Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:05 Good to see you. This is gonna be a really short section continuing our theme on the book of Acts, as Sean has mentioned, highly flammable. And then in a few moments time, we're gonna welcome for our guests this morning that we're gonna share a testimony of what we're looking at in the book of Acts in the next few moments. God is good. I think so. It's doing so many beautiful things in many people's lives. Yesterday was a great joy just to gather with thousands of people across the coast path and pray. God let your kingdom come. Well done to everybody participated in that last Monday. We had a special evening of prayer here beyond again tomorrow night as with a new premier on Wednesday this week for Israel Johnny with millions of people across the world praying for the nation of Israel right now that's gonna be on Wednesday at 7:00 PM but last Monday we were singing that song, speak the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1 00:01:00 You know the one? Yeah, shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets. And then as we were singing that in this lovely building, suddenly I felt God challenge us and say you're singing about shouting Jesus on the mountains. There's not a lot of those around you necessarily, but there are streets. Why are you in this building doing this? Why are you singing this behind the walls? So we just stopped the song and said, Hey, get your coats on everybody. Let's go outside and let's do this outside. So we went outside and we began to shout Jesus in the streets and declare his name. And we were shouting, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for its the power of God to salvation. And there was consecration as we knelt on the streets and just called out on the name of the Lord.
Speaker 1 00:01:50 I think in this season God is calling us to make sure that the words we say are actually compatible with the lives that we lead. And he's picking us up on the detail. The other week there was something happening where we were saying, God, we trust you. And I felt God say, do you really? Do you really trust me? What about some of those financial decisions you've made recently? We're gonna look at this in a few weeks time. How do we trust God with our finances? How do we trust God with the practical things in our lives? Because God is not wanting us to have a theoretical faith. He's wanting us to have a real faith. And as we look at this book of Acts, it comes with this warning about the flammability of this book because for years we've been looking at the fire of this book and toasting marshmallows.
Speaker 1 00:02:42 And God doesn't want us to toast marshmallows and it's flame. He wants us to be consumed by them cuz it's the only real way that you can read this book properly and in context. Last time we met, we looked at, or last time we looked at this, we looked at the handover, if you like, of Jesus the disciples and then his ascension to heaven. We're gonna pick it up with the few verses following that. And then next week we're gonna continue with the theme on Pentecost as we move into chapter two. So if you have a Bible, it doesn't matter if you don't because it's gonna be on the screen, but from Acts chapter one, verse 12 onwards, it says these words, when they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath state journey away, it is really close.
Speaker 1 00:03:32 You can, you can walk it probably about half an hour, but there were sorts of restrictions about how far you could travel on the Sabbath. So it was really close, but that's why it says a Sabbath day journey. And then when they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, John, James, Andrew, Phillip, Thomas Baru, Matthew James, the son of Als, Simon the zealot, and Judas, the son of James. They were all continually united in prayer along with the women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters. The number of people who were together was about 120 and said Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the scripture be fulfilled. That the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas who became a guy to those who arrested Jesus for he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.
Speaker 1 00:04:29 Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out. This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem so that in their own language, that field is called <unk>. I didn't say that right today <unk> that is field of blood for it is written in the book of Psalms that his dwelling become desolate. Let no one live in it and let someone else take his position. Just before we carry on reading, it was in Jerusalem last year and looking out over from a a building, um, and E everywhere in Jerusalem is really built up. You know, things are tightly put together and there's thousands of years of history where different sort of people in that area have built up new things. And as I looked out, you could see that field, everything else is developed and built around it.
Speaker 1 00:05:21 But there's that field and that is the field that's talked of here that even in thousands of years of where that area has had all sorts of different occupancy, that that field still to this day has not been built on and it never will be built on because God declared that it will not be built on. And that's the power of God's work. That when God says something, it happens. When he says something won't happen, it won't happen. And that field won't be built on because God has declared that it won't be. Let's look at verse 21. Therefore from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time, the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us, from among these it is necessary that one becomes a witness with us of his resurrection.
Speaker 1 00:06:07 So they proposed two, they had a short list of two Joseph called Barabbas who was also known as justice and Mathias. Then they prayed. You Lord know everyone's heart. Show which of these two you have chosen. That's a really great prayer to pray. God, what are you choosing? Yes, because so often we ask God the bless what we choose. But the best sort of prayer is to pray. God, what do you choose? We want what you choose what you want, what you desire, what you long for. Those are the best sort of prayers to pray. You Lord know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two of you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry that ju Judas left to go where he belongs. Then they cast lots for them and the lot fell to Messias and he was added to the 11 apostles.
Speaker 1 00:07:04 Just before we proceed on, just take that slide off a second. Thank you. Um, we are thinking about the senior leadership of the team of the church. If you think about other areas of society where organizations or institutions or businesses have been successful, you'll find a highly skilled group of people who are at the top of that organization. Let's look to that slide. Tim Cook, Tim Cook, c e o of Apple, one of the most successful companies of our day. And he has quite, uh, if you look on his e LinkedIn profile, he has quite an interesting sort of background and CV that all sort of point towards this moment of taking on. This company worked for big companies like Compact and ibm. He's got an mba, he's got a bachelor of science and it all sort of makes sense that he has the qualifications to be able to fulfill this role.
Speaker 1 00:08:01 Someone else on his senior leadership, Kath, Catherine Adams, senior vice president of Apple. She's worked for some big organizations, big companies, Honeywell, Sidley Austin, she's been a law clerk, she's got a law degree. It all sorts of makes sense, but what about Jesus Senior leadership team, the apostles. Let's look Simon Peter fisherman Andrew got one more thing added into his bio. He's a fisherman and he's Peter's brother Philip. Oh this is a bit interesting. An aqui vertebrae extraction expert. In other words, a fisherman <laugh>, Matthew, a tax collector. These LinkedIn profiles don't suggest anything of the level of expertise that you and I would look for if we're looking for a senior leadership team to start a worldwide movement. This is not what we would seek out in order to make this possible. But these are the very people that Jesus sought out and now there was one gone from their number one who had betrayed Jesus and they're replacing one person on that senior 12 team of the apostles.
