Enclave Community Church Podcast

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Enclave Community Church Podcast. For more information about Enclave, follow the links in the description. Enjoy this week's sermon from Andrew Decanter.

[00:00:10] The scripture this morning is Acts 8, verses 1 through 8. And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.

[00:00:26] And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women, and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

[00:00:49] Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds, with one accord, paid attention to what was being said by Philip. And when they heard [00:01:00] him and saw the signs that he did for unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them and many who are paralyzed or lame or healed.

[00:01:10] So there was much joy in that city. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and your son. Well, we just thank you for this time. We can come together as a family and share together and bear each other's burdens and. Here what you have for us. So be with Andrew as he delivers your word and prepare our hearts and our ears to receive it.

[00:01:43] In Jesus name, Amen.

[00:01:47] Amen. Thank you, Elliot! Good to see all of you. Um, I have a, a strange question to start off with, but. Uh, how many of you [00:02:00] cook with oil? I'm just trying to figure out how many of you are trying to get an invitation to what house. Okay, you cook with oil. Okay, so here's another question.

[00:02:09] How many of you have had the privilege of, uh, experiencing a grease fire? Well, it could be in good weather. Alright, okay, so a couple of you have that attitude. So maybe you know, uh, the answer to this next question, and probably all of us should know the answer to this next question. What is the last thing that you want to do if you have a grease fire happening in your kitchen?

[00:02:36] Throw water. Why? What, so the water goes underneath the grease boils. It boils like instantly, like it expands the steam 1700 times. Its volume, right? Carrying, you know, oil that's on fire. into a [00:03:00] fireball by encompassing everything around it, right? It's such an issue. I was going to ask Jay, I forgot to ask him this morning, did you guys ever do demonstrations about this as firefighters?

[00:03:12] You get it? Okay, right. And I've seen this before, if you've looked on YouTube, you'll probably find it. But they'll get like a, sometimes, they'll get like a shipping container, and in the back of the shipping container, they'll put a stove, they'll put a pan, and grease, and they'll start a grease fire. And then, like, from outside the container, they send a long pole in there, and they pour water on it so the public can see, like, Now imagine if that's your kitchen.

[00:03:37] Like that's the, that's the, that's the mess. And the truth is, is a lot of house fires begin in this kind of way in the kitchen. And I bring up this, um, image for you, because we're going back into the Book of Acts. We're kind of coming to the very end of a section of the Book of Acts, [00:04:00] Acts chapters 1 through 7.

[00:04:02] We're sort of going to go through this transitional passage that was just read to us by Eliot. But a big thing that is happening in the first seven chapters of the Book of Acts is that there has been a fire that has started. in the heart of the homeland of Israel in Jerusalem. Right? Holy Spirit fire has come down at Pentecost.

[00:04:29] Right? The, uh, resurrection of Jesus. Jesus defeat of sin, death, and the devil is beginning to be proclaimed. His enthronement to the right hand of God the Father is, is being announced and heralded. And all of that is being accompanied by signs and wonders that authenticate the message, these exorcisms, and these healings.

[00:04:51] So that, that's all happening. There's this fire that is starting in Jerusalem, in the middle of the country. Like, you think of the [00:05:00] kitchen as the heart of the home. Well, Jerusalem is the heart of the country. And this fire has started. And there's this big transition. That's also happening in the Book of Acts that becomes this major theme.

[00:05:15] Whereas before, the people of God were organized around the temple and the sacrificial system in Jerusalem, the customs of Moses, these national identity markers such as circumcision, going to the festivals in Jerusalem, all these things, that's how things used to be organized. Now there's this big transition.

[00:05:38] happening where now the people of God or are organized around King Jesus, right? And the message that he has now been enthroned at the right hand of God the Father, having become the ultimate high priest, giving himself as the ultimate sacrifice, rendering [00:06:00] the temple obsolete. So that anybody, right, of any nationality, Right?

