Acts Series Part 8: Responding to Persecution with Wisdom and Courage

Acts Chapter 5

This podcast looks at Acts chapter 5 through the lens of three possible responses to challenge, opposition, and fear: we can quit, we can camp, or we can climb.

The apostles stood before the most powerful religious leaders in Jerusalem, having been arrested for proclaiming Jesus. For many, this would have been a moment to retreat, compromise, or stay quiet. Instead, they boldly declared that Jesus—the one who was crucified—had been raised from the dead and is now King.

A respected leader named Gamaliel reminded the council that many movements had come and gone. If this movement was merely human, it would fade away. But if it was from God, no one would be able to stop it. Two thousand years later, Christianity's survival and growth point to the truth of his words.

The apostles refused to quit. But neither did they camp. Camping is often more tempting than quitting. We keep following Jesus, but stop taking risks. We settle into what is comfortable and avoid the things that might stretch us.

After being released, the apostles gathered to pray -they didn't pray for an easier life or greater protection. They prayed for boldness …  and boldness is what keeps disciples climbing.

For most of us, boldness won't look dramatic. It looks like speaking up when fear says, "Keep quiet." Reaching out when fear says, "Hold back." Offering to pray for someone, inviting a neighbour for coffee, or speaking naturally about Jesus when the opportunity comes.

The apostles weren't fearless superheroes. They knew weakness and uncertainty just like we do. Yet they kept going because they had been with Jesus. They weren't told to explain everything. They were told to "tell the people about this new life."

That is still our calling today. We are not called to save people, fix every problem, or have an answer for everything. We are simply called to share the life we have found in Jesus—a life where, when we struggle, he holds us; when we fall, he lifts us; when we fail, he forgives us.

So the challenge this week is simple: pray for boldness. Ask God for the courage to speak up when fear says stay quiet, to reach out when fear says hold back, and to keep going when fear says give up. Because if we never ask for boldness, we'll probably miss the opportunities God puts in front of us—and before long, we'll find ourselves camping when Jesus is inviting us to climb.

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:19

This podcast looks at Acts chapter 5 through the lens of three possible responses to challenge, opposition, and fear. We can quit, camp, or we can climb. The apostles stood before the most powerful religious leaders in Jerusalem, having been arrested for proclaiming Jesus. For many, this would have been a moment to retreat, to compromise, or to stay quiet. Instead, they boldly declared that Jesus, the one who was crucified, had been raised from the dead and is now king. A respected leader named Gamaliel reminded the council that many movements had come and gone. If this movement was merely human, it would fade away. But if it was from God, no one would be able to stop it. Two thousand years later, Christianity, survival, and growth point to the truth of his words. So the apostles refused to quit. But neither did they camp. Camping is often more tempting than quitting. We keep following Jesus, but we stop taking risks, and we settle into what is comfortable and avoid the things that might stretch us. Instead, after being released, the apostles gathered to pray. They didn't pray for an easier life or greater protection. They prayed for boldness. And boldness is what keeps disciples might be. Let's listen to Dean.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

