WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:01.760 I'm going to invite you to acts. 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:05.260 Chapter five is where we're at together today, acts chapter five in the Bible. 00:00:05.720 --> 00:00:11.100 And you know this particular chapter, we're only going to look at the first 11 verses of chapter five. 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:13.760 We'll dive into the second half next week. 00:00:13.780 --> 00:00:21.140 But as we get ready to engage this story, I want you to recognize this particular story is somewhat of an uncomfortable 00:00:21.140 --> 00:00:23.930 story, especially if you don't understand it in its context. 00:00:24.540 --> 00:00:25.620 Well, you'll see why in a minute. 00:00:26.220 --> 00:00:32.439 But the timing of the story is poised exceptionally well in the book of acts. 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.660 It's almost like, I don't know, it's divinely inspired or something, right? 00:00:36.660 --> 00:00:43.740 And so when you look at acts chapter five when you start to understand the heart of why it's placed in the 00:00:43.740 --> 00:00:50.160 story of acts where it is, it's I believe it's following in a chronological sense in this particular way. 00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:54.370 But also, as we understand, Luke wrote the book of acts. 00:00:54.900 --> 00:00:59.320 It's important to remember, like, Luke isn't writing every detail that he can recall. 00:01:00.260 --> 00:01:00.560 Right. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:07.840 Luke is sharing particular stories that are important to the purpose of what God has called his church to 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:09.980 accomplish in this world. 00:01:10.080 --> 00:01:12.050 And that's one of the beautiful things about the book of acts. 00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:19.540 If you haven't got sick of hearing me say this yet, if you remember the theme of this book is how the Spirit of God works in the people of God to accomplish 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:20.580 the will of God. 00:01:21.220 --> 00:01:26.700 And here you are looking at the church in the first 30 years after the death, burial and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:33.940 And you're seeing how they take the gospel from Jerusalem to really throughout the known world, from Jerusalem to Rome, really. 00:01:33.960 --> 00:01:36.640 The story ends with the gospel going to Rome. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:42.090 But it's sharing with us how the Spirit of God empowered God's people to share the gospel throughout the world. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:45.420 And then we realize, man, that's the same mission God's called us on. 00:01:46.380 --> 00:01:52.000 And he's given us the means to accomplish it through the power of his spirit and the method to produce it, which is the church. 00:01:52.660 --> 00:01:54.160 That's the purpose of the church. 00:01:54.160 --> 00:01:56.200 It exists for a reason greater than itself. 00:01:56.460 --> 00:01:59.360 We exist to give ourselves away for the glory of God to the benefit of others. 00:01:59.960 --> 00:02:06.740 That the redemption story that's told within us is intended to work through us to see other people's lives transformed in Jesus too. 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:13.190 And so you see the beauty of this story taking place in these first four chapters, thousands of people coming to know the Lord. 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:15.880 And it's moving forward in a powerful way. 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:22.980 But when you get to chapter four, all of a sudden you see conflict arise and the people of God persecuted, and yet 00:02:22.980 --> 00:02:25.190 they're still faithfully following after the Lord. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:31.580 And if we're not careful, if we just kind of end the story there, we could we could stop right there and be like, oh yeah, okay, that's it, I get it. 00:02:32.040 --> 00:02:35.850 But God's given us a mission's the means of the spirit, the method, which is the church. 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:37.600 But here it is. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:38.270 That's the problem. 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:39.820 It's those guys. 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:42.460 It's those guys out there that are the problem. 00:02:42.540 --> 00:02:47.540 So it's really the us versus them and this battle to the end of who's going to win. 00:02:47.900 --> 00:02:52.230 And then all of a sudden when you get to chapter five, it kind of turns that on its head. 00:02:53.260 --> 00:02:57.560 And it helps us begin to realize that the real battle isn't us versus them. 00:02:58.220 --> 00:03:05.220 In fact, when you recognize what God has called you to in this world, if you walk with that sort of mentality, you're never going to reach who God 00:03:05.220 --> 00:03:10.100 has called you to reach, because all of us at some point are enemies to the cross of Christ. 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:12.720 And it's only because of the grace of God. 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:18.740 And while we are still enemies of God, that the love of God has compelled us to embrace Jesus. 00:03:19.320 --> 00:03:25.200 In Romans five eight tells you that while God demonstrated while we're yet sinners, God demonstrates his love towards us. 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:30.980 And so he's recognizing that we while we're still in rebellion against him, Jesus doesn't give up on us. 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:37.000 And it's that grace of God made known, poured out on us that invites us into the goodness of who he is. 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:38.800 And so we're called. 00:03:38.820 --> 00:03:46.180 It shouldn't be a surprise to us when a world that doesn't know Jesus get this acts like it doesn't know Jesus, 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:54.560 but rather what acts chapter five helps us begin to realize is that the true enemy isn't beyond us. 00:03:56.220 --> 00:03:58.160 The actual enemy rests within us. 00:03:59.620 --> 00:04:06.720 Now, I don't mean that in this sense that when you gather in a church where to all or gather as a church, were to all see each other as the 00:04:06.720 --> 00:04:07.380 enemy, right? 00:04:07.380 --> 00:04:09.610 Like you're going to have conflict and you're not going to get along. 00:04:09.880 --> 00:04:17.079 And that's true just when in terms of relationship, no matter where you are, you're going to have a conflict with people just 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:19.230 in general, in church, out of church. 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:21.180 We're just we're sinful human beings. 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:28.830 And that's just the nature of what happens in a sinful heart is that there's tension and conflict and relationship. 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:30.390 But that's not what I mean. 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:32.220 Get this. 00:04:32.220 --> 00:04:37.580 The greatest enemy to your faithfulness in Jesus is you. 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:47.380 In acts chapter five of one of those chapters that really helps us recognize where the battle is 00:04:47.380 --> 00:04:52.700 so that rather than war against others who were called to reach. 