We Must Speak of What We Have Seen and Heard | Dr. John Ewart

Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood

Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina.

Thank you so much for tuning in to our podcast.

You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word

about important issues facing your life that can guide you

according to the Bible. Well, what a special morning,

Amen. Celebrating decisions for

Christ, life decisions, decisions about church life.

That's what our passage is going to be about this morning too.

In fact, I'm just going to be dovetailing off the challenge

that Dylan has shared with these graduates and families.

Take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 4, if you will, and

Acts 4 · chapter mention

I'll catch up to you there. We're so thankful for these

families and for the decisions of commitment and obedience that

you've witnessed this morning. Maybe you're here this morning.

You need to make a similar type commitment.

We would more than welcome the opportunity to visit with you

about that. And I also just want to thank

you for your prayers during our transition.

We have to be out of our house in Roseville tomorrow.

And so the movers came yesterday and moves most of it out.

We're staying graciously out on the Manning farm near MO Meyer

for a few weeks. Teresa's going to be cleaning

the house tomorrow. If you want to help Teresa

clean, you can talk to her after the service.

I'll be over there today trying to fix a few things.

Also, Teresa's going to be one of the speakers at the Women's

Gathering on June 12th. I'm plugging it because she's

sitting right here. So no, actually, I'm extremely

biased. You would be blessed, ladies, if

you would come to that experience together.

She's a great speaker. But I do want to say, first of

all, it's what a special day. Congratulations to everybody.

And the message that I have this morning really is, I think in

tune with the graduates, but also for all of us.

We all are going to face certain decisions and challenges in

life. So thank you for being here so

much. God really does have a special

plan for each one of us that we're only going to be able to

accomplish if we completely trust in him, rely upon him.

And that's what this passage is going to help us do today.

Passage is a little apologetic even on how to deal with the

world in which we live. And, and that's what I pray for

all of us. I pray that in the end that in

the end, the only way to explain what happened here at Inglewood,

the only way to explain what happened in your life is that

God stepped in and did something supernaturally miraculous.

We want to give him all the glory.

We want to give him all the credit for all that he's doing.

Appreciate the folks being baptized this week.

We got more people being baptized next week.

God's just continuing to bless that, and I thank him for that.

And today's passage really does help us.

Today's passage has a surprise ending.

It has a surprise ending that might not seem like it's where

it's going to go, but in the beginning it seems like it.

It's also a huge obstacle. It's kind of like thinking about

graduating as a senior when you're still a freshman and yet

here you are in cap and gown, you know?

So but we all face new challenges.

We all face decisions, We all face opportunities.

And they're going to be some new obstacles to overcome in life.

So don't be shocked when life throws you a curveball.

Don't be shocked when life throws you surprises.

We have an enemy who will make sure those things occur.

We also have a God is going to teach us through those things.

Years ago, I was in Kenya helping to plant a church up in

the tea and coffee mountains of the Thika area of Kenya.

And we took a couple of days off to go see some of the animals

there on the Masa Mara or the Serengeti, depending on which

side of the border with Tanzania you're on.

And we were there at a little lodge for a couple of days and,

and, and we, I woke up that that morning I heard screams coming

from the room next door, women screaming in the room next door.

So I, I, I, I hop out of the room and along with a friend of

mine and we're rushing to see if we can be of some service

because I mean, blood curdling screams going on.

And they, they point into the bathroom and say we go in the

bathroom and they're curled around the bottom of a toilet

was a black mamba. And we call those 10 steppers in

Africa. You know, you got about 10 steps

before you're going to drop if they bite you.

And that's not the kind of surprise I want in the morning.

I don't know about you, but but how do we successfully navigate

the surprises and curveballs of this thing called life?

How do I make the right choices? How do I stand firm in my faith?

How do I do those sees the challenges that Pastor Dylan was

sharing with these families? How do we pull that off right?

How do we do that? How do I grow as a disciple?

How do I overcome the challenges to my discipleship?

Well, today's passage is going to help us because what is it

really asking us is how do I come and join the King's

mission? How do I, how do I serve and

follow him to do what he wants us to do?

And this is what our series is about in these first 13 chapters

of the book of Acts. So our passage today has a bunch

of twists and turns. Yet through them all, we're

going to be reminded very clearly that we must speak of

what we have seen and heard. Now Acts 4 is simply a

continuation of Acts 3. Isn't that amazing?

