Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] When people have been with Jesus, something happens.
[00:00:13] Something happens. And this morning we're going to read a passage of scripture from acts four. If you want to turn to it in your bibles or in your gadgets, whatever.
[00:00:26] But this is what happened in acts four. We're going to talk about encounters this morning.
[00:00:35] As I was with the Lord this week, I felt the Lord say to me, do the church really want to encounter me in these days?
[00:00:43] Do we really want to encounter him? Do we believe that we can encounter him today in acts four? Let me read this to you. We'll read this a bit of context beforehand.
[00:00:59] The day of Pentecost has happened, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, and he gives this amazing sermon, one that every preacher wishes they could preach, where thousands get saved and as they're going on in their journey and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Yes, there's persecution, there's things going on, but there is that kind of famous line where there is a man who is. He's a beggar, and he's begging because he's lame, he's sick. He's been sick from birth, and he's been begging all his life to survive on the streets.
[00:01:43] And one day Peter is passing, and the beggar's begging.
[00:01:49] And Peter says this. He says, silver and gold I don't have.
[00:01:55] But what I do have, I give you what a powerful statement in scripture.
[00:02:04] Peter had something more than silver and gold. This man thought, if I just have some more pennies today, I'm going to survive. I'm going to get my fill. I'll have a meal today. But Peter recognized that this man needed something more.
[00:02:22] Some of us in the church today, we see people who need more.
[00:02:28] But I think some of us, and this is not to bring any condemnation at all. This is to challenge us. This is to awaken us, to stir us a little bit this morning. And I think some of us see the needs of so many people, but we lack encounters with Jesus ourselves that sometimes we're left not knowing what to do. We're left not being able to bring something because we have yet to be filled ourselves.
[00:03:01] Is that making sense with anybody this morning? It has with my life.
[00:03:05] I find myself. I don't have the words or I don't have the strength or I don't know what to bring. And often it's because we have not encountered Jesus.
[00:03:18] And let me remind us this morning that encountering Jesus isn't a one time process.
[00:03:24] It is a constant in filling and time with him.
[00:03:31] So this is the backdrop this morning that Peter and John find themselves in. Okay, so this man has been healed and there's been a stir all around Jerusalem. So acts, chapter four. The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John. While they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed so. The number of men who believed grew to about 5000. That was worth a night in jail, right?
[00:04:26] The next day, the rulers, the elders, the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas, the high priest, was there and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest's family.
[00:04:39] They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them. By what power or what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers and elders of the people if we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed then know this, you and all the people of Israel. It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead that this man stands before you. Healed Jesus is the stone you build as rejected which has become the very cornerstone. You know what a cornerstone is? Holding the whole building together? A cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind in which we must be saved. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men they were astonished. And they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
[00:06:02] But since they could see. So sorry. Since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and they conferred together. What are we going to do with these men? They asked.
[00:06:21] Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people we must warn them to speak no longer to. To anyone in this name. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, which is right in God's eyes to listen to you or to him. You be the judges.
[00:06:52] As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. Stay with me just a bit longer. After further threats, they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over 40 years old.
[00:07:16] On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them when they heard this. You ready? Now they raised their voices together in prayer to God. Sovereign Lord, they said, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. Here they are declaring Jesus the head of the church. Jesus, before all things, you spoke by your holy spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up. The rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in the city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. May God bless his word to us today.
[00:08:47] We don't often read long passages this morning, but I trust just reading that passage has blessed you today.
[00:08:54] So Peter and John, they find themselves, you know, as I'm speaking this morning, we are going to do some ministry time at the end.
[00:09:01] So I want you to prepare your hearts.
[00:09:07] If you just invite the Holy Spirit this morning. Come on, Lord. Come, Holy Spirit. This morning, Lord, we love gathering once a week.
[00:09:19] And father, as we gather once a week and on this Sunday. Today, Lord, we just say, we open up our hearts, we open up our lives to you right now and say, Lord, on this day, will you do something in my life and in my heart today?
[00:09:36] Refresh me, Lord. Speak to me.
[00:09:39] Change me today by the power of your spirit. Amen and amen. So Peter and John, they were kept in jail for the night. But it said many heard the message around 5000. Sorry, people.
[00:09:56] I often think when I read things like that, I'm like, Lord, 5000 people.
