1 00:00:18,910 --> 00:00:22,510 But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, 2 00:00:22,830 --> 00:00:26,690 his wife, sold the possession and kept back 3 00:00:26,690 --> 00:00:29,330 part of the price, his wife also being 4 00:00:29,330 --> 00:00:32,330 privy to it, and brought a certain part 5 00:00:32,330 --> 00:00:34,170 and laid it at the apostles' feet. 6 00:00:35,250 --> 00:00:39,330 Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine 7 00:00:39,330 --> 00:00:42,450 heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and 8 00:00:42,450 --> 00:00:44,590 to keep back part of the price of 9 00:00:44,590 --> 00:00:45,210 the land? 10 00:00:45,970 --> 00:00:48,230 Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? 11 00:00:49,090 --> 00:00:51,010 And after it was sold, was it not 12 00:00:51,010 --> 00:00:51,930 in thine own power? 13 00:00:53,130 --> 00:00:55,790 Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine 14 00:00:55,790 --> 00:00:56,350 heart? 15 00:00:57,370 --> 00:00:59,430 Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto 16 00:00:59,430 --> 00:00:59,990 God. 17 00:01:01,610 --> 00:01:04,150 Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave 18 00:01:04,150 --> 00:01:06,150 up the ghost, and great fear came on 19 00:01:06,150 --> 00:01:08,130 all them that heard these things. 20 00:01:09,330 --> 00:01:13,090 The young men arose, wound him up, and 21 00:01:13,090 --> 00:01:15,750 carried him out, and buried him. 22 00:01:16,790 --> 00:01:18,690 It was about the space of three hours 23 00:01:18,690 --> 00:01:20,810 after, when his wife, not knowing what was 24 00:01:20,810 --> 00:01:21,770 done, came in. 25 00:01:21,850 --> 00:01:24,990 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me, whether 26 00:01:24,990 --> 00:01:26,610 ye sold the land for so much? 27 00:01:26,650 --> 00:01:28,610 And she said, Yea, for so much. 28 00:01:29,010 --> 00:01:31,410 Then Peter said unto her, How is it 29 00:01:31,410 --> 00:01:33,790 that ye have agreed together to tempt the 30 00:01:33,790 --> 00:01:34,750 Spirit of the Lord? 31 00:01:35,510 --> 00:01:37,130 Behold, the feet of them which have buried 32 00:01:37,130 --> 00:01:39,110 thy husband are at the door, and shall 33 00:01:39,110 --> 00:01:40,210 carry thee out. 34 00:01:40,930 --> 00:01:43,370 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, 35 00:01:43,430 --> 00:01:44,610 and yielded up the ghost. 36 00:01:45,370 --> 00:01:47,310 The young men came in, and found her 37 00:01:47,310 --> 00:01:49,450 dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by 38 00:01:49,450 --> 00:01:50,070 her husband. 39 00:01:51,190 --> 00:01:54,230 And great fear came upon all the church, 40 00:01:54,230 --> 00:01:56,670 and upon as many as heard these things. 41 00:01:57,390 --> 00:01:59,270 By the hands of the apostles were many 42 00:01:59,270 --> 00:02:02,430 signs and wonders wrought among the people, and 43 00:02:02,430 --> 00:02:04,530 they were all with one accord in Solomon's 44 00:02:04,530 --> 00:02:04,990 porch. 45 00:02:05,350 --> 00:02:07,150 And of the rest does no man join 46 00:02:07,150 --> 00:02:08,090 himself to them. 47 00:02:08,570 --> 00:02:11,670 But the people magnified them, and believers were 48 00:02:11,670 --> 00:02:14,270 the more added to the Lord, multitudes both 49 00:02:14,270 --> 00:02:17,190 of men and women, insomuch that they brought 50 00:02:17,190 --> 00:02:19,230 forth the sick into the streets, and laid 51 00:02:19,230 --> 00:02:21,970 them on beds and couches, that at the 52 00:02:21,970 --> 00:02:24,370 least the shadow of Peter passing by might 53 00:02:24,370 --> 00:02:25,590 overshadow some of them. 54 00:02:26,310 --> 00:02:28,090 There came also a multitude out of the 55 00:02:28,090 --> 00:02:31,170 cities, round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, 56 00:02:31,390 --> 00:02:34,310 and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, 57 00:02:34,470 --> 00:02:36,630 and they were healed every one. 58 00:02:37,890 --> 00:02:39,950 Then the high priest rose up, and all 59 00:02:39,950 --> 00:02:41,850 they that were with him, which is a 60 00:02:41,850 --> 00:02:44,650 sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with 61 00:02:44,650 --> 00:02:48,010 indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, 62 00:02:48,270 --> 00:02:49,750 and put them in the common prison. 63 00:02:50,510 --> 00:02:52,450 But the angel of the Lord by night 64 00:02:52,450 --> 00:02:54,750 opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, 65 00:02:54,750 --> 00:02:57,630 and said, Go, stand and speak in the 66 00:02:57,630 --> 00:02:59,910 temple to the people all the words of 67 00:02:59,910 --> 00:03:00,630 this life. 68 00:03:01,470 --> 00:03:03,510 And when they heard that, they entered into 69 00:03:03,510 --> 00:03:05,750 the temple early in the morning and taught. 70 00:03:06,470 --> 00:03:08,490 But the high priest came, and they that 71 00:03:08,490 --> 00:03:10,650 were with him, and called the council together, 72 00:03:10,850 --> 00:03:12,650 and all the senate of the children of 73 00:03:12,650 --> 00:03:14,710 Israel, and sent to the prison to have 74 00:03:14,710 --> 00:03:15,210 them brought. 75 00:03:16,210 --> 00:03:18,310 But when the officers came and found them 76 00:03:18,310 --> 00:03:20,390 not in the prison, they returned and told, 77 00:03:20,910 --> 00:03:23,710 saying, The prison truly found we shut with 78 00:03:23,710 --> 00:03:26,930 all safety, and the keepers standing without before 79 00:03:26,930 --> 00:03:27,630 the doors. 80 00:03:27,910 --> 00:03:29,790 But when we had opened, we found no 81 00:03:29,790 --> 00:03:30,390 man within. 82 00:03:31,230 --> 00:03:33,070 Now when the high priest, and the captain 83 00:03:33,070 --> 00:03:35,030 of the temple, and the chief priests heard 84 00:03:35,030 --> 00:03:37,950 these things, they doubted of them whereunto this 85 00:03:37,950 --> 00:03:38,430 would grow. 86 00:03:39,210 --> 00:03:41,630 Then came one, and told them, saying, Behold, 87 00:03:42,210 --> 00:03:44,170 the men whom ye put in prison are 88 00:03:44,170 --> 00:03:46,290 standing in the temple, and teaching the people. 89 00:03:47,130 --> 00:03:49,450 Then went the captain with the officers, and 90 00:03:49,450 --> 00:03:52,730 brought them without violence, for they feared the 91 00:03:52,730 --> 00:03:54,470 people, lest they should have been stoned. 