230. Summer Break Series - To The Ends of the Earth - Brett Martin
Episode Notes
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction and Theme
For freedom, he set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame, now I'm puffing peace. Cigars and victory justified, released.
Welcome to the 4-Freedom Podcast. This podcast exists to bring the freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with everyday issues.
I ain't saved by dress codes, not by what I eat. I'm covered in the righteousness, washed from head to feet. No tally of tradition, no man-made code.
Blood bought my freedom, now I ride that road. They clutch pearls when they see smoke rings rise. But my praise still ascends past the legalist cries. Christ plus nothing, that's the real math.
So miss me with your fence laws and your extra path. He sat with sinners, I'm sitting with saints. Sipping grace from the bottle, no room for fakes. I light one for liberty, toast to the king. Every ash a sermon, death has lost its sting.
For freedom, he set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame, now I'm puffing peace. Cigars and victory justified, released.
For freedom, he set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame, now I'm puffing peace. Cigars and victory justified,
released. Let grace begin. For freedom, he set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame, now I'm puffing peace. Now here are your hosts, James Safrit and Brett Martin. Chapter 5, we're in a series through the book of Acts. Acts chapter 5.
And we'll begin reading in just a minute. While you're turning there, let me tell you a story. Years ago, the church I grew up with, they bought a summer camp for our kids. We ran a bus ministry and we had a bunch of kids.
And the name of the camp was Camp Joy. Now when we bought the camp, I'll tell you, I was never old enough to go to that camp as a camper. I was only old enough to go there as a counselor.
However, it was still one of the best times I ever had in my life. As a counselor,
going in there, bossing them little kids, telling them what to do. It was a great time. And we went in there and we would have bonfires and we would tell scary stories and we would make stuff up.
And we would have pillow fights and water balloon fights. And we'd have a big water slide once a year. We'd have a big food fight. We'd call it a sloparoo. We'd go in the kitchen, get all the expired food and throw at each other. Great fun, great fun.
One of the things we had at this camp was this big rubber ball.
It was a big orange. And when I say big, I'm talking five foot high. Okay, this is a five foot round, huge, heavy rubber ball.
We would play kickball with it. We'd play soccer with it. We'd do all kind of stuff with this big ball. And I remember one time we were out playing soccer. And one of the counselors got, he ran back and kicked it real hard.
And that ball went up high in the air. And it was right near the goal and I was on the opposite team. And so my plan was to jump up in the air,
hit it with my head, and make it go into the goal. Well, what I didn't realize about this big five foot rubber ball is when that thing got some momentum behind it, it was hard to stop. And so I jumped up mid air.
I jumped toward the ball. I hit the ball with my head. And I felt like my neck had just been pushed down into my back. I felt like I had just broke my neck. My head bounced off the ball so hard that my head was the first thing to hit the ground.
That's how hard I bounced off of this ball. I had just come up against something that was unstoppable and I lost.
And that's what I want to talk about in our scripture today. That story reminds me of what we're going to talk about in Acts chapter 5. Because we're going to see this morning in this passage that the gospel is unstoppable. The church is unstoppable. Our Savior is unstoppable.
We're going to see that human opposition cannot defeat the work of God.
Now, you have to understand that when persecution comes from outside the church, all it does is it makes the church stronger.
Disunity and Church Health
Now, remember we talked about Ananias and Sapphira last week.
When you've got disunity and sin inside the church, it can damage the church. But when persecution comes from outside the church, it actually does nothing but make the church stronger. The church, as we talked about last week, has went through a trial with Ananias and Sapphira. They lied to the apostles.
They kept back a price of the land. That wasn't the sin.
They could have kept back the price if they wanted to. The sin was they lied about it.
And in lying to the apostles, in lying to the church, they lied to the Holy Spirit. And then they were struck dead because of that. A holy fear and a holy reverence and a holy respect for God spread throughout the church.
And now, because of this respect and this fear and this reverence for God, the church is now motivated now more than ever to spread the gospel message.
And because they're more motivated to spread the gospel message, this is making the religious authorities inside of Jerusalem very, very nervous.
