Acts Chapter 8 (2009)

And even in that song, there's a duality in the morning, it's the breaking of day.

And that was actually a morning that actually broke out almost two thousand years ago.

That was the day of Pentecost.

That was the morning time.

That was the time of the New Testament church being inaugurated.

And that church existed.

It existed in a glorious day.

The Bible prophesied how it would for 40 years.

And after a span of time, that would be a man child.

That would be a ruling element.

That would actually be wreaked.

Those men was actually put to death in the flesh, they was mortared.

But as Paul had a revelation, he said, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

And so those men was actually mortared and put to death, how they really was being caught up to God and to his throne.

And of course, the Bible prophesied how that church, after which Paul said, I know that after my departing, that is, after he was actually reaped, he said, grievous woes would enter among you, not sparing the flock.

And he said, Even men among yourselves, some of those elders that was there in that church, uh, over the church in Ephesus, uh, even men among yourselves shall, even among yourselves shall some arise, uh, speaking perverse things, lead away disciples after themselves.

And as Paul and Peter and James and John and Andrew, those men was put to death, uh, that church that Jesus Christ actually gathered a materials, and actually birth on the day of Pentecost began a downward spiral, as the Bible said that it would.

And it began to go through different stages until eventually it hit the noontime.

I think in uh Song of Solomon he said, Tell me, oh thou home my soul of it.

I'm not quoting that right.

Let's read that a little bit of that.

Uh and so you can begin to see that morning time didn't last that long as only 40 years.

And then came the noontime.

You know what happens at noon?

At noon there is no shadow.

Uh there is no shadow.

You ever walk outside of noon?

There is literally no shadow.

Uh on the board from the Song of Solomon chapter one.

I don't want to uh uh inconvenience the guests too much and the new people, but I like to make sure we're people who can sing with the spirit and sing with the understanding also.

And Song of Solomon, uh, this is a wonderful book.

It's a love affair between Jesus Christ and his bride.

Now, this is really what it's talking about, which comes out of the church.

And so here he is, he's actually prophesying about a time, a noon time that will actually come upon the church, uh, when there will be no shadow, there'll be no covering.

And uh, this is represented the Bible.

We use the term, the Bible uses the term uh the wilderness or the dark ages, and there was no place that you could really find the covering of the Lord.

It was just people who was in dens and caves.

And then, of course, now here we are with the evening time of the Gentile world, we're in the evening time of the church world.

This is when the sun actually goes down, and thank God we still believe there's a vision of Jesus.

I sing that first song, and it made me think about thank God, we can praise him in the evening, uh, we can praise him when the sun goes down because we have a hope.

We have a hope, and we know the sun is going down in another age, another world, another dispensation of uh time when the Lord is about the Lord's about to actually pull the church down another world.

And so we're doing that first century church, uh that was a glorious church.

It had the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

And I think uh Paul makes that statement, doesn't he?

He says, Your Father, the gospel be hid.

It is hit of those who are lost, and whom the God of this world, who the God of this world is sin.

It's a result of carnality, in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not.

Lest the light, look how you put it this lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

And so there is a people uh who actually had the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, whose eyes was opened, had been actually anointed what I said, and it was actually clothed in the sun.

That is, they didn't have any.

Everything that was false, they were able to overcome it.

Thank God they was not overcame, but they actually overcame evil with good.

And so as that church was in its zenith, as it was in its glorious days, uh it was a spectacle, it was a spectacle to be noticed.

Uh it was something to take note of.

Thank God, brother, the Bible said that would not be the like unto the years of many generations.

Aren't you glad we're in that generation?

And so we can begin to see how even back in the book of Solomon, Song of Solomon, how the Lord Himself began to prophesy about those things.

Uh that is where the church is concerned.

Go down to uh chapter one and song of Solomon.

Let me get back to the book of Acts.

But this is just things that at the Lord just stirred my mind as we were singing.

Look at verse 7.

Look at verse 7.

1 in 7.

I said I didn't have it right.

I did have that right.

1 in 7.

Tell me.

And here is that here's that at that church, brother after the apostles.

Uh Peter, James, and John and Andrew was all reeked.

Uh, they was actually caught up to God and to his throne.

But here's an element of people that was left on the earth, and their heart was right toward God.

They didn't want to go the way of falsehood.

They didn't want to join the Pharisees and Sadducees and different religious organizations.

And so here is the heart crowd of that people.

Look at verse 7.

He said, Tell me, tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth.

Well, of course, the soul was loving Jesus Christ.

He said, Where thou what?

Where are you feeding?

Where are you giving out corn?

Where is the truth of the word of God being dispersed?

Uh, where are thou feeding?

Look what he says.

Where thou makest thy flock, and there was many flocks, but thank God that was a little flock that actually belongs to David.

Uh, that was a little flock that David kept, that was his father's sheep, and there was a little flock on the earth of people, even after the uh the apostles was put to death, he still had a remnant of people on the earth.

He said, Tell me, listen to this, where thou makest thy flock, uh, that is to rest at noon.

And there was different flocks.

The Sadducees had a flock, the Ephesenes, they had a flock, all those religious organizations, they had their flocks.

But here was the people, they didn't want to join to those flocks.

Where was the Lord's flock resting?

And it was noon.

Uh, there was no place where the people of God could gather like this.

Down to the dark age, this would be considered an unlawful uh gathering.

You know why?

Because we wasn't called by the name of that old grand girl.

Uh we didn't have the name uh universal church.

I'll speak plain, the word universal means Catholic.

And for 1,260 years, any religious setting that was not sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church was an unlawful setting and could actually be put to death or would be put to death for that.

But there was a people, there was a people, brother, who was down in dens and caves.

There was a people who didn't bend, didn't bow, didn't break, they didn't compromise, even down through the dark ages or the time that that uh uh that was noon.

He said, Why did I cause our flock to rest at noon?

For why?

Listen to the souls of these people, listen to the souls of these people, for why should I be as one that what?

That turn aside.

Why would I go join uh that system?

Why would I begin to take on her ways?

Why would I begin to go into the path of uh denominationism and uh organization and sectarialism?

Why would I do that?

Uh why would I begin to drink her wine?

Why would I begin to eat her bread?

Why would I be as one that turned aside to what?

By the flocks of thy companions.

Brother, we have many who was named the name of Christ for 1,260 years, but they took the path of least resistance, didn't want to be ostracized, didn't want to be criticized, uh, didn't want to be inconvenient.

But brother, they wanted to go the way of the masses.

But I think he tells us in Deuteronomy, he said, follow not a multitude to do evil.

Brother, I want to make sure that I have my eyes on Jesus.

I still like to make sure, brother, I don't stray off this beaten path.

I still like to make sure, brother, my eyes are set on the prize.

I want to keep pressing.

Do you have that conviction today?

Do you have that kind of mind?

And so that's the mind it takes.

And then, of course, if you pray earnestly, if you pray earnestly, the Bible said his ear is open to the cry of the righteous.

And so the Lord Himself, he began to answer in verse 8.

He began to respond.

He responded to that people's prayer, he responded to those people's heartbeat.

And look what he began to say.

He said, if thou knowest not, if you can't find the kingdom of God, the body of Christ, the people who's earnestly contending, as Jude put it, for the faith that was once delivered to the saints, if you don't see them, brother, upon the upon the mountain, upon the hills, he said, look what he says.

If thou knowest not, oh thou Pharis among women, there's all the three-score queens, there are four-score concubines, there's virgins without number.

He said, But my dove, my undefiled, she is but what?

She is but one.

She's the only one of a mother.

He said, Listen, if you don't know, if you can't see her, oh thou pharis among women, he said, and I love this, and this is a step that you and I, here's to note that you and I can take uh we should take note of.

He said, Listen, he said, go thy way forth.

Go thy way forth by the what?

Footstep of the flock.

How did the early rain church do things?

How do they have services?

How were they structured?

Did they have a deacon board?

Or did they have a uh what they voted in?

Did they have a bishop?

Did they have among senior?

Did they have Sunday school?

How do they have church?

How was what was their order?

What was their governor?

Go back, go back to the footstep of the flock.

Look at that early reign church.

Measure that.