[00:10:01] What about Newton Abbott?
[00:10:04] Many people need to hear the message in Newton Abbott. People need to know that Jesus is alive. People need to know that Jesus has risen from the dead. When was the last time we went out and told people, did you know Jesus has risen from the dead?
[00:10:29] Are we scared of people's reactions?
[00:10:35] But people need to know that Jesus is risen from the dead. People need to know that he is alive. Why? Because he is the king of kings. Because he is the lord of lords. And in this passage, we don't have too much time to go fully through it. But it says. It claims that Jesus is the living one. It claims that Jesus is the resurrected one. It claims that Jesus is the healer. It claims that Jesus is the cornerstone. It claims that Jesus is the all powerful one. You can get a bit excited if you want.
[00:11:14] It claims that Jesus is the crucified one. Jesus is the saving one. Jesus is the courageous one. Do we realize how courageous Jesus was?
[00:11:28] He was courageous on the cross.
[00:11:32] Some of us think, hey, Jesus was God, so of course he was courageous.
[00:11:39] We know that Jesus was fully God and fully man.
[00:11:44] Fully God and fully man. Let me just take us back to Isaiah. Go with me really quick. Isaiah 53.
[00:11:55] The Lord wants to honour he's so here by his presence this morning.
[00:12:00] Isaiah 53, I love you, Lord. We honour you in this place this morning, Lord. Isaiah 53 and it says here, verse four.
[00:12:13] It says, he was familiar with suffering and pain.
[00:12:19] He took up our pain. He bore our sufferings.
[00:12:23] And then verse ten, skip across to verse ten.
[00:12:27] It said, yet it was the Lord's will to crush him, fully God, fully man. Courageous Jesus at the cross, who felt pain, who knew what it was like to suffer.
[00:12:45] And it says in verse ten, it was the Lord's will to crush him. Don't you find that astounding?
[00:12:53] If you are feeling crushed this morning, you feel rejected. You're crying out, Lord, do you even care?
[00:13:03] Do you care about my circumstances, Lord? Do you even know what I'm going through?
[00:13:10] Go and read Isaiah 53 this week.
[00:13:15] Because there's a reason why he was crushed. Don't you think Jesus could have gone back to the father and going, you are willing this for me to be crushed.
[00:13:26] It says the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.
[00:13:36] If you are feeling like you're suffering this week and you're feeling pain and you're feeling crushed, read Isaiah 53.
[00:13:48] And it shows God's absolute love for you, all that he went through for you.
[00:13:57] It said it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.
[00:14:01] And then we go back to acts four, and the believers are in their little prayer hub. Anybody enjoying their prayer hubs?
[00:14:10] Things are happening in our prayer hub. I'm telling you, just incredible things. And so the believers going back to acts four, they're in their prayer hub, and they actually pray what Isaiah had written down and prophesied.
[00:14:26] Okay, they said this. They said Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed. They did. This is in their prayer.
[00:14:40] Herod, Pontius Pilate.
[00:14:43] They did what your power, God and will had decided beforehand would happen.
[00:14:51] So Isaiah is prophesying it's the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.
[00:14:58] And the people in their prayer hub, the believers are saying, jesus went to the cross.
[00:15:05] And Herod and Pontius Pilate might have thought that this is all their conspiracy and what they were planning to do against Jesus, but it was what your power and will, it was God's power and will that he had decided beforehand should happen.
[00:15:26] That's how in control God is.
[00:15:31] That's how in control he is. Why was it the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer?
[00:15:38] Why did he do this?
[00:15:40] It says, jesus life was a sin offering. Yeah, you can carry on with the music. Let's carry on. That was really nice. Thanks, guys. It says, jesus life was a sin offering.
[00:15:53] And he suffered in order to see the light of life. He suffered to see the light of life. In other words, in a dark world, when Jesus died on the cross, the light of life rose.
[00:16:10] And in him, we too have the light of life. As he was being crushed, he was crushing all, all the darkness. He was crushing all the pain. He was crushing every single thing that the enemy brings against you and I.
[00:16:33] Will you rest in him this morning, church, with whatever you're going through, will you rest in him today? And as Jesus was on the cross, God was satisfied that it would bring many, many, many people. Justified.
