A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS - Chapter #2 (Part 3) - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

In continuing this study on "A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS - Chapter 2, Part 3, we examine further what does it truly mean to be "born again" according to the Bible? In this profound exploration of Acts Chapter 2, Brother Ernie Perez cuts through centuries of religious tradition to reveal the original pattern of salvation established at the birth of the church.

"The church that was birthed in the book of Acts is the church that Jesus is returning for," Brother Ernie boldly declares, setting the stage for a deep examination of Peter's Pentecost sermon. After receiving the keys to the kingdom from Jesus Himself, Peter used those keys to unlock salvation for the first converts after Christ's ascension. His response to their heart-piercing question—"What shall we do?"—remains the definitive blueprint for Christian conversion: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Through careful scriptural analysis, Brother Ernie demonstrates how water baptism in Jesus' name was foreshadowed in Old Testament purification rituals and how the baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers believers just as it did the early church. He connects Jesus' words to Nicodemus about being "born of water and Spirit" directly to Peter's instructions in Acts 2:38, revealing the consistency of God's salvation plan.

Perhaps most challenging to modern Christians is the picture of daily discipleship that emerges from this chapter. The first believers "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship," breaking bread from "house to house" with singleness of heart. This stands in stark contrast to the once-a-week church attendance pattern so common today. Brother Ernie offers practical wisdom for sharing faith in everyday encounters, reminding listeners that sometimes we plant seeds that others will water later.

Ready to discover what it means to embrace the fullness of apostolic teaching? Join us for this transformative episode that will deepen your understanding of salvation and inspire you to live out the vibrant faith of the early church.

Ways to Give at www.m3mi.org...Thank you for your seed!  :)

Transcript

Welcome to Simple Discipleship Unfiltered

Speaker 1 0:13

Hey y'all, welcome to Simple Discipleship Unfiltered. I'm your host, Sister Diana. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. Today, Can we be real? Being a Christian is not always easy, but you are not alone. So grab you a drink, grab you a snack. Let's open the word and see what Jesus has to say today. Hey, welcome to Simple Discipleship Unfiltered. I'm Sister Diana and I am joined again by Brother Ernie Perez. How are you doing, brother?

Speaker 2 0:48

I'm good I've got to thank the Lord for another day.

Speaker 1 0:50

Yes, we've got to thank Him. We're in the heat of the summer. It's hot in Texas right now, but God is good. God has been good, amen. We're around the table today. We've got Sister Ann here, we've got Sister Patty here, we've got Sister Audia here, we've got Sister Helen here and myself, and we're ready to just continue to dive into this Chapter 2 of the Book of Acts, and we've been on it. This is our third time we've been talking about it, but there's so much packed into this chapter. Why do you feel like it's important for the church today?

Speaker 2 1:26

this chapter? Why do you feel like it's important for the church today? I think one of the things we must understand is that peter having received from jesus the keys to the kingdom and jesus having stated to uh nicodemus, you must be born again, we need to see how those things get played out in reality. The thing about the book of Acts is there is no teaching in parables Throughout the gospels, where the apostles and disciples are being trained. Everything is taught in parables. No parables here. Here we're down to brass tacks. What does it mean to be born again of water and of spirit? What does it mean to believe in the Lord? Is it just mental assent and a verbal statement? What is repentance? Is it just something you talk about? But we're going to handle it here in the book of Acts and see the way it was preached after Jesus ascended. So this is important Now. This is the birth of the church, and you can't get any more important than telling people how to be born again and what it takes to enter into God's path of salvation.

Speaker 1 2:49

So, again, what's the significance of it for the church today, though?

Speaker 2 2:54

Well, at the risk of sounding arrogant, Go ahead. The church that was birthed in the book of Acts is the church that Jesus is returning for.

Speaker 1 3:05

Yes.

Speaker 2 3:06

And as you read through the book of Acts you notice it'll not say Catholic, protestant, baptist, methodist, pentecostal, none of those terms are there. Those things develop because humans are weak and in all of our best efforts sometimes we become focused, you know on some small bit of truth and then stop there.

Speaker 2 3:37

I guess I could say I learned such great things. I had friends from the Baptist Church, assemblies of God, maybe some organizations you never heard of smaller groups, upci, great large groups, but none of us. No matter how long we've been walking with Christ, none of us have got God trapped in some little theological box and he is infinity and we need to keep learning about him. And I think one of the great things about the book of Acts is you watch the church from its infancy begin to grow and you realize some things. You're familiar with your Bible.

