WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.720 Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 9. 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:07.140 Acts 9, if you've got a Black Church Bible, it's page 918. 00:00:07.140 --> 00:00:09.580 Page 918. 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:13.540 And we're going through the Book of Acts. 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:17.320 We're making pretty good progress. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:24.039 And all the time we need to keep remembering the theme of the Book of Acts, the plot line. 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:30.600 And I think there's two threads that run right the way through the Book of Acts. 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:35.780 If you just flick back to Acts 1.1, we get one of the threads right at the start. 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:40.960 So Luke is the author of the Book of Acts, and he says this. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:46.179 In the first book, O Theophilus, so this is the second volume of a two-part work, 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:52.700 I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day that he was taken up to heaven. 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:57.000 So the assumption is, we need to understand this is volume two, 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:01.379 and in the first book, Jesus began to act. 00:01:01.619 --> 00:01:03.259 What's that saying about the second book? 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:05.859 It's saying that Jesus continues to act. 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:11.500 It's going to tell us what Jesus continued to do after he'd been taken up to heaven. 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:19.359 So the deeds of Jesus and the works of the Lord Jesus are something that we need to keep in mind. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:23.280 The second thread is the witness of Jesus. 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:29.439 So if you look at Acts 1.8, Jesus says there to the apostles, 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:36.340 you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:41.120 So it will go out from Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. 00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:42.060 That's the plot line. 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:46.040 That's the unfolding story of the book of Acts. 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:50.579 That the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is unstoppable. 00:01:52.540 --> 00:01:55.579 That's the end to which Jesus is working. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:58.540 Jesus' deeds and Jesus' end. 00:02:00.099 --> 00:02:02.960 Acts 9, it finishes, doesn't it, with such a boring detail. 00:02:03.740 --> 00:02:05.060 Such a mundane detail. 00:02:05.060 --> 00:02:10.800 Peter is staying at the Airbnb of a tanner. 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:12.599 Simon the tanner. 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:14.199 What's a tanner? 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:18.340 Well, it's somebody that works with unclean animals. 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:21.199 They weren't kosher. 00:02:23.480 --> 00:02:26.819 And so that boring little detail at the end of Acts 9 is actually significant. 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:30.259 It's that Simon Peter, a Jew, the leading apostle at this point, 00:02:30.259 --> 00:02:42.419 is staying at the house of someone whose occupation shows that the gospel of Jesus Christ was penetrating into different cultures. 00:02:44.179 --> 00:02:47.519 That the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is unstoppable. 00:02:49.239 --> 00:02:56.859 And the story of Acts, and including this story, tells you and I that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a global gospel. 00:02:56.860 --> 00:03:02.220 Let me tell you an up-to-date and true story to illustrate this. 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:04.680 It's about a congregation in Toronto, in Canada. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:12.000 And the members of that congregation were pleased to welcome people from all over the world to their services. 00:03:13.540 --> 00:03:17.760 There was one particular woman who came, but they were a little bit nonplussed, 00:03:17.820 --> 00:03:21.440 when she began doing the sermon speaking into her mobile phone. 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:24.080 And this went on for a number of weeks. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:28.740 As the preacher was preaching, she would be speaking into her mobile phone. 00:03:29.380 --> 00:03:33.280 The minister's wife got a little bit fed up with this, and she thought she should do something about it. 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:36.600 So she goes to this visiting woman. 00:03:37.720 --> 00:03:40.900 She says, we are delighted that you're coming to church. 00:03:42.180 --> 00:03:43.980 We're really thrilled that you're here. 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:45.020 We want you to feel welcome. 00:03:45.020 --> 00:03:50.980 But the sermons my husband preaches take a long time of prayer, and other people need to hear the message. 