Well, good morning, everyone.
If we have any children that are going to Children's Church,
they're being dismissed right now.
Children's Church goes up through the third grade.
So we're thankful our children have that opportunity.
Speaking of children, my two-year-old,
just about every time that I've been in the car with him recently
or gone anywhere with him,
whether it be the backseat of my truck or the aisles of Walmart,
that he has been adamant on singing his favorite song
at the top of his lungs.
He has no sense of volume, especially in public places,
and that always terrifies me to go out with him.
But his favorite song recently has been Say Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yes
to VVVBS, which, as you likely could guess or might be aware,
that's a song from Vacation Bible School
that we sang three months ago.
That he's still singing at the top of his lungs
everywhere we go, every time we get in my truck,
he's like, VBS!
And I'm like, not again.
It's a great song, don't get me wrong,
but you know, you just kind of think
these things are going to be phases.
My favorite song will come and go,
like Vacation Bible School music,
as great as it is during their week.
It's a little old after a few months after that.
So you just think these things are like phases.
As parents, you really hope these things are phases,
whether it be the terrible twos,
the three-nager phase, the four-nado.
You just expect these things are going to be phases
that they go through and you get out of and survive.
If you're married, you likely understand
that the newlywed or honeymoon phase,
that little time where you're madly in love,
newly married, nothing wrong with your marriage whatsoever.
But if you're like my wife,
she quickly realized that being around me 24-7
is much more different than just dating.
My coworkers like to make fun of me
because I'm constantly singing, humming,
making sounds of all sorts throughout the day.
And I'm sure that's very annoying
from the top stairs of my office down below me.
I'm sure it's annoying hearing me in the hallways.
But you know who's stuck with me?
My wife.
Honeymoon phases end.
There just comes a point where these phases,
they come and go.
And so as we as a church are working through the book of Acts,
the first couple of chapters are incredible, right?
The first couple of chapters, Jesus commissions,
the disciples, the Holy Spirit descends,
Peter preaches, and thousands are saved.
They're going amongst the streets.
They're preaching the gospel.
People are being miraculously healed.
There's persecution for sure,
but they're fighting against it being bold.
The first few chapters are incredible to read.
But if you're like me,
you're almost reading with a bit of realistic skepticism.
Is this too good to be true?
Will it last?
Is the other shoe about to drop?
Because as great as the story starts in Acts,
most Christians I know have a different experience with church
than what we read in the first few chapters of Acts.
You know, we read of the clear presence of God,
miraculous healings, absolute unity amongst all the people.
Yet most Christians that I've ever met,
their experience with other Christians in the church
has sometimes been of disagreements and fallouts and drama and burnout
to where if you're coming into this with your own perspective of church,
you can kind of read,
it's great to read what's happening,
but is it going to last?
Is it merely just a phase?
Will the church survive?
And so we kind of come to the end of chapter four
and getting into the chapter of five,
we finally get to see a little bit of a glimpse
into the real tension the church is facing on the inside.
But before we navigate that tension,
I just want to say as clear as I can from the beginning,
that if you're wondering if the church will survive,
if the church will persevere,
if the church will live,
know this,
the movement of the church that we've been reading about,
it's not merely a phase,
it is an act of God.
Because God is in control
and his mission cannot be derailed,
it will continue,
despite forces outside of the church like persecution,
and even sources inside of it,
like hypocrisy and drama.
So let's jump back into the story this morning
and continue our study,
starting in chapter four,
verse 32.
We'll read the whole passage
and then navigate through this text today
with two primary gospel principles
that I think kind of put things in perspective for us.
So Acts chapter four,
let's begin reading in verse 32.
Now the full number of those who believed
were of one heart,
one soul,
and no one said that any of the things
that belonged to him was his own,
but they had everything in common.
And with great power,
the apostles were giving their testimony
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
and great grace was upon them all.
There was not a needy person among them,
for as many as were owners of land or houses,
they sold them and brought the proceeds
of what was sold.
And they laid it at the apostles' feet
and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Thus Joseph,
who was also called by the apostles Barnabas,
which means son of encouragement,
a Levite,
a native of Cyprus,
he sold a field that belonged to him,
brought the money
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
And here's where the story gets interesting.