Speaker 2 4:22

Everything in the Old Testament is prophetic to Jesus. You read it in the Gospels and then to what the church will become. And so you read that in the Gospels in the book of Acts, from Romans to Revelation, everything is pointing back to the Gospels in the book of Acts to help you see how they all go together and work in your life together and work in your life. So it is my firm conviction that in order to really get a grip on things, if you're going to grow in Christ, and especially if you're going to exercise a testimony in some sort of ministry, you need to be growing in your understanding of how the Gospels and the book of acts go together, so that you can see how the rest of the bible meets them, as it were, in the middle yeah, yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 5:15

I love that we're just going back to the original manuscript, if you will. You know, it just kind of gives us. You know, it's not that he left us without anything we have a manual to use as a Christian, as a church, as the body, and so I think it's amazing that we're going into this.

Speaker 2 5:35

You remember, jesus never did call his disciples anything but his disciples and his church, right, right. So it's not like he said I'm founding and building this new religion of Christianity. What he did is fulfill the covenant of Moses and establish his own covenant that we walk in. So he said I'm going to build my church, he builds it, we don't build it. No, baptists, pentecostals Methodists, we're not building his church. If he's not building a church, then we don't have a church. We have a group of people.

Speaker 1 6:16

There you go. I love that, I love that. All right, we're going to go and start the video, because I want you guys to remember that you can find this on every podcast platform, but you also can find this on the YouTube on video. So if you want to go see Brother Ernie's teaching of this, just as you're sitting in a classroom, he's doing this for us. The video is also available on YouTube as well, and we're going to go ahead and start that and then we're going to continue with the lesson.

The Significance of Acts 2

Speaker 2 6:43

All right, going to go ahead and start that and then we're going to continue with the lesson, all right. So we thank you for listening in and for the opportunity to share this time with you, and, of course, we pray that this word blesses you and that, when the podcast is ended, that you're inspired to look into your Bible. You know, if you disagree with me, I'm not doing this so that you'll agree, but if you'll study and draw closer to the Lord, that's answer prayer that we cannot express enough gratitude for. So in just a moment we'll be carrying on with the video portion. Having a little technical difficulty here, we'll get there. Well, leslie, you said you're here just to teach, but people have to also go and study for themselves, to show themselves approved according to scripture, right, right, and the main thing is uh, salvation is all about you and jesus. So I'm no savior, but he is. So we really want to do everything we can to help you get in contact with him.

Speaker 2 8:34

All right, so we left off our last lesson. We were going from Acts 2, verses 36 through 47. We had read those verses and we had started our little commentary on it, and we had read that Peter's preaching ended with a declaration. And looking in your Bible, in Acts 2, verse 36, peter ends his sermon with Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, lord and Christ that Peter had, after done all of his preaching to the crowd. Now he says you know, I'm putting this in your lap the man that you crucified, the man that you had hung on the tree you murdered, the man who is both the revelation of God to man and the Messiah. So we had looked at some scriptures in our last lesson. We had already looked at John, chapter 14 and verse 9. We'd read that, and Hebrews, chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, that how that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. He's your Lord and Savior.

Speaker 2 9:56

And so now we're going to turn to Colossians, chapter 2. If you want to go there, and we're just going to touch a few scriptures here, I recommend that of course you continue to track these down and see what scriptures match up with them. But I'm reading from colossians, chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after christ, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily. So we could rephrase that and do the scripture no harm by saying in the son of god, in jesus, is a complete revelation of the god who fills all time and space. Right, he is an invisible spirit. He fills all time and space. We could not see him. The heavens is his throne, the earth is his footstool. When you look up into the heavens, where is the end of that? Where is the beginning of that? So what Paul is saying here is that there is a fullness that is found in Christ. Peter said he was both Lord and Christ. Paul comes along and puts an asterisk on that by saying that the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ Jesus. That's where it's at.

Speaker 2 11:30

Now we look to 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, and see what he told the Corinthian church. And again, we're just going to read a few scriptures here and there, so you'll need to go back and follow through with this. But 1 Corinthians 5, verse 19,. In the middle of his teaching, paul says To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. I want you to notice that God was in Christ In is completely different from with Someone who's sitting with me, is beside me, in addition to me. But the spirit that is in me you cannot separate from me myself. You know that I have that spirit because I'm alive. It's the core of my being, in my existence, so the core of the existence of j scripture, the gospel of St John, chapter 1, and verse 41. Look at what's said here.