00:03:52.540 --> 00:03:56.939 And people are finding you speaking into your phone a little bit distracting. 00:03:57.200 --> 00:03:59.620 Some people even think it's a bit disrespectful. 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:07.680 The woman seemed a little bit nonplussed by this, and she explained that she wasn't wanting to be disrespectful at all to the minister. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:17.939 She said that when the sermon begins, I dial my husband, who is in Baghdad, Iraq, and he listens to the message with me. 00:04:18.780 --> 00:04:20.540 And I tried to answer some of his question. 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:26.360 He's part of a secret Bible study of six people in Baghdad, and they are all inquirers. 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:35.220 When the minister's wife went back and relayed that to the minister, he said, tell her next week to come and sit in the front seat, and with your mobile phone. 00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:43.080 A few weeks later, he's preaching, and in the middle of the sermon, she cries out, saying, my husband wants to become a Christian. 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:53.040 The minister stops the sermon, goes down to the front row, speaks to the man in Baghdad, prays with him, and he commits his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:00.439 The minister goes back to the pulpit, finishes his sermon, they sing a hymn, he gives the benediction, and they all go home. 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:05.460 The gospel of Jesus Christ is a global gospel. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:18.860 And this passage in Acts chapter 9 confirms that for us, that Jesus Christ is in heaven this morning, still at work, with his mighty deeds, even to the ends of the earth. 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:25.680 But what is it this morning that we can expect Jesus to do from heaven? 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:31.199 Where is Jesus at work in our world today? 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.280 Two points, and then the two points of Acts. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.740 Jesus' deeds, and Jesus' ends. 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:40.340 First of all, Jesus' deeds. 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:48.779 When Reuben read to you this passage of Acts chapter 9, what did you think? 00:05:51.039 --> 00:05:53.299 Have you had that déjà vu feeling? 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:58.039 You know, you go somewhere and you think, I've been here before. 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:01.379 I've had this conversation before. 00:06:02.579 --> 00:06:07.399 And when we read the end of Acts chapter 9, there should be, for those of us who know our Bibles, a déjà vu. 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:16.099 Because instinctively, as we read what Peter does, we think, this is a Jesus-like deed. 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:19.739 This is Jesus-like deeds. 00:06:21.479 --> 00:06:24.679 And so, of course, you've got the healing of Aeneas. 00:06:25.799 --> 00:06:27.919 And it should remind you of what? 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:31.319 It reminds you of the healing of the paralytic man. 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:38.000 It almost feels like a re-record of the healing of the paralysed man. 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:43.219 You can go back to Luke's volume 1, the Gospel of Luke in chapter 5. 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:48.079 And Jesus said in Luke chapter 5 to the paralysed man, you remember it, don't you? 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:52.480 Get up, take your mat, and walk. 00:06:53.459 --> 00:06:55.439 And immediately, the man got up. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:00.300 Look what Peter says in Acts chapter 9 to the paralysed man. 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:03.120 He says, get up. 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:05.719 Take care of your mat. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:08.759 And immediately, the man got up. 00:07:09.939 --> 00:07:10.720 It's exactly the same. 00:07:12.220 --> 00:07:13.279 It's exactly the same. 00:07:14.540 --> 00:07:17.079 The second incident is another déjà vu, isn't it? 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:24.379 It's this resurrection, this resuscitation of the dead woman called Tabitha. 00:07:25.219 --> 00:07:25.659 Or Dorcas. 00:07:25.859 --> 00:07:28.339 Both names mean gazelle. 00:07:28.459 --> 00:07:30.360 I consulted the mighty Calvin about this. 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:33.079 And he tells me that the name Dorcas originally meant goat. 00:07:33.659 --> 00:07:35.539 So let's stick with Tabitha, all right? 00:07:37.219 --> 00:07:38.699 The raising of Tabitha. 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:46.299 And as we read the raising of Tabitha, it's almost like a replica, isn't it, of the raising of Jairus' daughter. 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:49.060 Do you remember that story from Luke chapter 8? 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:51.980 Jesus goes to the house of Jairus. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.160 Jairus' little girl, 12 years old. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.180 And she's lying there dead. 00:07:57.379 --> 00:07:58.900 And Jesus says, get up. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:02.439 Talitha coombe. 00:08:03.280 --> 00:08:05.199 Little girl, I tell you, get up. 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:07.460 And she did. 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:14.480 And in Acts chapter 9, Peter says, Tabitha, get up. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:16.460 And she does. 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.400 Peter is probably speaking Aramaic. 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:27.080 The same language that Jesus used when he said, talitha coombe. 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:35.720 And can you see there's one letter of difference between Jesus' words and Peter's word? 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:42.040 Over in Acts chapter 9, Peter says, tabitha coombe. 00:08:44.160 --> 00:08:46.720 One letter of difference, Jesus said, talitha coombe. 00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:47.940 We're meant to see that, aren't we? 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:52.360 These are Jesus-like deeds in Acts chapter 9. 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:57.259 And we can go further and say these are Jesus' deeds done from heaven. 00:08:57.659 --> 00:08:59.200 The text is quite clear, isn't it? 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:02.580 That it is not Peter who did the deeds. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.860 It is not Peter who had the power. 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:07.480 It is the power of Jesus Christ. 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:11.440 And Jesus does these works from heaven. 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:15.740 He is at work after he is raised up to God's right hand. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:19.120 So what do these deeds mean for us today? 00:09:19.320 --> 00:09:20.539 And that's a very important question. 00:09:21.300 --> 00:09:24.560 To try and answer that question correctly and biblically. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:32.539 And those of you who know your Bibles and the Gospels will know that the deeds of Jesus are often referred to as signs. 00:09:34.239 --> 00:09:42.699 And when you move from the Gospels to the Acts, you can say that Jesus' deeds here are signs in two ways. 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:44.439 They're pointed to two things. 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.599 First, they are signs of Christ's apostles. 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:53.479 So Peter was an apostle with a capital A. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:55.699 What's the mark of an apostle? 00:09:55.959 --> 00:09:57.619 How can you tell someone as an apostle? 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:04.439 Well, 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 12 tells us that when Paul was speaking about his own credentials as an apostle, 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:06.659 he says, the things that mark an apostle out, 00:10:06.939 --> 00:10:08.379 what are the things that mark an apostle out? 00:10:09.199 --> 00:10:10.779 Signs, wonders, mighty works. 00:10:13.619 --> 00:10:17.879 And so can you see that Peter is in a different league altogether, isn't he, 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.000 from the so-called faith healers of today? 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:25.460 Peter and the other apostles that we find in Acts are quite unique. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:34.759 An apostle who is given, when Christ says so, powers to perform miracles only when Christ says so. 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.620 That's why there are no apostles with a capital A today. 00:10:39.620 --> 00:10:46.100 When Peter's going to Joppa, he doesn't know exactly what he's going to do. 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:48.539 He doesn't exactly know what Jesus is going to do. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:53.279 And that's why when he gets to the house and into the room, he ushers everyone out. 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:58.840 He shuts the door, he gets down on his knees and he prays to God to show him what his will is 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:01.019 and grant him the power to do the healing. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:03.220 And so it happens. 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:11.360 These miracles, these acts of Jesus are signs of Christ's apostles. 00:11:12.420 --> 00:11:17.720 So that you and I can trust Christ's apostles when we read them in the New Testament. 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:24.680 Peter, we know, had the marks of Christ's unique apostles with a capital A. 00:11:26.100 --> 00:11:32.960 Secondly, these signs point us to, and they are signs of God's salvation. 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:35.940 As they were in the gospel. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:39.180 But there's additional clarity given to us. 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:49.139 What is it that the risen, ascended Christ at the right hand of God is doing just now, at this point? 