Acts Chapter 12

If we go to twelve verse uh I'll condense it.

Go to verse 22.

But you will come unto Mount Sin.

Sion is just a New Testament rendering of Zion, which is the city of God.

This is what he tells you.

Until the city uses that term of the living God.

And what is that city?

He explains it.

It is the heavenly, a spiritual Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.

And so that's third heaven angels, as well as second heaven, a terrestrial angel.

Then he lets you know this is on the earth.

To the general assembly, use the word general because it's all nations, kings, and tongues.

It's a general assembly, it's a church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirit of just man being made perfect.

But the emphasis, of course, is the 22nd verse, he calls it the heavenly Jerusalem.

And so this is a spiritual, a heavenly Jerusalem, but then this is not the ultimate Jerusalem, because as we you and I obtain to immortality, you go to Revelation chapter 21, he makes it very plain.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

This is the epitome of it all.

Um verse 121, verse 1, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

Let me explain those terms.

When the Bible is making reference to what's over your head, it's the heavens, no matter where you go, heavens is always over you.

And so that's talking about leaders, rulers.

They're called heavens.

As he says in Deuteronomy several times, hero heavens, that's the leadership, and hero earth, that's the people who are covered by that ministry or by that government.

And so when he said there's going to be a new heaven, that heaven is making reference to new government.

Uh, it'll define it itself as you go on and make it clear.

There's a new heaven that is a new order, a new government that's covering in a new earth.

That's a new people.

So that's going to be a people who's going to be, I'm going to use these terms that we can relate to, it's going to be a part of Christ's cabinet, his government element.

And then, of course, that's going to be a new earth.

There's going to be those who dwell on the earth.

They have immortality, but they'll dwell on the earth.

So they're saying, Here, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the first heaven and the first earth was passed away.

It's a whole new regime.

And that was no more sea, because the Bible showed you what a sea is.

It's massive of humanity.

And then verse 2, I John saw a saw the holy city.

But this is different.

It's not the holy Jerusalem.

Uh it's not that.

It's not the heavenly Jerusalem.

He calls it New Jerusalem and identified what this people are.

They're coming down from God out of heaven, prepared, here it is, as a bride.

And so the new Jerusalem is the bride adorned for her husband.

And so there's going to be a new heaven, a new earth.

And uh this new heaven is making reference to the new Jerusalem, which is the bride of Jesus Christ.

Uh I'll pull back on that.

I did want to uh just clarify the song since we were singing it.

Uh, this is our vision, uh, this is our message, and people wonder where we get these things from.

We get it out of the Bible.

If you go to Revelation chapter 14, since we're touching it, uh we don't make anything up, and the only thing that interprets the Bible is the Bible.

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

Commentaries can't do it.

Uh Google can't do it, uh Chad GPT can't do it.

That's it's it's spiritual.

Okay, here we go.

Revelation chapter 14.

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

And uh, I got a few moments, then we'll get into Acts.

I looked, this is John, on the eye of Patmos, and he's in the spirit.

Uh he's caught away, uh, describing the things that God was showing him concerning Jesus Christ, his son, and his revelation.

And a lamb, of course, we know that lamb is talking about Christ Jesus.

Behold, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

And he stood on Mount Sion, which is Mount Zion, and with him he uses a number.

With him, a hundred and forty and four thousand.

That number, like everything else in the book of Revelation, is symbolic.

And how he gets a hundred and forty-four thousand, if you go back to Chronicles 24, David set up the courses of the Levite to minister.

And they ministered in 24 courses.

And uh 12 in the Bible is the number of government, 12 months in a year, uh, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 times 12, uh, 12,000 times 12,000 is 144,000, showing how the meant the bride of Christ will be ruling in courses.

I don't want to get too far into that.

Then he's saying, having his father's name written in their forehead, which is a big difference because the religious world has a name written in their forehead, um, but their name is called Babylon, Mr.

Religion.

Uh, your forehead is where you receive your teaching, your understanding.

But the father's name, that's his nature, that's his teaching, are written in your forehead.

We think like him, we process things like him, we discern right and wrong like him.

And I heard a voice from heaven, he's going to describe this bride different ways.

I heard a voice from heaven as a voice of many waters, many waters, and as a voice of a great thunder.

And I heard the voice, look at these, underlying these terms, harpers harping with their harps.

This is 144,000.

And watch this key.

And they sung as it was a new song.

A new song.

This song has never been sung.

This is the song of the overcomers, of the redeemed, before the throne, before the four beasts, that's the movements around the tabernacle where these overcomers came from, and the elders, and no man could learn that number, that song, but the hundred and forty and four thousand.

Here's the key, which were redeemed from the earth.

Angels can't sing this song because they've never been redeemed.

And then it's from the earth.

This is only the bride members, and uh use a different term.

Uh, for these are they which was not defiled with women.

It's talking about religious organization.

For they are virgins, the mind is clean, it's pure, it hadn't been corrupted.

If it was, it's been washed.

And these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

And he says it again, in case someone missed it.

In verse 3, he says again in verse 4.

These were redeemed.

And show you this 144,000, not some celestial eternal being that was in heaven, but these are people who overcame, obtained to the first resurrection.

These are redeemed from among men.

In verse 3, he says, from the earth, and he reclarified, from among mankind, being the first fruits unto God and unto the Lamb.

That's a deep subject.

I'll read one more verse and I'll stop.

And in their mouth were found no guile, no deceit, no misunderstandings.

For they are without fault.

That's what we use the term perfect when it comes to the understanding the word of God.

We can have no misunderstanding, no misapplication.

We can't make God what He's not.

He's not a Santorin.

He's not frying, stewing, and baking people.

That's a big, that's a big lie.

I won't talk about what Brother Elton almost backslid over that.

Brother Elton came to my house and sat down in my in my in my study, and he wanna know, well, are you telling me nobody's got to fry it and stew?

No, sir.

What about Hitler?

He got it, something got to happen to kill six million people.

Brother Elton, the man is dead.

What else can happen to you outside of death?

That's not bad enough.

Well, that's because we got that's when we have a whore's forehead.

We believe what these religious systems have taught us, but it's no, it's not biblical.

And so to get to this point in life, the only thing that can produce the bride of Jesus Christ, it comes out of the body of Christ, out of the body of religion, out of the body of the beasts.

Remember when Jesus was on the cross, as for some of the newer people, uh, a soldier came and pierced him in the side.

When he pierced him in the side, out with, John records it, came blood and water.

He said, Not blood only, but blood and water.

And just like Adam, when he was put to sleep, the Lord took a rib out of his side and made for him a bride.

Jesus Christ is put to death on the cross out of his side, blood and water.

Uh he'd make a bride for Christ.

Yet the bride of Christ comes out of the body of Christ.

Just like Eve came out of Adam.

It can't come out of another system, it only comes out of his body.

And so we're so glad to be in the body.

When we say, Well, nothing in this world can harm me, it can destroy your body, but he can't touch your soul.

Uh that's what Jesus told us to do.

What is that, Matthew 10, 28?

Uh, he said, Fear not him that is able to destroy the body, but he cannot destroy the soul.

So nothing in this world can actually harm us.

To us, it's talking about the soul.

Uh, you can beat me, you can shoot me, uh, you can cut me, but you can't touch my soul.

That's just the body.

And so we can begin to see in this wonderful book of Acts how that the Lord Himself established his body, starting on the day of Pentecost, is when he established his body.

And there were many bodies already on the earth.

There was the body of the Pharisees, the body of the Sadducees, the body of the Essenes.

Those were bodies of people.

And I think I mentioned that Sunday, Jesus said, uh, the birds of the air, they have their nests.

Uh, and the foxes, they have their holes.

Uh the Bible even interprets those words.

Uh he says the fowls of the air, uh, that's talking about religious elements.

Uh that's what he's talking about.

Then he said the foxes have their holes or their dens.

Remember, he called Herod that old fox?

That's talking about the political elements.