We are in Acts chapter 5. Uh, we've been following this story, and this week we're gonna have something of a recap, um, which I think ties into the account that comes we're gonna come to together. So we're in Acts chapter 5, uh, starting in verse 17, um, we've just had another incredible account of the generosity of the church, the power of the church, the ministry of the church, the healing and the proclamation of the kingdom, which is not just that there is a king who has come to make all things right, but in their actions, in the way that they loved and they served and they blessed, in the way that they healed the sick and delivered people from oppression, they are announcing and proclaiming and demonstrating this kingdom is not just coming, but it is come, it is breaking in. And then following that it says the high priest, they seal this, and it says, Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. Go, stand in the temple courts, he said, and tell the people all about this new life. At daybreak they entered the temple courts as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin, the full assembly of the elders of Israel, and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside. On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priest were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to. Then someone came and said, Look, the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people. At that the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force because they feared that the people would stone them. The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name, he said. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood. Peter and the other apostles replied, We must obey God rather than human beings. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead, whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as prince and saviour, that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gemaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin, Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theodus appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census, and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you, leave these men alone. Let them go. For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men. You will only find yourselves fighting against God. His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name. Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. There's about four sermons in this passage, and it's tricky of trying to trying to keep us moving. I'm sure there's there'll be time in different times bits in the future to come back to bits of it. But there are two sides in this. People are celebrating and praising, people are putting their faith in Jesus, and the elders and the leaders don't like this. So they've taken them and they've thrown them in a jail already. It's probably not a jail as we think about it, with a tray that you put through with food in and a nice comfy bed, not comfy, but a bed and a toilet. It's probably more like a hole in the ground that you can't climb out of, that you put a lid on, and a hole that other people have been in for days on end that doesn't have drainage, if you sort of get my gist of what's going on. So they've been put in that hole and then they've been brought out of that and stood before the people. And they can't deny what's happening. It's very difficult to deny a man's been healed where he's over there tap dancing away. And so they say, Well, we can't deny it, but you must stop speaking in this man's name. So they charge them, do not speak in his name, and they send them out. And what do they do? They go straight back to the place where this all happened and they start speaking again, and they keep proclaiming it. And so, again, in this passage, we see that they're proclaiming and they're speaking the name of Jesus. So they get them again and they throw them in another cell, a holding cell. It's a public jail where they put on display and showing these are criminals, people not to be trusted. And then an angel comes and sets them free, opens the door, and then very politely, you know, does it closes it again? Because it's the next day they find the doors locked. So he opens the door and then closes it again, and then they they go off again. They're speaking in the courts, they go to find them, they're not there, and so they bring them in and they charge them again. We told you not to do this, and you keep doing this. And so they're debating what to do and how to treat them. Then Gamaliel, this man, stands up. An interesting character because we forget Luke, Luke is not writing once upon a time stories. I know it can often feel like that and appear like that, but Luke is writing history. And Gamaliel is one of those characters that we know about from history. We know who he was, we know when he lived, we know what he did. He was actually quite an influential character, one of the leaders of the time, um, brought huge reforms in terms of women's rights, um, in terms of what rights of a woman when they get divorced, and and sometimes there are cases where a husband would go missing or run away, and then she couldn't be divorced from him, and so they would cause all sorts of trouble. And he brought lots of reforms. We know all about this. This is a historical character. And he stands up and he comes up with this plan, he says, Let's leave them alone. Because we've seen this before. We've got Thudist, and again, we know about Thurdus. He was a real character. Someone who