 And before we study, I want to point something to you. I'll read verses 12 through 16, but I'm going to point something out to you in just a moment. In verse 12 of Acts 5, through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly, and believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets, laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. And a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Now, I'll point something out, then we'll get into our study. I want you to notice how it gives to us location in verse 12. It said this was in Solomon's porch. I want to give you a slide that shows where this has taken place. That there is a replica of the temple there, and you can see the temple that's out there in this courtyard there. So the second will point out basically where this was taken. That area there that you see there with the arrow pointing and on the other side there, that general area, that's referred to as Solomon's porch. And so this is the general area that this particular Bible passage is dealing with. It's dealing with an area called Solomon's porch. So let's get into our study and you now have a visual of what's taking place there. Now, as we look at this, let's remember in verses 1 through 11 that two members of the early church had been judged. They had been judged by God. At that time, when the church was new in the early church, they had united to care for the needs of the members of the church who were needy. And so members in that church were selling lands, they were selling houses, possessions, and they were giving in order to help the poor. And the generosity was deeply appreciated and the givers were honored in their giving to these who were in need. And so there were two people there who were going to the church. They were outwardly considered to be genuine believers. We don't know that they truly were, but their names were Ananias and Sapphira. And they wanted to be part of what was happening. And as we looked the last time at this passage, they sold a parcel of land and they pretended to give the entire proceeds to God. We saw how that the apostle Peter exercised a word of knowledge and he exposed them for what they had done. And he made it clear that while it was in their own possession, it was theirs to keep or to give away as they desired. But instead, they conspired to deceive the apostles and they wanted to deceive the entire church and they lied. They pretended that they gave all the proceeds of the sale to the church. So instead of receiving the honor and the attention and the position that they desired, they received judgment. Because as we saw last time, they lied to God, the Holy Spirit. And because they lied, God judged him. And they died and they were buried. And so this is what has just taken place as we look at verse 12. And so it had said in verse 11, great fear came upon all the church, upon all who heard these things. And verse 12, through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. So it's interesting they all were in a Honda accord. But anyway, as we look at that, that's such an old joke. I shouldn't have said it. And so verse 12 says, the result of the purging of the sin is the presence of the Lord. See, the purging was a purifying of the church because we need to remember that sin always quenches the work of the Holy Spirit. Sin always quenches the work of the Holy Spirit. So many times I've spoken to people over the years, and I've personally experienced this myself, who will say, God isn't moving in my life as He once has. And as we begin to speak, it's because we find that they have been entertaining sin. They're living in sin. They're performing sin. And then naturally, the presence of the Lord is being quenched because of that. You see, sin is not to be the norm of the church. And it needs to be properly dealt with when it is there. Because if it is not dealt with, it infects the church. And that results in the quenching of the movement of the Lord. We've all looked at the Book of First Corinthians. When you look at the Book of First Corinthians, there were so many situations that Paul needed to deal with. But one of those situations is found in First Corinthians chapter 5. And let me read to you in First Corinthians chapter 5, verses 1 through 6. Because there Paul said this. He said, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that does not occur, even among pagans. A man has his father's wife. And you are proud. Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord, your boasting is not good. Then he said this, don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Don't you understand that sin, unaddressed, is allowed to infect? And so at the beginning of the church, Ananias and Sapphira lied to God and God instantly judged them. And the result of this was great fear in verse 11 that came upon the church and all who heard of what had happened. You see, when the sin was judged, God's presence once again was evident. And God began to do his works. And he was doing his works through the apostles. And that caused an incredible response in the people because people began to realize that the church is a holy work of God. It's so much so. Well, it says it in verse 13, none of the rest dare join them but the people esteemed them highly. So it wasn't, sin was not taken so lightly. Today, it seems in many places, in many quarters, and even in the minds of many believers, sin is taken very lightly. But when sin is taken lightly, the presence of God is not experienced because he isn't gonna bless that which is rejecting his word. And so the people saw what was taking place and the result as it had said in verse 11 was great fear. And then in verse 13, none of the rest dare join them. There was this awareness of a holy God that was dwelling in the midst of his people. This is interesting in that many church growth programs that I'm aware of. And some of you may not be aware of this phrase, church growth program. So I should define that