Title: Gracious and Holy

Text: Acts 4:32-5:11

FCF: We often struggle feeling as though God is not with us or does not care about our situation.

Prop: Because God both equips and prunes His church to fulfill His commands, we must continue to obey Him.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 4.

Today we will begin to transition into another section of narratives in the book of Acts. Up to this point Luke is revealing to Theophilus the Lord’s work to create and grow His church in the city of Jerusalem. Through the end of chapter 5 and into chapter 6, the focus will continue to be on the city of Jerusalem. So, the shift we will see today is not about the church’s location. Instead, the shift will be in the church’s experience.

Up to this point we’ve seen victory after victory of the church. We’ve seen that internally the church has had no problems whatsoever and that externally they have faced opposition but have come through victorious.

Starting in chapter 5 we will see the church face pressures from without and within. Luke paints a realistic picture of the early church. Yes, God is blessing and the church is growing and succeeding, but that is not without trials and tests.

Today we will see our first major problem. Whether it comes from within the church or from outside the church is difficult to know. But knowing where the test comes from is not as important as seeing how the church is brought through it by the Lord Himself.

I am reading from the LSB today starting in verse 32 of chapter 4. You can follow in your preferred version or in the pew bible on page 1234.

Transition:

[Slide 2] Many illustrations in the New Testament are agrarian. Most of the people to whom Christ and His apostles spoke were familiar with this kind of life. In John 15, God is likened unto a gardener. It is not the only place this is so, but in that particular context, Christ is the vine that God has planted. Out of that vine all of His children grow. So much so that they bear fruit. A Gardener, if he is a good gardener does not only provide good soil, with adequate sun light, water and shelter from the wind, but also prunes and hones the plant to produce even better fruit. Recently we’ve seen and discussed this with regard to apple trees. If allowed to grow wild you will get a lot of apples but of lower quality. Where if you prune the higher branches, you will have a smaller crop but of high-quality fruit. The same goes for tomatoes. Tomato plants send out shoots that produce more leaves and branches. But if you nip off these shoots it forces the plant to send all its energy into fruit production. In other words, being a good gardener is not only about positively providing for the plants, but also negatively preventing wasted energy and resources. In the portion of scripture today, we will see God being a good gardener. He is growing His church both by providing and by pruning.

I.) God supplies all His people need to fulfill His commands, so we must continue to obey Him. (32-37)

a. [Slide 3] 32 – And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul,

i. Luke includes another Summary statement here.

ii. It is appropriate since he has concluded a narrative portion of his record.

iii. He will repeat this over and over again throughout the book of Acts. Sometimes he includes concepts of the church growing numerically. Sometimes he focuses on the word of the Lord prevailing.

iv. Here he connects the summary of the church’s movements and success to the previous summary statements in chapter 1 and 2. He emphasizes their unity and their love for one another.

v. Jews from all over are united as one under the banner of Christ.

vi. What we can say with certainty, is that Luke views these summary statements not only as descriptive but also as prescriptive. The church today must be of one heart and soul.

b. [Slide 4] And not one was saying that any of his possessions was his own,

i. Furthermore, they are not clamoring to keep what they had as their own.

ii. Instead, they were sharing with others as each had a need.

iii. This too is a prescriptive demand of the church. If you are a part of a local assembly of believers, all you have that is in excess should be available to all who have a need. If it is not a need for you, then it should be available for those who have need.

c. [Slide 5] But, for them, everything was in common.

i. Again, we ought not read communism or socialism into this.

ii. Instead, they simply did not regard anything they possessed as their own. They gave liberally to those who would have need among them.

iii. This is a group so united they are closer than family.

d. [Slide 6] 33 – And with great power the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

i. God has answered the prayer of His church. He has allowed the apostles to continue to exercise great power in order to bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

ii. This is exactly what they asked God for in the previous passage. They asked that the Lord would continue to pour out His power to perform signs and wonders and authenticate the message of the apostles. The Lord has granted this request.

e. [Slide 7] And great grace was upon them all.

i. The final statement of summary that encapsulates the whole of it, is simply that God’s grace was upon all of them.