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:52.759 Well, Acts 5.31 gives us that clue. 00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:55.300 Peter himself says these words. 00:11:55.420 --> 00:11:55.560 He says, 00:11:55.559 --> 00:12:05.819 That is to say, 00:12:05.959 --> 00:12:14.619 Go back to the question. 00:12:14.620 --> 00:12:18.220 And what can we expect Jesus Christ to do this morning? 00:12:20.379 --> 00:12:22.720 The word apostle means messenger. 00:12:24.060 --> 00:12:27.060 And so I am not an apostle with a capital A. 00:12:28.419 --> 00:12:30.560 No one alive today is. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.819 However, the word does mean messenger. 00:12:33.979 --> 00:12:38.000 And so as a messenger of Jesus Christ, I can say with conviction. 00:12:39.319 --> 00:12:45.579 That Jesus Christ today can cure you of your greatest need. 00:12:46.739 --> 00:12:52.539 That Jesus Christ can heal you of your greatest need. 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:58.039 That Jesus Christ can raise you to new life. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.959 And new levels of godliness and righteousness. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:07.460 I'm trying to read a bit more of Spurgeon. 00:13:08.560 --> 00:13:13.580 And I read a sermon of Spurgeon, the kind of great Baptist preacher, on this passage. 00:13:14.420 --> 00:13:16.620 It was a sermon on the story of Aeneas. 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:23.139 And Spurgeon begins his sermon with a half amusing, half serious story of a chaplain who's preaching in a local prison. 00:13:23.139 --> 00:13:25.960 He's preaching a sermon of salvation. 00:13:26.179 --> 00:13:28.279 At the start he announces it's in two parts. 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:35.000 And part number one on Sunday was setting forth the great need of salvation because of our sins. 00:13:35.439 --> 00:13:41.120 Part two was coming next Sunday, setting forth the wonderful provision of salvation. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.460 So the preacher preaches part one, the need of salvation. 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:50.700 But unfortunately on the Monday morning a number of the prisoners who've been listening to him were hanged from the gallows. 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:53.259 And they never got to hear the good news. 00:13:55.900 --> 00:13:59.900 And Spurgeon told that story to make the point that he wasn't going to make the same mistake. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:04.980 That he was going to get right to the heart and the point of the passage of this story. 00:14:05.400 --> 00:14:09.379 And the point of the passage is Jesus Christ heals from sin. 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:13.300 And raises you to new life. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:19.980 As the sermon progresses Spurgeon tells another story which again is half amusing and half serious. 00:14:19.980 --> 00:14:21.960 The minister had a dream. 00:14:23.220 --> 00:14:27.019 And in his dream the minister found himself in hell and he was greatly distressed. 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:31.180 And he cries out, is this the place that I am to live forever? 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:32.460 I am a minister. 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:38.300 And a grim voice replies, no it's a lot lower down for unfaithful ministers. 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:40.620 The preacher wakes up. 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:50.799 And I feel increasingly the danger of being unfaithful to the gospel and unfaithful to you. 00:14:52.539 --> 00:14:58.340 And I want to avoid that danger today by speaking really plainly to myself and to you. 00:14:58.340 --> 00:15:03.980 About the application of this story of the gospel to our hearts. 00:15:05.899 --> 00:15:12.500 The gospel tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ can cure us from the guilt of sin. 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:18.100 Let's go over the basics of the gospel so we're clear on it. 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:24.919 Jesus Christ when he died on the cross of Calvary took the rap. 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:27.220 Carried the can. 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:31.740 Paid the price for us. 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:42.700 And him having done that, he can offer a full and free forgiveness and cleansing and new life to all who will come to him. 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:48.019 But we can only come with empty hands to receive this gift. 00:15:49.560 --> 00:15:51.379 It is all of grace. 00:15:51.379 --> 00:15:55.259 And he saves from the guilt of sin. 00:15:55.779 --> 00:15:59.200 And having done so, he doesn't leave us in our sinful ways. 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:03.259 Jesus raises us to new life. 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:04.100 He gives us. 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:07.980 He cures us from the power of sin. 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:14.039 And he lifts us to a new level of godliness and holiness and righteousness. 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:18.200 Spurgeon, towards the beginning of the sermon, said this. 