I hope that your day of rest is blessed and we are really excited to be able to continue our journey into the book of Acts, one of those books that's very instructive in how we are called to operate as a congregation. We want to do our best to imitate those who were operating in the gifts of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit here in the book of Acts. And so we are going to continue our journey through the book of Acts as we examine the commands of the apostles.
This is our second segment. If you're one of those... rare people out there that seem to object to focusing too much on the commands of the apostles, then please go back and look at part one. I think that you'll find really all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, and that includes the Scriptures of what's called the New Testament. So now we believe the commands of the apostles hold equal weight with the commands of the Messiah, which holds equal weight with the commands given through Moshe in the Torah.
In fact, we see all things in Scripture, every command in Scripture, as Torah or teaching or instruction for us. With the Hebrew word Torah is what's commonly translated law. Now, we're going to take a minute here and review the commands of the Messiah. Only covered one so far. Know why Yahshua is the Messiah.
You've got to know why. And preach repentance and baptism in Yahshua's name. for the remission of sins so that Yahweh will give the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, all right, we're going to answer the following questions in today's study.
How did the early apostles invoke a holy fear of Yahweh in the multitude? A holy fear of Yahweh, not an unholy fear, but a holy fear of Yahweh. And what does it mean to break bread? Is it really tied to this Christian Eucharist and done more than just once a year, or what is it?
What is the significance of eating meals together with others in first century culture? Are we supposed to pool all of our land and money together like the early believers did, first century believers did? How can we practice biblical giving like Yahshua and the apostles did? Is it really all about grace and love in the New Testament? Or are there instances of severe judgment like what we see in the Old Testament?
Why don't we see the widespread miracles today like we see in the first century? A lot of people have that question. What does it mean to break bread?
I already said that. What's the one requirement we must have in order for Yahweh to work great miracles through us? Why should we never put any hopes in what the multitudes say about us?
What are the times of refreshing that's supposed to come upon a believer? And what can we do if we are feeling too timid or lack confidence to boldly share the good news of Yahshua with us, with others, I should say. So those are the questions we're going to look at.
So let's start now with the book of Acts, chapter 2. be saved from this perverse generation. We talked about this last week. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gifts and the fruits of the Spirit are both important for us.
Obviously, the context here that Yahweh poured out His Spirit upon His disciples and they were manifesting both gifts and fruits of the Spirit. Continuing on though, we see here, looks like... Battery's dead.
So, verse 41, Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And on that day about 3,000 souls were added to them, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles'doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then, it says, fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Fear is a good thing.
People, oh, don't believe in fear. That's not real fear. That's just reverence.
Then why does Scripture say work out your salvation with fear and trembling? What's the trembling for? Trembling is from literally being afraid.
So I don't think that fear is a bad thing as long as it's the undergirding of everything else. In other words, you... I mean, Yahweh put the fear in me when He sent me dreams in 1989 that I was going to die and not be able to do anything about it as far as praying or anything.
I thought, I had this little plan, you know, right before I die, I'll just pray, you know. But no, I had this dream where I was on a train and there was the opening of the track and going over a bridge and I was falling. And I didn't know how to pray, get the words out like Yahweh scrambled my brain. So he kind of like dangled me off the edge of a cliff for a minute, showed me my plan wasn't going to work. And so the fear got my attention.
I was dangling off the edge of an airplane. I had no parachute, okay? So fear, yeah, it's okay.
You start with some level of fear. But as you get to know him, And as you get to walk this walk, the more you really just love him. But you know if you turn away, you would have reason to fear, right?
But you don't want to turn away because you love him so much. So ultimately, perfect love does cast out fear. It's not about remaining in a constant state of trembling for the rest of your life because we don't have reason to tremble because fear brings...
Fear of judgment is not something that we really have because in Messiah Yahshua there is no condemnation. But if we were to turn away, we know there would be reason to fear. There would be reason to fear.
So it's kind of this undergirding that takes place that you kind of start with, but that's not necessarily where you end with. All right, so now it says that they continued steadfastly in the apostles'doctrine and fellowship. and the breaking of bread and in prayers. This, you know, breaking of bread and in prayers, what this is is a picture of fellowship.
You know, we named this Shepherd's Way Fellowship of Ava because we want it to be a fellowship. You know, we're all fellows in the same ship. You follow what I'm saying?
We're all on the same journey. We're all on the same... place and we like this ship that we're we're on i've looked down there it's not down there uh this one okay um and so um we we want that camaraderie want that working together not just being friends and fellows on the shabbat but friends and fellows all week long you know and so that's the blessing of the coffee shop we get to fellowship all throughout the week but this is what they had this ongoing breaking of bread and fellowship. And they also had the signs and wonders.
And the signs and wonders caused this fear to come upon every soul. They were afraid to speak against or do things against the apostles in the first century assembly because Yahweh showed whom he was giving favor to. And so if you want to, as a believer, Want to see mighty works in your life? There are certain things you've got to do before you're going to see it. We're going to be talking about that in a minute.
But that's sort of one of the things that brought fear on every soul, was the fact that Yahweh showed His mighty hands at work in what Yahweh was doing through them. So this breaking of bread, is this the Eucharist? Is this where some churches you go to and they've got to...
A Eucharist or a communion once a month, sometimes you go once a week, and sometimes once a year, and they don't really know where to put it, you know, because they don't know really what this is about. This is Passover, brothers and sisters. That's what this communion or Eucharist, what this is, is He is our Passover lamb. We're partaking of Him at Passover.
But a lot of people interpret this breaking of bread to be, oh, well, that's the Eucharist. No, it's not. Breaking a bread was just a euphemism for having a meal together.
For instance, Luke 24, 30, it came to pass, this is Yahshua, he was meeting with his disciples on the road to Emmaus. He did not even know who he was. He sat at the table with them.
He took bread, he busted it and broke it and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished from their sight. Now, he had to be having fun. He had to be having fun, though. Goodbye. They realized who he was because it reminded them of what he did at that Passover table.