ii. Last week, one of the applications was that we are dependent on God to do anything and everything He has commanded of us.

iii. This is God meeting their humble and desperate prayer, with the means to fulfill His commands.

iv. God’s grace is unearned favor that God gives to enable His people to do that which they cannot do on their own, and to be that which God desires them to be.

f. [Slide 8] 34 – For there was not a needy person among them,

i. These last four verses of this chapter serve as a prologue or introductory transition to get to our next narrative and actually several narratives extending into chapter 6.

ii. In this portion which finishes out chapter 4, we’ll see ideas and concepts that are coming out of the summary statement but also leading to the narrative which begins in chapter 5.

iii. The explanatory conjunction “for” here helps us to understand something about the great grace of God that was upon them all.

iv. How do we know that all of them had received great grace?

v. There was not a needy person among them.

vi. In 1st century Israel, to have a group of people numbering in the 5 to 10 thousand range, and to say without stretching the truth, that none of them were needy… such a statement is absolutely ridiculous.

vii. Especially when we see that this group encompassed those from various socio-economic backgrounds. Normally, people of the same social status would gather and care for others. This is how you be a good friend. But to cross those social barriers and still care for each other. This is more like a family. Maybe even better than a family.

g. [Slide 9] For all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

i. Ah… THERE is the grace of God at work.

ii. You see it wasn’t necessarily God’s grace at work in the fact that no one among them was needy.

iii. God’s grace comes into focus as we see the reason that no one among them was needy.

iv. Why was no one among them needy? Was it because God blessed them with wealth? Did they get great paying jobs or were they getting mailed money?

v. No.

vi. They weren’t needy because the wealthy, out of compassion not compulsion, were selling what they did not need in order to help those who were needy among them.

vii. They brought the money to the apostles. Not as a payment to the apostles. They didn’t have to give to the apostles to somehow get rich themselves. They didn’t have to give to the apostles so that God would in turn bless the needy.

viii. The chain of giving is on full display. The apostles became the managers of a benevolent fund. They took the money and distributed it to those who had true and desperate needs among them.

ix. In case it wasn’t obvious, there is not a whiff of prosperity teaching here.

x. This is simply God’s grace moving on the hearts of His people to show love and compassion that is… quite simply… not possible to natural men.

h. [Slide 10] 36-37 – Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), and who owned a field, sold it and brought the money and laid it back at the apostle’s feet.

i. Here we see the true mastery of Luke’s Holy Spirit inspired story telling.

ii. Luke is able to accomplish so much in this sentence.

iii. First, he introduces us to someone who will become a MAJOR character in the early church.

1. Barnabas’ role cannot be undervalued. He becomes the “walk-with-the-walkers” the “disciple-the-deplorables” guy. The ones that no one wants to put any time or effort into – Barnabas commits himself to, fully.

2. Barnabas is from Cyprus. Cyprus is a fairly large island positioned in the Mediterranean Sea just Northwest of Israel and South of modern Turkey. Cyprus has valuable natural resources and would have been an integral port for trade across the Mediterranean Sea between Rome, Greece, Asia Minor and the Middle East.

3. In other words, Cyprus would have been quite an affluent island.

4. Barnabas is also a Levite. In another time he would have been integral to the upkeep of the temple and the administration of all that goes into the worship of Yahweh besides the actual priests’ work. He also would have been forbidden from purchasing land because he should have been sustained by the offerings of others.

5. Since the exile and diaspora of the Jews many Levits had to seek other employment since they were no where near the temple. Barnabas seems to have done quite well for himself.

6. Barnabas also wrote a letter that we can still read today. Although ultimately the church determined that Barnabas’ letter did not bear the marks of inspiration, it is not a heretical work. It was actually written by Barnabas and has much in it that is beneficial to us.

7. I’d encourage you to read it if you get a chance.

iv. The second thing Luke does here besides introduce Barnabas as a major character, is to connect his introduction to the current discussion and the coming narrative.

1. Barnabas provides a concrete example to Theophilus of a member of the church community who was full of grace and doing exactly what Luke has been saying.

