Bible Study: June 9, 2021

Last week, last week, you remember that we ended with the story of Ananias and Sapphira, and just left it at that, getting my space together here. And I don't know that I'm going to take the time to kind of recap what we've learned in Acts so far. We've been doing that for a number of weeks, and I know that you all remember the lessons that we've learned. There's several, several of them as we go through the book of Acts, as we look at how Jesus Christ worked with the apostles, how the church began, how God worked with them, how the people responded to one another, how the people, even in Jerusalem, looked at church. And really, as you look at that church, they were an example of John 13, 34, when Jesus Christ said, by this, you all men know you are my disciples if you have love for one another. When they looked at the church that was forming there in Jerusalem, tells us in Acts 2, verse 47, that the church had favor among all the people. And indeed, they did.

Indeed, they did. They could see that this group of people was different than anyone they had seen before, different than their Jewish congregations, their Jewish gatherings, and whatever. This congregation or this church had something, and of course, that was the Holy Spirit, which most of them didn't understand, but those who had been baptized and received the Holy Spirit did.

As God worked with the church, we saw the miracle that he performed in chapter 3 with the man that was well known to everyone as he sat at the temple, begging alms every week or every day as they went into the temple. God healed him, and we saw the very many things that that miracle produced for that church. Not only the healing of the man, but the opportunity it gave for Peter and the apostles to witness to all the Jewish leadership of that day. They had an audience that they would have never been able to assemble, but God did. And the message of Jesus Christ, the truth of Jesus Christ and the gospel of God was sounded out to them in a very powerful way by Peter. You remember that the Sanhedrin, they threatened them. What they said is, we want to cancel the name of Jesus Christ. We don't want to ever hear his name again. We don't want you speaking his name again, but the apostles were not daunted by that. They were not at all afraid by any of that. So, I don't hear people joining, and I'm not sure how to let them in. Hold on just a minute here.

There we go. Okay. Okay, so we have eight more people. Let's let these eight join us here, and then we'll look at you. So.

Okay, welcome to those of you who just joined. We're just recapping and going, getting up to the point where we ended last week in chapter five with the story of Ananias and Sapphira. So, you know, I'm not going to read through verses one through twelve of chapter five again. We did that last week, and I think everyone online is pretty familiar with the story of Ananias and Sapphira. But it does bear us, hold on, it does bear us talking about it a little bit, because, you know, on face surface we might say, you know, some might say, well, God made a pretty quick decision with Ananias and Sapphira and just putting them to death. But when you look at the story of what these two had done, we can see what God, what God, the statement that He was making about them.

And what Ananias and Sapphira had done is, you know, they watched the people as they were joining the congregation, I guess, if you want. We want to put it in that terms, joining the community that was there in, joining the community that was there in Jerusalem. And they saw people that were selling their property. Remember, God did not command that they all sell their property. God, the apostles didn't say, sell everything you have and give it to us. They voluntarily did that, because they all wanted to be together. They all felt the desire to be together, to be hearing the apostles' teaching, to fellowship with one another, to be part of that body. But as Ananias and Sapphira came into the church, and we, there's no reason to believe they weren't baptized and didn't have hands laid on them. They were part of the church. And as they watched other people give everything that they had, they wanted to be seen as part of that group as well. I think notable in chapter four and verse 36, as Luke records, you know, as he writes this book under the inspiration of God, this book of Acts, we do see that, we do see that Barnabas is mentioned. And it specifically says, you know, Barnabas, who is known as the son of encouragement, and of course, we know who Barnabas is. He's going to be a key figure later as we go on into Acts. But it mentions that he gave everything, and he was held in high esteem by the apostles, by the delegation of congregation there. And it just makes me wonder that somehow Ananias and Sapphira look at Barnabas, maybe they knew him in the past, and maybe they wanted to be just like him and held in the same high esteem. Whatever they were doing, they also wanted to, they also wanted to be seen as him. But they conspired among themselves. They, they actually worked with one another and said, you know what, we're going to sell our property for whatever it is, well, whatever it is they sold it for, but we're only going to give a part of it. Whether that was half of it, or whether it was two thirds of it, you know, only they know. But they worked together and they conspired to lie to the church. And as we look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira, it's interesting that God separates them. They don't come together, they don't come together before Peter and say, here's what we sold the property for and everything. Ananias is by himself. And Peter asks him the question and Ananias tells the lie. Yes, we're giving all. That's what he wanted to have people believe. And Peter calls him out and says, you've not only lied to me, you've lied to God, you've lied to the Holy Spirit. And this is the Church of God. It's a high calling we come to, to conspire, to lie against God and think that we can mock him in some way and somehow fool him into thinking what we want him to think is absolutely wrong. And this is a tremendous example and witness to the New Testament Church. This is not a church that you join lightly. There is a cost to be counted here. And there's a responsibility when you join the church to God. It's not like it maybe was in the Jewish faith, where then they could just kind of do whatever they needed to do and fool each other. So Anna and Iastai's and then later, three hours later, survivor comes. She also had an opportunity to simply when she was asked, you know, point blank from Peter, did you sell the property for this much? She could have said at that point, looking him in the eyes, no, you know, no, we didn't.

I can't lie to you. But she too stayed with the lie. And she looked at Peter and she said, yes, this is how much we sold it for. So we see the two of them, you know, conspiring against each other to lie. And it's for that reason that God, you know, put them to death. It was a tough lesson.

Well, obviously, a tough slot for them to learn, but a tremendous example for the people of that time to see. This is God's church. When you enter it, when you enter it, you are committing to obey God, to follow Him explicitly, to do His will, and to put all the outside ways that we used to do things, all the deceit that we may have used to have practiced and get away with, all that needs to be put away. The Church of God, what God is desiring is purity. And Ananias and Sapphira were bringing something into the church that God didn't want any part of. So He took the opportunity, and He did kill them. He did have them killed or kill them Himself. And it was a tremendous witness to the people of Jerusalem that were there, too. As we pick it up in verse 13, we see that it had an effect on the people who were looking at this church, this body that was that was warming, and there it was. And all of a sudden, they are a little bit hesitant, if you will. It says, verse 13 of Acts 5, yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. Now you can look at that verse and think, well, what exactly does that mean? None of the rest dared join them. Well, again, as they looked, and as they would be believing, because we see in verse 14 that there were people who did believe in Jesus Christ. They did believe in what the apostles were saying. They did believe and see the miracles that the apostles were working. And they knew, as the apostles were clearly telling them, this is not our power, this is Jesus Christ. It's a continuance of what he was doing when he was on earth. But they were afraid in a little way to join. Look at the responsibility. Perhaps, as I look at that verse, I see that there is a counting to the cost that you and I do before we join God's church. Christ tells us, count the cost before you begin building the building. Someone had something to say? Yeah, I did. Sure. I think a lot of that too was a lot of some of those people were half-hearted, and they were pretenders. And when they seen what happened to those other two, they found out, hey, God cannot be mocked. He can see right into you. And so you're half-hearted of the people that were kind of, well, maybe I will, maybe I won't. Either you are or you're not. There was no fence travelers. Yep. I think you're right. I think they saw some of themselves probably in that and thought, whoa, if that happened to them, maybe it wouldn't have done exactly the same thing, but they weren't ready to commit all the way either. You know, God requires all of us when we respond to His call. So they were hesitant. They didn't dare join them, but they did still look on that church and say, look at them. They are a good people. They are in a fellowship. They are in a community. They are different, and they are a good difference. So they esteemed Him highly.

