Jan. 22, 2025

Faith's Resilience Against Worldly Powers - (Enmity with the Seed– Part 2 - From Daniel to Jesus), Episode 29a

Faith's Resilience Against Worldly Powers - (Enmity with the Seed– Part 2 - From Daniel to Jesus), Episode 29a

Send us a text What if the forces of darkness could never truly thwart a divine plan? Join us as we uncover the profound narrative of God's infinite power over evil, highlighting the relentless yet unsuccessful efforts to halt Jesus' mission. From the orchestrated actions of Pilate and Herod to the pivotal roles of biblical figures like Moses and Joshua, we offer reassurance of divine control, especially in a world filled with uncertainty. Our conversation brings to light the spiritual battle...

Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon

Send us a text

What if the forces of darkness could never truly thwart a divine plan? Join us as we uncover the profound narrative of God's infinite power over evil, highlighting the relentless yet unsuccessful efforts to halt Jesus' mission. From the orchestrated actions of Pilate and Herod to the pivotal roles of biblical figures like Moses and Joshua, we offer reassurance of divine control, especially in a world filled with uncertainty. Our conversation brings to light the spiritual battles faced by early Christians after Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit empowered disciples to spread the gospel, even as persecution intensified. Witness the unyielding faith of believers who, despite facing imprisonment or death, stood firmly for their faith, reflecting the ongoing struggle against forces seeking to destroy followers of Jesus.

In a stunning exploration of biblical obedience, we delve into the transformative story of Ananias and Saul, illustrating the power of spiritual practice and revelation. Understand how Ananias' obedience led to Saul's conversion and the significant role each played in the early church's development. Their story emphasizes the necessity of acting on divine directives to gain further spiritual insight, a lesson that resonates with believers today. Meanwhile, the accounts of early Christian leaders like Peter, James, Paul, and Silas reveal their unwavering dedication amidst adversity. Stories of miraculous escapes and divine interventions highlight the futility of human efforts to oppose God, showcasing how challenges only serve to illuminate His ultimate power and purpose.

Discover the mature leadership within the early church, exemplified by Antioch's structured community and its influential five-fold ministry. We trace the missionary journeys led by Paul and Barnabas, which laid the foundation for significant Christian communities across regions, while underscoring the importance of divine guidance in fulfilling one's calling. Lastly, the messages to the seven churches in Asia offer profound insights into faith's enduring power. Celebrate the triumph of the divine word, as the symbolic imagery of Jesus underscores His authority and the victorious spread of the New Testament message. Together, these stories affirm the sovereignty of God over any earthly power, inviting us all to stand resolute in our faith.

00:00 - God's Infinite Power Over Evil

09:56 - Rise of Persecution and Redemption

20:35 - Ananias Obeys God's Revelation for Saul

35:12 - God's Protection in Persecution

41:14 - God's Divine Intervention and Church Expansion

49:57 - Antioch Church's Mature Leadership and Destiny

01:04:20 - Letters to Seven Churches in Asia

WEBVTT

00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:03.250
Blessed be the name of the Lord, hallelujah.

00:00:03.250 --> 00:00:35.372
Last few times we were together, we've been talking about how, when Jesus appeared on the earth, there was a series of events that illustrate how the forces of evil forces of evil, specifically, the spirit of Antichrist kept trying, as Jesus was identified, to exterminate the seed before the seed could achieve its purpose.

00:00:35.372 --> 00:00:45.195
Because, going back to Genesis, everybody knew that the seed was going to crush Satan's head.

00:00:45.195 --> 00:00:54.530
God said it, said it in the presence of several witnesses and everybody on the enemy's side knew it.

00:00:54.530 --> 00:01:09.415
But they thought if they could wipe out the seed, wipe out the bloodline, exterminate this bloodline of God, then they could have the field to themselves.

00:01:09.415 --> 00:01:13.480
Obviously that didn't work, but they kept on trying.

00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:40.394
We saw how that happened at Jesus' birth, how it happened at when Jesus first appeared to preach in Nazareth and they tried to throw him off the cliff at the city during the storm on the Sea of Galilee.

00:01:40.394 --> 00:01:42.721
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:01:42.721 --> 00:01:43.341
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:01:43.442 --> 00:01:57.125
And finally, at the cross and the crucifixion and all of the things that that Pilate, being the representative of Caesar, did, this did to Jesus, and none of it worked.

00:01:57.125 --> 00:02:05.433
None of it worked and Jesus went ahead because, quite simply, as we said, they couldn't kill Jesus.

00:02:05.433 --> 00:02:11.932
You know it's always been a big deal about who killed Jesus, the Jews or the Romans.

00:02:11.932 --> 00:02:17.606
Well, the fact of the matter is that neither killed him, they couldn't kill him.

00:02:17.606 --> 00:02:23.712
He had to lay his life down so that he could pick it back up again.

00:02:23.712 --> 00:02:26.242
That was a commandment he received from God.

00:02:26.242 --> 00:02:42.081
So they could as much as they might have tried and they did try, tried several times to kill him, but they couldn't kill him because he had to lay his life down and there was a specific time, a specific order of things that had to be done.

00:02:42.081 --> 00:03:01.552
Peter quoted that that in Acts, the fourth chapter, when he said for truly, your holy servant, jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius, pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever.

00:03:01.552 --> 00:03:02.896
And you think what might follow?

00:03:02.896 --> 00:03:04.093
Whatever they wanted to do, but that's not what it says.

00:03:04.093 --> 00:03:06.145
It says to do whatever and you think what might follow whatever they wanted to do, but that's not what it says.

00:03:06.145 --> 00:03:12.614
It says to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined beforehand to be done.

00:03:12.614 --> 00:03:29.052
So all of these forces Pilate, herod, high priest, the Romans, people of Israel, gentiles, jews were all raised up against Jesus.

00:03:29.052 --> 00:03:39.555
And yet all of them in one group were being controlled by God so that they did exactly what God wanted done.

00:03:39.555 --> 00:03:42.710
That ought to be some consolation to somebody.

00:03:42.710 --> 00:03:49.331
That ought to be some consolation to somebody If you're feeling particularly worried about how things are going on in the earth today.

00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:58.453
Jesus was not worried when it came time for Peter to be executed in Acts, chapter 12, peter was not worried, he was sleeping.

00:03:58.453 --> 00:04:01.870
Jesus was not worried in the boat, he was sleeping.

00:04:01.870 --> 00:04:06.681
Jesus wasn't worried in the crowd at Nazareth, worried in the boat, he was sleeping.

00:04:06.681 --> 00:04:20.230
Jesus wasn't worried in the crowd at Nazareth, he just passed through because he knew that God was in control of the kingdoms of the earth and he was going to manipulate them or move them in a way that would serve his purposes.

00:04:20.230 --> 00:04:27.560
Praise God, hallelujah, moses.

00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:28.000
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:04:28.021 --> 00:04:39.127
We only I'm going to just insert that and I'm going to get to the point we only worry and concern ourselves about things like this when we don't realize and we don't have a really good revelation of how great God is.

00:04:39.127 --> 00:05:10.187
You know, if you've, if you have, if you in any way diminish the ability of God versus the ability of the enemy, and you kind of you know, if you see it like this and somehow your estimation makes it seem more you know, kind of like this, or even down to here, you are grossly underestimating the fact that God is creator God and they are not and they were all created by God.

00:05:10.187 --> 00:05:32.310
So if you think about that that these entities that have put themselves against God and to fight against Him and put all of their energy to be against God, that doesn't bother God at all because he's infinitely greater than that.

00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:42.766
You can take all of their power and all of their cunning and all of their scheming and all of their plotting, and if you think that God doesn't know all of it, you don't know who he is.

00:05:42.766 --> 00:05:52.432
If you don't think that he knows all of their plans and all of their intents and has known them forever, then you don't know Him.

00:05:52.432 --> 00:06:02.194
He is infinitely and eternally more greater, in more dimensions than they can possibly imagine.

00:06:02.194 --> 00:06:05.266
And why they set themselves against Him?

00:06:05.266 --> 00:06:15.005
The way they do, is baffling, because they have to have seen over the eons of time that they can never fool him, they can never trick him.

00:06:15.005 --> 00:06:17.548
He always sees their plans coming.

00:06:17.548 --> 00:06:21.550
He always is a million steps ahead of him.

00:06:21.550 --> 00:06:29.944
He always raises up somebody that can't be fooled over to god, hallelujah.

00:06:29.944 --> 00:06:41.033
I mean, when he thought he had the seed captive in egypt, here comes moses and his brother, aaron, may have been able to be swayed, but moses couldn't be moved.

00:06:41.033 --> 00:06:43.262
Wasn't anything he could do with moses?

00:06:43.262 --> 00:06:45.586
Wasn't when they think you do with Joshua?

00:06:45.586 --> 00:06:47.630
There wasn't anything you could do with David, you know.

