Episode 160 - God Over Government

The Church of Jesus Christ must fear and obey God rather than fearing and obeying mere mortal man.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
The Lord is my life, my salvation. Whom shall I fear.
The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom
shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies
and my folds, when they came upon me to eat
up my flesh, they stumbled and fell, though in host
should encamp against me. And this will I be confident.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
One thing.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
The salmon said, that I have desired of the Lord,
and that shall I see, Captain, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of
my life. I'm going to behold the beauty of the Lord.
I'm going to be able to inquire in his temple.
We have a hiding place. We have a refuge, We
have a shelter. We have an anchor for the soul

(00:56):
in Christ. Jesus, our Lord God, bless you. Once again.
We welcome you to this another edition of End Time
Revival Ministries USA podcast for those of you who are
listening to us by way of our audio version of
our podcast, which can be found through multiple different outlets.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
We are streaming each and every week, Amen, on this platform, Amen,
where we seek to glorify God through the preached and
taught word of the living God, that is our calling,
our aim, our goal, our desire. Amen, in it to

(01:39):
be found pleasing to God Almighty.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Also for those of you who view us by way
of our YouTube channel, it's entitled One Voice in the Wilderness,
where again we welcome you on either platform to become
a subscriber and also to please by all me share
it with someone else again. And we're grateful to the
Lord for allowing us this opportunity as always to be

(02:04):
a spokesman for His truth.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Amen. Preach the word, be.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Instant in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come
the apostle fall through the power of the Holy Spirit,
through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prophesied that they
will not endure sound doctrine. They will heat to themselves

(02:31):
teachers having itching ears, and will turn away their ears
from the truth. But we are, as good soldiers of
Jesus Christ, we are to endure hardness.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
And we live, of course in a world that is
by a large hostile to the name of Jesus Christ,
to the Kingdom of Heaven, to the command of the
sovereign God of Creation. Hostile to the Church of Jesus Christ.
And we must again, as good soldiers, endure afflictions, endure persecution,

(03:08):
and stand Amen in such a time as this, for
the name of Jesus Christ. Amen, and for the Kingdom
of Heaven. And we continue as we have for the
last several weeks on end in our series on God, Government,

(03:28):
Church and State. God, Government, Church and State.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
God, of course is the sovereign king and creator and
ruler over all of the universe, and He himself is
the one who created and established and ordained government.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
But make no mistake about it. Every government ruler is
the servant of God in the sense that whether they
obey God or disobey him.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
His will reigns and rules supreme, and God raises rulers
up and he takes them down.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
But every man everywhere is commanded, Amen, is commanded. Amen,
Fear God and keep His commandments. This is the whole
duty of man. Today we're going to focus on God
over government, God over government. More specifically, we the Church

(04:33):
of Jesus Christ, must obey.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
God rather than man. Amen.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Fear God rather than man, Obey God rather than mere
mortal man. And today we're going to continue in the
Book of the Acts of the Apostles in just a
few moments. But by the way, if you have your Bibles,
you can turn to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter

(04:58):
number five, where we'll be reading in just a few minutes. Amen.
But before we began, before we dive in, let's take
just a quick moment, as always, to invoke the presence
of the Lord Father again. Great is your faithfulness to us,
Great is your mercy new every morning. Faithful God you are,
even though we fall and sin and come short of

(05:23):
the glory of God. You are forever faithful to us,
forgiving long suffering toward us, not willing that any of
us should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But we know that your day will come, and we
are looking forward to it. We are hastening to it.
We are even praying. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus, bless us.

(05:45):
Now we shall be blessed. Keep us and we shall
be kept.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Open.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Lord, someone's eyes ears and heart to receive the word
of the Living God, that they may be saved. Thereby
in the name of Jesus the Christ of Cavalry, we
pray and give thanks.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
Amen. And Amen.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Now, as we've already emphasized over and over again, perhaps
specifically in the last few sessions, that a government that
is not ruled by a god fearing leader, or by
rulers who will revere an honor the Lord, the God

(06:22):
of creation, the God of Heaven, the God of Earth,
the God of the universe, this will be a government.
This will be a ruler, This will be a king
that will be threatened and fearful of the Church of
Jesus Christ. And we need look no further a man