2. Barnabas owned land – It is hard to know whether it is was around Jerusalem or on Cyprus. But for a few reasons I think it was most likely on Cyprus. Such land on Cyprus would have probably fetched a pretty penny. To have sold this land it probably means that Barnabas is abandoning his former life. He is leaving his birthplace in order to follow Jesus and His apostles.

3. In effect we see the antithesis of the rich young ruler in the example of Barnabas. He does sell his wealth and gives it to the apostles to disperse among believers. And he does so, so that he can pursue whatever life Jesus would have for him – which turns out to be quite a busy one.

v. A third layer in these two verses, is to provide some of the reasons for why the situation arises in chapter 5.

1. Why would people like Ananias and Sapphira do what they do?

2. No doubt Barnabas gained quite a lot of respect from the believing community for giving such a large gift to the church to help those who were poor.

3. To give such a great gift and depend on the Lord as he did would no doubt have drawn the admiration of many believers. Even believers who would be inspired to follow in his footsteps.

4. But admiration and respect are alluring temptations. Those who are not genuine Christians might succumb to the impulse to appear to be just as admirable, yet without any of the risk of selling so much.

5. And so, the great example of Barnabas’ faith and love is a sore temptation for those desiring something other than the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

i. [Slide 11] Summary of the Point: God provides all that His church needs to do as He has commanded them to do. God provides power and grace to enable and excite His people to care for one another as the gospel message continued to be preached and proven to the Jews in Jerusalem. God is paving the way for His church to be victorious and to take His truth to the nations. And we meet now a key player in this entire saga, the man named Barnabas. The same Sovereign Lord the church prayed to in last week’s text, is executing His sovereign plan to reach His people from all nations.

Transition:

[Slide 12 (blank)] The end of chapter 4 serves as a positive example of God’s ongoing activity in His church. Activity that we can depend on even today some 2000 years later. God will continue to provide all that is needed for His church to obey Him. But God’s ongoing activity in His church is not simply His power and grace. It is also His protection and watch care over the purity of His church. We will see this as a comparatively negative example in the next narrative portion of Acts.

II.) God will not tolerate continued deliberate sin in His church, so we must continue to obey Him. (5:1-11)

a. [Slide 13] 5:1-2 – But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge. And bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

i. The antithetical conjunction here indicates to us that we should be comparing Barnabas’ example to that of what comes next.

ii. We know nothing more about Ananias or Sapphira than is recorded in this text.

iii. We can reasonably assume that they were a Jewish couple who had at some point heard the gospel proclaimed in Jerusalem. They had professed Christ and joined the New Covenant community.

iv. But for some reason, their hearts were lured away. They were divided between loyalty to Christ and their desire for honor, prestige, and material gain. They desired to have the same admiration that Barnabas and others like him had, but without the financial sacrifice it would require.

v. So, they concocted this plan together to appear to follow Barnabas’ example. They agreed to sell some land, probably land further away from Jerusalem so others could not check on the valuation of the land, but to keep a portion of the proceeds for themselves.

vi. Keeping that portion for themselves is not the sin. It is important that we note that. Sometimes when we know the story or have heard it before we jump the gun on the details. As the story develops we’ll see very clearly what their sin truly is.

b. [Slide 14] 3-4 – But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your authority? Why is it that you laid this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.

i. So, some of the details are left unsaid, but the true sin comes to light quite quickly.

ii. First, Peter confronts Ananias on the issue. How Peter comes to the knowledge that he is keeping a portion back for himself, we are left to guess. Perhaps the same Spirit that led him to pick the lame man for a healing that day in the temple, spoke to him prophetically revealing Ananias’ heart? Perhaps a rumor had reached Peter’s ears by human means. Somehow, Peter comes to understand that Ananias has sold land and kept some money for himself.

1. Peter uses only questions to confront Ananias. An effective means for Ananias to convict himself with his own answers.

