Transformative Power of God's Grace and Peace

"yes every eye closed father in the name of Jesus we say thank you for my neighbor on my right and on my left thank you that you're still in the healing business thank you that you're still in the delivering business thank you that you're still sustaining us thank you that you continue to keep us in our right mind thank you that you continue to provide for us and even as these tears roll down our faith God they are tears of gratitude to give your name Glory you've been good to us God hallelujah you've been better to us than we could ever be to ourselves and today God we want to be guilty of worshiping you Hallelujah we want to be guilty of giving you all the honor and all the praise and all the Adoration and all the Thanksgiving for the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same God you are worthy to be praised yes hallelujah we're in a school but father we're surrounded by neighbors and father they ought to know that there is something different about the people of God because we not going to let no rocks cry out in our place God we come to lift up the name of Jesus we come to say hallelujah to your name we come to give you glory today we want you to have your way in this service Hallelujah God yes Hallelujah you didn't have to do it but you did it you've made a way you've provided for us you've told us that you would move mountains you have the king's heart in your hand and you can turn it any way you want to all for your children and For Your Glory and so now God you have already set the atmosphere now we need to hear a word from you so would you open up our hearts would you open up our minds would you allow our neighbor on our right to be blessed by your word on today because God if we're looking out for for our neighbor and our neighbor is looking out for us we all will leave here challenge change and those that don't know you're converted All For Your Glory Your Glory now God have your way your way keep me today give me power to preach your word today hide me behind your cross today that your word will go forth that it may not come back void that it will accomplish all of what you have set out for it to do it is For Your Glory we pray and ask it all in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ let the saints of God say amen amen if you would be so kind to grab your Bibles your devices also be on the screen I want you to turn to act chapter 9 Acts chapter 9 I want you to drop down to verse 31 although we will preach the verses 1 through 31 but Acts chapter 9 drop down to verse 31 and I want to say publicly to uh sister be you didn't misspoke that building is coming yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you didn't you you didn't missp speake no the land is just a phase but that building is coming and it's coming soon yes sir" [00:01:54]

"church it was the prophet Isaiah that actually provides us an understanding what is known as the trans Transcendence of God me meaning that God is above and beyond all creation he exists outside of our time and space even beyond our human understanding yeah Isaiah says it this way in Isaiah 55 he says for my thoughts are not your thoughts yeah neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord's yeah for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts yeah Church it is with this biblical truth and Theological lens that you and I need to be able to approach the reading of the book of Acts as God begin to birth this new entity that will one day be called The Church Jesus shares in Acts chapter one with his disciples round by verse 8 that they shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon them and they shall be his Witnesses both in Jerusalem Judea in Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth church when you read acts chapters 2 through chapter 7 we see that prophecy that Jesus provided to his disciples unfold in the transformative power of the Holy Spirit and the preaching and witnessing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah he is God's son in Jerusalem but then when we get to chapter 8 there's a shift that begins to take place because in chapter 8 verse1 the Bible says that a great persecution began to happen against the church in Jerusalem so much so that they were being scattered throughout the regions of Judea as well as Samaria so much so that a fellow by the name of Saul began ravaging uh the church by going into home after home after home seeking men and women of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the way so that he can put them in jail when we get to chapter n the Bible lets us know that this same bad actor this fell by the name of Saul is also still on the hunt for the way yeah the way was the first name to describe those Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ maybe it was because in John chapter 14 around about verse 6 Jesus says that he is the way the truth and the life no one comes unto the father but through him but Church it is this Saul's Pursuit that begin to persecute the way that demonstrated that God's Transcendent power and authority to deliver and save whomever he wants whenever he wants we know this church because in verses 3 through 19 of chapter 9 we are able to read a historical spiritual transformation of a fellow by the name of Saul a man who was callous and self-righteous he was a bigoted murderer and yet he sought extradition from the Sanhedrin councel to go to Damascus to ravest the growing community of Christian Believers but on his way Church the Bible lets us know he has a supernatural encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ that changed his life forever Church there were two things that Saul learned on that day on that Damascus Road first thing he learned is that Jesus is Alive all right all right all right yeah Jesus is Alive that resurrected savior that's who he came in contact with but then he learned something else and that is that when you attack Jesus followers or his church you're actually attacking Jesus I should have made some of us shout today because the Bible is clear that Jesus is the