Verse 14, it says, believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.

Now, I don't know exactly what that verse means. I find it interesting that, you know, it doesn't mention in that verse that people coming right on the heels of verse 13, it's interesting that it doesn't say these believers were baptized and joined the church. That would be kind of like, you know, none of them wanted to join, but they still esteemed them.

But it says that they were believers. In other places, it says that, you know, you know, they were baptized. Later on in chapter 6, after they named some deacons and selected some deacons, we see that many are baptized and added to the become disciples. Here it just says believers. And I have to wonder if that's some of these people, none of the rest that there joined them that June was talking about, that they wanted to believe. They did believe, but they weren't ready yet to commit. And they understood and they saw what was going on, and they were okay with it. And they knew that it was the truth, but they weren't yet ready to commit.

And this is just my speculation, right? Because if we look at verse 15, we see that, look at all the people who brought the sick to Peter, you know, and the apostles, because they were performing these miracles. Verse 15 says, you know, they believed, they believed enough to know that they would be healed, so they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.

Also, a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclued spirits, and they were all healed. The same thing it says about Jesus Christ. In Matthew 8 16, it says, everyone that was brought to him, he healed, and the apostles were continuing the same mission and the same ministry to the people that Jesus Christ was.

Now, as we go back, you know, to believers again, you know, we might compare that to some of what we see in, you know, in the church and around the church today. You know, we have a number of people, you know, that we, the church classifies. If you're baptized, you're classified as members. You might be associates. You come to church, you know, but you haven't been baptized yet. We have donors and we have co-workers who see the work of God, who believe because they do, they do read the literature.

They do request it. They do send money to support it. We have a number of people watching webcasts who we never see at church, never hear of, and we do know that they continue to join us week after week after week. So there are people even today who believe, but they haven't yet joined.

They haven't yet joined. There might even be some people right in our congregation, so we know who have attended for years and years and years that haven't become a member. They're believers or they wouldn't still be there, and in their time, you know, they will, they will choose to follow God, and they will look at it and be ready to commit their lives eternally to God, and along with that, be ready to put to death old self, old ways, old habits, old sins, and come up and live a life, you know, that Jesus Christ defines for us.

So maybe we're beginning to see that, you know, here in the New Testament Church as well, which is the same with us today as we look at ourselves in 2021, you know, a number of members, but a lot of believers that are out there as well that have not yet joined us and we don't yet know. So, but as the church, as the church operates here, and as the apostles are out there doing the same things that Jesus Christ did, always giving him the credit, you know, but they are the same activities and miracles that attended Jesus Christ when he said the kingdom of God is at hand, you know, the New Testament church would say the kingdom of God is at hand.

We're preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is, this is God's I guess God's approval, if I can use that word on what they were doing, because he honored, he honored the healing requests they made to them, and they became known far and wide. It was, it was becoming a very significant event in Jerusalem, this relatively and comparatively small church that had sprung up, you know, that believed in Jesus Christ, and that was gathering together there in Jerusalem.

As, as it happens in Jerusalem, you know, the Sanhedrin, the high priest and the Jewish powers that be caught wind of what was going on. So in verse 17 says, the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him, which was the sect of the Sadducees, remember the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection, so when the resurrection of Jesus Christ was being preached, it went 100% against what they, what they believed or what they wanted people to believe, so they had many issues with what was being preached.

High priest rose up, all those who were with him, and they were filled with indignation. That indignation is a pretty, a pretty good word to use there. The Greek word actually that's translated to indignation there could be translated as zeal. They had an energy. They, they were motivated when they saw what was going on with the apostles, and when they saw what was going on with all these healings, they were motivated. They didn't like any of it. They had, they had, remember, they had threatened the apostles. We don't want you preaching in this name anymore.

We don't want to hear this name of Jesus Christ. We want to forget he ever existed. We don't want the people being reminded of him, and here it is just a very short time after they did that in chapter four. Here's the apostles again, and they're not just healing one man by the temple.

They are healing everyone that's coming from near and far, and it is of course drawing attention to the work of God. So they were angry, but they were energized, and they were determined, we're going to end this. We're going to end this sect. We're going to end this, this, this Christian movement that we see here. And this time when they went out in verse 17, they didn't just threaten. They just went out, and you can kind of almost picture what they did. They marched out from there, they laid their hands, verse 18, on the apostles, and they put them in the common prison. They weren't even going to talk about it this time.

Grab them, throw them in prison, and lock them in there. Now someone this afternoon pointed out that common prison was where probably all the the derelicts of society were. Murderers, thieves, you name it. They had no respect for the apostles whatsoever. Just throw them into the prison, because in their minds they were no better than any other of the common prisoners that were there.

So here we have the apostles, you know, they're out doing God's work, and as they're doing it, they just get yanked, yanked into, yanked into, and yanked by the collars thrown into prison.

Mr. Shaby. Yes. One of the reasons why they were so angry is, unlike the fire seas, the 72 seas, they only believe in the five first book of the Old Testament. They didn't believe in Jesus, you know, they didn't come to recognize Jesus as their sin. As Messiah, yes. They didn't believe in the resurrection. I think the other reason they were so incensed is because here they saw, you know, Jesus Christ. Remember it said about Jesus Christ. They handed him over to Pilate because of envy, right? He was, crowds were following him. People were listening to him, and he was threatening their position, and they weren't about to let their position go. And here we have the same thing happening with these apostles, the powers that be in Jerusalem were looking at this thinking the people are going to them. They're not listening to us. Look what's going on. And I think, you know, I think you're right. They were teaching something that was opposite actually of what they were preaching, and yet the people were coming to them, and they were attended by all these miracles. So there was a lot of envy and jealousy going on there as well, I think, as they set out to stop this movement. One thing we learned, though, is that you cannot stop the Word of God. No man is able to stop the Word of God. When God is determined that his Word will go out, it's going to go out, and it's going to go out powerfully. Verse 19, I mean, maybe the Sanhedrin, well, I'm sure the Sanhedrin thought if they're in prison, they can't talk anymore, they're shut away for the evening, we'll deal with them in the morning. Verse 19, here we have another miracle, you know, that God performs that's going to throw the Sanhedrin for a little bit of a loop. We're going to find out as they look at it, and as they think about what has happened, you know, to them. It says, at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, go stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

So they've been stopped momentarily, but an angel takes them out of prison supernaturally and gives them a command. Go right to the temple, go right to the temple, talk about, go to the people and talk about all the words of this life. The words of this life, it's like, talk to them about eternal life, talk to them about Jesus Christ, talk to them about forgiveness of sins, talk to them about forgiveness of sins, talk to them about his sacrifice, talk to them about his resurrection.

