"A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS" - Chapter #4 (Part 2) - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

Bro. Ernie continues our study on "A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS", Chapter 4, Part 2.  A healed man at the Beautiful Gate and a courtroom full of power shouldn’t belong in the same story but Acts 4 brings them face to face—and everything changes. We walk through verses 19–37 with clear steps for real life: obey God rather than men, pray Scripture when pressure rises, and expect the Holy Spirit to turn private devotion into public courage.

We start by grounding the moment: Annas and Caiaphas still shape the city’s religious power, the resurrection is fresh in memory, and one undeniable miracle has set the city buzzing. Peter and John refuse to be quiet about what they’ve seen and heard. Their courage isn’t swagger; it’s obedience. When they gather with believers, the room lifts Psalm 2 like a banner, reading their moment through prophecy instead of panic. They ask for boldness to speak and for God’s hand to heal in Jesus’ name—fully aware the last miracle sparked threats. The answer is immediate and unforgettable: the place shakes, they are all filled with the Holy Spirit again, and the word goes out with boldness.

From there, we follow the grace trail. “One heart and one soul” becomes more than a phrase as the community meets real needs with real sacrifice. People sell property, lay gifts at the apostles’ feet, and make sure no one lacks. This isn’t ideology; it’s discipleship logistics for pilgrims who stayed to be taught. We also meet Barnabas, the “son of consolation,” whose encouragement strengthens leaders and helps knit this growing church together. Along the way we tackle honest questions about being filled with the Spirit, authentic prayer, and what faithful witness looks like when opposition mounts.

If you’re hungry for simple discipleship that is biblical, Spirit-led, and practical—this conversation is your map. Share it with someone who needs courage, start a round table, and walk through Acts together. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: Where do you need boldness right now? Recorded on 10/6/2025

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:39

I'm a simple simple ship and feel good. I'm Sister Lemma and I'm and I'm jumping once again around the table with little gentleman Ernie Perez. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Good, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Um Sister Anne.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Sister Patty.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Hello.

Why Recaps Matter For Discipleship

SPEAKER_01 0:56

And Sister Audio. So welcome everybody. And and we've been studying the Book of Acts, but I want to kind of give a kudos to Sister Audia. One, she allows us to come and interrupt her home every week to do this thing, to rearrange her furniture and put up posters and banners and all kinds of things. And so we appreciate you, Sister Audia, so much. We pray God give extra blessings to you. But not only that, she makes us lunch. Uh today she's made us some homemade cookies and um and so uh she's modified them especially for me, so I have to kind of point that out because she added the pecans. So man. And the sugar-free. She went sugar-free for me, and and so I'm excited about that. So um, we're gonna pull up into the word today, and we are continuing our study on a simple presentation of the book of Acts, and we are in chapter four, and we're going into part two of chapter four today. Um, anything you want to say, Brother Ernie, before we start the video?

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Oh, you know, I I always do a little recap before we go on, because I don't know how far it is in between listening to these uh podcasts that people get to stay on, and I want mines to be fresh. So I I I pray that I'm not redundant, but uh hopefully as we do this I'll get better at it and and uh y'all will enjoy it more and get more out of it. But that's the reason for the recap every time, and I know that's a little time consuming, but I don't know who out there is going to listen or when they're gonna get the chance to follow up. And so I kind of like to keep minds fresh while we're doing this. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_03 2:47

Yes. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

All right, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

So go ahead.

Setting The Scene: Annas, Caiaphas, And Power

Law, High Priests, And Roman Influence

Fresh Resurrection Context And Rising Opposition

Reading Acts 4:19–37 Aloud

Obey God Or Men: Apostolic Resolve

Public Miracle, Public Pressure, Public Release

Worship In One Accord And Psalm 2

God’s Determined Counsel And Boldness

Counting The Cost Of Persecution

Praying For Miracles Despite Backlash

The Place Shakes: Filled Again With The Spirit

One Heart, One Soul, And Shared Needs

Why Radical Generosity Emerged

Meet Barnabas: Son Of Consolation

Q&A: Receiving The Spirit And Renewal

On Prayer, Tongues, And Authenticity

Pride, Lies, And Loving The Truth

From Salvations To Discipleship: Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 2:56