Chapter five, verse one.
But a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira
sold a piece of property.
And with his wife's knowledge,
he kept back for himself some of the proceeds
and brought only a part of it
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
But Peter said to Ananias,
why has Satan filled your heart
to lie to the Holy Spirit
and to keep back for yourself
part of the proceeds of the land?
While it remained unsold,
did it not remain your own?
And after it was sold,
was it not at your disposal?
Why is it that you've contrived this deed in your heart?
You've not lied to man, but to God.
When Ananias heard these words,
he fell down and breathed his last.
And great fear came upon all who heard of it.
Now the young man rose and wrapped him
and carried him out and buried him.
And after an interval of about three hours,
his wife came in,
not knowing what had happened.
And Peter said to her,
tell me whether you sold the land for so much.
And she said, yes, for so much.
But Peter said to her,
how is it that you've agreed together
to test the spirit of the Lord?
Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband
are at the door and they will carry you out.
Immediately she fell down at his feet
and breathed her last.
And when the young men came in and found her dead,
they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
And great fear came upon the whole church
and upon all who heard of these things.
Now I bet so, right?
You read through this passage
and the tone has shifted from the unity
and the healings and the great acts of God
that have been happening
to where now we're seeing some judgment.
We're seeing some clear punishment from God.
And a fear was beginning to fill the church.
And while we'll get to chapter five in just a moment,
I want to spend the first little bit here
focusing in on the example of the church
at the end of Acts 4.
Because I believe if we kind of understand
what's going on in chapter four,
it gives us a platform to understand chapter five
all the more.
So in chapter four,
we see some incredible things that are happening.
Everyone who believed was of one heart and soul.
They had all things in common
and many were selling their fields and homes
to meet the present physical needs of their neighbors.
And it's a great reality to read
of the church back then.
But what does it mean of us today?
Does this passage mean that I should sell
all of my possessions and give them away?
Does this passage tell me that it's wrong
to have good things?
Well, whose needs should we really be trying to meet?
What needs are actually genuine?
How do we really navigate these things?
What does this passage really mean for us today?
And while all those questions
are really important questions to work through,
practical applications,
I wanna fight against something this morning
inside my own heart.
I wanna fight against the temptation of my own heart
to jump straight to limiting the generosity for myself
that I feel burdened to feel.
You know, my flesh wants to approach this passage
and it wants to immediately start to dissect things
of like, all right,
this passage is primarily descriptive
rather than prescriptive, right?
It's merely describing the actions of the church
and God's people during this time and in this situation
rather than prescribing it for all of us today
and throughout all time.
You know, my flesh wants to jump at this passage
and start to really look at,
well, this was generosity amongst Christians, right?
Like, it's just brothers and sisters in Christ
meeting the needs of other brothers and sisters in Christ.
There really wasn't a compulsion
to meet the needs of everyone in the world,
just the select few that already are a part of the church.
My flesh wants to jump straight
to the aspect of this passage that says
that the giving was voluntary.
This isn't something that was mandated by the apostles.
This is not some sort of church-sanctioned socialism
that's happening.
Like, I want to look at this and say it's voluntary.
It's not something that all Christians had to be a part of.
It was just something they got to choose.
And my flesh wants to just jump straight at those questions
and try to limit the generosity
that I feel burdened to feel for myself.
But recognize this,
if my heart is jumping straight to this list of caveats
and this list of excuses,
trying to figure out
who I actually have to show compassion to
and who I have to be generous to or not,
then I'm missing the point, right?
Look, all of these are clear.
Those are things I believe to be true.
I believe this passage to be primarily descriptive
rather than prescriptive.
It is generosity within the Christian community.
It was completely voluntary.
But if my heart is jumping to this spot
where I'm trying to figure out,
well, who do I actually have to be generous to?
My heart's not in the right place.
And I would argue that if yours is there,
then you're probably in a place with me.
There's a clear gospel principle
that comes out from the last part of chapter four.
And that's that we must value people over possessions.
We must value people over possessions.
And if there's an inclination of my heart
to put possessions over people,
I've missed it, right?
There's a lot of things that really have to come into play here.