And as we saw the apostles do as well, you know, they taught the words of Jesus Christ. They taught the way of life that Jesus lived. As the people came to that church, remember we read in Acts 2, verse 42, they continued in the apostles' teaching. And they had all, you know, what they believed in Jesus Christ that they committed themselves to them. They taught them the way of life of Jesus Christ. So what the angel, you know, under direction from God said, you go and you teach these words of eternal life. You know, you can maybe mentally remember what it says in John 6, verse 63, when the apostles, you know, told Jesus Christ, you have, where are we going to go? You have the words of eternal life. These are the words. We can't run from it. There is no other place other place to go. So they have this command. They have this command from God, go out and do this.

In verse 21 is an interesting verse because it's almost, it's ironic in a way, and almost, almost humorous in a way when you see what goes on the next morning. Because in verse 21, when we see the apostles, they've been set free from prison, and it says, when they heard, when they heard that, basically they obeyed. They entered the temple early in the morning, and they taught.

So when, when sunbreak came up, they got up, they went to the temple, they did exactly what God told them to do. They weren't worried about what the Sanhedrin could do to them. They weren't worried about the consequences. They simply were obeying God. Well, the Sanhedrin had no idea that this was going on. They thought, they thought the apostles were still tucked away in prison there. The High Priest, it says in verse 21, and those with him came. They called their council together with all the elders of the children of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have the apostles brought.

They had these things going on simultaneously. They're there in the temple, but their apostles are outside at the temple, treating, and they're sending for them to be brought to them, all as this is going on. So they sent the people to the temple, but when the officers came and didn't find them in prison, they returned and reported, saying, indeed, we found a prison shut securely.

I mean, as they looked at what went on there, they could find no evidence of a breakout. They couldn't see where anyone had unlocked the door and left them out during the night. The prison was still shut securely. It was exactly as they had left it. There was no evidence of anyone doing anything to let these guys out. It simply was a miracle, and everything was exactly as it was left. Indeed, we found the prison shut securely. No evidence. No evidence that these people, that these men, could have left. And the guards were standing outside before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside. Even the guards were surprised. We'd been here all night. You know, I'm sure they said, we never fell asleep. We never, you know, we never slept for a minute.

But here they're going. How did that happen? In verse 24, we see the Sanhedrin, the high priest anyway, take a pause for a moment, because when he hears, and I'm sure he questioned pretty thoroughly the person who came back, thinking someone has undermined them, but when he heard, no one knew how these men had escaped from prison. It says, when the high priest, the captain of the temple, the chief priest heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be.

Here they had several things that were mounding up for them. They saw the miracle of the man, the lame man who was daily at the temple begging for alms. They saw that miracle, and they couldn't deny it. Told us that in Acts 2 and 3, or Acts 3. They couldn't deny what had happened there. They couldn't deny the power that the apostles were preaching with. And here now they have this that has happened, where there is no physical explanation of how these men are out of prison.

And so they stop and think. It's as if, you know, I'm sure across their mind, it's as if God is working against us. Everything we do to stop this moment, this movement, you know, we we've killed Jesus Christ, but then there's all these witnesses that say He's resurrected and He's alive.

We see this healing of the man. We see the healings of what the apostles are doing, and now we can't even lock them up and keep them there overnight. God is releasing them. There is no other explanation. You know, it makes me think of Pharaoh, you know, from the ancient Israelites, when he was watching God or living through God, bringing the plagues upon them. And early on, you know, his magicians were able to match, at least in his mind, what God was working. But later on, there was no explanation. It was simply God who was doing it. But Pharaoh, as he would relent for a while and say, okay, I'll let your people go, he would harden his heart and say, no, you're not going to go. No, you're not going anywhere. And in a way, the Sanhedrin are doing the same thing. They're seeing the witness of God. They're seeing the proof that God exists. They see God's hands and where it is working with people, but they simply will not accept it. And you see them digging in their heels more and more. You know, a hardening of the heart that's happening here. The hardening of the heart that is happening here. You know, it's one of the things that, you know, as we read in James and Hebrews, you know, we were warned many times, let never our heart be hardened. Understand where God is working. Look at what he's doing. Follow him, and don't choose your own way. Choose to yield to him. That's where eternity lies, is in, you know, yielding to God and obeying him. So here we have this in verse 24, as the Sanhedrin is taking a moment, kind of, to think about these things. But they're interrupted in verse 25. One came and told them, saying, look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Exactly what you were trying to prevent. They're out there doing this. I mean, here as we speak and wonder what's going on, they're out there teaching about this man, Jesus Christ. They're out there talking about the gospel, and you've told them not to do. It had to be just kind of like a tremendous eye-opener to them to say, as they're sitting there thinking, what they are trying to prevent is going on. Again, it shows God's power. There's nothing that can stop. When God wants the Word to go out, it's going to go out. No man, no group of men, death itself isn't going to stop the Church of God, as Jesus Christ, you know, said back in Matthew 16, 18, the gates of hell will not stop God's church or His message going out. And they're learning this, not accepting it as they're sitting there, but they're learning that as they see it unfolding before their eyes.

Well, you can imagine the picture. They all get up. They walk out, you know, to get the apostles. And so it says, the captain went with the officers, and they brought them, the apostles, without violence. For they, that would be the Sanhedrin, feared the people, lest they should be stoned. So we have an interesting situation here. Peter, the apostles are in the temple, they're preaching. Sanhedrin comes out and says they want the apostles to come with them to meet with the council, if you will, that they had assembled there.

You know, what we see here is that Peter didn't resist. You know, he didn't say, now we're not going with you. No, we're not going anywhere. We're going to stay right here, and we're going to do exactly what God told us to do. He could have said that. He might have said that. But it appears that what the apostles did was just voluntarily go with the Sanhedrin when they summed them to this meeting. Maybe perhaps they thought, you know, it is the temple, they have the right, so we'll obey their commands and follow them into this meeting that they want us to have. So, lesson to us that, you know, that Jesus Christ reminds us and we have in Romans 13 that when the civil authorities command us to do something, as long as it doesn't contradict the will of God or the commands of God, we do it. We're lawful citizens and we obey them, but if it contradicts what God says, then we choose to do what God says. Peter will make that point clear to the Sanhedrin here in a couple verses. But it appears because, you know, as the Sanhedrin went in there and saw what was going on, they realized that they were going to, you know, bring out the billy clubs and bring out the handcuffs that lead these men away. They were going to have an insurrection by the people that were gathered there. The people that were listening to Peter and the apostles, what they were saying there, they were very much into and supporting what they were saying. They knew what was going on. They weren't believers, if you will. They weren't people who were angry with what Paul with what Peter was saying. They were people who were supporting it.

So it appears that Peter voluntarily came in there. Now remember what we talked about in chapter four, you know, as the Sanhedrin gathered and it says all of the elders, all of the high priests, all of the chief people of Jerusalem, all the scribes came together and then they set the apostles down in the midst of them. There was an audience that God gave those apostles that could not have been ever gathered by them if they had made the invitation. So as again they're being brought into this group of people that are gathered together, the Sanhedrin, that does nothing to do but silence. Silence these, you know, these servants of Jesus Christ. They see it again as an opportunity to witness to the leaders of the land. And so perhaps that was what was in Peter's mind as the Holy Spirit led him. But anyway, they voluntarily come in here. They've had a little surprise to the Sanhedrin that they would just voluntarily come in there. But we see, we see that when they do, there's a powerful message again that they're delivered. They were given one a few maybe the day before or a few days before and they're about to get the same message again. In verse 27, you know, it says, and when they, the Sanhedrin, had brought them, they set them before the council or the people who went out to gather. They set them before the council and the high priest asked them, saying, didn't we strictly command you not to teach in this name?