We're ready to begin. All right, so what we're first gonna do is talk about the little recap that I have here. We have uh read the first portion of chapter 4 from verses 1 through 18, then we went back and talked about it. So we closed out our third lesson with Peter and John being investigated by Anas and Caiaphas, who were both named as high priest, in Luke chapter 3, verse 2. Now I couldn't recall anywhere in the law of Moses where two men served as high priest at the same time. And so I went back and uh did a little reading and looked at a little uh commentary that I have in one of my study Bibles and uh Numbers uh I looked Numbers 35 verses 22 through 28 and we find that the law there for the slayer who accidentally kills someone. And notice in 28 uh as you do this, the phrase until the death of the high priest. So if you accidentally kill someone, you could run to uh the city of refuge and you could be there until the death of the high priest singular. There is no indication for me anywhere in the Old Testament that more than one man served as a high priest, and the high priest served until they died. And then it it reads to me that his son, his oldest son, preferably, would step in and take his place. Now, in Luke 3, 1 through 2, um, I got out my little premier Bible. I use a Thompson Chain of Premier Bible. I have a Max Licado reference Bible besides other commentaries, but I just briefly looked at this and I noticed that in the Premier Bible, the notes advise us that Annas was the high priest until A.D. 15. Then Caiaphas was high priest from A.D. 18. Now, looking at that, I think to myself, the Romans and Herod had great influence on who would be high priest and how. So it wasn't being lived out exactly as strictly as the Pharisees, you know, and the scribes would like to make everybody think. But then Caiaphas was high priest uh from A.D. 18 till around A.D. 36. So since we believe Jesus was crucified in A.D. 33, it seems reasonable to me that uh Acts 4 is taking place in A.D. 33 because of the time of year Passover is. So this is the year Jesus was crucified. So Luke notes that both Annas, who was formerly the high priest, and Caiaphas, who is evidently currently the high priest at that time, were very much involved in what I would call the Inquisition of Peter and John, because of the man at the gate called Beautiful being healed in the name of Jesus. Now, just what laws had they broken? None that we know of. But they prayed for a lame man in the name of Jesus, and he was healed. And the healing in the name of Jesus brought immediate persecution from the elders, the scribes, the high priests, the Sanhedrin, as well as the former and current high priests, as well as their family members. Why? Why were they so interested? Remember, Judas betrayed Jesus to Annas and Caiaphas. And on the night that Jesus was taken captive, he was first taken to the home of Annas, who was the father of that high priest, Caiaphas. Now you can read about that in the Gospel of St. John chapter 18, verses 12 through 14. So it would seem that these two priests are referred to in Matthew chapter 28, also, verses 11 through 15. They knew Jesus truly rose from the dead and preferred to lie about it, then to spread that lie to protect their own affluence and influence. Truth was not nearly as important as keeping their stations in life. And this is, you know, we talked about this before, how that they loved a lie, believed a lie, and Paul said in 2 Thessalonians, because people didn't love the truth, but loved a lie and preferred a lie, that God gave them over to a strong delusion, that they believed it and ended up with damnation. Paul talks about that again in the book of Romans, but what he says is they were turned over to a reprobate mind, no longer able to tell the difference between right and wrong. Now, they were driven then by greed and lust for recognition. That's all I can think of. That's what I see. Not reading their minds just uh from what I read in the text where my mind goes. And now they cannot get away with this lie because the man that was of the man that was healed at the temple being healed in the name of Jesus. Remember, the crucifixion and the resurrection is fresh in history. It's current events. So they trying now with all their political and religious influence to intimidate the apostles into silence. Right? And so uh in verse 18, it says, and they, that that's the whole Inquisition court, called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. Please never forget they were trying to squash out the power and the integrity that is evident in the name of Jesus, because it said to them who they were not as much as who they were. So we'll read now verses 19 through 37, and then we'll go back and we'll talk about them. Okay. Verse 19. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was showed. And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they had heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage? And the people imagined vain things, the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness, and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own. But they had all things common. And with great power the gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them. Neither was there any among them that lacked. For as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. So now we're going to go back and talk about this. And I'm going to give you my simple interpretation. And again, let me reiterate, I don't believe I am the ultimate wisdom in the Word of God. I'm just sharing with you the things that go on in my heart as I read from the scripture and hoping that it blesses you and inspires you to study. So verse 19. And Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. I'll also read verse 20. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So as I turn this over in my mind, I have Peter and John are unmoved from the commission that Jesus gave them. Go ye into all the world, teach and preach, make disciples. They are unmoved because the resurrection and all of their time spent with Jesus has marked them for eternity. And under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, they reply to their persecutors. Look at what they say. You all decide, is it right for us to obey God or obey you? What do you suppose God wants us to do? The way He frames the questions to these people who are supposed to be experts in the history of God dealing with Israel and in the law of Moses was so you think we should obey you instead of obeying God? Tell us why. Tell us why we would obey you instead of obeying, because they're not going to say that I'm going to obey any man over God. So they say we cannot keep from testifying about Jesus and what he has done for me. Now, I look at my wife often, and there's no reason for me to say anything else. I say to her, I was born to love you, and I have to tell you I love you, or I'm going to bust. And I was born to love Jesus, and I have to praise and worship him, or I'm going to bust. Listen, I think this is what the the apostles, the disciples felt. If I don't testify about the goodness of God, if I don't testify about the resurrection of Jesus and who he is, who he was in my life, and who he is now as the resurrected Savior, I won't be able to live with myself. Verse 21. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified God for that which was done. Can you imagine the frustration that led the high priest and their co-conspirators to threaten the apostles? To tell them you're gonna stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus. Why? Well, now they have this undeniable miracle that testifies, demonstrates the integrity and the power in the name of Jesus, the one that they had wrongfully executed and lied about his resurrection. And were still selling that lie. And this miracle threatened to upset the lie. They just couldn't stand it. And that these people that follow Jesus are about to drive their persecutors mad. And being let go, they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. Let's look back for just a second. In Acts chapter 3, when the healing is about to take place, verse 2 says, A certain man lame from his mother's womb. We don't know at what age they brought him to the temple, but he was lame from his mother's womb. He was above 40 years old. Everybody in town knew him. He was probably sitting there, we don't know how many times when Jesus went into the temple, when the apostles went into the temple. But it wasn't his time yet to be healed, because it was destined to bring glory to God like the other miracles had not. And so now this is the man who's been begging at the gate every day since what? He was five years old, six years old, ten years old, when his family, his friends decided, hey, you know what? It's time for you to do a little begging. You can do it now. He'd been there for that long. They knew he was born lame. He was a well-known figure at the temple in the city. And he had been healed. One of the most powerful proofs of who Jesus is, and the power his followers operate under is the healing of this lame man who is over 40 years old, and everybody knows who he is. This is crushing Annas and Caiaphas and all those who conspire with them to lie about the resurrection of Jesus and to make their deception acceptable. So then the apostles were released. Wow, they let them go. Why? Because of the people, because there was such an uproar. And they went straight to where other believers were gathered, and then they testified to all that Jesus had done. They were telling them everything that happened after the healing, and probably the healing some too, and how they appeared before Caiphas and Annas and everybody else, the chief priests and all their cohorts, had to recognize them. And look, as we're reading it, verse 22, for the man was above 40 years old, having let them go, they went there. All right, in verse 24, these testimonies led the church to worship God with power and with one accord. There was genuine unity in worship. Look at 24. And when they had heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Thou art God, which hast made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage? And why do the people imagine vain things? So we're going to keep reading now a little bit. The kings of the earth stood, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together. So what we have now, get my page right, bear with me. They saw the current event. These testimonies led the church to worship God. They broke out praying Psalms too. Why do the heathens roach rage? I'm sorry. Go back and check that out. They saw the current events as fulfillment of the prophetic word in the book of Psalms. God's prophecies always come to pass. Verse 28 for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. There are some things that will be done according to the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. God sees time as one picture. You can validate that in Acts chapter 2, verse 23. Peter's sermon talking about Jesus. He says, Him that is Jesus, being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, because we needed Jesus to be that sacrifice that would do away with all sin and would set us free from our carnal nature and from the curse of sin. Listen to that prayer. It wreaks of faith in God and