Speaker 2 13:15

Now, one of John's disciples, whose name was Andrew. He is going to find his brother Simon, verse 41,. He first findeth his own brother, simon, and saith unto him. We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted Christ, speaking of Jesus. We've seen that God was in Christ. Now we're seeing John saying that Jesus of Nazareth is truly the Christ. The Messiah, john, chapter 4.

Speaker 2 13:50

Jesus is speaking with the woman at the well In the conversation verse 25,. The woman saith unto him I know that Messiah is come, come, which is called christ, that's another word for messiah. When he has come, he will tell us all things. Verse 26 jesus saith unto Her. I that speak unto thee am he. In other words, I am the Christ that was prophesied. It's me.

Speaker 2 14:33

Now let's look at Matthew, chapter 16. Matthew, chapter 16. And I'm going to start reading at verse 13,. But the scripture I want you to note and remember most is 16.

Speaker 2 14:57

So when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea, philippi, he asked his disciples say, whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said some said thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He, that is Jesus, saith unto them, but who say ye that I am? This is an important question. It's not enough for you to know what the others have to say about me. Who do you say I am? And Simon Peter answered and said Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the Messiah, the Son of God.

Speaker 2 15:49

Verse 17,. Jesus answered and said unto him blessed art thou, simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father, which is in heaven. Listen, each of us need our own personal revelation of God in Christ, understanding that the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob has revealed himself to us in and through his only begotten son. Verse 18, jesus says to Peter and I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. What rock? The rock is that Jesus is the Christ, the knowledge of who Jesus is, the Son of the living God, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. So keter peter had the keys to the kingdom, and we're going to see him use those keys for the first time now that he has ended his sermon in the book of Acts with this declaration who Jesus is, both Lord and Christ, page is sticking together here. So bear with me for a moment.

Speaker 2 17:23

All right, so that was Acts 2 and 36. Verse 37, 37 when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren what shall we do? In other words, they believed everything peter had preached, but they didn't know what to do about it. They knew they were in trouble, they knew they'd crucified the Lord, and so then Peter goes into giving them the explanations. So how many people, other people with one voice, believed with their hearts and confessed with their mouths. See, that's what they did. We read Romans 10 and 9 and think well, that just means I say, I say I believe and from now on I'm a Christian. But that doesn't go along with the rest of the book. You have to read Romans 5, 6, 7, 8.

Speaker 2 18:23

Repentance is key to believing and knowing how to properly call on the name of the Lord. So they're not just parroting words, they're asking what shall we do now that we believe? So we'll look at Acts, chapter 2 now, verses 38 through 41. Then Peter said unto them Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord, our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying save yourselves from this untoward generation. So that wasn't the end of the conversation, but what Luke wrote down was the crux of the matter, the heart of the matter. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them 3,000 souls.

Speaker 2 19:43

Now let's go back and look at this. So Peter instructs them. You people who say you believe, this is the message that I have for you One repent, repent, turn from your wicked ways. He doesn't have to tell them to believe, because they already believe. But faith without works is what Dead being alone by itself. Faith has to produce something. If it doesn't produce repentance, you've not believed. Then it says and be baptized for the remission of sins. These people fully understood what that meant. Fully understood what that meant Water baptism. Let's turn quickly to the book of Exodus. Water baptism is taught figuratively in the Old Testament. We're going to look at Exodus, chapter 30, and I'm going to read verses 17 through 21.

Speaker 2 21:00

The law of Moses. Moses, speaking unto the people, and the Lord spake unto Moses saying saying thou shalt make a laver of brass Moses wrote all this down and his foot of brass to wash with all, and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation, in the altar, and thou shalt put water therein, for Aaron and his sons shall wash their feet thereat when they go into the tabernacle to minister. And they have not stopped at the labor of water. God's going to kill them. It's an object lesson. He loves them. He's not interested in just wiping them out, but it's an object lesson, loves them. He's not interested in just wiping them out, but it's an object lesson. It's something that we learn from when they come near to the altar to minister to burn offering made by fire. So they shall wash their hands and their feet that they not die not, and it shall be a statute forever unto them, as long as the priesthood exists. They will wash with water or they will not be admitted into the tabernacle to function. In Exodus, chapter 40, verse 12, being repeated and thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and wash them with water. Now we know water doesn't remove sin, but it's significance of being prepared into the ministry of the Lord.

