Grace Chapel Bible Ministries

Worship call 1174 meeting the greater need - 2024/11/05

Have you ever experienced and incident where you were the knight and shining armor, or the Angel in white that comes in and saves the day for a person in desperate need. You go the extra mile, you go out of your way for a person you do not even know. and then after the gratitude is expressed and you ride off into the sunset come to realize that while you did such a heroic thing, you failed to meet the greater need in giving the gospel.

Duration:: 36m
Broadcast on:: 05 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Welcome to "Worship Call" with Bible teacher Buzz Lawbeck. Buzz is the pastor of Grace Chapel Bible Ministries located in Duncan, South Carolina. This ministry is dedicated to the verse by verse teaching of God's word and discipleship programs aimed at strengthening the faith of God's people. Now here's today's message. Have you ever had that? A situation incident where you were the hero, you were the knight in shining armor, you were the angel in white that provided the need of someone that desperately needed to. And after fulfilling that need, they were so grateful, they waved, you hugged, you parted ways. And as you were riding off into the sunset, realizing how bad you have failed when you realized that you met a need, but you failed to give that greater need. And that greater need was the gospel. This is the third day of the week in God's created order, the fifth day of the 11th month, 2024th year of our Lord. And this is another fine day in the Lord, let us go to our Lord and pray our Father. Thank you for this opportunity this morning, once again, to meet. We've gotten up this morning, you woke us up, there's another day that you've given by your grace and your mercy. Pray, Heavenly Father, to open our hearts to the things that we continue to study in this and your Book of Acts as we continue to look at this early church and how and to get an idea of what we should be looking like as a church today. Pray these things in Christ's name, Amen. Acts 5, 12, at the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were taken place among the people and they were all with one accord and Solomon's Portugal. And so these people were on accord, those who had believed, they grew up in the culture in which they live. They had many gods, they could choose anyone that they, whatever God that they wanted and that would be alright with them. And so therefore, there was no accordance. And today you hear people say, well, what makes your way different than anybody? What makes your way to go to heaven? And I've repeated this because I've heard quite a bit from people and either directly or indirectly. What makes your way so right and that you're going to heaven and everybody else is not? And I've often wondered when I was a child growing up or a child in the faith as I'm growing. And you may have asked this question too, there's denominations, there's Baptist, there's Catholics, there's Pentecostals, there's Presbyterians. And they all have their views and you sit there and scratch your head and how do I know what's true? I mean, it's got so many different views and it should not be. And when it goes to denominations and traditionalism and different views and different interpretations, you do guys scratch your head. But the early church, they were on one heart, they were under one understanding of Ephesians, let's just go to Ephesians 4 through 6. There is one body and one spirit, just as also there you are called to one hope and you're calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. And when we recognize this, that this one God, this we are in unity and we are in fellowship, we are in Cornania believing and having the same faith. And listen, the point of reference, by the way, is not your doctrinal presuppositions, it's not your theologies. But right here, the Word of God, the Word of God, now our doctrines and our theologies can be drawn out of it. But when you leave the Bible behind, then there's going to be this unity, there's going to be disagreements. And so coming back to our passage here, they were in one accord, they were in one agreement that is Homomadon. Homomadon means pertaining to a mutual consent or agreement with one mind by a common consent, unanimously. Okay, so they all believed in one thing, okay, bring you back there, there we go. So, and then we go to 513, okay, coming back, 513. But none of the rest dare to associate with them. However, the people held them to a high esteem, none of the rest, who are the rest? There are, in the world as it is today, there are three categories of people. If you're born of a woman, you're breathing air, you are in this world, you're one of these three categories. Here you are a Christian, a Christian is one who is born again. He has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life, and he is a member of the body of Christ, the bride of Christ. Okay, then you have the Jew, and the Jew is one who has, it is a child of Abraham, who is in the covenant. The Jew is one that is a covenant member of the body of Abraham, and let me get this right, so it is the Abraham's sheep. Okay, let's just put it that way, Abraham's racial seed. Now among them, there are believers and unbelievers, they're about Jews, and there are those that are racial seed, and we won't cover that today, and there are those that they are the racial seed of Abraham, but not through faith. They have rejected the God, they have rejected God, they have, so by, and when they die, they will, if they die as unbelievers, they will be going to hell. Here's the Gentiles, so you have the Jew, the Christian, and you have the Gentiles, and the Gentiles is everybody else, and the Jewish mind there is Jews and everybody else. Now my question is, and I don't know, and I don't have an answer for it, but I'll give you one to ponder, well, as we see in Acts, that there is the cross over believers. There were those believers who were believers leading up to the cross of Christ, and they were believers by faith, they trust it, they