The Church by Marrell Cornwell 2009 · Cornwell's own church, Wichita, Kansas (series evidence — the church's name is never given in the recording and the city is not named in it; Wichita rests on the Through the Bible course connection) Kind: Bible study Scripture: Matthew 16, Acts 2:37-42, Matthew 26, Acts 2:46-47, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 3:26, Acts 4:1-4, Acts 4:10-12, Acts 4:29-31, Acts 5:1-15, Acts 7:55-60, Acts 8:1-8, Acts 8:12-17, Acts 10:1-8, Acts 10:9-16, Acts 10:34, Acts 10:40-48 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/marrell-cornwell--the-church Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ think about what they're doing to us what they're doing to God's people would you stand with me please we're going to go to the Lord tonight in prayer I welcome you to this Bible study lesson number 16 of Through the Bible would you pray with me please almighty God we give thanks tonight for your wonderful presence we ask that you lead us and guide us and direct us by the power of the Holy Ghost lead us to that portion of your word that will be edifying and quickening to our spirit and Lord God teach us Thy word and teach us thy truth and let your spirit move in this lesson tonight in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and everybody said amen please be seated now I think it'd be appropriate if we take a moment to just a review some of the details of the things that we have already learned in the previous lessons in the Bible number one last week we studied and I think we have studied this throughout all the Bible studies the doctrine of substitution and let me one more time try to explain to you the doctrine of substitution and why this Doctrine is so important when Adam and Eve fail in the garden the Lord said in the day you eat thereof you will surely die but when God's righteousness and God's love met together God found out that his love was as strong as his righteousness and so they struck a compromise When Love and and righteousness met and it was called mercy and mercy said we will allow an En ENT animal to take man's place in death until God himself could overshadow of the Virgin and produce within her the Son of God and that Manchild that would come forth from the Virgin would die on the cross as the Judgment for Adam's sin and fulfill the word of God that said in that day shall man die and God chose a lamb an innocent animal and he ripped the skins off of that innocent animal wrapped them around the naked flesh of Adam and Eve and and and and when that when that skin touched their flesh of course it was bloody and their bodies were covered with the blood of that innocent animal pointing to the fact that when Jesus Christ would die on that cross and shed his blood for the remission of my sins and your sins I thank God for the doct of substitution praise God we see this in in almost every story in the Bible Cain and Abel if you remember right Abel brought the Lamb's sacrifice a substitute for his for himself the blood on the doorpost the lamb that was that clothed Adam and Eve the day of atonement in The Book of Leviticus when they took the lamb into the a holy place and sprinkle the blood it only showed once again that God allowed a substitute to die in man's place until God himself could bring the Lamb of God to calvary's cross thank God for Jesus Christ praise God we've also in the last lesson studied in some detail the death the burial and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that from from this point on is going to be the central focus of everything thing that I teach and that is the death the burial and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ I might just make a note here that the death burial and Resurrection is not something that should just be preached at Easter time this is the core of what we believe and teach without that cross we would be nothing amen and we're going to learn in this next lesson just how important his death bual and Resurrection are we also last week we studied about the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ he gave a commission and we call it the Great Commission all of the commissions of Jesus Christ are great but this is a a a proper noun when I call it the Great Commission because this is what the theologians have labeled it he gave us the Great Commission in four different places in the Bible now it's very important that when you study the Bible that you get all the scriptures on the related subject you cannot build a Doctrine on one verse in the mouth of two or three Witnesses let all things be established and so when you find the passage if it is obscure then you find another place in the Bible where it's mentioned and then you find every place in the Bible where it is mentioned can I have it amen and so the Great Commission was given four times it was given in Matthew 28 18-20 Mark 16: 15-18 Luke 24 uh: 45-49 and acts 1: 3-8 and the commission is not one of these passages it is all of these passages can I have an amen how many thanks God for the entirety of his word I get I get real aggravated at some Cults that everybody recognizes as Cults and they build a Doctrine on one verse and they fail to take all the verses in context with that and they build a doct on it and expect us to swallow at Hook Line and Sinker let me tell you something don't let anybody fool you you not don't be afraid to study the entirety of this book amen the the the Bible does not contradict itself it explains itself it it will it is its own best interpreter can I have an amen and so we studied the birth of the New Testament Church last week in Acts 2 we learned of the hysteria of the crowd they said these men are drunk but Peter standing with 11 said not drunk like you think they are hallelujah thank God he did not say they were not drunk he said they're not drunk like you think they are and then the explanation by the Apostle Peter we studied the conclusion of the sermon in Acts 2 and verse 36 we studied the reaction of the crowd and then we also studied the conclusion of the sermon preached in Acts 2 now let me make a statement here and you might want to write this down the very first New Testament sermon was preached in Acts chapter 2 by the Apostle Peter if you remember right Jesus gave to Simon Peter the keys to the kingdom in Matthew