[0:00] Thank you for tuning into this message by David Entry. Every true revival is a product of the strong preaching of God's Word. May you receive a word from this message that will spark a revival in you.
[0:15] Acts chapter 4. Reading from verse 23. Thank you Jesus.
[0:27] Reading from verse 23 to chapter 5 verse 11. Amen.
[1:33]
[5:33] Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for granting us the privilege to gather around your Word of Grace.
[5:45] We pray that as we hear your Word of Grace, let work of Grace be done in our lives. That we will experience dimensions of Grace that we have never in our lives.
[5:59] To produce works that will give you glory. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah. Please be seated. Did you notice that the text we just read, there's so much inside it.
[6:16] So many things, so many aspects. Our attempt to talk about what has been happening inside the church. This is a very clean and a pure church. We saw in Acts chapter 4 verse 17 that they said they couldn't deny what has happened in the verse 16.
[6:34] So they straightly threatened them. Say threatened. Threatened. So that's all they could do. They couldn't stop them and they couldn't punish them because of the people. So they threatened them.
[6:45] And after they threatened them, they threatened them not to speak. Peter said, there is a superior judge. You are the highest court of the land. We can't appeal to another court higher. But we want you to know there is a superior judge.
[6:58] Judge amongst yourself. Whether it is right for us to obey you or God. And the Bible says that when Peter said that, the council in verse 21, when they had threatened them further.
[7:18] Okay. Okay. And when they had further threatened them. So first they threatened them. And Peter and his court stood and said that this is what God's word says.
[7:34] And we have to obey God's word. And they further threatened them. And they let them go. Further threats. After they were let go based on the threats.
[7:44] Now, we've been seeing what has been happening in chapter 4. And actually, from chapter 3, we saw what happened when they were going to pray. But so far, in Acts chapter 2, the text tells us about how the church was born.
[8:01] And people were added to the church. Acts chapter 3 tells us about the miracle of the healing of the lame man. In Acts, that telling us about what happened in the temple.
[8:14] And then in Acts chapter 4 is a continuation of what happened through the healing of the lame man. Which started the first, the spate of persecutions.
[8:29] So, we kept seeing what was happening outside their gathering. The only time we saw, we had a glimpse into their gathering was when they continued in the apostles' doctrine in chapter 2.
[8:44] And the Bible talks about, they had, verse 44, they had all things in common. And they had favor. So, even that, there was still a reflection of what was happening with the outside world.
[9:00] Now, in chapter 4, after we saw what the rulers, the threats that the rulers were meeting out against them. They went to their own company.
[9:11] And that gives us opportunity to have a glimpse of what has been happening inside the church. And last week, I spoke about their own company being those who call on the name of the Lord.
[9:24] And so, their company is not family members. Not just their community folks. But this group of people who called on the name of the Lord.
[9:35] Acts chapter 9, verse 11 and 14 and 21. Saul was going around looking for. The kind of people he was looking for was those who, verse 14. Those who called on the name of the Lord.
[9:47] That's the kind of people he was looking for. That is what determined their company. Those in every place. First Corinthians chapter 1, excuse me, verse 2. It says to all those who in every place call on the name of the Lord.
[10:02] It's called to be saints. Yeah, verse 2. And who in every place call. This was what characterized the Christians. You hear them calling on the name of the Lord.
[10:12] In Acts chapter 9, verse 21. You see that Paul received special powers to destroy them which, did you see that?
[10:24] They were in Jerusalem. There are some kind of people, not everybody in Jerusalem. But there are certain people who fell in that category in Jerusalem. They were those which called on the name of the Lord. So, that tells us the definition of their company.
[10:38] Their company was not anybody at all. But this kind of people who called on the name of the Lord. Because it spoke about, for whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. In Acts chapter 22, verse 21.
[10:50] Chapter 2, verse 21. So, that's the company. And so, when they were let go. Back to chapter 3, chapter 4, verse 23. Being let go. They went to their own company.
[11:02] And they reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them. So, they went to their company. And spoke last week. I mentioned how every Christian must be part of a company.
[11:16] Anything that separates you from a Christian company is weakening your Christian life. There is no way you can live an effective Christian life on earth without being part of a company.
[11:29] So, anybody who talks against church works for the devil. Anybody who talks constantly, there's no need to be part of a church. There's no need to be part of any group. There's no need to, does not have a clue what spirituality and Christianity is about.
[11:42] Christianity, the strength of Christianity is in the Christ at the center of our fellowship. Christ at the center of our fellowship. So, you need, for you to have Christianity, you first need Christ.
