Locking Up The Gospel

Let's pray. Dear Father God, thank you for Jesus, just

thank you for him. Thank you that we lived just

before he returns, and we have the glorious opportunity to

be active Christians like the early Church. In Jesus' name. Amen.

The title of the message is locking up the Gospel now.

Elder John dam had the sermon last week on Anonius

and Saphara. I'm so glad he preached on that instead

of me. That's a hard topic to cover, and the

Lord used it. I think he nailed it. The Lord

nailed it through his preaching. I'm piggybacking it. After the

death of Antonius and Saphara, the church learned to respect

the authority of the apostles and their individual duties as

Christians in the church. Something happened that transformed the church. Paradoxically.

Antonius is name in Hebrew means Yahweh has been gracious.

Imagine a man having a name like that treating the

Lord so ungraciously. Sapphira's name means sapphire. No doubt there was.

She was named after the blue sapphire stone throne of God.

In Exous twenty four that the Bible indicates the tables

of the Law were taken from that and strong rabbinical

confirmation of that. They read the Hebrew rtely, and so

she was named after the Law of God, the blue

sapphire stone, tables of the Law of God, the Throne

of God. And yet she was disobedient. Annonis and Sapphiad

died because they chose to misrepresent God by looking good

without being good. Did you hear me looking good without

being good? They withheld part of the field they promised

for the cause of the church in its early need,

and they lied to look good. What do we call that?

We call a lot of things called evil, narcissism, manipulative.

God was gracious to the She's been gracious to them

through Peter. He gave them a chance to awaken in

conscience and to confess it. But they just covered it up.

And so would happened when they dropped dead, because the

Holy Spirit brought them down in that active discipline. God

restored harmony after they died, and the church was healed.

And after the departure of Antonyas and Sapphire, the jewel

of God's bluestone sapphire law was in the heart more vigorously,

and even though they had lost two dear people, they

realized it was about the future mission saving souls. Acts

five eleven. And great fear came upon the whole church,

and upon all who heard of these things. Somebody said,

what it be? In great fear came upon the church. Well,

that's what the text says in verse eleven. When the

church heard what had happened. Luke records that great fear

came upon the whole church. It wouldn't hurt us at

times to have a great fear come upon our church's

discipline of those two evil church members save the early

church from becoming an evil and corrupt church. It gave

it right trajectory so the church would be dedicated to

the cause of God. God's interventions remove these two, save

the many, and discipline them for their challenge ahead. And

they revitalized. They looked at their values, and they made

good decisions. And do know on me ten twelve. The

fear of the Lord means to love the Lord as

so as to obey the Lord and keep his law.

What is the first Angel's message? If I were to

ask you what it is, what would you say? Just

interact with me Revelation fourteen six, and so on fear

God give him glory. When people read that, he say,

fear God. Who wants to fear God? Well, we need

to know what it is. Do know onmy ten twelve

take your bible's turn with me. And now, Israel, what

does the Lord your God require of you? I could

say it this way, now reaching hearts in national church.

What does the Lord your God require you? But to

fear the Lord your God? Oh? There it is the

first Angel's message. Talk to walk in all his ways.

And then he tells you what the fear of the

Lord is, to love him. To serve the Lord your

God with how much of your heart? All your heart?

So that means when we are called to serve God,

are we to be half committed or fully committed the

cause of Christ. That's a high bar, isn't it. Full

commitment is a high bar. With all your heart, with

all your soul. It means your life, energy, your passions,

your mind, your intellect. In verse thirteen, and to keep

the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I command

you this day. And then he says, for your good

obedience helps us, It doesn't harm us. It deepens our

connection with God. It helps us to form characters that

align with his so that His love, his grace flows

through our lives. The fear of the Lord is the

love of the Lord Lord. And when a great fear

came from the Church, a great love settled on the

Church and the fear of the Lord. The Bible also

teaches us that the fear of the Lord is the

beginning of wisdom. That was Solomon's teaching, his legacy, his

contribution to ancient Judaism and Israel, and so on. Proverbs

ninety verse ten. The fear of the Lord, he writes,

is the beginning of wisdom, and then he calls it

the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. To really

have the fear of the Lord, you must know the Lord,

must have a relationship with him. Here Israel, the Lord,

our God is one. You shall love the Lord, your God, Jesus.

This is life eternal, that they might know thee the

only true God. And so God is calling us to

be wise, and when we are wise, we come into

a relationship with God. The Church had experienced the true

wisdom that leads believers to respect God, so they will

obey and love Him rather than take his law for granted,

and to be Christians in name only and do what

they want. Now, I'm telling you there's a high bar

to being a Christian. When God bids a man and

woman come and follow him Diedrich Boenhoff for got it right.

God bids that man and woman come and die, die

to self, and live to God. I was just yesterday

looking at the video on YouTube of Sophia schol who

gave her life in World War Two, and I'm enamored

with those people in the last one hundred and two

hundred years who have stood for principle, who lost their

lives because they would not compromise the word of God

in their generation. And when I hear people say, well,

you know, we need to just do this to make

the church grow. Let's just do this worthly thing, that

really thing that doesn't grow anybody. All it does is

it prepares people for the fire. We must be in Christ.