(06:42):
than the ongoing persecution in our world today that is
against the Church in many religious led nations, nations of
religion a man. And as I've said on numerous occasions,
Christianritianity is not true. Christianity is not a religion.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Christianity is salvation God, Salvation God coming down. Religion is
man reaching up, man attempting. Man are trying to climb
up some other way. But salvation, Amen, through Jesus Christ,
is what Christianity, true Christianity.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Is all about.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
So we have a world where there are many nations
a man, governments led by religion. Religious order in the
world is not opposed to religion by the way man
is not opposed to religion. Religion has always been around
with man, beginning way back with Babylon really beginning a man,

(07:46):
and with the First Family, where a man Cain sought
to come his own way. Amen, do it his way, Amen.
And so the rebellion of religion and religious orders, Amen,
is what we have in our world, even continuing to
this day. And many nations who are deathly afraid of

(08:09):
the name of Jesus Christ Amen being preached to their people.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
And they look at these people as being their people.
They want to keep people in bondage, keep people in subjection,
keep people under their control. And such governments throughout the
history of the Church of Jesus Christ existing in the
world have clearly demonstrated all the world history. Amen. And

(08:36):
I'm talking about the true Church of Christ.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
And I'm not talking about when the church, Amen, was compromised,
when the Church was infiltrated. I'm talking about the real
true Church. Such governments throughout the history of the Church
existing in this world, Amen, have clearly demonstrated their animosity

(09:03):
towards the Church spreading the good news of liberty that
is to be found in Christ, Jesus they hate the
name of Christ. Jesus told us, he warned his disciples,
He warned them, Amen, over and over again. They hated me.
They're gonna hate you. They rejected me. They're gonna reject you.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Some of you are going to be killed. You're gonna
be brought up before the council. You're gonna have to answer.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
But don't worry, don't even think, don't even meditate beforehand.
I'm going to give you words.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
I'm going to speak in you and through you. Amen.
And your adversaries will not be able to a man
resist that which the Holy ghosts in you, will a
man perform. So in their hostility being intimidated by the
growth of the Church, government leaders who feel that power

(10:00):
being uh diminished by the rise of the Church, who
feel their power of being dissolved or taken away. As again,
this is what we're gonna talk about. This is just
a moment the spirit of fear would do to a person.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
So so the rising up of the Church puts fear
in the hearts of these government rulers and leaders. Amen,
because again they feel their power being diminished by the Church.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
And and they have historically acted, Amen, and an irrational,
an impetuous manner towards the Church of Jesus Christ. Again,
I'm talking about the true Church of Jesus Christ. Government
leaders who do not operate in the fear of God.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
They will operate in a fear that comes from the
adversary of their souls unbeknownst to them. In their unbelief
and their rebellion against God, they are operating in the fear,
the spirit of fear that come from the devil. They

(11:12):
need not fear the Church. The fear they need not
fear uh. True uh, followers of Christ, true believers in Jesus,
true disciples of Christ who will do good Amen, following
the footsteps of Jesus. They need not fear the Church.

(11:34):
But again, it is because their father, the devil, is
the one who fears his kingdom being torn apart, his kingdom.
Being a man upset and turned over and shaken and
moved and disturbed, and the light shine upon it that

(11:55):
that's what the devil fears, and so he incites all
of this fear here inside of these a man uh uh,
These these unbelievers who a man have a have an
unwarranted fear of God, an unwarranted fear of the Church,
an unwarranted fear of the people of God preaching again

(12:17):
Jesus Christ and him crucified. So historically they have acted
irrationally and in an impetuous manner toward the Church, toward
the people of God, a man, when there certainly was
no need for that. Government leaders who do not operate
again in the fear of God, will operate in the

(12:40):
fear of the spirit, of fear that comes from the devil.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Because the fear of the Lord, the Bible says, is
to beginning of wisdom. So if they acted in the
fear of God, in the reverence of Him, they would
have wisdom, They would have knowledge, they would have discretion,
they would have understanding, They would have a man, the
God of Heaven Amen, revealing things to them.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
Those rulers who will revere and honor God, Amen, who
rule over their governments in this world, again, they will
have good understanding Amen, and they will have good success.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
The Bible says, when the righteous rule, the people rejoice.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
But when the wicked are in power, the people grown. Righteousness,
the Bible teaches, is what exalts a nation. But sin
is a reproach to any people. The spirit of fear
from the devil will torment those a man who refuse
to walk in the knowledge and counsel and in the

