WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.980 Hey everyone, yeah we're gonna have a special treat today won't just be me but I will invite him up in a little while we've been going through the book of acts we are on episode five and so far we've had a lot of things happen we had someone the first flight someone ascends into heaven and then we have the first sermon well the spirit fills this Peter and then there is a first sermon that comes and that's when we get the first church and then we saw the first healing through Peter and John 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:59.879 but then came the first persecution because they got into trouble because they heal this lame beggar of 40 years and then the Sadducees come the Sadducees who are the wealthy elite aristocrats of society and they say hey you are rocking the boat too much we have a good arrangement for us and our family and our society you can't change that and so they get annoyed because they're sharing the gospel because they don't the Sadducees don't believe in the resurrection they don't believe in the supernatural they'd rather just say hey everything that's good 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:29.859 is gonna be here now let's just enjoy what we have in this day and age is kind of their whole premise and then Peter and John they ignore him they ignore them and then they get their own into prison but then they get released out and then they go back to their room maybe a room of this size with this amount of people and they go hey guys we can't be stopped or rather it's not we can't be stopped he can't be stopped we were stood in front of the group of people that put our Lord to death and they couldn't stop him and now they can't stop 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:48.280 stop us and so let's pray together not that we would dominate over this group of people not that they would the Lord would remove the threats but that we would get boldness that we would be courageous as we face more and more threats and then the earth shook 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:57.199 the room shook and I asked us last week when was the last time they experienced that well there would have been when Jesus was crucified 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:08.319 can you imagine just the just the for the kinesthetic learners there just to feel wow the last time this happened was when our Lord said it is done 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:17.879 the veil is torn he entered into the holy place and by his blood we enter into that same holy place and so when they prayed again and the same thing happened 00:02:17.879 --> 00:02:25.140 they would have been filled with courage they would have been filled with boldness to go out and share the gospel 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:36.779 so everything's going well right now we're on episode five and everyone's happy no one's died people are getting healed but sadly in episode five things take a turn 00:02:36.779 --> 00:02:45.279 after the first flying man and the first sermon and the first church and the first healing now we have the first sin and the first death 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:55.759 it takes a turn and it's pretty drastic I was talking to uh Josh and Danny last week and they can't be here to be like I can't wait to hear you preach on that and if I'm honest 00:02:55.759 --> 00:03:02.360 I wanted to skip it you're like actually acts five does it really exist is it is it there uh because it's a hard one 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:09.599 because it doesn't seem to quite make sense on the surface but we continue we continue because I think there's something that the Lord is showing us 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:15.039 in this chapter that I want you just to lean in with and just go wow I never realized that and of course 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:21.319 because I wasn't too confident in doing it myself I decided to ask for the help of Juju uh Juju who's a 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:28.560 smarter man than I am a much shorter man but a much smarter man uh so he's going to be helping me uh open this 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:33.259 passage together I you know I did promise that I wouldn't do that I'm sorry 00:03:33.259 --> 00:03:42.959 anyway anyway um we're going to read the word of the Lord I'm going to ask uh Eunice newly qualified 00:03:42.959 --> 00:03:48.859 Dr. Eunice uh to come and read the word of the Lord for us uh so can I invite you to stand for the word of the Lord 00:03:48.859 --> 00:03:48.979 um 00:03:48.979 --> 00:03:59.759 acts 4 32 to 5 11 now the full member of those who believed were of one heart and soul and no one said 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:04.699 that any of the things that belonged to him was his own but they had everything in common and with 00:04:04.699 --> 00:04:09.799 great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great 00:04:09.799 --> 00:04:15.939 grace was upon them all there was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of the lands 00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:21.180 or houses sold them and bought brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles feet 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:26.860 and it was distributed to each as any had need thus Joseph who was also called by the apostles 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:32.980 Barnabas which means son of encouragement a Levite a native of Cyprus sold a field that belonged to him 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:39.180 and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet but a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira 00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:44.100 sold a piece of property and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:50.280 proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles feet but Peter said Ananias why has 00:04:50.280 --> 00:04:54.860 Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of 00:04:54.860 --> 00:05:00.439 the land while it remained unsold did it not remain your own and after it was sold was it not at your 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:05.860 disposal why is it that you have contrived the deed in your heart and you have not lied to man but to 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:13.199 God when Ananias heard these words he fell down and breathed his last and great fear came upon all who 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:19.520 heard of it the young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him after an interval 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:25.680 of about three hours his wife came in not knowing what had happened and Peter said to her tell me 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:32.639 whether you sold the land for so such so much and she said yes for so much but Peter said to her how 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:37.139 is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord behold the feet of those who 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:42.519 have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out immediately she fell down at his 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:47.419 feet and breathed her last when the young men came in and they found her dead and they carried her 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:53.740 out and buried her beside her husband and great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who 00:05:53.740 --> 00:05:58.800 heard of these things this is the word of the Lord praise be to God thank you please take a seat 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:01.400 holy father we 00:06:01.400 --> 00:06:10.300 we come to you and with every bit we can muster we come to you in fear and reverence and awe 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:17.920 your word is living and active it's it's piercing to the very depths of our soul 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:23.080 and as we open up your word here 00:06:23.080 --> 00:06:31.080 Lord we open ourselves up to you great physician great surgeon there is anything in our hearts that 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:33.899 is not of you would you heal 00:06:33.899 --> 00:06:44.259 would your spirit speak in your name we pray amen 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:50.680 so these people they're filled with the spirit they hear a sermon they're cut to the heart 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:55.399 then they see all these mighty works and they just filled with reverence and awe 00:06:55.399 --> 00:07:00.159 and then they're just so happy they're glad and they're generous and they start sharing