But I'd kind of be remiss if I didn't at least mention Patriots Day, this being the anniversary, I think it was the 23rd anniversary, for 9-11, September 11, 2001. I think all of us remember that day and what it was like. And just how it's changed the world. It's interesting, I was talking with somebody, I can't remember who it was the other day, but we now have generations of people graduating high school who weren't alive then, didn't know that this was the world that they were born into. I think there's some things that as time goes on and we forget about all that, that we need to remember. That day 2,996 people, I think's the official count, died. 400 of those were emergency workers. That's kind of the part that kind of gets you the most about that time. I remember we had a track that we passed out for a long time that showed the firemen there at the rubble lifting the flag on that famous photo. Just think about those who put their lives at risk to go in there, yeah. Saw that many more just from there in the surrounding areas from the cancers. Yeah It's crazy But just Again, just the picture of those people that as others were trying to get out of the building that the emergency workers were running into that building You know and 400 of them losing their life and over 6,000 injured that day they killed everywhere from a two-year-old on one of the flights up to an 85 year old so quite the span of people that died and 80% of those people that died out of that almost 3,000 were men. So it killed, took away a lot of husbands and a lot of brothers and uncles and dads. 184 were killed at the Pentagon. I forget that plus I think it was like 43 in the field, Pennsylvania. Sometimes you think, well, why, what was this? We know it wasn't, you know, bin Laden, you know, we were told and all that, but the official reasoning they're saying is because America's supportive of Israel. That's why they attacked us. And because we participated in the Persian Gulf, and because we had occupation in the Middle East, which we still do and should. Yeah, makes people mad, at least that's what they say. 12 survivors were pulled from the rubber, which is amazing. When you watch that, you're thinking, no one survived that, but to have 12 people pulled out. They said immediately following afterwards, church attendance went up 20%, but alcoholism in Manhattan went up 25%, and smoking went up 10% in those surrounding areas as the stress and the loss and the chaos went on. It took 100 days to put out the fire at ground zero. If you can remember that, you know, they would show the hot spots on the evening news or the dogs that they did, rescue dogs that they had to put in those little booties so they can walk in there and it wouldn't burn their feet because of the fire that was going on underground. And as of 2017, when they finally quit, I think, only 60% of the World Trade Center victims' remains have been identified. So 1,113 have never had a biological confirmation that they were there and that they died. There's just dust, just ground up between the fires and all that. So some families never have that quite, 60% don't have that quite closure of all that. It said when they were going through all the rubble that they found 437 watches. and 144 wedding rings. I think most of us probably remember the evening news and those things as they come out with stuff like that. It was just shocking. It's the highest loss of life from a foreign attack on American soil ever. No matter what kind of spin people are trying to put out. It's higher than Pearl Harbor. a big account. And the one, this is one thing that I remember shocking me the most when I was watching it, just how hot and how horrible it must have been on those floors above and around, you know, the impact spot, that 200 people jumped because of the heat. And I just remember I still have a Time magazine that I've kept that shows them falling, which they're zoomed in way too close for those families, I think, and we're hearing the reports of the people on the ground saying, what is it that's hitting these cars? And it was the people coming from the top floors, and the 200 of them jumped, so their fall lasted 10 seconds. But so every one of their deaths were ruled a homicide and not a suicide because it was the terrorist attacks that caused them to be pushed out because of the intense heat. I think probably about anybody with 10 seconds of cool air would probably be worth it in that intensity of that. My heart goes out for those people. The employee that ordered the grounding of all the flights that day, that said we gotta stop all these flights, was Ben Sliney. And it was his first day on the job. Can you imagine the pressure of that? Your first day on the job and you're having to cancel all flights in the United States. I'm glad as a first day employee he had the confidence enough and the guts enough to do it. And one last little odd thing I'd never heard is that Michael Jackson was almost a victim. He was scheduled to be in a meeting in the World Trade Center that day, but he overslept. I never heard of his account of that way, but I've heard of a lot of other people, haven't you, that was like, oh, I was supposed to be on that plane, but I missed it because of this, or I turned around just because I didn't feel quite right, and all those things. And so you just never knows. You never know what's going on. If you've never read The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn or listened to that, it pertains to 9-11, and if you haven't, I'd recommend it highly. I think I have a copy here at the church. If not, we can order a couple if you've never read it. It's a pretty easy read. It's