because I always assume that it's common knowledge and perhaps it's not to you at the moment. It will be in a moment. There are programs that you get that they're referred to as church growth programs and what they are is they'll be seminars or there's books or there's DVDs or there are series you can buy on CD. And there's so many different things, different forms. They call it church growth programs. And the purpose of these church growth programs is to numerically grow the church, to gain adherence, to have bodies show up. And I've used this term for so many years, but it makes the church into an institution that is concerned with nickels and noses, money and bodies. And so I was just reading today about a well-known, I'll leave them unnamed, a well-known Christian quote unquote author who was saying that if you wanna grow your church, I just read it today. If you wanna grow your church, don't teach the Bible. Yeah, I heard a gasp over here. Yeah, don't teach your Bible. Don't teach the Bible because you'll turn people off. You'll keep them from coming back. So don't teach the Bible. Very well-known quote unquote pastor in Orange County many years ago did a survey in the neighborhood that he was quote unquote planting his church and discovered that the people in the neighborhood that he wanted to plant the church in, he discovered that they didn't believe the Bible was the word of God and thus he never used the Bible to teach. He didn't use the Bible. You know, he was a shuler. He didn't use the Bible. He taught out of his books and they were always positive thinking books because the inspiration to him was not the spirit of God and the word of God. It was Norman Vincent Peel, a preacher of another age who spoke concerning positive thinking, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This isn't anything new. But what we have today, once again, is methodology over message. And what you end up with is an attempt to attract bodies so that if your place is full, then you must be successful. But that is not how God rewards. It's not based on the numbers that show up. It's based on the faithfulness of the ministry. And so these people were afraid to join because it was a place where God really was present. And so because there is such an emphasis today in growing in numbers and not building up the faith of the people, it has actually resulted in churches that are entertainment centers or social clubs. And that's not what God designed the church to be. Remember what it says in the book of Ephesians chapter four. In verses 11 through 15, where it says he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers were given as gifts to the church to equip the saints for works of ministry that they might not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine or the slight cunning of men, but that they might mature and might serve God. That's the purpose of Wednesday night Bible studies. That's the purpose of Sunday morning Bible study, Sunday night Bible studies. It's not for entertainment, it's for edification. It's to purify the body of Christ, it's to equip the saints for works of service in order that we might honor Christ as mature individuals. And so some are growing in their respect for the power of God that was evident in the church. And there they are in Solomon's porch. They're observing, but many are not joining. And so as this is taking place, verse 14, believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women so that they brought the sick out into the streets, laid them on beds and couches, then at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, they were all healed. And so believers were increasingly added to the Lord and they were both men and women coming to faith in Christ and their holy lives were attractive. They were actually attractive to non-Christians. And according to verses 15 and 16, God's power was so present that people tried to get the sick just to be in the shadow of the apostle Peter. So this outpouring, by the way, is obviously an answer to prayer because we had seen in chapter four that they had prayed and it said in verse 29 and 30 in Acts four, Lord, look on their threats, grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And so the prayer that they had lifted up to the Lord is right here evidently being answered by God. So as all of this is taking place and they're bringing these sick people and those who are tormented by unclean spirits, they're being healed. It's interesting how the Lord, I believe it's the Lord provokes my memory to things even before I come up to teach. And during the time of worship, I was remembering an incident I've shared before, but when it speaks about being tormented by unclean spirits, I was in India years ago now. And while in India, we went to a place called Rameswaram. Rameswaram is one of the places in India that they have waters that the pilgrims come to bathe in because they believe that bathing in the water is a way of a spiritual regeneration, if you will. And while I was there observing what was taking place, I was walking with a friend down a street right by this area and it was a very small street and in this area they have small carts that are drawn by horses. It's a single horse with a small cart. And as we were walking down the street, we came to a T intersection. Well, actually, yeah, it was a T intersection. The street that I was walking on stopped and then there was a cross street and then there were buildings. And so I stopped and I was about to cross the street and it's a small street that's only big enough for, we'll say it's 40 feet, 50 feet at the maximum wide. So we're stopping there, about to cross the street towards this temple. When off to our left is a man being dragged by about three other men. And the man is fighting with these three men. He's physically resisting them as they have his arms and they're dragging him towards this temple. And he's fighting and yelling and he's very wild. And I see this commotion