There are a lot of other biblical principles
that we have to take into account
in order to form a, I guess,
a comprehensive understanding of stewardship.
But if I miss this point
that I need to value people over possessions,
my life will not resemble the church of Acts chapter four.
My life will not be in right standing with God.
And so there's something we have to wrestle with
even from this description of the early church
is do we value people over possessions?
David Platt in his book, Counter Culture,
reminds us that as Christians,
our greatest wealth is found in the gospel itself.
For God has saved us from our sins
and has given us new life with him.
More importantly, Jesus Christ himself said
in his sermon on the mount,
that where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
And so if I'm reading this text
and I'm really finding the murkiness
of trying to figure out
who do I have to show compassion to,
who do I have to be generous with,
then perhaps my treasure is not in the right spot.
Perhaps my greatest treasure isn't in the gospel,
maybe it's in what I own and what I have for myself.
That's the crux of what we're struggling with here.
We see a radical display of generosity
in the DNA of the early church.
And this demonstrates that they clearly had a greater compassion
and held a greater value on the lives and needs
of the people around them
than they did on their material possessions.
And this concept really makes zero sense
if the Holy Spirit's not in it.
That's why it's a gospel principle, right?
This isn't something that's easy for us.
It's not the natural tendencies of our heart
to value people over possessions.
I would imagine that if someone were to have
a near-death experience,
that what they place value on would change, right?
These people who have these stories
where they almost got killed in a car wreck
or they almost went through this situation
where they lost their life.
There are these situations
where people have these near-death experiences
and all of a sudden,
they start to value people more.
They start to place a lot more value
in the relationships they have,
the family dynamic that they are a part of.
They put a little lesser of a grip
on their possessions and are more generous.
People who have a near-death experience
often have a different outlook
on people and possessions and relationships
than the normal person does.
But can I remind us something as followers of Christ?
That we haven't just had a near-death experience.
We were dead and Christ made us alive.
Christ didn't change our hearts.
He gave us a new one altogether.
Like each of us have to reconcile
that there was a point in my life
where I was destined for a place called hell
because of my cosmic treason
and rebellion against a one true,
holy, perfect, almighty God
in heaven that's above earth where I'm at.
And I was against him
and I was deserving of a place called hell.
Yet Christ loved me in my sin enough
to give his life for mine
and give me life and forgiveness in his name.
And not only has Christ done that
in giving us a new heart,
that new heart has now been filled,
thanks to Acts chapter one and two,
with the Holy Spirit that starts to change
our outlook on community and gospel living.
The gospel changes us.
The gospel is good news for us
because it changes our lives so much.
And I recognize some other principles
that every good and perfect gift
comes from the Lord, right?
James 1, 17.
I recognize that God often rewards
the hard labor, the toil that we put in.
He often rewards our labor with fruit to be enjoyed.
I recognize and understand
that God's heartbeat for us
is that we'll have life
and have it abundantly from John 10, 10.
But what good is it for us to have
an abundance of scraps beneath our table
for our neighbor to be dying down the street?
What good is it for us to have
an abundance of scraps beneath our table
while our neighbor dies of hunger?
That's the story of Lazarus and the rich man
in Luke chapter 16, right?
Jesus tells this story of a rich man
who dies and Lazarus, he dies as well.
They both die and the rich man is in hellish torment
while Lazarus is in everlasting peace.
Turns out the rich man never placed his faith in God.
His riches, his status, his worldly goods
were insufficient to bring him eternal peace.
And his cries from hell
were for the salvation of his brothers,
yet his cries came too late.
What's the primary description of this rich man
that leads us to the assumption
that he has no relationship with God?
It's that the rich man feasted in abundance
while Lazarus, his neighbor, famished and died.
How we value others, whether or not we value others,
these play a part of the picture
of whether or not we're actually
genuine followers of Christ or not.
Simply put, the works of our faith
demonstrate the validity of it.
So looking here, this passage,
it may not be prompting each of us,
it may not be an explicit command
for each of us to sell our homes and land,
but it does show us something very clear
that when the Holy Spirit came into the lives
of the early church,
something was different about them.
They began to value people over possessions.
Which brings us to the question today is,
do we?
