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Unwavering Faith - The Blueprint Series
65 Plays1 year ago
In this sermon, Ridley Barron preached about unwavering faith and the power of speaking the name of Jesus. He delved into the steadfastness shown by Peter and John before the Sanhedrin, emphasizing the imperative to obey God rather than people. Barron addressed the societal and personal opposition that arises when one’s faith in Jesus is outspoken, paralleling apostolic boldness to modern-day challenges. He explored the nature of miracles, the role of divine institutions, and stressed the need for humility and spiritual freedom in approaching God. Encouraging listeners to embody a wholehearted faith amidst persecution, Barron highlighted the significance of personal prayer, submission to divine authority, and the call to live out and proclaim the gospel fearlessly.
Timestamps:
00:00 Encouragement for continuing good work and faith.
06:27 Growing persecution of Christians in some areas.
07:35 Satan's strategy working: Christians reluctant to share.
12:56 Personal faith leads to life-changing transformations.
15:11 Angel released them, go back and speak.
20:14 Choosing Jesus brings healing and wholeness.
23:51 Released prisoners evade re-arrest, confound authorities.
26:31 Actions make you guilty, not words. Obey God.
30:49 Hostile organizations target Christian and pro-life.
31:54 Pro choice, pro life, kingdom agenda clash.
38:05 Submission to authority, unless contradicts God's commands.
40:38 Judas the Galilean rose, followers scattered, apostles rejoiced.
43:42 Prayer for truth, love, and empowerment. Amen.
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Transcript
Community Involvement and Faith Initiatives
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey Acts chapter 5 verse 12 if you want to turn there as you're doing that I want to take a second to celebrate some really good things that God is doing in our congregation Always want to take the opportunity obviously just to give him the praise for good stuff first of all most of you are aware that we are in the middle of our
00:00:17
Speaker
a baby bottle campaign again this year. 100% of the funds raised from filling these bottles go to support the pregnancy resource center down in Lewisburg, one of our ministry partners. I have one bottle left. Who wants it? Do you need one? Give me the bottle back. Okay, no, just kidding.
00:00:43
Speaker
So two weeks to get those turned in. We've already had a lot of them being turned in. So thankful that you took them. I think we wound up with over 200 bottles that have been taken to be filled. So take an opportunity to bless the pregnancy resource center by doing that. Secondly, while you and I are meeting right here, right now,
00:00:59
Speaker
Over 50 of our young adults, the students, and some of their adult chaperones are leading worship at the Bridge Adult Retirement Center over in Columbia this morning as part of their Student Life Missions Week. They are working together over the weekend. They have served several different places, some of our shut-ins, some of the needs of our community. Our prayer is that as they go out, several things. Number one, that they are giving God glory
00:01:23
Speaker
just by their presence in the lives of these people. Number two, that they are emboldened to continue to grow in their own faith and speak the name of Jesus more boldly. Number three, that they are safe as they continue to do their work. They'll be working through tomorrow, got some things going on today, serving some other families as well. So just be praying for them as they finish up tomorrow with their event this week. And I'm just thankful we have a student minister who leads our kids to learn these kind of important lessons.
00:01:51
Speaker
that this life is not about them. This life is about bringing God glory through what they do, so we're thankful for that.
Bold Faith and Persecution
00:01:58
Speaker
Lastly, I want to congratulate you. That's the best I could do. This past week, the state of Tennessee Southern Baptist released a report for the year 2023, and out of almost 3,000 Tennessee Baptist churches all over the state, Grove Hill Church ranked 48th in baptisms last year.
00:02:24
Speaker
I attribute that to your willingness to speak the name of Jesus, just like we sang a minute ago, and your willingness to be bold in your faith and to be consistent in your faith. So encourage you, great job last year, but let me encourage you, let's keep going. We don't stop till the whole world has an opportunity to hear, so continue the great work. As we get ready to dive into the word, into the story of the book of Acts this morning, let me pray for us and we'll see what God has to show us this morning. Father, I pray that your word,
00:02:54
Speaker
as it's going forth from this pulpit, as going forth from Kyle's mouth, where he's worshiping, that it's going forth from every pulpit in the city that names the name of Jesus as Savior and Lord, and that around this nation, that men are emboldened to speak Jesus without fear. I pray that this morning, this word would become a light unto our path and a lamp unto our feet, and that we would just, Lord, just let it come alive in us. I pray that hearing this morning is not just hearing, but it's hearing and obeying.
