The Book Of Acts | Obey God Rather Than Men (August 16th, 2020) - Mike Armstrong

All right, well, we want to uh get into God's word uh right now, and so you can turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 5 is where we are continuing here.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Uh we're gonna be in verses 17 down to 32 here today.

Now, as you're getting yourself uh turned there and your phones all ready to rock, uh when you were a kid, okay, or if you are a kid and and and you're here or you're watching, uh at some point you you know you you asked your parents for permission to do something or to have something.

Hey, can can I have ice cream for breakfast?

Can I go on a bike ride with my kids?

Can I play video games all night and not sleep?

And you've had these kinds of questions that you have asked your uh parents only to have your mom and dad respond at the exact same time with two very different answers.

You ever experienced that before?

Where one says yes, and simultaneously the other one says, no, no chance you're having ice cream for breakfast.

Okay, mom says, sure, dad says, uh maybe later or not today.

Okay?

Now, in those situations, when that happens and parents say that, parents always give each other that like super annoyed look at each other.

Like, could we not have just been in sync a little bit on this?

Where it where the kids, they're they're kind of looking back and forth from mom to dad, saying, Okay, I just heard two very different answers here.

Who is it that I am supposed to obey?

Okay.

Now, the reason I share that is because the the key verse from our passage today, verse 29, is where Peter and the apostles, they respond to the religious counsel's directives that they've been very clear in giving them by saying, listen, we must obey God rather than men.

Okay, so these guys, when when posted or when posed with the dilemma of who to obey, okay, they unequivocally choose to follow the Lord.

Okay, if only it were that simple for kids uh with their parents.

Okay, now as Christ followers, okay, we will all find ourselves faced with this dilemma at some point in life, okay, or multiple times in life uh to be more accurate.

Okay, who do I obey here?

Do I obey my boss?

Right, my boss who is kind of trying to get me to do something that's that's unethical.

Do I obey him or do I obey the Lord?

This can happen in other relationships that we have as well.

How about in marriage?

You know, even in Christian marriage, sometimes this can get a bit complicated.

You know, I I want to follow my husband, I want to be on the same page as my wife, but what they're suggesting, what they're what they desire, is actually against the scriptures, it's against God.

What do I do?

If you're a student, whether you're young or you're a university student, it's do I obey my teachers?

Right?

Do I obey and the agenda that they're trying to push on me here?

How do I answer in my assignments on the exam?

Do I obey them or do I obey the Lord?

Okay, it might sound like a silly example, but how about celebrities?

Okay, because people are famous and they have something to say on Instagram, therefore they must be followed, right?

That's what a lot of people think, though.

And if they're popular and they have a lot of money, what they say?

Do I do am I gonna follow them or am I gonna follow the Lord?

I mean, the list goes on.

Government, I mean, that's one.

Do we at what point, at what point do we follow the government or do we follow the Lord?

Listen, the question is, what will we do next time?

What will you do next time?

You're faced with a predicament like that.

Will you and I, will we obey God rather than men?

Or or is it going to be the other way around?

Why don't we take a look at our verses now?

Uh join me along as we read and we see how this all plays out.

This is Acts 5, starting in verse 17.

It says, But the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the Senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, We found the prison securely locked, and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.

Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.

And someone came and told them, Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly charge you not to teach in this name.

Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men.

The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

Father God, we read your word there and we see that in this case it's very simple.

It's it's obey you, it's not obey man.

Father, we confess that uh there are many instances in our lives where uh we find ourselves conflicted.

Or we find that following you, obeying you is is hard.

Part of us wants to do it, but we have fears, we have concerns, we have other desires that compete against the Spirit of God within us who urges us to follow you with all of our hearts.

And so, God, would you help your church today?

God, would you encourage your church today?

Lord, would you show us that it is worth following you?

Lord, we would we we see that you are good, as we have have even just heard and sung.

Lord, I pray, I pray, God, that as we once again look at the gospel and recognize that these uh uh disciples, these apostles were so motivated by the truth of the gospel, Lord, I pray that we would as well.

Lord, that no matter what challenges and and what difficulties come our way, we would choose to obey God rather than men.

God, I pray that you would steal our spines in this, give us great courage, give us great wisdom, give us a great heart and love for you and for people.

God, help us, I pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

Well, hey, jumping right into the first thing here this morning, three points, okay?

When I obey God rather than men, it will certainly cost me.

It'll cost me.

Now you might remember from last week we saw the apostles.

Remember how they were witnessing uh boldly, they were performing these signs and wonders uh through the Holy Spirit, these sick and afflicted people were, they were all being healed, it says, right, in all these amazing ways.

And of course, all of this was happening to the chagrin of the Jewish religious leaders.

They were not happy about all of this.

And we've already seen multiple examples of that, and it just continues here, right?

And remember that they'd already threatened Peter and John, they'd already put them in prison for a night.

It says there, uh back in chapter 4, verse 18, that they threatened them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

And in the next two verses, verses 19 and 20, Peter and John respond by saying, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to, okay, or obey, you rather than God, you must judge.

For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

Okay, so the apostles, they've already made up their minds here.

Okay, they're obeying the Lord.

They're all in on that.

Now, a question that you might be wondering is like, how are they able to do that?

Well, it's because they were they were so inspired, okay, so inspired by the risen Christ and the awesome reality of their salvation that again, they just go for it.

Right?

We're we're all of our chips are into the middle here, and we are obeying him regardless of the cost.

Right?

The desire to honor Christ and follow him and obeyed him outweighed whatever cost uh might come.

Okay, and understand, there absolutely is a cost.

Right?

As we're gonna see it here now into our passage, chapter 5, verse 17.

Look at it again with me.

It says, But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, it says, Who are the Sadducees?

Well, they were one of the religious groups involved in the leadership council called the Sanhedrin back in this time.

Okay, so the high priest, the Sadducees are with him.

It says they are filled with jealousy.

Interesting that the Holy Spirit gives us insight into what is going on in their heart, their motive.

So the decisions that they are making here are because of, they're coming up from a place of jealousy.

Jealousy due to seeing how much the general population of Jerusalem, and we know even those outside of Jerusalem from last week, how much they just revered the apostles.

Right?

They saw that what was happening was clearly a work of God, and so they're filled with jealousy.

Keep going.

It says, and they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

Okay, so that right there is the obvious cost that these men have to pay.

Now, in North America, uh, Canada, of course, is where we are, I think that we have a particularly difficult time accepting the idea of there being a cost to following Christ.

I think we really do.

Despite the fact that we kind of have some head knowledge about it, we know that there is some cost.

We we know that the Bible is clear that there's definitely a cost.

I think despite all of that, we large in part, generally speaking, as North America, as Canadian Christians, we we embrace this, like we want our cake and eat it too mentality.

Have you noticed that in yourself?

Have you seen that?

Again, we kind of know that we're called to, yeah, I'm called to take up my cross and follow Jesus.

I see, I see that in there.

I know that I'm to be willing to even have my my own family, my own flesh and blood despise me for the sake of Jesus.

I I know that I'm to give of myself sacrificially to the point where it may even hurt.

And I get that, but yet I I still I still just kind of want it all.

I I want my my creature comforts.

I I want the good life.

I think if we're honest, so many of us, we we want to be Christians.

Okay, we we want to be faithful Christians, even.

There's that desire going on there in our hearts.

If you're truly a believer, uh you're gonna be there.

But but only as long as God doesn't really disrupt my plans.

Right?

Only as long as He doesn't push me outside of my comfort zone and and it would be difficult.

On one hand, we we want to be be better at something like evangelism, which is what's been happening through these passages that we've been looking at.

We want to be better at that.

There is kind of this desire, and I feel maybe a little bit guilty about it on Sundays.

Okay, but but really I want I want to be a better witness as long as people still like me afterwards.

Right?

You see how we kind of want it both ways?

On some level, I want to be true to the Lord, but but if I can, can we not just do it with as little or or really no cost as possible?

Isn't that kind of how we operate a little bit?

Only the problem is it's not possible.

Right?

There is a cost.

Okay, so what do we do?

Like how how do you and I get out of that that line of thinking, that that rut?

How do we get to the point where our our values and our desires and what we hold high?

How do we get that to the point where it inherently changes and flips, where we're no longer holding so dear and so tightly to our wants and our our our own priorities more than we hold on to God's priorities.

How do we get to the point so that we we we we truly obey Him when life is difficult and actually we want to, regardless of the cost involved.

Well, as if you're kind of thinking about this and you're you know you're realizing that you need to change, I think it really starts right there.

I I think if we're gonna kind of get forge a path forward and grow in these things, it has to start with accepting that the way that I've been thinking and the way I operate and the way that I function, it's it's just not okay.

If I want my cake and eat it too, if I want to be faithful to Christ, but at the same time not upset anybody and and and at the same time I still want everything that the world has to offer me, we have to at some level accept that this is not okay, this is dualism.

Right?

Our our hearts are divided here.

Right?

And if you accept that, then you're in the position to be like, Lord, this isn't right, and and and and I need your help.

I mean, what a phenomenal place to start.

Right?

It really is.

When you're at that place where you recognize things aren't quite right and and and I can't fix this, and this has been going on for way too long, and and I need the Lord, you're in the position of being able to receive God's grace now.

Because you've been humbled and you realize that you can't do this, and and you need him, you need his spiritual help.

So I think it really has to start by, on some level, accepting that the way you've been living, the way you've been thinking, the way you've been operating, it's just it's not okay.

It's not compatible with the scriptures and the life that Christ has called to.

I think another thing that, you know, as we kind of move through this to think about as we want to grow and we want to change, is we really need to be able to discern our idols.

We've talked about that plenty around here.

We need to see what's and understand what's going on in our heart, how is our heart warped?

Not just that it is warped, what are the specific ways?

Right?

As you are facing that dilemma, am I gonna obey God or am I gonna obey man and that's hard?

Are you able to identify why that's hard?

Are you able to identify in your heart the idol that your heart wants?

Okay, can you see that?

Do you know it there?

It might be two, three, four, six.

Right?

It's been said before, I heard someone say that there are basically four main source idols that's going on in any one of our hearts at any time.

Okay, it's the idol of comfort.

We all want to be comfortable.

We don't want to be pushed out of our comfort zone.

We don't want to be in pain.

Like, so we have sometimes we have this idol of comfort, and and that because we because we worship the idol of comfort, whatever God calls us to is ultimately gonna come underneath that.

That's why we don't evangelize, that's why maybe we're not bold.

Perhaps for you, another idol could be could be approval.

I'm desperate for people's approval, and so I don't want to say anything that might offend them because I want their approval.

Maybe for you it's control.

We're all control freaks, aren't we?

The one thing the coronavirus has shown us is that we don't here have nearly as much control as we thought we did.

We want control.

We want to be able to chart the course of our lives.

How about um how about power?

That's another source.

Idol.

Some people just want they want power, you want to feel strong, you want to have power over a person or over a situation.

Can you discern your idols what they are?

And then I think this this next thing here, and this is something that I personally have just spent, is spending more and more time thinking about for myself.

It's not just about discerning what your idols are, but but really determining what are the lies beneath those idols that prop those idols up that I believe.

Have you ever spent any time thinking about that for yourself?

What are the lies that I believe deep down?

You might be saying, well, we're Christians, we believe what's true.

So all of us, not just so many of us, all of us have these lies that we believe deep down in our subconscious that that drive the idolatry and drive the disobedience in our lives.

Let me give you an example of that.

Just taking a look at one of those idols that we talked about.

Let's take a look at approval.

Okay, let's say you you just want people's approval so badly and and that holds you back from obeying Christ with your whole heart.

Well, maybe somewhere under all of that, one of the lies that you believe is that I need people's approval in order to be okay.

Is that a lie that you believe and that you tell yourself and that you are bought into?

I will not be okay unless I have that person's approval.

That's a lie.

It's so not true.

How about another one related to approval?

This conflict is fatal to my well-being.

Conflict is fatal to my well-being.

Therefore, I would never want to get into a disagreement with my neighbor about the resurrection of Jesus.

I just, I'm so uncomfortable with conflict.

So how many of us we hate conflict, right?

And so therefore, that that holds us back because we believe that conflict will destroy us.

Now, in our heads we know that it won't.

We know that the sun will rise again, but deep down in our hearts, we actually function as though we believe that conflict is fatal to my well-being.

How about this one?

Another lie just based on approval or looking at approval.

I would never recover from rejection.

Do you believe that lie?

Well, if I were to share my faith, if I were to be bold, if I were to obey God's call in my life, to bring the gospel to the nations, then some people will reject me and that will destroy me.

I would never recover from that.

Maybe deep down that's that's driving how you live.

Listen, that's that's a lie.

None of that is true.

Not at all.

Listen, we need to determine the lies that we believe that are underneath the idols that we worship.

And then when we have done that, honestly, this is the best part here.

It's identifying what's true and believing that instead.

Okay, so again, let's just continue with the approval idol that we've been talking about here.

Okay, what's the truth that comes up against these lies that we believe?

Well, how about this?

Christ already approves of me 100%.

Right?

That's the truth.

Christ approves you.

The second that you get saved, you have 100% of God's approval.

Yeah, but what if I sin?

Isn't that approval gonna leak?

Nope.

Not according to the scriptures.

No more condemnation, people.

Right?

God's approval is what I need.

And guess what?

I already have it.

That's the truth.

It's reminding yourself of that, it's it's it's meditating on that, it's it's it's attaching scripture verses to that.

Let's get this verse up here.

I love this from uh 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4.

1 Thessalonians 2:4

Look how good this is.

But just as we have been approved by God, do you have to earn it?

Is it is it gonna come at a later date?

No, you got it now.

Just as we've been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak.

Look, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Right?

That is a verse that you might want to write on a sticky note and put on your mirror in the morning when you get ready.

I don't need to live for people's approval, I've already got God's.

Here's an amazing verse that will begin to transform my heart.

And once my heart is transformed, then my actions are transformed and I live in a completely new way.

Listen, I've got I've got a whole series that I'm kind of working on right now that we're gonna talk about a lot more of this thing uh coming up in the fall, and I'm really excited for that as we look at being transformed by God.

But listen, listen, these disciples, these apostles here, they're no different than us.

I've said that a number of times.

I'll continue to say it.

They're regular guys, fishermen, right?

And it's just that they deeply believed what was true.

That Jesus was alive, that sin and death were crushed and mangled.

And Christ is here to save people in deep spiritual trouble.

Okay, and because they believed that, they would stop at nothing to proclaim that truth, no matter the cost.

And there is a cost to obeying God.

But listen, it is very much possible, listen, church, it is very much possible to get to the point in your walk where you make peace with that.

Right?

I I get it, there is gonna be a cost, but I'm okay with that.

And and it's very possible for you to be able to move on.

In greater faithfulness and greater obedience to the Lord.

I don't know about you, but that's exciting to me.

To think, though, wait a second, I can actually see these lies that I believe deep down, maybe for my whole life, start to erode and fall apart as the truth takes over and then my life change.

That's that's amazing.

I'd love to keep talking about that and we'll get to more of it, but let's get to the second thing here.

Okay, when I obey God rather than man, he somehow works it out.

Okay, so when we're faced with the cost of uh obedience, it's amazing how you know somehow he works and he just moves in these amazing ways.

Okay, remember now that the apostles were in prison for what they did.

That's the cost that they're dealing with.

And yet so much good happens despite that.

Okay, take a look at verse 19 as we continue.

It says, But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out.

Wow, like that's that's kind of different.

That's kind of amazing.

Okay, we'll get into that more.

Keep going.

Okay, and said this to them: this is the angel.

Now go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

Okay, what does that mean?

Well, that's the words of salvation.

Okay, the words of life through Jesus Christ, the the words of the gospel.

He's like, continue to go out and proclaim it.

Okay, so so they're committed to obeying God rather than men in choosing to proclaim Christ no matter what.

And what does the Lord do?

He just kind of makes it happen.

You see how he just works it out?

Nothing stops him, nothing's gonna stop his mission, nothing's gonna stop his plan.

We can trust him.

You know, verse 21, keep going.

It says, and when they heard this, this is the disciples now, they entered the temple at daybreak, okay, which is when the people would again gather for worship, right?

And it says, and they began to teach.

They're just faithful.

Now, when the high priest came, and those who were with him, so again the Sadducees, and began, uh, or so it says, sorry, it says they called together the council, all the Senate of the people of Israel.

Okay, the council and the senate, really two ways of saying the same thing.

It's talking about the Sanhedrin, which is the fancy word for the entire council altogether, okay?

So they gather everybody all together, and they're getting ready to grill the disciples once again and assert their dominance and their uh authority over the situation.

Okay.

So obviously at this point they have no idea what's just taking place.

If the angel showed up, okay, but verse 22, look.

It says, but when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison.

Yeah, go figure.

So they returned and reported, we found the prisons securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we we found no one inside.

Now, when the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, I love it, they were greatly perplexed about them.

Real head scratcher.

Hey, wondering what this would come to.

And someone came and told them, Look, the men whom you put in prison, okay, just yesterday, are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

In other words, they are uh defying your direct order.

Okay, now while it's personally enjoyable for me to kind of picture the mounting frustration that's going on here among the religious leaders as everything that they're trying to enforce is all just getting squashed by the Lord.

That's not really the point to draw out here.

It's that God just flat out makes a way when it seems like it's done.

Right?

It seems like you're gonna stick a fork in the disciples, this is over, their top guys are in prison now, the church is gonna die.

Forget it.

The Lord just makes it happen.

Seems like it's game over, seems like it's lost, it's not, it never is.

See, I love that while we have to address the reality of there being a cost involved when we obey the Lord, we absolutely don't try and pretend that there's no cost.

We do need to address it.

Isn't it amazing how it doesn't end there?

It doesn't end with the cost.

Listen, God always, always blesses obedience.

Remember that.

He always blesses it.

He will always work it out somehow when you and I obey.

He really will.

Now, here in this context, in this situation that we just read, I mean, he obviously he sends this angel to facilitate this miraculous prison escape.

And, you know, I love how we're not even told what all the details of all of that are.

Right?

We know that the prison doors were open and they walked out, but but like what exactly happened?

Were they made invisible and walked out?

Were the guards distracted by you know the angel throwing a rock against the wall and they turned and then the guy snuck out one way?

Were the guards' eyes blinded so they couldn't see?

I mean, that's where my head goes as I'm reading through this, and and then and the text doesn't even tell us.

It doesn't matter.

It's like the Lord works it out.

He does what he will do.

Okay?

All we know is that somehow it all happens according to plan.

Okay, so you could say here in this instance, as you as you think about this, that the cost of them going to prison for their obedience is is removed.

The cost has been reversed.

They were once in prison, now they're back out.

Okay, now all of that being said, okay, God may not always do that with us.

I think we kind of know that.

In fact, we know that not every single cost that Christians face for their obedience is reversed by God.

Okay, sometimes Christians lose relationships and they're never repaired.

Some of you are facing that with friends and and with family.

It's a heavy cost.

Sometimes Christians lose their jobs and they don't they don't get that back just for obeying the Lord.

Sometimes Christians have have hard marriages or or go to prison or even die for the sake of Jesus.

Okay, but even in those instances, okay, we have to believe as as Christ followers that God is still working it out.

He still is.

Or he will work it out somehow in some way for good and and for his glory.

Okay, so if you're hearing all of this and your mind is is very quickly drawn to a situation that you're currently in, and you know, you're facing this heavy cost for your obedience right now for obeying God rather than men, or or or you're kind of doing the math and you're processing all of this and trying to prepare yourself for that to happen sooner or later.

Listen, believe and cling to uh what we read in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Let's get this verse uh up here for us.

I love this.

It says, and we know, okay, that for those who love God, that's Christians, all things, not some things, not one thing, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.

Do you believe that verse?

I know you know it, you've heard it before, but do you actually believe it?

Does that impact the way that you live?

He will make a way, he will work it out for his purposes above all.

Okay, meaning that you may not be able to kind of see the good that he's doing because it's all happening behind the scenes.

He's working something out and you can't see it.

All you're faced with is the cost and the difficulty right now, and God's grace in the midst of all of that.

Okay, it might even mean that you won't see the good that God promises from all of this in your lifetime.

It might mean that it will happen later down the road.

But listen, regardless, God is working it out for good.

For your good, for his purposes, for the sake of the gospel and the glory of his name.

That is what he is committed to, which is exactly, I think, what we see here in this next thing, final thing.

When I obey God rather than men, the mission moves forward.

Okay, maybe pretty obvious, but that's true.

Verse 26, take a look.

It says, and the captain with the officers went and brought them, that's the apostles now, uh, but not by force.

Okay, for they were, look at this, afraid.

Okay, they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Remember how it showed us a little bit earlier the motive of jealousy?