[11:57] Who is the chair of the fellowship. So, you can only have Christ in one person. That's not Christianity. Christ amongst the people.
[12:09] He says that these things, you know I spoke about Kohenonia. Kohenonia is fellowship. That is what determines the strength of Christianity. So, they went to their company, excuse me, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders have said unto them.
[12:27] And I like that. What goes on in the church? They, when they heard these things, they didn't see how to, okay, let's go and demonstrate. That was not their first impression and first attempt.
[12:39] Their first attempt is to go back to the Christ, who is the Lord of the church. And so, being let go, they went to, verse 24 said, and they lifted up.
[12:51] They are, I have always thought, you know, I saw this about 10 years ago. It's not more than that. No, rather, oh yeah, long time, long time, long time. Over 25 years ago.
[13:02] They lifted up their voice. I thought you would have said their voices. They lifted up their voice, suggesting one voice. Agreement.
[13:13] Agreement is so important in the strength of a church. Satan's plan is always to bring division and divide our voice. So, they lifted up their voice unto God in one accord.
[13:30] And said, Lord, that word Lord, the Greek is despotis. Despotis, which mean, I think, I believe maybe amplified or American standard version.
[13:44] One of the version might use sovereign, yeah. Sovereign Lord. Sovereign Lord, the one who is fully in charge. People can do some things, but there is one who ultimately is in charge.
[13:57] And they went to him. They raised their voice to him and said, despotis. Self-sovereign Lord. You are in command. Now, anytime you hear that word, despotis, or sovereign Lord, you can't talk about despotis without talking about slave.
[14:17] Really, in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 1, that word despotis is also used there.
[14:29] It talks about as many servants as are under the yoke. Under the yoke. Count, let as many as I count their masters.
[14:42] You see, that word master is the same despotis. Because if you are a slave, you must always have a despotis. Does that make sense? There cannot be a slave without a slave master or a slave owner.
[14:55] Right? Anytime you mention slave, then someone, there must be a master. And anytime you mention despotis, that means someone who is master over some people.
[15:06] So despotis is not just, for example, if they say you are a landlord, you must own something. A household. Have you seen a landlord doesn't have anything? Freelance landlord.
[15:24] So landlord connotes an owner of a property or a land. Despotis connotes a master who has control over somebody.
[15:36] So sovereign Lord is the one who is in charge. They can tell us what to do, but we are your subjects. We take orders from you.
[15:46] You are the sovereign. We are slaves. So we can't just choose who we obey. We can't just choose what we want to do. We have to do, we recognize you as the one who we take orders from.
[15:59] So they raise their voice and they address God. Jesus said, I want you to pray, say our Father. But they say, sovereign Lord. They said, sovereign Lord. It is you who have made the heaven and the earth.
[16:11] Exodus chapter 20 verse 11. God made the heavens and the earth. Psalm 146 verse 6. He made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that. God is not big bang.
[16:22] God made it. God made it. It's not like God can't do anything. He's a maker. He's in charge. And they said, you who is in charge are the maker of everything on earth.
[16:35] You see that? The mindset behind their prayers in the church. Church prayer should be, or genuine Christian prayer should be that prayer that sees God as the disportes.
[16:50] Sees God as the one who has sovereign authority. Who can choose to do anything and no one can stop him. So they lifted their voice and said, sovereign Lord, you have complete power and authority.
[17:07] Having complete power and authority. It is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in it. You made it. And it is you who made the heavens and the earth and everything that is in it.
[17:22] Then, I like this. Then, I like this. This is Christian prayer. They quoted scripture. They said, who God?
[17:34] You said by the mouth of David. This David. Have you noticed that anytime they are quoting scripture in the early church for some reason, David shows up. Not even Moses.
[17:44] As much as David. David was such a profound, heavy prophet. That he spoke so much concerning the church. Concerning Christ and the church.
[17:57] David. He said a lot of deep things concerning the church. Just like Paul taught so much to reveal the church. David spoke so much that was relevant to the church.
[18:11] Not just the work of God. But the church and Christ. So, they said, you spoke by the mouth of David. And they quoted Psalm 2.
[18:24] Psalm 2 verse 1. He said, why do the heathen rage? The heathen are fuming. It's like a horse was planted. Sometimes, when people develop enmity against the church.
[18:38] It's amazing how they take it extreme. They're very, it's like something jumps on them. People go as far as saying, you have to close down the church.
[18:54] They make it their life's ambition that we have to close down the church. It's always been like that from generations. It's a rage. Manifestation of the enemy in the hearts of people.
