"A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS" - Chapter #8 - Part 1 - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

Bro. Ernie continues teaching us on "A Simple Presentation in The Book of ACTS in Chapter 8.  Get your drink, your snack, your notebook and The Word and dive in!!!  

Pressure doesn’t just test faith; it redirects it. We pick up the story at Stephen’s death and watch the church scatter under a wave of persecution, only to see the gospel leap from Jerusalem into Samaria exactly as Jesus promised. Saul goes house to house with fury, yet the scattered believers go street to street with hope. That collision—between opposition and obedience—becomes the engine of a larger mission.

Philip steps into Samaria with a simple message: Jesus Christ. The city leans in. Deliverance breaks out, the lame and paralyzed are healed, and unclean spirits leave with loud cries. Great joy follows real power. We unpack the difference between spectacle and the authority of Jesus’ name, and why belief naturally leads to baptism and transformed lives. Even Simon the sorcerer, long revered for supernatural displays, believes and is baptized when confronted with authentic Kingdom power.

News reaches Jerusalem, and Peter and John are sent—not to control a move of God, but to strengthen and align it. Together we explore how apostolic care brings clarity, prayer, and unity, and how Acts 8 exposes thin versions of the gospel that skip repentance, the Holy Spirit, and obedience. Along the way we connect the text to now: stories of persecution that couldn’t silence witness, a call to courageous faith, and a practical path for seekers—repentance as a lifelong turn, baptism in Jesus’ name, and a community that prays for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

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

Transcript

Welcome And Prayer

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Welcome to Simple Assembly Ship on the Philadelphia. This is Sister Mamma. Thank you so much for joining us today, and we're round on the table again with everybody in the room and Brother Ernie Perez. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

I'm alive and well. Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Well, I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that you got breath in your lungs today and strength in your body to get here. Sister Ann? I am here. Hey. Hi, snuck in. Blue in with that northern that's coming in this weekend, right? Sister Patty.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

I am here and ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Alright, we're ready to go. And round the round the back there we got Sister Patty. I'm blessed and highly favored. Blessed and highly favored of the Lord. And Sister Tammy. Hi. Hey, and Sister Sandy.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

I am also blessed.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Alright, we'll take blessed. We'll take blessed. God has been so good to us. And and and we were just spending a little moment of prayer before we started this. And boy, the Holy Spirit just came into the room, didn't he? And it just I love it when he shows up like that. Just in here, and and and he just kind of wrecks you for a moment, but so excited to continue our study on a simple presentation of the book of Acts. Brother Ernie, I'm gonna ask you to do a little recap. We're gonna go ahead and and start the video. And if you would just go on.