this is 00:07:00.159 --> 00:07:05.560 acts two where uh josh gabbs and joe shared a couple weeks ago and then they see a healing happen 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:10.699 and then they see their two leaders get dragged in front of the council and then they come back and 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:13.239 they're okay and then they pray and the earth shakes 00:07:13.239 --> 00:07:21.079 what must they be going through it must be like we are in hey this is a new world 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:26.319 something's happening here that is so different and how's it different if you look in verse 32 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:31.800 now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul and no one said that any of the 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:37.259 things that belonged to him was his own so straight away when they are cut to the heart when they are 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:41.360 filled with the spirit nothing they belong nothing they have really belongs to them they are just so 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:45.519 open with how they're sharing everything because they're like wait we've just gained the most valuable 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:49.959 thing you can have whatever else i have that's the kind of spirit that they have here and they had 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.839 everything in common let me assure you they did not have everything in common if you look at the 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:58.739 church in the bible they would be people of all sorts of all walks of life you look at the church 00:07:58.739 --> 00:08:03.379 in philippi there was the slave girl and there was the business lady there was they had nothing in 00:08:03.379 --> 00:08:07.139 common but why does it say it had everything in common because they are of one heart and soul 00:08:07.139 --> 00:08:12.379 because now they'd seen something that they couldn't unsee their lives were completely transformed and so it 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:15.959 didn't matter whether their net worth was here or whether it was here they said it doesn't matter 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:21.519 what i have now belongs to you now that was different that was so different and then it 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:26.239 carries on and they said and with great power the apostles were given their test giving their testimony 00:08:26.239 --> 00:08:30.859 to the resurrection of the lord jesus again i said this a couple weeks ago when we're giving 00:08:30.859 --> 00:08:34.639 testimonies it's not just about what god's done in our lives and how we were this and now they were 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:39.960 just saying hey there was someone who died and rose again that changes everything when you're sharing 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:44.199 the gospel that's the main part you can share about how the lord has transformed you but you can 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:49.100 also you must share that actually the lord died and he rose again that's what transforms you it's the 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:53.879 power of the resurrection that transforms you not just because you're becoming a better and better 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:59.240 a person over time it's because jesus the son of god came to earth he died and then he rose again 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:04.840 that's what transforms everything and so they're sharing that and then it says and great grace was 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:09.280 upon them there was not a needy person among them for as many as were the owners of lands or houses sold 00:09:09.280 --> 00:09:13.379 them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles feet and then they give an 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:18.639 example of barnabas who did that who sold his field verse 37 sold his field that belonged to him and 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:27.139 brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet that society was not really that different to this 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:30.480 one here where there were people who had a lot and there were people who didn't have very much at all 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:36.379 and that was normal even jesus was there hey the poor will always be with you so they were around 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:42.159 everywhere and jesus spent so much time with them but something was happening that was different those who had 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:48.919 lots would start sharing with those who didn't have anything this was a new thing this was a new thing 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:54.179 people were selling their own properties maybe there's no better place in the world there's no better 00:09:54.179 --> 00:10:02.539 people in the world to understand the value of property of real estate and so imagine you are a real 00:10:02.539 --> 00:10:07.779 estate owner and you say hey i've got some people in this gathering here which actually if it was not the 00:10:07.779 --> 00:10:11.459 gospel i wouldn't really have anything in common with them but i'm going to share i'm going to sell 00:10:11.459 --> 00:10:16.500 my piece of land i'm going to sell my house and i'm going to give the proceeds to them do you recognize 00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:21.199 how different that was when was the last time any of us did that well those of us who have properties 00:10:21.199 --> 00:10:29.720 anyway this was this was revolutionary and barnabas gets a big shout out because he did it and what he did 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:35.399 was it really good because he he takes his own land he sells it and then he lays it at the apostles feet 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:43.639 what he doesn't do is filled with superiority and pride take his ownership his property sell it and 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:49.120 say hey i would like you to distribute it into these areas so this person that he just lays it at the 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:58.220 apostles feet and says you do with it as you will so often when we give we give with conditions we give 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:02.100 with entitlement say hey i would like my money to be used for this that and the other because i know 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:06.899 because i'm giving to you the charity you are receiving from me so i am the one who is in the 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:12.340 superior position and you are in the inferior one barnabas turns it around and goes hey i'm going to lay 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:17.360 it at your feet peter and john you who have no experience of real estate because you were just 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:25.940 fishermen i'm going to give it to you you do with it as you wish imagine sitting there in that room 00:11:25.940 --> 00:11:33.880 with these land house homeowners doing this thing imagine how you would have felt in that moment you'd be 00:11:33.880 --> 00:11:38.360 like that is incredible what 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:47.420 did he just do that did john just sell his car and give it to his pastor 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:53.679 that just happened what is going on 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:01.259 and it's at that moment just imagine where you wait where you're at as you see that 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:05.259 it's at that moment the story turns and we move into chapter five 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:14.779 but a man named ananias and sapphire they responded in a different way and it was catastrophic 00:12:14.779 --> 00:12:18.919 a huge consequence and i'm going to pass the time over to juju 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:33.980 thanks james 00:12:33.980 --> 00:12:40.220 so james has set the scene for us we've seen the spirit moving powerfully amongst the early church 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:47.399 and their grounded power to testify to jesus to preach the gospel and to live in this radical 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:52.820 generosity where landowners are selling their land and giving proceeds to those in need 00:12:52.820 --> 00:13:00.279 utterly disclaiming any sense of entitlement over that land to serve