Welcome back to Books of the
Book. We were studying here in
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the book of Acts chapter 4
and we were looking at Peter's
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second chance, his opportunity,
actually when he came back
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before the very rulers
that were present when he denied
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Jesus the first time. So
what we're going to see here is
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Peter's response. The Bible says
in Acts chapter 4 and verse 7
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that when these leaders met
together, Annas, Caiaphas, John,
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Alexander, as many as were of
the family of the high priest.
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It says, when they had set them
in the midst they asked by what
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power or by what name have you
done this? And now, Jim, I think
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about that when they set them in
their midst. Why would you set
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somebody in... I mean, how do
you picture this. Intimidation.
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You're surrounded by them. Yeah
the nature of that whole thing
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is they knew, this is the
guy that denied Jesus before and
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watch when we intimidate him.
But watch when they intimidate
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him. What happens this time with
Peter. In 7 it says, When they
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set them in their midst they
asked by what power or by what
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name have you done this.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy
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Spirit, said to them, Rulers of
the people and elders of Israel
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yet this day we are judged for
a good deed done to a helpless
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man and by what means he has
been made well. Let it be known
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to you and to all the people of
Israel that by the name of Jesus
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Christ of Nazareth whom you
crucified whom God raised from
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the dead this man's been healed.
And he goes on to say in verse
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12, nor is there salvation in
any other for there is no other
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name under heaven given among
men by which we must be saved.
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And that's a powerful... I mean,
first of all it's powerful that
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Peter, there is not a shred
of fear or intimidation in Peter
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here, not a shred. He sees
himself as you mentioned before
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the break, there's no way
out for him, but it doesn't
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intimidate him in the
least. He brings these guys to
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accountability for what they
have done to Christ and then he
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basically tells them, you guys
are a bunch of lost men unless
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you repent and accept Jesus
because he's the only name God's
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given under heaven whereby
anybody will be saved. We could
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say a lot about that today.
I mean the reality is there are
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people today that want to say
well there are a lot of options
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for salvation. But the Bible
says that there's only one way
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there's only one way ever been
provided and that way is through
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Jesus Christ and I hope that our
viewers have surrendered their
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hearts to Jesus Christ and if
not we see the opportunity given
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in the scripture here today
to give our hearts to Jesus now.
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Now you were going to highlight
on part of the argument there
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that Peter brought
out from scripture.
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Yeah. When you look here in
this passage the one thing that
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stands out is that Peter is
ready to die. He has a faith
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that essentially there's nothing
they can do to him now that he
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has not already accepted. And
that type of surrender leads him
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to what he actually says in
verse 11. If we go back there,
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speaking of Jesus in verse 11,
he says, this is the stone which
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was rejected by you builders
which has become the chief
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corner stone. This particular
reference to Psalm 118 is the
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same reference that Jesus
used in his own ministry and I
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believe they could remember that
reference. Let's go back to that
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I'd like to point to that in
Matthew chapter 21. In Matthew
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21 Jesus tells a parable
beginning in verse 33 about a
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land owner who planted a
vineyard and then he dug a wine
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press, he built a tower and
he leased it to vinedressers and
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then he went away. Then when it
came time to receive some of the
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fruit from the vineyard he sent
his servants to get the fruit.
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But the vinedressers took the
servants, they beat them, they
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killed them, they wouldn't give
them any fruit. So finally he
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sends his Son. And of course,
this is a reference to Jesus
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being sent after the prophets
had been sent seeking fruit in
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the lives of the children of
Israel and then at the very end
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of this it says, therefore, in
verse 40, when the owner of the
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vineyard comes, what will he
do to those vinedressers. And of
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course, they answer with
indignation, he will destroy
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those wicked men miserably
and he'll lease his vineyard to
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other vinedressers
who will render to him
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the fruits in their seasons.
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And Jesus then quotes that same
passage of scripture from Psalm
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118 that Peter quoted in his
sermon. He says have you never
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read in the scriptures the stone
which the builders rejected has
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become the chief corner stone.
This was the Lord's doing and it
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is marvelous in our eyes.
Therefore, I say to you, the
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kingdom of God will be taken
from you and given to a nation
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bearing the fruits of it. And
the fascinating about this story
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is when you look at verse 45, it
says now when the chief priests
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and Pharisees heard his
parables they perceived that he
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was speaking of them. I think
that's a pretty good perception,
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don't you? He was speaking of
them and he was being very clear
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that by rejecting himself as the
Messiah that the kingdom of God
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was going to be taken from
them and given to someone else.