To be in Christ means to have Christ, and to

have Christ means to love Him and keep his commandments.

The church had experienced the true wisdom that leads believers

to respect God so they will obey God and love

Him rather than take his law for granted to be

cheap Christians in name only, but disobedient as cause x five,

verse twelve. Now, many signs and wonders were done among

the apostles by the hands of the apostles. Actually, I

got that wrong. Now, many signs and wonders were done

among the people by the hands of the apostles, and

they were all together in Solomon's portico. Now, according to Josephus,

who was the Jewish historian who was there at the

destruction of Jerusalem in seventy a d. Solomon's portico was

on the eastern side of the temple. It faced the

Chidrin Valley, which was opposite, which was just beyond it

was the graveyard of the Mount of Olives. The altar

of the Red Heifer was at the summit of the

Mount of Olives. And the evidence from scripture is overwhelming

that Jesus died right there near the southern ridge line

of the Mount of Olives, facing the eastern gate, near

the altar of the Red Heifer. And that was understood

by Christians for three hundred years until Constantine's wife came

on board and started having visions and dreams that were

not from God to relocate it, and they realized that

one day the King of God would be on the

Mount of Olives, that God's feet Jahwe's feet, but Jesus'

feet would touch the Mount of Olives. And Jerusalem moved

from the old city to the new city. And so

here we find them worshiping, gathering in the Temple on

the eastern side of the temple, facing the Mount of Olives,

just like the Eastern Gate, the Beautiful Gate. They went

as close to the cross as they could get in

their worship of God in the temple. It was the

one spot where they could be nearest to where Jesus died.

Those early Christians tried to get as close to the

Cross as they could in their lives, their fellowship, and

their worship. Wouldn't it make sense if we did the same,

If we got as close to the Cross of Christ

as we could in our lives, so we would have

Christ in us the hope of glory. One Corinthians one,

seventeen eighteen. Paul says this, for Christ did not send

me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not

with eloquent wisdom, lest the Cross of Christ be emptied

of its power. And what he's saying, is it's the

duty of church members to work with me to prepare

people for baptism. I am to proclaim the Gospel and

preach and teach. Now I've noticed that reaching hearts. At times,

I can get very busy doing the work that many

of you should be doing. Does that make sense? God

did not call me here to manage this building, to

make sure it's cleaned, to manage the grounds, to manage

the fine answers of the church, which I'm not doing.

We have a good finance team. He called me to

preach and teach the gospel, and to study and pray

and do the work of ministry. Does that make sense?

And when I don't do my work because others don't

do their work, what happens The church suffers. So I'm

gonna challenge you, if God has put a burden on

your heart for ministry, to make a difference. The ministry

doesn't mean you have to stand in front of the

masses and do the Billy Graham thing, you know, and

he was good at that. It might mean you stand

in the shadows and do it no one notices, but

you make a difference to fill a gap and a

need look at verse eighteen. For the word of the

cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to

us who are being saved. How many of you want

to be in the list of us who are being saved?

Take your hands, pull it out of your pocket and

raise it straight to heaven and boldly say that's me. Okay,

who are perishing, But to us who are being saved,

here it is. It is the power of God. You know,

I'm not ashamed of the Cross of Christ. In my

precent teaching, I once had some people go after me

for that. In fact, does they have a number of times.

Why are you talking about the gross so much? Because

it is the power of God under salvation, Because we

are nothing without the Cross of Christ, we are everything

with it. Now behind us is a cross. A dear

saying one said, well, doesn't that look like a Roman

Catholic icon? I said, no, it looks like the symbol

of Christianity that stayed out there in the field for

years until this church was built. They threw popcns at

that cross, they knocked out the lights around the cross,

they defaced our cross, and when this church was being built,

they picked it up and they threw it on a trashy,

and we took it and saved it so it would

be right here. Because we are the people of the Cross,

or we are nothing at all. The Cross was the

nexus for wisdom in the early Church, because Prince Jesus

is the wisdom of God poured out on the cross

to save us. God doesn't want us to follow the

philosopher kings to be wise and saved. I'm amazed at

how often they come upon the scene, some persons as

I finally figured out the Gospel for the Last Days.

You know, if they say that they're wrong, if they

have an interpretation of the Gospel that they've suddenly come

up with that nobody else could figure out until they

figured it out, it's not the Everlasting Gospel. It's not

the Apostolic Gospel. It's not the gospel that empowered the

Protestant Reformation. You know, I cling to an old, rugged cross,

do you I cling to a gospel that's not new.

It's old, it has weathered the ages. It was good

enough to save Peter and Paul, and it's good enough

to save you and me in the final generation. I

don't need to doctor the God spell up so that

I can slip into heaven in a different way than

those who died in the stake in the Middle Ages.