Now they did, but the apostles didn't pay attention to that command because that was certainly not what God's intent and will for them was. And then look what they say in verse 28. And look, or the end here, and look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and you intend to bring this man's blood on us. The Sanhedrin makes quite a statement when they say that to Peter. In a way, in a way, it's a compliment to this small church. It's a way, it's a compliment to the to the apostles because they say, you have filled Jerusalem with this, with your doctrine.

They have been very successful in preaching the Word of God. All of Jerusalem was abuzz about what is going on. Listen to what these men are saying. Look at the actions that accompany what they're saying. Look at the power behind them. Look at the look at the the power and the even the the truth. You know, we can say it that Peter and the apostles speak with. Look at this group of people that are part of their body. It's not like any people we've ever seen before. They're all in one accord. They're all getting along together. They're all part of the same doctrine. They've thrown their lives together because they are part of that body. There's something about them that's attractive. The people, it tells us, as we read already here in chapter five, held them in high esteem. They had favor with the people. The Sanhedrin says you've filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. Now the word you're there is an important word as we look at it. We have Judaism that was taught in Judea, in Jerusalem. They kept the Sabbath. They kept the Holy Days.

It was a religion in its own right. Jesus Christ came and he showed that Judaism is not the religion and the way of life that God intended for his people to live. Judaism had taken the law of God, the way of God, the way that should lead to peace, harmony, everything, and they had changed it. They had laid their own commands, their own interpretations on it, and it became a religion that wasn't leading what God's expectations were. So Jesus Christ came to earth. So Jesus Christ began to show the way of life that God intended with the same 10 commandments, the same way of life, but not with all of the trappings and beliefs that the Jews attended to. But now now is talking about a circumcision of the heart, now allowing this life to become part of you, to define you, to explain who you are that would define how your actions are, your interactions with people. Totally different than Judaism, and even the Jewish leaders realized that. Jesus Christ and the apostles and those people gathered there, they were still keeping the Sabbath day. They were still keeping the Holy Days, or they would as the year would go on, but even they said, you're filling Jerusalem with your doctrine. It was a different church, a different church. Now we can bear in mind as we go forward, I from time to time hear people talk about, oh, we can learn. We have to go back and learn from the Jews and do this. And some people wanted to undertake Torah studies with the Jews and the Orthodox Jews. And I was like, you know, that's not the religion of God. It's similar. It's based on the Bible, but it's not the religion that Jesus Christ taught. And so when we look to what to do what the Jews did, you know, we can get ourselves led astray. So we always want to look at the Bible and do what the Bible says, look at Christ's example, look at the apostles example, and use God's Word as our guide. You know, I say many times, you know, I heard it from from someone, you know, asking about Messianic Judaism as past Sabbath, and I reminded them Messianic Judaism, you know, is not don't look to the way they do things.

Christianity is not Judaism plus Jesus Christ. It's much, much more than that. Messianic Judaism is Christianity mixed with a lot of modern day Christianity that isn't based on the Bible plus Jesus Christ. The Church of God is not just Judaism plus Jesus Christ. It is the way of life that Jesus Christ spoke, lived, that the apostles taught, lived, that God teaches us, that lives, that the Holy Spirit leads us to. And the Sanhedrin themselves realized you're a different church. You're leading people out of our belief into your belief. You fill Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you intend to bring this man's blood on us. They heard very clearly what Peter was saying. You are the ones who crucified Jesus Christ. You're the ones who put him to death. It wasn't escaped on Caiaphas and the high priest of that time what they were saying. You know, someone again this afternoon pointed out, well, what was happening to them is exactly what they said, because remember what they said to Pilate. They said, let his blood be on us. Just put him to death. Let his blood be on us. And here that's exactly, you know, what the high priests are saying. You intend to bring this man's blood on us. And then Peter in verse 29, you know, cuts right to the quick of it. Here they are, as you can imagine, the stern and authoritative way that they are speaking to Peter and the other apostles. Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men.

We heard what you said. Don't preach in this name anymore. We're doing it anyway. God told us to do it. We know you told us when you put us in prison, don't teach this name anymore.

God let us out. We're going to be exactly where he told us to be. We're going to be in the temple teaching exactly the way he told us to. We ought to obey God rather than men. It's one of those hallmark verses that we need to remember, you know, and then to have in our lives. We obey God rather than men. When family members or friends or co-workers or whatever it is say, well, can't you do this instead just this one time? What should we do? We should obey God rather than men. We should obey God rather than men and not fall prey to one of Satan's devices of luring us into doing something that is apart from what God's will and what we know is God's will for us. In verse 30, look what Peter says as he has this audience of the leaders of all the leaders in Jerusalem of Judaism gathered there. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. Exactly what they didn't want to hear is not what they're hearing as they are sitting or they're all gathered. No, you know, they're not holding back anything from what the message that they're giving to the Sanhedrin is. And there's 32, another hallmark verse, and we are his witnesses to these things. And so also is the Holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him. If we are going to have God's Holy Spirit, he gives it to those who obey him, who are yielded to him, who will follow his teaching, who will follow his instruction, and will... it is a yielding to him. It's a deal going from our way of doing things and what we might even want to think is right, but when we see what is right, we do it God's way. God gives his Holy Spirit to those who obey him. And when we commit to God, when we're baptized, and we have hands laid on us, and we ask for God's Holy Spirit, that is what we are committing the rest of our lives to do, to follow him, follow Jesus Christ, and obey him. Love him! Of course, we do that. All the fruits of the Spirit that draw us together as his children to our Father, to our elder brother, that draw us and bind us together with each other, as well as the Holy Spirit binds us in the things that we have learned.

Well, in verse 33, we see the reaction. We don't see the reaction of Christians or people who are getting it in verse 33. We see the attitude that Satan often displays in his people. They're not having any of it. They're mad. They're as mad as they can be by the words that they are being spoken to here. And it says, when they heard this, when the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and they plotted to kill those apostles. The same thing that they plotted to do with Jesus. We hate what you're saying. They may have thought we've tried to threaten you. We have put you in jail. Maybe the way to stop this is, you know, kill you. They should have learned it didn't work with Jesus Christ. When they killed him, it didn't stop his gospel or his message. But they think, if we kill you, if we kill you, Satan always wants to kill the word of God. That's his response. So when we see people who don't yield to God, who, you know, we see this other attitude that is not of the Christian at all. They heard this, they were furious, and they plotted to kill them.

Verse 34. Well, cooler minds, you know, cooler minds, let me look at my, cooler minds prevail here as one of the people in the council isn't giving in to this anger and this rage and this fury that the rest of the council is saying. He is looking at what's going on, and he can see the things are getting out of hand pretty quickly. Words are flying, threats of killing are, how do we do this? Let's, you know, how do we get these men killed just like we killed Jesus Christ? Verse 34, we're introduced to this man, the malial, who has, you know, a cooler head among him.