[19:10] It happened in the days of the apostle. In fact, that's what Paul was doing. Saul of Tarsus. He was traveling from place to place. He was determined, I will shut down the church.
[19:25] But Jesus said, I'm going to build the church. And the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Anyone who attempts to shut down a church, whether even it's a true church or a false church, gets shut down with their destiny.
[19:37] And their descendants. The easiest way to be shut down in life is to attempt to shut down a church. Who are you? Why are you? What do you know?
[19:48] What have you accomplished in life? What power do you have? Even governments have never been able to shut down a church. The lockdown.
[20:00] Some governments tried to shut down churches. It was impossible. In a lot of places. Some American churches were sealed by a whole... What do you call it?
[20:16] States. Yeah. Whole states. And some of them didn't even shut down one day. So they said that you who have said by the mouth of David, why do the heaven rage?
[20:29] And the people imagine vain things. The imaginations of their hearts. They imagine vain things. We are going to rise against this thing, this church.
[20:44] They imagine vain things. So he said, why do they... It's amazing. David spoke about them. And he says that this thing they are imagining. Look at their prayer. So first of all, they made reference to scripture.
[20:57] It says that what is happening is already happening. Has been prophesied and spoken about in scripture. So your prayer is not... Real church prayer must be scripture based. Not emotions or not opinion based.
[21:13] It must be scripture based. What grounds in scripture are you coming before God with what you are about to talk about? So say that.
[21:24] Then verse 6 says, The kings of the earth stood up and their rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. Oh, I like.
[21:35] They gathered. So now they go into a little bit of history to talk about the situation of Christ. So they said, the kings of this world and their rulers, Matthew chapter 27, verse 1 and 2, verse 11 and 12.
[21:49] They gathered. Matthew chapter 27 says that when money was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
[21:59] They came together to counsel against Jesus. The next verse says that. And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. You see, this is...
[22:11] This is... They were coming together. They were teaming up. It's an evil coalition against the Lord. Verse 11 says that.
[22:23] And Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked him, saying, Are thou the king of the Jews? Jesus said unto him, Thou said, Verse 12. And when he was accused of the chief priests, and when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
[22:41] They have guarded. They team up. So the apostles said in their prayers to God that the rulers, the kings of this world, the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were guarded against the Lord.
[22:58] And against... I like his Christ. That's a nice one. Christ is God's Christ. He is God's Christ. In Acts chapter 3, verse 18, the amplified preceded better light.
[23:11] The amplified... Sorry, not the amplified. American standard. Forgive me. The American standard version says that. But the things which God announced before by the mouth of all the prophets, that he is Christ.
[23:24] This is God's Christ. The Christ God has always been talking about. Maybe there are some other Christ. When I was a boy growing up, there was a guy in one of the neighborhoods or somewhere in Ghana who said he was Jesus Christ.
[23:40] So they have to be firm and say that we are talking about the Christ of God. Not anybody at all calls himself Christ.
[23:51] The Christ of God. In fact, they say... New American standard version, in Luke chapter 9, verse 20, the version where Jesus said, who do men say I am? Remember, Jesus asked the disciples, who do men say I am?
[24:04] And he said unto them, but who do you say I am? Peter answered and said, the Christ. In other words, God's Christ. You are the Christ of God.
[24:15] His Christ. So when they were praying, they said that the kings and the peoples of this world have guarded against the Lord and his Christ.
[24:27] The next verse says that when they prayed, they continued, offer truth against thy holy child. This is not about us. This thing they are doing is not about us.
[24:39] Satan is the mastermind against Christ behind this thing. It says that, offer truth against thy holy child whom thou hast anointed. How God anointed, Acts chapter 10, verse 38, how God anointed Jesus Christ.
[24:57] God anointed Jesus Christ. Jesus was anointed. You remember when he came to his hometown to come and preach? He went to the synagogue, Luke chapter 4, verse 18, and he opened and he read where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me.
[25:14] For he has, for he has, for he has. So Christ was anointed. Appointed and anointed by God.
[25:25] Christ was God's anointed. He, God anointed Christ. It's a human vessel with a divine enablement and empowerment on him.
[25:36] That's what it means to be anointed. In your humanity, there is a divine enablement on your life. Praise the Lord. So, who, Christ was anointed.
[25:48] In fact, Hebrew chapter 1, verse 9, it says that, because thou hast loved righteousness and hated him, because thou hast loved righteousness and hated him, the God, the God has anointed thee. Christ, the anointed.
