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The King Cannot Be Stopped | Group Bible Study
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The King Cannot Be Stopped | Group Bible Study
Series: Acts: The Story Continues...
Well, we're in Acts chapter 5 today. Hi, Pastor Peter. Good to see you this morning. God bless you. Thank you for joining us. We got through in our studies last week, in the Bible study and in the Sunday sermon, we got through chapter 5, verse 16. And so we talked about Ananias and Sapphira. We talked about the Koinanea and the unity and the beautiful generosity that was happening in this first century church. We talked about sort of this, you know, almost a honeymoon period where you know God was just moving and blessing and the kingdom was expanding and people were being added to the church, and that this was really kind of before the storm, right? The calm before the storm, that um the persecution really hadn't begun in earnest at this point. Um and then how even after this um encounter with Ananias and Sapphira, and how um the Holy Spirit had sort of identified this threat of hypocrisy that was trying to come in. The devil was trying to plant hypocrisy right in the middle of this, you know, burgeoning church, right at its at the outset, to try to change the trajectory and the power and the ability of the church to do what God was calling them to do in that season, and how after this judgment, it's like just more fruitfulness began, and how that really looked back to John chapter 15 and God saying, you know, Jesus saying, I'm the vine, and my father's the vine dresser, and you guys are branches in the vine, and you know, yeah, no one can do anything apart from me, that life has to come from the vine through the branches, and I'll produce fruit in you, and you know, and that that as branches and the vine, God's going to prune us. And that that pruning sometimes is painful, but that's the very thing that causes us to become fruitful, right? And so it's out of this place of the um disciples meeting in Solomon's portico in the temple, and um really the people around them are beginning to look at them and they're sort of approaching them with caution. This says none of the others dared to join them, and yet they held them in high esteem. So they were seeing that there was something genuine, there was something authentic, there was something powerful, and that they could sense the holiness, um, not of the people, but of God in the midst of his people. And so that that's kind of a beautiful picture of maybe a goal that we might hope for one day in us. Um not just, you know, signs and wonders and power, but that when people would come into our midst or even view us from afar, that they could sense that, not that we're perfect because we're not, but that we they could sense that there's something different there, that I can sense the presence of God there. I can sense that this is still a holy space, and that they could approach that with, hey, these are the people that I need to go to for answers. These are the people that have what I need. You know, the answer's not in us, but it's in the God that we love and serve, and that is in the midst of us, right? So it's out of that place that we hit verse 17, and it says, But the high priest rose up, okay, so they see what's happening, they see the church multiplying, they see this massive crowd of now of disciples in Solomon's portico and the apostles' teaching, okay? They see what's happening. It says the high priest rose up and all who were with them. That is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in public prison. So the first time, the last passage that we read, when they arrested the apostles, who did they arrest?
SPEAKER_04Jesus.
SPEAKER_00That was before, so that would have been in the Gospels. They arrested Jesus. The next time, when they when they healed the lame man, who did they arrest?
unknownPeter and John.
SPEAKER_00Peter and John. Now, this time it just says they arrested the apostles. And so the high priest is beginning to understand who these people are and who the ringleaders are, right? And so they arrest all of them. I mean, that's the indication we see from the text. It doesn't say they arrested all twelve of them, but it also doesn't say that they just arrested John and Peter. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. Now, what does this verse say about the motivation of the high priest in this?
unknownThey were scared.
SPEAKER_00Scared? Okay.
SPEAKER_02They were jealous.
SPEAKER_00Jealous. They were jealous.
SPEAKER_02They wanted to lose their input. Yeah. A real threat.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So Leanne is saying, uh, for those online, she's saying they don't they didn't want to lose their input. They don't want to lose their influence, basically. I mean, the temple. I mean, that's their place, right? This is the party of the high priests and their family. This is the party of the Sadducees. These are the ones that really were the political power, um, the political and religious power in in Jerusalem at this time, and especially in the temple. That was their spot. And right in the middle of their spot, all this is going on.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Right. Why do you think the apostles had become such a threat to the religious leaders?
SPEAKER_03Because they were making it where it could be a personal relationship with Jesus and not go through them.
SPEAKER_00Do you think that do you think that people were viewing so the Jewish people who were at the temple, who were those who took their faith seriously, do you think that they were viewing any kind of difference between the typical religious establishment and what was happening with Jesus' followers? I mean, do you think that they maybe could view something different? Would you think that there would have been a difference outwardly if you were to look objectively and see the church, Jesus' followers, those who were learning from the apostles, meeting in Solomon's portico and learning and being taught and the signs and wonders and all the things that were happening and following the apostles, do you think that there would have been a visible external difference between what was happening there and just the normal religious system that was happening at the time? What do you think would have been the differences?