[00:06:07] Who comes to him by faith, they now become part of what he is building in a new temple. So there's this transition from the old temple in Jerusalem to now the people of God themselves are the temple of God carrying the fire of God within them as he has come down in Pentecost as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

[00:06:32] Now, the Jewish leaders They are seeing this fire happening. And how do they feel about it? Super happy? No, very upset. And pretty much they say to themselves, we, we gotta do if, whatever we can, right, to put this fire out before the whole house burns down, right, because their identity is wrapped up in the temple, these national [00:07:00] identity, uh, markers.

[00:07:01] And you see this effort. Throughout the first chapters, the first seven chapters of the book of Acts, to try to put this fire out. So, for example, if you go back to Acts chapter 4, Peter and John are brought in because they healed a lame beggar. Remember that? Right outside of the temple. And then, They and the lame beggar, right?

[00:07:22] He is the sermon illustration, right? They go into the temple and begin to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus. So they are brought before the Sanhedrin, the same body that sentenced Jesus and crucified Him. They're brought in before them, and then they threaten them. They say, do, you cannot preach in the name of Jesus anymore.

[00:07:46] But the result of that, right, that's their first attempt to try to throw water on this fire that's growing. The result of that is, there's a prayer gathering, like, like, like we had last week. They had a prayer gathering, but unlike the prayer [00:08:00] gathering we had, and I was hoping for it, but, the building shook, right, and the, the people were filled with the Holy Spirit.

[00:08:08] Right? And then it says that the towns around Jerusalem started, people started being saved. And that, so that caught on fire. So the fire actually grew. They tried to pour water on it, and then the fire grows. Right? Or if you go into Acts chapter 5, a little bit further down in Acts chapter 5. Now they bring in more of the apostles.

[00:08:27] Right? Because they, they keep preaching about Jesus. So they bring in more of the apostles. Now instead of threatening them, now they beat them. So it's like we're gonna get more water like this. Now we're trying to douse out the water with more water in the fire with more water. But the result of that was that they left that place rejoicing, having been counted worthy of suffering in the name of Jesus, right?

[00:08:53] And then they commit to preaching the gospel every day. The text does every [00:09:00] day in the temple and from house to house. So the fire grows in intensity, so that by the time you get to Acts chapter 6 verse 7 even priests are now coming to faith. So it's getting worse, right? And then by the time you get to Acts chapter 7, now you have Stephen, right?

[00:09:20] Which Acts chapter 6 verse 5 says he was a man filled with Holy Spirit fire. Right? And so now he's performing signs and wonders, proclaiming the word of Jesus. And so the Sanhedrin brings him in. Right? So, but this time, they don't threaten him. They don't beat him. They kill him. They stone him. So, like, get more water.

[00:09:48] Right? And we're just gonna try to douse out this fire so that the whole house doesn't burn down. But again, Right? In our passage, what we see is the whole [00:10:00] thing explodes in their face, and then it expands even more. And so, in Acts chapters 1 through 7, right, the Jewish leaders, every time they try to put out this fire, it explodes and it expands.

[00:10:20] Right? And what we find in the book of Acts is there's this cycle that happens. There's great persecution that results in powerful proclamation and expansion and just keeps happening over and over again. And it seems like the greater the persecution, the more powerful the proclamation, the more widespread the expansion, right?

[00:10:42] And so the message or part of the message of the Book of Acts is the kingdom of God is an unstoppable fire. And it made me think this past week, man, what if we [00:11:00] actually believed that? I mean, we could all pass the test with regard to that, you know, intellectually, but what if in our hearts, we believed the kingdom of God is an unstoppable fire.

[00:11:16] Like how would that Change our relationships, the way we approach life, that type of thing. And I bring that up at the beginning just for us to be thinking about that question as we go along. Because in our passage, we have another iteration of this cycle, right? A great persecution, and we'll talk about that as our first point.