92 00:03:55,270 --> 00:03:57,470 When they had brought them, they set them 93 00:03:57,470 --> 00:03:59,670 before the council, and the high priest asked 94 00:03:59,670 --> 00:04:03,430 them, saying, Did not we straightly command you 95 00:04:03,430 --> 00:04:06,050 that ye should not teach in this name? 96 00:04:06,730 --> 00:04:10,250 And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your 97 00:04:10,250 --> 00:04:14,330 doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood 98 00:04:14,330 --> 00:04:16,269 upon us. 99 00:04:17,870 --> 00:04:20,470 Well that's a remarkable passage of scripture, may 100 00:04:20,470 --> 00:04:23,030 God by the Holy Spirit help us to 101 00:04:23,030 --> 00:04:24,370 grasp its full significance. 102 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:31,460 Now if you do have a Bible with 103 00:04:31,460 --> 00:04:34,340 you, I'd be grateful if you would have 104 00:04:34,340 --> 00:04:36,320 it open at the fifth chapter of the 105 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:37,600 Acts of the Apostles. 106 00:04:44,830 --> 00:04:47,590 Now you may recall last week I commenced 107 00:04:47,590 --> 00:04:52,910 my address on Sunday morning by making the 108 00:04:52,910 --> 00:04:56,930 observation that sometimes our familiarity with the Word 109 00:04:56,930 --> 00:05:01,730 of God, our knowledge of it, causes us 110 00:05:01,730 --> 00:05:08,190 to overlook some rather sensational statements that are 111 00:05:08,190 --> 00:05:10,890 discovered within its pages. 112 00:05:12,380 --> 00:05:14,250 And if we were to read more carefully, 113 00:05:14,950 --> 00:05:19,710 more deliberately, and perhaps more slowly, we would 114 00:05:19,710 --> 00:05:23,030 be astonished at some of the things that 115 00:05:23,030 --> 00:05:26,690 our eyes very often just rush over in 116 00:05:27,330 --> 00:05:27,890 our reading. 117 00:05:28,710 --> 00:05:31,070 Some of the statements that are made, which 118 00:05:31,070 --> 00:05:34,870 are really quite incredible, like the one we 119 00:05:34,870 --> 00:05:38,430 studied in some depth last week when we 120 00:05:38,430 --> 00:05:40,750 fixed our attention upon an incident in the 121 00:05:40,750 --> 00:05:43,250 fourth chapter of the Acts, and we saw 122 00:05:43,250 --> 00:05:46,790 Peter and John on trial in Jerusalem in 123 00:05:46,790 --> 00:05:49,950 front of the Sanhedrin give an account of 124 00:05:49,950 --> 00:05:53,430 their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 125 00:05:53,430 --> 00:05:57,850 they acquitted themselves admirably, making such an impression 126 00:05:57,850 --> 00:06:01,370 upon the magistrates, upon the judges, that they 127 00:06:01,370 --> 00:06:04,090 were forced to the conclusion that they, Peter 128 00:06:04,090 --> 00:06:06,050 and John, had been with Jesus. 129 00:06:06,970 --> 00:06:08,990 And I said it is nothing short of 130 00:06:08,990 --> 00:06:15,450 fantastic that the highest legal authorities in the 131 00:06:15,450 --> 00:06:20,790 land of Palestine should offer this accolade to 132 00:06:20,790 --> 00:06:25,750 Peter and John, unlearned and ignorant men, yet 133 00:06:25,750 --> 00:06:29,010 able to conduct their own defense and indict 134 00:06:29,010 --> 00:06:34,210 the judges and charge them with being accomplices 135 00:06:34,210 --> 00:06:36,730 to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, 136 00:06:36,850 --> 00:06:39,030 and therefore sharing corporate responsibility. 137 00:06:40,710 --> 00:06:43,190 These judges took knowledge that Peter and John 138 00:06:43,190 --> 00:06:44,190 had been with Jesus. 139 00:06:44,190 --> 00:06:46,130 I say this statement is incredible. 140 00:06:47,150 --> 00:06:49,390 But how about this one then, for another 141 00:06:49,390 --> 00:06:52,430 incredible statement in the thirteenth verse of the 142 00:06:52,430 --> 00:06:56,750 fifth chapter of the Acts, for here we 143 00:06:56,750 --> 00:06:59,950 read of the reaction of a certain section 144 00:06:59,950 --> 00:07:03,930 of the population at Jerusalem to the growing 145 00:07:03,930 --> 00:07:07,070 Christian community in the holy city. 146 00:07:08,430 --> 00:07:13,910 And this is what the historian says, of 147 00:07:13,910 --> 00:07:17,370 the rest, of this segment of the residents 148 00:07:17,370 --> 00:07:22,290 of Jerusalem, durst no man join himself to 149 00:07:22,290 --> 00:07:26,310 them, that is the Christian community, but the 150 00:07:26,310 --> 00:07:28,390 people magnified them. 151 00:07:29,170 --> 00:07:32,730 Of the rest durst no man join himself 152 00:07:32,730 --> 00:07:33,170 to them. 153 00:07:33,170 --> 00:07:37,770 I say that if you think that statement 154 00:07:37,770 --> 00:07:40,850 through, it's a remarkable one. 155 00:07:41,590 --> 00:07:44,830 Let me set it into contemporary relief. 156 00:07:46,330 --> 00:07:48,250 I don't know how many churches there are 157 00:07:48,250 --> 00:07:50,810 in Worthing, I would guess about forty, and 158 00:07:50,810 --> 00:07:53,830 reckon that that guess would be relatively conservative. 159 00:07:55,530 --> 00:07:57,730 But do you know one of the churches 160 00:07:57,730 --> 00:08:00,230 in this town where people would be afraid 161 00:08:00,230 --> 00:08:00,950 to join? 162 00:08:01,550 --> 00:08:06,130 Because this is in effect what the historian 163 00:08:06,130 --> 00:08:10,930 is saying regarding the growing Christian community at 164 00:08:10,930 --> 00:08:11,650 Jerusalem. 165 00:08:12,250 --> 00:08:15,250 They had such a power, such a presence, 166 00:08:15,410 --> 00:08:19,430 were making such an impact that they overawed 167 00:08:19,430 --> 00:08:23,990 certain of the citizens of Jerusalem, overawed them 168 00:08:23,990 --> 00:08:27,030 to the extent that some people didn't join 169 00:08:27,030 --> 00:08:30,550 the church, because it was such a powerful 170 00:08:30,550 --> 00:08:32,169 community. 171 00:08:34,590 --> 00:08:39,049 There's another statement similar to this, and is 172 00:08:39,049 --> 00:08:44,530 incredible, found in the gospels when reference is 173 00:08:44,530 --> 00:08:47,330 made to two men who really were opposites. 174 00:08:48,450 --> 00:08:51,910 One is Herod and the other is John, 175 00:08:52,470 --> 00:08:53,870 and by John I mean the Baptist. 176 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,060 It is said that when Herod reflects upon 177 00:09:00,060 --> 00:09:03,740 John and the association that he has had 178 00:09:03,740 --> 00:09:05,960 with John from time to time, he is 179 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:06,380 afraid. 180 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:09,500 Herod feared John. 181 00:09:10,540 --> 00:09:12,360 And I say that that is a sensational 182 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,040 statement simply because you would expect an inversion 183 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:16,620 of this. 184 00:09:17,180 --> 00:09:19,540 You would rather anticipate that John the Baptist 185 00:09:19,540 --> 00:09:20,640 would fear Herod. 