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:24.080 Whatever your sin is, it has now become a disease to you. 00:16:25.020 --> 00:16:29.160 Whatever your sin is, it has now become a disease which is killing you. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.440 And Jesus Christ can cure you. 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:36.400 And Jesus Christ can raise you to a new level. 00:16:38.560 --> 00:16:45.060 And so what is the sin disease that may be paralyzing you? 00:16:46.060 --> 00:16:47.379 And deadening you? 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:51.420 And maybe killing you this morning. 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:53.120 What is your disease? 00:16:56.160 --> 00:17:02.379 Is it the disease of a hot temper and anger? 00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:07.039 And Jesus Christ can make you whole. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:15.460 Jesus Christ can give you a new self-control and a new gentleness and a new love? 00:17:17.859 --> 00:17:19.799 Is your disease greed? 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:27.759 That constant desire and lust for more and more and more? 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:30.180 Never being satisfied. 00:17:32.180 --> 00:17:33.519 Never being content. 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:35.700 And Jesus Christ can cue you of that. 00:17:35.700 --> 00:17:36.319 Jesus Christ. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:45.039 Jesus Christ can bring you by his spirit a new level of contentedness and purity and victory over our self-centeredness. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:47.920 Is the disease folly? 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:59.819 Is it folly that constant hasty and impetuous rash and making bad decisions? 00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:05.460 And Jesus Christ can cue you and make you whole? 00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:13.480 He brings to us, doesn't he, the wisdom from above which is pure and peaceable and full of mercy and hope. 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:18.860 Is it pride? 00:18:20.860 --> 00:18:21.860 Is that the disease? 00:18:21.860 --> 00:18:26.019 Is that tragic disease which keeps so many people out of the kingdom of God? 00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:29.740 And it stunts the growth of Christian believers. 00:18:30.099 --> 00:18:35.240 Is it the determination to be independent and self-sufficient? 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:38.500 Not really needing to pray. 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:39.799 And if we pray, not very much. 00:18:39.879 --> 00:18:40.720 Not as a priority. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:43.099 And Jesus Christ can cue you of that. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:50.440 Jesus Christ can make us meek and lowly in heart like himself by his life and by his spirit. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:51.799 Is the disease worldliness? 00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:58.779 Is it, as the Bible says, a love for the world and the things of the world which really have got hold of you? 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:07.359 And Jesus Christ can heal you and cue you and make you whole and give to us a spiritual mindedness. 00:19:08.779 --> 00:19:15.559 Or satisfaction that can far outreach anything that the world can offer you. 00:19:17.220 --> 00:19:18.720 Religion can't cue you. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.000 Morality can't cue you. 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:26.880 I was in Ealing Broadway on Friday. 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:29.160 Just by the Metro Bank. 00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:30.920 There was a man that gave out cards. 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:31.759 He was giving out cards. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:33.420 This guy was called Mr. Omar. 00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:35.640 Anybody had a card from Mr. Omar? 00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:38.759 Let me tell you what it says on the card. 00:19:38.860 --> 00:19:42.960 Mr. Omar is a naturally gifted from God African spiritual healer. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:46.600 Following a family history of over ten generations in healing. 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:51.759 No matter how difficult your problem, is there a solution to it? 00:19:52.879 --> 00:19:54.439 Problem concerning black magic. 00:19:54.899 --> 00:19:55.199 Love. 00:19:55.779 --> 00:19:56.119 Voodoo. 00:19:56.759 --> 00:19:57.839 Sexual impotency. 00:19:58.619 --> 00:19:59.500 Business transaction. 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:01.459 Exams and court cases. 00:20:01.460 --> 00:20:04.180 I can help you reunite with your loved ones. 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:06.440 Split unwanted relationships. 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:10.340 For all your problems, Mr. Omar is the answer. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:11.720 No disappointment. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:13.759 Quick results guaranteed. 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:16.720 Please don't remain in silence with your problem. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.960 Seek help from Mr. Omar. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:21.940 I've got a number of cards if you want them afterwards. 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:23.880 I know. 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:26.440 I've had this from Mr. Omar a number of times. 00:20:27.840 --> 00:20:29.200 But we laugh at that, don't we? 00:20:30.380 --> 00:20:31.440 I hope you laugh at that. 00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:32.160 So naive. 00:20:32.500 --> 00:20:33.720 Mr. Omar can't help you. 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:36.559 Religion can't cure you. 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:39.200 Morality can't cure you. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:44.000 And whatever your disease is this morning, and you know what it is. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:54.819 The good news this morning is that Jesus Christ, from heaven, can cure you of your greatest disease. 00:20:56.819 --> 00:21:00.000 He makes the dead to live. 00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:04.160 New life the dead receive. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.759 Are you willing to accept that you're dead? 00:21:10.060 --> 00:21:11.279 It's a big ask, isn't it? 00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:14.340 Think of the illustration of flowers. 00:21:15.820 --> 00:21:19.279 You buy someone flowers, but you're buying them dead flowers. 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:22.440 They may look really beautiful, isn't it? 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:27.040 And for a little while, they look really beautiful, but they're cut off from the source of life. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:28.400 And in the end, they will die. 00:21:28.560 --> 00:21:29.900 That's your life and my life. 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:39.120 And Jesus Christ, by his grace from heaven, can bring life to the dead. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.180 Those who humbly turn to him and ask him for his salvation. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:45.759 That's the first thing, Jesus deeds. 00:21:45.860 --> 00:21:47.360 The second thing is Jesus ends. 00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:52.420 Again, we see the theme of the book of Acts, don't we? 00:21:52.420 --> 00:21:59.360 It's reminding us this big theme that Jesus' witness is on its way to the end of the earth. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:00.640 Chapter 1 and verse 8. 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:04.400 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth. 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:10.960 And this story in Acts 9 tells us that the spread of the gospel we see in three ways. 00:22:11.060 --> 00:22:13.820 We see it first of all geographically, don't we? 00:22:14.060 --> 00:22:17.480 So chapter 1 to 5, Peter is in Jerusalem. 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:20.960 Chapter 6 to 8, he's in Samaria. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:24.500 But in chapter 9, he's traveling all over the country. 00:22:25.099 --> 00:22:26.039 We assume it's Judea. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:31.180 But at the end of chapter 9, he's outside the country of Judea and Samaria. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:36.620 And he finds himself in Joppa at the seaside. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.259 Well, we all like to be beside the seaside. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:42.680 But the Jews didn't. 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:46.039 The Jews didn't like to be beside the seaside. 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:51.000 Because for the Jews, the sea was dangerous. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:52.960 Powerful. 00:22:54.299 --> 00:22:55.220 Out of control. 00:22:55.640 --> 00:23:01.460 The sea in Jewish thought was a place relating to the dangerous outside world. 00:23:01.460 --> 00:23:08.220 But here you find Peter in this place with the gospel of the Lord Jesus. 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:12.880 Because the gospel is on its way to the ends of the earth. 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:15.400 It spreads geographically. 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:16.559 Secondly, it spreads culturally. 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:19.799 Lydda and Joppa are in Philistia. 00:23:20.100 --> 00:23:22.799 And Philistia is kind of semi-Gentile territory. 00:23:24.360 --> 00:23:27.940 So chapter 9 is preparing us for chapter 10. 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:32.720 The great breakthrough into the culture of the Gentiles. 00:23:33.620 --> 00:23:36.320 And the conversion of Cornelius. 00:23:36.700 --> 00:23:38.380 The gospel spreads geographically. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:40.720 The gospel spreads culturally. 00:23:41.820 --> 00:23:43.640 And most important of all, it spreads powerfully. 00:23:44.080 --> 00:23:46.059 And look at verses 35 and verse 42. 00:23:48.140 --> 00:23:51.880 All the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him. 00:23:52.940 --> 00:23:53.920 And they turned to the Lord. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:56.100 Verse 42. 00:23:57.539 --> 00:23:59.660 It became known throughout all Joppa. 