[00:11:41] That results in this powerful proclamation and then expansion. So let's first talk about this great persecution. Right after the stoning of, of Stephen, we read these words beginning again in verse 1 of chapter 8. It says, [00:12:00] And Saul approved of his execution. Who's execution? Stephen's execution. And then it goes on to say, And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.

[00:12:15] And they were all scattered. Throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles, the Apostles stay back in Jerusalem. They minister to some Jewish Christians there, and maybe, not just, maybe not exclusively, but in large part the Hellenistic Jews, who were part of Stephen's group, Philip's group, they are expanded out into other regions.

[00:12:42] So we learn a couple of things from this verse. One thing that we learn is that, uh, Stephen Stoning is sort of like this catalyst. It's the start of this great persecution led by Saul. Now [00:13:00] Saul is going to become a major figure in the book of Acts, but we first meet him in Acts chapter 7 verse 58. He is sort of giving oversight.

[00:13:12] And holding the coats of those who are stoning, uh, Stephen. So how nice of him, you know, to allow their, you know, their arms need room, you know, to throw the stones. So he's holding the coats for them. So he's giving sort of oversight to that. But then, then we learn that he's gonna be a major figure in leading this great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.

[00:13:36] To where we read this in verse 3. There it says, but Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house, now where were the Christians meeting? In houses, Acts 2, Acts 5, house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. [00:14:00] So this is, uh, an intense. Systematic house to house effort on behalf of Saul and those who are helping him to put out this fire that is starting in Jerusalem.

[00:14:16] Now the detail about also carrying the women to prison is sort of a signal to us for us to understand the intensity of the persecution. Right? They wouldn't normally include, uh, women in that kind of an effort. But, but Saul is, he understands that women are playing a major role in this movement. And the message that we're giving, getting is that Saul will do anything.

[00:14:46] Like, he will stop at nothing to try to put this fire out that is starting in, uh, Jerusalem. Okay, so that's one thing that we, that we learn is that [00:15:00] Stephen's stoning, right, gives rise to this great persecution that is led by Saul. The second thing that we learn is that that great persecution then results in the scattering of the Christians who are part of the church in Jerusalem to the regions of Judea and Samaria.

[00:15:22] So if we read the latter part, Of verse one again, there it says, and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Now, when we think about the regions of Judea and Samaria, if Judea is sort of to the south of Jerusalem.

[00:15:49] and Samaria is to the north of Jerusalem. So, if you think of the world as having Jerusalem at the center, right, which is definitely [00:16:00] how the Jews would have conceived of the world, right, you have Jerusalem at the center, then the next concentric circle out would include Samaria in the south, in the north, and Judea in the south.

[00:16:14] Right, and that, um, I think, let's go to the next slide, maybe? Okay, so there, right? So the dot is Jerusalem. And then you got Samaria to the north, Judea to the south. It's the next concentric circle out. Now that recalls what Jesus said earlier. Do you remember that? In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, that's sort of, Acts chapter 1 verse 8 is sort of like the verse that gives the structure to the rest of the book of Acts.

[00:16:46] But if you remember, in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, Jesus said, And you will be my witnesses. in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And so what Jesus is [00:17:00] saying, the news of my kingdom is like a fire that begins in Jerusalem and will spread out from there. So here is another case in the Bible, and there's many cases like this, where God uses something that is evil Right.

[00:17:17] This great persecution is even called evil in chapter nine, verse 13. This is something that is evil done by human beings to bring about his good plan, the spread of his good news, the spread of this new temple. So, to the point which, if you keep reading in Acts chapter 9, verse 31, you get to this verse.

[00:17:44] That says this. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace.

[00:17:57] And I want you just, I want you to remember that. [00:18:00] Right? So these regions now have shalom, they have peace. And was being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Right. Like, things are now spreading even more. So, as I said, in the Bible we have this theme over and over again.