chapter 16 he said I'll give you the keys to the kingdom whatever you bind on Earth is going to be bound in heaven whatever you loose on Earth is going to be loosed in heaven and so Peter preached the first sermon ever preached in the New Testament Church now some may say wait a minute wait a minute John the Baptist preached the first New Testament sermon no John the Baptist preached the first sermon in the New Testament I'm talking about the first sermon in the New Testament Church Jesus said Upon This Rock I will build my church it had not been built it had not been established yet some said well if John the Baptist didn't preach it then who Jesus preached the first sermon in the New Testament Church no he did not preach the first New Testament sermon the new first sermon in the New Testament Church he preached in the New Testament he did after John the Baptist but the first sermon ever preached in the New Testament Church was preached on the second chapter of the book of Acts look at verse 37 and let's talk about this sermon and its con conclusion now when they heard this verse 37 what did they hear Simon Peter beginning in verse 14 preached the death the burial and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ if Peter thought that that was the most important thing to mention in the first sermon I think we ought to Major on the death burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ Christ amen amen when they heard this that Jesus had been crucified that he was buried and that he arose again and he is alive and shed forth this which you don't see in here they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles men and Brethren what shall we do amen and notice verse number 38 then Peter said unto them join the church of your choice amen you don't have to do anything to be saved is that what he said you got to understand there's a big difference between the preachers back then and the preachers today they preach for you to get saved we preach to build a big congregation and there is a difference between a church full of Saved people and a church full of only church members amen notice what he said then Peter said unto them repent what a dirty word that is repent that means change your lifestyle that means turn around do an about face you've got to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins for the payment in full for your sins now does this mean that the water saves us no it means that we're saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and we invoke the blood through the invoking of the name of Jesus Christ amen when you call on the name of Jesus in the waters of baptism you invoke the blood of Jesus Christ you know why can believe this because in Matthew chapter 26 when he held up the cup he said this is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins only the blood of Jesus can pay the penalty for your sins that's not the question the question is where is the blood appropriated to our lives and that is when you're baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sin and he said and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promises unto you and to your children and do all that are far far off even as many as the Lord Our God shall call and with many other words that he testify and exal saying save yourself from this UNT or this crooked generation then they that gladly received his word there's a little adjective here they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there was added unto them about 3,000 souls and they continued notice the word continue amen they continued steadfastly in going to the Juke joints and the peer parlors and the strip joints and the drug houses is that what it says no they continued steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine amen it's not the man that starts with Christ it's the one that has the the courage to continue with him now I'm supposed to be teaching but I want to preach right now amen and fellowship and in Breaking of bread and in prayers praise God and so that was the conclusion of that first New Testament sermon and that is you got to repent you got to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins and you must be filled with the Holy Spirit baptism praise God somebody said do I have to have the Holy Spirit do I have to get baptized do I have to repent it's not you have to praise God you get to amen Hallelujah there's a difference there amen it's not not that I have to the way I was living I'm surprised that Jesus would die for a person like me but he did and I get to repent I get to have the blood applied to my life I get his sweet Spirit into my life oh praise God Amen now in this lesson we're going to study in some de detail about the establishment of the churches in the book of Acts now the book of Acts is the only historical book in the New Testament we know the Old Testament contains a great number of historical books but the Acts of the Apostles is only the historical account of the church that we have in the Bible now in this lesson we're going to study in some detail the establishment of those churches and as we have already studied the initial Church in Acts two let's let's review some of the details of the origin of the church number one the Lord pours out his spirit I think that's very important number two Simon Peter preaches a sermon on the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ number three he preaches repentance and I'm just going to take a moment here and say you cannot imagine how thankful I am that God grants repentance are is anybody glad that you get to repent can anybody remember how awful you were some of us were worse than others not calling any names folks we you cannot imagine how grateful I am the night I bowed my knee I was scared out of my mind I thought the Lord was going to come back that night and I was going to be left behind I was going to be lost I was I was in college I was raising hell I was doing everything I was big enough to do and more and God convicted me of the way I was living he let me know that I was wrong he let me know that there was a better way to live and he even granted me the ability to repent now please excuse me for the way I'm going to talk tonight but but when we was growing up we had a slang phrase that we told everybody we'd say oh man go to hell and our