Uh, the religious elements, they are they wear their robes and they're called by flattering titles.

And then the political systems, uh, by craftiness, uh, they maneuver their way into offices.

He said, but the Son of Man, he had nowhere to place his head.

There wasn't a body of people that he himself could be the head of.

And so he established it, his own arm of salvation.

And in the book of Acts, it showed how he made the transition from the law of Moses or the Old Testament into the day of grace, wherein we stand.

As he says in John chapter 1, the law truly came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

John 1 · chapter mention

And so uh we took the moon, and my God, that's under our feet.

We're not living by that anymore.

Uh, we're trying to be clothed in the sun, uh, which is the teaching of Jesus Christ.

And so you can see after he taught those men for three and a half years, as long as they could keep their eyes open, he pounded their ears with the word of God.

And then the last day, the last day before his crucifixion, he said, Now are you cleansed through the words which are spoken to you?

What do you mean, cleansed?

It wasn't soap and water, yes, it was.

It washed their thinking, their minds, and their precepts.

It was cleansed from the Pharisees, Sadducees, uh, Essenes, the different denominational thinking.

He had washed them, he washed their feet, he cleaned up their understanding.

And so they didn't know everything.

And Jesus told them, I have many things to tell you, but hitherto or right now you cannot bear them.

Howbeit, when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he'll lead and guide you into all truth.

He'll help you to understand the things that you can't comprehend at this time.

And so on the day of Pentecost, this is why Christ told them to stay in Acts chapter 1, tarry, wait in Jerusalem until you be endued, uh anointed with power from on high.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

He's talking about the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

And so those men you can see from the very beginning, walk us up to the uh to the uh 12th chapter real quickly.

I won't take too long.

But those men, as they tarried in Jerusalem, not knowing exactly when this promise of the Father was going to come.

But what they did do is get wrong right.

Uh they repented, uh, they got their hearts right.

Uh there was contention among those men, but as long as Christ is on the earth, it didn't manifest you fully.

Uh, because the Bible says James and John decided desired to sit on his right and his left when you come into his kingdom.

And the Bible makes them know the other disciples was angry because he said that.

They were angry with him, uh, with them.

Uh and so, no doubt, those ten days while they were together, they got wrong right.

They acknowledged their transgression of one another and got those things right.

And then God revealed to them that it's only eleven apostles.

Eleven is not God's number.

That's why you don't have eleven tribes.

That's as uh that's not 13 tribes.

Actually, it is 13.

But he what he did, he took one tribe unto himself, Levi.

And uh he took the tribe of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, and took his place.

So he took one away because he had to have 12.

That's the number of government.

That's why Jesus had 12 apostles.

And that was only 11 because Judas Iscariot by transgression had fell, uh, went to his appointed place, which was the grave.

And so those men realize that we can't we can't operate in New Testament order with eleven.

And so they gave the qualification.

He said, from the beginning of the baptism of John up to the time that Christ was taken away, uh, must one who was there, able to bear witness, must be ordained.

And of course, it came down to two, Matthias and Jesus.

And of course, they all gave their voices, I cast their light, and it fell on Matthias.

And now you have twelve.

And that's the order of God.

And so they went into the temple as they did every day anyway.

But this was the high feast day, it was the day of Pentecost.

You know the scriptures suddenly came a sound from heaven as the rushing mighty wind filled all the house where they were sitting.

There pill unto them clothing tongue like as a fire, and set upon each of them.

And as they began to speak in other tongues.

He didn't say another tongue, he said they spoke in other tongues.

Other tongues is the dialect of men, it's just not native to you.

And that was gathered together to celebrate this Passover feast, men from all over the Mediterranean area.

And uh those men was baffled.

They said, Are not all these men who speak it?

Aren't these men all uh uh Galilean?

How then we hear them speak in our own tongue?

And someone else, you always got markers and scorners, and they serve a purpose.

Others begin to mark.

But Peter standing with the 11 says, These men are not, they say these men are drunk, because they heard them speaking in a language that was not native to them.

Because all these different languages, I could only stand one.

The rest of you guys are gibbering, but it wasn't gibbering, it was speaking.

And so Peter writes with the 11 and say, These men are not drunk, as you suppose.

Didn't deny that they were tiltsy, but it's by the Spirit of God.

It wasn't natural wine.

He explained, this is that which is spoken by the prophet Job.

My God, 700 years ago, and the last days, and there's many last days in the Bible.

This is the last days of the Jewish world, last days of the Jewish favor with God.

Uh, this was their last days in favor with God.

He's going to pour out his spirit upon all flesh.

That's Jewish flesh.

The sons and their daughters are going to prophesy.

The old men would dream, dream, and the young men will see visions upon his handmaid when he poured out his spirit of those days.

And so that was the launching of the New Testament church.

Now, yet order, and now you got a body of people.

Peter began to preach about the resurrection of Christ, his being put to death, being denied by the people, put to death, and then how God raised him up.

And the hearts of the people whose heart was right, who heard Peter, they say, men and brethren, they believe the message.

What shall we do that is to be saved?

And then, of course, this is the simplest scripture in the Bible to find the order of salvation.

He said, Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the what?

Remission of sins.

And you shall, that is, if you repenting and you panting after him, you shall what?

Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For the promise given unto you, not just you, to your children, that's the next generation, and to those that are far off, right on down to 2026.

And now, with many other words that he uh prophesied, a preaching told them, save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Separate yourself.

What do you mean, save yourself?

Separate yourself from these people because the wrath of God is about to come upon them.

And they did so.

And the same day, 3,000 souls was added to the church.

That's the second chapter.

Then you get to the third chapter, uh, showing the order.

Peter and John was going to the temple about the ninth hour of the day.

Ninth hour of the day.

And as they was going in, this is interesting.

There was a man at the gate, lame from his mother's womb, born that way, begging for alms.

And as Peter and John was walking into the temple, this man looked up at them.

Because Peter said, Look on us.

And of course, they're looking up.

This man is looking up because everybody throws some uh some almdies into his little kittle, and so we need to receive something.

Peter said, Siving gold have I none, but such as I have, what did he have?

He had the gift of the Holy Ghost, he had the anointing of God, he had the gift of healing, he had the gift of tongues, interpretation of tongues, he had the working of miracles.

He said, Such as I have, give unto thee in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.

And that man immediately received strength and his ankle bone, went into the temple rejoicing.

And from there the people came and uh looking upon Peter and John, and this man leaping, he couldn't deny the miracle.

But Peter actually said, Why you look so earnest upon us, as though by our own power and strength we made this man whole.

Uh, but it's by the name of Jesus, whom you crucified.

It was this man Samuel whole.

And of course, when the temple gods, the Jewish uh escalated and the uh those who were highly esteemed among the Jewish religion, they came to Bob in the fourth chapter.

Now, we said they was grieved because Peter taught from the resurrection of the dead about Christ and took those men and put them in prison because it was too late in the evening.

The next day they tried them and they tried to intimidate Peter.

By the way, Peter had just denied the Lord uh three times, uh just a couple of months earlier.

But this time something different.

When they began to threaten Peter and John, look what Peter said.

He said, Is it right to hearken to God?

Um, hearken unto man more than God.

He said, You judge it.

We cannot help but speak to things which we have seen and heard.

You could intimidate them.

And so they threatened them even more, let them go.

The next day, Peter is back in the temple, I'm in the fifth chapter now.

He's back in the temple.

I'm just showing you how the difference between the man without the Holy Ghost, the same man, same Peter, had rabbit in his blood, denied the Lord thrice.

After he received the gift of the Holy Ghost, you couldn't scare him.

You couldn't intimidate him.

And so then the fifth chapter, they actually beat them.

They said, didn't we not straightly tell you not to preach or teach in that man's name?

Are you bringing this man blood upon us?

Uh and then Peter told them, he said, uh let's just read it.

Let's I'm gonna skip to the fifth chapter, the tenth chapter, real quick, but I want you to follow the events.