2. Peter first wonders why Satan has filled his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the price of the land.

a. In this we see that it was not keeping a portion for himself that was the sin, but it was keeping a portion back while saying or trying to make it appear that it was the total price of the land. He was saying they were giving all, when they were only giving some.

b. This first question gives us great pause. While the Spirit is said to have filled the assembly of God and enabled them to preach the word of God with confidence, here Peter wonders why instead of the Spirit of God filling Ananias’ heart, it was Satan.

c. We see eerie similarities here to several Old Testament situations like Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire, or Achan keeping back some banned items from Jericho, or Saul sparing Agag and choice animals from the Amalekites.,

d. Peter, himself, was once called Satan. He attempted to convince Jesus to not go to the cross. As such, Jesus told him to get behind him and called him Satan.

e. Now Peter asks why Ananias’s heart would be filled by a lie from Satan.

f. Peter asks why he would lie to the Holy Spirit.

g. Are you even able to lie to the Holy Spirit Ananias?

h. Peter is pointing out the clear theological problems with what he has done.

i. Thinking you could deceive God is absolute foolishness. And it is a sign that he has been deceived. To be so foolish after having walked so closely to Christ and His teachings requires Peter to conclude that Satan is involved.

j. Indeed, of all the similar stories throughout the scriptures, the most disturbing comparison is how close this example comes to mimicking John’s description of Judas’ life leading up to his betrayal of Christ.

3. Peter’s second question to Ananias follows the first. He asks, in essence, did anyone force you to sell your property? The implied answer is no. So once again – doing this thing he has done is foolish.

4. Peter’s third question reiterates that it was not the keeping back of a portion that was a sin. He asks, once it was sold, were you not free to do with the money as you chose? It is foolishness that you have done this. You were not forced!

5. Peters final question places culpability on Ananias. Although his heart was filled by Satan to do something illogical, non-sensical, rebellious, and foolish. Ultimately it was Ananias who “laid this deed in his heart.” It was Ananias that acted upon this. The devil didn’t make him do this. He did it. As foolish and idiotic as it was – he did it. He is responsible for his sin.

6. Peter’s last words to Ananias are words of judgment. Peter delivers a verdict. You haven’t lied to men but to God.

7. By this he does not mean that he didn’t lie to men. For that he certainly did.

8. What Peter means is that lying to men is inconsequential compared to lying to God.

c. [Slide 15] 5-6 – And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard. And the young men rose up and wrapped him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

i. There was no opportunity for repentance. There was no chance for seeking forgiveness. There was not time given for introspection.

ii. As Peter spoke the final words to him – he fell down and died at Peter’s feet.

iii. The implication is clear. God struck him dead.

iv. Great fear came over all who heard.

v. Fear of what? That God is a meanie? That God is not a God who gives second chances? That God is not merciful or kind?

vi. No.

vii. Fear that God knows the thoughts and intents of men. That men cannot hide anything from Him. And, that He hates sin.

d. [Slide 16] 7-9 – Now there was an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you were paid this much for the land?” And she said, “Yes, that much.” Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

i. What happens next is most tragic.

ii. It gives us the opposite or negative example of the ways that God’s New Covenant community would need to put His laws above their natural authorities.

iii. Just like the apostles told the Sanhedrin that they could not obey the unlawful command to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, Sapphira should have told Ananias that she could not obey her husband’s desire to lie about the true value of the land they sold.

iv. Instead, she went along with and in full knowledge of the plan of her husband and about 3 hours later came looking for him.

v. She doesn’t speak, but Peter confronts her straightaway.

vi. He asks her, essentially, was this the price that you were paid for the land that you sold?

vii. Peter gave her a chance. A chance to come clean and say – No. We sold it for more. We kept some of it. This is the amount we agreed to give to the church.

viii. Alas… she said… Yes… that is the price we paid.

ix. Peter asks here one final question which is actually a statement in disguise. Why have you agreed together to test the Lord? Why would you do this?

x. To test the Lord is to doubt or deny His attributes.

xi. They have questioned both the Omniscience and the Holiness of God. They have lied to Him thinking He either will not discover it, or that He will not care.

xii. And then Peter goes beyond what he did in Ananias’ case. With Ananias, Peter simply told him that he was guilty.

xiii. God is the one who executed judgment on Ananias.