those around us and we see the spirit 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:03.740 moving in unity of heart and soul within the church 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:10.980 and they're of one mind and of one spirit but we see that ananias and sapphire sell their land but they 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:16.539 conspire they they cook the books right they say we're going to say it was this much but actually 00:13:16.539 --> 00:13:22.879 we're holding a little bit back and and and uh and what i want to focus on is why what led them to do 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:28.080 that what does that say about the condition of their hearts and minds before i pass before i pass 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:35.200 back on james i want to cover uh two points um which in essence are they misunderstood the nature 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:40.700 of generosity firstly and secondly what that really reveals is that they misunderstood 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:42.879 the very nature of god himself 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:51.360 so ananias and sapphire misunderstood generosity you see as i've looked at this passage i don't really 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:57.780 think it's about the money per se right you see that they lie to the holy spirit and what does that 00:13:57.779 --> 00:14:07.839 reveal that that what the issue really was was putting forward false pretenses i notice too right 00:14:07.839 --> 00:14:13.199 when you look at the passage there's nothing there that suggests that um it was mandatory for the 00:14:13.199 --> 00:14:19.860 church to sell their land and to give the poor um in fact you see peter say hey look the land remains 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:24.579 your own all this while it remains your own so i don't think it's the issue about the money or the 00:14:24.580 --> 00:14:30.580 transaction right it's the pretense of having given it all when in fact you're holding something back 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:38.540 it's the sin of false generosity and we know if you look at jesus's life what are the times when he 00:14:38.540 --> 00:14:45.360 goes off the hardest right it's always against often anyway against the religious elite who put forward 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:51.800 pretenses of being more righteous than they really are who there's that famous part in several of the 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:56.839 gospels where jesus says you are white on the outside pharisees but inside you are you are dead 00:14:56.839 --> 00:15:04.639 you're dirty on the inside um the the power of the righteous man who says thank you god that i am not 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:10.899 like this sinner right um thank you i pray three times a day or whatever it is we know that jesus 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:18.959 god's wrath is is he has something special in store for that in particular and and and i think that's 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:26.040 what's going on here truth of course is also key to the issues that we see here and there's a spiritual 00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:32.440 battle peter says as soon as ananias and spire do what they do he says why has satan filled your heart 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:37.139 to lie to the holy spirit the spirit's working powerfully amongst the church bringing around 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:42.340 bringing about unity in the community but satan is there trying to undermine what is happening 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:49.220 and it's that lying to the spirit that we see provokes the response that we see from god 00:15:49.220 --> 00:15:57.840 because satan's go-to play from the beginning is to misrepresent the words of god and to 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:06.460 misrepresent who god is you go way back to the original story adam and eve what does satan say to 00:16:06.460 --> 00:16:13.560 them when they're given the freedom to enjoy the garden of eve um all of the fruit within 00:16:13.560 --> 00:16:21.860 but they're told not to eat of the fruit of tree of knowledge of good and evil and satan says satan 00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:26.920 plants an idea in their mind that says and he says for god knows that when you eat of it your eyes will 00:16:26.920 --> 00:16:32.540 be opened and you will be like god knowing good and evil what's going on there in that original story 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:41.139 in the garden of eve satan is trying to convince eve that god is not for her or adam god is against 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:47.059 them he has something out for them he's afraid to share power so 00:16:47.059 --> 00:16:53.500 there's there's a misunderstanding of who god is that's the second point 00:16:53.500 --> 00:17:01.500 and you look look at peter's response as soon as ananiacin's fire do what they do he says while it 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:06.920 remains unsold did it not remain your own it was yours to give the whole time this land was yours 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:13.440 to give there's a failure underneath to recognize that there was freedom here in the community 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:19.279 and he says after it was sold was it not at your disposal even after you liquidated the asset after 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:25.019 you had the cash it was yours it was yours to give there's freedom here that they misunderstood 00:17:25.019 --> 00:17:27.779 they felt that they were under compulsion 00:17:27.779 --> 00:17:35.960 it's deeper than the transaction it's a matter of the heart that just as we were singing just now 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:42.559 and if you look at jesus's teaching on wealth he knows that it's always about the heart where your 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:50.519 treasure is there your heart will be oh so i think about the story of uh the widow the poor widow who 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:57.299 gave an offering in the temple who gave two pennies however much he had jesus says that that woman she 00:17:57.299 --> 00:18:04.839 was worshiping she was giving all that she had and and it's not about the money it's about what's going 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:16.920 on in the heart i also noticed too i was reflecting too on the way that peter responded to them and i think 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:23.420 ananias and sapphire had a misunderstanding of god and a picture of him as some sort of harsh cosmic 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:29.380 overlord who was out to get uh just demanding all that they had right under compulsion and it reminded 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:35.960 me of the parable of the talents uh where jesus is teaching about stewardship and he tells a story of a 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:41.960 rich man who goes on a business trip and leaves talents to his investment managers essentially uh three 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:48.319 different servants who take two different approaches two of them are faithful they make a good return 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:54.180 on their investment they say master here we've we've we've invested your money please have it back 00:18:54.180 --> 00:19:02.579 but there's one there's one servant who says says this in the parable master i knew you to be a hard 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:08.819 man reaping what you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed so i was afraid and i went and 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:16.919 i hid your talent in the ground he had a picture of god as a harsh taskmaster looking to take away what 00:19:16.919 --> 00:19:22.559 was rightfully his and i think it's that same heart issue that we see here with ananias and sapphire 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:28.259 and so i just want to invite us to think about that in our thinking around generosity around worship 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:35.159 there are a few truths we need to hold intention because it really everything really does belong to god 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:43.240 ultimately we know that we see the church uh we see god described as the lord of heaven and earth 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:48.920 right everything belongs to him