When it comes to the things that we have,
do we have things or do things have us?
Do we look at the ones around us
and place a value on their lives
to where we would be willing to meet their needs
if possible or given the opportunity?
Do we value people over possessions?
Dustin Edmonds, the husband of the lady
who did the prayer prompt earlier,
Dustin Edmonds and I teach a group
on Wednesday nights called Rediscover Church,
and we're looking through some basic questions
about the church.
We're kind of working through those on Wednesday nights.
And one of the questions that's come up
the last few weeks is,
is it really necessary for Christians
to gather together?
Is it really necessary for us to worship together,
to come to church?
Beyond that, is it even necessary
for us to join in membership?
These are questions we've been working through,
and it sparked a real question for me,
and that's how did these early Christians
in Acts chapter four,
how do they know about these needs
around them anyway?
Did they have some kind of like
Facebook marketplace kind of thing
where they saw all needs
and they met a need
and hashtag blessed and all?
It wasn't like these things were happening
where they were posting it around.
How did they figure out the needs
of those around them?
They knew the ones around them.
They gathered together
in close-knit Christian community,
and they knew about the needs
because they knew one another.
And going back to the question
that kind of sparked from that,
is it necessary for us to gather together?
I say absolutely.
One of the unavoidable realities
is that in order to genuinely care about others
and care about people,
you have to be involved in each other's lives.
Casual church attendance
and nominal affiliation with the church
doesn't cut it.
It doesn't give us the exposure to one another
where we're able to actually meet the needs
of those around us.
Now, I would actually argue
that most of the New Testament writings,
particularly in the epistles and the letters,
most of that is we're not able to live it out
apart from Christian community.
To love one another,
to mourn with each other,
to rejoice with each other,
to encourage one another.
These can only be done
when you're with one another.
And so I would,
as your associate pastor of discipleship,
a shameless plug here,
if you're not involved
in some form of small group community at church,
you miss out on so much.
I believe as we look at this early church
in the book of Acts,
most of them met in homes
or smaller communities.
So I believe the closest
that we can sometimes get to the community
that we read about in the book of Acts
is when we gather together
in Sunday school classes
and midweek life groups
because that close-knit gospel community
is the only context
in which we get to know one another well
and value people over possessions.
And so if you're not involved,
I really want to encourage you
to seek that out and try that out
because that is such an important part
of being able to live out
the example of the early church.
The gospel was at work
in the hearts of this early church
and it prompted them
towards a close-knit gospel community
where the needs of brothers and sisters in Christ
were recognized and met
by other brothers and sisters in Christ.
And because at the end of the day,
they valued people over their own possessions,
they met needs one another.
As we continue in this passage
into the fun part of chapter five,
we start to see what happens in our hearts
when we actually pursue influence over integrity.
Luke intentionally writes this next bit
in a way that contrasts
the generosity of Barnabas
with the greed of Ananias and Sapphira.
Look again at verse 36
and we'll read the first few verses of five.
Thus Joseph, who was also called
by the apostles Barnabas,
so his nickname was son of encouragement.
That's a really good nickname, all right?
The apostles called him Barnabas,
which means son of encouragement,
a Levite, a native of Cyprus.
Well, he sold a field that belonged to him
and brought the money
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
There's the generosity of Barnabas.
But if you're taking notes in the scripture journals
or if you're just trying to figure out
how this connects,
the first word of chapter five
is a very influential word,
but it's a hinge word,
a conjunction,
a word that pivots the story here.
But a man named Ananias
with his wife Sapphira
sold a piece of property.
And with his wife's knowledge,
he kept back for himself
some of the proceeds
and brought only a part of it
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
So we enter into chapter five
and like I said,
that word but's almost like a hinge
on which the door of the church
is opening up
and we've seen the unity on the outside,
but the door is hinging open
and we get to see a glimpse
of what's happening.
And what exactly is going on
in this church?
Well, there's this couple.
They conspired together
that they may deceive others
and receive praise.
They sought influence and praise
at the expense of their integrity.
They likely saw Barnabas.
You know, that guy that we grew up,
we graduated high school with him,
that guy named Joseph,
they call him Barnabas now
because he's just such an encouraging person.
They changed his name.
