
stupid, it's meaning quiet, like unable to talk or not talking.
And it says, so he opened not his mouth. That's where you get that interpretation.
Verse 8, and he was taken from prison from judgment and who
shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living.
So it's saying, who's going to preach about him? Who's going to preach the gospel? Who's going to preach
these things? Because he's killed. Cut off means to be put to
death. Being killed out of the land of the living for the
first time. Notice this, why? For the transgression of my people.
It was for what? The sins of his people. It was for the sins of the
whole world that he died. And so this is clearly about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Go back. That's what they read. And look at verse 34. This is a question
the eunuch has. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
this? Of himself or of some other man? So that's a great question. He doesn't know.
He says, is this Isaiah or is he talking about somebody else?
Verse 35, then Philip opened his mouth and began to the same scripture and preached unto
him Jesus. So just like I was explaining to you,
he sat there and explained to this eunuch, he says, this is all about Jesus.
And he just died. He was, you know, here in Jerusalem. That's why we're
here. And he's preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ on him. What? His death,
his burial, and his resurrection. He's declaring his generation.
And as they went on their way, they came in a certain water, and the eunuch said, see, here's water,
what does hinder me to be baptized? So he's preaching him the gospel. He's preaching him about
all these different things, preaching about baptism. And this guy's like
thinking like, well, what's stopping me from getting baptized? Because in his mind, he's believing it.
He's believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's trusting the Lord. Now, here's the question.
If I can't look in someone's heart
and do a surgical, you know, operation to see if Christ is in there,
I can't like open, is there some Holy Ghost in there? Let me check. Okay.
What would be the absolute best way to determine
is someone saved? Well, let's see what he does.
And Philip said, if thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. So he's asking
him, hey, if you believe, if you're trusting in Christ,
then I can't stop believing you. Now, what do you think is the best way for him to
prove to him that he believes it? And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Now, you know what that sounds like to me? Soul winning.
What do we do? We go and we ask people what they believe
and then based on what they tell us, we determine if what?
They're saved or unsaved. Now, what if this guy said, I don't believe?
Or if he said, well, I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person. Do you think Philip would have
baptized him? No. And then people get all mad. They're like,
you go out there and decide if people are saved or not?
Yeah. Yeah, I ask them what they believe and
based on what they tell me. The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouse speaketh. And sorry,
you know what determines if someone gets baptized or not? If they believe.
If they actually trust in the Lord. You're deciding if they're saved or not
if you're going to baptize them? Yes. Just like Philip did.
Just like everybody does. Well, who made you the judge if people go to heaven or
hell? No one. I'm not. You know what? I am the judge if you get baptized
or not. And you want to know if you get baptized or not? You've got to confess that
you believe in Jesus Christ. And notice, you know, the Catholics don't
like this verse, so they just rip it out. The NIV doesn't like this verse, so
rip it out. All the modern versions virtually take this verse out. Only a few
probably keep it and they just put like a big footnote there and you look at the bottom and it's like, this doesn't
exist in the originals or this isn't found in the reliable manuscripts
or this isn't found in some of the more ancient manuscripts. They
put some kind of a shade on this verse like the devil. Yehoth, God
said. But what a great verse. It helps us
understand why you would baptize, who's getting baptized. Verse
38, and he commanded the chariot to stand still, and he went down both in
the water, both Philip and Eunuch, and he baptized them. And then when they were come up out
of the water, that's because you have to go down into the water, and you know, baptisms
by immersion, okay. The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the Eunuch
saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found in a zotus, and passing through
he preached in all the cities until he came to Caesarea. I just love this story.
Because, you know, also another criticism people give you
is they're like, oh, so you get people saved and then
they don't come to your church? Well, what church did this guy go to?
In fact, as soon as he gets saved and baptized,
God takes him away. God doesn't even let him do any kind of
follow up. God's not even worried about what's happening. Look, some
people, they're not going to come to your church.
Some people, they're going this way, and you're going that way.
But you know what? If your paths cross, you have a special moment
in time where something had happened. You could open your mouth boldly and make known the mystery of the
gospel and get them saved. And you know what? It's probably not
this Eunuch's life, you
know, destiny to go to the church in Jerusalem, or to go
hang out with Philip. He's this person under the charge of Candace the
Queen. And you know what's even better? If he gets saved and goes back home
to what? Ethiopia, and he can preach to other people in Ethiopia the gospel.
And the word can spread and go on. And you know what? It also
tells me this. This guy, he went to church earlier
because he found him going to Jerusalem to worship, is what the Bible says.
Now when he went to worship, let me ask this question. Was he saved? No.
There's people that are seeking to worship the Lord, but they're not even saved.
In John chapter number 4, when Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well,
he says, you know not what you worship.
Because there's lots of people trying to worship the Lord. Look, there's churches everywhere. And there's people
that are sincerely trying to worship the Lord. They're trying to seek after
the Lord. And the Bible says, seek me and you shall find me. But you also need to seek the Lord
while he may be found. And the reality is, there's a lot of people
out there. They want to be saved. They're seeking the Lord.
They're trying to understand the Bible. But here's the question
that rings throughout eternity in my mind.
How can I accept some man should guide me?