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And now Peter referencing
this same scripture...
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No need for perception here.
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No, no need for perception. He's
very plain. You crucified him
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and he is that stone which was
rejected by you builders and has
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become the chief corner stone
and there is not salvation in
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any other. By not accepting
Jesus Christ you are lost. Whew!
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That was a very plain and
powerful and might I say one of
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the most fearless declarations
every seen and it just gives
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me hope and I think that we can
agree that our viewers should be
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hearing in these passages a
message of hope. That message is
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that you may have denied Christ
in your life, through your
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practices you may have had many
shameful experiences that you
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don't know how to recover from.
But if you look at the story
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here of the apostle Peter
it's one of the most miraculous
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transformations in all of
scripture and it gives evidence
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that God can restore fully and
take someone who is of little
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depth and give them the strength
of character that is actually a
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reflection of the Lord Jesus
himself. That's right. Now if
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you look further in verse 13
it was clear that they perceived
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this. In verse 13 it says, Now
when they saw the boldness of
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Peter and John and perceived
that they were uneducated and
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untrained men they marveled and
they realized that they had been
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with Jesus. You have to imagine
they were looking back to and
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thinking back to wow we've never
heard anybody preach with such
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authority, power, clear
reasoning except for Jesus of
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Nazareth. And they knew when
they saw this. This is only from
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the Lord Jesus. They must have
been with Jesus. It doesn't say
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that they admitted that they had
been with Jesus, it doesn't say
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they confessed that they
had been with Jesus. They were
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trying to outwardly say Jesus
was dead, he's buried, but they
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realized, in their hearts they
knew, they recognized that they
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had been with Jesus. Powerful.
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Yeah absolutely. And what's
interesting about that is, Jim,
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it goes on to tell us that...
Look at verse 14. It says, and
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seeing the man who had been
healed standing with them...
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In other words, the Lord Jesus
had provided them an evidence
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so that in addition to
them seeing the power and the
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confidence and the change
in Peter, there was that man
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standing there as a living
testimony that Jesus was alive.
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So the Lord Jesus provided that
proof. So there they stand with
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Peter's direct indictment and
there's the man standing with
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them and it says, they could say
nothing against it. And it goes
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on in verse 16 to say that...
Well we'll read on in verse 15.
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It says when they had commanded
them to go outside of the
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counsel they conferred
among themselves, which that's
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interesting isn't it? They
didn't go to scripture, they
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didn't inquire of the Lord and
say Lord are we doing the right
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or wrong thing. You see
their motive here is really not
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sincerity and I want to say that
sometimes we can find ourselves
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in that place where we really
are not sincerely wanting to
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know and follow truth. We just
want to sustain what we already
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believe. They conferred among
themselves and sometimes when
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we're faced with some new truth
in scripture that is different
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that what we've always believed,
instead of going to God and
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saying Lord if this is your
truth show it to me, we go to
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people who think like us and we
bolster ourselves and encourage
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ourselves by saying well none of
them believe either. And we see
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that here. They conferred among
themselves, what shall we do and
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notice indeed that a notable
miracle has been done through
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them as evidence to all who
dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot
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deny it. But so that it spreads
no further, let us severely
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threaten them. Why
don't they want it to spread
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if it's so irrefutable?
They can see they can't refute
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it but they don't want this
getting out. So in spite of all
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that, hey in spite of the
evidence, we're going to make
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sure this message doesn't
get out. So they called them in,
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they threatened them and I love
Peter's response. Verse 19 says,
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Peter and John answered and said
to them, Whether it is right in
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the sight of God to listen
to you more than God, you judge.
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For we cannot but speak the
things which we have seen and
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heard. And that is such a true
statement for every one of us.
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If we really had an encounter
with Jesus, if he's really
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changed our lives we cannot but
speak of him. I mean, don't tell
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any more about the thing that
you're so excited about. How
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many times had Jesus healed
somebody and said now don't tell
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anybody. I don't
think it ever worked.