off to the left and it's only 60, 80 feet in front of me. It's right there. And I stopped at the corner and directly across this two lane, the man is being dragged right in front of me. And he stops and as he stops, he turns and looks at me. And when he looks at me, his eyes are wild. And instantly, I said, oh my, this guy's demonized, demon possessed. I've been asked, how do you know when someone's demon possessed? The answer, you'll know. Seriously, you'll know, you'll know. I've been around people who were off balance. You'll know. And as I was looking, I was with Randy Walz who's now the pastor of Calvary Upland. And he and I are standing together and I'm thinking, maybe I can shove Randy in front of me and get out of here. He tries to drag himself out of the arms of those men to come across towards me. And when that's happening, I stood in place. I just stood in place and I looked at him and I thought within my mind, I thought it's odd. We're gonna cast a demon out. We're gonna cast a demon out. But what happened is as this is all taking place, here comes one of those small horses with the cart. And as the small horse is approaching where this is taking place, the horse begins to resist the guy who is driving the cart. And he stops and he won't proceed. He doesn't wanna get near this demonized man. And this is all happening right in front of me. And the horse actually rears up on his hind legs, resisting and the man has a whip and he starts hitting the horse to drive and the horse had too much horse sense to go near that demonized guy. But the men didn't. And he finally ran past him. He rushed past him to get away from him. And that man was dragged into that temple and kept turning around looking at us as they dragged him up the steps, demonized. We read about it in the Bible, but we say, oh, those are just children's fables or those are stories that were told in an unenlightened age. No, it's a reality. There were demonized individuals then and there are demonized individuals today, demon possessed. I refer to them more correctly, it's demonized or demon possessed, we can use both words. But that's what was taking place. And so there was no demon that was capable of resisting the power of the spirit to be casted out. Because in the name of Jesus, we have the ability in Christ because we are in him. So it's not us. Remember again, verse 12, through the hands of the apostles, that doesn't say they're performing it through their hands. It was God who was doing the work through them. And so when you encounter, should you someday encounter a demonized individual, you certainly aren't gonna say in the name of, and then give your own name, I say, get out. You would say in the name of Jesus Christ and the demons must yield to him. And that is what is taking place here. Well, as all of this is happening, verse 17, then the high priest rose up and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees and they were filled with indignation and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. So the high priest rose up and all those who were with him, they were of the sect of the Sadducees. So as we look at this, we see purity and power is now leading to persecution. You see, when the church makes a difference, there will always be a backlash of hostility. Matthew 10, 22, Jesus said, all men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. So purity and power inevitably leads to persecution. And so the high priest at this time rises up according to verse 17 and his name was Annas. Now who is a member of the religious sect referred to as the Sadducees? So Sadducees were what we today would identify as religious liberals, if you will. And we'll get to them in chapter 23 in verse eight where it says in Acts 23, eight, that the Sadducees say there's no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. And interestingly enough, this Sunday, I will teach on the subject of the resurrection and I will speak to you concerning Sadducees from our study in Matthew. We'll be looking at chapter 22 verses 23 through 33 this Sunday and I'll give you a lot more information, but that's who they are. They're the Sadducees. And notice they are filled with indignation and they put the apostles into jail. Now this is a public jail. It's not protective custody. So they're there with criminals. Now Jesus had prepared them for this. He had said in Luke 21, 12, they shall lay their hands on you, persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And so they are now in this jail. And it says, but in verse 19, at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, go stand in the temple, speak to the people all the words of this life. Can you imagine that? I have to sometimes dial back for a moment and say, what would that be like to be in jail and to have an angel open the door and say, okay, I'm letting you go go and preach. And it's such a fantastic thought, but that's what happened. And I want you to note, he let them go. I want you to see this. He let the angel let them go, but they were not to go into hiding. They were to continue in their preaching of the gospel. They were to go to the temple and notice again, they were to proclaim all the words of this life. All the words of this life is speaking about presenting the gospel. Now it's ironic that God used an angel to release them when Sadducees didn't believe in them. In verse 21, it says, when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning. They entered it at, it was around dawn and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together with all the elders of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. So they did exactly as they were commanded. They went and openly began to preach to those who were there. And the courage and faith is gonna be demonstrate, demonstrated by the fact that, that God is gonna do a work through them and courage and faith always results in the power of the spirit. And the power of the Holy Spirit was moving and they were