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Let's pray and we will get started Lord Jesus again as we open up your word.
We ask then through your Holy Spirit that we might rightly believe Confess and do according to what you have revealed
there all to the glory of your holy name.
We ask in Jesus name.
Amen.
So, all right.
So when we get hit that we do have a question.
The question is if Ananias and it isn't an if he did Ananias called Saul
Brother Saul before he baptized him.
Does that mean that he was saved before he got there?
The answer technically is going to be no Paul always points back to his salvation as being in the waters of
baptism and so in other accounts that we can actually get the conversion story of Saul three different
times and.
And so you have in one of the accounts Ananias saying to Saul rise and be baptized
Washing away your sins and so the idea then is is that this kind of goes
to one of the kind of big rules if you would of How the how discipleship works?
We have been tasked with the job of making disciples not angels and Christ
himself you'll note that he sends Ananias for the purpose of him
receiving his sight and him being baptized and In him receiving if you would
kind of a tacit, but very overt Absolution
from the Lord by the mouth of Ananias and the assurance of his salvation then in having his sins
washed away in the receiving of the Holy Spirit and you'll note that he that the other detail of This text and
I'll do this here because I'm gonna kind of work this out I'm gonna duplicate this
tab and I am gonna go to Acts chapter 9 and there's a there's a
super easy way to kind of see this and I'll explain here Acts 9.
Oh, I'm in 7.
I hate it when I do that.
Alright, here we go.
So the men who are traveling with him, they were speechless.
He saw nothing.
So now there was a disciple at Damascus.
This is Acts 9 verse 10 and the Lord said to him in a vision Ananias.
He said here I am I got to keep pointing out notice.
He hasn't even been to a prophetic activation school.
And the Lord said to him rise go to the street called straight and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus Named Saul
he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come and lay his hands on him that he might regain his sight.
Ananias answered Lord I've heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your Saints at
Jerusalem and he is here.
He has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name, but Lord said him go he's a chosen instrument to carry
my name before the Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel and I will show him how much he must
suffer for the sake of my name.
So Ananias departed and at the house laying his hands on him brother Saul the Lord Jesus appeared to you on the road
which he came and sent me that you may regain your sight and Be filled with the Holy Spirit, which is
a reference end to his baptism.
So up to this point the Apostle Paul does not have the Holy Spirit, which is indicative of not
conversion.
But that he is not yet converted.
He's not yet regenerated.
So, you know there that's that's kind of your key.
So where does the Apostle Paul receive the Holy Spirit same place?
We all do in the waters of baptism.
All right that coming back to Acts chapter 2 you have Peter preaching that great sermon on the day of
Pentecost and Everyone's cut to the heart and they say brothers What shall we do and he says repent and be
baptized passive voice.
For the forgiveness of sins or you can say into the forgiveness of sins kind of interesting how the Greek word works works there.
But into or for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the Holy Spirit for the gift is for you.
And for your children and it's not big tall children.
It's the little ones and all who are far off and all whom the Lord God calls to himself.
And so we Christians then recognize normatively that Christians
receive the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism.
Baptism is not man's work.
It is God's work.
And so Saul of Tarsus has yet to receive the Holy Spirit and in another account that later in the book of
Acts He's having his sins washed away and this is where we can definitively say that he received the Holy Spirit
and you'll note that the Apostle.
Paul's.
Biblical, you know his doctrine on baptism is the same concept.
It is the working of God not the working of man.
So great question, by the way.
Carmen asks, are we recording?
Yeah, I think think Josh hit the record button.
So yes, so thankfully When Josh is here, I don't have to remember to hit the record button.
He said awkwardly and everyone looked at him like yeah, that's great.
All right, so where we are today is we are in the book of Esther chapter 3 and
Where we noted that you cannot understand Esther, what's the question?
Oh No, Bruce Burns is here.
Abort.
Oh what the thief on the cross was not baptized, can you explain how some may not need baptism?
Okay.
All right.
So here we go.
This is the standard question.
By the way that comes up the thief on the cross was not baptized.
This is true.
I would also know.
Abraham wasn't baptized.
King David wasn't baptized.
Isaac Jacob Joseph, they weren't baptized.
And so here's the issue the thief on the cross.
I like to think of him as kind of like the last of the last of the Old Testament Saints.
Because he is suffering for his sins.
While.
While Christ is bleeding for his sins.
So the blood of the New Covenant is being shed while they're having that conversation and so we'll
note that people of the Old Testament were not required to be baptized and Now that
we are in the New Testament, it is normative for Christians to be baptized.
It doesn't mean that you're not saved if you are not.
It is not the it is not the inability to be baptized.
That would be a problem.
Would be the rejecting of it.
Oh Bruce.
I tried to be good.
Temptation beyond what you can bear.
Cross referencing compulsion.
So.
To justify that would we go to Jesus's statement in the Sermon on the Mount that the law would not pass away.
Until everything has been.
Exact until everything was fulfilled.
Yeah, and then we have to look at when scripture actually says the fulfillment occurred.
Which would be about an hour and a half later, yeah.
Yep, and so that's the issue.
Yeah.
Yeah, so Bruce has given us a good cross reference that to heaven and earth will not pass away.
That the the things have required of the law would not until all things have been fulfilled.
