The Scripture Had to be Fulfilled

If you were here last week, you recognize we stepped into 21 days of prayer and fasting so that we can better apprehend the nature of God. As we get close to our public launch on February 25th and we're excited about that, but we're believing we need God to come in and make some adjustments for us so that he can do what only he can do. And so Wednesday is fourth day into that prayer and fasting and I get that call. We go out there and I look around and they left some stuff like the stuff you see right here. They left the pipe and Dr was pretty heavy- that's heavy stuff- but I looked and there were are things thrown all over the ground and I looked inside and they had not necessarily driven very taxy or carefully, so things were just thrown everywhere.

Some of the stuff was broken. And I remember Ry and another man- I don't know if he's in here right now- David Engel. They showed up right after me and I'm looking at the wreckage of what was intended for God's purposes through this church. And I remember thinking and saying to right man: we're not at war against flesh and blood. The Bible tells us that we are at war against principalities, kingdoms, Cosmic, .

Powers that we don't see with our eyes but that are nonetheless working against us. And I want to tell you the same thing. The enemy is working against you like. That's not a good thing. It doesn't feel good to hear, but it might.

It might help some of you who think that you're the problem. Yeah, there are things you can work on. We can all get incrementally better. Amen. Somebody, little hands, anyone want to get incrementally?

I do. I'm always trying to get incrementally better. Change a couple habits a day or a month, and you know I'm not as not definitely not a day. It takes me probably one to five habits a year. That's what I can do.

We're all trying to get incrementally better. But there is something you don't see that stands against you, that is trying to prevent you from apprehending the character of God and is calling on your life. Life. I mean, I believe it happens for you, but I knew in the flesh the other day that it happened for our church and so I'm looking around, I see all the stuff and I'm just. I was stressed for a moment, but those are the easy moments, right when you get attacked by spiritual powers and authorities in such a way- yeah, there was some dude who took it too, like he's, he's partially responsible, but I'm looking at it and I thought for a moment, wow, what are we going to do?

But then, in the next moment, because it was so significant, I remember thinking: what can we do? Accept, rely on God. And, in the same way, in your life, you've been trying to rid yourself of the dysfunctions that you think are plaguing you. That's not a bad thing to try to get rid of it, but at some point you reach your limit, and my prayer today is that, as we go through this message in Acts, chapter 1- and you can open there, if you have your Bibles or your phones, that you would leave here, recognizing that, while you have responsibility to, to get incrementally better, while you may be at fault for some of the wrongs that you've done in this life, there is an enemy that is Cosmic in nature, that is seeking to derail you when it comes to your calling. And so well, yeah, you've got a, you got a part to play.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

There's something happening that's not 100% in your control, and the beauty of recognizing that something's not in your control is you can. You can hand it to someone who can control the outcomes. So my prayer today would be that you leave and give God the ultimate authority over your life. So in Acts-, last week we talked about the first few verses in the first chapter of Acts, The Acts of the Apostles- is really what happens after Jesus, dies, is resurrected from the grave, hangs out with the disciples for a little bit, and then there's this thing called the Ascension, you know, like ascending right, like he ascends to heaven on the clouds in this crazy moment- and that was kind of what we preoccupied ourselves with last week- that Jesus ascends. The disciples are standing there and, they're wondering what to do next.

Now Jesus told him he said you need to stay in Jerusalem, and wait until the Holy Spirit's going to come. But the disciples were kind of struggling with that. So it took a couple men robed in white- I'll just call them Angels, Messengers- who looked at the disciples and said, hey, why are you staring into heaven? And, they said that Jesus is going to come back just the way that he left. And so what happens after that is, the disciples, they obey Jesus, they go back to the city of Jerusalem.

That City still exists today. But they go back to the city of Jerusalem and they find themselves in a place that we like to call The Upper Room. The way houses worked way back in the day is they would be kind of more like complexes than they are like a single family home. So they went into a space and in the upper room it would be- I mean, it could have been this size likely. It was a little bit smaller-, but they were in an upper room hanging out and the Bible says in Acts, chapter 1, that they were praying to God.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

They were, they were saturating that time in prayer. And I'll just say this really quickly, we're not going to preach on that today, but I just say it. When you don't know what to do, when you're waiting on God to do something, it's very healthy to saturate those moments or those seasons in prayer. When that happened the other day for us as a church, I'm sitting here like I don't know what to do. So you can bet I spent a little bit of time on every single Drive.