186 00:09:21,450 --> 00:09:24,620 Consider the two, Herod was a king, John 187 00:09:24,620 --> 00:09:28,180 was a pauper, Herod lived in a palace, 188 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,700 John in the wilderness, Herod had a well 189 00:09:32,700 --> 00:09:38,320 stocked wardrobe and an overfilled pantry, John went 190 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,620 around with the skin of an animal for 191 00:09:42,620 --> 00:09:46,040 his clothing and a diet of locusts and 192 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:47,200 honey. 193 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,480 And yet when John the Baptist is brought 194 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,960 into the presence of Herod, or when Herod 195 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,880 thinks about John, he's afraid. 196 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,900 And I say that statement is parallel with 197 00:10:00,900 --> 00:10:03,560 this that we discover in Acts 5.13, 198 00:10:04,420 --> 00:10:07,100 that there were people amongst the population at 199 00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:10,000 Jerusalem who were afraid when they came into 200 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,300 contact with the followers of the Lord Jesus 201 00:10:13,300 --> 00:10:13,920 Christ. 202 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,000 Of the rest durst no man join himself 203 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:18,560 to them. 204 00:10:21,420 --> 00:10:24,120 And it's an indictment upon the twentieth century 205 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:29,120 church, and let's be personal, upon the tabernacle, 206 00:10:30,140 --> 00:10:33,640 and let's be even more pertinent, upon its 207 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:39,120 pastor and its members, that this sense of 208 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:46,040 being overawed, overwhelmed, rarely happens. 209 00:10:46,060 --> 00:10:49,100 In the experience of people who come into 210 00:10:49,100 --> 00:10:52,020 the sanctuary of this church. 211 00:10:53,260 --> 00:10:55,300 And what we want to do then this 212 00:10:55,300 --> 00:10:59,020 morning is to inquire into this particular statement 213 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,220 and see what it was that these early 214 00:11:02,220 --> 00:11:04,960 Christians had that produced such a reaction. 215 00:11:06,460 --> 00:11:08,840 And by virtue of working this out, we'll 216 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,460 see what we lack in the twentieth century, 217 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,100 in as much as we are unable to 218 00:11:14,100 --> 00:11:17,360 create this sort of response amongst the townspeople 219 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:18,980 here in Worthing. 220 00:11:20,140 --> 00:11:22,780 I say that one of the characteristics that 221 00:11:22,780 --> 00:11:25,480 mark the life of the emerging church at 222 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,900 Jerusalem, and so impressed and overwhelmed the citizens 223 00:11:29,900 --> 00:11:34,960 of that city, is the presence of God 224 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:40,420 which the early Christians experienced personally and when 225 00:11:40,420 --> 00:11:42,340 they came together as a whole. 226 00:11:43,420 --> 00:11:46,300 There was a sense of the presence of 227 00:11:46,300 --> 00:11:46,680 God. 228 00:11:47,540 --> 00:11:51,040 It's unmistakable when you read the second chapter 229 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,860 of the Acts of the Apostles, but don't 230 00:11:53,860 --> 00:11:55,860 get so hooked on the second chapter of 231 00:11:55,860 --> 00:11:58,000 the Acts of the Apostles that you forget 232 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,320 the significance of the third and the fourth 233 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:01,040 and the fifth. 234 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:03,980 Because what is there in the second is 235 00:12:03,980 --> 00:12:06,280 merely developed in the rest of the chapters 236 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,300 of the Acts of the Apostles and indicates 237 00:12:09,300 --> 00:12:13,400 this, that the early Christians par excellence knew 238 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,580 the presence of God when they met together. 239 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,620 A presence of God which they radiated on 240 00:12:20,620 --> 00:12:23,340 their own as they went from house to 241 00:12:23,340 --> 00:12:24,840 house in Jerusalem. 242 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,420 Do you know what I pray for? 243 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,740 Early on a Sunday morning before I leave 244 00:12:32,740 --> 00:12:34,660 the manse and I come to the church 245 00:12:34,660 --> 00:12:40,110 here, though I'm not an experienced preacher, my 246 00:12:40,110 --> 00:12:43,110 years in the ministry have taught me never 247 00:12:43,110 --> 00:12:46,590 to pray to be able to preach an 248 00:12:46,590 --> 00:12:47,430 eloquent sermon. 249 00:12:48,270 --> 00:12:52,370 I've managed to put that temptation on one 250 00:12:52,370 --> 00:12:56,050 side, but what I do pray for most 251 00:12:56,050 --> 00:12:59,130 sincerely is this, that when we gather together 252 00:12:59,130 --> 00:13:02,510 in this building which is beloved by so 253 00:13:02,510 --> 00:13:05,930 many people, that we might sense God. 254 00:13:07,530 --> 00:13:09,850 I'm not often a member of the congregation, 255 00:13:10,290 --> 00:13:13,490 of any congregation, although I do appreciate being 256 00:13:13,490 --> 00:13:15,550 a member of a congregation and listening to 257 00:13:15,550 --> 00:13:17,530 someone else preach, but do you know what 258 00:13:17,530 --> 00:13:19,930 I want when I am in the congregation 259 00:13:19,930 --> 00:13:23,470 listening and participating in general worship? 260 00:13:24,470 --> 00:13:27,110 I want the preacher to bring God near 261 00:13:27,110 --> 00:13:27,610 to me. 262 00:13:28,350 --> 00:13:32,170 I can excuse a preacher anything, a stammering 263 00:13:32,170 --> 00:13:40,530 tongue, stuttering words, an inability perhaps to major 264 00:13:40,530 --> 00:13:44,330 on secondary areas of doctrine to my satisfaction. 