Recap: Growth And Persecution

Stephen’s Martyrdom And Saul’s Role

Acts 8:1–14 Read Aloud

Scattering And The Apostles In Jerusalem

Saul’s Havoc And Perseverance

Suffering, Faith, And Endurance

Philip Preaches Christ In Samaria

Miracles, Deliverance, And Citywide Joy

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Okay. Okay. Just as requested, a little recap here. We have seen the church grow explosively in Acts 2 and 3. And we've seen the beginnings of some persecution in the church. We've seen the saints of God get moved upon to meet the needs of folks that didn't anticipate having to stay in Jerusalem for very long. And we saw that even though the church was moved upon to meet their needs, that the administration of those actions, any, anytime there's money involved or anytime there's gifting involved of physical things, there there is an opportunity for us to show less than good judgment. And I don't care how long you've been walking with Jesus, you can make a poor decision. And the saints of God realized that this wasn't good. They they came to the apostles and said, we need you to resolve this. And the apostles said, No, no, you resolve this. We should not leave the ministry of God's word and the ministry of prayer to handle these administrative duties. You you you find seven men full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom to oversee this administrative work. These men were chosen. Look at the remember the requirements to be full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. These men were then commissioned by the apostles by the laying on of hands to handle the administrative work that needed to be done, so that the apostles would be free to continue their work of intercessory prayer and of the ministry of the word. Now, most of what I've heard about these men is that all seven qualified to be deacons. All seven were skilled in the word of God. But we we learned, however, that two of them were much more visible in ministry than the others. These two are Stephen, who was a powerful speaker and minister, and also used greatly in the area of signs and wonders. And so you wonder about that, you should go back and read the Gospel of St. Mark, chapter 16, read the whole chapter, and see how Jesus ends his final words according to Mark in his research with his final activities with the disciples before he leaves. And we see that Stephen, he becomes the first martyr for Jesus. So his reward for being a beautiful living testimony and a powerful witness and a powerful preacher with signs, wonders, and miracles was they stoned him to death. Well, what was the reward of Jesus for all the good things that he did for healing the sick, raising the dead, being kind to the poor. They crucified him. And this had to happen, of course, so that our sins could be nailed to his tree. But we we find that Stephen, Stephen at his death, what what an amazing example of discipleship he set. Because he died praying, Father, don't let this sin be charged to them. In the midst of being stoned, he prayed for his murderers. And this is when we first see Saul, Saul of Tarsus coming into the picture. He seems to represent the Sanhedrin as a witness to the stoning of Stephen. Now, the second man we will note going forward is going to be Philip. Now, neither Stephen nor Philip were apostles. Philip will be later labeled by Luke as Philip the Evangelist. Stephen was one of the seven chosen to oversee the administrative duties that were needed of the church. But both Stephen and Philip had powerful, powerful ministries that incorporated not only teaching and preaching, but miracles, signs, and wonders. And I want you to remember this. When you are reading in the Gospel of St. Mark, and you get down towards the end, you know, from 15, say down to 20, Jesus makes the statement, these signs shall follow them that believe. Notice he didn't say, these signs shall follow the apostles and the apostles only. He said, these signs shall follow them that believe. Well, Stephen and Philip fall into that category. And so do you and I. We are among them that believe. And you know, we're blessed, the wife and I are blessed to have been used by God in many miraculous situations and to have been exposed to ministries where miracles were manifested in other people. And so if you're a new believer, especially, listen to me. Listen to me closely. The God who answered the prayers of the apostles and of Stephen and of Philip is your God. That Savior is your Savior. And the promises he made and fulfilled working through them, he can do through you. We don't know to what degree. We just know he'll be faithful. So trust him and lean into him. Believe in him. Talk to him and listen for his voice. Bury yourself in his word and let it be your daily sustenance. And anticipate that God is always faithful. He knows your name. Alright, so we're going to read now the first 14 verses of Acts chapter 8. We've been introduced already to Saul. We're going to learn some more about him as we go along through the book of Acts. So let's start with Luke's narration from Acts chapter 8, reading verses 1 through 14. Speaking of the death of Stephen. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hauling men and women, committed them to prison. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched, excuse me, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that he himself was some great one, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying that this man is the great power of God, and to him they had regard, because that of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. But when they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. All right, so now we'll go back and we'll do a little bit of rereading and we'll talk about what's going on here. So the first two scriptures, and Saul was consenting unto his death, Stephen's death, and at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. So we see here that Saul, again, like we closed out chapter 7 with him being there, having people's coats laid across his feet, that he was going to be a witness to the stoning of Stephen. So right away we see that the crowd looks at him as somebody important. That's why we look at that and wonder, hey, is he a member of the Sanhedrin? So we see him as at least an agent of the high priest. Now chapter 8 opens with a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem. We already know they had some persecution, right? Peter and John were arrested because the man at the gate called Beautiful was healed. And every time they went out to testify, the high priest and his ilk were opposed to them. Subsequently, the disciples and the saints in Jerusalem, under this great persecution, began to scatter all over the country. So persecution changed gears. They were having persecution. Suddenly, Luke says, this is great persecution. Didn't Jesus say you will be hated of all nations for my namesake? Didn't he say in the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world? You won't find where he wrote in here that if you serve me, you'll have the best chariot in town. You'll have the greatest vineyards that have ever been grown, and you'll be absolved of all persecution. The church was used to persecution. And it's not saying that, oh Lord, we want to be beaten. It's saying giving us a demonstration. Wherever the gospel goes, wherever the pure gospel, the true gospel goes, Satan is frightened into a response. So if persecution is coming against you, if abuse is coming against you because of the testimony of Jesus Christ, that just means you're on the right track. What we don't want it to be persecution because we did or said something ignorant, something arrogant. So the exception of them being scattered is the apostles. As we read, it will seem to us that the apostles at least had a small group that stayed there with them. But it was important. Luke wanted us to know the apostles did not leave Jerusalem. And we all we we only say, I say to you, that at least a small group remained there, because as we progress through the Bible and through the book of Acts, we'll see there was a church at Jerusalem. So it was more than the apostles. We'll find that James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, becomes the pastor of that church. So I don't want you to think at this point there's just the twelve, because we're going to see that there is at least a small group of believers that are faithful with the apostles in Jerusalem. Now, among those that didn't leave, that didn't scatter, were some very devout men. I'd say they were very brave men also. They saw to the burial of Stephen. He was stoned to death, considered a heretic. Who wants to be seen by the murderers of Stephen as we'll take care of his body? That took courage. So being devout helped them when it came necessary to display courage by their actions. They were living a testimony that, yes, we agree Stephen was a righteous man before God. So now we're going to read verse 3 and then four. Well, just three. Let's just go with three. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hauling men and women, committed them to prison. Saul is suddenly running rampant, causing havoc, upheaval, terror in the church. He is terrorizing, terrorizing believers. He's gone from house to house. Wow, he hears a rumor that in this house they're having fellowship about Jesus. Listen, we we we heard, we read in Acts chapter 2 that those new believers went from house to house daily breaking bread, celebrating the word of the Lord, having fellowship. Well, this is evidently known by Saul. And he likewise is going from house to house. But he's going with a different mission. And we notice that Luke writes, not just the men, but the women. Where did that leave the children? This man had a hatred for the things of God. Though he thought he was doing the will of God, he had a hatred for anything. A raging fury for anything connected to Jesus Christ and his resurrection and his deification. Both men and women are incarcerated simply for loving and obeying Jesus. Paul told Timothy, all that live godly shall suffer persecution. I'm reminded right now something is not in my notes. It's a testimony by Bishop Lenkov, who was a bishop from the Apostolic Church in Bulgaria, in the city of Sofia. And early in his ministry, while it was Bulgaria was still under Russian occupation. The church suffered greatly, great persecution. He did too. And one day he took a young minister that uh he was discipling, and they went to see the mayor of the city of Sofia. He got an audience with him, introduced himself, and he said to the mayor, he said, you know, you people you you hate Christians. You and the police, you, you, you're just giving us a very hard time, always antagonizing us. He said, don't we, aren't we the people who pay taxes diligently? And the mayor says, yes. Say, aren't we the people who never riot in the streets? We don't murder, we don't steal. And the mayor says, yes. And he says, aren't we good model citizens? And the mayor says, yes. So he says, he says to the mayor, then why then are you and the police. Constantly harassing us. He said, the mayor looked at him and asked him, Don't you believe the Bible? He said, Well, yes, of course. Shock of all shocks. He's in the mirror, opens his desk, pulls out a Bible, turns to one of the books of Timothy and says to him, Well, your Bible says right here, everyone who lives godly will suffer persecution. Isn't that what it says? So the bishop said, he looked at him and he said, Yes, and excused himself, and they left the office. Listen to me. Don't be surprised. Peter said, think it not strange the fiery trials that come upon you to try your faith. Don't listen to that gospel that says everything will be apple pie if you serve Jesus. Don't listen to that. We have prayed meals onto the table, literally, and found that God is faithful. You may be blessed to be one of those Christians who is a great businessman and live wealthy life. Praise the Lord. Give God the glory. But if you're not, do not be ashamed of your faith, because God will still answer your prayers and use you wonderfully. All right, let me go on and read verse 4. I got a little personal there because of how the wife and I have experienced Christ. But we're going to read verses 4 through 8 now. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taking with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city. I guess there was. Let's look at that. The scattering of the believers as a direct result of Saul's reign of terror and persecution caused the gospel to leave Jerusalem and go throughout Judea. If you remember, I'm going to turn there. You can turn there if you want to. I'm going to turn to Acts chapter 1 and remember there is a prophetic command from Jesus. I say it's a command that is prophetic because we're going to see it fulfilled. Acts 1 and 8. Jesus said to the disciples, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. You're about to be filled with the Holy Ghost. It hadn't happened yet, you're about to be there. And you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. But here they were, all having a great ingathering of souls in Jerusalem and not going anywhere else, doing so well that they're able to feed many of the poor believers. And suddenly comes this persecution. You know what happens? They begin to fulfill Acts 1 and 8. The gospel gets spread throughout Judea and even into Samaria. And as we read, we'll see it goes to the uttermost parts of the earth. But understand, if Jesus declared it would be so, we must believe that and embrace it. Don't let somebody tell you this is not the day of miracles. Don't listen to that. Don't listen to, oh, you don't need the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Don't listen to that. Oh, you don't need to repent of your sins. Just everyone bow your head, close your eyes, raise one hand and say, I believe. And nothing in your life has to change. That's not scriptural. That's wishful thinking. And if you believe it, if the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch. So said the Lord Jesus. And the Lord doesn't want that for anyone who believes. He wants you to walk in the fullness of his kingdom. Now, the scattering of the believers, which was a direct result of Saul's reign of terror and persecution. Paul told the Roman church, all things work together for good to them that love God and who are called according to his purpose. Here they're living that out before they're being taught that. Remember, Joseph looked at his brothers and said, You meant it to me for evil, but God meant it to me for good. Now look at how many of us are being saved. Whether Satan likes it or not, he makes no decision that doesn't validate the will of God. Just ask Job. So if you are in the midst of some persecution, if you're in the midst of some suffering, you pray for God to manifest his will and his glory. That may mean instantaneous, miraculous deliverance. It may mean that you'll get on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death and say, He was with me and brought me through. But pray for him to be glorified. Now, since so many believers left Jerusalem, we see that Philip, it seems, is no longer needed there to serve as a deacon. So a lot of those people went home who came from all over the world. Now, Philip then, he's one of those that scattered. He was one of the deacons, and he left his administrative duties, just like Stephen did. They both left off their administrative duties. There was a shift at how God was doing things in Jerusalem. Both of them went out and began to do the work or of evangelists or to become soul winners, preaching salvation. Now Philip ended up arriving in Samaria. There his ministry really took off. He preached Christ so effectively that miracles began to happen. It seems many miracles in particular among those who were lame or paralyzed, besides people being delivered from evil spirits or demons. So demons were being cast out. And when the demons were cast out, they very loudly manifested their departure. Such activity was exciting beyond words. I don't know if you've ever been in a place or in a time where miracles like that are unfolding. But it's overwhelming. We were volunteer ministers on their staff and working in their Christian school. And we got there just as revival was breaking out among them. The kind of revival where children were receiving the Holy Ghost. The kind of revival where we had services starting at 2 o'clock in the afternoon with intercessory prayer, changing gears at 3 o'clock in the afternoon with praise and worship. And at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the regular worship service began. And there were many times we didn't go home till 7.30, 8.30 at night. And we didn't know that time was lapsing. What was happening? People were being filled with the Holy Ghost. People were being delivered. Miracle were happening. I pray that God takes you somewhere, if it's no farther than your front yard, where you see miracles and signs and wonders being revealed by the Holy Ghost, by the Spirit of God Almighty, because there are places where it's happening. Because you haven't experienced it doesn't mean it isn't happening. I say this often. I burned my hand here, an electrical burn when I was about 12 or 13 years old. And it turned yellow and green and purple and blue. And it was like that for several days before it came back to its regular color. Now you can't see that. But you cannot undo that experience in my life. For those of us who have experienced the miraculous power of Jesus, if you haven't witnessed it, we understand that. But you can't undo what's already been done. And we're going to look for more. And we encourage you to look for more. So all right, so now I'm going to read verses 9, 10, and 11. But there was a certain man called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that he himself was some great one, to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. So in Samaria, there's a very famous, a very popular, a very revered male witch, a sorcerer by the name of Simon. And Simon's demonstration of sorcery and of power was so great that Luke writes about him and records his name. And he he writes, he literally bewitched the people of Samaria. That's the town, that's the city. Okay? So powerful was his witchcraft that the city was moved. The city was bewitched. And he had been revered among the people for a long time. So I don't think this means weeks. I don't think it means