00:23:59.840 --> 00:24:03.060 And many believed in the Lord. 00:24:03.120 --> 00:24:04.279 So here is Jesus' ends. 00:24:08.080 --> 00:24:12.160 The end result of Jesus' witness as it spreads geographically and culturally. 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:15.519 Is that many people turn and believe in the Lord. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.060 What's the application of these ends to us this morning? 00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:24.579 Well, if this is the word of God. 00:24:26.679 --> 00:24:31.759 Then I say we can expect the same ends to be reached in our world today. 00:24:33.819 --> 00:24:39.700 We can express, we can expect Jesus' witness of the gospel to penetrate geographically. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:41.759 Culturally. 00:24:42.700 --> 00:24:43.220 And powerfully. 00:24:43.220 --> 00:24:51.839 I'm told that 168,000 people become Christians every day. 00:24:53.620 --> 00:24:58.839 There is, isn't there, astonishing growth of Christianity in South America. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:01.400 In parts of Africa. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:03.019 In parts of Asia. 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:04.079 In India and China. 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:12.980 Today, the witness of Jesus Christ is penetrating new cultures in our world powerfully. 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:16.700 And the question is this. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:21.380 Will these ends be achieved again in our culture? 00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:29.000 There are, aren't there, many cultures of unreached groups. 00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:33.180 Let me take you on the bus routes. 00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:35.599 Do you ever catch the E11? 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.759 It's not the most direct bus, the E11. 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:40.940 And all of life is on the E11. 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:43.559 You can get it on the Uxbridge Road. 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.120 You know the one with all the Persian restaurants and takeaways. 00:25:50.120 --> 00:25:51.320 Which some of us so love. 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:53.539 Goes through West Ealing. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:54.940 Turns up towards Waitrose. 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.019 All the developments that are coming by the new station. 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:01.580 Goes around by Drayton Green. 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:02.920 Cuts up through Copley Close. 00:26:03.320 --> 00:26:04.940 Into Hanwell and then Greenford. 00:26:04.940 --> 00:26:08.779 All these different communities. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:12.140 Or what about the E2? 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:13.080 Never get the E2. 00:26:13.340 --> 00:26:14.120 You're on there for hours. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:16.519 Northfields. 00:26:16.660 --> 00:26:17.400 West Ealing. 00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:18.600 Pitsanger Lane. 00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:19.480 Scotch Common. 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:20.980 Greenford. 00:26:22.059 --> 00:26:24.720 Think of all those different communities. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:28.120 All the different people groups. 00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:33.339 Can the gospel penetrate those cultures? 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:39.660 What about the people that hang around outside betting shops? 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:41.440 You know those people? 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:44.820 Can they be reached with the gospel? 00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:50.000 What about those who are in the culture and in the grip of addiction? 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:52.860 Of alcohol and drugs? 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:59.420 Is it possible that the gospel witness of Jesus Christ can penetrate even those cultures? 00:27:01.460 --> 00:27:03.720 Think about your school children and young people. 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:08.779 Can the gospel penetrate your school? 00:27:10.700 --> 00:27:12.120 I was sent this week. 00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:15.279 This book, What God Can Do With a Little Oil. 00:27:16.360 --> 00:27:21.380 There's a village right at the top of the Welsh Valleys called Abersechen. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:25.779 And a minister went to a church there ten years ago. 00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:29.339 There were six people on his first Sunday. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:33.240 And God has done a remarkable work in these ten years. 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:36.839 Let me read you just a couple of things from it. 00:27:38.299 --> 00:27:43.539 North for Church has grown exponentially over the last decade in the most desperate of places. 00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:45.640 They're on the kind of fourth generation of unemployment. 00:27:47.180 --> 00:27:50.099 He says of the church, we are now the biggest employer in the valley. 