00:04:53.720 --> 00:05:00.800 We walk humbly before them, knowing just the grace that it took for me in my rebellious 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:02.780 heart to embrace the Lord. 00:05:03.460 --> 00:05:08.580 And even in knowing him, how I continue to war against him. 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:15.430 And the most surprising thing isn't that a world that doesn't know Jesus acts like they don't know Jesus. 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:20.200 It's when those who claim that they do live like they don't. 00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:22.660 And acts. 00:05:22.780 --> 00:05:29.920 Chapter five is one of those stories that reminds us of that and one of the most peculiar ways, and in a peculiar 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:36.560 way is or describing as peculiar is probably a lighter way of saying what acts chapter five is talking about. 00:05:36.640 --> 00:05:43.860 Because if you if you know anything about this chapter, this is the Ananias and Sapphira story where you learn the great idea that 00:05:43.860 --> 00:05:45.510 God is not mocked. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:46.020 Right? 00:05:46.140 --> 00:05:50.700 In Galatians chapter six verse seven, it tells you that God is not mocked. 00:05:51.440 --> 00:05:54.240 And some of us, when we hear a thought like that, God will not be mocked. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:54.560 Right. 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:58.940 There's some of us that we are sensitive in our hearts, and we don't like contention. 00:05:59.840 --> 00:06:03.320 And we're like, okay, I give up, I'm not doing that. 00:06:03.580 --> 00:06:07.710 And then and you're just kind of bow to whatever because you don't want to fight. 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:09.160 And then there's others. 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:10.680 It doesn't matter who it is. 00:06:10.820 --> 00:06:17.360 You hear something like, oh, somebody not mocked, this is you think this is a challenge and you're ready to throw down like it. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:21.060 Just some of you, you're just oppositional, defiant no matter what. 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:23.220 Others are compliant no matter what. 00:06:23.300 --> 00:06:28.730 And I think it's important for all of us, no matter where we might feel like we fall in that spectrum. 00:06:29.520 --> 00:06:35.260 And some of us, you might be like, well, in the morning, I start off this way, but in the end of the day I start off the other way. 00:06:35.460 --> 00:06:37.780 It just depends on how you catch me, right? 00:06:37.940 --> 00:06:44.180 But for all of us, it's important to recognize especially rebellious people. 00:06:44.380 --> 00:06:45.720 God is in control, and you're not. 00:06:47.400 --> 00:06:48.800 God is in control and you're not. 00:06:48.900 --> 00:06:50.700 And sometimes we have within us. 00:06:50.700 --> 00:06:51.600 We just want to fight that. 00:06:51.700 --> 00:06:52.700 First we want to test. 00:06:52.900 --> 00:06:53.480 Oh, yeah. 00:06:53.740 --> 00:06:55.540 Show me, prove me right. 00:06:55.760 --> 00:06:57.590 Like let's let's see who's in control. 00:06:58.200 --> 00:07:00.180 And we just have that nature within us. 00:07:00.260 --> 00:07:01.540 But here's what, here's what you need. 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:03.160 You need a sovereign God. 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:06.760 Because without it, you don't have an ultimate hope. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:13.800 There is no real control over your destiny because you don't have ultimate authority. 00:07:14.820 --> 00:07:20.880 So the sovereignty of God is critical for us, even in a rebellious spirit, to recognize this. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:29.160 And at the same time, for those that might find ourselves, easily compliant, when someone that seems to be an authority steps into a room 00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:34.560 and declares that position, well, it's important to surrender to the Lord. 00:07:34.620 --> 00:07:38.960 But you also need to know he's good and that you can trust him. 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:42.100 And all those aspects are critical. 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:43.080 Sovereignty of God. 00:07:43.080 --> 00:07:43.680 He's good. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:44.760 We can trust him. 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:45.800 It really you can. 00:07:45.880 --> 00:07:47.030 You can help each other. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:52.260 The people that just like to comply and the people that are rebels, you're good for each other in that sense. 00:07:52.380 --> 00:07:52.560 Right? 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:58.320 Just learning to what it means that God is sovereign and at the same time he is good. 00:07:58.440 --> 00:08:03.860 And to trust him in acts chapter five helps us work through all of that. 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:06.300 So let me just I'm going to do something a little different today. 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:07.550 I'm going to read the whole story. 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:11.230 It's just 11 verses, and I want to dialog for us on what it represents. 00:08:11.400 --> 00:08:16.640 And the reason I want to read it is because it's really this one little narrative story that fits well from beginning to end. 00:08:16.860 --> 00:08:23.860 And it's intended, I think, to be told in a way that kind of shocks you, sobers you and the abruptness of what takes place 00:08:23.860 --> 00:08:24.240 here. 00:08:24.280 --> 00:08:27.310 If you're unfamiliar with this story, but it starts like this. 00:08:27.880 --> 00:08:34.970 A man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds, 00:08:35.539 --> 00:08:38.570 and brought only a part of it, and laid it at the apostles feet. 00:08:39.700 --> 00:08:47.000 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.060 of the land. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.660 And while it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:55.200 And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:58.490 Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:01.300 You have not lied to man, but to God. 00:09:01.820 --> 00:09:08.640 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard it. 00:09:08.660 --> 00:09:12.240 The young men arose and wrapped him up, and carried him out and buried him. 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:17.780 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:21.880 And Peter said to her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:24.140 And she said yes for so much. 00:09:24.560 --> 00:09:29.470 But Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord? 00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:34.660 Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:38.520 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. 00:09:38.920 --> 00:09:44.700 When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 00:09:44.780 --> 00:09:45.500 This is a new ministry. 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:52.940 We're going to start here at ABC, I think, and a great fear and a great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:53.970 of these things. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:55.180 Amen. 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:59.540 If this is your first Sunday, welcome to Alpine Bible Church. 00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:03.380 This is a this is a this is a doozy, isn't it? 00:10:03.380 --> 00:10:06.040 Like, what do you do with a passage like this? 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:06.820 I can tell you. 00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:07.940 Here's how I want to start. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:13.630 I want to start by establishing the first rule ever at Alpine Bible Church, which goes like this. 00:10:14.180 --> 00:10:15.450 You're going to die somewhere. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:17.840 You're it's not going to be here. 00:10:17.900 --> 00:10:18.260 Okay. 00:10:18.310 --> 00:10:21.010 That is not happening in this space today. 00:10:21.180 --> 00:10:22.100 So or ever. 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:23.600 Let's just find a different spot. 00:10:23.920 --> 00:10:26.980 That's not what this verse is teaching, just so you know. 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:28.820 But here's what we need to ask. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.270 Why then is Luke sharing the story. 00:10:32.180 --> 00:10:32.480 Right. 00:10:32.520 --> 00:10:34.420 What's what's the point of Luke telling us? 00:10:34.460 --> 00:10:38.920 Because during the first century the paper was expensive and so was ink. 00:10:38.920 --> 00:10:41.570 So the fact that Luke even took time to write this story. 00:10:41.860 --> 00:10:46.050 Maybe if I were with him in the first century, I'd be like, Luke, I've been with you for a bit here. 00:10:46.280 --> 00:10:47.740 I've seen lots of things happen. 00:10:47.760 --> 00:10:48.800 Why is this one? 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:50.920 Like, why do you want to include this story? 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:52.840 Let's substitute it with something else. 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:53.240 Why? 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:54.830 Why is this one so necessary? 00:10:55.640 --> 00:11:01.010 I think what Luke is doing here is particularly significant for all of us to understand. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:02.050 You know who Jesus is. 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:02.240 But. 00:11:02.400 --> 00:11:07.470 But I want you to know that this is a narrative story, which means for us, it's not prescriptive. 00:11:08.040 --> 00:11:14.810 So for those of you that just immediately get worried when you read stories like this I think there is a place of reverence that is important. 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:15.630 That is true. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:24.180 But I also I also want you to recognize that it's the uniqueness of the story as to the reason why it's being told. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:30.900 Meaning, when you go throughout the scriptures, you're not going to find that this is the story repeated over and over again. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:32.660 This type of story. 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:34.480 But there's some uniqueness to the story. 00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:41.760 And I would say probably a comparable story to this in the Old Testament comes in the book of Joshua, chapter seven. 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:46.960 So this is this is not a regular occurrence in the Bible, but a couple of unique stories that are happening here. 00:11:47.160 --> 00:11:54.240 And in both of these unique instances, Joshua chapter seven, acts, chapter five, I think the Lord is 00:11:54.240 --> 00:12:00.340 trying to he's teaching us something that we're often stubborn to receive. 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:09.120 And what's taking place in this moment is reminding us it's not about the horror of the sin, but about 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.440 the holiness of the setting. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:18.640 That's why here in this moment, the steps of the Lord seem so extreme. 00:12:19.340 --> 00:12:26.420 Because when you go back and you look at Joshua chapter seven, for example, and the book of Joshua, this is right when Israel enters 00:12:26.420 --> 00:12:33.420 into the Promised land for the first time, a very sacred moment for the 00:12:33.420 --> 00:12:33.780 people. 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:37.690 And when they go to the Battle of Jericho, God gives them one rule. 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:39.240 Don't take anything. 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:44.300 But in that moment, Achan saw himself as an exception. 00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:47.050 He kind of looks at God's law. 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:48.260 God, what God says. 00:12:48.260 --> 00:12:51.180 And you think you know, that's pretty much good for everybody all the time. 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:55.650 Except for me in this particular moment, because, well, my moment's a little bit unique. 00:12:56.280 --> 00:12:59.300 So I think that God would want me to do this right. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:05.270 He kind of he justifies the reason he does what he does, and he chooses to take something even though God says he shouldn't. 00:13:05.680 --> 00:13:07.560 And the result of that is it leads to death. 00:13:09.060 --> 00:13:16.080 And here in acts chapter five, you're seeing this with Ananias and Sapphira at the very beginning of the birth of the church and seeing the beauty 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.500 of who God is just being made known throughout the community. 00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:28.200 But the abrupt response of the Lord to Ananias and Sapphira, it reminds 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:34.440 us of this idea that when the church loses her sense of sacredness. 00:13:36.260 --> 00:13:38.540 The world sees no difference between you and them. 00:13:38.640 --> 00:13:38.640 Guys. 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:51.460 Can we just say for us, like understanding who you are in Jesus is 00:13:51.460 --> 00:13:54.620 paramount to everything you're called to do in him. 00:13:55.680 --> 00:14:02.700 Being a being a Christian isn't just, I need to get a little bit of spirituality of my life following after Jesus is saying, 00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:07.870 I'm reorienting all that I am in light of who Christ is. 00:14:08.920 --> 00:14:12.000 The precedent of knowing Jesus means he. 00:14:12.560 --> 00:14:19.840 He becomes preeminent in everything that governs what I do in this life, because my life is made for him. 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:22.660 He's not just a part of what I do in this world. 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:30.140 He's central to the decisions that govern how I walk in light of who he 00:14:30.140 --> 00:14:33.300 is, because it's helping me discover who I am. 00:14:34.760 --> 00:14:41.780 And so acts chapter five is teaching us that idea in a very sobering context, so that we see the sacredness of who this 00:14:41.780 --> 00:14:42.160 is. 