Speaker 2 22:50

And finally, we're going to look at Leviticus, chapter 14, verse 8, and here is a cleansing ritual under Levitical law. So you want to go back and read all of this at a later date? Read, read what comes before and what comes after, to satisfy yourself that I'm not just pouring words out. And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and wash himself in water that he may be clean, and after that he shall come into the camp and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.

Jesus as Lord and Christ

Speaker 2 23:35

Jews were very familiar with ritual cleansing. From Levitical law, from the book of Exodus, there were things dug up archaeologically in Jerusalem, mikvahs. What were mikvahs? They were used for people to purify themselves before they went into the temple. They were pools of water that they immersed themselves into. When John the Baptist came baptizing, he was immersing people in the Jordan River, in the Sea of Galilee. He was baptizing people in water, setting the stage for this day when Peter would preach repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Now, that doesn't mean because your sins have been forgiven.

Speaker 2 24:33

Look at Acts, chapter 22, verse 16. Paul is testifying about his conversion. He's already talked about the Lord touching him, being healed, etc. After all this goes on. In verse 16 he tells the crowd that Ananias said to him and now why tarryest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord? Paul was already repented. Paul was already obedient. Ananias had laid hands on him that he would be healed and receive the Holy Ghost. Be filled with the Holy Ghost. You can see the original action here in Acts, chapter 9. If his sins were already gone, why would he be washing them away? You don't wash away that which is already removed. So there's no magic in the water. It's in our obedience to the command of the Lord and our faith in the name of Jesus. Now, romans, chapter 6, paul continuing to teach about water baptism and this is a good chapter to read, period. This is what he's telling the church looking back on their water baptism.

Speaker 2 25:59

Romans, chapter 6. Verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound, god forbid. How shall we that are? Shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound, god forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ? You see, they went down into the water and into Jesus Christ at the same time. We're baptized into his death. That's a miracle. We're counted as being buried in the tomb with Jesus. Therefore, we are buried with him. Buried with him. His burial is considered our burial by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead from the glory of the Father.

Speaker 2 26:46

Even so, we also should walk in the newness of life. We're not supposed to live the same way. Don't you dare get baptized in Jesus' name if you're not intending to live for Jesus. When we talk about don't take the name of the Lord in vain, we tend to think well, that means, you know, use the title of God as a cuss word or use the name of Jesus as a cuss word. But if you take the name of Jesus on your life, in water, baptism, and then you live contrary to that name, you have taken the name of the Lord in vain. We don't want to do that. If this was a church house, I'd have everybody say amen.

Speaker 2 27:33

Verse 5 says for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. If that's true, then what if we refuse to be planted together in the likeness of his death? If we're not planted in the likeness of his death, we're not promised we'll be in the likeness of his resurrection. It simply isn't there. It's a tough thing to think about, but on the day of Pentecost, peter doesn't hesitate. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of pentecost, peter, doesn't hesitate, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of jesus christ, for the remission of your sins.

Speaker 2 28:14

Colossians, chapter 2. Looking backwards now, these are the people who've already been baptized, explaining to them what happened. Colossians, chapter 2, verses 9 through 12,. For in him, that is, in Jesus, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him, that is, in Christ, who is the head of all principality and power. It's all in Jesus, and power it's all in Jesus, in whom also ye are circumcised, with the circumcision made without hands. We know that circumcision was the sign of the covenant of Abraham and if a man did not have circumcision in his body, he was not a part of the covenant by his own choice, because it took circumcision to enter into the covenant, in whom ye are circumcised, with the circumcision made without hands and putting off the body of sins, of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. What was the circumcision of Christ? Keep reading Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God.

Speaker 2 29:37

Circumcision is an operation. In the Old Testament, it signifies the sign of the covenant, which in the New Testament, paul says is water baptism. Now these people got to know what they're talking about or we have no hope. Galatians 3 and 27 says that all of us who have been baptized have been baptized into Christ. Telling the Galatian church, your water baptism has to do with identifying you with Christ. That's why it is in the name of Jesus. That name speaks of his identity, his authority, his character, his nature, all of his godliness.