But this term, breaking bread, it didn't have sliced bread in those days. So they'd just grab a chunk and pull it off and dip it in a sauce or a sauce of something and they would eat it. So that's what the term breaking of bread became known as. a euphemism or as a way of saying, hey, let's go break bread together. Let's go have a meal together.
And then they said to one another, did not our heart burn within us when he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us? They had heartburn, see? I've had people tell me that as I'm ministering to them. I feel my heart burning inside.
That's the Holy Scriptures doing a work in someone's life. And so, This term, breaking of bread, is just a euphemism for having a meal together. So they rose that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, found the eleven, and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Master is risen indeed, as appeared to Simon. And they told about the things that happened to them on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread. Now as they said these things, Yahshua himself stood in the midst of them and said, Shalom Aleichem, peace be to you, peace to you.
All right, so now refusing to eat with someone, on the other hand, like if I'm going to say, I'm going to go break bread with so-and-so, that means I'm in communion with, I'm in fellowship with, I'm in friendship with this particular person, okay? And so I'll sit down, I'll eat with them. Well, to not eat with them is the opposite, and that's why it says in 1 Corinthians 5.11, Now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even to eat with such a person, because you're not to be in fellowship with that person who claims to be a believer but not living like one.
And so that's one reason why the Pharisees took exception. to Yahshua complaining, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. Why are you eating at a table of fellowship with sinners?
Well, it has to do with, he knew that there were people in that room. They may not be believers now, but they're going to be. And so there were sinners. They were not people that were claiming to be believers. They were not people named a brother.
These were people that, yeah, they knew that they were sinners. But to sit down at the table with them, to give them what they needed, they were sick and needed a physician. And so he came and he sat at the table with them.
But by and large, this was a sign that people were in fellowship. Example, those who gladly received his word were baptized. That day about 3,000 souls were added to them. They continued steadfastly in the apostles'doctrine.
and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers. Fear came upon every soul. Now it says, All who believed were together, and all had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily, daily, with one accord in a temple, and breaking bread from house to house. They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.
This is food they're eating, not the body and blood of Yahshua, which are not supposed to be treated like food to fill you. This is actual just having meals together. Now the early apostles, it appears, practiced what looks like an early form of, dare I say it, communism.
And with great power the apostles gave witness, Acts 4.33, to the resurrection of the Master Yahshua. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked.
For all who were possessors of lands or houses, all, it says, for all who were possessors of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles'feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need. That's communism. That's where you give all your money you're going to make, you're going to give it to somebody else, and they'll distribute it to whoever they think is in need of that particular money.
Am I saying a taboo word here? But that's what it was. Now, communism, the big problem with communism, as far as a government run by communists, is not that the...
The poor are going to get taken care of in that system. The problem is those at the top are not trustworthy men, and you can't really trust people. Everybody piles a bunch of money together. Here, give it to so-and-so.
Well, how do you know that so-and-so is going to be not keeping it all for himself? That's what communism does nowadays. The guys at the top keep it for themselves and give you whatever scraps might be left over. Yahshua is the one who chose the apostles. He's the one that gave them this job to proclaim the word to all.
And so they were trustworthy men. These are men that Yahshua the Messiah himself chose. And so today do we have this, you know, where, hey, guess what? Yahshua comes down, appears to everyone and says, hey, these guys are my apostles. Listen to them.
to follow their teachings. And I didn't walk with Yahshua three years. You know, I didn't see him every day. I didn't spend a night in the same place he was in.
Didn't wake up with him in the morning. And now we do in the spirit. We say these things. But, you know, a lot of this, what we see here really is something called, I like to call it radical giving, radical giving. It has to do with a mentality.
Now, a large number of the commands of the Messiah, if you watch those 40 segments, a lot of them had to do with how you handle your money and how you'd be willing to give to those in need. And so, Yahshua talked all the time about storing up treasures in the age to come. And so, these people were storing up treasures for themselves as they gave away their earthly treasures.
They were far more interested... and building up a spiritual kingdom than they were anything they were trying to accomplish on the earth. And so what about us? Is that our mentality?
Is that the perspective that we have as believers? Do we have this same perspective? I mean, they did not regard the things that they had as their own.
They didn't regard it as... Something that wasn't even theirs. Their mentality was different than what we see today.
And so we have this importance that this multitude here, they believe they were of one heart, they were of one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own. but they had all things in common.
The mentality with which they lived their lives was, it's not really mine. What I own is not really mine. So, yeah, if you had that mentality, really, you've pretty much already sold out everything for him. Okay? You've already sold out everything.
And so if there is someone in need, you should be readily willing to help someone who is in need. We're talking about a self-denying lifestyle. Yahshua and his apostles all lived... a self-denying lifestyle for three years. Yeah, they were worthy men to run the ship, okay?
But today, I mean, where are you going to find the angels to run this thing anyway? Milton Friedman said on this show called Donahue, where are you going to find the angels to run this socialistic thing you're trying to run? Well, Yahshua found some righteous men to run it, and if we were living under their leadership, I mean, we shouldn't even bat an eye. We know that they were trustworthy men.
But their motives were already of this mentality, and it spread. This world has nothing on me, that mentality. This world has nothing on me. Look, whatever I got is not mine.
Yes, I worked for it. Yes, I sweated for it. Yes, I bled for it. But you know what?
This is not for me. This is for all of us. And so this... That mentality is something that we can embrace. So it was this mentality in verse 32 that was creating this situation in verse 34. And look what happened when they had this mentality.
With great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the master Yahshua, and great grace was upon them all. They did a mighty work for Yahweh. partly because of their willingness to be completely sold out for him. This world has nothing on them, and that's something that we can practice.
If you have something and somebody you know does not, it's a need, it's a real need, and you know someone who doesn't have that, what are we supposed to do in that situation? John the Baptist tells us, certain scribe, I'm sorry. um next one he said bear fruits worthy of repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves we have abraham as our father for i say to you elohim is able to raise up children to abraham from these stones and even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire so the people asked him what shall we do then he answered and said to them he who has two tunics you Two tunics, just two shirts. Let him give to the one who has none.
He who has food, let him do likewise. Okay, so you got two pairs of shirts in your wardrobe somewhere, then you should be willing to share with the one who has none. And I mean, this is the mentality with which they lived.
