Welcome to "Books of the Book."
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I'm Pastor Mark Howard.
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I'm here with my co-host,
my brother Pastor Jim Howard
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and we are
studying the Book of Acts.
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And we have been studying
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some really powerful things
in the Book of Acts. Right.
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That power is a
word that could be used
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synonymously
with the Book of Acts.
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We see the power
of the Holy Spirit
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and the power of the apostles
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in their cooperation
with the Holy Spirit.
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Now in our last study,
we were in Acts Chapter 5
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and we looked at the judgment
that came upon the early church
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on Ananias and Sapphira
because of their hypocrisy.
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And it's
interesting that that judgment
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actually ended up in a very
positive outcome for the church,
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maybe contrary to
what a person would think.
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But before we go
right back in the scripture
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and pick up
where we had left off,
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I'd like to start
with a word of prayer
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and ask God to bless
our time in His word.
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Father in Heaven, we do
thank You for the word of truth.
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We ask now Lord
that You would guide us
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in our study of Your word.
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We ask You in
Jesus name, amen. Amen.
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It really grabbed my attention
last time, Jim, in Acts 5:12-13,
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after the judgment
against Ananias and Sapphira,
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where it says "And through
the hands of the apostles
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many signs and wonders
were done among the people.
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And they were all with
one accord in Solomon's Porch.
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Yet none of the
rest dared joined them,
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but the people
esteemed them highly
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and believers were
increasingly added to the Lord,
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multitudes of
both men and women."
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And so the church was growing.
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And this once again brought
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the wrath of the
religious leaders.
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They were not happy
with this burgeoning Church.
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And so in verse 17
we're gonna pick up
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it says, "Then the
high priest rose up,
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and all of those
who were with him,"
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which is the
sect of the Sadducees
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and "they were
filled with indignation.
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And laid their
hands on the apostles,
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and put them in
the common prison."
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Now we've seen
this before, right,
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in Acts Chapter 4. That's right.
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Where it says, "They came upon
the apostles Peter and John,
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here they were
filled indignation,
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they laid hands on them."
It is said that in chapter 4.
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Once again they can't refute
the truth that's being preached
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and so they resort
to physical manipulation
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and, you know,
force. That's right.
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Force, you know,
different measures
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and take them
and they put them in,
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the Bible says,
"the common prison."
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Now what's
interesting is what comes next.
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It says, "But at
night the angel of the Lord
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opened the prison
doors and brought them out,
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and said, 'Go,
stand in the temple
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and speak to the people
all the words of this life.'
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And when they heard that,
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they entered the temple
early in the morning and taught.
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But the high
priest and those with him
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came and called and-" sorry,
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"called the council together,
with all the elders of Israel
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and sent to the
prison to have them brought."
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You know, when I
read this passage
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it seems like the Pharisees,
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the high priests
and the Pharisees,
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they have this assumed good
reason for taking these men.
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They're laying
their hands on them.
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It appears that they are
trying to stand for truth
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and stamp out
something that would
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point people away
from the true God,
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away from the true religion and-
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Yeah, they seem
to see very noble.
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It seems noble
what they're doing
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if we were to really take
it from the people's viewpoint.
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But when you look closely,
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there is a little bit of
an indicator in this verse 17
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that I think it
says something different.
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At the end of verse 17 it says,
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"They were filled
with indignation."
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And that word indignation
has a marginal reading.
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So it-in the
margin says or jealousy.
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They were filled with jealousy.
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And that sort of gives you
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a little bit of a different
picture as to what was happening
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and what was
potentially going on
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in the hearts of these leaders.
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As we look in verse 13
earlier in the chapter,
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where you had quoted from Mark
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it says, "Yet none of
the rest dared to join them,
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but the people esteemed them,"
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that is the
apostles, how? Highly.
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The people esteemed
the apostles highly.
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You can imagine if you
were one of the high priests,
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and among these leaders-
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there's no
miracles coming from you.
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There is no
miraculous happenings,
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there's no clear
reasoning from the scripture.
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Or even there's- I
say a powerful preaching.
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That's right.
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And as a result they've got
nothing to gain any attraction,
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nothing to
attract the people to them
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and the truth be known,
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that's what they wanted.
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They wanted that attraction.
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They wanted to be
known among the people
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as those who were the
best expositors of scripture,
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those who knew the authority
of God and what was right.
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And here we find that
if the truth be known,
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they were revealing that
it wasn't about the message
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that the apostles were sharing.
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But underneath that
there was a love for praise.
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A love for
notoriety, a love for approval.
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You'll remember that in
the Gospels it said that
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"they loved the praise of men
more than the praise of God."
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And you know, I
can't help but think that
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this speaks through the heart
of humanity, every one of us.
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You know, sometimes we do
something worthwhile but then
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somebody else does something
worthwhile in the Church
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and they
receive great attention.