And every one of these chapters is unfolding truth that you and I have to have under our fifth rib.

That has to be the very foundation of what we build our lives on.

And uh, we all have the ability to be intimidated, but we have to overcome that just like we overcome anything else.

We have to overcome fear, we have to overcome doubt, unbelief, uncertainties.

Uh, and so here in the fifth chapter, I'm sorry, fourth chapter, forgive me.

Um look at verse 16.

I'm just gonna touch a couple of verses here.

But this is the uh the council.

So, what shall we do unto these men?

That's talking about John and Peter.

You see it in verse 13.

For indeed a notable miracle has been done by them, is manifest, and is revealed to all them that dwell in Jerusalem.

We can't deny it, but that is spread no further among the people, let us straighten charge them.

And of course, they did try to charge him.

But Peter and John, verse 19.

But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Listen to this whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto To you more than unto God you judge.

Listen to boldness, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

And they didn't stop with that.

That is the counsel.

So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing, how they may actually punish them.

Because all the people, for they glorify God.

And so then you can begin to see, My God, these men didn't rattle, they didn't shake.

And they went back and they began to pray, and the Lord gave them more strength again.

Verse 32, I think just touched that for a moment here.

And the multitude of them, this is when back to their own company, that believed, was of one heart and of one soul.

So much so, neither said any of them that ought, it means any of anything, of the things which he possessed was his own.

But they had all things common.

My God, what a state to be in.

And then if you go on a little bit further, let me skip and expedite this up a little further here, if I may, for the sake of time.

And as the church kept multiplying and increasing.

In the fifth chapter, five thousand, three thousand out five thousand.

Then he started multiplying.

And of course, they were so bold, even though they were beaten.

Verse 42 invert to the fifth chapter.

And it was daily in the temple and in every house.

They ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ, which is why we try to have house meetings.

Because they're uh they're more personal.

It's a smaller setting.

Uh as a matter of fact, I'm gonna open up in a minute because I need your questions and your thoughts.

And so that's the New Testament order.

Though there was 5,000 added, though there was 3,000 added, they didn't just go to the temple, which was corporate worship, they went from house to house.

They kept it uh small, personal, so everyone could be edified, everyone could be built up.

They had real communion.

Now, and in those days, you can see here, uh, there was a murmuring of the uh Grecian because their widows was neglected.

The reason this is in the Bible is because it started off with the 12.

That was the government of the church.

But it's because it was so many thousands of people being added, everybody's need wasn't being ministered to.

Some people got left behind.

And so when the people let the ministry know that our widows, they're being neglected because they're not from Jerusalem.

We call them Grecians, and let me clarify that term too.

The word Grecian doesn't always have the same meaning, meaning.

The context will show it to you.

When the people who were born and raised, or they were Jews, in Greek cities or Greek towns, it was called Grecians because they spoke Greek, but they were Jews.

And then other times, I'll show it to you, he calls them Grecians who was Gentiles.

The word Gentiles itself means it means nations, and so these Jews was in other nations because they were dispersed.

And the fifth chapter, the context shows you that these are all Jewish people.

How do you know that, Brother Brown?

Because it preached the gospel to none but the Jews.

He said Grecians and Greeks.

Grecians.

No, it's the same.

Greek.

Call them Grecian.

Might need a mic.

She asked me about the word Grecian.

I'll let you read it.

And so you see the difference.

I'm gonna read verse one.

In those days when the number of disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring.

That means there was some complaining of the Grecians against the Hebrews.

If you didn't take the time, you'd think he's talking about Greeks because it said Grecians against the Hebrews.

It is.

Yeah.

Greek, it's making reference to Greek people.

Uh Grecians is what they call Greek people, except the Jews, because they spoke Greek language, and it was in other cities and not in uh Jerusalem or in Judea, they call them uh Grecians.

They gave them that name because you speak in a Gentile language.

You're not in you're not in the promised land.

And so they was considered, it was Jews, but they was considered uh a lower-tiered Jew.

But you're not living in the promised land.

You know, if you don't know this just for your benefit, uh, I just learned these things of recent that people in Africa look down on African Americans.

Did y'all know that?

Yeah, you've been colonized in your mind.

We all same people.

They don't see Africans, they don't see Barbadians, they don't see Haitians, they see black.

And uh this is showing you how you've been colonized in your mind.

Well, even this uh the law of Moses, the law of God, they use it to divide.

Listen, this is nothing new.

Everyone wants to be better than somebody else.

So here's people who were dispersed from the time of carrying away the nation of Israel by the Babylonians.

And they were raised there, born there, their grandparents, great-grandparents, and so you call them Grecians.

Though they were not Greeks, they were Hebrews, but they was not living in the promised land.

So we're the real Hebrews.

You are you're from another country.

And so this is what happened.

You can see favoritism here when the daily administration of the food.

People who was willed, you have to take care of them.

And if you were a Grecian, you didn't get first picks.

There was nobody advocating for you.

And when the apostles found out, they say it's not fit that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.

And so what he did, he talked to the ministers there.

He said, You look out among you and choose seven men who is full of the Holy Ghost, of uh wisdom, and of a good report, whom we can set over this matter.

But we're not going to stop what we don't, we're gonna give ourselves the setting of the word in prayer.

And so you'll see that in these uh verse three and verse four.

I just quoted that.

And so that saying please the whole multitude.

The reason it's in the Bible is showing you that you have to disperse authority, you have to trust other people, you can't do it all.

Um, you ever seen some churches, especially like freelance churches?

The pastor baptized all the baptism, um, he counts the offering, he writes the checks, he does everything.

Um that's not New Testament order, as a matter of fact.

The only time you see ministers put their hands on money, like Jesus, he had a great multitude, but he gave the money back to Judas Iscariot.

Why'd he do that?

You know he's a thief.

Why'd he give the money back to Judas Iscariot?

He's gonna he's not gonna make it anyway.

Oh, you what?

You're not gonna be eternally saved, and so that can become a stumbling block.

So he gave to someone who you you couldn't cause him to stumble because he's not gonna make it anyway.

Or making any sense to you.

And so, when men's got any sense, he keeps his hands off of money.

Just so you don't even have an uh uh accusation brought to you.

Okay, let me pick up his face.

Uh and the seventh chapter, this way it gets really intriguing.

Uh, one of those seven men is named Stephen, and all seven of those men, the religious world calls them deacons.

The Bible does not call them deacons.

These men were all gifted.

You will see their gifts as you go through the scriptures.

Uh, in the seventh chapter, you see Stephen, in the next, which is one of the seven.

Then in the eighth chapter, you're going to see Philip, which is an evangelist.

And so those men were on the hand of God.

They were ministers, ordained minister in the ministry.

So, Stephen was the first martyr.

You can see him in the seventh chapter.

He began to proclaim the word of God.

And the reason is because he was disputing with the religious leaders.

And they could, the Bible says here in the sixth chapter, they couldn't resist the wisdom by which he spake.

He's making them see that you really don't know the Bible.

You think you do.

And they got so enraged with him, so enraged, until they got a group of people to accuse him before the council and saying, This man uh cease not to how you put this, cease not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and against the law of Moses, saying that this Jesus is going to destroy this temple and he's going to change the laws of Moses or the custom of Moses, which was the truth.

But they took it out of context.

And like people say, we don't believe in this and we don't believe in that.

A lot of what they're saying has some truth, but you take it out of context.

I remember they thought that was offensive, it wouldn't offend me.

He said, Well, they don't believe that they don't believe in the devil.

But that's a lie.

We believe in all 8.2 billion devils.

Every person walking on the earth is an adversary to God until the Lord saves you.

So we believe in more devils than you.

You got one.

We don't spare any of them.

We all.

And the Bible bears it out.

Uh but and so they'll take what you're saying and miss like someone said, Well, they don't believe in hell.

I believe in a lot of hell.

All of them are not hot.