xiv. Here, Peter prophesies that the same result would be given to Sapphira.

e. [Slide 17] 10-11 – And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard these things.

i. She immediately fell down dead.

ii. She was buried in the same place as her husband.

iii. In a sense, this is a sign. This is a wonder. This is a miracle. We often think of miracles as exclusively restorative and positive. But this was a miracle of death. And it was a miracle that accomplished exactly what God desired it to.

iv. Again, but to a greater degree, fear was the product.

v. Before, it was only fear of those who heard about Ananias’ death. Probably a smaller group of people.

vi. But now that fear had spread through the whole church and even beyond. Even people outside the church heard about the sin and judgment of Ananias and Sapphira.

vii. To some degree they got what they desired. They desired to be known throughout the church. But alas their honor became dishonor, their fame, infamy. Even now, to this day, people still know their story. And they still talk about the fierceness of God’s hatred of sin.

viii. And again, it is like a sign. Like speaking in tongues or healing a lame man… so it was the death of Ananias and Sapphira. A great authenticating work of God’s holiness and the message of Christ crucified for sin, risen again, and right now reigning in power.

ix. When God judges sin, the church fears Him and sin is tamed.

f. [Slide 18] Summary of the Point: God knows the hearts of men. He knows who are His and who are pretending. He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. And God hates sin. God is omniscient so man cannot hide their sin from Him. God is Holy so He will not ignore or dismiss sin. Jesus was a sacrifice for sin to the extent that God’s people would gain victory over sin and not continue in sin deliberately. God will not tolerate sin in His church and His judgment on it will cause fear and tame sin.

Conclusion:

So CBC, as we come to the end of this large portion of scripture, what has God revealed to us and how should we live? What is the doctrinal takeaway for us?

Doctrinal Takeaway:

[Slide 19] God has not left His church to fend for themselves, but instead, He enables, empowers, corrects, and guides His church to be what He has called them to be. He purifies, prunes, empowers and gives grace so that they can continue the work that Christ set out for them. Therefore, God’s people are without excuse. We must be and do all that God has commissioned us to be and do. For we have the God of the universe with us superintending His church. Christ is still the head. We can obey for He provides all we need to obey. We can remain pure, for He will purify His church.

But let’s take a microscope to this point and analyze how specifically this may apply to us.

1.) [Slide 20] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” God graciously supplies the power and the passion, the ability and the desire for His people to love one another and proclaim His truth.

a. Not one of these 5-10 thousand people who lived with one heart and one soul could have done so without God’s active care for them.

b. They knew this. That is why they prayed for Him to protect them, provide for them, and empower them.

c. And today in this text we have seen the concrete evidence that God has not abandoned His people to be what He has called them to be.

d. No. God steps in.

e. God gives power to the apostles. He authenticates His word to those who led the church.

f. And God gives grace to enable His people to care for one another.

g. What God has commanded of us, He also is sure to equip us to do.

h. There is no excuse CBC.

i. You are unable to say that you are not able. You can’t say you can’t,

j. All that God has commanded, He has provided what you need to obey.

2.) [Slide 21] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” Just because Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins, does not mean that God has given us freedom to continue to sin. Indeed, God has freed us from sin’s power also.

a. A popular lie that we encounter in Christendom often is that God is a loving and forgiving God and that means that He will always forgive sin.

b. We know that there is one sin that is unforgiveable.

c. Furthermore, we know that those who do not come to the Father through Jesus will not have their sins forgiven them.

d. And even further still, we know that the only reason that God forgives us of our sin, is because He has poured out on His Son all His wrath for our sin.

e. Therefore, for us to somehow conclude that we can sin and that God must forgive us, is to trample the blood of Christ.

f. Hebrews 10:26 says that if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth then there is no sacrifice for us. We trample the blood of Christ.

g. James 2 tells us that faith without works is a faith that is dead and unable to save us.

h. II Peter 2:20-21 tells us that to confess Christ and return to the same sins we were doing before we turned to Him, is to leave us in a worse position than we were before confessing Christ.

i. No, my friends. True believers do not willfully continue to sin. We may yet be overtaken. We may be ambushed. We may be surprised. But true believers do not willfully continue to go on sinning.

