Well, it's good to be back and So a real blessing to be here. Let's pray Father in heaven. We thank you for wonderful singing. It's that's some of the best singing I've heard in a while And we just praise and thank you father for that.
Thank you for this privilege and opportunity to share your word And we pray father that you will guide and direct and all that shared and said in Jesus name. Oh, man Well, first of all to title this sharing this morning I'd like to just pull to a very short quotes from the book of acts And that's what we're doing this morning is taking a journey through the book of acts Why stand you gazing? Of course those were words from the angels and Suggesting that this is not a gazing time folks. This is an action time and the second one also forwards is get out of Jerusalem The rules and regulations that we've been living under are relaxing and we need to relax as well It's only a few weeks ago that later and I for doing what we're doing this morning could be fine $2,000 each now I don't know whether you carry four thousand dollars in your jeans or not I don't and that would have been a crushing blow financially and It's a privilege once again to be able to be here without being concerned about that But that was the fine and lead actually talked to a policeman about this And that was the fine that would have been leveled on us if we came across county lines Well, we came across several county lines in order to be here this morning My suggestion to you in the words of holy scripture is once again, it's time to get out of Jerusalem IE Dartmouth Halifax the rules are relaxing We need to emotionally and physically release ourselves as Christians and get over the lockdown mentality because that is not our mentality a lockdown mentality No, it was necessary.
I'm not getting into debate with brilliant doctors But we need to get over that gradually and as it is accepted the manifestation of the filling of the spirit and the believer's life And that's of course the beginning of the book of acts is basically they're being told lockdown You're not prepared to go up with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You will be you're going to be empowered But right now you stay where you are and in Galatians 5 22 and 23 we realize what the fruit of the spirit is It's love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness and temperance you and I have the empowerment for the outreach Now we need the specific directions In acts one eight not very far into the book, but you shall receive power notice once again This is the critical thing is that you be? Empowered by the Holy Spirit before you go forth with this message after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you He should be witnesses unto me once again Jerusalem would refer to Dartmouth Halifax and in all Judea a little bit further and in Samaria And under the outermost part of the earth This is not a little bit of theology to be tucked away in your briefcase This is an action command for all believers to be acted upon as the spirit leads This is the great commission for all born again believers And one of the blessings that we we saw this morning in the assemblies We focus on the cross and Mount Calvary We focus on the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and over and over again because can you lose that focus? Yes, you definitely can you can have programs on top of programs and all kinds of things that have nothing to do with evangelism Have nothing to do without reach I was pleased to just hear that you're still going out on the streets and Praise the Lord that helps you stay focused on what the core is and the core is the gospel of Jesus Christ in Senegal West Africa We used to say about our truly remote outermost parts You're not at the very end of the world there, but you can see it from there and some of the people would say amen to that for sure Acts 3 14 if you would turn their place 3 14 Can you hear him saying this and looking straight into their eyes while he was saying it with incredible boldness?
And we're gonna look at that word boldness again But she denied the holy one and the just and desired a murder to be granted unto you And he goes on to say and killed the Prince of life Now Jesus isn't called the Prince of life very often, but that's exactly what he is You know in this old human body they claim the scientific people claim that there are millions of cells now I've never counted them, but I'll take their word for it. There are millions of cells whom God hath raised from the dead Yes, you killed them. We admit that you're guilty. You're responsible You're culpable for the death of Jesus Christ, but God wiped out everything you did through the resurrection Which we heard mentioned in breaking of bread this morning Whereof we are witnesses don't try to convince us that Jesus Christ didn't rise from the dead We talked to him we fellowshiped with him one of us touched him and we know all about it We were there and so don't don't never mind your arguments I don't care how many degrees you have or whatever wherever wherever we are our witnesses and he makes it very very clear indeed Light always refutes and defeats the basic elements of darkness and therefore darkness reacts to that exposure aggressively Let's assume that it's three o'clock in the morning You know I'm not sure where the switches are for all these lights But three people are hiding behind chairs and they're hoping to surprise you and catch you off guard and do you some sort of harm?