believed in the promise of Abraham, and it was credit to them for it. For righteousness, they were looking forward to the cross, they believed the promises, they believed the promises of Yahweh, and they were looking for a redeemer, and they were looking for a Messiah, they're looking actually for two people, the suffering servant, and the Messiah. And my question to myself is, and I don't have an answer for it yet, and maybe you have a particular opinion on this, is the fact that, okay, then, after the church age, they were still believers after that, but not all were Christians, they were Jews, and they were Christians. In that period, you would lay on the hands, and they would receive the Holy Spirit, and at that point, they would be the body of Christ. So there were the two categories of believers, there were the Jews, and there were the Christians, and they were both redeemed, they were both believers in that fact. And my question today to myself, and something I guess I would be in a future, or put together in the future, today is a devout believer. A devout Jew may have dismissed that this Jesus who died 2,000 years ago, who died upon the cross, that Christians say is the Messiah, and they've rejected him as Messiah. But they still believe the promises of God that they're still looking for the first Advent. Does that disqualify them of being born again? And you may think, well, of course it does, and you may have any reasons to that, but I'm going to hold out saying that every Jew is going to hell who don't believe in Jesus. But those who believe in the promise, and those who are still looking for the completion of promise, I'm still holding out the possibility that they are saved, they're just not a part of the church. And where I'm going with this is when the Raptor happens, that the church will be taken. But unfortunately they're still here, they're still believers, the scales have fallen off their eyes, they're the ones who's going to mourn, having come to realize that all this time, they rejected this very one in whom they rejected. The New Testament of Bible and everything, they relied on their Torah and the writings and the prophets, but dismissed the New Testament, all of a sudden they realized it is Christ. It is just Jesus that's been put to death that they have rejected for so long, he is truly the Messiah. So anyway, that's left for discussion later on. So among the Jews there are those devout ones, and they are the undivout ones, I guess you did, anyway. All right, as they rest, so they are the rest. The rest are the ones who do not believe, they are the, I think specifically it's talking about the unbelieving Jews, but the rest and fall into the category of those who did not believe. All right, let's come on back to our passage here. But none of the rest dared to associate with them, they were scared, they did not want to be a part of that group, especially after they saw what happened with an anise of fire. They didn't want, they did not, it's like today, there are those people who do not want to, they want to sow their wild oats now. I've heard this before, and unfortunately I've heard the testimony of somebody who witnessed these people. They didn't really reject, or they really were not negative toward being a Christian or following Christ, except for the fact that they did not want to orient to his authority. They just reject, and reject them and say, "Well this, I'm young, I've heard somebody talk about this, that they were talking. I'm young, I'm going to sow my wild oats, I'm just going to have some fun." And later on when I get older, then I'll make that decision. And of course they were warned, and of course, I think it was George that was telling me about that, and a week later he was dead, died in a car wreck or whatever happened. So the rest dared, none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people held them at high esteem. And this is funny, but not funny, look at it in a category today. You may be an unbeliever, you may dismiss the Bible, you may dismiss Christ, you may dismiss the church, you just want to go about your way, you want to be an unbeliever, but if you need somebody, if you need to trust somebody, let's say you need to trust somebody as a babysitter, if you want to trust somebody in business, if you want to trust someone to keep their word, though you're not a Christian yourself, who would you go to? Would you rather trust your family or your kids or your situation with an unbeliever who has no integrity? Or would you rather, though you're not one, trust a Christian? With that said, I'll say, oh man, I wish I remembered who it was, but they were unbeliever. They were a starch unbeliever, and I mean just adamant unbeliever. But I wish I would have wrote down that quote because they said, what kind of society would you want to live in? They were asking this unbeliever, and he was a prominent unbeliever, and he said, I want to live in a Christian, I would want to live in a Christian society. And they said, really? You want to live in a Christian society? He goes, yeah, because if I said the things that's dead in any other society, I would be put to death. I wouldn't have that freedom, but in a Christian society, I can't believe it. But so these unbelievers, though they were unbelievers, though they did not want to be a part of that. They did help these Christians or these Christ followers to a high esteem. And they warranted trust. They were weird in such a way, but they did great things, good things, charitable things. And the things that they just did not see in the society before. All right, verse 14, and all the more believers in the Lord, Lord, multitudes of men and women were constantly adding to their number. The church once again, the church did not outreach. This is so important, if you don't get anything else today. The church had an outreach, and that outreach wasn't looking like the world, acting like the world, smelling like the world, denying the church, denying their spiritual roots, and saying, me and you are just, we're on the same plane. No, no, no, no. No, they