our our reply would be we are if we don't change our ways and it was just it was just a crude way of of of talking back then but when God revealed to me that I was going to go to hell it was a different story and and all of a sudden I felt the load of my sins on me and I will never forget kneeling at an altar bench crying out to God tears running down my face and I was saying Lord please forgive me and I was begging God to forgive me now I realize I don't have to beg God but when you're a sinner and you don't know nothing about the Bible you just do it the best way you know how to do it and I was begging God to forgive me because I thought the Lord was supped to come back right then and I was going to be left behind and I was going to take the mark of the beast and I was going to seal my Doom forever and and and when I asked God to forgive me and the Holy Spirit came down and forgave me of my sin lifted those sins off of my soul you cannot imagine from then on it was not a dirty word to me thank God for the ability to repent of everything that we've ever done and to know that God forgave me can I have it amen now it should be noted that 3,120 people got saved that first sermon that's pretty important to understand this was the initial beginning of the church but it's not the end of the church that was only the beginning now look at verse number 46 and they continuing daily with one Accord of the temple breaking bread from house to house that eat their meat with gladness and singles of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church Church daily such as should be saved I think it's important to understand that he is still adding daily to the church somewhere in America somewhere in our world tonight even right now while I'm speaking somebody is receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit someone is being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ amen I think that that the presence of God is moving so so awesome in our world right now that every minute of every day there's somebody being baptized there's somebody turning to Jesus Christ for the Salvation of their soul I thank God for that I I I refuse to believe that the church is going down I believe the church is going up praise God I want to be a part of the church that's on fire for God when Jesus comes amen now there was a second move of God that's very important look at acts chap 3 and verse one it is very important in this hour that the church believe in miracles amen now let me ask you a question have you ever prayed or asked God or hoped or wished for that someone would be healed but they weren't healed I think we all have I had a preacher one time time tell me that he was called to the hospital to pray for a man and so he went and prayed for him and as he laid his hands on him to pray the man died and so not too long after he was called to pray for another person he went to that hospital and he prayed for him and while he was praying the man died and he went to pray for a woman one time and while he was praying for her she died I came to conclusion to call somebody else we've all prayed for people that did not get healed but at the same time that does not mean that God does not perform Miracles I am not going to base the miracles of Jesus Christ on somebody else's unbelief I don't know what's in your heart or what's in your mind or the degree of your faith and I will tell you this many times my faith is not what it should be but the Bible teaches me that God performs Miracles so I am not going to speak what I feel or what I have just experien or what you have just experienced I am going to tell you that God performs Miracles and he will do a miracle for you on Amen how important is it that the church Stand Rock Solid on the fact that God will perform Miracles I believe that this great Revival that's going to awaken America that's going to awaken our city is going to come through a series of Miracles that only God can perform I'm going to tell you something God is much greater than we are and because the church may be backslid does not mean that God is backslid because the church may be inactive does not mean the holy spirit is inactive because you're preoccupied with material things does not mean that God is preoccupied with material things because you're having family problems does not mean that God is having family problems and I could continue that all night praise God our God is alive he's active and he is ready to perform miracles on the behalf of those that have the courage and audacity to step out and believe now there's another kind of miracle that God does and it's called God's timing when God gets ready to do something he's always going to have a man available to do it when the Lord gets ready to do something he's always going to step in and perform whatever is necessary to bring that thing to pass God's word is going to come to pass am I correcting that did the Lord say in the last days saeth the Lord I will pour out my spirit upon All Flesh amen if that's going to come to pass then there must be a divine intervention by God to bring that to pass amen are we living in the last days We're Not only living in the last days we're living in the last of the last days how much more is it going to come to pass now that it's ever been praise God now look at verse number chapter 3 and verse number one now Peter and John went up together into the temple at The Hour of Prayer being the 9th hour 3:00 in the afternoon and a certain lame man from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the Gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask arms of them that entered into the temple who seeing Peter and John about to go in the temple ask an arms and Peter fastening his eyes upon him with John said look on us I do not think that the church should hang its head but rather I think we should ask the world to look on us I think every saint of God every member of the church should live in such a way that we would not be afraid for the world to look on us I feel the holy spirit amen I want to conduct my life I want you to conduct your life in such a way that we will have an impact on our society amen I want the drunkard to be able to look at us and say you know there are a lot of people I see in that church that used to be alcoholics I wonder if God will do it