I drove all the way out there to South Buckeye. I drove back to the storage place to fill out a police report. I drove back here to check and see what we had put in the trailer, to make sure that we had some stuff for the weekend. Then I drove home and then I went home and then I was working on filling out, the rest of the police report and submitting all of the information, so that we could get some sort of reimbursement for what we lost. I was doing all that stuff and when I was going from point A to point B, I was praying because, while I've got some part to play, God has got to take over and control the scenario so that, honestly, he can be glorified.

So the disciples, they go back and they're hanging out in this upper room. They don't know what to do. They're likely, fearful of persecution because you know they killed Jesus and they were hanging out with Jesus. And so if they killed Jesus, What could do to this group of followers? And here in Acts it tells us that were there were about 120 people seated in this upper room- and the text that I want to spend time on right now- not the whole text, but just a little bit of a text that I thought was relevant to you all, relevant to this week and I think really, just ultimately- it might be selfish.

It spoke to me. It happens in Acts, chapter 1, starting in verse 15. While they're in the upper room devoting themselves in prayer, Peter stands up, and here's what the text says. Says, if you'll toss that on the screen, says: at this time, Peter stood up in the midst of the Brethren. A gathering of about 120 persons was there together and he said: Brethren, now hear this.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

The Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus- verse 17- for he was counted Among Us and received his share in this ministry. What spoke to me when I was reading that was Peter standing up. Now, if you've heard of Peter before, the word that I like to use to describe Peter- you might not know what this means- I promise I'll give you a definition- is impetuous. I don't know why that's the word. It's the word that I thought one time and it stuck with me.

Impetuous means he doesn't necessarily think before he does something like he really quickly acts. That's Peter. I'm a little similar to Peter, but as I get older, I plan a little bit more. Amen, somebody, you got to plan. But Peter, he's impetuous, that dude's just going at it.

He's the guy that when they're in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee and he sees Jesus walking in the distance, everybody else thinks he's a ghost. Then he recognizes: oh, this Jesus. He's like, oh, I'll just step into the water, didn't even think about it, he just did it and it worked out for him. But still, everybody else is probably like Peter, you should, you should probably maybe hold up for a second, maybe think through what you're going to do. He's the guy that's standing up there when Jesus is the- the word is transfigured, that's when his holy form is shown, and he's shown to Peter, James and John Peter standing up there with a whole lot of holy people and Jesus being transfigured.

He's looking at it. He's like, hey, it's good that we're here, maybe we should pitch some tents and hang out here for a little while. And you got Moses, Elijah and Jesus probably looking at Peter like you probably shouldn't have said nothing like this is a holy moment right here- take off your shoes, by the way, bro- right like that. That's Peter. Peter's the guy who is kind of emotional too, that when Jesus got arrested.

There's this little girl standing by him when he's warming himself by the fire and she says: hey, didn't you hang with Jesus, little girl? And she said you were hanging with Jesus. Dude starts cussing this little girl out because I, no, I wasn't. No, I wasn't. This is Peter.

And Peter, after hanging out with Jesus in his resurrected form for a few weeks, he gets bold again and when they're hanging out in the upper room, everybody's praying, having their quiet times, probably sitting there being still Peter's like I can't take this anymore. And he stands up and he's thinking about what happened with Judas. Anyone like, like you, you know Judas, right, even if you don't know what happened in the Bible. You know, when someone calls you a Judas, it's not a good thing, right, right, yeah, it's not good. Judas is the guy who betrayed Jesus for some money.

And Judas, we find out in a couple texts after this, he goes and buys a field. The text actually tells us that. You know he, he, he died. I'm going to keep it clean. Today y'all can read the Scripture if you want to know exactly how he died.

Is not very, it's not a very nice way that he died. He died. That land was, was- sold. And Peter stands up and he says: this thing that happened with Judas betraying Jesus and then dying later. He says it had to happen that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

And I want to tell you this because this is what the Lord spoke to me, me, whatever situation in your life that that is plaguing you, whatever that struggle is, whatever that thorn in your side is, whatever that thing is that you've been praying that God would relieve from you. I'm not saying it's good, I'm not saying it's not painful, I'm not saying that maybe one day it won't go away. What I am saying is: whatever that was played a part in getting you here, and I want to tell you this: some of the things in your life that you hated, they had to happen that the Scripture might be fulfilled in your life. It h picture what picture what Peter's saying here now. Peter's the guy that, in Chapter 2, is going to preach the message at a thing called Pentecost where there are 5,000 people.

