When It's Over Means It's NOT Over

All right. So in a moment, we're going to take

up the Lord's Supper. And at that time, we'll

ask the deacons to come forward. But before we

do that, I want to just kind of illustrate this

for you. The Lord really laid it on my heart.

I think sometimes we have something we don't

understand we have. This really applies to our

young people, like Ariana, like Zoe. Hey, Zoe,

I'm going to tell a story that really applies

to Zoe. Are you ready? Okay, she says she's ready.

Carson, I'm going to tell a story that really

applies to Carson. Are you ready? Okay, here

we go. So when I was young, Carson's age about,

was my first opportunity to frost Christmas cutout

cookies. Take the cookie, still faintly warm.

Not warm, because if you do it when it's warm,

the frosting just rolls right up. The cookie,

I can slather the frosting on there nice and

heavy. And then, if it's a reindeer, you've got

to put a little red candy dot on the nose. Maybe

some brown sprinkling or yellow sprinkling over

the antlers. Maybe brown for the body. And then

after the first couple, you think, well, I can

make this a rainbow reindeer, right? You get

a bunch of different colors going on there. Or

I could just cover it with those cinnamon dots

because they're the best looking anyway, right?

And my grandmother was fine with however we decorated

those cookies. My mom and my grandmother were

in the kitchen. The smells were amazing. I was

very blessed to be a part of a family. Every

year, my grandmother would cook probably, 40,

50 dozen cookies, and then box those up, and

they would get parted out to all the different

parts of our family. And we would get our several

dozen cookies when that was done, and I would

eat a lot of them. Individually, they weren't

very large, but, man, they tasted so good. Now,

I was never allowed to help with the baking.

Not when I was 6, not when I was 7, not when

I was 10. Not when I was 14. And by the time

I was 14, I really wasn't super excited about

helping with the frosting anymore. But I was

super excited about feeding the cookies. And

my mom said, if you don't help with the frosting,

you don't get any cookies. So that's a deal.

So I helped with the frosting very faithfully.

Helped with the frosting in the spring. But I

never helped with the baking. Now my grandmother

passed away when she was about 80 or so. And

she passed the recipe down to my mother. And

my mother began to make cut -out cookies in relatively

large quantities. Now, she had less people to

distribute the cut -out cookies to. My grandmother

had 14 children, of which my mother was one.

But my mother only had me and my brother. And

then there were those relatives that lived nearby

or whatever, and they still wanted cookies, but

they weren't going to cook, and my mother would

bake them. And my mother never let me help with

the baking. I never mixed the ingredients. I

never measured the ingredients. I never baked.

the cookies to know exactly how long, what they

look like, take them out, or whatever. So then,

fast forward some years later, my mother's baking

the cookies, and she shipped them to us. She

lived in Michigan City, Indiana, and she'd ship

us the cookies in the mail, or blackmail us and

say, you've got to come see me at Christmas so

you can have your cookies, and we would go, so

we got ourselves cookies, so we could see my

mother too, right? And then they moved to Tennessee,

and then we would go see them in Tennessee and

get the cookies, and by the time we ate all the

cookies before we came home, we really shouldn't

do that, but it was... They were really super

good cookies. And so my mother was big into cookies,

and she'd give some. So then eventually Sherry

and I thought, and Sherry had a cut -out cookie

recipe from great -grandma. And there's a peanut

butter cut -out cookie recipe. I'm not a huge

fan of peanut butter in cut -out cookies, but

she kind of talked me into it, and over time

I began to like them almost as much as my grandmothers.

And one day I asked Sherry, I said, why don't

we make my grandmother's cut -out recipe? And

she said, well, what is your grandmother's cutout

recipe? Because, you know, I don't know if you

ever looked at this, but there are like a thousand

cutout cookie recipes. I mean, at least, probably,

I don't know, infinite number. And so we called

my mom up, and she gave us the recipe. And she

said, now here's a couple of key things. When

you do this, you've got to do this, mix the dough

exactly this way. It's got to stay in the fridge

exactly this long. You've got to cut it out exactly

this way. Put it in the oven for exactly this

time, at this temperature exactly. And if you're

using a gas oven, you've got to turn the tray

around. And, you know, we followed her instructions

to the tea. And I bet you can't guess what happened.

It didn't taste the same. So I called my mom.

I'm like, Mom, they don't taste the same. So

we went through the whole recipe again from beginning

to end. She said, do it like this. Do that. Did

you do that? Did you do that? And we might have

found some little things that we kind of like

cut corners on. So we gave it a try. And we baked

the cookies again. And guess what happened? They

still didn't taste the same. Now the truth is,

I ate those cookies when I was a kid every single

year. In fact, I can pretty much taste them now,

but I can't bake them. And if I bake them and

taste them, I will know that the taste that I

taste from back then is not the taste that I

have today. It's not the same. So that means

essentially what? My grandmother's cut -out cookie

recipe was lost. Even though we have the exact

recipe, if you online, you can get the exact

directions of all of those recipes. You can get

the exact directions from my mother for the cut

-out cookie recipes. Even so, my grandmother's

cut it. Now, you say, well, it's because my grandmother

baked those cookies with love. Hey, my mother

baked those cookies with love. And I'll tell

you right now, I baked those cookies with love.

I baked them for my kids. I baked them for my

wife. I baked them for anybody that would eat

my cookies. I baked them with love. I love the

people. Right. But never the same. So it's not

the love. Because they were baked with butter.

You say, well, it's because you were a kid. No,

they tasted that way when I was 14. They tasted

that way when I was 23 and lost. They tasted

that way when I was 28 and saved. So it's not

because I was a kid. The recipe is lost. I was

born into a family and blessed into a family

that had that recipe. And when I ate those cookies,

I knew it. I'm like, I can taste it. I taste

I'm blessed. I would eat a cookie and be like,

whoo! But, you know, it's not like I thought

about it like that. I just thought, man, this

is a good cookie. And then, on top of that, I

certainly never, I mean, I pushed when I was

younger, like from the time I was probably like

nine and I could cook myself my own grilled cheese

and things like that to the time I was probably

like 19. I pushed pretty hard to be allowed into

the kitchen to help bake the cookies. But I was

never allowed to measure. I was never allowed

to mix. I was never allowed to roll. I was allowed

to stamp some eventually. I was never allowed

to put them in the oven. I was never allowed

to take them out. See, that's what's different

about the kingdom of God. Zoe, this is what's

different about the kingdom of God. At your age,

you get to help. Carson, at your age, you get

to give input. You get to say, hey, I think we

should do this. Here's my opportunity. Right?

Last week, because of the crosswalk, we couldn't

do our visitation. We wanted to go and do flyering.

And so some of my grandkids were out there going

house to house. It's not an age thing. Right?

