The Can't Help It Christian

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Well, if you haven't been on vacation yet, you just come each Sunday through the summer, watch that video, and you'll feel like you've been on vacation.

So so glad to be sharing with you this morning.

If you open up your Bibles to Acts chapter 4, I'm going to be sharing a message this morning that uh Pastor Eli asked me to share at Kids Camp.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

So this is a trial and error right here.

If it don't work, y'all tell me on the way out.

I've never that I can remember preached a kids' camp message to a church audience, but uh it was received well with them, so I'm counting on you.

Um and the message was entitled The Can't Help It Christian.

And so I told Eli that I would give him his due on asking me to share this and study it uh from Acts 4.

There is the the worship team is with me.

We're gonna do something a little different in a few minutes, so just hold tight.

Somebody told me once, if you give people the element of surprise, they'll keep listening to you, wondering what's gonna come next.

So that's what we're doing here.

Um but the can't help it Christian, I got thinking about the Can't Help It.

Um a few days ago, Weston walked out of the garage and he had a nutty bar ice cream cone.

Y'all know I'm talking about a little kind with chocolate coating and nuts on top, and he walked into the uh to the dining room area, and I said, What are you doing with that?

And he said, What?

I said, What do you think?

You're doing you think you're gonna come waltzing in here with a nutty buddy and not get one for me too?

I said, Go back to the garage, man.

Whose house do you think this is?

You think I didn't want one?

And so he went back in, got me my nutty buddy, and you know, when I see something like that, I don't know if you're like me, I just can't help it.

I just can't help it.

Usually after dinner, too, gets me.

After dinner before bed is my worst time.

I think I'd be in good shape if I could not eat one more time.

But I got the can't help it.

You with me?

Somebody had bought us, you you've heard of these crumble cookies?

You don't know what crumble cookie is?

If you don't, you should probably research it so you make me feel better anyway.

But crumble cookies are delicious, but each cookie is like its own piece of pie.

Or it's like a it's like its own pie.

It's so big.

You you really shouldn't eat your own.

Well, I came home one night and the box had been there for about three nights, and now it's, you know, it becomes my duty, right, husbands?

It's my duty at this point not to let something go to waste.

There's about four cookies left, and I cut one in half, and I walked on, and I did some things, and then I cut another one in half, and I walked before the evening was up, I'd eaten all four of those pies.

And but I did, you know, for Heather and the family, that wasn't there anymore.

We had nothing to waste.

I have the can't help it.

Y'all understand?

Well, when I think about that most of all, I think about this picture of me and Call in one Father's Day.

That is crab legs.

Crab legs is my most favorite thing on planet earth to eat.

I love them with all my heart, other than Jesus and Heather and the kids, crab legs are like right there, okay?

And so she took me one year, and to tell you how much I love it, we drove two hours to get to this buffet, and we get there, and one of the kids was still sort of like sitting in uh one of the seats, and I knew my father, my time with crabs was very, it was just, it was only gonna be so much.

And so I piled them on, and I they were talking.

I don't remember any conversation, but I'm just popping, popping, and just going to town on these crab legs because I didn't know how long before the the baby was gonna need my attention, and I didn't want to give my attention while I'm getting going.

They said something to me, and I look ravenous, just food.

And Heather says something to me, and I look down, and crab butter is dripping down my elbow.

Just, man, y'all, I got the can't help it.

Y'all with me?

Has anybody here got the can't help it?

I want to submit to you today that most people do.

If you have an appetite for living, we are created worshipful beings.

But I want to talk to us this morning about how to be a can't help it Christian.

I want you to leave here today understanding this passage and how it was that the disciples became a can't help it Christian.

Because you are can't help it about something usually.

Let me pray.

Father, we pray that you would open our hearts to your word.

We pray that you would open our hearts to Lord, be contagious Christians.

God, I pray that it would be just so in us, so full of us that we just can't help it, God.

But to make it exciting, Lord, it is, Lord, but pull back the curtains, the things that blind us, the things that get in the way, so that we can live in this fully.