And all of a sudden you switch on those lights and they're completely exposed They're not only exposed they're identified which a criminal never is very happy about and that's exactly what light and darkness do They don't go out habitat. They're like gas and water. They don't mix We do not have a man standing beside us who just leaped into the air now I asked my the other lady who lives at my house with me her name is Google and Hey Google how many bones are in the human foot and she told me 26 and she went on to say no I didn't ask her for this second part But she went on to say in ligaments and tendons and muscles in the human foot are over a hundred Can you imagine I was thinking about the doctors who deal with catastrophic injuries with feet boy? I'll tell you they have their detailed people and Obviously brilliant to be able to work with that Once again, we don't have a man standing beside us who just leaped and that word is used twice in that passage Leaped into the air now it brought to mind some of these amazing athletes on the Olympics I don't know if you watch the Olympics or not But they jump into the air and they spin and they twist and they flip it and do all this and then boom They land on the mat and it must take terrific strength.
I believe the Canadian Lady specialist in that injured her ankle just shortly before that But here's a man who was lame from his birth now He's over 40 years of age now and he's been lame Can you imagine how all those muscles and all those tendons and ligaments would atrophy after 40 years? It wouldn't be pretty to say the least and then with these men coming to him He's able to leap into the air and land hard on the ground It amazed and shocked many people who were watching on We do have our own testimony when we're standing before people and beside our own testimony We have the incredible in errant word of God and that's a powerful truth indeed In acts for one through three if you turn their place And as they speak under the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them Being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead That's what the Sadducees and I remember at Bible school We used to say they're sad you see because they don't believe in the resurrection I guess I have a reason to be sad and they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next day for it was now Even time I'll be at many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about 5000 One of the things the Lord uses to protect his messengers and his people is revival You know, it's hard to really dispute the fact when somebody boldly looks into your eyes and said I am a brand new creature in Christ I live in Christ and Christ lives within me. It's hard to say oh well You must be deluded or you must know that kind of boldness and that kind of affirmation Is very very strong and is a defense in our message giving We see how vital the great commission is to our Lord as we see all the amazing and creative ways the Lord rescues and releases his servants Amid their challenges, testings and journeys in the book of Acts and that's the book of Acts is a real action story if you like action stories, this is one for sure and You see that the Lord is incredibly involved with the whole thing of the gospel of Jesus Christ Even as as your first service and breaking of bread God is blessed and encouraged that that you're you're remembering and going back to the core the very core of what what worship centers are to be and Sadly enough many have forgotten many have drifted away. They don't even believe in the blood They don't even believe in talking about the blood anymore and that that is a tragedy in Acts 4 21 We could turn there, please So when they had further threatened them they let them go for little words They let them go once again the Lord has struck and he's he's releasing his messengers.
They let them go Finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people four more words because of the people the revival That's taking place and the fervency with which young believers young believers don't always know everything about the faith They have a lot to learn but boy their enthusiasm is fantastic We had a young couple in our home for supper on Friday night And very very young and the Lord and it was a blessing It just be around these young folks who are so excited about the fact that they've been for transformed through the blood of Christ Because of the people for all men glorified God for that which was done I mentioned the Sadducees were very uneasy about all of that and now Lord behold their threatening and grand under thy servants This is in verse 29 that with all boldness they may speak the word Boldness is one of one of the weapons that the Lord has given us in order to be truly going forth with the gospel Once again, we have the backlash of darkness and the persistent going forth of the gospel In X 9 and here we come to Saul or as we know him Paul And certainly he was a threat to the faithful messengers that were going forth and this in this passage He goes from darkness to light and one of the interesting things in this very dramatic situation Which we'll read here in just a moment, but the first words that are out of his mouth are the word Lord That's amazing When you think of who he was this hardcore legalist Pharisee and all of a sudden He's saying the word Lord and in X 9 if you turn their place one through six and Saul How's this for a testimony yet breathing out threatening and slaughter? Not very pleasant against the disciples of the Lord went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues That if he found any of this way this way being the way of Christ whether they were men or women He might bring them bound unto Jerusalem and as he journeyed he came near Damascus and suddenly they're shined round about him a light from heaven And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him Saul Saul Why persecute us thou me? I'll tell you when you're persecuted for the gospel God is not pleased and he identifies with his messengers With those people that have that precious precious thing called the gospel of Jesus Christ And he said who art thou Lord notice that one of the very first words out of his mouth and the Lord said I am Jesus whom now Persecute us it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks or to go against my will and he Trembling and astonished said Lord what without having to do and the Lord said unto him arise and go into the city and it shall be told He what thou must do so once again at this point Before he actually encountered Christ he was a real threat to the messengers of the gospel and God would not tolerate that I don't know if you've ever been persecuted for standing for Christ But I want to tell you the people who persecute you are not in a good place in acts nine thirteen through sixteen And an I is answered Lord. I have heard my many of this man He's not very keen to have any to do with this fellow how much evil he had done to thy saints of Jerusalem In here he hath authority from the chief priest you bind all the call on thy name But the Lord sent unto him go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me You bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel and notice this next verse I hope we don't try to recruit doctors for Nova Scotia with this kind of verse for I will show him how great things He must suffer for my namesake.