I affirm with you that I am saved by the death,

the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, by faith

in Christ alone. As the Reformers affirmed, Could you say

amen with me? That is the truth. That is not

new truth. It's God's truth, the everlasting Gospel. So God

doesn't want us to follow new inventive theories. He wants

us to follow preachers and teachers who point us to

the Bible and correctly understand it. He doesn't want us

to bank on our education, our social status, our church affiliation,

as important as that is. There's a prophetic movement defined

in the Revelation. Our church is that movement. But friends,

if you're banking on the Church, but you're not banking

on Jesus, you won't get to heaven. You need Christ

to have your right placement in the church. We are

only wise when we cling to that all rugged cross,

and hear me, when we kissed the feet of the

one who died on the cross. For you, have you

ever kissed anybody's feet? Don't answer that question? All right,

All right, that was a tough question. David had the

future Jesus in mind when he commanded kings and rulers

to kiss the Lord's feet. Do you know this a

verse that says you better kiss his feet? Can you

think of somebody who was probably doing that as she

washed his feet with her hair? Mary look at Psalms two,

verse ten, and she was doing that because she realized

that she was a sinner. And right there with Jesus' feet,

there was something about grace there. Now David is talking

to the kings of the earth. Now there, for oh kings,

be wise, be warned, Oh rulers of the earth, serve

the Lord with fear, with trembling. And then verse twelve,

kiss his feet. And that's the Hebrew. Now Shah, kiss

his feet lest he be angry and you perish in

the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. In other words,

don't think that we worship a God who's just a

sympathetic deity whose holiness is not manifested in our midst reverence. God,

reverence him in your life. Kiss his feet, for his

wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed That means happy, or all

those who take refuge in him. I'm gonna tell you

right now, I'm looking forward to kissing the Lord's feet

every day of my life in prayer until Jesus comes.

We are wise men and women when we cherish every

drop of blood that will shed on the cross that

came from Jesus, nail pierced feet, and when we become

the people of the Cross, we become wise in the

only way that leads to true life. This is why

we should not be ashamed to pray in Jesus' name. Now,

I've heard all kinds of prayers. I'm not trying to

diminish any honest prayer. Sometimes we'll say in our culture,

in thy name, that's nice and neat, But that's not

what Jesus said to do. He said, we are to

pray in his name to his father. Why, because there's

no sweeter name in heaven or earth than the name

of Jesus. Every niece shall bow and every tongue confessed

that Jesus's Lord to the glory of God, and Philippians

too in Jesus' name. When we pray in Jesus name,

it changes us to be more like Jesus. The latesty

in church condition is such that end Time Seventh Day believers.

The Seventh Church is the Seventh Day Church, but not

all of it, because the Philadelphian Church is also the

end Time Church. It's not the majority experience among the

remnant movement. The latestee in Church is the majority experience

until the mark of the Beast hits, and we are

feeling it in Adventism today. The latesty in church condition

is such that end Time Seventh Day Believers have to

come to believe in everything, in any idea. But Jesus,

who is the Wisdom of God Christ, calls himself the

Amen in Revelation three fourteen. Most people don't. I'm the Amen,

the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God,

or the Arcade, the ruler of the creation of God.

And so the Sabbath points to the Creator. But if

you have the Lord, if you have the Sabbath, but

you don't have the Lord of the Sabbath, what good

is that? Now? Can I share a story with you?

It happened yesterday. I got to get permission on this one.

I went to a thrift store. I had been all

day working on the chiastic structure of the book Revelation.

I got it emailed out to a professor at the

at the seminary, and I felt so good, but exhausted.

Then had my sermon to do, so I decided to

go out and go to a thrift store, walk around,

I do a little treasure hunting. The day before I

had been there and the lady I'd met with for

years said, I had a dream and I dreamed about something.

And she says, where is your church and who are you?

And I said, I'm a Seventh Day Adventist pastor reaching

Hearts International. She says, God has spoken to me in

my dream, and she went really into this, God speaks

me in dreams. I don't argue with people when they

say that I don't know what's going through mind. She

was very honest, and when she was saying, she said,

I need to come to your church. And she said,

I know that. And she says, my husband was a

Seventh Day Aavist. And so the Lord has been working

on her for all this time, and I've prayed for

her on numerous occasions right there at the desk, and

after a number of years that surfaces. Now, that's not

the story. I went back yesterday. That was the day

before because I like going back to see her, encourage

her and the like. And she wasn't there that day.

And there was a man there buying something, very focused

on what he was getting, and I was trying to

find you know, what do I look for and thrip?

I looked for Rolex watches? You ever look for a

Rolex watch? I looked for a Rolex watch for fifty bucks. Now,

I found an Omega Sea Master that was almost solid gold.

I paid fifty five dollars for it. It was worth

over two thousand dollars. I bought that in a thrift

store and I gave it to my brother. He has

kept that watch. He can't believe he sent me six

watches since I gave him that one watch. Good investment.