SPEAKER_03There would have been changes of heart. There would have been people, yeah. People who are giving things completely, giving them to themselves. I'm sure this is unable and unhappy people.
SPEAKER_00Probably were not very pleasant. It's all life. Life versus just a dead system, maybe. Yeah. Based upon rules and power. So let's go to verse 19. It says, But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors. So they got thrown in the prison. During the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. And when they had heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the Senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. So they're in prison, they're surrounded by guards, they're in there. There's no way for them to get out until someone lets them out. An angel just appears and shows up, opens the prison doors, and tells them what? Go run away, hide?
SPEAKER_03No, we're pretty much the temple.
SPEAKER_00Go right to the very spot in the very center of the Sadducees' power. What stands out? What stands out to you about the angels coming out of the apostles? Or why is it significant that God sent them right back into the temple?
SPEAKER_01That's the heart of the problem. Right there, the people that are in charge of that temple are the heart of the problem for all of them.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So if God has a sense of camera, he brings them right back where they were and says, That's what I got out of this.
SPEAKER_00Is there's the this is almost God having a little sense of humor here, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So you can lock them up, but I can agree on.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's pretty funny. Let me see here, where is where am I? Yeah, it's pretty funny that, you know, it's uh it's almost like it reminded me a little bit of the story of Moses going in and confronting Pharaoh. It's like Pharaoh was an arrogant, you know, powerful person, and there's lots of those in the world. Um he was an arrogant, powerful person that thought he was the bees' knees and that he could do whatever he wanted, and he wanted the people probably to worship him. I don't know when Pharaoh worship started, exactly what year, so I can't say that for certain. But it's like God didn't just tell his people to avoid the problem, you know? And there were certain circumstances. Now, he didn't want his church all political all the time and getting engaged in the political system. That's not what he was trying to do. But he was trying to reveal something to Egypt and to Israel when he sent Moses to confront Pharaoh. What was he trying to reveal to them in that moment?
SPEAKER_02His power.
SPEAKER_00The Egyptians worshiped, you know, Ra. They worshipped whatever. They had a lot of different gods, and they were frogs, and they were, you know, cats, and they were whatever. Okay. So in that instance, God was trying to show himself strong, right? He was, in fact, he told Pharaoh, For this purpose I have raised you up that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth, was what he, that was his judgment over Pharaoh. He's showing that the powers of Egypt are nothing compared to the power of Almighty God. He was showing that I am the true God and all the gods of the Egyptians, they're nothing before me. You know, and um and he was showing also his people that I am more powerful than these system that you're afraid of, right? And it was the same thing when Baal was confronted by Elijah, as Elijah went up on the mountain, and you know, the priests of Baal really were controlling everything, and really the faith of Israel in the one true God Yahweh had really fallen by the wayside. There were 400 priests of Baal, you know, and they held a lot of power because Ahab was an idolater and he was the king at the time. And so when God told Elijah to go confront Ahab, what did he want to show Israel and the pagan priests?
SPEAKER_03He wanted to show them that he could make fire on a wet toilet.
SPEAKER_00Your idol is nothing, and I'm the one true God. Oh, he can show you how good I am. Uh-huh. And he showed his, showed, he even showed Elijah and probably the others in Israel who hadn't bowed knee to that false God. He showed those who were the true believers, the remnant, um, who the who the true God was and where the power was, which probably increased their faith to trust him, no matter what they saw going on with their eyes. And so here, he doesn't tell them, the angel doesn't tell them, go into hiding, because they're going to try to get you. You know, they're going to try to throw you in prison again. The persecution's coming. He tells them, go stand right in the middle of the same temple where all their power is, where all their control is, where they have, where they meant to make all the rules, where their temple guard will do whatever they say. Go stand right back there. And what does he say? Proclaim what? It's written up in the very top in the red letters at the side. Proclaim all the words of this life. Why do you think the angel calls the gospel all the words of this life? When we come to Christ, what do we receive? Salvation. And what is salvation? It's a little more than that, though. It is that, but it's a little more than that. It's God's love for us, and what does he do? Because he loves us. He takes us from spiritual death into what? Spiritual life. So when we come to him, we're dead in our trespasses and sins and what we once walked, according to the spirits of the power of the world. But he makes us alive in Christ. That's like John says, in him was life, and that life is the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it. Okay, so he's saying all the words of this life, when we, you know, the true meaning of following Christ is not religion. It's not rules, it's not a program, it's not a system, it's life. It's we're coming to life in Christ. And yes, we're entering into a relationship with God the Father that was broken in the garden, that we're being adopted into the family of God. And that's what the church is, and that's what baptism represents, really, is that it's like you're being acknowledged that you're you're you've received entrance into the family of God's adopted children. You know? He says, when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak, began to teach. Now, when the high priest came and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate, and the people of Israel sent to the prison and have to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, We found the prison securely locked, and guards standing at the door. But when we opened them, we found no one inside. Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, Look, the men whom you are have put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain and the with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. What emotions do you imagine that the religious leaders felt when they discovered the prison was still locked and the disciples were gone? Unbelief. I'm sure anger. Maybe anxiety?