[26:00] Let's all say Christ, the anointed. So, they prayed and the content of their prayer was that, God, you are the sovereign God and you have said by the mouth of David, why do they he generate rage?
[26:15] And then he says that, for the kings of the earth and their rulers have gathered against Christ. And he says that, against the, of a truth, against the holy child who thou anointed, both herald, you remember what we just read, they led him to Pontius Pilate.
[26:34] Both herald and Pontius Pilate. Who was Pontius Pilate? He was the Roman governor in Judea. So, in Luke chapter three, verse one, I think, yeah, Luke chapter three, verse one, it talks about how in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Tiberius Caesar, he was the Caesar at that time, Pontius Pilate being the governor of Judea.
[26:59] So, that was his jurisdiction and that's where, so he supervised the execution of Jesus because Jews didn't have the powers to kill and so, at that time, under the Roman rule, so he supervised the execution of Jesus Christ, Pontius Pilate.
[27:16] And he wasn't an ideology, he was a real historic figure. He wasn't a religious figure, he is a political figure. So, when you look at the political books or the history books, you find him somewhere.
[27:30] And when you do a research, you find out that he was actually the governor of Judea at the time of, the timing coincides with the same time Jesus was.
[27:41] So, the Bible is historically accurate. This was historical claims the Bible was making. And so, he said, again, in 1 Timothy 6, verse 13, Jesus witnessed a good profession before Pontius Pilate.
[27:56] Wow. Wow. I give you charge in the sight of God who quickly is the dead. And before Christ, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession. When he stood before Pontius Pilate, so Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate.
[28:11] The apostle said that against the holy child have these people gathered, verse 27 again, against the holy child whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together.
[28:27] It was a gathering. It was a gathering. They came together. Their gathering was purposely to attack Jesus. And verse 28 says that, for to do, I like that bit.
[28:42] They guarded, they had their own agenda. They had their own malicious intent. But guess what? Isaiah 46, verse 10, he said, the counsel of God is what will stand.
[28:54] Isaiah 46, verse 10, he says that, declaring the end from the beginning and from the ancient of times, the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do my pleasure.
[29:13] I will do, oh, that's what God is saying. So sometimes you don't have to be worried and be so much afraid about what kind of enemy is coming after you. just learn how to walk with God and stay in prayer.
[29:25] You agree? You may be, you're, let me use this, maybe for the better, lack of better example. Your stepmother has taken over everything that belongs to your father.
[29:36] And your father didn't want to see your face and your siblings, didn't he? Because your stepmother has polluted and it looks like power was on his side, on her side. and you can tell you have been significantly, severely disenfranchised.
[29:51] You don't have a say. Don't fear. Whatever God has said, I mean, nobody, nobody can stop what God has purpose to do with your life except you.
[30:04] You are the only one who can stop what God wants to do with your life. You are the only one. Because, don't forget, God is the sportist. He's the sovereign Lord. He made the heavens and the earth.
[30:15] He made the sea and all that is is the sea which people have not yet, scientists have not yet discovered, finished discovering. He made it. He made the galaxies so your life is too small for his council not to be able to do it.
[30:28] He said, look at what, he said, the kings, the people, they got dead. They got, verse 27, they got dead and they just, watch this.
[30:40] Again, Jesus herald, he was a king. Pontius Pilate, he was a governor. The Gentiles, the outsiders, and the people of Israel.
[30:51] Where else? Gentiles, the Jews, they don't even agree but now they all have got it. They have a coalition. Where are you going?
[31:01] Maybe if, if, if the politician is not in your favor, the king might be. if the king is not in your favor, the politician might be. So then, if, our politicians are afraid of God they don't have good stead with the American president, our king can go and meet him.
[31:23] Yes, yes. so, you can, we have, like, yeah, we can use a king or we can use a politician where he can't, say, but in Jesus' case, they've covered all grounds.
[31:42] They've covered the mainstream media, they've covered social media, they've covered Hollywood, they've covered universities, they've covered colleges, they've covered the marketplace, I mean, they've covered sports.
[31:59] Everywhere they have taken charge. Where are you going to go? He says that with all their gathering, they've gathered to do what God has done. For to do what thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
[32:20] Tell somebody, fear not. Never be afraid of your enemies. Don't be afraid of your enemies when you're walking with God. Intensify your work with God and he'll prepare a table before you.
[32:39] I didn't finish the text, but I thought somebody would have known what I mean. In the presence of thou prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
[32:50] I heard a man of God say this recently. He said, he's a top English teacher.