That's quite an amazing statement for God to make and yet He says he must suffer for my namesake and yes, he did sometimes Suffering goes with the outreach of the gospel warfare spiritually involves wounds and message for another day But armor got a warrior must wear to enter battle Sometimes those certain wounds can come from carnal believers who are consistently walking in the flesh This can be very dangerous and very confusing for a novice in the faith Because they just assume everybody's excited as excited about the gospel as they are and soon they'll find it That's often not the case. This is a time for discernment 101 There's very little difference in the behavior of an unsaved person and a believer who is persistently out of fellowship with Christ We are now in forgiveness 101 when we encounter such people Sometimes the ways the Lord rescues us are surprising and novel to say the least in Acts 9 23-25 And after that many days were fulfilled the Jews took counsel to kill him But they're laying awake was known on this of Saul and they watched the gates day and night to kill him Then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in the basket Can you picture the great Paul in a little basket being lowered over the back wall to get him out of there? But the beautiful thing is this basket not only saved his life But allowed him to preach another day and after he goes through all the configurations of making it to Rome He preached another two years, which was an amazing thing why the Romans didn't kill him the second week of his air Well, there's no explanation It's just God undertook and once again when it was time for Paul to go home He went home, but not before not one day before in Acts 12 5 through 8 We could turn there please Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church under God for him And when Herod would have brought him forth the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers Bound with two chains and the keepers before the door kept the prison and behold the angel of the Lord came upon him and a light Shined in the prison and he smoked Peter on the side I can help it wonder how hard he did hit him and that he smoked him on the side and raised him up saying arise up quickly And his chains fell off from his hands and the angel said unto him gird I self and bind on my sandals and so he did and he said unto him cast thy garment about thee and follow me now Whether you refer to this angel as a guardian angel or not is Not a particularly important thing, but certainly that's the role that he plays and he acts as a guardian angel They had had him chained doubly chained and ready for whatever fate that they wanted and of course the angel comes into him as a guardian angel I'll tell you after many years on the mission field And I've heard discussions about guardian angels and there are and there aren't all this sort of thing But I'll tell you after you've been on the mission field for a while you believe in them Because you see experiences. I remember one night.
We were just sitting down for dessert For with some friends. I think they had some homemade ice cream or something like that and all of a sudden we heard one word snake And it was Nancy Stalomar and it was a huge snake. It was a six-foot long cobra and we went over there I had the flashlight which wasn't very effective but another guy was shooting at it with a pellet gun which just made it angry it didn't hurt her a bit and And another man had a homemade paddle and the snake was and I could still picture him He was right here and all of a sudden in front of him was a huge toad Now these are much bigger than the toads here in Canada and the snake looked at me and he looked at the toad And he went for the toad and that was the last thing he ever did because the paddle came down hard on his head and I'll tell you as I thought about that later boy if that wasn't a guardian angel I don't know what it was because that toad literally saved my life and was certainly a blessing indeed Sometimes those hurts and wounds can come from many many different directions and the Lord is very Very involved in all of that as it mentions here Also prayer is vital in going forth with the gospel and Maryam's recent camp a little boy by the name of Adonero And you and Nigerian folks afterwards can tell me whether I said that correctly or not But every time that they would have devotions he would start coughing spec just coughing coughing coughing And he would act up during devotions. These were the only times the rest of the day He was a pretty nice little boy, but Maryam is just finishing five weeks of vacation Bible school for girls boys And then a mixture of boys and girls at on a fifth the fifth week And I don't know exactly what his situation was but he certainly was a real disturbance to the class he had no idea what was going on and We started praying for him and other friends of ours were praying for him as well and in the most recent Report we got from Miriam.