Christ doesn't fulfill the Mosaic Covenant as he rightly points out until maybe an hour half or two hours later.
After this thief on the cross can you know.
Basically asked one of the best the best theological statements of the right person at the right time Lord.
Remember me.
He knows that when God remembers you that's a good thing when God remembers your sins.
That's a bad thing.
And so we'll note that the thief on the cross truly is saved but he's also one of the last he's kind of
like the closing out guy of the Jews under the Mosaic Covenant because the Mosaic
Covenant has not yet properly been fulfilled because Christ is fulfilling it on the cross.
But all that being said that we will note that, you know David wasn't baptized and so moving forward
then the idea when we confess what scripture says regarding baptism.
We Lutherans make a very interesting distinction.
We say that baptism is necessary, but we do not say that it's absolutely necessary.
So there are people who believe in trust in Christ with the preaching of the gospel and have not been baptized.
What should they do?
They should be baptized.
God wills for them to be baptized.
And like I said, it's not the lack of baptism that we have to worry about.
It's the it's the despising of it.
So the person is well, I don't need to be baptized.
I don't need that.
Well, Jesus says you do so now.
We got a problem because you're confessing Christ while at the same time Opposing his expressed
will that's a different subject altogether.
All right, great questions.
Baptisms by TD Jake's do not count.
Yes.
They that's right.
Then there's a reason why so.
Okay, so I'm glad this topic gets brought up, okay, I did not foresee this happening but
here's the idea alright, so Here at Kongsvinger Lutheran Church, if if you
transfer from a different church.
Let's just say that you've decided that you've you've transferred to Kongsvinger Lutheran Church from Third Avenue
Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
All right, and and so you you've done this.
All right, and I'm gonna ask the question.
Were you baptized?
Yes, I was baptized by pastor.
So -and -so at Third Avenue Baptist Church.
He baptized me in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit.
Baptists are Trinitarian.
Okay, so do they need to be baptized again?
No.
Okay, because it doesn't matter who the person is the human being that baptizes Christ is the one to baptize.
So then they say well, I was baptized by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church.
Okay, and I know for a fact because Rick and I've talked he baptizes in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.
That's a valid baptism.
You are baptized by elder Elder Johnson from the Mormon Church.
Okay, that don't count.
Okay, and the reason why that don't count is because the Jesus they believe in ain't Jesus the father.
They believe in ain't the father and they are not really truly Trinitarian.
They are polytheists, all right, the the core doctrine of Mormonism is the law of
eternal progression the which states as Man is God once was
as God is man can become and so their claim is that the God
that we are supposedly created by through sexual relations with
His spirit wives near a strange star named Kolob that our God Elohim he was once a
man who became a God by obedience to his God and His God was once a man who became a God by
being obedient to his God.
So all of that being said we do not recognize Baptism in the Mormon Church as being a Christian baptism.
That's something different same with Jehovah's Witnesses and TD Jake's.
He's a modalist.
Okay modalism Patrick is not.
Is not is not true.
Sorry, Bruce.
Yeah, all right.
Modalism is the belief that there is one God one person and that God likes to engage in.
Cosplay.
You know and sometimes he dresses up as the father.
Sometimes he dresses up as the son.
Sometimes he likes to fly around like a like a dove.
And that ain't that ain't the God of the Bible.
That's a different deity altogether.
TD Jake's is a heretic.
He's not a Christian brother.
He is somebody who denies the doctrine of the Trinity and any baptisms done in his church
are not trinitarian baptisms.
Anyway, he doesn't baptize in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit as Christ is commanded.
He baptizes in the name of Jesus only.
All right, so that that puts that outside.
Hang on a second here.
Okay, oh that's terrible, all right, so a Question came in as it
relates to Ananias and Sapphira.
Okay, by the way, and the Ananias of Acts chapter 9 is not the same guy.
So this is this is Ananias with a different last name if you would in the book of Acts you have the account
of Ananias and Sapphira and Here's the issue is is that abusive churches and
bad pastors who are who are basically teaching that you must Tithe 10 off
the gross of your income or your money is gonna be cursed.
God is gonna send the destroyer and he's gonna destroy you.
And how do we know this Ananias and Sapphira?
Well, I got bad news for those pastors that the issue with Ananias and Sapphira had nothing
whatsoever To do with them tithing.
Let me let me explain Ananias and Sapphira are they in Acts?
They might be in not hang on a second here.
All right, hang on a second, I'm just gonna do a Sapphira search.
Sapphira.
Hang on a second here and it's she's not in the gospel.
She's in Acts.
There we go.
Ah.
Here we go.
Acts 5.
All right, Acts 5.
So watch this.
Here's the details.
So at the end of Acts chapter 4 we get our immediate context here.
Let's explain what's going on.
All right in Acts chapter 4 the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.
No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own.
But they had everything in common and with great power.
The Apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them
all.
There was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of the lands or houses
sold them and brought them Proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the Apostles feet.
It was distributed to each as they had need.
So here's what's going on.
Legitimately at this time there were wealthy people in the congregation who sold off
houses and property and they gave 100 of the
proceeds to the church.
100 %.
So, you know, they had a 300 acre farm out here in Oslo.