Help our church today, Lord, speak to us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Look with me in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

We're gonna go to verse 14 through 16 to start, and then we're gonna go kind of back and forth on chapter 3 and 4.

Um, but the first point this morning is this they couldn't help but see the miracle.

Look at verse 14 through 16.

And seeing the man who had been healed, standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men?

For indeed that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

So, first of all, there's this miracle that's happened.

We're gonna cover it in a minute, but I need you to understand that.

Let's define a miracle.

A miracle is a sign or wonder that shows the work of God, the work of divine, and often, not always, but often breaks laws of nature.

God is God, hear me, with or without a miracle.

So it begs the question then why in the public ministry of Jesus, why miracles?

And the definition of the or the answer to that is this authentication.

For Jesus to authenticate his ministry, that he was God, number one, there was miracles that took place.

It authenticated him as God, it authenticates the message that would further through the people of God, and it authenticates the faith of the people that received him.

Um and apart from a work of God, I need you to hear there is no Christianity.

Christianity doesn't take place without the work of God.

Now hear me.

If God uses someone and does a miracle, God did it.

It wasn't that person's prayer, it wasn't that person, it was the God that they prayed to.

Because today there's this subtle attack and it seeks to make you and me the source of the miracle.

God wants to use you, God wants you to pray, He wants you to believe in miracles.

But Ephesians 2, 8.9 says, For by grace you saved through faith, it is not of works, lest you and me boast about our miracle working power.

And I open my mouth, and God, listen, and it becomes about me worshiping me, and I and it's a soul attack of the enemy, but it's witchcraft, it's Gnosticism, it's new age, and it's wrong.

So hear me today.

God is the God of the miracle.

So they can't help but see this miracle.

Well, what is the miracle?

Letter A, it's an unbelievable strolling.

What does that mean?

Go back to chapter 3, verse 4 through 9.

You just see they've got Peter and John, and they're going on trial, and they and they're talking about this undeniable miracle, but what was it?

Look at chapter 3, verse 4 through 9.

And fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, Look at us.

So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

Then Peter said, Silver and gold I do not have.

But what I do have, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God.

So this was the miracle that they're later on trial for.

This guy, this lame man, he woke up on Tuesday and it was a normal Tuesday.

He could not walk like every other Tuesday.

He was lamed.

He was crippled ever since the day he was born.

He couldn't stand, listen to me, on his own two feet.

It's hard for a man, if you tell a man to stand up, but he can't get on his feet.

His whole life, this man had been carried.

If he was getting somewhere, someone was bringing him.

And not only that, but this man had been brought to the church day after day, and he's out by the church and he's begging.

I just want you to see this man's lame situation.

By the way, there are a couple of different types of lameness.

There are some men close to church, hear me.

There's some men close to church, but not standing.

That's lame.

There's some men that are in church and they're not standing.

That's lameness.

There's some men who are like Judas.

They're working right beside Jesus, but they're not standing.

And this scripture says that this man immediately his feet and his ankles got strong.

I don't know if you remember the story about the old boy who had braces and became the fastest football player that ever was in the history of Alabama.

Roll tide, here he is.

Y'all remember that boy?

He said, You wouldn't believe it, but I can run like the wind blows.

Roll tide, right today.

There's your boy.

Let me take you to verse number six again in chapter three.

He said, Silver and gold I do not have.

I don't have money to give you.

Oh, but what I have, money can't buy.

What money can buy is temporary.

But what I have, what we have to offer, can change your life.

See, Peter and John didn't have money to give.

By the way, the layman asked for money.

And I think often too many people are thinking if they just had money, their bad situation would be better.

If I just had money, my bad life would be better.

But listen to what it says, verse 7 and 8.

It says, They said, What we have, we're willing to give.

They had the can't help its, they had the can't help its of ministry.

And they said, We have something that you need to have, and we want to give.

And so they stretched out their hands and they said to him to be healed.

And what it says is immediately his feet and ankles got strong.

See the miracle in this.

They had never been strong.

Imagine your whole life.

You'd never felt the support of feet and ankles.