their desire to see Jesus' prophetic words fulfilled in their own lives. And you know what they did? They prayed for boldness, knowing that if they went out boldly and testified, and people were healed, and people turned to Jesus, that they would face severe persecutions. Yet they prayed for the boldness anyway. Verse 28 for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. History is determined, it's over. Some things will never change in this life because they have to move that way to get us to be ready for the second coming of Christ. The things that can be changed will be changed, but God's immutable will not be altered. And now, verse 29, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants with all boldness that they may speak thy word. Why? So they could be arrested? So they could be imprisoned? So they could be threatened with beatings, with fines, with imprisonment, with confiscation of all their worldly goods. Church, we we have not yet in this country resisted unto blood. There has been some persecution of Christians, but it's been more of a social thing. There's been some who have gone to prison. Gone to prison for uh protesting that uh killing an innocent baby is not a good idea, and really not even doing that as much as offering alternatives to young women who were on their way into abortion clinics to have their babies killed because they thought that was the moral and the right thing to do. They were persuaded, this is best for the baby, this is best for me. Killing the life. So Christians met them at the door. Disciples of the Lord trying to offer them an alternative. Some of them went to jail for that. We've seen some persecution. Believe me, it's going to get worse. I'm not meaning to sound negative, but we're going to be the church that was in the church in the book of Acts. If that's who we're striving to be, that's what we're striving to attain. And not that they never made mistakes there, but that they were always striving to fulfill the will of God. If we're striving to fulfill the will of God, this is why Paul told Timothy, all that live godly shall suffer persecution. That's encouraging to tell the young man that you're training to be an apostle in your place and to be an overseer and install bishops and pastors and deacons and elders. There is not in the book of Acts a promise that if you love God, you will own all the finest things in this life. There is not a promise that you will never struggle to live your faith. There is not a promise that you will not have to pray your groceries in. Jesus said, I will be with you always, even to the end of the world. He taught his disciples, however they've treated me, that's how they're going to treat you. The servant is not greater than his master. Some people love Jesus, listen to him. Some people walked away from Jesus, you mean nothing to me. Other people hated him, still others persecuted him, and finally they murdered him. Before he left this world, he said to his disciples, It's it's gonna be for you like it's been for me. If we're pursuing to understand the book of Acts and how they lived, to make sure that we're living that way, Jesus put courage and boldness in our hearts that we can preach the truth and love and not back down when it is unpopular. We don't have to cuss and scream at people to maintain the faith of Jesus Christ. What we have to do is maintain the posture. Jesus is a savior for you, and your sins were nailed to the cross, and you can take advantage of that also. We can't lose sight of why we are here. We're not here so that we can all uh drive the most expensive car, live in the most expensive homes. Christians are sometimes wealthy, sometimes poor. So then what is our real wealth? Our relationship with God. Now, they asked, they prayed that they could do more miracles. Verse 30. By stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. Well, what happened when the man at the gate called Beautiful was healed? You're asking for more of that because you're not gonna get the demonstration of the power of God without scaring Satan into a response. You're not gonna do that. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. So they asked God for more miracles in the name of Jesus, knowing that more miracles would more than likely lead to more persecutions. They were not intimidated by the response of the kingdom of darkness, or by the ignorance of the hearers. And they prayed so sincerely, honestly, powerfully, and I believe desperately. And as their prayers were going up and their faith was rising higher in one mind and one accord, once again the scripture says they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. What happened in Acts chapter 2, verse 1 through 4, when they were filled with the Holy Ghost? See, it can't be any different than that. God is a consistent God. So it doesn't say here in Acts chapter 4 that they broke out speaking in other tongues, but it does say they were all filled. With the Holy Ghost. So do we know anything else about that? Well, we know in Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, verse 4 in particular, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So the prayers that they offered up were spiritually inspired, inspired by the Holy Ghost. Not only that, but during their prayers, there was so much of a spiritual impact that there was a physical consequence beyond speaking in other tongues. The place was shaken. It doesn't say the crowd was shaken. It says the place, the place where they were was shaken. I don't know if you've ever been somewhere where the prayer was so powerful that it was just palpitating in the air. But many times we've been in places