Isn't that miraculous? It's the last week we studied

about a lame man who was healed at the temple by the power of

Christ through Peter and John. The people are amazed.

The people gather in a large crowd and Peter explains the

gospel to them. And then in chapter 4, verse one

see what happens. And as they were speaking to the

people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the

Sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed because they were

teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the

resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put

them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

But many of those who had heard the word believed.

And the number of the men came to about 5000.

I don't miss this. At Pentecost we have 3000 saved.

Now we have thousands more. You got to understand how large

this new instant mega church is becoming in a very short amount

of time. So remember, for us, as we

continue this journey called the Christian life, continue this

journey as a church where you're graduating from school, whether

you're a brand new member or whether you've been here for

years, how do we navigate the twists and turns of life?

And remember that in this world, they're going to be moments when

your faith will face resistance. And that's the first thing we

got to understand. This is going to be a very

practical, very apologetic. You ought to write these points

down. Probably they'll be good steps

for you to remember, because up until this point there had not

been much resistance to the first Church.

They, they, and especially from the Jews, not yet the the.

The Jewish leaders probably assumed they'd killed the leader

off, and so this thing's going to die down like all the other

movements they'd seen over the years.

But the First Church was experiencing favor with the

people, so opposition was beginning.

Opposition was increasing, as as I've shared, and we got to

always remember this, The book of Acts displays a series of

power engagements between the Holy Spirit and Satan, fighting

over the existence of the First Church and fighting over the

spread of the gospel. There's a war going on, and

that's the same war continues and that same war rages right

now, right here in your hearts and minds.

Those skirmishes occur in your heart and mind right now.

It it for those of you who are not believers in Christ, that

war's raging. For those of us who are

believers in Christ, we still fight these skirmishes of

temptation and, and choices. And how do I stand and what do I

do? Whether I do the right thing or

the wrong thing for the Lord? And so we're going to face

choices as to how we respond to those who do not believe as we

do. And these graduates going off to

college campuses especially, they're going to face people who

do not believe what they believe.

And how are they going to stand in the middle of all that?

And so the Jewish leaders are now beginning to attack.

They fear this new movement as a threat.

It's a threat to their status quo and, and people like them

see, they believe they should be able to do what they want the

way they would want to do it, the, the way they, whenever they

want to do it, they, they think that they actually get to

control life And, and that's the lie that they're living under.

And if they did not think of it or they didn't create it

themselves, they're bothered by it.

Their comfort level is threatened.

So what we see is as Peter and John, as they were speaking, as

they were speaking, they're interrupted right in the middle

of the teaching, an official contingency of priests, the

captain of the temple guard, and Sadducees come upon them.

So, so just for a second, let's get a little background to

understand who these people are. So the Sadducees were largely

the wealthy aristocratic group who are more theologically

conservative. They were from the tribe of

Levi, and they were protectors of tradition.

So they're more conservative in theology.

But because they were rich, they were also land owners.

And so they had a tendency at this time and the time of Christ

and the First church to want to get along with Rome.

They didn't want to upset the apple cart.

They didn't want to have confrontation with Rome because

they wanted to be able to keep things as they were, because

they wanted to protect what was theirs, especially their

properties. Now, theologically, they also

denied the resurrection. So when Peter's talking about

the resurrection of Christ, this, this preaching is way too

revolutionary for them. This is too much unsanctioned

healings at the temple, large crowds, talk of the

resurrection. It's just too much.

They've crossed the line now it's time to stop this nonsense.

So they were greatly disturbed. They were annoyed.

The word means highly agitated. And we're going to face people

out in this world who just don't like Christianity.

They don't like the church, they don't like your faith.

They don't like your belief system.

Now it's also interesting because back in verse 4,

thousands more are being saved. It's too successful.

It's too much too fast. We've never done it like that

before. We've never seen it done like

this before. So it must be wrong.

It must be wrong. And so this thing called the

church was getting way out of hand, healed people leaping and

praising God and thousands flocking to it.