265 00:13:44,950 --> 00:13:48,810 That doesn't matter, provided that man is so 266 00:13:48,810 --> 00:13:52,330 borne along by the Holy Spirit, provided there's 267 00:13:52,330 --> 00:13:54,490 such a sense of God in the church 268 00:13:54,490 --> 00:13:57,430 that my heart is moved and I go 269 00:13:57,430 --> 00:13:59,850 out of the building believing that God has 270 00:13:59,850 --> 00:14:02,590 been in the place and that the Holy 271 00:14:02,590 --> 00:14:06,110 Spirit has plucked the cords of my heart. 272 00:14:07,730 --> 00:14:11,770 And I say, one of the characteristics of 273 00:14:11,770 --> 00:14:15,130 the early Christian community at Jerusalem was this, 274 00:14:15,170 --> 00:14:17,870 that they captured a sense of the presence 275 00:14:17,870 --> 00:14:18,570 of God. 276 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:22,860 And if we meet together in the 20th 277 00:14:22,860 --> 00:14:25,200 century and we go away without that sense, 278 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:26,580 then we've met in vain. 279 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,420 It's not been a Christian meeting in the 280 00:14:29,420 --> 00:14:31,900 biblical sense of that term. 281 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:37,160 When the patriarch Jacob was at Peniel, you 282 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,360 remember he didn't appreciate all that was going 283 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,120 to happen during that incredible night. 284 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,980 And when the day eventually broke, when morn 285 00:14:46,980 --> 00:14:50,100 came, he went on his way with these 286 00:14:50,100 --> 00:14:52,980 words on his lips, surely the Lord was 287 00:14:52,980 --> 00:14:55,180 in this place and I knew it not. 288 00:14:57,350 --> 00:14:59,270 And when the apostle Paul writes to the 289 00:14:59,270 --> 00:15:04,010 church at Corinth in the first letter that 290 00:15:04,010 --> 00:15:07,510 he sends to this particular Christian community, towards 291 00:15:07,510 --> 00:15:10,170 the end he works out what is an 292 00:15:10,170 --> 00:15:14,670 ideal church, what is an ideal token of 293 00:15:14,670 --> 00:15:18,430 a successful gathering of Christian people. 294 00:15:19,010 --> 00:15:21,110 And says, Paul, you can test whether you've 295 00:15:21,110 --> 00:15:23,690 been successful on these grounds. 296 00:15:23,970 --> 00:15:26,970 When the stranger comes into your meeting, does 297 00:15:26,970 --> 00:15:28,810 he fall down and say that the Lord 298 00:15:28,810 --> 00:15:30,410 is with these people indeed? 299 00:15:32,510 --> 00:15:34,210 Now it was the sense of the presence 300 00:15:34,210 --> 00:15:36,830 of God that these early Christians knew that 301 00:15:36,830 --> 00:15:42,030 overwhelmed certain sections of the population at Jerusalem. 302 00:15:43,350 --> 00:15:46,170 You see, we as Christian people, and I 303 00:15:46,170 --> 00:15:49,230 think, well, no doubt the majority of you 304 00:15:49,230 --> 00:15:51,630 are committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. 305 00:15:52,030 --> 00:15:54,550 We long to know the presence of God, 306 00:15:54,750 --> 00:15:56,510 but you know, my friend, the presence of 307 00:15:56,510 --> 00:15:58,450 God can be an awesome thing. 308 00:15:59,590 --> 00:16:02,030 The Bible says it is a terrible thing 309 00:16:02,030 --> 00:16:03,890 for a sinner to fall into the hands 310 00:16:03,890 --> 00:16:05,010 of the living God. 311 00:16:05,630 --> 00:16:08,330 And when God is amongst his people in 312 00:16:08,330 --> 00:16:11,170 truth and in power, then those who are 313 00:16:11,170 --> 00:16:15,110 not committed to the Lord Jesus Christ might 314 00:16:15,110 --> 00:16:18,830 well react against such a community, might well 315 00:16:18,830 --> 00:16:20,930 say with Peter, depart from me for I 316 00:16:20,930 --> 00:16:21,990 am a sinful man. 317 00:16:22,930 --> 00:16:25,750 And so at Jerusalem there was this sort 318 00:16:25,750 --> 00:16:29,290 of, if you'll allow the word, repulsion on 319 00:16:29,290 --> 00:16:31,970 the part of some of the citizens to 320 00:16:31,970 --> 00:16:33,830 the Christian community. 321 00:16:34,550 --> 00:16:38,190 They dare not associate with them because the 322 00:16:38,190 --> 00:16:41,890 presence of God was so powerfully demonstrated in 323 00:16:41,890 --> 00:16:42,550 their midst. 324 00:16:44,310 --> 00:16:49,270 But there's something else about this growing church 325 00:16:49,270 --> 00:16:54,350 at Jerusalem that contributes to the reaction that 326 00:16:54,350 --> 00:16:56,730 is here described on the part of some 327 00:16:56,730 --> 00:16:57,870 of the townspeople. 328 00:16:58,990 --> 00:17:02,010 And it is the holiness of the members 329 00:17:02,010 --> 00:17:03,390 of the early church. 330 00:17:04,550 --> 00:17:06,790 All right, I'm prepared to concede that the 331 00:17:06,790 --> 00:17:09,569 Acts of the Apostles would better be described 332 00:17:09,569 --> 00:17:11,609 as the Acts of the Spirit. 333 00:17:12,589 --> 00:17:15,050 But when you talk about the Spirit, don't 334 00:17:15,050 --> 00:17:17,950 forget the adjective that describes him, that picks 335 00:17:17,950 --> 00:17:22,109 out his preeminent characteristic, the Holy Spirit. 336 00:17:22,109 --> 00:17:25,609 There is a lot being said in certain 337 00:17:25,609 --> 00:17:28,010 circles these days about the Spirit of God, 338 00:17:28,070 --> 00:17:31,010 and thank God for any interest in the 339 00:17:31,010 --> 00:17:31,390 Spirit. 340 00:17:32,110 --> 00:17:34,190 But it is the Holy Spirit of God, 341 00:17:34,670 --> 00:17:37,330 and one of his attributes, his main attribute 342 00:17:37,330 --> 00:17:38,270 is holiness. 343 00:17:39,350 --> 00:17:41,470 And if I read my Bible aright, when 344 00:17:41,470 --> 00:17:44,990 the Holy Spirit deals with the life of 345 00:17:44,990 --> 00:17:48,270 an ordinary person, he makes him a holy 346 00:17:48,270 --> 00:17:48,870 person. 347 00:17:50,330 --> 00:17:53,150 I've never really been able to differentiate between 348 00:17:53,150 --> 00:17:55,930 the work of the Spirit in empowering and 349 00:17:55,930 --> 00:17:58,330 the work of the Spirit in sanctifying a 350 00:17:58,330 --> 00:17:58,830 life. 351 00:18:00,130 --> 00:18:03,850 When the disciples were quickened by the Holy 352 00:18:03,850 --> 00:18:06,650 Spirit on the day of Pentecost, not only 353 00:18:06,650 --> 00:18:09,290 were they empowered, I believe they were made 354 00:18:09,290 --> 00:18:10,050 more holy. 355 00:18:10,810 --> 00:18:13,350 They were made more like Jesus Christ. 