They sold the farm and put every last penny of the proceeds
at the at the Apostles feet No, Oh Bruce.
Bruce asked if you sell your farm, is that a seed offering?
See, yeah leave the pastor jokes to the pastor.
So you can see what's going on here and that is is that day.
There were people who were selling property and giving all the proceeds.
Joseph was also called by the Apostles.
Barnabas which means son of encouragement a Levite a native of Cyprus sold a field that belonged to him and Brought the money and
laid it to at the Apostles feet.
So we get to Ananias and Sapphira.
Here's what's going on.
Ananias with his wife.
Sapphira sold a piece of property and with his wife's knowledge He kept back for himself some of the
proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid at the Apostles feet.
Why is this a problem.
Because they're putting on the pretense that they were giving 100 % of the proceeds.
Lying is a sin and yes virtue signaling is a form of that.
So this is basically they're they're telegraphing to everybody how virtuous they are, but it's all a pretense.
They are Lying.
Okay, if they had laid it at the Apostles feet and said we're gonna give 30 % of the proceeds.
We're gonna keep 70 for ourselves.
Would there have been a problem?
None, none whatsoever.
So this has nothing to do with tithing.
Oh, and by the way, does God require you to sell everything and give all the proceeds to pastor Rose, bro?
No, okay if pastor Rose, bro ever tit says that take him out in the cemetery shoot him and bury the body
quickly, okay.
You're doing the world a favor, okay, and then ask the next guy for forgiveness, okay.
All right, so so this is what the issue is.
So Peter said to Ananias and that by the way, this is another tech.
This is a great text, by the way it proving the not only personhood of the Holy Spirit.
But the deity of the Holy Spirit so Peter said to Ananias Why has Satan so
filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
By the way, they're they're like the Jehovah's Witnesses.
They teach that the Holy Spirit is like electricity or like like a gravity.
It's an impersonal force.
Can you lie to gravity?
Right, okay, can you lie to electricity?
Yeah, you'll you'll note that electricity and gravity don't have a tendency to have a mind.
They just are things put in place by God, but here Ananias flat -out lied to the
Holy Spirit and you kept back for yourself part of the proceeds in land.
While it remained unsold did it not remain your own and after it was sold was it not at your disposal.
Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?
You have not lied to man, but you've lied to God.
All right, so you'll note Peter equates God the Holy Spirit as a god.
He's he's part of The the triune deity he's God and he's he can be lied to and
then this gets worse and Ananias He heard these words.
He fell down and breathed his last.
I'm telling you if this happened today, there'd be paperwork and great fear came upon all who heard of it and the
young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him and After an interval of about three hours his wife came
in not knowing what had happened and Peter said to her tell me what you've.
Whether you sold the land for so much and he's and she said yes for so much.
But he said to her how is it that you've agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?
Behold the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out.
Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last and when the young men came they found her dead and they carried out.
Buried or recited her husband so you can see this has nothing to do with tithing.
So any any pastor who threatens a parishioner and says unless you start tithing and you make you give God
what belongs to him?
You know you you you risk dying like Ananias and Sapphira.
That person is a deceiver a money grubber run.
Okay, there is one command as it relates to the New Testament and that's not the tithing command that one
command is do not muzzle The ox while he's treading out the grain God wills that pastors make their living from the
gospel.
That's it and you give as much as you want or as little as you want.
That's between you and God.
God likes a cheerful giver and he doesn't require Christians to give out of compulsion.
In fact, if you come to church and you are in financial need guess what don't give a
cent.
Let your need be known and it's the job of the church to help you.
Bruce.
Okay, so Bruce Burns has rightly noted that this may be used as a text
to say that being slain in the spirit could be a bad thing.
Yeah here so notice that Ananias and Sapphira were both slain by the spirit and
there was.
There was a burial afterwards.
So, okay.
Very good.
Okay, so hopefully that answers question.
Rachel.
So a church in Bismarck said your baptism doesn't count if you were baptized in Jesus's name now,
by the way.
So if you're baptized in Jesus's name that is a oneness Pentecostal Formula, and it's
it's only used by by heretics so if somebody came here and said I was
baptized in the name of Jesus by Bishop so -and -so at the oneness Apostolic New Life
Church in Bismarck.
Then we basically say it's we're gonna we're gonna get you baptized because you're not you just got wet that
first time.
All right, so it's you'll know Christ commands in.
And I'll show you the text on this by the way.
Not only do we see this in I want to come here in Matthew 28 we get
Christ's explicit commands regarding how The baptism is to take place
in the singular name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit.
But I'll show you the text that the oneness Pentecostals go to and twist and how when you put it back into its
context.
And you understand what it means to do something in somebody's name.
You get the idea.
So here's what it says Matthew 28.
Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and go by the way is not the imperative.
The imperative is to make disciples as you are going make disciples of all nations baptizing
them in the name Singular of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them deserve
all that I have commanded you now.
There is a text that Oneness Pentecostals twist in order to say well baptism has to
be done in the name of Jesus.
And I think it's in Acts 19 and I'll show you when you put this back into its.
Yeah, when you consider all the details, it doesn't work.
So it happened that while Paulus was at Corinth Paul passed through the inland country came to Ephesus there.
He found some disciples and he said to them.
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believe now?