00:06:47.630 --> 00:06:50.783
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:06:50.783 --> 00:06:53.509
I just think that's fascinating about God.

00:06:53.548 --> 00:07:09.754
Before I, one time I was preaching this, this, these, these messages are along this way, and I spent a long time before I even started talking about the infinity and eternity of God.

00:07:09.754 --> 00:07:23.245
Because what it all boils down to is you can't step into Jeremiah 33, call upon me and I will answer thee, and I will show thee great and mighty things that thou knowest.

00:07:23.245 --> 00:07:36.932
You can't step into that verse and make it your verse until you understand how infinite or you have an appreciation for how infinite and how eternal this God is.

00:07:36.932 --> 00:07:38.901
Because you won't.

00:07:38.901 --> 00:07:49.975
How can you ask for things that you don't know if you don't believe that God is infinitely and eternally able to do that?

00:07:49.975 --> 00:07:51.237
Well, you won't.

00:07:51.237 --> 00:07:53.267
You'll just keep on asking things that you know.

00:07:53.267 --> 00:07:56.288
You'll keep on asking things that you've seen him do.

00:07:56.288 --> 00:08:10.829
You'll keep on asking things that you know about Amen, instead of pushing the envelope because, well, you know, I don't know if he'll do that, I don't know if he'll, if I, and besides that, how can I pray?

00:08:10.829 --> 00:08:13.262
How can I pray for something I don't know when I don't know it?

00:08:13.262 --> 00:08:22.072
Well, you've got to have confidence that God knows it and he somehow, in in his revealing this to you, he'll make it known to you.

00:08:22.072 --> 00:08:31.615
But you've got to step into that always greater, always more eternal, always more infinite aspect of God.

00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:37.974
When you step into those kinds of realms, then what happens here is pretty small, amen.

00:08:37.974 --> 00:08:41.504
It's well within his pay grade to deal with it.

00:08:41.504 --> 00:08:50.706
And it's well within his pay grade, as the Bible says, to bring to recompense with tribulation those who trouble you.

00:08:50.706 --> 00:08:54.153
So if the devil gives you a hard time, amen.

00:08:54.153 --> 00:09:03.986
He has taken up a fight against somebody that he shouldn't take up a fight with, because God is obligated to come to your defense.

00:09:03.986 --> 00:09:10.826
So the greater one that is in you is always greater than anything that can be thrown at you.

00:09:10.826 --> 00:09:13.692
Praise God, amen.

00:09:13.692 --> 00:09:15.780
Jesus shows us this time and time again.

00:09:16.964 --> 00:09:20.530
So we're going to go today to Acts, the ninth chapter.

00:09:20.530 --> 00:09:30.152
We're going to look at a familiar story, but we're going to look at it from the point of view that Satan is still trying to exterminate the seed.

00:09:30.152 --> 00:09:40.018
He is still trying to exterminate the seed, only this time he has a bigger problem because the seed has become dispersed.

00:09:40.018 --> 00:10:05.380
Remember, I gave you the illustration last time that if you take one of those flowers or weeds like a, a, a what was the one that, like a milk, milk thistle or a milkweed pod, and you open them up and you blow on it or you let the wind blow on it and it just takes all those little fluffy white things and just kind of takes them to the wind.

00:10:05.380 --> 00:10:08.671
Well, that's what happened on Pentecost, amen.

00:10:10.524 --> 00:10:35.009
On the day that Pentecost had fully come and they were all in the, in the temple, in one place there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were seated and there appeared over them cloven tongues as a fire and they all spoke with the holy ghost as the spirit of god gave utterance and they, those 120, went out and peter started to preach.

00:10:35.009 --> 00:10:57.630
They started to get the interpretation in tongues and they but the tongues were specific languages and those languages spoke to peoples and groups that were all over the known world at that time and that day, as Peter preached out of Joel 2, amen, 3,000 people were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost.

00:10:57.630 --> 00:11:00.609
So now Satan had a bigger problem.

00:11:00.609 --> 00:11:03.328
At one point he only had one Jesus.

00:11:03.328 --> 00:11:05.532
Now he's got 3,000 of them.

00:11:05.532 --> 00:11:15.345
Within a couple of weeks he had another 5,000, then another 5,000, then the priests were being added daily and it was getting clearly out of hand.

00:11:15.345 --> 00:11:21.863
So by the time Acts 7 rolls around I know I said Acts 9, but I'm going to stop at Acts 7.

00:11:22.124 --> 00:11:30.346
While Acts seven came around, stephen comes along and Stephen begins to preach this Jesus.

00:11:30.346 --> 00:11:42.994
And they were already starting to arrest Christians that were in the way way of Christ and ministering and meeting and doing all this.

00:11:42.994 --> 00:11:44.543
They'd already started this arresting.

00:11:44.543 --> 00:11:47.191
They'd already started to torture them, punish them.

00:11:47.191 --> 00:11:58.600
And Stephen is arrested and he testifies against the Jews in his trial and he's taken out and stoned.

00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:06.639
The Bible says that Paul was a witness to this execution, amen.

00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:18.615
So it got so bad in Jerusalem that the disciples began to leave Jerusalem and go to Damascus, amen.

00:12:18.615 --> 00:12:21.488
The Bible says in chapter 9,.

00:12:22.659 --> 00:12:34.091
Then Saul, breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus.

00:12:34.091 --> 00:12:49.899
Now there's some that think and I don't have any reason not to think this but that Herod, in this time was ruling over the area of Damascus and the city of Damascus.

00:12:49.899 --> 00:13:06.532
So it's not surprising that there were these synagogues, many synagogues in Damascus, and Paul was sent to these synagogues to search out Jewish believers that had come to follow Christ.

00:13:06.532 --> 00:13:17.674
Now many had moved from Jerusalem, taken up residence in Damascus and were using Damascus as a place of refuge.

00:13:17.674 --> 00:13:19.663
We're using it as a sanctuary city.

00:13:19.663 --> 00:13:30.043
They were using it as a place that they could get away from this persecution of the Pharisees, and especially in the person of Saul.

00:13:30.104 --> 00:13:38.288
Because once Saul had the letters and was sent to Damascus, the people in Damascus knew he was coming.

00:13:38.288 --> 00:13:43.071
I mean, this wasn't a secret.

00:13:43.071 --> 00:13:45.586
He wasn't going to sneak up on them.

00:13:45.586 --> 00:13:46.489
He didn't have to.

00:13:46.489 --> 00:13:52.269
He had letters from the high priest, so he didn't have to sneak up on them.

00:13:52.269 --> 00:13:54.346
If he found them, he could arrest them.

00:13:54.346 --> 00:14:04.754
And you notice that where he was sent, he was sent to the synagogues because the people would have to have a place to worship and they would go to the synagogues.

00:14:04.754 --> 00:14:06.118
So he was just going to go into the synagogues because the people would have to have a place to worship and they would go to the synagogues.

00:14:06.118 --> 00:14:11.605
So he was just going to go into the synagogues and, if and if any of them were identified, he would just arrest them.

00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:14.787
And it was a real easy identification.

00:14:14.787 --> 00:14:16.572
Do you deny this Jesus?

00:14:16.572 --> 00:14:18.745
Do you deny he is the Messiah?

00:14:18.745 --> 00:14:21.885
I mean, that was a real simple, simple test.

00:14:21.885 --> 00:14:28.589
The ones that would deny him, they real simple, simple test, the ones that would deny him they were allowed to go.

00:14:28.589 --> 00:14:29.111
The ones that wouldn't.

00:14:29.111 --> 00:14:32.163
They got arrested and they were going to be hauled back to Jerusalem and they were going to be tried back there.

00:14:32.163 --> 00:14:33.525
That was how it worked.

00:14:33.525 --> 00:14:39.947
And he had a detachment of soldiers to aid him in the arrest and aid him in the transport of the prisoners.

00:14:39.947 --> 00:14:43.173
It was, this was how it was going to be.

00:14:43.173 --> 00:14:46.325
This was how it was going to be.

00:14:46.365 --> 00:14:52.730
So they had disappeared into Damascus to get away from the wrath of Saul and the wrath of the Pharisees.

00:14:52.730 --> 00:15:10.133
But Saul was intent, as were those that were with him, that if they found any the Bible says, if they found any who were of this way, whether men or women, they might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

00:15:10.133 --> 00:15:46.610
In other words, they were going to take them, bound out of safety, out of the safety that they had in Damascus before Paul got there, and pull them out of that safety and take them back to the slavery that was awaiting them in Jerusalem, and they were going to suffer the same fate as Stephen suffered they were going to be stoned, they were going to be in prison, their property was going to be seized, and this was happening against the whole multitude of the new believers.

00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:49.775
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:15:49.775 --> 00:16:14.712
So set this, then, in the context of what we're talking about Antichrist, having lost the battle against Jesus, is now going against, going out and trying to exterminate Jesus's bloodline and Jesus's brethren and Jesus's followers.

