The Book Of Acts | Standing Firm In Persecution Part 1 (June 14th, 2020) - Mike Armstrong

All right, well, good morning.

Redemption Acts chapter for today.

Now, as a father of a son in whom I am well pleased, uh, this is Wyatt, uh, one of the ways that we like to show affection in our home is uh by playfully, one of us playfully shoving the other anytime we walk past each other uh in our house, like in the hallway or in the living room kitchen, whatever it may be.

And so you want to uh give us an example of what that might look like?

All right, perfect, perfect.

Okay, so that is exactly uh what happens uh constantly uh in our house, right?

Now, one of my favorite things to do uh in response to all of this is to try my best to stand as firm as I possibly can without budging, right?

And of course, he's you know shoving and pushing me, you know, and I am just trying to show him my dominant man strength uh over his little wee piddly boy strength.

Okay, so you want to give us uh an example of what that looks like?

All right, go for it.

Okay, so I'm staying Okay, perfect.

Thanks, buddy.

All right, so as you can tell there, okay, standing firm uh is hard, right?

It is hard to do.

Okay now, as as Christians and as you know, a church, you know, we have the challenge of standing firm, you know, when it comes to the persecution that we will face from those who oppose Christ and oppose his followers.

In Acts chapter four here, we see such a powerful and I think very helpful example from Peter and John on how to stand firm in the face of persecution and not you know fall down.

Okay.

And I mean I think there's just so much that we can glean here and really need to glean, you know, uh from it as as as churches are only gonna get more persecuted and have more trouble come our way uh in the coming days.

Right?

You and I, we have got to be prepared.

We've got to be ready.

Hey, now as as our you know passage, you know, absolutely, you know, deals with you know persecution towards Christians for you know proclaiming Christ and you know and the injustice of that, you know, as I think about this text, you know, my mind can't help but you know drift somewhat, and maybe yours does as well, to you know, the various injustices that we are seeing uh going on in our world, you know, right now, you know, when it comes to, of course, you know, the racism and and the George uh Floyd incident and you know the you know the action of some police and of course the you know the many different you know very ungodly responses to all of that that we're seeing you know from the world as people you know everywhere just just react and respond, you know, out of their you know, anger and and out of their pain and out of their you know their hatred and their ignorance and and in their self you know righteousness at times.

And so as I think about that, you know, now maybe more than ever, you know, the world needs to see a church who responds like Jesus, right?

Would you agree?

Right?

The world is, you know, they're crying for that, right?

And and and we need to, as Christians, as a church, we need to be to be like Christ.

And we need to be, you know, thinking biblically about all of this.

And it's complicated.

And we've got to take some time to think through how how do I respond, how do I think well through this, you know, uh as Christians, we need to be, you know, loving people genuinely, you know, not not just virtue signaling and you know, there's a ton of that going on.

And certainly we need to be speaking wisely into this situation, not just, you know, whatever emotional response might come, you know, off the off of our tongue.

No, we need to be very careful and we need to speak uh wisdom uh into this situation.

So, you know, these are you know a lot of the things that have been going through my mind over the last little while and and and likely for you as well.

And so I just really, as we pray here and and commit our time to the Lord, I want to pray for these things and and uh and pray for us.

And so why don't you uh join me uh as we seek the Lord?

God, we come before you and and and really just recognize that uh our world is hemorrhaging right now, Lord, and our world is in so much pain and there is you know so much hatred out there, Lord.

And as as believers, you know, uh of course we're against that, Lord.

We of course we are against, you know, racial prejudice and the hatred of all of that, Lord.

We are we are Christians who are called to love you and to love our neighbor.

And so, God, I pray that you would help uh our church uh to be able to do that well, Lord, and think through these things uh critically and very carefully and speak uh wisely into the situations, Lord, as they present themselves.

Lord, I pray that we'd be looking for people who might be hurting and and and caring for them and be sensitive and and careful in the words that we say, the tone, how we say things, Lord.

These are these are so uh important, God.

I I pray for uh people in our church of color who you know are processing this in just a heavier and and deeper way than uh than maybe some of us are, God.

And I pray for them.

I pray that that you would draw near to them and and and help them in this time of need, Lord.

I pray that you would unite our church, Lord.

I pray that we would reflect uh you, the one true God, Lord, the love that you have uh for all people, God.

