Acts Part 17

Acts Part 17

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning. It's February 16th. And I'm going to call these next few recordings Acts 29. Of course, there are only 28 chapters in the Acts, but I'm looking at this like the 19th Hole after people do 18 rounds of golf and then they go to a bar called the 19th Hole and they discuss, you know, their game for that day, whatever. So it's like I said in church yesterday, you have front row seats to this movie. You have been invited, and you should look at that as being a special invite. You have been invited by the God of the universe to have a front row seat, an up close and personal witnessing of what is about to take place. As I think about the interplay of acts and our family, I want to talk about the most important things on my mind and heart. And the number one thing is how fragile we are. I am just several times a day I think about how fragile I am, our family is, how fragile life is. And I want us just to embrace how fragile we are. Be proud of it. You are in God's hands. And nobody can wrest you out of his hands. You are completely protected. We are completely protected being in the hands of God. Every day I'm confronted with so many ways that Satan could easily shatter us or life could easily shatter us. I would need megadoses of anxiety medication if I was not convinced Christ is building his church. It's his church. This is his movie. He is building his church. We are just along for the ride. Now we've gelled together as we've overcome serious, very serious problems, as we have tempered together two families. When I use that word temper, I think of how my grandfather he'd catch his minnows, go to the pond, lake, river, catch his middles, put them in a five-gallon bucket, bring them back to the bait shop, and he would gently put that five-gallon bucket into his minnow tanks. Well, the water in the minnow tanks is very different from the water in the five-gallon buckets. And if you just plunge the minerals into the tank, the holding tanks at the bait shop, they would be in shock and they would just instantly die. So you put the five-gallon bucket in there, and gradually, slowly, the two waters mix, and as the minnows swim more and more out, they're slowly acclimated. They get used to the colder water, and then they can handle it. And this whole process between these two families, New York, Texas, began with by me not claiming Deborah. If I had gone down there, I think how I go down there for three or four days and I stay there for you know two or three days and then just leave? If I had tried to cla claim my bride, oh, it would have been a disaster. No way. There's no way that would have happened. It would have been a shock to the system. So I get excited when I see the two families, how we've combined. I wish there was more combining, but I like that the precedent and the foundation has been set. So as harrowing and dangerous as this process has been these last nine years, it is nothing compared to having a gun pointed at your head, a child's head, threatened with jail, financial ruin, ridicule. So what we've gone through as a family has been hard. And the fact that we have gotten through it, and the Lord has has tempered us into the holding tank of faith together gradually, we have a st actually a strong foundation to go through what we're going to go through. So I'm assuming that during the next stage of adversity, what the Bible says will prove to be true. A friend is born of adversity. Adversity will increase our devotion to one another and to our cause, which is the cause of Christ. So friendship, camaraderie, devotion, these are all things that come from being in a like a foxhole experience together. They're forged in fire. You grow together as a unit. Remember freshman's speech. There's a a special camaraderie, a special relationship in you know with the members of your freshman speech class because you all are mostly terrified to give a speech. And everybody understands that. And so there's a special empathy and a special understanding and a special connection when you're all under the stress of having to do something that most people just don't like doing. That's giving a speech. So we have some hard things to go through, but like I said, the precedent, the foundation has been set, and I do appreciate that. I'm a little concerned about how fragile we are, how spoiled we are. We are so spoiled. Just because we live in a world with so many creature comforts, we you drive in your cars, we get the perfect temperature. If it gets two degrees off, you just move a little knob, and you have immediate gratification of what you want the temperature to be. I laugh at myself. You know, I sleep with three pillows, and they had to be just right for me to go to sleep. And I think about Jacob who laid down, you know, and his pillow was a stone. So we have immediate gratification of anything we want. Amazon. I could get hooked on Amazon. I love Amazon. I didn't, you know, the