and i'm reminded of what paul says too in first corinthians chapter 4 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:55.480 what do you have that you did not first receive it's all his ultimately we know that to be true but also 00:19:55.480 --> 00:20:02.320 we need to recognize the freedom that we have that i think james will talk on and and myself as well 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:07.480 later in the sharing time there's a failure to see god's generosity his heart for us he wants to 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:14.419 relate to us as children um look this is this is mine but i give it freely to you for you to steward 00:20:14.419 --> 00:20:23.439 for you to use there's discretion there's wisdom there um that's what that's what i see in scripture 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:30.039 that's what i hope we can see today um and i hope we can uh reflect on that as we think about 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:38.039 generosity worship we see ananias and sapphire fail to see god is generous gracious compassionate and 00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:41.720 kind but then there's still this elephant in the room which i'm going to pass back to james to talk 00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:44.200 about thank you julie can we give him a round of applause 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:51.720 i had so so much fun uh working on this with him uh this week as we were just looking through this 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:56.420 passage both going hey this is a really hard passage what does it even mean because things are going well 00:20:56.420 --> 00:21:01.620 in the church i mean actually this week i experienced some of that myself in in this church here we had a 00:21:01.620 --> 00:21:06.259 brother of ours a friend of ours who was in need and just watching his community get around him without 00:21:06.259 --> 00:21:12.279 him even asking without him wanting it or even knowing how to ask and they just didn't even wait and they 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:17.500 just supported him and there was no one in need in that community and i was like that is so good 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:23.160 and you see that and you just wish everyone else would have that kind of same spirit because we have 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:28.059 we've gained something in eternity that we had no business gaining so it surely means we can let go 00:21:28.059 --> 00:21:36.059 of everything uh on earth and yet somehow some way we mess up somehow some way even though we get a new 00:21:36.059 --> 00:21:40.440 chance filled with the spirit cut to the heart and yet somehow you see they have the holy spirit inside 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:46.299 them the spirit has come and yet there's still temptation and yet there's still sin because 00:21:46.299 --> 00:21:53.559 there is still a decision to make every single day and what you see here is as julian said it's not 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:58.360 really about the money at all so julian really tackled why did they do what they did why did 00:21:58.360 --> 00:22:02.779 ananias and sapphire look at them two and go look at barnabas and all these other landowners go oh well 00:22:02.779 --> 00:22:05.539 if they're doing it look look at all the accolades they're getting look at all the approval 00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:09.659 they're getting everyone's just patting them on the back saying hey that was that was really good 00:22:09.659 --> 00:22:14.339 you you didn't need to sell your building but you did wow and then they look at each other and they 00:22:14.339 --> 00:22:20.019 go hey maybe we want some of that maybe we you know what it is it's not money it's spiritual pride 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:25.940 and hypocrisy is really what it is it's when they look at someone else and go oh actually we want that 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:30.379 so they talk to each other and go hey well why don't we do this we'll still sell and i can just 00:22:30.379 --> 00:22:34.539 imagine making it up by the way and maybe throwing sapphire under the bus here maybe they sell and then 00:22:34.539 --> 00:22:39.240 she goes hey but what about our kids if we sell this then what do we do about this we should we 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:45.720 should save a little bit for his college fund just in case that's the only one or number one two three 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:50.420 four plans that we have and so she maybe she's like well i don't know maybe we shouldn't sell all of it 00:22:50.420 --> 00:22:53.980 maybe we should keep a little bit oh but no one else is doing that okay why don't we just sell it 00:22:53.980 --> 00:23:00.579 look no one will know if they weren't just trying to lie to the other people who were they lying to 00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:05.539 they thought they could lie to god and so it's a spiritual pride thing and actually one of my 00:23:05.539 --> 00:23:11.740 favorite quotes on humility is humility is staying as close to the truth as possible i really love that 00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:16.679 quote because hey because we've also seen false humility right when when someone is clearly very 00:23:16.679 --> 00:23:21.000 good at something and then you tell them oh you're so good and they say oh no i'm rubbish 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:24.119 oh you're so good on the piano oh no no i sucked 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:30.559 oh i suck well that's not really humility either that's pride right but humility is staying as close 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:35.059 to the truth as possible which is saying hey yeah god has given me this and not only that i i got 00:23:35.059 --> 00:23:39.739 parents who were willing to pay for the 10 000 hours of practice and learning that i needed in order to 00:23:39.739 --> 00:23:47.379 become incredible at the violin and so that's humility pride is taking credit for something that you don't 00:23:47.379 --> 00:23:52.519 deserve and that's tim keller's quote there it's just when you say oh actually no hey i got here 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:57.660 because of me no you didn't we talked about this uh last week there's so much of your life maybe even 00:23:57.660 --> 00:24:03.119 95 of your life isn't really up to your control you did not decide which family you were born into 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:08.200 you did not decide which city which culture you were born into you did not decide how much hair that you 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:14.779 would end up having in adulthood you don't get to decide so much of your life pride is when we think 00:24:14.779 --> 00:24:24.160 actually we are where we are because of us and so ananias and sapphire were like hmm we can get here 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:31.859 but we don't really deserve it tim keller also calls this kind of pride cosmic ingratitude cosmic 00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:37.259 ingratitude which is what juju was talking about which is when you have a false misunderstanding of god 00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:43.480 and his generosity to you you will be prone to making these kind of decisions but you can engineer 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:52.059 factors so you can appear to be more holy you see why then so julian tackled why did they do what they 00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:58.839 did i'm going to try and tackle and lord help me here and give me grace here why did god do what he 00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:06.779 did why did god strike them down immediately without a chance of repentance confession well actually they 00:25:06.779 --> 00:25:12.700 did get a chance both husband and wife were asked and yet but why did god do that so quickly and how 00:25:12.700 --> 00:25:17.100 does that work with our christian understanding which is hey you have a million chances you have 00:25:17.100 --> 00:25:23.360 a million second chances god will forgive you always why this so i'm going to tread carefully here 00:25:23.360 --> 00:25:28.039 but i think part of it is to do with the context of where we were at in the church 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:33.720 persecution as we said last week was just happening so there was an external pressure 00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:41.220 if the way of jesus if christianity was to continue to blossom and grow and eventually outlive the roman 