And he gives them, you know, some words here. It says, then one of the council stood up in verse 34, a Pharisee named Amaliel, a teacher of the law, held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. Your margin there may say X 22, X 22 in verse 33, or three, and it appears, it appears that Paul, the apostle Paul, you know, was taught by this man, Gamaliel, is little. It is interesting that, you know, he seems to be a level-headed one. It says he has the respect of all the people. That's a notable thing if someone has that. They kind of look up to Gamaliel. He may be the guy that, you know, seems to have a level head that can kind of look at things, come to a proper conclusion, an appropriate conclusion, and here this situation is sorely needing someone who can do that. Then one of the councils stood up, Gamaliel. He was, you know, and he's there, and he says, you know what, let's take it down a notch, Sanhedrin. Let's take a time out. Let's put the apostles outside for a little bit, and let's talk about this a little bit. You know, it's a lesson in conflict resolution a little bit for us as well. Sometimes, you know, if we get in heated discussions with someone, whether it's family member, spouse, or whatever, and things get out of hand, and words might start flying left and right.

Probably we've all been in those situations. It's good when we see things getting out of hand and temper slaring. Just take a time out, you know, to retreat for a little bit. Let's let tempers cool down a little bit. Let's think about this and separate for a while, and then come back when we can look at this, you know, with a little bit more sanity rather than the anger that can fill our minds and can fill our hearts. So that's what Gamaliel is doing here. Let's take a time out. Put these apostles out. Let's talk. And he said to them, verse 35, men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. For some time ago, Thudis rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about 400, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing.

You know, what Thudis did, what his beliefs were, really of no consequence here. You can look at some of the commentaries, and they all say this and they'll say that, but no one really knows what Thudis did, and it isn't even important. You know, it's just there was another movement where someone had some men following him. He died, and once he died, whatever the movement was, whatever the belief was, the people just scattered and nothing more came of it. He goes on, he says, after this man, Judas of Galilee, rose up in the days of the census and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed.

Another case, when the man dies, then, you know, their belief, the whole group just sort of disappears. We don't hear about them anymore. Verse 38, as Gamaliel was saying this, he was probably well aware, I'm sure he was well aware because he was part of the council, of what was going on. He saw the miracles. He knew what the apostles were doing. He saw how these men behaved themselves in the face of the council. He knew about the prison and that they were supernaturally brought out of prison and the type of things that are saying, and he says, and now I say to you, keep away. Keep away from these men. Leave them alone or let them alone, for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing. And we find that out. Probably in our history, we can see things where people did this or whatever, not even in religious areas, but, you know, well, maybe in religious areas. And when one person leaves or one person gives up, the whole crowd disperses.

Gamaliel goes on and he says, but if it is of God, you can't overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against God. And he is, he is, he's looking, he is saying something here, and he goes, you don't want to be found guilty of fighting against God. I think he's well aware of what has gone on with the miracles and the things that are going on that day and is assessing this and saying, just back off. Let this happen and let's see where it goes. Now we know that as the apostles were martyred over the ensuing years, the Church of God never failed to never, never ceased to exist. You know, we've gone through the church history and Bible studies, you know, back a year ago, and how the Church of God existed from the time of Jesus Christ, from the apostles, teaching the same thing, teaching the same things from the Bible, and no matter what, what government, no matter what king, no matter what church, namely the Catholic Church, tried to throw everything at it and kill everyone and stifle the Bible and stifle everyone that was in it. The Church always continued. It never stopped to exist. Jesus Christ said, the gates of hell, the gates of Hades, the gates of the grave, it's not dependent on people. It's Jesus Christ who is the head of the church, and he will leave his church until the time that he returns, and he returns to it, the temple that he's building in that church. So, you know, they, you know, maybe in their lifetime they would completely deny that and never accept it, but here we are 2000 years later, and we see the Church of God still here. Jesus Christ is leading it. Men have come, men have gone through the ages. And Gamaliel is exactly right, but the Sanhedrin was guilty of continuing to fight against God.

You can't overthrow it, he says in verse 39, lest you even be found to fight against God.

Well, the Sanhedrin... Go ahead, yes, please, James. Mr. Shaby, I was just thinking about, you know, Gamaliel, and from what I read, he was a grandson of Hillel the Elder, and who famously said whenever someone came and said, hey, make me a proselyte of your religion, but do it while I'm standing on one foot. And he answered and said, that which is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. That's the whole Torah, and the rest is a commentary of it. And it was his response, right?

And it's kind of a simplified version, but he being a Jewish rabbi, it tells you the line of thinking in that family tree toward the laws where there were so many Pharisees that had that very hard line reasoning. And you see the stock that Gamaliel came from, from Hillel, and then, of course, Paul being taught along that same line of being at the feet of Gamaliel. It's just interesting to see how God chose these individuals all working down to bring all this about. Yep. Yeah, it shows how God is in control, right people at the right time, and how it all ties together. Yeah. Okay, verse 40, you know, the Sanhedrin, to their credit, they agreed with him.

He presented his case well. They couldn't argue with it. They agreed with him. But we see they're still going to get their still going to get their licks in, right? I mean, here's a society they lived in at this time, and it's kind of foreign to us, you know? Well, they agreed with him when they called for the apostles and beaten them. Now, can you imagine? And it's like, okay, we agree with you, but you know what? We're still going to get our licks in on you, whether it's whether it was with whips or whatever they beat them with. We know it hurt. We know it hurts, and they were going to get their licks in and cause some pain for the apostles. So just that was just that society, something that we are like so unfamiliar with when we look at the pain that's been inflicted on people and, you know, how we recoil at any little bit of pain, any bit of pain. So anyway, when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they still didn't, you know, still they're going to try.

Don't even speak. Don't even speak. We don't want to hear this word, Jesus. Again, it's that cancel culture that's still there. They haven't given up on it yet. So the apostles departed from the presence of the council and look at their reaction. Look at their reaction. They were rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. You know, they might have, they might have gone from there and they might have, you know, complained and moaned or they might have high-fived and said, you know, hey, look what we did. Look what we did to the apostles or the Sanhedrin. We stood up against them. No, they were, they were thankful that they had had, that they had gotten to suffer for standing up for Jesus Christ. That they had, that they had said his name, you know, and preached his name and preached his gospel and they had to suffer a little bit for that. You know, as you read through Peter's epistles later on, you know, it's references in your margin there. First Peter 4 verses 13 to 16. Let's go back and look at this. You can, you know, as Peter walked with Jesus Christ as he learned his lessons along the way, you can see some of the things that he learned and as he grew and as he became spiritually mature that he records in his gospel and or in his epistles. In chapter 4 verses, um, well, beginning of verse 12 here, I, I don't know that Peter didn't, you know, he had many times in his life when he was beaten, you know, he was to, to, to preach Christianity and to be a follower of Jesus Christ was not easy in those days. And so he, you know, he, he stood the test and he, he, you know, stood in the gap for Jesus Christ always. And here, maybe when he was thinking about what happened back there with the Sanhedrin that day in 1 Peter 4 verse 12, he says, Beloved, don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you. And so some strange thing happened to you.