And of course, I pray for our world right now uh and uh the the just the the carnage that is is going on and is and is coming out of hearts and is coming through uh actions, God.

Lord, all of this makes us uh yearn for heaven, God.

It makes us long for you to come back and and to make all things new.

And so, God, we we we look to eternity and long for that time, certainly.

But Lord, in the meantime, I pray that you would do a mighty work of uh of first reconciling people to yourself and then unifying uh people together, Lord.

We know that that that will only ultimately come through Jesus Christ, Lord.

And so uh I pray that you would use uh churches across uh our our town and across our country and certainly uh churches uh in in the US, our neighbors to the south, Lord, use our church, uh God, to be a model of what peace looks like and what unity looks like in all of these times, God.

And I pray now as we jump into Acts chapter four, Lord, and talk about uh persecution and and look at some uh some really uh heat, uh really heated situation here in Acts 4, God.

I pray that as we you know think about you know maybe some of the circumstances that we're in, and some of us are facing persecution.

And Lord, I think as we consider the political climate and as we consider what's going on in our country and we look ahead uh to some things, I think we can forecast that more persecution is going to come uh to us as believers.

And so, God, I pray, I pray that your spirit uh would empower us and enable us to stand firm uh in you in the face of all this.

I pray that you would teach us how to do this now as we look at this text.

And so, God, uh be merciful to us.

I pray, Lord, encourage us in these things.

We pray it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, I mean, we haven't even uh read the passage yet, and so let's uh do that together.

Acts chapter four, we're gonna be reading uh verses one uh to twelve here today, and so follow along with me.

It says this it says, and they were speaking, and as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

And but many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family.

And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power or by what name did you do this?

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well.

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

All right, well, today is Standing Firm in Persecution, uh, part one.

Okay, so next week will be part two as we uh finish off uh this section here.

Uh, but here we go.

Okay, how to stand firm uh when I am persecuted.

Three things today.

Here's the first one.

Accept, first of all, that there will always be opposition.

All right, so we remember from Acts chapter three that we've just had, you know, the healing of that man who was, you know, lame from birth, and the Jews, the the ones that were gathered around, and they saw it, you know, they were they were totally blown away by this, right?

The the text told us that they were they were astounded.

Okay, and and then what happens here is is immediately, okay, immediately the Jewish leaders, you know, they they react to this and and and they react to you know the sermon that that Peter preaches in response uh to the people's reaction, these Jewish leaders, they respond in all kinds of negative ways.

Okay, and we know that it was an immediate response by them because uh verse one uh tells us this.

Follow along.

It says, and as they were speaking to the people.

Okay, so so Peter, he haven't even finished his sermon yet.

Okay, as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees.

Okay, stop right there for a second.

Okay, so so so these were you know a couple of different groups that that made up the you know the religious leaders that were responsible for temple worship and and that entire uh operation.

All right, and so it says there, keep going, it says that they came upon them, I love this, greatly annoyed.

Okay, what a great phrase.

They were so rattled by this event, by the by the healed man, by Peter's sermon that they were they were greatly annoyed by it.

That that literally means to be uh to be troubled or or greatly disturbed.

Okay, greatly disturbed.

Now you might be thinking, like, why?

Like, what's the big deal here?

Well, because keep going, okay, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus, here it is, the resurrection from the dead.

Okay, and you might remember uh from back in our time in Mark's gospel, but but you can also jot this down in Luke chapter 20 in verses 27 to 40, right, we learn there that this the the Sadducees, they were a you know, a sect, okay, of the Jewish religious leadership who denied that resurrection uh was possible.

Luke 20 · chapter mention

And we and we learn in Luke and again in Mark as well, you know, that Jesus, you know, he he calls them out on that.

And he says, no, resurrection is possible, and and the very scriptures you claim to believe uh actually show that here.

Okay, and so because these early Christians, Peter and John and the apostles remember, because they had witnessed the empty tomb and they had seen Jesus alive on multiple occasions, right?

It just absolutely drove these Sadducees nuts, right?

They were livid, they were so annoyed by this, it says, because again, they they they were ultra convinced, okay, wrongly, of their of their theology.

They they they they they thought that it was right and they were they were holding on to that, even though Jesus called them out on it and showed them that they were wrong, in in their pride and in their arrogance and in their self-righteousness about you know the truth that they that they thought they knew, which of course they did not, uh they were in this like you know entrenched position where no one could tell them otherwise.