Now here's the point. I was there and this man

was talking. He got right out of the blue he said, well,

you know, are you interested in the Bible? I thought

this is someone trying to witness to me. I said sure.

He said, well, if you're interested in the Bible, I

can help you a little bit. I said, well, what

church do you belong to? He says, I'm a Jehovah's witness.

Here's what I said. I said, that Jehovah's Witnesses, and

I ment every word of it, are such nice people.

They go out of their way to go to homes.

And what I respect about the Jehovah's witnesses is that

they share the Bible. They are witnessing, They're boldly trying

to share their faith. And I have studied for over

six months with the Jehovah's witness in my home. He said, really,

I said, yes, Doctor pack he used to be a

physicist at the University of Maryland. I didn't tell him

he tried to take one of our young people out

of the church. But I figured, why not engaging with

the Bible. Do we have anything to be afraid of

if we know our Bibles? No, and we should listen too,

So I mentioned I'd studied with him. Didn't go into

all of it. Then he said, well, what church do

you belong to? He asked me. I said, well, I'm

a seventh Abbodist Christian. And here's what he said, Seventh

abbost I have met a lot of them. They're always

into the law and the Sabbath, that's what he said.

I said, oh really, he said yeah. I said, well,

do you know instead of going after him. We don't

need to go after people. I asked him a question.

I said, tell me, do you know why seventh the

Avonist emphasized the Sabbath. Of course, he said no. I said, well,

I'll tell you why. They emphasized the Sabbath because of

the name of Jehovah Yahweh. He said, what do you mean.

He said, Jehovah's witnesses really prize themselves on having the

name of Jehovah Yahweh. Right, Jehovah's witnesses they won't even

pray in Jesus' name. They'll pray in Jehovah's name because

they don't believe Jesus is Jehovah. Very similar to the

anti Trinitarian movement that has come into certain quarters of

our church. It's essentially Jehovah's witness stuff. And so I

asked him this question. I said, dear brother, do you

know that the reason why we revere the Sabbath is

because if we were to not keep the Sabbath, we

would be profaning in the name of Jehovah. He said

what he said? Yeah, I said, God's law and God's name.

Same thing I gave him Psalms one nineteen fifty five.

I said, you know, they're in Deuteronomy six, when God's

law goes on the forehead in the hand. If you

go to Revelation fourteen, God's name goes on the forehead.

So Jehovah goes here, the law goes here. Same thing.

I said, So, what is Jehovah it is? He told Moses,

I am who I am at SINAI. This is not

in my manuscript. Do you mind? Okay? And then then

he said, what does it mean? It means God's character,

his nature, his law, is his name. It's who he is.

I am who am Yahweh Jehovah. And the ten Commandments

are a transcript of the character of God. I am

the Lord, your God who. And then instead of saying

I am, he gives us the content of what I

am means the ten Commandments. I said, so we have

to keep the fourth commandment to honor the name of

Jehovah Yahweh God. Now I've never given that kind of

explanation to Jehovah's witness in my life. The Lord was

helping me there he was beginning to ask, and then

he switched gears. He said, you know, pastor. He didn't

say pastor, because you know I was a pastor. He said,

you know, Jesus never commanded us to keep the Sabbath

in New Testament. And I didn't jump on that. You

don't when someone does that, you don't just jump on

it right away. And said, let me such a straight

I wait a little bit, is it? Yes he did.

He's where Matthew twenty four to twenty Pray your flight,

I said, Now he's talking about the time of the end,

long after he died on the cross. Pray your flight

will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. Now,

if the Sabbath is done away with, Jesus wouldn't be

saying that. He's telling us to have a strong prayer

life and to keep the Sabbath in the midst of

end time persecution. Now he got real nervous. Now, I've

noticed that when we witnessed, sometimes the devil sends somebody

by to interrupt. So sure enough someone came to interrupt.

Did you know that this is not exactly what you bought?

And this is why? And they begin to engage in

So what I do? I just stood there, and as

I stood there, I waited until they were done. His

wife was calling him to get out of there, so

the devil didn't want him to hear one more word.

So I said, look, quick, thought, the Bible says Jesus

is the Lord of the Sabbath. Right, he said, yeah,

I said, you go home, You get out your Bible,

and you look at the Ten Commandments. He says, what

chapter they in? I said, Exus twenty, verse eight and

so on. And notice in the Ten Commandments and actually

verse one and so on, but the Sabbath is verse eight.

Notice in the Sabbath commandment. What the Bible says, who

is the Lord your God? Now, if I already asked

you the question who is the Lord of the Sabbath

based on the New Testament, who would you say, Jesus?

Based on the fourth Commandment, who would you say? The

Sabbath is the sabbath of the Lord your God. And

the word lord is Jehovah. It's capitalized in all capital letters.

You cannot be the Lord of the Sabbath unless you're Jehovah.

Jesus is Jehovah. Now I didn't tell him that because

he was already beginning. You know, here's what he said.

He said, all I really want to do is get answers.