Speaker 2 30:22

Let's look at the gospel of St John, chapter 20. Let's look at the Gospel of St John, chapter 20. And just going to read verse 23. And I want you to see what Jesus told the disciples, according to John, some of his last words Whosoever sins ye remit, if your debt is is remitted, that means it's forgiven, it's gone. Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins you retain, they are retained. How can we be involved in someone's sins being remitted? Well, peter shows us, paul shows us, by water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. We know that. Jesus said he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

Speaker 2 31:22

So much anymore people talk about if you just raise one hand and say you believe, you're born again. Is that preached in acts, chapter 2, by the man who has the keys to the kingdom? Jesus gave him the keys to the kingdom. Look, if you believe, that's a powerful experience that you and jesus are having, and nobody wants to take that from you. What we want to do is see that that's the beginning of something wonderful To repent, to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, to have your sins removed and then to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now let's look at something here in Acts 2, verse 38 again and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Does it say that ye shall jump up and down and wave your hands? Does it say that you shall press on through? No, it says you shall receive the gift.

Speaker 2 32:34

In acts, chapter 2, they were simply tarrying, waiting for the promise of the father to come. God never fails in his responsibility. The gift of the holy ghost, the baptism of the holy ghost, was poured out on all those in the room. Now peter is saying you can have the same experience if you'll repent, submit to water baptism in the name of jesus and be filled with the holy ghost. These are people who understand the law of moses, levitical law, so water baptism as a cleansing is no new thing to them. They've heard the message of John the Baptist. Many of them. This is not new territory. Their hearts were prepared for this day. Their life experience prepared them for this day. All those who did that.

Peter's Keys to the Kingdom

Speaker 2 33:28

Verse 39 for the promises unto you. Does God break promises? For the promises unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord, our God, shall call. If you feel the call to faith in God and repent of your sin, these promises are, for you, right. Do not let someone tell you you don't need to be water baptized in Jesus' name. Do not let them tell you you don't need the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Speaker 2 34:04

Let me tell you something. What price? Let me ask you this question what price did Jesus pay that we might receive, receive his gift, the gift of the holy ghost? What price did he pay? Look, I had some friends who worked like dogs for probably two or three years to afford a graduation gift for their child. I was graduating from high school and upon presenting the gift to the child at a big party, the child says I don't want that. They worked overtime, they saved up money, they spent thousands of dollars. Why did they do it. This is my child, I love this child and the gift. What gives gift of power is the love of the giver.

Speaker 2 35:06

Would you look at Jesus and say I know you went to the cross so I could have this gift, but I'm not interested. It doesn't fit my theology, it makes me uncomfortable. I might speak in a language that nobody knows. Or I might speak in a language and they ask me how did you learn that? I know that language, how did you learn it? And you're speaking forth the wonderful works of God and prophesying and praising him.

Speaker 2 35:46

It is such a travesty that so many people will come to Jesus in faith and then say I don't need your water baptism, and I don't need your spirit, lord, I'm going to make it without being baptized in the Holy Ghost. Listen, if the first church could not survive all their persecutions and sufferings and martyrdoms without the baptism of the Holy Ghost, what makes us think we will? We're not strong enough on our own to defeat this human flesh, let alone quench the fiery darts of the enemy and keep the spirits of the world at bay. It's why we need to be baptized in the Holy Ghost. It's why we need the gift of the Holy Ghost. What did Jesus tell them earlier in Acts, chapter 1? We read it ye shall receive power after that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me. We need that power, so says Jesus. Is he correct? So then, why?

Speaker 2 37:06

What happened to Christianity that, as we've moved through time, we've moved away from this belief that confessing the Lord means we repent of our sins. It means that we submit to water baptism in the name of Jesus. This is not new doctrine. This is what was done, you know, in the early part of the 1900s, when churches around the world began to baptize in Jesus' name and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, people were calling that the new issue. That's not new. It's right here in Acts, chapter 2. It's not a new issue. It was new to them because they had not paid attention to it. It was new to them because they had not learned the word of God.

Speaker 2 37:55

Listen verse 40,. And with many other words did he exhort, saying save yourselves from this untoward generation. So he didn't stop. He kept talking to them about the value of repentance, of water baptism, of being filled with the Holy Ghost. He didn't quit. With many other words he began to exhort them to testify, saying Save yourselves from this untoward generation, enter into this salvation Verse 41. And they that gladly received his word were baptized. And that same day there were added unto them about 3 000 souls. How were they added? That means they had to repent, be baptized and receive the same experience, the gift of the holy ghost that's talked about in verse 4. Peter promised them that he didn't promise them a different and separate gift. He didn't redefine it. He didn't redefine a different and separate gift. He didn't redefine it. He didn't redefine what it would look like. He let what happened in verse 4 stand for itself. Let us not reinterpret the word of God and make it different. Now. 3,000 souls then that day would have had the same experience.