And you see what it says after that.

He got up, and anywhere this guy got after that, it says he was leaping.

I mean, he was skipping where he was going.

And I bet this guy, if he talked to you today, he said, watch this.

He was one-legged jumping, he was 360.

He wasn't throwing away trash just normal anymore.

He was dumping stuff in because it changed his life.

If he was getting somewhere, it wasn't on another man's back no more.

And I think he had a song to sing because he had some praise.

Maybe you can stand up and praise in this song with us.

I think it's a song.

But it says he left the temple walking, leaping, and praising God.

You'd have been skipping too.

Yesterday was just another day with his face in the dirt.

Another day with a man carrying him, him being on somebody's back.

And today he got up.

And there was an unbelievable letter B, an unbelievable extolling.

He praised.

And I don't think that was just a normal just, oh, he was just praising.

I think sometimes we come into church and we just have a normal just praise the Lord.

Glorious day.

Right out of that grave.

Like if I felt praise like y'all did, get him some coffee, Paul.

We shouldn't be bored worshippers, I tell you that.

Because I know I was celebrating with Bill Myrick last night about a home run in the 11th inning of a baseball game, and I celebrated that.

Well, I can celebrate Jesus too.

An unbelievable worship.

I don't know if he ever got used to life again, but he praised.

You see, people who are present probably, and it says that they're trying to look at the idea of what happened, and they're trying to prove or disprove.

And people are present and say, This sounds like the lame man.

This looks like the lame man, but let me tell you, he's not acting like the lame man.

He's got a new walk.

The psalmist said it this way: when I met Jesus, he lifted me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay.

He set my feet upon a rock, he established my goings, and he put a new song in my mouth.

He was lame no more.

He met Jesus.

He looked like Ric Flair everywhere he was going, strutting.

He was styling and profiling.

He had a new walk, sturdy ankles.

I bet he said, hey, hey, look at these babies.

Woo! You wanna you wanna go?

Woo! Come on! He had new sturdy, strong legs.

It's a miracle.

When you see a miracle, and by the way, you gotta be close to God.

When you see a miracle, you should get a healthy case of the can't help it.

And these guys had that.

Well, it doesn't stop there.

The second thing is this you can't help but see the merger.

Look at verse 13 of chapter 4.

Pastor Dave shared some of this and what he said.

Verse 13.

Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.

And they realized, hear this, and they realize something.

They realized that they had been with Jesus.

They saw this merger.

You can't be, listen to me, church, you can't be with Jesus Christ.

And the people that have known you your whole life see you as the same.

It should change a person inside and out to be with Jesus.

And letter A is this there was an undeniable company.

They could not deny.

They could not deny this message, and they perceived that they had been with Jesus, these unlearned and untrained, uneducated men.

Why?

Why did they see that?

Well, it was because of their boldness.

Verse 1, 6, and 7 talks about who they were speaking to.

The priest in verse 1, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees.

And so they were speaking very boldly to people of high importance, of rulers.

Anybody here had to ever go before in school a principal?

Very guilty.

How about you?

Anyone before a judge?

I already told y'all about my speeding problems.

Okay.

So I'm not I'm not even confessing today.

I've done that.

I've said my peace to the Lord.

Um I've had an ordination council of all these godly men, and I'm supposed to answer to them why I feel the calling of God in my life.

I've been in front of important people, and I have to tell you something, every single time, I'm always afraid.

Every one of those occasions, I was afraid.

These men, by all counts, disciples, untrained in speaking, untrained and uneducated men, fishermen, they should have been fearful or nervous, but instead, they're unflinchingly bold in front of people that can probably, to their knowledge, take their life at an instant.

I want you to hear how bold they are and what they have to say that's bold.

Look at verse 8 through 12.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, he there, said to them, rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well.

Let it be known to all you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, hear this bold statement whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole.

He was lame before.

Verse 11.

This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone of our Christianity.

Now, here verse 12, the key.

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And Peter just lays it out for them.

I mean, unflinchingly bold.

He calls them, he brings their accusal.