No, they're already disciples.
They haven't properly been baptized though.
It's so Paul asked him.
Did you receive the Holy Spirit and they said no.
We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
Okay, and immediately Paul goes to the logical place.
Wait, you've never heard of the Holy Spirit then he said into what then were you baptized?
What's the assumption?
You can't be baptized.
Unless you hear the words Holy Spirit because you're baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
And they and so they and so he said, all right.
So they said we haven't even heard of the Holy Spirit.
He said what into what then were you baptized?
They said into John's baptism and Paul said John baptized with the baptism of repentance.
Telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him.
That is Jesus.
So I'm hearing this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus now in this context here.
They're still being baptized in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus is basically
shorthand for saying according to the way Christ commanded them to be baptized.
And we know that this is the case because Paul knows that they should have heard that there is a Holy Spirit when they
were baptized.
Does that make sense?
Okay, so great questions, by the way.
All right, so if you were baptized if somebody baptized you I baptize you in the name of Jesus.
No, no no, Jesus said baptized in the name of the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit and.
This is what this means.
So if that if that's you.
Send us an email and we might have to make a road trip.
So and you know make sure that that you that you're properly baptized, right?
Yeah, and actually baptized in Jesus name was their argument.
No, so Rachel you'll note that this is the text that they argue and it's Acts 19.
This is the only time this appears and you can tell when you pay attention the details.
That the Holy Spirit has to be invoked during baptism.
That's the point and to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus is to baptize according the way he's commanded.
So, all right, very good.
Yes, sir.
Good question.
Okay, so When you look at the rules of the Mosaic Covenant as to people who are clean or unclean.
Anybody who's a corpse is automatically unclean.
So So the the status of death for a leper does not
change their unclean status.
So so you can tend to and properly tend to the body of a leper.
That's that's totally.
Okay, you just have to treat them you have to you have to go through all the steps necessary to become clean
again that you Would because you're in the presence of a corpse.
So does that make sense?
Okay, so burial in and this is gonna be more along the line of custom so
Jewish burials during the time that Herod was reworking the temple.
So that long period of time 46 47 years.
While they were working on the temple a an interesting burial practice that existed only at that
time.
Was in vogue back then and what here's the reason why what they were doing is is that you got the stone quarry up and
running.
And they're making stones for Herod's temple, but the stones that are being rejected.
They've decided they figured out a way to make money off them.
They kind of scoop them out and they would make turn them into Ossuary's ossuaries are a bone
box.
So and these were stones the same stones from the same quarry that were being used in the temple itself.
And then the practice became at that time.
You put a person's body in a tomb and on a slab.
So in each of these tombs, you're gonna have a slab for a body and you're gonna have different grottoes.
That will house the ossuaries and so what you do is you put the body in the tomb in on the slab.
You close the the roll the stone over it and don't go back for a year.
Okay, especially don't go back in the first few weeks.
Because bad smell.
All right, and then the idea after one year the only thing left are the bones and the
Ossuaries that they made at that time were just large enough that you can take two adult
femurs and.
And you'll kind of cross them and then you know put the skull in there and put the rest of the bones and that's where They would be buried.
The final bury was in the ossuary now Jewish custom for kind of time in memorial.
They have no problem with burying people in the ground.
But the general Jewish custom along those lines is if you're gonna bury somebody in the in the ground and this goes all the way back
even to when.
You know, you know like the Old Testament, but even more forward you'd have an interesting thing.
Jews generally reject the idea of embalming bodies.
And so what happens is when a Jew is buried they will either cut holes in the
Drill holes into the coffin or or they'll bury somebody straight into the dirt.
With the understanding that their bodies then go back to the dust.
They want to facilitate that and You dust you are and the dust you shall return and
and so as part of the burial practice.
They think that there's something wrong with Preventing the natural decomposition of the human body so it doesn't go
back to being dust.
Yep, and.
That's common practice to this day.
So, you know, you you know.
Jewish Jewish cemeteries.
All right, you know they you know.
A lot of people are buried in those and they've fully decomposed in like a year or two.
They don't they don't do anything to stop the decomposition.
Can I've explained verse six?
So when Paul had laid his hands on them the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
Sure.
So Jeff Kinney, so here's here's the next bit of it and this is an interesting thing in the book of Acts
you're gonna note that when somebody receives the Holy Spirit in a.
Non.
Normative fashion.
Usually God is telegraphing something.
Okay, and so I'm gonna give a cross -reference to this first and that is is
that I'm going to go to Acts chapter 11.
Because you can see how this works out in Acts chapter 11.
You have Peter being called on the carpet because gasp he went into the
house of Gentiles.
Okay now did Jesus die for Jews only.
Okay, did he did he say make disciples of all nations?
Yes, okay, but you're gonna note that when we get to Acts chapter 10 Christianity has
made it to.
Jews.
It's also made it to Samaritans but Gentiles Totally X'd out.
God the Holy Spirit intervenes.
The Apostle Peter ends up in the house of a Roman centurion by the name of Cornelius Who lives in a really nice zip code
back in the day?
Caesarea Maritima is a really nice place to be stationed as a soldier and he
shows up at his house and What happens is is that while he's telling them the gospel
preaching about Christ God the Holy Spirit fills these Gentiles
Even before they are baptized.