[00:18:24] Humans do things that are evil, and wrong, and unjust, and God still uses it for good. So, Stephen, remember he talked about the example of Joseph. Joseph is sold into slavery. He's put into a pit, right? And then he's put into the pit, the sheol of a prison. But then from that she all he rises to the right hand of Pharaoh, right?

[00:18:51] He took what they meant for evil, and God used it for good and for the salvation of many people. Genesis 50 20 says [00:19:00] that's crazy. Okay, and then Jesus, right? He goes down into the pit. She all. Right? And then he rises to the right hand of God the Father offering salvation to many people. Another example of something wicked.

[00:19:16] The cross, that was an unjust death. It was a wicked death. But God, it was part of the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. Right? That he used for good and the salvation of many people. And that becomes the paradigm by which we understand all evil. All suffering that comes our way. It's like we're in Vegas, but the roulette wheel is rigged, and it always lands in our favor.

[00:19:46] Like, every time. It gets bumpy along the way, right? We might get hurt. There are many things that happen to us. But in the end, you know, we, and we might need, like, a thousand years, a million years in heaven to be like, you know what? [00:20:00] It did all work out, didn't it? Yeah. Yes, it did. Right. But it all works out for good in the end.

[00:20:06] But before we go farther down that road, we need to go back to verse 2. Because sometimes in that message, um, the idea of lament can be lost. So let's go back to verse 2. There it says, Devout men, so not weak men, But devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation. So they're greatly grieving over him that is Stephen.

[00:20:43] Now this is an important, uh, verse for us in the midst of these big ideas that we're, we're talking about. Because sometimes Christians, in our effort to sort of uphold the idea that God can [00:21:00] take what is evil, He can take what is unjust, and He can turn it around and use it for good and the expansion of His kingdom, sometimes we can begin to sound dismissive.

[00:21:15] of suffering, of injustice, of evil, uh, those types of things. In an effort to uphold this true thing, we can sometimes be dismissive. And I have heard Christians say, right, I've heard somebody talk to a Christian about their suffering, their, what they've experienced, their loss. And the Christian says that, well, that's good.

[00:21:45] But you, hold on a minute. Like, you, you skipped a step, right, like, the evil is not good, the injustice is not good, but God [00:22:00] can use it for good. But if you miss this step, it's, well, it's not biblical, but it also doesn't represent God's heart. Now, it is true that we do not grieve as those who have no hope, right?

[00:22:19] That's a truth that we have. But sometimes we as Christians have turned that to mean, don't grieve. But that's not what it says. It says, do not grieve as those who have no hope. So, maybe we've overcorrected. Like we saw people who were operating as if they had no hope. And so we say, don't cry, but that's short circuiting things, right?

[00:22:52] And it's not giving room for lament, right? And [00:23:00] these devout men were had a great lamentation, right? And here's the thing about their lamentation. And this would hit us harder. I think if we were part of this culture. Because their lamentation was not only an expression of grief, but it was actually a protest against injustice.

[00:23:26] Because part of the, the, the Mishnah, which was the later codification of the oral tradition of the rabbis, that reached all the way back to Jesus time and even before, Part of the things that they said, and then one of the things they said in the Mishnah, was, hey, if somebody is stoned, you can bury them, but do not mourn their death.

[00:23:51] Because they died justly for breaking the law. With this, now, they're putting a [00:24:00] target on their back when they do this. When they, these devout men bury Stephen, and then lament and lament. What they're saying is he didn't die for breaking the law. This was an unjust death. So part of their lamentation is not just grieving.

[00:24:21] It's a protest against injustice or injustice. So that's also playing into the mix. So Stephen Stoning and the great persecution that follows. is a wicked thing. It's an unjust thing, and it's worth lamenting. So you've got to hold that in one hand, but then in the other hand, we don't grieve as those who have no hope.