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:51.339 empire the beginning is so important what's the most important integrity the integrity of what that was 00:25:51.339 --> 00:25:56.259 what is integrity my understanding of integrity is basically you're the same person wherever you are 00:25:56.259 --> 00:26:00.259 whether you're with your boys hanging out by the football pitch or whether you're in a restaurant 00:26:00.259 --> 00:26:04.360 whether you're at work whether you're a family you are basically the same person wherever you are 00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:08.459 that's integrity it's basically you're the same on the inside as you are on the outside 00:26:08.459 --> 00:26:15.579 and ananias and sapphira were guilty of that and you see it's interesting it says here 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:21.339 um this event this martin lloy jones this event was god's gracious warning to the early church 00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:27.379 if satan cannot destroy the church by persecution he will try hypocrisy god struck down ananias to 00:26:27.380 --> 00:26:36.300 preserve the purity of his newborn church as i look at it now it was very bad news for ananias and 00:26:36.300 --> 00:26:42.440 sapphira but it was very good news for us it's bad news for those who are trying to trick their way 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:47.120 into the kingdom of heaven it's very bad news if you're trying to deceive god and actually you and 00:26:47.120 --> 00:26:51.840 i are sat here going thank goodness that happened sorry ananias and sapphira thank goodness that 00:26:51.840 --> 00:26:56.220 happened because that preserved the integrity of the church how many of us hate being part of 00:26:56.220 --> 00:27:01.700 something that is filled with hypocrisy and is based on a lie this was the very beginning brothers 00:27:01.700 --> 00:27:06.180 and sisters if this could happen from the very beginning i don't think it would have got to here 00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:14.940 does that make sense so in that moment actually it was god's grace that allowed that to happen for the 00:27:14.940 --> 00:27:20.920 great fear to be seen among the church but hey this is real remember they lived in a time when the romans 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:25.900 allowed you to worship any god and to basically just deceive any god and everything's transactional 00:27:25.900 --> 00:27:29.420 worship this god and he'll give you a baby worship this god and he'll give you money worship this god 00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:35.519 and you'll get this and that and that so they would have actually been very used to basically bowing down 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:41.560 to gods to get what they wanted but now the first time they see this god and someone tries to deceive 00:27:41.560 --> 00:27:49.000 this god boom they die yes it was terrifying yes it would have been devastating 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:56.839 but the gospel comes as good news to those who are willing to open their hearts up and not deceive 00:27:56.839 --> 00:28:01.839 the lord it comes as bad news to those who are trying to trick their way into the kingdom of heaven 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:06.380 does that make sense not if you're tracking with me and shake your head if you're just like i still 00:28:06.380 --> 00:28:14.259 don't get it that's why it had to happen they made their decision because of their love of praise and money 00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:22.619 god acts harshly to preserve the integrity of the church in that moment we're thankful i'm thankful 00:28:22.619 --> 00:28:27.500 that that's how it started i would not have wanted it to start any other way and it makes me think well 00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:30.539 what does this mean for us in some ways i'm going to talk about this and i want to bring juju back up 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:35.720 but how we watch our thoughts is important i came across this quote from a chinese teacher 00:28:35.720 --> 00:28:40.339 um who said this watch your thoughts they become your words watch your words they become your actions 00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:44.099 watch your actions they become your habits watch your habits they become your character 00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:51.519 watch your character it becomes your destiny watch your thoughts it becomes your destiny 00:28:51.519 --> 00:29:00.619 watch your thoughts it becomes your destiny watch your pride it becomes the death of you makes me 00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:07.179 think of james chapter one when desire leads to sin and sin when it's given birth to it becomes fully 00:29:07.179 --> 00:29:13.819 grown what does it end up as death what we see here is god in his grace 00:29:13.819 --> 00:29:20.419 seeing that in this big early stage there was sin creeping in and what is sin just the mistrust of 00:29:20.419 --> 00:29:25.240 god all the way back to the garden of eden that julian was talking about it's just god did god really 00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:30.899 say that is he really doing what is best for you is he really going to provide for you is he lying to you 00:29:30.899 --> 00:29:40.039 it's the false misunderstanding of god that causes them to their death the good news for us the inquirer 00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:46.359 the follower people with hindsight now we're like oh i'm so glad the church started with integrity 00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:56.819 and it cost and it cost the conclusion is that the spirit cannot be deceived this god is for real 00:29:56.819 --> 00:30:03.779 he is the real deal imagine just for a second before i bring up julian a few weeks ago when pentecost i 00:30:03.779 --> 00:30:08.139 asked you to imagine what would it have been like if moses saw the holy spirit descend on people 00:30:08.140 --> 00:30:14.520 he must have been like guys this is crazy none of us could ever get close to god and now you all 00:30:14.520 --> 00:30:21.000 have him living inside you how nuts is that i was terrified of a burning bush and now all of you are 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:27.680 a collective burning bushes how crazy would that have been imagine if he was here in acts 5 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:36.740 now just a bit of context in leviticus 8 um aaron uh has his sons they're all getting ready to be 00:30:36.740 --> 00:30:41.539 priests they're going through this really thorough process of ordination and they're preparing 00:30:41.539 --> 00:30:45.720 themselves so that they can basically be priests to the israelites and then leviticus chapter 10 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:51.120 something terrible happens aaron's two oldest sons who are ready to basically one of them will be the 00:30:51.120 --> 00:30:56.579 successor of the being the high priest they give a strange offering they don't follow the instructions 00:30:56.579 --> 00:31:01.599 of god and does anyone know what happened to them boom the same thing that happens to ananias and 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:09.619 safari so i can imagine if moses was a fly on the wall in that room in acts 5 and he's just about to 00:31:09.619 --> 00:31:17.319 see what this couple are going to do they're like don't do it don't do it why because god is a god of 00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:22.619 grace and mercy but he is also a god of holiness and moses would have understood that because he would 00:31:22.619 --> 00:31:29.240 have had to console aaron having lost his two sons why because god is holy god is to be feared 00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:35.480 do not take this for granted jesus was god incarnate he was the word that became flesh and he was filled 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:42.579 with grace and truth yes my goodness he's coming back and he's going to be fire in his eyes i think 00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:51.339 we forget that i think we forget about the holiness of god and then we take it for granted and then we 00:31:51.339 --> 00:31:55.460 think he'll be waiting for us gently just whenever we start losing our way or whether we'll only go back 00:31:55.460 --> 00:32:00.579 to him when our health breaks down or when there's a project of work that we really need to succeed so 00:32:00.579 --> 00:32:08.779 we'll go to god god is so much bigger than that god is so much bigger than that and it's at that moment 00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:16.140 luke chooses to use the first word ecclesia it's at that moment the church is born 00:32:16.140 --> 