Shall we turn to Acts, the third chapter.
Now, Peter and John went up together into
the temple at the hour of prayer, being
the ninth hour.
The day started at six o'clock in
the morning, sun up, and so the ninth
hour would be three o'clock in the
afternoon.
At two-thirty in the afternoon, the evening
sacrifices were offered.
They did not go to the temple for
the sacrifices.
Following the sacrifices, as the smoke of the
sacrifice was ascending into heaven, it would be
the hour of prayer and the people would
stand and praise the Lord or pray unto
God as the smoke of the sacrifices ascended
heavenward.
And I think it's significant that they didn't
go for the sacrifice.
They knew that that was no longer valid.
But they waited for the hour of prayer
and went into the temple at the hour
of prayer.
In the early church in Jerusalem, Christianity was
not considered separate from the Jews, except for
the belief that Jesus was the Messiah.
There is a common misconception among Jews today
that to become a Christian, you have to
become a non-Jew.
But that was not so in the early
church.
They remained very Jewish.
Going to the temple, worshiping in the temple,
observing still the feast.
However, the feast now to them had an
entirely new meaning.
But they did not seek to make a
radical break from Judaism, but only seek to
proclaim that Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah
that God had promised.
With Peter and John, you have contrasting personalities.
Peter the doer and John the dreamer.
Peter always translated everything into activity.
Remember the last question he asked Jesus concerning
John is, What shall this man do?
Peter always thought about doing things.
But John wasn't a doer, he was a
dreamer.
And so the Lord said to Peter, Look,
if I will that he remains till I
come again, what's that to you?
I can imagine that Peter was often sort
of irritated with John because John was the
dreamer.
And it could very well be that John
in turn was irritated with all of Peter's
activity because the dreamer likes more quiet and
a serene atmosphere around him.
Contrasting personalities and yet made one in Christ.
And that's always the way it goes.
You know, Christ is the common meeting ground
for all men.
And though we may have contrasting personalities, still
there is that beautiful unity in Christ.
And so we see them going up to
the temple at the hour of prayer being
the ninth hour.
Again, Mark.
First characteristic of these men are that they
are men of prayer.
It is so important that we be men
and women of prayer.
Now, there was a certain lame man from
his mother's womb who was carried, whom they
laid daily at the gate of the temple,
which is called beautiful, to ask alms of
them that entered into the temple.
The beautiful gate of the temple is often
thought to be the eastern gate of the
temple.
And here is quite a contrast.
This man, lame from birth, an ugly sight,
lying at the beautiful gate of the temple,
begging.
And when he saw Peter and John about
to go into the temple, he asked alms.
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with
John, said, look at us.
And so he gave heed unto them, expecting
to receive something of them.
No doubt holding out his hand, which is,
of course, the typical gesture of the beggar.
And Peter said, silver and gold have I
none.
And I imagine that the fellow at that
point was disappointed and probably even wondering of
them, why are you trying to get my
attention?
But Peter continued, such as I have, I
will give you.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand
and lifted him up, and immediately his feet
and ankle bones received strength.
And he leaping stood and walked and entered
with them into the temple, walking and leaping
and praising God.
This Greek here in the description of his
feet, ankle bones, and the word leaping up
are medical terms.
They are used only here by Luke, who
was a physician.
And he is actually describing a condition of
an ankle that was twisted completely out of
joint.
Lame, probably, with the ankle twisted completely and
flat ways.
Because the word indicates coming into its socket
and being straight.
The medical term itself.
It's being brought back into its socket and
straightened.
So here's this man lying there with this
crippled condition, unable to walk from birth because
of this problem with the undeveloped ankle bone
and all.
And yet, Peter, with that faith that the
Lord planted in his heart, took hold of
the man, lifted him to his feet, and
immediately the ankle, the bone, came into joint.
And the man began to leap and praise
God.
And he walked and entered with them into
the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.
I can imagine the stir and the excitement
that this must have created.
And all the people saw him walking and
praising God.
And they knew that it was the man
who sat for alms at the beautiful gate
of the temple.
And they were filled with wonder and amazement
at what had happened to him.
And as the lame man, which was healed,
held Peter and John.
All of the people ran together unto them
in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly
wondering.
So here's a very notable miracle that attracted
immediately the attention of all the people.
Because this man, no doubt, had been there
for years and was a common sight to
those who went into worship.
And they saw this deformed condition of his
feet.
And now the feet are straight.
Now the man is walking and leaping and
praising the Lord.
And he's hugging Peter and John so that
the people relate the miracle to Peter and
John.
They realize that somehow, someway, Peter and John
are responsible for this man's ability to walk.
And so a great crowd of people, at
least five thousand men, gathered there on Solomon's
porch.
Greatly wondering at what had happened.
And when Peter saw it, he answered the
people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye
at this?
They marveled at it because they had lost
the sense of the greatness of the God
that they served.
If they really believed in the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then that God should
do such a thing should not marvel them
or cause them to wonder because they would
know that he is a God of miracles
by reading the Old Testament.
And so the question is, why marvel ye
at this?
Now other people may marvel at it.
The Gentiles may marvel at it.
But you're the sons of Israel.
You're the sons of the most high God.
Why should you marvel at this second question?
And why do you look so earnestly on
us as though by our own power or
holiness we have made this man to walk?
Now, people so often relate the work of
God with the instrument through which God works.
And this is wrong.
Why look ye on us as though we
through our own power or holiness have done
this thing?
Unfortunately, there are many evangelists, healing evangelists, that
try to give off the feeling that it
is as a result of their righteousness or
their holiness that marvelous works are wrought.
I get so tired of these evangelists that
come along with these big spectacular miracle campaigns
and having the sheep come up and say,
Oh, what do you think about Reverend so
-and-so or Brother so-and-so, you
know?
Oh, I hear he's got a meeting over
here and people are, you know, being healed
and the blind are seeing and all kinds
of things are going on.
And I remember a while back I was
told about one of these evangelists.
And it so happened that he was on
TV, so I had had so many people
question me about him.
I thought I would listen, and I listened
as long as I could, about five minutes.
And I heard all I needed to know
in five minutes.