All right, which is not normal the normal way Christians receive the Holy Spirit is in the waters of
baptism.
So something is going on here and you can see this so the Apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea.
They heard the Gentiles also received the Word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcision party and that's not a party you want to go to they
criticized him saying you went to uncircumcised men and You
ate with them.
You think okay.
So Peter began and explaining it to them.
I was in the city of Joppa praying in a trance.
I saw a vision.
Something like a great sheet descending being let down from heaven by its four corners and it came down
to me.
Looking at it closely.
I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air.
I heard a voice saying to me rise Peter kill and eat.
I Said by no means Lord for nothing common or unclean as ever into my mouth.
But the voice answered a second time from heaven what God has made clean do not call common so this happened three
times and all was drawn up again into heaven and Behold at that very moment three men arrived at the house
in which we were Sent to me from Caesarea and the Spirit told me to go with them
making no distinction.
Watch this.
This is this is a big theological statement here making no
Distinction.
Well God the Holy Spirit told me to go with them.
He didn't make any distinction between Gentiles and Jews and that's kind of the big theological point here.
So these six brothers also accompanied me and we entered the man's house.
And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say Send to Joppa
and bring Simon who was called Peter.
He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved you and all your household as I began to
speak the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.
That's the thing.
That's not normative.
So here you have Gentiles Unbaptized receiving the Holy Spirit praising God
speaking in tongues.
These are other languages and Peter sitting there going.
Oh, whoa.
So I remember the word of the Lord how he said John baptized with water.
But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit if God gave the same gift to them as he gave to
us.
When we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?
So you'll note by God the Holy Spirit.
Jumping the baptismal gun here.
It is a clear sign to them that Gentiles are in they're not
out don't exclude them anymore they receive the Holy Spirit the same way the
Apostles did which is immediately without means and that signals.
Well Gentiles are now part of the church.
You better get used to it.
They're gonna want bacon during fellowship time.
Yeah, yes.
Only the Jew.
So every time in the New Testament The speaking in tongues occurs it occurs in the
presence of a Jewish congregation.
Yes, because only the Jews believe new only Jews and proselytes right knew
that.
Languages are a punishment from God see babble.
God has the authority over language.
Every time don't forget the prophecy of Isaiah that people would speak in spring state strange languages as
a Testimony against their unbelief.
But in acts so in here this is.
It's a sign to Peter and his audience.
Yeah all Jews in Acts 19 They have the the the Judaic
public repentance.
Yeah washing which is a confession of your uncleanness before God.
So you're washing so that you know as a symbol that you have to be clean again, right?
That is a Judaic public apology and confession under the Old Testament, which means there's a
congregation of Jews there.
Yeah, or they wouldn't have heard of John's baptism.
Yeah, and so every time the people start, you know, you know Speaking in tongues the it's a
sign to the Jews that these people have the authority and backing and power of God.
Yep, you know and and and and so once once the message had spread throughout the
diaspora of Judaism There's no really no longer theologically a need for tongues to keep going correct.
Yep, and I'm gonna note here so, you know, you're talking about tongues and
That whenever tongues occurs in the book of Acts.
You always have this this thing where there are Jews that are present who know the Isaiah prophecy.
Understand that the tongues that languages the confusion of language was was a punishment of God and the
undoing of that should properly be understood as a Sign of God's grace and mercy
in the undoing and part of a punishment.
Now I'm gonna point this out because I'm still answering the question Can I explain Acts chapter 19 verse 6
and I'm doing this with the cross references because you can see the pattern Philip went to the town that city Samaria and
proclaimed to them the Christ.
So in Acts chapter 8 and we have Philip going and
proclaiming the Christ and the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip
and when they heard him they saw the signs that he did now a little bit of a note.
The word Samaritan and the in the region of Samaria has some huge
theological baggage.
Throughout Jesus's earthly ministry.
We see that Jews didn't even consider Samaritans like human beings.
They treated them like they were dogs.
They spoke about them as dogs and we know that what what the Samaritans
were were basically they were partly genetically Jewish and also you know
Syrian and you know and Damascus and things like this because with the fall of the northern
kingdom the region of Samaria got taken over by pagans and they Were they had a false
religious system that they had set up that goes all the way back to Rehoboam at the time of the
son of Solomon and In the establishing of the northern kingdom and so Jews and Samaritans didn't get
along.
So this is gonna be another one of those groups where?
When the gospel hits the Samaritans, they're gonna be people sitting there going can Samaritans be
Christians.
Can they can submit can a Samaritan actually believe in Jesus now?
I understand we had that woman at the well, but I mean gee the whole lot of them.
Come on.
So you'll note same pattern then follows here.
So Philip went down to the city of Samaria Proclaimed Christ the crowds with him and one accord paid attention.
When they heard him and they saw the signs that he did unclean spirits crying came out with a loud voice came out of many.
Who had who had them and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
So there was much joy in the city, but there was a man named Simon now.
Hang on a second here I'm gonna I'll read this out, but this isn't the part I want to see.
So there was a man named Simon who had a previously Practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of
Samaria saying that he himself was somebody great.
Like every seeker driven vision casting leader and they all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest saying this
man is the Power of God that is called great and they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with
his magic.