00:32:21.660 well it was born when the holy spirit came but at that moment that's when luke describes 00:32:21.660 --> 00:32:26.460 now we're the church because we understand who god is now we're at the church because we are 00:32:26.460 --> 00:32:34.360 filled with fear and reverence and awe and we realize this is truly the god of the universe who cannot be 00:32:34.360 --> 00:32:35.300 deceived 00:32:35.300 --> 00:32:45.180 the question is what does this mean for us this is a bit of a crazy story in jerusalem 2000 years ago 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:50.900 as we are sat here in admiralty in hong kong what does this actually mean what are some final 00:32:50.900 --> 00:32:54.640 reflections and how do we apply this into our lives i'm actually going to bring julian back up and we're 00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:58.820 going to have a little chat to talk about this and as we talk i hope that you'll be able to go well 00:32:58.820 --> 00:33:03.400 actually how does that apply into my life julian has some incredible reflections for himself as to 00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:08.200 what this really means and i hope that it'll be able to inspire you to talk a little bit about um 00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:11.100 to have a think about what really that means for you hey i'm going to give you 00:33:11.099 --> 00:33:14.759 oh nathan is subtly passing you the mic over there um 00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:22.899 two thousand years on what does this mean for you and i as we're sat here listening to this story 00:33:22.899 --> 00:33:28.659 about a couple who tried to lie to god and ended up paying for it with the gravest of consequences 00:33:28.659 --> 00:33:33.379 what does this actually mean julian i want to use this for now 00:33:33.379 --> 00:33:37.959 oh thanks what's the first thing that comes to mind for you 00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:43.559 well there's this there's that action of there's this idea of 00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:52.960 holding back right at at its core it's we see i mean the gospel demands our very lives 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:59.160 jesus wants to be our lord but there's all parts of our lives that we we say lord take it jesus take 00:33:59.160 --> 00:34:06.059 the wheel right and and have everything but there's always going to be in our walks with the lord a gap 00:34:06.059 --> 00:34:11.860 between what we profess we say we trust trust jesus with and what we're actually holding on to and 00:34:11.860 --> 00:34:17.039 that's something i think we're going to unpack and explore a bit together you know sometimes i get 00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:21.820 asked hey how much do we have to give in terms of tithing now because the old testament was the 10 00:34:21.820 --> 00:34:27.000 but now we're in the new testament what does that mean is it really 10 or can it actually be 9.6 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:31.960 because we still round up uh to 10 and it's like hey actually i have good news for you because 00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:38.880 actually we are in the new testament it's not 10 it's 100 it's everything it's all of your life 00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:43.159 is what really he's saying now what that looks like is hard and we end up going hey well i'm giving 00:34:43.159 --> 00:34:47.760 this and i'm giving that hey i'm already doing this i'm already doing this but what you're saying 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:53.139 actually it's not really what you're giving that's really the case yeah it's it's it's what 00:34:53.139 --> 00:34:58.960 you're still holding back and and following jesus is scary it's it it demands your everything 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:04.000 i mean i thought i was thinking of this classic meme the other day uh when j when they say jesus 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:07.980 take the wheel and you're imagining like a scenic drive through the countryside but then jesus 00:35:07.980 --> 00:35:12.519 takes the car and you know he flies flies off and he's swerving around and it's completely 00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:16.260 uncomfortable he said jesus what are you doing it's this way and then he turns back and he says no 00:35:16.260 --> 00:35:24.900 i am the way and and and just reflecting on that roller coaster ride with jesus and and where that 00:35:24.900 --> 00:35:31.460 takes you and and i have a few examples of what comes to mind um i've been reflecting more on work 00:35:31.460 --> 00:35:40.119 recently um the lord did gave me a lot of grace what do you do i am a dispute resolution lawyer i work at 00:35:40.119 --> 00:35:45.900 an international law firm in central um so i'm a solicitor now and and the lord took me on a journey 00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:49.760 to get me where i where i am where you know it was a tough job market at the time it still is 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:55.300 um and i had to learn to surrender that and even the prospect of being a lawyer in the first place 00:35:55.300 --> 00:36:03.680 and all of these uh uh forks in the road delays and so on so i think that helps me to hold a posture 00:36:03.680 --> 00:36:08.900 of surrender in my in my workplace i mean thinking about job progression ambition and all of that but 00:36:08.900 --> 00:36:14.060 there are still times right where you where god puts the question to you like do you really trust me 00:36:14.059 --> 00:36:20.079 with this julian um and in my context right uh i mean i work in litigation so things get heated 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:25.860 and your client might want you to run an argument where you're like i'm not so sure about that like 00:36:25.860 --> 00:36:29.860 if i run that that could get me into serious trouble i mean obviously there's a line that you have to draw 00:36:29.860 --> 00:36:35.480 there are people in this room who work in the same field who understand um but you have to be willing 00:36:35.480 --> 00:36:39.699 to there might be a time in your a few times in your career probably where you have to draw the line 00:36:39.699 --> 00:36:46.179 and say i'm not willing to do that you've instructed me to put this in that letter i don't think i can do 00:36:46.179 --> 00:36:51.939 that without compromising compromising my professional conduct and you have to risk losing that instruction 00:36:51.939 --> 00:36:57.980 losing a big piece of work especially in a time when the economy is this tight right but and you know 00:36:57.980 --> 00:37:03.279 all sorts of personal repercussions or or yeah a bad reaction you might get from the client but 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:10.180 but it's it's at that point you have to decide do i really trust god with my career right now am i 00:37:10.180 --> 00:37:15.900 going to put take this risk because this is what this is what honors him right now and and i'm working 00:37:15.900 --> 00:37:21.580 for an audience of one in that context so so that's a personal reflection on work and last week we were 00:37:21.580 --> 00:37:25.300 talking about how jesus can't be your number one he's going to be your only one what does that actually 00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:30.600 practically look like uh when we live and i've had it posed to me in the example of you driving your own car 00:37:30.599 --> 00:37:38.880 um and as you're driving the majority of us drive up and we see jesus uh you know on the side there uh 00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:43.599 on the side of the road so we swing up and we say hey jesus get in the car now sadly the majority of 00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:47.139 us will just say hey come and sit in the back seat come and chill and hang out in the back seat you 00:37:47.139 --> 00:37:51.099 don't really have a say in where we're going but i would really like to have you with me in case 00:37:51.099 --> 00:37:55.299 something happens at least i know that you can come out and you can destroy whatever's in front of me 00:37:55.299 --> 00:38:00.019 and then can you sit back in your back seat please uh there are others of us who have literally just put 00:38:00.019 --> 00:38:04.719 him in the trunk because we're so ashamed to even be seen with him in our car that hey can you just 00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:09.079 i know that you're the lord of the universe and you gave me this car but would you mind sitting in this 00:38:09.079 --> 00:38:12.980 lovely trunk that you created uh and then you can stay there because that's probably the easiest for 00:38:12.980 --> 00:38:19.019 me because i don't really it's inconvenient for me to be seen with you there are maybe