Being saved is being part of God's kingdom. So

if you're not old enough to know that you need

to accept Jesus Christ, and it's possible, for

example, Zoe isn't exactly old enough to understand

what that means, then they're in the age of innocence.

And they can work for God like maybe you or I

can't or don't even have the capability of doing

so because they just work unrestrained. They

just go after it, right? Whereas when they get

old enough, then they accept Christ. Now they've

got the power of God working in them, the Holy

Spirit working in them to help them do the things

that they do. But they are not excluded from

the recipe. They're not excluded. These children

can, and I've seen it on a number of occasions,

share a simple gospel truth, something straight

out of the Bible, out of the gospel, whatever

like that. In a simple, direct, poignant way

that adults struggle to do because they want

to complicate everything. We know that someone

might say, well, but what about this? Or what

about that? And so we hesitate to just share

the fact, just like what it is. But it just is

what it is. And we ought to get back our childlike

faith and just accept that it just is what it

is. When you do wrong, you deserve punishment.

You deserve chastisement and correction. You

want it. You need it. If you don't have it, you'll

continue to do wrong and drift further. Even

if it's a little wrong, you start with it and

drift further and further away until it's a really

bad thought. And so you literally do something

and you go, I would never do that. But I just

did. How did I get here? How did I wind up doing

that? And so this is part of what the Lord's

Supper is all about. The recipe for salvation

is this. Are we ready? The recipe for salvation

is this. Jesus Christ sacrificed himself. on

the cross, to pay for sins. And we must never

forget that single, most important ingredient.

And for that purpose, God gave us, through His

Son, Jesus Christ, in part of the Holy Spirit

teachings, the Lord's Supper. That we can think

about the body that was sacrificed for us. There's

that major ingredient in our salvation, which

is the blood spilled for us. And there's songs

that sing the power of the blood, and it is the

blood of Jesus. That pays to wipe away your sins.

The next time you sin and go, oh, thank God I'm

saved. God, I'm sorry. I repent. Turn to you.

Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Right? 1 John

says God was faithful. He'll do that. He'll cleanse

you of all unrighteousness. The next time you

do that and you're like, whew, sure glad I'm

saved. We're going to burn in hell for that one.

Don't forget, the body was paid. The blood was

paid. Not the body and blood of some dude who

was a sinner himself. Some bad guy who was good

one day, bad the next. Some parent that was up

and down with their discipline or up and down.

No. A perfectly righteous man. The body and the

blood of a perfectly righteous man. And Jesus

knew the propensity of human beings to forget

how important the ingredients are to pay for,

to create, to bake, if you will, the salvation

that is available to the entire world. And because

of that, he gave us the word supper. So that

we'll never forget. So today, Carson, when you

take the bread today, you take a little bit of

the square bread. When you take that, don't forget.

That bread represents the body of a man who loved

you so much that he died for you. That's a pretty

big deal, isn't it? Zoe, are you with me? Today,

when you take the juice, it's going to taste

good. That juice tastes good, doesn't it? But

when you take it, don't forget that it represents

the blood of a man who died for you. But not

just a man. God in the flesh. God the Son. Who

didn't have to die because he didn't have sin.

The waves of sin and death. He didn't have to

die because he didn't have sin. But he chose

to do so. He willingly laid down his life for

us. And if you live in a house of a Christian

household, hear me now, grandkids of mine. Right,

you're in the room. Adeline, hear me out. If

you live in a Christian household, you are getting

the blessing. Your parents are taking the hits.

They're paying the bills. They're putting the

roof over your head. They're disciplining you

when necessary. They're providing the strength.

They have been there. They have seen it. They

know you've got to brush your teeth or you'll

get cavities. I was just sharing that with Ariana

this morning. You eat certain foods, you've got

to either brush your teeth or you've got to rinse

your mouth or something because... When I was

17, I got 17 cavities, and I had them all filled

in one day. It was one of the most torturous

events of my life. Don't ever do that. They'll

tell you, we're just going to fill them all in

one day. Don't let them talk to you unless they're

going to put you to sleep. Just don't get the

cavities in the first place. How do you get it?

Take care of your team. And your parents know

you have to do that, and they've been teaching

that from the beginning. You're getting the blessings

of being part of a Christian household, but at

the same time, you have the Lord's help. We will

not forget. As we get the blessing of being part

of the kingdom of God, we will not forget. that

the two chief recipes, the two chief ingredients

of the recipe are the body and the blood, which

was technical. So if you're in the room and you're

sitting away from your parents, your child, I'm

actually going to meet your parents at this time.

I'll be right here. I'm not far away. These young

people are present. And if you don't have a parent

here, you're fine. You're happy. Alright, I'll

ask that our poor deacons, our poor deacons would

come forward at this time. This is a couple of

these men, first time they've ever done this

because they were not against previously. We

do have two both faithful yoke fellas and sometimes

we'll intermittently change them in there. But

we are going to tap, they don't know we're going

to do this, we're going to tap our yoke fellas

at this time. So I'm going to ask Michael, would

you stand and ask a blessing upon the bread?

In a second, I'm sorry. Before we do that, we

need to clear the cloth. Normally, my wife would

do that and pick somebody. So today we're going

to ask Alicia, would you come and do that? And

Molly, would you come and do that? And then just

remove the cloth and fold it up. Sherry's at

home watching this right now going... I wish

I was there. They have the same bread and juice

at the house this morning. We'll be taking it

before the supper with us. Thank you very much,

ladies. Ready? Michael, would you stand and ask

a blessing? On the bread. Father God, we want

to thank you. Thank you for this time. Thank

you for this place. Please, thank these people.

Your people, God, want to thank you for your

body having broken for us. Yes, Lord. Pray that

we take this and take it in remembrance of what

you did for us. I pray you bless us and instill

us while we do this in remembrance of what you've

done. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you.

around finishing up. The bread, you'll notice,

is unleavened bread. It is not raised. It is

definitely not like the bread that you would

buy from the store. Tony, if you would serve

the other deacons and myself. Jesus, clearly

already knowing what he was about to go through

that night, took that bread. He pronounced a

blessing on it, as we have. He broke it. He said,

this is my body, which is broken for you. Always

do this in remembrance of me. Now take and eat.

Let me take a second. At this time, I'll ask

Ron Mack to pronounce a blessing on the Jews.

Father, thank you for this opportunity. As we

partake in the Lord's Supper, I pray, Lord, that

we will remember the blood that was spilled for

us on that day. As the song goes, Lord, there

is power in the blood. Because that blood was

freely given. It wasn't forced. You could have

changed the outcome at any time. You had the

power. But you willingly sacrificed it for the

joy that was accepted for you. I ask a blessing

now upon everybody in this room that we would

experience you in a You empowered the way today.