for me I want the young people to look at our church to see our young people and say he used to take drugs and look at him now he used to be this but look at him now I wonder if God would do the same thing for me because if he did it for me he will do it for you if you're watching this DVD tonight let me just share with you ladies and gentlemen that our God loves you he cares for you he wants you to look upon his church because God has something in the church for you amen watch this and he gave heed un them expecting to receive something of them then Peter said Silver and Gold Have I None but such as I have have give I Thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk do you need a miracle you may not be lame in your ankles you may have an Affliction somewhere else in your body you may have cancer you may be in trouble you may have a need and human beings cannot give it to you but I'm G to tell you right now there's a God that's interested in you I'm just going to stand flat on my feet and tell you that God loves you he cares for you he knows where you're at he knows every sin you've ever committed he knows how dirty and wretched you might be but at the same time he knew all that he was still willing to die and shed his blood rise out of that grave the third day for you I would say that's a pretty good God I would say that is a fabulous God that will care for me when I was a sinner praise God Amen somebody say well I'm not going to go to church there's too many Hypocrites in a church now wait just a minute wait just a minute nobody said the church is perfect the church is a door open for people who have needs and and there are different needs and degrees of needs in the church and the person you're calling a hypocrite may be a newborn baby in Christ but if you'll give God a chance he'll change that man's life and I will admit that there's Hypocrites in every church so don't be afraid to join us one more is not going to hurt us amen that's just an excuse you may use but the truth is you may not have a need tonight but one day you God will see to it that you have a need that only he can supply amen took him by the right hand lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones receive strength and he leaping up stood and walked and entered with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God oh shut it down we can't get excited in the house of God we have to reserve our excitement for the football game we can't get excited about Christ we have to reserve that for the final four oh we can't shout and stand up and yell and holler we can only do that when they hit a home run the world and the devil would like to make the church be quiet and put noise in the world anybody ever been to a silent Rock concert has anybody ever been to a dead football game anybody ever been to a dead bar room or a dance no but they want to put the church in of this quiet business and and and have a few old gray-headed people bowing their heads and weeping real silently I'm going to tell you that's not the church my church is alive it's vibrant it's exciting praise God I might like to say it's intoxicating Hallelujah Hallelujah maybe I shouldn't say that quite like that the church is intoxicating oh you should have been at church last night it was exciting it was exhilarating it was refreshing it was faith can I have it amen to that praise God and watch this and all the people saw him walking and praising God and they knew that it was he which set for arms at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him praise God everybody should have been thrilled to death that he got healed but that's only normal people that feel that way but there's too many abnormal people in our society because there was persecution against the church because the man got healed now what does this miracle do number one one it confirms that Jesus Christ continued his miracle ministry in the church in his body in the 21st century after he ascended back into heaven if the Lord when he came if he open one person's blind eyes he'd have to continue that forever because he's the same yesterday today and forever if if if God heal one person after he went back to heaven after he poured out the spirit if he heal one person whether it was in the first century or the 21st century he has to continue healing from now on because Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever when I when I read my books when I hear testimonies when I hear sermons of men that have preached years ago and I read books about things that happened 50 75 100 150 years ago it's just like it's happening right now because Jesus never changes and if he healed back then he has to heal now amen look at verse 26 under you first God having raised up his son Jesus sent him to bless you and turning away every one of you from his iniquities verse one of chapter 4 and as they spake unto the people the priest and captain of the temple and the Sadducees Came Upon them notice now in verse 26 of chapter 3 he again is preaching the resurrection of Christ him God raised his son Jesus and and then verse number two of chapter 4 be greed that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead so we find a people that resents the preaching of the resurrection of Christ and they laid hands on them put them in hold on the next day for it was now evening tide how be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about 5,000 5,000 men got saved because one man got healed I think the church should be very active in asking God to do whatever is necessary that men might be converted amen look at acts 4 and verse 10 the persecution cannot stop the church let me say that again you take a hammer and you hit an anvil you know what's going to wear out first The Hammer the Anvil is always going to be there Jesus Christ is that Anvil and I don't care how many hammers you smite the Anvil with your Hammer is going to be destroyed but the rock Christ Jesus is going to remain praise God persecution cannot will not stop the Church of God be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead even by him do this man stand here before you hold Peter let the crowd know that this man was not healed by a doctor but he was healed through the name of Jesus Christ whom you crucified amen this is the stone which was set at n of you Builders which has become