We Are Church | Can't Stop Won't Stop - Acts 4:13-31 | March 23

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Music.

Acts 4, starting in verse 13, going through verse 31.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were

uneducated and untrained men, they marveled, and they realized that they had been with Jesus.

And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council,

they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men?

For indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to

all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten

them that from now on they speak to no man in this name.

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight

of God to listen to you more than to God you judge, for we cannot but speak

the things which we have seen and heard.

So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of

punishing them because of the people, since all glorified God for what had been done.

For the man was over 40 years old, on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the

chief priests and elders had said to them.

So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord,

and said, Lord, you are God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea and all

that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David have said,

Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things?

The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together

against the Lord and against his Christ.

For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were

gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done.

Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness

they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs

and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place they were assembled together was shaken

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Thank you, Jake. Good morning, everybody. That seemed less than enthusiastic, but I'll let it go.

Especially from Tori, man. This is your first Sunday back.

It felt like a long time. That's how deeply you were missed, my friend.

Now you got a new baby. Not time for your friends anymore.

That jump from four kids to five kids. I once heard Jim Gaffigan talk about

that. he said, the difference between having four kids and five kids is like

you're already drowning and somebody hands you a baby.

So hope that doesn't resonate too deeply with you. But congratulations.

I wish I had thought about this when we were in Acts chapter 3, which was last week.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

But I only thought about it when I was contemplating and meditating back through it on Monday.

So I didn't get to bless you all with this thought last week,

but now I get to do it this week.

We are talking about the beginning of this story, how Peter and John encountered

a lame man on the way to the temple and they were going to pray. They healed him.

And I asked you what small step of obedience you could take.

What was your next step towards Jesus, large or small, as Peter and John walked

in the power of the Spirit, how can we step towards that goal?

And I hope that you had some good talks, good times in your family groups,

asking each other that question and answering that question.

I know we had some great answers, some very positive, concrete,

like, yes, I need to do this.

It's been a long time since I've done this. I need to do this again.

It's very good for my soul. I need to integrate it. Something like more of a practice as well.

Even people who are like, just generally, I need to I don't really have a next

step. I just need to listen to the spirit and act when I hear him talking. That's a step.

So if you think it's not a concrete step, it's pretty concrete and measurable

for me to come back next week and be like, oh, how was listening to the spirit?

Did you listen? And did you do what he was telling you? Oh, no.

So even that, when you don't think there's a next step, there's always a tangible

next step. Even if you, hey, I'm the king.

Listen, when I was in seminary, when we had those assignments that forced you

to talk to people, I'd be like, what is the least effort I can put into this

and still say that I did it?

So like, even if that's our response of, yeah, you know what?

I'm just going to listen to the spirit.

There's some, still some depth of calling to that. So I hope that your time was good.

The problem or what, it's not really a problem, but the opportunity I missed

last week was asking about small steps.

I neglected to quote the famous Neil Armstrong, right?

Who famously, as he led his crew to be the first people who walked on the moon

with the Apollo 11 mission in like 1969, as he was awkwardly hopping around

in that almost zero gravity,

but not zero gravity, he famously said what?

That's one small step for man. Yeah, one giant leap for mankind.

And it struck me that this is potentially a good description of what it means

to be a disciple because God moves in giant leaps in his spirit as we take our

small steps of obedience.

And being a disciple means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus,

to do what he did, to take our steps out in faith and hopes and prayers and

allowing him to work through us in the power of his spirit.

And so God's giant leaps happen as we take our small steps of obedience.

God meets us with his spirit and changes everything.

So it's a pretty appropriate quote for what we're talking about,

this great movement of God's people that's happening and has been happening

since the beginning of time.

This great movement of God's people takes place as we all take these tiny steps

of obedience. It's built on thousands and millions of tiny steps of obedience.

My hope is that here at Mountainside, we are walking together in purpose.

That we are walking together after Jesus, that we are walking together intentionally

within our communities, within our neighborhoods, within this community together,

and that heaven would overlap and touch earth as we take these steps of faith together.

But that was last week. So that's last week. Now we're going to continue and

finish the story in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Peter and John find themselves as a result of this miraculous hearing in front

of the chief priest, the religious elite.

Peter gives his defense of the gospel. And so now we're at the point where the

religious people, the religious leaders must deliberate and figure out what

they're going to do with these guys.

They can't arrest them. They can't have them beaten because the crowd would

be in an uproar. It would cause a riot.

They can't deny what has happened. The miracle has been seen and is obvious to everyone.

So there's no denying it. All they can really do is tell them to stop.

And as with my children, and if any of you have children, that doesn't work

out too well for them, just to tell them to stop.

So we read in verse 18, they called the apostles back in, commanded them never

again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John replied, do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?

We cannot stop telling out about everything we have seen and heard.

We can't help but speak. We can't stop. We won't stop.

Indeed, even if we could stop, we're going to choose not to.

We're going to choose to obey Jesus. In a little bit of a way,

they recognize the authority of the council here because they're saying, you know.

Whether it's right or not for you to judge. So they're giving some authority

for them to make a judgment, and they're just choosing to ignore it.

They're saying there's a higher authority, right? We can't stop. We won't stop.

And as I was reading through this section of Acts chapter 4,

Acts 4 · chapter mention

I was reminded of two stories you'll be familiar with, perhaps both of them,

hopefully at least one of them.

The first is the triumphal entry, which will be celebrated in churches around

the world in just a few short weeks as we enter into the holy week of Easter.

And Jesus enters into Jerusalem in the final week of his life.

He enters in as a king would in times of peace and not as a warrior king after a victory march.

So he's not on a majestic war horse, but he's on the humble donkey, a colt, right?

The foal of a donkey, not even just like a old,

not even old donkey per se, but just a regular normal donkey signifying that

Jesus was indeed the one he was the one that they were all waiting for but he

wouldn't be the type of king that they had expected or perhaps even desired

but he is indeed king and his kingdom is not of this world.

Instead of leading a war campaign against the oppressive powers of the earth his campaign,

his war would be fought against death and against sin and against the grave

itself, reconciling all people to God once and for all.

So that was the journey that Jesus took into Jerusalem. We read in Luke 19.

As he rode along, the crowd spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.

When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives,

all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along,

praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and

glory in the highest heaven.

But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, Teacher, rebuke your followers

for saying these things.

He replied, If they keep quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers.

Other translations that you might have to talk about. If these were silent,

the very stones would cry out, maybe what you're more familiar with.

This is a very common story since we revisit it year after year.

And you can almost hear these words echoed in the response of John and Peter

as they're before these religious leaders, perhaps some of the very same people

that Jesus said this to, that whether it's right or not, you'll have to judge for yourself.

But these people, these people here cannot stop praising Jesus.

If we were to tell them to stop, then the very rocks themselves would rise up

and defend in resounding chorus.

The king will receive his honor. The king will receive his praise. It's inevitable.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.

Hosanna in the highest, peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven.

Praises be to his holy name.

The very rocks would rise up and sing the praises of the king.

They can't stop. They won't stop.

Now this could just be a powerful statement and signifying exactly what Jesus

is saying, that these inanimate objects around them,

these very rocks, these stones would praise Jesus if people were silent because

because the praises of Jesus are inevitable. The praises of God are inevitable.

Jesus will be glorified one way or another. It could be that.

And for those of you who grew up in the 70s, you will remember this.

Although if you grew up in the 70s, there's plenty of reasons why you may not

remember this that we won't get into.

But people used to buy pet rocks for one another.

You probably remember this. They came in cardboard boxes with holes drilled

in them and a little bed, a nest of

paper stuff because they needed to be comfortable or something, I guess.

I think you can still buy these today if you look on Amazon, I guarantee it.

People would literally buy just regular old dumb rocks for one another.

And I'm using the word dumb clinically here because they didn't have mouths.

They didn't even draw faces on them. They were literally just stones.

They don't have faces. They can't actually talk. They'd spend like four or five

dollars on them, which, you know, isn't too much money now because eggs cost three times as much.

But back then, that was pretty significant cash.

Four or five dollars on a rock and a cardboard box.

They can't help but speak. The stones can't help but rise up and sing the praises

of Jesus. It's inevitable.

Jesus will receive his praise. Jesus could have been talking about just some

plain old rocks, just like old Mordecai's pet rock that his auntie once gave him back in the day.

However, if we were to stand on this exact spot where Jesus is in Jerusalem,

going down from the Mount of Olives, preparing to enter into this gate.

It's the eastern gate of the temple where Jesus was writing.

What we would see even today is there is a massive cemetery.

So while it's not exactly clear and people debate it, this cemetery is full of gravestones.

And so Jesus could have been saying in a very specific pointed phrase about

some very specific stones that don't stop these people or even the dead around

us will rise up and sing my praises.

He could have been saying that. A few days following this event,

the voices of the people would fall silent.

They would actually change, right? Instead of praises to God,

they would call for his execution.

Even Jesus' own followers would scatter to fulfill the prophecy that is mentioned in Zechariah 13.

I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

So the voice of the people just a few days later would falter.

It would fail and it would fall silent.

And what happens as Jesus is crucified in that moment.

We read that as Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

In Matthew, it says, behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth shook and rocks were split. And then the tombs were all open.

The gravestones removed and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy

city and appeared to many.

The very stones, as the people fall silent, the stones cried out.

The dead rose up and cried out. And I think Jake even commented a couple of

weeks ago, it's like they were in the grave.

The graves were open, but they didn't come out until his resurrection.

So they were also in the grave for three days.

I don't know, doing the same thing they were doing before they rose up, I guess.

But the very dead rise up and declare the praises of Jesus almost as if Jesus

is prophesying here and not just making a comment that our voices,

if they fall silent that is an inevitability that the praises of Jesus will

be heard that the king will get his honor and so, oh Lord,

don't let our voices fall silent don't let the rocks declare in our place that

Jesus is Lord but may we in boldness speak that we can say as the same as Peter

and John, we can't stop, we won't stop.

Whether it's good or not for you to judge, that's up to you,

but we want to obey God and so we won't stop.

The other story I'm reminded of, as I read about this apostle's boldness in

Acts chapter four, it's not really a story. It's more of a prayer,

but it comes from Jeremiah.

And it's as he cries out, as he's prone to do in his laments to the father,

he's known as the crying prophet.

He says this, starting in verse seven, and I think this is chapter 20.

Isaiah 20 · chapter mention

Oh Lord, you misled me, and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger

than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day.

Everyone laughs at me. When I speak, the words burst out. Violence and destruction, I shout.

So these messages from the Lord have made me a household joke.

But Jeremiah is not very happy with God at this point in his career as a prophet.

Speaking the words of God have not led him to fame and fortune.

Not that he expected that.

But what it did lead him to was a very uncomfortable life, even great suffering,

you could say. Who would have thought that proclaiming the judgment of God against

the nations, especially your own nation, didn't work out too well for your favor?

But we see Peter and John, like Jeremiah, are not praised by the religious for

even doing good works, for even healing a person. Doing good doesn't get them a pat on the back.

In fact, if you will read through the New Testament, the person who is the person

healing, or the power through which someone is healed, it doesn't usually work

out well for them, does it? they end up being in trouble with the law. They're beaten.

They're mistreated. They're threatened.

But even still, they can't help. They can't stop but to keep speaking.

Likewise, Jeremiah continues in this lament.

He says, if I say I'll never mention the Lord or speak in his name,

his word burns in my heart like a fire.

It's like a fire in my bones.

I am worn out trying to hold it in. I can't do it.

Even so, despite all of his grief, he can't keep the word of God within him.

Can't contain it in his bones. It has to get out. It has to come out.

And I don't know if you've experienced this. I have experienced this to some degree.

Whenever Jenny shares with me some social media post that somebody has put on,

or whenever someone that she thinks it's surprising, they've commented or reacted

or liked some off-the-wall absurd comment from some so-called deconstructed Christian.

It's like there is coals within my chest.

It could just be indigestion. I get that a lot. But somehow I don't think that's

right. And for me, it would be

better if she never told me because then I wouldn't feel this discomfort.

It's not like I have the platform to speak truth into these people's lives,

but there is a fire burning in my being.

When I hear a conversation at the gym through some people who work at the Schaefer

Center and there's somebody, some lady that wants to have a prayer service there

and the comments between these people is, nobody wants to come to your dumb service anyway, lady.

There is something that wells up in my being.

Whenever we hear the ignorant hypocrisy of a generation who considers themselves

to be morally superior and yet only proves that they are,

superiorly arrogant, there is something in my being that reacts to this.

There is a fire burning within me. And the reality is too often I keep silent.

Too often I keep silent about the things that really matter,

but yet engage freely in the controversies and opinions that matter very little.

And this is the dilemma.

This is the dilemma that we have is what is helpful and what is not?

What's helpful and what is not? If it's your opinion rather than God's truth,

then feel free to keep it to yourself.

Even if your opinion happens to be the correct opinion, it's not about being right.

As hard as that is to hear, the point is not to prove yourself right.

And that's not going to be very helpful. Proverbs 16, it says,

Scoundrels create trouble, their words are a destructive blaze.

A troublemaker plants seeds of strife, gossip separates the best of friends.

In those moments, if we are indulging our pride, our selfish pride and our opinions,

then what we're walking into is division, controversy, strife.

If it's sharing love and encouraging people towards Jesus, by all means,

speak freely, speak openly.

In fact, don't stop speaking if that is the measure.

Don't stop sharing the love of Jesus and encouraging people towards Jesus.

I'll put it even further.

If it is defending the faith in a hard conversation, even with those that you care deeply about.

Please do not hold back from having those hard conversations.

Speak them freely. Do it with a humble and tender heart, of course,

but please don't remain silent. Don't keep that stuff in.

If it's to pray for someone, if it's to share the gospel with someone,

if it is to invite someone to come and meet Jesus, you can't keep that stuff in.

Share it freely. Don't let fear paralyze you. Here's the big thing.

Don't let your reputation get in the way. And if you're thinking,

you know what, I don't really have much of a reputation.

Still, I think the number one reason we remain silent is because of fear of man.

Like we are afraid of what someone else is going to think about us or how it

will change the dynamics of our relationship if we're suddenly one of those

people that's crazy about Jesus.

Pour it out. Pour it out as what the Bible calls a poured out offering at the feet of Jesus.

What we must do is allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit,

to be guided by the Spirit as we wrestle with our own hearts. What should we say?

What can I say without sowing strife? With whom can I say it? When and where?

When would it be helpful? As we wrestle with our own hearts with God about these things.

And then don't shrink back from the defense of the gospel.

But speak boldly as the apostles here speak and as they continue to pray for.

Speaking boldly in the name of Jesus.

Being a bad farmer, we mentioned this at group, and I know several of us have

heard the parable of the sower interpreted this way.

If we look at, it's really the parable of the soils, right? The focus is on the four types of soils.

So the question inevitably is, what kind of soil are we cultivating in our hearts?

But if we take a step back and we think the sower goes out to sow his seed, that's how it begins.

And some falls here and some falls there. This guy is a really bad farmer.

He doesn't care where he's putting his seed. He doesn't care where it falls.

So if we interpret the parable in that way, which is good and valid,

then our encouragement is to go out and be a bad farmer who overseeds the gospel,

the word of God on everyone who we happen to meet, not caring what type of soil

it falls on as long as the seed is spilling out from us, right?

We're encouraged to be bad farmers who overseed the gospel, that the word of

God would seep out and land on whoever is around us.

Also, don't feel like you have to have all of the answers. We see many times

in the Bible that Jesus will provide our defense when we need it.

There's a passage in Colossians or Galatians, I think it's Galatians,

that talks about speaking gently, speaking as seasoned with salt.

Let your words be seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer

each person, not how you think your opinion should respond to each person,

but how we ought to answer each person.

So don't feel like you have to know how to respond.

Our call is to be so saturated with the word of God, to know his word and to

trust in his word, to trust in the truth of Jesus that it spills out of us when given the opportunity.

I think J.D. Greer likes to say, when I'm cut that I bleed scripture, right?

When faced with trials, when faced with objection, when sharing ourselves with

people that the word of God would be so saturated within our hearts that it

would spill out of the depths of our being.

But we can go down this rabbit hole just a little bit.

What are some of the common objections that people have to Christianity or God

in general that you are aware of? Say it again.

Theodicy? Elaborate. Exactly. Yeah.

How could there be a good God with so much pain and suffering in the world? For sure.

Yeah, you heard one of those ladies say that this weekend, didn't you?

Yeah, I'm not really into that Jesus thing. I mean, you can be. That's your thing.

We'll elaborate on that. Any other objections that people have heard?

Hypocrisy, for sure. That's a big one.

Because hypocrisy only exists within the church, of course. Yeah,

so here are like the five most common objections.

There are others, and we could argue whether there are others that are even

more common than these, but if God created the universe, who created God?

In other words, there's not really any evidence for God anyway.

If God is good, we already mentioned

this one, how can he allow so much suffering and evil in the world?

Along the same lines, if there is a hell, why would a loving God send people there? Come on.

Number four, if being a good person is all that really matters.

We'll hear that a lot in the terms of like, morality is relative.

Just go and do what you feel is good.

And follow your heart. Just be a good person.

And the last one, which is perhaps the most relevant for our time today,

and we'll get to in a minute because this is what Peter is exactly saying in

his defense of the gospel.

How can you claim that Jesus is the only way to God?

How narrow-minded and arrogant of you? With all the religions in the world,

how can you believe that you alone are right?

They're basically all the same thing anyway, aren't they?

How can you have that exclusive claim to truth? Let's just go through some of these.

I'm willing to bet there are quite a few of you have never really thought too much about it.

And then there's some of you who have thought a lot about it.

And then there's all everybody in between, right? That probably covers the spectrum

of where we're all at today.

Let's just go through some of these this morning. Since Peter is giving a defense

of the gospel, let's indulge his defense a little bit.

There's this first objection. There is no evidence of God.

It's important for us to realize that if someone is questioning God,

chances are very likely that God's probably pulling at their heart.

And it may even be the case that the more reluctant, the more resistant they

are, the more God may be pulling at their heart.

We can't count anybody out and we can't assume that we know what's going on in the lives of anybody.

I've encountered this too often when I encounter people that seem genuinely

happy. And I'm like, oh, well, that's weird. They don't know Jesus.

And then within a short period of time, I realize I'm aware of something completely

devastating in their life and they don't have Jesus.

So we can't assume that we know what's going on on the spirit level,

but it may be the case that Jesus is pulling really strongly at their hearts.

There also will not be a good enough answer to satisfy these questions for anybody

who is determined into unbelief without the intervention of the Holy Spirit in their life.

So while we're going to talk about some answers, and they're not going to be

exhaustive because we don't have enough time for that, none of these answers

will satisfy someone who is intent on disbelief.

Some people just like to argue as well. I know because I'm one of them.

So some people are just going to want to argue with you and they probably don't

even believe what they're saying either. We just need to be aware of that.

What I can say, and actually I want to go off script a little bit.

So just be aware that there's a lot of verses I'm going to have people read

that are not going to be on the screen. So you actually have to have a Bible or turn your phone on.

So you probably should do that now. And I will give you the opportunity.

In fact, if someone wants to open up to Psalm 19 verses one through four,

can I just get a quick hand in the air? Psalm 19, one to four.

This is going to take all day. Elliot, thank you. Psalm 8, verses 3 and 4.

Psalms 8:3

Anybody? Psalm 8? Jenny?

Romans 1, 18 to 21. Anybody else? Cole?

Can you find Romans 1? Get your mommy to help you. Verses 18 to 21.

The kids can definitely, if you can read, you can be involved in this.

So there is a wealth. I'll let you guys know when that comes up.

And we'll have more to come. So if you didn't volunteer, you know what?

More opportunities to come.

There is a wealth of evidence, an overwhelming amount of evidence,

in fact, to the existence of God,

to belief in God, to the reality of the transcendent and spiritual world.

I don't have time, like I said, to go through nearly as much as there is,

just a small fraction of what exists out there.

If you are interested in this and you want to learn more, there's probably like

a Lee Strobel video or Louie Giglio or some guy.

There's lots of these apologetic YouTube channels that you can go on there.

Probably some of them are really weird, so just watch out.

Maybe let me know if you see something and you're like, I don't know about this,

and I'll take a look at it.

There is a wealth of historical evidence, archaeological evidence.

Did you know, for example, that there was a time when historians didn't believe

that the Hittites, a people group that appears many, many times in the Bible,

they didn't believe that they existed. There was no evidence for them.

Nothing in history or archaeology had ever confirmed their existence.

Therefore, the Hittites never existed.

The Bible is not true, God doesn't exist, boom, roasted. That was their train of thought, right?

Hittites don't exist, therefore God's wrong, he doesn't exist.

There is now, to this date, so much historical and archaeological evidence for

the existence of the Hittites that you could major in Hittite studies,

if you were so inclined, personally I'm going to pass, in university.

You could major or minor in your historical studies in Hittites.

There are probably experts who have dedicated their whole life to these people group.

Now, time after time, history, archaeology has proven the reliability of the Bible.

And while that doesn't prove God exists, I'm well aware.

What it does prove is that the Bible can provide us with reliable accounts.

And if the Bible is reliable and therefore to be believed, what we find in the

Bible is a wealth of eyewitness accounts confirming the existence of God, the existence of Jesus.

There's this plethora of eyewitness testimony that points to the fact that the Bible is true.

And while there are plenty of people who would disagree with us that God exists,

let's say, there are practically no critical historians who deny that Jesus existed.

There are maybe five or less than five in the world who deny that Jesus existed.

For the most part, every historian that exists, whether they're Christian or

atheist, believes firmly that Jesus was real, that he lived, that he was crucified.

They deny the resurrection, of course, but they believe that Jesus existed.

So there is this historical, archaeological evidence, and it proves the Bible

right every single time, time and time again.

There's also what we would call logical evidence, logical arguments,

and I'm personally more fond of these because I like the realm of logic.

One of my favorite arguments revolves around this idea, this illustration of

a garden, that we don't happen upon a garden in our lives.

And we think to ourselves, huh, how beautifully and wonderfully complex the

world is that just the right set of circumstances,

the right sun exposure for just the right amount of time and the right wind

in the correct direction and the right weather pattern sculpted these hedges

in just the same way and the pH.

No, we think, where's the gardener who put in all this work?

We don't happen upon complex systems. We don't find a watch on the ground and

we just think, oh, this spontaneously came about.

Complexity always leads to the reality of someone who created it.

And I think about this with the idea of AI, right?

If we are creating intelligence, it proves that someone had to create it.

Now, AI is not intelligent.

Let's just get that straight. It's very dumb, but we still call intelligence

for some reason. It makes us feel better.

How can we not reason backwards and think, we're intelligent.

I wonder if that means somebody created us.

No, but the world is so wonderfully beautiful,

so well-balanced and fine-tuned that we stare out into the wonder,

and we can't help but think that there, a creation has a creator.

So the world is full of evidence of God. Who has Psalm 19? Elliot, read those four verses.

The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, night and day.

They never stop singing about and providing evidence of the existence of God.

Jenny, you had Psalm 8, 3 and 4.

When we stare at the stars, we are met with the wonder of God.

Cole, you had Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 21.

Romans 1:18–21

Yep, perfect. Yeah, so this is what we call general revelation that God has

made himself known through the world he has created.

And all people are aware of this and privy to this information.

Like Elliot said, the heavens declare the glory of God, that creation sings

of the existence of its creator.

And so at the end of the day, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence,

but also there is a reality that God is spirit.

And so he's just one of those things that can't be measured by the microscopes of a scientist.

Which I should also say that science itself cannot be measured by science. Just pointing that out.

God is spirit. And some things we have to have faith in, some things we have

to take on trust in what is life without hope.

Faith is believing and hoping in the things that exist beyond what we can see.

And some of the most courageous people in the world have been so and done and

faced incredible obstacles because they clung to faith.

They were not delusional, they were not in denial, but they found hope through

Christ and God gave them strength to face those incredible things.

These are physical and other evidences for God's existence.

Another assertion is that, as we talked about, this is a big one for a lot of

people, that a good God can't exist because there's so much suffering and evil

in the world. Let me give you all a couple verses again.

Psalm 69, 16. Anybody want that one?

Okay, then you're going to look that one up. All right. Psalm chapter 69,

Psalms 69:16

verse 16. Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 through 16. A lot of these are in 16.

Hebrews 4:14–16

Psalm 69, 16. Hebrews chapter 4. Anybody?

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Julie said I got it. Yeah. There'll be another one for you, Anna.

Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 to 16. So just hold on to those verses.

Hebrews 4:14–16

Psalm 69, verse 16. I remember, So this is, how can a good God exist if suffering is in the world?

Psalms 69:16

I remember hearing Stephen Fry, which some of you may know as one of the great

British comedic actors.

He is a very well-known atheist, and he has responded to this by saying,

why should I respect such a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates

a world which is so full of injustice and pain?

And to be honest, this is one of the hardest ones for us to wrestle with,

especially as so many of us have experienced great suffering.

And this is one that is so physically felt by so many.

The biblical response is to trust in God,

to hope for the future when all things will be made new, to trust in what the

Bible says, that God is good and he wants good and he works good for those who trust and love him.

That ultimately what everybody is concerned with in the world,

Christian or atheist, is justice.

And God provides justice in the end.

So this is the biblical response, even to wrestle with God, if we must.

God is not afraid to carry on his shoulders the burden of our wrestling.

So to wrestle with God, Jeremiah wrestled with God about his suffering.

David and Jonah and Job, all of these characters and many, many more in the

Bible wrestled with God as they experienced great and great suffering.

And the hard, I suppose the easy part about this argument is it doesn't disprove God.

It doesn't disprove God. If anything, it proves God because for you to say that

a good God can't exist because there is so much suffering and evil in the world,

you have to presuppose that there is some objective good and objective evil

which we can measure God against.

That there is some sort of standard that we can measure. You can't just say,

I don't agree with what I see in this world, therefore God cannot be good,

therefore God can't exist.

You have to have some standard to measure it against. You can't just personally

have an opinion of what is good and what is not and measure God against that.

There has to be an ultimate objective good, and we call that ultimate objective good God.

So there has to be an acceptance of this ultimate good. So it's hard to wrestle

with God about suffering, but ultimately this, even this question proves the

existence of God or presupposes that God exists.

You have to believe that God exists to be able to measure God against goodness.

And in fact, I would say that Christianity provides the best answer to suffering.

Better than any atheist, better than any other world religion,

Christianity provides the best response to human suffering.

Okay, and then you have Psalm 69, 16.

God is good and shows us mercy. I think other translation talks about,

or even maybe the next verse talks about, in times of trouble,

God meets us and he is with us. Julie, you got Hebrews 4.

The message of Christianity is that God,

we couldn't come to God, so God came to us and suffered all of the woes of life

with us, and that he still does that to this day as he lives with us by the

power of his spirit, as Jesus is in us.

Only the Christian God provides an answer of companionship for our human suffering.

Only the Christian God provides ultimate justice in the end.

Along those same lines, we have this idea of how can a good God send good people to hell?

And we don't have time to talk about this concept of who are good people and

whether we're one of them, but atheist author Jean-Paul Sartre,

he wrote and noted that the gates of hell are locked from the inside by the

free choice of men and women.

And what he's getting at is there's this sad truth that there will be many people

who choose and make the decision for themselves to not be a.

God won't send people to hell. People choose for themselves hell.

And in fact, many of these people will say that for God to force people to go

to heaven against their will would not be for them heaven.

It would be hell, which we could argue about whether that's true or not.

But God does not force himself upon anyone.

God doesn't demand us apart from our free will to be robots that automatically believe him.

It deeply grieves him, the Bible talks about. It deeply grieves him,

but he respects our decisions to reject him.

Anna, you want to read 2 Peter 3.9?

Somebody got Romans 2.4. Anybody?

Garner's going to read Romans 2.4. Lily, can you get your mom to help you? Find Romans 2.4.

And then, this doesn't seem right, but we're going to try it anyway and see what happens.

1 Timothy 2, verse 4, two chapter 2, verses 4s.

1 Timothy 2:4

Sounds like one of these might be wrong.

Somebody got, Jake, you might be wrong, or I might be wrong in misguiding you

in this verse, but maybe there are two chapter 2, verse 4s.

So the beauty of heaven, the beauty of heaven is the presence of God, his eternal presence.

And so God would not inflict his internal presence on someone who has spent

their entire lives denying it.

That's the reality of this and that many people will choose.

God will not send them, but people will. This is the atheist belief as well.

Those who give it critical thought as this guy who I just quoted,

that hell is locked from the inside by the free choice of men and women.

Anna, you want to read that? 2 Peter chapter three, verse nine.

Perfect. Yeah. God is, he's not slow to justice. He's not slow in acting.

God is patient because his desire in his heart is that everyone would repent

and turn and enter into his presence.

That's a beautiful verse. Lily, you got Romans two, verse four.

God is patient and kind. He is tender with us that we would turn from our sins and toward him.

Thank you, Elliot. It's beautiful. 1 Timothy 2.4 is a gamble.

Perfect. Thank you. Good interpretation skills, making sure you get the right verse.

God is patient is the point, right? He wants and desires for people to be with him.

That is why he sent Jesus. That is why all of the gospel is what it is.

And that's why it's good news.

We move on. A popular belief today is that we don't need God.

Morality is relative. Just do whatever feels good. Be a good person.

You know, send out good vibes into the universe and follow your heart.

This one is so strongly held by people. It is so integral into their being.

And yet it is perhaps the easiest one to argue against because it breaks down so quickly.

Is murder universally wrong?

I'm sure many people could determine there are instances where murder is the

acceptable solution, but is it universally wrong?

Is rape bad? Is the abuse of children evil?

There are objectively terrible things in this world.

So to believe that morality is relative, you kind of have to admit that none of these things are bad.

None of them are wrong. If enough people can agree, that's what makes things bad.

So is morality relative or are there genuinely things in this world that are

terrible because they are terrible and not because most of us can agree that they are so?

Are they still bad if I can convince most of the world that they're not bad?

The answer is yes. They are objectively bad things.

They're not morally neutral. And because they're not morally neutral,

this points to a standard. This points to.

Most obviously, that there is a moral God who sets the standard for moral good,

and he has inscribed this law onto our hearts, that we need this God.

Morality is not an invention of human thought, but there is an objective good.

There is an objective evil in this world. God is the standard.

Also, real quick, Luke 18, 19. Somebody got that?

You already read. I'll give somebody else the opportunity, but thank you for

being eager. Luke 18, 19, Michelle.

1 Peter 1, 14 to 16.

1 Peter 1, 14 to 16.

Scott's got it. Cool. So as they're turning that, I'll give them opportunity.

Most of the gods in the world that people will say that they don't believe in, also I don't believe in.

If you ask someone, well, what kind of God of Christianity do you think that you don't believe in?

Chances are the one that they will describe is a God that you also don't believe in.

But the God that we are presented with in the Bible, the God who is living and

active and kind and tender and patient, this God my soul so desperately needs.

And that's the God that I believe in. Luke 18, 19. Who had that? Michelle?

God is alone good. We can't measure goodness and evil based on our opinions

because we all disagree with each other.

So God alone is good. He is the moral standard. Scott, go for it.

1 Peter 1, 14 to 16.

The standard we are called to is not our personal assumptions of what we should be.

We can't just be a good person based on our assumptions of what good is.

There has to be a standard that we're attaining to, and that standard is the good of God.

And all that stands against that is what we call evil.

So evil and good are not objective truths, but God sets the standard.

Perhaps the most pervasive and longstanding argument of this kind is what's the difference?

All religions are basically the same. All paths lead to God anyway.

And perhaps even some of you may believe this because a poll done fairly recently,

just a few years ago, showed that 60% of evangelical Christians believe that

Jesus is not the only way to heaven.

60%. That is a staggering, surprising number.

This was a strongly held belief in the Roman times as well.

In fact, it was a number among their policies for conquering the world.

You can believe whatever God you want. You can hold whichever religion that

you choose, just as long as you subscribe to the rule that Caesar is Lord over all.

They had their pantheon of gods, right? They had a pantheon of gods.

Everyone can believe whatever they want, but Caesar is Lord overall.

They actually had that inscription written in places just to drive it home.

This was a strongly held belief that Peter, in these chapters,

directly compacts, as he unequivocally asserts, there is salvation in no one else.

God has no other name under heaven by which we must be saved, the name of Jesus.

There is no other way. I mean, let's just think about it critically for a second.

If all paths lead to God and God is all-knowing, so he knows this,

then Jesus suffered for nothing.

Why did Jesus suffer if all paths lead to God?

There are many very well-meaning people who believe that this is the most accommodating,

most accepting viewpoint to have.

They'll slap their tolerance bumper stickers on their cars and they'll be offended

that you could be so narrow-minded to believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

Don't know if you've thought about this much, but do you know what you have

to believe to say that all paths lead to God?

What you actually have to believe if you say that?

Because there are something like 90% of the world ascribes to some religion of some sorts.

Then we can debate what the statistics are, but let's say 90% for the ease of

math, because math is hard.

90% of the world is a part of some religion. Every religion has an exclusive claim on truth.

Essentially, they might say, well, you can believe whatever God you want,

but that's not going to get you into our version of heaven, right?

Every religion, in fact, every

belief system, even atheism, has an exclusivity clause in their belief.

There is a claim to exclusivity, which is what we're talking about.

They have an exclusive claim to truth. Every single person, if we just talk

about the religious, 90%.

So to believe that all paths lead to God, what you actually have to believe

is that the majority of the world is wrong, but I alone and the other 10% or

however many of enlightened thinkers who are out there are right.

In other words, you have to believe that you have an exclusive claim to truth.

To say that you can't have an exclusive claim to truth, you have to believe

that you and you alone and whoever agrees with you has the exclusive claim to

truth. Now, which is the more arrogant position?

Think personally that if you think that the majority of the world is wrong,

but I alone am correct, that is the most narrow-minded position you can have,

which is what you have to believe if you believe that all paths lead to God.

I think it seems much more humble, in my opinion, to believe that in a God that

I didn't think up and that I didn't imagine,

and to believe that this omnipotent, omniscient creator knows a bit more than I do.

Personally, I think that's more humble, but believe what you like.

We'll go in the words of Peter. You can judge for yourself, but personally,

I think that's where it is.

But guess what? Here's the turnaround.

You don't have to remember anything I just said this morning.

I hope you remember some things, but you don't have to remember any of it because

it's perfectly acceptable if someone actually has one of these objections to

say, you know what, that's a great question.

I don't have a good answer for you. Would you mind if I go and like read a little

bit about it or talk to somebody who's thought about this way more than I have?

And then maybe we could get coffee next week and have this conversation again.

You know, and maybe I'll have to go back and ask somebody again during that conversation.

But do you mind if that's okay if we do that? And people are going to be perfectly fine with that.

Also, the reality is most people also probably haven't thought very much about

it and they'll have much more unprepared reasons for why they are not a believer.

So you don't have to worry about it. All you need is to know the word,

to trust the word and to have faith that the God who created the universe,

who is empowering you to apply the power of his spirit can give you exactly

what you need to say when you need to say it.

That's what all you really need to have.

You don't have to have a degree in theology or apologetics.

You just need to know the word, trust the word.

Even the chief priests here noted about Peter and John that they were ordinary

men with no special training.

It's you. That's me. That's us. And we don't have to have all of these things figured out.

We just need boldness in the spirit.

And I know this is going to go a little bit longer than usual because we've

had people read, but just hang in with me, please.

We keep on reading. Verse 23, this is Acts chapter four again,

if you've got your Bibles.

As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned the other believers and

told them what the leading priests and elders had said.

When we heard their report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God.

And this is what they prayed. And now, O Lord, hear their threats.

Hear their threats and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.

Stretch out your hand with healing power. May miraculous signs and wonders be

done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. They didn't shrink back.

They didn't pull away. They pressed in. They said, Lord, give us more of that,

more of your spirit, more of your blessing, more of your boldness to speak your word clearly.

They didn't pull away. They praised the God who knows all things. We see that in verse 28.

Nothing takes God's surprise. There's no world event or history or circumstance

that has ever taken God by surprise.

And you know what that means is that in your life, there is nothing.

No event, no conversation, no interaction, which you have or will have that

will ever take God by surprise.

They pray, give us boldness. They pray, hear their threats and give us boldness.

They don't pray, hear their threats, God, and stop them, prevent them, get in their way.

This is not the Davidic Psalms that we read about their enemies getting what's coming to them.

This is a plea. This is their hearts raw before the father. You hear their threats,

you hear what's going on.

Show up in boldness and speak more through us. May we meet these threats with boldness.

Don't let the witness falter. Don't let our courage fail. Give us boldness.

We need you, God. Show up. They say, show it in more powerful ways.

Do more crazy things that are going to get us in trouble with people. Give us boldness.

Believe in the name of Jesus. Show up in more powerful ways in the name of Jesus that people may know.

That people may know and then knowing they may believe, that they may believe

in the name of Jesus unto the salvation of all people.

For there is no other name, not one under heaven, on earth below or in heaven

above by which people may be saved, which they may call on and find saving grace.

Don't let yourself be stopped. from sharing.

The greatest news, the greatest gift of all time with the people that you claim to care so much about.

Don't stop. Don't hold out. Don't be prevented.

But as it says in Colossians chapter 4, it says, devote yourselves to prayer

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

Paul says, pray for us too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak

about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That's why I'm here in chains.

And in chains, Paul says, pray that I may proclaim this message as clearly as

I should, that I should make it known with boldness at every opportunity.

Pray for boldness. Pray for each other. Pray for the witness to never stop.

And if you're thinking to yourself, well, geez, I've never really started,

pray for God to kick start your heart.

We need the Spirit of God to come and move in powerful ways.

We just pray, God, we pray and we ask you that you would show up,

that you would fill the fire in our bones, that you would meet our praises this

morning with more and more ways.

Because here's what happened next. Verse 31.

After this prayer, the meeting place shook and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Then they preach the word of God with boldness.

God descends again in his spirit, answers their prayers for boldness by giving them boldness.

Pray for boldness. Never stop telling people about Jesus.

Never stop. Jesus fills us with his spirit as we make our commitments to him, as we are baptized.

And then God pours out his spirit upon us to be bold, empowered witnesses.

Time and time again, he shakes the foundations of the world.

And in the Old Testament, people are terrified when that happened.

And in the New Testament, his believers push in, empowered by that shaking.

So God, would you move? God, would you shake us up? Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word, which stands firm and endures forever.

Thank you for the powerful witness of the apostle Peter, the example of boldness

that you've given through him.

Let your word burn within us like a fire shut up in our bones.

A flame that cannot be contained, kindle this fire in our hearts,

making them a place for your spirit to blaze with a passion,

with a passionate love for you and a steadfast desire for your will, to do your will.

Grant us the courage to share your truth with grace, boldness, and deep humility.

We ask this in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Mountainside Church's podcast. We hope you found

inspiration and encouragement in today's teaching.

To learn more about our church, stay connected or partner with us, visit mcboon.com.

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