Now, we've got a lot of ground to cover today because we're going to go from verse 12 to verse 42. So, let's go ahead and jump into it with our first point. We're going to call it the power of the gospel. The power of the gospel. Look with me, please,
in Acts chapter 5 and verse number 12. At the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were taking place among the people. They were all together in Solomon's portico.
Now, Solomon's portico was basically a long pavilion with porches underneath it that was on the east side of the temple mountain. This is where people would gather and this is where the teaching happened. And the apostles found this is where they had the most influence.
This was their spot to tell people about the gospel. You know how every fisherman has a honey hole. This was their honey hole. This is where they went to tell the people about the gospel. It was their spot.
And the Bible says that while the apostles were there, they were doing many signs and wonders were taking place. Now, I want you to notice the verse doesn't say that the church was doing signs and wonders. It says that the apostles were doing signs and wonders.
Why were the apostles of Jesus doing signs and wonders? Because Jesus had given them the authority to do that. Because those signs and wonders are confirming their message.
Those signs and wonders are authenticating that the preaching that they were giving, the message that they were giving was actually from God.
That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, 12, the signs of a true apostle were performed.
And remember what Jesus said in John 4, 48 to the Jews. He said, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. So, at this time the apostles were performing signs and wonders.
And this was the time when they did that. And the purpose was to confirm the message that they were preaching. Verse number 13.
But none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people held them in high esteem. And increasingly, believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number. However, so after what happened with Ananias and Sapphira,
word began to spread. People now found out that this wasn't a game. People now found out that this church thing, it wasn't pretend. And so the casual crowd backed up a little. If you were halfway in and halfway out, you didn't want to end up like Ananias and Sapphira.
So, you either committed fully or you backed out. That's what this scripture is saying. Okay? You kept your distance if you weren't lukewarm. I'm telling you. The killing of Ananias and Sapphira, a real fear of God,
fell over the people. Not only inside the church, but also outside the church. But not at the same time,
while this fear has fell among the people, at the same time, the church had a reputation. A church had a reputation for integrity and power and authenticity.
And because of that, the verse says, Increasingly, believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number. They were still growing. Isn't that interesting? Isn't it interesting that the fear of God didn't stop the church from growing. It actually purified it.
And when the church was purged of the onlookers, when church was purged of those just trying to show face and those being there just so they can look good,
when the church was purged of the lukewarm, the gospel went forward with power.
Look at verse 15. To such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets.
So that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any of them. The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.
People were so convinced of the reality and the power of what the Christians believed in that they would come and line the people up on the street.
That way when Peter would pass by, his shadow would pass over them and heal them. Now listen, we don't know for sure. The scripture doesn't say that anybody was really healed from Peter's shadow. It might have been.
They might not have been. But what is a fact and what is in the scripture is that in the verse of 16 it says everybody was healed. So it doesn't matter whether they were healed by the shadow or not, because if you came for a healing, you got a healing. Every last one of them were healed.
Now there was no question that God is moving here.
But there's a connection here I don't want you to miss. And I fear when we read this chapter casually in our daily reading we miss this connection.
That the purity in the first part of the chapter is what led to the power in this part of the chapter. There was sin in the church.
There were people pretending in the church. There were people lying to the Holy Spirit in the church. And God purged and God judged the sin in the church.
Fear of God and Church Growth
A holy fear fell upon the people. And then all of a sudden people stopped playing games. When they stopped playing games and they got serious for God, God moved. And He did mighty, wonderful works.
Why doesn't God move like that today? I'm not saying that I'm going to come up here and start healing people. But miracles still happen.
Bless God is still in the miracle business. That has not changed. God is still in the wonder business. That has not changed. What's wrong with our modern church? How come we don't have this kind of power? The modern church tolerates sin.
We play around with compromise. We want comfort more than we want consecration.
And then we look around and wonder why we don't see the power of God. Number two, let's talk about the persecution of the world. Verse number 17. But the high priest stood up along with all his associates, that is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy.
They laid hands on the apostles and put them in public prison. Now, the Sadducees were the major part of the Sanhedrin. That's the 70 Jewish leaders that made up basically the Senate of Israel. And the Sadducees were the wealthiest men in Israel. They were the aristocrats.
They also controlled the priesthood, who was a priest and who was not a priest. But they were very, very liberal. We talked about this before the Sadducees. They did not believe in an afterlife. They did not believe in a resurrection. They did not believe in angels. They did not believe in anything supernatural.