Bless this. Bless this Lord's Supper. In Jesus'

name. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. In my mind,

I always see the imagery of juice pouring one

to another, and I see the blood and the water

that flows from our Savior. But the truth is,

he began to bleed a lot before that. He began

to bleed. in the garden the night before when

he prayed so fervently. Can you imagine being

faced with your own crucifixion? Knowing that

it was a great ingredient in the salvation that

was prepared for all mankind and all you could

do was go through it. Like when the dentist is

about to give me one shot, I'm like, ah! It's

crucifixion. You know, I have a split second

before a softball hits me and I'm unprepared.

Oh no, here comes Kane. He was praying about

his crucifixion. His blood would be poured out

for us. He took the blood on that night when

they were eating together and probably poured

it from one to another. He blessed the juice,

the wine, very little difference. And he said,

this is my blood, just pour it out for you. In

taking this, do so in remembrance of me. Take

now and drink. ascension of Jesus in Acts chapter

Acts 1 · chapter mention

1. In Acts chapter 1, Luke, who was not an apostle,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

people always do so, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,

and we think, well, he must have been an apostle,

but he was not an apostle. He joined the ministry

sometime later, probably a doctor, a man of medicine,

a learned man, and he investigated thoroughly

the activities that took place during Jesus'

lifetime. And then in the book of Luke and in

the book of Acts, he lays out a history as accurately

as he is capable of doing and also inspired by

the Holy Spirit, of course, of what transpired

up to the crucifixion during the gap in between

when there was a crucifixion resurrection and

during the gap in between there and when Jesus

went back to heaven to stay. And we are now in

the gap. Before I get there, I want to kind of

illustrate the principle that I think the Lord

kind of was pushing on me as I was looking at

this text. Some years ago, we had gamers. We

are gamers. We play role -playing games, card

games, board games, all kinds of games. We like

games. If you go to my house, I have 100 games.

I probably have 200 games. We had gamers over

at our house playing games. Quite a few people

were there actually. Stay till about 1030 or

so. It was time to be done. All the games were

over and put away. And then it was time to clean

up the mess. Because invariably, while people

play games, they eat snacks. And there was bits

of snacks and there was paper plates and there

was cups and the tables had been moved around

and pillows were in odd places and even a chair.

And there were a few faithful servants who stayed

to clean up because they realized. That sometimes

when an event or a thing is over, life goes on

afterwards and you have to prepare for it. After

all family fellowship on Friday the 18th, there

were tables to be put away, chairs to be put

away, dishes that had to be washed. Holly stood

at the sink washing dishes for probably 45 minutes

straight. The building had to be returned to

usable status because Friday is not that far

away from Sunday. And even though cleaning was

slated for Saturday during the day to get us

ready for Sunday, there was still work that needed

to be done even so we could get ready to clean.

And some stayed to do the work of cleanup because

they realized that because the event is over,

the building has to return to whatever is going

to go next. One time we went to a football game

to listen to Alicia play in the marching band,

and we stayed to the very end of the football

game, even though the game was not a nail -biter.

Northwood was up by like 50 points. And as we

walked out, I noticed there were popcorn and

empty bottles like everywhere. The garbage can

was overflowing. People had stuffed as much as

they possibly could in there. There was garbage

sticking out in every direction and piled up

on top and then laying on the ground all around

it. And as we were leaving and the marching band

had already marched off, the football team was

gone and there were very few fans left, I saw

just a couple of people, I believe they worked

for the school, working their way through the

stands picking up the mess. And I thought, this

is going to be a big job. Someone was doing the

job of cleaning up and getting ready for what

comes next. I walked the fairgrounds the day

after a fair and a flea market was over. There

was garbage plentiful, snacks again. People tend

to leave a trail behind them wherever they eat

snacks. But also, people selling in the flea

market that had stuff that they didn't want to

pack back up and take home had placed the stuff

next to the garbage receptacles. There was furniture,

suitcases, I remember, all kinds of stuff just

piled up next to the garbage can because they

didn't want to take it home because for them

the event was over and they were going on to

the next thing. but they didn't realize that

someone was going to have to return the fairgrounds

to use for the next thing, or they just thought

somebody would take care of it. The bottom line

is that people leave an imprint wherever they

go. The activities that people engage in leave

a footprint and a lasting effect. Jesus knew

that his physical absence, he was about to leave

physically from the earth to go be in heaven

with the Father. His physical absence from among

people would leave a huge vacancy. and also had

left a huge impact. So now we see in this text,

and it's going to go by rather quickly, we have

exactly two texts today, and I might quote a

couple others, but we're only going to look at

two texts today, and they're going to go by pretty

quickly. So I hope you got your thinking caps

on. We see in this text that he is preparing

them to deal with what comes next, because he

physically is not going to do it himself. This

is what it says then in Acts chapter 1. It says,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about

all that Jesus began to do and teach. So our

best understanding is this is Luke writing, and

he's writing to Theophilus, and he's saying,

We got the story started. I gave it all to you.

It's already done. And probably in reference

to the book of Luke. Then he says in verse 2,

he says, Until the day when he, that's Jesus,

was taken up to heaven, after he had, by the

Holy Spirit, given orders to the apostle, to

the apostles whom he had called. So now he's

saying, I wrote all that leading up to this point

now where Jesus would go back into heaven. He

hasn't yet, but we're written, we're back into

heaven. And how Jesus had taught them in preparation

for that. Notice that here, when it says that

he had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the

apostles whom he had chosen, that it's talking

about essentially like three things. It's talking

about an empowering, that Jesus was empowered

while he was alive to do the ministry that he

was doing. By the Holy Spirit. He said, well,

he didn't really need to be empowered because

he was God in the flesh. And that's true, but

he was also in the flesh. And so our bodies are

not necessarily designed after post -fall, after

things have fallen apart. We're not able to contain

the God of the universe. That's a different kind

of a thing. And so the Holy Spirit makes... Him

able as a man to do what he was doing and makes

us able as people to do what we're doing. It

also says that he was guiding him. He taught

them by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit showed

him on a regular basis what to say and do. He

said, I don't do anything that I see my father

doing. The Holy Spirit was right there making

clear what it was that he was supposed to be

doing, what it was that he was supposed to be

saying. And also inspiring him. And the word

inspiring is a big word because it means like

to breathe into something. And so the Holy Spirit

was breathing life into the body of Jesus. When

we think about how he said, I have food that

you know not of, that's when he's talking to

the Samaritan woman by the well. Or when he goes

into the desert and fasts for 40 days without

food, which we believe, scientifically, our bodies

can't do that. If we go without food for 40 days,

you'll probably die well before then, in fact.