(13:43):
fear of God.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge
and understanding. The only other fear that there is comes
from the devil. And the Bible tells us teaches us
that God has not given us the spirit of fear,
but of power, love, and a sound mind. You will

(14:06):
make sound decisions, government leaders and rulers if you walk
in the fear of God. And by the way, this
is precisely what happened with the rulers of the Jews. Amen,
with the coming of Jesus and with the establishment of
his church after he ascended back up into heaven, when

(14:29):
the apostles began to work Amen, just as Jesus had
worked with signs and wonders.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
And also by the spirit of the Living God confirming them,
confirming their ministry. What happened the rulers, the elders, the scribes, Amen, Pharisees,
the Sadducees, all of them, all of these different again

(14:57):
religious sects, Amen. They were deeply troubled. They were deeply
distressed a man that these men who had by the
way they took note of this, who had been with Jesus,
were now very much a credible threat to them, to
their power over the people. Again, this is all in

(15:21):
their minds. It's again what happens when the spirit of
fear comes. It begins to torment you.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
And so it all really kind of began, if you will,
from the Book of the Acts perspective. After again, Jesus
has ascended back up to heaven with the healing of
the Lame Man, which we've already talked about in the
previous podcasts. The Healing of the Lame Man in Acts
chapter number three. This was only the beginning of a

(15:50):
Pentecostal fire. A man that would not and could not
a man be quenched and controlled by a mere mortal man.
Draw near to the fire with reverence and godly fear.
You'll be saved, you'll be delivered. What will happen is

(16:10):
it's gonna burn up the wickedness. It's gonna burn up
the old man. It's gonna quench all of the amen,
the the the ungodly uh things, and and and of sin.
And all of that will be purged out of you.
If you draw near to the fire with reverence and
godly fear, in repentance, with a broken heart and a

(16:32):
contrite spirit, the fire will burn up, the shaft will
burn up that which is unnecessary, unneeded, and and and
which which which, so as the Bible said, easily besets us,
which which drags us down, Amen, which brings us down?
Draw near to the fire, Amen, and you will be saved.

(16:56):
But if you resist the fire of the Holy goat,
you will be burned.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Draw near to the fire, be saved. Resist the fire
and you will be burned. Amen. So Amen. The re
Bible teaches by the way that our God is a
consuming fire.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Our God is a consuming fire. So we don't need
to fear the fire of God, fear the fire that
falls from heaven in a way that Amen, is going
to be detrimental to us. But we need to fear God, Amen,
and keep his commandments and look to obey him. Amen.

(17:40):
And again, rather than man. And so if you remember
after the healing of the cripple band, the miracle of
healing that was performed on him was done. And keep
in mind again the man was above forty years old
man it never walked before all the people knew him.
He sat in the tempt u gate daily.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
And so when this miracle had been performed on this man,
all of the people a man begin to a man rejoice.
The man himself was leaping and walking, and and and
and all day during that day, a man of rejoicing,
a man the crowd. The people were being converted. And
the Bible says, I believe it was about five thousand

(18:24):
men or so that were added to the church.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
A man believing the.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Preaching of the gospel, that Peter went on to preach
to the people.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
And and and so with this all of this commotion
happening the government. The rulers described the Pharisees, they were
losing control in their mind. In their mind, they were
losing control in the spirit of fear caused them a
man to lay hold on the apostles and to threaten them,

(18:55):
a man to speak no more, to command them to
speak no more, to preach no more, to teach no
more in the name of Jesus Christ. But the apostles
went back Amen to their own, went back to the church,
had a prayer meeting, and the Bible tells us the
place was shaken. They prayed to the Lord for boldness.

(19:17):
They prayed to the Lord, Amen, that he was strengthen them,
and that the Lord would do even more signs and wonders. Amen,
by the name of Jesus Christ. And so we go
now to chapter number five, or the book of the
Acts of the Apostles. The Bible teaches big Gun, We're
gonna begin reading by the way down at verse number twelve.