For this particular evangelist, who is now serving
time in a federal penitentiary for several felonies,
this particular evangelist was saying, Do you have
faith in me?
I have power with God and all you
have to have is faith in me.
You know, and he was going on.
That does it.
I don't need to listen any further.
The guy's a phony.
God never called anybody to have faith in
the instrument.
But faith in God.
And whenever a man begins to exalt himself,
exalt the instrument, I know that there is
something wrong, drastically wrong.
Several years ago, my wife and I went
to a meeting up in Buena Park area.
That used to be where all of the
evangelists would set their tents here in Orange
County.
Another healing evangelist, and some people wanted us
to go with them to the meeting, and
so we obliged them.
And I've never been in such a circus
in all my life.
All of the gimmicks in the world to
whip the crowd into a frenzy and get
them all excited.
They were boasting of all kinds of miracles.
In fact, it was called a miracle rally.
That particular evangelist ended up dying from alcoholism
in a hotel room in San Francisco.
But drawing attention to themselves.
I'm always leery when a person names buildings
or universities or evangelistic
associations after their own names.
I pray God that when he takes me
that my name will quickly be forgotten.
If they dare put my name on any
kind of a building as a memorial, I'm
going to ask the Lord to send an
earthquake and shake it down.
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but unto thy name bring glory.
These men were not looking for a name
for themselves.
Why look on us as though we through
our own power or holiness have done this
thing?
It's not that I'm a righteous man, and
yet that is often the implication that is
given.
I have this power because I am so
holy.
I am so righteous.
Well, what's that do for the rest of
us who know we're not holy or righteous?
We think, oh, there's no way I can
expect God to do anything for me because
I'm not holy or righteous.
But that's not so.
For God will work in answer to your
prayer and in response to your call just
as quickly as the Pope or anybody else.
God is no respecter of persons.
Man is a respecter of persons.
God isn't.
And when I get to heaven, I can
say, well, Lord, you know who I am.
You know, I'm Chuck Smith.
After all, I was Pastor Calvary Chapel.
There's a backseat over there.
Go sit down, son.
Man respects the person.
God doesn't.
Why look you so earnestly on us as
though by our own power or holiness we
had made this man to walk?
By something within us, by something we possess.
It's nothing that we have.
Peter is saying, I'm nothing.
I have nothing.
This is the work of God that you
are seeing in response to faith that he
has given.
Not that I even have myself.
So careful not to receive glory or credit
for the work that God had done.
For it is foolish to exalt the instrument.
When we were living out in Las Heranas
pastoring the community church out there, we had
a lady that had begun to come to
one of the Bible classes that I was
teaching in Upland.
And so she said, Chuck, I want you
to witness to my husband.
He is the finest psychiatrist in the whole
Pomona Valley area.
He's recognized as one of the greatest neurosurgeons
in this area.
But he needs help.
He needs the Lord.
And I want you to witness to him.
So she arranged for Kay and I to
come over to their house on a Friday
evening.
And to have dinner with them.
And then after dinner, she and Kay disappeared
into the kitchen.
And left Bud and I to talk together.
And we spent several hours talking together about
God, about life.
He professed to be an atheist.
He was a very brilliant man.
And we planted seed.
And then she had us come over again
on a Friday evening.
She said that he had started doing some
reading and he was beginning to search.
And so we went over again.
And after dinner, she and Kay disappeared into
the kitchen.
And left Bud and I to talk again.
And I finally said, Bud, you're a psychiatrist.
You've probably been examining and evaluating me in
the questions and all that you've been asking.
And you've got a pretty good understanding of
me by now.
You know my attitude towards life.
You know the kind of a person I
am.
You know the joy that I possess.
You know the peace that I have.
I said, tell me.
What if Jesus Christ is not the Son
of God?
What if all that I believe is not
true?
And the joy that I have and the
peace I have are based upon a false
premise.
Yet knowing the joy and the peace that
I have as a person.
What do you feel I have lost by
believing what I believe?
And he looked at me very straight and
studied me for a moment.
And studied the question.
And he finally said, not a damn thing.
I wish I were as happy and peaceful
a person as you are.
I said, well then, tell me this Bud.
What if what I believe is true?
What have you lost by not believing?
He said, you trapped me, didn't you?
And I said, no, I think the Lord
trapped you.
So we got down on our knees.
And he asked Jesus Christ to take over
his life.
Had a beautiful conversion experience.
As God changed his life dramatically.
The next morning, when I got to the
office, his wife was waiting for me.
She's a very demonstrative person.
And she grabbed hold of me and began
to just say, Chuck, Chuck, I knew you
could do it.
I knew you could do it.
Oh Chuck, it's so wonderful.
This morning, Bud was reading the Bible before
he went to bed.
Oh Chuck, I knew you could.
Oh Chuck, you know, you're so wonderful.
Hold on Edie, wait a minute, wait a
minute.
I said, your husband's a neurosurgeon, isn't he?
Oh yes, he's the finest.
I said, what if after an operation, the
patient should come back to his office and
say he's opened up his skull and tied
off an aneurysm.
So the patient comes into the office and
he picks up the scaffold.
He says, oh, you're such a marvelous scaffold.
You did such a beautiful job in making
that incision in my skull.
Oh, you're marvelous.
You're marvelous.
You did such an excellent job.
I said, your husband would think that the
patient was ready for the couch because you
don't exalt the instrument.
You exalt the one who used the instrument.
Therefore, Edie, exalt the Lord.
It was the Holy Spirit that convicted Bud.
It was the Holy Spirit that drew him.
And it was the work of God's Spirit
within his life.
It wasn't my work.
God just used me as his instrument.
But that's all it was, was an instrument
in God's hand.
Don't give me any credit.
Don't tell me how wonderful I am.
Just know how wonderful God is.
But people have the tendency to exalt the
instrument because they can see, touch, and feel
the instrument.
Though we may feel God, it's hard to
see Him and it's hard to touch Him
except through the eyes of the Spirit.
And thus man has a tendency to exalt
the instrument rather than God who has used
the instrument.
But if you are an instrument that God
uses, be careful that you don't take glory
for the work of God.
Why look on us as though through our
power or holiness this man was healed?
Now he starts on their level.
The God of Abraham, oh yes, we know
Him.