You want to put me in court for what's happened?

Let me tell you, you're the one.

Listen specifically, verse 10.

He says, Whom you, you tried to crucify.

How could they say it so boldly?

Well, the secret's in verse 8.

Peter, full of the Holy Spirit.

When you can't, when you get the can't help it, you get Holy Spirit boldness.

That word bold is in the Greek parachia, and that is meaning individual or collectively pouring out.

Boldness is pouring out as in it's so full, and you can't help but spill over that Holy Spirit boldness was pulling out.

By the way, church, that's why your time with Jesus daily matters so much.

Because you're pouring out of a cup.

You are pouring out of the cup.

Well, in the beginning of Acts, Acts 1, the Holy Spirit comes upon them and it says they will be given power.

And so this is the fruition of that coming to happen.

And Peter and John suddenly had the can't help it because they had a merger.

There was the acquisition of their souls with Jesus.

Jesus had ascended, and the Holy Spirit merged from that day forth with every believer.

And so now the lost world would hear from the mouths of men a message that has bold authority.

And so they said, You tried to crucify him.

You want to know how this man was made.

Well, Jesus healed him, and it's by that name and no other.

No other name.

They should have been fearful and frightened.

But they met that council of people with boldness.

If we want to be a bold Christian church, we have to keep company with the king.

Verse 13 is what we saw on that.

It was undeniable.

It said they perceived these uneducated, these fishers, these low men, the way that they spoke, it sounded like something with authority because they were meeting with the king.

It was undeniable.

Not only was it undeniable the company, but the capability of what they were doing, letter B, was undeniable.

I went through some stages of problematic public speaking.

It started on the first oratory report in middle school.

And I had to give that report much like you.

And I took a newspaper, we were supposed to take a newspaper clipping and describe what happened before our class and give a summary.

I looked at the clipping, it was a clipping of Michael Jordan, and I read it word for word.

I had no summary.

I didn't look up at one person.

I walked back to my seat and second time I knew what it was going to be about, so I was even worse frightened.

And I went the second time, I don't remember the port, but I got ready to, and I had to fix some of the things that were wrong, and I got ready to speak, and I looked up at the people for the first time.

My cheeks started twitching.

This started happening while I was speaking, and I'm trying to stop it.

I'm like, bless Macdis.

What do I do?

So distracting.

Well, that never ended.

Never.

I went to college and I went to speech class and I was just dreading dreading.

They're like, you should do it the first semester.

Freshman, just get it over.

I'm like, I don't want to do it ever.

And I went to speech class, and every time we had to give four speeches, and they were all just terrifying, torturous for me.

And so I went through different streets.

I would have hot sweats and my hands would get clammy.

Um, but then my stomach, listen, I don't want to give y'all details, but the last time I had to give a speech, I poured milk on myself at the breakfast table at the cafeteria, and I had a suit jacket on, you had to wear a suit jacket.

I ran back to my dorm room and had to get I put on my roommate's coat, which didn't fit.

I got hurried back, and I had the last name right, so I'm always last, so it was perfect.

I had all the time, but I could not get myself into that room.

I was just down the hall, but I couldn't get myself into that room.

Finally, I got to the room, and I'm telling you, it was horrifying, it was horrible.

The teacher was so nice.

Listen, he gave me the award, most improved.

And y'all know what that means.

But given that devotion that I gave on the egg, talking about the outside looks one way and the inside looks a different way.

I took that devotion and what God gave to me, and I went to a youth group the next summer and I asked, God gave me this.

Can I share it?

And there was something that started happening in me, and it was undeniable the work that God was doing.

These guys are unlearned and ignorant men.

The Greek word for unlearned and ignorant, the Greek is idiotice.

I said, wow.

But it really just means a commoner, as opposed to the magistrate, these royal people, these important people.

The way that they spoke for a commoner was a marvel to them.

It says they were astonished.

It was like another miracle.

The lame man was healed, but they're looking at the fisherman, going, This is, it says astonishing.

It was a marvel to them that they were in wonder.