Okay, so it says here, verse three, it says that they arrested Peter and John and put them in custody.

Okay, now in these leaders' minds here, the the religious leaders, right, they they did have a legal right to do this in some ways because they, you know, they had interpreted the healing of this man and and and Peter's sermon here as disturbing the peace.

Remember, they were in charge of you know, keeping the peace, you know, in the temple and worship and all of that.

And uh, and so you know, they they thought they had a right to be able to do this.

But again, really what's going on here is is they were just again annoyed by by Peter's sermon and the fact that he was preaching Christ, you know, crucified and risen, right?

He was opposing their beliefs about uh resurrection.

Okay, so he put they put them in custody, it says, until the next day, for it was already evening.

And so because it was getting late, and you know, the Sanhedrin, the council that we're gonna see here in a second, because they didn't gather till the morning, like, well, let's just, you know, throw them, you know, in a cell and let them rot overnight and let them think about what they're doing.

And maybe next time they'll they'll think twice, you know, about proclaiming Jesus.

Now, I I think a very fundamental thing uh that that this you know, these verses here show us, you know, and that and that Christians and and churches, you know, everywhere, you know, especially in the West, here where we are, you know, that we what it shows us that we need to come to grips with is the notion that that persecution will be a reality for us.

Okay, you and I, we we have to, in our, you know, in our hearts and in our minds and in our volition accept that there will there will always be opposition aimed at Bible-believing uh Jesus following individuals and and and organizations.

Right?

The Bible never once shies away from that, it never skirts around the issue and tries to sell us a bill of goods that no, you follow Jesus and nothing bad will ever happen to you, and you know, it'll be kumbaya and everyone will get along.

It never says that.

In fact, that the Bible is very forthright to say that no, persecution does come and it will come, and we're seeing a perfect example of this here in Acts 4.

Okay, and and we're gonna see here that the early church, uh all through the book of Acts, we're gonna see them get persecuted and and and get oppressed in all kinds of different ways, you know, all along the way.

In fact, we're gonna see that that some of the examples, you know, that that of persecution here that by and large do not mirror uh our own experiences.

Uh, again, at least here in in the West.

We know that there are all kinds of atrocities being committed today against Christians uh in in many other nations.

But again, we have, you know, we have a lot of freedom, right?

And what we're gonna see here again in Acts is just that that what these believers go through and what our brothers and sisters across the world are going through can be just like downright brutal, right?

It can be awful.

Now, uh on one hand, as we as we kind of think about ourselves here, you know, you and I, we we have to be extremely grateful, you know, to God for just the the general you know peace and and the freedom that that you and I have had to worship God in this country uh for a very long time.

Right?

We we have so much to be to be thankful for, right?

We simply aren't oppressed and we are not persecuted the way that, again, others are uh in other uh corners of the globe.

And I mean that is that is God's grace to us, right?

It really is.

And and every one of us, we we we take that for granted for sure, and and and we don't often appreciate that until uh it's gone.

But we need to think about that, right?

And just be thankful, God, thank you, that that that life is, you know, generally speaking, easy for us as believers.

That's true on one hand.

Now, on the other hand, okay, some of our you know lack of oppression is actually our fault, right?

It really is.

Okay.

See, if if we actually spoke and and acted and and lived as biblical Christians ought to, okay, you know, we would receive, I think, you know, a lot more blowback, right?

Right, even in this, in this country, right?

And that is that that's failure on our part that you know that we have to own and that we have to repent of.

Now, obviously, no one wants to be oppressed, and I'm not even saying that we should all you know go out looking for it and and and when we receive it, you know, kind of wear it as a badge of honor, as some kind of weird twisted pride thing or something like that.

Not at all.

Okay, but I but I think what goes on in in many of our hearts in in this area is that is that we we we so desperately want to be accepted and you know, and and and liked by the world and and even thought of as cool.

Right?

I mean, that's that that's what always comes to mind for me whenever a famous person uh professes faith in Jesus Christ, right?

Or or you know, it's like it's a celebrity, it's a it's an actor, it's a it's an athlete or something like that.

Whenever one of them, you know, even you know, even casually mentions the name God in a you know semi-favorable way in an interview uh or or something like that.

You know, we hear that, and Christians are often, you know, you know, so you know, like, wow, like look, look how look how cool they are.