head of the church and you and I as Believers are the body of the church and so when folk attack you they are actually attacking Jesus and so this encounter leads Paul to be blind according to the text which really is a metaphor of the blindness of his spiritual heart which exposes his need for Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord in his life yeah and yet when we begin to read this narrative we see that Jesus is the instigator and the uh initiator of the interaction of the conversation and guess what church the good news is that Jesus Christ is still initiating conversations with unbelievers to help them to be able to know that they are sin or save a sin that needs a savior and he is the only one that has the Authority the power to save them from their sins and to save them from the penalty of sin which is death but life is in Jesus Christ and all you and I have to do is believe when you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you have a newness of life and church this is why h o a c we should never write off people come on come on cuz none of us are beyond the love of Jesus Christ yes our Damascus Road may not be as dramatic as Saul but we all have been broken we all have been helpless in our arrogancy in our pride in our selfishness and we all thought we had it going on apart from Christ but we find out even in our fantasy or in our reality that we have a true need for the person of Jesus Christ and he has made himself available to us and church that's a word for us in the building and that's a word for those of us who are worshiping online because it is through the sovereignty of what God did and is able to do not only to Saul but really to all of our Lives because what you and I get to read about Saul's transformation and what you and I know about our own transformation it is all centered around Grace yes sir yes sir church I just believe I least have at least 12 of y'all that can look back over your life and say listen it is cute and nice to read about Saul's transformation I love the way that God shown that light upon him but listen Saul ain't the only one that has experienced Grace there ought to be at least 50 of y'all in the place that can testify I have experience Grace I know what Grace look like I know what Grace is in my heart in my mind in my spirit all because of what God is doing and has done listen I'm able to tell my own testimony I know that's a Biblical testimony but I got my own testimony of how good God has been to me and I'm looking at a couple of y'all you need to be on your feet because you know like nobody else know how God had to come down and get you and shape and mold you and pick you up and even when you slipped out of his hands because of your Disobedience he picked you back up turn you around place your feet on Solid Ground is there anybody in the house that know the only reason you're here today is because of God and His grace because at this point we all started from the bottom but now we here I'm I'm standing here messed up jacked up but God has covered all of my mess with the blood of Jesus what can wash away my sins nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood there is a fountain that is filled with blood coming from Emmanuel and so because we have that experience we can tell our own testimony I I love what he did to Saul but I know what he done to me you know what he's done for you and you ought to be Unapologetic telling the world about the goodness and Grace that God is able not only to provide for us but provide to the world as well look look look in the text come on sit down look in the text here it is here it is here it is I I love this because it gives us an understanding that God is the only one I'm about to tear this place up God God is the only one that can keep you from falling see see some sometimes when we read uh the benediction that God is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before his presence of his glory with exceeding Joy to the only wise God our savior be glory Majesty dominion and power both now and forever more see when unheard is so much we forget its power yeah now but when the object of it is based upon God and God is the one that can keep you from falling then he presents you before his presence of his glory with exceeding Joy it is the only wise God our savior that brings Glory majesty and dominion and power both now and forever more it helps me to know I didn't get here by myself it wasn't nobody but God and so as a result of all of this one of the things we have to ask is therefore what do we need to be reminded of to know and understand that only God can do it only watch this God can do it only God can do only that that that's a new term for h o a uh phrase only God can do it he here on the heels of Saul traveling to Damascus uh traveling back excuse me to Damascus after spending at least several years three years in Arabia as he was spending time with the Lord by himself yeah we know this church because in Galatians chapter 1 around about verse 7 he says that after he left Damascus he didn't go directly to Jerusalem he went away and went spent some time in Arabia by himself with the Lord let me pause here and parenthetically because some of us want to get save and then think God going to automatically use us some of us need to spend time with the Lord alone for a while to make sure that transformation is really happening and we're not looking to be put on display for our own Glory rather than for the glory of God he spent time away with the Lord and now he's back in Damascus he's preaching boldly that Jesus is the son of God and the Bible says he kept increasing in his strength and confounding the Jews in Damascus proving that Jesus is the Christ you know what happened as as a result of that the Bible says they wanted to kill him there was an assassination plot on his life so the Bible says that disciples uh had him a way to escape he leaves Damascus finds himself in Jerusalem and the disciples in Jerusalem don't want to hang out with him cuz they don't believe his testimony have you ever been there where you go back around the