It's just way too radical. This, this is not, this is not

us. This is not the traditions that

we hold to now. It is amazing to me because

behind the scenes, spiritually, you got to think about what's

going on here. Do you think the enemy, do you

think Satan's just going to stand by quietly and do nothing

to try to stop it? That when the church is

exploding like this, Satan is simply not going to stand for

it? He gets highly agitated.

He gets greatly annoyed. Even though he's a slimy snake,

he's going to burn in hell forever.

And I just like saying that out loud all the time because

somebody going to report that to him.

So how about at Inglewood? Are we seeing lives so impacted

by the gospel and transformed by grace that we actually agitate

the enemy? Is this church so impactful that

he even notices us? Do we even matter to the gates

of hell? Is God doing so much in and

through your personal life that you annoy Satan, as Doctor Chuck

Lawless preached to you several weeks ago?

Does the enemy even know your name?

So be ready for opposition. If you're walking with Christ,

be ready for disagreement. Be ready for challenges.

These graduates need to be ready.

These seniors need to be ready for people who are resistant,

even antagonistic toward their faith.

They don't believe it, and they're going to try very hard,

just as Pastor Dylan challenged them, to distract them and lead

them away from it. But we're all facing that in

this fallen world. Satan, in this lost world, will

do all they can to deter us from fulfilling the mission of God.

He's going to interrupt. He's going to create

distraction, but take heart, remember, and rely upon the fact

that when someone tries to interrupt his mission, that's

when God's about to step in and do something with complete

sovereign authority and do something very special and very

powerful. Let's just read verse 5.

On the next day, their leader, their rulers and elders and

scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Anas the high

priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were

of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in

the midst, they inquired by what power or by what name did you do

this, Talking about healing the lame man back in chapter 3.

So the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, made-up of both

Sadducees and Pharisees, led by the high priest, they met every

single day, and they had jurisdiction over temple

violations every day but the Sabbath.

And they demanded to know where Peter and John received their

power. Now, whenever I read this, I

just want to say you better watch out, boys, for what you

asked for, because you're fitting to find out.

I mean, are you so filled with the Holy Spirit that other

people notice? Is that what your life is like?

Does the enemy recognize it and this world resist it?

That's my challenge to these seniors.

Is it powerful enough to annoy them greatly?

Not because you're arrogant, not because you're obnoxious about

your faith, because some Christians are, but because they

recognize you possess something that they lack and they

desperately need. They don't have that power in

their life. Look at verse 8, then Peter.

Here's the key part filled with the Holy Spirit said to them,

rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today

concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this

man has been healed? Let it be known to all of you

and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by

him, this man is standing before you.

Well, this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the

builders, which has become the cornerstone.

We, if we're going to face this world, if we're going to be who

we're supposed to be, you're going to be able to deal with

this fallen creation. And unless you put yourself in a

bubble wrap and Teresa and I've been bubble wrapping enough

stuff, I don't want to see another piece of bubble wrap for

a long time. And you can bubble wrap yourself

up and try to insulate yourself from this world all you can and

separate and isolate. But if you're going to be a

minister fulfilling the mission of God, you're going to be out

in the thick of it. And you better be ready and

prepare yourself because people are going to resist your faith.

But secondly, we also have to recognize and we have to decide

right now that the gospel must be our strength, our trust, our

truth, and our strength. The key here is that Peter's

filled with the Holy Spirit, right?

That's real power, but it's not Peter's own power.

That's the important part. It's real power, but it's not

Peter's own power. Instead.

And notice instead of some defense to seek to save

themselves, he gives a mini sermon to the Jewish High Court

to seek to save them. See how far Peter's come?

Think about this. I mean, not that long ago Peter

denied Christ three times around a little campfire in front of a

servant girl and some common folk.

And now he stands up to the most powerful body of his people, the

very same body that helped crucify Jesus.

I want you to see how the resurrected Lord makes all the

difference. You heard testimonies of that

this morning. Here's the answer to your

question, Sanhedrin. Here's the answer to your need

world. Here's the the answer to you who

questioned my faith, The name of Jesus.

That's the source of my power, the name in which this healing

occurred. And by the way, let me just tell

you all about him, right? So here his story.

It's the gospel that's the source of our power, the truth

of God, not made-up self truths created by the desperate people

around you. Don't don't, don't be

intimidated by how smart they are.