Speaker 1 00:09:12 And you know, what sort of gifts, what sort of abilities would they require? Well, I'm so glad that throughout the last 2000 years ago, God has continued to pluck the unlikely. He's continued to take those who have very little qualification and experience. And he has taken us to be people that he wants to do magnificent things through. There is a qualification we see here that there was a qualification required for Mathias and that was, he was someone who had been with Jesus. That's the qualification. If you wanna do extraordinary things in God, be with Jesus. That's where you get your qualification from to be with him, to be like him. These people, the 12 disciples, they saw him. They experienced his teaching, his values, they saw his death, they saw his resurrection body engage and eat with them. They saw his ascension to heaven and now they were witnesses.
Speaker 1 00:10:19 But what are these 12, including the now added Mathias, what did they go on to do? Some of them, there's a clear narrative that much of the New Testament is told about them. We see Peter, there's a lot about Peter in there. We see the apostle Paul who's not one of those 12. He was captured later on by the Holy Spirit as he was persecuting the church. We know what those guys did and it's quite spectacular. Simon Peter, um, he was able to go at his missionary travels into the gospel of various places. Paul was when we read about those various missionary journeys. But what happened to them? Do you know how they died? 80, 66. They both died in the same year. They were both Marty for their faith. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified. But Peter said, I am not worthy to be crucified in the same way that my Lord was.
Speaker 1 00:11:20 So he requested that he was crucified upside down. What a destiny for these people that God had handpicked. What about some of the others? Well, Andrew, Andrew, its rumor took the gospel to the Soviet Union as we know it today. Took the gospel to that land and those nations. He also to the gospel, probably to Asia Minor, Turkey and Greece. And these were in the face of much opposition and persecution. Andrew was martyred. He was crucified. Thomas, doubting Thomas. What did he do? Well, legend has it that he took the gospel to Syria, maybe even India, to the gospel on this commission, going to all the world disciples and preach the gospel and they did it faithfully. How did Thomas end his days? He was pierced with the spears by four soldiers and gave his life as a martyr. Philip. Philip took the gospel to North Africa to Asia Minor.
Speaker 1 00:12:26 Philip took this charge of Jesus series. He unqualified but commissioned. How did he see his end of days? He was killed for his faith. Matthew. Matthew took the gospel to Persia. Matthew took the gospel to Ethiopia. How did Matthew end his days? He was probably stabbed to death in Ethiopia. Legend has it. What about Baru? What did he do when he took the gospel to India, to Armenia and also to some parts of Europe? How did Baru end his days? He was martyred for his faith. James, what happened to James? James took the gospel to Syria. J James was stoned and clubbed to death for his faith. Simon, the zeal. What did he do? He went to Persia, took the gospel to Persia. What happened to him? He was killed and martyred for refusing to worship the son God. Mathias, who just got the job.
Speaker 1 00:13:28 Hey, high fives all around Mathias, you're in the team. What happened to Mathias, to the gospel, to Syria And he was burnt to death for his faith. John, John is the only one of the 12 that ended his days of natural causes to the gospel to Ephesus. We know he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. Rumor has it that they tried to boil him in boiling oil and he escaped without a single injury on his life. We read that while he was on the island, pat Moss. He wrote, what we now have as the last book in our Bible's book of Revelation. All of these were so consumed by the fire of the gospel that when Philippians 1 21 was written, which says these words, they believed and they lived these words. For me to live is Christ and to die is game.
Speaker 1 00:14:42 In a moment, you're gonna hear the story of the most sobering reality of a dear sister that has gone through some of the greatest struggles in her life, all because of Jesus. And there are millions of our brothers and sisters across the world who are experiencing such a thing. And it flows right from the pages of Acts right around the world. These ordinary fishermen and tax collectors and others that they gave their lives so that you and I today could know Jesus. And yet, how easily do we get derailed? We don't have persecution in this country. I've been on the radio three times over the last couple of days declaring Jesus on national radio This morning, did a live interview. I had 20 minutes on BBC Radio. 20 minutes they, they asked me to do Desert Island disks. They said I needed to choose one secular song and one Christian song.
Speaker 1 00:15:50 So I chose the police. Roxanne Woo, you don't have to put on the red light <laugh>. It's a song about a prostitute. I think it was a bit of a curve ball for them, to be honest. <laugh> on a Sunday morning to get a vicar bring such a song to them and they said, why have you chosen this song? I said, because it tells a story of someone who loves a prostitute and says, I want you to know my love exclusively. I want you to stop selling yourself cheaply. And that's what God is saying to the earth right now. He is saying, I want you to stop selling yourself. I want you to know your value and I want you to know my love. Here I am on BBC radio saying, come on, come back to God. And then the second song, that song we sang on, yes, you are said, I've got a song that's about Jesus, but it's yes you are, which is Hebrew for Jesus. And this is a song that that woman sings when she discovers that her true value comes from knowing the love of God. My beloved is more beautiful than thousands. Don't tell me we're persecuted in this nation. We have the freedoms to go out right now. We're just a bit wooy. We just don't like to offend people.
Speaker 1 00:17:18 We don't have persecution here. What we have is timidity, and that's our issue. And this gospel where we preach to the ends of the earth. And the spirit of the Lord will empower us with boldness to be his witnesses. And I pray that as you open your hearts and hear this testimony moment that your heart will be stirred not by just the emotion of the story, but by the power of the Spirit of God that empowers others.