Water Baptism in Jesus' Name

Speaker 2 39:28

All of this goes back, if you want to, to the Gospel of St John, chapter 3. Here it's taught in the form of a parable to Nicodemus. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher. Come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God. Be with him. Nicodemus doesn't understand it all, but he knows. Hey, there's the power of God. With this man, that much is settled. And he came by night. He was hiding himself, but he couldn't resist Jesus.

Speaker 2 40:17

Verse 3, jesus answered and said unto him Verily, verily, I say unto thee Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus is confused. He saith to him how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? I don't get it. So Jesus answers him. He is defining the second birth. This is a definition of the second birth in the form of a parable. This is a definition of the second birth in the form of a parable. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. First, he said in verse 3, he'll never see it. In verse 5, he said he'll never enter into it unless he's born of water and of spirit.

Speaker 2 41:14

What did Peter tell them when? When they said what shall we do now that we understand who we crucify, repent and be baptized, every one of you, water in the name of jesus christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost spirit. So this is what happened as we close out Acts, chapter 2, the first time salvation is preached. Then, as we closing out the chapter, reading now verse 42 and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking bread and in prayers. If we're not going to continue in what the apostles taught, why are we going to waste time being baptized?

Speaker 2 42:10

We hear a lot of talk about the church fathers, great men you know, tertullian, justin, martyr, people like that, athanasius, polycarp Not saying they weren't good men, but the church is built upon the apostles and prophets, jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, verse 43,. And fear came upon every soul. That is an awesome respect for God. And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. Are we believing the apostles' doctrine? We should be looking for wonders and signs, not that we'll follow them. Jesus said these signs will follow them. That believe. We don't follow after signs. We follow after Jesus and signs follow after us to show that Jesus is with us.

Speaker 2 43:01

All these experiences led to a genuine unity in Goals for Life. They understood hey, we got many new believers here. They need to be trained. We're going to have to train them. We need a headquarters here in Jerusalem, and so for a while everybody was taken care of and we're going to read more about that later in the book of Acts, how they exactly did that.

Speaker 2 43:52

So they began to raise funds. They began to make provision for new believers to receive daily encouragement and teaching. You need to be in the word of God. Daily Prayer became a daily routine, not just a Sabbath or a festival event. They shared a life from house to house. You know what we share Church buildings and conferences and there's nothing wrong with going to be encouraged. But you know what's happening. We're going home. We're not going from house to house. We're not fellowship during the week and encouraging one another in the word. We go to church once a week, twice a week, and try to call it good. That's not what they did in the book of Acts.

Speaker 2 44:36

They went from house to house daily, continuing in the doctrine and in the apostles, teaching and fellowship, being with one mind, one heart, one purpose, one accord to bring the knowledge of Jesus Christ to this world and see souls born again. We need to make sure our neighbors know we're praying for them. The people on our block need to make sure our neighbors know we're praying for them. The people on our block need to know it. They need to know it. I I can't tell you that I've given the greatest witness to all of my neighbors, but I can tell you I've offered to pray for each one of them. I've told each one of jesus loves you. I've looked for opportunities to talk to them and witness to them about Christ. Why? Because we've got to go from house to house daily. I've got to find somebody to pour this word into.

Speaker 2 45:33

This was the heartbeat of the church. The church could not grow by Peter alone preaching on the day of Pentecost Look at what the scripture says there. It says verse 46, and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking of bread from house to house. They didn't just go to the church house. It's great to have a place to go and worship, but our home needs to be a place of prayer, a place of study.

Speaker 2 46:10

You want to relax? That's fine. Turn on the TV? That's fine. Are you having Sabbathath? Is one full day a week right? Sabbath is not a tenth, it's a seventh. Are we giving god a seventh of our life to make sure that the gospel goes out, that we testify to people?

Speaker 2 46:42

Listen to me. Maybe you have trouble, maybe you're timid, you don't mix well. It's okay to get to know them first. Don't try to be someone you're not. It's okay to get to know them first and try to be a friend with them and then ask them is there something I can pray about? Can I pray for you? Can I pray with you and start building your testimony right there?