And so, If one does not have this mentality, what does he say? John the Baptist says, Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. What fruit? He's talking about the attitude of giving here. In verse, what do we do then?
Well, I'll tell you what to do to avoid. having your tree cut down and thrown into the fire. Here's what you do.
You've got one extra shirt, give it to the one who has none. You've got an extra dollar in your pocket, give it to the one who has none. Follow what I'm saying here?
Our life is supposed to consist of an attitude of giving. That's why we are here. What was Yahshua's life mission? Why was he put on that street?
Why did he come? And before you jump all over me, I'm not talking about giving to me. I'm not talking about giving to our ministry here.
I'm talking about your neighbor down the street, your friend that you know from the other side, wherever, wherever a need is present. I'm not doing a fundraiser here, okay? I'm saying this is the mentality with which we must conduct our lives. What was Yahshua's life mission?
It was to give, really, to give of himself. So the question is, does Yahshua's life mission match your life mission? That's a question only you can answer for yourself.
Are we here to live, make money, and die? Are we here to give, to pour out unto others? If Yahshua told you in a dream, get up out of your bed.
Leave everything, walk down the road, and don't even look back. Would you turn to a pillar of salt? Could you do that and not know where you're going?
Abraham could. And so the early disciples knew the mission. Now, Peter had a house. We know that. Not everyone was homeless.
Yahshua, he had no place to lay his head. Here's a homeless man. No place to lay his head. Peter had a house.
I don't know if anybody else did, but they all left houses. They all left lands. They all left to go and minister because Yahshua knew the value of a hungry soul.
Yahshua knew the value of a human soul. And so he understood that he wasn't here to get caught up building his own little utopia. He understood the price.
And these men gave everything they had to obtain what? A human soul being saved. They laid down their lives so a human soul could be saved. Can you put a price on the well-being of an afflicted and hungry child? Can you put a price on the soul of a human being?
Can you put a price on the spiritual well-being of children who now they have to go to public school because their mom has to go work and they got nowhere else to find income. And so now they're going to be raised by daycare centers, indoctrinated by drug-infested public schools where they're taught fornication, homosexual agenda, other concepts rather than the word of Yahweh. Can you put a price on their soul for a minute? You understand what I'm talking about?
You can't. One human soul is worth more than the entire assets and bank accounts of Bill Gates, Jeffrey Bezos, Elon Musk, and all of them put together. Just one soul. Created in the image of our Father in heaven.
So precious and priceless. Yahshua, when he was trying to decide what we were worth, he said, you're worth the price of my blood. You're worth the price of my blood, he said.
They were storing up treasures for the age to come. And so this is not some, you know, hints from Heloese, guys. This is commands. This is actual things we're supposed to be living out.
And so many times people won't give to the ministry. Again, I'm not telling you to give to my ministry. It's not even my ministry anyway.
Give to Yahweh's ministry wherever Yahweh's ministry is being done. But a lot of times people are like, well, they want to associate you with that money-hungry preacher with a private jet and a million-dollar house. And maybe, you know what? I mean, I hate to say it. I really do hate to say it.
But the guy who won't give anything may not be any better off than that money-hungry. jet-flying minister because maybe he saved a soul last year and you didn't. Maybe he preached the word of Yahweh last year and you didn't.
Maybe he saved more souls than you did. And so I'm not saying you should be a money-hungry preacher. I'm saying he might be better off than somebody who doesn't give anything. Yeah, he's going to be judged on that final day for how he was a steward of those finances, and I fear for his soul. But really, at the end of the day, He actually may have gotten that word out to more people than you will or even care to.
But the point I'm trying to make is the goal is this, not to live the American dream, not to live the American dream because that can become in the age to come a nightmare. What we see here is a self-sacrificing life of Yahshua the Messiah and a self-sacrificing life of all the apostles. If this is not our life, we are not walking as Yahshua walked, and we're not walking as the apostles in the early congregation did, who did not regard the things that they owned to even be theirs at all. And so, is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses while Yahweh's temple lies in ruins? That's the question he asked them in the book of Haggai.
Chapter 1, he says, Consider your wages so much and bring in little. You eat but do not have enough. You drink but are not filled with drink.
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages earns wages to put into a bag with holes. So our life mission needs to line up with Yahshua's life mission to build the house of Yahweh. build the house of Yahweh.
You've already been crucified with Messiah. It's no longer you that live. It's Yahshua living in you in the life which you now live.
You only live by faith in the Son of Elohim who loved us and gave himself for us. And we have to set our minds on things above, not things on the earth, because we already died and our life is hidden with Messiah in Elohim. That's our mentality, brothers and sisters.
And so when it comes to our relationship, with those who are spiritually poor and physically poor he says if there's a poor man among your brethren this is a torah commandment within any of your gates in your land which yahweh almighty one's given you you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need i'm not saying you gotta build him the taj mahal here give him what he needs whatever he needs what he really needs not necessarily everything he wants But what he needs, you be there for him. He needs food. He needs shelter. He needs clothing. Okay?
So Leviticus 25, 35 through 37, If one of your brethren becomes poor, falls into poverty among you, you shall help him like a stranger or a sojourner that he may live with you. Take no usury or interest from him, but fear your mighty one, that your brethren may live with you. You shall not lend him.
your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. This is not hints from Heloise. These are commandments given in Yahweh's law.
So I say this, but I also say this. There are some people out there who do not have any interest in laboring or working, and they're going to go out there, and they're just there to take advantage of you. I know that.
I know that. And so, you know, like Shepherd's Way, Bread of Life, we're in contact with people that are in need on a pretty regular basis. And all you've got to do is say, hey, why don't you come volunteer with us? And, you know, some people are physically unable to work, but others join with us in the labors. And you'll find out who's really lazy and not want to work and not want to do anything.
But my point is that, yes, if man should not work, now shall he eat? That's what Paul said, right? So we expect a certain level of willingness to labor from those who are willing, who are getting meals and such.
But I'll tell you this, if they have children, I really don't care. I really don't. It's not the children's fault they're not getting a meal. I mean, I'm not going to let the children starve because of the dumb mistakes of the parents. So their parents are lazy and whatever.