Measure that people, measure that altar, measure the temple and them that worship therein.

What was their order?

What was their governor?

Thank God, brother, even down through the 1260 years of the dark ages, there was a people who had enough God, brother.

They began to consider the good word of God, and they didn't bow, they didn't bend, they didn't break.

That's what Shakra, Meshach, and Abednego represent.

Uh, thank God in the book of Daniel.

Here was a people, brother, that was a great image that was set down in the plains of Dorum, wasn't it?

And that and that image was set up in six.

Do you know that?

That thing was 60, uh, that is 60 cubits high, brother Mike.

It was six cubits wide, and just the image of the beast is in six.

Six, six, six.

Six is the number of man.

But brother, and he made a decree.

When you hear the sound of all these instruments, and that was all those great instruments, he said, everybody that's under my dominion, you're gonna bow down because of this image.

But brother, listen, if you don't bow down, he said, that's not but one decree for you.

He said, that's gonna be a furnace that's gonna be uh be prepared for everyone who wouldn't bow.

Do you know, brother, the people of God that it came down out of Babylon, I'm sorry, out of Jerusalem, who was in Babylon, that was under the dominion upon this great man, King Nezuchenezer.

Do you know what they all did?

They all bowed down.

They actually bowed down.

The people of God bowed down to that image that was set up in the plains of Dorum.

But brother, thank God there was a few men that wasn't many, and it's showing you the body of Jesus Christ is just the remnant, there was a few men, there was a few men who had integrity, there was a few men whose conscience wouldn't allow them to bow.

They didn't take the path of least resistance, and when everybody bowed, when they heard the sound of those instruments, and no doubt they heard like everyone else, when they heard the trump, the sound of the fluke and the hornet and all those musical instruments, all of the people of Shawdeans of Babylon bow and all of the nation of Israel bow.

But guess what?

There was three men left standing upon their feet.

There was Daniel, I'm sorry, that was Shagrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And brother, they looked at those men, and somebody went over and told the king, by the way, King Nezachenezia represent that man behind the seven hills of Rome.

And I won't call his name, but we know who he wears his head on his head.

He wears his white dress and he rides around on a Pope Mobile.

We don't call who he is, but I think we can understand some things about him.

That's what he represents.

That was his dominion for 1,260 years.

This whole earth was his world.

The Bible said the inhabitants of the earth was made drunk by the wine, thank God of her.

That's the system that he was married to fornication.

And so here he was.

Uh that king, brother, he said, listen, is it true?

Or is it true?

Oh, Shack Rat, and me, Shack, and the Bednego that I hear, you will not bow down.

That is, when you hear the sound of those instruments, you didn't bow down.

He said, Now listen, I set this image up.

I set this image up, and if you bow down, all will be well.

But if you don't bow down, if you don't bow down, there's not but one decree for you.

And he said, What God shall deliver you?

And brother, listen, thank God that represents down to the dark ages.

And uh Shagrap, Meshach, and Abednego say, Oh, King, live forever.

We don't want to disrespect you.

We're not trying to dishonor you.

He said, But listen, he said, we're not gonna bow down.

And the God that we serve, he's well able to deliver us.

But even if we don't, we're still not gonna bow down.

Do you realize, brother, that was people down for the dark ages?

Brother, they actually lost their life for their convictions.

They lost their life for the things that God had given them that was part of their conscience.

And so uh the Lord didn't spare Shakrach, he didn't spare uh Meshach and Abednego.

And brother, he made them an gave them an opportunity, brother, to get it right.

And his eyes, that's Netherchenezer.

When they heard those instruments, those men still were standing.

They were still standing.

You know the Bible put it this way.

He said, listen, he said, stand.

When you have done all the stand, do what?

Stand.

Having your uh, how you put it, he said, having on the breastplate of rice is the helmet of salvation, having your feet shawled with the preparation of the gospel of peace, having uh the sword of the spirit.

Brother, you got to stand.

When you know something is right, don't bend, don't compromise.

It's okay, a little criticism, a little fire.

All that's gonna do, brother, is burn the draw off of us.

Brother, thank God that we can come forward this period of gold.

Fire is good.

It's good if you know what you tell what you're what you're going through fire for.

If I'm suffering from my own foolishness or from my own mistakes, then I should suffer with the right attitude and say, Lord, help me to get through it.

But if I'm suffering for righteousness, if I'm suffering for righteousness, then to God be the glory.

To God be the glory.

And let's read a little bit of that.

I'm trying to get to Acts, but brother, thank God.

When I look in the book of Genesis, when I look at Exodus, Leviticus, number, Deuteronomy, I see Acts.

I can see those apostles, I can see that New Testament church, I can see the things that God the Father had hidden from the wise and the prudent, from the foundation of the world.

Thank God there was always a lamb with flame.

He always had a plan to redeem a people.

I'm glad that I'm a part of a people who's trying to be redeemed.

Not trying to have another name written on my forehead, but I'm trying to have my father's name written on my forehead.

What do you mean, written on your forehead?

That's where you receive your teaching, is in your head.

That's why he said in Jeremiah 3 and 3, he said, here's a rope.

He said it has a whore's forehead.

Brother, you know why Bell's written on the head, as well written on the head.

They wrote different doctrines on their forehead.

But brother, I'm trying to make sure I'm in the body of Christ where I can have my brains cleaned, my mind washed, brother, I can have my head erased, brother, from all those traditionals that I was taught, and I can have JES and U.S.

written on my forehead, so I can stand on the Mount Zion with the rest of the 143,999.

He said they had their father's name written in their forehead.

That's where you receive your teaching.

How do you get the name in there?

Brother, you have to have a hand to write, don't you?

Thank God, that's the minister, that's the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher.

What are they writing with?

They've been writing with the word of God.

David said, My tongue isn't the pen of a what?

Red and writer.

Thank God when we begin to teach you the doctrine of Christ, beginning to teach you the truth of the New Testament, we're trying to write on your forehead.

We're trying to get Babylon off and put his name there.

Thank God, brother, that's what I'm trying to get, but that's gonna be some other names.

That's gonna be some other names on the forehead.

They're gonna be the teaching of man.

That's a six.

That's gonna be the fellowship of man, that's another six, and then brother, they're gonna be fellowshipping with those Babylonian waves, and that's another six.

That's six, six, six.

That call, that's the name of the beast.

That's the name of a man, brother.

That's the mark, but that's the teaching of the beast.

And the Bible said, You mark the perfect man of holy upright, for the name of that man is peace.

Thank God, we got another kind of mark, number one.

I don't want a six money, but I'm trying to get seven, seven, seven.

What does seven represent?

Perfection, completion.

Saint God, brother, I don't want to operate in six.

Everything you see in the Bible is in six.

Six is always man.

It's always bad.

Uh that was uh, who was that?

That was uh uh Goliath.

He had a brother, he had a brother.

David slew Goliath, but this is the point I love.

Brother David had men who was men of war that represent all the apostles and prophets, the evangelist, pastor, teachers.

Those was Jesus Christ's uh brothers in the Lord.

The Bible said he's not ashamed to be called our brother.

Thank God, Brother David killed Goliath.

But do you know he had a Goliath had a brother?

That man had six fingers on every hand, he had six toes on every feet.

You know something's wrong with that man.

But brother, he was six fingers.

He was six fingers on each hand and six toes on each feet.

But thank God David men through him did this.

And that was that would that represent.

Brother David killed Goliath, but brother, we got to kill his brother.

We got to kill, he operates in sixes.

Uh I don't know how I'm so stirred tonight, but brother, I'm just stirred to the depths of my soul.

I still, I'm telling you, I still have a vision of Jesus.

There's nothing in this world that has dimmed my vision.

There's nothing I've seen, nothing I've heard, nothing I've felt, there's nothing I've experienced that caused my vision to wax dim.

I'm here because I have a vision.

I still believe the truth is gonna be restored.

I'm not discouraged by nothing I see or here, brother.

I still believe there's gonna be a church just like the first that came out on the day of Pentecost.

If I didn't really believe that, then I would be easy to turn aside to the way of my companions.

It'll be easy to take the path of least resistance.

But throughout this Bible, we have the documents.