[00:24:51] Right? There's hope, because God can take wicked, unjust things and use them [00:25:00] to advance his kingdom. Right. As he does in this case, right? The waters of persecution that they were trying to throw on this fire in Jerusalem. It exploded in their face and spread to the regions of Samaria and Judea. It reminds me of when Tim Brenda talks about, uh, what goes on in Afghanistan, Afghanistan.

[00:25:26] It's gotten like slightly better in 2023. Afghanistan is no longer number two. But nevertheless, it used to be the second hardest place to live in the world as a Christian. It was also the place where it was in second place in terms of church growth. So it's the second fastest growing church and the second most persecuted church.

[00:25:51] at the same time, right? And that's kind of how that works. Right? So, um, you know, maybe I, maybe I should write a church [00:26:00] growth book. Um, like, uh, what do you, what do you think, Dave? You think this will sell? Like, like, uh, church. So what do you need for church growth? You want to see your church grow? You want to, are you tired of empty seats?

[00:26:13] Like, um, ingredient number one, intense persecution, right? Um, well, I mean, but in reality, that's how things work, right? And that's how it works in, then, that's how it works in Afghanistan now. But let's look at this explosion in Samaria. So first, there, there was this great persecution, right? But that, then that gave way to this powerful proclamation and expansion.

[00:26:42] So picking it back up in verse 4. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria. That's a little bit tricky because That probably means something like, [00:27:00] the main city in the region of Samaria. So it would be like if I said, so what am I talking about when I say, the city of California?

[00:27:12] San Francisco, even though Los Angeles is the biggest city. When I say the city of California, oh, you're talking about San Francisco. So there, now there is a city of Samaria, right, which was not called that during this time, we won't go into the weeds about all that. But the main point is he's talking about a city, that is in the region of Samaria, and scholars can argue about which city it is.

[00:27:33] So he's there, and it says, And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ. Then in verse 4, And the crowds, with one accord, paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him, and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many [00:28:00] who had them.

[00:28:01] And many who were paralyzed, uh, or lame, were healed. So this great persecution happens, Christians are scattered, and Christians carry with them. The message of Jesus, right? And one of the major figures who was sort of like, uh, a co deacon with Stephen was Philip and Philip was carrying this message, um, to the area or the region of Samaria.

[00:28:29] So here in the second point, I just want to talk about two things. One is the content of Philip's message. What was his message about? And then I want to talk a little bit about this region of Samaria that he went to, because I think you'll see the significance of what is really happening here. So when we ask the question, okay, what was the content What's interesting in Acts chapter 8 is that [00:29:00] there are several words and phrases that describe the content of his message.

[00:29:06] So like in verse 5, like we read, it says that he, he proclaimed to them the Christ. So the person of Jesus and his title as the anointed king. seems to be central to the message. Alright, so if you go a little bit later, in verse 12 of Still in Acts chapter 8, it says this. It tells us that Philip, quote, preached the good news, or the gospel, about the kingdom of God.

[00:29:37] So, there's good news about a king, and a kingdom, and the name of Jesus Christ. There again, a reference to the king. You go to verse 25, it summarizes all of this in one word, Gospel. This is the gospel. It's summarized as word in verse 1 and the [00:30:00] word of God in verse 14. Now, what you need to understand about the book of Acts is that all of these words and all of these phrases are referring to the same thing.

[00:30:13] The good news that God in Jesus, through his death and his resurrection, Has defeated all of those entities and powers that were vying for authority over people. Sin, death, and the devil. God has conquered those entities. Who's king? God's king. Right, he conquered those enemies for the benefit of his people.

[00:30:45] Who are his people? Those who unite themselves by faith. to Jesus, who is now enthroned at the right hand of God the Father as the Christ. So he's the king. [00:31:00] Right? So the, a king came, squashed the opponents for the benefit of God's people. The opponents being sin, death, and the devil. And that is called the gospel.