Okay, whatever. I don't really, because children, they'll know that Yeshua was there for them when they were children. They'll know he was there for them.
But we are commanded here to open our hand and to give. to those who are indeed in need. He who has pity on the poor lends to Yahweh, and he will pay back.
I've seen that over and over again. During the pandemic, I thought bread of life was going to be, you know, really tested because all the people that were paying customers kind of dried up, and we only had takeout orders during that time. We're not allowed to do any dine-ins. But then what happened?
As we kept pouring out, and the people that were getting... food we're still getting food that didn't change but somehow donations started coming in and yahweh provided and we're actually we were actually in a better financial position than when we start before the pandemic so um there is a correlation here when you give to the poor who are you lending to yahweh i'd say i'd be a pretty good return on investment wouldn't you say Really good return. If you're going to lend some money to Yahweh, I think He pretty much owns a cattle on a thousand hills, so He'll make sure you're taken care of.
So you give to the... I'm not just talking physically poor, I'm talking spiritually poor. Um, people that think they're rich and they're spiritually poor, miserable, blind, and naked, right? They don't really realize it.
But there are over 200 places where, um, the word poor is found in scripture. So Yahweh talks a lot about that. It's all about love. New commandment I give to you, love one another as I have loved you. I was spiritually poor, miserable, blind.
and naked and he supplied my needs. He had to give his life in order for me to have that and to obtain that. So if we're his disciples, we're going to be like him. You know, I want to say this. Yahweh showed me, opened my eyes, all praise to him, the Shabbat and the feast days and eating clean.
32 years ago, I started eating clean and keeping Shabbat. About 30 years ago, I started wearing these strings, you know, called tassels. And all that never really impressed unbelievers. Never did.
They're like, oh, what's those strings on your shirt? You know, why are you doing that weird Jewish stuff? It never did impress the unbeliever, you know.
But when I started reaching out my hand and showing love and help when they're in need, all of a sudden, you start seeing souls being transformed in the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of light. So if everyone's going to know where his disciple is by that love for one another, may not understand your holy days, may not understand the way you eat or why you dress the way you do, but they understand love. That they comprehend.
And when you're willing to love them, and we don't just do it to be a witness, we do it because we do care. Okay, that's our motive. just to be a witness. But when you are a witness and you do care.
You know, there was a story about a man. He was attending a congregation and he never did have much in the way of food. He'd come there, weren't dressed the best and weren't always able to get showers. And people kind of, I don't know, greeted him and was nice to him, but never really engaged him much and he quit coming.
because he fell into poor health. And so he was home. A preacher went and visited him and, you know, tried to encourage him to come back to church, you know, and tried to give him a Bible. He didn't want the Bible. And so the preacher's like, well, I tried.
He never did come back to visit him again. And one of the other parishioners in the congregation got to, you know. wondering what's going on with him.
And so he went and paid him a visit and just wasn't there to preach. He was there to listen to see what's going on with his family. And his family explained to him he couldn't provide very well because he had back problems and he couldn't work.
And his kids were not very well dressed because of it, and his cupboards were empty. And so this gentleman went and said, Well, we'll cook. can you come with me for a while?
And he goes, where are we going? It's just coming with me in the car. I want to take you somewhere. He went down to the grocery store and bought all kinds of food for him and got clothes for his kids.
And the man come home and he's like, well, I really appreciate all you've done. I feel bad. I feel embarrassed, you know, that you have to even do that. And he says, that's okay. I mean, if I couldn't work, I wouldn't be able to do this for you anyway.
So come back next week. Hey, everything's going okay. Well, we're low on this.
And so he went and got that and took care of him about two or three weeks and then tried to give him a Bible. What do you think happened? The man says, you're the only one I know that lives it.
I'll take a Bible from you. Saved his soul and possibly the souls of his children. People don't care what you know until they know you care.
what it boils down to you got to show that love for one another and so um and so there are some among us i know you are very very clean because there are some really generous people that want to serve most of whom are here in our room today and i appreciate you so giving alms to such things as you have and all things are clean to you i'm not talking about how much money you've given the ministry i'm talking about the time you pour out into the community and and showing love to the people around you. So there's a direct connection between caring for the poor and loving Yahweh. And it's a very pure thing to do. And so I appreciate all of those who have given of themselves.
And even if you're not giving of yourselves in a way that I can visibly see, if you're doing that in your community, Yahweh bless you, brother. Yahweh bless you, sister. That's what Yahshua wants to see. He says, you give, you do good, you lend, and you actually hope for nothing in return.
You hope that you never have to get paid back. Your reward will be great, and you'll be sons of the Most High. who is kind to the unthankful and the evil one he's kind to them too so in fact he says do good and lent and he says give to him who asks you from him who pardon he wants to borrow from you do not turn away so that's what we're called to do if you if you lend to your enemies Isn't he maybe going to mistreat you still? Is he still going to mistreat you? Probably.
Maybe not lend you back a thing. Maybe one thing, maybe you lost out something earthly, but you gained something heavenly. And so what your gain is, you get to be what?
Sons and daughters of the Most High. Wow. So we're called to embrace the mentality Yeshua taught us here and his disciples. You're watching it in the book of Acts, lived out. That's the beautiful thing.
That's the beautiful thing. It's being lived out. But then there were certain men, like Ananias, with the fear his wife sold a possession, kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles'feet.
And Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself. While it remained, was it not your own?
After it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You've not lied to men, but to Elohim.
And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. Dead, just like that, for not giving the full and trying to play. be this fake believer who's acting like he's given like everybody else but really he's not i hope that there are no there are no folks walking in the spirit of ananias listening to my words today if you are great fear should come upon you right so once again we see the multitudes great fear came upon all those who heard these things because of the signs and wonders of what yahweh was doing among the apostles And the young men arose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. Now it was about three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what happened.
Peter answered her, tell me whether you stole the land for so much. Oh, yes, for so much. Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of Yahweh?
Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. Bam, she immediately fell down on his feet. and breathed her last.