We have records of men, brother.

We have men, brother, who squent by the old landmarks, who've never gotten off the beaten path, and we've seen the end of those men was always victory, was always victory.

He said, You mark the perfect man.

Behold the upright, for the end of that man is what?

Peace.

Peace where?

Peace with God.

There's no contention between that man and God.

But brother, when I began to stray off into another vineyard, when I began to get into another path, that's why I started put it this way, brother.

He said, look, drink water out of your own cicerine and not another, not another one, brother.

I don't want to drink water out of some strange cicerine.

Thank God I don't want to do that.

I'm glad the Bible said, abide in the vineyard where you've been drafted.

Aren't you glad that you know how to abide?

I'm not trying to get over there in my neighbor's vineyard.

That's nothing he has that I'm desirous of.

That's the spirit, brother.

That's the spirit of a Babylonian man.

There was a man by the name of Ahab.

With his own wicked, ungodly self.

He was weak as Kool-Aid.

He had a wife named Jezebel.

Turned him every way that she wanted to.

And uh Ahab, he represents that man behind.

I'm not gonna tell you who he represents.

I don't want to rail on nobody.

But nevertheless, brother, there was a man by the name of Nabal.

You read the Bible?

I hope you read the Bible.

There was a man by the name of Nabal.

And Nabal had a vineyard.

And brother, that vineyard, or brother, it produced grapes.

It produced uh uh uh pomegrans.

And brother, it had all these grapefruits, and brother, it pressed right hard up against King Ahab's uh his vineyard.

And he went over, he told Nabal, he said, Listen, sell me your vineyard.

I want your vineyard, and for it I'll give you a better vineyard.

If not, I'll give you the price of it in money.

Give me your vineyard.

Ahab was the king.

Nabal looked at him and said, Man, I can't sell you my vineyard.

This is my inheritance.

I can't let you have my vineyard.

And an old king Ahab, brother, he went back home and he got up in the bed and started weeping.

He just started crying.

He has carried on, brother, like an unseemly man.

And his wife came in and said, What's wrong with you, old king?

He said, I tried to get the vineyard from Nabal and he won't sell me his vineyard.

She said, Aren't you not the king?

This is this is Jezebel.

Say, Aren't you not the king?

Don't you not do you're not rule in Israel?

I'll tell you what to do.

You stay right here.

I'll get the vineyard for you.

But that's nothing like a scorned woman.

You know that, brother, they they can work on you.

And so she worked craftily.

She went out and got some sons of Abalah, some old worthy fellows.

Uh, that is, brother, to take uh Nabel and say, This man blaspheme against God.

He blasphemed against the king.

Let's take him out and stone him.

And so, as those men began to go through the city and put out that vicious rumor, they went out and spread that vicious lie where Nabal was concerned and put all kinds of uh uh wicked thoughts in the hearts of righteous people that this man was an unrighteous man.

He blasphemed the king, he blasphemed God, he wasn't fit to live.

They took this righteous man out and they stoned him to death.

And then, of course, when they stoned him to death, uh Jezebel went back and she told her husband, Nabal, she said, I mean, uh, Ahab, say, oh Nabel's dead now.

Rise up and go ahead and take your inheritance.

Go ahead and take your inheritance.

And so uh Ahab, he rose up, he went strut over in Nabal's field, and he looked at all the fruits, and look how glorious it was.

He was happy, he thought everything was fine, but then here came a little old ugly man, all wrinkled up, brother, wrapped up in camel hair, eating locusts, walked over to him.

His name was Elijah.

Elijah looked at him and said, Oh, King, oh King.

He looked at him and said, Oh, I remember you, Elijah, you the one that shut heaven up for six months for three years and six months that it didn't rain.

Have you found me, my enemy?

Have you come to trouble Israel?

He said, You the one trouble Israel, T.

You and that old wicked wife you have, that wife he had Jezebel.

Represent this ungodly religious system out here.

King Ahab represents a civil governor.

They joined together.

That was fornication.

It was a little lawful join together.

Brother, can you see these things?

Can you see these things?

He said, listen, are you going to rise and take an inheritance?

He said, because you have done this thing, he said the dogs are going to eat the flesh of Jezebel and Jezeree.

He said, You will not.

Listen to this, you will not be buried.

The dogs are going to eat your flesh, and God's going to cut off everyone of the other men and the one that pits against the wall.

Brother, thank God.

You can't destroy God's people.

You can't do wrong to God's people.

And God not avenge you speedily.

Thank God we serve a God.

We used to sit back in Babylon.

He sits high and looks low.

He look at me looking brother like that.

Absolutely so.

Don't you ever think your work in the Lord is in vain.

If you're being ridiculed, criticized, ostracized, so what?

Come on to the joy and suffer for Christ.

Amen.

Brother, this is just a warm-up.

You know that this is all a warm-up.

This is just a dressing chamber.

Brother, this is just a prophet.

This is not the real game.

Brother, it's gonna be a time.

The heat is gonna be hot.

But we have already made our mind up, just like shaking me, shaking abinicle.

We're not gonna buy, we're not gonna bend, we're not gonna break.

Do what you have to do, oh king.

Go back and heat that furnace up seven times hotter.

If God delivers us, then praise the Lord.

But if we don't, thank God I got a new hope that's not made with hands and is eternal and the glorious.

Either way, God's gonna be magnified.

Whether by life or by death, God's gonna get the glory.

You will not get the praise, oh King.

Amen.

And so back to O King Nazareth Ezer.

Here it is, Brother Michael.

Brother, they blew the trump again.

They blew those instruments again.

Do you know those same three men were standing again?

Brother King Ahab began, the Bible said, Brother Mike, he became exceedingly angry.

No, it didn't say anything, it said mad.

You know, that's what you do when you get rabies, like a dog gets mad.

This man got downright indignity.

And brother, he made a decree.

He said, you heat that furnace up seven times hotter.

Don't just get a furnace, but you heat it up seven times hotter than it even ought to be heated.

And they heated it up.

He went out and got the strongest men that was in his army.

He said, You take these three Hebrew men and you bind them up.

You bind them up in their coats, bind them up with their hats on, tie them with ropes.

And brother, they bound them up, brother Elton walked over to that furnace, picked those men up, and when they opened the door of the furnace, it was so hot, the furnace fire jumped out the furnace and burnt the men up.

Who was carrying Jack like Meshach and Abinago?

That's how hot it was.

And all three of those men fell into the fire.

Oh, King Nelson, I can see him.

He pulled up a cherry to see a wunderball.

He looked over in that brother Mike, brother Elder.

He said, My God.

He took another look.

He said, Didn't we not cast three men in that bowl up, hand in foot?

They said, Yes, old King.

Come on, sisters, brother.

That's what a bunch of wimps.

You know a real man can stand.

Anybody can follow the path of least resistance.

Anybody can go along with something.

Oh, Shaquin Nestanita had was a bunch of yes men.

A bunch of men to say yes to everything.

Why would you burn these men up, King?

Somebody say, Why are you burning those men up just because those men got integrity?

Because it's against those men's conscience to bother.

Why do you want to burn those men up?

Not one man in his kingdom had enough gust in him, a gust, a gust to say that's wrong.

But nobody says that's wrong.

Everybody was shaking in their boots.

And the clouds are just the dust of his feet.

Go ahead and throw them in.

Brother, I can see him shaking in his boots.

He said, didn't we not put three men in there?

Didn't we not put him in that bottom, hand and foot?

He said, but I see four.

And words let them lose.

They're walking.

He said in the form was like unto the form of the Son of God.

Who was that?

That was Jesus Christ before he was Jesus Christ.

That was the word of God.

That joined in that farm.

That fire, brother Elton.

You know what he was in that farm?

To make sure the fire could do them no harm.

Brother, you can go through the fire, but if Christ is with you, you won't be burnt.

You can go through the water, but he's with you, you won't be drowned.

Thank God, I'd rather have God and Jesus Christ on my side and then six billion people on the face of this earth.

Absolutely so.

And when they saw them, Sister Ellen, those men was loose.

They was bound, but when we saw them, they were loose.

All the fire you did was burn the burn their bands off of them.