the head of the corner neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved praise God for the name that can save all men am what is that name his name is Jesus verse 29 and now Lord behold their threatenings and Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word by stretching forth thy hand to heal that early church understood how important it was for us to Believe In Miracles if God cannot perform a miracle that means he cannot remove the alcohol from your system that he cannot deliver the drug addict that he cannot remove your sins but if God can perform Miracles he can remove the alcohol from your system he can take the drugs out of your system he can forgive your sins notice now and when they had prayed verse 31 the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and spake the word of God with boldness praise God from this one move of God 5,000 people got saved can I have an amen in America we have doctors and we have lawyers and we have courtrooms and we have jobs and we have money we have houses we have food we have clothes we have everything we need and we know that man can provide many of the things that we need that's why we see more miracles overseas because they're not eat up with materialism they don't have doctors and lawyers like we have in abundance but I'm going to tell you what give me the Miracles any day Lord let the Miracles fall like rain in America again amen amen now there was a third move of God in that New Testament Church let's study this for just a moment now this is a scary one Acts chapter 5 verse one but a certain man named ananas with sathire his wife sold a possession and they kept back part of the price his wife also being to it and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet now what's the big deal here in the previous chapter they were bringing their life and they were laying it at the apostles feet and the spirit of giving invaded the church and adanas and zfar saw everybody giving everything and they saw the accolades that people were giving to the people that gave everything and they decided to give this little piece of ground and they didn't realize that the price had gotten so high that they were going to get so much money for it and they sold it for an enormous price and had the money in their hands they said oh my the church don't deserve this much money we'll keep back part of it we'll put it in our pocket and we'll bring the rest of the money and people will think we gave everything now first of all they did not have to give anything or they could have went to the Apostle Peter and said we sold the ground for a million dollars and my wife and I would like to give a half a million to the church that would have been perfectly acceptable but that's not what they done they kept back part of the money and made people believe that they had given everything and look at what Peter said Peter said ananas why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land again they didn't have to give anything they could have given any part of it but they they they made people believe that they had given all and that was the LIE while it remained was it not thine own after it was sold was it not in thine own power why has thou conceive this thing in thine heart and thou has not lied unto men but you've lied to God and ananas hearing these words fell down and gave up The Ghost and great fear came on all them that heard these things now how would you like to be in church and you walk up the front and you put money in the offering plate the preacher said hey Jack why you lying to God bam you hit the floor dead now one of two things are going to happen your kin folks are going to hire a lawyer and and sue us from malpractice I think that every hypocrite in the church is going to disengage himself with the church and I think those who are in the church living for God great fear is going to come upon you watch this and the young men arose wound him up I love that language and carried him out and buried him about the space of three hours after his wife not knowing what was done came in and Peter answered her tell me whether you sold the land for so much and she said yay for so much then Peter said to her how is it that you have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord behold the feet of them which have buried thy husband at the door and they shall carry thee out and she fell down straight way at his feet yielded up The Ghost and the young man came in found her dead and carrying her forth buried her by her husband I'm going to tell you that is a double whammy th this this whole passage has amazed me from the day I got saved you know what it does it puts the fear of God in my own heart this is not in the Old Testament ladies and gentlemen it's in the New Testament watch this and great fear you would expect that Came Upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things and look at verse 12 and by the hands of the apostles were many remember remember the last church one person was healed 5,000 got saved but when ananas and a fire were judged by God and the fear of God came to the church then by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people and they all with one Accord in Solomon's porch and of the rest there no man joined himself to them but the people magnified them and the Believers were the more added to the Lord now they can't count them multitudes both of men and of women Amen in so much 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 and they' be healed I would say that was a pretty powerful outpouring of the holy spirit in the New Testament Church you I asked you a question why don't more churches around this country and in our city emphasize that God is still able to perform miracles in the church and yet there are too many people walking away still sick amen what else does God do here now watch this God establishes the authority of his church and the authority of the ministry in the house of God now I I'm I'm I'm going to be very careful when I say but it is so sad that preachers in today's hour have virtually no Authority they cannot preach what thus saith the word they have to preach to please the people they have to preach to please the Deacon board they have to preach to make sure that they don't offend anybody and they can be hired and fired at will and they have