And the young men came in and found her dead, carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the congregation, upon all those who heard these things. Yahshua immediately eliminated hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. He hated it.
He hates hypocrisy. He hates it. He hates this fake believer thing. And he was not going to allow... the first century congregation to be filled with a bunch of hypocrites.
He wasn't going to allow it. So great fear, he allowed great fear to happen instead. If you're going to do this, you're going to do this. You're not going to fake it. You're not going to pretend.
It's not going to work. And so judgment fell that day. People would think, well, all grace and kindness and mercies and compassions are in the New Testament.
all the harsh judgments in the Old Testament. You ever read that? I mean, that's, bam, you're dead. Just for holding part of the money back, you're a dead person. What about Jezebel?
In Revelation, he said, I'll cast her in a sickbed, and I'll kill her children with death. That's how he felt about sin. He didn't change the way he felt about sin. Seven times he said. He who overcomes, these things will happen.
You have to overcome. You have to overcome. And so we see the early believers all practicing the things that both John the Baptist commanded, Yahushua commanded. I call it radical giving, radical giving. We want to show the world how much we care about them, how much we love them.
That's what Yahshua did for us. I'll tell you something. They inspired what we're doing at True Brew, our coffee shop. Most people think this is pretty insane, but anybody can walk in, just point to a card on the table, and the meal's no charge. And we treat them like a normal customer.
At first, I thought I was going to have a soup kitchen, you know. People line up in the evenings, you know, for their soup. No, Yahweh said, don't show partiality. Just feed everybody the same.
I'm like, well, do I give them maybe a lesser thing on the menu, you know, not so expensive? And I thought, well, maybe we'll just see what Yahweh does if I just give them whatever they order. I mean, I think there's only a couple of things that we don't give away, like sweets and things, you know.
talking about food, things that you need. So, so far, it's like it said, you give and Yahweh pays back. And that's the way it's been working ever since.
And so they can come in and maintain their dignity and not feel embarrassed by walking in there and being put somewhere else or go downstairs or whatever. Sit with all of us, sit with us, fellowship with us, and we don't treat them any different than a paying customer. And so...
I'm not saying this because this is about us. It's not about us. It's about what he inspired to be done here in our community. And I'm telling you this to inspire you to let you know Yahweh is our provider.
He really is. He really is our provider. And when you reach out to give, Yahweh does pour back in. So this is the beautiful thing.
And so... This was the way they lived their lives, and the power of Yahweh was amazing in their lives. And so because they were completely sold out for him, and he wanted to establish that which he wanted to establish. Look at Acts chapter 6, verses 1 through 2. Now, in those days when the number of disciples were multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Hellenists were kind of you to be your second-class believers, second-class people.
Well, 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It's not desirable that we should leave the word of Elohim and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, that we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Procurus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they prayed, they laid their hands on them. Then what happened?
The word of Elohim spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. And so they... chose to give they chose to pour out and yahweh not only poured in he also saw saw great ministry taking place the word of yahweh began to spread more and more and when james and caiphus and john so this is talking about paul he come to visit the apostles who seem to be pillars perceive the grace that had been given to me they gave me and barnabas their right hand of fellowship that we should go to the gentiles and they the circumcised the only desire that we should remember the poor the very thing which i also was eager to do and so they continued their commitment to the poor regardless and stress says in hebrews chapter 13 16 verse 16 do not forget to do good and to share for what such sacrifice elohim is well pleased James 2, verse 15, For brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled.
But you do not give them the things which are needed for the body. What does it profit? And again, 1 John 3, 17, Whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need shuts up his heart from him.
How does, he asks, the love of Elohim abide in him? So, now, I've talked a good bit about this already in the commands of the apostles. It's about giving. Why do I keep talking about it?
Because squeaky wheel gets the grease. That's why. We live in Laodicean kind of mentality.
and I think we got squeaky wheels in this area. Okay, so I'll continue to talk about it. But this is pretty much it.
I do have a full study on giving and tithing, leo.com forward slash tithing. If you want to donate to this ministry, leo.com slash donate. I'm not saying anything here, so you'll give to the ministry. I just want you to give, wherever. Wherever Yahweh directs you to give.
Alright, so in this I see a command, do not regard the things you possess as your own, but practice radical giving to those in physical or spiritual need as Yahshua and the apostles did. Moving on to Acts chapter 3, verse 1 through 3. Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple.
Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, Look at us. So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
And I love what Peter said. Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Yahshua, Messiah of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And we know what happened. That man leaped up and was completely healed.
in the name of Yahshua the Messiah. Now, people wonder today, why aren't there miracles nowadays like that? Why don't you see those kinds of things? I could say, yeah, lack of faith.
I think that is one element of it. But I can tell you that most people who have entered the mission field have seen a lot of these kinds of things. We had Brother Ryan Swingholm here on our broadcast a couple, three years ago.
He went out to Uganda just by himself. He wasn't sent out by any missionary group or any. He just wanted to go out there and see what happened. And he began to share the Word.
And just one man going out there sharing the Word, he saw the dead being raised. He saw man's withered hands growing back. villages now have converted over to keeping the Shabbat, keeping the feast days, eating clean, using Yahweh's name. Entire villages is spreading and spreading and spreading.
And some of the men that are spreading it now are Ugandan, are getting beat up by people in churches as they share it and getting back up again and loving them anyway. And they keep coming back and loving them. These people are like, what are you about? And, and Some of them, like half a group might be converted and the other half might not be.
Story after story of what Yahweh is doing. This is what I'm getting at. When Yahweh wants to establish something, you will see these miracles take place. I mean, when He wanted to establish Israel as a nation in the book of Exodus, I mean, talk about miracles.
Miracles were commonplace. And he did mighty works through Eliyahu, Elisha the prophets, when he wanted to call Israel back to him again. He did many mighty works when Yahshua walked the earth, and now his disciples walk in the earth and doing these things. But not a whole lot in between. I mean, you see him working, but not quite at those levels.
You know, when Israel was a nation, you see his deliverance. You know, maybe 300 men might defeat 10,000 or whatever. The occasional thing here and there, but what we don't see is the widespread, someone walking around just healing people right and left. And that's, I know, we want to see that, don't we? We love to see that, but you know what?