I was a lady after the first service was talking about a bad

experience at a Christian School to where a bunch of liberals and

they have all kinds of degrees. Well let me tell you them I got

more than they do. Listen to me.

Don't be deceived by these false self truths from the desperate

worldly people around you. God's truth will be your power

to withstand resistance that you might need in this world.

So Peter quotes from Psalm 118, then lays a massive new truth

right on their little bewildered brains.

Look at verse 12. And there's salvation in no one

else. For there's no other name under

heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Your old ways aren't going to get it done, guys.

Being true to yourself will get you nowhere if you made-up the

truth yourself. You're just talking to the

mirror at that point. It goes no further.

Peter lays out the truth, objective, biblical and errant,

vital our souls depend upon at truth.

He's actually playing on a Greek word, Sozo.

I've mentioned to you before, it means to be saved.

It also means to be rescued. In other words, the lame man was

both physically and spiritually healed.

And don't miss his personal message to the Sanhedrin.

This is a huge moment. Remember Jesus, the one you all

murdered not too long ago. He's now the only possible

source of your salvation. I mean, what a historically

unique moment for these people who physically and politically

played their role in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and

now would actually have the opportunity to be saved only by

the very same Jesus. That's grace.

That's how gracious our God is. He's gracious enough to save

something like me. If you all really knew I was

sharing parts of my testimony last night at another church at

a wild game dinner and and I was just sharing my testimony.

I got a little lost and I didn't feel like I did a very good job

at because I was actually lost in my own story.

Just just remembering God's grace in my life and how he

pulled me out of such severe gutter type experiences.

He graciously healed this man lame from birth and will

graciously save even those of you who crucified him if you'll

believe in trust in him. I mean, when your faith is

challenged, respond with God's truth.

When the storm hits, turn to the gospel.

This is your strength in this world.

Remember those you those, whether those around you find

you. Remember those you find yourself

around. Whether they believe it or not,

whether they argue against it, even if they deny it, even if

they reject it. Always remember this.

You possess the truth and that's powerful, and that will empower

you because that truth overcomes.

So Peter shares this unique, exclusive truth of biblical

Christianity. This is one of the things that

makes us different, one of the things that makes us unique.

The only way a person can be saved is by grace through faith

in Jesus Christ. Sums it up.

He's the only one who could pay for our sin.

He's the only one who did, and he's the only source of

forgiveness and salvation. He's the only one.

So he's not just one of the names.

He's not just one of the ways. He's not just one of the past by

which you must be saved. He is the only one, the one.

There's no one else, no other way, no matter what this world

tries to feed you. So, no matter how bad you are,

no matter what sins you've committed, no matter how

stubborn you are in your denial, even listen, even if you

actually hammered the nails in his wrists and his ankles, the

grace of the gospel is still more powerful and can overcome

your failures. It's amazing moment.

There's only one way to make the best choices, only one way to

have peace, only one way to have purpose.

Graduates, new members, old members, only one way to

forgiveness and eternal life. Guess that's through Jesus

Christ. Look at verse 13.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived

that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished and

they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them,

they had nothing to say in opposition.

But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they

conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do with

these men? For that a notable sign has been

performed through them, as evident to all the inhabitants

of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let

us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.

So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach it

all in the name of Jesus. Your face going to be resisted.

Even though the Gospel is your truth and strength, it still

will be resisted. And sadly #3 not everyone else

will believe. I've read the end of the book.

There's still lost people at the end of the book.

I wish that weren't true. It's tragic.

I'm trying to do all we can to help get as many of you to go

with us. But the arrogant perception of

these sophisticated religious people see, see sometimes these

deniers that they come off as like they're more educated than

you are, that somehow you're backward, you're some kind of

hillbilly if you you believe in faith in the gospel.

Somehow they're smarter. They're more sophisticated in

their conversations, when in fact they're, they're just

arrogant in their lostness. These sophisticated religious

men, they recognize that Peter and John, they said these are

uneducated men. They're beneath us.

That they had no rabbinical training, that they had no

religious credentials. Why should we listen to them?

Who? Who are they?

How dare they preach to us? See, human reasoning will always

reject gospel truth because humans have the wrong person

sitting in the control room of their lives.

And so it makes no sense to this fallen and spiritually blind

world. Jesus and the cross are

foolishness to them and dangerous to them.

And, and, and they're, they're sticking Peter and John right in

there with Jesus. Now, we often, because we look

back with a Christian filter, we often interpret this like they

thought it was a good thing when they said we recognize they'd

been with Jesus because for us it's a good thing, but it wasn't

a good thing to them. I mean, we just killed him.

Maybe we ought to kill these guys or at least punish them.

And so man's understanding alone will always fall short.

His philosophies will always. People think they have it all

figured out when in fact they're missing the truth right in front

of them. Regardless of what you think

about him, Jesus is real and he's the truth, the way in the

life. And no one can come to the

Father except through Him, or there's no way I would be here

right now. I wouldn't be standing here.

I wasn't looking for salvation. I wasn't even going to church.

I mean, I wouldn't have ever heard a sermon.

He transformed my life supernaturally.

Or you might think somehow on the other end of a spectrum,

you're not. You're not important enough to

make a difference, not worthy enough to be saved and served,

or strong enough to stand for your faith.

And you know, by yourself, by your own strength, you're right.

We're not. But here's the truth.

The resurrected, resurrected Christ makes all the difference.

I mean, look at Peter go. Let them all recognize we too

have been with Jesus. Whether they like it and they

think it's a good thing, or whether they don't like it and

they think it's a bad thing. Let them recognize it whether

they like him or not. Even if they reject him, embrace

him, own it and let them see Him and us.

But the leaders selfish fear led to the rejection of the Gospel.

They're more afraid of losing power and prestige than the

possibility that these men could actually speak the truth.

More concerned about their positions, more concerned about

the reputations, more concerned about their traditions than that

the fact that a crippled man had been healed and set free and

thousands of lives had been changed.

So incredibly selfish. They wanted to box up and

control God and his people. That's what liberals will do.

Let me teach you something. You may not know the word

religion comes from a Latin word to bind, like you're tied up

with ropes. And what that means is, is that

these can be beliefs that you attach yourself to very closely.

I'm tied to these beliefs, these truths in a positive way, but in

a negative way. It can also mean that the

traditions, the unbiblical teachings, the attitudes and

rituals can also hold you in bondage.

So amazingly, you just got to put yourself in the spot for a

second. They even recognized a true sign

it occurred. I mean, I mean, the dudes right

over there, probably still hopping and praising God with

that silly grin on his face. He's right there.

They knew something different had taken place, but their boxes

had no place for it. They were more afraid of losing

something than gaining everything.

And so even though they witnessed God's power, they

reject it. That's a dangerous place to be.

Inwardly focused earthly philosophies.

Now listen to me, the inwardly focused earthly philosophies out

there. And belief systems are always

the wrong filters of truth. Always don't fall prey to them,

even though they're trying to force upon you.

Some of these graduates are going to go to college campuses

and they're going to be force fed by professors, force fed by

other people on campus, stuff that's just not true because

this world suffers from misplaced fears, misplaced

loves, and misplaced faith. We love the wrong things, we're

afraid of the wrong things, and we believe the wrong things.

See, now Peter and John were compelled by someone else.

They're compelled that they're, they're, they have a divine

drive inside of them called the Holy Spirit.

And I pray we do also. That's the only way for success.

That's the only way to fulfilment.

They experienced the resurrected Christ and nothing and no one,

excuse me, gentleman on the Supreme Court, not even you.

We're going to stop them from talking about Him because Holy

Spirit power was in charge, not them.

This is his story, not theirs. Look at verse 19.

But big word. But Peter and John answered

them. All right, dudes.

All right, guys. Whether it's right in the side

of God to listen to you rather than to God, you all must judge,

for we cannot but speak of what we've seen and heard.

They couldn't help it. They would rather face death

than disobedience. Now, friends, sometimes in our

world today, our silence is deafening.

So who's going to win the war? Even the battle raging right now

in this room between Satan and the Holy Spirit, for your hearts

and minds, the hearts and minds of these graduates as they go

off. Who's going to win the battle

for your struggles, the battle for your pain, the battle for

your hopes, the battle for your family, the battle for your

future, the battle for this church?