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:49.240 I mean, could you imagine for the early church, the early church, in this particular moment, it's like they're getting in the 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:50.500 rhythm of serving the Lord. 00:14:50.520 --> 00:14:54.800 And all of a sudden God just kind of hits this refresh of don't lose sight of this. 00:14:56.400 --> 00:15:03.560 Don't consider myself as mundane or just equal to other things, but rather the 00:15:03.560 --> 00:15:05.600 preeminence of who I am in all things. 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:12.540 And then the way that this story has moved throughout the church in history. 00:15:12.540 --> 00:15:19.640 It's you come to this moment and it's shocking, but to be honest, our souls can get lulled to sleep and 00:15:19.640 --> 00:15:26.780 the sacredness of the gift of what you have in Jesus, where he just becomes an idea of among 00:15:26.780 --> 00:15:27.460 many. 00:15:28.680 --> 00:15:31.540 But that's not what biblical Christianity is about. 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:39.780 It's the precedent of Jesus made known in me through all things that I, I walk through in life. 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:45.120 And so the power of this story is to waken our eyes to that and say, why? 00:15:45.140 --> 00:15:46.320 Why is Luke sharing this story? 00:15:46.380 --> 00:15:54.500 Let me give you the first point under that question is this to encourage a healthy reverence for God, to 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:56.500 encourage a healthy reverence for God. 00:15:56.560 --> 00:16:02.610 In fact, you think about the theme of what acts is the Spirit of God empowering the people of God to do the will of God? 00:16:03.400 --> 00:16:04.520 That's that is critical. 00:16:05.780 --> 00:16:13.020 And when you look at verse three and four, it reminds us of this thought where Ananias, he's told by 00:16:13.020 --> 00:16:16.770 the apostle Peter, really the identity of who the spirit is. 00:16:17.380 --> 00:16:24.560 When you think about the Holy Spirit, sometimes people have questions about this, like if your favorite translation of the Bible is the King James, that's totally 00:16:24.560 --> 00:16:25.100 good. 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:29.220 I you know, I don't really like listening to Shakespeare in Experience. 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:29.760 English. 00:16:29.820 --> 00:16:30.300 English. 00:16:30.300 --> 00:16:33.960 That's not how I speak in my in my common vernacular. 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:39.020 So for me, that's not my favorite translation, but some people enjoy that. 00:16:39.020 --> 00:16:46.140 And but if you were to read this particular section of Scripture in acts chapter five, verse three, it says, rather than the Holy Spirit 00:16:46.140 --> 00:16:49.310 in verse three, it refers to him as the Holy Ghost. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:57.780 And it's interesting when you read the King James Version of the New Testament that sometimes it refers to this figure called the Holy Ghost. 00:16:57.780 --> 00:16:59.570 Other times it refers to the Holy Spirit. 00:16:59.960 --> 00:17:02.960 And some people might ask, well is there a difference? 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:05.310 Is there a difference between Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit? 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:07.069 Let me just tell you the answer is no. 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:15.900 The truth is when the translators of the of the King James Version of the Bible were translating, they didn't take time to discuss how 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:18.060 they were going to translate the word pneuma. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:20.900 It can translate as ghost or spirit. 00:17:21.260 --> 00:17:28.300 I remember as a kid, if I reading the Bible, I grew up a poor kid in West Virginia and some other states as well. 00:17:28.300 --> 00:17:28.940 Lived in it for a little bit. 00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:35.490 But I remember there was a few times a Halloween where money was tight, and so I'm like, I'm going, I need some candy. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.700 So I just grabbed a bed sheet and cut some holes in it. 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:41.740 And, I walked around as the Holy Ghost. 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:48.510 And so when you think about when you think about the idea of a ghost, is that is that what Scripture is talking about? 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:55.940 Well, if you think in terms of the idea of systematic theology, if you ever read a systematic theology book on Christianity 00:17:55.940 --> 00:18:03.460 and you get to the Pneumatology section, which is the Holy Spirit acts, chapter five is one of those verses that it 00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:07.660 quickly gravitates to in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit to teach you who the Holy Spirit is. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:15.120 In verse three it says, why has Satan filled your heart, Ananias, to lie to the Holy Spirit? 00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:17.910 And at the end of verse four, it tells you who the Holy Spirit is. 00:18:18.340 --> 00:18:22.500 You have not lied to man, but to who, God. 00:18:24.320 --> 00:18:30.660 You guys will wake out there today, says God, you've lied unto God. 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:36.060 The idea of the Holy Spirit is not just this force. 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:39.140 He's a part of the Triune Godhead. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:42.580 He is God. 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:52.660 The story in the gospel, the in the in the book of acts written by Luke is intended to help us see this 00:18:52.660 --> 00:18:55.060 reverence for who God is. 00:18:55.060 --> 00:19:02.280 But at the same time to remind us that our identity must be rooted in Christ. 00:19:03.320 --> 00:19:05.740 Our identity must be rooted in Christ. 00:19:05.780 --> 00:19:12.840 When you when you get to verse 11, I mean, you really are seeing at the end of the story what the purpose 00:19:12.840 --> 00:19:14.280 is in all of this. 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:15.700 Why are they sharing this? 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:16.440 Well, it's to say this. 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:20.570 And he repeats this idea twice at the death of Ananias and then at the death of Sapphira. 00:19:21.180 --> 00:19:26.300 But it says, and great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. 00:19:27.320 --> 00:19:29.260 And the idea of this great fear is not. 00:19:29.260 --> 00:19:30.400 We're just afraid of God. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:37.420 The point of the story is not to push you away from the Lord, but actually call you to run further to him, to 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:38.440 run to the cross. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:46.060 So this idea of great fear is learning that of out of everything that you might Revere or bow down to in your life, the greatest 00:19:46.060 --> 00:19:52.950 thing for which you were created for is only discovered in him, and your life surrendered to him is where you discover the purpose for which you were made. 00:19:53.040 --> 00:19:59.680 And so this idea of great fear is this deep reverence for who the Lord is and how we live our lives. 