[33:02] He said, sometime ago, I heard him recently, he said, those times the letters come in. He said, every time he goes to, when you're a Bible preacher, people attack you. Don't forget it. People attack you, people find you very annoying and it always happen because of the hearts captured by Satan.
[33:22] So, he said, most times when he receives nasty letters, attacking letters, for some reason, when he opens the post and nasty letters come in, there will always also be some letter that tells you how you have blessed my life.
[33:40] It's always like that. Anytime you walk with God, you check it. Especially when you're doing God's work. I can't really say much when you're doing your own thing, but when you're doing God's work, yeah, yeah, when you're, the time when people rise up against you, that's the time also that you get some strongest encouragements.
[34:00] Because sometimes God needs, you need the problems to force you to look up to God. And God will also give you some situations to encourage you that, listen, I'm still with you.
[34:11] It is well with you. I'm still with you. I'm still with you. Joseph said, for the Lord has made me fruitful in my land, the same land of affliction.
[34:24] The same place where I was afflicted, God has made me fruit. Genesis chapter, I think, 20, 40, 45, 42, 41, yeah.
[34:35] And then he named the second son, for God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. the same place, the same place, in your marriage, in your family, the same place, where you are being attacked because of your commitment to God is where God has a way of showing up there.
[34:58] He said that they got there to do what is counsel, to do what God's counsel determined to be done before.
[35:10] So before they gathered, God was actually looking for a team to work for him. Even though they didn't come together with God in mind, God said, I'll use you. That's how the church spread.
[35:22] They rose against the church to persecute the church. Acts chapter 8, verse 1, and the church scattered. And rather, the scattering of the church brought about the great commission.
[35:35] More. Bible says, Acts chapter 11, verse 19, 20, 20, those who have scattered went everywhere. Now those who have scattered are brought upon the persecution that wrote because of Stephen traveled as far as Phoenix, very far, Cyprus, Antioch, preaching the word.
[35:52] Can you imagine how would Antioch have been the center of Christianity at a point in time if the scattering hadn't happened? The scattering forced them and rather it was achieving.
[36:02] Stephen's death was not a loss. In fact, it was one of the biggest gain to the body of Christ. Stephen's death. It's there. It said, the persecution arose upon the death of Stephen.
[36:14] It triggered the spread of the gospel in a wilder way than you could have imagined. God knows how to build his church. That's why Jesus said, I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
[36:29] Someone shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. It says that for to do what you have determined to be done. Now, after they spoke about their understanding of God's perspective in this thing, they knew God had a role in it.
[36:46] Then they lifted their voices. Look at verse 29. And now, Lord, behold, you remember verse 17, they threatened them.
[36:58] Verse 21, they further threatened them. So the threat was real. But they went and said, God, you know everything. You said these things already. Behold their threatenings and pull them down.
[37:12] Is that what they said? No. They said, behold their threatenings and what they say we shouldn't do. Grant that threatenings and grant that we your servants with all despotives and servants, slaves.
[37:24] We, your servants, with boldness. Remember verse 13. Pastor will preach about it. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they said, God, give us more of that.
[37:37] It's not about us. They will see that Jesus is really working on us. So he said, grant us with boldness that we will speak that word. They were threatening not to speak the word.
[37:48] They said, give us boldness that what they say we shouldn't do. But we know you have asked us to do it. Give us boldness to do it because sometimes the threats can be so real your heart will faint. Sometimes your heart can faint.
[38:01] You can hear some things and your heart faints. So they gathered and listen to what he says. He says that grant us that with boldness we will speak.