But when Jesus did that, he was receiving and

inspiring a pouring out in him of God's power

through his Holy Spirit. Verse 3 then says, To

these he also presented himself alive after his

suffering. He's talking about the disciples,

the apostles, the 11 and then 12. He presented

himself alive after his suffering by many convincing

proofs. That's an interesting phrase when you

think about it because it would be hard, wouldn't

it? Now you see Jesus die and then see Jesus

alive after that. It would be hard to accept

that he's alive again. That's kind of a tough

thing. In fact, it's tough now for people who

are lost to suddenly come to this. the realization

that Jesus is alive, right? People say, oh yeah,

he lived, he died, and they say he rose again.

And that's how that usually goes. But once you're

saved, you know he rose again because you've

had a personal experience with him. But then

even on days where it's dark or struggling or

you're in the middle of difficulty, you start

kind of wavering a little bit on your adamant

sensation that he is alive. So he, by many convincing

proofs, showed them that he was alive. He appeared

to them over a period of 40 days, and speaking

of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

So basically he was teaching them about the kingdom

of God while he was appearing to them over and

over and over again and spending time with them.

Verse 4 says, Gathering them together, he commanded

them to leave Jerusalem. Now you're going to

go out. But then he commanded them not to leave

Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had

promised. So you're going to go out, that's what

an apostle is, a sent one, but you're not going

to go out until God sends what he has promised.

Gathering them together, he commanded them not

to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the

Father had promised, which he said, you heard

of from me. In other words, I already told you

about this. You already knew this was going to

happen. For John baptized with water, but you

will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many

days from now. So he was talking about a coming

of the presence of the Holy Spirit, an immersion.

We'll get back to that in a second. Something

that would happen on the inside of them. Water

baptizes the outside and it's an immersion being

dunked. It's completely encasing you, right?

And if you breathe in, it would literally go

into your lungs because you're totally underwater.

But the Holy Spirit would be an immersion, something

different. Verse 6, we're almost done with the

text. So when they had come together, they were

asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time

you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? Now

before I get into this for a second here, see

what just happened there? Jesus is saying, you're

going to stay here in Jerusalem for a while,

and then God's going to pour out on you what

I already promised you he would pour out on you,

which is the Holy Spirit, a living water, a powerful,

upcoming, empowering from the inside of you,

God's presence, all of those things that it would

be, that he's taught them that it would be. And

their response is to ask him, Lord, is it at

this time you're restoring the kingdom to Israel?

Because people are more concerned about their

situation than they are about what God is doing.

People are more concerned about their heritage,

their family values, their culture, the flow

of their money, the way they think they're going

to get what they think they need than they are

about what God is doing. He's already been teaching

them about it. outpouring, and let's say it this

way, an inpouring of the Holy Spirit. He's already

been teaching. He's already told them that very

clearly. And now he's saying, you're going to

stay here until that happens. And they go, is

it at this time that you're going to restore

the kingdom to Israel? He said to them in verse

7, it is not for you to know times or epics which

the Father has fixed by his own authority. Now

he didn't say no, and he didn't say yes. He said,

what I want you to do is get off your petty concerns.

It doesn't seem petty. The nation is enslaved.

There were laws, for example, if a Roman soldier

was walking along the road and he had a heavy

military pack on, weighs 40, 60 pounds, and he

bumped into a Jewish citizen, he could grab that

Jewish citizen and he could say, hey you, carry

this, and he could put his pack on him and make

him walk the next mile. The law said he could

walk the next mile carrying that man's military

pack and the man could not refuse. They were

in slavery. It's a pretty big deal. They didn't

have an army. They couldn't make their own laws.

They couldn't put to death somebody who was guilty

of a capital crime. The Romans had to do that

so they could go and petition, which is why they

had to go and petition to put Jesus to death.

And Pilate had to give them the authority to

do so because they didn't have the authority

to kill even a mass murderer in their midst.

They couldn't really enforce any of their laws

unless those laws were specifically said to be.

Religious laws. Because the Roman government,

the emperor, had recognized Judaism as a religion.

So inside Judaism, they could do things. But

otherwise, they were in slavery. It's a pretty

big deal. Imagine if our nation were conquered

by another country. Or if our church were invaded

by Satan. We would want that dealt with. And

God says, okay, the Holy Spirit power is going

to come. And you're like, okay, but are we going

to get the solution that we need? Will the money

come in? Will the bill be paid? Lord? Yes, I

hear you want to heal me. You want to make me

perfect. You want to take me to heaven one day.

It's all good things. I'm glad for all that.

But are you going to fix my problem? Are you

going to solve this very major issue that is

lingering? And he says, redirect your attention.

Take your focus off the things of this world

that you're concerned about, whether they be

nations or principalities, whether they be powerful

things that are affecting you, enslaving you,

hurting you. Take your focus off of that and

look at what God wants to do. So he says, it

is not for you to know the epics or the times

which the Father has set in his own authority.

And then in verse 8 he says, but you will receive

power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

As he's been saying, you will receive the power

when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you shall

be my witnesses. And we could stop right there

for one second and clarify when he says you shall

be my witnesses. The word there is martyro. And

it was fully understood. He's been teaching it

since Luke 9, right? He's been teaching it all

along that their lives were essentially forfeit

to do the work of God. And so that's why it makes

it all the more stupid. If your life is forfeit

to do the work of God when you become a believer,

that is essentially what it says. Deny yourself.

Take up your cross. That means be willing to

be crucified if necessary. What else can take

up your cross mean? Even though you want to make

it poetic in this world and say, we've got to

bear my own burdens. So my burden is my wife

doesn't treat me nice or my house doesn't get

clean on time. That's not your burden. Your burden

is crucifixion. The same as Jesus' burden. It's

talking about his cross. And everybody in that

day understood. Taking up your cross meant you

were being crucified. Okay, so he said, deny

yourself, take up your cross, and follow after

me. So if their lives were sacrificed, then how

on earth did they come about going, okay, but

are we going to see the kingdom restored to Israel

at this time? The great political advantage that

we thought we would get, our situation changed.

And he says, but you will receive power when

the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall

be my witnesses, and that's martyro. That means

you will even, if necessary, die for me. And

we know for them, for everyone that was gathered

that day, it was except the Apostle John. And

the truth is they all would eventually die, even

if they died of old age, for him, if they lived

for him to the end. And so will you. If Jesus

does not come again in the next hundred years,

everyone in this room who believes in Jesus as

Lord and Savior will die for Jesus. You will

die for the Lord. So how are you going to die?

And not only that, how are you going to live

until you die? Because if Jesus does not come

again, you will die for him. If Jesus comes again

in, say, ten years, some of us will live for

that long or would live for more. And when Jesus

comes again, we will not die. Not see any death.