And and and isn't that amazing that this athlete became a Christian and see they're cool, and and and maybe that makes us a little bit cool as well, and kind of this, you know, you know, I think pathetic, kind of desperate, you know, craving for validation from a world that that we're called to you know, to be set apart from.

Right?

And I mean, do you see that that mentality in yourself sometime?

I I mean sometimes I see it in myself, and and and I've sensed that in my heart where I'm like, ooh, like I kind of want to be accepted and I I want to be seen as cool.

I want to be liked, and and you know, that's that's kind of an ugly thing that I've realized uh for myself sometimes.

And I mean, at the end of the day, I just wish I was more bold, don't you?

Right?

I I wish I was just, you know, I would just march across the street and and talk to my neighbors and just you know share Christ without any concern or of fear or or or them thinking I'm weird or anything like that.

But I think I think that's often how we feel.

Like we just we don't want to be seen as weird, and we don't want to, you know, say anything that might bring us even just a you know a hint or or a shred of uh of opposition in any way.

And and because of that, I think it causes us to remain, you know, just kind of stuck, you know, where we are, you know, in this place where you know fear rules us and it stops us from ever, you know, stepping, you know, beyond that boundary or or or through that threshold, you know, into the ring where God calls us, where we can get involved in the mission of Jesus Christ and get to the place where we might feel and face some oppression.

Okay, and so I think for many of us, you know, a crucial, you know, primary step that we all need to take here is to just resign ourselves to the fact or or accept the fact that opposition will always be an aspect of life for anyone who desires to be faithful uh to Jesus and to not allow fear to govern us or you know, or or spend you know, too much energy and time, you know, wishing opposition and oppression away and hoping that it never comes uh you know across our doorstep or or all the energy that maybe we put into just you know orienting every aspect of our lives around staying as far away as we possibly can from any action that might bring us some blowback for you know standing up uh for Jesus Christ.

I mean, the earliest Christians here in the book of Acts, I mean, they seem to just accept the fact that there would always be those uh that would hate them, right?

They knew that, you know, hey, listen, we are we're saved by Jesus Christ.

We're so grateful that our eyes are open, but we understand the world doesn't like that, but because of our Love for the Lord, and because we want to be so faithful to him, and because we are so thankful for the gospel and the salvation that he has graciously bestowed upon us, because of that, we're gonna follow him.

And if that means opposition from the world, so be it.

We're just gonna we're just gonna take all of that as part and parcel of what it means to be a Christ follower.

We're gonna we're gonna follow him, uh, we're we're gonna trust him no matter uh what comes our way.

We will be faithful.

And so listen, church, will will you really like kind of chew on these things uh this week?

You know, would you you know bring your fears about all of this and and and maybe some of those like twisted desires that we have in our heart, you know, to just you know, kind of, you know, be accepted by the world or, you know, or or live a life of of ease where we kind of cocoon ourselves in this so-called protective bubble where you know no one ever says anything against us because we never say anything that might you know rock the boat a little bit?

Would you would you just kind of confess those to the Lord and and and repent?

And and God, I just ask for grace.

Like, God, I need more grace to to transform and change.

I recognize that I can't do that myself.

Lord, would you would you help me?

Would you answer these cries, these prayers?

Right?

Would you pray for hearts, you know, that that accept and and and get on board with the reality that that opposition will uh be a part of life for us.

Right?

If we have refuse to accept it, okay, well, we'll never be able to, you know, stand firm.

We'll never be faithful uh if and when it comes.

Right?

Or again, we'll never put ourselves in a position where we would ever be required to stand firm.

All right, second thing.

Second thing, how to stand firm when I'm persecuted.

Here it is.

Trust that God is still working even in the midst of it all.

Okay, in the midst of it all.

Now, verse four uh is an amazing verse uh that we see here.

Take a look at that.

It says, but many of those who had heard the word, okay, so so those who had heard Peter's sermon after the man was healed, it says that they believed, okay, meaning that they got saved.

They recognized their sinfulness, they repented of their sin before God, trusted Jesus Christ as their savior.

They believed, right?

And it says, and the number of men, okay, so just the men alone, okay, so think about the bigger number involved here.

Okay, then the number of men came to about five thousand in the church.

So you think that's just men, right?