where the worship was like that. And we need that just as much as we desperately need to be able to pray and then to shut up and wait and listen and see if God wants to speak. There is a respect that is overt outward worship, and there is a respect that says, I'm not doing anything, Jesus, because I believe that you are the sovereign God and I need to hear from you. I need to follow your instructions. I need to understand your will for the moment. Certain things are pretty plain to us in Scripture. But sometimes for the moment we're in, we need to be sensitive to the voice of God, to the Spirit of God, to the prompting, to the nudging of the Holy Ghost. So sometimes we need to be quiet, be still and know that I am God. That's what the psalmist said. Just as much as there's a time there is for worshiping and clapping and raising of hands and shouting hallelujah and speaking in tongues, all that, there's a place for that. It cannot do away with the place where we as individuals are waiting silently to hear from God. In reverence, in fear of the Lord. I can't go any further, God, if you don't help me. If you've never felt like that, keep living for God. Keep following Jesus. You will experience things that I never have, that other Christians never had. Because you're a unique individual with a God who understands your unique needs. So they prayed so sincerely that the place was shaken. And their prayers were immediately answered because verse 31 says, and they spake the word of God with boldness, meaning they left that place to testify. They left that place to witness with boldness. I'm going to read verse 32 now through 36. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul. Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own. But they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked. For as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet. And distribution was made unto every man according to as he had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted, the son of consolation, a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus. We're going to pause there. Well, I guess I'll read 37. And having land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. So let's talk about this now. The spirit of unity was so strong that Luke wrote the multitude of them that believed were of one heart. He didn't say a small group, he said the multitude. So we're talking about how many numbers of people? We're not looking at a church of 100 or 300 or perhaps even a thousand. It's multitude. The multitude of them that believed were of one heart. What kind of unity is that? For multitudes to be so impressed and led by the Spirit of God that Luke would write, all of them was of one heart. We must believe that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and there can be unity. We don't all have to agree we like the same color or the same food. We have to all agree that Jesus is Lord and that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is above all through all and in you all. As Paul said to the Ephesian church, Ephesians chapter 4. We have to believe what Jesus said. The foundational commandments from Mark chapter 12, verses 29, I guess through 30 or 31. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. If we can all agree that that's right, we're in unity. It doesn't mean we all wear the same color and the same clothes. It doesn't mean we all appear culturally the same way. It means we all understand biblical truth is the guiding factor that we live by. So the spirit of unity was that strong. And then they began to sell, those that own things there, especially in Jerusalem, began to sell all their worldly possessions and donate the proceeds to the movement. They brought him to the apostles' feet. To be sure no one lacked any necessities. This was not a doctrine taught. This is Luke reporting what happened. You wonder why did they do that? Because suddenly that's a socialist communist environment. Well, think about this. There were 17 nations represented in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Jews from 17 different nations. And not to mention, of course, people, uh businessmen and merchandisers, you know, that were non-Jewish. And as they converted, they had only planned to stay there for the feast of Pentecost. But now they need discipleship. Now they need instruction. Now they need somebody to help and guide them in this new faith. They need someplace to stay, they need food to eat. The church rose to meet that need. This was a Holy Ghost reflex. Remember, many of the believers were world travelers. Now, the fact that they brought the proceeds of the sales to the apostles for distribution is needed. This is faith in action, trust on display. I don't know if Jesus would have made him do that because I know the apostles left whatever they had. Matthew left his tax collecting. Peter, James, and John, Andrew left their fishing nets, left their livelihood. I don't know if everyone had to leave their livelihood, but obviously some people did. So what are we leaving? Now, then there's somebody I want you to remember, a man named Joseph, who the apostles gave the nickname Barnabas, because of the spirit that was on display in his life. He was a person who constantly consoled others, gave encouragement to others. God used him that way, used him so powerfully that the apostles themselves were encouraged by him. So I want you to hold on to Barnabas now. Because we're just being introduced to him, and he is going to have the most powerful impact on the believers in the book of Acts. And that's the end of this particular lesson.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

