* Four friends lived outside themselves and had great faith for their paralyzed buddy to be healed.

* They were so desperate they removed the roof to get their friend in.

* Think about the host - the cost of having Jesus in your house messed some things up.

* You can have a nice orderly house without the presence of God, but you can’t have a house full of life without Him (life gets messy).

* When Jesus saw “their” faith He healed the man.

* When they stood in the gap for their friend not only was the man healed but also forgiven.

* His physical and spiritual ailments were wiped away because of the faithfulness of his friends.

Bill Graham once said, "Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”

* The tabernacle was ready for use, now God gave the priests the instructions they needed for offering various sacrifices.

* There were three types of offerings:

* 1) When worshippers wanted to express COMMITMENT to God. These were:

* Burnt offering - it symbolized “just as the animal is totally given to God so I totally give myself.”

* Grain offering - this was a way the Jews could dedicate to God that which He enabled them to produce, but it also represented Jesus as the Bread of Life.

* Drink offering - pouring out the wine symbolized a life poured out in dedication to God.

* 2) When worshippers wanted to express COMMUNION with God. This was:

* Peace offering meal - eating together in the East represented an end to any hostility, so this offering showed peace between God and man.

* 3) When worshippers wanted CLEANSING from God. These were:

* The sin offering - the sacrifice was different depending on what the person could afford - this placed a higher burden on the influencers. It was for forgiveness of sins (body burned outside the camp to distinguish between the burnt and sin offering - only the fat was burned on the altar).

* The trespass offering - was needed for two kinds of sin: sins against holy things and against one’s neighbor.

* It illustrated the importance of honoring God and others.

* Here were the different types of leaders in Christ’s day:

* 1) The Priesthood - appointed by Herod, the priests not only officiated religious life for the Jews but were also rulers and judges.

* The Romans wanted the priesthood to support their occupation in Jerusalem, so the Herods made sure this happened (but not all priests were Roman sympathizers).

* They lived in luxury beyond the average Jew.

* They feared Jesus because if a new King came then he appointed new priests and they didn’t want to lose their positions.

* 2) The Pharisees - the word means “to separate.”

* After the second temple period the gentiles were constantly encroaching on Jewish customs, so they arose to preserve the Jews from this perceived threat.

* They were zealous for the law of Moses but they came up with an oral law (tradition) as well.

* Jesus broke their oral tradition of not walking over 2000 cubits on the Sabbath when He healed the person at the pool of Siloam.

* 3) The Sadducees - the wealthy ruling class, many of them were priests and controlled the Temple and the legal council called the Sanhedrin.

* They only recognized the Torah - no prophets, no resurrection.

* They wanted to stay on Rome’s good side.

* They believed the Messiah would come with sword in hand to drive the Gentiles out of the Promised Land.

* 4) The Essenes - many believe they were the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

* They’re not mentioned in the gospels because they were destroyed by the Romans before they took control of Jerusalem.

* They were the “purists” - they pulled out of Jerusalem and lived in community on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea.

* There they would create a pure community from which the Messiah would come.

* In Acts 4:13 we see the people recognizing Peter and the disciples had been with Jesus because of the boldness of their witness.

* Here in this verse Peter was accused of the very same thing - having been with Jesus.

* But there was a difference.

* They recognized him as having been with Jesus in a physical sense - they had seen him in the same place Jesus was.

* Today, so many of us are physically going to church, handing out with Christians, and doing the Christian thing.

* But when the heat picks up we bail, just as Peter did.

* We need to start “being” the church - when we do, people will recognize we’ve been with Jesus!

* The question is, are we going to be the Peter in Matthew 26 or Acts 4?

* God delivered a message to Pilate through his wife.

* God speaks to us through others, especially our spouses.

* God could’ve given the dream to Pilate but He chose to do it through his wife. Why?

* I believe one of the reasons is to place honor upon the marriage covenant.

* The two are one, so if God gives one a message He’s giving it to both.

* vs 24 - when he washed his hands he was actually refusing to use his power to release Jesus.

* Pilate feared the people more than God and he valued his position more than his own wife.

* He did the opposite of what his wife asked him to do.

* Can you imagine the conversation with his wife after this?

* She might have said, "I told you not to have anything to do with this man, but you went and handed Him over to be killed. Why didn't you listen to me?"

* To which he may have responded, "But the people were getting out of hand and if a riot broke out I would have lost my position as governor."

* In that moment what do you think she probably felt like?

* “Pilate cares more about his position than me. He elevated his job over his wife.”

* The one thing a woman needs in order to feel loved is priority - she must be prioritized.

* Pilate failed as a husband.

* Now his name is forever remembered as the man who handed the Savior of the world over to be killed.

* Imagine his reputation today if he would have listened to her?

* We’d be talking about the courageous Roman ruler who defied Caesar, lost his position of influence, and died an honorable man.

* Fellas, our legacy depends on us listening to our wives!

* 17 dead at a public school in Florida.

* A disturbed angry 19 year old boy came in and mowed people down.

* Now is the time for young Christians NOT to distance themselves from kids like this but to move toward them.

* In the aftermath we’ll hear the media talk about two things - God is at fault and Guns are at fault.

* God has been kicked out of school and now violence fills the void.

* There have been 19 deadly shootings at schools in the last 6 weeks.

* 1962 - Engle vs Vitale - prayer removed from school.

* 1963 - Abington vs Shemp - Bible reading removed from school.

* 1973 - Roe vs Wade - killing kids became legal.

* 1980 - Stone vs Graham - 10 Commandments removed from school.

* 1992 - Planned Parenthood vs Casey - majority opinion said, “at the heart of liberty is the right for one to define one’s own existence…..”

* This young man in Florida lived out this worldview.

* Satan comes to steal, kill, destroy.

* Christ comes that we may have life.

* Hosea 4:1-6 - when we reject God He rejects our kids. Wow.

* 2 Chronicles 7:14 - this is the solution.

* In Exodus 35:10 it talks about the “gifted” artisans commanded to make articles for the building of the tabernacle.

* Here in these verses it talks about Bezalel being “filled with the Spirit” to do the work.

* A gifted person is someone God instilled the talent and ability to do something.

* An anointed person has gifting, but also has “wisdom, understanding, and knowledge” from God.

* An anointed person not only completes the job but does it in such a way that others (customers, clients, and coworkers) has an encounter with God.

* They’re not just good at what they do, they make an IMPACT by the way they do it.

* They use their giftedness to influence others for the Lord.

* All of us can be anointed if we’re willing to surrender our gifts to God.

* Exodus 35:34 - the anointed had the ability to “teach” - they were leaders.

* A new law is being proposed that would make “able bodied” people WORK in order to get any entitlement.

* Those who disagree with this are cloaking it in “compassion” and “love.”

* 1 Thessalonians 4 - this shows us what true love looks like.

* We are to “work with our hands” so we behave properly toward outsiders.

* If anyone who is not “willing” to work he is not to eat.

* If you “can’t” work, that’s a different story.

* When Moses came off the mountain his face was shining.

* When we spend time alone with God it will show up in our countenance.

* We won’t be able to hide what God is doing.

* Moses was unconscious of it, and we will be as well.

* Exodus 33:16 reveals God’s presence will always make us distinct from those around us.

* Exodus 34:30 reveals that some people will want to stay away from us.

* The question is, can people tell you’ve been spending time with God?

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