j. And no, we should not say that those who do are forgiven for their sin. For as the writer of Hebrews says, there is no sacrifice for their sin.

k. One of mankind’s greatest problems, and it still exists even in the church, is that we do not truly understand the atrocity of sin. We consider it a trivial matter to sin against God.

l. So much so that when we see the story of Ananias and Sapphira we think – wow… God sure is mean.

m. If we approach this text and think that God is somehow unjust for treating them this way… We have betrayed our poor understanding of the scandal of sin.

n. And the death of these two should cause us, as it did the early church, to fear and tremble and be reminded of God’s hatred of sin.

o. We should not walk away thinking how mean God is… but rather how wretched we are.

p. More on this in just a moment.

3.) [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must be united in heart and soul to God’s people, setting aside all petty differences and ensuring that all are cared for and discipled.

a. God gives grace to all. He enables His people to live in such a way that the world must take notice.

b. We may not be working signs and miracles today – but in the day in which we live, having a church that is united in heart and soul might be just miraculous enough to prove that what we believe is the truth.

c. We live in such a polarized culture where people take extreme sides on virtually every issue.

d. And those who seem to desire the greatest good, do not wish to do any good themselves.

e. My friends, if CBC were united in heart and soul, we would be a rebuke to the nation and a testament to the truth of the power of Christ.

f. Can we, CBC, put aside petty differences to be united to one another? Can we forsake the need to always be right in order to pursue Christ? Can we solve the difficulty of need among us? Can we care for those who are hurting and dying?

g. My friends, if we can be this kind of church that is closer than a family – we don’t need sign miracles.

h. By our love and unity, the world would know that we speak the truth. And they would be forced to either believe or deny it.

4.) [Slide 23] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must live holy lives before our Lord, denying self-serving activity and sins, endeavoring to obey all that God has commanded us.

a. How easy it is, my friends, to desire the applause of men.

b. How easy it is to allow self interest to govern what we do.

c. Rather than follow the teaching of our Savior to let the right hand give without the left hand’s knowledge (Matthew 6:3) Ananias and Sapphira desired the whole church to know the great sacrifice they made to the church.

d. As a ruse of unity in heart and soul they proved to be divided in heart and condemned in their souls.

e. The church and even those outside the church feared greatly because of God’s ability to see the heart of men and even to judge them for their selfish, deceptive, and greedy motives.

f. This must be our response too. We must be fearful of the Lord’s ability to see into our very hearts and know our motives.

g. Are we doing what we are doing for glory? For honor? For respect? Do we have a side hustle or deal going to make sure we get out ahead? Will people think we are good people or godly people if we do what we are doing? Will people admire my standards and think that I am holy?

h. These are the same motives of Ananias and Sapphira. They put a premium on what humans may think while ignoring what God might think or assuming He would not care.

i. Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us that no creature can hide from the sight of God. He can peer into the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Which wouldn’t be quite so fear inducing if the scriptures did not also reveal that He is Holy and Just and the judge of the living and the dead.

j. My friends, we must search our hearts our motives and our intentions. Are we doing what we do because we love God and others? Or are we seeking our own advancement?

k. Are we seeking God’s Kingdom and righteousness first or are we building our own kingdom with His bricks?

5.) [Slide 24 (end)] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God has not left His church to navigate this dying world alone. He has supplied His power and grace to His people to do as He has commanded, and He continues to know and care about the spiritual health and purity of His church.

a. The entire teaching of this text is a comfort to us. Even the fear inducing parts.

b. For our God has not left us to ourselves. Neither to try to succeed on our own nor to fail without correction and consequences.

c. In an odd way even the correction of the staff is a comfort when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death Psalm 23.

d. So, my friends – remember the words of our Savior as he left his disciples. I will be with you until the end of the age.

e. Indeed, the whole triune godhead is with us until we are carried safely home.

f. Let that spur us to love and good works. Let us hate our sin. Let us be unified in heart and soul with one another. Let us walk the narrow path in surety that God is with us. And if God is with us – none can stand against us.