hopefully a 00:38:19.019 --> 00:38:22.360 majority of us here who are well-meaning like no no i really want jesus to be part of my life 00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:26.800 and so that will be in the form of hey come and sit with me uh in the front uh but in the passenger seat 00:38:26.800 --> 00:38:32.480 maybe you can hold the map uh and then you can tell me where to go unless it's somewhere i don't 00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:38.860 want to go in which case i'm still holding the wheel so it's okay what jesus what it means when 00:38:38.860 --> 00:38:45.120 jesus is the only one it means jesus thank you for this car i'm just going to step out now i get to sit 00:38:45.120 --> 00:38:49.840 in the front seat with you but in the passenger seat you take me i have no control and i don't really 00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:53.300 care because i actually care more about where you want to take me and that you'll be there with me 00:38:53.300 --> 00:38:58.480 and that's it and that's how it looks right and there's something beautiful about that heart of 00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:02.880 submission but there's also something beautiful about being real with god about where we are 00:39:02.880 --> 00:39:09.240 yeah um which is also faithful to the thrust of this passage where ananias and sapphire were not 00:39:09.240 --> 00:39:14.460 being real at all with where they really were um and wanted to put forward an appearance of being 00:39:14.460 --> 00:39:20.700 100 when in fact they were 40 um and i have been having a conversation recently with a friend at church 00:39:20.699 --> 00:39:26.619 that really encouraged me again around this this topic of trusting god with our careers taking risks 00:39:26.619 --> 00:39:33.219 um he uh he's facing some tough choices at work where there are certain procedures going on that 00:39:33.219 --> 00:39:38.599 he's not sure he can participate in in good conscience um and reflecting on that still a very 00:39:38.599 --> 00:39:44.539 early stage wanting to build rapport with his colleagues um and so on but this is i think i need 00:39:44.539 --> 00:39:51.099 to draw the line here um and i was and and wrestling with that and i was i i was having a conversation 00:39:51.099 --> 00:39:55.719 recently where i was like do you trust god with this like and and the answer i got absolutely was 00:39:55.719 --> 00:40:01.840 very encouraging because he said um i'm not sure when i get to that moment i trust myself to make the 00:40:01.840 --> 00:40:06.039 right call i'm not sure i have enough faith in myself to make the right call and i was like i love 00:40:06.039 --> 00:40:13.059 that because that's being real with where you really are god can use that yeah um it reminds me of that 00:40:13.059 --> 00:40:19.940 famous uh those famous words from the father with his convulsing son lord i believe help my unbelief 00:40:19.940 --> 00:40:25.179 if we can be real of god with where we really are i think he can use that and i think he can work with 00:40:25.179 --> 00:40:29.279 us and what you said to me this week was actually you're reflecting actually if ananias and sapphira 00:40:29.279 --> 00:40:35.779 came to the apostle and said hey we see everyone's doing some crazy stuff uh but i'm not sure we're 00:40:35.780 --> 00:40:39.680 there yet but actually we do have a piece of land that maybe we want to sell but is it okay if we 00:40:39.680 --> 00:40:45.060 give this much i think that would have been okay right then at the least they'd still be alive uh 00:40:45.060 --> 00:40:52.420 yeah because it because yeah because god treasures really mostly the heart yeah yeah exactly so it's 00:40:52.420 --> 00:40:58.480 it's that it's that lie that was part of the issue yeah um where if they had said lord we're not 00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:02.120 we i think we can only give this much i think the outcome would have looked a little different i hope 00:41:02.120 --> 00:41:05.600 i think so uh i see on the notes there you said i want to talk about my marriage 00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:10.480 so can you tell us about your marriage i mean i mean if we're gonna draw on the topic between like 00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:15.420 gap between covenant and commitment hopefully every married couple resonates with this a little bit 00:41:15.420 --> 00:41:20.900 like i'm not the only one out here where like there's a bit of a gap between your these highest 00:41:20.900 --> 00:41:25.299 ideals you have like they talk about marriage as the shape of a shape of the gospel this beautiful 00:41:25.299 --> 00:41:30.900 picture of christ in the church where i said on my marriage day i i i will i will love you i will lay 00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:34.960 down my life for you i will surrender everything i will give up my comfort my preferences 00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:37.639 right and just think about what you're signing over here 00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:44.780 um and look i mean i reflect that i mean god has used i mean florence and i have been 00:41:44.780 --> 00:41:50.099 greatly blessed one one year plus now um but i just reflect on that right that gap between 00:41:50.099 --> 00:41:55.840 covenant and commitment where your hearts really are um i mean i i talk about here like uh we were 00:41:55.840 --> 00:42:00.860 gifted a massage chair like a great ogawa massage chair in our living room and i'm telling you now 00:42:00.860 --> 00:42:06.300 it is like a blessing but it is also a stumbling block people because because like because there 00:42:06.300 --> 00:42:11.000 are days where i am just done i'm done with work i'm ready to tune now just listen to watch some sports 00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:17.599 highlights and on the massage chair but something else might be required in that moment um so am i with 00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:23.180 the point being am i willing just to go that extra mile a little bit anyway right to lay down my comfort 00:42:23.180 --> 00:42:28.519 so that i can be present husband at home so and and there are some days are better than others let's be real 00:42:28.519 --> 00:42:31.840 about that i'm not sure i'm hearing a full confession is there any more that you need to 00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:37.320 what else are you sorry i think i'm trying to say like the under the kind of underlying confession 00:42:37.320 --> 00:42:41.780 is i'm i'm a bit of a lazy absentee husband sometimes and i'm working on that 00:42:41.780 --> 00:42:44.940 wow there we go you're welcome florence 00:42:44.940 --> 00:42:58.280 i love i love talking to him because he has that authenticity and that vulnerability and um 00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:04.180 actually one of the final reflections we'll have on this is actually peter it's interesting that he 00:43:04.180 --> 00:43:09.000 gets to be the guy that throws out i know i mean if you think about what that guy has been through it 00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:13.740 just adds so much more color to that the exchange that you're looking at in this passage because think 00:43:13.740 --> 00:43:19.100 about what peter the disciple the rock of the church had to go through to get to where he was 00:43:19.100 --> 00:43:26.120 there's the famous account at the end of the gospels where jesus says he takes him aside has a little 00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:30.679 one-to-one before the cross he says peter i have prayed for you satan has demanded that he would 00:43:30.679 --> 00:43:38.960 sift you like wheat he's he's looking to absolutely rinse you to absolutely cook you right um uh but but 00:43:38.960 --> 00:43:44.119 i have prayed for you that your faith might not fail but i have prayed for you that your faith might 00:43:44.119 --> 00:43:49.339 not fail and what does peter do it's classic peter he says lord i will go with you to the ends of the 00:43:49.340 --> 00:43:56.940 earth i will die for you and then what happens he's tested and a little girl by servant girl by the 00:43:56.940 --> 00:44:03.240 fire asks him hey i know you look familiar nope nope not me not me and he denies jesus three times 00:44:03.240 --> 00:44:08.400 and so there's a there's a gap between covenant and commitment for him that he has to wrestle with 00:44:08.400 --> 00:44:14.559 and of course there's the beautiful redemption arc in his story where after jesus rises from the dead 00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:21.739 they have another one-to-one seafood breakfast by the beach um and he says peter do you love me 00:44:21.739 --> 00:44:27.659 lord i love you peter do you love me lord i love me peter do you love me lord i love you and it's it's 00:44:27.659 --> 00:44:33.759 many commentators have picked up on