trusting the message and were obedient to presenting it. So as this is taking place, it says in verse 22, the officers came, didn't find them in prison. They returned and reported saying, indeed we found the prison shut securely, the guards standing outside before the doors. But when we opened them, we found no one inside. Another thing, in other words, everything was in order. But there aren't any prisoners there. So verse 24, when the high priest, the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. So one came and told them saying, look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. And the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest asked them saying, did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us. They couldn't stop the spread of Christianity. They were powerless against the spirit of God. And as this is taking place, they say something that I find very interesting. Notice again in verse 24, they wondered what the outcome would be. Where's this gonna lead? One of the things they're saying is, how has this happened? Where did they get such power? How did this occur and what will the end be of all of this? And the answer to that question, when they asked the question, wondering aloud what the outcome would be, the outcome is us. Because the gospel continued being presented. Even though the threats and even though the things that are about to happen, you'll see in just a moment occurred, they did not stop speaking about Jesus Christ. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth always speaks. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth always speaks. And you wanna know something interesting? I'll say this briefly and move on, but it's true. And some of you may understand this in a different way than perhaps others who have yet to learn this. You can even make a determination within your own heart that I just don't wanna speak in God's name anymore. Like Jeremiah at one point in his ministry, he said, I determined to no longer speak. But he went on to say what I had to because his word was like a fire in me and I had to. There have been times, and I don't want to make this a David Rosales show, but it's just true. As a young believer, and I'm speaking, when I say a young believer, I was chronologically young, I was in my 20s and I was spiritually young because I was only three years old or so in the Lord. And I was reading the word and I was learning about God and I was a very thankful young man. I got saved and God was blessing my life and I was so grateful that I wanted to tell people about the Lord. But early on, early on there were times when I just felt I was so harsh or I was too direct and I didn't know how to speak what was in me without offending people because people are very thin skinned. Today they are, they have been then too. So I discovered that sometimes when I would speak, it would come off in a way that people might think I was too aggressive. And so I was wrestling and so I had determined I wouldn't speak anymore because I didn't want to cause problems. But the problem with me is this is, I can still remember, this happened more than once, but one particular time my mom had been going to a Bible study in the city of Manabello. And she said, David, you wanna come with me to the Bible study? And I said, sure, why not? We went to a small fellowship in the city of Manabello and I was sitting with my mom and it was a small fellowship, there was a circle that they formed and the teacher would sit there and speak in the circle and they were not teaching truth. And I was still a young believer but I was in the word and I was learning and I was studying and I was growing in my understanding and what they said was wrong. My mom, if she were here, she would have remembered this because I determined I will not speak. I can't speak. This isn't my Bible study. What gives me the right to say something or to correct this teacher? And who am I to do that? You know, I'm fighting. And I tell you the truth, my body began to shake. I actually literally will shake. My body actually begins to shake. My mom turns and looks at me and I was just like, don't say anything, don't say anything. I'm serious, I still do this day. I'll be, don't say anything, don't say anything. But I do, I always do. I was like, well, you know what? My mom can tell you that would be my opening line. I would say that. I'd go, you know what? And then I said, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. And then I was never invited again with the fact that it's a truth. That's a truth. You cannot help but speak of what God has done. When the Lord has forgiven you and loved you and blessed you and saved your friends, you cannot help but speak of what God has done. It's a fact. So many times people say, can you teach me how to give away my faith? Yet there are scriptures, yes. And there are different ways that you can learn how to tie a scripture into another scripture and lead. Yes, those are all good things. And we have those kinds of opportunities here in our fellowship because they think they're very valuable. But I also know that if you're in the word of God and if you're in prayer and if you're saying to the Lord, God, here am I, use me, he gives you opportunities. And maybe in times that you don't even realize that you may be standing in line at the store and you're just standing in line. And somebody turns and starts a conversation, a complete stranger. Before you know it, you're saying, oh, this is spiritual. God wants me to say something. Oh, this is exciting. And you share. And then they get mad and you go, maybe I shouldn't have said anything. But I have the saying that I live by when you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that barks is the one who got hit. And sometimes they will get upset. But you know what? One man sows, another man waters, but God gives the increase. And we all have a part of this. And we do our part. And who knows? I mean, you may speak to