I said, be saved. I said, that's where I'm at.

I said, brother, I'm not here to argue with you

or to make you or anyone look bad. I just

want to find truth in my life. He said me too.

So here's what I did. I said, just before I leave,

I said, I usually pray with someone's but I said, sir,

would you pray for me? I had him pray for me?

And he prayed. And the reason I told him was,

I said, because I realized Jehovah's witnesses don't want us

to pray in Jesus name, So why don't you pray

for me? That's what I said. So he prayed his prayer,

and guess how he ended that prayer in Jesus' name. Amen,

And that was the highlight of my day yesterday. Jesus

is the Amen. He's the architect, He's the He's in

Proverbs eight thirty. That's the center of our Bible. He's

the wisdom of God in Proverbs eight. Who is the amone,

the Amen? It's trans a master workman, architect. He is

the carpenter who made the ark, who made anything who

made the universe. We told Noah how to get it done.

And paradoxically, he is the wisdom of God and was

a carpenter whose nails we have were driven into his feet.

Ax five twelve says that they were all together in

Solomon's portico. All together in the Greek language is the

word home of Thumidon. It means in one accord. They

were all in one accord in Acts one fourteen, when

they prayed for God to replace Judas with Matthias, they

are in one accord. And Acts two forty six, when

after Pentecost they gathered in homes to break bread and

to pray, to share the love of God with others,

they are in one accord. In Acts four twenty four,

when they stood up to the Jewish leaders who were

trying to shut them down, and they preached the Gospel anyway.

Acts five twelve is the fourth time Luke records that

they are in one accord. The discipline of the Lord

that had brought the church into one accord was his

discipline of Antonias, and unity wrapped around the cross, with

fellowship and soul winning and obedience empowered the early Church.

The Bible records that many signs and wonders were done

among the people by the hands of the apostles. The

apostles were among the people, and all the people supported

their ministry that were seeking God in their lives, and

God honored their hard efforts with miracles in the lives

of many. It took faithful believers working together with faithful

leaders to win souls for Christ. Now do you realize

that God is waiting eagerly to perform signs and miracles

in our community? Can I share with you one how

many of you been praying for a mamine of Brad

from the local pawnshop on our prayer tread. Jane remember Brad? Okay? Well,

I want to tell you what happened to Brad. I've

been calling him off and on. He had leukemia. He's

been for months tied up with therapy. Over there, JOHNS

Hopkins and his wife Beth was there at the shop.

I stopped in yesterday after I met the Jehovah's Witness

to pray for Beth, hoping she'd be there. And she

was there, and I prayed for everybody, and they bow

their heads in that place and it stops for the

prayer and Brad is recovering, and last time I talked

to Brad, he says, tell the people at your church,

whatever they're doing, it's working. Now does our prayer chain matter? Friends,

We should have that prayer chain filled with people we love,

people who can be baptized, who can be healed, who

can be brought to God. This business of getting discouraged

because we're praying too much as nonsense. Without prayer, we

don't get anywhere in life. We don't change the heart,

we can't convert, we cannot overcome sin. A church that

is focused on Jesus and the Cross and loving relationships

and service, others will experience miracles. Why not? Why would

God treat us any different than he did those early

believers who came together in one accord. Friend, Unity is

not uniformity. Unity is based on the fear of the Lord,

the truth of Jesus' authentic, loving service and obedience for

the Lord. And when we have that, God is with us.

One of the characteristics that the church was respect for

their Bible believing and Bible teaching leaders who were the apostles.

Now there should be no place in our ranks for

knocking ministers of the gospel, even if they're imperfect. And

I've struggled with that in my life. I've seen leaders

at times in our church who are unconverted men I

have and you can tell they are, and we should

pray for them. Sometimes we have to maneuver around them,

but we should not disrespect them. Disrespect leads to a

brokenness in our own lives and hearts, to where we

can be lost. And even when Caiaphus was messing with Paul,

and Paul said, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall.

When he realized he was the high priest, he says,

the lossays were not to do that. I'm sorry. So

what does this mean? X five thirteen None of the

rest dare join them? Look at your Bible in verse thirteen.

None of the rest dared what joined them? But the

people held them in what high honor? Now it's saying

here they didn't want to join the church. Did you

get that? Did you read that with me? It's not

on the slide. It means that people were afraid to

join the church in Solomon's portico. Why that's the question.

You know, inquiring minds won't know why, because they had

seen what happened Dan and Eisen's the fire. They realized

it was a high bar to being a Christian. But

you join that church, you gotta live like Christ. You

gotta live like the Apostles. It takes commitment to be

in the church. They had seen what happened to them

and their respect. In time into conversions, people began to

come in, and they didn't do this cheap baptismal prep.