A lame man was healed, but these fishermen are speaking with the order.

Wow, this is something else.

And they marveled, the word is Thasma.

They had great admiration, like another miracle.

But it was because of the merger of the company of the Holy Spirit within them.

I'm telling you today, I would not be here today of my own self if it weren't for the Holy Spirit working in me over these fears and these things that I could not do.

You see, but when Jesus Christ got a hold of their hearts, it changed things.

When Jesus Christ got a hold of my heart, he changed my words.

When he got a hold of my heart, he changed my steps.

When he got a hold of my heart, he changed my wants.

When he got my heart, he got my wallet.

When he got my heart, he changed my wares.

When he got my heart, he changed my whys.

When he got my heart, he changed my who's.

When he got my heart, he changed my wins.

And so when Jesus Christ gets a hold of you, it's undeniable.

Who knows what can happen?

I have a question for you today.

Does anyone ever stop because of what you're doing and say or think they must have been with Jesus?

For them to respond like that, they must have been with Jesus.

For them to be gentle like that in that moment, they must have been with Jesus.

They had all the right to be angry, they had all the right to be rude, they had all the right, but there's something different about that person.

They must have been with Jesus.

It says they perceive that these uneducated men were with Jesus because of what you've been doing or how you've been treating people.

Are you kind?

The way you respect.

Does anyone see Jesus because of you?

I had someone I was talking with this week, and he told me that the norm for high school or middle school girls was to be mean girls.

This is the norm.

The norm was that they would be judgmental and give dirty looks.

Why?

Why is that the norm?

It's not typical of someone who has been with Jesus, I can tell you that much.

And it should not be.

Parents help us.

Help your students to understand that a kind word, a kind action is befitting a Christian.

It shouldn't be typical.

Oh, I hope that this school year that comes, it won't be told of CCW that it's befitting.

It's just normal.

We just got mean girls.

We just got judgmental kids.

I hope not.

It's not typical because 2 Corinthians 5.17, you know it says something to me.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things are passed away.

Behold, all things have become new.

You can change.

Hear me, students.

You can change.

And it's not too late to change.

I don't care if you're here today and you're in your 90s.

People all the time say, I'm just set in my ways.

I just am who I am.

This is what you see, is what you get.

No, you don't have to be.

My grandfather died in his 60s.

And one of the great things about his testimony, he had a bad testimony for a long part of his life.

And I and I never knew him this way, but people knew him.

And there were some just sinful things in his past, hurtful things.

The last seven years of his life, he had gotten his heart right with the Lord.

And I remember conversations through my family and people saying that he came and he apologized and he got things right.

And the man I knew for the last seven years of his life was nothing of his previous testimony.

He changed.

Someone here today needs to know it's not too late.

You're not so deep that God can't pull you up out of that pit.

The touch of Jesus, because of his touch, average common fisherman spoke with undeniable intellect.

I said, What is what are they saying?

Let me give you a few practical points to be a can't help it Christian before we hit the last point.

To be a can't help it Christian, some things you have to do.

Say, well, how do I make this change?

How does this happen for me?

Number one, we have to meet with God today.

Practical thing.

You have to meet with God.

This does not happen in and of yourself.

You're not gonna read seven rules of leadership, and this happens.

To be a can't help it person, you have to meet with God.

Second thing, you have to say no to negativity.

Have to say no when it comes your way.

I know you've heard me weeks before talk about this negativity, complaining, whining.

You have to just say no.

I'm gonna bring back the drug slogan.

Just say no.

They start complaining at you, just put your hands, just say no.

I'm not doing it.

I can't do that.

Okay, to be full of something and bubbling over with something so positive, you can't allow all that in your ear.

Number three, you have to have a daily target for others.

A lot of days we just wake up and we go about the schedule.

Who are we gonna share the can't help it with?

Who?

Who is your target?

The places you're going, before you lay your bed to rest tonight, who is your target tomorrow?

Have you thought about it?

Who is your target?

And four, seize the opportunities.

Be flexible in the moment.

Look at opportunities that are in front of you.