folk that used to hang out with you used to cuss with you used to fornicate with you used to get drunk with used to do all that stuff with and not that you thought that you have arrived but you now are hooked up with the Holy One and they always trying to tempt you or bring up your past to say what you used to do as if you are the same person you used to be and they don't believe in your transformation cuz their heart is darkened here you got disciples who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but they can't believe that God really transform bad people because they forgot about themselves and maybe that's the problem with the body of Christ because my sin wasn't your sin now you have the litigated god to judge me based on some stuff I did because it was public but you did the same stuff it just was private C out because if we ask the record of Heaven listen your list may be longer than M so what we got to do as the body of Christ we got to recognize that when God is transforming people and people are saying that they're being transformed by the power of His word we got to believe them and help them through the process of discipleship we got to learn how to be here it is Barnabas Pastor Jackson tell us last week we we we we got to be able to have that uh encouraging spirit that encouraging mindset that we would actually watch this now make a defense for our brothers and sisters whose resume of life don't look like outs we ought to be able to share that God is able to bring about about transformation and he ought to be able to do it in ways that only God can do it yes sir after showing evidence of this transformation the Bible says that Saul began to be a apologist he he's speaking to the Jews about Jesus and guess what now they want to kill him and church this is the backdrop of Saul's transformation and protection and I love this because it affirms to us what only God can do three things I want to share with you we going to raise up out number one only God can give us peace yes sir all right only God can give us peace notice in verse 31 the Bible says so the church throughout all Judea and gal uh Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace yeah Dr Luke says the church it is properly translated in The New American Standard in the NIV New International Version and in the English Standard Version it is a singular phrase in the original language which means uh it is not churches but it's actually the church I know if you have a King James and a new King James they they they've added that as a plural trying to demographics uh to support the demographics but we're literally talking about the universal church that's is being dispersed in all of these locations The Universal Church is operating now Church in Jerusalem I mean in Jerusalem in Judea in Galilee and in Samaria but here's the problem in Judea in Galilee and Samaria these churches have been scattered in these places because of persecution that originated in Acts chap 8 around about verse one the Bible teaches us that in spite of the persecution this universal blood bought Born Again Believers enjoyed peace peace is the this inner calmness peace is this um this this calmness that is exercised by faith in God and in his word you and I can experience God's peace despite the challenges of life that you may be going through cuz it's not predicated on your outward environment it is predicated upon God himself peace does not mean that we won't be in a a place where there is no noise it does not mean that we won't be in a place where there's no trouble it does not mean that we will not be in a place where there's no hard work it means church that in the midst of all of those things God can still calm our heart did you hear what I said in the midst of everything that you are going through right now with the anxiety of our culture God can still provide you and I peace in other words I'm talking about peace despite the climate of fear cuz we're living in these yet to be United States of America and with all the stuff that is going on from a federal government on down the reality we are human we have this anxiety or this fear but the people of God let me share something with you anytime you are doing DSG you're doing something great for the glory of God we can often times experience fear yeah you say even when you're trying to do something for the glory of God yes you can experience fear because here's what's happening there is persecution that is happening among the Believers in Judea Galilee and Samaria and yet you and I may not be having persecution per se where somebody is trying to kill us but because we're trying to do something great for the glory of God you have to be prepared HOH C because people are going to try to persecute our character they going to say things like how is it that they think they going to be able to purchase 10 acres of land and they just 3 years old how is it that they think that they going to be able to put a multi-million dollar building on the ground and they're just three years oh how is it that they call thems the church and they don't even have a building they may not be trying to persecute you physically but they may be trying to discourage you and I to to uh to a point where they're persecuting our character by saying what we can't do because they don't understand the plan that God has for us and so what you and I have to be able to recognize is that we must not fear the Bible says 365 times uh in theek uh in the English translation do not fear yeah church we can't fear what our faith can see beyond our human comprehension right we got to be able to recognize that God is able to do more than we can ever ask or think but we can't allow the persecution of the outside world to get us to doubt Our God cuz whether you know it or not God has had us all this time um SE several years ago roughly now five over five years ago um one of my aunts went home to be with the Lord and I shared a illustration which was a true to life illustration uh regarding her um back then and um I'll never forget we went to Astra world and I was a small young man back in the" [00:08:20]