But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.
They were baptized both men and women even Simon himself believed and after being baptized He continued with
Philip and seeing signs and great miracles performed.
He was amazed now when the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God.
They sent to them Peter and John who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
For he had not yet fallen on any of them.
So you're gonna note here Revival has broken out in Samaria, but the Apostles
are not part of it.
So we have this Philip, you know Who's basically a deacon and he's preached the gospel people are repenting
signs and wonders are taking place.
And even Simon the sorcerer they've all been baptized, but have any of them received the Holy Spirit.
So they Philip goes back and says they all believe in Jesus.
Do they have the Holy Spirit?
No, he didn't show up.
So guess what?
Now we get two Apostles Peter and John they came down and prayed that they might receive the
Holy Spirit.
We had not yet fallen Before they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and they laid their hands on them
and they received the Holy Spirit now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the Apostles hands He
offered them money.
So you kind of see the the gist of what's going on here.
The Holy Spirit arriving then is the sign that these people are in they're not out.
That's how this is working.
Samaritans when that fence is broken down.
The Holy Spirit does something different to basically say Samaritans are in Gentiles.
Well, the Spirit does something different not normative because that Gentiles are in but what about this
last group then acts?
19 I like to think of acts 19 is that that final group that we all kind of worry
about.
That is a little more consistent with our teaching today.
What about somebody who believes in Jesus who hasn't been baptized yet?
Are they in are they out.
They're in they're already disciples and they are baptized the baptism of John
the Baptist not a Christian baptism and then They're receiving the Holy
Spirit through the laying on of hands rather than normatively in the waters of baptism again.
It just breaks down all those barriers and shows all of these people are in and you'll note that there's no
Consistency in how the Holy Spirit doesn't how the Holy Spirit appears in these other
Forms that are normative.
There's a little bit of variety among them.
But the consistent thing that we look for then is the promise of God again coming back to the Apostle Peter
in Acts chapter 2.
Acts 2 Sounds like it's sleeting outside.
I Don't like the sound of ice hitting the windows that's gonna make for a dicey a dicey trip back.
Sorry, we're having a weather event here.
All right, so here.
It's not a weather event.
It's all right.
So we come back then to what Peter says.
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart.
Peter's Set said Peter to the rest of the Apostles brothers What shall we do.
Peter said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit the promises for you and For
your technon your children small ones and for all who are far off everyone whom the Lord God
calls to him self.
So the idea is again baptism is God's work.
Not my work.
It is for the receiving of the Holy Spirit is for the forgiveness of sins.
The washing away of your sins is you are baptized?
And you are buried with Christ you were raised with Christ.
Colossians 2 says your heart is circumcised by the hand of Christ.
That's the idea and then when you get these non normative Behaviors by the by the Holy Spirit
Pay attention the Holy Spirit saying something and basically talking and saying that groups in they're
not out.
So hopefully that answers the question.
Holy smokes, we didn't get to Esther yet.
I Blame you Bruce for no particular reason.
Okay, let's do this.
We're gonna still can we're gonna do a little bit of work with Esther, but I want before we get to
Esther I want to come to Revelation chapter 12.
Now we we noted last week that in the book of Esther This is a story written
about exiles.
Now I really truly believe the more I'm working with Esther I really believe Mordecai is probably the author of this book
and the big difference between Mordecai and Daniel both books are written during exile
and they both have very similar themes about how Believers in the one true God are constantly living on this knife
edge right and they have to cry out to God and pray to God and God has to deliver them and Save
their how do they say it took us?
Yeah to save their you know Save their rear ends a lot.
Okay, and and that's kind of the big theme and that God is faithful in doing that.
But the difference between Daniel and Mordecai.
Mordecai is not a prophet.
Daniel is all right and so Mordecai is.
He's a more akin to us in that sense.
I'm not a prophet and y 'all ain't prophets.
Elizabeth says how do you know?
I'm not a prophet.
I just put in words in your mouth.
Yeah, she says, you know, she's not so the I and Stephen Elliot for sure no way but the idea that is
is that Esther is a great book of like what it's like to live as a believer in God when
you're not a prophet.
Daniel is a little bit on the different side, but of of the four guys
You know Daniel Shadrach Meshach and bed and ago only Daniel's a prophet among the group of them.
But all that being said I would remind you of this big theme that we see in the book of Revelation.
In Revelation chapter 12 a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the Sun.
With the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of the twelve of twelve stars.
This is not the Virgin Mary by the way.
That's not who this is referring to in this particular vision of this woman.
This technically when you can see when you see how the theme was work out.
This is really legitimately Pointing to if you would the Bride of Christ of the Old Testament or
You can talk about the Church of the Old Testament, which is a weird talk.
Sorry, which is a weird way to talk that the Church of the Old Testament the believers of the Old Testament.
Sorry, I I touched the microphone.
Yeah, I Created a loud noise and scared everybody.
It happens.
So she was pregnant crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth another sign appeared in heaven behold a
Great red dragon with seven heads ten horns on his heads.
Seven diadems his tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven.
Cast them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth.
So that she bore her child he might devour it.
He gave she gave birth to a male child one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
But her child was caught up to God and to his throne and the woman fled into the wilderness.