did not reach out by looking like the world. They were wholly set apart from the world. And others saw that, and they were influenced by it, and they wanted to be a part of it. People don't want to be a part of the same thing, well, maybe they do. But those people that want a change in their lives and seeing that their lives are the same old, same old, they want just another version of their lives. They want something different. And they looked out, so this difference, they liked what they saw. And many were being added to their number and faith. To such an extent, verse 15, to such an extent, even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall upon any one of them. And in the mindset that even your shadow was a part of the person, and they were seeing the miracles done through the apostles. They remember the apostles were the ones who had the gift. They had the healing, and people were, and that was their calling card. And they were seeing people being healed miraculously. They were seeing demons being chased out. And there were crowds following them, but they thought that if they could at least have their sick loved ones, those that are in need on the side of the path on the road. And if the apostles would come by, and one of their shadows would fall upon the person, then they would be healed. Also, verse 16, also people from the cities and their obscenities of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick and afflicted and unclean and spirits, and they were all being healed. They were all being healed. Now, things were happening here. The apostles were busy, and they're getting ready. The Lord is getting ready to cool their jets. They're getting ready to take them out of action to get their attention. Because the emphasis I believe here is being lost. Here's a point of doctrine for you. Don't ever let your ministry get in the way of the gospel. Do not ever let your ministry get in the way of the Word of God. That's another negative toward the churches today. There's so much going on inside the church. There is projects, there's Sunday schools, there's missions, there's the outreach and the music programs and all these things, and not intrinsically, intrinsically bad in themselves, but with all this effort putting through all the little things. Finally, the pastor might have 10 or 15 minutes of that to give a sermon on Sunday, because everybody's too busy to spend an hour to spend an hour and a half to hear God's message. The Bible being taught, line upon line, precept upon precept. They want just a general something, a feel good message so as to top their day. You see, ministry is getting in the way of the Word of God. It must be the Word of God. The Word of God must remain supreme. Here, I believe the apostles, maybe not the people, maybe even the apostles are losing the grip, not even knowing it, but they're busy with healing. They're busy with chasing on demons. They're busy with first of my person and they're forgetting maybe why these things are there. Let's move on. Let's go, verse 17. But the high priest rose up, along with his associates, that the high priest rose up along with the associates, that is the sect of the Sadducees. They were filled with jealousy. They were drawing the crowds. Nothing changes. The pastor dreams of multitudes. They dream of big congregations. They dream of filling up state. And in the day in which we live, that is a mark of a successful ministry is how many seats you can fill up. I'm not saying that's a truism. That is not the measure of success, but I'm afraid that for many pastors, that's what the view of success and ministry is, is the number of hears that sit before you. And so, therefore, these Sadducees, they were filled with jealousy. They took that action. Verse 18. And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. And I think this was, again, I believe this wasn't the act of the Sadducees, but I think this was the providential hand of God moving. It took them and put them in jail because watch what's going on here. But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison. And take them out, he said, "Go, stand, speak to the people in the temple the whole message of life." Let's bring that up here. The coming down to 21. Okay. The high priest rose up along with all his associates, the second of the Sadducees, the high priest here, maybe Kipus, and they were filled with jealousy and laid hands on the apostles. We saw that word, that wording here before laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. And during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison. Take them out with a message. He released them off. Now, opportunity, opportunity. Okay, we got arrested. This is a jailbreak. Let's get out of here. We can blow this town and go somewhere else. But the angel says, "No, no. There's a purpose. You're here. This is your geographical place of assigned duties." And so, rather than fleeing, he gives him instruction. Go and stand. And the stand is a verb. It's a participle. And it's plural. You all. You all. Go and stand. You all. Go and stand. And speak. And this speak is a... It's a present active imperative. It's a command. It's a present active. Go, stand, and continue to speak. Don't stop speaking. See, I don't think they were... I don't think that they were speaking before. I think they were busy. And now, here's the command from an angel of the Lord to message. And it's from the Lord, a message from the Lord saying, "Go and stand there and speak." First of all, the stand has... Daimi is a counter to the... to what the priest had done. See, the priest were trying to get them out of the way, to put them in a cooler, to get them out from the public, to get them out of the way. And I think they would have been just as happy if they were to broke out of prison with the prison doors being opened. However, it opened. I'm sure they wouldn't believe that angels did it. And that they would just escape the head for the hills and go back to Galilee. And they'd be done with it. But no, no, no. They said no. The Lord... You see, the Lord closes