So the last time we saw a number mentioned in Acts, it says uh that 3,000 were added to their number uh added, you know, to their number.

Now it's saying 5,000 men, which means there's probably well over 10,000 people in the church.

And if you think about that, I mean what an incredible verse that God saw fit to slide in here right into the to the middle of a very tense situation.

And God is is reminding the reader here, he's reminding you and I that even as his church is being persecuted, he will build his church.

Amen?

Right?

That is so amazing right there, right?

He he's you know, uh Christians being, you know, oppressed and being you know persecuted and churches getting attacked and all of that will never stop God from working, right?

It will never stop him from working to establish his rule and his reign, right?

His goals will always be accomplished, always, right?

His glory will constantly prevail.

That is that is true.

Now, why is it that it's so important that we know that?

Right?

Why is it so important that we that we trust that to be the case?

Well, because when we're facing persecution, it it feels like everything's falling apart, right?

Like people people hate on you and and they're attacking you and they're not they're not supporting you.

It it feels like everything is everything is going badly, right?

The Lord must not be working here, you know, my life is a mess, and and nothing good uh is happening.

And again, from from our human vantage point, okay, when when when we're you know being persecuted, it definitely gives us that kind of you know distinct impression that God's work must be failing.

Right?

Nothing good must be happening, right?

We're losing, right?

God's losing on an emotional level, and and again, even kind of optically, as we survey the scene there, it can definitely seem like that's the case.

Okay, but but Peter and John show us here uh that this is just not true, and the Lord shows us, right?

Because they have their first clash with with the authorities here.

Like we know they've had clashes with with some of the other Jews already, but this is this is like kind of their first major one uh with those who really directly oppose them, right?

And and and they're in, remember, they're in custody overnight, and and I mean, who knows where where where their headspace was at uh through the wee hours of the morning?

I mean, the text doesn't tell us, but but I mean, think about it, they're just human, right?

And and so I don't know, would they have gone through that or they've been like, well, you know, we're being persecuted and and this is bad, and is this the end for us?

And you know, is is God really working in all this?

We saw that he was before.

Is he still continuing to do?

I mean, again, human doubts and human fears often rise to the surface in this.

But verse four, you know, again, it just gives us this strong blast of encouragement, you know, where God, you know, sees fit to kind of tell us here that, oh, oh yeah, by the way, uh, I'm gonna continue to move and work.

I'm gonna save thousands more despite this persecution that's happening, uh, despite the very real difficulty uh that my people are facing.

Okay, so so trusting that God is still working, you know, as we're being persecuted, even though we can't, you know, see it because our vision is very much limited, even though we can't, you know, we don't feel warm and fuzzy about it, certainly, right?

Trusting that God is moving is such a key aspect uh to standing firm when we're being persecuted.

Right?

Your your God, he's he's not failing to move, right?

He hasn't stopped working, he hasn't let go of you.

His mission, his plan, it's not falling apart and failing and not going to be seen through to the end.

All of it is, and all of it will continue to happen.

Okay, so listen, find hope in that, right?

Right?

Uh find find find your strength and allow that to bring you peace when when your life is kind of in flux and and and it's hard and and you're feeling the emotions and and the pain.

You know, allow your your your joy to to grow and and swell.

Again, trust that the Lord uh is moving in the midst of your pain.

All right, here's the final thing how to stand firm when I'm persecuted.

Okay, it's champion the gospel without wavering.

Without wavering.

Verse five, follow along.

It says, on the next day, because this is the next morning now, their rulers and elders and scribes.

Okay, so these are now members of the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was like, you know, the the religious council that oversaw uh governance uh of these types of matters, okay.

And so those three types that it tells us there says, first of all, this the rulers, right?

The rulers were like the they they were the chief priests, okay, and then the elders, it says next, they were, you know, they were the kind of the lay leaders and the Sadducees uh represented there.

Okay, and and the scribes, that was the third group, uh they were like a class of lawyer, actually, and and they were the uh the Pharisees of the bunch.

Okay, it says that that these three groups, the Sanhedrin, they they gathered together in Jerusalem with, okay, now now it lists some some specific members of the priestly family.

Take a look.

It says uh they were together with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas.

Okay, so Caiaphas uh was the son-in-law of Annas, and Caiaphas was the uh was the acting chief priest uh at the time, or high priest rather.

Okay, so so again, who's Annas?

Well, Annas is like his father-in-law, and it was kind of I read somewhere that it was uh kind of like you know U.S.

presidents, even after they they they they stepped down and they're no longer acting presidents, they're still they still retain the title of president uh for their whole life.

And so Annas uh was a former uh high priest, Caiaphas is his son-in-law.

Next person, it says John there.

So likely John was uh the son, another uh son of Annas, who uh later became high priest.

Okay, Alexander's the next person mentioned.

Okay, we don't know much about him, but again, he's probably uh a relative of Annas uh as well.

Okay, keep going.

It says, and all who were of the high priestly family.

Okay, so you've got like all the big guns like loaded for bear.

They drag Peter and John out of their cell and and they set them down.

Uh it says here, uh in their midst.

Okay, notice that when they had set Peter and John in their midst, uh they inquired, okay, by what power or by what name did you do this?

Okay, then Peter, love this, filled with the Holy Spirit.

Okay, so notice there, God doesn't let them go, right?

God isn't like, well, Peter, best of luck kind of figuring that out.

No, like the Lord rushes to their aid, he he empowers Peter to respond as he did does here.

Okay, so Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, this intimidating, you know, board looking at them, said, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what man uh means this man has been healed.

So again, in in the spirit here, Peter's like, you know, you know, kind of weird that we're being harassed by, you know, you know, a great thing that was ultimately done to a man who, you know, truly needed it.

But, you know, okay, I guess, you know, continue to give us a hard time.

Okay, he says, uh, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified.

Notice how that's that's one of Peter's favorite things.

He just goes after it, right?

Whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.

Okay, he's not afraid to just go after that topic of resurrection, knowing that the Sadducees don't believe in it, okay, whom whom God raised from the dead, okay, by him, that's Jesus, this man, okay, the lame man, is standing before you well.

Okay, this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Okay, that right there, that's a reference, if you want to write this down, uh, to Psalm 118, uh, verse 22.

And now Peter uses it here to refer to Jesus as the foundational stone of Israel's uh redemption.

Okay, without Jesus, whom again the Jews have largely uh rejected here, without Jesus, salvation crumbles.

Just like if you remove a, you know, the cornerstone out of a wall, the wall crumbles.

Okay, keep going now.

He says, and there is salvation in no one else, okay, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Okay, so on one hand, what Peter's actually implying here is that this that this formerly lame man was not just healed, but he was also saved.

Okay, but but but but he's also showing that that Christ, of course, is the only way to salvation, which was an implicit call to the Sanhedrin, this, this, this council that they've been dragged in front of to repent of their rejection of Jesus Christ and get saved by him.

Right?

Wow.

I mean, I mean just notice here how how how Peter, that Peter went when dragged in front of this, you know, you know, legendary group of leaders in Jerusalem, who everyone would have been, you know, well aware of here.

Notice how Peter, he he doesn't wilt, right, right, right?

He doesn't he do he doesn't crumble, right?

He doesn't allow, you know, the spirit doesn't allow him to be intimidated in this moment.

And just you're right, sorry, we won't say anything else uh about this matter, right?

He he doesn't he doesn't do that, he doesn't shrink back in fear.

No, he's he's filled with the spirit, which is which is so key, and and he and he just drives the gospel home, right?

Right to and again, think about this.

It's to the people, okay, the very individuals who who literally made the actual decision to kill Jesus.

Okay, we're not just talking about uh you know a number of Jews who, you know, by their association, you know, were complicit in that act.

Like Caiaphas was like the guy there.

You remember that in the gospels?

He he was there, he was the one involved in this very thing.

And so Peter he just he goes after it, right?

He he does.

See, when I love how how bold that is.

See, when when when we're persecuted, I mean, the the temptation for anyone, okay, for any one of us is to, you know, is to is to waver on the gospel, right?

To think, well, well, maybe I shouldn't say that next time because I see the problems that that will cause me.

And and and next time I'm gonna learn to keep my mouth shut because you know I don't I don't want you know to get attacked on Facebook, right?

I I don't want my neighbors to harass me and ignore me and shun me or and give me a hard time, whatever it might be.

You know, or the temptation for us is, you know, I'm I'm gonna still try and you know share the gospel, but but really I'm just gonna soften the edges of it really and and kind of make it a little bit more palatable.

I'm gonna help the gospel along, as though God needs us, you know, to do that.