months. In my mind, and I mean you you interpret these things the best you can. A long time means at least a couple of years, maybe longer. So they actually believed his witchcraft was proof that he was exercising the power of God. So they saw something that they considered was supernatural. It was from the wrong source, but nonetheless supernatural. Why do you think witches go around trying to cast spells? I know there will be a whole slew of fakes, but sooner or later you'll find somebody that has touched Satan and is touched by Satan and used by Satan that will manifest satanic powers. What do you do about that? You pray for them in the name of Jesus. I went to church with a young man who was part high up in a part of a witch's coven years ago. And as a matter of fact, he lived in Denton. And he was going to college there, and he got a job in social services. And he went in there thinking, I'm going to cast some spells and I'm going to move up the ladder and make a lot of money. And there was a young lady whose job he wanted. And so he started casting spells against her. And nothing was working. As a matter of fact, it was frightening him the way things weren't coming to pass. So he approaches her one day and he says, I would like for you very much to help me. She says, Help you what? He said, I'd like to become a part of your COVID. She said, What COVID? He said, Don't, don't, don't deny it. You are a witch. You are a part of a powerful COVID. I know, because I've been casting spells on you and they just don't work. I would like to join your COVID. He was serious as a heart attack. And so I don't know if it's right for me to mention his name here, but he's probably still alive, him and his wife. But and he he went to church. For those of you who remember Brother Paul Hagod, prophet Paul Hagod, he went to church where he was pastoring. So he said the girl turned around and laughed at him. He says, What's so funny? She said, You can't cast bells on me. I've been baptized in Jesus' name, spoke in tongues when the Holy Ghost came, or something to that effect. And you can't witch that. You can't curse that. You know, he ended up repentant, being baptized in Jesus' name and filled with the Holy Ghost. And watching God do miraculous things through his own life. So God is still saving people, even if they're in witchcraft, even if they're powerful sorcerers. Understand that their sins were nailed to the cross right next to yours and mine. And repentance is offered to them just as it's offered to us. Now, Simon the sorcerer, therefore, had a huge following. Again, for how long we can't say, but I think it was for years. And we know that his sorcery was extremely powerful in demonstration. Because the people from the least to the most prominent, is that the mayors? Is that the councilman? From the least to the most prominent were under his spell. Now we're going to go ahead and read again, 12 through 14. Speaking of the city of Samaria, but when they, and this is all the people who followed Simon, but when they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Peter and John, one of the closest three, right? That two of them that followed with Jesus. Now, so the people are hearing Philip preach the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Hey, when John the Baptist came preaching the kingdom of God, he said repent. When Jesus Christ came preaching the kingdom of God, he said, repent. He said to do things in my name, lay hands on the sick in my name. And they believed what Philip was preaching. What happened when they believed? Why did Luke write after they believed they were baptized? Why didn't he just skip that and say they believed? And baptism by so many people tell you it means nothing. It meant everything in Samaria. It meant everything in Philip's ministry. So they were baptized, I guess we would say left and right. And even Simon himself believes and is baptized. So here we see that Matthew 28, 17 through 20 is fulfilled. Go, make disciples, baptize them. In Mark 16, verse 15 through 18 is fulfilled, and these signs shall follow that believe them that believe you go and you preach. And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Luke 24, 46 through 49, that repentance and remission of sins will be preached in the name of Jesus, beginning at Jerusalem, not ending there. Beginning there. Now it's moved throughout Judea and it's manifesting in Samaria with so many signs and miracles and wonders that the people who once followed the great sorcerer are now following Philip instead because they believe what Philip said about the kingdom of God and about the name of Jesus Christ. We better honor the name of Jesus. Right? John 3.18 says that those who don't believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Everybody knows John 3.16, but they don't read down. That's a small part of a conversation. You need to read all of John chapter 3. So Simon himself, it appears, has become a disciple of Philip. He has witnessed so much that he himself submits to water baptism, and then he starts hanging out with Philip. And the miracles continue to happen because Simon continues to be amazed at what he sees. Look at verse 13 again. Then Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. So they didn't stop with his salvation, they just kept going. Now, news of this soul-winning campaign in Samaria reaches Jerusalem. And the apostles take notice. It is decided there in Jerusalem, the headquarters of leadership, that Peter and John must go to Samaria. Why? They're having a great revival. People are believing. People are being baptized. Why do they have to go? Why do these people have to get involved? Leave well enough alone. That was not what the apostles felt in the spirit. They were pressed, evidently, to send Peter and John to Samaria to help Philip in the work. A work that he was very good at, evidently. News of the soul-winning campaign causes apostolic leadership to say, let's go down there and make sure that things continue to go in the right direction. And so that's where we end the study today. And we'll pick up at our next lesson at Acts chapter 15 and continue on. Thank you for your undivided attention.