00:27:50.940 --> 00:27:54.480 And have over 60 DBS volunteer staff. 00:27:54.920 --> 00:27:57.259 Today we serve hundreds of people a week. 00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:58.039 And we're still growing. 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:02.680 We've seen many conversions, particularly among young men. 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:05.000 The least likely have been transformed. 00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:08.759 We have seen those from a Roman Catholic background, born again. 00:28:08.759 --> 00:28:14.279 And dozens from the LGBTQ plus community repent and follow Jesus. 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:19.220 Militant atheists have come to know the truth alongside former Jehovah Witnesses. 00:28:19.500 --> 00:28:23.240 Those battling with vice have become clean and employable. 00:28:23.940 --> 00:28:25.720 We've even seen a witch become a Christian. 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:45.680 The home page of our website reads, where else do you see an asylum seeker, a teacher, an Elvis impersonator, a boxer, a single mother, a scientist, a bouncer, a baby, a chef, a traveller, a recovering alcoholic, a teenager and an OAP walk into a building for an hour to meet. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:47.180 Nowhere but not for church. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:54.160 What about this place? 00:28:55.120 --> 00:28:56.140 What about here? 00:28:56.140 --> 00:29:07.040 Can we expect in the years to come the preaching of the gospel to penetrate the hearts and the minds of visitors who come in here? 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:14.460 And so as I finish, let me tell you what my struggle is and what your struggle is. 00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:17.920 I'm not really sure we believe this gospel. 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:28.740 I'm not sure we really believe this gospel and the lordship of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:29:30.060 --> 00:29:32.340 And that's where I think the challenge lies. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:38.259 The deeds of Jesus and the ends of Jesus. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:40.680 What is God's word for us this morning? 00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:43.480 Verse 35, can you see it? 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:44.480 Repent. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:50.440 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. 00:29:52.059 --> 00:29:52.740 Repent. 00:29:54.360 --> 00:29:58.440 Turn to the Lord wholeheartedly. 00:30:00.059 --> 00:30:05.799 In verse 42, and it became known throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord. 00:30:07.140 --> 00:30:09.519 Believe in the Lord. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:15.660 For some of you, it may be that you need to do that for the very first time. 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:24.139 It may be that God has been calling you and the Lord Jesus Christ has been speaking to you from heaven through his word by his spirit. 00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:27.160 And you need to turn to the Lord. 00:30:28.740 --> 00:30:30.420 And believe on the Lord this morning. 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:31.000 You can do it. 00:30:31.059 --> 00:30:32.299 You can talk to the Lord now. 00:30:33.019 --> 00:30:35.579 If you want to speak with one of us afterwards, we'd be glad to do it. 00:30:36.779 --> 00:30:37.960 Don't walk away from it. 00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:39.380 Don't harden your heart. 00:30:42.380 --> 00:30:47.900 But for many of us this morning, maybe we need to come again afresh to the Lord. 00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:56.100 To a wholehearted entrusting of ourselves and commitment of our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:58.819 --> 00:31:01.340 Maybe this morning that you've lost your way spiritually. 00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:04.460 That's possible, isn't it? 00:31:04.460 --> 00:31:06.039 It's all too possible. 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:09.120 But it doesn't have to stay that way. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:14.380 You can turn to the Lord this morning and believe the Lord. 00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:18.640 If you want to come and speak to me afterwards or we can meet this week. 00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:20.660 We can pray together and we can share together. 00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:23.519 And we can seek the Lord's grace in our lives together. 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:32.639 All the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:36.559 And it became known throughout all Joppa. 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:39.339 And many believed in the Lord. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:44.259 May that, by God's grace, be the testimony of this church. 00:31:45.139 --> 00:31:47.099 In the days and weeks and the months to come. 00:31:47.180 --> 00:31:48.720 This is the word of the Lord. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:50.660 Thanks be to God. 00:31:50.660 --> 00:31:51.100 Let's pray. 00:31:51.100 --> 00:31:51.140 Let's pray.