00:03:24
Speaker
because that's what changes lives. And I pray, Father, that this word is very, very clear as it comes from my lips to our ears, Lord, that your spirit is moving and working to give us what we need to live boldly. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. So we're in Acts chapter five, and as we're working our way through this, one thing has become very, very apparent, all the way from the very beginning when Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into all the world, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, almost instantly from the time the Holy Spirit arrives,
00:03:54
Speaker
the church faces persecution. Starting right off the bat, Satan is angry. He's gonna do everything he can to derail this infant church from its mission. So he begins throwing opposition against them. He even, as we looked at last week, he starts to put things on the inside of the church to try to create problems for the church there. And then again this week, the church faces huge opposition because of Jewish religious leaders who stand in opposition to the message they are putting out.
00:04:21
Speaker
This opposition grows from just scoldings, publicly and privately, to eventually floggings, imprisonment as we're going to see today, and ultimately will peak in the first martyrdom of a Christian and the person of Stephen in Acts chapter 7. So I wanted to tell you all that because what you're seeing in the book of Acts is what we are seeing in Acts and in the world around us today.
00:04:44
Speaker
Shocking statistic, the last hundred years we have seen more Christian martyrs than the first 1900 years of the church combined.
00:04:53
Speaker
around the world we're seeing a rise in opposition to the voice of Jesus Christ as it's being spoken around the nations.
Persecution in the Modern World
00:05:01
Speaker
The Pew Research Center, some of you might recognize that name, it's a very popular survey, investigation group, they do all kinds of stuff. They've done some research on opposition to Christianity here in the world and one of their statistics recently said this.
00:05:15
Speaker
that Christianity is the most opposed religion in more nations around the world than any other religion. Now if you listen to our media today, which religion would you think it was? Those poor Islamic people. The poor Islamic people. How persecuted they are. 144 nations around the world where the name of Jesus is forbidden to be spoken. 144 nations. How many Christian nations are there in the world?
00:05:45
Speaker
None. There are no real Christian nations in the world quite frankly, but there are more than 25 where Islam is the official religion of those nations. So you see the opposition is great. Another organization called the International, let me get this name right, the International Society for Human Rights. It's a private non-government organization. Their religious discrimination study discovered that 80% of all religious discrimination in the world is directed at the Christian faith. 80%.
00:06:14
Speaker
And the reason I say that to you is because I know we have a tendency here in the Western world to sit back and go, that's horrible, that's awful, let's pray for those people, but we somehow feel disconnected. Guys, it's happening right here in our country today. Not to the level we're seeing it in some of the other parts of the world, but it started and it is only continuing to grow. Maybe perhaps you've read some of the stories I have recently. A Christian lifeguard in LA County was fired just this past week for refusing to fly the gay pride flag from his lifeguard stand.
00:06:46
Speaker
an organization last Monday, Memorial Day, Catholic organization that for years, decades, has held a Memorial Day service in one of the national parks, was threatened by the Biden administration to put it to an end because it would cause a disturbance. And if it had not been for a judge interceding on their behalf, they would have stopped the worship service for the first time in decades. Another example that many of you have followed in the news is the story of Harrison Booker.
00:07:13
Speaker
the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, who dared at a Catholic university to speak about his Catholic Christian faith and even was bold enough to say that women should be happy and celebrate the fact that they are mothers. How dare he? But the persecution has been outrageous towards him. But this is a strategy of Satan.
00:07:38
Speaker
And the proof is in the pudding. The truth is that the strategy of intimidation by Satan against the church is working. Another poll just released this past week said that 40% of self-professing Christians do not want to talk about their faith with other people. 40%. A few years ago,
00:07:57
Speaker
probably three or four years ago, I had the opportunity at the invitation of one of our former students, at least, and I used to work with at Station Hill, to come out to Oregon to do her wedding, to perform her wedding. So I flew out there by myself, was driving through rural parts of Oregon, much like this, maybe even more rural than this area, and as I'm driving down the road, something caught my eye in the distance, and as I got closer, I thought, oh, I'm really seeing what I'm seeing.
00:08:21
Speaker
On the side of the road was an old pickup truck. The bottom had been cut out, the roof had been cut out of the cab, and there was a tree growing up through it. Now, it wasn't a sapling. It wasn't a baby tree. This thing was 30, 40 feet high. Easily had been there for years. My first thought was, who in the world had the foresight to go, I'm going to put a truck over a tree and watch it grow? But then this question came to my mind. Can you really call the truck if it's not doing truck duties?
00:08:51
Speaker
If it's not performing the way a truck should, is it not really a truck, it's actually a giant garden planter, right? So can you call somebody a Christian who isn't doing what a Christian's been commanded to do? My answer to you is no.