Yeah, it's not there today. It's not quite like that. Acts 5.12, it talks about how through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people, and they were all with one accord on Solomon's porch, and yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the master, both men and women.
And so they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at least a shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Wow. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits. And they were what?
All healed. All of them were healed. Now, I've had feasts, feasts of tabernacles, where Yahweh decided He was going to heal everybody that came to the elders.
And God prayed for people that were walking with a cane, weren't walking with a cane anymore, people that were... had illnesses, didn't have them anymore. It's happened here and there, but not quite widespread like that.
But you know what? The greatest miracle is not necessarily a hand growing back or dead being raised. To me, the great miracle is a heart changed from darkness to light. Desires changed from sin to righteousness.
Miracles sometimes can actually bring false converts. People are there to see the show. They're there to watch the show and, oh wow, look at this, hey, check it out, you know, entertainment value. And that's kind of what happened with Israel.
A lot of miracles, not a lot of heart changes. Saw that back in, you know, come on now, grounds opening up, swallowing up the sons of Korah. They're all gone.
Moses, you killed the people of Yahweh. What's wrong with you? You know, they did not get it. They did not get it.
And so it's like, Miracles can happen, but it doesn't necessarily change a wayward heart. And Yahshua even said, He said, Unclean spirit gets cast out of a man, comes back, finds the place swept in an order, comes right back in. The last day the man's worse than the first. And what did He say after that? He said, So it will be to this generation.
All the miracles He did, what are they doing at the end? Crucify Him. Crucify Him.
What did it do for him? What did it do? I think probably Yahweh would prefer major changes happening because people are reading the word of Yahweh and doing it than he would any miracle that could ever be done here in Ava or anywhere else because that right there in itself is a miracle. Now, if you want Yahweh to do miracles through you. Look at Peter's mentality here, brothers and sisters.
He gave him his attention. He said, Rimey Yashua, rise up and walk. He took him by the right hand, lifted him up, and immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength.
Now, think about a man who's never walked. What kind of muscles is he going to have on his feet, his ankle bones, and his legs? He's going to be thin as a rail. Have you ever seen somebody that is in a wheelchair, don't walk?
He's got very, very thin legs. This man, had physically had like muscles grow on his person and immediately understood how to balance and how to walk did not have to never walk his entire life he knows how to walk didn't have to be taught you know here's how you walk from here to there he received strength and he leaping up stood and walked and entered the temple with them had no idea that these men that were coming to him he was going to walk in the temple with these men you walking and leaping and praising Elohim. And all the people saw him walking and praising Elohim.
Then they knew it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them and the porch with his call Solomon.
Solomon's greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people. Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Why are you even amazed?
Why do you look so intently at us as though by our own power or piety we made this man walk? Why are you looking at me? Why are you looking at us? Why are you looking at us?
I love his mentality. His goal was not to glorify himself. His goal was to glorify Yahweh. and thank you, sister, for pointing that out last week, because I agree with it, that if we ever want Yahweh to do works through you, it can't be about making a name for yourself. It can't be about having people look at you.
It has to be about, no, it's not our own power. It's not us. It's not about us.
It really never is about us. What did he say? The mighty one of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the mighty one of our fathers, glorified his servant Yahshua, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go, but you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the prince of life whom Elohim raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
So, an important practice. glorify the mighty one of abraham isaac and jacob who glorified his servant yeshua who is the one doing the work in you and so glorify him that's how moshe was able to do the many mighty works he was able to do back when he was taking israel out of egypt into the promised land it says the man moshe was very humble more than all men who were on the face of the earth you And so if you want mighty works to be done in your life, you have to maintain humility because if you think it's going to be about you, he's not going to do it. It's not about you.
It's about the mighty one of Abraham, Yisach and Yaakov. It's about him. It's about Yahshua being glorified because Yahshua was glorified by Yahweh through you. Okay? It's not about us.
And so Moshe, you know, Yahweh didn't have to worry about, you know, Moshe getting puffed up. He didn't have to worry about it because he was very humble, more than all the men who were in the face of the earth. He had to convince Moshe he would be worthy enough to even go. He's like, who made your mouth anyway? Man with a speech impediment gave the entire Torah, you know.
You think things that you can't do, you end up... doing okay um because that glorifies his power in you that's why paul says when i'm weak i'm strong i in fact i even he even says i glory in my weaknesses because that means the manifest power of yahshua will be through me and those weaknesses and so you might think well you know how could the work of yahweh be done in me it's you've already reached that point where he needs to be easy to be so you can work in you you've got to remain humble though through it all right because the truth is he's yahweh that's his name his glory he's not going to give to another he's not give it to you it all goes to him and so even yahshua himself said he who speaks from himself seeks his own glory he seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true and no unrighteousness is in him. Yahshua was seeking to glorify the one who sent him, and that's why mighty works were being done through him. And Yahshua, just like Moshe, just like Peter, what? He said, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Remember this for later, finding rest for your souls. And so Peter's like, oh, why do you look so intently at us? Don't even look at us.
Don't look at us. Don't look at us. Look at the Elohim, the mighty one above.
He is the one who did these mighty works. us and so glorify him right and Paul had that same attitude Acts chapter 14 verse 8 and Lystra a certain man without strength and his feet was sitting a cripple from his mother's womb who had never walked this man Paul heard Paul speaking Paul observing him intently and see he had the faith to be healed said with a loud voice stand up straight on your feet and he leaped and walked same thing Peter did Now, when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying, I can't say it, Lysonian language, The mighty ones have come down to us in the likeness of men. And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in the front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out, saying, Men, why are you doing these things?
We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living Elohim who made the heaven, this earth, the sea, and all the things that are in them, whom by gone generations allowed all nations to walk on their own ways. Nevertheless, He did not leave Himself without witness, and He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these things they could scarcely restrain the multitudes. From sacrificing to them. They so much wanted to find a man to glorify that they literally thought Paul and Barnabas were Zeus and Hermas.
Isn't that ridiculous? They're like, I'm just a man like you. I put my pants on the same way you do, guys. I do the same things you guys do.