(19:38):
So if you have your Bible, please please follow along
with us as we read. And we'll pause intermittently to
a man perhaps comment here and there. But verse number
twelve Acts chapter five and reading from the King James version,
and by the hands of the Apostles, were many what

(20:01):
the Bible says, many signs and wonders walked among the people.
And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
And of the rest verse thirteen, there's no man joined
himself to them, but the people magnified them.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
Now listen, listen, listen. The Church is being exalted among
the people.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
Amen. The Lord is building his church just as he
promised to do. Amen.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
Jesus said upon this rock, I will build my church,
and the gates of Hell will not be able to prevail.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
And so this is what is happening, This is what
is transpiring. Verse number fourteen tells us that believers were
the more added to the church, added to the Lord,
multitudes of people, both men and women. So the Church
again is being built up by the Lord. And now

(21:03):
this is problematic, Amen, especially again for hostile government, for
a government ruler or rulers, leader or leaders who are
being tormented by the spirit of fear. They fear that
they're going to lose their power, their fearing that they're
going to lose control, Amen, their ability to regulate, Amen,

(21:29):
and to command and.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
To issue their decrees. Amen.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Because he whom the sun sets free is free indeed, Amen.
And we are to obey God.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Rather than man. Amen.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
And so the Bible tells us the signs and wonders.
The power the movement was so overwhelming, look what happens
so much so verse fifteen, that they would bring forth
the sick into the streets. The Bible tells us they

(22:07):
laid them on beds and couches, that at the least
the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
In other words, there were so many people, as it
was with Jesus, who were in need of healing, who
were in need of deliverance, who were in need of

(22:28):
a man salvation and victory over a man, all of
what the devil had been doing, the tormenting spirit, and
so forth, a man.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
They were in need of it.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
But Peter, Amen, and the apostles were a man insufficient
in themselves, not that they you know again, you're talking
about one or two, or ten or twelve, a man,
individuals amongst a multitude of people. And so Peter, a
man particularly being in out with the power of God,

(23:02):
with the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Amen. Amen.

Speaker 1 (23:05):
The Bible tells us that his shadow just in other words, Peter,
just walking down the street, his shadow cast upon these people.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
The Bible says, they were vexed with unclean spirits.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
A multitude of people coming out of the cities verse sixteen,
about Jerusalem. And they brought all of these six folk,
sick folk, a man people, a man again, vexed, oppressed,
possessed by unclean spirits. And look what the Bible says,
verse sixteen. And they were healed, every one of them,

(23:46):
every one of them healed by the power of God.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
And whenever, please, never, never, never, never, never forget this.
Whenever there is an upheaval to the status quo, a
disruption a man to the minds and hearts and ways
of the powers that be a man, what they are

(24:13):
accustomed to, a man being able to regulate and to control.
Whenever there's an upheaval, whenever there's a disturbance. And this
is exactly what this was, because we'll see a little
bit later. In the Acts of the Apostles, there was
one who testifies, say, these who have turned the world
upside down, so now they're losing They feel in their

(24:34):
minds that they are losing control, that they are losing
their power, and the people are no longer going to
be following their religious order. Now they are compelled to act,
and when they do, it is almost always ladies and gentlemen,
out of fear. They had no reason to fear a man,

(24:57):
They had no reason to fear the Church, and no
reason to fear Amen, the salvation of people being delivered
from sin.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
What they feared, Amen, was.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Losing their power and control.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
The spirit of fear tormented them. Look what happens. Look
at verse sevent time. I'm not making it up as
you writing your bibles.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
Then the high priest rolls up, and all they that
were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees,
And the Bible says they were filled with indignation, angry.
The Bible tells us, by the way, be angry and

(25:41):
sin not, because the wrath of man does not produce
the righteousness of God. They were filled with indignation.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
You know why they were.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
Feeling with indignation, ladies and gentlemen, is because they, in
their you know, pride and pompousness, they thought that they
were in control. And they had commanded the apostles, Amen,
to preach no more, to teach no more in the