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:06.700 And so your identity in him becomes the pillar for everything that you do in the Lord. 00:20:06.800 --> 00:20:11.580 When we fail to recognize who is Lord of our life, who is true Lord of our life. 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:15.460 One we diminish the glory of God in our hearts. 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:18.120 You know the idea of diminishing God's glory. 00:20:18.120 --> 00:20:20.320 You can't truly do that, but you can. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:23.820 His glory will reign forever, regardless if you embrace it or not. 00:20:24.260 --> 00:20:27.170 But you can diminish the glory of God in your hearts. 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:33.720 And when you diminish the glory of God in your heart, get this it gives you a distorted view of yourself. 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:35.320 You. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:39.830 You can never be anything but less than who God has created you to be. 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:47.060 When you diminish his glory, it leads to a distorted view of who you are. 00:20:47.780 --> 00:20:54.830 And when you have a distorted view of who you are, you start to look for other lords in your life because you're made as a worship being. 00:20:55.080 --> 00:21:02.120 And Timothy Keller's book called The Counterfeit God, he writes really eloquently about this from page about 166 00:21:02.120 --> 00:21:03.260 to 168. 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:05.000 And just some of the ideas he shares. 00:21:05.040 --> 00:21:12.450 It's this if you if you diminish the glory of God and you find this distorted view of yourself, you start creating other lords. 00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:18.260 And if and if success becomes your Lord, you'll live anxious and exalted. 00:21:18.260 --> 00:21:18.920 Or excuse me, Excuse me. 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:19.540 Exhausted. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:26.780 If comfort is your lord, you'll live cautious and shallow. 00:21:26.900 --> 00:21:32.520 If people's approval becomes your lord, you'll live enslaved to their opinions. 00:21:32.940 --> 00:21:39.960 But if God is your Lord, you can rest hopeful and secure, regardless of all else, because you know who you 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:41.100 are in him. 00:21:42.520 --> 00:21:49.820 But if we have this diminished view of his glory in our hearts, and we have this distorted view then of ourselves, it 00:21:49.820 --> 00:21:57.140 leads to this place of spiritual compromise in the Old Testament, uses the people of Israel to demonstrate what 00:21:57.140 --> 00:21:59.220 that road looks like over and over again. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:06.260 You know, it's interesting when you when you when you read about Israel in the Old Testament, they never really, truly stop worshiping Yahweh. 00:22:06.940 --> 00:22:07.020 Right? 00:22:07.020 --> 00:22:08.460 They're always worship Yahweh. 00:22:09.620 --> 00:22:16.700 But you see at moments in their history that they don't only worship Yahweh, they also bring 00:22:16.700 --> 00:22:18.540 other gods and begin to worship. 00:22:18.820 --> 00:22:22.670 For example, sometimes they bow down to Baal. 00:22:24.100 --> 00:22:31.380 And in so doing, when they begin to embrace these other gods, they might argue, well, they're coming up with this spiritual 00:22:31.380 --> 00:22:34.230 balance, as if everything is equal. 00:22:35.020 --> 00:22:42.120 But in reality, it led to this spiritual syncretization within their society and ultimately 00:22:42.120 --> 00:22:50.000 that syncretization didn't improve who they are, what it what it did was bring a spiritual collapse and a moral demise. 00:22:52.820 --> 00:22:54.380 The sacredness of God. 00:22:57.700 --> 00:22:58.000 Church. 00:22:58.040 --> 00:23:00.240 The gift of knowing who he is. 00:23:02.760 --> 00:23:05.280 The privilege to gather before his holy name. 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:09.660 The gift that he would pursue you with his life. 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:16.740 That you could be saved, liberated, and know him And now live for a 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:18.280 purpose greater than yourselves. 00:23:18.560 --> 00:23:25.680 And in his divine rescue of who you are, through a story of redemption that gives you a security, both now and forever. 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:34.600 It's a gift to not be treated as common as if it carries equal weight in comparison to other things. 00:23:34.820 --> 00:23:41.880 But to understand it reorients all that I am in light of who he is, not only 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:49.140 not only does diminishing his glory in our hearts give me a distorted view of myself, leading me to a place of compromise, it also may also from 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:50.040 the other side. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:54.530 It drains me of the joy and power for through which I possess in Christ. 00:23:56.020 --> 00:23:58.340 So it's only I, you know. 00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:04.910 I lose in the sense that I'm compromised in this way, but also I'm not walking in light of what I've been created for. 00:24:07.220 --> 00:24:08.720 And recreated through Christ. 00:24:10.360 --> 00:24:11.340 So why? 00:24:11.760 --> 00:24:14.460 Why then and just Discussing this. 00:24:15.580 --> 00:24:18.440 Why would Ananias and Sapphira make that kind of choice? 00:24:19.560 --> 00:24:20.320 Why? 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:21.590 Why do they do what they did? 00:24:23.380 --> 00:24:26.340 Well, verse four, three and four really talk about it with us. 00:24:26.340 --> 00:24:28.300 But let me go back here. 00:24:28.300 --> 00:24:30.580 Verse verse four says it like this. 00:24:31.940 --> 00:24:37.220 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? 00:24:38.260 --> 00:24:39.380 And after it was sold. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:42.610 Talking about the land, was it not at your disposal? 00:24:44.320 --> 00:24:47.060 Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your hearts? 00:24:47.820 --> 00:24:49.920 You have not lied to man, but to God. 00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:52.970 And here's what's interesting with Ananias and Sapphira. 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:54.660 No one made them do this. 00:24:56.260 --> 00:24:58.420 They were in control of whether or not they gave anything. 00:24:58.780 --> 00:25:00.290 They didn't have to give a penny. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.860 And then when they gave, they weren't expected to give everything they got from the land. 00:25:04.860 --> 00:25:06.700 They could have just given some of it if they wanted. 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:11.990 But rather than do that, they chose to give some but pretend like they gave all. 00:25:12.780 --> 00:25:13.700 Why would they do that? 00:25:13.780 --> 00:25:16.360 Well, the next point under the next question or notes. 00:25:16.360 --> 00:25:17.510 Next point is this. 