I'm just like you. I'm not anything special. And that was Paul's attitude. But now... One thing that often happens with people that are glorified by men is, look what happened next.
Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around and he rose up and went into the city, the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. So one man, they're thinking you're a god, they're going to sacrifice to you.
Next minute, they're trashing you and spreading gossip about you. Well, I've definitely found that to be the case. This is why, brothers and sisters, as congregations and individuals, none of the glory belongs to us anyways.
Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. They speak evil of you. Don't worry about it.
So because all the glory belongs to Yahweh, His is the kingdom, His is the power, His is the glory. Forever and ever. And we just need to live our lives and conduct ourselves as though that's true.
His is the kingdom. His is the power. And his is the glory. Not us. Not us.
It's not about us. It's about him. It's about him, brothers and sisters. If you've been foolish in exalting yourself, devised evil, put your hand over your mouth.
Shut it. Zip it. Don't even.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. He who humbles himself. will be exalted. You know, sometimes a man might not even be trying to exalt himself, but others choose to exalt him. He ends up getting humbled anyway.
We saw Paul and Barnabas there in Lystra. Yahweh is a jealous Elohim. He will not give his glory to another. And so in this I see, to see mighty works of Yahweh being done through you, walk in faith, of course, maintain humility, and always, always give Yahweh.
the glory it's about him so after they were slandered by the jews in antioch um i kind of think maybe paul and barnabas were kind of glad to get the pressure off of them people thinking that they were a god and um and they weren't called the zeus and hermes anymore but look how quickly the tide can turn how quickly these slanders come along and change everything but you know speaking Let's go back to Acts chapter 3 and verse 12. Peter saw he responded to the men, the people, says, Men of Israel, why do you marvel at us? Why do you look so intently at us as though by our own power or righteousness, piety, we made this man walk? The mighty one of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the mighty one of our fathers, glorified his servant Yahshua, whom you delivered up and denied the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murder to be granted to you and killed the Prince of Life whom Elohim raised from the dead of which we are witnesses.
And His name through faith in His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given Him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Not discounting necessity of faith, but also humility. That is what gave that man perfect soundness in their presence.
Yet now, brethren, I know you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which Elohim foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, the Messiah would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of... Yahweh, and that he may send Yahshua Messiah who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which Elohim has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moshe truly said to the fathers, Yahweh your Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.
Let him you shall hear in all things whatever. Elohim, having raised up His servant Yahshua, sent Him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. And so Peter tells them they have to believe in Yahshua because the Torah, the law of Yahweh, told them so.
Because it says, Him you shall hear. Right? Him you shall hear. So you must listen to Him. And so it was commanded for them to listen to Yahshua.
They sought, as all the prophets did, to turn people away from their iniquities, from their sins. That was his goal, was to turn people away from their iniquities. And so, Yahshua did that and says, actually, this is a prophecy of the gift of tongues here, by the way, according to 1 Corinthians 14. Isaiah 20 and 11 says, With stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people to whom he said, This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest. This is... the refreshing that's why peter said so the times of refreshing may come upon you believe in the messiah yahshua this word refreshing in the hebrew has to do with rest remember we talked earlier yeshua says take my yoke upon you and you will find rest for your souls our souls apart from having the messiah in us are in is in turmoil Our souls are not at rest.
Our souls are in trouble. Our souls are destined for torment in the lake of fire. And so when we come to Yahshua, we have that rest for our souls.
And that is that refreshing, that rest. But, of course, it says here they would not hear and they didn't, but some did. And so Peter says, let this time of refreshing come upon you from the presence of Yahweh.
Right? He wants that to come upon them. It turned out about 5,000 people came to salvation that day.
Even more than those from the gift of tongues, this one man who was healed, 5,000 souls were saved. It says in Acts chapter 4, verse 1 through 3, As they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached to Yahshua the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of men came to be about five thousand. And it came to pass on the next day that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
And when they set them in the midst, they asked, By what? power or by what name have you done this because that makes the name pretty important doesn't it and peter filled with the holy spirit said to them rulers of the people and elders of israel if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man by what means he has been made well let it be known to you and to all the people of israel that by the name of yahshua messiah of nazareth whom you Impale or crucify whom Elohim has raised from the dead. By him this man stands before you as whole. And so this is the stone once the builders was rejected by you builders which become the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other.
For there is no other name under heaven get among men by which we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived they were uneducated. And untrained men they marveled, and they realized that they had been with Yahshua.
And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? For indeed that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them.
that from now on they speak to no man in this name. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, or teach in the name of Yahshua. But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it's right in the sight of Elohim to listen to you more than Elohim, you judge. But we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people, since they all glorified Elohim for what had been done for the man who was over forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. And so that when they heard that, they raised their voice to Elohim with one accord and said, Yahweh, you are Elohim who made heaven and earth and sea and all that's in them, who by the mouth of your servant David had said, why did the nations rage? And the people plot vain things.
It's Psalm chapter 2. The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against Yahweh and against his Messiah, his anointed. For truly against your holy servant Yahushua, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Master, look at their hearts, their threats, and grant to your servants that with what? All boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal.
And that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant, Yahshua. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of Elohim with boldness.
And you know, we're often held in content by the powers that be, you know. And this is happening even more and more as we get closer to the end. We cannot be weak.
We cannot be mousy, brothers and sisters. We cannot let that cause us to be ashamed of the testimony we possess. That's what the enemy wants.
He wants to do nothing more than to zip your lip about your faith. That's what he wants more than anything else, to say nothing. and do not glorify him. So, but we cannot falter. We cannot wilt under societal pressure.
We cannot, we cannot be weak. We have to be bold. And the disciples knew. They were literally going to share Yahweh's word at the possible loss of their own life. Their own life could be lost because these powers that be They already put Yahshua to death, and they knew these men wanted to put them to death too.
They were going to do everything they could to find a way to do it. We don't even have that threat. We don't even have that threat right now.
I mean, maybe one day we will. Maybe we have it, we don't even know it. But we know this, we've got to face our culture with boldness, conviction, and strength.