They look at Barnabas with some favor.
Barnabas is a really cool guy.
He's like the backbone
of Christian community.
We see the praise
that Barnabas is getting.
We see the praise
that the unnamed people
of the church are getting
for selling their fields and homes
and laying it down
at the apostles' feet.
They're getting all of this accolades.
They're getting all this praise
and we wish people saw us like that, right?
So what do they do?
They make a plan.
They plan to sell their field,
their property,
and bring the proceeds of the church
to the church,
lay at the apostles' feet,
as if they're giving it all,
but it's not, is it?
It's just a portion.
They sought influence and praise,
yet they went about attaining
in a way that was sinful.
And the reaction here
seems pretty harsh, right?
This is not an easy passage to read.
The reaction seems pretty harsh.
Peter tells Ananias,
Satan has filled your heart.
Like you are a,
you're a worker of the enemy right now.
Satan has consumed
and filled your heart.
And Ananias and his wife
end up losing their lives.
So if we sit around
and think that God doesn't care
about how we reflect him
and the church
to the world around us,
we are vastly mistaken.
Because God takes that very seriously.
One commentator says it this way,
the same spirit
that gave the community
its growth
also maintained its purity.
The same spirit
that gave the community
its growth
also maintained its purity.
Last week,
Pastor Brett,
he shared the story
of the disciples
in the boat with Jesus
in Mark chapter four.
We all know the story, right?
The disciples and Jesus
are in the boat.
The storms come
and the disciples
are freaking out.
And the story ends
with this display,
this picture
that who is this one
that even the wind
and waves obey him.
They needed a fear of someone.
They needed someone
that was bigger
than the waves.
They needed someone
that was bigger
than their fears.
They needed someone
that was bigger
than their persecution
because if they didn't fear God
more than man,
they would not live bold.
They would not live for Christ.
And so that story
reminded us
that a fear of the Lord
must be higher
than our fear of man
because otherwise
we won't live for God.
That was last week.
Well, this week
we see exactly
what it looks like
for someone
who has no fear
of the Lord whatsoever.
Ananias and Sophia
represent a type
of churchgoer
that has no fear of God.
The type of churchgoer
that comes to the altar
and says,
Jesus Christ is Lord
yet continues
to live for themselves.
The type of churchgoer
that seeks to build
their own empire
instead of the kingdom of God.
The ones that pray,
my kingdom come,
my will be done
instead of thy kingdom come,
thy will be done.
And what we see
in this passage
is that when there is
no fear of God,
God will intervene.
God does something
terrifying
in this passage
and that same hypocrisy
we see from Ananias
and Sapphira
is the same type
of hypocrisy
that affects the church
today, right?
This is not something
we're immune from.
This is not something
that we are void of.
This is a struggle
that we ourselves
must wrestle with
and making sure
that that hypocrisy
doesn't infect our lives
as well.
And so looking
at this passage,
we see that hypocrisy.
Oh, God may not strike us
dead for lying
about our giving,
but there comes a point
where God will prune
the branch
that bears bad fruit,
where he will pluck
the weeds,
he'll remove the rocks,
he'll remove any obstacle
to his gospel mission
and work flourishing.
There is a need
for each of us
to value integrity
over influence.
There's a need
for each of us
to value integrity
over influence,
the type of integrity
that makes it
to where we don't
bow down to Nebuchadnezzar
even if it means
a fiery furnace,
the type of integrity
that means
that we keep on praying
even if it means
a lion's den,
the type of integrity
that keeps our eyes
fixed on the cross
even if it means
sure persecution,
the type of integrity
that means
we meet the needs
of those around us
without expecting
praise for ourselves.
The need
for integrity
remains.
Imagine if I have
a neighbor
who is going
through a really
tough time.
I just think about
the people around me
and if I were to imagine
that a neighbor of mine
was going through
a really tough time,
I just think of
someone who might
be working
through a nasty divorce,
someone who's
on the verge
of losing their jobs,
spiraling into depression,
just really struggling
with life.
They're struggling
to make ends meet.
So my wife and I,
Kristen,
we go to Quality Foods,
we load up a whole cart
full of groceries
and toiletries,
we know he's struggling
so we want to meet
the need of our brother,
we want to meet
the need of our brother
in Christ,
our neighbor.