[00:31:14] Now this is precisely how the Old Testament uses the word Gospel. So, like, in Nahum 115, Isaiah 40, verse 9, Isaiah 52, 7, the good, you know, and that's quoted actually in Romans chapter 10, but, but it's like, you know, the ones who bring the beautiful news. It's like, Hey, you know how all these people have said that there are king like sin said it was your king.

[00:31:40] Death said it was your king. The devil said it was your king. Actually, God reigns. God reigns. And if you join him, You can, you can enter into this victory. So that's part of the gospel message. So you could, you could summarize that, the message that Philip is bringing into [00:32:00] Samaria, by saying, Philip basically comes to Samaria and says, The future messianic reign of Jesus, who is now enthroned at the right hand of God the Father, is breaking into the present.

[00:32:13] And you can come join in the victory. This is what, this is what he's proclaiming, right? And the people might say, Well, I mean, we don't see a throne. Um, we don't see some of the things that go along with the reign. And so what happens is what has happened, right? In the Book of Acts. This message is accompanied by authenticating signs and wonders.

[00:32:41] Right? So he proclaims this message, right? And then illness and then the forces of darkness. They flee before the presence of the king and his emissaries. And that still happens today. [00:33:00] In this country, it happens. I've seen it happen. But especially on the, on the fringes, just talk to missionaries, you know.

[00:33:10] On the fringes of when, where the gospel is taking new ground, these things happen quite a bit. Right, so he's proclaiming that message, the signs and wonders are authenticating it. So that's Philip's message. Now what about his audience? Right, we're talking about Samaria. You've heard that word before, but who were the Samaritans?

[00:33:34] Right? That comes into play in John chapter four. You've probably heard that in a sermon with John chapter four. But and we know that maybe there was some animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. But but why? Who are they? Well, the Samaritans, they're descendants of the northern kingdom that separated from the southern kingdom of Judea.

[00:33:58] Right in the 10th century B. C. [00:34:00] after the death of Solomon's that's 931 B. C. They separate from that kingdom. Right, and then about 200 years later, they intermarry with idolatrous Mesopotamian nations who are being forced into that area by the Empire of Assyria. after the Assyrian captivity in 722 B. C. So this northern kingdom that's separated from the southern kingdom now intermarries these Mesopotamian groups that were somewhat, that were idolatrous and they struggled with idolatry at that point also.

[00:34:34] Right, so that's who they were, that's the Samaritans. But it's also interesting to note some of their unique beliefs. So the Samaritans, they, they struggled with idolatry, but they worshipped Yahweh. They accepted Moses as Yahweh's prophet. They accepted the first five books of Moses, the [00:35:00] Torah, as Yahweh's word.

[00:35:02] They did not accept any of the other canonical books of the Old Testament. So that's kind of unique. They didn't think that Jerusalem was God's holy place. They thought Mount Gerizim was God's holy place. And so they built a temple there in 400 B. C. So that's different from the rest of the Jews. But then they anticipated this prophetic messianic figure called the Taib, who would fulfill Deuteronomy 18.

[00:35:38] 15 and Deuteronomy 18. Who was a prophet like Moses to come. Who on the last day would restore all things. So in some ways the same, like the Jews in some ways different [00:36:00] now that history and some of those beliefs, um, you could see how that would lead the Judeans or the Jews of the Southern Kingdom to think of the Samaritans as sort of like these half breeds that have abandoned the Hebrew, uh, traditions.

[00:36:18] And there was this long animosity. Between these two people groups, that went all the way back to the beginning. Right? 10th century B. C., the Northern Kingdom leaves the Southern Kingdom. And then, in the 6th century B. C., after the Judeans are coming back from Babylonian exile, Right? They're going to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

[00:36:43] Right? Who gives them a hard time? The Samaritans. Then, in the 2nd century B. C. The Judeans from the southern kingdom, led by the Hasmoneans, they decide to destroy their temple [00:37:00] at Mount Gerizim. And then around the time of Jesus, a band of Samaritans sneak into the Jerusalem temple, and they scatter bones everywhere, making the temple what?