[38:16] Grant us that with boldness we shall speak your word. That's what we want to do. That's what we want to do. God grant us boldness. When I was going for impact I asked the church to pray for me that God according to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 19 that God will grant that with all boldness I will speak the mysteries because the whole thing is when you are speaking to wherever you are preaching the title of when I was going on TV to start TV many years ago I had various titles you know your TV program what are you going to call it you can call it maybe breakthrough in the city or you know something that make people interested but I felt convicted in my spirit convinced in my spirit to just use what God has put on word of truth what is word of truth unbelievers can't identify with it you won't look and see word of truth and click it so I was feeling but this is not advantageous we have to look for something you know there's something catchy you know something catchy making it at all times yes making it at all times and being the top of the game you know things like that but that's not our persuasion clickbait might be good it might not be bad in itself but sometimes where your heart is so sometimes our messages on YouTube might not have very heavy clickbait it's just sometimes just a scripture what we are preaching on like inside the church inside the church unbelievers are not interested in that inside the church you know but can you imagine preaching on how to catch liars you will get more views so well they said give us that we just with boldness will preach how should you do that and they said this is what we want you to do oh god give us boldness by stretching forth your hand stretching forth someone say stretch forth your hand please say it again stretch forth your hand give us boldness by stretching forth your hand i saw that i noticed that that phrase was even coined from the old testament some 138 verse 7 the bible talks about how god stretch forth he said someone says that though i walk in the midst of trouble thou will revive me thou shall stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies but these people were very intensely scriptural even their prayer topic what they were asking god to do is what they saw the bible said he can do they said give us boldness by stretching forth your hand and hand to heal one of the things that help boldness of preaching is when god is working supernaturally so he said by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs you remember act chapter 2 verse 43 bible talks about many signs were done in fact act chapter 2 verse 43 fear came upon many wonders and signs were done and in act chapter 2 verse 22 jesus christ a man attested by god with what signs with wonders miracles wonders and signs so they said let these things happen to give us boldness stir forth your hands that that's what was happening in the church they were praying asking god to do what the scripture said to do so they can also do what they are supposed to do that's one thing that was happening in the church and bible says that when they had prayed the place where they stood shook the place where they stood shook god said i will
[42:16] shake this place and let everybody remember how Paul and Silas prayed in prison in hark chapter 16 verse 26 and when they prayed in prison they were in earthquake god can shake a place so the place where they stood shook and they were all filled with the holy spirit look at that let's all read i like this verse so much shall we let's go and when they had prayed the place where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the holy ghost and they spoke the word of god with boldness you see what did they ask for in their prayer only one thing grant us boldness can you imagine that's all the prayer topic they didn't even concentrate on the enemy they said that's what they are doing is in scripture it can't stop you forth your hand and God said even before I do miracles I'm going to fill you with the holy spirit so they were filled the place shook that was the sign they knew
[43:22] God was with them the place shook and they were filled with the holy spirit and they spoke wow they spoke the word of god what did they speak the word of god what did they do they spoke the word what did speak the word of god not politics not politics not opinions they spoke the word of god with boldness when you are looking for a man of god who speaks the word of god even above a man of god who works miracles let me say this to somebody listening when you are looking for a man of god who speaks the word of god not their own words not their own opinions even the one who speaks the word of god seek that more above the one who works miracles because satan also works miracles but satan cannot speak the word of god the world cannot teach the word of god ungodly people cannot teach the word of god they can attempt to quote scriptures but they cannot speak the word of god 1st
[44:25] Corinthians chapter 12 it says that no one can say Jesus is lord except by the spirit of scripture he who god has spoken speaks the word of god john chapter 3 34 he who god has sent speak the word of god so they spoke the word of god with boldness so what was happening in the church number one they reported what they heard number two they lifted their voices in prayers number three they spoke the word of god after they were filled with the holy spirit hallelujah they spoke the word of god in boldness and look at what happened verse quickly the next verse says that verse 33 and all the multitude of them that believed were of one heart I like that one heart and one soul one heart and one soul philippians chapter 2 verse 2 philippians chapter 1 verse 27 one heart and one soul philippians 127 philippians 2 one heart one soul one heart one soul one heart one soul one heart one soul only let your conversation be as it become the gospel of christ that when I come and see you or else be absent
[45:43] I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one spirit and one mind striving together for the faith of the devil's target is to divide us to divide us but we have to stand with one mind philippians 2 it says that fulfill you my joy that you be like minded having the same love being of one accord and of one mind they spoke the word of god and they of one mind you can't break their ranks you can't divide them no church that can affect a community can easily be broken when you come amongst them it's like it's like permit me to use this word in a loose sense it's like a communist china you can't infiltrate their ranks I'm not saying that's how the church operates but I'm talking about the unity the unity they learn how to handle their problems and deal with their problems inside without giving up one another and so double says that verse 32 again