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:23.880 They cared more about looking holy than walking humbly. 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:29.700 They cared more about looking holy than walking humbly. 00:25:31.040 --> 00:25:37.140 It's interesting when you look at the Gospels, this is exactly what Jesus criticized the Pharisees for doing. 00:25:38.340 --> 00:25:45.500 It says in Matthew chapter 23, verse five that they did good deeds for the appearance of looking good to 00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:46.300 others. 00:25:47.280 --> 00:25:52.780 And I mean, they're teaching us they desired the appearance of generosity with without the cost. 00:25:52.800 --> 00:25:58.760 They valued human approval more than the divine, and they drastically underestimated the holiness of God. 00:26:00.760 --> 00:26:05.220 Now, people don't like that, especially when it's brought to the light. 00:26:06.320 --> 00:26:08.580 I think in one sense, people love that. 00:26:08.580 --> 00:26:10.980 Like people really don't care what's right or wrong. 00:26:11.060 --> 00:26:15.000 People more care about how you perceive them to be right or wrong. 00:26:16.300 --> 00:26:21.620 And the idea is like this people care more about their reputation and less about their character. 00:26:22.220 --> 00:26:23.550 And if you know the difference between the two. 00:26:24.060 --> 00:26:26.020 Reputation is what people think you are. 00:26:26.020 --> 00:26:27.500 Characters who you truly are. 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:33.480 It's like you may be one way at work, but your family at home really knows what you're made of. 00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:38.160 And there's your reputation, the front you put on. 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:46.360 But then there's your true heart, your character, and what you're learning in acts chapter five is you may be able to put on a facade 00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:48.840 for people, but you can't. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:52.000 Before the Lord God sees the heart. 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:58.480 And Ananias and Sapphira are becoming that example of demonstrating this to us. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.370 It's kind of reminds me of the story of recently of Volkswagen. 00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:09.480 If you know, if you've read anything recently on Volkswagen, Volkswagen, where they had Their systems to test emissions 00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:10.380 in cars. 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:12.540 Only they weren't really testing it. 00:27:12.580 --> 00:27:14.520 They were just giving the appearance of it, testing it. 00:27:14.560 --> 00:27:19.760 They acted like they cared about what their cars were emitting into the environment, but they really didn't. 00:27:19.800 --> 00:27:24.420 So they took they took the opportunity to create a system that pretended to test but didn't really. 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:26.200 And then it got found out. 00:27:26.260 --> 00:27:30.080 And then when that happens, there's a lack of trust, right? 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:33.280 It's this appearance, but it denies the power thereof. 00:27:33.780 --> 00:27:35.490 It's the same thing with the with the church. 00:27:35.560 --> 00:27:37.510 Like, I'm sorry if you didn't know that about Volkswagen. 00:27:38.100 --> 00:27:41.400 And you drove one in this morning and now I made you feel bad. 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:42.190 But I got to be honest. 00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:45.260 Your car was created by Hitler already, so it's not like. 00:27:45.580 --> 00:27:49.520 It's not like your reputation was great to begin with. 00:27:49.520 --> 00:27:49.820 Just. 00:27:50.800 --> 00:27:51.980 Just someone. 00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:56.800 I said that this morning and someone said, hey, dude, don't you know Adidas was invented by Nazis as well? 00:27:56.800 --> 00:27:59.140 And I'm like, shoot, I'm going to have to take my shoes off. 00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:01.420 I didn't I did not know that. 00:28:01.460 --> 00:28:02.220 So that's not good. 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:02.910 That's not good. 00:28:03.260 --> 00:28:06.220 But to but to save face for Volkswagen people. 00:28:06.320 --> 00:28:07.210 So you don't feel all bad. 00:28:07.300 --> 00:28:08.420 It collapsed. 00:28:08.440 --> 00:28:10.590 And then a German or a British company bought it later. 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:10.800 So. 00:28:11.060 --> 00:28:12.040 So you're off the hook. 00:28:12.040 --> 00:28:12.700 But. 00:28:12.860 --> 00:28:18.700 But you know, when we find out something claims to be something that it isn't. 00:28:19.600 --> 00:28:22.340 You have this lack of trust moving forward. 00:28:23.840 --> 00:28:27.760 Because I think even as a church, how sacred it is that we carry the gift of Christ. 00:28:28.120 --> 00:28:36.880 Not not by pretending to be something we're not, not to impress people with who we are, but 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.060 to see their lives impressed with who Christ is. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:45.320 And this is the difference between Ananias and Sapphira and really what it is to walk humbly with the Lord. 00:28:46.340 --> 00:28:51.670 And Aeneas and Sapphira cared more about what people thought about them than necessarily what people thought about Christ. 00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:57.200 And this is why they're putting on the facade they gave. 00:28:57.280 --> 00:28:58.600 Let me give you the next point. 00:28:58.660 --> 00:29:02.050 Then they gave into the temptation of pride. 00:29:03.300 --> 00:29:07.480 What drove Ananias and Sapphira is what we call idolatry or unbelief. 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:08.900 And this is really where we all wrestle. 00:29:10.060 --> 00:29:12.840 It's the it's a similar thought, idolatry and unbelief. 00:29:12.840 --> 00:29:16.180 But it's two thoughts on the same coin, just different sides. 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:24.780 And the idea of unbelief is not trusting that God is sufficient and idolatry is believing something else is. 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:31.580 And if you don't trust God is sufficient, you will look for something to fill that void. 00:29:32.540 --> 00:29:35.160 And the only logical step is idolatry. 00:29:36.520 --> 00:29:36.600 So? 00:29:36.660 --> 00:29:43.760 So for us, the challenge becomes, how can I really lean into believing Jesus is enough for 00:29:43.760 --> 00:29:44.080 me? 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:48.340 Because our tendency sometimes is to see ourselves as the exception. 00:29:49.320 --> 00:29:56.840 It reminds me of the story of a of a man in the 1700s who was traveling across the United States, and he was going from the East Coast to the West Coast, and 00:29:56.840 --> 00:29:59.190 he got to the to the gateway of the West. 00:29:59.320 --> 00:30:02.470 He's in Missouri, and he's as he's getting ready to cross into Missouri. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:10.220 He's got to go across the Mississippi, and he's choosing to do this in the middle of winter at the, at the, at the darkness of 00:30:10.220 --> 00:30:10.570 night. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:16.640 And when he gets to the river, he realizes it's frozen, but he doesn't know how frozen. 00:30:17.580 --> 00:30:24.660 And so, in fear, he decides to sprawl out on the river and do an army crawl all the way across. 00:30:25.460 --> 00:30:30.460 And he doesn't recognize, because it's in the darkness of night, that this particular journey is over a mile wide. 00:30:30.500 --> 00:30:33.240 And the position that he's going across this river. 00:30:33.540 --> 00:30:39.750 And he gets about halfway across this river, still crawling, still fearful of what could happen if that ice begins to crack. 00:30:39.820 --> 00:30:43.820 And all of a sudden the ground begins to tremble and he gets nervous and starts to panic. 00:30:43.820 --> 00:30:45.170 He's thinking, oh, this is it. 00:30:45.840 --> 00:30:50.400 And then as the ground trembles, he starts to hear a noise and it sparks his attention. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:52.160 And so he starts to turn around. 00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:59.560 And when he looks back, he sees a man riding a wagon fully loaded with deep, with several 00:30:59.560 --> 00:31:03.880 horses and just whistling along as he drives across the ice. 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:08.680 And for us, it becomes a difference and comparison of faith. 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:14.600 One individual was completely confident in what that river, the ice on that river, could do. 00:31:15.900 --> 00:31:17.780 And another one had never truly tested it. 00:31:19.340 --> 00:31:21.780 And it's the same for us in our faith journey. 00:31:22.180 --> 00:31:24.070 It's one thing to say I trust Jesus. 00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:27.020 But oftentimes we struggle. 00:31:27.560 --> 00:31:30.860 And when we when we think about what does it look like for me to struggle? 00:31:30.860 --> 00:31:38.540 Well, it could be in this sense that I have a fear of people's opinions, what people think rather than than what the Lord thinks, or 00:31:38.540 --> 00:31:40.600 our struggle in the realm of forgiveness. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:48.340 Well, will Jesus be enough to carry me through if I truly forgive or we might struggle with selective obedience. 00:31:48.360 --> 00:31:49.490 I think God is enough sometimes. 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:51.330 But is he enough all the time? 00:31:52.060 --> 00:31:57.320 Or we might struggle in hopelessness and suffering like God. 00:31:57.400 --> 00:31:59.840 This is difficult, but will you sustain me? 00:32:00.860 --> 00:32:08.280 We have those battles that war within us and this is what Ananias and Sapphira are guilty of is that 00:32:08.280 --> 00:32:13.100 temptation of pride, trusting in self rather than what the Lord has called them to in him. 00:32:13.180 --> 00:32:14.090 So here's the last question. 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:16.470 How can we apply this story for a healthy purpose? 00:32:18.680 --> 00:32:19.360 We're all susceptible. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:22.990 We all have this tendency. 00:32:24.120 --> 00:32:31.280 Alright, let me let me just give you an example how like if you don't think you battle with pride and 00:32:31.280 --> 00:32:36.530 you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus, let me just ask, what keeps you from knowing Jesus? 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:39.650 Is it really truth? 00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:41.780 Because I can tell you. 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:44.120 You can clear that up in about five minutes, right? 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:51.560 If you if you're if you're completely ignorant to the historical reliability of Jesus takes, takes just a couple of minutes to see 00:32:51.560 --> 00:32:57.580 that, is it really truth Or is it? 00:32:57.640 --> 00:32:58.110 Can we be honest? 00:32:58.540 --> 00:32:59.800 Maybe a battle within me. 00:33:01.280 --> 00:33:03.060 Is it this rebellion in my own heart? 00:33:04.100 --> 00:33:07.950 Or maybe when you came to know Christ, how long did you resist before you finally surrendered? 00:33:08.120 --> 00:33:10.240 And even in walking with Jesus, how often? 00:33:10.860 --> 00:33:13.390 How often do you trust in other things rather than him? 00:33:14.580 --> 00:33:15.240 And we all battle. 00:33:16.360 --> 00:33:18.950 Even when you go back to the beginning of the Garden of Eden. 00:33:19.580 --> 00:33:20.720 Let me give you next blink in your notes. 00:33:20.740 --> 00:33:21.640 Someone read a verse from there. 00:33:21.700 --> 00:33:26.100 But we need to recognize our own vulnerability. 00:33:26.100 --> 00:33:26.620 That's the blink. 00:33:27.040 --> 00:33:28.170 Our own vulnerability. 00:33:28.360 --> 00:33:32.260 And in Genesis chapter three, it shows us that internal battle. 00:33:32.260 --> 00:33:39.600 It says he talking about the serpent, said to the woman, Eve, Did God actually say, 00:33:39.780 --> 00:33:42.370 you shall not eat of the tree in the garden? 00:33:42.860 --> 00:33:45.780 But the serpent then said to the woman, you will not surely die. 00:33:46.080 --> 00:33:47.180 I mean, God didn't say that, right? 00:33:47.180 --> 00:33:50.180 For God knows that when you eat of it, you will, you will. 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:54.140 Your eyes will be open and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:34:01.480 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and the tree was to be desired to make one wise she took the fruit and ate, 00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:02.840 and she also gave some to her husband. 00:34:05.040 --> 00:34:13.480 You know, there is this tendency within us, all of us, to think I know better than God or 00:34:13.480 --> 00:34:17.520 gods actually withholding from me what is best. 00:34:18.120 --> 00:34:19.620 And maybe he's doing it intentionally. 00:34:19.699 --> 00:34:21.000 Maybe he's doing it ignorantly. 00:34:21.620 --> 00:34:23.139 But I know better than God. 00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:26.480 And so in this moment, I need to take that position. 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:29.239 And this is what Satan is tempting him to. 00:34:30.139 --> 00:34:31.380 Don't you know better from God? 00:34:31.380 --> 00:34:33.409 Isn't God withholding his best from you? 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:39.130 Wouldn't you be better off to make this choice independent for him, for your own glory rather than his? 00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:42.699 And shouldn't you then take that throne from him and assume that? 00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:49.440 And when he's saying you'll know right from wrong, he's saying you will sit on that throne and rule as if you are God, declaring what is right and wrong. 00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:51.440 Now listen. 00:34:52.040 --> 00:34:59.110 For some people that might believe you can become like God in the sense that you will become God if you take your advice from Satan. 00:35:00.200 --> 00:35:01.350 You need to get a new leader. 00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:09.490 I mean, what he's saying to us in this story is this is the battle for all of us. 00:35:11.640 --> 00:35:18.860 We have this tendency of believing we know better than God that God's intentions for us aren't good or 00:35:18.860 --> 00:35:20.060 that he's not able. 00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:25.320 And in so doing, it distorts not only the view of God, of who God is. 00:35:25.320 --> 00:35:29.010 It distorts who I am, and it leads to a path of destruction. 