Are we so full of the Holy Spirit, so in tune with His

leading, that we will stand for Him even in the face of

opposition? And we cannot be silent because

listen to me, our world is sick. It's fallen, it's failing, it's

decaying, It's starving for truth, it's starving for grace,

it's starving for love. And we have exactly what they

seek. But will we hide the cure from

them? You just got to see the

intentional contrast here between the false power of these

leaders and the real power of the Christ followers.

Now, who's truly in charge of the most powerful body of the

Jewish people? Who's really in charge of this

situation? Look at verse 21.

And when they had further threatened them, they let them

go, finding no way to punish them because of the people.

For all we're praising God for what had happened.

For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more

than 40 years old. When they were released, they

went to their friends and reported what the chief priests

and elders had said to them. So how do we navigate the

Christian life in a resistant world where not everyone else is

going to believe the same way we do?

The gospel must be our truth and our strength.

And finally, we must trust in God's power.

I told you this story doesn't end the way we might think.

Twists and turns along the way. They issue threats, but they had

to let them go. I mean, what else they going to

do? I mean, once again, that

healing, smiling, crippled man's over there jumping around,

running in circles all around them.

So Peter and John run to find their new church to share.

Listen to what they did in verse 24.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to

God and said, Sovereign Lord, don't miss that sovereign Lord

who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything

in them, who through the mouth of our Father David, your

servant said by the Holy Spirit, why do the Gentiles rage and the

people, people's plot in vain the kings of the earth set

themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the

Lord and against his anointed. For truly, in this city there

were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom

you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the

Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever Your hand

and your plan had predestined to take place.

They immediately go to God in prayer together.

Learn that lesson. Follow their example.

They ran to God in the midst of difficulty, but also in the

midst of victory. Trust in Him.

They knew. They had to praise Him for what

He had done. They had listen to this.

They had just think about this. They had just shared the gospel

to the Sanhedrin and survived. What a miracle.

They praise God in prayer for His sovereignty and His

authority over all creation and over them.

God's in control, not the Sanhedrin, God's in control, not

Satan. God's in complete control, not

these earthly philosophies out there.

God's in control, not your lost friends.

God's in control, not this culture.

He wins the war. He always wins the war.

We got to trust in him. But they also recognize this

whole part of a master mission. God knew all this was going to

happen. That's part of His plan.

He'd predestined this long before time.

So look at verse 30. Look at verse 29.

And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your

servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness

while you stretch out your hand to heal.

And signs and wonders are performed through the name of

your holy servant, Jesus. Notice what they didn't pray.

They didn't pray for relief, they didn't pray for comfort.

They didn't pray for safety. They didn't pray for

deliverance. They prayed for courage and

boldness. Put us right in the thick of it,

God, we trust you. Help us to stand and speak

truth. We are resolute, we're

determined, we're committed. We're devoted with a single eye

to your glory, God, and we will not be moved.

Let us stand firm in the face of whatever might come, even if the

enemy is agitated, highly annoyed at us.

We will not budget when others tell us, tell us that we're

wrong. We're not going to flinch when

we're tempted with bad choices. We choose yours, your, you,

because we are yours. My life is yours, and this is

your church. So Father, please bring a new

empowered movement of your Holy Spirit among us.

Then one more surprise, one more verse, verse 31, because God

did. And when they'd prayed, the

place in which they were gathered together was shaken,

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to

speak the Word of God with boldness.

The Holy Spirit empowered and defended His church.

And I pray that we're so filled with the Holy Spirit that we too

speak the Word of God with boldness.

The world doesn't need our words.

The world doesn't need John's words.

It needs God's word. So graduates, new members, old

members, we will all face a moment when the world tells us

we can't. Then they're going to try to

tell us how we should. And, and they're going to try to

teach you their broken truth. And you're going to have to

decide who you serve, who you're going to obey, no matter what

the rest of them say, no matter what the rest of them believe.

And you need to prepare yourself for that moment now, not not in

the heat of it. Commit yourself now to serve

only him, to remember what you have seen and heard.

And don't simply let it be some memory from your childhood,

something you did when you were a kid.

Let it be alive and fresh today. You live it, you pursue it every

day. You breathe it, you believe it,

you proclaim it. Because once saved, we do not

have the right to remain silent. You can either be defeated, you

can decline in your faith, or you can be a true disciple and

imitator of the Master. So I pray our lives are shaken

to the core. I pray we're shaken so the Holy

Spirit is free to work in us as a light in this dark,

unbelieving world. I was in a tropical jungle once.