00:09:07
Speaker
You can't say I'm a private Christian because nowhere in the Bible does it say be careful how you speak the name of Jesus. Nowhere does it say keep your faith to yourself. Nowhere does it say it's a personal issue between you and God. Jesus died on a hill publicly.
00:09:24
Speaker
He was resurrected and it was announced publicly. He commissioned his apostles to go and teach the word publicly and today he has not changed his commands for you and I as followers of Jesus Christ.
Living Out Faith Boldly
00:09:36
Speaker
We are bidden by Jesus Christ to speak the name without fear. That's what the whole book of Acts is all about. Now, here's the thing we realize.
00:09:49
Speaker
we see here that Jesus, the name of Jesus, speaking the name of Jesus, has the power to really encourage some hearts and on other times and other places it actually causes people to be enraged against believers. Something that causes them to
00:10:08
Speaker
lash out at us as we try to talk about our faith and encourage others in the faith. So I want to talk about this this morning. It's a very long story. I've broken it up into sections because each section to me kind of tells us a little bit about why we get these varied reactions from people who live out a wholehearted and a devoted faith. Now the key here is that word, wholehearted.
00:10:30
Speaker
Wholehearted, wholehearted is exactly as it sounds. It means your whole heart is devoted to him. I know that every single one of us, even true followers of Jesus Christ, struggle with the whole part. There are moments where we get selfish. There are moments where we try to take control of our lives. Many of you who've had opportunities to have conversations with people about church and about Jesus, you'll hear this complaint. I won't go to that church. It's filled with what? Hypocrites.
00:10:53
Speaker
That's literally what it means not to be wholehearted, it's to be a hypocrite. And my reply usually to them is, great, that's where they belong. Hypocrites belong in the church with the broken, the hurt, the stealers, the cheaters, the killers, all of those people, we all need Jesus. But the goal of our sanctification is to move beyond hypocrisy and move towards a more wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ. But as we do that, you have to know that the opposition's gonna grow.
00:11:23
Speaker
the persecution is gonna grow. The more you try to live like Jesus, the more the world's gonna tell you to keep it to yourself. So, let's tell the story and as we do, we'll talk about why I think we get these reactions. And Patty, I'm warning you, I just got a thing saying my iPad's about to die, so you may have to keep up with me. That's a challenge.
00:11:49
Speaker
because I may be all over the place. All right, verse 12. It says, many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon's colonnade. No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them. Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers, multitudes of both men and women. As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on the cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
00:12:18
Speaker
I'm gonna stop there for a second. As I read this passage again this morning, first thing that came to my mind in reading that is how that sounds so much like people who are in our world today who say, I don't want anything to do with religion, I don't want anything to do with Jesus, I don't wanna come to your church, but when I get in a problem, what am I gonna do? I'm gonna call somebody and say, can you pray for me? Can you take this person to Jesus for me? Now, let me caution you, it's a trap that we all fall into as followers of Jesus Christ.
00:12:49
Speaker
We get phone calls on a daily basis, many times, multiple times a day at the office, can you pray for so and so? And there's power in that. There's power in more prayers being offered. But make no mistake about it, many of them are asking us to do what they are intimidated to do for themselves.
00:13:06
Speaker
Your faith, your faith is what changes your life, not my faith. My faith doesn't redirect the destiny of your life, your faith redirects the destiny of your life. When you offer up prayers, it's out of your faith that you offer those prayers, not out of the faith of the pastor.
00:13:25
Speaker
You hear what they're saying here? It says that people brought people out and laid them on the road hoping that Peter's shadow would touch them. When all they had to do was get on their knees themselves and pray to the God that they were seeking help from. Can I just encourage you today that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ if you call yourself a Christian and that you don't need anyone interceding for you? You don't need the pastor's shadow on your life. You have the promise of Jesus on your life.
00:13:52
Speaker
So let's keep reading the story, it says in verse 16, in addition a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits and they were all healed.
Miracles, Skepticism, and Faith
00:14:03
Speaker
Then the high priest rose up, he and all who were with him who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, they were filled with jealousy. So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
00:14:16
Speaker
But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and I wanna stop there for just a second. Remind you, the Sadducees were like the liberal progressives of their day as far as theology was concerned, okay? They did not believe in three really important things. They did not believe in miracles, they did not believe in angels, and they did not believe in the resurrection of the physical body, especially as it related to Jesus Christ. Don't tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor.