somebody and they may get so mad at you and they may say things to you. And yes, they do. And sometimes they're not very nice. But you just walk away saying, Lord, I was faithful to you. I loved them. I told them the truth. I loved them and I told them the truth. I sowed a seed. You know, in the body of Christ, there are people who are like the mouth they speak. And so they may say something someone doesn't want to hear. And there's somebody else who's in ear in the body of Christ. And so the one who was spoken to gets mad and tells the ear. And so the ear is just listening. And as the ear is listening, then somebody else has the love of Christ in a deeper way and with compassion, they counsel and it all works together. It all works together. And sometimes God's word is a hammer and it breaks to pieces. It's a truth. It's a surgeon's scalpel. It slices you sometimes, but in it's slicing it removes that which will kill you. And so we tell the truth. And we don't hold back in. And that's what we're seeing here. They're wanting, what's going on? Look at verse 28, did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us. Now Jesus had said that that would happen in Acts one verse eight, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem. And that's exactly what was taking place. They are filling Jerusalem with the teaching of Christ. By the way, filling cities with the teachings of Christ continue today. We want to fill cities with the doctrine of Jesus. Now that's one of the reasons why we use media for example. You know, recently in church on a Sunday morning, I took some time to show the cardboard testimonies. Some of you were with us and it just took a few minutes. But one of the members of our church decided to post it on Facebook. And we've had over 180,000 views of that. That one even 180 plus thousand people have viewed that. And so we're trying to fill cities with the doctrine of Christ. That's why we're on the radio in so many different places so that we can fill cities with the doctrine of Christ. Now it's interesting in verse 28, and I'll touch this and then move on, how it says the apostles had stated that they were guilty of the blood of Jesus, which is part of what the gospel presentation as they were hearing it at that time included. We had already looked at this in chapter four, verses eight through 10 where Peter speaking to the leadership had said concerning Jesus, whom you crucified. And so the high priest didn't like this at all. And so they say, we have forbidden you. We have forbidden you from speaking. So verse 29, Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. That's a pretty direct statement. They and the other apostles were threatened, but none were afraid of their threats and none were afraid of the penalties. They were simply obeying God. And notice how he said in verse 30, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. So he points out that the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin stood in opposition to God. They had executed Jesus, at least moved towards the execution, pushed for the execution, but God had raised him from the dead. And it's interesting again, how Peter said, whom you murdered. The word murdered means to lay hands on, to slay or to kill. So he is charging them with a personal responsibility for the death of Messiah. He is saying, you're as guilty as if you personally killed him. He suffered not only a death, but he suffered a shameful death because notice how it says he was put on a tree. Now, when it speaks of this tree, the word tree, it's interesting when you actually look at the word that is in the Greek, it speaks of a beam from which anyone is suspended. It speaks of a cross. It refers to timber with holes in which feet, hands, neck of prisoners would be inserted and fastened with straps. Now, so he's speaking of the crucifixion and he says in verses 31 and 32, him God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses to these things. So also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. So he's saying, Jesus, this one who was slain is Messiah. He died humbly, but he was raised gloriously. He is, he's saying, the source of eternal life. He is the savior and repentance and forgiveness and obedience has resulted in receiving the Holy Spirit. God has given the Spirit to those who obey him. Well, when they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them. Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while and he said to them, men of Israel, take heed to yourselves, what you intend to do regarding these men. For some time ago, theatres rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about 400 joined him. He was slain and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this, after this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away many people after him. He also perished and all who obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, keep away from these men, let them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing, but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against God. Gamaliel, Gamaliel was the most prominent rabbi of his day and he was one of the greatest rabbis ever. It was said of Gamaliel when Raban Gamaliel, the word Raban is the highest title, when Raban Gamaliel the elder died, the glory of the law ceased and purity and abstinence died. Gamaliel, here's something you might find interesting. He had a great student. His greatest student was none other than the apostle Paul. Paul was a student under Gamaliel. When he gives his testimony in Acts 22, verse three, Paul said it this way. He said, I am a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel, I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. So his greatest student was the apostle Paul. And as this man is speaking, he makes reference to Theodos as well as Judas of Galilee. Theodos was a revolutionary that was absorbed in Jewish history and thus is really unknown. But Judas of Galilee found in verse 