Not the one that you're talking about.

Uh small hell.

Brother Elton was in his pain, he was in hell.

If a woman having a child while she's having a birth, she's in hell.

Uh Jesus Christ's soul was not left in hell.

Well, he wasn't in a fire rotisserie.

That was the grave.

His soul wasn't left in the grave.

So you can run without the message and cause confusion.

And some of it's intentional.

So they couldn't stop this man's wisdom, so they put him to death.

He was the first mortar.

And the interesting thing is, at the end of this seventh chapter, they laid their coats at the feet of a young man.

That's what the Bible calls him, and whose name was Saul.

That's the introduction.

Before that, he's not even introduced.

And this man persecuted the church.

He went into houses.

This is not people's personal home.

This is houses of worship, which was their home.

He didn't go and break up the dinner.

He went in and broke up the church meetings.

And he hauled those people to prison because he was trying to stump out Christianity.

Because he was a Pharisee.

And Pharisees hated everything that wasn't a Pharisee.

They hated the Sadducees, the Essex, they hated everything.

And they thought that this movement was a branch off from Judaism, which it was not.

And so he was trying to stump it out.

And uh he was on his way to Damascus with authority from the high priest that if he found anyone calling the name of the Lord any this way, he's going to bring him all the way back to Jerusalem to be tried.

And the Bible is showing us, if we follow the pattern, he's showing the pattern that even a man who thinks he's doing God's service, if his heart is right, if his motive is right, God can deal with him, even though he's an enemy to the kingdom of heaven.

And he took, Paul said, a reason God did that to show him first, all long suffering.

Because you couldn't get any worse than Paul.

Somebody might have stolen, somebody might have been a thief, someone might have been a moonshine runner.

But this man persecuted the church.

Even unto death, even when Stephen was stoned, Paul gave his saw, gave his consent to it.

And yet the Lord can forgive you.

But so to the wind, you're going to reap the whirlwind.

So when the Lord revealed himself to Saul on his way to get these Christians, he told you to hit him with blindness, smoke him with blindness, and while he was waiting for the Lord to open his eyesight, the Lord showed him what things he had to suffer for his name's sake.

And he was the right candidate because he himself has called people to suffer.

And so he embraced it, he took it, he accepted it.

And the same zeal he had in the Jews' religion is the same zeal he had in the kingdom of Christ.

Go over, I made that statement.

I want you to read it.

Go over to Galatians chapter one.

We introduce and just touching this guy, Saul, which name would be changed to Paul.

Look at verse 13, kind of give you give you his testimony just a little bit.

He's writing to this church in Galatia.

Other regions, a lot of churches in Galatia.

Galatia is a region, it's not a city.

And so all these churches that Paul had established, he'd writing back to them.

Verse 13, chapter 1, verse 13.

For you have heard of my conversation, that's behavior.

This is one to probably have with the King James Version.

This was written in 1611 by 54 scholars, Hebrews and Greek scholars.

This is written in Elizabethan English.

We don't speak Elizabethan English.

And words have changed their meanings.

Conversation doesn't mean oral communication.

Conversation in the Bible means lifestyle.

And so this is why, probably the first of the year, we're going to transition to a more modern translation, more than likely the English Standard, English Virgin Standard.

Yeah, E.

English Standard.

English standard version, English Standard Version, correct.

This is more current English, but let's read it from here.

You have heard of my conversation, lifestyle.

Listen to this.

In time past, and the what?

That's what he called Judaism.

Yeah, put it up.

Yes, read it.

But it's called it the Jews' religion.

That was nothing but the law of Moses.

And letting you know the reason that is so important is letting you know this Christianity, as they call it today, is not a branch from the law of Moses.

He calls it the Jews' religion.

That's a whole nother faith.

This is not, it's no such thing as Jewel Christianity.

What they're saying is this is the law of Moses and the law of Christ.

Absolutely not.

You can't have two heads.

Christ have your head, Moses can't be your head.

Anyway, go ahead and read it.

It said, For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

Read it one more time, real carefully.

Listen to these words.

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism.

Stop.

King James says, conversation.

A translation calls it a former life.

Keep reading.

How I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

Wow.

It means the people.

That's what we mean by bodily.

What did he call the Jews religion in translation?

Judaism.

Judaism.

That's correct.

Judaism.

This is not Judaism.

There's no Jew Christianity.

There's no such thing exists.

You blend in two different faiths.

That's nothing but confusion.

And so Paul calls it the Jews' religion.

He uses that term even twice.

He didn't say it once.

It wasn't a misstep.

14.

Thank you.

And profited, read, I'm going to read it first, and profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in my own nation.

He means Jews, Hebrews.

Here's why he was able to go profit above his equals, being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my fathers.

He was very zealous.

So God took the same zeal he had and opened his eyes, put him on this way, and the same zeal he had, and you'll see that the rest of his life, he gave himself to it.

He was a zealous man.

So much so that even when he brought him to Jerusalem, they had to send him away.

It's causing too much havoc.

Even the Jews couldn't take him.

Even the Christians couldn't take him.

Did you know that?

He was so zealous that even the Christians couldn't take him.

People by nature are very passive.

And Paul was very zealous.

And so he wasn't ashamed of the gospel.

He preached it, he proclaimed it, he pushed it, he advocated it, he did nothing else.

He wouldn't even marry.

The life he was living wouldn't be fair to a wife.

This was his whole life.

And so if a person is slowful and then someone zealous next to you, you feel bad about how you are.

And he caused all the uh all the Christian haters to come against the church.

He wouldn't, he wouldn't stop, he wouldn't quiet down.

I'll let you see that real quick.

And I'll I'll go back to Acts chapter chapter nine.

This is after his conversion, it's a good place to pick it up.

I need to keep moving anyway.

I'm just trying to touch some points.

Uh and this is after um Ananias laid hands on him.

And then look at verse uh 19, after he was fasting, and when he had received meat, that is food, he was strengthened.

Then Saul, then was saw certain days with the disciples.

He came to persecute them, but he was converted, uh, which was at Damascus.

And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues.

That's the Jewish gatherings on Saturday, that he is the Son of God.

He didn't have all the revelations, but he understood that Jesus was the Son of God because he had an encounter with him.

And of course, what all that heard him was amazed and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem and came hither for that intent that he may bring them bound to the chief priests?

But listen, he didn't worry about his accusations, he didn't worry about the haters.

Verse 22 said, But Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews, which was which dwelled at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.

And after that, of course, they wanted to kill him.

And so they took him and sent him to Jerusalem.

But watch when we got to Jerusalem.

Verse 26.

And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he's running from Damascus, he assayed, he tried to join himself to the disciples there.

But they was all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple.

They were afraid because this guy maybe is staging it, he's gonna kill us.

But Barnabas took him, underline that name Barnabas.

That's gonna be his conrad in ministry until nepotism got involved.

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he, he's talking about Saul, had seen the Lord in the way, in the way to Damascus.

And he had spoken to him, that is, Jesus Christ had, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of the Lord.

And so he was with them for a while.

But watch this.

This is Saul.

This is him.

I'm gonna read these next two verses.

He was with them coming in and going out of Jerusalem.

It wasn't last too long.

Watch, verse 29.

And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord and disputed.

That's him.

He disputed against the Grecians.

This is not talking about Greek people.

This is the people from other cities.

But they went about to slay him, to kill him.

Then the brothers listen, they brought him down to Caesarea, sent him back to tortoise.

That's where he came from.

Read the next verse.

Then had the churches what?

Rest throughout.

That's something, isn't it?

That was his zeal.

And uh God sent him, let him calm down a little bit, let him mellow out, let him get a little wisdom.

But the Lord wasn't through with him.

Now, the tenth chapter is when the uh Peter goes to Cornelius' house, and then Gentiles come into the kingdom of heaven.

And then the 11th chapter, which we went over last week, uh Peter had to rehearse to these Jews why he went into a Gentile's house.