00:14:43
Speaker
Because what does God do? His apostles get rested so he performs a miracle using an angel so they can get out and talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's like God was saying to those Sadducees, you're so far off, you've got three strikes against you and I'm going to show you where you're missing it.
00:15:00
Speaker
I want you to understand. I want you to get what you're missing because this is the power of the gospel. This is the power of the gospel. He goes on and he says, go and stand in the temple and tell the people all about this life. I need to back up and read that all together as one. I want you to catch what he's saying.
00:15:15
Speaker
says an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out and said, go and stand in the temple and tell the people all about this life. God did not use an angel to speak to the apostles and say, you've been arrested, you better be careful. You've been arrested, you better go hide somewhere. You've been arrested, you should probably keep me and you and our relationship between you and me so that nobody gets offended.
00:15:41
Speaker
He says, I want you to go right back where you were, I want you to get right back on the podium you were on, and I want you to go right back to preaching what you were preaching. And look at what their response is. Well, we'll look at that later. So, why do people get enraged? Why do people get upset about us following Jesus? I would submit that part of it's because he engages the poor in spirit.
00:16:04
Speaker
He engages the poor in spirit. Now, when I was a child, I would read this and I really didn't understand what he meant. So I'm gonna kinda explain it a little bit. You might recognize the phrase because it's the first words of the most popular sermon in the history of the world. It's known as the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter five, verse three, Jesus launches into this sermon by saying, blessed are the poor in spirit. And in the story, what we read is three examples of what poor in spirit looks like. First of all, it says that the humble were being saved.
00:16:33
Speaker
the humble were being saved. You see, while many were rejecting the story, remember some of them didn't want to follow Jesus, they chose not to do that, while many of them were rejecting him, a lot of people were being drawn in because of the humility of these apostles. Every single story we have read to this point, and I promise you for the rest of the book it's going to stay the same way, every miracle, every great thing, the apostles are quick to say, this is Jesus, it's not us.
00:16:59
Speaker
is by the power of Jesus that this is happening. This is not our strength, our power or our wisdom that causes it to happen. This is because of the name of Jesus. The second thing we see is the sick were being healed. The sick were being healed. They were bringing out people and they were bringing them up to Peter and even just letting his shadow fall on them. Can I remind you that God is still in the business of healing?
00:17:22
Speaker
The same God who healed in the book of Acts is the same God who can heal you today. And don't just think physical ailments. He can heal your broken heart. He can heal your loneliness. He can heal your addiction. He can heal your discouragement. He can heal your depression. He is capable of doing all those things. But the problem is here in America today, we've gotten too smart for that. Right? There's got to be some medical or scientific explanation for how it happened. And I would say to you that every single healing is a miracle.
00:17:52
Speaker
every single hymn. You know why? Because the doctor doesn't become a doctor until the God gives them the brain to become a doctor. The science we have didn't happen until God created the heavens and the earth and created them with such order that there were scientific laws that made things happen the way they happen. The universe works on a schedule and works in order because there was a divine creator. And because of that, we know that every prayer for healing is answered.
00:18:20
Speaker
Now some of you go, wait a minute, wait a minute. You don't know my story with my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, my brother, my wife. Jesus didn't heal them. If I had the opportunity to open up the doors of heaven and let you look at your aunt or uncle, I guarantee you they'd disagree. I'm ready to be healed. I don't know about y'all, I wake up every morning going, Lord Jesus, heal me. Lord Jesus, give me power, it's Monday again.
00:18:45
Speaker
I need that. So every single prayer is answered. It may be answered by medicine. It may be answered by somebody coming and anointing somebody with oil and praying over there and watching them get out of a bed contrary to everybody else's explanation. Or it may come on that day when we will stand before Christ Jesus and the Bible says that everybody will be healed. There'll be no more pain, no more suffering, no more despair, no more discouragement. What a day. Some of us older people are looking a little more forward to it than some of you younger people.
00:19:14
Speaker
But I promise you'll get there. You'll get there. I think the third group that was there is the desperate were being delivered. That's supposed to say the desperate, that doesn't say that. They were being delivered though. The desperate were being delivered. Notice he says at the bottom, I think it's verse 16, where it says, they were tormented, unclean spirits, and they were all healed. They were all healed. You see, they were receiving spiritual freedom.
00:19:40
Speaker
Spiritual freedom, we sang about it in multiple songs this morning that when we come to Jesus Christ, one of the most incredible things he offers us is freedom from the things that hold us bondage. Now I'm fixing to say something that might be a little unpopular, that's okay, I'm used to that. You should be too by now. I believe that the addict no longer is a recovering addict, they are a clean human being.