Now we see here the motive of fear.

Okay, this is how these men are being driven here.

They were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Why?

Well, because it was so clear to the general public, again, that the apostles were doing the work of God.

It was so obvious to everybody.

And so, because of that, it looks really bad that these officers and the religious council are now trying to detain the apostles again.

And so the Sanhedrin, they're trying to handle this as carefully as possible.

Okay, they're not at all happy, they're fearful for what is happening, they sense their power and their control uh slipping away, and they're trying to maintain any shred of respect that they might still have from the population.

Okay, so that's kind of what's going on here.

Now, verse 27.

And when they brought them, again, not by force, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name.

Yet here we are, right?

Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Okay, so that's a telling phrase.

They still have zero desire, they refuse to accept responsibility for the death of Christ.

Like, man, you're you guys are still trying to make us take the blame for the death of Jesus?

The apostle's like, uh yeah.

Like that's that's exactly what's what happened.

Verse 29.

But Peter and the apostles answered, here it is, we must obey God rather than men.

Now, verse 30, and notice how once again they just launch into the gospel.

You see this?

Right?

This is the gospel that's changed them.

It's changing many, many others in the area, in the region.

They say, the God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed, okay, by hanging him on a tree.

God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior.

Love that phrase.

To look at, give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

And we are witnesses to these things.

We've seen it, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

And so there's the good news in a nutshell.

These men, the apostles, they've been forever changed by the fact that the God of their fathers raised Jesus after the council killed him by hanging him on a tree.

God exalted him to the position of leader and savior of the world so that Israel, but we know ultimately everyone, any anyone could be love this, given repentance and forgiveness of sin.

Given that.

Our salvation is a gift.

Right?

Repentance and forgiveness.

That's something you you earn and you work hard to try and get God to maybe throw you a bone.

No, it's it's given to us freely.

They say, they and the Holy Spirit are witnesses.

Yeah, I love that.

They throw that in there.

Listen, the Holy Spirit is on board with what's happening through us.

You you religious leaders, you think you're doing the work of God, but you're not.

You're actually going against him.

The Holy Spirit, God, he is with us here.

You see it.

They obey God rather than men.

And what continues to happen?

The mission.

The mission just continues to move forward.

So, church, listen, let's remind ourselves today and every single day that this is why we exist.

Right?

To see this mission go forward, to join the Lord in the most important and awesome purpose ever given.

To see Jesus proclaimed, to see people embrace the gift of repentance and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ.

Let's obey Him in this.

Let's obey God rather than men.

And then just watch as the Lord does astonishing, astounding, amazing things in you.

He'll do it in your families, he'll do it in our church, he'll do it in our community.

And on that note, perhaps you need to embrace Christ as Lord today.

Whether you're here with us or you're watching, you need to allow God to give you the gift of repentance and the gift of forgiveness.

Right?

That is the gospel.

That's why Jesus came to earth.

That's why he died on the cross to take all of God's wrath, the punishment that's supposed to be aimed at you.

He took all of it in himself.

He absorbed God's wrath, he absorbed that punishment so that if you would admit that and and confess him as Lord and believe that he did that for you, you would be saved, you would be forgiven.

I would challenge you and encourage you to receive that today.

Reach out to one of us here, talk to us, send us a line if you have questions about that or you want to talk more about it.

We would love to help you begin a relationship with the God who made you and get you involved in this mission now to see the gospel propelled forward as we obey God.

Rather than that.

God, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the truth of it.

We thank you for how it exposes our sin.

Lord, I pray that we would not just stay there and in this beat-up, broken place, Lord, but that we would see the awesomeness of your grace, that we would see the amazingness of being called into this mission, that we would see that the Holy Spirit is with us, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead is alive and at work in us.

God, I pray that you would radically shift our perspective, Lord.

I pray that you would not just point out the idols that we worship and the lies that we believe, but Lord, anchor us to the truth, God, that as we will face consequences for doing the right thing in this world, God, I pray that it would we would willingly accept it.

Because we have an opportunity to honor you, to glorify you, and and to see people come to Jesus Christ.

So, God, fortify your church today.

Strengthen our resolve, Lord.

Magnify Jesus in us, God.

We know we know that we're not enough without you.

We need you.

So God, have mercy.

We pray all of this in His name.

Amen.