Not only him, but these six brothers that came with me from Joppa, they can bear witness of what I'm saying.

I didn't just go.

The Lord dealt with me in a vision.

And it wasn't a wild dream because it was a sheep knitted together to four corners with all kinds of four-footed creeping beasts, fowls of the air.

And it happened three times.

Every time I say, Lord, I've never eaten anything common and unclean.

Then the Lord spoke to him and said, What I've cleaned, don't you call that common and unclean?

Three times.

And while he was wondering what that meant, three men appeared at the door.

And the Holy Ghost told him, He said, Go with these men, doubting nothing.

And so when he went, as he was preaching the gospel, the Holy Ghost fell on them, and they began to speak in other tongues.

And Peter's defense was how who was I that I could forbid war?

That these should not be a good thing.

I'm sorry, we we lost audio.

We can't hear you, Brother Brown.

Yes.

Can you hear me now?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Okay, I apologize.

You didn't hear Sister Desiree question either then, did you?

No, sir, we did not.

Okay.

Well, she was asking in uh Acts chapter 11, verse 1.

Acts 11:1

It introduced these people as the apostles and brethren.

And our question was, who was the brethren?

And was it just the seventy that followed Christ?

But no, this brethren is all of the ministry.

They're called brethren.

But the term is making reference to how we would use today is ministering brethren.

Everyone is a brethren, but this is making reference to the ministering brethren.

That's a difference.

Another term for that, and you will read it as we go through here, is called elders.

These are older brethrons, not because of natural years, but they're more mature in the things of God.

And so they're called brethren.

But the reason he used those terms is so we wouldn't want to get puffed up with titles.

They had offices.

But brother, in say Evangelist Smith and Pastor Jones, and uh teacher Green, he's gonna say brethren.

And when they're making reference to the emphasis, they'll use the term elders.

Go to the 15th chapter of the book of Acts, real quick, and you'll see it.

I'm I'm springboarding all over, just with clarity.

Don't ever believe something because somebody said it.

Ask them to show it to you.

Where do you get that from?

If they speak it, they should be able to show you.

Otherwise, you shouldn't say it.

And you'll see this term uh quite a bit here.

Um go to yes, that's the best place to start it.

Yes.

Look at verse 6.

And the apostles, he don't say in brethren here, he says the apostles and elders.

And so these are what you will call senior ministers.

These are elder, they're older than just in the Lord.

They're older than just uh when you say brethren, I'll need to clarify a little bit more.

You're talking about the apostles, the prophets, the evangelist, the pastors, the teachers.

You're talking about deacons.

Everyone who's working in the ministry is brethren.

And then you have elders.

Elders are not just brethrons.

These are men who have been ordained as older ministers, senior ministers, and the term is called elders.

And all, everyone, no exception, every gifted man of God is called an elder, including an apostle.

I see a hand.

I'm sorry?

That's not the deacons.

No, it's not the deacons.

When you say it's elder, a deacon is a mil a minister, but he's not adain into the office yet.

And he uses reasons.

Uh he's maybe too young.

He has a gift, but he hasn't lived long enough.

If you ordain someone as an elder, I'll use Jacobi, for instance.

I'll use him because everyone can dance Bathsheba know he's gifted, ordained to be uh an elder.

But at 30 years old, and I'm gonna use Sister Sharon.

Uh she has a plight, and so she needs to talk to a minister.

So, can you see her calling Brother Jacob?

Who her son is older than him?

You hadn't lived long enough, you're good with the word of God, but you hadn't lived long enough to counsel her.

She got a son older than you, and so hence you wait till people have a certain amount of maturity before you can lay hands on.

Uh, you follow making a difference, but it doesn't take away from his gift.

I mean, his gift can operate, but you can't ordain him as an elder, as a senior minister.

And so they use the term brother that will cover them.

Well, you say elders, now you're talking about your seniors.

Uh, and this is a term you read.

I I saw your hand, sister, before I go any further.

Um, yes, sir.

Earlier, I was wondering uh in Acts chapter two, you had mentioned, you know, about the 3,000 uh souls being added.

And then we when we got over to uh chapter five, you were talking about uh they ceased not to teach and preach in every house.

So I was wondering how much time had passed from Acts chapter two to Acts chapter five, having all these thousands of new converts who was doing the preaching and teaching, and now and brethren.

I was wondering if it was those men who were doing the preaching and teaching.

You're absolutely wondering absolutely correctly now.

It's not possible for 12 men to minister to 8,000.

You got 3,000 and 5,000.

And uh these men, this is why Christ had the seven disciples besides the 12 apostles.

And this is the purpose.

It's not so much for you to teach or you to preach or you to pastor.

Those men had to cultivate other ministers.

Every senior minister's job is to help cultivate other ministers.

If not, you become like a little Lord.

Your little king is your kingdom.

Every, I'll let you read it.

Every minister, if you're an elder, should be training men to be able to do what God's giving you the ability to do.

I'll let you read it.

1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 2.

1 Timothy 2:2

And then someone else can do Philippians chapter uh 4, verse 9.

Do those two scriptures real quick.

That's a good question, Sister Denise, and you have it correct.

And this is what you're seeing uh in this Bible is order.

They didn't send them to a seminary.

That's not how they that's not how those men develop.

They didn't have those men become Oscar Minotaur wieners, but it didn't work that way.

You don't take a man and make him duplicate your manners.

You take a man, you help him to understand the word of God.

When he ministers, God doesn't put words in your mouth.

What he does is give you thoughts, he can let you see it.

And you use your vocabulary, and sometimes he'll mouth for you, he'll do that if it's something particular, but you're typically seeing is what he's showing you, and you're using your vocabulary and your personality to convey that.

When you have someone else to imitate you, and Jesus said, See, you're a clone.

You can stop talking right now.

It's just you're performing like someone else, so you're not ministering by the Spirit of God.

That's nothing but theatrical.

You don't even have asthma.

Well, that's where it first originated from a man who had asthma.

And so all you're doing is cloning.

You and Oscar Minor Wiener, you're pretending.

I'm not trying to be too raw, but I'm just being honest here.

Uh somebody get 1 Timothy 2 and 2.

Read it for me, Brother Phelps, please.

Yes, sir.

That's uh 2 Timothy 2 and 2.

2 Timothy, forgive me.

Yes, sir.

1 Timothy.

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses.

Holy, wait one second.

These men followed Paul.

And Paul was an example, not just in the gospel, but how he handled things, how he dealt with issues.

Uh, most people, it's been around long enough, almost in every situation, you almost can tell what the ministry is going to do.

Whether it takes you a month or six months, this is what's going to happen if the person don't make an adjustment.

I'm going to tell you what's going to happen.

And you know what's going to happen because it's consistency.

This is what Paul's saying.

Read you again verse 2, verse 1.

I'm sorry, the first part of verse 2.

2 Timothy 2 and 1.

2 and 2.

And the things that thou hast heard of me.

Listen to this.

The things which you have heard is the gospel he was preaching.

Not just among many witnesses.

It's not what I told you in private, it's the gospel.

The things which you have heard of me among many witnesses.

The same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

That's the key.

You don't take the gospel and give it to your cousin and your best friend.

It's people who will be able to teach others also.

So every minister, every gifted man, every gifted minister should have other men's cultivated.

If no other man's developing none of your ministry, then it's not it's not of God.

Your rod is not budding.

It should be other ministers.

You can't give anyone a gift, but what you can do is help them to develop how to use his gift.

The gifts come from God.

Yes, sir.

He said that the things you've heard of me.

It said the things you heard from me.

That's a good brother Elton was reading from the E V S.

It's one of them, somebody.

And that's that's that's that's a better translation because it flows better in modern English.

And that's the only reason I'm not fighting the Bible translation, but it is 1611.

We're living in 2026.

I mean, the language itself is obsolete and uh making it difficult for people to understand the Bible.

You read it enough, you become almost Elizabethan English speaking.