written in a kind of a different style, but it's one of them you read it and you Google it, you know, because it's one of them you're like, that can't possibly be true, because he ties things together from a passage in Isaiah 9-11 that is, Pretty astounding, and it's pretty astounding for what it says for the United States as well, but it's interesting how it's continued on since then, and so there's a lot to go into, and I know I've mentioned some of it before, but I would recommend, if you'd like to read something about that, I'd recommend The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn. He's a Jewish rabbi, as he interprets that, and I'd also encourage you, as you think, over these things and you have any questions about it, as I think there should be a lot of questions about it, I'd say investigate building seven. If you've never gone down that rabbit hole, you should do that, and I'll make you think about all this a little bit differently, but a lot of people, a lot of innocent people lost their lives, and that's why war's horrible, and all these things that, as it comes out, are pretty horrible, so we need to, again, these are, war should be, fought with soldiers. I'm not on home ground against innocent people, but should be avoided at all cost anyway. But yeah, so just want to. Take a minute and just think about it and remind yourselves about it, lest we forget. I still think about Pearl Harbor on Pearl Harbor Day. When I think of it, I think of Jim Haig. He had that little book all about it, and he talked about, the thing that shocked me most about him, like Pearl Harbor, we all know it, right? Because we were all born after that. You were kind of like these kids I was talking about that weren't there during 9-11 to watch it. I remember that was one day at work, we pulled out TVs. I actually had one there. Somebody went and got one that we can kind of keep on it throughout the day. I remember Jim Hague said he was sitting at a restaurant, I think it was. I think he might have said a bar, then changed it to a restaurant when he was telling me, if you know Jim Hague. But so he's a unique individual, but he's like, I was in there, they come running in. He wasn't stationed there, though he had a lot of neat things. He was in some kind of media core where he had an original copy of Hirohito resigning. He had a lot of interesting things. But they, So he came running in where him and these other guys were sitting and they said, Jim, they just bombed Pearl Harbor. He goes, that's horrible. Where's that? because he didn't know where it was. Nobody had ever heard of it before. It was a secret base that no one knew of until that day, and that made it infamous for all of us, and so I guess I should give some kids some slack, you know, because we just know the after effects, as they say, it's the same for them, and so it's a dark day. So I just want to take a minute and pray for those families. Lord, we just thank you for this time where we do remember this horrible attack, and Lord, we do pray for those that lost loved ones, and Lord, I pray especially as we look at this information we had tonight, those who've never had quite the closure of a their loved one being identified, some 60%. Lord, I pray that you just comfort them as this anniversary rolls around 23 years later, that they would take comfort and that you'd be near unto them. We do pray that all those involved, Lord, whether the ones that we've caught and set are involved and all those more, Lord, would be caught and brought to justice, Lord, and we know that ultimately they will be in your hands. But Lord, we pray that we would see some of that and get some answers here in this life. Lord, I pray that your hand of protection would be over the United States as we've let in. enemies, and Lord, I just pray you just guard and keep us. Lord, help us stay in front, help us to be alert and ready, help us to be on guard. Lord, help us to ever be loving and witnessing. The best way to get rid of the enemy is to make them a friend, and Lord, I pray that we'd be able to reach out and teach them the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Lord, that they would convert. But Lord, I pray you'd make us cautious, and Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be safe, and Lord, in your ever-protecting hands, as it's even been testified with Shane here tonight, Lord, that you do that continually, and we thank you for it. But Lord, we just pray for these families and pray for all those in that area, Lord, the trauma that they've endured. And Lord, we thank you for those heroes that were there on that day, the ones that ran into the fire, those who stormed the cockpit and put the plane down. Lord, we just pray to be with them and their families as well. And Lord, we pray that we not forget and I pray that we would continue to be united. And Lord, I pray that that kick that we had from the 20% surge, Lord, that people would seek answers and they would still come after you even here and now at this day and age. And Lord, I can remember the congressmen and the senators singing, God bless America. And Lord, I pray that they put you back in the center of their songs again. I pray that you'd come back into the center of their life and the things that they are seeking to do. And Lord, I pray for revival in this country. Lord, we need it badly. I want a whole party. and their main point and their main subject is death and when to kill a baby. And Lord, I pray that you would just forgive us and help us. God, help us. Lord, just be with those and comfort them. Be with us tonight, Lord, encourage us from your word. In your son Jesus' name I pray, amen. Acts five. So we are done with the Ananias and Sapphira portion. That's good. So some main takeaways are don't lie to God. Don't put on a religious show. Don't be a hypocrite. He doesn't like it. And I think we're gonna get some more answers to why this passage and why this way from the passage tonight. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So we're gonna be ready for verse 12. So Acts chapter five. And verse 12. Acts 5, 12 says, and it says, by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And so it's pretty cool, you know, that as this happens, you know, it's like we've got that little housekeeping story with Ananias and Sapphira in the middle, but we've coming off them being in prison and then being released and how they were praising God for the answer to prayer. But now the apostles have this power that they were able to do pretty cool things, you know, to be able to do signs and wonders. A sign is a token. a miracle that authenticates the man of God, that he is sent by God, something that only God can do from this person. And so it was something, I think, unique to the apostles right then and right there. Does God still do signs and wonders? He does, but not necessarily through a man to authenticate a man. He authenticates himself through that, and he might answer our prayers, and he does. We can testify of it here all night, probably, of God interceding with Laman's niece, Rachel. Even now, they're talking about the miracle that that's happened, that God would continue to do that. But this is something special. It's a special time. A wonder is a portent, which isn't a word we use a lot, and it usually sounds kind of creepy. Omen, as well, might be the same word. It doesn't give a good connotation, I think. I usually think that's something foreboding, but it means something amazing, that there's some portrait, that this is something amazing, that this person is doing something amazing to give glory to God, that, hey, this is a man from God. This was an amazing thing done to make sure that you pay attention to this person. And these apostles that are doing this, notice it says the apostles, it doesn't say the disciples. It's the 12 that were appointed by Jesus Christ or the 11 plus Matthias from Acts chapter one that we studied. And so it's not the 120 disciples that were there or those that were added to the church daily, the 3,000, it's not that. It's these specific guys who had traveled with Jesus Christ and were his disciples. and his apostles as they were trained and instructed by him so that they could teach his word, so they can inform people who he is and what he did and what he taught so that they would get it and understand it because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is turning the world upside down. because the ascension of Jesus Christ is shocking people that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has come and all Jerusalem has come in there because they've heard this rushing hurricane like wind. And now they've just seen Peter heal this lame man, you know, that he's silver and gold, have I none such as I have given thee in the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk and he does. And they take him before the Sanhedrin and God is glorified. They can't find anything against it. They don't even beat him and they go home and they praise God that prayers are being answered. The scriptures be an answer. They pray, Lord, give us signs and wonders so that people will know and verify. We can spread your word. So that's happening. And I think the where this is, is important. because I think God's order's never out of order, and so God is telling us stories. He gives us the book of Acts, and so he's like, things are going great. They're released from prison. Oh, a guy named Barnabas sold some land. He came and laid it at their feet. You'll learn more about Barnabas later, but he gave land that he had sold from the isle there. I forget which isle he was from. Cyprus, I think it was. And then, yeah, so valuable land that he gets and he sells. And then you get these others that are pretending, you know, that they kind of want that same glory, they want that same praise, and so people are given money, and God's like, this has to be done right. And when they give the money, some of them are honored, like Barnabas, we know his name, he gave it. And so they probably got respect within the church. We learn later, you know, he's traveling around with Paul. But there's others. And so, I think that we're talking specifically about Again, I think Matthias is in here. I just put this in my notes. I was thinking, why did I put that? It's not Paul, it's not counted in with this group of the apostles. It's Matthias, because Paul wanted to be the disciple to the Jews, but God told him no. God sent him to be to the Gentiles. And then there's specific things that are towards these men, because I guess in a lot of my notes and a lot of the commentaries where people are like, argue like, well, everybody's wrong, it was Paul. It's like, well, I think God's right. And God put it down here and he told it, I think God's right. Because Jesus had promised the 12. disciples and apostles that they'd sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel, and he promised that to them, Paul is to the Gentiles, and so that's not a promise given unto him, and he never claims it for himself. So this is these guys, and it's not him. Now, does Paul do some of this later? Do miraculously? Yeah, he says one born out of due time, yes. But I think that it's important timing. This is the founding of the church. We know that Paul's against the church here early, so it's not counting him. It's the founding of the church. And so it's telling the church who they should listen to. These are my apostles, the ones with signs and wonders. These are my apostles, the ones you can trust. And so God gives them signs and wonders to verify they are who they say they are. And when lied to about it, or when you lie and say, and you try to throw yourself off, because a whole lot of people come out and try to say they are an apostle, or they try to say they have one of the apostles writings, and they try to insert that to the church, We are protected by so much that we don't even know of because we have the completed Word of God that is here. And so here early on, God says, I just want you to know, if you're gonna try to claim something that's not yours, I will kill you. Ananias and Sapphira just lied about a bunch of money. And I'm like, I'm not having that. This church needs to be untainted and undefiled. I need you to be in that one accord, that one heart, that one soul that we talked about last week. And so people die. And so he puts a fear in them. Don't claim to be something that you're not. So don't be fake. Don't lie. Don't pretend to be what you are not. So this is who my people are. And I think that's why we have this little bookend at the end. Because we know that fakes are coming later. They do, they show up. Remember, there's a guy who tries to buy power from the disciples. Let me have this power, teach me this. I want to go around, I can make money with it. And that comes up later in the book of Acts. We know that there are fakes today that will fake all these things, you know, trying to make money and have power. But now we don't need signs and wonders to authenticate because we have the complete word of God and we can trust it. We have the Bible. and it takes on all these problems that we face throughout all church history. We're all encountered very early on and that's why we have the epistles that we have, where these things were being addressed and those, that's why we have this, the canon that we do have, because the ones who helped voted on it, this was decided long before, you know, the Council of Trent or all these other things. People knew and these are the letters that they shared and then we can trust it and it's been revealed that that's what it is. And so it was written by apostles and their students and their disciples. It was verified so we can trust God's word. And so you'll have the Discovery Channel or something every once in a while show up, bring up something, the Apostle of Mary or the Apostle of Thomas, or you know, the Epistle of Thomas. They have all these things. These are all known fakes. They're all pseudepigraphers and everything else from earlier. And they usually address some kind of heresy. But God early on says, I'm verifying it through these guys doing signs and wonders. So God shows who you can trust. And he killed two to warn them. And so, It was to warn the rich people from saying, hey, I gave you all and you didn't give all, you just gave some, but you wanted that praise or any giver at all. You give out of a pure heart and don't try to trout, you know, tout into something else. That it would keep the proud from coming forward. It would keep the hypocrites from coming forward. It would keep the false... prophets and everything else from coming there. So he gives them fair warning. Pretty much God sets at the outside, I'm not messing around. This is my church, I'm establishing something here. There's plenty of time for shenanigans later. Early on, no, we're gonna trust it. And so I think it's key. And it says here, the next verse is gonna tell us, they got it. And I think... They understood it quite a bit better. Verse 13 says, and the rest durest no man join himself to them, but the people magnified him. I said all that just for this verse, that the 12 apostles stood apart. God drew a very well defined line. These are my guys. This is them. And it put a fear in everyone else where they're like, they dared not act like they were one of them. They dare not say that, well, I was an apostle, but I was someone's secret on the side and you didn't know about me, but Jesus was secretly teaching me. And I have all these things. No. He drew a line that said, these are them. And it worked. And it worked. You know, and so it exposed all the frauds. As a matter of fact, it put a fear on them and it protected the early church. Now, do we have frauds and fakes in 2024? Yes, but we have the completed word of God and we can go and get it. We have the Bible to judge them against. And so God's way is perfect. So early on, he gives them signs and wonders. Verse 14, he says, And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes, both men and women. So the numbers begin to grow, but the apostles don't grow because there's only 12. And so the numbers of the church is growing. They're not afraid to come to the church. They're not afraid to be a part of the church, but they're not going to dare try to say that they are somebody that they are not, is the, I think the clarity that it's making here. And it's estimated at this time, that the church had grown to around, they think, around 25,000, you know, from the 3,000 that were Pentecost, you know, now it's up to around 25,000 and growing. And so it is making a big impact on Jerusalem. Now I wanna go back, because I wanna... Verse 13 through verse 14 there, we're in the parentheses, you'll notice. And if we cut that out and you go from 12 to verse 15, it gives you right context for verse 15. So verse 12 says, and by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. Now we'll jump down to verse 15. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. That's some kind of signs and wonder, huh? They're doing some signs and wonder that it gets the people all kind of hyped up. People believed and people are believing and people are coming to see this. So the point where they're thinking, maybe even Peter's shadow, if it just touches me, maybe then I'll be healed. Do you see the power that could have been perverted? Do you see the corruption that could have came in if anybody else came along and said, I'm an apostle in that way? People were kind of ripe for that, so I think that's why God inserts that there. Peter at this point in time was very humbled. If you remember the whole post-resurrection scene where he's like, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? You know, Lord, I love you. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Peter, do you love me? Oh, Lord, you know I love you. But he's, after that, denying him, he's like, then feed my sheep. to be the leader that I need you to be. I've forgiven you. Now be that leader. And Peter's been that leader, right? He's right there in the middle of the Sanhedrin telling them that you crucified Jesus and he's gonna do it again. And so he's there. And so he's humbled. He's not using this as pride and arrogance, but the people are kind of caught up in it. It doesn't say that Peter's shadow did heal them, but people were thinking maybe it might, you know, that they thought a lot of Peter, they knew who he was. They knew he'd been with Jesus. It also doesn't say that it didn't heal them, so I don't, maybe it did. I don't know. It goes on a little bit and says that sick and people were healed, but it doesn't necessarily say by the shadow. I mean, Jesus was touched, you know, the hem of his garment, but that's Jesus. but Jesus has conferred that power down to them, and it's not pointing to Peter, because Peter says, we're not anything. They're pointing to Christ. Verse 16 says, and there came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and them with vexed, or he brings them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one. Wow, every one, it's like Christ is back here. This is an extension through Jesus Christ, so the sick people, are being healed. The demon-possessed people are being driven out. I think the town's getting crazy. People are coming down there, because they don't do this in some corner. You know, go to that back alley shop, and you might find this crazy guy. They're at Solomon's porch. They're in the temple, doing this right in front of them, right there, giving God the praise and the glory and the wonder. Because after Jesus Christ was crucified, the veil was rent in two. The door of the temple, they used to shut it every night, especially the holy place inside. They would shut up every night to the point where they wrapped it with a cord. And every morning when they got up, it was open because Jesus said, I provided access. It's for anyone. And the churches, or the temple people, the Jews were all like, what's going on? You know, why can't we keep it? Because they missed the Messiah. They missed him. And that's... Not in the book of Acts here, but it's in the Mishnah and some other things that tell those things were happening. And so it was being miraculous and the people are coming and they're believing. It says, so they did it at Solomon's porch. And so the good news is spreading. People are coming and people are believing and people are trusting Christ. And officials don't like it. Verse 17. Then the high priest rose up and all they that were with him which is the sect of the Sadducees. So this tells us here that the high priest, again, this was the appointed high priest, not the true high priest, but the appointed high priest was the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation. Now, the Sadducees, remember, they're the ones that don't believe in the supernatural. They believe only in the natural world. They're very scientific in how they believe these things. They don't believe in angels. They don't believe in demons. They don't believe in miracles. They don't believe in deity. I don't even know why they're bothered being religious at this point. They don't believe anything supernatural like that. And so you have all this healing going on and you have cases where you're the guy that's been coming in front of them for 40 years and they're like, we can't do anything. The talk of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the tomb is empty and they can't find him and his disciples are now. performing the same miracles he were, makes them look bad. Because they are touting the idea there is no supernatural, and supernatural things are going crazy around these guys, what's happening. And so it makes them not only look bad, it makes them look dumb. It makes them look wrong. They're telling you, here's how you interpret the scriptures. This is all just metaphor. This is all just made up. And the book of Revelation, which they don't have, but that goes on today where people will say, Oh, you know, it's not to be taken literally. None of this is just all word picture. It's just how does that make you feel? God's putting his finger on it. It's like, I am real. Supernatural is real. Miracles are real. It comes through me, through my people, my way. And so these guys are getting kind of rooted out. So they don't listen to reason. They don't examine the evidence. They don't adjust their view by the evidence that's right in front of their face. They don't do that. So what do they do? They get angry. And they call them names. They yell at them. They weaponize the court system. They weaponize the prison system. Let's take it. We'll get rid of our