went out into the wilderness, he got 400 people, went out to the Jordan River and said, I'm gonna part the river, then we're gonna ride into Jerusalem, we're gonna drive out the Romans, and we're gonna take this country back. And he got to the Jordan and the water didn't parted, then the Romans came and cut his head off and took it into Jerusalem. So it didn't go well for him. But we know that story because of history, these are real characters. And then you got Judas the Galilean, who he was a man who led a revolt. In fact, he was the first person who came up with this approach to the Romans. You had different people. You got the Pharisees who avoided the Romans, you got the Sadducees who thought, well, we could make a bit of money and benefit from the Romans, you had the Essenes who stood at a distance and criticized the Romans, and the zealots were a new group of people led by Judas the Galilean who thought we could kill the Romans. We could try and overthrow them through violence. And so, and even in Jesus' time, you got zealots, people who are trying to overthrow the Romans through violence, and that was Judas. All that just to say, this is history. These are real characters and times and dates, and the fact that Luke includes them reminds us, oh, he's not just making this up and plucking it out of thin air. These are real people, and the way they speak sounds like the real people we know about from history elsewhere. It is in line with their character. And so when Gamaliel comes up with this wise and gentle approach, that that fits with the way he's treated other people throughout the history that we know about. And his approach is this leave them, because if it's of God, we won't stop it. If it isn't, it will die by itself. So that addresses that idea that we sometimes might hear that Jesus, he sort of this was their thing, wasn't it? There are all sorts of people, lots of people came up with ideas, people believed anything back then, they're all gullible. But this is this is something different. Life of Brian, the film, plays on that idea. It could be anyone, just someone who people got attached to, but but what Gamalio was saying is look, we've seen this before. We've seen this, and if this is not of God, then it's gonna be nothing. I mean, we saw Thurdus, he he he had 400 people, he had he had a might and he had influence, he was quite a charismatic character. If that failed, then we haven't got to worry about a Galilean, a Nazarene carpenter who never had any education and training, who had what 12 good leaders at best, and most of them were fishermen and and and people who had no esteem about them. And he's got what maybe 120 in his circle. We've seen worse than this, guys. And so we don't have to worry about it. Unless, of course, it's of God, and then we should worry about it. But if it's not, let's not worry about it. And so his approach is to leave it. All that is just part of the background of what's going on here. The problem is that this is of God. And Luke is recording this because it's of God, and this this insight stands as sort of some wisdom, but also some sort of prophecy, that this thing should have died out. This thing we call church, we shouldn't know about it. We shouldn't be talking about it, we shouldn't be gathering like this. It shouldn't still be here. Things come and go, people get excited for a moment, but it dies away. These things, that these religions, they they everyone comes up with their own idea, their own view of God. There's no substance to it, unless, of course, it's the one true God. Gemaliel says, if that's the case, then we maybe we should worry about it, but maybe we shouldn't, because we're not going to stop it anyway. If it's the one true God, then we we can't stop this. And history testifies that this this crazy band of small people, this thing that shouldn't have made it, stands and stands and keeps going, which makes me interested not so much in Gemaliel, although we could focus on him, but on the disciples who are on the receiving end of this treatment. Those who have been thrown in the hole and put in the cell. Remember, this is maybe a couple of weeks from Pentecost. It's taking us weeks and weeks, maybe a few months to get to this point. For them, it's a matter of days, from when the Holy Spirit fills them to when they're stood in this place before, being charged, being flogged, being thrown into cells. They've they've been a few days into this, and already they've had worse treatment than the rest of their lives, and perhaps worse treatment than many of us have ever experienced. And it raises this question of how they are able to do that, and what it says to us as a church. On their release, it says Peter and John went back and they consider themselves, they praise God because they're considered worthy of suffering. They are flogged. And that's not a truth, it's a simple line, they were flogged and then set free. But that is beaten with a whip, that is that is scars and bleeding on the back. This is not a light punishment, but they're sent out. And it goes back to something that happened earlier. The first time they ended up in a pit or in a cell, and then were brought out. It says they gathered together and they said, God, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. Now consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. This is the answer to that prayer that came a few chapters earlier. Lord, would you help us to speak with boldness? I'd be tempted to say, guys, I don't think boldness is your issue. From what I can see, that that isn't a problem. You you've got boldness. That's taked off. But they go, no, no, there is a temptation with all that's happened. We're new to this. This is a brand new start, and we've not encountered this before. There is a temptation to give up. And it's that that I want to speak to today. I've shared this before, but I think it's worth reminding us of there are three positions you can be in as a disciple of Jesus. Three stances, if you like, or postures that we can be in. It's like we're on a journey. A few years ago, before I had children and I had time to myself, I did the Three Peaks Challenge and we went up to Ben Nevis, and then we did Scarfell, and then we came to Snowden. And Snowden's sort of the easiest of the three, but I remember they're getting to a point where it was foggy and had too many jelly babies, I was feeling a bit sick, and then we're climbing up, and I got to a point where it sort of leveled off, and I sort of stood there and thought, this has got a bit too much now. 24 hours, I haven't had any sleep, it's starting to wear on me. And at that moment, there are three temptations. One, you quit. You turn around, you climb back down, you say it's too much, I can't keep going, and you walk away. The second, which I did for a little while, was you camp. You sit down and you just go, I'm not gonna quit, but I'm not going any further either. I'm just gonna stay here for a bit. It's safe, I'm secure, I can rest, I can get my bearings, I know where I am, nothing's gonna happen. I'll just I'll just drink some water and calm down. And then there's the the need in us to go, but also I do need to climb. I do need to keep going. I do need to press. I can't stay, I can camp for a little bit, that's fine, but I can't stay here forever. At some point, I've got to make a decision. Either I'm going back or I'm going forward. Now, in my instance, I did it with my sister, and because she was willing to keep going, my sibling rivalry Paul came into gear, and so we went on and we managed to complete it. But that that is a picture of us as disciples. You're going along with Jesus, and something will hit you. We've talked about that already. Something happens to you, things take place. It isn't easy. Sometimes it's opposition, sometimes it's struggling, sometimes it's suffering in some form, but you're going along, you're climbing, you're climbing, you're climbing, and then something happens and you get a hit, and then you've got that choice. What stance am I gonna take going forward? Am I going to quit? Throw in the towel, I can't keep doing this, I can't keep going, it's uh I don't have it in me. Or am I gonna camp? I'm not gonna give up, I'm just gonna settle. I've come quite far, I've done quite well. I'm I'm not not going back down the mountain, but I'm just gonna stay where I am, keep things, keep things safe. I know, I know what's going on. I don't want to upset the apple cart. I'll just stay here for a bit. And that bit turns into a bit longer and turns into a bit longer and a bit longer until suddenly you haven't just got a camp, you've got a nice furnished house that you've built because you you've stayed there and there, you got yourself, you got your bearings, and everything's okay. Or there's as these disciples show, there is another calling which is to keep climbing, to keep going, to pluck up the courage to say there is more. There is more that God has for me, there is more available, there's more that He wants to do in me and through me. There is more to do in the world, but to get there, I need to keep climbing. Peter and John pray this prayer, they still smell like the hole they got pulled out of. They perhaps spent the night writing their will, they have no idea if they're gonna live the next day, but they come out and they say, God, it'd be easy to set up camp. But would you give us boldness? Would you give us the ability to keep going? Now I take that and then I hold it against my prayer life, and your prayer life is where you might see this most clearly. If all my prayers are answered, who would benefit the most? Because often when we're camping, our prayers begin to turn to God, would you keep me safe? God, would you would you help, would you bless me? God, would you would you make sure things work out for me? Or perhaps just me and my immediate family, those things around me. And that's not a bad thing to pray. But at some point, that prayer can become a God, would you just help me stay where I am? Rather than God, would you give me boldness to go where you want to take me? My prayers indicate, am I concerned about what God is concerned about? Or have I started to settle? The danger is when we we keep doing, like I said, it's not wrong for a while. There are times where you've got to catch your breath, where you've got to take stock, where you've got to sit still and rest and just discern where you are and what's going on. But at some point, like the early church, you have to make that choice. Are we going to keep going? Are we going to push on? If I could be so bold, may I suggest that we need to pray to be more bold? That church in our culture, in our time, can be easy. And I don't want to diminish that. We shouldn't make it intentionally hard on purpose. But there is more. There is a life to be lived, there is a way of boldness that stretches us, that pushes us, not in an unhealthy way, not in an oppressive way, not in a burdensome way. Jesus doesn't want us burdened, but there is something in you that can break out. There is more in you that God can do. There is more that He can speak into, more that He can minister to, more that He He wants to do. But it's us who say, Well, I'm comfortable here. I'm not going to quit, so I'm not that bad, but I just I just want to stay where I am. Now just to clarify, boldness doesn't mean bigness. I'm not talking about getting a huge stage or filling a stadium. I'm not even talking about standing on a soapbox or preaching in the street or talking, trying to talk to people who aren't listening. Boldness is not bigness. It's not having a loud voice. Boldness is also not rudeness. Some people when they think about this, they think, well, I don't want to be rude. No, no, we're told to speak with gentleness and respect. That rudeness is that people push back because they need the rude version of Christianity, not the bold version of Christianity. Boldness is that courage to speak up when fear says to shut up. Boldness is that courage to reach out to someone when fear whispers no, hold it in. Boldness is that courage to sacrifice when fear whispers no, preserve, look out for yourself. Boldness is that courage to keep going when fear whispers, give up. Boldness is that courage to draw near to someone. When fear says no, stay away. Boldness, I think, looks far more ordinary than we expect. Boldness can be praying with a friend when they tell you that they're struggling, boldness can be mentioning that you've been to church when someone asks what you've done at the weekend. Boldness can be offering to pray for a colleague. It can be inviting a neighbor over. It can be speaking about Jesus naturally when the opportunity arises. It could be offering to serve someone in some way. Boldness is taking that step beyond myself, beyond where I am. And to keep doing it because Jesus is in me. And I cannot contain him. For most of us, boldness won't happen on a stage, but it will happen, it will happen in a shop, or it will happen over a garden fence, or it will happen in your kitchen or at the school gates. It will happen in conversations with friends. That boldness that isn't loud, isn't rude, but is simply faithful. I need to be obedient. I want to love the people God has brought into my life because God has called me to love people that is brought into my life. And when there's that part of us that says, Well, I don't have it in me, we go back to what we looked at a few weeks ago. These people are illiterate, uneducated, unskilled, but they've been with Jesus. And that speaks more than anything else. There is something in you. And the boldness is not to believe more in myself. I can do this. I can convince people, I can, I can show people, I can change people, I can change. Like, no, the boldness isn't in me. The boldness is Jesus. Jesus is enough. And if I can show them Jesus, then I've done my job. This last week, or the last couple of weeks, there was an interview, uh, a podcast, top three podcasts normally each week called Diary of a CEO. The man on the right, Stephen Bartlett, uh CEO, millionaire, um, on Dragon's Den, very successful man. And he has this podcast where he interviews very other successful and influential people about a whole range of topics and works out what makes you tick, and and people listen to it because then they can learn how to be successful and become millionaires just like him. Very successful. And he this week he had this man on John Lennox, who you may have heard of. John Lennox is a Christian. Um go listen to all his talks because he's got such a gentle, wonderful way of communicating, an intellect the size of a planet, um, but a wonderful way of getting that across. There's a book out there by him if you want to go read it. Uh, and he's a mathematician and a biological ethicist, and and written whole books on AI and things like that. And he has this interview with Stephen Butlett as part of the conversation. He's talking about why do you believe in God? And John Lennox is giving his incredible arguments and his reasoning for believing that there is a God and this God wants to be known and he's come in the person of Jesus. And he outlines all the arguments and explanations and he communicates it well. And Stephen Butler afterwards was said, asked, What stood out to you the most? Because you think, well, that's great for John Lennox, but I'm not like him. I can't argue, I can't reason. I can't when I get asked the question, I fall apart, I go wobbly and don't know what to say. And Stephen Butler's answer was the thing that stood out the most was that John Lennox had a peace and contentment unlike anyone else I've ever interviewed. Not his intellect, not his arguments, not his reasoning, but this peace and contentment that he communicated, that it was unlike anyone else. Now I may not be able to argue and communicate, but the boldness isn't in my intellect. That's what great if you have it. But the boldness is there, is Jesus in me. And him in me is enough. I'm not bold because I have it. I'm bold because he has me. I'm not bold because I am enough. I'm bold because he is enough in me. We are the church for our generation. People outside, they don't look at the book of Acts, they don't look at history, they don't look at Welsh revivals, they look at us. Do you know how many Gospels there are? Five. Five, brother Keith. There's Matthew, and there's Mark, there's Luke, and there's John, and there's Dean. And there's Keith and there's Sheila. And there's Jim. There are five Gospels because you are the other gospel. You are the thing that people read. You are the one that communicates