Where she has a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for twelve hundred and sixty days.
So here's the theme.
So no.
This is it is a misapplication because the woman has fled into the wilderness and she's still being protected by God.
Still being nourished by God.
This is this is the church.
This is the believers.
The Bride of Christ.
So now war rose in heaven.
Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon the dragon his angels fought back.
He was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven and the great dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent.
Who is called the devil and Satan notice how the word serpent and dragon are interchangeable in this
text?
You know, I always kind of point this out so when when I'm teaching my catechism class to the youth, you know when we get to
that account in the Garden of Eden and.
And you have a talking snake with legs okay a Talking
serpent with legs.
What are those called?
Dragons, okay, you know so, you know, I show them photos from you know.
The movie stills from the movie how to train your dragon and they all see it.
Ah, that's it.
That's what it is.
Okay, dragon and serpent.
They are interchangeable.
All right, although I gotta say this This has absolutely nothing to do with this.
So I.
I've.
Lately been doing this weird thing.
I've been watching tick -tock if I'm like bored or have insomnia.
So I'm flipping through tick -tock, right?
Okay, and they are the stupidest channels on tick -tock.
You just watch this thing and going humanity has like no hope at all.
Okay, this is the harbinger of the end of the world but there was a fellow who was you know, who was doing a little
comparative work and He was saying did you notice how everybody makes fun about how short the
arms of a t -rex are?
And it because you know, you watch the movie, you know, you know, you know Pixar's the toy story and you know poor Rex and
I can't reach my tiny little arm my tiny little arms.
So the guy was doing some skeletal Comparative work and he said I used to think this was the stupidest thing
ever.
But then I compared the the skeleton of a t -rex to an ostrich and
An ostrich has the same exact skeletal formation.
With the small little arms.
Okay, but those are for the that's the base for the wings and he go and he said wouldn't it be terrifying
of t -rex?
They didn't have small arms.
They had wings that would mean they're dragons, you know.
And all of a sudden you sit there and go, you know that actually.
You know that has explanatory power.
It really really does.
So just noting that you know, because of all the of all the dinosaurs, I I would
not want to meet.
The t -rex is like there.
So hang on a second here.
Let's see if I get this thing.
Hey, hold on.
No there.
That's the one thing I hate about this stupid camera is is that it zooms in sometimes and in order to zoom out
I have To say I'm a loser, you know, I have to make the L the L shape.
All right, all that being said coming back here.
All right, so War rose in heaven.
Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.
The dragon his angels fought back.
He was defeated.
There was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The great dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent is called the devil and Satan the deceiver of the whole world.
He was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him and then I heard a loud voice in heaven
saying now the salvation and the power of the kingdom of our God and Authority of his Christ have come for the accuser of our
brethren Brothers has been thrown down who accuses them day and night before God.
They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and the word and by the word of their testimony for they loved not their lives.
Even unto death therefore rejoice.
Oh heavens and you who dwell in them but woe to you on the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you in great
wrath and He knows that his time is short and when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down
to the earth.
He pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
That'll give you nightmares.
A ten -headed dragon on earth coming after the church.
It sounds about normal, right?
Has anything really changed though?
So the idea then the picture that we get of the exiles in the book of Esther who are always
living on this knife -edge.
It's the same thing same kind of concept and we as Christians
we are currently in the wilderness of this earth heading towards the promised land the new heavens the new earth and.
And so and we are being pursued the entire time by the devil.
How do we survive such an ordeal with such a terrifying foe?
Yeah, we pray and we die, okay, that's that's kind of how this works.
So coming back then to the book of Esther.
Esther chapter 3.
We'll get a little bit of work in this is going to now start to set the stage for What we'll
get to in two weeks from today.
The the.
Well full -on attempt to eradicate everybody who is Jewish.
So after these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite the son of
Hamadathah and Advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him.
So Haman this is this is our this is our evil guy.
And he he's going to be the one that's going to come up with this plot.
And this guy is Just full of himself.
All the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman.
For the king had so commanded concerning him, but Mordecai he did not bow down or
pay homage.
Worshippers of the one true God do not worship princes and kings and officials and stuff like this
so.
Mordecai.
Stubbornly and obstinately basically says Kind of like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego.
I'm not gonna bow to your idol except for your your your own idol.
He won't do it.
He's not gonna exalt men in Improper ways and Haman ain't so happy
about this.
So so all the king's servants who were at the king's gate They bowed down paid homage to Haman.
But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.
And the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai Why do you transgress the
king's command.
And when they spoke to him day after day? He would not listen to them.
They told Haman in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand.
For he had told them that he was a Jew and when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay
homage to him Haman was filled with fury.
He disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone.
Yeah, so as they had made known to him that the the people of Mordecai Haman sought to
destroy all the Jews the people of Mordecai throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
Rather than just bearing a grudge against Mordecai and plotting to take his life Haman decides
to go all.
Adolf Hitler.
We're gonna kill all the Jews and You'll note the these Jews in
exile.
They are the ones For the most part I mean vast majority of them.
The reason why they're there is because they believed the promises of God through the Prophet Jeremiah that everybody who turned
themselves in in Nebuchadnezzar would live rather than die and they were marched off into exile as
God promised and They are alive.
