In the end, we win.

Steve Brown:
In the end, we win. Let’s talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Key Life is all about God’s radical grace. Grace that has dirt under its fingernails and laugh lines on it’s face. If you want the Bible to be a book of rules, you may want to stop listening now, but if you’re hungry for the truth, that’ll make you free. Welcome to Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hope you guys had a great week-end. As always, I hope your pastor’s sermon was as good as my pastor’s sermon. If you’re just joining us, we’re in the middle. Well, we’re not in the middle. We’re still plowing through the first part of the book of Acts. And we’re going to go through the entire book of Acts over the next 20, 25 years. Actually, I really am taking my time. There’s no hurry. It is my program. I can do whatever I want. So, I’m your tour director as we go through the book of Acts. And we’ll pause at significant places and I’ll point out some of the very interesting and profound things that take place in the book of Acts that I’ve discovered. We’re up to, by the way, the eighth chapter of the book of Acts. And we’re going to talk a little bit about, after we finish up from last week. We’re gonna talk about evangelism with a little different spin. Before we do any of that. It’s Monday and it’s our practice on Monday to pray before we study. So, let’s do that. Father, we come into your presence, so thankful for your word, thankful that you cared enough to write it down, thankful that you cared enough to put it in language we could understand, thankful that you cared enough to speak to our minds and our hearts through your word. Father, you have been so kind and so good for all our lives, even in the things we didn’t like when we looked, we saw that you were there and we heard the soft sound of sandaled feet. We belong to you, not as your workers or your servants or your slaves, but in an amazing way because you have adopted us as your children. Father, we worship you and even if you hadn’t done that, you’re still God. And you’re worthy of our worship, sovereign, ruler, creator, sustainer of everything we see and perceive and experience. You are an awesome God. And now father, as we study your word, we pray for the one who teaches that you would forgive him his sins because there are many. We would see Jesus and him only. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Well, if you were listening, I’m not going to take the time to read the text. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been looking at the last part of the seventh chapter of Acts and the first half of the eighth chapter of Acts. And we’ve been talking about the repercussions of a committed life. Jesus never promised us a rose garden. And those people who have told you that you will have a rose garden, that you’ll always be healthy, that you’ll always be fine, that everything will go in a way you like, they lied to you. I, it amazes me that a religion founded by one who died on a cross, crying that God, his Father had forsaken him would be a religion that would promote be happy, everything’s fine, it’s wonderful. It’s not. I’ve just finished a manuscript by the way of a book, it’ll be out probably in the next five or six years, the wheels of God and publishers grind very, very slowly. But at any rate, I’ve finished my part and the working title of the book is Laughter and Lament: The Touchstones of Radical Christian Freedom. It really is, the understanding that there is stuff that is bad and dark and painful, that’s a part of freedom. You accept it and you live with it and you recognize that God is in the middle of it, but there’s the other side and it’s the laughter of God and the laughter of his people. And so, there are repercussions to a committed life and they’re not always positive. And we’ve been talking about that in the book of Acts. But there’s also one other thing that must be mentioned before we go to another text and that is the final point of the repercussions. In the end, we win. You know, you read through the book of Acts and you will, you think, oh man, that was hard. Not everybody liked them, it looked very dark. They’re going to lose this thing, but we’re 2000 years later and we’ve seen what God has done in an amazing way. And we know these words had not been written as of yet, in the book of Acts. We’re at the very beginning of the church, but we know from the Scriptures that in the end, we win. Not only that, God’s gonna do amazing stuff between now and then. You want to be on the winning side, then for heaven’s sake, recognize that Jesus is the man and you belong to him. And then, we live in a dark time, kind of like the book Acts. You know, there was a time in this country and in Canada where this broadcast is heard, when we were in the majority, we had power and money and favor, and we had leverage. And let me tell you something, when the church has those things, it is a very dangerous time. And Jesus knows it. And so, he’s bringing us through a time right now, where everything is topsy turvy and where good is called evil and evil is called good, where there is mass confusion and meaninglessness and hatred and division and war and death. That’s bad. Well, yeah, it really is, but it’s also good because in the middle of it, we begin to see that God is faithful, that he is sovereign, that he has our back. And all of those things from the dark side, from evil are taken care of, I John 4:4.

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

And as you read through Acts, you find illustrations of that over and over again. So, the repercussions of a committed life are sometimes hard, they’re sometimes dark, but in the end we win. Let me give you a couple of quotes that are kind of my favorites. Joseph Parker was in the late, 18th century and a preacher. Listen to what he said.

The devil is but a… servant in the kitchen of God; the devil has limited chains; he counts the links, he would like to make seven eight, he strives to strain the links into greater length, he can’t do it, he was chained at the first, he has been chained ever since, he will be chained for ever- hallelujah! the Lord reigneth! There is but one throne, and all hell is subject to the governance and the authority of that throne…

Oh man. I’m going to get my wife to cross stitch that and I’m going to hang it right above my desk in my study. And then another from De Witt Talmage another preacher.

Oh thou Father of all iniquity if thou canst hear my voice above the crackling of the flames, drive on thy project, dispatch thy emissaries, build thy temples and force thy claims, but know that thy fall from heaven was not greater than thy final overthrow shall be when thou shalt be driven disarmed into the fiery den. And for every lie, thou has framed upon earth thou shalt have additional hell of fury poured into thine anguish at the vengeance of our God. And all heaven shall shout at the overthrow from the ransomed of the earth, the song breaks forth- hallelujah! our God reigns.

Well not, they’re going to have to learn how to say what they mean. Hey, I gotta go. But you think about it. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
In the end, we win. I like the sound of that. Thank you Steve. That was Steve Brown, continuing to teach us from Acts. And this week we will be venturing into chapter eight, so much more to discover tomorrow. Be sure to join us then. Hey, by the way, have you claimed your copy of the 2021 edition of Key Life magazine yet? Yes. There are copies still available, but only for a limited time, this issue has a wonderful article from Steve called You Can’t Fix It. Plus other great pieces from Robin DeMurga, Chad West and Chris Wachter. To get your copy, just call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for the magazine. If you’d like to mail your request, send it to

Key Life Network
P.O. Box 5000
Maitland, Florida 32794

If you’re in Canada, mail

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8

Just ask for your free copy of the 2021 edition of Key Life magazine. Hey, also, if you’re able, would you please give to Key Life? Giving is easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or make it easy. Just pick up your phone right now and text Key Life to 28950 and then follow the instructions. Again, that’s Key Life, one word, two words, doesn’t matter. Text that to 28950. Remember that every gift, big or small, monthly or one-time, really does matter and really does help. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.