So we pack all the things
from the car,
get it in my truck,
we drive over
to his house,
we walk up to his door,
we knock on the door
and he opens the door
to me live streaming
the whole thing.
Hey guys,
it's Evan,
Pastor Evan from the church,
I just really want
to meet a need
of a friend
who's been struggling
right now,
I just want you
to see how awesome I am,
God's been really great
to me,
I want to meet the need
of someone else
because I'm awesome,
God's blessed me
and I just really want
you to see my friend
he's struggling,
so if I were to all
of a sudden
take that moment,
right,
where I'm doing
something good,
inherently good,
but I'm doing it
so that I look better
to other people,
and if you don't
live stream,
just imagine if you
did something really
generous and you
called into the
Toccoa Record
or WNEG just to get
an article about yourself,
right,
well I just imagine,
we all know there's
something inherently
wrong with that,
something that is
seemingly good,
all of a sudden
is pretty sketchy
and selfish,
so the same type
of integrity
is needed for us
today,
right,
because oh,
we may not,
you know,
live stream an act
of generosity,
but sometimes our
heart is not quite
as motivated
by Christ-like
compassion for my
neighbor,
sometimes my
generous giving
is motivated
by the year-end
tax credit I get
for my generous
contributions,
sometimes the
motivation for me
to do something
generous is not
in Christ-like
compassion for my
neighbor,
it's for the
profile picture I
get of us in our
matching t-shirts
serving the orphans
in Africa,
it's all of a sudden
the thrust is on me
getting influence
rather than
maintaining a life
of integrity,
and that's a
problem,
right,
you see the same
God that brought
growth in this
church was also
going to seek to
purify it,
so we kind of
come back to that
initial question that
I posed for each
of us,
when I started to
ask,
will the church
last?
Is this merely
just a phase?
Well,
I think there's
something to be
seen in this
passage about an
answer to that,
because even Peter
here,
he's demonstrating
integrity,
he confronted the
lies when he could
have slipped it
under the rug,
he gave Sapphira a
chance to repent and
do the right thing
when he did not have
to, and it's not
uncommon to hear
stories of weak
church leaders in
today's culture.
It's not uncommon to
hear stories about
pastors who fall
into moral failures,
either of abuse or
adultery.
It's not uncommon for
ministries and churches
to be closing their
doors due to scandals
and absolute hypocrisy
that comes out in the
open.
There's a problem in
the local church today
that if we look at
these situations,
there's some discomfort
as people leave the
church, people are
hurt, and ministries
and churches seem to
fail, but much like the
story of Ananias and
Sapphira here, we must
understand that God will
vindicate the holiness
of his great name.
He prophesied as much
in the Old Testament.
Ezekiel chapter 36,
verse 23, God says,
and I will vindicate the
holiness of my great
name, which has been
profaned among the
nations, and which you've
profaned among them.
And the nations will
know that I am the
Lord, declares the Lord
God, when through you I
vindicate my holiness
before their eyes.
So is this movement of
the church merely a
phase?
Will it last?
Can it withstand the
opposition from the
outside and the
hypocrisy that
contaminates it from the
inside?
Will this continue or
will it fail?
Our world is more
broken than it's ever
been.
The church seems to be
full of hypocrites.
If pastors fall into
moral failure, can the
church still be a place
of hope and gospel
community?
God will ensure that it
is and that it always
will be.
Want to know how I know?
Because God works in
passages like this.
The uncomfortable
passages, the ones that
make us really not want
to preach this passage,
the ones that calls us to
kind of stir in some
uncomfort.
God makes sure that we
do not get to a place
where we fail to represent
him to the world around
us.
And when that starts to be
the case, God will
vindicate the holiness of
his great name.
We can be sure of that.
So maybe you're sitting
here today and you've
lost some trust.
Maybe you look at the
world around us, you read
the articles, you see the
stories, and you grow
uncomfortable because the
church is full of broken
people.
The church is full of
hypocrites and sometimes
led by those.
Will the church prevail?
Will it continue?
Well, the answer's already
been written.
This book doesn't just go
through Acts, it actually
goes to the end of the
story.