So Peter might be standing up interrupting people's time with God right now while they're praying, trying to be quiet, but later on he's going to be the guy that preaches to 5,000 people under the power of the Holy Spirit and God starts to move in. People like Peter. Him saying this is pretty significant in my opinion, and he's thinking about what happened with Judas. Like he says, yeah, like it, it had to happen that Judas would take our savior and turn him over to people who would crucify him. Now, if I'm not thinking big picture here, I'm listening to Peter like, bro, shut it, bro.

We're still grieving, Jesus just left on the clouds and we're, we're still processing this stuff. Why are you saying that? You know that moment when you're grieving and frustrated. Now, I'm not saying you should be like this in situations with other people, but you know, when you're struggling in the middle of something and someone comes up to you and they tell you the big perspective and you're just like, I get it, but I want to hear it right, someone came up to me when I'm in the middle of some sort of grief about something that I probably shouldn't be stressed out about at all, and they said, Matt, you shouldn't perceive it that way. I said: thanks, bro, thanks for giving me your opinion, thanks for giving me perspective, cuz sometimes you're not ready for the perspective, right, like, like.

Sometimes you just need to sit there and process, and I bet a lot of the disciples were just sitting there and processing, but Jesus stands up. Hey guys, it's good. It had to happen that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, that he was crucified on the cross and that he's gone right now. Because you know the Scripture had to be fulfilled. This and I want to tell you- because some of you aren't seeing me as I don't know what your particular situation is, so I'm not telling you like that guy who should keep his mouth shut and just be there for you and like rub your shoulder while you're grieving about something.

I'm telling you, not knowing your specific context, it had to happen that the Scripture might be fulfilled. I look at this last week and I went from a moment thinking like whoa Lord, what are we going to do? CU, just to give you context, it was about $45,000 worth of gear. Yeah, I know, right, that's a lot. That's a lot of money worth of gear.

Some of it was donated, but it was worth that much, right? So it's a lot of money. I'm sitting here like we're launching in a month and a half like, oh Lord, what are we doing? And I felt like the Lord hit me. Hit me like I don't know.

It was like a bus of perspective. Right, I'm all about getting hit by a bus, apparently. He hit me with perspective pretty quickly and he said: hey, you've been fasting, you've been praying. You've been praying. I, specifically have been praying for a long time that the Lord would do some things to continue galvanizing our team.

I've been praying for a long time that the Lord would do something with some of those people who wanted to, get more invested with whatever way they could invest. And then this happens and I'm saying like, immediately, Lord, what are you doing? But then, like, an hour later, starting to realize because the team is galvanizing in a way that I'd never expected, because people outside of our church are starting to interact in a way that I never expected, and I'm starting to think like Lord, maybe this had to happen so that we might be in a place where we could actually, like, do what you want us to do. Maybe this had to happen so that yours truly could get out of his own head and start relying on his creator. Maybe this had to happen so that people could recognize that this is a force to be reckoned with, that there are going to be people who trust in the name of Jesus, because of what God does through this church.

And in order for those people to show up here, they had to hear about what happened to us this last week and they had to see that God was doing something, something that the enemy didn't like. And I'm not just trying to Pat ourselves on the back. I'm trying to help you understand that on our own we would be insignificant, but with God doing some really unique, funny looking things, like getting a trailer gone, you know what I'm saying- like with him taking some stuff that I can't say. I mean, I can say it's my fault. Maybe I can give myself credit.

Hey, it's good that this happened. It makes me feel better about the fact that I didn't put a like a hitchlock on the D thing. You know what I'm saying? I? I'm just saying I should have.

But when I look at this and I start to recognize what God's doing, I say, man, this, this had to happen, like that person that God placed in your life, that is challenging you and you're looking at it as a frustration. But God put them there on purpose so that you could have a New, reinvigorated Perspective. I'm talking about spouses- by the way, I'm not trying to like cod any like like your wife got put them there on perfect purpose and you've been ignoring them, your husband- God put them there on purpose. You might be ignoring what they're saying. God put them there on purpose and right now, I know sometimes it might feel like a trial.

Right, I'm married, I get it. I know what it's like. God even put those kids in your life so that you could know him at a deeper level and the thing that they're doing that's really frustrating you. God has anointed them in such a way that, if you allow it, it'll draw you near to him and it'll get you to the place where he wants you to be. The things in your life are not bad, so don't seek to escape everything that makes you frustrated or annoyed once in a while.