I've spent a lot of time in tropical jungles and we were out

in the middle of nowhere trying to show the Jesus film to some

folks. And there's no electricity, so

we had flashlights. It was getting dark walking

along a narrow, dusty old dirt trail and probably more mud than

dirt and and we could tell a disturbance was up ahead of us.

Couldn't see it. There's moonlight, but you

couldn't quite make it out. And then we realized it was a

group of animals. And then we realized it was a

wild pack of dogs. And they begin to bark and growl

and then they begin to run toward us.

They were coming at us. They were going to get us.

And we knew we weren't going to be able to outrun them.

And there's no way to outrun them, not in that mud and

jungle. And and I didn't have a stick or

stone. I had flashlights.

And I don't, I believe I, I, I'm not smart enough to think of

these things, but the Holy Spirit are, you know, help me to

think about. I just said all in order to turn

off your flashlights. So we all turned off our

flashlights and I said, when they get when, I say now you

shine those flashlights right in their eyes.

So there you can hear them coming at us going to RIP us

apart. We're standing there now.

We all turn our flashlights on. There's a good group of us all

turn our flashlights on shining at those dogs.

You'd have thought I had a 12 gauge shotgun.

Those dogs started yelping and screaming and crying and and

running in a million different directions.

That light terrified them. Now, on a practical level, those

dogs had probably never seen a flashlight before.

But on a spiritual level, I just want to believe there was an

Angel with a sword standing there.

You know what I'm saying? Because those dogs, I mean, we

never saw them again. Remember Inglewood?

We got to move forward shining that light, that world's dark

out there. But light always defeats

darkness. Light always wins.

God will always win. I've read the end of the book.

He wins. And some of you need to trust in

him right now, today, because there's a war going on.

You know you're not living the way you're supposed to be

living. For some of you, it's salvation.

For some of you, it's rededication.

For some of you it might be baptism.

For some of you, it might be church membership.

From it. You maybe just need to come

pray. The darkness is 1 enough.

Let's reclaim it. Let's do that now.

Father, thank you that we don't have to live in the dark.

We don't have to live in the dark.

Father, help us to not only be a light, but help us to shine that

light. Father, I thank you for today.

What a celebration, Father. Thank you.

I pray, Father, for these graduates as they move on and

their families. I pray for these new members as

they plug in. Lord, I pray we'll surround them

and just love them. I pray for these who are

baptized and will be baptized next week.

And I pray for those in the room right now.

Lord, there's a war going on in here.

They may not see it, they may not feel it, they may not

believe it, but there is. For some, there's a struggle of

whether or not they'll believe. We're only saved by grace

through faith. Give us the grace we need and

the faith we need to believe. Lord, help us pray right now

that you'll convict. You'll draw that folks would

repent, confess, come forward to find a pastor to say I need to

know what it really means to trust in Jesus right now.

I can't wait any longer. I just know I need to be saved.

Maybe someone else says, you know, I need to join the church.

I've been visiting and been attending but not really fully

participating. I pray Father, they'll come and

say how, how can I be a member or, or how could I be baptized?

Others just need to come and pray.

They need to come and pray for their lives.

Maybe they need to come and pray for friends.

They know. Lord, I just pray that there'll

be a freedom during this time. And Father, that as we sing and

the pastor stand here, that Lord, people would physically

come, that they would come. They wouldn't wait for somebody

else to come, They would come. Maybe some of them need to leap

and praise a little bit, but they'd surrender.

This world has nothing for us, Father, except the opportunity

to serve You. That's it.

It's the opportunity for us to learn more about you and to

glorify you and our service and praise.

So let us take advantage of the moment and let us respond in

Christ's name, Amen. Stand with me if you would.

This incredible worship team is going to lead us, and I just

pray you come. Pastors will be here.

You can just come and kneel at these steps and pray.

I want there to be a freedom. You want to know about trusting

in Jesus, joining the church, baptism, you come.

Whatever we need to do, you come right now.

Thank you so much for listening today.

And I also hope that you'll go to

[email protected] as well as our app and find many

other resources that will bless you and your families.

Thank you once again.