There's a passage in
Revelation chapter 19 where
we see the end of the
story.
And if we have a question
on whether or not it will
prevail, we can just look to
the end and see where it's
already written and we can
be comforted in that.
Revelation chapter 19, I'll
read this very short passage
then we're almost about to
close.
Verse 6,
Then I heard what seemed
to be the voice of a
great multitude, like the
roar of many waters and
like the sound of mighty
peals of thunder, crying
out, Hallelujah, for the
Lord our God, the Almighty
reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and
give him the glory.
For the marriage of the
Lamb has come and his
bride has made herself
ready.
It was granted her to
clothe herself in fine
linen, bright and pure.
For the fine linen is the
righteous deeds of the
saints.
The angel said to me, write
this, blessed are those who
are invited to the marriage
supper of the Lamb.
He said to me, these are the
true words of God.
Then I fell down at his feet
to worship him.
But he said to me, you must
not do that.
I'm a fellow servant with
you.
And notice this, and your
brothers who hold to the
testimony of Jesus, worship
God.
For the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy.
And you see, we've been
talking the last few weeks
about how the church is a
movement.
Yet a movement is only as
important as its
destination.
For us, we can see that the
destination is in eternal
communion with our creator
God.
And not opposition outside of
the church like persecution,
not even hypocrites like us
can cause that to fail.
So will this movement
continue?
Will it last?
God will ensure that it
will.
He will ensure that the
church remains a place of
hope, a place of gospel
community, because when it
starts to stray, God is
faithful to prune the
branches.
God is faithful to do what
is necessary.
The end of the story has
been written.
We've been charged as the
church to bear witness to
the testimony of Jesus.
The church's mission was
laid out in Acts 1-8 when
Jesus told his disciples,
but you will be witnesses
when the Holy Spirit comes
upon you, and you will be
my witnesses in
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
and to the ends of the
earth.
We've been called and
commissioned to be
witnesses and bear
witness to the testimony
of Jesus.
And we do that with our
words.
We faithfully proclaim
the gospel to those who
are broken around us,
those who are entrenched
in sin and have no hope
apart from the gospel.
But we also do it through
our works, where we live
lives that are honorable
and pleasing to God.
We share the word through
proclamation of the gospel,
yet we show the word
through our lives.
So do we value people
over possessions?
Do we pursue gospel
integrity over influence?
If not, there's some places
for us to work on today,
right?
There's some growth for us
in this passage.
A fear of the Lord will
embolden us to share the
gospel with our neighbors,
but it will also safeguard us
from the pitfalls of sin.
From this passage, we're
reminded that if we want to
live for Jesus, if we want
this movement to continue,
we must value people over
possessions and pursue gospel
integrity over influence.
And I pray that may be the
case for us today.
Let's pray.
Father, we love you.
Lord, this is a terrifying
passage to work through.
Lord, it's not been the most
comfortable for me to read
and study this week.
Lord, it's not been the most
comfortable for me to share.
But Lord, you've done a work
in my heart this week that I
pray you may continue in the
days ahead and in the lives
of every person in this church.
Lord, may you remind us that
your plan is good, that you're
above all.
Lord, when we get disgusted and
discouraged by failures of the
church and our brothers and
sisters and even ourselves
sometimes, may you just remind
us that you're in control.
Will you help us to place our
confidence in you?
Lord, if that means chastising
us and challenging us to value
people over possessions, by all
the means, Lord, fix our hearts.
But Lord, if we ever become a
church that's more accustomed to
being a church on a hill that
isn't present in the community
and we all, we want to influence,
Lord, correct us.
And help us to be open to that
correction so that we become
fruitful again rather than be
ones that come to the end of
your judgment.
Lord, this is a serious passage
and I pray you may do a serious
work in each of our hearts.
It's in your holy name we pray.
Amen.
Today we're going to end with a
verse of invitation.
If you want to stand and turn your
hymnals to hymn 413, turn your
eyes upon Jesus.
And I invite you to come if
there's any reason you need to
pray with me, join the church,
give your life to Christ.
I'd love to have that
conversation with you.
Otherwise, let's sing.
And I'll talk to you throughiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseise