Hi, I'm Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to serve as your Bible teacher every day on this great radio station on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

In our study of Acts, we've seen a number of firsts in the New Testament and today we're going to look at another firsts.

The first example of God's judging sin inside of the church and what a dramatic heart-stopping literally judgment it was.

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress.

You know, God takes sin very seriously. That's not a surprise, right? Whether it's a small misstep or a huge moral blunder, God views all sin the same.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress talks about the first time sin crept into a church family and the foreboding consequences that followed.

Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message. Dr. Jeffress?

Thanks David and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. As a pastor and Bible teacher, I often receive letters and calls from Christians across the country who are fed up with the condition of the American church.

Some are critical because of the sin that has crept into congregations and these sins are committed not only by members but by pastors who truly should know better.

Well, sometimes we make the mistake of believing that these problems are nothing more than a sign of our times but in reality sin has always been a force to be reckoned with.

The Bible says our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of wickedness.

Our current series, Unstoppable Power, helps you understand how to win this battle against spiritual forces of evil.

You'll see why the persecuted church in the first century exploded in growth and impact despite oppression and persecution.

I've written a bestselling book on this topic and you're invited to request a copy today when you give a generous gift to the matching challenge that's active right now.

My book is called Unstoppable Power and it's based on Acts chapters 1 through 12. You'll be amazed at the parallels between the first century church and our challenges today.

Plus your generous gift today has twice the impact because of the unstoppable power matching challenge. Every dollar godly due to gift between now and July 4th will be multiplied by 2.

This is the perfect time to leverage your charitable giving and to advance the cause of pathway to victory at the same time.

David and I will give more details about the matching challenge and my book later in today's program. But right now let's consider the topic at hand, sin in the church.

If you have your Bibles turn to Acts chapter 4 as we talk about how God deals with sin in the church. Look at verse 32.

The congregation of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. There was unity. In fact you see the extent of that again in verse 32.

Notice what it says the evidence of their generosity. They were so much a part of one another that not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own.

But all things were common property to them and with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the abundant grace upon all of them.

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