But the Bible says they were filled with jealousy. Why was that? Why are they filled with jealousy? Well, think about the message that Peter is preaching. Peter is preaching that Jesus died and He rose again. He is preaching that Jesus resurrected when the Sadducees don't believe in a resurrection.
They are also jealous that the people are listening to the apostles instead of listening to their priests that they have installed.
So, now they are fearing they are going to lose their authority in the country. They are going to lose all the control they have over the people. So, the Bible says that they came to the apostles and they arrested them and they did it publicly.
The Bible goes out of its way to tell us that it was a public arresting because they wanted all the people to see that they were arrested.
Now, here is what I want you to keep in mind that when it says the apostles were arrested, it is not talking about just Peter or just Peter and John. It is all 12 of them. All 12 of the apostles are arrested here.
Verse 19, But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, leading them out he said, Go stand and speak to the people in the temple area the whole message of this life.
Angel's Intervention
So, the angel came. The angel let them out of prison. And I think that is funny because what the Sadducees did not believe in, angels,
is what let the apostles out of prison. And don't tell me God does not have a sense of humor with this. And the angels came to the apostles and the angels said, Go speak in the temple. And when you speak, speak the message of this life.
The message of this life. See, that was, that's the gospel message. The gospel message is a message of life. And the same message that the apostles had, the same message that Jesus had, is the same message that we have today. The gospel message is a message of life.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the resurrection and the life. He who believes in him will never perish, but have everlasting life.
He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath not life. The gospel is a message of life.
We go out of these doors and we go out into our world and we go to our homes or we go to work or we go to Walmart or wherever we go to. We go to the town square and we're commanded to go stand and speak this message.
And the message is not that Jesus will bring you a happy life, that Jesus will bring you a wealthy life. It's that Jesus will bring you eternal life. That is the gospel message.
Verse 21, upon hearing this they entered into the temple area about daybreak and began to preach.
So what did the apostles do? Well, they did what they were told. They went back to the temple. They waited for the sun to come up.
When the sun came up the guy blew the horn. The temple was open. They went right back to Solomon's portico and they started preaching again. Back to verse 21.
Now when the high priest and his associates came they called the council together, that is all the senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison for them to be brought. But the officers who came did not find them in the prison.
And they returned reported saying, we found the prison locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors. But when we opened them we found no one inside. So they went to get the apostles and the apostles weren't there. Nobody saw anything. The cell was still locked.
The guards were still standing there. They didn't know what happened. All the other prison inmates didn't see anything. And this does not look good for the Sadducees.
The Sadducees arrested them publicly and now they lost them. They lost 12 prisoners overnight.
This is going to be a public humiliation for them. Verse 24. Now when the captain of the temple guard, which by the way the captain of the temple guard usually became the next high priest. You see, in the Bible that's not how it works.
The descendants of the sons of Aaron are supposed to come to the high priest, but remember the Romans are in charge now. So this captain of the guard, he's most likely the guy who's going to be the next high priest.
So the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, and they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this. But someone came and reported to them, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple area and teaching the people.
You remember those guys you guys put in jail? They're teaching at the temple. They're doing exactly what you told them not to do. They're doing the same thing they were locked up for. How can this be? Let me tell you how it can be. You cannot stop the work of God.
You cannot stop the work of God. You cannot stop the gospel.
God's plan and God's purposes will be accomplished. Now it will be accomplished with or without you.
You can get on the train or you can stay at the station, but it's going to be accomplished one way or another. Because God is sovereign and God's gospel will be proclaimed. Nothing can stop the church because the gates of hell cannot prevail against God's church.
God's message is going to get out. We are going to take this message, to take this gospel to the whole world.
Verse 26, then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without any violence for they were afraid of the people. So the captain and the officers brought them back.
They didn't try to manhandle them or hurt them in any way because they didn't cause a riot because the people liked them. Well, they were healing everybody and they were doing signs and wonders. Well, of course the people liked them.
They were like them because they were getting healed. Verse 27, when they had brought them, they stood before the council and the high priest interrogated them saying, We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name.
And yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Now I want you to notice something about this scripture that I noticed. They refused to say Jesus' name.