[00:16:53] Justified in simple words means just as if we had never done anything wrong in his suffering, cleared of guilt, cleared of every wrong deed.
[00:17:09] This is Jesus church.
[00:17:12] This is the head of the church. This is his depth of love for each and every one of us.
[00:17:21] And the truth is, this has to affect how we live.
[00:17:30] It has to affect how we are on a daily basis.
[00:17:35] Do we want to encounter him?
[00:17:38] Do we want to hunger for him?
[00:17:43] Verse 13. Let's go through this, because I do want to set some time this morning for ministry. Verse 13 says, when they saw the courage of Peter and John. And realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, it said. The rulers and authorities were astonished.
[00:18:01] How can these men be so fearless?
[00:18:05] How can these men be so brave?
[00:18:10] How can these men be so courageous?
[00:18:15] How can they walk around like they own the joint in Jerusalem, with so much authority, so much power to perform these mighty acts?
[00:18:28] How can they do this? It didn't make sense for very ordinary, unschooled people to go around doing this.
[00:18:38] Anyone would think they had a special relative.
[00:18:44] Well, actually, my father in heaven, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
[00:18:57] My Abba father.
[00:19:02] My father.
[00:19:05] Well, anybody would think they have royalty flowing through their veins.
[00:19:12] Well, you are. Come on, you can finish it off. A chosen people, a royal priesthood, God's holy nation, his special possession, bought with the precious blood of Jesus.
[00:19:29] Well, anybody would think that these guys, these ordinary, unschooled guys, you know, they are something important.
[00:19:38] Well, actually, we've been adopted by the king of kings.
[00:19:48] We are adopted to the sonship of Jesus Christ.
[00:19:53] The very hairs on my head are counted.
[00:19:59] I'm somebody special in Christ.
[00:20:02] And so we find these unschooled, ordinary people walking around Jerusalem doing mighty things, having courage because of who they were in Christ, who they were.
[00:20:21] Ordinary, unschooled people in this room today are going to change places, are going to influence workplaces, are going to influence streets and homes and classrooms and workplaces. There are people in this room today that God is going to raise up with apostolic gifting. God is going to raise up to be teachers in their generation. God is going to raise up to be preachers of the good news people in this room. God is going to use you and anoint you to heal the sick, to raise the dead.
[00:21:11] But it starts with encountering him.
[00:21:14] We have got to encounter him because, you know, when we encounter him, when we encounter him, we've spoke with Matt about this as well. At times when we encounter him, when we live in his presence, it's his boldness, it's his courage that causes us to say things that he might not say at times.
[00:21:42] If you've ever had a time with the Lord and you've come out of it and you've found that you're really strong and you're really bold, like a lion, and you say things to your neighbor and you're like, wow, I don't know where that one came from.
[00:21:55] It's the Holy Spirit, spirit working in us and through us to will, for his will and purpose. See the rulers of this day. This is what they turn around and said, they said, and the church session, get ready in a moment because we're going to do some prayer times. You know, if you want to sit there and close your eyes, you can do, that's fine. If you want to just posture yourself ready to receive.
[00:22:19] The rulers of the day, they realize that these men had had been with Jesus, had been with Jesus.
[00:22:28] They realized that these men had encountered Jesus. Now this is where it starts to change, okay? Jesus had gone back to the father, right?
[00:22:41] And the Holy Spirit had been poured out.
[00:22:45] But here's the thing. The rulers of the day realized that the men had encountered Jesus. And they're probably thinking, well, at some point this is going to kind of dwindle away. This is going to fade away because Jesus is dead and he's gone.
[00:23:04] Church. We are built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected.
[00:23:13] It's because he is alive. It's because he is alive.
[00:23:19] And it's not just a one day Easter Sunday that we celebrate. Jesus is alive. And the rulers said, they said, oh, they've been with Jesus. They've encountered him. But here's the secret church.
[00:23:33] They carried on encountering Jesus.
[00:23:36] How could they encounter Jesus when Jesus had gone back to the father, when Jesus was no longer walking around them?
[00:23:49] God is saying today, encounter me afresh.
[00:23:54] Encounter me afresh. You know, I was preparing this. I was in Deo, actually beautiful Deo, Gloria, and I was just writing some notes and I felt the Lord just sense the Lord, you know, you sense things on you. I felt the Lord saying, my church today, they're not going for encounter because I'm not so sure they fully believe that I'm here with them.