All right. Thank you, Brother Ernie. Thank you so much. Um, well, there's just a whole lot in chapter four in there. Um, I know that you like to ask uh questions or or answer questions if anybody has any uh questions. So we're gonna continue for a few minutes just to see around the table if anybody had anything that they wanted to ask you about.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

That that is most important, not necessarily a question, but comments, observations, questions if you have them, because part of discipleship is expressing what you learned so that you can teach it to someone else. Right. Right.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

And so you so you said that the building should turn it and the Holy Spirit came in. Yes. Okay, this experience was on Pentecost the same way, but it was not a one-time experience because Peter had received the Holy Spirit three times.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

I'm listening.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

First in John 20, 22 from the King James.

SPEAKER_00 41:01

Okay, I'm gonna turn there because I I want to walk with you. That's a good observation, and I want to look at that in John 20.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

20, verse 22.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

And 22.

SPEAKER_03 41:13

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

All right, let's hold on to that one, okay? And then we'll keep going.

SPEAKER_03 41:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

John 20 and 22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. I believe that's prophetic. I don't believe they really received the Holy Ghost right then. It's okay. Just let's just talk about it. You can go away believing that is not going to make a big difference between you and me.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

But you need to follow the statement.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

Because it that's not all he said. In verse 23, same sentence, whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins you retain, they are retained. And he didn't preach remission of sins until Acts chapter 2. After he was baptized in the Holy Ghost. I don't doubt that that wasn't a powerful experience in the Spirit. I just have always thought it was prophetic in its utterance. If I'm wrong, that's okay. Jesus will straighten me out.

SPEAKER_03 42:10

He'll straighten me out. So look at Acts 4 and 8.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

Acts 4 and 8. Thank you for paying so close attention to the word of God. Then Peter, filled, yes, filled with the Holy Ghost. So in this context, what I'm understanding, and anyone else can chime on this now, and you have a response, is that he was so inspired by the Spirit of God that because he was baptized in the Holy Ghost, he felt almost like a renewing and empowering of the Holy Ghost. And then the utterance that he brought forth was by the Spirit. You remember in the Corinthian letter, he said, I will sing in the Spirit and I will sing with my understanding. I will pray in the Spirit and I will pray with my understanding. I had an experience where I was invited to a Bible study, and I didn't I didn't know what I was walking into. And um as I sat there a while, pretty soon the person guiding the study asked me, said, Are you saved? And I said, Well, sure. He said, Well, how do you know? Well, I'm so silly. I just look at him and the rest of the people in the Bible study. I'm just probably a Christian two, three months at the most. And I say, I've been baptized in Jesus' name. I spoke in tongues when the Holy Ghost came. That's gotta be it, man. And and and that was not that that was as funny uh as a dead baby flood in a punch bowl. It just it well, I wasn't well received at all. And and so they began to kind of harass me. And and then he said to me, You speak in tongues? I said, Yes, sir. He said, Speak in tongues right now. And it was like speaking in tongues. I didn't even get to think about my reply. It just blurted out.

SPEAKER_03 44:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

And this time it wasn't foot and mouth. It's been that before. But this wasn't foot and mouth. I said, the Bible says not to make prayer for a show, and I ain't about to put on a show for you. We don't speak in tongues so people can say, wow, they spoke in tongues. You know, this is not a demonstration to lift self up and say I'm somebody. This is a demonstration of the Spirit of God where He manifests himself. Has nothing to do with, oh gee, I'm Peachy Keenan, you're not. So am I doing okay here?

SPEAKER_03 44:56

Yeah, yeah. I really are so animated that it's no true words are spoken.

unknown 45:05

No true words.

SPEAKER_00 45:07

Listen, you you're laughing, but Mama's put up with this for 52 years. No, we can't we've heard every day. 53. 53 years. I can't help it. I was born to love God.

SPEAKER_03 45:19

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:21

And it just happens. Amen. Uh-huh. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03 45:24

Of course, and then the last time was in Acts 4.31.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

All right. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 45:29

Where they were all filled with Holy Ghost.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

And that's good. So what are your what is your comment on that? The that last one. Verse 31.