Can't help it, Christians do these things.

The third thing this morning is this they can't help but speak the message.

Look at verse 17 and 18 of chapter 4.

It says, but so that it spreads.

These are the guys conferring about how to stop what the disciples are doing, but so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them.

That from now on they speak to no man in this name.

So they called on them and commanded them to not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus.

So here's their plan.

We're gonna stop them from spreading this message.

I thought about have you ever tried to tell a young child to keep a secret?

Have you ever told your child by accident about a surprise birthday party?

Well, you'll be sweating every day until that party comes too.

Don't do it.

Don't give them a date, don't tell them.

Have you ever showed a small child a gift that you don't want somebody to know about?

Oh, they're just bubbling over.

Oh, like it's ugly.

Don't you tell, don't you, and you threaten them with everything.

You throw it all at them.

Look, you won't sleep for a week, you won't eat, you won't do nothing, it doesn't matter, and they're just that they're so excited, and that's the thing.

It's so good.

We're supposed to not mention something, but it's so good.

I just want to tell.

And here we are with the greatest gift in history.

Do we have that can't help it?

It's like not speaking that message is like standing on the edge of a pool next to a teenager.

Have you ever tried this out?

And thought for one second that they could help but not push you in.

Never, right?

I don't stand next to a pool, Pastor Joe.

I'm just saying, I don't do it.

I'm far away because they'll try to come and get me and carry me.

I don't do that.

Why?

They just, oh, it's so good about it's a little tap.

It's so good.

They can't help it.

It says they could not help.

They wanted to stop this message.

Why?

Letter A.

It's because it was an unforgettable fame.

Jesus was going to steal the fame that they desired to have.

See, the disciples had seen Jesus do miracles.

They had seen Jesus die and resurrect before this.

And now the power of the Holy Spirit is with them, and they had seen a lame man be healed.

It was unforgettable.

And the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees saw this, and they saw, and their plan was that this fame would spread no further.

So that says they severely threatened them.

I don't know the difference in a regular threat and a severe threat, doesn't sound good.

But I got some news, church, as they said, no man speak the name of Jesus.

That was over 2,000 years ago, church.

And no ungodly priests, no power-hungry Sadducees, and no religious fame seekers has been able to stop the spread of the name of Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 12.

That was the name.

There is salvation in any other.

There is in no other name under heaven among by which men must be saved.

Peter said, he couldn't help but share the message.

This is salvation.

This is the Messiah.

It is by this name and fame that the message of the gospel is spread.

Jesus, Jesus was his message.

And Peter said, I believe Peter just he was full of the can't help it in this moment.

He said there is no other name in verse 12.

And then Peter just full of it.

He wanted to shout Jesus from the mountains.

He wanted to shout Jesus in the streets.

Jesus in the darkness over every enemy.

Jesus for my family.

The fame of Jesus that I speak.

It's the holy name of Jesus.

CCW, I want you to look at your neighbor and say, Jesus.

Oh my soul, I'm about to die.

No, don't, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm commenting on how bad that Jesus was.

Y'all look at your neighbor and say, Jesus, like it matters.

You say, Jesus.

Good heaven.

We're gonna have to sing again, Benji.

So this is the deal that they bring before them.

They say they're holding this trial.

They say the miracle, yes, it's undeniable.

Untrained, uneducated, you losers.

Listen, you're not normal anymore.

The lame guy ain't lame, but we don't want anyone getting famous over this.

So if you just keep your yaps shut, everybody'll be fine.

Or else.

And I want you to understand, church, from the onset of time, Satan has hated the fame of Jesus.

He's been jealous of it since he was an angel in heaven.

It was the fame of Jesus that they feared, that they hoped to destroy.

You see, in Luke chapter 5, it was the news of the fame of Jesus spreading that many came to hear him, to hear him speak, to be healed.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

It was that name of Jesus that caused this mob of people to get together and want him to be crucified.

They wanted the threat gone.

Look at the list of religious people.

Priests, captain of the temple, Sadducees.

Why did they fear Jesus so much?