If our gospel be head, it's head to them that are lost. And there's so
many people that are out there. They're seeking the Lord. And you know what?
You are the answer to their prayers. You are.
You walking up in the door. You know, I walk up to some stranger's door
and I preach them the gospel and they never come to my church. I still, I still
could be the answer to their prayers. What church?
He doesn't even have a church to invite them to. Their church has been made a havoc of.
Their church has been destroyed. Look, a local testament church has been decimated.
It's been wiped out virtually. But isn't
this a great chapter of the Bible? Didn't a lot of people get saved?
Didn't great things happen? And you know, we shouldn't look at a church and be like,
whoa, I just hope our church grows to trillions or billions.
Why don't we just hope that lots of people get saved? And you know what?
If our church grows to thousands, praise the Lord. If our church grows to thousands, then it shrinks
down to 20 again. But the cause of Christ is increased
and praise the Lord. You know, we should just make spiritual decisions in our life
and just care that the gospel is being preached. And at the end
of the day, no matter what problem you have,
your problem is not being hellbound.
Hey, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, your problems don't really matter
in comparison to 99% of this world or 95%
of this world that's hellbound. The only problem they've got that's
serious is the fact that they're on their way to hell. And they need someone
to guide them. They need someone to preach them the gospel. And you know what?
It doesn't matter who Philip is. It doesn't matter who it was that was going out and
preaching. It doesn't matter man, woman, boy, child. You know, you say, well, I'm nobody.
You know, I don't make any money. I'm a nobody in this world.
You know what? You're not a nobody in Christ.
You're an ambassador for Christ. And you could be literally the answer to someone's
prayers when you go out and you preach the gospel. And you know what? We're going to celebrate Easter.
And some people, you know what they're really hoping for for Easter?
That they have a big attendance at church.
I'm just telling you, ministers, pastors, they live for Easter
because that's when a lot of people show up for church because Easter is like notorious as like the day
everybody goes to church or whatever. But you know what I really want?
I really want our church to go out and preach the gospel on April 1st
and on April 2nd and on April 3rd and to go out and be
the answer to someone's prayer. And you know what? I hope we get tons of people safe
and you say, what if they never come to your church? Well at least they're going to heaven.
Hey, I don't care if the Lord whisk you away to the next door
and then you go preach to these other people and you say, well how dare you
limit church services on Thursday for soul winning?
Isn't that what God did in this story? Didn't God wreck havoc on the church and cause
people to go out so that people could get saved? You know, what's the point of having church
if we don't even preach the gospel? It doesn't even make sense.
We need to be a group of people that are zealous for the Lord and we
understand that this whole world is hell bound and you know what? More important
than educating them about how stupid it is to wear two masks
and how stupid Biden is and how horrible
our country is turning into a communist hell hole. You know what? It's educating
about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's getting them saved.
And you know what? There's people out there that are seeking but no one's there
to show them. This guy was seeking.
This guy wanted to know. There's so many people that want to get saved.
But if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost. You need to realize your value.
You need to realize your importance because at some point everything that you see
is going to be destroyed. It's going to be wiped out the face of the map and the only thing that's going to survive
is your soul and the souls that you were able to take with you.
But why do people get offended? All of the cares of this world. I've already read that.
They don't have any root in their heart. You know what? The best thing you can do,
the best decision you can make in your heart is to say I'm going to be a soul winner for the rest
of my life. No matter what happens.
No matter who I lose. No matter what persecution happens to me. No matter
how many times I'm thrown to jail. No matter how many times I'm beaten. It doesn't matter.
Hey, I'm not going to be separated from the love of Christ.
And you know what? The worst thing you can do is stop preaching the gospel. I mean if you
win the lottery and just everything is going great for you
and you get the house of your dreams and you get the boat of your dreams and you get
everything you ever wanted and you win the Super Bowl ten times in a row
but you stop preaching the gospel, woe unto you.
But if you lose everything but you keep preaching the gospel, blessed are you.
Let's go to some prayer. Thank you Father so much for your word. Thank you for this great church that you've given us
and these people. I pray that we never lose focus of the purpose of us being on this earth.
And the goal of our lives to go out and preach the gospel
and that no matter what happens to us, it's for your honor
and for your glory and that if we even suffer any kind of persecution it's really just
that we're kind of worthy in our sight. And I pray that we'd have the right attitude, that we'd be excited
when we're persecuted for righteousness sake. That we
would see the importance of preaching the gospel and that we would
be motivated by the love of people to open our mouths boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's go to our last song.
We'll do our little handout. Psalm 67. Let's do Psalm 67.
You can even follow along in your Bible if you want.
But the sheet music is a little bit easier to sing along with.
There on the first.
And sing for joy
For thou so judge the people
Righteously and govern
The nations up on earth
The nations up on earth see love
Let the people praise thee, O God
Let all the people
Praise thee, O let the nations
Be glad and sing
For joy, then shall the earth
Yield her increase and God
Even our own God shall bless us
God shall bless us and all the ends
Of the earth shall fear him
Let the people praise thee, O God
Let all the people praise thee
O let the nations be glad
And sing for joy
God bless you guys. You are dismissed.
Thank you.