[00:37:13] Unclean. Right? A little bit later in the first century, the Samaritans cut off some Galilean, uh, pilgrims who were trying to make their way to Jerusalem. They kill them. Then the Galileans fight back. The Romans have to get involved. So, you don't have to, we're not going to take a test after this. But the, but the point is, there's this long standing, 900 years!

[00:37:37] 900 years! Of animosity! Right? And I tell you all of this, Just to kind of give weight to the significance of this ministry of Philip. He's coming into this region with the good news of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. [00:38:00] Which is beginning to heal the rift between two people groups that stood for 900 years.

[00:38:18] In Jesus. The Northern Kingdom was being reunited with the Southern Kingdom through the Samaritan Taib, through the Jewish Messiah. That's crazy. And it goes beyond that. Because King Jesus, through his emissaries, and it's all, you know, it's not what you expected. Right? This invisible kingdom that's just, it's just spreading.

[00:38:53] It's just spreading. Right? But the king, through his emissaries, is [00:39:00] recapturing the vision that God had for the first Adam. Which was to make him, uh, uh, a king and a priest, along with Eve, who would be a king and a priest, who would extend. The temple is patterned after what? The garden. Did you know that?

[00:39:20] The way that it faces, the tapestry, everything involved. It's patterned after the garden. And God says, yeah, I had, I had that assembled there. I'm, I'm going to recapture. God is okay with telling a very, very, very long story. Right? And he's going to have now that garden is now going to spread just like the original vision.

[00:39:44] Back in Genesis is gonna now spread that garden kingdom and temple is going to spread and encompass the world through King Jesus and his emissaries. So, okay, this, [00:40:00] this is, this is our story. This is what our life is about. You, you, you think it's about your mortgage. I think it's about my mortgage. You, you, you, you think you work at Burger King.

[00:40:14] Right. They think you work at Burger King like we are undercover emissaries of the King, expanding the garden temple throughout the world, and we need to rethink about how we think about our lives, right? Because what what the what the Book of Acts is telling us is that the kingdom of God is an unstoppable fire.

[00:40:43] And its flames can burn through any wall or barrier, right? Persecution cannot withstand its flames. Persecution makes the flames more intense. [00:41:00] It can burn through the walls of racism, of tribalism, of political affiliation. It burns through those walls, right? And so the question, you know, I feel like I barely believe this.

[00:41:23] What would happen if we believed that the kingdom of God was an unstoppable fire?

[00:41:37] Would that change the way that you think about your political enemies? How small is that? How small is our little discussion about whether we should have a little more taxes or little less taxes like what? Um, the kingdom of God is unstoppable fire. [00:42:00] Would it would it change? Like, would you be more optimistic about the power of the gospel?

[00:42:08] The gospel mended a 900 year rift. Chapter nine, verse 31. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee. Those are the people who were killed. And Samaria had peace. Peace. And was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord. And the comfort of the Holy Spirit. In the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It multiplied.

[00:42:47] Let's pray together. Father, do, please do a work in this room and in our hearts by your spirit. [00:43:00] We come to you with open hands. We have nothing to give you, but we ask Lord that you would fill us with yourself, change us from the inside out, change our perspectives. Give us a vision of what you want to do and accomplish through us.

[00:43:24] Help us to know our identity as your sons and daughters, your emissaries, kings, priests, a room full of kings and priests. God, please convince us in our hearts of these things in Jesus name. Amen. We hope you have enjoyed this week's sermon from Andrew Decanter. At Enclave, our mission is to cultivate and empower disciples, fostering a deepening connection with God and with one another.

[00:43:54] Together we joyfully encounter, embrace, and embody the transformative love of Jesus wherever [00:44:00] his calling leads us. For more information about us, please follow the links in the description.