that three repetition three times as a way to redeem what happened 00:44:33.759 --> 00:44:40.619 um with what he goes to and and and and this and we see in acts the spirit moves in him he's a changed man 00:44:40.619 --> 00:44:47.579 he's a changed man but just to think about his experience between um holding something back and 00:44:47.579 --> 00:44:51.880 that gap between what he was professing and what he actually did it just adds so much color to what 00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:55.599 you see going on here because actually out of everyone he was probably the least qualified because 00:44:55.599 --> 00:45:01.599 he lied and he was he was a hypocrite and he betrayed the lord and so actually in that moment when i can 00:45:01.599 --> 00:45:05.719 imagine if this happens and he's kind of the one who kind of brings it about i don't think he's 00:45:05.719 --> 00:45:11.939 standing there going hey yes you down there i think he's i think he's reminded man yeah that 00:45:11.939 --> 00:45:20.480 could have been me that was me and now i stand here because of grace yeah and only grace uh maybe 00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:25.359 this is where we'll wrap because it's this topic of grace again that we if you are if you are new to 00:45:25.359 --> 00:45:29.119 the church and this is your first time and you you've always had this uh preconception of what 00:45:29.119 --> 00:45:32.779 christians are maybe they're judgmental maybe they're prideful maybe they're hypocrites whatever it might be 00:45:32.780 --> 00:45:38.160 what i hope you see at the very least in us two here and with the people that you get to speak 00:45:38.160 --> 00:45:44.400 see is that there is just grace yeah that there is a there is a god who is filled with grace but he is 00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:52.220 also holy yeah that we are not perfect by any means that actually this doesn't happen because we are 00:45:52.220 --> 00:45:56.120 trying to be good christians necessarily but it's because the only one who was good died for us 00:45:56.120 --> 00:46:02.680 who who didn't hold back for us right do you have any final thoughts on on that that's what 00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:06.519 makes it possible that's what makes it possible for us to sit under grace is that there was one who 00:46:06.519 --> 00:46:12.819 was the prince of heaven who did not hold anything back who emptied himself died upon a cross taking 00:46:12.819 --> 00:46:18.039 on the wrath that we deserve so that we can live as free children of god yeah that that's that's what 00:46:18.039 --> 00:46:22.440 it comes down to and and that's what jesus had in mind when he was praying for peter that day he knew 00:46:22.440 --> 00:46:28.859 what it would cost him and jesus didn't hold back and he gave himself his whole self for us and 00:46:28.859 --> 00:46:32.179 actually last week we had the worship team gather and we were talking about favorite worship songs 00:46:32.179 --> 00:46:36.319 over the years and uh one of them was we're just talking about the song amazing grace which is of 00:46:36.319 --> 00:46:41.279 course popular amongst all people christian or not uh and one of the things that actually gabe brought 00:46:41.279 --> 00:46:46.099 up as he was quoting is actually that amazing grace sometimes we look at and we just see grace and we 00:46:46.099 --> 00:46:51.219 say oh it's so good that we have this grace and we completely forget and we don't sing about the 00:46:51.219 --> 00:46:57.699 fact that this grace came at a cost that this wasn't free grace this wasn't cheap grace that we were at 00:46:57.699 --> 00:47:01.279 emily and jay's last night there was a book there which i quoted last week which is the cost of 00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:08.320 discipleship by d. true bonhoeffer who paid the cost of following christ and the gospel and he said 00:47:08.320 --> 00:47:12.880 something which is where we'll finish and it says ananias and sapphire wanted the appearance of 00:47:12.880 --> 00:47:19.760 costly grace without the cost but grace is costly because it demands truth their judgment reveals god's 00:47:19.760 --> 00:47:27.300 refusal to tolerate hypocrisy among the redeemed another song is in christ alone when the wrath of god was 00:47:27.300 --> 00:47:33.620 satisfied and there is a holy god who will we will all stand in front of and give an account to 00:47:36.580 --> 00:47:40.980 do we stand on the only kind of grace that we are able to which is that of jesus 00:47:41.620 --> 00:47:47.620 not because of what we did but because of what he did can you pray for us oh sure yeah or any final 00:47:47.620 --> 00:47:55.620 thoughts as well before you pray i think just for me is that tension between understanding the holiness of 00:47:55.619 --> 00:48:02.500 god the calling on our lives to be all in for jesus but also the freedom that we have and you look at the 00:48:02.500 --> 00:48:07.059 freedom of the christian uh galatians 5 classic passage on that for freedom christ has set you 00:48:07.059 --> 00:48:13.219 free stand firm therefore that you may not fall back again into slavery um and it's that freedom that 00:48:13.219 --> 00:48:18.259 i'm praying i have that i'm praying we all have in our giving in our worship that we reckon that comes 00:48:18.260 --> 00:48:25.140 from a deep grasp of the gospel i think amazing grace my chains are gone yeah but what am i going 00:48:25.140 --> 00:48:29.860 to do with this freedom i want to love those around me that that's that's just something i think we just 00:48:29.860 --> 00:48:35.540 want to bear and that's my heart for us coming away from ananias and sapphire too and the redemption 00:48:35.540 --> 00:48:40.340 story that actually the lord is still writing in all of us and uh we have julian pray for us and actually 00:48:40.340 --> 00:48:46.660 we're going to invite his wife uh florence to lead us in a response song uh and again not because of 00:48:46.659 --> 00:48:53.940 anything that they're great at doing uh definitely not julian but there's but there's grace and 00:48:53.940 --> 00:49:00.259 there's freedom in that there are no chains anymore and why don't we come and we what i'm going to ask 00:49:00.259 --> 00:49:05.219 us to do is as we approach uh this next part and we actually respond in song is and it's going to be 00:49:05.219 --> 00:49:11.139 singing the song give us clean hands as we bow our hearts as we come towards god and we ask look that 00:49:11.139 --> 00:49:16.420 god does whatever he wants to do with this church here and with this city and with this kingdom can he 00:49:16.420 --> 00:49:23.139 fill us with a heart of just integrity and purity and drive out any hypocrisy that we might have 00:49:23.139 --> 00:49:31.780 julian pray for us yeah yeah all right thanks father we thank you for your word which is a light unto 00:49:32.579 --> 00:49:38.740 our path thank you for the stories that it tells that show us a picture of your grace and your goodness 00:49:38.739 --> 00:49:47.379 for us your majesty your holiness i thank you that on the cross these things come together and where 00:49:47.379 --> 00:49:54.179 your justice and your mercy meet and that we sit under the grace of everything you have done for us on the 00:49:54.179 --> 00:50:01.379 cross rising victorious over the sin and death that still plagues this world thank you that we can live 00:50:01.380 --> 00:50:12.740 as people of hope freedom joy give us eyes to just grasp deeper every day the love that you have for us 00:50:12.740 --> 00:50:18.980 that it might overflow into the community around us help us be honest with you true of you about 00:50:19.940 --> 00:50:24.019 the places in our lives that we're still holding back there are many rooms in our hearts 00:50:24.019 --> 00:50:26.820 that you want to fill 00:50:29.780 --> 00:50:31.940 thank you for your patience for walking with us 00:50:33.539 --> 00:50:39.059 be glorified in in us in our lives and in this community we pray this in jesus name amen 00:50:39.059 --> 00:50:42.659 thank you 00:50:45.539 --> 00:50:48.019 oh god let us be a generation that seeks your face 00:50:48.739 --> 00:50:53.619 lord would you move in our hearts purify our hearts 00:50:55.139 --> 00:50:57.460 sanctify us lord mold us to be more like you 00:50:59.299 --> 00:51:01.699 so we will be clean on the inside and the outside 00:51:01.699 --> 00:51:05.859 we can love you with all our hearts soul mind and strength 00:51:06.980 --> 00:51:08.899 there is any ananasia sapphire in us 00:51:10.259 --> 00:51:15.219 we repent of would you show us anything that is offensive to you 00:51:19.699 --> 00:51:21.779 any deceit that we are living 00:51:23.859 --> 00:51:26.339 either we're lying to ourselves or others or worse yet you 00:51:26.340 --> 00:51:32.420 we repent we're sorry lord forgive us but thank you that there is amazing grace 00:51:34.579 --> 00:51:51.620 and because of that the chains are gone that you paid the price we thank you in your name we pray amen