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:33.700 So let me give you these last couple points so we can be done here. 00:35:33.740 --> 00:35:34.500 Here's what we need to do. 00:35:35.480 --> 00:35:37.390 Anchor your life in divine purpose. 00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:41.100 Anchor your life in divine purpose. 00:35:41.160 --> 00:35:42.090 And the last one is this. 00:35:42.220 --> 00:35:43.380 Always receive grace. 00:35:45.500 --> 00:35:47.540 Anchor your life in divine purpose. 00:35:48.940 --> 00:35:51.940 Let Jesus reorient all of who you are in him. 00:35:53.520 --> 00:35:54.740 I mean, you may say, God, I am. 00:35:54.820 --> 00:35:56.400 I'm crawling across that Mississippi. 00:35:57.180 --> 00:35:58.490 I'm not ready to ride the wagon. 00:36:00.940 --> 00:36:04.620 But Jesus wants you to learn in that he's more than enough. 00:36:06.260 --> 00:36:07.320 He's more than enough. 00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:09.660 And in fact, that's what the last verse is. 00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:13.330 Encouraging us in the church moved powerfully. 00:36:13.340 --> 00:36:15.240 How did the church move powerfully in the first century? 00:36:15.680 --> 00:36:18.220 Because this thought they never got over. 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:23.300 It was this gift that they chose to walk in their day. 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:28.790 And you think about how can the church make a difference in this, in this valley, in the Lord? 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:36.200 It's this gift, the sacredness of gathering before the beauty of the Lord and saying, God, my life 00:36:36.200 --> 00:36:37.020 is yours. 00:36:37.020 --> 00:36:37.620 Have your way. 00:36:37.620 --> 00:36:41.500 Just as Paul said in Galatians 220, I am crucified with Christ. 00:36:41.560 --> 00:36:48.900 Nevertheless, it's not I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life that I live by the flesh through the Son of God, who gave his life for me, 00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:57.020 that determines everything that I am and therefore impacts everything that I do for his glory, that others may be blessed 00:36:57.020 --> 00:36:57.660 in him. 00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:04.780 As my life is transformed before his presence, so that I can go from crawling to riding in the glory 00:37:04.780 --> 00:37:06.500 of God. 00:37:07.300 --> 00:37:08.630 So let me give you this conclusion. 00:37:09.780 --> 00:37:11.170 I'll share with this last story here. 00:37:12.540 --> 00:37:19.800 When we treat the sacred as common, when we treat the sacred as common, faith becomes 00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:20.900 hollow. 00:37:22.680 --> 00:37:31.000 When we try to look spiritual instead of being surrendered, it hypocrisy replaces holiness. 00:37:32.360 --> 00:37:39.480 But when we live with reverent surrender, the spirit fills our ordinary with his glory. 00:37:40.680 --> 00:37:45.530 And that's what God desires to do in the ordinary of your life. 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:49.480 Surrender to him the glory of who he has made known. 00:37:50.820 --> 00:37:51.500 I'll end with this. 00:37:51.520 --> 00:37:54.880 There was a man by the name of Edward Kimball, of which no one is. 00:37:55.100 --> 00:37:56.420 He's not remarkable in history. 00:37:56.500 --> 00:37:59.120 Most of us really wouldn't know him, except for one thing. 00:37:59.200 --> 00:38:00.500 One thing happened in his life. 00:38:00.540 --> 00:38:03.690 So I wouldn't be surprised if no one here has ever heard of his name. 00:38:04.220 --> 00:38:06.860 But Edward Kimball was a teacher at his church. 00:38:06.980 --> 00:38:14.340 He taught Sunday school, and in one particular Sunday, a young man joined his class, and Edward Kimball 00:38:14.340 --> 00:38:17.030 didn't know whether or not this individual was a believer. 00:38:18.160 --> 00:38:21.420 And so he decided to go visit this young man one day. 00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:29.430 But interesting with for Edward Kimball became that wrestling in his heart of am I going to trust God in this moment or not? 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:32.440 Did the Lord is the Lord leading me to talk to this young man or not? 00:38:32.680 --> 00:38:39.240 And he said when he left his place of work to go visit this young man the entire way he tried to talk himself out of it. 00:38:39.900 --> 00:38:47.180 He would say things like, well, what if I encounter this young man and he's with his friends and I try to talk to him about Jesus, But rather than listen to me, it just embarrasses 00:38:47.180 --> 00:38:48.090 him in front of his friends. 00:38:48.800 --> 00:38:50.640 Or what if he doesn't want to hear what I have to say? 00:38:51.540 --> 00:38:53.970 What if all those things he starts playing that in his mind. 00:38:55.080 --> 00:39:01.720 And all of a sudden, Edward Kimball, he finds himself arriving where the young man is, which the young man, at 17 years old, worked at a shoe shop. 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:05.180 He sold shoes, and Edward Kimball walked inside. 00:39:05.400 --> 00:39:07.700 And he starts to talk to this individual about the Lord. 00:39:08.900 --> 00:39:12.920 And to his surprise, in that moment that young man gave his life to Christ. 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:15.420 And that young man was D.L. 00:39:15.460 --> 00:39:15.760 Moody. 00:39:16.860 --> 00:39:17.100 D.l. 00:39:17.140 --> 00:39:22.340 Moody, if you're familiar with it, went on to see thousands of people come to know Jesus within his lifetime. 00:39:22.820 --> 00:39:29.860 He started a Bible college, which has produced thousands of missionaries around the world and pastors here within our country and other countries, too. 00:39:31.220 --> 00:39:34.700 They asked Edward Kimball about this moment. 00:39:34.700 --> 00:39:36.600 What was it like to share the gospel with D.L. 00:39:36.620 --> 00:39:36.840 Moody? 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:40.340 And he said it like this I made what felt like a very weak plea for Christ. 00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:42.880 I don't remember just what I said. 00:39:43.700 --> 00:39:45.820 It something about Christ and His love. 00:39:46.420 --> 00:39:50.460 It was nothing very striking, yet it was the turning point in that boy's life. 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:54.920 God's not looking for you to impress people with who you are. 00:39:57.020 --> 00:39:58.300 His desire is for you to be faithful. 00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:05.860 Because what God has called us to is to represent him in this world, so that others can be impressed with who he is. 00:40:07.060 --> 00:40:11.600 It's not about people looking to how great I am, but about how great Christ is. 00:40:13.080 --> 00:40:17.960 The sacredness of this moment, the gift that it is to know the Lord. 00:40:18.740 --> 00:40:20.420 He's not one of many things. 00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:22.500 He's preeminent in all things. 00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:28.680 And when our heart is surrendered to him, the power of Christ is made known in us.