SPEAKER_03 45:41

I'm waiting for this room to shake.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

Well, it it it could happen. It really could. Um I think the demonstration of God's spirit in those instances is unique to the need. You know, just like there are, we read Romans, and I think they say there's 11 or 13 gifts of the Spirit, but you read Corinthians, you say it's nine. And what I get from that myself is there are as many gifts as there are needs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 46:15

Yes, right. That's how many the Romans needed to understand these. The Corinthians needed to understand these and addressing their needs. Yeah. The apostle wrote to them and talked to them. Anything else, Ann? I like your questions, your comments.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

I mean, so they spoke the word of God with boldness. That was a gift from to them from God. That they would speak that through their prayers.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

You hit the nail on the head.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 46:55

So that's being led in the spirit on how to pray properly. You know, Romans chapter 8 says that when we don't know what we should pray for like we ought, that the Spirit of God makes intercession for us with moanings and groanings which cannot be uttered. In other words, the things that come out is not verbiage that we've designed. And I don't know if you've ever been in a place where the Spirit of God is moving like that, and people just can't moan. They just moan and weep and cry. And you hear that occasional hallelujah. Oh God. You know, like in the Psalms, oh God. One of my friends was telling me one day, was Lester Cody mama. He was telling me that Pop Cody told him one day, he said, When you're preaching, you always say, Oh, oh, doesn't mean anything. He said, Dad, go to the book of Psalms where David says, Oh God. It's just a response. It's it comes from deep within. We don't have a word for it. So they're in good company. David did that. We don't know who else did that. All right. So what about you? Uh oh, you're not done, man.

SPEAKER_03 48:19

Go ahead. Because I can wait. No, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

You can wait. God is real. Wow. Go ahead, uh, Sister Audia.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Um, to me, the thing that I notice in here is that Anna's Anna?

SPEAKER_00 48:47

Anna and Anna and Caiaphas.

SPEAKER_02 48:49

Caiaphas.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Annas and Caiaphas.

SPEAKER_02 48:51

They are so the thing I got from them is they are so filled with their own selves and pride that they can, even though they it's they they know they're wrong, they're never gonna admit it. They'd rather burn than admit that they screwed up.

SPEAKER_00 49:16

How much like them are we sometimes?

SPEAKER_02 49:21

Quite a bit. Thankfully, not over the same issues. Yeah. But that's what I mean. That it's just such an example of stupidity. The only way I can frame it.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Could we call it hard-headedness?

SPEAKER_02 49:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:40

Because they were obviously educated, intelligent people, so they weren't stupid, but they were hard-headed. They were stubborn.

SPEAKER_02 49:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:50

Stiff net is what the Old Testament says. Okay, yeah, that would be unmovable. And they they are the people, as you read through the gospels, they are the people to whom the the uh guards from Jesus' tomb come and say, This is what happened. Angel came down, lightning, thunder, rolled away, Jesus rose from the dead, and you know, excuse me, and they were all you know stunned by it, and we were as dead men and we couldn't move. And so they said, Don't tell anybody that. Yeah, it was punishable by death, not just busting in rank.

SPEAKER_02 50:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 50:40

So they were given a good sum of cash.

SPEAKER_02 50:45

And then weren't they killed anyway?

SPEAKER_00 50:48

I I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 50:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 50:50

I don't think so, because they promised to make it right. And it's I don't I don't remember that being written, but what I what I see there is I think they ran off here here are these men and whatever small group of priests were with them when the guard came, who loved the lie so much and told it so often that they themselves begin to believe the lie. Right, right. This is why we gotta have a love for truth.

unknown 51:26

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:27

Because if you love a lie, the spirit of deception can take possession of you.

Closing Encouragements And Call To Share

SPEAKER_01 51:34

Amen. Amen. What a great lesson. Great questions. What about you? Uh I'm good. I'm good. So I'm good. I mean, I enjoyed the lesson. I enjoyed the questions and comments and all that. But um, we so appreciate you doing this. We appreciate you coming every week and being so dutiful to this. And um, and we will continue with uh chapter five uh next week. Um, and we look forward to to have everybody listening again. Want to encourage you though that if you if you like this podcast, please go and share it, like it, share it. Uh follow us on YouTube, follow us on your platforms, um Spotify, iHeart, Amazon, Podbeam, what if we have so many? Go out there, just like it, share it. But the reason why we're doing this is to teach simple discipleship. It's not just a title, it's really what we're all about. And so we want you to share it. Share it with your family, share it with your friends, and and and get your own round table and start talking about the scriptures. That is discipleship, you know, over, you know, looking in the word and just you know, talking together and going over the start of Bible study. You can use this video for your own Bible study.