00:20:08
Speaker
You're not recovering from anything. When Jesus speaks power over your life, you're changed. When you are made to be whole, you are made to be whole. If you fall back into addiction, it's because you chose not to be a follower of Jesus Christ in that moment. You chose to choose your own path, to do your own thing, to seek your own thing. Can you be healed? Absolutely. Will you be healed? Well, that's up to you.
Approaching Jesus with Humility
00:20:31
Speaker
That's up to you. Will you trust Jesus? Will you follow Jesus? Will you submit to Jesus? Will you surrender to Jesus? Will you give your alcohol, your porn, your lust, your chocolate? Will you give it to Jesus and say, I know that got real personal in a hurry, didn't it? Will you give it all to Jesus and trust Him? Because I can promise you this, the scripture from Genesis to Revelation says there is no evil power that matches the gospel. No evil power that matches the gospel. Jesus changes lives.
00:21:00
Speaker
And when we talk about that, it's not in any small feat. So here's the important question I wanna ask you. Did you come to Jesus this morning, poor in spirit? Did you come this morning, poor in spirit? You see, we have to come out of helplessness to Jesus. That's not the way we wanna approach it, right? We wanna come to Jesus a little bit arrogant,
00:21:31
Speaker
Well, God, look at me, I showed up. You owe me something. Or maybe, maybe it's because we become too self-reliant. We are, as Americans, very self-reliant, right? We're the wealthiest nation in the history of the earth. If you woke up with a roof over your head this morning, you are wealthier than 83% of the world. If you drove here in a car this morning,
00:22:02
Speaker
you're wealthier than 90% of the world. If you made more than $10,000 last year, you're wealthier than 87% of the world. Now why is that a problem? Because Jesus tells us in Matthew 19, 24, that it's hard for wealthy people to come to Jesus. Why? Because they're arrogant. Because they're too self-dependent.
00:22:30
Speaker
they're still caught in their own ability to pull themselves up, excuse me, to set themselves on their path towards righteousness. It's not impossible for the wealthy to come know Jesus. Most of us in this room would have a relationship with Jesus Christ, even though we're very, very blessed and wealthy. But it's hard
00:22:50
Speaker
It's hard and you know it. Some of you as followers of Christ for many years will admit things get hard. The first thing we do is start going, okay, what can I do to rescue myself in this situation? Who can I call? Who can I bring in the resources I have? How can I make that happen? And that's not way God wants us to approach him. I would say to you, we come in poor in spirit or we don't come at all. You don't get to negotiate the terms that you come to Jesus.
00:23:19
Speaker
You don't get to decide on what terms you have a relationship with the Savior. He says, you either bow your head and bow your knee when you come to me or you don't come at all. Because I will either be the one on the throne of your life or there will be no me in your life. So let me continue the story. Verse 21. He says, hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
00:23:46
Speaker
Notice this, there's not a second delay in these apostles. They get out of jail, the angel says go and preach, and at first daylight, they're back. They are right back where they just got arrested from. It says when the high priests and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full council of the Israelites, and sent orders to the jail to have them brought. But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail, so they turned and reported. Wouldn't you love to have been in that room? These servants are going back and they're going,
00:24:17
Speaker
We had a problem. We got a problem. We're pretty sure it was the right prison we went to, and we're pretty sure it's the right cell that we put them in, but they're not there. They're not there. The tomb is empty.
Obedience to God's Authority
00:24:31
Speaker
It says, the guards were still standing in front of the doors. Can you imagine their surprise? I promise you, we were here all night. I promise you, we were here paying attention to our responsibilities. Nobody's been goofing around. We were doing our job.
00:24:47
Speaker
They found no one inside. It says, as the captain of the temple police and the chief priest heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what could come of this. Someone came and reported to them, I know where your guys are. I know who you're looking for. They're not real hard to find. They're exactly where you arrested them yesterday. And they're doing exactly what they were doing yesterday, except for they're doing it louder.
00:25:15
Speaker
And they have a bigger crowd because when people break out of prison, it draws attention, doesn't it? When somebody gets set free from prison, the world starts to pay attention and they wanna hear the story that's being shared. So there are crowds gathered around these apostles as they are speaking the name of Jesus. It says, then the commander went with the servants and brought them in this time without force because they were afraid that the people might stone them. You see, the crowd Jerusalem's not stupid.