no Authority no wonder there's no miracles in our churches I am not talking about abusive pastors I'm not talking about men that abuse their Authority but you have to have authority with God if the Lord's going to use you in this hour and God establishes the authority of the ministry in the New Testament Church praise God and you'll find this Authority throughout the New Testament Church of the Living God I had a member of one of the largest Protestant denominations in the world he was the president of that denomination and he told me specifically he said our preachers no longer are pastors they're nothing more than figureheads because if they preach anything that the congregation does not like they're subject to being fired immediately I I told our congregation one night this they will freeze hell over before I have to please you before I can pleas God this book must be preached in all of its RIT can I have it amen and you know what you cannot offend a child of God with the preaching of the word I've tried it you cannot offend people who are filled with God's spirit by preaching the word you may offend somebody that is not saved you may offend the hypocrite and you may even offend The Sinner but you know what if you preach the the truth of this word god his holy spirit will reach out and convict men of their sin and bring them to God I'm not trying to offend anybody in this lesson tonight but I want to preach a truth to tell you that God will save you he loves you and he wants the truth of this Bible preached that men can be saved amen now there's a fourth move of God that I want to talk about in the city of Samaria look at acts 7 and verse 55 I call this the persecution move of God all through the early days of the church there was persecution and they they Stone stepen to death verse 55 but he being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said behold I see the heavens open and the son of man standing on the right hand of God then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one Accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul and they stoned stepen calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit and he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice Lord lay not the sin to their charge when he had said this he fell asleep or he was killed so Stephen is being persecuted he's been killed what was his sermon if you read a sermon in its entirety he was preaching Jesus Christ his death burial and Resurrection amen now while the church which was made up only of Jews when they were distracted with the burial of stepen they was making great lamentation over him and and they were caught up in this extravagant funeral for step Phillip Steven's friend goes to the city of Samaria look at chapter 8 verse one and Saul was consenting to his death and at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem they were scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Sam Mar except the apostles and devout men carried Steven to his burial and made great lamentation over him that word devout men means they were Jews after Saul he made Havoc of the church entering into every house hailing men and women committing them to prison therefore they were scattered abroad and went everywhere preaching the word then Phillip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them at this point only the Jews were preached to and now the Samaritans the Samaritans were a people that had intermarried with the Assyrians since 606 BC they were not purebred Jews but they were a mixed breed a lot of people and he preaches to them and and the Jews ostracized them wouldn't have anything to do with them but you know what my Bible says Jesus is no respector persons it doesn't matter what nationality you are it doesn't matter what color you are doesn't matter how wealthy you are how poor you are isn't it amazing in the house of God that you never know who you're going to sit down beside there is room in the house of God for everybody oh it's exciting when you come to the house of God and you look at everybody praising God and and as every nationality every color every every age group young and old rich and poor black and white red and yellow and brown everybody in the house of God what a beautiful sight amen and people with one Accord gave heed to 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 of them and many take apologies and were lame were healed now this is amazing because when Peter raised up the lame man it let us know that the that God was healing in the New Testament Church and now we got somebody other than Apostle healing people you know what it tells me if you got faith to believe you can lay your hands on the sick and they will recover if you know someone that's sick don't be afraid to pray for them but go to them and say may I pray with you and simply lay your hands upon their forehead and say Lord Jesus I'm asking you to heal this person you know what I like about everybody being able to do that one person doesn't get all the glory for it because men are taking glory to themselves for the beautiful healing presence of God and and we don't need to take the glory it's not us that does the healing it is Jesus that does the healing praise God Amen and there was great joy in that City look at verse number look number 12 and when they believe Phillip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ what were they they were baptized the miracle power of God moving in their midst caused men to get baptized they believed Phillip preaching the word of God Amen and they were baptized both men and women then Simon himself believed also and when he was baptized he continued with Philip wandering 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 who when they come down prayed them that they might receive the Holy Ghost for as yet he was Fallen upon none of them only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost oh praise God now we got another people that has received the Holy Ghost it's not the 120 it's not the 3,000 it's not the 5,000 it's not the multitude of the Jews now a people the Samaritan people have received the Holy Ghost and been baptized in the name of Jesus can I have an amen now now that the people other than Jews are in the church it took persecution that to happen God does a miracle to of the Gentiles excuse