No cancer, no disease, no car hits us, no gun

to the head. Right? Nothing. If Jesus comes again

before we die, then we will essentially not die

for him, speaking of life or death. But you die

for him still in that you are willing daily to

set your own desires aside and put his first.

And that's what it means to be a witness for

the Lord. And they were being told that. And

you shall be my witnesses. And right there, they're

going, yeah, sure. We'll witness for you. Especially

if we're going to get power from the Holy Spirit.

That sounds logical, right? I'll witness for

you if I get power from the Holy Spirit. That

makes perfect sense. Because they had seen the

empowering of the Holy Spirit at work in him.

So now it makes sense. If they also have the

Holy Spirit living in them, that they'll be able

to do amazing things like he can. And that makes

perfect sense. We'll be witnesses for you. And

then he adds this. He says, and you will do so

both in Jerusalem. That makes sense. That's home,

right? We'll be here. We'll do it in Jerusalem.

And in all Judea. It's a bit of a walk, but we

can do that. That's no real problem. And Samaria,

now wait a minute. A devout Jewish man doesn't

go to Samaria because those people are half -breeds.

A devout Jewish man, not all the disciples were

devout Jewish men, but some of the ones that

were were going like, ah, but we go around Samaria.

We don't go to Samaria. When we go that way,

we go around Samaria. But now you're going to

be my witnesses in all Samaria. So, okay, now

we're going to go where we're uncomfortable.

We're going to go where it's going to be difficult.

We're going to go where the rest of the Jews

are going to look down on us because we go there

to talk. Right? Because we go there to do what

Jesus has commanded us to do, but we've got to

do it because he says we'll be our witnesses

both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and

that that wasn't bad enough, and they're going,

ooh, got to go where it's uncomfortable. But

now he says, even to the remotest parts of the

earth. Now, this is a pretty common phrase, Acts

1a, and people have talked about it a hundred

different ways. I don't want to drill down on

it too much, but this is what I want you to see

today. When he said that, they knew without a

doubt. For the first time ever, without a doubt,

that the mission would be a lifelong mission.

The apostles were no longer thinking, Jesus is

going to go back to heaven, kingdom is going

to come back to Israel, it's all going to change,

massive changes, etc. And it's all going to be

done. No, if we are going to be your witnesses,

we 12 are going to be your witnesses, then we...

We're going to go to the remotest parts of the

earth? Like you can't get there in less than

40 days. It's going to take over a month for

us to even get there just one time. But then

we're going to get there and we're going to pronounce

it and then turn around and come back home. That's

a month and a half, two months minimum. But we

have to go there and tell everybody? So this

became a lifelong mission. So here's a few things

in here that I want you to see. The first one

is Jesus is preparing them for his prolonged

physical absence. And he's laying out a pretty

clear plan. When the party is over and the event

is done, in this case that's the crucifixion,

burial, and resurrection of Jesus. When that

is done, there are things that still have to

be done. And he's laying out a pretty clear plan

for what that looks like. God's Holy Spirit will

come and live in you and you will take this message

that I have been presenting to you, all of my

teachings, you will take them. to everywhere

on the earth. In preparation for this, as he

says he was going to have a prolonged physical

absence, but he's laying out a pretty clear plan,

he convinces them of the truth. The truth. The

number one truth. Looking at this text, do you

know what the number one truth was that he was

convincing them of? It says that he gave abundant

evidence. What was he convincing them of? Over

and over again. Do you remember it from what

I read? I'll go back. And to these, he presented

himself alive after his suffering by many convincing

proofs. He was convincing them that he was alive.

And the great part of the gospel message today

is that Jesus is alive. And extended off of that,

it makes perfect logical sense. If Jesus is alive

after his death, then what happens to Dan after

Dan's death? Dan will be alive, right? But you

have to be convinced that he's alive. Can you

say Jesus is alive? Let's do that. Okay, we're

going to stop right now. This is not a rhetorical

question. I'm asking you to participate with

me. Let's say Jesus is alive on the count of

three. Ready? One, two, three, go. Jesus is alive.

Now, could you not say it? Was there anybody

in the room? I want you to be boldly honest.

Just boldly honest with me right now. Anybody

in the room who, A, could not say it, raise your

hand if you just couldn't do it. You're frozen.

Right now, we're going to fix it. Anybody? Nobody.

All right, good. That's good. Now, is there anybody

in the room that when they said it, doubted it?

And it's okay if it's the case. If that's the

case, we're going to fix it right now. Is there

anybody that doubted when they said Jesus is

alive? Raise your hand if it's true. We'll fix

it. Okay. Now, see, you know why that's true?

You know why we can say it and know that it's

true? Because Jesus convinced the apostles. And

the apostles, who were, many of them were devout

Jewish men, became what we would call Christians.

They became the first church with the mission

of taking the gospel to the entire world, even

willing to die to deliver the truth that Jesus

Christ died on the cross, buried in the grave,

and on the third day rose again. That is the

basics of the gospel. And if you can't deliver

any other message to anyone who will possibly

listen in your life, you've got somebody who's

cussing you out and just saying, hey, I've got

one thing for you. Jesus was the Christ. He lived.

He died on the cross. He was buried. He rose

again. And we're like, but F this and that and

you're this and that. Jesus goes straight to

the truth. You don't need to convince them they

shouldn't be acting that way. You don't need

to take what they're saying to heart. Go straight

to the truth. Jesus. lived, died, was buried,

and rose again. Give him that at least. In fact,

the next time you're running from some guy with

a baseball bat, yell that over your shoulder.

Because someday, that guy's going to go to hell.

And he needs the ingredients of salvation lest

he burn in hell for eternity. Before you say

he deserves it, so do we. Jesus convinces them

of the truth. He is alive. He warns them of their

need to stand. This is going to be a long journey.

Stick near me. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Let

Him work through you. He lays out the mission.

What will they be doing? They will be living.

Oh, I wish it stopped there, but it doesn't,

does it? And dying for Jesus. There's a lot of

people who get saved. They get saved and they're

like, I received a great blessing. I am receiving

the free gift of salvation. I'm totally paid

for it. I don't have to do nothing. Yay, me.

Go to heaven now. All true to an extent, assuming

you realize to be a follower of the Lord Jesus

Christ is about living and dying for Jesus. He

lays out the mission. What will they be doing?

They will be living and dying for him to the

uttermost parts of the earth. He explains God's

provision, his power, how the Holy Spirit will

come in them and empower them as he did Jesus.

His presence, how he will remain in them and

with them and never leave them. That's the end

of Matthew. And he's been talking about it for

40 days. My presence will be real with you even

though I'm not physically walking this earth

the way you are. I will be with you. His purpose.