00:16:14.712 --> 00:16:28.341
So those that are of the way, those that are in Christ, those that are in the body, those that are baptized in the Holy Ghost, those that have received this new blood transfusion.

00:16:28.341 --> 00:16:47.313
Amen, the devil is after him, he's at and he, if he can kill every one of them, then he can accomplish the same purpose that he missed when he couldn't kill Jesus, if he can kill this movement off in its infancy, especially if he can kill the leadership.

00:16:47.313 --> 00:16:48.864
So he went after Stephen.

00:16:48.864 --> 00:16:50.409
Amen.

00:16:50.409 --> 00:16:52.567
We're going to see in a few chapters.

00:16:52.567 --> 00:16:55.679
He's going to go after Peter.

00:16:55.679 --> 00:17:02.125
He's going to go after James, the brother of John, as soon as Paul.

00:17:02.125 --> 00:17:03.831
We're going to find out.

00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:07.790
As soon as Paul began to preach Jesus, they went after him.

00:17:07.790 --> 00:17:15.453
Praise God, if they can get the leadership and they can stop this movement, they think they're going to win.

00:17:15.453 --> 00:17:20.432
Amen, hallelujah, praise God.

00:17:20.432 --> 00:17:23.484
So you know the story.

00:17:23.484 --> 00:17:37.743
Paul's on his way to Damascus and he's got the letters, and he's got the authority, and he's got the zeal, and he's got the soldiers and he's got, you know, everything he needs, right?

00:17:38.625 --> 00:18:00.390
Except that as I journeyed on the road to Damascus, that as I journeyed on the road to Damascus, at noonday the Bible says there appeared from heaven a light as blinding as the noonday sun, and I heard a voice speak from heaven saying Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me?

00:18:00.390 --> 00:18:03.249
It is hard for you to kick against the goats.

00:18:03.249 --> 00:18:06.167
And Paul said back to the voice.

00:18:06.167 --> 00:18:08.622
He said Lord, who are you?

00:18:08.622 --> 00:18:13.752
And the voice spoke back to him and said I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

00:18:13.752 --> 00:18:16.324
It's hard for you to kick against the goat.

00:18:16.324 --> 00:18:26.551
Now rise up and go into the city and I will tell you what great things you must suffer on account of my name.

00:18:27.201 --> 00:18:35.105
So Paul was immediately struck with blindness and there was something like scales that covered his eyes and he couldn't see.

00:18:35.105 --> 00:18:39.790
The Bible said he had to be helped by the men that were there.

00:18:39.790 --> 00:18:48.364
They took him into the city and started to tend to him For three days, three nights.

00:18:48.364 --> 00:18:58.032
He did not eat, did not sleep, prayed, but there was no remedy involved, but God was speaking to him.

00:18:58.032 --> 00:19:12.146
Meanwhile, god was moving on another person that lived in the city of Damascus, one of the people likely, who had moved out of Jerusalem into Damascus, a man by the name of Ananias.

00:19:12.146 --> 00:19:16.028
And God spoke to Ananias and said Ananias.

00:19:16.028 --> 00:19:17.932
And Ananias said here I am, lord.

00:19:17.932 --> 00:19:36.403
He said I want you to go to a street called Straight, find a specific house and there you will find a man named Saul who is praying, and I have told him that there's a man named Ananias that's going to come and he's going to receive his sight.

00:19:36.403 --> 00:19:43.705
I want you to go to him, I want you to minister to him because he is a chosen vessel of mine.

00:19:43.705 --> 00:19:49.381
Ananias, and rightfully so, said Lord, you know this man how.

00:19:49.381 --> 00:19:54.681
He has been given orders from Jerusalem to come and haul us off to prison.

00:19:55.462 --> 00:19:58.940
I want you to notice, if you're reading along that, that that did that.

00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:01.730
That you know that's one of those newsflash prayers.

00:20:01.730 --> 00:20:04.171
You know what a newsflash prayer is.

00:20:04.171 --> 00:20:06.642
You're trying to give God a newsflash.

00:20:06.642 --> 00:20:08.204
Don't ever do that.

00:20:08.204 --> 00:20:09.989
Don't ever pray like that.

00:20:09.989 --> 00:20:11.833
That's a pointless prayer.

00:20:11.833 --> 00:20:17.900
If you're, you're going to insult his, his great intelligence, by thinking that he doesn't know this.

00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:18.861
You know.

00:20:18.861 --> 00:20:24.605
Now, if you want to, if you want to pray along those lines, say Lord, what am I going to do with this?

00:20:24.605 --> 00:20:28.910
Because you know this guy was sent to kill us.

00:20:28.910 --> 00:20:30.590
So what are we going to do about that?

00:20:30.590 --> 00:20:33.013
Not like do you know that?

00:20:33.013 --> 00:20:33.913
You know?

00:20:33.913 --> 00:20:36.036
Yes, he knows, don't worry about it.

00:20:36.036 --> 00:20:40.320
He knows, praise God.

00:20:40.340 --> 00:20:45.083
Now, what I like about that part of the story is that God didn't even pay attention to him.

00:20:45.083 --> 00:20:57.811
He just told Ananias go, go, go, do what I've told you to do Go to this house, go to this man, lay hands on him and he'll receive his sight.

00:20:57.811 --> 00:21:13.625
So verse 17 says and Ananias went on his way and he entered the house and, laying hands on him, he said Brother Saul, now, at this point, now, this is what I talk about this a lot.

00:21:13.625 --> 00:21:15.326
At this point.

00:21:15.326 --> 00:21:15.967
I talk about this a lot.

00:21:15.967 --> 00:21:24.977
If you don't obey what God tells you to do, you'll never get more information about what he wants you to do.

00:21:24.977 --> 00:21:37.210
I'm going to say that again If you don't obey God and what he tells you to do, you won't get any more information concerning that thing that he's told you to do.

00:21:37.210 --> 00:21:39.915
You're just gonna be stuck in a place of disobedience.

00:21:39.915 --> 00:21:43.030
You just haven't obeyed him, so why should you expect more?

00:21:43.070 --> 00:21:49.534
I've seen people all all throughout my ministry that you know they want a word from God.

00:21:49.534 --> 00:21:50.557
Give me a word from God.

00:21:50.557 --> 00:21:52.627
I said well, what was the last thing he told you to do?

00:21:52.627 --> 00:21:57.717
Well, five years ago he told me to do thus and thus I said are you doing it?

00:21:57.717 --> 00:22:01.833
No, so well, he's not going to tell you anything different.

00:22:01.833 --> 00:22:09.954
If you want to hear the same thing again, he'll probably speak and say that, but since God doesn't stutter, he may not.

00:22:09.954 --> 00:22:18.990
You may just need to obey what he told you to do before you can expect to hear something else.

00:22:18.990 --> 00:22:21.955
Well, you can just about imagine how much people like to hear that.

00:22:21.955 --> 00:22:24.740
That would be zero.

00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:26.426
They just get mad.

00:22:26.426 --> 00:22:28.970
Well, I want a fresh word from God.

00:22:28.970 --> 00:22:31.294
Well, the word's still fresh.

00:22:31.294 --> 00:22:32.394
You haven't obeyed it yet.

00:22:32.394 --> 00:22:34.959
You haven't worn it out yet.

00:22:34.959 --> 00:22:38.008
Glory to god, praise the lord.

00:22:38.008 --> 00:22:46.150
But since ananias obeyed god, I want I'm going to point out some things that god never told him.

00:22:47.271 --> 00:22:57.846
But by the time he got to, to where saul was staying amen he had received more revelation about what it was that God wanted him to do.

00:22:57.846 --> 00:23:03.536
Because when he left the house, amen, saul was an enemy.

00:23:03.536 --> 00:23:07.487
By the time he got to the house, saul was a brother.

00:23:07.487 --> 00:23:18.451
So he got the idea, he got the revelation as he walked to the house that God was not only going to save him but had already saved him.

00:23:18.451 --> 00:23:19.796
So how did Paul get saved?

00:23:19.796 --> 00:23:22.384
He got saved because he said yes to the Lord.

00:23:22.384 --> 00:23:25.830
He said what would you have me do, lord?

00:23:25.830 --> 00:23:28.695
I don't know how much clearer yes gets.

00:23:28.695 --> 00:23:30.479
What would you have me do?

00:23:30.479 --> 00:23:33.571
He said go to this place and do this.

00:23:33.571 --> 00:23:34.354
And he did that.

00:23:34.354 --> 00:23:36.711
That's the beginning of Paul's salvation.

00:23:36.711 --> 00:23:38.375
Amen.

00:23:39.164 --> 00:23:48.173
So much so that as Ananias walked on the way to meet Saul, amen, god, let him know he's already saved.

00:23:48.173 --> 00:23:50.069
You don't have to deal with that part.