356 00:18:14,130 --> 00:18:18,790 And holiness is not a passive quality, it's 357 00:18:18,790 --> 00:18:19,770 an active one. 358 00:18:20,850 --> 00:18:23,850 Holiness is something that is seen, something that 359 00:18:23,850 --> 00:18:25,510 can attract or repel. 360 00:18:26,790 --> 00:18:29,310 Go back to the Baptist for a moment, 361 00:18:30,090 --> 00:18:32,630 and think of him as, he has another 362 00:18:32,630 --> 00:18:34,330 confrontation with Herod. 363 00:18:34,930 --> 00:18:36,990 Why is Herod so afraid of the Baptist? 364 00:18:37,810 --> 00:18:40,070 Well because the Baptist has harnessed a power 365 00:18:40,070 --> 00:18:41,930 the like of which Herod has never known. 366 00:18:42,910 --> 00:18:47,170 With eyes blazing with righteous indignation, Herod is 367 00:18:47,170 --> 00:18:48,470 censured by the Baptist. 368 00:18:48,730 --> 00:18:50,610 It is not lawful for thee to have 369 00:18:50,610 --> 00:18:51,890 thy brother Philip's wife. 370 00:18:54,020 --> 00:18:56,720 Herod, when he's mesmerized by the preaching of 371 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:02,020 the Baptist, has to appreciate this, that there 372 00:19:02,020 --> 00:19:07,580 is within the words of the Baptist himself, 373 00:19:08,260 --> 00:19:10,880 there is within his life something that is 374 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,160 compatible with the words that he speaks. 375 00:19:14,300 --> 00:19:17,760 There's no dichotomy between what the Baptist is, 376 00:19:18,140 --> 00:19:21,120 and what the Baptist speaks, what the Baptist 377 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:21,880 utters. 378 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:24,860 And I am so bold to suggest, at 379 00:19:24,860 --> 00:19:27,200 least in its infancy, this was the case 380 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,200 amongst the Christian community at Jerusalem. 381 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,500 What they said they were, and what they 382 00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:33,420 were they said. 383 00:19:34,460 --> 00:19:37,180 But today we give ourselves the luxury of 384 00:19:37,180 --> 00:19:41,180 making a differentiation, a distinction between what we 385 00:19:41,180 --> 00:19:42,720 believe and the way that we live. 386 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,940 And the net result is that this radiant 387 00:19:47,940 --> 00:19:49,740 holiness is not present. 388 00:19:51,100 --> 00:19:52,780 And the net result of that one, if 389 00:19:52,780 --> 00:19:55,720 I can follow the logic through, is that 390 00:19:55,720 --> 00:20:00,140 people in Worthing are not overawed in our 391 00:20:00,140 --> 00:20:00,720 presence. 392 00:20:01,540 --> 00:20:05,180 As the people in Jerusalem were overwhelmed by 393 00:20:05,180 --> 00:20:07,060 the presence of the early Christians. 394 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:14,720 I tell you that one graphic illustration of 395 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,160 the holiness of that early church is seen 396 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,180 in this awful experience that's narrated in the 397 00:20:21,180 --> 00:20:25,740 first 11 verses, when Ananias and Sapphira endeavor 398 00:20:25,740 --> 00:20:28,860 to dupe all the Christians and to lie 399 00:20:28,860 --> 00:20:33,040 against God, and particularly the Holy Spirit of 400 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:33,400 God. 401 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,480 And when they attempt this in such a 402 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,100 holy atmosphere, their sin is immediately exposed. 403 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:47,940 But because of the deterioration in spirituality in 404 00:20:47,940 --> 00:20:50,660 the 20th century, we can get away with 405 00:20:50,660 --> 00:20:52,380 sin and it's not brought to the surface 406 00:20:52,380 --> 00:20:54,320 because there are too many of us engaged 407 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:54,920 in it. 408 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,740 Someone has said that if the Holy Spirit 409 00:21:01,740 --> 00:21:05,260 still worked today, as he did in the 410 00:21:05,260 --> 00:21:08,980 case of Ananias and Sapphira, and they're lying 411 00:21:08,980 --> 00:21:13,480 against him, then the undertakers would hardly be 412 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,320 able to cope with the business that would 413 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:17,200 come their way. 414 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,080 A cryptic comment, but there's no humor in 415 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,400 my voice when I repeat it, because the 416 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,460 comment is so profound and it's so deadly 417 00:21:28,460 --> 00:21:30,340 accurate and it hits me on the nerve, 418 00:21:30,380 --> 00:21:31,860 and I don't like being hit on the 419 00:21:31,860 --> 00:21:34,940 nerve, particularly by my own preaching. 420 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,580 I say that one of the things that 421 00:21:39,580 --> 00:21:43,600 caused the people at Jerusalem to be afraid 422 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,120 of the early Christian community was that they 423 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:49,540 had harnessed a holiness which was not just 424 00:21:49,540 --> 00:21:53,560 a passive quality but an active quality, so 425 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:58,820 demonstrated as they gathered together as a community 426 00:21:58,820 --> 00:22:01,380 that Ananias and Sapphira could have no part 427 00:22:01,380 --> 00:22:02,460 nor lot with them. 428 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,340 And we have the description of this awesome 429 00:22:07,340 --> 00:22:12,620 thing, Ananias and Sapphira dying, because they had 430 00:22:12,620 --> 00:22:16,000 lied against the Holy Ghost, though one believes 431 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,360 that Ananias and Sapphira were Christians and at 432 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:21,720 any rate the blood of Jesus Christ, God's 433 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,220 Son, would have preserved their eternal salvation. 