(26:11):
name of Jesus. Don't you dare bring the blood of
this man upon us now. Even though they themselves at
the crucifixion of.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Jesus said to Pilot said, in.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
The presence of all the people, his blood be on
us and our children. Yeah, kill and crucify him, give
us the rabbits. His blood be upon us. Now, they say, oh, no, no, no, no, no,
don't preach anymore in the name of Jesus, and bring
this man's blood upon us. So they had commanded the apostles. Amen,

(26:50):
they had a man straightly threatened them, don't you preach.
Don't you teach anymore in the name of Jesus. Government intimidation.
They're trying to intimidate. I told you this is how
the devil operates. He first tries to intimidate us.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
If that doesn't work, then it moves on to strong persecution.
And if that doesn't work, then, of course, Amen, they
will physical altercations will ensue. And if that doesn't work,
and none of it works, by the way, then they'll seek.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
To kill you and Jesus. Listen. This is all.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
This is Old Testament, New Testament. They did it to
the prophets, ay man, they did it to Jesus. They
did it to the apostles. They're still doing it today.
People are being murdered, massacred. Amen, for the name of
Jesus Christ, for the cause of Christ.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
So the high priest he rises up with all those
who were with him. The Bible says, the sector of
the sadducees. See, they had the control of the religious
order of the temple of the services, and they are
now feel with indignation. Look what the Bible tells us
verse eighteen. They laid their hands on the apostles and

(28:07):
put them in the common prison. Ah, there they go.
They'll lock you up there. That's another thing. He'll put
you in jail, put you in prison, incocerate you. They'll
invent and make up laws just to stop you.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Amen. They'll come up with all kind of decrees. Amen.
Just to amen again, try to.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
Withstand against the fire of God, the fire that is
consuming fire. They don't understand. They don't understand. They really
don't understand. But the Bible said, look what I love this.
I love this matter. Oh I love this. Look at
verse nineteen. But the Angel of the Lord by night
opened the prison doors and brought them forth, and said,

(28:54):
go stand and speak in the temple to the people
all all the words of this life. Lord, have mercy.
I wish I had time. We just to deal with
that alone. Go and stand and speak to the people
all the words of this life. Not all of this foolishness,
not all of this conjecture, not all of these lies.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
But speak life, Amen, the words of this life.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
In the word of life comes from God. In his word,
you will find life in obedience and adherence to His word,
you will live and not die. Amen, Go and stand
and speak to the people all the words of this life.
In him we live and move and have our being.

(29:44):
And without him, and apart from him, we are dead.
We're dead in our trespasses and sin. And we must
have the word of life that comes from God, that
emanates from God, in order to live.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
When they heard that verse one, they entered into the
temple early in the morning and talked. But here comes
the High Priest, the Bible says, and they that were
with him, they called all the council together. So here's
the government assembling all together, a man getting ready to

(30:18):
a man put the apostles on trial, as it were. Again,
bring them up before the council, And the Bible says, Look, old,
I'm not making this right in your Bible. This is
the government at work. The high priests, all who were
with him, they called the council together, all the senate
of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison

(30:42):
to have them brought. But when the officers came found
them not in the prison. They returned and told, saying,
the prison truly found we shut with all safety. Can
somebody say he toned empty prison? Amen, the prison was

(31:05):
shut safely, locked, the keepers, the guards. In other words,
they were standing outside the doors. But when we went inside,
when we opened the door, when we unlocked it, nobody
was there. What in the name? Uh, oh, what in

(31:30):
the name?

Speaker 2 (31:31):
Oh? What's in a name?

Speaker 1 (31:32):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (31:32):
In the name of Jesus.

Speaker 1 (31:34):
Oh, we have victory, reed, we are victorious, We are
triumphant verse twenty four. When the high priests and the
Captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things,
they doubted of them. Where in to this we grow,
in other words, the way, way, way, How could this
possibly be? You know, we put chains on them, we
put shackles on them, We locked them up, And nobody

(31:55):
has ever escaped our custody before. What do you mean, Well,
you forgot all about the Jesus that you denied, and
by the way, Jesus by and on many occasions had
escaped out of their desire, they're there, they're they're they're
longing to slay him before the time a man miraculously
uh moving out of there. A myst but but but