37, revolted against the census that had been ordered in AD six. And so the zealots, when you read your New Testament and you see that there were zealots during the time of Christ, the zealots of Jesus' time actually traced their origin to Judas of Galilee. They were political zealots and so that's what's being referred to. So he goes and gives his advice, verses 38 and 39, when he says, keep away from these men, leave them alone, ignore them. Well, on the one hand, there's some practical truth to that because indeed, if the Lord isn't in something, then it isn't gonna prosper. But on the other hand, cults often flourish when they are ignored. His advice really should have been, examine the scriptures to see if what they are saying is true, that would have been better advice. But he didn't give them that advice. He said, leave it alone because you might be fighting against God. And to them, that was good advice. And says in verse 40, they agreed with him. And when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Being angry, they found a way to at least inflict some pain on them. They beat them. And so the result was they departed from the presence of the council and decided never to talk about Jesus again because it hurt too much to get beat up. No, isn't it interesting? What they did is they remained even more faithful and they actually, and this to me is just amazing, verse 41, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. They couldn't do anything to stop the spread of the gospel so they threatened them and beat them and that didn't stop it. And I was in China a number of years ago now and we were smuggling Bibles. We smuggled Bibles into China so that people would have the opportunity to have the word of God because they had, they didn't have access to Bibles. We Americans have opportunity to have more than one Bible but during that day, the Chinese church didn't have any Bibles and they had very strong and they still do a very strong underground church. And during the revolution under Mao, Christians were imprisoned and Mao wanted all this foreign influence to be eradicated from the Chinese culture and so he had a lot of Christians placed in prison and while I was in Beijing, I had the opportunity to meet a man and this was years ago now, I still won't give his name because he had a code name that they gave us and they took us into a park in Beijing and as we walked in this park, it was empty except for an older man who was seated on a bench and it was a very dark park with street lights that had a low glow but nothing really illumined and so as we were walking through the park, my guide said, up ahead and to the right is your contact. Sit down on the bench but don't look at him. He's gonna share his story with you. So that's what I did. My companion and I went, walked, sat down as if we were just resting because there are so many people that watch foreigners in their activities. We could have been followed and we could have been spied on and so we just sat there and made like we were talking seated on a bench when this man begins to speak perfect English and he told me his story. He said, over 20 years ago, I was pastoring a church. And I was arrested and I was placed in prison and I spent, I've spent over 20 years in prison for spreading the faith of Jesus Christ. He said, I left behind a wife and six children, six children with no father. And as he said, he told me a story of what the pain he had gone through and the price he had paid and the years that he spent in prison for the simple crime of preaching that God loves the world and gave his son Jesus. And as he was sharing with me, he said, you know, he goes, five of my children are serving God. Would you please pray for the sixth, the youngest one because the youngest one suffered the greatest without a father. I was speaking to somebody recently who was tortured for their faith in Christ at the provocation of his own mother who was, they gave him electric shock treatment to try and eradicate a portion of his brain that they thought contained his religious faith. And it caused his hands to be shaped like vulture claws. The muscles were so constricted because of that. He said, it took some time for me to be able to use my hands again. My mother who is a high ranking official in the Communist Party is the one who ordered my torture. And he suffered for many years in that way, never renounced his faith, came home. His mother and father, both communists and she very highly placed in the Communist Party. He finally had the opportunity to lead his mom and dad to faith in Jesus Christ because he never released his trust in the Lord and she finally released her faith in the Communist Party. We cannot help but speak of the things that God has done. And that's what's taking place here. They actually rejoiced that they were found worthy to suffer in the name of Jesus. And instead of saying, oh, it's just not worth it. They actually went and were even more bold. Verse 42, daily in the temple, in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. They continued to preach and continued to teach because they knew that they were pilgrims and sojourners, temporary residents with no rights, were just passing through. When I first got saved, we had this, an image of a person who was walking and you'd see his feet as he was walking towards you. And it just said, you know, just passing through. And we took that as our own symbol as young Christians and I still have it to this day. As a reminder, I'm just passing through. This world is not my home. This is a place to minister, but this is not my home because my savior went before me. He prepared a place for me. He said, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there, you may be also. And that's why we faithfully preach the word of God because the most selfish person is the one who goes to heaven alone. And so what we desire is to bring as many as we can with us. And that's what we have in the early church.