doors that cannot be opened and opened doors that cannot be closed. This is God's will in what they're doing. The apostles were given the command to go out into the world and to make disciples, and that's what they are going to do. And so they will not be ran off at this junction. And they will stand at the temple. That is God, whereas the priest tried to supersede God's divine will. It is God who supersedes their, let's just say, disobedience. And here's my authority. He puts his authority and says, "This is where I make my stand through my apostles," if I can say that. So he goes, "Go and stand and speak to the people." In the temple, the whole message, and this message right here is not like it says "raiming." It's word. It's a single word. "raimah" means single word and of life, "zoe." And this is the gospel. And we have... Let me get down here. And John 6, 63, "It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life." And then John 6, 68, "Sama, Peter, and she said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words." And that word there, I believe, probably is a lot of us. No, it's "raimah" right there. Actually, "raimah." And actually, when I say single word, this single word is imploral. You have the words of eternal life. And so the point of application we have here, once again, what do we see? We see the apostles being extremely busy, healing, healing, chasing out demons, whatever they were doing at this point, they were busy. The Lord cool them down. You put them in jail for the night. They sent them a message saying, "Alright, boys, go out. Go back to Temple. Go back to make them stand in Temple." Is to establish their authority, even the authority over the priests. And it's not there. And yes, they are God's representatives, so their authority supersedes that of the priests and the governmental authority. And then they exercise, "This is the freedom of speech, folks. This is the freedom of speech." A lot of examples here. We can go back to COVID. When you talk about that, so there is freedom that were released from the prison. That freedom and your freedom and my freedom is given to us as Christians, as Christ followers, to share the word. And that's what we shall do. And I remember, again, do not let your ministry, if anything else, remember that do not let your ministry supersede the giving of the word of life, the eternal life. I had an incident some years ago, going up the road, and I passed by a mini van. It had its signal lights on. It was a drilling rain. It was before Christmas, actually. And I passed by the van and rode up. And here's a figure, walking, carrying a young child. And I don't know if it's carrying or walking with a young child, but I pulled over and it was a girl, and they had ran out of gas. So I said, "Well, let's go up." I picked her up, took her up to the next gas station. We bought a can of gas, or bought a can and put gas in it, and took her back to her vehicle on the highway, and put gas in it. I said, "Listen, if you follow me up to the next gas station, I'll go ahead and put some gas in it." So I came up, and I put gas into her vehicle, and I filled it up. And she said, as I was filling out, she goes, "You don't have to do this." Most people would say, "You don't got to do this." And I said, "No, that's okay." So I filled it up, and she thanked me. She was very grateful. She had tears in her eyes and stuff, but she was very grateful, and she was able to go on her way. And like I said, I was the knight in shining armor, but as I pulled out, I realized I did not give her the gospel. I didn't say anything about Christ, didn't say anything, and I felt like a failure. I failed. A year later, almost at the same time, I know it was around Christmas time. I was on the same highway. Hour and a half from home, just about the same place, passed by a van. This time, a bigger van had lights on, and blinking, and went on up, and there's a figure with a young child. I know this one was walking. Picked it up. It was a lady in her grandson, I guess, and they had ran out of gas. I wasn't thinking nothing about the year earlier. Came up to the gas station. I took up that gas station just like before. I don't know if it was the same gas station or not. It could have been. But I said, "I'll put some gas in here, and I'll go up and put some gas in your vehicle." It will get you fixed up. As I did the same thing, I went up, and I'm putting gas in the vehicle. I'm not thinking nothing about the year earlier. Then she was tearing up, and she said, "You don't have to do this." Bam! Those words right there reminded me of the failure that I did the year prior. And I said, "Ma'am, I do have to do this." I go, "Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ?" And all of a sudden, she just broke down. I just weep, and she was crying. She said, "I was praying for the Lord to send me somebody, to send me help, and he sent me you." And the message here is, "Do not forget the lesser need without fulfilling the greater need." Because the message is the message of life. And you can fulfill, and you can go through all the... You can be a most saintly character. You can go the extra mile. You can feed the hungry. You can take care of the poor and clothe the naked. You can do all that. But what have you done? If you do not share the message that's going to help these people take care of the greater need, which is, they're so great salvation. Father in Heaven, thank you for this time together. We pray, Heavenly Father, that you continue to motivate us in your work. Grow us in it, and we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Alright, not a fine day in the Lord. Keep your armor on. Keep fighting the good. Fight a faith. Lord, will and spirit dying. Wrap your pending. We'll be back here in the A.M. Well, actually tonight, we'll continue on. Actually, I get to finish a message for Sunday, so be with us this evening. Thank you for joining us. You can hear this message again, as well as previous lessons. And get notes by visiting us online at www.gchapel.org. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]