Of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of
our fathers.
In his preaching he started off at the
level that the people understood and where they
were at.
And I think that this is something that
we need to learn from.
When Paul was asked to give a speech
on Mars Hill, there at the Areopagus, when
Paul started his speech to these Epicurean philosophers,
he didn't start off in the concept of
justification by faith.
He started his message at the level where
the people were at.
You men of Athens, I realize that you
men are very spiritual.
You're aware of the spirit realm.
For as I've been walking through your streets
all over, I see these little idols and
these little altars to the various gods.
And I happen to notice one of your
altars, and inscribed above it was to the
unknown God.
That's the God I'd like to tell you
about.
You see, He is the God who created
the heaven and the earth and everything that
is in them.
He started out where they were at and
brought them along.
Peter is starting out where they're at.
Make sure that you start out where people
understand where they're at and bring them into
the spiritual dimensions, but start out where they're
at.
The God of Abraham, of Isaac and of
Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified
His Son, Jesus, whom you delivered up and
denied Him in the presence of Pilate when
He was determined to let Him go.
So they were all aware of what had
transpired within the year there in Jerusalem.
They were all aware of the crucifixion of
Jesus.
And it is interesting that Peter here lays
the blame squarely upon them.
Pilate was wanting to let Him go.
And, of course, in John's Gospel this is
certainly indicated Pilate's desire to release Jesus.
But when Pilate was determined to let Him
go, you insisted on His death.
You denied the Holy One and the Just
One and you desired a murderer to be
delivered or to be granted unto you.
And you killed the Prince of Life.
The word Prince probably is a poor translation.
You remember in Hebrews where it talks about
Jesus as the author and the finisher of
our faith?
That is the very same Greek word that
in Hebrews is translated author.
The word literally means a file leader, but
that word doesn't do much for us in
English.
A file leader.
And we get a picture in our minds
of the files in the office and one
in front and it's the file leader.
But the word actually means one who is
first in a new order.
Jesus, the author of the new life.
Or, as we read, He is the first
begotten of those who rise from the dead.
So He is the author, the Prince, the
file leader of life.
That new eternal life that has been promised
to us who believe in Him.
He's the author of that eternal life.
Even as He is the author and the
finisher of our faith, so He is the
author of this life that we possess through
Him.
What a contradiction, isn't it?
You killed the author of life.
It really is a paradoxical type of a
sentence.
But, God has raised Him from the dead
whereof we are witnesses.
Now remember, the first sermon that Peter preached
was centered in the resurrection again.
As he has an opportunity to preach to
them, his message centers in the resurrection.
Remember, when Paul was preaching there on Mars
Hill, he had to get to the resurrection.
And when he got to the resurrection is
when it broke the meeting.
Ah, that's weird.
Nobody rises from the dead.
And it broke up the meeting with the
Epicurean philosophers.
But Peter again is preaching the resurrection.
This was the heart of the message of
the early church that there is hope for
eternal life because Jesus rose again.
And if Christ is not risen, then we're
still in our sins.
And we are in a hopeless condition.
Those that have died have perished.
And we are of all men most miserable.
But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the
foundation of the gospel in the New Testament.
Our hope is premised upon the fact that
Jesus rose.
So Peter said thanks be unto God who
has begotten us again to a living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead.
It's the heart of the message of the
gospel.
You can't take it away.
If you do, you have no gospel.
And so Peter gets to this favorite theme.
God hath raised him from the dead whereof
we are witnesses.
And so they are bearing witness to the
fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And His name, the power of the name
of Jesus.
Jesus said, If ye shall ask anything in
My name, I will do it.
Henceforth you have asked nothing in My name.
Ask that you might receive that your joy
may be full.
Oh, there is tremendous power in the name
of Jesus when it falls from the lips
of the weakest saint.
No, it isn't.
You're probably thinking, Oh, the name of Jesus,
yes, but I don't have enough holiness or
righteousness at all to utter that name.
I don't care how weak you are.
The power isn't in you.
It's in the name of Jesus.
You can be weak.
That doesn't matter.
The power isn't in you.
It's in the name.
And so Peter said, And His name, through
faith in His name, hath made this man
strong.
Now don't look at me.
Jesus Christ, the one you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, it is His name.
And through the faith in His name that
this wonder was wrought upon this lame man.
He's the one that made the legs straight.
He's the one that gave him the ability
to walk.
Gave him this perfect health, this perfect soundness,
this completeness in the presence of you all.
And then he went on to say, Yes,
it is by the, yes, the faith which
is by Him has given Him perfect soundness
in the presence of you all.
Now the faith which is by Him, notice
the preposition.
Peter isn't saying it was my great faith.
Peter is saying it is the faith that
is by Him.
He's the one who gave me the faith.
Christ is the author and the finisher of
our faith.
We so often times talk about faith as
something that we can develop, something that we
can work up, something that we can, you
know, sit and just meditate and develop faith
or something.
And we find ourselves in these attempts to,
you know, increase our faith through more or
less a mesmerization and different ways by which
I'm trying to just, you know, increase my
faith.
Faith is a gift.
By grace are you saved through faith and
that not of yourselves.
That is, the faith isn't of yourselves.
It is a gift of God and not
of works lest any man should boast.
Even the faith is a gift.
And as Paul is listing the manifestations of
the Spirit in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and
to some there is this gift of faith
that God imparts at certain times for certain
conditions.
And it's interesting because it is a gift
of faith.
There are times when I'm facing a situation
and I have complete faith that it's going
to work out.
I have no qualms, no worries.
The Lord has given me faith and I'm
just confident it's going to work.
Now, there are other times I'm facing similar
situations and God hasn't given me the faith
and I'm worried and I'm wondering what's going
to happen now, you know, and what if
this doesn't happen, what if that...
And it's all troublesome because God hasn't given
me the faith in that particular situation.
It's a gift.
It isn't something that I just possess and
can exercise anytime I want.
It isn't an Al-Kazam kind of a
magic word that can bring to pass any
kind of a situation that I desire.
It is something that God puts in my
heart in certain times for certain situations and
it's just glorious when it's there and it's
disastrous when it isn't there.
The gift of faith.
It is the faith that is by Him.
He's the one that gave me the faith.