No, God put those things there on purpose so that, if you see them with his perspective, your life could be changed. And so when Peter talks about this stuff, it's a very unique perspective and the Scripture that he utilizes comes from the book of Psalms, and I'm not going to read it to you because I don't want to belabor or, sorry, I don't want to take you away from what I'm trying to focus on, but the Scripture he uses is a sign to us that maybe we need to start looking at God's word and try to understand that maybe my, my job is not to escape the things that are frustrating, maybe my job is to try to change my perspective and add God's word so that I can actually learn what God wants me to learn. And so I want to give you guys a couple Scriptures that I think require pain in order to be fulfilled in your life. The first one is the first one that came to my mind. It's in Ephesians, chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Why don't we toss that on the screen? Ephesians, chapter 6, my friend, there we go, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic Powers over this present Darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly places. That's Scripture. And I got to tell you, if this situation for our church had not occurred, I think many of us would have found ourselves in the place where we're just hustling, moving, doing and itet, and would have completely forgotten about the fact that this is real and that this is occurring. And for you, let this be an encouragement.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

I know you're trying to work on stuff, but as you're coming close to God, sickness is going to come in. As you come close to God, arguments are going to come in. Maybe it's with a spouse, maybe your kids don't want to go, or maybe you're a kid and your parents don't want to go. But you do not just coming to church but follow God. For years and years and years of my life there, there were a couple family members that just did not care about the fact that I was following God, and so in some ways I could have allowed that to derail me.

But I mean, God was good enough to keep pulling me in. We are not at war against flesh and blood, but against things we don't currently see. So even your job might be a struggle for you as you start trying to follow. Follow Jesus, one of the biggest, one of the hardest things for me. I just want- can I be real with you for a second.

One of the hardest things for me is knowing that God's called me to help people get from point A to point B, to get into orbit right in their walk with God, where everything revolves around Jesus, and recognizing that most people start with their lives revolving around themselves or their kids, or their jobs or their hobbies, and I could keep the list going right. And so I look at that and I get it like, like, even for me there are still things that I need to give over to God, and so when I, when I'm talking to people who were struggling and to speak specifically about the job one, like Sundays aren't off like they used to be, I miss the days when, when Sunday was just free for everybody, but now it's full of Club, it's full of, jobs, like work for people who have jobs that require them to work on Sundays is full of all the other stuff. It might be for you the only day you have during the week to get stuff done around the house. I get it, and the weird part that I have to struggle with as a pastor is: I want to help you get close to God and revolve everything around him, but I also identify with every single person is right now, and so trying to help people understand that man, these physical things actually become a spiritual hindrance when you don't put God at the center of your life like that. I don't want to tell people that, hey, you need to put.

Jesus said- I don't want to tell people that personally. Sometimes it's hard, cuz it's like man- come to church, read your Bible, follow Jesus, make the decision that is spiritually important for you and your family. I know it's hard, I know it takes sacrifice, but this is what God wants you to do, because I believe what this text, what that was up- says: that we are at war against things that are not flesh and blood, and so, in order to combat those things, what it requires us to do is to have the perspective toward those things. It only comes when we revolve everything around Jesus. That is the premise of this church- is to say: what does it look like when I take my family and revolve it around Jesus, my friends and revolve them around Jesus, my workpl and every other aspect of my life and revolve it around Jesus?

It looks like seeing things with Jesus at the center. But here's another Scripture that I want to give you. Go and toss up the next Scripture that I've got for everybody: John 10:10. Oh, I guess I didn't put the whole verse in there. That's my bad guys says: the thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy.

John 10:10

Sorry, I don't know that. What that those words got stolen with the trailer. I think the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Right now, we just got steal and I hope it stays there, but he's trying to steal your joy. He's trying, he's trying to kill your peace.

He is trying to get you into the place where you're not even thinking about what God wants you to think about. And when he does that- I need you to know- you find yourself feeling anxious. You find yourself feeling stressed out. You find yourself feeling full of guilt and shame about things that you didn't do, that you should have done, that you did, that you shouldn't have done, the thing that that person did to you way back in the day. That was wrong, but you feel guilty about it because you were still involved in some form or fashion, even though it wasn't your fault.

Like that is what the enemy does. He tries to steal from you the confidence that you have when you trust in Christ Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. He tries to take it. I let him take it. I wish I didn't.