SPEAKER_02 41:22

If they would come up to a mic and ask you, just take a few minutes. We've got about eight minutes we can do. If anybody has a question on the study today, is there anybody in the room in the classroom?

SPEAKER_00 41:36

I would encourage a question or a comment, something that you noticed.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

That maybe you hadn't deeply thought about before.

SPEAKER_02 41:44

Is there anybody? Um I couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Okay, we couldn't hear you, Audio.

SPEAKER_02 41:54

Her hamster wheel is turning, I guess. That's what you hear. Somebody feed that hamster.

SPEAKER_00 42:01

Give that hamster a drink of water.

SPEAKER_02 42:05

There we go. There we go.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Anyone got anything over there? I do have one question. There we go. All right. Where it says, you know, we know Saul's persecuting.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_01 42:17

Is he still in Jerusalem or is he heading towards Samaria and these other places? I mean, I know he's going to eventually.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

Eventually he'll branch out. But right then, he's still in Jerusalem. Notice it says, let's go back to that verse.

SPEAKER_02 42:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

All right. Verse 1, and Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Verse 3 is where we're going. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church. The church was scattering, but was still headquartered in Jerusalem. Entering into every house, remember, they went from house to house daily in Jerusalem. The gospel hadn't gone out from there yet. So yes, he was wreaking havoc on the church in Jerusalem. And that that thing about going house to house, that was as I was studying this, that was just painted so clearly for me. You know, you think about the way ISIS terrorized the Yazidis. You think where about Boko Haram and how they terrorize villages? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:33

And Nigeria right now.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

Yeah, in Nigeria, looking. Christians have a reputation for being who they are because God is using them to bless the community. So they can be identified. Yeah. And where they're from. And they're going from house to house seeking them. So that that's happening again in in certain countries. But thank God we live in the USA and for our Constitution. And it's a shame we don't live up to it more and take advantage of it. But thank thank the Lord for the move of God that's happening in the USA.

SPEAKER_02 44:11

Can we discuss something real quick? I just want to ask you. Paul really felt like he was doing his duty as an upright Jewish person to do, right? I mean, can you kind of explain and tell us a little bit about Paul and what he was doing?

SPEAKER_00 44:31

One of the reasons this would happen, one of the reasons that Caiaphas and Annas and the Sanhedrin and all them rejected Jesus is because they did not see the fulfillment of Scripture in his life. Because they had painted a picture of what Messiah would be, and Jesus didn't fit the mold. So instead of going back to Scripture and examining and saying, God, show me, they said, You couldn't possibly be because we know we're the wisest and the smartest and the holiest. So it has to be us. Not only that, Thomas looked at Jesus. Remember, he fell to the ground, said, My Lord and my God. So the disciples were seeing what is talked about in the gospels, the mighty God in Christ. That meant people who recognized Jesus like that by the Sanhedrin, by many of the unbelieving priests, by the Pharisees and the Sadducees, would have been identified as Jewish idolaters. And you know what Moses said to do with people who were died in the world, will idolaters. Yeah, and so he's just living that out. Thinking I'm doing that. It's his duty. Yeah, you know, strangers were welcomed in in Israel. Moses said, Be careful. You welcome the stranger, you treat him good, you yourselves were strangers in Egypt. But if the stranger said, Let's all be idolaters, they either killed them or banished them from the land. If they said, Let's go against the law of God, Moses said, Hey, there they can't be apart.

Simon The Sorcerer’s Influence

SPEAKER_01 46:13

But the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees, they knew Jesus rose from the dead. They had no doubt about it.

SPEAKER_00 46:23

The core of them, Caiaphas and his circle, knew that because the guards came to him. It's recorded in the last chapter of Matthew, and said, Whoa, we seen it. What'd you see? The angel came down. Boom! The stone was rolled away. We were dead like dead men. We couldn't move. It's just as good as we were passed out. He's risen from the dead. You know, Pilate's gonna kill us. And they said, No, no, no. We'll take care of Pilate.

SPEAKER_02 46:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

Because there's no dereliction of duty. We'll stand up for you. And and they paid him money to tell another story. So every time you read in the book of Acts where Caiaphas and his family, and the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Sanhedrin are coming against the gospel, that inner circle, they know. They know they know it, but they love their affluence and influence and their wealth more than they love the word of God. So we must be careful and not be worshippers of self.