00:25:42
Speaker
Right? They're not stupid, they're smart like you are. If you see somebody get arrested one day and the next day they are standing where they were doing the same thing, you know something's up. You know something really good must have happened. There must be something to this story. This isn't just some other group of people. Verse 27, it says, after they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin and the high priest asked,
00:26:12
Speaker
Didn't we order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood. Now, Peter and John, pretty nice guys at this point, because I would have been a little sassy at this moment. I would have said, no, no, no, my teaching isn't making you guilty of anything. It's your actions that made you guilty. It has nothing to do with what I'm saying. It's got everything to do with what you did when Jesus was here. And that's exactly what Peter does, actually.
00:26:42
Speaker
Oh, sorry, gotta get up here. He says, look, have you filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood? Peter and the apostles replied, we must obey God rather than people. If you don't get anything else from what I'm saying today, if you're ready to take your Sunday morning nap, and this is about the part where you're tuning out, write this on your notes, write this in your Bible, live this in your heart. You are not called to obey any man, you're called to follow after God.
00:27:10
Speaker
And delayed disobedience is disobedience. Excuse me, delayed obedience is disobedience. Says, the God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you murdered, so he leaves no doubt. It's not my teaching, it's your actions that created this problem. God exalted the man to his right hand as ruler and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.
00:27:40
Speaker
So the second thing I think that causes people to get enraged by the name of Jesus when we're preaching Jesus is pride. It's pride. First of all, I think there's intellectual pride. You ever heard those people go, I'm too far advanced, too educated to believe in a mystical God. I'm too advanced, too smart to believe in something I can't see. I'm too intelligent to believe in some fairy tale about some man up there, which by the way, he's not a man.
00:28:08
Speaker
Now I'm too smart for those kinds of things. And can I just, a little side note here, I oppose what's going on this month in our country for a lot of reasons, but pride month is the biggest problem for me because pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Nobody should have pride. Nobody should be so arrogant to lift their face to God and say, you owe me anything.
00:28:33
Speaker
Nobody should say, I don't need you, I don't want you, I don't think you should be a part of my life. And that's exactly what this entire month is about for a group of people. God forbid that any of us ever utter such words. Second kind of pride we see here is social pride. I can't talk about Jesus, what would people think? What would my coworkers think if I had started a Bible study at work?
00:29:00
Speaker
What would my neighbors think if I somehow spoke the name of Jesus over them and prayed for them in their need or served them in the name of Jesus? Man, what would all my buddies at school think if I actually talked about Jesus like I believed in him? And the third one is family pride. Family pride. We don't want the family to be upset, right?
Divine Authority vs. Human Authority
00:29:23
Speaker
Don't want the family to be talking about us as the family reunion saying, there's that Jesus freak.
00:29:28
Speaker
We don't want our unbelieving family to be upset with us or to bring shame on anybody in our family. But let me just simply ask you a question. Do you love your family? Because you should be less concerned about their shame and more concerned about their eternity. And if we don't speak the name of Jesus boldly, then we miss the opportunity to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. As I said, the Sadducees love power, right? They were power hungry people.
00:29:58
Speaker
They get very jealous because the apostles are beginning to grow and grow and grow and more in their influence, more in their popularity. The Bible says to us many times in Acts that their numbers were added to almost on a daily basis. So they had them arrested again. And they brought them back in. And the reason they're doing this is because the Sadducees were very politically savvy. They knew how to keep the Romans happy and keep them at a distance, but they also knew how to keep their Jewish people happy at the same time.
00:30:27
Speaker
and practice their religion. Can I tell you that this reaction happens many times today? People become outraged because they lose their power when the name of Jesus is spoken. People become outraged when they are challenged by Jesus type people doing Jesus type things. Hostile, unbelieving organizations like the ACLU,
00:30:53
Speaker
the Freedom from Religion Foundation, some of these other organizations that look for every opportunity to try to intimidate, threaten, come after organizations like any Christian organization that supports orphan care, any Christian organization that supports adoption, crisis pregnancy centers that are supported by Christian organizations, they will come after them. Can I ask a question? Why hate a baby? Why hate a baby?
00:31:21
Speaker
And can I just out of love say to you something really, really important? There is no such thing as a pro-choice Christian. You cannot stand in opposition to the life that God has given and say that some life doesn't matter and call yourself a Christian. Now, if you have been through the horror of an abortion, you've made some choice later on, you're just as easily to be forgiven as I am.
00:31:45
Speaker
I'm not saying that like you are, thank you, brother. I'm not saying that like you've done the unpardonable sin. There's many things that are sometimes much, much even worse in the eyes of men. But can I just tell you it's not a choice? Because if it was, the child would choose to live. Pro-choice, pro-life, those arguments, man, they're smokescreens for people who just don't wanna give up their authority to God.