You see that? They keep saying this man, this man.
We don't want you to teach in this man's name. Bring this man's blood upon us. They refused to say the name of Jesus. They're saying we're giving you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name. Well, what name is that? It's the name of Jesus.
You know, you can go anywhere you want and you can say in the name of God and everything's cool.
Man, you can go and you can say God bless you. And you can say, oh man,
God loves you and I love God and God bless you and God bless America and America bless God.
You can say God all you want and everybody's happy and everybody's patting you on the back and you'll get you a little sticker and you'll get you a little happy. Everybody's kumbaya. Everybody loves God.
But you say the name of Jesus. Things change. Attitudes change. People that once smiled at you don't smile at you anymore. When you say the name of Jesus people start to turn against you.
I was in Bible college in Indiana and at that time there was a law that was being passed in Indiana that the churches and the Christian institutions in Indiana wanted to see passed.
I don't remember what the law was. But I remember we got on the bus in Hammond, Indiana and we drove to Indianapolis.
And we got out and we went into the capital of Indiana. And let me tell you something. I've been in several state capitals before. The state capital of Indiana in Indianapolis is the biggest capital building I've ever seen in my life.
It amazed me how big it was and how many people that it held. So we're there with other churches and other Christian organizations and other Christian colleges.
And a politician gets up and talks about the bill and talks about the law and he's in support of it. And then they invite a pastor to come up from Indianapolis. He pastors a big church in Indianapolis. And he gets up there and begins to close the whole thing in prayer.
And as we're listening, you know, we're a bunch of preacher boys here. So as we're listening to this prayer, we're thinking, is he going to say it?
At the end of the prayer, is he going to say it? Does he have the guts?
Does he have the courage to say it? Say the name at the end of the prayer. And we're listening and he gets to the end of the prayer. And I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines of, we thank you, God. Amen.
He did not say in Jesus' name.
He did not pray in the name of Jesus. And when the prayer got done, me and my buddies just looked at each other and shook our heads. He had such an opportunity. He had such a platform to say the name of Jesus Christ, to stand on that name. And he failed.
Probably because he knew if he said the name of Jesus, he would not be invited back. Listen to me. Do not be ashamed of the name of Jesus, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved in the name of Jesus Christ.
They were so upset because the apostles were teaching in the name of Jesus. They were teaching the death and resurrection of Jesus. And they didn't believe in resurrection. Then they were upset because the apostles were blaming them for his death. What the shoe fits, wear it.
Obeying God Over Men
Because they are responsible for the death of Jesus. And that's one point that Peter did not back down on. Verse 29. But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. Bless God, Christian, man, woman, brother, sister, husband, wife.
Let me tell you something today. If you don't get anything from this message today, you get this truth in your brain. We must obey God rather than men. The Sanhedrin said, don't preach anymore in this name. But Peter said, I'm sorry, guys. I've got a directive that comes over your head.
You see, I was standing on the Mount of Olives one day. And I was just about to watch Jesus go up into heaven. And he looked at me. And he looked at the fellow apostles. And he looked at the disciples.
And he said, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command you.
And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. He gave us a commission. And he told us to go. And he told us to make disciples. And bless God, that commission still stands today.
We are told to go out of these doors and make disciples and teach them to make disciples and teach them to make disciples and teach them to make disciples. That is what we're here to do. Verse 30, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus,
whom you put to death by hanging him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So, Peter is standing here in front of these religious leaders.
And he thinks to himself, you know what? I've got a captive crowd. I've got an opportunity to speak.
So, Peter does what Peter does. And he preaches the gospel to the Sanhedrin. He said, you put him to death. God raised him up. He is the Savior. And he offers repentance and forgiveness.
The central message of every, the central focus of every message needs to be the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And the same message that the apostles preached on Solomon's portico is the same message we need to preach here in Lake County. Verse 32.
And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.
Recently in the news, you may have heard about it, you may not have. There was a young lady by the name of Paige Roberts. Paige Roberts went to a Christian college, or still goes. This is a brand new story. Still goes to a Christian college in Kentucky.
She got a job as a coffee shop as a barista. As she's working her job one day, her fellow employees find out she goes to a Christian's college. So they question her about her beliefs, especially her beliefs on marriage.