When Peter was walking up, he saw that
man and the Lord gave him the faith.
He said, Peter, give him what you've got.
What did he have?
God gave him at that instant this faith
for the man's healing.
And so Peter said, hey, I don't have
silver and gold, but what I have I'll
be glad to give you to him and
took him and lifted him up and said,
in the name of Jesus Christ, in the
name of the Father, stand at one.
Oh, the power of the name.
Faith in the name.
The faith that God gave to Peter at
that moment.
And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance
you did it, as did also your rulers.
Now as Peter is addressing them more personally,
talking of the crucifixion of Jesus, he said,
I know that in ignorance you did it.
How did he know that?
Because Jesus, when He was being nailed to
the cross, said, Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.
So I know in ignorance you did it.
You didn't know what you were doing.
Jesus confessed that.
He points out another interesting thing.
In a little bit we'll read that 5
,000 of them were converted.
5,000 of those who were guilty of
crucifying Jesus but didn't know what they were
doing are now brought to Jesus Christ to
trust in Him as their Lord and Savior.
And the prayer of Jesus was then answered
when He was being nailed to the cross
and said, Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do.
His prayer was answered on this day when
Peter said to these people, I know through
ignorance you did it.
But those things which God before had shown
by the mouth of all of His prophets
that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled.
In other words, that which transpired was not
an accident.
That which transpired in the crucifixion of Jesus
was something that God had planned actually because
it was predicted in the Scriptures, the suffering
of the Messiah spoken of by the prophets.
And so then Peter gets to the application.
Repent, therefore, and be converted that your sins
may be blotted out when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord.
And so he's calling to the people for
repentance, for conversion, that they might receive the
forgiveness of their sins and that glorious work
of God's Spirit in the times of refreshing.
And He, that is God, shall send Jesus
Christ, which before was preached unto you.
Jesus is coming again.
The Father is going to send Him again.
Jesus said, and if I go away, I
will come again.
Last week in our lesson, Acts chapter 1,
as Jesus ascended into heaven and they were
standing there looking up into heaven into the
cloud that had received Him out of their
sight, the two men in white apparel standing
by said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand
ye here gazing into heaven?
For this same Jesus shall come again in
like manner as you have seen Him go
into heaven.
He's coming again.
God is going to send Jesus Christ who
was preached unto you, whom the heaven must
receive until the times of the restitution of
all things which God has spoken by the
mouth of all of the holy prophets since
the world began.
Now, upon this one little scripture, a whole
doctrine has been developed of the final restitution
of all things.
And that final restitution of all things will
take place when Satan finally kneels down and
confesses his guilt and is brought in again
as a child of God.
And God has finally restored everybody and everything,
all sinners and everybody will be saved.
The final restitution of all things.
And this particular heresy has been based upon
this one little scripture.
That he is not referring to the restoration
of the wicked at some future date is
obvious by the fact that he said it
is something that all of the prophets have
spoken about.
And as we go back to the prophets
of the Old Testament and their speaking of
the restitution of all things, what are they
referring to?
They are referring to the restoration of the
nation Israel into divine favor again.
Israel, because of their rejection of God, is
to be cut off.
They are to be dispersed.
They are to be scattered into all the
world.
They are to become a curse and a
byword.
They are to be burned in ovens as
the prophets foretold.
But each of them who foretold the awful,
tragic misery that the Jews would endure during
the great dispersion, they all saw through the
darkness to the light on the other side
when God would once again take his unfaithful
bride, clean her up, dress her up, and
receive her again as his wife and restore
the unfaithful wife to her position.
And Hosea and all of the prophets speak
of this restoration of God's work and grace
to the nation of Israel.
And that is what is referred to, not
that God is going to finally restore all
the wicked, including Satan.
That's what all of the prophets speak about.
You won't find this other doctrine of the
restitution of all things, that is, all men
are to be saved ultimately, you won't find
that in any of the prophets of the
Old Testament.
But it's always dealing with the nation of
Israel.
And you remember, he is addressing ye men
of Israel.
Why marvel you at this?
So this restitution is God's restitution of his
work with Israel, which shall come.
Paul the Apostle, in the 11th chapter of
Romans, said that blindness has happened to Israel
in part until the fullness of the Gentiles
become in.
But at that point, all Israel will then
be saved.
For there shall come the deliverer out of
Zion to turn the hearts of the children
unto the fathers.
And he makes reference to this restitution of
the work of God among the Jewish people
that shall take place.
Now, Jesus said, you're not going to see
me again until you say, blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.
The earth has one more seven-year period
to endure.
For there were 77 determined upon the nation
Israel to finish the transgressions, to make an
end to sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity,
to finish up the prophecies for the Messiah
to come and to anoint the most holy
place.
And there would be 69 seven-year periods
from the time that the prophecy would go
forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the
coming of the Messiah, the Prince.
But that leaves one seven-year period unfulfilled,
which is yet future.
During this seven-year period, God is going
to deal with the nation Israel and that
blindness that has been over their eyes for
almost 2,000 years will be removed.
Now, blindness has happened to Israel in part.
That is, for the most of them.
There are a part of them who have
not been blind.
There are a part of Israel today that
God has opened their eyes to see the
truth.
And oh, what evangelists they usually make when
God opens their eyes and they can see
that Jesus indeed was the promised Messiah.
But it's amazing how blind most of the
people are.
And they really don't know their own Scriptures
that well.
But they know the traditions and they know
the dietary laws and all, the Sabbaths.
But they're really blind to the true work
of God.
And having forsaken the way of God, they've
gone about to establish a righteousness through works,
through good works.
But by the works of the law, the
Bible tells us no flesh will be justified
in His sight.
The Bible also tells us, for without the
shedding of blood there is no remission for
sin.
So, God is going to restore Israel.
He's going to work again.
He's going to put His Spirit upon Israel.
According to Ezekiel, at the time that God
destroys the invading Russian army who moves into
the Middle East in the last days to
take over the Middle East, in those days
God is going to destroy Russia.
And when He does, He'll put His Spirit
upon the nation of Israel.
The beginning of the end, the last seven
years when God will be working with Israel.
And during this period of time, the world
around them will be going through a Holocaust.