[00:24:28] They're not going for encounter because they think I'm out the picture, because they can't see me.
[00:24:36] We're a very visual society, aren't we?
[00:24:40] We have to see.
[00:24:45] And I feel the Lord this morning, actually, I think he's going to do this. Over the next couple of months, as we gear up to summer, he's changing some things. And I believe he's saying to us that as we step towards him, to encounter him a fresh in our lives, we're going to see heaven open up before us.
[00:25:07] We're going to see the reality of his kingdom open up.
[00:25:12] But we've got to get in pursuit.
[00:25:16] We've got to drop things that are just clogging up our lives. They're taking up too much time.
[00:25:23] Like hurrah for hobbies, yay.
[00:25:28] But make sure we're encountering him.
[00:25:32] Make sure we're going after him. And I felt the Lord say to me, come and sit at my feet.
[00:25:38] I feel this is a season for us as a church where he says, come and sit at my feet.
[00:25:45] Psalm 27 is my favorite. Verse eight. It says, my heart has heard you say, come and talk with me.
[00:25:54] And my heart responds, Lord, I am coming.
[00:25:58] Magnificent psalm.
[00:26:02] My heart has heard you say, come and talk to me. And my heart responds, Lord, I'm coming. You know, I think our hearts have heard many, many times the Lord say, come and talk with me, come and talk with me, come and talk with me, come and talk with me. And we have failed to respond. And that's me. There have been times in my life when I've allowed busyness, structure, schedules to take over.
[00:26:28] And I believe the Lord is saying to us afresh today, come and sit with me.
[00:26:34] Come and encounter me. And I'm going to give you the courage to tell people that Jesus is alive.
[00:26:46] I'm going to give you the boldness to go out there and lay hands on the sick.
[00:26:51] I'm going to go out there. You're going to go out there, and I'm going to give you the courage and the boldness to lay hands on people.
[00:26:58] And they will raise from the dead.
[00:27:05] How will people encounter the living presence of the courageous one if as a church we are short of encounters?
[00:27:18] It's a challenge, isn't it?
[00:27:22] And you know the strangest thing of all, in all our frailty and failures and weaknesses, God wants to come and pour his spirit out afresh on his church. Today, people will note that we have been with Jesus when we have actually been with Jesus.
[00:27:51] Yeah, people will know we have been with Jesus when we have actually been with Jesus. And he's not distant, he's not far away.
[00:28:07] Peter and John said they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And if any of you know Peter, there's no way Peter could have done all that he did without being filled with the Holy Spirit because he was one fearful person in the natural.
[00:28:23] He was so fearful. Any people here that struggle with fear in the natural, he would never have done it in the natural. We will never see the thousands that I believe God wants to touch in Newton Abbott might not all come to this church on a Sunday, that's fine, but I believe he wants to touch people's lives, but we will never see it without the Holy Spirit this year. Can I kind of provoke us, prompt us, stir us a little bit to go on a journey that says, lord, I want to encounter you afresh.
[00:29:11] I need more of your presence in my life.
[00:29:16] Come, holy spirit.
[00:29:19] We just bow your heads, you know, even before I've finished speaking, if any of this, any of this, I know it's been a bit different this morning, but any of this has kind of resonated in your heart.
[00:29:32] I want you just to come out to the front. You can stand, you can kneel. Come and sit on one of these seats here at the front.
[00:29:41] Okay? If you find the floor too hard, that's fine. But there's something about getting out of your seat. Don't wait, just come. There's something about getting out of your seat and responding and going, I'm just coming.
[00:29:53] I'm just coming. And so just come. So this morning we're going to respond.
[00:29:58] I want to invite people who want courage and faith in their walk with the Lord this year. You want courage and faith in your walk with the Lord. You want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You want a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit. Morning. You want to encounter him afresh. You want a deeper intimacy with him today.
[00:30:23] The heart of God is calling today.
[00:30:27] Come. Come and talk with me. Come and spend time with me.
[00:30:35] You know, the Holy Spirit has been poured out for our advantage.
[00:30:42] And yet I believe sometimes as a church, we don't walk with him.
[00:30:49] He's been given to us. He's to our advantage that Jesus went and he left us his spirit.