00:23:50.069 --> 00:23:52.529
Okay, so here we go.

00:23:52.529 --> 00:24:03.116
He laid hands on him, he was told to do that and he called him brother and he said jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came.

00:24:03.116 --> 00:24:05.046
Now god never said anything about that.

00:24:05.907 --> 00:24:14.200
Back at the house where ananias was, god never said anything about Jesus appearing on the road to Paul or Saul.

00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:23.900
But now Saul knows this and he's telling Paul this because he wants him to know that he is sent by God.

00:24:23.900 --> 00:24:26.528
Okay, there's no way.

00:24:26.528 --> 00:24:28.434
There's no way Ananias would have known this.

00:24:28.434 --> 00:24:33.965
There is absolutely no way that Ananias would have known this if the Lord hadn't told him.

00:24:33.965 --> 00:24:36.608
So he tells Saul.

00:24:36.608 --> 00:24:45.820
He said, brother Saul, jesus, who appeared on to you and on the road as you came, has sent me here that you may receive your sight.

00:24:45.820 --> 00:24:49.189
Now God told him to do that.

00:24:49.189 --> 00:24:57.567
God told him lay hands on him and he'll receive his sight, but here's more, here's more revelation, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

00:24:57.567 --> 00:24:59.309
So here's what came.

00:24:59.309 --> 00:25:01.094
Here's what came to Ananias.

00:25:01.094 --> 00:25:03.479
I'm going someplace with all this.

00:25:04.045 --> 00:25:09.476
Here's what came to Ananias as he went on the road to the house where Saul was.

00:25:09.476 --> 00:25:11.928
He found out that Saul was saved.

00:25:11.928 --> 00:25:29.719
He found out that Jesus appeared to him on the road and he found out that, as he laid hands on him to receive his sight, he was going to be filled with the Holy Ghost when he did all this and obeyed God, something like scales fell off of Paul's eyes.

00:25:29.719 --> 00:25:36.785
You've heard me preach on this before eyes.

00:25:36.785 --> 00:25:37.686
You've heard me preach on this before.

00:25:37.686 --> 00:25:45.200
Those scales were the veil of the Old Testament that was welded onto the eyes of his understanding, and only in Christ could they be taken off.

00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:46.226
Amen.

00:25:46.645 --> 00:25:55.662
Paul was never going to have a revelation of the Christ as long as he was seeing him through the filter of the Old Testament.

00:25:55.662 --> 00:25:58.686
That filter, those scales.

00:25:58.686 --> 00:26:06.099
Paul was so immersed in the law that that veil became like scales on his eyes.

00:26:06.099 --> 00:26:16.599
And as Ananias prayed for him, those scales came off and he could begin to see clearly that Jesus is the Messiah.

00:26:16.599 --> 00:26:23.028
He knew on the road that Jesus was Lord, but he he received.

00:26:23.028 --> 00:26:33.179
When he received the Holy ghost and the scales of the law came off of his eyes and the veil of his understanding was open Amen.

00:26:33.179 --> 00:26:44.528
He understood that this Jesus is the Messiah because the very next day he goes to the synagogue and he starts to preach that Jesus is the Christ, he's the Son of God and he's the Christ.

00:26:44.528 --> 00:26:47.453
And that came from the scales coming off.

00:26:47.453 --> 00:26:52.332
He received his sight at once and he arose and was baptized.

00:26:52.372 --> 00:27:12.836
So here's one of those cases that we've talked about numerous times, where everything intersects Salvation comes, healing comes, baptism in water comes, baptism in the Holy Ghost comes, blood transfusion comes, a new creation comes.

00:27:12.836 --> 00:27:19.532
All of this comes at one point, one time, and this is the model that the New Testament teaches.

00:27:19.532 --> 00:27:36.098
It doesn't teach the model that is the modern mode, where you get saved and then, as soon as we can get it conveniently scheduled, we'll get you scheduled for a baptism and in the meantime we'll send you to the new believers class.

00:27:36.098 --> 00:27:41.468
And you know well, you know, you'll just get baptized in the Holy Ghost If we believe in it.

00:27:41.468 --> 00:27:48.615
If we don't believe in it, that's never going to happen, but if we believe in it, it's just going to happen whenever the Holy Ghost wants it to happen.

00:27:48.615 --> 00:27:49.749
Because that's how it happens.

00:27:49.749 --> 00:27:56.355
You know, and never mind what the Bible says, never, nevermind that.

00:27:56.576 --> 00:27:59.068
Here we are in Acts, chapter nine, and it happens to Paul.

00:27:59.068 --> 00:28:01.214
Well, you know that was Paul Well.

00:28:01.214 --> 00:28:03.406
Turn the chapter Acts, chapter 10,.

00:28:03.406 --> 00:28:06.436
It happens to Cornelius, and he's a Gentile.

00:28:06.436 --> 00:28:10.667
Only he got baptized in the Holy Ghost before he got baptized in water.

00:28:10.667 --> 00:28:11.830
Same way, paul.

00:28:11.830 --> 00:28:13.113
Go figure that out.

00:28:13.113 --> 00:28:16.339
Glory to God, hallelujah.

00:28:16.339 --> 00:28:26.167
If we ever got back to these kind of principles, we'd have churches that were nothing but houses of miracles and power.

00:28:26.167 --> 00:28:30.548
So anyway, as he received his sight, at once he arose.

00:28:30.548 --> 00:28:36.635
He was baptized and verse 19 says, when he had received food he was strengthened.

00:28:37.704 --> 00:28:53.224
And then Paul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus and immediately he preached the Christ, the Messiah, the sent one in the synagogues that he is the son of God, hallelujah.

00:28:53.224 --> 00:29:15.740
Now the point of all this, why I took a little time going through this is simply this the believers in Damascus, when they went to Damascus and this is shown in the ministry, in the life of Saul is that they were hidden in the Holy Ghost.

00:29:15.740 --> 00:29:25.548
Remember, all through this thing, we've talked about different ways that God hides believers, starting with Jesus.

00:29:25.548 --> 00:29:30.398
He hid Jesus, the newborn child, in Egypt.

00:29:30.398 --> 00:29:42.986
Then he called him out of Egypt in Egypt.

00:29:42.986 --> 00:29:45.169
Then he called him out of Egypt In Nazareth.

00:29:45.169 --> 00:29:46.971
He hid him in the crowd.

00:29:46.971 --> 00:29:50.316
He hid him by being invisible to wrath and intent to do harm.

00:29:50.316 --> 00:29:51.277
Amen In the sea.

00:29:51.277 --> 00:29:58.009
He was hidden from natural disasters In Calvary.

00:29:58.009 --> 00:30:02.298
He was hidden in his own death and he was hidden in the earth.

00:30:02.298 --> 00:30:08.038
But once the Holy Ghost had been given at the day of Pentecost, amen.

00:30:08.038 --> 00:30:13.517
Paul illustrates that the believers were now being hidden in the Holy Ghost.

00:30:13.517 --> 00:30:14.869
Praise God.

00:30:14.869 --> 00:30:22.048
So they all got together when the governor of Damascus made a decision to arrest Paul.

00:30:22.048 --> 00:30:32.675
The disciples gathered together by the unction of the Holy Ghost and they put Saul in a basket and lowered him down the wall of Damascus and off he goes.

00:30:32.675 --> 00:30:36.148
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:30:36.909 --> 00:30:38.490
Let's look at what happens next.

00:30:38.490 --> 00:30:41.315
We're going to go to Acts, chapter 12.

00:30:41.315 --> 00:30:45.118
Acts, chapter 12, we're still going at it.

00:30:45.118 --> 00:30:46.240
Amen.

00:30:46.240 --> 00:31:03.528
Herod the king decides in Acts chapter 12 that now, since we've lost this momentum that Paul had in killing Christians, I'm going to take it upon myself.

00:31:03.528 --> 00:31:08.116
So he decides he's going to do his own executions.

00:31:08.116 --> 00:31:15.727
So Acts, chapter 12, verse 1 says now about the time that Herod the King stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.

00:31:15.727 --> 00:31:20.580
He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

00:31:20.580 --> 00:31:22.025
In other words, he beheaded him.

00:31:22.767 --> 00:31:25.172
Verse three says he saw that it pleased the Jews.

00:31:25.172 --> 00:31:28.077
So he proceeded further to seize Peter.

00:31:28.077 --> 00:31:40.695
Also, this was in the days of unleavened bread, so I don't know how many Passovers this was after was after Jesus had been crucified, but you know, a few years probably, maybe not too many.

00:31:40.695 --> 00:31:49.836
Verse 7 says and behold, an angel of the Lord stood by Peter and a light shone in the prison and he struck Peter on the side.

00:31:49.836 --> 00:31:53.512
Now Peter was sleeping and he said Ar, arise quickly.

00:31:53.512 --> 00:31:55.498
And the chains fell off his hands.