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You know, I know there's a
lot of people who say I couldn't
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imagine sharing with others,
that's not my gift, you know,
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I'm not an evangelist, that's
not me. The truth is that we're
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all evangelists. We're
just evangelists in what we are
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confident in. I mean, I remember
one dear sister in a church that
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I was pastoring who was a
wonderful cook and she was
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always bringing the best dishes
to potluck and that sort of
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thing and I remember her finding
out that I did not like brussel
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sprouts. And I mean, who would
like brussel sprouts. But she
00:10:42.27\00:10:46.80
was sure that she could
get me to like brussel sprouts.
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She said, you're going to
love my brussel sprouts. I don't
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remember what she did. I think
she just dunked it a bunch of
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some type of sauce. But she
wanted to prove to me, and she
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was convinced, that I would like
her brussel sprouts. She was a
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brussel sprout evangelist. She
had confidence in what she could
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do and she thought there's no
way; I'm going to be able to do
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this. When we believe
in something, when we have
00:11:12.22\00:11:15.89
confidence in something which
the Lord Jesus built for these
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disciples when he
opened the scriptures to their
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understanding in Luke 24 and
showed them the evidence of his
00:11:21.47\00:11:25.05
Messiahship right from scripture
With that foundation they could
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not but share. It was so
convincing, it was so true, that
00:11:28.66\00:11:31.86
they knew that if they could
just have the opportunity to
00:11:31.89\00:11:35.02
share it with others that they
would believe it. And there may
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be some here today who are
looking at this and saying, you
00:11:37.74\00:11:40.35
know, I couldn't be an
evangelist. No, you can but it
00:11:40.39\00:11:44.25
all requires studying the
clear evidences of our faith and
00:11:44.29\00:11:47.63
gaining confidence in the word
and with that confidence will
00:11:47.66\00:11:50.97
come a willingness to share.
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That's right and you cannot but
tell the things you've seen and
00:11:52.40\00:11:55.70
heard. Now wrapping up here
where it says in verse 23, they
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let them go and they went to
their companions. Very evidently
00:11:59.73\00:12:02.91
the companions had been praying
for them. They didn't know what
00:12:02.95\00:12:05.42
was going on with Peter and John
They thought they were going to
00:12:05.46\00:12:07.90
crucifixion and they were
praying and the Lord heard those
00:12:07.93\00:12:11.29
prayers and it's interesting;
they came back and then when
00:12:11.33\00:12:14.61
they came among their companions
they all lifted up their voice
00:12:14.65\00:12:17.98
to the Lord and it's interesting
that as they prayed, in verse 24
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it says, Lord you are God who
made heaven and earth, the sea
00:12:21.35\00:12:24.55
and all that is in them who by
the mouth of your servant David
00:12:24.59\00:12:28.32
have said... and then they quote
from the second Psalm... Why do
00:12:28.36\00:12:32.06
the nations rage and the
people plot vain things and it's
00:12:32.10\00:12:35.91
interesting that, and I'm going
through this kind of quickly
00:12:35.94\00:12:41.55
here but in verse 29 they pray
now Lord look on their threats
00:12:41.58\00:12:46.35
and grant to your servants that
with all boldness they may speak
00:12:46.38\00:12:50.60
your word by stretching out your
hand to heal and that signs and
00:12:50.63\00:12:54.68
wonders may be done through the
name of your Holy Servant Jesus.
00:12:54.71\00:12:58.73
And remember this was the first
miracle, the first sign and
00:12:58.76\00:13:01.43
wonder that had been done...
that these be done... and it
00:13:01.47\00:13:04.06
says in verse 31, when they had
prayed the place where they were
00:13:04.10\00:13:06.85
assembled together was shaken
and they were all filled with
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the Holy Spirit and they spoke
the word of God with boldness.
00:13:09.48\00:13:13.07
Wow! You know we may wonder why
the apostles needed to pray for
00:13:13.11\00:13:16.73
boldness when they seemed to
speak so boldly, but oftentimes
00:13:16.77\00:13:20.25
we forget that they were just
normal fisherman. They weren't
00:13:20.28\00:13:24.27
trained preachers and in many
ways that makes them a lot like
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us, like you and me. And
just like they had to pray for
00:13:28.29\00:13:31.67
boldness, we have to pray for
boldness. Well that's all the
00:13:31.70\00:13:34.86
time we have for now. We
hope you'll join us next time on
00:13:34.89\00:13:38.01
Books of the Book as
we study the book of Acts.
00:13:38.04\00:13:39.94