last few months or six months or a year, oh, this is pretty neat. And maybe I'll just turn, maybe I'll just make my job buying things from Amazon. It's pretty neat. You order it, and it's just like it's like magic. It just cut, you know, just there. I think of all the drinks, the choices and drinks. Just amazing. You get any drink you want. You know, I laugh if you know Debbie's husband John could come back to the dead, come back from the dead, and you know, see his daughter and wife spending seven dollars a day on a drink on four ounces of liquid. I mean, I I'm surprised that doesn't raise him from the dead in itself. So just keep in mind how spoiled we are. And prepare yourself to lose all these things. Don't go crazy when it happens. You know, for 20 years now, I've I've you know, I saw Naomi and when she lost the phone numbers to her friends on her phone, you know, about 20 years ago. I thought she was gonna have a nervous breakdown. And that gave me insight into this culture. Well, I mean, what are people gonna do when the satellites fall from the sky? If they do, I'm not predicting it. But what and what are people gonna do if they don't have access to these powerful phones? I'm holding in my hand, in my hand, in my little hand. The computing power is more powerful than all the computers that put you know people on the moon. The next thing I want to consider is I don't want any of you to die as a fool. There's a story in the Bible, Abner. And Abner was a great general. David called him the greatest general in Israel's history. And one day Abner, after the kingdoms had divided, Abner remained with Saul as Saul's general, and Joab, who was pretty deceitful and treacherous, these two generals decided to let their soldiers have a fight. And as they were fighting, uh Joab's brother ran after Abner because Abner that day lost this battle. And Asahel thought, Joab's brother thought, well, I'll really win my spurs. I'll chase after this great general and kill him, and I'll really be a hero. Maybe I'll be as great as my brother Joab. Anyway, Asahel chases Joab, uh chases Abner, and Abner begs him, please stop. Go after one of the other soldiers. Please don't chase me. Don't make me kill you. If I kill you, how am I going to ever face your brother Joab? But Asahel would not, in his foolish arrogance and invincibility, he chases Abner and finally as Abner is running, he kills Asahel with his spear. So then years later, when Abner is in the process of trying to bring the two kingdoms back together, he does a favor for David, and David welcomes Abner back into, you know, the army, and Joab hears about this and he is furious. Well, Abner was so excited about having love and peace that he just walks up and you know, hugs Joab, but didn't see that Joab had a knife in his hand, and as they're hugging, Joab kills Abner. And David was furious. But in his eulogy, David needed to make sure that his people knew that he had nothing to do with this. And in his eulogy for Abner, David says, Died Abner as a fool. Because he was a fool to trust Joab. So as we go through this, we have to make up our minds that we are going to love, crave, and desire truth above peace and so-called love. Truth is more important. Truth is more important than having peace and so-called love. So, how could you die as a fool? Well, for one, you serve the Lord in your own strength. Again, if you think you can go through what we need to go through in your own strength, you're just mistaken. You have to understand that the battle is the Lord's. This is the Lord's battle. The other way you could die as a fool is resisting authority. Don't be resisting authority. Don't do it. Don't resist authority. Do what they tell you to do. Have the attitude that you are their you are to be in obedience to them. If you think you've been mistreated, shut your mouth and do what you're told to do. Shut your mouth and do what you're told to do. Don't raise your eyebrows, don't raise your voice, don't question them. Shut your mouth and do what you're told to do. If you have to resist, then you do it respectfully. If you're asked to say that Jesus Christ, you know, isn't God and is the devil, then you have the right and the responsibility to lovingly, calmly express your opinion. But other than that, shut your mouth. Just do what you're told to do. Don't mess with these people. Do what you're told to do and shut your mouth. And have a submissive spirit and a submissive attitude. Do what you're told to do and do it gladly. The other way you can die as a fool is by stepping out from under my umbrella of protection. You're under my umbrella of protection. If you step out from that, you're gonna play the fool. I'm just telling you, I'm giving you proper warning. Now you have the honor of being hated. And I heard this statement by Brett Stevens on Dan Senior's podcast on February 4th, 2026. And he was explaining how it's an honor to be hated. And then I thought about Kobe Bryant's uh statement that they only hate the