it. You are the letter. People don't read the Bible. They read you. People don't search for the scripture. They search you. They watch you. They see you. We ask for boldness, not because I have enough, but because there is something in me that is enough. And if I can believe that, then I will keep going even when I take a hit. Even when I'm put off, even when I'm discouraged, even when things aren't going the way I plan, I keep going and I keep climbing because there is something in me that pulls me forward. You see, you can stay put for a while, but after a while you end up feeling you get to a place where it's like you're busy, but you're unfulfilled. You're comfortable, but you're worn out. You're safe, but you're unsatisfied. It's like everything's good, but I'm not good. And it's because that there is when the Spirit comes into us that there is this hunger, this hunger that you can't satisfy by being busy and comfortable and safe. Those are all the substitutes for a life that's lived not just for me, but for God's purposes. Lord, empower me to be bold. Not because I am enough, but because you are. Not to be rude, but because you are in me, and there is something in me that I need to let others know about. That I want to communicate. For the disciples, they keep going. They go straight back to the very same. It's like they're in the temple and they get arrested and put into a pit, so they go back to the temple. Then they get arrested and put into cell, they go back to the temple, you think, maybe just try another area. No, we're just gonna go straight back to the exact same spot. We're gonna keep doing it again and again because we can't help ourselves. I love what the angel says when the angel brings them out of the prison. He says, Go stand in the temple courts, he said, and tell the people all about this new life. That's that's the peace and contentment. What new life? Let me tell you about this new life we've got. We've been at it for about a week, we've been in prison twice. All the leaders hate us, um, people are scared to join us. Let me tell about this. No, there is that side of it, but there's there's this other side that says, let me tell you about this life. We've been in a cell, but we've got such comfort from God. We've been uncomfortable for a night, but we are comforted by the God of heaven and earth. We have suffered, we've been flogged, but we have been counted worthy of the name, which is what they go on to say. We have been worthy of suffering disgraceful. Let me tell you about this life. I struggle and it is difficult at times, but I have one who holds my hand through dark valleys. Let me tell you about this new life. I've I have ridden with guilt and shame over things I've done, things I have thought, things I have done, but I am filled with a peace that I am made right with God because He died to pay the price of my sins. Let me tell you about this life. I've struggled for illness and difficulty, but I am comforted that there is a hope of a new heaven and a new body and a new life to come. Let me tell you about this life. I've witnessed pain. I have experienced heartbreak. This world is not as it should be, but I have the hope of a day when the God of heaven and earth will come and wipe away every tear and heal every scar. Let me tell you about this new life. It's not me. I'm a mess. This world is a mess, but this new life is something in me that bursts out. And sometimes I can explain it, sometimes I can give reasons for it, sometimes I can provide arguments that will convince other people, but most of the time it's simply this is the life I have, and I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't have it. I wouldn't be back in the temple courts, I wouldn't be keeping going. See the the bouncing basketballs, they're more than simply you can bounce back. There's a thing in us that Christians believe that I must be able to cope. And the world will tell you you need to be able to cope, you need to keep going, you need to press on, you can do this. But the Christian message is not I can cope or you can cope or I have to cope because I'm a Christian. The Christian message is I can't cope. I can't do it. I've never been able to. Sometimes I convince myself, okay, I can't do it, but I can keep following him. I can't cope, but I can keep going. I can't cope, but I can keep walking beside him. Many Christians have heard the phrase, God will never give you more than you can handle. The problem is that isn't what the Bible says. That isn't what that verse is speaking about. It says, God will never tempt you to the point where you step into sin, but you will regularly find yourself with more than you can handle. In fact, there's a verse in 2 Corinthians 1 where Paul himself writes, we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure. You will find yourself in life with times where you cannot cope, where the mountain seems too high, the next step is too much, and at that moment you can camp for a while, don't feel guilty about that. You can sit, you can rest, you can take stock. But the moment that you step on is not going to be right. I've sorted myself out now, now I'll carry on. Right, I'm all good now, I've refreshed myself, now I'll carry on. Right, everything's as it should be, everything's been fixed and set right, now I'll carry on. The moment when you choose to carry on will be things are still not quite right. The mountain is still as high as it ever was. I'm still perhaps in exactly the same situation, but he who is in me is greater than he who is