00:32:15
Speaker
Their agendas clash with the kingdom agenda. They don't want to see Jesus advanced in any way. But be prepared because opposition is going to follow you wherever you do good. The council, it says, was totally baffled.
00:32:30
Speaker
When someone reports the prisoners are teaching in public and the council changes their tactics, like I said, brings them in quietly and says, hey, we'll handle it this way. They say that the apostles are violating their command not to teach the name of Jesus and are making the council look good. And the apostles only answer is, listen, we gotta speak the name of Jesus. We have no option. Now, I wanna put this little disclaimer out there, especially for those of you who are not familiar with our church.
00:32:57
Speaker
Our staff sits down every October and plans our sermon series for the year. We trust the Holy Spirit to guide us in that conversation and then we leave ourselves flexibility to move things around throughout the year. The reason I'm telling you that is that this sermon was put on our schedule last October. God knew that today we'd be preaching this sermon. He knew in October that the events of this past week in New York City would have happened.
00:33:24
Speaker
So this sermon was not written because what happened on Thursday. This sermon was written because the Holy Spirit led us to it back in October. So what I'm about to say to you is important. I want you to hear this. God established three institutions in his word. The first is the family. The government does not have the authority to redefine family. You don't get to say a man and a man make a couple. You don't get to decide a man and a squirrel make a couple.
00:33:50
Speaker
You don't get to decide that your car and a woman make a couple. You don't get to rewrite the rules. Marriage was instituted by God. It cannot be taken out of His authority. He instituted the church. The church is what Jesus Christ described the church to be. It's His body. We are the ones acting out on His behalf. We are the bride of Christ. The church is trying to be redefined by men. Can't happen. The church is what the Bible tells us the church is. And thirdly, God instituted the state.
00:34:22
Speaker
the gay men's on that one. Because to be honest, we look around and it's hard to see any evidence of God in the state right now, isn't it?
Standing Firm Against Intimidation
00:34:30
Speaker
It's really hard to recognize why he did what he did. Now some of you instantly are going, wait a minute, are you telling me that God put so and so in as the president? And let me put this disclaimer out there, I am not a Republican, I'm not a Democrat, I'm a Jesus follower, okay?
00:34:46
Speaker
Are you telling me that Obama was put in by Jesus? Are you telling me that Biden was put in by Jesus? Are you telling me Trump was part of God's plan? And the answer is yes, 100%. We've gotten what we deserve.
00:34:59
Speaker
And if you want evidence of it, go all the way back to the nation of Israel. It was split into two nations, Israel and Judah, that says that because of David's sin, that the nation would be ripped out of his hands and it would be split into two. Solomon's behavior guaranteed that. And from the moment the nation of Israel became separate from Judah, not one godly king in all their history. And yet God put every one of them in power.
00:35:28
Speaker
Why? Because God says, you keep rejecting me, you keep choosing your path, I'll let you suffer the consequences of what you've chosen. We've got nobody to blame but ourselves. We've got nobody to blame but ourselves. The reason we're in the mess we are in is because the church has allowed itself to become intimidated by a very loud voice out there called the culture. And it's time that the church starts standing back up and fighting for what we know is right.
00:35:57
Speaker
Okay, now back up a second, I want you to hear this. The Bible teaches we must submit to the authorities that God has given us. We must submit to the authorities that God has given us provided that it does not contradict the word of God. You see, ultimately when we submit to government, we submit because we're submitting to God.
00:36:21
Speaker
We don't submit to the United States government because it's the government, it's the authority. We submit to the United States government because we're submitting to the God who put them in authority. That's the way this thing works. However, if it contradicts the word of God, we have no obligation. Let me take this a little bit further and make it a little more personal. Your speeding ticket, that's your fault. That's because you didn't listen to the speed limit.
00:36:46
Speaker
Stop signs, not arbitrary. You must stop. That does not mean slow till others pass. Your seat belts, mandated by law, wear them. They're for your safety. And this hurts me as much as it does you. Yes, we should pay the income taxes. We don't have to be happy about it, but we must pay them because that's what Jesus said. Render unceasing that which is seizures.
00:37:15
Speaker
I want you to hear this though. There are times when we could not, cannot, and should not obey the government. I hope that makes you a little nervous. If you trace this country all the way back to the beginnings of the revolution here in this country, most of the revolutionary forces that were started under the name of the new United States of America were started by preachers who preached about revolution.