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We do something
important at work,
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but somebody
else does something,
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that doesn't seem to be quite
as grand and yet they receive,
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you know, the
raise or the promotion.
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And deep in our hearts we
have to wrestle with the fact
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that what the Pharisees
had here and the high priests,
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they had something that
we struggle with as well.
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And unfortunately, they
refused to acknowledge it.
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They tried to cover it up by
making it an issue of the error
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of what these
apostles were doing
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and that reveals something.
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It means that
sometimes what seems to be
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the issue is not the issue.
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Sometimes when we
argue against something
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or when somebody challenges
some truth of scripture,
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it's not because they
don't see the truth of it,
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but it's because
deep in their heart
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there is a consequence
for accepting that truth.
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It may be a lesser notoriety.
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It may be, you know,
perhaps a change in their life.
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And so to avoid that
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they make it sound
as if it's not true.
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Then we have to be careful
that our hearts don't cause us
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to come up with wrong
conclusions about scripture.
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Sure, in other
words there's a tendency
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to want to say that the
reason I'm resisting this
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is because I want
to follow the truth.
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A noble purpose. Right.
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And this isn't truth but when
the reality may be in my heart
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that it's not
about truth at all,
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it's about me counting the cost
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and realizing
that if I follow that
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I'm gonna lose my notoriety,
I'm gonna lose my influence-
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or I'm already
jealous about the influence
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as you're saying and that's
very, very powerful point.
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You know, we have
to consider that today
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that is an
attribute of human nature
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and it may be very
much the case today
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that religious leaders today
can fall into the same trap
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that we see them
falling into here
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of saying that they're
fighting against something
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and they're saying
well, that's heresy
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and I just want to
guard my flock from that,
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when the reality may
be it has nothing to do
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with truth or heresy,
it has everything to do
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with reputation
and that jealousy.
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Yes, it's very strong.
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Well, and you were taking us
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down the path
of verses 19 and 20
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and some of the experiences.
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Yeah, they sent
them to prison and-
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the Bible tells
us in verse 21 that,
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when they called
the council together,
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"the high priest and those with
him called the council together
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and all the elders of
Israel and sent to the prison
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to have them brought."
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Okay, so they
have imprisoned them,
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they're indignant, they
took them by violent hands,
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and so they're all worked up.
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They put him in the prison
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and you can only
imagine the discussion,
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"What are we gonna
do with these guys?"
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In a rage, now call
them from the prison
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and we're gonna
really thrash them
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and it's- the
next part is powerful.
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Verse 22 says,
"When the officers came
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and did not find
them in the prison,
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they returned and reported."
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I mean, you've got a picture,
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you know, an
angel of the Lord comes
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and commands them.
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"I want you to go out and I want
you to go back to the temple
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and begin
preaching." That's right.
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So what do you do? What you do?
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What the Lord says.
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So when the guards come,
everybody is unaware of this
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but the apostles themselves
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who now are back in
the temple preaching,
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the religious leaders
think that they have them
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securely locked up.
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So they send the
guards and when the guards go,
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they reported,
it says, they said,
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"When we opened
the doors" verse 23,
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"indeed we found the
prison shut securely,
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and the guard standing
outside before the doors."
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Now something that our viewers
need to understand here is
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in the Roman culture,
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those guards had to
answer for their prisoners
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at the cost of
their own life many times.
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So if their
prisoner was found escaped,
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then that guard
could be executed
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and so they took
their work very seriously.
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So here they are posted,
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the guards are still
outside of the cell, apparently,
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totally unaware,
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thinking their
prisoners are still in there,
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these men come and they
say, okay, let's get the guys
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and they go in and expecting
to find them in the cell.
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They said, they opened the doors
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"And when we opened
them, we found no one inside."
00:10:24.66\00:10:27.76
Verse 24 it says,
"Now when the high priest,
00:10:27.79\00:10:29.64
the captain of the temple
00:10:29.67\00:10:31.04
and the chief
priest heard these things,
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they wondered what
the outcome would be."
00:10:32.57\00:10:34.53
Where are we
gonna find them, right?
00:10:34.56\00:10:37.04
Verse 25, "So one
came and told them,
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saying, look, the
men who you put in prison
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are standing in the temple
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and teaching the
people." Unbelievable.
00:10:43.70\00:10:46.02
I just tried to
put myself there.
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They're just, of course,
totally beside themselves,
00:10:47.78\00:10:50.15
how did these guys get out?
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There they are in the
temple preaching again,
00:10:51.63\00:10:54.49
that which the rulers
are trying to stamp out.
00:10:54.52\00:10:56.90
You know, you think that
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if someone broke
free from a prison,
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they would flee
to another country
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or they would flee to somewhere
00:11:02.73\00:11:06.33
where no one could
possibly find them.
00:11:06.36\00:11:08.53
And yet here they
flee to the one place
00:11:08.56\00:11:10.57
where they're
obviously gonna be found.