(32:19):
but but they can be because they wanted to believe
a lie. See, people just want to believe a lie.
They wanted to believe the lie that Jesus was still
dead even though he was not in the grave.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
And they knew that.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
And they bribe the guards and say, hey, just tell
them the disciples came and stole his body. Listen, no grave,
no prison, can't stop, can't nothing, nothing of man can
stop what God is doing. They locked up Paul, and
men put him in prison. What did he do while
he was there? Wrote those prison epistles, Oh my God,

(32:52):
Oh God, God, God has a way, even in the
midst of persecution. A man in the midst of man
again attempting Amen.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
To stop the fire of God.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
Amen from burning up sin, Amen from burning up the
old way of man, the doings of man, the wickedness
of man. And you can't stop this fire. You can't
stop it. So they they say, wait, wait, what how
could this have happened?

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Amen?

Speaker 1 (33:24):
They doubted of them where into this would grow? And
then the Bible says, somebody comes verse twenty five and
tells them, behold, the men whom you put in prison
are standing in the temple and teaching the people. So
then the Bible says, went to the captain with the officers.

(33:45):
This is the police, the government police, amen, and brought
them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they
should have been stoned. And when they brought them, the
Bible says they set them before the council, and the
high priests ask them listen to these words verse twenty

(34:09):
eight and twenty nine, saying, did not we straightly command
you that you should not teach in this name? And behold,
you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to

(34:30):
bring this man's blood upon us. Man, I wish sometimes
I would just wish I could, I could just I
could just see how all of this actually just really transpire.

(34:52):
You know, you have to use your imagination, if you will,
to see Peter and John and the apostles standing there,
and the high priests having the temerity.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
To now say that is now the fault that is
now on Peter and John and James and Bartholomew and
Matthew to.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Bring upon them the guilt of the shed blood of Jesus.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
When they said.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
When they themselves said, his blood be on us and
our children, just kill him, Pilot, crucify him, crucify him,
get rid of him. He's a nuisance to us. He's
a threat to our power and our religious order.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Kill him. Now.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
You are preaching this Jesus, Amen, and intend to bring
this man's blood upon us. You are filling Jerusalem with
your doctrine. Oh that we would, Oh that we would
abide in the doctrine of Christ, all that we would
preach the doctrine of Christ in our world today. Then

(36:17):
Peter verse twenty nine, and the other apostles answered and said,
we ought to obey God rather than men, ladies and gentlemen.
It is God over government. We are not ladies and gentlemen,

(36:39):
Church of the Living God. We are not to fear
mere mortal man. Jesus taught his disciples, he trained them,
he prepared them. Even though this that fear did come,
and they were cowering in fear after Jesus was taken,
after Jesus man was crucified. Amen, But God, through the

(37:05):
resurrection of Jesus, through the amen witnessing of his resurrected body,
his presence being with them, these same men were now emboldened. Amen,
had the courage a man to stand in the face

(37:26):
of all of these hostile threats of the government, A
man of the rulers of the leaders, who were being
tormented by the spirit of fear of losing their own
power and control of the people, of this disrupting of
the status quo of their religious order. They were being
a man driven and compelled to now persecute the apostles,

(37:49):
just again as Jesus had warned and prepared them.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
But Peter.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
And the other apostles, the high priests, they answered the
rulers of the Jews, the government officials, with these words,
we ought to obey God rather than man, God over government.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
We need in our day, ladies.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
And gentlemen, the same kind of boldness we need in
our day.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
To be of good courage. We need.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
In our day to obey God rather than man, God
over government. God help us, God be with us, God
strengthen us. Just as the apostles went back and prayed
for boldness, for courage, for signs and wonders to be done.

(38:54):
Through your name, Lord, we pray even now that you
will raise up a generation that will obey, that you
will raise up a people, a nation of witnesses, who
will stand in the face of fear, stand in the
face of intimidation, stand in the face of persecution. Stand

(39:16):
in the face of the enemy coming in like a flood,
knowing that you are our refuge, our source, our strength,
our shield, our strong tower, our shadow of protection. Under
your wings, Lord, we give you praise, glory and honor.
Right now. We know that you're able to do, exceeding

(39:36):
abundantly above all we can even ask or think. We
give you the glory now in the name of Jesus.
Amen and Amen.