Because you've read it so many times, but why put that extra burden on people unnecessarily?

Yeah, of suggest that it's from him.

Ma'am?

Uh suggest it's of him.

Right.

The words are from him and him alone.

Correct.

The words from God's word, from him.

That's a good point.

Well, she's saying, this is Sister Roz was pointing out the way that we would read it.

Go let her let her say it for herself.

It's from listen, it's from you.

Yeah, keep reading.

Using your words.

Yeah, go ahead.

Uh suggests that the words were Paul's words.

But when we go to the ESV, it's from, meaning the words from God.

Right.

He's just a conduit.

He's just a messenger, and that's a big difference.

Of course, again, it's translated.

But we need something more modern for people.

You'll get it because you read a thousand times.

You can't help but get it.

But if you can help make someone else make this easier, then why wouldn't you do it?

You don't want to hold people in captivity to the need necessity of you explaining things that if it was in a modern English, they can understand it for themselves.

We're not trying to enslave people, trying to free people.

So hence is the need.

At least, uh you don't like it, you'll always go back to King James.

It's not a sin and it's not damnable.

You can try it.

I don't know how anyone can read this English Standard Version and not prefer it.

I I don't.

But my problem is I have it, I read it.

My problem is I've read this King James for 40-some years.

And so, yeah, I have to set listen, it's better, it's easier, but I'm addicted to this King James.

Because that's what I've been for 40 years.

Most days of my life.

You probably can count a hand out of a year, maybe a handful of times, I hadn't read.

I'm extremely tired, or something had to happen.

Here's the point.

If you've been doing the same thing for 40 plus years, 42 years, then you're addicted to it.

Uh, but I know that the uh English Standard Version is a lot easier reading.

But I'm so addicted to the hard stuff.

You know, this is too easy.

Getting into it, I need to struggle with words more.

But I know what the words mean.

So I want to make it easy for newer people.

I really do.

Uh I got Sister Kimberly on there.

And uh God bless you, young lady.

But she hadn't been in church in a good number of years.

And now she's she's here.

The Lord's dealing with her and her son, teenage son.

I don't want to see her have it any harder necessary.

Uh I don't have to struggle because I struggle.

I mean she has to struggle.

Uh I did struggle, but I don't want that for other people.

If there's any you're gonna struggle anyway, but if I can make it a little easier for you, that's one struggle you don't have to deal with.

God's gonna see that you struggle, man, because that's how you get strength.

It's through resistance, it's like lifting weights.

That's how you build muscle, same thing spiritually.

Everyone, all that live God in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

You can't get around that.

But if it's something you can make it easy for someone, I want to do it so we can expedite your growth.

That's the only reason I'm mentioning that.

But anyway, back to the point.

Yes.

Also, like in the ESG, they have something.

I don't know if it's contradictory or whatever, but you don't understand it.

For example, we say have all things common in the King James, right?

And uh ESV say all things in common.

I don't like that.

Ain't in common.

Yeah, I'm gonna tell you about this translation, all of them.

Some parts of verses in the ESV, they leave it completely out.

I mean, they'll there's whole verses it's left out, and then they leave out some part of the verse.

That irritates me.

But in the King James, some part of the verse was never in the original writing.

They add, they add things in that was never even in there.

So, you know, it's a struggle.

Okay, what translation you have, it's a struggle.

Uh and only where you know the difference, you just have to study so much, you have to read so much, you have to study so much.

Uh, like this is a scripture the Trinitarian uses.

There's three in heaven: the Word, the Son, and the Father.

That's not even in the Bible.

They put that in.

Sometimes it's italicized, which means that it was added to the discretion of the translator.

Sometimes they put the whole verses in that's not even in the Bible.

Did you know that?

Oh, it makes my blood boil.

Literally.

But I mean, all I can't speak Hebrew and I can't speak Greek.

So I have to have a translation.

Uh only way I learned what's been put in, what hadn't, because I use different versions.

And if I see someone, one version saying one thing, another one saying something different, but then I have to dig out and find out which one is correct.

And you'll find sources.

They added this, and uh, this was taken out here, and that's how you learn the difference.

It's my job to point those things out.

Let me get back to this.

So to answer your question, elders mean ordained ministers who are seasoned, aged.

Uh, I'm gonna use a term that's not in the Bible.

All elders are not equal, like anything else.

Some people are senior.

You have senior elders, then you have newly ordained elders.

They all are elders, but the ones that are seasoned are more not more developed, more experienced of how to deal with situations.

Uh, and you can see that from the I'm getting back to the scripture, but anyway, in the Old Testament, when Moses was being consumed because the work was too heavy, he chose people, he chose seven elders, and they put the seven elders over the twelve tribes.

But Moses said, anything that's too hard for you, you bring it to me.

In other words, he wasn't trying to be the king, but you brothers are new at this.

And if it's too hard for you, bring it to me, and I'll judge it for you.

And so you can see the order.

Okay, let's get back to Acts before I run out of time.

I'm not gonna let that happen.

Acts chapter 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

It's pretty forthright reading.

That's why I took so much liberty to uh address some other things because I know I had the time to still finish this chapter.

Now, and the just to bring your mind back up, in the 11th chapter.

I think I'm gonna let you read a little bit of it.

I won't go too far.

Uh go down to the 11th chapter.

This is Peter rehearsing what had actually happened uh when he went down to Cornelius' house.

I'm gonna pick it up in the 17th verse.

Okay, look at verse 15 real quickly.

As I began to speak, he was preaching to Cornelius, the plan of salvation.

The Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning.

How did he know that?

When you read the 10th chapter, they began to speak in tongues.

That's how he knew it.

Then remember I the words of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

And so, how did he know it?

If you go back to the 10th chapter, they actually began to speak in tongues.

Uh look at verse uh 10, I'm sorry, 1046, 1045, 1044.

Okay, here we go.

1044.

While Peter yet spake these words, these are the plans of salvation, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word.

And they of the circumcision, that's the Jews, which believed, and those ones who came with Peter, was astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on these are Gentiles, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Hold that for a minute.

That means when he said Grecians back in chapter 7, they weren't Gentiles, because the Jews was astonished, because the Gentiles received it.

And so you know that Grecians was talking about people who was of a Greek nation, a Greek speaking, because this is the first time the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost.

So that's why I tell you, context help you to understand how the words are being used.

But I just want to point that out.

How do they know they received the gift of the Holy Ghost?

Verse 46.

For they heard them do what?

Speak with tongues and magnify God, just like they did on the day of Pentecost.

And then Peter said, Well, then answer Peter, can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

That's how they knew it.

They heard him speak in tongues.

Then he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, and then they prayed him to terror.

That word terror means wait a few days, teach us, help us along.

And he did.

So in the 11th chapter, Peter had to rehearse because these Jews were ready to give him a tongue flashing.

He was ready to, this is his own brothers in the Lord.

I say Jews, these are Jewish Christians.

And so, verse 4 17, 11 and 17.

Say, for as much as God gave them the like gift, I want you to keep underlining this word, gift.

The Holy Ghost is a gift.

You don't buy it, you can't earn it.

You can pray in tongue flummer salts.

You won't get it till your heart meets the condition.

You can't fast for it.

It's a gift.

You don't earn a gift.

A gift is bestowed upon you.

You didn't merit it, it's free.

And so here it is.

For as much as God gave them the like gift as the Holy Ghost, as He did unto us who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God?

And when they, that's these Jews, when they heard these things, they held their peace and let it fall from them and glorified God.

God saying, then have God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

So when someone received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, you don't have to wonder whether or not they can be baptized.

This is your biblical precedence.

And when someone received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, there's no question whether or not these sins have been remitted.

Have they been forgiven?

This is what Paul, this is what Peter was pointing out.

Here's what's going to get interesting.

Now, verse 19, I want to show you a point here.

This is going to come up.

These next three verses are going to come up.