At least the last three and a half
years of this period of time.
A time of trouble such as the world
has never seen before or will ever see
again.
The time of the Great Tribulation.
Now, during this time, God dealing with the
nation of Israel, they will begin to weep
over their blindness.
As a woman who weeps over the loss
of her only son.
They will weep that they were blind to
the grace and the goodness of God and
to the Messiah that God provided.
For they will recognize that Jesus indeed is
the Messiah.
As they see the Scriptures coming to pass
that were predicted and they'll realize that they
made a mistake in their national rejection of
Jesus and they will accept Him and they
will be saying, Oh, blessed is He who
comes in the name of the Lord.
And at that point, Jesus will return with
ten thousands of His saints to establish His
kingdom upon the earth.
Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of
His saints.
And when Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall we also appear with Him
in glory as we come with Him to
establish God's kingdom upon the earth.
So, the heavens must keep Him until the
times of restitution of all things which God
has predicted in the prophets since the beginning
of the world all the way back to
the Garden of Eden where God promised that
the seed of the woman would bruise the
heel of the serpent.
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A
prophet shall the Lord your God raise up
unto you of your own brethren like unto
me.
Him shall ye hear in all of the
things whatsoever He shall say unto you.
And it shall come to pass that every
soul which will not hear that prophet shall
be destroyed from among the people.
Yea, and all of the prophets from Samuel
and those that follow after him, as many
as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these
days.
And ye are the children of the prophets
and of the covenant which God made with
our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy
seed shall all of the kindreds of the
earth be blessed.
And unto you first, God having raised up
His Son Jesus, send Him to bless you
in turning away every one of you from
His iniquities.
So God has kept His promise that He
has made through the Old Testament prophets.
They spoke of these days.
They spoke of the Messiah.
And He came.
And it shall come to pass if you
won't hear Him that you'll be destroyed from
among the people.
You are the children of the prophets and
of the covenant that God made with our
fathers.
And so unto you first, God has revealed.
So Paul, in talking about the gospel, he
said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, which is the power of God
unto salvation, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek.
The gospel came to the Jew first.
You shall bear witness of me both in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria to
the Jew first and then to the uttermost
parts of the earth.
And when the Jew rejected the gospel, Paul
turned and he said from henceforth, I go
to the Gentiles.
Since you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life,
I'm going to the Gentiles.
And the door was opened to us who
sat in darkness to come into the glorious
light of God's love and truth.
Now as they spake unto the people, the
priest and the captain of the temple and
the Sadducees came upon them being grieved that
they taught the people and preached through Jesus
the resurrection from the dead.
You see, the Sadducees, who were the spiritual
leaders in those days, the priesthood was mostly
made up of Sadducees.
The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, in
angels or in spirits.
So they were very upset over the preaching
of the resurrection.
That's the thing that got them upset.
There was a big argument, religious argument, going
on among the Jews between the sect of
the Sadducees and that of the Pharisees.
Now the Pharisees did believe in a resurrection.
They did believe in spirits.
And when Paul the apostle later on was
brought before the council, he realized that he
had Pharisees there and he had Sadducees there.
And so he used that to free himself.
He said, I'm here today and I'm accused
because I believe the Scriptures that there is
a resurrection from the dead.
And all the Pharisees said, well, there's nothing
wrong with that.
The Sadducees, of course, all got upset and
they began to argue with each other.
They had a big commotion and Paul walked
out, you know, while they were fighting each
other.
Smart move.
So the Sadducees came upon them and they
were upset, they were aggrieved because through Jesus
they were teaching the resurrection of the dead.
And they laid their hands on them and
put them in jail until the next day.
For it was now eventide.
Now, this thing all started at 3 o
'clock in the afternoon, so it was now
evening.
So they threw them in jail overnight.
How be it?
Many of the people which heard the word
believed and the number of men was about
5,000.
So there was quite an evangelistic service that
day.
It came to pass on the morrow that
the rulers and the elders and the scribes
and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas, these
men that we were introduced before in the
Gospels who stood in judgment against Jesus Christ,
and John and Alexander and as many as
were of the family of the high priest
were gathered together at Jerusalem.
And when they had set them, that was
Peter and John and the lame man, in
the midst, they asked, by what power or
by what name have you done this?
Now, that question was no doubt asked by
a shrewd attorney who knew the law.
For in the law it declares that if
someone comes and does a sign or a
wonder before the people so that all the
people are amazed at the wonder which is
done, and if that person should seek to
cause you to worship other than Jehovah God,
that person shall be put to death.
He is a false prophet.
Deuteronomy, I think it is 13th chapter.
So, by what power or by what name
did you do this?
Now, Peter could have said, I take the
Fifth Amendment.
You know, I can't be required to testify
against myself because they have the Fifth Amendment
in their law.
That was recognized.
You could not force a man to testify
against himself.
Peter could have taken the Fifth, but he
didn't.
He took rather the opportunity to share Jesus
Christ with these fellows.
And knowing that the question was a league
question and knowing the consequence of telling the
people of another name other than, well, actually
he told them the name of Jehovah God
because he said it's through Jehovah Shua.
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto
them, Ye rulers of the people and elders
of Israel.
My, what an august body.
They're all gathered here today, all of the
leaders, the religious leaders, the Annas and Caiaphas
and the whole crew, all gathered here today.
If we this day are examined because of
the good deed done to the lame man
by what means he is made whole.
In other words, he is pointing out, isn't
this sort of ridiculous?
This whole furor and fuss has been created
because there was a lame man who had
been lame for about 40 years and now
he is standing here, his feet are straight,
and he's standing up here with us.
Is that what you're charging us for?
Is that your charges that you're bringing against
us?
Because we made this man to be whole.
What a peculiar thing to get so upset
about.
Be it known unto you, now you want
to know, and all the people of Israel
that by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, and I imagine he really drug it
out to press it in, Yeshua Christos, whom
ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by Him does this man stand here
before you whole.
You want to know how it happened?
This is it.
How does that grab you, you know?
It's straight on.
This is the stone which was set at
naught of you builders, which has become the
head of the corner.
Now, Psalm 118, a glorious messianic psalm, which
they all knew to be a psalm of
the Messiah, declares the stone which was set
at naught of the builders, the same has
become the chief cornerstone.