It's something is really working Well, I'll tell you what was working was prayer God listens to those prayers and he responds to those prayers and in the fifth week that little boy was quoting scripture from memory and What a blessing what a blessing he was in acts 12 21 through 24 God removed the wall and the revival comes forth if you would turn to that please 21 through 24 and upon a set day Herod arranged in royal apparel sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them and the people gave a shout saying It is the voice of a God those are dangerous words and not of a man and immediately the angel of the Lord smoked him It was like David, but like Peter but a little bit different Smoked him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost But notice what happens immediately when the wall is removed, but the word of God grew and multiplied You remove the resistance you remove the wall in this case specifically God and then the revival begins The book of acts has many more examples of miraculous rescues defeat of darkness and further revival I know you think about it You know that the book of acts ends with an incredible shipwreck and that ship goes into a sandy beach and is stuck and the back end Is facing towards a wild storm and to smash a huge ship like that into pieces It had to be a wild wild storm and there were 276 people in that boat now some of them could swim But some of them needed a life-reserver and God went into the business and you know you think about it These pieces of wood are flying all around with these massive waves coming in behind them and surely some of the people would be killed But God said you will not lose anyone no one to understand not 275 not 277 But 276 people will be rescued in a very Miraculous way but use your imagination for a moment Can you see those waves coming in and hear them crashing this ship and breaking all these pieces of wood and just the right size Not too big not too small to get them into the beach and everyone everyone was rescued was rescued If you've never been saved through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ You have no guarantee of tomorrow now sitting here in Dartmouth, Nova, so she think all we've heard that before You know we've heard that you're just trying to scare us You know if we were sitting in Afghanistan and cable this morning if we were sitting in Haiti people would really listen You have no guarantee of tomorrow and they're saying hey, you mean brother I feel it this is this Taliban group are coming in and they're gonna kill a lot of us They are killers and they are going to do exactly what they plan to do and You know if you you made a statement like that you'd have everybody's attention They would be listening every every breath every word today is the day of salvation and none of us have any guarantee none of us whatsoever the book of Acts comes down to and I've got vacation Bible school on my mind because we've been praying for Miriam all through those five weeks but The first verse that you teach these little kids, you know what it is John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave Then he gave his only be gotten son that whosoever believeeth in him shall not perish I'm not spending eternity and the horrors and the torment of hell For God so loved the world he gave his only be gotten son that whosoever believeeth in him should not perish but have well they have Everlasting like how long is everlasting? Forever and ever and ever and ever and I hope you believe that my heart goes out to Christians who don't believe that the gift they've received is ever Last night. Oh, it's all depend on how I behave and how I know it isn't it's all dependent upon how Jesus be a And Jesus performed in the cross of Calvary on Mount Calvary when he shed his blood for your sins and paid the eternal price for that sin That's what it's all about what a freeing thing that is ever lasting life for by grace Are we safe through faith and that not of ourselves? It is a gift of God not of works as any man should boast It's all about a perfect and eternal work of Christ at Calvary you come to him in faith And he'll come to you you can be assured of that and believers The rules are changing they're relaxing.
It's time to get out of Jerusalem Our mind was set on I can protect and show loved other people by staying away from them But that is not what is in the book of Acts right from the beginning to the end Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature God bless to everybody going out on the streets this coming week I hope God really blesses your outreach and I hope it's a very very precious time. Let's pray Father in heaven we do pray for those who are going out on the streets And I pray father that there will be teachable hearts that you'll give them wisdom and what they share and what they don't share And the Holy Spirit would give them timing Timing to bring forth boldly the truth of the word of God We thank you father for this day and for your love and care for us now Please bless us as we go our ways and go on on the streets of darkness and Halifax in Jesus name