Now they which were scattered abroad, out of Jerusalem, upon the persecution that arose about Stephen.

They traveled as far as Thenus and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to nothing but the Jews only.

I want you to get that.

So everybody prior to this incident was Jews only.

Even if you say they were Grecians, it simply means they were Greek-speaking or they was in a Greek nation.

They was Jews.

Can everybody see that?

Okay, good.

Want to nail that down.

But watch this.

And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene.

That's Africa.

Put some brothers in there.

Which ones come to Antioch?

I want you to get this.

They spake unto the Grecians.

This Grecians is making reference to Gentiles.

The context will show you.

Preaching the Lord Jesus.

How do you know that?

Because in verse 19, he's specifying Jews only.

And in the next verse, he said, okay, they went further, he speaked to the Grecians.

These are not just Jews speaking Greek, these are Grecians, which is Gentiles.

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and the great multitude believed and turned to the Lord.

Now, when the tiding, that word means news of these things, came to the ears of the church.

And by the way, that was in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem naturally was almost a headquarters because that's where it first started.

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaritas.

But it's going to change.

That's why I love this 13th chapter.

I'm going to get to the 12th.

In the 13th chapter, Jerusalem started losing its thrust.

And this church in Antioch, you can look it up.

Antioch was the second largest city in all of the Roman Empire.

It was the second largest city.

And it was mostly Gentiles.

And so the transition is going from the body of Christ, being Jews to being Gentiles.

This was this span of time was Israel's last opportunity.

He got a remnant out, and the rest is going to be destroyed.

And so from the 13th chapter on, it's all about the church that was Gentile.

There's still some Jews in it.

But let me keep reading.

Okay, when they heard they had received the word of God to church in Jerusalem, they sent Bonabas that he would go as far as Antioch.

Now again, remember this is a Gentile church, who, when he came, he saw the grace of God and was glad, exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they should cling to the Lord.

I'm going to stop here because I can get to the 12th chapter.

No apostle went down there.

Bonabon was not an apostle.

No apostle, but yet they had a great church, which proves a show the fact.

Where did these men come from?

These are the same men that was there on the day of Pentecost.

They went back to Jerusalem.

So the lies that you got to have an apostle, that's not the truth.

A church was there before any apostle ever came.

And when Paul goes there, you'll read it.

The church is already established.

When he was there, he was never called an apostle.

He was a teacher.

I'll let you read it.

And prophets.

And when he went out establishing churches, he was apostle.

But when he went back to Jerusalem, and every time, I'm not Jerusalem, back to Antioch, he was not the apostle.

He was a teacher.

He was subject to the rest of the brethren.

Okay.

I want to bring that.

Okay, now chapter 12, verse 1.

Now, about that time, Herod the King, I don't have time to get into that.

There's three Herod King, three King Herods in this Bible.

Three.

There's Herod the Great.

Herod the Great is the one who sent out a decree to kill all the babies two years and younger.

In Matthew's two.

That's Herod the Great.

Then he had a son, uh, was Herod.

His name is uh Herod Yeah, it's A-N.

Last part of his name is P-U-S.

I can't remember it.

But anyway, that was the Herod that had Jesus come before him and wanted to see some miracles.

That's the Herod that tried Jesus.

That's the same Herod that beheaded John the Baptist.

Tetra is an office.

But uh anyway, that was the second Herod.

That's the second Herod.

This is the third Herod, which is his son.

The second Herod is Herod the Great's son.

This is another Herod.

This is a third one.

Every one of them had one thing in common.

Extremely lifted up with pride.

Proud, proud people.

All three of them.

By the way, they all died her deaths, each one of them.

Which one, Brother Brown?

Created, I mean, that uh built the temple.

That was Herod the Great.

Herod the Great, yeah.

I'm gonna talk about him one day, not tonight.

That fellow was something.

It took him 46 years to build that temple.

The reason he built it, he was an Armenian, which is the Edomite.

And they Edomites and Israelites was brother, Esau and Jacob.

And so he knew the law of Moses, but they wouldn't live it.

And he got in through politics.

Augustus Caesar let him be the king over the area.

But the Jews hated him because he's an Armenian.

And uh to pacify them, he took the temple and he enlarged it.

Took 46 years and built it out of splendid gold.

Well, that's the same one that Titus destroyed.

But anyway, that's that's that's a side note.

Uh watch this man, real quick.

Now, about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex, he means kill certain of the church.

And he killed James.

I want you to get this.

Remember James and John?

When you see the names like that, they always put the elder person first, either first in position or because you're the oldest.

And so here, uh, James, you always see him first as James and John, the sons of thunder.

Well, James was put to death.

Watch.

He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

And by the way, this John is a disciple of the apostle that was the last to die.

He died of natural cause of over a hundred years old.

The rest of them, every one of them was mortared.

But watch.

And because he saw it pleased the Jews, this is Herod.

This is what he did, Herod III.

He tried to please the Jew because the worst thing can happen is insurrection.

Caesar would take you and dethrone you.

So he made sure the people stayed suppressed.

And by the way, that's why he had all the kids, the baby's born, because here there was another king.

They're egotistical.

He don't want nobody challenging his throne.

But just keep reading.

Because he saw it please the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.

Wow.

And I want you to get this in parentheses.

These were the days of unleavened bread.

Unleavened bread started from the 14th, or it started on the 10th day, they sanctified or set a lamb apart.

It's called Passover.

And then on the 14th day they killed it.

And then the next week they started what's called unleavened bread.

He had to eat unleavened bread for seven days.

Are you following me?

And the reason he's telling you that, and I'm glad they did, because some ignoramus got in the Bible and translated the word Passover to Esau.

Because we understand that it was these days ran together.

Because he said it was the days of unleavened bread.

We know what's the setting.

And watch.

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him into four quadrants of soldiers.

That's 16 soldiers, four in a quadrant, to keep.

Intending after what?

There we go.

That's a mistranslation.

If you pull the word up, that's the only time in the whole Bible the word Passover is translated Easter.

You know how you got in the Bible?

King James in 1611, he had broke away, the Church of England had broken away.

And so all of them was Catholic in their thinking.

And so they introduced the Catholic concept.

There's no such thing as Easter as Esther, the sun goddess.

And so that's why people say, well, Easter's in the Bible.

Easter's not in the Bible.

Mistranslation is in the Bible.

You look it up on the, you look it up on the Passover.

Passover.

All translation, every translation is gonna have Passover.

This is the only translation I could find that translated Easter and every place else is translated Passover.

I just want to point that out.

I detest that.

Then verse 5.

Peter therefore was kept in prison.

But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

And when Herod were brought him forth the same night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers.

Two actually slept with him, and two kept the door.

Two more kept the front of the prison, two more kept the hours, four uh four quarters.

Anyway, Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing for the church of the church of God unto him.

And when Herod would have brought him forth the same night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

And behold, the angel of the Lord flew down with wings from heaven.

I'm sorry.

He appeared and he disappeared.

And the angel of the Lord came upon him, and the light shined in the prison.

And he smoked.

That word means hit Peter on the side, raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly.

And his change fell from his hand.

And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, bind on thy sandals, scrap yourself up.

And he and so he did.

And he said unto him, Cast thy garment about thee and follow me.

And he went out and followed him with a new knot that it was true, which was done by the angel.

For he thought he had saw a vision.

He had seen, remember the sheet?

He had seen it.

So this can't be real.

Yes, it was real.

Can you imagine being in prison in the few hours of the night, two or three?

Somebody hit you, because it was a man.

It was an angel, but Peter's a man hit you and tell you to put your sandals on.

You're not sure if this is real, this is your imagination.

This is too good to be true.

I guarantee if he thought he was asleep, I hope I don't wake up.

Then they're gonna kill you the next day, sir.

You're on the menu to die.

But listen.

And he went out and followed him, and I thought he saw a vision.

Verse 10.

And when he was past the first and second war, wow, they came unto him.