Well, that was the way of life that they lived back then. They learned as Christians, true Christians, following Jesus Christ, followers of Jesus Christ, their life was going to be tough. They were going to be persecuted. They were going to face trials. It was not going to be pleasant. They weren't always the popular held in high esteem people that they were back in Acts 2, 3, 4, and 5. Later on, people would turn against them and Jerusalem would turn against them. So, you know, as he writes to us, and as he writes even to the people of his time, you know, we might, to us, it would be strange to have people want to beat us for what we believe. It would be strange for us to have people hate us for what we believe. It would be strange for us to, you know, have our neighbors screaming at us or yelling at us and saying, we don't even want you in the neighborhood because of what you believe. That would be strange for us. It wasn't maybe strange for the people back then, and Peter says, don't think it's strange. That's just the way of the world. That's the way of the world under the sway of Satan. It hates God's way. It will hate God's people. It hated Jesus Christ. It wanted to put him to death. Jesus Christ said, if they hated me, they will hate you.

They won't want to hear what you have to say. So he says, don't think it's strange. That's the world we live in. That's where it is. We have not seen that in the world we live in yet. But the Bible indicates that that time is coming before the return of Jesus Christ. But rejoice, he says, to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. And that's what they want. Yes, go ahead. In Matthew 5, 10 to 15, Jesus told his disciples that they are blessed who are persecuted for righteousness, faith, etc. I won't read the full chapters, but they should rejoice indeed because Jesus had given them the assurance that when they are persecuted, it is for righteousness' sake. Yep. Good point. Jesus Christ says that. But that's a different way of...that would take some exercise for us to start thinking that way, wouldn't it? You know, today we might, if we end up persecuted, we might have to stop and think, oh, you know what? We're doing God's will. This is exactly what he said would happen to us. And so we see his will happening. That's the way the apostles looked at what had happened to them in the Sanhedrin. They took it as joy. We've suffered. We suffered because we support Jesus Christ and we didn't deny him. If you are reproached, verse 14 going on in 1 Peter 4 here, if you're reproached for the name of Christ, blessed or blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part, on their part, he is blasphemed, but on your part, he's glorified. It's a way of thinking, you know, that we, you know, we need to contemplate. We need to think of it so that when that time comes or we suffer, we realize we're doing God's will just like those apostles did. You know, they were willing to do whatever God showed them as his will. And we, the same, whatever his will is for us to just be part of his plan and to be yielding to him and obeying him is a tremendous blessing, always keeping our vision of what God has in mind for us. You know, the eternal life, his kingdom, and the time that's coming that will bring peace and joy to all of mankind.

You know, he goes on in verses 15 and 16. I won't, um, um, not every word goes. He cautions us, you know, if we suffer because we're sinners and we're caught in sin, shame on us. But to suffer because we are obeying Christ, there is, that brings glory, that brings glory to, to his name. So, okay, let's go back, back to Acts 5 here. Acts 5. So they go out with the right attitude. In verse 42, the beating that they endured, the imprisonment that they endured, the threat, the latest threat that they got from the Sanhedrin didn't avert them from their mission at all. Verse 42, and daily in the temple and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Nothing would stop them. And then, and again, you know, it'll be the same for, for the church when God is ready for that message to go out. We will be doing the same thing. We're doing it now. We continue to preach. We don't have the persecution or the trials that come from government, but as I've said many times lately, we can see the rudiments of that society beginning to emerge in around us where there will be people who don't want to hear and who only want to stop a message that they don't agree with. Let me pause there, since we're at the end of chapter five. A lot went on in chapter five. Let me just pause if there's any, any discussion before we begin in chapter six. We'll look at the first few verses here in chapter six before we end tonight, but are there any thoughts, observations, any comments at all? Or we can just take a breath, take a breath and kind of absorb what we, what we have talked about here.

Okay. Let's look at chapter six then. You know, we, we, we come away from the incident with the Sanhedrin and we're going back to how the church is operating. This group of people, 3,000 added to them, you know, then it tells us the number has fallen to 5,000. We have very many believers that are there. When we look at chapter six, verse nine, I think it's verse nine, you know.

Anyway, it talks about somewhere here in, oh, verse seven. The word of God spread in the number of disciples. Notice that it's not the believers this time. The word of God spread in the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. We'll get to that first in a little bit, but we see the church continuing to grow and new members coming into it. But in verse one, you know, we, we had Ananias and Sapphira who allowed Satan to enter their minds and, and to try to bring into the church something that should never be in the church, that anyone would lie against the Holy Spirit or lie to God.

We should never, ever allow that to happen. I don't know if I mentioned, but you know, it's just the kind of the same thing that with Ananias and Sapphira that Judas did. You know, they, they had the opportunity, you know, knowing the one Peter asked to tell the truth. And Judas did the same thing when Christ said, you know, what you do, do quickly.

And I would hope, I would hope even if any of us, and certainly if I was, if I was going down that road, I was looking at Jesus Christ or anyone in the face. And they were, and I had the opportunity to know that they knew what I was doing.

I would, I would repent and melt and say, no, I can't do this. And I can't do it. But Judas hardened his heart and he went through with it. Ananias and Sapphira did. None of us harden our hearts, right? We always yield to God. But here in verse six, we find another thing coming in the church, nothing to do with doctrine.

They're all in one accord, as the, as Acts tells us many times, they're all in one accord with doctrine. But there's something happening here in the distribution of the assets. That are, are that the apostles apparently are the ones who are responsible for distributing. And for chapter, verse one here, chapter six is in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.

So I remember back in chapter four, I believe it was, as the church was, as the church was growing and people would sell their property, they would bring it, they would bring the proceeds, they would lay it at the apostles' feet, and it was apostles' responsibility to distribute it as people had need. Now, there were 3,000, 5,000, the church growing. That's a lot of work for 12 apostles, right? Because they have all these people who are gathered together there, and that's a lot of physical work that they have to do, in addition to what they're supposed to be doing, witnessing of the way of God.

So we have, we have a complaint here. It tells us that there's two groups of Jews that are here in the community of, of disciples that are there in Jerusalem. We have the Hebrew or the Aramaic-speaking Jews, whatever ones they, whatever they spoke in, in that day and age. And then we have the Hellenists who were Greek-speaking Jews. Now, whether these, whether these Jews came over before and settled in Jerusalem, or whether they were part of the group that was there on the day of Pentecost, who believed and were baptized and sold their property and came and lived in Jerusalem, I don't know, but we have two people, two, two groups of Jews.

One speaks the native language, the other one speaks Greek. And so we have this, we have this all of a sudden little human problem that arises there. The Hellenists come to the apostles and they say, wait a minute, our widows are getting cheated. You're not distributing to them fairly, you know, and, and, and it's interesting when you watch what the apostles, what their response to this is, they don't disagree with them.