[46:49] I think 2nd chronicles chapter 32 verse 12 2nd chronicles chapter 32 verse 12 let me make sure that 2nd chronicles chapter 30 I'm sorry chapter 30 please pardon me 2nd chronicles chapter 30 also also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandments of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord may God's hand give us one heart that is to be said in charis the hand of God has given us one heart to do the commandments which is in line with God's way one heart and the people had oneness back to Acts chapter they with one soul with one heart and one soul there's another one neither said any of them that that ought of the things give us a different translation so that it can be easier okay
[47:54] James neither did anyone say that any of the things which he possessed was his own but they had all things in common say all things in common there's a difference between koinonia and communism people use this scripture to back communism the difference between koinonia and communism is communism is forced they take what you have and make it available for everybody in koinonia it's not forced Peter told Ananias verse 4 Acts chapter 5 verse 3 when it was so while it remained was it not your own it's not a force your offering is not a force your tithing is not a force don't make a big issue that they are collecting your money it's not a force stop giving your offering is not a force your tithing is not a force it's an expression of your love and your understanding of scripture and your spiritual maturity so it says that while it remained was it not your own and after it was sold after you sold it to was it not in your no one told you what you should do with your resources christianity and koinonia never forces you to do something with your resources you didn't want to it's voluntary you choose so bible says that so it's actually some people even say that it is not what is yours is mine that's communism but in the church they say what is mine is yours that's true but it's not really so it's not what is mine is yours there's a higher dimension what is what is mine is his it's not yours it's his if you are yours then he will distribute you bless you according what is that is what they were practicing and the
[49:53] Bible says that let's look at the text again is that one learning something neither was there any amongst them that okay upon all but let's go to verse 33 and with great power the apostles give great power give the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all I like the subject of grace is I commend you to the Lord and to the word of his grace you remember great grace in Acts chapter 11 verse 23 it talks about when he came and saw the grace when he came and he had seen the grace of God church is a manifestation of God's grace true Christianity is an expression of God's grace on a people anytime God is moving you will see the expression of his grace and the grace of God can be seen in Acts chapter 14 verse 3 and verse 26 verse 3 says that
[50:53] God gave testimony to the word of his grace this thing we are doing his grace the word of his grace verse 26 said they were charging them and they said this and then sailed to Antioch from whence they had been commended to the grace of God for the work ahead this whole thing is grace when you see somebody singing and blessing people it's an expression of grace when you see the way I'm preaching if he's blessing you there's no intelligence at work it's great at work if it just charges your mind but really doesn't change your life then that is intelligence at work that's human power abilities at work but divine ability is grace at work grace chapter 15 verse 40 and they commended Paul after Barnabas left and Paul chose Silas and departed being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God that this one may grace carry you on
[51:56] I pray over your life that may the grace of God carry you may the grace of God be strong in your life may the grace of God manifest greatly in your life in the mighty name of Jesus Paul spoke about none of these things move me none of these things actually after 20 verse 24 he said I hear that afflictions are with me but none of these things neither do I count my life to myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I received of the Lord Jesus Christ to testify of the gospel of the grace of God this is the grace of God and it's so big if you have been given opportunity to be partaker of grace you have to take handle it with care because you can't sleep that's your biggest opportunity my biggest opportunity is not my marriage my biggest opportunity in life is not my children my biggest opportunity in life is not money that you give me that that's not the big so you never trade away the flow of grace for money my biggest opportunity in life is the grace to stand before
[53:05] God's people and dispense grace in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 it talks about how God has given us this New Testament economy he has given it to us and he says that not to see ourselves as sufficient but our sufficiency not that we are sufficient in ourselves to think anything of a man of God as me don't you know who I am you are nothing you are nothing don't you but the grace that is being dispensed through your life is what gives you your man of God status it says that but our sufficiency is of say as long as I hold on to God who called me you can never pull me down because my sufficiency is of God my sufficiency is of God one man of God made a statement he said if our prosperity is making you sad then you will never be happy in life if our prosperity our progress is making you sad then you will never be happy in life because it is just the beginning
[54:06] Karis may I amount to Karis Landon we are going to own our property we are going our own property it will not be long at all it will not be long at all it will not be long at all because there is great grace coming upon our lives there's something that theologians call after the darkness light post tenebrous lux after the dark ages light came usually when God wants to elevate you he allows you to go through a negative pain moment sometimes unnecessary unnecessary challenges and attack that don't make sense that where is this wind coming from is because there's a wind coming to lift you the devil is God's devil he will use the work of the devil to elevate you the wind that was meant to stop you will actually lift you up