This is the work of the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord hath
made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Save now, blessed is he who comes in
the name of the Lord.
And they knew this was a messianic psalm,
and when Peter starts to quote it, they
know exactly what he's quoting, and they know
that it is a psalm concerning their Messiah,
and he said, you guys are it.
He is the stone which was set at
naught by you builders, but he has become
the head of the corner.
And neither is there salvation in any other.
Oh, that's heresy in the Jewish language.
To them, there was salvation through the sacrifices
that they were offering.
And today with them, there is salvation through
the good works that they do.
But Peter boldly proclaimed to them, neither is
there salvation in any other.
Take note of that.
In a day when there is tremendous pressure
for us to become more liberal in our
thinking, when we are accused of being narrow
and bigoted, the Bible declares, neither is there
salvation in any other.
You cannot be saved by chanting the um
while meditating on your navel.
It just won't do it.
Oh, now doesn't that sound narrow and bigoted?
Because think how sincere that person is who
is out there going, oh.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for
there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved.
The divine imperative, the must.
There's no other way by which we must
be saved.
Jesus is the way.
He said, straight is the gate, narrow is
the way that leads to eternal life.
Strive to enter in at the straight gate.
When people say, oh, you're too narrow, Smith.
I think, all right, I'm on the right
path.
Oh, you need to be on the broad
path.
You need to, you know, be more liberal,
accept other religions and other, you know, faiths
and all.
Neither is there salvation in any other.
Now when they saw the boldness, and hey,
Peter was bold, wasn't he?
This is the same crowd that he was
standing outside when Jesus was facing them, and
he was standing outside warming himself when the
maiden said, aren't you one of his disciples?
He said, no, not me.
You've made a mistake, lady.
Oh, I'm sure you're one of his.
I think I've seen you with him.
No, no, no.
Not me.
And those soldiers said, oh, yes, you are
one of his.
You're a Galilean.
You've got the accent.
He began to swear and curse and say,
I don't know the man.
What a different man.
How can you account for the difference?
It's accounted for.
It's right there in the Scripture.
But Peter filled with the Holy Spirit.
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you, and you will be witnesses
unto me.
And here is Peter being a witness unto
the power of Jesus Christ before the Sanhedrin
and the whole crew, all of the rulers,
the elders of Israel.
And Peter is boldly declaring to them that
they made a terrible mistake.
They crucified the Lord of Glory.
They are the builders, prophesied, who said it
not.
The chief cornerstone.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter
and John, and they perceived that they were
unlearned and ignorant men.
Now this is the first many times the
outsiders have a misconception of the Christian.
And here we find, I think, two or
three misconceptions.
They perceived.
Their perception was wrong.
But they perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men.
They did not have their degrees from the
Hebrew University.
But they were far from unlearned and ignorant
men.
They had had three years of private tutoring
by the greatest master who ever lived.
Far from being ignorant and unlearned, they were
probably the most scholarly of the whole group.
They knew the Scriptures so well.
They had such a vast comprehension of the
Word of God.
So that was a first misconception.
But they marveled.
And they took knowledge of them that they
had been with Jesus.
This is the second misconception.
Because they put their relationship with Jesus in
the past tense.
What they didn't know is that Jesus was
standing right beside them prompting them what to
say.
Jesus said, where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there I am in
the midst of them.
Jesus had said, they're going to bring you
before the councils.
Don't take any forethought what you're going to
say.
But in that hour, the Spirit will give
you the words to say.
Jesus said, go into all the world, preach
the gospel to every creature, and lo, I
am with you always.
And to think that they had been with
Jesus was wrong.
They were walking with Jesus into the temple
when they were walking in to pray.
The presence of the Lord was with them
throughout their life even as the presence of
the Lord is with us and He is
there for us to call upon Him at
any time when we're in trouble or when
we need help.
In the name of Jesus, the power of
that name is just as effective today as
it was in that day.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever.
And so the second misconception that they had
been with Jesus, they were with Jesus at
that moment.
But this I like.
Beholding the lame man which was healed standing
with Him, they could say nothing against Him.
What can you say?
Here's this guy, his legs are straight, he's
standing up there and he's smiling.
And he's standing.
What can you say?
You can't say anything against it.
Here is evidence that you can't deny.
You can't deny the power of the name
of Jesus when this guy is standing there
just smiling so big and you know the
condition that he was in all of his
life.
What the church needs today is more lame
men standing whole in its midst.
That's the kind of evidence that cannot be
denied.
And thank God for that evidence here.
So many of you were so lame as
the result of your sins.
Messed up with drugs, with alcoholism, with sex,
and you were living such a lame life
that having come to Jesus Christ, He washed
away all of the crud and the filth
of the past, and now you stand with
the children of God whole.
And people who used to know you as
you were see you as they are now,
and they can't say anything because of the
dramatic change that is quite obvious.
You're standing there whole.
What can you say?
It works.
What can you say against it?
There's nothing you can say when you see
the lame standing whole.
There's nothing that can be said against it.
That is always the most powerful witness that
the church can have.
Lame men standing whole in the midst of
it.
And all of us who were so lame
at one time now made whole through the
power of Jesus Christ.
How glorious.
But when they had commanded them to go
outside of the council, they conferred among themselves.
And they said, what shall we do to
these men?
For that a notable miracle has been done
by them is manifest to everyone who dwells
in Jerusalem.
We can't deny it.
We can't say, no, the man isn't walking.
Everybody in town knows what's happened now.
We can't deny the miracle.
What are we going to do?
What can we do to these fellows to
keep it from spreading any further?
And so they said, in order that it
not spread any further among the people, let
us strictly threaten them that they speak from
now on to no man in this name.
They're not to make mention of this name
again.
Now this is the third mistake that they
made.
Thinking that by threat they could shut them
up.
Could stop their witnessing by threats or by
beatings.
That was the third mistake they made.
But Peter and John answered and said unto
them, whether it is right in the sight
of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God, you're going to have to judge
for yourselves.
You know, whether or not you're going to
listen to God or listen to man, that's
something you've got to judge for yourself.
But as for us, we cannot but speak
the things which we have seen and heard.
So they threatened them, now don't speak any
more in this name.
And he said, hey, whether it's right for
us in the sight of God to hearken
to you or to God, you know, whether
a man should listen to God or man,
that's something every man is to judge for
himself.
But we know for us, we've got to
listen to God.
We've got to obey God.
We must obey God rather than men.
We cannot but speak the things which we
have seen and heard.
There is a time when as a child
of God, if the laws of the land
should be at variance with the law of
God, as a child of God, I must
hearken to God rather than to man.
And God's law over my life and God's
word over my life is supreme.
I am deeply concerned with the apparent government's
infringement upon our liberties.
I am deeply concerned when the government padlocks
a church in Nebraska because the pastor feels
a religious conviction not to register his school
with the state.
That bothers me.
You say, well, the pastor was wrong.
Maybe.
But yet when the state begins to exercise
authority and power over a man's genuine religious
convictions, that is a dangerous trend.
And I am deeply concerned with that movement
on foot among the humanist within the government
to silence the voice of the church.
The humanist, who so many of them are
editors in the magazines and newspapers who are
speaking against the freedom that the church has
enjoyed from the state's intrusion into its activities.
A recent editorial in the San Antonio Register
was aimed against the church's receiving tax-exempt
status for the properties where the people worship.
That editorial bothered me because it made an
assertion that by being tax-exempt, we were
really being supported by the government.
That's idiocy.
The church is doing a tremendous welfare work
among its people.
If the church wasn't doing that work, it
would then become the burden of the government.
Many of you people were a burden on
the government until your lives were transformed by
Jesus Christ.
The government is making much more off the
church than it would make in taxes of
the church's properties.
Now, I do agree that if a church
is engaged in businesses or if the church
has properties that are used for something other
than the worship of God, that if they
are used for commercial purposes and all, I
do agree that these properties should be taxed.
I think that's only right.
But to tax the church properties that are
used completely for that worship of God, I
feel to be wrong and an infringement.
And there is that movement on foot today
to take away all tax exemption from the
church as far as their properties are concerned.
I feel that's dangerous.
And should the day come, if the government
continues its trend towards this endeavor to control
the activities of church by government rules and
regulations, then I'll be singing, Daddy, get your
baby out of jail.
Daddy, won't you please go on my bail?
And I'll be calling Vernon and saying, Hey,
I need your help.
Whether it is right in your eyes to
obey God or man, you're going to have
to judge for yourself.
But we cannot but speak the things which
we have seen and heard.
There was a time when the prophet Jeremiah
got upset with God because he was thrown
in jail for giving God's message.
God said, go down and give him this
message.
He went down and gave him the message
and they threw him in jail.
And he said, that's some way for you
to treat your servant.
I go down and do what you tell
me to do.
And now you let them throw me in
jail.
I'm through.
I resign.
Here's my resignation.
I'm not going to speak any more in
your name.
I've had it.
And then he said, But the word of
God was in my bones like a burning
fire and I could not but speak.
That's what Peter is saying.
Hey, it's something that's burning in me.
I can't stop speaking the things which I
have seen and the things which I have
heard.
And so when they had further threatened them,
they let them go, finding nothing how they
might punish them because of the people.
For all of the people were glorifying God
for that which was done.
Oh, isn't that interesting?
All the people were glorifying who?
Not Peter, not John.
They were all glorifying God.
Let your light so shine before men that
when they see your good works, they will
glorify your father, which is in heaven.
You know, you can do your work so
that men are glorifying you.
Draw attention to yourself.
But all the people were glorifying God for
what was done.
For the man was over 40 years old
on whom the miracle of healing was showed.
And so being let go, they went to
their own company.
Now they've been in this hostile environment and
so they retreat to that friendly environment of
their own company, the church.
And they reported to them what the chief
priests and elders had said unto them.
And when they heard that, that is the
church, they lifted up their voice to God
with one accord and they said, and notice
now their prayer.
And this, to me, is a excellent model
for prayer.
I think that a excellent study for a
person to make is to study the prayers
in the Bible.
I think you'll find them extremely fascinating.
Study the form.
Study the patterns.
In this prayer, they begin, Lord, thou art
God, which has made the heaven and the
earth and the sea and everything that is
in them.
First of all, the recognition of the one
that they were praying to.
Hey, Lord, you're over all.
You made everything.
So many times I think that when we
go to God, we're not aware of the
greatness and the vastness of God.
We're too aware of our problem.
And we rush right in and our problem
is so large and so big.
Oh, God, I don't know what we're going
to do.
We're about to go down, God.
We're about to go under, Lord.
Because my eyes are on my problem.
And I've lost the perspective.
I don't see the vastness of God.
The first thing in prayer is to take
some time and just meditation in the vastness
of the God that you are talking to.
Imagine, I am sitting down to talk with
the creator of the universe.
Thou has created the heavens, the earth, everything
that is in them.
And if I will start off with that
quiet consciousness of the greatness and the vastness
of God, I'll find that my prayers don't
take on that desperate ring so much.
I only get desperate when I lose sight
of God.
When my problems seem so large that they
block my vision of God.
Because I've lost perspective.
And so, it's a good way to begin
your prayer very slowly, remembering who it is
you're talking to.
Oh Lord, Thou art God.
You've created the heaven and the earth and
everything that is in them.
The second thing, still in recognition of God.
Who by the mouth of Your servant David
has said, Why did the heathen rage and
the people imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up and
the rulers were gathered together against the Lord
and against His Messiah.
For of a truth against Your holy child
Jesus, whom You have anointed, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together.
Lord, You know everything that is happening.
These things didn't take You by surprise.
You spoke about these things before they took
place.
Lord, You're perfectly aware of all of the
circumstances that surround my life.
That to me is comforting to know.
God, who is my heavenly Father, created the
universe and He is completely aware of all
of those circumstances that I face and that
surround my life.
He has spoken in advance of these things.
Lord, this has not caught You by surprise.
You spoke of these things by Your mouth
of David and just as You said, it
has happened.
For they have gathered together to do whatever
Your hand and Your counsel determined before to
be done.
God, You're in control.
You are the one that determined these things
that were to be done.
You were in control.
And that is again a glorious, comforting thought.
God is in control of my life.