These are people of faith.
And so you'll note Mordecai is not bowing down on religious grounds he's refusing to pay
homage because however people paid homage to kings and princes of Babylon
it was beyond what a Jew a Bible believing Jew could do.
It fell into the realm of idolatry and so it was contrary to the commands of God and
contrary to his conscience which is bound by the commands of God.
And Now Haman has decided I'm going to kill every one of the Jews for this offense.
Love your neighbor as yourself, you know.
I'm gonna go with murdering an entire people group.
That's probably gonna be outside of loving your neighbor as yourself.
Right.
So in the first month, which is the month of Nisan in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus
They cast per that is they cast lots before Haman day after day.
They cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
Now the implication here is what?
Why are why are they casting lots?
So the the implication is is that?
Haman is Into astrology into fortune -telling into things of this nature.
So they're casting the per the perine.
For the purpose of he's looking at them basically kind of asking this question Is it the right
time or the spirits or the gods or the forces of whatever?
With me is this the time to to execute my plot against the Jews and that
that's the implication all right, he's doing this for the purpose of Ascertaining from the spirit realm
whether or not he it's a good time to go forward with his with his attack.
So then Haman said to King Ahasuerus There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among
the peoples and all the provinces of your kingdom.
Their laws are different from those of every other people and they do not keep the king's laws.
So that it is not to the king's prophet to tolerate them if it pleased the king Let
it be decreed that they be destroyed and I will pay 10 ,000 talents of silver into the hands of those
who have charge of the king's business that they may put it into the king's treasuries.
10 ,000 talents that's a lot of silver and the implication is is that what Haman is saying is is that
let me execute my Plan, where's he gonna get the 10 ,000 talents of silver?
He's gonna plunder it from the dead Jews that's the idea and
When I read something like this man, one of the things that comes to my mind is a picture from the Holocaust.
Have you ever seen?
The gold teeth stacks of Jews who were murdered by the Nazis
had their golden teeth taken out and then those Collected up and there's just photographs of these mounds
of human gold teeth.
Which.
Ha ha hair and uh and shoes.
This is this has that same ick to it.
I'll get you 10 ,000 talents of silver From the dead bodies of the Jews that we're gonna
slaughter, right?
That's the implication.
So the king took his signet ring from his hand gave it to Haman the Agagite The son of
Hamadatha the enemy of the Jews and the king said to Haman the money is given to you the people also
to do with them as it seems good to you, so King Ahasuerus
basically gives him the sing signet ring and he's able to kind of carte blanche decide what he's gonna
do and.
And that's the implication.
So the king's scribes then were summoned on the 13th day of the first month and an edict According to all that Haman
commanded was written to the king's satraps and the governors over all the provinces and of the officials of all The
people to every province in its own script and every people in its own language.
It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus.
Sealed with the king's signet ring letters were sent by the couriers to all the king's provinces with
instructions to destroy.
To kill and to annihilate all Jews young and old women and children in one day
the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month of Adar and to plunder their goods
a Copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the people's to be
ready for that Day, the couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king and the decree
was issued in Susa the citadel and the king.
And and the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.
An official decree kill them all.
Every one of them.
All right, and that's our setup and we'll pick the story up in two weeks.
But are there any questions left?
It's not a bookkeeping error.
It's kind of more along the lines of this Haman has promised ten thousand talents.
That's the profit from the from the ordeal.
However, you got to pay soldiers and people to do this work, right?
So what the king is forwarded is like the initial expenses necessary to
to fund the operation but the the 10 ,000 talents will then be Whatever's left over
after those after the expenses and the 10 ,000 talents will be the their profit in this endeavor.
Yeah, that's right and and here's the other bit you're gonna see this in two weeks and that is is that
Once this goes out because it's been signed with the signet ring, even though Ahasuerus himself didn't
punch it with the signet ring because it was done with the signet ring.
He does not have the ability to undo what Haman's plot.
And so that that plot must go forward.
There's no way to revoke this.
So come hell or high water on this day chosen.
There are gonna be people who are gonna be gunning for Jews on that day.
Okay, so off subject.
Pastor Bryce watched Lord of the Rings and loved it.
The Christian allegories are subtle but definitely there.
They don't seem bold as CS Lewis's.
I would say that the Lord of the Rings the the Christian allegory in it is quite overt.
But the problem is is that some of the some of the the allegorical figures are spread across several characters.
It's a more complicated far more bigger moving pieces.
So for instance Gandalf Gandalf the gray becomes Gandalf the white after his
death and his resurrection.
But the other clear Christ figure in the story is Aragorn the son of Arathorn.
So the idea then is is that and by the way Aragorn becomes king after an army of the dead
helps him win the battle.
I thought that was fascinating.
But um, but you know, you when you put the allegories together you'll note that the Christ figure is kind of split
between between Aragorn and and.
And the Gandalf it did so there that I'll just say Tolkien writes
in.
Much more subtlety but at the same time way more complexity.
And and as a result of it, I think his allegory has a lot more depth to it at times.
So you get the idea?
All right, peace to brothers and sisters.
I've got a log off because I've got a head off to radium.
So Lord willing we'll see you next time Christmas Eve services on Christmas Eve, and then we'll see you next week.