[55:10] I see that coming in somebody's life I see that about to happen for somebody in the name of Jesus somebody shout grace great grace great grace was upon them great grace he said our sufficiency is of God verse 6 who has made us able ministers ability that we are with which we are doing this work was not giving us from school from our parents who has made us able minister of the new testament of the new covenant we minister and you can tell something is happening to you not of the letter not of the letter we can preach three five thousand poets the same day yesterday we had a council meeting church council meeting and I found out statistics this year alone pastor about how many about 21,000 souls have been won by caries 21,000 souls we have to before the end of the year we have to make those statistics available there have been about 4,800 um outreaches 4,800 we have gone out to preach gone out to preach different different branches about all documented 4,800 number of people baptized is in the hundreds it's happening a lot is happening but you might not realize it a lot is happening number that have been added to our church huge numbers in the branches it's happening everywhere that's the manifestation of the grace of God the money
[56:53] God is with us his grace is showing the grace of God is showing that God is with us let me ask somebody who is confused why do you come to church do you come to church to make the pastor rich so why are you worried if the pastor has money think about it you come to church so that my children can grow in a godly environment where the word of God are you getting that too much so what's your problem godly environment is grace giving it cannot be faked if God is not with somebody he cannot fake a godly environment I hope you're listening to what I'm saying if God is with somebody he cannot fake a godly environment you cannot fake a testimony you cannot fake miracle I pray that you are being healed no one is being healed they're saying people are being but no one is being healed no one people's lives have been changed show us you can't fake those results you can't fake but when God begins to set straight forth your hand by doing signs so when the sign is God himself some of the signs that you see is the expression of the outstretched arm of God so we come to church look at us some of us we have come to church and look at how well your life has fallen balanced look at how well your face so he said whether he is they said this man is an evil man do you remember the man in John chapter 9 when he was healed from the blindness the leader said he's an evil man the man said whether he's an evil man or not one thing I know once a cover shudder higher once I was blind but now
[58:46] I see once I was blind but now I see once I was blind but now my testimony is an evidence that grace is working that grace is working recently I heard a story of a mother of somebody in the church who met another mother of another person in the church because they are about to become in-laws and one negative woman said this child in courage is not being helped much because they are always spending all their time in church and then the other mother said mom is that not better because the one who is saying that's not better one of their children went to another church and now he has entered into drugs his life has messed up and has become the biggest problem and sometimes the other mother is saying why don't you take your to your church I can see what your church has done for you such a mother you are about to destroy the church he said mom no please this church has helped my children and are helping our children today we have come to sit here as potential in-laws had it not been for the church they might be moving in and sleeping together they might be sleeping together because of the church they are back in uni because of the church they are back in good employment they are not doing fraud because of the church they read their bibles because of the church they can call scriptures because of the church they can win souls because some churches don't win souls but in some churches when you go you win souls soul winning becomes part of you
[60:18] I feel like preaching that is the manifestation of the grace of God he said if you have heard Ephesians chapter 2 verse chapter 3 verse 2 if you have heard of the dispensation dispensary you dispense grace is meant to be dispensed God commits the dispensation of grace to other human beings if you don't like it go and bend the sea it is what it is that's how God in his wisdom has determined that every human being that will come on this earth must come from a womb you said I like to please you can't change it he has designed that everybody's eye shouldn't be on their neck it should be you say I don't like it please forget it he has designed that when you eat it goes through your mouth and after processing he comes out he says I don't like it I want to reverse it please you don't have what it takes today when we read it says that you don't have power Ecclesiastes you don't have power to restrain spirits there are some things it's said before you showed up and in the same vein
[61:24] God in his wisdom has chosen that dispensation of his grace is committed to individuals it's committed to human beings for them to be the dispensers of the grace and he says that the dispensation of the grace of God was given to me for you in other words when God wanted to give you grace he brought it to me I can't keep it because it's not mine but you need to come to me that's what he said he said you need to come to me for that grace God has for you you need to come to me if you stay away from me it's your loss it might not be my loss because me too the dispensation of grace might be with somebody great grace was upon them great grace was upon them great grace not cheap grace in the time of the the threats God gave them great grace when the threat came because the church remained the church on the inside what happens in church is more important than what they say outside let's keep our prayer going let's keep our focus our prayer topic right let's keep our focus on scripture let's not let the word of grace be shifted somewhere let's not be distracted keep stay our focus on the word of God and believe God for the grace to do the word of God and the boldness to do the word of God and he will lavish grace and not normal grace great grace nowadays the word great has been belittled great Britain now when you say people don't even understand what's grace people go that's great that's great that's great so when we say great grace people don't understand what this means great grace somebody say great grace that means there's normal grace but there's great grace great grace was upon them all what happens in church determines how we benefit not only few of them all of them it's a corporate thing that's why we have to make sure we make sure nobody divides us because once we cannot be divided the grace will be on all of us all of us and there was none that lacked among them none that lacked among them what happens in church what happens in the church what happens in the church thank you for listening to this message by
[63:55] David Entry we pray you have been revived towards God you can connect with David Entry on all relevant social media platforms including Instagram and LinkedIn you can also hear more messages from David Entry on all relevant streaming platforms and the Carriage Church app don't forget to like and share the message be blessed for 25 possible