They came unto the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened, this got to be astonishing, which opened to them of his own accord.

Wow.

They went out and passed through one street, passed on through one street.

And listen to this.

Forthwith the angel departed.

He left him.

He didn't fly back to heaven.

He just left.

He was gone.

And Peter, and when Peter was come to himself, he said, I know of a certainty that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectations of the people of the Jews.

Wow.

Jews is always the one persecuting the New Testament church.

And when he had considered the thing, he came to, I want you to remember this.

He came to the house of Mary, the mother of John.

Underline this guy's name.

His name is John Mark, but he's an interesting young man.

Whose surname, a like added name, nickname was Mark.

So they call him John Mark.

You want to remember him.

Where men was gathered together praying.

This is a key point.

This woman's house, this is Bonabas.

We'll find this out later.

This is Bonabas who was introduced as his sister.

And John Mark was his nephew.

And our house is one of the houses that they used to have church meeting.

A damsel came to Hawkin to listen, named Rona.

Rona.

And when she heard, listen to this, when she knew Peter's voice, which means he had been there quite a bit, she knew him, she opened up the door for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate.

Well, won't you let him in?

And this of the stuff is, my God, this is people.

You can see us.

Listen.

And they said unto her, Now they praying, get the reality of this.

They praying for Peter to be delivered.

And when he was delivered, they couldn't even believe it.

Listen, but he, Peter, I'm sorry, verse 16.

But Peter continued knocking at the door, but let me in.

You people trying to kill me.

And when they had opened the door, they saw him.

And it was astonished because they said it was his angel, verse 15.

But they said unto her, Thou art mad, you're insane.

But she constantly affirmed that it was even so.

She knew his voice.

Then they said, It's his what?

It's his angel, that's his spirit.

No, no, that's not that's him.

But they was praying, but they couldn't believe it.

And Peter continued knocking.

When they opened the door and saw him, they was astonished.

But he beckoned unto them with his hand to hold their peace.

Poor people come get us.

Declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.

And he said, Go show these things.

Now watch this.

To James.

This is Peter.

Now, this James is Jesus' half-brother.

Okay, you got James, the older brother of John.

He has been put to death.

And now Jesus' brother, who didn't believe when he was first living.

Now he didn't only believe, he becomes the lead elder in this church in Jerusalem.

It's this James that wrote the book of James.

That's Jesus Christ's half brother.

You can find his brother's name back in uh Luke, I'm sorry, Mark chapter, that's chapter six.

I won't take time to read it tonight.

And to the brethren, you go show yourself to James.

He was the lead elder, and to the brethren, that's the rest of the apostles and the rest of the ministry.

So you see how the word brethren is used.

And that's gonna be very important when you're reading the epistles, when you're reading these letters of different books, you understand how the Bible used the word brethren.

Okay, now watch.

And he departed and went into another place.

In other words, he went into hiding.

Now, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, because somebody's gonna die.

What was become of Peter?

And when Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined, you know what the word examine mean?

He beat them, he whipped them.

He uh with a cat of nine tail.

He examined the keepers and commanded that they should be what?

All sixteen.

This guy's ruthless.

Each one of those Herod was ruthless.

And when he went down from Judea to Caesarea and thereaboard, and Harry was highly displeased with them of Tyree and Sinon.

That's that's what you call Lebanon today, just directly north of Israel.

This is these two of the chief cities, but it's Lebanon, is what you call it today.

And they came with one accord to him, having made blasphemous the king's chamber.

That's the person who was the mediator, their friend, and desiring peace, because their country, that is Tyree and Silon, was nourished by the king's country.

So he did what the what Trump did.

He put an embargo on them.

He wouldn't trade with them because he was upset with them.

And because of that, they were suffering.

And uh, and upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sit upon his throne and made an alteration, a great speech unto them.

And the people, see this what this is why you can't let people puff you up.

And the people gave a shout, saying, This is the voice of a God and not of a man.

Wow! And immediately the angel of the Lord smoke him, because he gave not God the glory, and was eaten up of worms and gave up the ghost.

You let these people pump your head up.

And God already had an occasion against him, and that was his last straw.

You can't let people pump you up.

And as you can see, but the word of the Lord, the word of God grew and multiplied, and watch this.

And Bonabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem.

They went to Jerusalem to bring some alms because there was a famine.

And this is I want you to get this.

And so when you say return, he's going back to Antioch.

If you look at verse 26 and the 11th chapter, uh then you go down to verse 29.

And the disciple, that's one that's in Antioch, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief because it was a famine, unto the brother which dwelt in Judea, which also they did, and sent it to the elders, that's down in Jerusalem, by the hands of who?

Bonhomas and Saul.

So he said they returned, they returned back to Antioch.

That's important because every time that's where Bonhamus and uh and Saul is going to go.

Even when his name is changed to Paul, he goes back to Antioch.

And I'll stop with this last verse.

This last verse again.

Two key points.

And Bonham and Saul returned from Jerusalem.

They brought the offering.

And when they had fulfilled their ministry to bring these offerings there, that's what it means.

That was their service.

They took with them John, whose surname is Mark.

Remember John Mark was in the house?

And that's Barnabas' nephew.

So they bring him to Antioch, which is going to prove to be a mistake.

He was a young lad.

And uh when the 13th chapter, when the Holy Ghost tells those elders that have Bonhommes and Paul, Saul, to go out and establish churches, Monomas bring John Mark with him.

But as soon as it got hot, this is what young people do.

He turned back.

And the next time, getting a little ahead, the next time they're going, the second time they go out to establish churches.

Paul didn't allow John Mark to come with him because he turned back the first time.

But Bonabus said, We're gonna bring him.

Paul said, No, we're not.

And Bonham says, Yes, we are.

Paul said, No, not with us.

And so the Bible said the contention was so great that Barnabas took his nephew and he went another way.

And then Paul took Silas.

By the way, when Barnabas did that, his name doesn't appear no more in the Bible.

That's nephtotism.

These things are written in the Bible for a reason.

You can miss God by nepotism.

Family.

Bonhomabus, Paul had a nephew, also.

It was his nephew who told him they planned to kill him.

He was in prison.

But he don't see him bring his nephew with him.

He wanted qualified people.

When it comes to the ministry, people have to be qualified.

I'm gonna stop nine o'clock.

Now it's gonna get interesting.

13th chapter on.

It's gonna get hot.

It's gonna get good.

It's gonna get juicy.

Yes, sir.

When Jesus in the in the garden of the kingdom.

The Bible said that was a man that the boy that ran away naked.

Was that John Mark?

It don't tell us who he was, but I tell you he had rap in his blood.

It ran so much, it ran right out of his clothes.

It ran away naked.

I don't know who that was.

I don't know that.

I don't know who it was.

Uh I appreciate you, dear people.

Uh, this 13th chapter from the 13 to the 28th is gonna be quite intriguing.

Uh save like we always said, the best is yet to come.

Appreciate you all, love you all.

Good night, everyone.

Sister Nike.

Oh, Sister Nike.

Hello, how you doing, Sister Nike?

I'm good.

I'm sorry, my camera wasn't working.

Oh, you that's okay.

I'm just glad to know you're on there.

How you been?

I'm good.

How you been?

I'm wonderful.

Good.

Sister Nike, I'm gonna keep you.

Sister Nike lives in Boca Rouge, Florida.

I live where I live?

That's the wrong Nike.

Where you live?

Tell me where you live.

In Homa right now.

Oh we had to move then.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm I apologize.

I got you confused with another Nike.

Nikki, Nikki.

I don't see you tonight.

She's with Brother LJ.

Oh, she's in Brother LJ.

We're gonna take her and bring her over here without glass.

Yeah, well, because Brother LJ wanted me to let him take uh a mirror.

We're gonna offer you up as a sacrifice.

We're gonna swap up for you, so you're not gonna leave LJ?

Okay, y'all go.

We're gonna we're gonna we're gonna come.