Speaker 2 47:13

Some people will come to Christ, just like a man hitting a home run when he comes up to the plate. Other people will only get to first base and someone else will have to knock them to second base and then to third base and ultimately get them home plate. We want to be sure we're sowing the seed Right. When you plant the seed, you don't stand. Well, I did. I stood over my grass and talked to it, stood over the seeds and talked to them. But my point is you trust that the natural process of the seed germinating and sprouting will happen? Sow your testimony for Christ. Sow it as a seed. Believe in the word of God and we'll pick up our next lesson with Acts, chapter three.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

Speaker 1 48:11

Great study, great study. You know, chapter two is one of the biggest chapters I think there is for the church and I think there's just so many nuggets in there. Like I said, if you guys haven't gone and listened to the intro, listen to chapter one and listen to all three parts of chapter two. Now you'll come to the understanding of what brother Ernie is trying to teach us about how we are the Acts Church. We should be right. One of our things that we've done with M3 Ministries and I love that we do this is we are all about being together a lot.

Speaker 1 48:53

We spend time together, we travel together, we go just in our leisure time. We're together Because it all builds that unity. That's necessary, right, and I think I love what you said on the last part there about going out and being a witness, going to your neighbors, going to evangelize, if you will everyone. And I was just reading something this morning talking about the book of Jude, about being intentional with our evangelism, and I think that that's important is that, even though we're not comfortable doing it, we're all called to do it.

Speaker 2 49:35

Amen. You know the one of the great places to begin. You have a captive audience every time you go to the restaurant and the waiter or the waitress comes to your table. And at the end of the meal, be sure that you're kind to the waiter and the waitress, no matter what happens, right. And then at the end of the meal, you can always ask them is there something I can pray for? Yes, you have a need.

Speaker 2 50:03

It is our habit, mama and I, that when, when we go to a restaurant, we try to remember thank you for the food. Let jesus, let's, let us plant a seed here. They're not gonna let you stand up and preach a message, but you can plant a seed of God's love and forgiveness right there. Yeah, is there something in your life that's very important that we could pray for? Right, you'd be surprised at the things people have said than once. Pray for my addiction. Pray for me for my drinking. Pray for me for my health. My husband's got cancer. My wife is in the hospital. Can you pray, listen? You don't know who's going to come behind you. And that ground, that heart, is now fertile ground. Maybe you didn't get to say anything else, but next week, next month, two years from now, somebody else talks to them about Jesus, and that seed you planted is being watered.

Speaker 1 51:14

Yeah.

Speaker 2 51:16

It's being watered with the love of God. So what you don't know when it happens, you had the privilege of planting the seed of God's love in that heart. Yes, yes, and Jesus never fails.

Speaker 1 51:32

No, no, I love that. I love that so much, so much today, right, so much. But go and listen to the other ones. Go watch Brother Ernie. He's a very dramatic teacher. I love that sometimes he takes those glasses off and slams them on the table, but I love it. I love it because he is so gifted as a preacher, as a teacher. He just has tremendous wisdom. He hates when I say that, but we all love him. It's all about Jesus, it is, it is, but it takes a vessel, you know.

Speaker 1 52:09

So we appreciate you so much. We thank you for this time and thank you all for coming and joining us each week. Again, we thank you, sister Audia, for the use of your home and Sister Patty, for your love. I know you've been there for me extra this week. I thank you for that. And Sister Ann, that just is the right hand of all of us, right, she just does whatever is necessary. And Sister Helen, back there, being so quiet today. So, yay, wake her up. So, yeah, so we're grateful that you joined us. We thank you for that. We ask you to pray for this ministry, but we also ask you to like and share. Go follow us, share. You can go on to our website. We're going to give you that information as we're closing. But every time that we end this time together, we always say to go show some love, show some compassion, give mercy and go be Jesus today.

Speaker 1 53:09

Be Jesus. Hey SDU family, if you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like follow and share our podcast link. We would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at wwwm3miorg, scroll to the More tab and select Contact Us Also if SGU has been a blessing to you, select contact us Also if SGU has been a blessing to you. You can also go to our website and select sow a seed. There are several ways that you can give, whether it's Zelle Venmo Cash App, or if there's an address to send a check or money order. All your gifts are tax deductible and we thank you so much for sowing your seed with us. I want you to remember this. A wise person once said that a person has given you their time. They've given you their most precious gift because they can never, ever get it back. Thank you for sharing this day with me. We love you. We'll see you soon.