00:31:55.498 --> 00:32:07.866
Verse 10 says they went past the first and the second guard posts that came to an iron gate that led to the city, which I opened to them of its own accord, and they went out down the street and immediately the angel departed.

00:32:07.866 --> 00:32:09.449
You know this story.

00:32:09.449 --> 00:32:30.474
It's a remarkable story, but the point is that Peter, even though he was in prison and even though he was in a death sentence amen, he was exactly in the place where God intended for him to be, because he was hidden in there.

00:32:31.684 --> 00:32:34.777
See, when this happens to the enemy, they get confident.

00:32:34.777 --> 00:32:46.306
They get confident that they've won, and so they think, okay, I've got Peter arrested, I've put Peter in the bowels of the jail.

00:32:46.306 --> 00:32:55.179
Okay, the Bible says they had to go past one guard, another guard, then they had to go through the iron gate of the jail.

00:32:55.179 --> 00:33:05.531
I mean, the place was a fortress, so why would they not think Same way when they took Paul and Silas and put them down in the very basement of the jail?

00:33:05.531 --> 00:33:09.428
They thought these guys can't get out of here.

00:33:09.428 --> 00:33:14.959
They're in stocks, they're in chains, they're in the lowest part of the jail.

00:33:14.959 --> 00:33:16.611
They can't do anything with them.

00:33:16.611 --> 00:33:20.292
You know, nobody's going to get in here and nobody's going to get out.

00:33:20.292 --> 00:33:25.134
Wrong, they forgot to factor in God.

00:33:25.134 --> 00:33:31.914
They forgot to factor in the fact that Paul and Silas started praising God, hallelujah.

00:33:31.914 --> 00:33:32.997
Well, here's Peter.

00:33:32.997 --> 00:33:34.859
Amen.

00:33:34.859 --> 00:33:39.696
And I want to tell you this while we're on the subject Amen.

00:33:40.526 --> 00:33:46.173
There's another thing that the devil doesn't factor out, forgets to factor out, and that is your destiny.

00:33:46.173 --> 00:33:58.939
If your destiny has not been fulfilled yet, amen, it is very difficult, even though you might be in the devil's hands.

00:33:58.939 --> 00:34:11.253
Amen, god's going to get you out, because he's not done with you yet and and you are not the devil's play thing to to just do whatever he wants with.

00:34:11.253 --> 00:34:13.617
That's not the way God does things.

00:34:13.617 --> 00:34:14.918
Just do whatever he wants with.

00:34:14.918 --> 00:34:16.101
That's not the way God does things.

00:34:16.101 --> 00:34:17.762
God put a destiny on you.

00:34:17.762 --> 00:34:24.226
God put a calling on you.

00:34:24.226 --> 00:34:24.608
He predestined you.

00:34:24.608 --> 00:34:25.148
He has justified you.

00:34:25.148 --> 00:34:26.152
He's glorifying you in the midst of others.

00:34:26.152 --> 00:34:27.697
This God is going to do great things in your life.

00:34:27.697 --> 00:34:28.800
Amen.

00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:32.130
The devil hasn't got the right to extinguish that.

00:34:32.471 --> 00:34:35.398
Peter had great things to do for God.

00:34:35.398 --> 00:34:38.072
He had great things to do for God.

00:34:38.072 --> 00:34:45.978
He was instrumental in carrying the gospel in the first few years of the church's infancy.

00:34:45.978 --> 00:34:48.751
Amen, there was not anyone else.

00:34:48.751 --> 00:34:51.985
Now, james, you say, well, james was one of the three.

00:34:51.985 --> 00:34:53.527
Peter James, john.

00:34:53.527 --> 00:34:59.570
You say, well, james was one of the three.

00:34:59.570 --> 00:35:00.791
Peter James, john.

00:35:00.871 --> 00:35:11.675
And I don't understand that, because James was prepared as clearly as John was prepared and Peter was prepared.

00:35:11.675 --> 00:35:12.896
He was one of the three.

00:35:12.896 --> 00:35:21.920
He was, unless it was to tell everybody this is the way of departure for some of you.

00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:23.862
Some of you are going to be martyred.

00:35:23.862 --> 00:35:25.742
That is some of you.

00:35:25.742 --> 00:35:31.126
That's your destiny, some of you.

00:35:31.126 --> 00:35:31.867
That's your destiny to die for me.

00:35:31.867 --> 00:35:38.139
And he took one of the three of the leading disciples and allowed him to go that way.

00:35:38.139 --> 00:35:41.331
Does that mean that James messed up?

00:35:41.331 --> 00:35:44.597
No, does that mean he missed what God was trying to say?

00:35:44.597 --> 00:35:47.186
No, I don't believe that.

00:35:47.186 --> 00:35:48.929
Not for a second.

00:35:48.929 --> 00:35:52.835
I believe it was exactly where God wanted you to be.

00:35:52.835 --> 00:35:54.277
Amen.

00:35:54.717 --> 00:35:56.440
All of the disciples were martyred.

00:35:56.440 --> 00:36:03.047
All of them died terrible deaths, as far as we know, amen.

00:36:03.047 --> 00:36:08.751
And all of them died, probably, except for John, a lot earlier than they normally would have.

00:36:08.751 --> 00:36:12.115
By their martyrdom, their life was cut short.

00:36:12.115 --> 00:36:17.440
Paul died probably in his 50s or 60s, something like that.

00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:22.489
You know he didn't live to be 100 like John did.

00:36:22.489 --> 00:36:24.052
None of them did so.

00:36:24.052 --> 00:36:25.476
They were all going to go that way.

00:36:25.476 --> 00:36:33.695
James just may have been of the first, along with Stephen, to show that this was a possibility.

00:36:33.695 --> 00:36:39.172
This is a dangerous world that we're in and some of you are going to have to go this way.

00:36:39.172 --> 00:36:41.086
Well, it's just some.

00:36:41.086 --> 00:36:45.393
All of the first apostles were going to go that by the way of martyrdom.

00:36:45.393 --> 00:36:49.139
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:36:49.905 --> 00:36:54.257
Well, anyway, peter's led out by an act of God.

00:36:54.257 --> 00:36:57.170
An angel comes and visits him, lets him out.

00:36:57.170 --> 00:36:58.655
You know the story.

00:36:58.655 --> 00:36:59.697
Amen.

00:36:59.697 --> 00:37:01.791
He goes to the house of John.

00:37:01.791 --> 00:37:04.056
Mark wrote, answers the door.

00:37:04.056 --> 00:37:06.112
They can't believe it's Peter.

00:37:06.112 --> 00:37:07.690
They think it's Peter's angel.

00:37:07.690 --> 00:37:09.835
Amen, no, it's Peter.

00:37:09.835 --> 00:37:11.630
He's right outside the door.

00:37:11.630 --> 00:37:12.271
Let him in.

00:37:12.271 --> 00:37:14.161
Amen, and they let Peter in.

00:37:14.161 --> 00:37:15.039
They're greatly glad to see him.

00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:15.273
He's right outside the door.

00:37:15.273 --> 00:37:15.291
Let him in.

00:37:15.291 --> 00:37:15.427
Amen, and they let Peter in.

00:37:15.427 --> 00:37:16.547
They're greatly glad to see him.

00:37:16.547 --> 00:37:18.773
He tells them to be quiet, don't make a ruckus.

00:37:18.773 --> 00:37:21.806
Amen, and they let they.

00:37:21.806 --> 00:37:24.833
He comes in, ministers to him and then leaves again.

00:37:24.833 --> 00:37:28.282
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:37:29.003 --> 00:37:30.728
Peter was hidden.

00:37:30.728 --> 00:37:41.688
They were going to kill him the next morning, and he was hidden in the very place where they expected to keep him safe for his demise.

00:37:41.688 --> 00:37:45.748
But that was not what God was going to do In that place.

00:37:45.748 --> 00:37:48.315
God came and rescued him.

00:37:48.315 --> 00:37:49.768
That same thing happened.

00:37:49.768 --> 00:37:50.650
I just mentioned it.

00:37:50.731 --> 00:37:52.255
Same thing happened to Paul and Silas.

00:37:52.255 --> 00:38:02.228
They were exactly where the devil thought they should be and where God wanted them, and yet God hid them in that place.

00:38:02.228 --> 00:38:10.530
He hid his purpose for them in the place that the devil had made to exterminate them.

00:38:10.530 --> 00:38:22.452
And this is just a way that God has just to continually teach the devil and antichrist this lesson over and over.

00:38:22.452 --> 00:38:34.840
You can think that you've got them where you want them, but I've got them exactly where I want them and it's in that place that I'm going to deliver them.

00:38:35.545 --> 00:38:54.034
See, you worry about Paul and Silas being in jail, but the devil was worried about Paul and Silas being in Philippi because they were raising a stink in Philippi, they were casting out devils, they were disrupting the fortune-telling trade.