He was real, he was authentic.

And what they were selling was not.

They were selling a man-made bill of goods, and they were looking at fame in terms of power.

And if this Jesus and His Word and His ministry continued, their power was going to be lost.

And so they hated the name of Jesus.

By the way, if you hear a man preach any other name, don't go to that church.

Jesus is God.

If you hear somebody preach and you're hearing some of this today, that other things other than Jesus are God, that's a church you don't need to be at.

If they claim there's another way of salvation, that's a church that you need not listen.

Jesus is salvation.

If they're saying anything else, they're a false teacher and they're trying to sell their own fame.

Because these disciples continue in the strength of that name, we're still here today.

It was unbelievable.

Letter B.

There was an unforgettable future at stake.

Look down at verse 19 and 20.

So they make this plea.

They threaten them with severe threats.

And verse 19, but Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you can be the judge, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

He said, We can't help it.

We got the can't help us.

He said, If we're supposed to listen to you, I don't know.

I don't know if we're supposed to listen to you or not.

You're royal.

And I don't think he wanted to down that position, but he says, We cannot help it.

When I was a kid, we would say to anyone that was trying to tell or make us do something, maybe you remember this.

We would look them in the eye and we would say this, you ain't the boss of me.

Anybody ever remember saying this?

You ain't my boss.

My kids all the time trying to tell my other kids what to do, and I'm like, stop it.

They're not gonna listen to their siblings.

You're not their boss.

I'm like, let me be the parent.

But I can remember saying over and over, you're not the boss of me.

And you say that what God has to say that we have to figure out whether we should do what God says or we should do what you say.

But Peter and John said, but we can't help it.

We can't help but to speak the things we've heard and seen, and you ain't the boss of me.

I want to give someone a challenge this week.

I gave the kids this challenge at camp.

I want you to tell someone this week, find a way to get in conversation and tell someone I'm a Christian.

Tell someone I'm a Christian.

And see where the conversation takes you.

But tell somebody proudly and boldly, I'm a Christian.

I told the kids we used to sing a song about it.

Y'all remember?

The kids had no clue what I was saying.

Maybe y'all will remember.

Y'all remember the song I am a C?

A few of you, I am a C H.

Y'all sing it with me.

I'm a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N?

And I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my A-T-A-R T and I will L-I-V-E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y.

I had to explain it to them after that.

They're looking at me like, what?

I said, I'm a Christian.

I have Christ in my heart and I will live eternally.

I'm a Christian.

It's not something that we should be bashful about.

There should be this boldness.

Because I'm a Christian.

It's unforgettable the future that we have because of what happened here.

Well, let's continue.

Verse 23 and see what happened afterwards.

The man congregated in the verses that followed, and verse 23 happens, and being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them, who the mouth of your servant David has said.

And so they go to all their friends and they praise God.

And I want you to see verse 31 what happens.

They had the can't help its.

And when they had prayed, verse 31, the place where they were assembled together was shaken.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

They prayed over what had happened.

They prayed and gave glory to God over what would happen.

And hear me, listen, you don't miss this.

We've talked about it in the past.

When God brings the Weather into things, you need to take notice.

It says they prayed and the whole place was shaken.

I don't know if you would call that a seismic activity, if you would call that an earthquake, but they finished praying and God from the heavens couldn't take it anymore.

He had to show himself in the moment.

And it says the whole place was shaken.

It impacted the structure of the earth.

They had the can't help its, and God said from him, I got the can't help its too.

And he showed himself to them.

They couldn't help it, and neither could God.

Their faith literally made God shake the place.

About a year ago, I was talking about in this place, it was awesome.

I said, Y'all want to talk to me about a weather, and do I look at the weather and this and that?

And I said, I know who the real weatherman is.

Boom! God struck thunder right after I said that, and everybody went, I know when the weather gets involved.

It says the Holy Spirit filled the friends full.

Not only had the disciples got it, but hear me.

When you get it and you share it, look, it says the whole place.

All of the rest of them got it.

You want your kids to get it, parents?

You get it right here.