We can't be a bunch of weak-kneed... sit around scared of what the people are going to think of us kind of people. We can't do that.
And so the disciples, they recognized that. And when they saw Yahshua working so mightily in Peter and what he was doing, what Yahshua was doing there, they said, Boy, that's so brave for you to stand in the face of those men that put Yahshua to death. We need that same boldness, you know.
That's what they were saying, and they prayed for it. Yahweh, give us that same boldness. And so many times, fear is overcome by prayer.
What does it say? Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, give thanks. and let your request be known to Elohim, the peace that passes understanding will come upon you.
That peace will come upon you. And so we have to, as believers, number one, prayer. And Brother Richard said it best this morning. Prayer, prayer, and more prayer.
You know, we want to see Yahweh work among us. Wherever you are, if you want to see Yahweh work among you, prayer, prayer, and more prayer. And when fear comes upon you like a flood, pray again.
You're thinking about sharing a word with somebody on an individual basis. You've got timidity in your heart. Take that moment right then and there. Prayer.
Father, I need your boldness. Give me your words right now. It's not about me. And stay in close contact with the Father. These men needed to be in regular fellowship and communion with the Father because they were establishing.
Yahshua's congregation here in Yerushalayim, and if we want to be anything like them, we've got to stay in close communication. So you're thinking about sharing the word with somebody, and Satan always tries to make himself look bigger than he really is, and you're thinking all these things in your head what might happen. What if you get rejected? What if now that guy, he was starting to be...
Nice to you and stuff, now he thinks you're just some kind of weirdo. You know, all these thoughts the enemy wants to plant in our minds. And, you know, here's what we've got to look at. This man's drowning.
And I'm not talking about someone drowning in a lake. I'm talking about someone drowning in a lake of fire one day. Unless we speak up and do something. And we love that person.
We love that human being. You love your neighbor as yourself. Then you need to be in tune with the spirit of Yahweh about what to say, how to say it, when to say it.
I'm not saying always right now is the time, but a lot of times you don't really have but one opportunity, you know, and what are we doing with those opportunities, you know, and what can we do? How can we as a fellowship, a lot of us here are, you know, we're kind of quiet people, you're not necessarily... A bunch of extroverts here. We're kind of quiet people overall. How can we open our mouth and maybe this is what we need to have?
You know, Moshe wasn't a big speaker either, right? But he can use that. He can use that. He can use that in all of us. So we've got to think about that person across from you or that person that you're talking to.
How can you open the door? There's really good ways to show your faith. Ask an open-ended question like, do you think there's an afterlife?
Ask them, do you think there's an afterlife? That gets them thinking, well, it's not combative. You're not saying you believe the Bible.
Do you think there's an afterlife? And let them answer the question. Do you ever fear death?
Most people, unbelievers, are scared of death. Very, very scared of death. Do you believe that we're a product of evolution, or do you think that we're just created by an intelligent designer? That's how you kind of open the door to begin talking a little bit more on the spiritual side of things and kind of feel how things go from there.
And then let that other person kind of listen to them, number one. You're not there to preach at them. You're here to listen to them. And you don't even know what to say to them unless you hear from them where they're at.
And sometimes it helps if you reflect. So they say something back to you. You repeat what they've said.
So you're saying you believe, even if you think it's wrong, so you're saying you believe that one day you hope to come back as a cat. or a dog or, you know, reincarnation. Or one day you think that that's going to happen. That's interesting, but the Bible tells us the point a man wants to die, and after that, the judgment.
And so, you know, so that's where I'm at with it. Or ask them this question, do you think you're a good person? Everyone thinks they're a good person. Well, not everyone, but most people think they're a good person.
Pretty good person overall. And even the Proverbs say, every man proclaims his own goodness, but Yahweh weighs the hearts. Start asking them questions.
Are you, you ever told a lie before? How many lies have you told in your life? Ever stolen anything?
Start asking whether they've kept the Ten Commandments and everyone comes to realize, I haven't been a good person, you know. It's a pretty good way of evangelism. I've used it with much success. And there's lots of ways to do it as Yahweh's Spirit leads, as Yahweh's Spirit leads. But the main thing is we can't just be silent.
We have the greatest hope anyone could ever have residing in us. If we love the people around us, we are going to share the word and not be ashamed. So if you lack confidence or are too tempted to share your faith, pray to Yahweh for boldness. Even if it's at that exact moment, you think you're going to share something, remember the task at hand. Just as you would save a person drowning in a lake, you're called to love that person by saving them from a far worse fate in the lake of fire and let his perfect love he's placed in you for that person.
Cast out all fear. You know, sometimes when you realize what you're really doing, what you're really doing, all of a sudden all the fear melts away. This is so important. So that is the fourth command of the apostles as I see it. And very important for us to maintain these things as we continue to build our foundation here as a fellowship, as believers out there in Internet land.
Please, please, please remember these things. They're so important. Let's pray. Father Yahweh, thank you for all your love.
Thank you for the Messiah Yahshua. Thank you for saving us from the lake of fire, for caring so much about us. You not only face fear, you face damnation, you face spitting, you face torment and torture, bearing our sin for us. Father Yahweh, wherever we are weak, we know it's not we who live anymore.
It's you, Messiah Yahshua, who lives in us. You placed him in our hearts. Father Yahweh, manifest him through our lives and the way we live it. We want mighty works to be done through us, Father. In faith we believe that you will do them.
And we seek humility, we seek meekness, we seek to always give you the glory. If any man would even look at us as if we were anything, we correct him saying, it's the mighty one of my Father in heaven, the mighty one of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the mighty one of all of Yahshua the Messiah who has chosen to do these things in us. We are just broken vessels apart from Him.
And Father, we don't want to regard the things we possess as our own. We want to practice the kind of giving to those who are physically in need and spiritually in need. In the same way the apostles did, the way Yahshua lived His life. Father, we want to glorify You in all that we do.
May Your name be glorified. May You be glorified above all names, above all names on the earth. For we know... We know, Father, Yours is the kingdom, Yours is the power, and Yours truly is the glory forever and ever.
In the Messiah Yahshua's great name we pray these things. Amen.