And you know, I'm I'm gonna maybe minimize the seriousness or the consequences of sin that the gospel, you know, certainly, you know, focuses on.

And instead of you know talking about that because that's uncomfortable and that makes people hate me, I'm just gonna emphasize, you know, the fun parts, you know, how how how God loves us and his grace.

And I'm gonna skip the part of hell because that is just so you know offensive.

Right?

Notice how Peter doesn't do any of that.

Right?

He doesn't.

He champions the gospel with with no shred of wavering whatsoever.

And again, it's it's not because Peter's some superstar.

Right?

Hear me very carefully on that on this church.

I'm not saying, hey guys, be be more like Peter the man.

Right?

Right?

Try and have more of his personality.

You know, how have more of his inherent strength.

I'm not saying that, okay?

I am I'm saying, you know, I'm I'm trying to get us to notice here.

It's the spirit that fills him, right?

It's the spirit that that empowers him and enables him to stand firm.

Of course, we know Peter's testimony.

We already know that he he's wilted when a little girl came up to him and and said, Hey, you know, weren't you with Jesus?

You were the guy.

And he's like, no, I wasn't.

Right?

So we know what what Peter would do if it was up to his own flesh, but the spirit of God is strong in him.

Listen, as you think about that, as you face threats and as you know, maybe face and have faced persecution as a Christian, or or or as you kind of think about that and you prepare that, hey, listen, I I can kind of you know understand that by by just kind of looking out at the you know the the political climate and what's happening in our country and and different things that are going on, I realize that I need to prepare myself for the day where persecution is going to be more relentless and more intense.

My freedoms are gonna be removed.

Listen, I'm encouraging you, don't shrink back.

Don't give in to fear.

Don't waver, right?

Cry out to the Lord for his spirit's power.

That is what you and I need.

That is what will help us, that is what will give us the ability to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim it fiercely without wavering, to proclaim Christ crucified and risen as as the only means by which we must be saved.

They stand, stand firm in him, church.

Right?

That that is the clear call today.

Would you just kind of take some time here that you know that this this afternoon, maybe you'll get an opportunity to just grab your Bible or go on a walk and kind of think about this or talk about this with your family?

I don't know, maybe it's later this week, doesn't matter.

But but but really like take some time to get with the Lord, right?

Get with him and and just kind of you know, kind of start to work through these things.

Where where is your heart at with this?

And and and with the Lord, say, God, I need to prepare myself for where this is all, I need to where this is going.

Prepare yourself for for the persecution that maybe you're already receiving, uh, or the persecu uh persecution uh that will come.

Again, we know that it's only gonna get harder for us, right?

As the world increasingly sets itself, you know, against the things that we believe and against the things that we stand for.

So listen, are are are we are we gonna get swept away in all of that?

Are are we gonna are we gonna crumble and fall?

Or church, will we stand firm?

God, we come before you uh today and we uh thank you, Lord, for what we've read.

Lord, we thank you for um the amazing example of how your spirit empowered and filled uh Peter to be bold, to proclaim the gospel, to not shrink back in fear.

Uh Lord, we thank you for uh what this teaches us about these things.

And God, we just confess our our the desire that it just runs so deep to be comfortable, Lord, the desire that runs so deep to be liked and to be accepted, Lord.

We don't want to have our day upended, let alone our lives upended by you know someone not appreciating what we have to say or what we believe.

But Lord, I pray that you would raise your church up, Lord.

Raise us up to be bold, Lord, to to be fierce, to trust you, uh, to hold fast to you.

Lord, I pray that you would give a thick skin in all of this, Lord, as as people are gonna say things and and we might you know lose relationships and and and things, you know, maybe even worse than that will happen to us.

Lord, I pray that that we would just be you know razor focused on on honoring you, Lord, Lord, all about proclaiming the gospel, being faithful to Christ.

Lord, you have been so faithful to us, you have you have saved us from sin.

You have invited us uh to be your children by way of Jesus Christ.

And so, Lord, as we think about the gospel and and we just marvel in that and we we we enjoy the fact that we're we're forgiven, Lord, that we're we're new, Lord, that you look at us as though um we accomplished what Christ did.

Lord, I pray that all of these things would motivate us to serve you and love you.

God, give us grace again in all of it, Lord.

Would Christ be magnified?

We pray all of these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.