SPEAKER_00 52:55

How do we practice discipleship and win souls if we don't help those souls understand this is what Jesus wants, and the book of Acts is a great place to begin with that.

SPEAKER_01 53:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:08

You know, once a person has embraced the born-again experience, the book of Acts gives them a good look at how the church was established. And even as the church grows in understanding, you get to read Revelation unfolding.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

Yeah. Well in the book of Acts. What we're gonna do is that we're gonna start. I want us on all of our platforms, each individual people, all of us, is we're gonna go back because we've had this new surge of people reaching out about Jesus, this new wave that's happened since the tragic thing that happened has caused people to want to find Jesus, to go. And we've seen all these baptisms, we've seen all of the salvations, and and it's just been a powerful move. But now there has to be discipleship. You know, we talked about it when you were doing your discipleship study for the last two weeks, and and and that's good, but now let's go start discipleship. Let's go put, let's start acts on each of our platforms from the one and start sharing it with our families. Look, if you've just recently come to know Jesus, start here.

SPEAKER_00 54:17

Yes, yes. Start here. And the the lessons that we talked about, you know, uh the pattern for discipleship, that's just the beginning. Yeah. That's just the beginning of launching into being a disciple. Yeah. The book of Acts and the letters thereafter are making sure that we progress in discipleship. Yeah. That's why people need to be familiar with the whole Bible. Yeah. The Old Testament, and there's no such thing as I'm a New Testament Christian or I'm an Old Testament believer. It's the whole book is revelatory and prophetic in one capacity or another. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 54:56

So all of our videos are current on YouTube. I got all of those uploaded last night. So all of our videos, uh, starting from Acts chapter one, all the way today, we'll upload today. Um, and you can start there. Send, you know, go sit down with those videos. Start you a prayer group. Start, you know, going there, praying, and then opening up the word and begin to study Acts for yourself and go through your questions and go through the materials. Now we have course available. If people want to get the outlines um for each session, just message us. We have a contact page on our website, uh www.m3mi.org, and we will send you the outlines. You could do it for your class, you can create a class. So go do that. Let's start doing the simple discipleship that's necessary right now. Because I think that it's awesome that people get saved. And I think it's awesome that then they follow it with baptism because we know it's imperative, right? But then go to the next step. Don't leave them hanging and don't just make them a number that you put on your chart on the wall on Sunday to say we had this number of people here. Actually, go begin to create disciples out of them. Teach them so that they can take this and teach other people.

SPEAKER_00 56:18

We all need constant encouragement and instruction.

SPEAKER_01 56:21

We all need it. But if you know baby Christians, if you know a baby Christian, go go start, you know, helping them. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 56:29

I think this is really good too for people who have been Christians for a while, but they don't know how to witness to others. They don't know how to share Jesus. And this gives them the tools to start doing that.

SPEAKER_01 56:47

I think so too. Here's the thing, too. Um, there's so many denominations that don't teach about the Holy Spirit, right? I mean, we all have have sat under congregations like that. But if you're feeling like you're being drawn to more of that, it starts right here. It starts right here in the book of Acts. So I encourage you too. If you're just if you're just inquisitive about it, go and watch the videos. Um I I guarantee you that the Holy Spirit's gonna speak to you um in these lessons and he'll give you the revelation. We don't have to force anything on anybody. He's the teacher, you know, he's the one that leads and guides us into all truths. So we're gonna let him do that. Um, and so here's some tools that you can use. So, anyway, thank you guys for listening. Thank you all for being here today.

SPEAKER_00 57:38

And uh, we're gonna end with go show some love, show some compassion, give mercy and go be Jesus today.

SPEAKER_01 57:50

Hey, STU family. If you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like, follow, and share our podcast link? And we would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at www.m3mi.org, scroll to the more tabs, and select contact us. Also, if you see if it's been a blessing to you, you can also go to our website and select so we'll see. There's several ways that you can give whether it's interesting. Thank you for the first way for the flesh. Thank you for sick with me.