00:38:54.034 --> 00:39:09.686
They were, you know, these people that serve Satan had a corner on the market and Paul and Silas were just, you know, ripping through there, binding devils, starting churches, getting people saved, you know.

00:39:09.686 --> 00:39:18.331
And so the devil took them and put them someplace that he thought they were going to be isolated, but that was the that.

00:39:18.331 --> 00:39:31.025
All he was doing was hiding them in their place of persecution so that God could find them in that place of persecution and set them free, do you not?

00:39:31.025 --> 00:39:38.259
Do you not remember the story that they came, that they came and begged, paul and Silas, to leave town quietly?

00:39:38.259 --> 00:39:44.233
You know, we didn't know you were Roman citizens.

00:39:44.233 --> 00:39:45.476
We made a mistake.

00:39:45.476 --> 00:39:48.067
You know we shouldn't have treated you this way.

00:39:48.067 --> 00:39:50.130
You know we're apologizing.

00:39:50.130 --> 00:39:57.086
If you'll just leave, we'll just drop this thing and we'll just pretend like it never happened.

00:39:57.086 --> 00:39:59.653
Paul said wait a minute.

00:39:59.653 --> 00:40:02.159
They threw us into prison openly.

00:40:02.159 --> 00:40:07.072
They can come openly and take us out and lead us out of town.

00:40:07.072 --> 00:40:08.677
Glory to God.

00:40:08.677 --> 00:40:21.014
See, god got glory in all of that Because the devil thought that he was hiding them or keeping them in a safe place and God was hiding them for a parade.

00:40:21.014 --> 00:40:22.829
Well, you didn't get that one.

00:40:22.829 --> 00:40:30.318
He made all of those people that were trying to do Paul and Silas wrong.

00:40:30.318 --> 00:40:33.315
He made them come and lead them out of town.

00:40:34.385 --> 00:40:37.996
I want you to see what happens in the story with Peter.

00:40:37.996 --> 00:40:45.257
Herod thought he had Peter in a safe place, amen, where he was going to do him harm.

00:40:45.257 --> 00:40:49.590
But God said wait a minute, that's just a hiding place.

00:40:49.590 --> 00:40:57.677
I've got him hidden and I'm going to set him free and when I set him free I'm going to come back and deal with you.

00:40:57.677 --> 00:41:00.632
You don't think God keeps score.

00:41:00.632 --> 00:41:01.655
God keeps score.

00:41:01.655 --> 00:41:02.146
It's a good thing.

00:41:02.146 --> 00:41:05.516
He doesn't keep score about your past and your sins, amen.

00:41:05.516 --> 00:41:12.338
But he does keep score about people who are a tribulation to you or a problem to you.

00:41:13.106 --> 00:41:18.476
Verse 23 says now there's a little bit of a story that goes before this.

00:41:18.476 --> 00:41:23.570
Some people came to Herod and he gave a speech.

00:41:23.570 --> 00:41:29.260
And the people said this is the voice of a God and not a man.

00:41:29.260 --> 00:41:32.048
And Herod didn't reject it.

00:41:32.048 --> 00:41:35.876
He let them go ahead and bring this adulation.

00:41:35.876 --> 00:41:52.496
And in verse 23 says immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God and he was eaten by worms and died.

00:41:52.496 --> 00:41:55.675
But the word of the Lord grew and multiplied.

00:41:55.675 --> 00:42:01.757
Now you've got this is a great example of how God thinks Amen.

00:42:02.364 --> 00:42:13.909
Herod was was in power enough that he could decide whether Peter was going to be put up for death or not.

00:42:13.909 --> 00:42:15.333
Right, he did it to James.

00:42:15.333 --> 00:42:16.336
He's going to try it to Peter.

00:42:16.336 --> 00:42:17.346
Amen.

00:42:17.346 --> 00:42:21.628
God says I've got him right where I want him.

00:42:21.628 --> 00:42:25.744
I'm going to demonstrate my power, I'm going to demonstrate my glory.

00:42:26.106 --> 00:42:50.335
If you think that this angel is going to come and set Peter free by taking him past one guard post, another guard post and out this huge iron gate, if you think that's not going to be told in every house, church in Jerusalem, you must be daft.

00:42:50.335 --> 00:42:54.655
This is going to get out like wildfire.

00:42:54.655 --> 00:43:22.615
To get out like wildfire, the church is going to start to tell this story about how God went to the place that the devil thought was a safe place and turned it into a hiding place, amen, and hid him in God and, through an angel, brought him out and hid him in Jerusalem so that Herod couldn't find him.

00:43:22.615 --> 00:43:25.494
Are you getting any of this, amen?

00:43:25.494 --> 00:43:26.869
And now he's free.

00:43:26.869 --> 00:43:33.228
Now he's going about doing what Peter is supposed to be doing and the next thing we find Peter is.

00:43:33.228 --> 00:43:43.911
He's out by the Mediterranean Sea and the Holy Ghost shows him the sheets, speaks to him about touching the unclean thing.

00:43:44.753 --> 00:44:01.273
Cornelius comes, or he goes to Cornelius' house, preaches to Cornelius, cornelius gets saved, gets filled with the Holy Ghost, takes that message back to Italy and that begins the church that grew up in Rome, god, hallelujah.

00:44:01.273 --> 00:44:04.914
See, god wasn't done with Peter yet.

00:44:04.914 --> 00:44:16.797
So all I can tell you is that if God's got his hand on somebody in terms of destiny, you better not mess with them, because God is going to set them free.

00:44:16.797 --> 00:44:21.768
And then he's going to turn right around and look at that person and say why did you do that?

00:44:21.768 --> 00:44:44.737
And Herod commits the same sin as Nebuchadnezzar he forgets who God is and he allows people to pour out adoration toward God on him and the next thing you know, he is immediately struck by an angel of God and dies.

00:44:44.737 --> 00:44:49.382
And yet, in that death, the church grows.

00:44:49.382 --> 00:45:01.112
The church grows in the miracle that set Peter free, and it grows in the death of the one who tried to kill him and the one who killed James.

00:45:01.112 --> 00:45:03.373
See, these things are important to God.

00:45:03.373 --> 00:45:07.204
If you think they're not important, we need to read this chapter more clearly.

00:45:07.204 --> 00:45:26.016
Because the one who beheaded James and tried to behead Peter ended up being eaten by worms, and because Peter was set free and Herod was punished, the church grew and multiplied.

00:45:26.016 --> 00:45:30.208
Praise God, hallelujah.

00:45:30.387 --> 00:45:32.791
Let's look at one more short example.

00:45:32.791 --> 00:45:44.690
So, in this example of Peter, james and Herod, peter was hidden, even in prison, and hidden even in a death sentence.

00:45:44.690 --> 00:45:55.635
See, what God's trying to tell us here is that even in the worst of places that you may find yourself, god can hide you.

00:45:55.635 --> 00:45:57.699
In that God can hide you.

00:45:57.699 --> 00:46:00.753
In that God can send angels to minister to you.

00:46:00.753 --> 00:46:08.509
In that God can set you free, in that you need to hear what the Holy Ghost is saying, because there is no place.

00:46:09.351 --> 00:46:10.916
You know what does the Bible say?

00:46:10.916 --> 00:46:15.996
If I try to hide in darkness, he'll find me there.

00:46:15.996 --> 00:46:17.858
If I try to hide in light, he'll find me there.

00:46:17.858 --> 00:46:22.351
If I try to hide in light, he finds me there, because darkness and light are the same to him.

00:46:22.351 --> 00:46:25.235
It doesn't matter what it did.

00:46:25.235 --> 00:46:28.969
The devil is not omnipotent.

00:46:28.969 --> 00:46:30.434
He doesn't have all power.

00:46:30.434 --> 00:46:37.976
He's got some power and he's got some authority, but it is not anywhere close to what God does.

00:46:39.065 --> 00:46:48.039
And so when the devil tries to do something and he thinks he's got you in a place that's, that's impregnable, what would we do, god, can you?

00:46:48.039 --> 00:46:53.469
You know that they're, they're not, they're not stupid, and they do, they can see into the spirit world.

00:46:53.469 --> 00:46:56.235
Do you not know that they just?

00:46:56.235 --> 00:47:07.257
Oh, here he comes, and this ball of light is coming out of time and eternity down to that jail cell and they're going.

00:47:07.257 --> 00:47:09.545
Oh, we did it again.

00:47:09.545 --> 00:47:13.692
We just walked right into his trap.

00:47:13.692 --> 00:47:23.353
We thought Peter walked into our trap and all we did was walk into God's trap and Peter was the bait and they're just.

00:47:23.353 --> 00:47:29.512
They're looking at each other and snarling and spitting and doing all the things that they do, blaming each other.

00:47:29.512 --> 00:47:31.385
It's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault.