All the fire did was burn the things that would bind you and up you and I up.

What's that?

Fear, doubt, and unbelief.

Thank God those men had the victory in the midst of that fire.

And when they brought them out, the Bible said it was not even the smell of smoke on them.

And their hair wasn't stenched.

They went through, they didn't come out murmuring, complaining.

They didn't come out with a bad spirit, a long lip.

Brother, they came out shouting the victory.

That represents the dear people of God right on down through the dark ages.

They didn't say, Why me, Lord?

Why this happened to my mom and my dad and my brother and my sister?

Thank God they say to God be the glory.

When they took those apostles and beat those men, the Bible said they come out of joy, that they was coming in the words and even suffer shame for the name of the Lord.

Let us the mind we have to have.

Let's the heartbeat we have to have.

We still have to have the vision of Jesus and we the truth is going to be restored.

Let us make up in our minds right now.

We're not to come bow.

We're not to come bend, we're not gonna come break, we're not gonna compromise.

Let us step enough right and be competent soldiers for the Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

The Bible said he listen, when you call to be a soldier, you don't entangle yourself with the cares of this world who like you and who don't.

You want to please them that call you to be a soldier.

Amen.

So we're in the arm of the Lord, aren't we?

Absolutely so.

How'd I get on that?

I don't know, but it's still good.

We need to consider those things.

And so we'll read the book of Acts.

Here's those people in their infancy.

But Brother Michael, he was just like Adam and he was in the garden.

You know, Adam never had to, he never had to learn to use the bathroom.

He was never potty trained.

No one taught him his alphabet.

No one trained this man, uh, brother, how to give an address.

He wasn't necessary.

It wasn't necessary.

He was made and a perfect specimen of a man.

Just like that New Testament church.

That church didn't have to be taught, brother, how to hold services.

It didn't have to be taught, brother Elton, how to have a government, how to worship.

That church, just like Adam, brother, it was made a complete and a whole people.

They knew how to have service.

They knew how to keep Babylon out.

Of course, it wasn't Babylon then.

It was just traditions.

It was just traditions.

How did they learn it?

Jesus Christ Himself took those men and brother, he gave them the unadulterated word of God for three and one half years.

He washed every tradition out of their minds, he washed it out of their heart.

He washed those men's feet until they I'm talking about you understanding until, brother, it was white as snow.

Then he made declaration, he said, now, in the 15th chapter of John, he said, Now are you cleansed through the what?

Words I have spoken unto you.

He washed those men, he cleansed those men until you couldn't find any tradition left on those men.

You couldn't find any rituals left on those men.

He began to rail on the Pharisees, the Sadducees.

He said, Woe unto you, stribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.

He said, You for a pretense make a long prayer and you devour widows' houses.

Woe unto you, scribes to the Pharisees.

You may clean the outside of the cup and the platter.

He said, but the inside, brother, is full of distortion.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees.

He said, You're like a whiteest septicus, brother.

Oh, you ever watch a tomb next door?

Then right next door.

He said on the outside they're white and they're beautiful, but inside they're full of dead men's bones.

And so, brother, those men, those apostles wasn't offended with that because they had already been washed.

They didn't have those attributes, they didn't have that mindset.

And so when the day of Pentecost came, those men had already been taught by the Master.

They had already been washed, they had already been cleansed, they had already gotten things right, that is between one another.

And when that trumpet was blown on the day of Pentecost, when Peter stood up on his feet and he began to proclaim the gospel, the Bible said Peter standing with the 11.

They was all one.

That was one heart, that was one mind, that was one doctrine.

You was not going to go to Peter and get one answer on the resurrection of the dead and go to James and get another one.

You wouldn't go to Andrew and get one answer and go to John and get another one.

But those men had one mind.

They had one master, the teacher.

I'm sorry, one master, they had one teacher, uh, one master of the assembly.

And so there they were, brother Michael.

Uh, those were the foundations of that New Testament church.

And Paul put it this way: what is it, Ephesians 2 and 20?

That we are built upon the foundation, we are built upon the foundation, we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the one chief cornerstone.

That's what we built on.

Anything else, brother, that's nothing but sinking sand.

Anything else is a falsehood.

If the apostles didn't teach it, if Jesus Christ didn't establish it, let's not have it on our foundation.

Let's not have it in the plank in the house of God.

Let's run it up, put it in the trash pile and burn it.

It's good for nothing, brother.

That's just another woody ideal of man.

And so, how did that New Testament church operate?

That's what we want to see.

Thank God we can begin as we go through the wonderful book of Acts.

We have examples, things that are written for your learning and my learning.

I think Paul said the things that are written, the things that have happened beforehand, brother, are written for our example.

They're written for our learning, for our admonition.

I'm glad that Luke actually sat down and began to write the book of Acts.

Began to show us how that New Testament church operated, began to show us how they had a persecution, opposition.

Began to see how those men actually laid down their lives for the gospel's sake.

Am I there yet?

No.

But brother, I'm telling you, my mind is made up.

My head is like an animal stone, brother.

My face is set like flint.

Whatever it takes, if it takes the skin off my back, if it takes all of the uh, they keep telling me, brother, I'm taking all this enamel off my teeth.

I had to stop sucking those lemons.

I used to eat a lot of lemon.

But brother, this gospel takes the enamel off my teeth, brother, and I all my teeth decay out.

Brother, I'm still gonna hold on to it.

There's nothing in this life more valuable to me than an opportunity to never ever die, an opportunity, brother, to highball the grave, an opportunity to actually be a part of the bride of Jesus Christ, to be part of that man-child, to actually see the kingdom of God restored once more, to see a church just like the first.

He's brother, in this and this, brother.

This is my vision, this is my hope.

As Jesus Christ says, for this cause came I into the world.

I'm here, brother.

I'm here not only to be saved, but thank God I want to see as many want to be saved.

Let's go together.

Let's go together.

Let's make sure, brother.

Let's not lose our vision.

Don't let this world, don't let this world rock you to sleep with all of its enticements and all of its uh polacromies.

Brother, it's got long roads, brother.

It can offer you all kinds of good things, man.

Nice cars, nice conveniences, all these uh, we use the term uh comfort, creature comfort, comfort the creature, brother.

That's just something that rock you to sleep.

You know that?

Brother, I can sit back with remote control, brother.

I can watch three.

I have a television and I actually do that.

No, I had it.

Brother Ray sold me that big monster.

It's a dinosaur now, but you can watch four programs at one time.

It split the tubes up into four different why why would a man need something like that?

You can only watch one program, but it'll split it divide the tubes, brother, on there.

You ever seen one like that?

Yeah, watching four pictures at one time.

That's the case that four ball games on.

I can see all of them.

Brother Willie Ray slowed me that big dinosaur.

But why would a man need something like that?

And then not only that, brother, they have uh uh uh cars now, they have these, uh, brother Rom, you have one.

You push a button and the DVD comes down out of the ceiling.

They have them in the front.

How can you drive and watch DVD?

And you will think that's what you have to have.

I don't think I need that.

And brother, I can actually, brother Michael, I mean I have it.

Brother, I can walk out of my, of course, it's a bedroom now, stand in my office till I finish my house.

I can walk out of my office, and brother, I got a treadmill.

I got weights.

Oh, brother, I got a refrigerator and I have a freezer.

I have two stermostats, you know, make sure I'm cool in both areas.

I have ceiling fans, all of these creatures, all these creature comforts, all the things that will cause this flesh to be pampered, uh, to be comfort, to be happy.

Everything, brother, that would rock my soul to sleep.

Man, keep inventing more and more and more and more.

And brother, my post soul, my poor soul, brother, is longing for more God.

Uh brother, but I'm putting God on the watch.

I only got an hour and a half.

Lord, do what you're gonna do quick because I gotta go home.

I got something else on my mind.

God have mercy on Lord, help us to be there to be like the first century church to make God our priority.

Let God be real to us.

I don't want this to be a ritual, but I'm here to be saved.

What makes religion so popular is that it's so convenient.

They microwave the services.

They can get you in and out in an hour and 15 minutes.

In and out in an hour and a half.

We're gonna sing till you're happy.

They're gonna give you a 15-minute sermon net, pat you on the back, tell everybody to hold hands and say, Jesus, good.

Let's give the Lord a wave offering, and I'll leave your offering, and we're gonna take your offering, and then you see you next week.

And brother, we love that.

We love that.

Don't inconvenience me, don't cost me nothing.

Brother Brother, that's not the gospel that I read.

That's not the gospel.

The Bible says they continue daily, brother, they continue daily and fellowship and breaking bread from house to house.

That's not the gospel I read, brother.

That's not the gospel I read.

Brother Paul said, brother, it's in him we live, it's in him we move and we have our being.

Brother, that's not the gospel I read.

Paul said, for the live is Christ and the die is gain.

Brother, we got to have that type of mind.

And so as I'm I'm I don't know why I'm so stirred.

I need to at least get a chapter out tonight.

But brother, when I'm reading, I want to know, brother Elton, this is not some hocus pocus.

This is not something to make me feel good.

Brother, this is what we have to contend for.

Don't let this religious world or this civil power out here shape your thinking.

Brother, this is not of God.

This is not what Jesus Christ came to establish.

He didn't come to give me a bed of roses, he didn't come to pet my flesh, he didn't come to make me happy and carnality.

He came to salvage or save my soul.

He came to deliver me from this old wretched man that I am.

I'm not here.

I am not here for somebody to pet my flesh.

Jesus Christ didn't come for that.

Flesh is flush, don't care who back it's on.

Don't pat it.

Don't pat it.

Is that alright, sister?

Okay, now let's get to the book of Acts.

I'm just a third.

I don't know what's a third, maybe the songs.

I'm just a third.

I'm glad to have a vision.

And where there is no vision, don't be the seed.

The people do what?

They perish.

You can't see a thing.

You know what you go about when you can't see, brother Elton?

You go by feeling.

I don't feel like that's a lie.

I don't feel like it ought to be done like that.

I don't feel she ought to say that.

You know that's what you do?

It's as dark.

Ain't no ain't no knowledge what they summon.

Your thing is coming over what you feel.

That ain't what you feel.

It's coming over cardinality, a thing be able to flourish and rule over my heart, and now I can't sense the Lord.

That's what I'm coming over.

God help us.

I don't believe I'm persuaded we're not in that state, but have we been there?

Yes.

And the Lord is mercy enough to save us, and I believe if we don't keep our minds burned up, we'll be back in that ditch again.

God help us, brother.

We don't have to go that route.

We don't have to go that route.

Where was that going?

He said, Brother Brown, I gotta go through the fire.

Are you telling me that?

Oh yeah, I got to suffer.

Somebody said it's nothing suffer.

Suffer.

I think it was Brother Ron, he'll give you beauty.

But you can't get an exchange until you have some ashes.

As long as there's flesh.

As long as there are flesh, it's not gonna be an exchange.

You know, and I'm gonna get to the book of Acts.

Do you know in the 12th chapter of Exodus, when they offered up that Passover, and Jesus Christ represented that, do you know there couldn't be no flesh left in the morning?

When they took that roasted lamb, they had to burn every part of the light.

And all they could eat, they had to burn it up before in the morning.

They couldn't be no flesh in the morning.

The morning for regular day.

And brother, at the end of the day, they can't be no flesh.

At the end of my life, they can't be no flesh.

I'm not talking about my natural life.

I'm talking about my natural life.

My flesh like desire.

My flesh like activity.

That's what it means about flesh.

I need this at the heart of my soul.

But it's the fleshly lust that wars against the soul, as Peter put it.

He said, a thing from what?

Fleshly lust, which wars against the soul.

And so in this wonderful book of Acts, where do we stop?

I'm sorry.

Okay, here we are.

81.

This is an interesting introduction.

I apologize.

We're gonna definitely finish this chapter.

Tonight we may not read every verse, but we'll finish this chapter.

It is introducing a man who was actually bringing merch, much persecution, and here's his introduction against the church.

Do you know that man?

Do you know that man was actually, believe this or not, he was being used by God?

He was being used by God for evil against the church.

I'm talking about Saul of Tartus.

God used that man to persecute the church.

Why would God do such a thing?

Because I'm gonna tell you, this is the attribute you want to remember about this man.

And I was mentioned this Sunday, but this is a fact.

God loves zeal.

Take a fanatic.

Take a man who's just fanatical.

When that man is and when his eyes are open and he's turned, that man has the same zeal and the same fervor for God.

But take a man, the Bible used a term who's a slow belly.

Take a man who's just slowful.

When he comes to God, he has the same attribute.

He's a slow belly, he's slowful.

He won't do anything natural, he won't do anything spiritual.

Saul of Tartarus was a zealot.

He was overzealous.

He was a young man, the Bible calls him that.

He was a youthful man, but this man was full of fervor where God was concerned.

He only knew the tradition of the elders.

He only knew the things that he was taught being a Pharisee.

But in that he was committed.

He was full of fervor.

He was full of zeal.

And when he saw that New Testament church operating, he saw men gathering who was not Pharisees, Sadducees, Essexines, a new sect that had sprung out of Judaism, as far as he was concerned.

He considered them to be a cult.

And he hated those people for naming the name of Christ and not glorifying Moses.

And so he despised them.

He went from place to place to bind them up and put them in prison because in his mind such a people ought not to live.

They're not worthy of life.

They're causing the tradition of the elders to be blaspheme.

Put those men to death.

Put those women to death.

It's how he felt.

He had that kind of fervor, that kind of zeal.

He was trying to do what he thought was right in his mind.

Do you know religion out there where they call some of his name, they're not just teaching, they really believe that.

They say they teach strange doctrine.

Well, they're doing what they're supposed to do.

If God is interested, he'll save them.

If they're worthy, if they're willing to listen, I say worthy, you have to be willing to listen.

And so here's this man, Paul.

His name originally, his Jewish name is Saul.

Paul is a Gentile rendering of uh a Jewish term, which is Saul.

And so here he is, when the first mortar was being offered up, there was Saul.

He's given his consent.

The Bible said they actually laid their clothes.

Let's let's read a little bit of that real quickly here.

Uh here is this great man as he's preaching, Stephen.

He's the first martyr.

He's the first martyr.

And as these people began to uh put him to death.

Look at uh 7 and 58.

Are you there with me?

And they cast him, that's talking about Stephen, out of the city.

That's Jerusalem.

And did what?

And the witness and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a what?

Remember that word, young man.

Why did God what do you know these apostles was all uh if you just do math, you know they had to be in the 30s.

I don't believe one of them was 40.

I honestly don't.

And how how would you get that?

How do you come up with that conclusion, Brother Brown?

Well, you have to read the Bible.

Uh every one of those men lived to about 68 to 70 AD.

Jesus Christ was crucified in 26 A.D.

And at that time, the life expectancy of a man was about 60 years, maybe seven at the most.

And so Jesus Christ himself was 30 when he began his ministry.

Most people associate with men their equal ages concerned.

Jesus was 30.

Those men would have been about 30.

He used young men because young men are for war.

They have energy, they have zeal.

You know, you can be 40.

I'm 49, but brother, if you're not a careful man, you can be wow out.

Good for nothing.

To do anything, it takes some fervor.

We can't be, even as a people, lazy.

We can't be lazy.

You have to push yourself, gird yourself up.

That's why it's good to go to work.

Don't lay around the house, don't be lazy, don't mark yourself.

You'll be dysfunctional.

Naturally and spiritual.

Don't want to do anything.

And Jesus Christ, he'll never, he'll never use a lazy man or woman.

Absolutely not.

And so those men, brother, they was all in the youth.

They was all young men.

David was 17 or so when he was called.

Saul was in this early.

I'm talking about Saul of King Saul.

He was in his point.

This Bible is written mostly about young men with strength, young men with zeal, young men with energy, young men with some fervor.

Today they produce young couch potatoes.

Don't work nothing but the thumbs.

Video games.

That'll mess you up.

How do I get on that?

Talking about Saul.

But this man had something.

And verse 58, he said, at a what?

At a young man's feet, whose name was what?

Saul.

There he is.

There's an introduction of this Saul.

And so now you can see how when he stoned Stephen, brother, there he was.

He fell asleep.

Chapter 8 and verse 1.

It goes back to this man again.

And Saul was what?

He was consenting, gave his consent.

He didn't throw a stone, but brother, he's saying, Yeah, put him to death.

Such a man ought not live.

Why did he do that?

Because he was exceedingly zealous of the tradition of his fathers.

When people persecute you in religion, brother, they're not, I don't take it personal.

We're offended because we're saying things and believing things and embracing things that cross their religious concepts.

It's not you that they're hate.

It's not you they're talking about.

It's the doctrine, it's the teaching of Jesus Christ that's offensive.

And so you try to mix it with love.

You try to be charitable and long-suffering.

The Bible says a servant of the Lord must not strive, but he must be gentle, patient with all men.

He said, and meekness, look how he put it, and meekness instructing those that what?

Oppose themselves, that pre-adventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.

So we have to be long-suffering.

And meekness opposing instructing those that oppose themselves.

How do you oppose yourself?

When you're opposing the truth that's being presented, you're opposing your soul.

You're opposing yourself.

So here it is.

Saul was consenting unto his death.

And at that time, what happened?

There was a great persecution.

Do you see that word?

There was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered.

Remember, 3,000 souls got added on the day of Pentecost?

A few days later, 5,000 got added.

And then after that, he stopped adding and started multiplying.

There was thousands and thousands of Christians in Jerusalem.

There was only one problem.

There was one problem.

The gospel is not to be bottled up.

The gospel is not for one town, one city, one assembly.

He told them, Brother Elton, you shall be witness unto me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samarita and the uttermost parts of the earth.

But there was comfortable.

You know why, Brother Nell?

Because my mama lived here.

My son and my daughter's here.

Uncle Joe's down the street.

It was comfortable.

The gospel would have never gotten to the Samaritan.

It would have never gotten to the uttermost parts of the earth, which is a Gentile.

So the Lord helped them.

How did he help him, Brother Brown?

He turned the doors loose on them.

May God have his way.

Hallelujah.

He turned, he let persecution help him.

He told them to preach the gospel to every creature.

But brother, they was not going out of the city limits because they were comfortable until Brother Saul got on the trail.

Saul, you see the thing about him, he was a great orator.

He had such a zeal and such a fervent.

You know, when someone's, you know, can you enjoy Sunday services?

It's not the eloquence of speech.

Brother, it's when things come out of your heart, you can feel, you can feel the sincerity and the realness.

And that's what Saul did.

What he was not a great orator in that he could communicate.

The Bible said that his body appearance was weak and his speech was contemptible.

So he wasn't a great orerator from uh articulation, but what made him effective is that he spoke with fervor, he spoke with sincerity, he spoke with realness, and people couldn't resist that.

It was irresistible.

And so he propagated persecution against the church, and it happened.

Paul fanned the fire, consented to their death, and so their persecution, it rose against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and they was all what?

Scattered abroad throughout the region of what?

Do you remember Jesus told them?

You should be witnesses in Jerusalem.

They fulfilled that.

Judea's what they were going to do, Samaritan, what they wasn't going to do, but the Lord's gonna have his way.

Listen, God is not interested in 2800 Highway 311.

He is interested in the people who want to be saved in this area.

When I say saved, I'm making reference with a bride calling.

I'm not talking about just being saved for past sins, but those who want to make the high calling of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

Those that want to press toward the mark, toward the prize of the what?

High calling.

And that's other people, there's other sheep that's not of this fold.

My job, your job, our job, brother, is to reach out.

Who wants to go?

Are you interested in the Lord?

Anyway, here they are.

And my God, they went throughout the region of Judea.

It's the same order that Jesus told them would happen in in Acts 1 and 8.

And uh Judea and Samaritan, everybody left except the what?

Except the apostles.

Now listen to this.

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentations over him.

As for Saul, here he goes again.

He's it's back to this man again.

As for Saul, he made what?

Put that on the line there.

Put that in the astral.

He made habit.

That was zeal.

He loved the Lord.

He was trying to do the Lord a service.

That's the scripture.

I think it's over in uh, it's the second time it came to me, so let me find it.

It's in John chapter 16, I think it is.

John 16 · chapter mention

All your place is real here, real fast, and go over to John 16.

Yeah, here it's 16 and 2.

16 and 2.

16 and 1 and 2.

Here's the fulfillment of that scripture.

And he was talking to the apostles, and it's applicable to you and I.

On this end.

These things, this is Jesus talking to his apostles before he was put to death.

Here's his last message to those men before the crucifixion.

He said, These things have I spoken unto you that you should not be offended.

What do you mean, offended?

When things happen to you, they're gonna go through something.

Verse 2 They shall put you out of the what?

Yea, the time, I want you to get there.

This is what happened in what you read in Acts.

Yea, the time cometh.

That whosoever, you could have put Saul there, whosoever killeth you with what?

Well, that's what Saul was doing.

He thought he's doing God a service.

That was zeal.

That was zeal.

And that's why don't ever despise someone if they're causing you problems because of your conviction.

God can save that person.

Some people just hatred, just full of hatred, you're not going to save them.

But some people are sincere, Brother Elton.

Some people are sincere.

They're real.

I had one time I didn't believe this doctrine.

I had to acknowledge, Sister Fabian, these were alert people in the Word of God.

But man, the things come out of this Bible they use.

Why in the world is saying that?

I remember, Brother Elton, you can attest to this.

Brother, I used to stay up all night.

Stay up and make a statement.

My wife would tell you this.

Do you know I used to sleep about three hours, two hours a night?

I would get a tape, Brother Elton, and a statement would be made.

I say, man, why would he say that?

Why did he use that light and it bothered me?

Man, I will go up all night finding everywhere that word is used.

How did he come up with that?

Why would he say that?

That seems so harsh.

Man, something wrong.

I know they're good that they're good Bibles too, but man, something wrong with this statement.

And Brother Elton, by time the summer break, I will see he was right.

My mind was fixed.

The interpretation of the word of God was right.

And so I didn't believe this message.

I didn't believe this way.

But just like Saul, when I tried to disprove it, it persuaded me.

If you're noble enough to search the scriptures, you'll find out, brother, this is no hope is focus.

The problem is, can I lay aside my theology, my ideology, and my religiology long enough to consider the word of God?

The full soul, he's on my way in.

But the hungry soul, he will fill with what?

That's understanding.

You have to empty out.

I have to empty out to get this.

I'll never understand the teaching of the word of God with a full mind.

If I think I already know, if I think I've already heard, if I think I already understand, I'm gonna walk away empty.

But if I can become as a little child, if I can empty out like a little child, brother, he can fill me with good things.

Sometimes, brother, you have to generate this should be rough with it.

Sometimes I matter people who fool it, brother Holter.

I say, I say, I know that spirit.

I had it myself.

They fool.

What I would do, I'd read the word of God, I hit him in the belly.

I said I'll make him kick it up.

Use the scriptures on him, brother.

And I hit him too hard, and I knock all the weight out of them.

But you have to tap people a little bit.

Just tap them a little bit.

Let them see that maybe you want to consider something else.

Brother O'Neill, I was in my youth.

Give it up.

Give it up.

Person walked away next time they saw me, took off running.

Well, I would run too, somebody hit me.

Brother O'Neill, were you shaking your head for you?

Did it?

Yeah, we always guilty.

But my God, here's this man.

But it was done, brother, out of zeal.

It was done out of realness.

I wanted to see everybody get what I have.

Everyone understand what I understood.

But brother, you realize everybody's not gonna see it.

Everybody's not gonna get it.

And you can't make, I'm talking to me.

How do you tell me this is still you can't make nobody see this?

You can't make anybody grasp this, and you can't make anybody walk in it.

It's all by God's grace and mercy.

He has to give you grace to see it, he has to give you grace to do it, and he has to give you grace to embrace it.

It's by grace and mercy.

So here Saul is, he made havoc, my God of the church.

Enter into what?

Verse 3.

Are you there with me?

Let's read together.

As for Saul, he made what?

Look what he was doing.

Enter into every house.

Well, why every house?

Because that's what they were fellowshipping.

From house to house.

They was put out of the synagogue, and so the churches was in the home.

And if you had a home and you having a church meeting, here comes Saul.

And he came in with authority in Jerusalem from the priest.

They bound you up and took you down to the prison.

You had no business gathering in that name, teaching that uh that Jesus Christ is some Savior.

And so, brother, he went from house to house, persecuting the church.

Let's keep reading.

He said, hailing men and women and committing them to what?

Prison.

Prison.

So God used Saul.

Look at the next verse.

Therefore, because of what he did, he stirred up persecution.

He made havoc of the church.

He entered into the house and put people in prison.

Therefore, they that was the New Testament church, they was what?

You might cause people run, but Jesus Christ ran it, but Jesus Christ still gets saved.

And that's what they did.

They went preaching everywhere that they went.

Now, here's Philip.

He was one of the seven that we read about in the uh uh sixth chapter.

Here's Philip, uh Stephen was put to death.

Here's Philip, he's another gifted man.

He went down to Samaritan.

He wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for Saul, wasn't it for the persecution?

He would have stayed there with all those apostles, all those elders, all those teachers and the prophets and the manaz, and they would have had a hallelujah of time, and Jerusalem would have been the only church.

Judea would have never received the gospel.

Samaritan had Jews and had Gentiles, they would have never heard it.

But brother, I'm glad the Lord, I said it before, I say it again.

Hebekah proclaim it.

The Lord is gonna have his way in the whirlwind and in the storm.

That it's gonna be a restored church.

We can be part of it, or we cannot be part of it.

It's still gonna be a restored church.

I wanna be a part.

That it's gonna be a bride, members.

We've got in this gentile earth at this last prophetic hour.

I want to be a part.

Somebody's gonna fulfill these scriptures.

Why not you and I?

Now here he is.

My God.

He went down to Samaritan, and what did he do?

He preached Christ.

That's what's in his heart.

And the people with one accord, they gave heed, that is, they paid attention to those things which Philip spake.

Hearing and seeing the miracles which he was.

Do you know why he worked miracles?

Do you know why he worked miracles?

Because I'm gonna tell you this, and you will see this throughout the Bible.

These men was not, as we say in every church meeting, uh body of Christ meeting, we have the ministry, they was not secure to risk.

Philip didn't say, my ministry.

Look what I did.

Put me on television.

I have the gift of healing.

Those men took no glory for nothing.

They was not secure to risk.

They didn't use the gifts of God to put on display.

They just preached the word of God.

The Spirit of God stirred them up, and they helped people who had afflictions, and they confirmed that it was in fact the word of God, though they was ostracized, though they were spoken evil of, God was with them.

We have to suffer before you can lean.

Those men suffered.

Let's keep reading.

My God.

Now he said, um, and unclean for unclean spirit crying out with a loud voice came out of many that was possessed with them and was taken with palsy, and that was lame and were healed.

And listen to this.

And there was great what?

You know what brought joy?

Salvation.

Salvation.

Here are some people, brother, who couldn't even worship in Jerusalem.

Samaritan was despised by the Jews.

And so they worship in the hills.

And now here salvation came to them.

There was great joy.

Let me share something with us.

Let's keep this in our heart.

I watch people like Brother Ron.

Different ones who can't, brother, and I say this all the time, and I mean it from the depths of my heart.

I appreciate you, Brother Ron, but I promise you, I appreciate your zeal.

And I appreciate your fervor, but I promise you, you're not gonna judge me.

I'm not gonna let somebody come in out the world.

No, I'm not talking about you in specific particular, but that's what it is.

Jesus Christ made that statement.

And that's a prophecy.

He had no idle words.

He said, for whom giveth much is forgiven, the same loveth much.

People come in out of the world, they weren't good people.

They weren't nice people.

But brother, when they actually touch Elijah's bone, when they actually can see salvation, when they actually can see the truth of the word of God.

A lot of us have been around a long time get comfortable with this, complacent with this.

Their life is gonna judge somebody.

He's not gonna judge me.

I promise you, you're not.

I'm not gonna let you do it.

What do you mean, not gonna let you?

I'm gonna keep I'm gonna keep this gift stirred up in me also.

I want to make sure I lift up holy hands without wrath and doubt.

I want to make sure I'm thankful.

I want to make sure I give it all my strength.

This can't become common to me.

I don't have any rights.

This is a privilege to be here.

And if I don't keep that revelation, somebody else is gonna come in with it.

Yeah.

And the gratitude all to be expressed, and they're gonna express it.

The appreciation for God all to have, they're gonna have it.

But it's not gonna happen with me.

Make sure it doesn't happen with you.

And I'm not crying out, Brother Michael, I'm not jealous of him, any man, but I'm I'll keep my eyes open what's around me.

Do you know what the Lord judges you by?

He judges you by your peers.

He absolutely does.

He absolutely does.

He told those Jews, he said, I'm not gonna judge you.

He said, But your children, they're gonna be your judge.

Who's your children?

Those apostles.

They're gonna be your judge.

I keep my eyeball peeled on like I used to watch Gunsmoke like fessing.

I keep my eyeball peeled on you.

Men coming in, women coming in with appreciation for the things of God.

Absolutely.

Stir yourself up.

Don't let this old man rock you to sleep.

Don't let it happen.

Let me say this softly.

I don't want to say this properly.

That was great apostles.

But do you know?

Do you know Paul?

I ran them all.

You know that?

He wasn't one of the twelve.

He was not.

He made a statement.

He said, I lay out a whip behind.

He said, I laid a little button in the ball.

He had to hide the grace of God that was in.

But Peter is a great man.

But Peter was worried about what those Jews were everybody, yeah.

He's upgrade and said, Oh no! Peter was concerned about your Christians.

I'm like, oh they can.

Hello man.

And I'm following them.

I guess I can say that.

I'm following it.

His speech was considerable.

He was rude.

Very rude.

His speech was very unpolished.

He was considered rudish.

Harsh.

Undefined.

That little man, Brother Michael.

He turned the whole world.

He absolutely hated it.

When God wanted to trust and trust his gospel to somebody who was going to bring it to idolatrous Gentiles, he saw Saul.

He knew that was a man up for the task.

He knew he qualified.

He was zealous.

He was committed.

He wouldn't backslide.

He wouldn't faint.

He wouldn't mumble.

He wouldn't get weary and well done.

Brother, that man realized his life was so troubling and it was going to be that way.

He dared not marry.

He dared not marry.

He wouldn't bring a wife through what he was going to go through.

But yet he went through it joyfully.

It wasn't a struggle for him.

He wanted to do it.

Man, I like to be in a couple of men like that.

I like to have that in my heart.

Let's keep reading.

Are you all with me here?

Now, here he is.

My God.

And brother, here's Philip doing his thing.

But listen, wherever you, whatever you see, the devil, I mean the Lord, you're gonna see the devil.

Look at verse 9.

Help me out, brother Michael.

Are you all cold?

Okay.

You and Brother Michael.

He said that, but there was a certain man called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery.

He was a preacher.

You know what he was?

He was a preacher.

He was a Samaritan preacher, and he used sorcery.

You know what sorcery is?

Susan, witchcraft.

I'll show you some sorcery.

You the Lord says, right, Tennel.

The Lord says, You gonna win a long game?

You're gonna get$5,000.

The Lord showed me.

You want to hear something?

That's so stupid! What the hell do you do with y'all?

Have you ever seen that?

Yes.

Huh?

Oh, wait, wait, wait.

Somebody in the back hurt.

Let me see.

Somebody back hurt.

That's the mighty power.

Man, I get up every morning, my back hurt, man.

That's sorcery.

That's nothing to do with God.

Oh my God.

Keep reading.

Look what he did.

Listen, he used what?

Sorcery.

And what did he do?

He bewitched the people.

He bewitched the people.

Bewitched the people.

He said, giving out that himself was some great one.

Don't you see that all the time?

Do you not see that all the time?

My God.

Women getting up.

Oh.

Oh, the Lord showed me.

You guessing for great things.

But everybody dressing for great things.

We might not get there, but we're all dressing for great things.

That's sorcery.

Lord have mercy on us, poor Gentiles.