in the world. He has provided victory that I can step into. He is enough even when I am a knot, and so I'll press on, not because I can cope, but because he is with me, and because of that I can keep going. I may be under great pressure, far beyond my ability to endure, but thank God that it is not about my ability to endure. It is the truth that God is with me. Resilience, as we've seen, doesn't mean that you never wobble and you never fall. It means that when I do, there is a life in me, a new life that I have that I can't often explain, but I can simply say I know it to be true. That life that keeps me going, that life that helps me take another step, that life that sometimes means I worship through tears and I continue to trust when I don't understand, and I take the next faithful step rather than quit. This life that means I don't ever say I've got this, but I go on saying, Jesus, you've got me. The question is never, can I handle this? I'm sure the disciples were thinking, this is a lot. The space of a weakness is an awful lot to bear, but they keep going. And they praise God that they're counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name, even what they go through. They say, Jesus, you are worthy. Jesus, you are better. That's what this life is. This life is hard, but he is better. I am a mess, but he is better. Things have not gone the way that I would have hoped, but he is enough. He is worthy, he is worthy, he is worthy. The mark of a disciple was not that they never stumble, it's not that they're never tempted to quit, it's not that they never camp. The mark of a disciple is they keep going, even when they feel like they don't have enough. Because there is a life in you that is not satisfied until you arrive at your destination. And so today you consider whether you've been tempted to quit, to step back. Maybe you're camping, and that's like I said, that can be fine for a time. But there may be a call to step on. But it's not because everything's sorted now. It's not because we figured everything out, it's because he is still on the throne. His comfort and his grace is still with you. He's still the shepherd in that dark valley, but in the valley you don't stop forever. You have to go through it with him. As we respond now. Father, thank you for thank you for this new life. Thank you that this this treasure is housed in jars of clay with us. Thank you that this boldness that we're encouraged to have is not boldness because of our ability or our skill. It's not boldness in our in our technique. It's boldness that we have you with us. We are not confident in ourselves, but we are confident in you. What we're reading is is confusing and seems at odds that if we're following you, that it would be this difficult, and yet what we see in them is not complaint and not complacency. What we see in them is is trust and faith that even though they are going through valleys, even though they are persecuted, even though they are pushed back and suppressed, you are with them, and you are worthy. May we have that same vision, Lord? To see the one, that Galilean Nazarene carpenter, that uneducated rabbi, that man who hung on a cross. But in him, the God of heaven and earth was doing a work, reconciling all things to himself, undoing the curse and removing the sin of the world. And in your resurrection you began a new creation. One that pushes back on the darkness, and the darkness continues to try and snuff it out, although it can't. And we've been called into that. To walk with you, to continue to proclaim, to continue to show that there is a king on a throne, that there is a kingdom that is coming. And while it tries, all the darkness in the world cannot overcome it. So help us, Lord, not to be discouraged by those setbacks, not to be quieted by those setbacks. Not to be tempted to just settle because of those setbacks. Open our eyes that we might see where you want to step out in boldness. We thank you that you aren't asking for the spectacular, although that may come. You are asking for simple faith, simple obedience. To say my boldness is not in what I can do, but in what Christ can do in me. So lead us, Lord. For those who've been tempted to quit, may they be encouraged today to rest, refresh, to offload their burdens, to cast their cares on you, for you care for them. For those who've been camping for too long and become quite comfortable, or would you urge them? Would you begin to stare in them that discontentment that there is more for them, more you want to do? For those who are climbing, may they do so not in their own assurance, in their own ability, in their own strength. May they do so with the boldness that comes from being known by you, being from being with you, being strengthened by you. May they climb humbly, knowing it is not in their own ability, but you who is in them. Speak to each one of us, Lord. You know where every single person here is today. May we all go proclaiming and displaying this new life that we have. We thank you for it, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

We hope that you've enjoyed listening to these thoughts today. If anything that we have said has challenged you or raised questions that you'd like out today, please don't hesitate to contact us on our chat. You can find our details on our website, which is vt.co.uk, as well as on the information that we have posted with this podcast. Alternatively, if you live in our area, you are very welcome to join us on Sunday morning at 10 30 to April 3rd time. We'd love to see you there.