00:47:31.385 --> 00:47:36.173
Meanwhile, peter's going free and Herod's being attacked by worms.

00:47:36.173 --> 00:47:39.679
Think about that for a while, praise God.

00:47:41.304 --> 00:47:48.869
So in Acts, the 13th chapter, I just want to talk a little bit more about destiny, the church in Antioch.

00:47:48.869 --> 00:47:57.757
While Jerusalem in the late, in the, in the Jesus is crucified and resurrected in about 33 AD.

00:47:57.757 --> 00:48:08.525
Then we've got this period of about a few years, even decades, where the church is moving out of Jerusalem.

00:48:08.525 --> 00:48:17.951
It moves first to Damascus, then more coming out, and then, as it moves out of Damascus and out of Jerusalem, it moves to Antioch.

00:48:17.951 --> 00:48:30.570
And in Antioch, as Jerusalem is being prepared for destruction, the real church is relocated into Antioch and it's refit for battle.

00:48:30.570 --> 00:48:37.659
Antioch becomes the main place that missionaries are sent out of.

00:48:37.659 --> 00:48:40.492
It becomes the base for the new church.

00:48:40.492 --> 00:48:55.554
It's from Antioch that Paul goes into Turkey and goes into Greece and grows into Italy and the church moves into North Africa and eventually into Spain and into Northern Europe.

00:48:55.554 --> 00:49:10.137
All of that happened out of Antioch for the first hundred and something years until Constantinople became the new center over in Turkey.

00:49:10.137 --> 00:49:12.880
Amen, hallelujah.

00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:17.856
So that's why the church ended up being in Antioch.

00:49:17.925 --> 00:49:27.125
And it says in Acts, chapter 13, that now in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers.

00:49:27.125 --> 00:49:34.452
Now, if there's prophets and teachers, there's going to be apostles and pastors, there's going to be evangelists.

00:49:34.452 --> 00:49:35.568
There's going to be evangelists.

00:49:35.568 --> 00:49:43.324
That tells you that the church was mature in the sense that it had a well developed five fold ministry.

00:49:43.324 --> 00:49:45.905
It was structured.

00:49:45.905 --> 00:50:00.255
It was modeled along the same lines that Jesus taught the 120 in Jerusalem how to build a cell house based church, how that church was linked one house to another.

00:50:00.255 --> 00:50:08.099
Acts 2 says that they met from house to house, broke bread, amen.

00:50:08.099 --> 00:50:10.692
They knew what they were doing.

00:50:10.692 --> 00:50:27.498
They took that model that was in Jerusalem as they migrated into Antioch and built an Antioch church in Antioch Now, the church that was at Antioch, we're not talking about some little dinky one-room thing.

00:50:27.585 --> 00:50:39.719
This church was mature, it was big, it was several tens of thousands of believers that were there, and they had apostolic leadership.

00:50:39.719 --> 00:50:59.996
They had prophetic leadership, they had teachers, and the Bible says and I know that they had apostles, because Paul was there there were certain prophets and teachers Barnabas, simeon, who was called Niger, lucius of Cyrene, manan, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul.

00:50:59.996 --> 00:51:03.275
And Saul was both a prophet and an apostle.

00:51:03.275 --> 00:51:10.284
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said so.

00:51:10.284 --> 00:51:20.340
Here's a formula for how mature leadership moves into things that God wants them to do.

00:51:21.407 --> 00:51:22.692
They were ministering to the Lord.

00:51:22.692 --> 00:51:37.454
In other words, they were praying, they were listening to the Lord, they were meditating before the Lord, they were keeping themselves in a place of isolation so that they could hear what the Lord was saying to them.

00:51:37.454 --> 00:51:43.735
They were ready to hear, they were ready to obey and they were ministering to the Lord.

00:51:43.735 --> 00:51:58.358
They were fasting, they were listening, and the Holy Ghost spoke and said now, separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

00:51:58.358 --> 00:52:00.081
So so the I so here.

00:52:00.501 --> 00:52:32.295
Here was what the Lord was saying okay, it's time for Paul and Barnabas to be pulled out of Antioch, and I'm going to send them first of all, they're going to go on the first missionary journey, which was into Turkey, and they founded some of the most important churches in the early Christian movement the church at Ephesus, the church at Laodicea, the church at Philadelphia, the church of Pergamos.

00:52:32.295 --> 00:52:44.755
The church of Pergamos and other churches that were the foundation, derby and and eventually at Athens, all around Corinth, ephesus.

00:52:44.755 --> 00:52:50.418
All of these churches were important churches in the beginning two centuries.

00:52:50.418 --> 00:53:09.398
If you don't think so, paul, john and Mary, the mother of Jesus, both went to Ephesus to establish a household, and that's where Mary spent her advanced years and John was taking care of her.

00:53:09.398 --> 00:53:28.775
Amen, these things, these were real places and they were real churches, and in those places, the same kind of church that was in Antioch took root in those places, house to house, many houses under the authority of apostles and pastors, prophets going out, teachers going out, evangelists going out.

00:53:29.545 --> 00:53:34.978
But the main thing was that there was a destiny on Paul.

00:53:34.978 --> 00:53:39.295
There was a destiny on Barnabas that had to be fulfilled.

00:53:39.295 --> 00:53:51.380
God didn't call Saul on the road to Damascus just so that he could go to Antioch and be a teacher.

00:53:51.380 --> 00:54:08.579
He had to be in Antioch for a season and teach the foundational principles of this way of doing church, but eventually they were going to have to go out and do that in other places that didn't know anything about Jesus.

00:54:08.579 --> 00:54:29.626
And so Paul and Barnabas were going to have to go to these cities that were in what is now Turkey and set up churches and win the loss, do miracles, do signs, do wonders in a way that these people had never seen.

00:54:29.626 --> 00:54:30.809
They were going to win the loss.

00:54:30.809 --> 00:54:32.876
They were going to organize them into churches.

00:54:32.876 --> 00:54:40.351
They were going to stay in these cities and build this church up until God told them to go on and do the next one.

00:54:40.351 --> 00:54:41.432
This was their destiny.

00:54:41.432 --> 00:54:43.297
It says so here.

00:54:43.338 --> 00:54:49.237
He says now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

00:54:49.237 --> 00:54:52.086
This call wasn't a new calling.

00:54:52.086 --> 00:54:53.809
This call was an eternal calling.

00:54:53.809 --> 00:55:00.317
God had something in plan for Paul and Barnabas amen.

00:55:00.317 --> 00:55:03.641
That they couldn't deny.

00:55:03.641 --> 00:55:06.168
They had to obey it.

00:55:06.168 --> 00:55:14.916
But they weren't going to know it until they obeyed God in ministering to him and fasting and in prayer, separation unto God.

00:55:14.916 --> 00:55:16.648
God identified them.

00:55:16.809 --> 00:55:20.572
Wasn't the other people that he mentioned, it was just Paul and Barnabas.

00:55:20.572 --> 00:55:21.927
They formed a team.

00:55:21.927 --> 00:55:32.898
They went out, they did this, took Acts 13, acts 14, some of Acts 15, before they came back, praise God.

00:55:32.898 --> 00:55:43.630
Verse 3 says Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them or have you heard this before they sent them away.

00:55:43.630 --> 00:55:46.753
They sent them in just the way that God was sending.

00:55:46.753 --> 00:55:52.938
Which gets you to the principle you can went or you can be sent, amen.

00:55:52.938 --> 00:56:06.577
If you want to just go and do whatever you want for God, that's going to have a certain level of blessing on it, but you're going to be hidden in the thing that you are destined to do.

00:56:07.826 --> 00:56:24.474
And what this attempt at the devil trying to kill the church in its infancy is that God hid the church and specifically hid Paul and Barnabas, but in their ministry was the church.

00:56:24.474 --> 00:56:41.027
I mean Paul you may not like to hear this, but I mean Paul was given in his destiny the responsibility of outlining what the church was, not only in structure but in its belief.

00:56:41.027 --> 00:56:49.753
That was his destiny and God knew that it was going to be through the writing of letters to these churches that he founded.

00:56:49.753 --> 00:57:11.474
There was a church in Ephesus, but there's also a book that's called the letter to the church in Ephesus, and in the first chapter of that letter we learn about a people of God that were in Christ, in God, before time began.

00:57:11.474 --> 00:57:17.467
We learned that in the first chapter of the book of Ephesus there was a book.

00:57:17.467 --> 00:57:30.737
There was a church that was in Rome, but there was also a book that was to the church of the Romans, and in that book we learned that the just live by faith, amen.

00:57:30.737 --> 00:57:41.934
We learned that if the gospel could come by works amen then the faith of Abraham was void.

00:57:41.934 --> 00:57:44.592
But the gospel does not come by works.

00:57:44.592 --> 00:58:04.956
It comes by faith, because Abraham did not, because the circumcision that was given to Abraham came before the law and not after, so that he believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness, because the law was given after.