They took men and women, young people through the Bible

in the Word of God, and they kept on doing

it high bar Acts five fourteen. And more than ever

believers were added to the Lord, multitudes, both of men

and women, so that they even carried out the sicken

of the streets and laid them on the beds and palettes,

that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might

file and saw some of them. Now think about that,

even the darkness of the apostles shadow was light in

the world. So don't think for a second you don't

have any light to give. In time, Solomon's Portico was

not big enough. The early Church became a movement that

broke out of the temple. In verse sixteen, the account

tells us that they entered towns around Jerusalem. The miracle

at the Beautiful Gate and the others in Solomon's Portico

spread into the communities all around. The church was no

longer in the church. The church was in the community,

healing people with prayer, relationships, truth Bible Studies, Life Ministry

Acts five sixteen. The people also gathered from the towns

around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits,

and they were all healed. Now what had been a

church experience became a community experience. Did you catch that?

So the church board here at Reaching Hearts does not exist.

So we can manage the lights all the time. These

kind of minor decisions is not why a board is established.

Based on the Church Manual, Elder, the primary purpose of

the board is evangelism. It is to promote the work

of God. They shared, they cared, they healed, and they

cast out demons. Now, don't think demons aren't all around us.

They are. Every time you go down and you go around,

you run by them all the time. They're invisible. They'll

work with people who will let them. Demons hide in

churches all the time, too, Do you know that? Did

you know that? And Sister White tells us that when

the pews are empty on the front, guess who likes

to occupy those seats? Demons? I thought that was an

amazing statement her writing well. I imagine when she shared

that suddenly the evangelistic meeting she was in had everybody

come to the front. That'd be a good motivation, wouldn't it.

This story so far is but an introduction to the

demonic confrontation that would follow at the hands of demons

in church leaders, unconverted leaders, the Sadducees look at X

five seventeen eighteen. But the High Priest rose up, and

all who are with them, that is the party of

the Sadducees, and filled with and what's the keyword in

your Bible, because I hope you have it open? We

don't have slides filled with jealousy or indignant. They arrested

the apostles and put them in the common prison. The

apostles freed the people from the demons, and I say

church leaders, the Jewish church, the church that had rejected Jesus,

not the Apostolic church. The apostles freed the people from

the demons. And now the demons moved on the Sadducees

to lock up the apostles. I think you look at

the evidence the demons were in. I'm working through those

Sadducees and named Sadducee. Have you ever heard the song

I don't want to be a Sadducee because there was

sad you see, I don't want to be a Pharisee

because they're not phair. You see, we sing that around campfires.

But the name sadduce comes from the Hebrew word zedek,

like you know Kezedakh, king of righteousness. Zedek means righteous

or just. The Sadducees were called the just ones. They

were the ruling class in Judea. That virtue signaled a lot.

They were very manipulative. The Pharisees were the conservatives. It's

not a good thing because they were conservatives without Jesus.

The Saducees were the liberals. Not a good thing because

they were liberals without Jesus. The just Ones, as they

were called, crucified Jesus for political reasons. They were in

power at the time in Jesus died. The Pharisees, for

religious reasons, worked with them to crucify Jesus, so it

didn't matter if it was the right or the left.

What the Bible calls the King of the North or

the King of the South. They worked together at the

end to kill Jesus. They'll do the same at the

time of the end. Now, look records that the Sadducees

were jealous. They were supposed to be religious and political leaders,

and yet these untrained apostles from Galilee, with all their followers,

had grown too big to ignore anymore. So the political

intellectual class took note of them. Satan working through the

left here, He can work through the right as well,

but the left here. Satan moved on the Jewish leaders

to lock up the apostles. But locking up the Gospel

doesn't work. In the Bible, God moves on angels to

do what men cannot do. When the Gospel was locked up,

the angels came down to earth to spread it all around.

And the book Revelation there are three angels in Revelation fourteen.

Are you aware of that? Our message to the world

is the three angels messages in Revelation fourteen. And then

there's a fourth one in Revelation eighteen that will follow that.

Those we are in the third angel's message. The first

and second have sounded, and when the mark of the

Beast hits, the third angel's message will have the loud

voice that deserves and it will look like the third

Angel fails and falters, we are told in the book

Great Controversy. And then the fourth Angel join with the

Revelation eighteen with a great and mighty voice which repeats

the second Angel's message, and the world will be gathered

in a dramatic way to be one people for the

second coming of Christ. So don't underestimate the power of

those angels messages. And our church was raised up to

proclaim the three Angels message. We're number three. The apostles

were locked up and locked down by the just ones,

the Sadducees, who were rotten to the core in anything

but just. These political church leaders of Judaism, not the

Christian Church, crucified Jesus, and now they oppressed the apostles

of Jesus by throwing them into jail. Has anyone here

have been to jail, Keep your hand down. I have

been to jail. I was arrested one night for throwing

a smoke bomb into a when I was a kid,

into a parking lot at a hospital and the police

just rolled up and they says, boys, get in the

car and said, sure, I made a mistake. We talked

our way out of that. They actually took us back

and let us go. I couldn't believe it, But you

know what. It's better to do the right thing than

to be slick, isn't it? Doctor John Butler, who I

believe God used more than any other person here to

put this church up. Doctor John Butler once told me

directly and we miss him when we were facing a

serious challenge at RhI and I felt pressure to overreact.