[00:30:58] And yet often in our daily lives, we don't use that to our advantage.
[00:31:04] We don't have to do things in our own strength. We don't have to try and work it all out. If you're ready, if you're ready to go higher, you're saying, Lord, I just needed that nudge this morning to encounter you afresh.
[00:31:23] And I want to just commit to spending the next couple of weeks just really, just setting some extra time aside to encounter the Lord. If that's you, I just want you to stand where you are. This morning you say, I just want, I want to, I want more. I want more of him. It's a simple, it's a simple prayer. That's psalm 27 that says, my heart has heard you say, come and talk with me. And my heart responds, Lord, I'm coming. If that's you, will you just stand this morning, say, lord, I'm coming, I'm coming, Lord.
[00:32:04] It's almost like a bit of rededication this morning. I'm dedicating again, I'm dedicating my life again to pursuing you, to encountering you maybe some in this place this morning you're feeling a bit dry, and that's okay. Do you know what? It's okay to admit that we all have dry times.
[00:32:25] We have dry times.
[00:32:28] And the Lord just says, reach out. Come on, come and sit with me this week. Come and sit with me this week.
[00:32:36] Don't bring anything. You don't have to bring silver and gold.
[00:32:41] You don't have to bring anything.
[00:32:44] Just bring yourself.
[00:32:46] You know, the reason I put some soaking music on in the background, it's not to manipulate our emotions.
[00:32:52] Okay? But if you get wonderful spirit life music in the background, you know, music helps. Helps and it leads us to encounter him.
[00:33:05] It kind of helps what music does. It helps kind of get all the stuff away in our lives and it brings that focus.
[00:33:17] So just in your bedrooms or in your offices or wherever you are this week, put on some music. If you want to find out what this is, go and see Gordon at the end and he'll tell you what it is. But just put it on your playlist and get on your knees wherever you are, and say, I'm here, Lord. My heart says, I'm here. I'm coming, Lord. I'm running into your presence, Lord. I'm running afresh.
[00:33:43] I'm not just going to wait for Sunday for a bit of a fill me up. In fact, next Sunday I'm going to come ready because of all that you've done in me in the week.
[00:34:00] Come and sit with me. The Lord says to us, come and sit with me. Come and sit with me.
[00:34:10] You know, on Sunday the 19 May. The reason we've kind of done it that late is because Phil and I are at the Elim conference that next week. But as a church, we're going to gather together, we're going to break bread.
[00:34:25] And I believe God's going to do something. I want us to prepare our hearts for that time together of prayer. I believe God's going to speak to us afresh.
[00:34:35] I believe there's a turning point. There's a shift happening in our lives as we encounter him afresh.
[00:34:50] Some of us in this room are to experience a joy that we have never, ever known.
[00:34:56] Yes, please, Lord.
[00:35:00] Some of us will encounter peace like we've never known before.
[00:35:06] As we encounter him, fear is going to start dropping off people's lives as we encounter him.
[00:35:18] Some people in this room, there's going to be a boldness that comes over you to tell people that Jesus Christ alive, that he has risen from the dead because he is the king of kings, and he is the Lord of lords.
[00:35:41] Father, as we end this time together this morning, o Lord, we're not ending our time with you, Lord. It's just beginning.
[00:35:53] We're going this week, we're pledging as a church that we're gonna run to that secret place that we're going to sit at your feet and we're going to encounter you afresh over our lives.
[00:36:08] Father. Thank you, Lord, that we can still encounter you today.
[00:36:14] And as we encounter you, Lord, we know that you're going to change us.
[00:36:20] You're going to work on our. On those areas that need work.
[00:36:28] We love you, Lord. We honour you in this place, Lord, I pray, yeah, I pray over your church, Lord, those who are really going to set their hearts to do psalm 27 this week, I pray that you'd give them the strength and the hunger. Sometimes it's a good thing to say, Lord, increase my hunger.
[00:36:54] Increase my hunger.
[00:36:56] Give me a hunger for you that I'll run into your presence this week.
[00:37:03] And when we seek you, we know that we will find you.
[00:37:07] Thank you, Lord, for ministering to lives today. Today, thank you for pouring your spirit out on people this morning.
[00:37:16] Amen. Amen.