We have one job to do. God has one job to do

to bring man back into fellowship with God. That's

our one job. It may feel like you have to pay

your bills. And in our society, if you want things

to function smoothly, you kind of do have to

pay your bills. But if it ever comes to paying

your bills or bringing people to Jesus, you better

choose bringing people to Jesus because in your

identity as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,

that's who you are now. You bring people to Jesus.

We have the ministry of reconciliation. At any

point in time, you're too busy. You're too tired.

You're too sick. You stayed up too late. It doesn't

matter. If at any point in time, anything in

this life would interfere with your desire to

carry out the mission that God gave the church,

then you need to understand that you are turning

your back. On the purpose that God has given

you, which is a problem because the power was

given for the purpose. So now you're turning

back your back on the purpose and losing access

to the power. It's also a problem because the

one who has presence in you has that purpose.

And so just the same as if you invited a friend

over your house, you say, hey, let's play poker.

Not going to gamble, but let's play poker. We'll

play cards. I'll order pizza. Then when it's

done, we'll watch a movie. Got a first -run movie.

I just bought it on Prime or something. We'll

watch that. And then they get there, and actually,

you're cleaning out the basement, throwing stuff

in a dumpster, and then you're going to put all

your stuff in a truck and move across town. And

we're like, hey, this is supposed to be poker,

pizza, and a movie. You lied to me. I'm here

for poker, pizza, and a movie, not heavy, hard

work that's going to make me sweat, and tomorrow

I'm going to be sore. You lied to me. If he comes

for... poker, pizza, and a movie, and when he

gets his hard work, if he comes that time, he

ain't going to come the next time he's promised.

Probably he's just going to try to walk back

out and say, you deceiver. God has a purpose,

and it is to bring people into a relationship

with him, and we cannot turn our back on that

purpose, because in doing, we will turn our back

on his power and on his presence. He is teaching

Jesus throughout this time on the kingdom of

God. Now, really, in the last three minutes,

I've said just about everything that you really

need to know about the kingdom of God to get

started. But there's more. All throughout Scripture,

all throughout the New Testament, there's tons

of teachings of Jesus about the kingdom of God.

But the truth is, as we'll see, there really

is no end. That's why it's the kingdom of God,

not the kingdom of a set of rules or a set of

laws or even the kingdom of a book. It's the

kingdom of God. He has no end, nor does the kingdom.

He trains them then in delivering the message.

And you know what he says? You already do. He

doesn't say to them, go and tell them that they

have sinned. He doesn't say to them, go and tell

them that they should live a certain way. Stop

doing certain things or do certain things now

that I've told you to do, right? He says, go

and tell them that what? I am alive. Go and tell

them that I am alive. I was dead. I was buried.

I am rose again. There's an internet guy. He

says, if you come to the end of a road and there's

a fork in the road, you can go right or left.

You can't go straight anymore. And there's two

guys there. One guy's dead. One guy's alive.

Who are you going to ask for directions? The

live guy, right? Because he can answer. Jesus

is alive. That's not true in any other religion.

Frankly, every other religion is dead, and everybody

who ever worshipped it or served in it is dead,

and those that are alive now will be dead, and

if they are dead in their trespasses and sins,

they're essentially already dead, and they'll

just stay dead, and then they're going to go

to hell and be dead for an eternity. And that's

apparently fine with them, because they are part

of a religion that does not lead to God. Jesus

is alive. There is only one way to the Father,

and it is through him, and it is partly, if not

mainly, if not totally, because he is alive.

One more thing then in there to see is that the

disciples will be his body now. That's interesting.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, 27, I believe

it is, it says, Now you are the body of Christ,

and each one of us is a member of it. So what

he was basically saying is, I am bodily leaving

this earth, but actually what I'm doing is I'm

multiplying myself. When I was at Pizza Hut,

I was on the track to promote. So first I was

a shift manager at a delivery restaurant out

on Reynolds Road and I was serving there. I've

been there for about two, two and a half years,

whatever. And I was basically running the restaurant.

My manager was hardly ever around. I wrote the

schedule, did all the ordering, put all the orders

away. And my area manager came in and she says,

you're on the track to promote. And the first

thing she said to me was, when you get promoted,

will the restaurant function without you? And

I said, well, there's a couple of younger managers

and general manager can do everything that I

do. But, you know, I do it. because he's been

training me and I didn't throw him under the

bus or anything like that. I said, he's been

training me. I do most of what he could do. So

I could do the job above me for sure, which was

actually manager and training or assistant manager.

I think the guys under me could pretty much do

it. And she said, well, that's what we're going

to figure out first. First, we're going to figure

out, is there anybody behind you that can do

what you do before we take you out of here and

ruin this restaurant? Jesus was leaving, but

he wasn't really leaving. He was multiplying

himself. And now you're the body of Christ. And

you're the body of Christ. And you're the body

of Christ. Some of you are prettier. Some of

you are handsome. Some of you are more intelligent.

Some of you are more creative. Some of you are

artsy. Some of you are musical. And we all have

different spiritual gifts and that kind of thing.

And I'm not judging that any one of those things

is any better than any other one of those things.

What I know is that Jesus was multiplying himself.

And I think if we could somehow add together

our sum total of every human that will ever exist,

we could almost begin to represent God like we

were supposed to in the beginning before Adam

and Eve sinned. Now you are the body of Christ,

he says. They will be his witnesses. They will

tell and die as necessary. They will spend their

whole lives on it to the ends of the earth. They

will be empowered to stay the course to the ends

of the earth, representing Jesus. And then the

third thing to see in the text, then, is the

empowerment. Notice that they will be baptized

in the Holy Spirit. It says here and elsewhere.

Notice that they will be guided as Jesus was

guided. In fact, Luke 12 .1 says, now when they

bring you before the synagogues, the officials,

the authorities, do not worry about how or what

you are to speak in your defense or what you

are to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you

at that very hour what you ought to say. The

Holy Spirit would be present and teach the disciples

at that very hour what they were supposed to

say at that very moment, as we talked about a

few weeks ago, at which you must tell the truth.

Oh, but it would be easier to lie than be put

to death for Christ. Easier to lie than to serve

to the extent. I submit to you that they were

told they would be inspired like Jesus was inspired.

They would be empowered like Jesus was empowered.

