Acts 13:49-50 (4/17/24)

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Acts 13:49-50 (4/17/24)

Spirits Use People

April 17, 2024

* God uses people to accomplish His will on the earth.

* He uses both good and bad people.

* Satan uses people to accomplish his will on the earth.

* He uses both good and bad people.

* Backstory - Jesus was off the scenes and now the growth of the church was the responsibility of the apostles.

* Paul and Barnabas were preaching like crazy!

* Jews and Gentiles were getting saved by the droves.

* vs 49 - “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.”

* Through their witness the kingdom of heaven was advancing forcefully against the kingdom of hell.

* Then something happened:

* vs 50 - “But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.”

* A “God-fearing” person who’s a “leader” is a Christian Influencer!

* The Christian Influencers of the day were now on the wrong side of God’s Kingdom expansion!

* We need to always remember the four spiritual players at work here.

* Revelation 17 shows us:

* Dragon - Satan himself.

* Beast - Antichrist spirit (any idea that stands against God).

* Babylon - (PEC) Political, Economic, Cultural system of the Beast.

* The goal of Babylon is to turn people away from God.

* Harlot - Religious system of Babylon that gives credence to the Beast.

* The only way people will desire Satan’s way more than God’s way is if there is a religious system that legitimizes it.

* That’s what happened here in Acts 13.

* Satan needed good-hearted Godly people to buy into his lies and hinder God’s work.

* Note - These influencers were first convinced by the “religious” leaders.

* “…the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women…”

* What are our pastors teaching us today?

* How do we make sure we don’t get used by Satan?

* 1) Wrap knowledge around our zeal.

* These influencers certainly had a zeal for the Lord, but they didn’t have knowledge.

* They needed a Biblical worldview to filter the lies being spoken into their ears.

* We need to “study” Scripture to be intimately familiar with the truth.

* We need to study it through the lense of a battle.

* 2) Look and listen for the spirit behind what’s being said or done.

* EX: Jesus with Peter.

* EX: Stanley - teaching Christians to stay out of the “hot topic” issues.

* “If you need an enemy to prop up your leadership, you’re not leading.”

* People clapped - but the Bible is a book about God’s enemy.

* 3) Ask God what He thinks.

* Then pause and listen.

* 4) Sit under leaders with a “Fatherly” spirit (and Motherly).

* They’re willing to talk about all things.

* They teach about boundaries.

Matthew 22:11-14 (9/18/24)

September 18, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 22:11–14

* If you want to enjoy the party you have to honor the spirit of the party. * If you want to enjoy the kingdom, you have to honor the spirit of the kingdom. * That means you have to honor the king. * How do you honor the king? * Two ways - presence and posture. * Presence = readiness * If he’s throwing a party, you say “yes” then you get ready! * Posture = reverence * When you get to the party, you have to honor His code. * Jesus gave an analogy of a king hosting a wedding banquet to show what access to the kingdom looked like. * vs 1-10 - the first people he invited didn’t come. * This represented the Jews who refused to accept the invitation of the kingdom. * They were not willing to inconvenience themselves to be at the wedding. * This showed the king that he was not very important. * EX: close friends refusing to come to your party. * If you’re ready for God to show up, He will! * Staying ready is looking and listening for God in all things. * vs 11-14 - in vs 10 the call of the master to his banquet appealed to both good and bad people - those with good intentions and those with bad. * This is why there’s a qualifier to the parable in vs 11-14. * Yes, the call will attract people with selfish motives, but there’s a “weening out” that will take place before they’re allowed in. * You can’t just show up and do your thing your way - you have to conduct yourself according to the master’s standards. * The application is clear - God’s offer of eternal life will attract lots of people, but only those who are willing to clothe themselves with righteousness will get in. * If you wear your self-righteousness you will be thrown out. * EX: the rich young ruler - he was attracted but not submitted. * He wasn’t willing to part with his stuff, so he didn’t get the eternal life he sought. * The Passion Version says that the wedding clothes were provided to the invited guests as a part of the tradition of the time. * This would imply the person was not willing to part with his thing for the groom’s thing. * He was more comfortable in his old clothes than his new ones. * If you want to enjoy the kingdom, you have to honor the spirit of the kingdom.

Matthew 27:65 (9/18/24)

September 18, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 27:65

* God often orchestrates a mess so you can turn it into a message. * There is no message apart from a mess. * The key is to keep your eyes on Jesus. * He is weaving your story into HIStory. * Case in point - after Christ died, Pilate made the tomb more secure than normal. * The Jews feared someone would steal the body. * vs 62-66 - “The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.” * God made the situation much more difficult before He performed a miracle. * Jesus was going to be raised from the dead, but the situation surrounding it kept getting worse and worse until finally God acted and commanded His Son to get up. * The same is true with us - before deliverance God often makes things even more destitute. * But it's precisely at these moments we should cling to our faith because God is simply building things up so that He will get the glory. * He is going to make it so obvious that it was His doing nobody could mistake it. * Now that there was an armed guard with ropes and the king's seal on the tomb, if Christ rose from the grave nobody could dispute it without bold face lying. * God was building His case. * God is in the testimony-building business. * The bigger the conflict and deeper the struggle, the better the story - the more powerful the impact! * Trust God with your story! He’ll come through for you.

Matthew 17:3 (9/11/24)

September 11, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 17:3

* God is a God of reward. * He loves to reward those who honor Him. * But those rewards aren’t always here on this earth. * The best rewards are eternal. * God is also a God of punishment. * If you step outside His boundaries, you’ll pay the consequences. * Why? Because He’s a father, and all good dads enforce boundaries for protection and blessing. * However, oftentimes God shows us mercy we do not deserve. * “Mercy in the midst of judgment” is God’s gig. * Case in point - Moses sinned against God and didn’t get to enter the Promised Land. * Or did he? * vs 1-2 - “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” * Jesus showed them what was on the inside. * He lived an inside-out life. * vs 3 - “Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.” * Did Moses make it into the Promised Land? * YES! * Today, we should look at life through an eternal lens. * If we do that, then we see as God sees. * We elevate lives over likes. * We live for an auidience of one. * We know our best rewards come in the next life. * In this life, fame is rewarded more than faithfulness. * But in the next life, faithfulness is rewarded more than fame. * Think about your position in the next life, during Christ’s millenial reign. * This will set your heart and mind at ease. * EX: Fame from HGTV