Here's what he said, Pastor Mike, God don't like ugly?

Say that with me. Come on, let's say with me, God,

what don't like ugly? I've never forgotten those words. That's

hard to live up to, isn't it. When things are

dark and bleak and you can't figure out how to

get out of a deep, dark dungeon in your life.

That is the very moment when God sends angels to you.

If you don't act ugly, if you don't get ugly

about it acts five nineteen. But at night, an angel

the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out

and said, go and stand the temple and speak to

the people all the words of this life. The apostles

have been driven to the temple by the just ones,

the sadducees, the virtue signalers, and the angel came down

to that dark, deep dungeon and sent them right back

to the temple. When you escape from a prison in

your life, you don't go back to the people who

threw you into prison. But that's what the angel said,

go right back there. Wow, they did. The angels clear,

Go and stand the temple, speak to the people all

the words of this life. Don't you hold back the truth.

Don't you water it down. Don't you say what you

think they're like. Teach the truth. The life that the

angel was talking about was Jesus. John calls them the

eternal life that was with the Father. In First John One,

Jesus says, I am the help me with that when

I have slides. I am the way, the truth and

the life. This life. The angel said, get right back

there and keep on preaching Jesus this life. I've asked

myself this question, why did the angel say this life.

Doesn't that seem odd couldn't even said the life he

said this life. Now there were this points to something

or someone that they could see or pay attention to.

I would bet you money that Jesus was right there

with that angel in that dungeon when that angel said this,

that they could see Jesus was in the lions den

when Daniel was there. He was the angel of the Lord. Well,

I can't prove it. I highly suspect that's what it

meant when said this life. Disciples went early to the

temple to start teaching and preaching this life as the

Angel had commanded. Jesus and the religious leaders didn't get

theirs early, and they didn't notice who was there already.

So if you want to be like the Apostles, you

come to church. What come on, help me? I'm not

only a few people are saying that if you want

to be like the Apostles, you get to church early.

If you want to be like the Sadducees, you get

to church late. All right, that's the Bible, it's not me.

And the religious leaders didn't get there as early as

they didn't that they should have, so that they went

directly into a committee meeting to have the Apostles dragged

out of prison to appear before them. But when they

went to get them, guess what. They went into the prison,

they unlocked the doors, and they didn't find anybody, and

so they came back and said, there's no one there. Now,

these deep thinking Sadducees were and here's the word, perplexed.

They were always measuring things by political outcomes. Now you

know we got a ten minute, we got a fifteen

minute late start here at RhI. Can can I go

just a few more to finish this thought up? Can

we get a consensus on that? And because it's because

our system went down and these dear men got it going.

Is that all right? I'm not gonna try to overdo it,

but I gotta finish this. So these deep thinking, saying

Sadducees were deeply per perplexed. They were always measuring things

by political outcomes. Friends, you can tell if a religious

leaders a man or woman of God by how they

respond to a majority. If they're always sticking their finger

or thumb in the air to see where the winds

are blowing so they can be liked, you can know

for certainty they are not a man or woman of God.

There are times when the apostles had to stand up

no matter what people thought. The Sadducees were that kind

of bad leaders. They cared about the masses. At this

point in time, a person appeared and told the perplexed

leaders that the Apostles were standing in the temple teaching

and preaching just like Jesus had done. They could remember,

and now their perplexity turned to sudden action. Acts five

twenty six to twenty eight. The capital guard went and

got them, but it says they were in verse twenty

six they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

And when they brought them, it says they set them

before the council, and the high priest interrogated them and

questioned them. And this would be the high priest that

killed Jesus, verse twenty eight, saying, strictly, we charged you

not to teach. And here's the keyword, this name, remember

this life. Yet here you had filled Jerusalem with your teaching,

and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Suddenly there was a crack in the damn. The apostles

had already stood before these leaders, offering them a second

chance before to repent, and they didn't take it. Here's

a third chance, they are right here with an opportunity.

You know, Jesus had given them a chance. They had

spoken before, and there here they are again a third

time in the total picture. And the apostles had boldly

declared that you leaders crucified the author of life. You

crucified him when you crucified Jesus. But these leaders didn't

care about the truth or the person who was the truth.

They just wanted to stay in power earned by lies.

They wanted to control the people to feel important. They

wanted to stop that crazy teaching that was destabilizing their

country and their religious culture. With the Romans all around watching,

even though all the people were being healed, the churches

in this country were shut down. Friends, for the first

time in American history during the COVID crisis. Am I right?

We lived through that. He chose at Rihi to be

wise and careful. We didn't want people getting sick. We

chose to keep the doors of this church open carefully

so men and women could be saved, and God honored that.