Me, I gotta get it.

You want your family members to get it?

Man, get a healthy dose of the can't help it.

And somebody else, it's contagious.

You want your neighbor to get it?

Well, you gotta get near them in the lawn and just be able to have that moment.

Man, I'm so full of God, I can't help but take the opportunity.

You want to come to church with me?

I know I've seen you 150,000 times and I've never said anything, but I got something now.

I'm sorry for whatever used to be.

I changed.

I got the can't help it.

My co-worker, my friends, my family members.

It will spread.

And we will have had a life that made an unforgettable impact for the future.

You know, there's only one thing that you take in the future with you.

The money you make, the trophies we get, the successes, the legacy, there's only one thing you get to take to heaven, and that's more people with you.

So, how about this week?

It's June 25th.

How about by July 25th?

Can you tell one person I'm a Christian?

Can you tell how it happened?

Go from I'm a Christian and then can I tell you how it happened?

Tell your story.

Can you tell one person that and your story?

And then my other challenge is, can you invite four people?

Because maybe you can't, but I'll tell them.

Bring them here.

Can you invite four people?

Five people in one month.

That's my challenge.

Invite four to church and tell one person, I'm a Christian.

Can I tell you how it happened?

I believe this church we were talking last week, it will grow wider as we get deeper and fuller.

And let me tell you, the next two weeks, there's going to be very clear gospel presentations.

So if you have lost family, friends, please.

But as I was trying to figure out how to close about this can't help it, a few years back, my daughter Callie, she got a case of the Can't Help It's.

And Callie came to me one day after school before I wana, and she said, Daddy, I'm gonna call this girl by a different name.

But she said, Daddy, can we invite Amber to Iwana?

I said, sure, just let me know.

We'll we'll we'll invite her and we'll pick her up, whatever we need to do.

Well, it was a Wednesday that day, and I said, Golly, if I go over there and meet her parents right now, right before we leave, they're gonna look at me weird.

You know, I said, if somebody showed up at my door and I didn't know them at all, and they asked if I could take, if they could take one of you guys somewhere, I'd just tell them no.

So that was my explanation week one.

Week two comes up.

I said, remind me before Wednesday next week.

Well, life happens.

Wednesday, it hits her again.

And she says, Daddy, can we invite Amber to Iwana?

And I said, Cow?

I said, baby.

I said, I got to, this guy's got to meet me.

He's gonna tell me no.

And I shut her down the second time, third week, Wednesday again.

And she says, Daddy, I know it's Wednesday.

Can we please invite Amber to Iwana?

I said, I'm like frustrated.

I said, What?

Callie, he's gonna tell me no.

I said, I would not let and she so I walked away from her.

I went and did some stuff, and I come back to the couch, and Callie was crying.

I'm like, what's wrong?

What's wrong, Callie?

And she said, Daddy, Amber's gonna die and go to hell if we don't go get her.

Talk about putting your parent in their place.

I said, Okay, baby, I'm gonna ride over there and meet Amber's dad.

I get to Amber's door, and I'm sure, I'm assured in my spirit, this is a flat no.

There's not a way this is gonna happen, but there's no way I'm gonna let my crying daughter feel that way and not try.

I know it's a flat no.

I go to the door, the man opens the door, I explain who I am, I'm pastor of this church, and I need you to understand there are cultural differences.

Okay.

This would not have been the norm for him to send his child to a Southern Baptist church whatsoever, maybe not church at all.

So I get to the door and I'm explaining, he says, he said to me, So the program is good?

I said, Yeah, it's good.

The program is safe.

I said, Yeah, it's safe.

She can go.

She comes to Iwana.

And after I wana, this little girl with the Can't Help It's says to Amber, What do you think?

And she says, Can I tell you, Callie says to Amber, can I tell you the ABCs of salvation?

Amber gets saved.

Amen, church.

She just believed that all the excuses didn't really matter and we should just give it a try.

And here I am with all my excuses and all my reasons.

You know what I needed?

I just needed a case of the can't help it.

I had to learn.

God could do anything.

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