434 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,800 Another characteristic that I reckon caused this reaction 435 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,380 on the part of Jerusalem's townspeople was this, 436 00:22:33,740 --> 00:22:37,120 the early disciples unleashed the power of the 437 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:37,980 Word of God. 438 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,740 Wherever you read of the early Christians engaging 439 00:22:43,740 --> 00:22:50,800 in conversation, there's always the thought supplied that 440 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,100 the topic of their conversation was God and 441 00:22:54,100 --> 00:22:54,940 His Word. 442 00:22:55,700 --> 00:22:58,000 And when you read about Peter on the 443 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,400 day of Pentecost, you find that having been 444 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,020 filled with the Holy Spirit, he starts to 445 00:23:03,020 --> 00:23:06,200 preach and he stands up and he declares 446 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,920 the Word of God, and all that he 447 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,720 has to say is deeply anchored in Old 448 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:12,820 Testament Scripture. 449 00:23:13,940 --> 00:23:15,500 And when he's brought in front of the 450 00:23:15,500 --> 00:23:19,780 Sanhedrin, because he has been preaching concerning Jesus 451 00:23:19,780 --> 00:23:23,560 of Nazareth, again his defense is largely rooted 452 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:24,980 in the Old Testament. 453 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,140 And throughout the Acts of the Apostles, and 454 00:23:28,140 --> 00:23:30,240 bear this in mind in the twentieth century 455 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,600 when preaching is being devalued, you find that 456 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,160 whenever the Holy Spirit comes upon a person 457 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,340 or a community, the net result is that 458 00:23:39,340 --> 00:23:40,440 they start to preach. 459 00:23:41,100 --> 00:23:43,580 They start to proclaim the Word of God. 460 00:23:44,700 --> 00:23:47,620 Look at the thirty-first verse of Acts 461 00:23:47,620 --> 00:23:48,100 4. 462 00:23:48,820 --> 00:23:50,880 The prayer meeting had been held, or rather 463 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,660 the praise meeting, because John and Peter had 464 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:55,740 dealt so well with the Sanhedrin. 465 00:23:56,580 --> 00:23:58,740 And at the end of the prayer meeting, 466 00:23:59,180 --> 00:24:01,220 we find this happened. 467 00:24:01,780 --> 00:24:05,420 When they, the Christian community, had prayed, the 468 00:24:05,420 --> 00:24:08,160 place was shaken where they were assembled together 469 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,900 and they were all filled with the Holy 470 00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:11,360 Ghost. 471 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:14,880 Now what was the evidence of them being 472 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:16,800 filled with the Holy Ghost, at least on 473 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:17,460 this occasion? 474 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,440 They spake the Word of God with boldness. 475 00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:25,500 And I say one of the things that 476 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:31,300 made these people make such an impact upon 477 00:24:31,300 --> 00:24:35,620 the rest of the citizens at Jerusalem was 478 00:24:35,620 --> 00:24:38,100 this, they unleashed the power of the Word 479 00:24:38,100 --> 00:24:38,660 of God. 480 00:24:41,230 --> 00:24:43,210 Charles Spurgeon was once asked if he would 481 00:24:43,210 --> 00:24:44,150 defend the Bible. 482 00:24:45,750 --> 00:24:49,530 In characteristic Spurgeonic fashion, Spurgeon said, what? 483 00:24:49,710 --> 00:24:50,530 Defend the Bible? 484 00:24:50,610 --> 00:24:51,970 I'd rather defend the lion. 485 00:24:53,050 --> 00:24:54,350 What was his point? 486 00:24:54,510 --> 00:24:56,170 Simply this, the Word of God doesn't need 487 00:24:56,170 --> 00:24:56,710 defending. 488 00:24:57,830 --> 00:25:00,690 The Word of God needs unleashing, releasing. 489 00:25:01,410 --> 00:25:03,030 The Word of God is not bound. 490 00:25:03,870 --> 00:25:07,090 The Sanhedrin will soon discover their folly in 491 00:25:07,090 --> 00:25:09,770 trying to silence Peter and John. 492 00:25:10,070 --> 00:25:12,670 They could no more silence these two than 493 00:25:12,670 --> 00:25:15,370 the Jewish authorities of old could silence the 494 00:25:15,370 --> 00:25:16,230 prophet Jeremiah. 495 00:25:17,410 --> 00:25:19,350 And he wanted to be silenced, do you 496 00:25:19,350 --> 00:25:20,490 remember, at one stage? 497 00:25:20,490 --> 00:25:22,070 And then he said, but there was within 498 00:25:22,070 --> 00:25:25,630 my very being, within my heart, a burning, 499 00:25:25,790 --> 00:25:27,110 and I could not stay. 500 00:25:28,010 --> 00:25:29,550 The Word of God, my friend, is not 501 00:25:29,550 --> 00:25:31,770 bound, and it wasn't bound at Jerusalem. 502 00:25:32,670 --> 00:25:34,530 And when we realize that the Word of 503 00:25:34,530 --> 00:25:38,510 God doesn't need defending, but rather needs parading 504 00:25:38,510 --> 00:25:42,010 in the 20th century, then maybe we'll be 505 00:25:42,010 --> 00:25:44,690 on our way back to making the same 506 00:25:44,690 --> 00:25:48,330 impact as did the early disciples at Jerusalem. 507 00:25:49,410 --> 00:25:51,830 So then they unleashed the Word of God, 508 00:25:52,090 --> 00:25:55,550 and this itself can have devastating effects when 509 00:25:55,550 --> 00:25:59,610 people come in contact under the hearing of 510 00:25:59,610 --> 00:26:01,330 the sound of the Word. 511 00:26:02,310 --> 00:26:04,810 And what is more, these early disciples had 512 00:26:04,810 --> 00:26:06,750 an irrepressible boldness. 513 00:26:07,710 --> 00:26:09,350 You couldn't shut them up. 514 00:26:10,490 --> 00:26:13,470 I've virtually worked out this point for you 515 00:26:13,470 --> 00:26:15,550 a moment or so ago, so I'll not 516 00:26:15,550 --> 00:26:18,730 develop it much further, apart from saying that 517 00:26:18,730 --> 00:26:21,450 when the Sanhedrin in the third chapter are 518 00:26:21,450 --> 00:26:23,770 described as trying to silence Peter and John, 519 00:26:24,410 --> 00:26:27,810 the fishermen respond, what are we to do, 520 00:26:27,930 --> 00:26:29,690 obey you or to obey God? 521 00:26:30,670 --> 00:26:32,710 And they set down this principle that if 522 00:26:32,710 --> 00:26:34,970 the law of Caesar, or the law of 523 00:26:34,970 --> 00:26:38,050 the Jewish Sanhedrin for that matter, was in 524 00:26:38,050 --> 00:26:40,210 opposition to the law of God, then the 525 00:26:40,210 --> 00:26:41,930 law of God has preeminence. 