SPEAKER_02 47:32

But you know, really, that's what we see, that's what we're seeing today in Iran and in Nigeria and in, you know, just different different parts of the world, is that people feel like it's their religious duty based on their religious beliefs to annihilate everybody else that isn't like them.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

And you know the great thing is that Christians are not being stomped out. Yeah, they're being murdered, they're being killed, but the gospel isn't dying. No matter how hard they try.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:02

The gospel is not dying. There'll always be a witness. There's a book you all should get. The name of the book is Unseen Hands.

SPEAKER_02 48:11

I have it. I have it.

SPEAKER_00 48:13

We were blessed to know the author and to have lunch with her a couple of times. And it's a great account of the move of God in Ethiopia amidst huge struggle and persecution. And we we happened to be in service one time with the brother who's one of the main characters that she writes about.

SPEAKER_02 48:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

And didn't know it then. We didn't know it at all. We found out years later when we were reading the book, and because of the way that unfolded, we looked at each other and said, Oh, thank you, Jesus. That way we didn't come against him. There were people not understanding him and talking bad about him, but we just thought, gee, that's a little harsh. But when we found out who the man of God was and they were touching him like that, I touch not mine anointed, do my prophets no harm.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

That that's a true scripture.

SPEAKER_02 49:06

Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. Well, thank you, Brother Ernie. Thank you everybody for being here. And we appreciate you being online. Hope you enjoyed this. Please get your notebooks out, get your get your Bibles out. Go through this lesson and let God just give you revelation on this as the church is growing in the book of Acts. So thank you, Brother Ernie. Thank you, Sister Ann. Thank you, Sister Patty, Sister Audio, Sister Tammy, Sister Sandy for being around the table with us today. But we just want to give God praise as as we go into this week. But we want to thank him for all his mighty good works he's doing in and through the church right now. So keep praying for our country. Amen. Pray for our president. Pray for his family. Amen. Pray for those in authority over us, right? Our Congress, everybody that needs Jesus. But we we pray for revelation for them because we want. I love how you were praying earlier when you talked about Holy Spirit just pricked the hearts of those. Because there's even people that are in high positions that we think are Christians that are just there's actually things going on behind the scenes we don't know. So let's just pray. Holy Spirit move, move. You know, you know what I want to see?

SPEAKER_00 50:20

I I want to see the president and his cabinet and his family and the vice president. I want to see them confess I found a place of repentance.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

And and I'm getting baptized in the beautiful name of Jesus. And I have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's what we want. Because no no matter what happens, I don't care how much achievement you have, if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul, what good is it?

SPEAKER_02 50:49

Yeah. So what about the person that's listening, wherever they are across the world, whenever they hear this, what would you say to them if they've never, never made that profession of faith? What would you say?

SPEAKER_00 51:03

I'd say the first thing you need to do is understand God is real and he loves you. And when we say repentance, we just mean admit my way has never been the right way. Your way always is right. God, and teach me your way. Repentance is not an event. It is a lifetime experience. It has a beginning, but it goes with you forever.

SPEAKER_02 51:26

It continues, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:27

And find a place after you do that, find a place, find a group of people that will water baptize you in the name of Jesus, that will pray with you to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, that will understand you have a long ways to grow to be like the Lord, because all of us do. And we need to give one another room to grow in our understanding.

SPEAKER_02 51:52

Without our judgment.

SPEAKER_00 51:54

Yeah. Look, you you may have to point something out in my life. I can live with that if you're just not beating me over the head with it and condemning me to the grave.

SPEAKER_02 52:04

Yeah. Yeah. We ought to encourage one another.

SPEAKER_00 52:08

It it's it starts with me recognizing I did a poor job of being my own God.

SPEAKER_02 52:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:15

Satisfying my own needs and doing what pleased me. Right.

SPEAKER_02 52:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 52:20

And serving God instead.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

Well, thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Brother Only. Thank you for just sharing your wisdom and thank you all for being here today. We're going to go ahead and close this podcast. Go and follow us. You can watch the video on YouTube. Go on to iHeartRadio, Spotify, wherever. Just share this message. Get the word out to people that we're then we're going to end with our tag to go show some love. Show some compassion. Give mercy. 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 text, and select contact us. So if you see if it's been a blessing to you, you can also go to our website and select so we see. There's several ways that you can use things. And we thank you so much for submitting your feed with us. I want you to remember this. This person will say that the person is giving you their time. They've given you their most precious gift because they can never ever give it back. Thank you for sharing this day with me. We love you. We'll see you soon.