They don't say stop complaining. They don't say yes, they are. You know, it may well be, you know, that when they looked at it, you know, the Hellenists might well have been saying something like, you know what, you, you all are, are Jews, you all speak Hebrews. And so you're deferring, you know, maybe not intentionally to giving your widows a higher part, a higher part of the distribution here. But our Greek widows, perhaps unwittingly, are neglecting because they don't speak like you speak. You know, it's, you know, one thing that Jesus Christ is about is that He is impartial.

You know, as we did our Bible study in James, you'll remember back in James 2, you know what, let's just turn there. It's always good to rehearse these things. In James 2 and verse, verse 8, verse 8, James 2, verse 8, we see how God feels about partiality.

You know, partiality is a big issue in the world today, and we hear about racism, and we hear about bias, and we hear about this and everything else like that. God's way is there is no partiality, and that will never be achieved among human men because Satan, among the many things he's the master of, he's the master of dividing people and having one side lorded over another, God is not that way.

In verse 8 of James 2, it says, if you really, and in my Bible I have the word really, you know, circled, you know, if you really, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

So God specifically says partiality is a sin. You are all one. You remember when he gave the law, he said it's the same law for the native lord and the stranger. It's one and the same. You treat everyone equally. Galatians 3 tells us there is no Jew, there is no Greek, there is no free, there is no slave, there is no male nor female. No partiality. Everyone is in God's sight, everyone is heir to the same, or you have to heir to the same salvation that he calls us to. So here we have this, this accusation that's come up in verse 1, and I think, you know, I think that the apostles take it into account. And they probably look at things just like if you and I would be accused of something, and I hate the word accused, if someone brings something to our attention and says, you know, maybe you're not doing that just right, we shouldn't just react like the Sanhedrin did and get mad, we might want to review ourselves a little bit and think, well, could I be? Could I just be doing things the way that just comes naturally to me? Am I overlooking something? And by virtue of the fact that as we go through chapter 6, we see the apostles saying, you know, they need to be dedicated to prayer, they need to be dedicated to the study and the preaching of the word, we need some people here to work with us in this distribution of these assets here to make sure that it's all fair and equal. It indicates that they may have known that there was a problem. Yeah, maybe there wasn't, but perhaps there was. But also buried in here, you know, is a lesson about widows. It specifically mentions because their widows were not, were neglected in the daily distribution. And I think that's a notable thing. You know, they come and say, you know, all the Hellenists, all the families that are Hellenists, you're, you're kind of ignoring them, they're getting the short end of the stick here, it's the widows, the widows that aren't there. And it's something for us to, for us to take note of, I think the apostles take note of it because God talks a lot about widows, and He talks a lot about the fatherless. He talks a lot about what our responsibility for the widows and the fatherless and the poor are. And that church in Jerusalem, that church in Jerusalem, you know, they were taking care of all those things. Let's, let's pause for a moment. Let's go back to the Old Testament. We're not going to look at a number of verses here about widows, but let's go back and see what God says about them because He sets some principles in the Old Testament that we see validated and, and that we're reminded of in the New Testament as well. Let's begin back in Deuteronomy 10.

Deuteronomy 10, and verse 17, we'll be looking at verses 17 to 19. You know, as Moses here, and as he's about to die, and, and Joshua will take over the leadership, the physical leadership of Israel, he reminds Israel of the commandments that God has given them, the way of life that they've been called to. And in verse 17, he says this, he says the Deuteronomy 10, for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality, nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore, love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

So he says, pay attention to the people. It's not just about you. I'll provide for you, but I am a God who knows all of your needs, and I want you to become a body who understands and appreciates each other and is aware of each other's needs, and that you will take care of each other the way I take care of you. And he specifically mentions the fatherless, the widow, the stranger, you know, three who might just be kind of left out, people that we might just ignore. They're not part, you know, they don't have families, they may not be the ones that we see all the time or think about, they live by themselves, but God says, pay attention to them. Don't forget them. Don't neglect them.

So maybe as Peter heard and the apostles heard the Hellenists saying, you're neglecting the widows, now maybe, maybe, you know, that verse came to mind as well as a few more. I'll give you some, if you're taking notes that you could put in your, in your notes there. He also talks about taking care of the widows and not forgetting them in Deuteronomy 1611, chapter 24 verses 17 and 19.

Let's go forward to Deuteronomy 27. 27 and verse 19.

Here in verse chapter 27, beginning in verse 15, God talks about curses on one who does all curses on people who do all these, these, these several things in the next 12 verses there that he talks about. You know, and some of them are just, I hate it, well, they're all sins, right, in God's mind. That's why he said, curse it, are you, that do that. If you read through those, you see, you see the type of things that he's talking about. Cursed is the person who does this, this, this, but in verse 17, in verse 17, yeah, yeah, oh, 19, verse 17, cursed is the one who perverts the justice, do the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. So thrown in with all these other things that God says, these are absolutely sins, that we would look at them and say, yes, those are absolutely sins, is this, don't pervert the justice for the widow, for the fatherless, for the stranger, and all the congregations shall say, amen. We agree. We will take care. We will be mindful of their needs. We will take care of what, what their needs are. Let's go forward to the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 5. Jeremiah has several parts to it. One of the parts that I always found very interesting is when God concludes a section and says, you know, should I not, should I not, should I not punish a nation like this? And here in Jeremiah 5, he uses that as he summarizes kind of an attitude that a nation or a people can have. In Jeremiah 5 and verse 26, he says this, he says, for among my people are found wicked, and the word then is in italics, but for among my people are found wicked men. They lie in wait as one who sets snares. They set a trap. They catch men as a cage is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore, they have become great and grown rich.

They have grown fat. They are sleek. Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked. They don't plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper, and the right of the needy, they don't defend. Shall I not punish them for these things, says the Lord? Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? Pay attention to these people, God says.

They are there. You are a family. You are learning to take care of each other. You are becoming a body of brothers and sisters, children of God, who watch out for each other, who love each other, who want the best for each other. We find the same thing. We find the validation of all this in the New Testament. Let's go back to the book of James. You may be thinking exactly where I'm going in the book of James in chapter 1, verse 27. Here, years after Christ's resurrection, the New Testament Church has begun. It's been in existence for 30-some years at this time, 20-30-some years as James, the brother of Jesus, writes this. But in verse 27, here's how he defines pure and undefiled religion, the religion, the way of life that you and I should be practicing. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Keep oneself unspotted from the world. Don't allow other religious beliefs to come in and cloud your worship of me. Do things exactly as I say God says. Don't add. Don't take two. Use the Bible as a basis. Do exactly what he says. But he also says he adds this element of the love that he's looking for that's demonstrated because if we're taking care of each other, even the widows and the fatherless, and maybe those people that tend to be forgotten, then God knows love is in our heart.

It's just part of what he says. Don't forget them. Pure and undefiled religion takes that into account. First Peter, or not First Peter, First Timothy.

First Timothy is Paul, you know, the apostle to the Gentiles. He's writing to a young minister.

He too talks about this taking care of the widows in the church, in the body of Christ, in the family of God. Let's just read, take a few minutes to read down through the first 10 verses here of chapter five and see how the New Testament church, you know, under God's inspiration, said that we should be taking care of that. First Timothy 5.1.