00:58:04.956 --> 00:58:09.980
We learned all these things through Paul, through the letters that he wrote to the churches.

00:58:09.980 --> 00:58:11.867
And where were these churches?

00:58:11.867 --> 00:58:19.610
These were churches that were part of their destiny to found and to start, so that they were waiting for them.

00:58:19.610 --> 00:58:23.755
They treasured what he wrote them and kept it.

00:58:23.755 --> 00:58:34.076
Not only did they treasure it and keep it, but they reproduced it and distributed it, and that became your New Testament for the most part.

00:58:34.465 --> 00:58:36.150
Are you hearing what God's saying tonight?

00:58:36.150 --> 00:58:36.974
Amen.

00:58:36.974 --> 00:58:49.088
He hides people in their destiny and I'm convinced that, as long as you're walking out what God wants you to do and you're doing it amen.

00:58:49.088 --> 00:59:00.710
Of course you need to know what that is, but I mean, if you're doing that, if you're walking that out amen there's no reason for him to take you off, there's no reason for you to go anywhere.

00:59:00.710 --> 00:59:01.833
You stay here and work.

00:59:01.833 --> 00:59:15.735
Praise God, hallelujah, if you know that you'll cooperate with God and working toward that and keeping focused on that, praise the Lord.

00:59:15.735 --> 00:59:16.768
I believe that.

00:59:16.768 --> 00:59:17.291
Praise the Lord.

00:59:17.291 --> 00:59:30.610
I believe that because if you're hidden with God in his destiny for you, the devil may have a plan to harass Bex and destroy you, but he can't find you.

00:59:30.610 --> 00:59:33.817
You're hidden in plain sight, you're just hidden.

00:59:33.817 --> 00:59:39.916
I mean, if he could have kept the angel from setting Peter free, you not know that he would have done that.

00:59:39.916 --> 00:59:41.599
But Peter was hidden.

00:59:41.599 --> 00:59:43.989
He was hidden in his destiny.

00:59:43.989 --> 00:59:48.436
It's like this, it's like this bubble that's around you.

00:59:48.436 --> 00:59:52.311
I mean, you may be in plain sight to everybody else, but they just can't.

00:59:52.311 --> 01:00:04.351
They can't get to you, can't get to you, not the way they want to.

01:00:04.351 --> 01:00:05.132
Anyway, praise God, hallelujah.

01:00:05.132 --> 01:00:05.896
Hidden in the destiny of God.

01:00:05.896 --> 01:00:07.380
And here's the bottom line of all this we're going to move on from this.

01:00:07.481 --> 01:00:22.717
Antichrist did everything possible to exterminate the seed, the seed being in the form of Jesus and then the seed being in the form of the offspring of Jesus, which is us.

01:00:22.717 --> 01:00:29.916
Antichrist did everything, pulled out all the stops to exterminate that seed.

01:00:29.916 --> 01:00:33.594
You ought to read Fox's Book of Martyrs.

01:00:33.594 --> 01:00:38.836
Read some of the things that happened in the early days of the church.

01:00:38.836 --> 01:00:41.233
The atrocities were tremendous.

01:00:41.233 --> 01:00:43.708
They're terrible.

01:00:43.708 --> 01:00:45.994
What happened to believers?

01:00:45.994 --> 01:00:47.476
But we're still here.

01:00:47.476 --> 01:00:58.117
We're still here because God has a destiny for his body and the Antichrist has done everything possible to exterminate this seed.

01:00:58.565 --> 01:01:07.657
But the seed prevailed and the seed always prevails, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, amen.

01:01:07.657 --> 01:01:14.757
He cannot be destroyed, he cannot be attacked in a way that is any way victorious.

01:01:14.757 --> 01:01:20.806
He's always a victor, he is always triumphant, he is always overcoming.

01:01:20.806 --> 01:01:29.307
He is always more than a conqueror and in all these things he has made us to be more than conquerors, more overcomers.

01:01:29.307 --> 01:01:31.889
We have been made to be in him.

01:01:31.889 --> 01:01:39.177
So we are everything that he is and in him we are hidden.

01:01:39.177 --> 01:01:42.181
In him we can't be found.

01:01:42.940 --> 01:01:58.507
But again, it's only if you believe it, if you're one of those Christians, that you know that they just cannot get past the place of well the devil's just after me.

01:01:58.507 --> 01:02:04.710
Well, the devil's just this, and the devil's just this, and the devil's doing this and the devil's harassing me here.

01:02:04.710 --> 01:02:06.610
I don't want to hear all that stuff.

01:02:06.610 --> 01:02:08.811
I want to hear about what God's doing for you.

01:02:08.811 --> 01:02:10.853
I want to hear about your deliverance.

01:02:10.853 --> 01:02:12.253
I want to hear about your victories.

01:02:12.253 --> 01:02:12.813
I want to hear it.

01:02:12.813 --> 01:02:26.760
And if there aren't any amen, you need to reevaluate your confession, what you're believing, what you're not believing, amen, cause that's not what the Bible tells you.

01:02:27.420 --> 01:02:39.809
I didn't hear, I don't hear John singing that song, you know, and if anybody was mistreated, it's the apostle John, but he wasn't singing that song.

01:02:39.809 --> 01:02:40.972
He was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.

01:02:40.972 --> 01:02:48.815
I said he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day when I turned to hear a sound of rushing water, hallelujah.

01:02:48.815 --> 01:02:53.608
Problem with that is I don't know how all that's happening, because the man was blind.

01:02:53.608 --> 01:02:57.335
I turned to see a sound.

01:02:57.335 --> 01:03:05.476
I turned to see a sound and there was one whose face was like the sun, whose hair was as white as wool.

01:03:05.476 --> 01:03:09.327
There was a gold band across his chest.

01:03:09.327 --> 01:03:11.690
His feet were like gold.

01:03:11.690 --> 01:03:16.036
When he spoke, it was like many waters.

01:03:16.036 --> 01:03:18.721
When he spoke, it was like many waters.

01:03:18.721 --> 01:03:25.108
Oh, I'm feeling the Holy Ghost and I fell at his feet like a dead man and he lifted me up.

01:03:25.108 --> 01:03:28.351
He said fear not, I am the Alpha and the Omega.

01:03:28.351 --> 01:03:29.853
I am the beginning and the end.

01:03:29.853 --> 01:03:31.313
I am the first and the last.

01:03:31.313 --> 01:03:36.059
I was dead and now I am alive and alive.

01:03:36.059 --> 01:03:36.960
Forevermore.

01:03:36.960 --> 01:03:37.900
Glory to God.

01:03:40.306 --> 01:03:40.947
And then he said this.

01:03:40.947 --> 01:03:46.318
He said now write to the seven churches which are in Asia.

01:03:46.318 --> 01:03:51.432
See, he didn't have Paul to write letters anymore, so he's using John as a stenographer.

01:03:51.432 --> 01:03:56.135
Don't get a big head about your destiny.

01:03:56.135 --> 01:03:58.293
He was just using John as a secretary.

01:04:03.708 --> 01:04:18.356
Now write to the seven churches in Israel, to the church in Ephesus, says the one whose eyes are like a flame of fire and a two-edged sword comes out of his mouth.

01:04:18.356 --> 01:04:21.833
Oh God, how they do you?

01:04:21.833 --> 01:04:22.976
You can't.

01:04:22.976 --> 01:04:27.271
What are you going to do with that, jesus, except belong to him?

01:04:27.271 --> 01:04:29.733
What are you going to do with that, jesus?

01:04:29.733 --> 01:04:31.771
There's nothing the devil can do with that.

01:04:31.771 --> 01:04:35.192
Amen, there's absolutely nothing.

01:04:36.007 --> 01:04:40.554
If the devil could do anything about it, your New Testament would have never gotten to you.

01:04:40.554 --> 01:04:42.731
It would have never gotten to you.

01:04:42.731 --> 01:04:56.490
He would have made sure that all you had was an Old Testament, an old, dusty book that was handed down from this small remnant of people who came out of Egypt.

01:04:56.490 --> 01:05:02.490
I mean, they would have put so many fairy tales around that and they tried.

01:05:02.490 --> 01:05:04.972
They tried that it didn't work.

01:05:04.972 --> 01:05:06.436
Glory to God.

01:05:06.436 --> 01:05:13.197
The seed always prevails, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

01:05:13.197 --> 01:05:25.188
And we are also Praise God, hallelujah.

01:05:25.188 --> 01:05:29.019
Hallelujah and the life, and we are also praise God, hallelujah.

01:05:29.019 --> 01:05:29.501
Glory be to Jesus.

01:05:29.501 --> 01:05:29.802
Thank you, lord.

01:05:29.802 --> 01:05:30.483
Blessed be the name of our God.

01:05:30.483 --> 01:05:30.945
Praise God, hallelujah.