She didn't offer her opinion. They asked her a question. And she gave a truthful, respectful reply.
Two days later she received a call that she was fired from her job. And the reason stated was that her statements on marriage made her coworkers uncomfortable and violated workplace policy.
Christian, you're going to come to a moment in your life when obedience to this book will cost you something. When your stand for Christ will cost you something.
When your love for the gospel and your love for the Lord will cost you something. And what it will cost you is your reputation. It will cost you relationships. It will cost you opportunities.
And in that moment you have a choice to make. You have a choice to make. This verse has to become your conviction. It has to become your standard. That you will obey God rather than men.
Because that moment is going to come. And if you don't purpose in your heart now you'll fail the test. You have to purpose right now that no matter what. No matter what it costs you. No matter what you lose. No matter what you have taken away.
No matter the future it destroys for you. You will obey God rather than men.
Number three, the privilege of suffering. The privilege of suffering. Verse 33. But when they heard this they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them.
A lot of times we read this verse and we don't understand how close the apostles came to dying here. I'm talking about all 12 of them.
Came very close to dying right here. The only reason why they didn't die is somebody stood up and stopped them. But in a few chapters there is a man named Stephen. He is going to stand in front of the same group of people. He is going to make them bad.
And nobody is going to stop them and they are going to stone him to death. So these apostles come very, very close to death here. These Jews are so angry that they are getting ready to kill the apostles.
But God is sovereign and God is in control. And so a man named Gamaliel stands up. Gamaliel, this man is found in scripture. He is a famous, famous teacher. He is a famous Jewish rabbi. When he was alive Gamaliel was the most important Jewish teacher alive.
In fact, in all the nation of Israel to this very date only seven rabbis have ever been given the title of Rabin.
Gamaliel is not only one of those rabbis. He was the very first one to get that name. This man is not only mentioned in the Bible, he is also mentioned in the Jewish Talmud. And he is the teacher of Paul.
Verse 34, But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up in the council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. All right, guys, get these guys out here. I got something to say. Now, Gamaliel was a Pharisee.
Most of the Sanhedrin were Sadducees. But they listened to him because that is how much he was respected. Verse 35, And he said to them, Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men. For some time ago Thadus appeared, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about 400 men joined him.
But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
After this man Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of the census and drew away some people after him. He also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.
So, Gamaliel reminded the Sanhedrin of all these people who they rose up, they claimed to be something, and then once they die their followers fizzle out.
And this is what he's implying is going to happen to Jesus. That Jesus rose up to be somebody, but now that he's dead, if you give it enough time his people will scatter, and it won't amount to nothing. Or, if it's from God, if it's really from God, you can't fight it anyway.
Verse 38, He makes a very simple point here. He says, And I think this is prophetic. Because the gospel is unstoppable.
The church is unstoppable. The Savior is unstoppable. Verse 40, 40.
They followed his advice and after calling the apostles in they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. So they didn't kill them but they flogged them 39 lashes and let them go.
Now do you think a few little lashes are going to stop them? No.
It didn't stop them. Not at all. But let me ask you something. What would stop you? What stops us from proclaiming the name of Jesus? Is it because we might get embarrassed?
Somebody will make fun of us? We want advancement in our job. We don't want our relatives to think we've lost it. What stops us from proclaiming the truth? Verse 41. So they went on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer for his name.
Rejoicing in Suffering
Why were they rejoicing? They were suffering. Why were they rejoicing? Well their suffering proved that they belong to Jesus.
If the world is coming after them that must mean they're doing something right. If the world is coming after them, if the world hates them, if the world is against them, if the world wants to stop them, that must mean they've picked the right path. They've bet on the right horse.
That's what I want for this church. If the world does not like what is going on inside this church and what we're trying to do, that is a good thing. Jesus, like the apostles, their suffering proved they really belonged to Jesus.
But they're also rejoicing because it meant they were being used of God, that God was actively using them. When you suffer because of your stand for Christ, you need to rejoice that He is using you.
Just like the apostles, we need to see it as a privilege to suffer for the name of Jesus.
Verse 42, And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus as the Christ. So you know what changed because of this? Nothing changed.
They didn't slow down. They didn't tone it down. They didn't toe the line. They didn't back off. They kept going. With the same message and the same boldness and the same mission as the unstoppable church.