This was not an easy thing to do. But these

leaders back then were haunted by the murder of Jesus,

and these apostles kept speaking of his life and that

you killed him. Jesus became the ghost in your life

that they wanted to go away. Let me ask you

this question. Is Jesus the ghost in your life that

you just want to go away? I hope not. Friend,

Jesus is not a ghost. He is alive. The angel

said this life. Christ is the living one, and he

matters in our lives. John ten ten. The thief comes

only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come

that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I

am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down, He

is life for the sheep. The religiously said, you intend

to bring this man's blood on us. They got it right.

That's exactly what the apostles wanted to do. They wanted

the blood of Jesus to cover everyone of their sins.

They wanted the blood of Jesus to forgive these men.

They wanted these men to come to Christ. So they

spoke boldly the truth to them. But they didn't get it.

They rejected it. Peter delivered to those leaders the one

important principle that would guide any leader in the church.

It should be the test of a leader, the defining

test for leadership in our movement. Acts five twenty nine.

I wish I had on the screen, But Peter and

the apostles answered, we must obey God, you know the verse,

rather than men. Why don't you say that with me?

We must obey God rather than men. As soon as

Peter said this, he immediately started proclaiming Jesus to those

leaders who crucified him. Sometimes we don't appreciate how hard

that would have been to stand before those bloodthirsty politicians

who lied, manipulated, and bribed their way to crucify Jesus.

Only the power of God held them back from killing

the apostles. Right there on the spot, Peter preached Christ

into their faces, and Peter told them point blank that

they were guilty for murdering Jesus Christ, and I guarantee

you there were tears running down his face. Acts five

point thirty. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom

you killed by hanging on a tree Verse thirty one.

God exalted him at the right hand as leader and

savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

The word leader is the word pioneer. He is the

pioneer of our movement. He is the new Israel. He

is the founder of a new religious nation, the Christian Church.

At that point they got angry verse thirty two. And

we are witnesses, he says to these things, and so

is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those

who obey him. Now, if you want the Holy Spirit

in your life, what do we have to do. We

have to make a decision to do up to obey him.

Not the power to obey, but we decide to obey.

The Bible reads that they were enraged, and they cut

to the hearts, and they wanted to kill them. That's

what it says. At this point, a wise Jewish rabbi

named Gamellio stood up and calmed them all down. He

reminded them of two insurrectionists in the past, and he said, listen,

if you try to fight something that is of God,

it won't work. Leave them alone. Now. The just ones

couldn't help themselves that day. They took half of Gamellel's advice.

When they called the apostles, they beat them. Come over here,

they beat them. Now, the Greek word for beat means

to remove their skin. Have you ever been hit so

hard it takes the skin off of you. Those apostles

were beat so that it removed their skin. It was

like a lashing of Roman lashings. It's like, well Jesus

had they whipped them so hard that it hurt them.

They spanked the apostles hard for sharing Jesus. Paul said,

I have the marks of Jesus Christ on my body.

I've been whipped like Jesus was whipped. So were the

other apostles the next five forties. So they took his advice.

And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them,

and they charged them not to speak in the name

of Jesus and let them go. And so they were

bloodied up as they went out of there. Then they

left the presence of the council rejoicing. Now, I don't

know how to do that. That's the all the spirit

helps me. If I had been beaten that heart, I'd

be saying, oh, give me to the hospital right now,

er unit. But they were rejoicing because the power of

God had taken over the wounds. So you may be

hurt in life by someone, You may have been devastated

by a blow that cut you deep in life, But

dear heart, when you come to the cross, and you

face Jesus, it is time to rejoice for the blessings

God has given you in spite of those wounds. They

left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were

counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every

day in the temple and at home, they did not

cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. I like

the way the story ends. It's a true story. Every

day in the temple and at home, they did not

cease teaching and preaching Jesus Christ. Church friends, Let's get

busy doing the same thing at reaching hearts. Let's share

everything we know with everyone we know in our home

and outside our homes. Let's pray for people who never

come to church. And let's not be ashamed of praying

in Jesus' name. The Sadducees locked up the Gospel. The

angels have come down to earth to set it free.

Paul says, for freedom. Christ has set us free. God

has sent us the three angels Messages of Revelation fourteen

and the Fourth of Revelation eighteen. Don't you think it's

mighty high time we get the job done in the

power of the Holy Spirit. Dear Heavenly Father, I'm very

grateful today that you found a way for us to

broadcast with the challenge we faced. And Lord, I'm grateful

you brought John Carroll into our life, who was online

with us trying to fix this thing. And Father, thank

you that we had to open our Bibles today instead

of looking on a screen. We take that as a discipline.

Help us to grow in the Word of God, to

obey You, to love others, to live for you, and

help us to be about Jesus and not ourselves, not

like the Sadducees who are all about themselves, but the

apostles who are nambored with Jesus. The Lord, thank you

for loving us. Thank you for loving these dear people.

Forgive every one of them, cover them with your blood,

because we're all guilty of taking Jesus to that cross.

So Lord, put the blood on us. Help us to

kiss his feet every day in Jesus' name. Amen.