526 00:26:41,930 --> 00:26:44,310 And this has always been the case down 527 00:26:44,310 --> 00:26:45,170 church history. 528 00:26:45,950 --> 00:26:47,430 The law of God is the one to 529 00:26:47,430 --> 00:26:51,050 which the Christian first of all subscribes, and 530 00:26:51,050 --> 00:26:51,790 he accepts. 531 00:26:52,470 --> 00:26:54,910 So all these qualities, if you put them 532 00:26:54,910 --> 00:26:57,010 together in the melting pot, to use that 533 00:26:57,010 --> 00:27:01,670 expression, this holiness, this sense of the presence 534 00:27:01,670 --> 00:27:04,910 of God, this unleashing of the Word of 535 00:27:04,910 --> 00:27:09,210 God, this irrepressible boldness, mix all this together 536 00:27:09,210 --> 00:27:10,270 and what do you get? 537 00:27:10,270 --> 00:27:13,750 A community that makes an impact, a community 538 00:27:13,750 --> 00:27:19,690 that is overawing, overwhelming as far as some 539 00:27:19,690 --> 00:27:22,990 of the townspeople in Jerusalem are concerned. 540 00:27:23,790 --> 00:27:27,910 There's something inexplicable, something super rational. 541 00:27:28,590 --> 00:27:31,110 They can't understand it and therefore they are 542 00:27:31,110 --> 00:27:31,650 afraid. 543 00:27:33,590 --> 00:27:35,110 Now what's wrong with us today? 544 00:27:36,070 --> 00:27:39,650 In the 20th century, at least in part, 545 00:27:40,370 --> 00:27:43,650 perhaps things are not so bad as occasionally 546 00:27:43,650 --> 00:27:45,750 one feels they are. 547 00:27:47,230 --> 00:27:49,210 Maybe one of the things that is wrong 548 00:27:49,210 --> 00:27:49,830 is this. 549 00:27:51,690 --> 00:27:53,730 There's nothing mysterious about us. 550 00:27:54,950 --> 00:27:57,350 Let me repeat that because you probably don't 551 00:27:57,350 --> 00:27:58,730 know what I'm talking about anyway so I'll 552 00:27:58,730 --> 00:27:59,570 try and develop it. 553 00:28:00,730 --> 00:28:03,190 There's nothing mysterious about us. 554 00:28:03,830 --> 00:28:06,690 You see, there's something uncanny about these disciples. 555 00:28:06,830 --> 00:28:07,750 They don't understand it. 556 00:28:07,830 --> 00:28:09,890 The Sanhedrin, these men, they're not learned, they're 557 00:28:09,890 --> 00:28:13,310 not instructed in rabbinical thought and yet they 558 00:28:13,310 --> 00:28:16,550 conduct their case as though they've had three 559 00:28:16,550 --> 00:28:18,130 years at some Jewish academy. 560 00:28:19,110 --> 00:28:22,470 There's something uncanny, something inexplicable about these men, 561 00:28:22,610 --> 00:28:23,650 something mysterious. 562 00:28:24,690 --> 00:28:27,050 And I'm suggesting it's that element of the 563 00:28:27,050 --> 00:28:31,830 mysterious that as ordinary Christians, as individual believers 564 00:28:31,830 --> 00:28:33,790 in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have not 565 00:28:33,790 --> 00:28:34,330 harnessed. 566 00:28:35,850 --> 00:28:39,330 Listen to A.W. Tozer who can always 567 00:28:39,330 --> 00:28:41,430 put things far more pithily than I can. 568 00:28:42,310 --> 00:28:45,850 We have theological saints today, he says, who 569 00:28:45,850 --> 00:28:48,150 can and must be proved to be saints 570 00:28:48,150 --> 00:28:50,570 by an appeal to the original Greek. 571 00:28:51,650 --> 00:28:54,410 What we need are saints whose lives proclaim 572 00:28:54,410 --> 00:28:57,690 sainthood and need not run to the concordance 573 00:28:57,690 --> 00:28:58,590 for authentication. 574 00:29:01,610 --> 00:29:03,030 What's wrong with us today? 575 00:29:04,690 --> 00:29:06,890 There's nothing terrible about the church. 576 00:29:07,750 --> 00:29:10,250 Nothing terrible about the church. 577 00:29:11,350 --> 00:29:14,050 Nothing that's really awe-inspiring. 578 00:29:15,430 --> 00:29:17,210 The church has been analyzed. 579 00:29:18,430 --> 00:29:20,170 It's been categorized. 580 00:29:20,650 --> 00:29:22,990 It's virtually been fossilized. 581 00:29:23,670 --> 00:29:27,290 And people are not overwhelmed by the church 582 00:29:27,290 --> 00:29:30,510 and the ministry of the church, the impact 583 00:29:30,510 --> 00:29:31,870 that it should be making. 584 00:29:32,690 --> 00:29:34,890 But you see, the early church couldn't be 585 00:29:34,890 --> 00:29:37,770 categorized, it couldn't be analyzed, and it certainly 586 00:29:37,770 --> 00:29:41,690 was never fossilized, not in the first hundred 587 00:29:41,690 --> 00:29:42,130 years. 588 00:29:44,010 --> 00:29:46,010 The people, when they looked at the early 589 00:29:46,010 --> 00:29:49,250 church, they saw fire in the bush and 590 00:29:49,250 --> 00:29:49,950 they were afraid. 591 00:29:51,730 --> 00:29:54,310 It's when the bush is burned out and 592 00:29:54,310 --> 00:29:57,670 only ashes are left that people have the 593 00:29:57,670 --> 00:30:00,070 audacity to come and take the ashes and 594 00:30:00,070 --> 00:30:01,030 analyze them. 595 00:30:02,170 --> 00:30:05,010 And what I'm saying that we need today 596 00:30:05,010 --> 00:30:07,570 is more fire in the bush. 597 00:30:08,590 --> 00:30:10,910 And when the bush burns with fire, people 598 00:30:10,910 --> 00:30:14,090 stand back and they take their shoes off 599 00:30:14,090 --> 00:30:15,890 from their feet and they say, this is 600 00:30:15,890 --> 00:30:19,090 holy ground and we're somewhat afraid. 601 00:30:20,290 --> 00:30:23,170 But today, I say there are not many 602 00:30:23,170 --> 00:30:26,810 occasions when people are afraid of the church, 603 00:30:27,470 --> 00:30:32,170 rather they're coarsely familiar because we compromise wholesale, 604 00:30:32,690 --> 00:30:36,750 in a wholesale fashion, upon the things that 605 00:30:36,750 --> 00:30:37,470 we believe. 606 00:30:37,870 --> 00:30:41,350 Nothing mysterious, nothing terrible, nothing awesome, and what 607 00:30:41,350 --> 00:30:43,590 we need to know again is this inspiring 608 00:30:43,590 --> 00:30:44,950 power of the Holy Spirit. 609 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,500 And what is more, the church in the 610 00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:52,820 Acts of the Apostles was not merely an 611 00:30:52,820 --> 00:30:55,480 organization as we tend to be today. 612 00:30:56,180 --> 00:30:58,820 Not just an organization, no, she was a 613 00:30:58,820 --> 00:30:59,240 movement. 