God is in control of the circumstances that
surround my life.
We panic because we think that it's out
of control.
Not so.
God is in control of those circumstances surrounding
your life tonight.
And now, Lord...
Notice, they didn't jump right into their request.
They spent a little time in their prayer
just assuring their hearts as they spoke of
God, His greatness, His power, His wisdom, His
sovereignty.
And now, Lord, we get to the request.
Behold their threatenings.
Look at the way they just threatened us.
And grant unto Thy servants that with all
boldness we may speak Your Word.
Now, they've just been told not to speak
anymore.
We're going to really get you if you
speak again in His name.
And what are they praying for?
Power to do exactly what they were warned
not to do.
Don't let us shut up just because of
their threats, Lord.
Don't let us be cowed by their threats.
Don't let us keep quiet just because we've
been threatened on this.
But give us all boldness that we might
speak Your Word by stretching forth Your hand
to heal, and that signs and wonders may
be done by the name of Thy holy
child, Jesus.
And when they had prayed, the place was
shaken where they were assembled together, and they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and
they spake the Word of God with boldness.
Quick answer to prayer.
The place was shaken, and they spoke the
Word with boldness.
Years ago when I was in Bible college,
I'd been studying this particular verse, and I
was impressed by it.
The power of prayer.
That the place was shaken where they were
praying.
My, that's marvelous.
I underlined it, and I spent the evening
meditating on that, just thinking of the tremendous
power of these fellows' prayer.
So it happened at that time I was
a student body at the college, a student
body president at the college, and it was
my duty to have charge of the morning
prayer meeting, and to close the morning prayer
meeting and send the students to class.
And there was a pulpit somewhat like this.
And so as I called the students for
the final prayer before we went to class
and was leading them in prayer, suddenly I
felt the pulpit beginning to rock like this.
And my first impression was is someone getting
blessed on the other side, you know?
And I sort of peeked over the top
to see if there was someone pushing the
pulpit from the other side, and there was
no one there.
And then peripherally I saw that everybody was
looking around wide-eyed, and the whole place
was shaking.
Earthquake.
And I thought, my, what an interesting coincidence.
Right after I'd studied this the night before,
probably the Spirit brought it to my attention
just to prepare me so I didn't panic
in an earthquake.
But it was quite an interesting experience where
as I prayed, the place was shaking.
Now, I don't think it was the power
of my prayer at all.
But it's just one of those interesting coincidences.
And if you live in California very long,
you're apt to have one of those earth
-shaking experiences.
Now, the multitude of them that believed were
of one heart, of one soul, one mind.
Neither did any of them say that the
things that they owned were their own, but
they shared everything.
And with great power, the apostles gave witness
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
With great power.
That is, through the signs and the wonders
and the healings and all.
They gave witness of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus.
And great grace was upon them all.
God's glorious grace.
Yet, in view of this verse, the beginning
of our next chapter is quite interesting.
For though great grace was upon them all,
yet there was that powerful, righteous judgment of
God in their midst also.
As does testify the case of Ananias and
Sapphira, which we'll get into the first thing
next week.
But great grace was upon them all.
Neither was there any among them who lacked.
For as many as were possessors of lands
or houses sold them and brought in the
prices of the things that were sold, and
they laid them down at the apostles' feet.
And distribution was made to every man according
to as he had need.
And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed
Barnabas, which is being interpreted as the son
of consolation.
Beautiful name, Barnabas.
No doubt because of his characteristics and that
it's borne out as we continue in the
book of Acts and we read more about
Barnabas.
He was the son of consolation.
He was just a great mediator.
A Levite, that is, he was of the
tribe of the priest, and of the country
of Cyprus.
Having land, he sold it and brought the
money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Now, in a sense, this was an attempt
in the early church for a form of
communism.
That is, a sharing together of their assets.
Seeking to sort of divide among themselves the
assets of the entire body.
It should be noted that it was a
failure.
That in time, the early church in Jerusalem
became broke and destitute.
And Paul the Apostle went among the Gentile
churches taking up an offering for the poor
brethren in Jerusalem.
And then Paul later writes about the work
ethic.
If a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat.
There are some among you who are acting
disorderly.
They're not working.
They're trying to live off the body.
Parasites.
Don't support them.
If they don't work, then don't feed them.
Let every man work, laboring with his own
hands in order that he might provide those
things which are honest.
So, this was a move that was motivated
by love.
It was very commendable.
And I don't fault them for what they
were doing.
I think it was a marvelous, commendable, beautiful
thing that was happening.
As they sought for equality among the brethren.
But unfortunately, it didn't work.
And it ended up disastrously.
Though the motive behind it was right and
all.
Yet, God has declared that man shall earn
his bread by the sweat of his brow.
And we can't just, you know, say, well,
we're not going to work anymore.
We're just going to serve the Lord and
get holy and righteous.
And God is going to take care of
us.
And God will feed us.
God will provide for us.
We don't have to work.
We can just trust in God after all.
Our Father feeds the birds and He'll feed
us.
No, the Bible doesn't teach that kind of
haphazard living.
Jesus said, occupy till I come.
Let every man work, laboring with his own
hands.
So, it was beautiful.
The motivation was correct.
A glorious thing that they endeavored to do.
It did have its problems, as we will
find out next week, with Ananias and Sapphira.
But yet, in spite of that, I look
at the motive of the people's hearts and
I say, hey, that's neat.
I love it.
Certainly, their hearts were right in this thing.
So, we stand.
Now, may the Lord be with you and
watch over and keep you in His love.
And may you have that Word of God
so burning in your heart that you with
the Apostles cannot but speak the things which
you have seen and heard.
That's the true kind of a witness.
Hey, that's just my life.
It's not something I do.
It's something I am.
Witnessing for Jesus is the most natural thing
in the world.
It isn't programmed.
It isn't a little packed formula that I
have learned.
It's just something I am.
I cannot but speak the things which I
have seen and heard.
May you just bear witness of His love
and of His grace.
So, the Lord be with you.
Give you a beautiful week.
Look forward to that opportunity that God grants
to us to gather together again in the
name of Jesus and just study His Word
and learn of Him and grow together in
our love for Him and with each other.
In Jesus' name.