00:37:42
Speaker
because they saw what King George was doing to this country and they said, we can't sit by and do this any longer because you are contrary to what the word of God teaches. You are enslaving people in ways that God never intended. And because of their boldness, revolution began. Now, we don't have permission to rebel just because we don't like a law that's passed. We definitely don't have permission to rebel just because we don't like a congressional leader.
00:38:11
Speaker
I don't like most of the people in Congress, but I'm still given the responsibility to submit to them as a God-ordained and appointed leader for this nation. But disobedience should be expected and indeed commanded when the state forbids what God requires or requires what God forbids. It should be expected and commanded of every believer.
00:38:39
Speaker
I've said this to you before, I believe before my time on this planet, unless God just chooses to give me ultimate healing sooner than I expect, I believe before my time on this planet is done, I will be arrested for teaching the truth of Jesus Christ. I'm very confident of it. But I have no other authority that's higher than the command that God has given me to preach the truth. The apostles chose civil disobedience.
00:39:08
Speaker
They refused to listen to the authorities and they said very simply, we can't stop talking about the Savior. My encouragement to you church, please don't stop speaking His name.
Perseverance and Joy in Faith
00:39:23
Speaker
In fact, be bolder.
00:39:26
Speaker
Be more outrageous with it. Be more confident in it. Pray for more opportunities for it. Because when persecution hit the first century church, they got louder. So, let me very quickly finish the rest of the story. Man, this was too fun to preach. Let's pick up verse 28.
00:39:52
Speaker
Didn't we strictly order you not to teach in His name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. I don't know if that's where I want to start. Let's go to verse 32. We are witnesses of these things, so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.
00:40:04
Speaker
I want to skip down some more. Verse 33, when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. The Sanhedrin wanted to kill the apostles for speaking the name of Jesus. There's a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the fall who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. He said to them, men of Israel, be careful about what you're about to do to these men. Some time ago, Thudes rose up claiming to be somebody.
00:40:30
Speaker
A group of about 400 men rallied to him. He was killed and all his followers were dispersed and it came to nothing.
00:40:38
Speaker
After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following. He also perished and all his followers were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone for if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God. And they were persuaded by him.
00:41:06
Speaker
After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak, gave them one more chance, said, don't talk about Jesus anymore. It says the apostles went out rejoicing. They were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of his name. And not once, but every single day in the temple, they were back doing what they had been arrested for. Every single day. So what's the last thing I wanna tell you? Well, let's end on a positive note.
00:41:33
Speaker
The wholehearted truth of following Jesus Christ encourages other believers as they are going through suffering. You see, here's this incredible story as it's coming to an end. The Sanhedrin says, one more time, we're gonna beat you silly. We're gonna send you out with this command. You better not say the name of Jesus. And they came out worshiping.
00:41:54
Speaker
They came out worshiping and saying, thank you, God, for giving us this opportunity to stand on behalf of your name. Thank you for giving us the courage, the strength, the ability to talk about what you've done for mankind. And they worshiped and rejoiced because they were counted worthy to do it. Second thing we see here is they didn't stop preaching. They didn't stop preaching. They refused to give in to the pressure that was on them. They were bolder than ever before.
00:42:24
Speaker
You see a radical obedience to the gospel energize those people on a personal level and I submit to you today it would do the same for the church if we would be bolder in our proclamation of the gospel. Wherever we go, wherever our feet take us, wherever our jobs take us, wherever our schools and our athletics take us to speak the name of Jesus without fear. If you're suffering for your faith then rejoice like the first believers did. You're in good company.
00:42:54
Speaker
If you want real joy, then follow the very simple model of Acts. Number one, be compassionate toward the needy. Number two, be bold in your witness for Jesus Christ. And number three, be filled with integrity, respect, and humility. Don't allow your heart to become proud like you're better than anybody else. Jesus loves every sinner, so should we. Jesus had compassion for those who were broken, so should we.
00:43:25
Speaker
but Jesus did not fail to tell them about their sin so that they could be rescued from it. You will face opposition as you stand for Jesus, but you will never regret for suffering for the name of Jesus. Will you pray with me? Father, may your word come alive in our hearts this morning. May we hear, understand, see, and speak the truth.
00:43:55
Speaker
It's because of your Holy Spirit that we've been given the opportunity to know Jesus, and it's by that same spirit that we will be given the power to live for the name of Jesus. So wherever we go this week, may our hearts be enlarged to encompass those around us, to bring them in, to invite them in, to know and feel what we have experienced. Thank you for Jesus, who gives us the opportunity to call on your name, to know that we are heard, and to know that you love us enough to respond.
00:44:25
Speaker
We don't deserve any of it. You give it freely. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.