Don't rebuke an older man, Paul writes, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, exhort older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity. Treat everyone with respect, but do direct them and guide them. In verse three, he says, Honor widows who are really widows. And then he defines what he's talking about, but if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents. For this is good and acceptable before God. So he's showing a way of life. Okay, if your mom's a widow, if your grandmother's a widow, family, take care. Don't just don't just ignore them. It's not all about you. You take care of them. You make sure they're taken care of. That's the first line of responsibility. Families should do this. And of course, if the family needs help, the church is there to help as well. But you can see what he's establishing here. The widow should not go unrecognized. Verse 5, now she who is really, and again he uses that word really, she who is truly a widow and left alone trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. What he's saying is, you know, she's given her life to God. You know, we might harken back to Anna back in Luke 2. And remember, she was widowed after I think just seven years of marriage. There she is at age 84 or something like that in the temple. Jesus Christ is brought in when he's eight days old. And she's continued in prayers in the temples all that time. She's dedicated her life to God. So he's saying, you know, look at the people who are really widows who are dedicating their lives to God. We know who they are. Every church has people like this who are examples of giving their lives to God.

But she lives, but verse 6, he says, but she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.

And you can kind of, you know, you look around at Paul, she's a billionaire, she's running here and there and whatever. And you can kind of tell, you know, the church of God is an afterthought of her. She's there, you know, she might be there on Sabbath services, but she's not there all the time. And she just, you know, whatever, you know, however it is, God isn't asking us to judge. But Paul is telling Timothy, you know, kind of look at it. She who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. Now, these things command, not suggestion, these things command that they may be blameless. But if anyone doesn't provide for his own, and especially for those in his household, he's denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Well, there's a way of life. That's what God is teaching. This is how families work together. This is how church families work together.

And then he says, you know, of course, we recognize the church has a responsibility, and the church does, you know, provide help to people who have need. Don't let a widow under 60 years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, well reported for good works. If she's brought up children, if she's lodged strangers, if she's watched the saint's feet, if she's relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

Now pause there, because, you know, I think it's interesting that the first incident that comes up in the New Testament church where there's disparity, if you will, is it's about widows.

And as we look at the church today, God expects the same thing of us, you know, He wants us to treat each other well. We become family. Now I can tell you, you know, if a widow comes to me, I'm not going to ask, says she needs help, I'm not going to ask, well did you do this, and did you do that, did you do that, did you do that, right? No one's got a checklist and saying, this is, we're not going to read off verse 12 or verse 10 there and ask for those things. The church will help, you know, but as we're all living together and families are helping, you know, their mothers and grandmothers and those who are in need, that's very good. If they need help, absolutely the church wants to be involved in that. You know, one of the lessons of Acts 6 is that the apostles couldn't do it all. You know, they were doing the best they could, as they did whatever the daily distribution, how they handled that. It had to be an absolutely enormous job to do that for several thousand people, just the 12 of them. And so, you know, ministers don't know everything that's going on in the local churches either. We all have a responsibility for each other. So, you know, whatever, whatever, you know, whatever congregation you're in, if you see something, see someone in need, don't just sit and think the minister knows about it and isn't doing anything about it. Feel free to bring it to his attention. Those of you in Orlando and Jacksonville, bring it to my attention. I'm not going to get mad. I'm going to be very happy that you are watching out for someone. And if we can help, now we can make someone's life better by the things that we can do, that's what we want to do. That's what God would have us do. But we all need to be watching out for this. This is not just the apostles' job, as God is going to be showing in Acts 6. Other people and all of us are responsible for each other. All of us are family. That means we get to know each other, we understand each other, we listen to each other, and when we see a need, you know, let's be responsible to fill it. And please, please, please never fail to bring it to me or think I'm too busy to deal with that. I'm never too busy to deal with anything you bring to me, and neither is any minister in any of the churches that I would know of. So, you know, as we look at Acts 6, it has more lessons to us than just the establishment or the ordination of some, you know, deacons who would be responsible for some of the daily chores of the church or daily administration of the church.

So, you know what? Let me end there. That's where I ended this afternoon, and I'd like to keep, I'd like to keep the two Bible studies at the very same verse. Well, why don't I open it up for discussion or questions or anything that you want to talk about? Pick it up, but at verse 2, verse 2, next week. Brother Shaby. Yes, sir. In regards to what you just read from James, being unspotted, and also combined with the Spirit of glory resting upon us, the chapter, book and chapter and verse that came to mind is 2 Timothy chapter 3, and it goes on starting at verse 10, where Paul says to Timothy that he has closely followed his doctrine and his lifestyle of imitating Christ and how he's been persecuted, and then he goes on to say in verse 12, and indeed everyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. And then he goes on to verse 14 and says, but as for you, continuing the things that you have learned and were assured of, knowing from where you have learned them, and he goes on to say the holy scriptures and what is good for us.

Very good. Yeah, that's and the fact that everyone is going to suffer persecution, God will see what's in our hearts, but yeah, and know where you learned them from the scriptures, right? We all have a responsibility of setting the example for each other, and as ministers, we take it very, very seriously that we need to be very close to God and following his example implicitly. But all of us need to be doing that, right? We all need to be each other's examples and encouragers to follow in God's ways.

The verse 13 is the part that makes us remind that we have to be on guard because it says, wicked men and imposters shall become worse and worse, deceiving others, and being deceived themselves. You're in 2nd Timothy. In verse 13. Yeah, chapter 3. And we know that you have men from among us, people from outside, so we really have to be regards of the vigilant and sober. Yeah. Now, verse 13, as Xavier pointed out, I mean, we're going to see more and more of that. As Satan is working, and again, his only mission is to separate us from God. Whatever he can do to have us leave the church, follow our own ideas, follow our own little pet theory, or get in our minds, whatever it takes to separate us from God, he will do. And so we will see that more and more, and it's going to hurt to see people do that. But we all have to discern what is good and what is evil, and always follow God. And that takes his Holy Spirit and staying close to God that we continue to follow him.

Anything else, anyone? One last comment, brother.

Yes, everybody else is being quiet. In regards to, what was that? Where he said, the word of God, preaching, the church will not die. We're already quoted by Christ. In Isaiah chapter 55, verse 11, God says his word will go out and accomplish what he says, and it will never return void. And in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 9, Paul says it's unchainable. So no matter what people do, they can't... I remember that documentary when Zephaniah was a kid, we watched the indestructible book. What was his name? Tyndale. Yes, William Tyndale. Yeah, Tyndale, okay. Yeah, you cannot break the word of God, you cannot stop God. And we'll try anything you can, but you're absolutely right. God promises his will will be done. We can take it as sure as we're all sitting here tonight on this webcast thing here. So, okay, Charlie, did you have something you wanted to say?

I wanted to thank you very much for getting tonight. You always have a great Bible study. God bless your brother. Okay, well thank you very much. Okay, anything else anyone? Okay, Orlando in Jacksonville. We'll watch your emails the next couple days, the next day or so.

You know, the rest of you, I have a very good staff and I look forward to seeing all of you.

I hope back here next Wednesday afternoon or evening. Good night, everyone. He's coming from the shadows. Okay, thank you very much. Good night. Good night.