Carried away with dumb idols, even as we're led.

Full of just full of superstition.

A black cat ran cross a black cat ran across my path last week, Brother Michael.

He barely got away.

I wasn't turning around.

That's the truth coming down Marjorie Street.

Barely got away, Brother Elton.

I mean barely.

I promise I thought I had him.

I wasn't trying to hit him, but brother, I wasn't what I was gonna do.

I wasn't trying to miss him, but get out of my way.

A sorcery, trickery, bewitch you.

God is not some hocus pocus God putting things on display.

Let's keep reading.

But look what happened.

To whom they all gave, I'm sorry, Brother Michael.

To whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

Isn't that pathetic?

Don't you see this man on a white suit on television with a handkerchief and does this and people fall down?

Does that look like God to you?

Do you see that anywhere in the Bible where somebody takes a handkerchief and waving and people falling?

Now come on, now.

My God.

He said, and to him they had regard because that of a long time.

To him they had regard, thinking he was a great man of God.

He was the great power of God.

To them they had regard.

Not listen, not the New Testament church until they really saw Peter, but to him they had regard because of a long time.

He had what?

Bewitched them with a sorcerer.

Bewitched them with what?

Sorceress.

You ever seen a man, brother, with this with this collar on backwards?

He walking down there with this incense?

You seen this, Sister Christine?

Mumbering something in the ladder.

Oh, go, go, go, no, go, go, go, y'all know.

And that post was a Christine here.

What's she doing, Sister Christine?

What are you doing?

Spring of that one.

That post was Christine.

Leave a mark on people.

I never forget, brother.

He's coming in here with that sorcery.

He's getting down kneeling out.

What does that mean?

What will you somebody tell me what that means?

What does that have to do with God?

God have mercy.

But listen, verse 12.

They get out of that, but when they bleed, Philip doing what?

Come on, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God.

In the name of Jesus, they were what?

Baptized.

Both men and women.

My God, even Simon said, wait a minute, this man got something.

Simon the sorcerer himself bleeds also, and when he was baptized, he did what?

Continue with Philip.

But you know this man's heart was wrong.

He saw Philip had a gift.

And what he had was sorcery.

So he what he said, I'm gonna steal this.

I'm gonna follow him around and learn this doctrine.

I'm gonna follow him around and learn how he does these things.

Philip didn't run him away.

Come on, Simon of sorcerer.

Come on and follow me.

He followed him.

Let's keep but his motive was wrong.

Now verse 14.

When the apostles, which was at Jerusalem, they never left Jerusalem, heard that Samaritan had received the word of God, what they did?

Why did they send Peter and John?

Why?

Because Peter was the only one on listen, he told Peter, I give you the keys of the kingdom.

You remember that?

Whatever you bind on earth is bind in heaven.

Who stood up under there at Pentecost and preached to the Jews?

Who was going to be the one that let the Samaritans in?

Peter.

Although all Philip could do was preach and get them converted.

To receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost is necessary to become a citizen in the kingdom of God.

And this is God's divine order.

There was no way they were going to receive the Holy Ghost until Peter came down and put his hands on them.

He had to open the doors to the Samaritans.

He had to open the doors to the Gentiles.

Even Paul himself couldn't let the Gentiles in until the first Gentile was brought in by Peter.

Are you following me?

That's far as he could go.

He was a great preacher, but he was not going to bear that anyone receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost until Peter came down and opened that door.

Now, thank God he let the Jews in, he let the Samaritans in, he let the Gentiles in.

Thank God we're in, aren't they?

But thank God the Lord is a God of order.

And so here he is sent down, that is Peter and John.

Now, verse 15, Brother Micah.

When they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.

This is showing you being converted and being baptized is not the same thing as receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Verse 16 clarifies that.

The Holy Ghost, when something happened.

It doesn't say here they spoke in tongues, but Simon, he saw something happen.

He saw something manifest.

And look what happened.

When Simon saw that on the land of the apostles' hand the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them what?

Because he had been using sorcery, saying, Man, God, give me some of that power.

That who I put my hands on, they'll go to speaking in tongues, they'll go to acting like that.

Man, I can make a fortune.

And that's what you see in religion now.

They've learned to can the things of God and making a fortune.

Making a fortune.

It's marketed for monetary purposes.

It's going overseas for monetary purposes.

Not to say so, not to build the kingdom of God.

And to prove it, every group put their name on whatever group they have out there.

When the Baptists go overseas, it's the Baptist missionary churches.

Methodists, it's the Methodists.

Why can't you be the people of God?

Why can't these be the kingdom?

Everybody put their name on.

They build on their own kingdom.

The New Testament church didn't operate that way.

But now listen.

See, this man's spirit never changed.

He still wanted to bewitch people.

He still wanted to use sorcery.

His motive and his heart had never changed.

He was converted, he was baptized, but this man's heart never changed.

It never changed.

My God.

Saying, give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

But look at Peter.

Do you know these men was not politically correct?

This is not the politically correct way to speak to somebody.

But look what Peter did.

But Peter said unto him, Thy money what?

Say it with me, thy money what?

Because thou hast thought.

Just because you thought.

That the gift of God, that's the baptism of the Holy Ghost, may be purchased with what?

My God.

He said, Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter.

What matter?

In this ministry.

You may have been a minister in religion, but you will never fit in the body of Christ.

You will never be a minister in the kingdom of God.

Your heart is not right.

Your spirit is not right.

You want to be somebody.

You want to be somebody.

And not only that, you better be damned.

That's what he's about to tell us.

Keep reading.

For thy heart is not right in the what?

Here's your chance.

He said, Repent therefore of this thy wickedness.

You better get this out of you.

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God that, listen to this.

If preaventure, if preaventure, the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee.

So repentance might not get it out.

Repenting the Lord might not forgive you.

But he said, You repent, if preaventure, the thoughts of your heart might be forgiven thee.

But watch what happened.

Verse 23, for I perceive, just by the fact of what you said out of your mouth, that thy heart, I'm sorry, that thou art in a what?

Gaul of bitterness and in a bond of iniquity.

Do you know this man didn't even repent?

Look what he did in the next verse.

Then answer Simon and said, Pray ye to God for me.

That none of these things which you have spoken, but you can't hear a thing.

Didn't he just tell you to pray and try to get this out of your heart?

Didn't hear a thing, man.

And that's what happened when our heart isn't right.

We can't hear.

We can't hear.

My God, but you don't see you don't see Peter responding anymore.

And they testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

And I love this right now.

Oh, time is far spent.

Let me finish this on up.

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip.

In other words, he was finished in Samaritan.

He was an evangelist.

You know, he'd done all he can do.

And so now the angel of the Lord speaks unto him, saying, Arise, go toward the south unto the way that go down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is dirt.

Desert desert.

I'm sorry.

Now, watch what happened.

Help me out, Brother Michael.

Getting tongue-tied.

And he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority, under Cannes, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning and sitting in his church.

Do you know why the Bible Nick Ticnoodle that?

And he had uh all of her treasure?

He was showing here's this man with all of the comfort creatures of life.

Creature comfort of life.

This man still had a heart of God.

All the things, this man could have been somewhere, man, watched a ride chariot.

He was just man still had a heart of God.

The Lord saw it.

So he folded Philadelphia.

Here's the man who can't have to be joined yourself this day.

He's trying to understand the Bible.

He can't be doing the sacrifice.

He can be doing other things.

Thank God, but if your heart is right, the Lord will bring you into contact where somebody can help you.

That's what happened to you, Sister Christine.

Behind them great walls of Babylon.

The Lord used brother Philip.

God is wonderful, isn't he?

Wherever you are, he can see us.

He's that kind of God.

My God.

I sure love the Lord.

Glory be his name.

Keep reading, Brother Mike.

I'm sorry.

He said, Then said the Spirit unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot.

Brother, show how sensitive he is.

He could actually hear the Holy Ghost.

And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet.

Here's a man reading.

That's why I tell you, read.

Even if you don't understand, read.

Look what he says.

My God.

He said, and heard him read the prophet.

He says, and said, Understand it thou what thou readest?

And here is this eunuch he's reading, but he knows he couldn't understand.