They were persecuted, but they were not silent. They were beaten, but they were not broken. They were opposed, but they were still advancing. And like I said before, the day is going to come when your stand for Christ is going to cost you something. Maybe not lashes,
but like we said, reputation, relationships, and opportunities.
And when that moment comes and you do choose to do the right thing and you suffer for it, don't just endure it. See that suffering as the apostles did as a privilege.
One day I was in the waiting room at work. Two guys came in to ask me about what I believed in. And at first I thought this was a normal conversation. It was a great opportunity. But what I didn't realize is they came ready.
They had their arguments lined up. They started going after the Bible saying it was written by men that you can't be trusted. And they were saying God didn't exist. Jesus didn't resurrect. In fact, Jesus never even existed.
And they were going through all these things. And they began to mock me for my beliefs. And how stupid do you have to be to believe something like this? And it became very clear that there really wasn't a conversation.
They were trying to tear me down and mock me in front of everybody in that room. And I'll be honest, in that moment it felt awkward. It caught me off guard. I wasn't ready for it. I felt a little strange. I felt uncomfortable.
But you know what? Later on, you know what I found myself doing? I found myself praying.
And I was thanking the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for being with me in that moment. You know what else I thanked Him for? And I thanked Him for helping me say what needed to be said. Because didn't Jesus promise that?
Didn't Jesus promise us that when we get put on the spot, the Holy Spirit is going to give us the words to say? And in that moment I realized that even though this was an awkward situation, it was an opportunity. It was a privilege to stand for Christ.
The Unstoppable Church
So what do we see in this passage? We see that the gospel is powerful, that the world will oppose it, and suffering for Christ is a privilege.
The unstoppable church is not full of perfect people, but people who are serious about God. People who will not compromise the message. People who will not back down under pressure. People who count it in honor to stand for the name of Jesus. And the question is, will that be us?
Because the same gospel we read about is the same gospel that's entrusted to us. So we need to be a church that walks in power, stands in persecution,
embraces suffering for the name of Jesus Christ, because no one can stop what God is doing.
And here's my question for you today. Are you going to get on the train? Are you going to stay at the station? If this church is unstoppable, are you going to be the tool that God uses to get the gospel message out?
And the other question I have for you is when persecution comes at your door, when you have an opportunity to stand for Christ and it costs you something,
will you make the right decision in that moment? I think we need to pray this morning. And we need to spend some time with God and say, Lord, when that moment comes, I pray that I stand strong.
And even though I may lose friends, and even though I may lose money, and even though I may lose finances and family, even though I may lose opportunities, I want to stand strong for you no matter what. We need to prepare ourselves now. Because it's not if it happens,
it's when it happens. Every head bowed, every eye closed.
We're going to, in just a second, we're going to have an invitation. And of course, as always, if you're in here today,
and you've never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you don't know where you're going to go when you die, you can come to this altar, and we'll show you how you can know that you're going to Heaven. Just get my attention.
But we're going to have an invitation today, and the altar will be open if you choose to use it. But we need to pray today, Lord, help us be ready. Help us to be prepared, because persecution is going to come.
And when it comes, I want to be like these apostles. I want to obey God rather than men, no matter the cost.
Please, Lord, make me strong enough that when that day comes, I'll be ready for it.
Let's pray. Dear gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for today. Thank You for this group of people. Thank You for this church. Lord, I pray that You help us to stand strong in the day of adversity, when the world's against us, and the devil's power is raining down on us,
Lord, and our flesh is eating us from the inside. Lord, may we stand strong through the power of God.
May we be like these apostles, and say to the governments of the world, and say to everyone that comes against us, that I will obey God rather than men. Lord, we need Your power.
Lord, it is not possible for us to choose You over the world in our flesh. The only way that we can choose You over the world is through the Holy Spirit's supernatural power. We need to be empowered to do that, Lord. Please, Lord, strengthen our resolve, Lord.
Make us strong in the day of adversity. That is our prayer. Be with our invitation, Lord.
In Jesus' name I... I found my new name I found that good grace I found that healing And the tears fell down my face When I found my beginning That has no ending I found that second chance I found my best friend
Closing Remarks
I found my forgiveness I found my happiness I've been singing ever since I found my freedom in you
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