enemies. We'll use the courts to our advantage. We have the power and influence and we'll try to take them out. And it says they have indignation. They have anger, you know, so they're gonna do this. Verse 18. And they laid their hands on the apostles and they put them in the common prison. There. It's gotten too big. So we got to do something. We got to stop it. We got to nip it, nip it in the bud, as Barney Fife would say. And so they got to remove them. So they lock them up. Let's take them out of the building. They grab them all up and they lock them up. They call them felons. They call them criminals. They use the optics of emotion. These guys have been in jail. These guys are prisoners. These guys are going against what we all say as the authority figures listening to us, even though all the evidence is pointing towards them being right. You listen to us. They're trying to use the optics of them being prisoners and felons and everything else. They're trying to use name calling. And when the truth makes you look nuts and makes you look crazy, it drives you crazy. Even puts them in a, it says here, it's like before they might have been like in a temporary prison. They put them in the common prison. Throw them in with the worst of the worst. Throw them down there with the murderers and the killers and the rapists and the robbers. Throw them down there with them. We'll show them a little bit. If it gets out of hand, that's not our fault. So they throw them down in there. But you can't stop God. You can't stop God. I think we need to remember that. as deep and as dark and as bad and as evil as it might seem, God's still on the throne. God's word still goes forth. God still protects his people. God still uses things. He'll use all things to our good. He'll promote the gospel so we might share our life as a testimony unto him at all times as these guys are. They're thrown into jail, they're probably thinking, great, all these bad guys, they can't go anywhere, we've got a captive audience, let's preach. Because these guys are on fire, they're Holy Spirit filled, it's new. And God is doing things among them. Who'd they heal in the jail? I don't know, we don't have all the details, but I'm sure they did stuff. They only have to pray, look at verse 19. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth. An angel comes and rescues them. My people aren't down here. Comes and gets them, takes them out. And brings them forth and said, go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they had heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. I'm gonna stop right there. And so they, angel comes and gets them. And they said, keep on speaking. You guys are doing it. People are coming in. And so God knows how far people have heard and how long it takes them to travel and the things that are happening as word is spread. And God's like, I can't have you quit just yet. You need to be out there. You need to be preaching. So keep on speaking. Plant that seed deep. Make sure that it's watered. Make sure it brings forth the increase. People are waiting to hear. People are wanting to hear. Go forth and do this. They are thirsty. Give them living water. Tell them about my son, Jesus Christ. Tell them about the resurrection. Tell them how it fulfills the scripture. Then we're gonna see a little bit in the next chapter that they are studying the scripture, trying to pull all these things out, probably still taking the crib notes from the Emmaus Road, you know, where the guy's like, I started at Genesis, and he goes through all the prophets and he teaches them how he was in the scripture. They're going through and they're finding all that and they're proclaiming it. And so they do, and it must have been that they got released at night, so they throw them in jail, they're in there a little bit, the angel comes and gets them out. At first light, when the temple's back open, boom, they're right there, and they're preaching, and they're proclaiming, and they're doing what they are told, and they are boasting about it. Maybe people saw them arrested, maybe people saw them taken, they're like, they're already out, I don't know, they're down there listening. That's how we should be, too. If God has called us and told us to do something, we shouldn't wait, we shouldn't delay, it should be first thing in the morning that we're up and we're ready, and we're like, God, I'm gonna do it. Because you know, the longer you put it off, the longer you put it off, right? I'll do that later, I'll do that tomorrow. Maybe this weekend I'll have some time, or maybe in the summer, or maybe in the winter, or maybe, you know, procrastination is not a good thing. They got up and they went to it. And man, God does some stuff. So verse 21, we'll pick back up again. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But, so now we flash forward, we're going to the high priest. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and they called the council together, and the senate of the children of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought." Uh-oh. They don't know what's going on. So the bad guys are all getting together. They don't know, so they've taken all night long to prepare, and they're all like thinking, what we're gonna do? We're gonna have to put some fear into them, guys. We don't need them to have the fear of God. We need them to have the fear of us. So make sure you get on your big, holiest robes, and make sure you put on all your accolades, and wear everything that makes you stand out, you know, your biggest flackalary, and you put on all the things so they'll know you're a holy man of Israel. and have them come down here and make sure you have your meanest, most righteous, sovereign face that you could stare at them. So the high priest comes around, he puts on his biggest garment. You have the council, that is the Sanhedrin, 71 guys that come that represent the Jewish leaders. They have the Senate, and the Senate of Israel is, Senate means old. I think that's where we get senile. It's the old men, the ones that might've been in the Sanhedrin and stuff before, but all the older elder members, you have all them come together and give them their craggy face as they look down on people and tell them how it was on their day. And we're not doing this new thing. We're going to stay with the old thing. And so the older retired guys all come in and they want to intimidate. They want to show with force and with number, these apostles. It didn't work before. We remember when Peter was right there, he gave it right back to him. It didn't work. And they told him to go forth and not speak anymore. And he goes right out and speaks again. And so they're like, we need more, we need bigger numbers, we need to scare these apostles. And so they have all the apostles and they bring them down. And they're like, go get them, verse 22. But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told them, they're not there. Verse 23, saying, the prison truly we found shut with all safety and the keeper standing without before the doors. And when we had opened, we found no man within. It's like the guard's right there. We asked him, we drilled him. Did you guys leave? Did you guys follow something? No, we've been here all night. You told us, you charged us not to. Has that lock been broken? We sealed it. No, it's still locked, it's still there. How'd he get out? I don't know. Didn't come this way. Are there any holes or anything? They look and there's nothing going on. So it was locked, it was sealed. There's nothing that a natural man could have done to escape. Ah, but the supernatural. There is a supernatural Sanhedrin. If there's a supernatural Sadducees, they could pass through walls. They can appear and disappear, because Jesus Christ did those things. Deal with that Sadducees. It's almost like, oh, put them in the most sealed way. We'll show you the supernatural. We're gonna rub it in your face. God kind of has a sense of humor. I think he does. Oh, high priest, you Sadducee, you think you don't believe in these things. Explain this. He puts it right in front of him. So verse 24. Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these things, they doubted of them where of this would grow. Or basically they're worried about how big this is gonna get. They're like, man, these guys have escaped. And we're already mad because of those miracles, the signs and the wonders. And now we have lost respect in the community and they're not believing us because they're doing signs and wonders. And we say there are no angels. And we say there are no miracles. And we say there's nothing supernatural, only the natural. And now we lock these guys up. You know, we got to step it up. We lock them up. We put them in prison and now they're out. And we can't explain how they got out. And what's going to come of this? How big is it going to get? They're going to say God did this. They're going to say an angel rescue. They're going to say something like that. We don't know how bad this is going to get. What can we do? How can we contain it? What are they going to claim? This is going to grow. Where's it going to end up? What's the public gonna say when they see this? You know, they're worried about, where are they gonna show up? What are they gonna be doing? We don't even know where they are. How far did they go? Where'd they go? And God's timing's perfect, verse 25. And then came in one and told them, saying, behold, these men that you put in prison are staying in the temple and teaching the people. Oh, you're looking for them? They're right outside in Solomon's porch again. They're right here where we are and they're out there teaching these guys that you publicly locked up and you're trying to intimidate and trying to scare with all your stuff in your audience. They're out there teaching Jesus all the more. They're out there proclaiming him. So now they're like, what do we do? Verse 26. So they went, the captain of the officers, and they brought them, so basically they took the military force of the temple, and they brought them without violence. Basically, would you please come with us, and they didn't pull any swords, they didn't pull any punches. It says here, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. The people knew. I think the people saw him arrested the night before and the people are probably laughing at them. Better double lock him this time. Better make sure there's more guards. Did you lose something? You know, they're kind of poking, making fun of him. Oh, I thought you guys were so feared. You know, here they are. And so they red face come down and they take him. They're stomping in their roads and they've lost all their respect. And they come and take them without violence, verse 27. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Basically circle up boys, mean mug them, try to scare them. But then they turn around and give them the biggest compliment. You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. You have filled us with guilt. You're trying to bring this man's blood upon us, like it's our fault that he's crucified dead, because it is. Man, I wish we had that kind of testimony that our enemies would say, all you ever do is talk about him. All you ever do, you're filling this county up, you're filling this town up with the doctrine of Jesus Christ about who he is and what he's done. This is a good praise for them. Verse 29, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. That's quite the smack in the face, because these are all supposed to be God's men, right? We don't listen to you, religious man. We don't listen to you, high priest. That's man's rules. You're doing things man's way. You don't even know God. You teach that you do, but you don't. We know God. And so he says, let me just set this straight for you, verse 30. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree. See how politically correct he is, see how kind and nice and how he soft sells it. No, he puts it right back on him. Oh, you're getting guilty about this? You say I'm trying to make you feel guilty? You slew him and you hanged him on a tree. Verse 31, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be prince and a savior and for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things. And so also is the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. It says, boom. He gets right to it. I've explained this to you before. I've given you the scriptures. Now listen, you need to repent. You did kill him and God raised him up. We saw it and we tell people about it. And you know what else? The Holy Spirit has seen it and is now testifying to people. These men are right. These men are true. Believe this. Does the scripture not coming together for them? It's convincing men. It's opening scriptures. It's opening their eyes. And people are believing the Holy Ghost is on our side. He is here. He is active and he is doing it. So it's not only us and our witness, but it's the Holy Ghost and his witness. You're gonna go against God? Verse 33. And when they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. They were so mad. It says that they were cut to the heart or they were enraged. They had been disrespected so much. They'd been so aggravated. They were so furious that these men don't fear them. These men don't respect them. These men don't have any kind of, they don't understand who they are and what they've done and what they paid for to get where they are. They want blood. They want death. They want murder. And then verse 34. Then stood up one of the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had a reputation among all the people and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space. And so we know Gamaliel, he comes up later because he is Paul's teacher. He is the great teacher of Israel, so he's known for his wisdom, he's known for his study, and he's like, before you go killing them, we already have Jesus' blood on our hand, let's put them outside for a minute and let me talk to you. So they put him outside. and they begin to talk in verse 35. And he said unto them, ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves that ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Thaddeus, or Thaddeus, boasting himself to be somebody to whom a number of men, about 400, joined themselves, who was slain, and all as many as obeyed him were scattered and brought to naught. So somebody else had rose up earlier, and they said, he turned out to be nothing. Verse 37, after this, a man arose from Judas of Galilee, in the days of taxing, and he drew away much people after him, and also perished, and even as many as obeyed him were dispersed. And so two guys have tried to raise themselves, saying that they were something that came to naught. And so verse 38, and now I say it to you, refrain from these men and let them alone, for if this counsel of this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest happily you be found even to fight against God. This is good wisdom here. He said, we've had two other things rise up, and it was just something of men. And it dispersed and went away, and we don't even think about him anymore, Judas, and that's the Hadusus guy. He said, but if this is just men, that's gonna be nothing. But if it's God, you can't stop it. Matter of fact, you're fighting against him, so let's consider this for a minute. And you know, that's still true today. If God, if men are just doing a work, it comes to naught. But if God's in the middle of it, there's no stopping it. That's why we always seek God, that's why we invoke God, that's why we pray to God, that's why we ask God to be with us in the things we are doing. So this is wise wisdom, wise teaching from Paul's teacher. And then they consent to it, but they're jerks about it. Verse 40. And they all agreed with him. And they called the apostles and beat them. Yeah, gotta get their licks in, right? You're gonna have some respect for us. So they beat him. And they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus. And they let them go. Jerks. Verse 41, and they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily they were in the temple and in every house, and they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ. So they get beaten by it, and the disciples are encouraged by it. Man, we were worthy to be beaten for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that he would count us worthy to suffer as he suffered for us. And that mass gave them all the more boldness to go forth and continue preaching the gospel. And we continue this day. And so Gamaliel was proven right. It was of God. It has continued. It has not ceased. It has not dimmed. It has not darkened. The light of the gospel stands light and bright shine as it was back then. Jesus Christ saves sinners. Those who repent and trust in him can be saved. He does fulfill scripture and we can trust in him. And so it has been proven true. And so we'll start with chapter six next week. But I find that pretty interesting.