I wish I could stand up here in front of you as a pastor of pastors, being better at life, but every other day I still struggle with, with the mental weight of not feeling good enough. That's just the enemy trying to take something from me that God has proven to me over and over and over again, like one of the things I get insecure about once in a while is whether God can use me to, in communication, to speak to people in a way that, would bless and benefit them. And the funny thing about it is I've had plenty of outside affirmation. I've seen God do things, whether it's when I'm preaching or interacting. I've seen all of those things.

Yet for some reason, when I go back to my house, I'm like man, I suck. I'm just being honest with you and my y'all pray for my wife, right, y'all pray for her because I say it's like man, I need to work on this, and she's like Matt. Can you just believe what God has told you in his word? Can you just believe what God used other people to speak over your life? And I'm saying that being vulnerable with you because I want to tell you this: believe this.

God has a plan for you that is more than you can ask, think or imagine. His purpose in your life is bigger than mediocre. God will do greater things through you than even what we see through some people in Scripture. That's what the Scriptures say, and if we believe that the Bible's true, then I want to encourage you. Believe what I just said.

God can use you to do great things. Now it's not just you, God's doing it through you, but what an amazing space to be. Let's toss on the next verse. You're doing a great job over there, bro. I just want you to know: all right, 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. So while I told you that there was an enemy on the attack, he's prowling around seeking to steal, kill and destroy. He's Cosmic in nature, so you don't see him unless you have the perspective to recognize that you're at attack on under attack by the enemy. Here's what I also need you to know: that while you're you're under attack, God's also on guard on your behalf.

He's for you, not against you. He takes. He takes what the enemy meant for evil and he'll turn it for good, and we see this in Scripture. I told you it had to happen that the Scripture might be fulfilled. I think our situation this week had to happen, that God's will might be fulfilled.

I think your situation had to happen so that you would, whether it's arrive here, open God's word, hear from that person and be moved in your spirit to start following Jesus. I think it had to happen that God's word might be fulfilled and I want you to know that a lot of times God allows something to occur, even intends it sometimes, so that he can do what only he can do. I told our volunteers, sometimes Jesus or God will wait a few days. This happens in John, chapter 10. It says that there was a guy, guy named Lazarus, who is Jesus's friend, and he's ill to the point of death.

John 10 · chapter mention

And so some of Jesus's followers send word to Jesus while he's off doing Ministry and say he's sick, we need you to come and heal him and make him better. And you know what Jesus does: he waits a couple days and then he goes to visit his friend Lazarus. Now, when he gets to his friend Lazarus, the text tells us that it had been four days since he died and then he raises him from the dead. I say this: sometimes God allows things to occur in your life so that his power may be revealed through that situation, because God loves nothing more than to take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good. God loves nothing more than to take that dysfunction that's causing you guilt and shame and, as You Follow Him, begin transforming you from the inside out so that he can turn it for good.

God loves nothing more than for someone to stand right up here and say: here's what I used to be, but now here's where God has me. God loves nothing more than to reveal his power through his people, by the word of their testimony and the truth of what only he did. The Bible says that his power is made perfect in our weakness. And if we're all strong, how is his power revealed? But no, it's in our weaknesses that God works.

It's in our struggles that God can turn things around. It's in the something, and so I want to encourage you. I do like I don't want you to leave here thinking this guy yelled at me all week or all day and feel bad about yourself. Yeah, there are things you can grow in, but ultimately, what God wants is to have a connection with you. In Jeremiah, CH 29 tells us that when we seek God where he can be found, he will be found by us, and I want to tell you he can be found in this.

I said this last week: one of our values is that we put God's word in our world. It's not just the world, it's your world, and I want you to comprehend what he says about you in his word. I just gave you a few Scriptures here about how man, if this Scripture is going to be fulfilled in your life, then it looks like the enemy is going to keep prowling, so that God can guard against the enemy. So I'd encourage you if you've never opened God's word. God's word says things about you that will give you confidence, that will inspire peace in your life.

They'll help you find the purpose you've been looking around for. That will give you an answer for how you should treat those in your life who aren't on the same Journey as you. The Bible is a is a book. It is a helpful road map that will get you to the destination God wants you to be. And this passage in Acts: it's about Judas.

Judas was a bad dude in the long run, and if God can use that, he can use whatever you've been through to help you get to the other side. But ultimately, this isn't. God is not getting you to the other side just so you can be comfortable. God is getting you to the other side so that you can be used by him.