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They know they're
gonna be found again
00:11:12.54\00:11:14.17
but they're obedient
to the voice of the Lord.
00:11:14.20\00:11:17.09
That's right and
now here we have Peter
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and the apostles
not just Peter and John,
00:11:18.65\00:11:20.46
but Peter and
John has been before-
00:11:20.49\00:11:22.13
have been before
this group before,
00:11:22.16\00:11:24.90
now they're in the temple again.
00:11:24.93\00:11:26.30
And so it says in verse 27,
00:11:26.33\00:11:27.70
when they had-
and verse 26 rather,
00:11:27.73\00:11:29.78
"The captain
went with the officers
00:11:29.81\00:11:32.26
and brought them
without violence."
00:11:32.29\00:11:34.46
Notice here, "for
they feared the people lest
00:11:34.49\00:11:36.91
they, the rulers,
should be stoned." Wow.
00:11:36.94\00:11:39.56
This is very interesting
to me and then in verse 27,
00:11:39.59\00:11:41.94
"When they have brought them,
00:11:41.97\00:11:43.34
they set them
before the council."
00:11:43.37\00:11:44.74
You remember where
they set them before?
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When we were back with
Peter and John in Acts 4.
00:11:46.91\00:11:49.82
It was in the midst,
they were there to intimidate.
00:11:49.85\00:11:52.72
Things have
changed, now they're afraid.
00:11:52.75\00:11:55.32
They're afraid of the people,
they're afraid of the influence
00:11:55.35\00:11:57.34
and things have
changed with the leaders,
00:11:57.37\00:11:58.85
now they see the power of
influence of the early church.
00:11:58.88\00:12:01.57
So they threaten
them, they say in verse 28,
00:12:01.60\00:12:04.81
"Did we not strictly command
you not to teach in this name?
00:12:04.84\00:12:07.99
And look, you have filled
Jerusalem with your doctrine."
00:12:08.02\00:12:11.94
At which point the
apostles could say, thank you.
00:12:11.97\00:12:14.83
Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord.
00:12:14.86\00:12:16.71
That's what we've been
trying to do. That's right.
00:12:16.74\00:12:18.97
And then they said, "And look,
00:12:19.00\00:12:21.16
you have filled
Jerusalem with your doctrine
00:12:21.19\00:12:22.56
and you intend to bring
this man's blood on us."
00:12:22.59\00:12:25.83
And so now they're
trying to take the conviction,
00:12:25.86\00:12:27.97
their feeling and put
it off on the apostles
00:12:28.00\00:12:32.00
at-you guys are trying to
make us guilty of something.
00:12:32.03\00:12:36.05
But what's interesting to me
00:12:36.08\00:12:37.45
is if we go back to Matthew 27
00:12:37.48\00:12:39.58
and we look at the
words of the people there
00:12:39.61\00:12:41.89
in Matthew 27:24.
00:12:41.92\00:12:44.40
It says, "When Pilate saw that
he could not prevail at all,
00:12:44.43\00:12:47.41
but rather that a
tumult was rising,
00:12:47.44\00:12:49.88
he took water
and washed his hands
00:12:49.91\00:12:51.52
before the multitude saying,
00:12:51.55\00:12:52.95
'I am innocent of the blood of
this just person you see to it
00:12:52.98\00:12:56.47
and all the
people answered and said,
00:12:56.50\00:12:58.33
his blood be on us
and on our children-'"
00:12:58.36\00:13:01.32
Just before the crucifixion.
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That was their own request
00:13:02.96\00:13:06.05
and so here when that
conviction comes home,
00:13:06.08\00:13:08.41
when they have to answer
for what they've said before-
00:13:08.44\00:13:11.96
now all of a sudden they don't
want to be accountable for it.
00:13:11.99\00:13:14.03
They want to put
it off on the apostles
00:13:14.06\00:13:15.57
and it's all
the apostles' fault.
00:13:15.60\00:13:17.40
But the reality is they
themselves had made that claim
00:13:17.43\00:13:20.55
and now they
had to answer for it
00:13:20.58\00:13:21.95
and Peter is making
them answer for it here.
00:13:21.98\00:13:24.28
And they are irate and there-
00:13:24.31\00:13:27.24
Peter's going
to respond to this,
00:13:27.27\00:13:29.03
but I don't want
to jump into that
00:13:29.06\00:13:30.81
until after we take our break,
00:13:30.84\00:13:32.22
that response
here- he's responsive.
00:13:32.25\00:13:33.98
Once again it's
powerful as we would expect.
00:13:34.01\00:13:36.38
And so we're gonna take a break
00:13:36.41\00:13:37.78
and we'll be
back in a few minutes.
00:13:37.81\00:13:39.18
Hope you join us there
00:13:39.21\00:13:40.58
as we dive back
into the Book of Acts.
00:13:40.61\00:13:41.98