In truth, they would be indwelt. And that brings

us to our conclusion. Already, God the Father

wrote the plan. God the Son is here carrying

it out. God the Holy Spirit walking in and through

Jesus. Commands are given to the apostles to

continue the mission. And now the apostles will

be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the apostles

will carry out Jesus' mission in the power of

the Spirit. Which apparently they did a pretty

good job. Because here I stand before you. A

saved person who by no rights had any right to

be saved. By the Holy Spirit means that the Holy

Spirit would be the one doing the work. God is

pouring himself into them, changing them, equipping

them for the mission ahead. The church will spread

the truth to the world, display the truth to

the angels, that's Ephesians 3 .10, and be the

body of Christ, that's Corinthians 12. 27, until

he returns. The party is over. There's a mess

to clean up and a God -sized mission ahead. Do

you understand what the mess is to be cleaned

up? The apostles were going to go out into the

world and face persecution. We're talking about

Jesus. But also, who else is out there? Who's

in the world that Jesus left behind? Well, people

that he healed. Right? The paralytic. The blind

man. They're all out there. Tons of people. How

many? Hundreds? Thousands maybe? There are thousands

of people out there that Jesus fed miraculously.

Thousands of people that Jesus fed miraculously.

Is that not somebody with a question? What do

you think they want to know? Whatever happened

to the guy who fed us miraculously? Whatever

happened to the guy who healed my legs? Whatever

happened to the guy who made it so I could see

for the first time ever in my life? Whatever

happened to him? and the disciples are going

to go and answer the question, and they're going

to say, he's alive. Now he's standing at the

right hand of the Father in heaven, making intercession

for us. He has right to be Lord and Savior of

your life. Would you have him as that? You think

they would say yes? You better believe it. The

man that healed my legs is alive? How do I know

that for sure? Really? That happened? That happened?

All these witnesses? Wow. Okay, yeah. Give me

my Lord and Savior. There's a mess to be cleaned

up. There are people that were healed. And further,

there were people that weren't. Remember that

Jesus went through Galilee and there was a time

lots of people needed healed, but they didn't

really believe. And because they didn't believe,

he did only a few miracles of healing. Because

they didn't believe. Because their faith was

so weak or non -existent. And the people that

weren't healed, you think they had a question?

Sure they did. They had a question. Why didn't?

Where is the man who didn't heal me? He was certainly

something special, but I don't understand why

he didn't heal me. But you're telling me now

he's alive? And I submit to you, there was those

that he could not heal during his lifetime because

they wouldn't believe. Still walking around on

stumped legs, using bent arms, blinded, whatever.

All of that was going on. We've got people in

this room right now that need healing. And they're

going, I don't understand. But let me tell you

this. Jesus is alive! He's alive and standing

at the right hand of the Father in heaven making

intercession for you. And your ache, your hurt,

your situation that you're facing does not matter

in the grand scheme of things unless by some

chance it would draw you away from the Jesus

who will take you to heaven forever. You won't

have a stumped hand or messed up bowels. You

won't have a brain disease, tumor, anxiety. You

won't have any of that. It will all be perfect

because he's alive. The party is over and there's

a mess to clean up and a God -sized mission ahead.

There's an enemy still in the weeds. He's still

out there, still resisting the fact that Satan

has lost control of this world, that Jesus now

has control, that God has placed it fully in

his authority. Satan is beaten and weak. compared

to the Holy Spirit. Greater is he that is in

you than he that is in the world. We've got this.

We just need to stop playing with it and go and

be it and do it and take the gospel where it

needs to go, which is everywhere, including here

and wherever you don't want to go and beyond

that and ultimately to the ends of the earth.

There is kingdom work to be done. And that brings

us to our conclusion text. If you're following

along in your Bibles, if you want to go there

with me, it is Psalm 71. Psalm 71. I'll begin

reading in verse 15. And this is it. So if you're

tired, if you're warm, stretch. If you're falling

asleep, stand up. That's what it takes. Whatever

it is, you got this. Psalm 71. Here we go. Beginning

in verse 15. This is what it says. My mouth shall

tell of thy righteousness. It's a long time before

Jesus ever lived, died, was buried, and rose

again. My mouth shall tell of thy righteousness

and of thy salvation all day long. for I do not

know the sum of them. Hold on a second. I want

you to understand this. The primary reason which

we will never, ever, ever stop talking about

what God has done is because you and I do not

fathom the depth of it. When we say Jesus is

alive and believe it, we do not even begin to

understand how much that means. You understand?

You're still thinking about it in terms of what

can it mean to me? What do I know? What do I

know the world is like? What is my heart like?

Oh, my decrepit soul and the things that I've

done and I wish I had and I need to be cleansed.

We're thinking of those terms. God has so much

more that lies behind your basic understanding.

We cannot stop speaking of it because we never

know what he might use us to say. I've been immensely

blessed since I started preaching because I can

preach sometimes the same text and God will use

it to say something I never even saw there before.

I've preached Acts 1 at least three times since

I became pastor of this church. A couple of them

you can probably go and listen to online on the

podcast. But this message is uniquely different.

And none of those times did I focus on the fact

and realize the fact that Jesus was saying, He

who empowers me to be God in the flesh and be

able to use my body accordingly will now empower

you. I've never said that before. I've talked

about the power that comes with the Holy Spirit

for sure. But that was a direct connection that

he was making. We have things to say that we

don't even know what they are. You can't stop

talking because you don't know what you're going

to say. Or how far it goes. Or what it means.

Verse 16 says, I will come with the mighty deeds

of the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness

thine alone. Only God. Only Christ is righteous

and can give us righteousness. Oh God, thou hast

taught me from my youth. And I still declare

thy wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and

gray, O God, do not forsake me until I declare

thy strength to this generation. And that word,

this there, it is a certain word that means this

generation in the time that I'm talking about.

He's talking about the generation when he's old.

So you have a responsibility to declare this

truth to your generation now. But by the time

we are as old as we can get, there's going to

be another generation. and then another generation.

And if it should skip three generations, we have

the same responsibility. You say, well, I can't

even talk to them. They don't understand me.

I can't even talk. They use words that don't

even make sense to me. Yeah, but you can say

he's alive. You can say he lived, he died, he

was buried, and he rose again on the third day.

And as long as English persists, they will understand

those words. They might say, man, he's sick.

And you might think, oh, no, he's sick. No, that

means good. They might say it differently to

their generation, but they need the basic truth

of it, and we have a responsibility to deliver

it even when we're old to whatever generation

comes. And if the teenagers in this room don't

get it, and God forbid, we don't want it to be

so, but if they would walk away from the Lord,

God will still raise up a faithful generation

out of the other teenagers that we have not yet

met or out of the teenagers that will come in

the next generation. God will declare his own

strength through his own people, and they will

come. Verse 19 says, For thy righteousness, because

thy righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens.

Thou hast done great things, O God. Who is like

thee? You know the answer to that question. No

one. Verse 20, Thou hast shown me many troubles

and distresses. In other words, I've been through

it. I've been through the ringer at times. I

have had first -hand experience with some stuff

I would never have liked to see. A trouble is

what happens on the outside and it sucks. A distress

is what happens on the inside and it sucks. He

says, Thou hast shown me many troubles and distresses.