614 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:02,400 Not just a movement, though, because she was 615 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,680 a walking incarnation of spiritual energy. 616 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,880 She began in power, she continued in power, 617 00:31:10,180 --> 00:31:13,340 and she moved just as long as she 618 00:31:13,340 --> 00:31:14,240 had power. 619 00:31:15,380 --> 00:31:19,700 And when she stopped having power, she dug 620 00:31:19,700 --> 00:31:23,980 in and tried to contain her blessings as 621 00:31:23,980 --> 00:31:26,360 the Israelites, some of them, tried to preserve 622 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:26,880 the manna. 623 00:31:27,420 --> 00:31:29,880 And they discovered that you can't preserve manna 624 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,540 because manna breeds worms. 625 00:31:31,540 --> 00:31:35,720 And the worms eventually made the manna completely 626 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:36,800 un-eatable. 627 00:31:37,860 --> 00:31:40,060 And when the church tried to preserve its 628 00:31:40,060 --> 00:31:41,240 blessings, what happened? 629 00:31:42,340 --> 00:31:47,860 She bred the worms of monasticism, scholasticism, and 630 00:31:47,860 --> 00:31:51,700 institutionalism, and there was a complete and utter 631 00:31:51,700 --> 00:31:53,080 absence of power. 632 00:31:54,060 --> 00:31:58,380 And what we need today, I say, is 633 00:31:58,380 --> 00:32:02,260 to forget the whole idea of being able 634 00:32:02,260 --> 00:32:05,240 to store up blessings and living on a 635 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:06,460 past experience. 636 00:32:07,580 --> 00:32:10,340 The Apostle Peter knew the indwelling of the 637 00:32:10,340 --> 00:32:12,060 Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 638 00:32:12,540 --> 00:32:14,660 He also knew the indwelling of the Spirit 639 00:32:14,660 --> 00:32:16,460 when he stands before the Sanhedrin. 640 00:32:16,820 --> 00:32:18,640 He knows the indwelling of the Spirit when 641 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,780 the church comes together in praise and in 642 00:32:20,780 --> 00:32:23,580 prayer, as I've intimated from the 31st verse 643 00:32:23,580 --> 00:32:25,500 of Acts chapter 4. 644 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,880 And it was this constant walking with the 645 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,740 Lord, this constant infilling of God's Holy Spirit 646 00:32:33,740 --> 00:32:38,560 that so empowered the early Christians that though 647 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,720 some joined them because they responded to the 648 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,480 message of the evangel, those who did not 649 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,060 respond to the message of redeeming grace were 650 00:32:47,060 --> 00:32:48,180 afraid of them. 651 00:32:49,100 --> 00:32:52,400 And they didn't associate with them. 652 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,140 These men had a power. 653 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,580 They were incredible Christians. 654 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,120 And I believe, my friend, with all my 655 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,200 heart, that as it was in the days 656 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,300 of the Acts of the Apostles, though I 657 00:33:07,300 --> 00:33:10,700 will make provision for the unique apostleship of 658 00:33:10,700 --> 00:33:14,500 Peter and the other 11, but broadly speaking, 659 00:33:14,660 --> 00:33:16,280 as it was in the days of the 660 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,100 Acts of the Apostles, so it must be 661 00:33:19,100 --> 00:33:23,420 in the 20th century, God has not changed. 662 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,100 And I am unimpressed by some theologians and 663 00:33:28,100 --> 00:33:31,120 teachers of the Bible who try to explain 664 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,160 the anemic condition of today by saying that 665 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,020 God has changed in the way that he 666 00:33:37,020 --> 00:33:39,740 uses men and women in the 20th century. 667 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,980 I believe, as was it Shakespeare said, made 668 00:33:44,980 --> 00:33:48,560 Brutus say, or said of Brutus, the fault 669 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,100 lies within ourselves. 670 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:53,640 God is still the same. 671 00:33:54,700 --> 00:33:56,840 The Spirit is still the same. 672 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:02,840 But have we still the same dedication as 673 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,600 the early men and women had who named 674 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:07,860 the name of Jesus at Jerusalem? 675 00:34:08,699 --> 00:34:12,540 I reckon that there in the fault lies, 676 00:34:12,940 --> 00:34:17,920 and by attending to that, the remedy shall 677 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:18,400 come. 678 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:21,179 Amen. 679 00:34:23,980 --> 00:34:26,800 And for the rekindling of that fire, O 680 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:33,320 God, we crave, may the bush burn and 681 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:37,060 help us to make an impact, and may 682 00:34:37,060 --> 00:34:40,100 we have thy power to be able to 683 00:34:40,100 --> 00:34:43,580 cope with all the challenges and with all 684 00:34:43,580 --> 00:34:47,480 the strains that life in the 20th century 685 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:48,320 brings. 686 00:34:49,210 --> 00:34:51,320 Help us to do credit to the name 687 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:55,420 of Jesus, as did the early ambassadors of 688 00:34:55,420 --> 00:34:55,980 the faith. 689 00:34:57,020 --> 00:34:58,620 And now as some of us take our 690 00:34:58,620 --> 00:35:01,900 leave at this juncture, we solicit your blessing, 691 00:35:02,860 --> 00:35:06,860 the blessing of the omnipotent, sovereign God, Father, 692 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,440 Son, and Holy Spirit, now and until Jesus 693 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:12,340 returns. 694 00:35:12,740 --> 00:35:13,160 Amen.