me God does a miracle of the Gentiles being saved in a different way now the up to this point Gentiles haven't been saved and God's going to use a miracle to save the Gentiles just like he used a miracle to save the Samaritans just like he used a miracle to save the 5,000 but what is the miracle he's going to use an angel amen amen I'm 59 years old in my lifetime I believe that I have had Angelic experiences seven times I've been preaching 42 years I do not see an angel every time I go to church if I did I'd be too holy for you to be able to look upon me every time that I have experienced an angel The Experience happen so quickly and so suddenly I didn't have time to shake the Angel's hand and and most of occasions when I seen the miracle it scared the Daylights out of me and I look back on the seven times that I have experience Angelic visitation it makes makes me want his visitation more often but God knows how often we can handle an Angelic visitation when somebody tells me that they have seen an angel or they have experienced the ministry of angels and your life has not changed I say you lied because when God sees you and he sends a minister ing Angel to minister to you and it doesn't change your life there's something wrong with you because angels will change your life let me give you an example chapter 10 of the book of Acts there was a certain man in cesaria called Cornelius a centurion of the band called The Italian band a devout man one that feared God with all his house which gave much arms to the people and he prayed to God always he saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming into him saying unto him Cornelius and when he looked on him he was afraid and said what is it Lord and he said to him thy prayers and thine arms are come up for a memorial before God and now send me to japa and call for one Simon whose surname is Peter he lodges with one Simon a Tanner whose house is by the seaside he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do and so when the angel visited this Gentile by the name of Cornelius it is forever going to change his life amen amen praise God and and you know what he sends for Peter the angel which spake to Corn was departed he called to his house of servant devout soldier of them that waited on him continually when he declared those things unto them he sent them to japa and on the tomorrow as they was on the journey Juni year to the city Peter was on the rooftop to pray about the sixth hour at noon time and he became very hungry and he would have eaten but while they made ready he fell into a trance and he saw heaven open and a certain vessel descending to him as had been a great sheep knit at the Four Corners and let down the Earth wherein were all men are four-footed beast of the earth wild beast creeping things fou the air and there came a voice to him I believe it was the same Angel and it said rise Peter slay and eat but Peter being a Jew said not so Lord I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean the Jews had dietary laws and every animal in the and this sheep contradicted the dietary laws of the Jews and the voice SP to him again a second time what God hath cleansed that call not th common and he did it three times now the angel only had to speak to Cornelius The Sinner one time but he had to speak that hard-headed preacher three times now while Peter doubted himself what this Vision which he had seen should mean behold the men which are sent from cornelus and made inquir for Simon's house stood before the gate and and Peter immediately received these men and he and six other Jews went to cornelius's house and Cornelius was waiting on him and would would bow down to Peter but he said don't bow down to me amen and and then he started preaching to him Jesus Christ verse 34 Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive that God is no respector person verse 40 him God raised up the third day and showed him openly not to all the people but under witness chosen before of God even to us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead and he commanded us to preach un the people and to testify that is he which was ordained of God to judge the quick and dead and to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosever believeth in him shall receive remission of sin while Peter yet spake to these words the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word and they of the circumcision which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God then answered Peter can any man forbid water that the should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord and pray for him to car certain days amen I am going to stop right here and I will pick up this lesson in our next lesson it's very important all through these seven moves of God you're going to find repentance you're going to find Miracles you're going to find baptism in the name of Jesus you're going to find people receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost it was the normal part of the operation of that New Testament Church can I ask you a question have you received the Holy Ghost since you believe God wants you to be baptized with his Spirit God wants you to receive a miracle from him amen would you like to stand with me please father we take a moment to give thanks I thank thank you Lord for that 120 in the upper room I thank you for the 3,000 that day I thank you for the healing of the lame man at the beautiful gate I thank you for the 5,000 that was saved because of him I thank you Lord for what you did when ananas and Safara fell dead it brought the fear of God and the authority of God into the church and Lord multitudes were saved and great Miracles followed I thank you Lord Jesus for the persecution of Steven and a whole people being swept into the kingdom of God and and those that were being baptized in Samaria in the name of Jesus and receiving of the Holy Spirit I thank you Lord for Cornelius and his household receiving the baptism of the spirit and Lord God I know today in the last day you said I will pour out my spirit upon All Flesh Lord Jesus lead us and guide us and direct us into this beautiful book of Acts and Lord fill this city and fill Lord this people with the baptism of the Holy Ghost in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and everybody said amen amen