Wilt revive me again. That is to say, God will

revive me again. And will bring me up again from

the depths of the earth. No matter how far down

I go, God will bring me up again. Mayest thou

increase my greatness and turn to comfort me.

I will also praise thee with a harp. Even thy

truth, O my God. To thee I will sing praises

with the lyre, O thou holy one of Israel. My

lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to

thee, and my soul, which thou hast redeemed,

my tongue also will utter thy righteousness all

day long. For they are ashamed, for they are

humiliated, who seek my hurt. You understand,

if somebody kills you and does not come to the

Lord, they will spend eternity in hell. If somebody

curses your name, somebody mocks you, It does

not turn their life over to the Lord Jesus Christ.

They will spend eternity in hell. And I submit

to you that what they did to you, what put them

there, will be on constant playback for an eternity.

He cursed my name. July 15, 2025. And they'll

hear what they said to you over and over and

over again for an eternity. We don't have to

do anything to them. God's already got it well

under control. We do have to do something to

them. We have to tell them the truth. Jesus is

alive. Jesus is alive and accordingly there is

something we need to do. Now you heard in there

this is going to be something. You heard in there

that we will praise the Lord and it's specifically

named with a harp or with a lyre. I don't have

a harp. But I am a liar. This is a liar. Ariana's

learning to play Amazing Grace on it. It's mostly

tuned. And up here on the surface, here on the

front of it, up here, we've written the letters

for the notes of Amazing Grace. So somebody who's

kind of like dexterous like Ariana can just go

like that and pluck the notes. So somebody could

play the lyre and praise God. Who wants to do

it? Alright. Here you go. It's Amazing Grace.

You can play that song or you can play something

else. Sorting it out. They're all there. We're

waiting to see if it sounds like Amazing Grace.

The one with the dash is the higher. Everything

else is in the lower range. So play G, play C.

Those are the notes. No, not at the same time.

One after another. That was pretty close. I'm

playing upside down. Say that. I'm sorry. All

right, so you're going to try. Here we go. Don't

laugh. Yeah, like... I'm sorry. Yeah, that's

fine. Okay. Want to also try it? Amen. Thank

you. Stand over. Ready? Same thing. I got this.

I got this. Okay, you do it without me. Go. Sorry.

Okay, next person. Tim? Okay, after service,

anyone can try it. Let me ask you a question.

Haley, why was it so difficult? Simple answer.

Why was it difficult? I don't know. Have you

ever done it before? No. If you had done it before,

it would be easier? No. So probably that's why

it's difficult. Part of it. Why was it so difficult?

Other than the fact that I was helping you. Don't

blame it on me. Why was it so difficult? It's

harder to read the instructions. It's harder

to read the instructions. Okay. Tim, why was

it difficult? Tim can play multiple instruments.

The keys, the strings, the guitar, they're all

different, right? Why is it so difficult? It's

so difficult because that's not what you're good

at. It's not what you've done before. You haven't

practiced it. You haven't drilled down on it.

Ariana's practiced playing this song with these

little notes here quite a bit. In fact, she took

it to school one day and showed it to her band

instructor, and so now they've asked her to play

it at the band concert in front of the entire

audience. And she took a deep breath and went...

I don't know about that. So we'll see whether

she does it or not. That's up to her. It's between

her and the Lord. My point is this. He was saying

to the apostles, I'm asking you to do what you've

never done. I want you to take this message that

I am alive and take it to everyone. And yes,

you will be persecuted. And he said, when you're

persecuted, you know, they persecuted me first.

Right? When they hate you, realize they hated

me first. When they refuse to listen, take the

dust off your feet and move on to the next time.

The power is in the Holy Spirit. The purpose

that God has, if we say no to the purpose, which

is for the church to deliver the gospel to the

world, the truth, beginning with the fact that

Jesus is alive to the world, then we say no to

the purpose. If we say no to the purpose, we

say no to the power. If we say no to the purpose

and the power, you're essentially saying no to

the presence. Because God has just one God. He

wants to bring people to himself. And that's

what we have to do. Now, you may do it by learning

to play the lyre, or you may do it by learning

to fix cars, or you may do it by learning to

quote Bible verses, or post memes, TikToks or

whatever, things like that. You may learn a lot

of different things that you can learn to try

to get there. The question is just as simple.

Will you follow Jesus? In fact, it really is,

will you become the body of Christ? And do what

Jesus set out to do? That's the question. And

you're going to be like, I don't know. I've never

done that before. It's freaked me out a little

bit. It's going to be hard. Yeah. But somebody

can play the liar. And it's the one who practiced.

It's the one who took the steps. It's the one

who bought a liar. Whatever. And you can do it

too. You can share the gospel in whatever situation

you're in. You can tell people he was dead, he

was buried, he was risen. He is alive. I have

met Him personally. I have a personal... If you

could just get as far as to say, I have a personal

relationship with Him and I really would like

for you to have that. And if they say no at that

point, then it's no. But if you could just get

that far, then I think you can. If you just realize

the only thing stopping you from doing it is

doing it. We'll have the praise team to come

forward at this time. We're going to have a closing

hymn. This is going to end our service, but you're

here today. I know the Lord's been speaking to

your heart in some way. You know, I've got to

do what I've got to do. I've got to do what God's

calling me to do. And you respond to the Lord

and say, yes, I will do it. Right where you sit,

you don't need me for that. You say, okay, God,

I'm going to do it. But then if God impresses

a point in your heart, you can make that decision

publicly. Like say, maybe this is my church.

I can go, hey, God has told me this is going

to be my church. Or say, I need to be baptized.

Or say, I need to give. Or I need to serve. Or

whatever it might be. And you say, okay, God,

I'll do it. And then God says, make that decision

publicly. And you come up here and you tell me.

And together, we'll tell the group. And everybody

prays together. And we say, okay. Watch this.

And why do you tell? Because you've got no knowledge

that's finite compared to the whole of the message.

You could tell somebody about Jesus, they could

accept Jesus, and then they could take it to

their hometown or a whole country. The gospel

could spread like wildfire starting with the

one. I submit to you that that's how it usually

works. It's one step away. Just outside the reach

of Christians who won't quite do what they're

supposed to do. That's where the real kingdom

growth lies. So let's be Christians who will

do what we're supposed to do. Would you stand

with me and sing this song for the Lord who's

laid something on your heart today that you need

to share with us when you come and respond? Make

this your prayer to God today. Will you sing

it out or just say it where you're standing?

Thank you to all of you for being patient with

me today as I felt the Lord move in to do some

things a little bit differently. I hope you were

blessed. I hope you've been blessed to be in

the house of the Lord today. I hope you're blessed

by the message that God is speaking and that

it's not for only a certain time.