great ones. And then I think about my favorite movie, you know, Tombstone, and how when uh Doc Holliday realizes that Johnny Ringo knows Latin, then he says, now I really hate him, because Ringo realized, oh, this guy may be my eagle or even my superior. And then he really hated Johnny Ringo. So I'm looking at this as if there are only two groups in all of history that have been the most hated. No large group is hated more than Jews and Christians. Both groups are so hated we even hate ourselves. And I can prove this by all the divisions. A division is an act of hate. Any division is an act of hate. It's an attack, it's an affront. But Jews and Christians are the most hated people in the history of mankind. Now there have always been a remnant, and I call this remnant the hated. Because we fly in the face of what the majority want. The majority want a peace and a so-called love in this world. They want they just want whatever this world demands, how whatever it takes to get through this world. This world is all they care about. And so this idea of the remnant, again, I'm calling this remnant the hated. This idea of the remnant runs all the way through scripture. Ezra chapter 9 8 says, But now for a brief moment, favor has been shown by the Lord our God to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within this holy place that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. The remnant is always a very small group of people who God blesses and uses to bring hope to the people at large. And it's always a remnant. And the source of this remnant is always a dry root. Always. It's a dry root. It's something that looks like it's dead, like it's completely insignificant. And we look like we're dead to the world. We're 20 people, 20 people in the midst of 8 billion people, right? And you think you're going to do something special? Yeah, I do. Is it because I have a need to do something special? No, I don't. But 20 people? Really, out of eight billion people. So we're like a root, a dry root that people would be convinced were completely insignificant and dead. Jeremiah 23, 3 says, I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them. There's always a small group of people amongst the many that God preserves in a special way. Romans 11 5 says, Even so, then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Paul is saying, even during his time when so many Jews were against Christ and coming out against Christianity and persecuting Christianity, and of course, Paul also persecuted Christians, there was a remnant. So Paul is saying there was a remnant, a small group of people, and he said, you know what? Hey, I'm a Jew. The fact that I believe in Christ, I'm the remnant. And I'm sure he must have thought there are others. So there have always been a remnant according to the election of grace that God chooses. God chooses to elect people because he's a gracious God. Now I'm not getting into election, how this all works, not doing it. But there are always people who are devoted to God's truth. So I look at the remnant like a sweet core of candy in the midder in the middle of bitter chocolate. There's that sweet core in the middle of bitterness. So here's my theory. There have always been two groups and only two. Two groups of persons who deeply, sincerely care about, stand for, and protect God's teachings. And there are only two teachings of God. Only two. There's the law, which has been preserved by a remnant of Jews. So what I'm saying here, I believe that there is a small group of Jews who truly love the law. And when God gives them insight and moves them and breathes across their life, they will see things differently. But right now there are true, there's truly a remnant of Jews who sincerely love the law of God. But they're perverted. The law is perverted by most Jews, by the mass of Jews. So you have a few who are sincere and a few who observe the law for their own selfish intentions. So most pervert the law. And their punishment is the world's hatred. The world really does hate the Jew. I was struck by the statement of Yossi. Tim will know who I'm talking about. I can't think of his last name, but he said something a few weeks ago. What does the world's hatred of us say about us? Well, I think people like Yossi are going to have to answer that question. They're going to have to deal with it front and center. What does the world's hatred of us, the Jews, say about us, the Jews? What an important question. And then the other teaching is the gospel, grace. The gospel has been preserved by a remnant, by a small group of Christians. It's perverted and destroyed by the mass, by most Christians. Most Christians, the gospel is nothing but a free ride to do whatever they want to do in this world and put a bumper sticker on their car saying, I'm not perfect, but I'm forgiven. And their punishment? Trump.

unknown 23:24

Trump.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

So my dilemma is this how do I get these two remnants together?