SPEAKER_02I would have had to go and check it out myself.
SPEAKER_00I mean, we have a sense that they had a sense that they were dealing with the supernatural as well, right? I mean, they saw the lame man healed. It doesn't convince them to follow Jesus, but there's they even said when, you know, when the layman was healed that a notable sign has been done in Israel, no one can dispute. You know, they knew that he got healed. So there's supernatural power at work here. But, you know, I think they're getting the sense here that they've lost control. And what they want more than anything, as the narcissists and the power-hungry people that they are, is they want to control everything, don't they? They want to control the narrative, they want to control what everybody does, what everybody thinks, what everybody says. They get to set all the rules, and now they're not setting the rules. And that must feel a little unsettling for them. Something ironic about this is the Sadducees we talked about before, they denied the supernatural. They denied the resurrection, and they denied angels. And what is the angel? God sends an angel to open the prison door. So I don't know what happened to the guards or what happened. You know, did they go into a trance or something? The angel opens the door, you know, they come out, they go back to the temple, and they wait till the sun comes up and they start preaching. You know, so an angel goes and does it, and then he tells them to preach the work, the word of this life, which is the resurrection. They're preaching the resurrection. That's really the truth of what it is. Jesus was dead and he's alive, and because he lives, we can too. That's the resurrection. So they have no control. They wrote down in the notes the rulers think they're in control, but God continually exposes how limited their power actually is. In verse 27, I think this is funny too. They probably woke up in the morning and they're like, we're gonna show them, and they got their robes and their little stoles all gone and their little hats, and they were yeah, their little, they show up all official and important and everything, and they show up and then get themselves all settled. Now bring them in, you know, all important, and then uh they're not there. So they're like they're left to sit in their party by themselves. But it says, when they had brought them, I I like this this other part too. Um It says, when the officers, the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of the So they're almost going and asking, Can you guys just come with us? You know, they're not gonna try to bring them. It's like, well, if the prison can't hold them, maybe we shouldn't mess with them. So they're bringing them. And then it says, when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins, and we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. Does anything stand out in this at all to you? Just as you as we read that. Yeah. They don't back down, do they? No.
SPEAKER_02There's a responsibility that they're found.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah, they they well, they're seeing the same power at work, and and actually experiencing the same power at work that the uh that the religious leaders were seeing happen in front of their eyes, right? And so it's giving them boldness in the same way that Moses and Aaron grew in their boldness as they confronted Pharaoh, and Elijah grew in his boldness as he saw the fire come down upon the altar and consume the sacrifice. I mean, this is God's purpose in this. But I think it's funny that the high priests say, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name. Okay, so they, by all of their authority, with all the power and the threats that they had on their side that they could impose upon these apostles, they strictly charged them not to teach in the name of Jesus. And then what did they say? Yet, here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. So not only could they not stop them, but now Jerusalem is filled with the teaching of Jesus. And then they say, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Do you remember what they said when Pilate told them, but why do you want to crucify him? He's an innocent man. He hasn't done anything wrong. And what did they say to him?
SPEAKER_02Bring his blood on us and on our children.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02May his blood be on us and on our children.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. He said, May his blood be upon us and upon our children. You know, did they forget that? And here they are, they're saying, You intend to bring this man's blood upon us. No, you brought his blood upon you by betraying an innocent man to the hands of the Gentiles to be crucified. And then I guess we can ask this question what do you think Peter means when he says we must obey God rather than men? Right. Hi Clarissa, thank you for joining us. Um Yeah. You know, you you I know you have political authority, and I know you have power, and I know you can throw us in prison, and maybe you can even have us killed like you did our Lord. But you you don't have any power to command us to do anything if God is commanding us to do different. We're not, we're disobeying you, and in disobeying you, we're actually obeying God. And so one of the questions I asked is what kind of things, these ones were totally committed to God, what kind of things compete compete for our allegiance today. That's a really good uh percep per perspective. Almost everything in this world is trivial if we compare it to what how'd you say it? What we're expected to give to God. Yes, if we compare it to God, his purposes, his plans, who he is and his person, if we compare everything in this world to him, everything's trivial. Everything. Even the thing that rises up in your mind as we say that. But this is really important. Okay. Now compare it to God. Compare it to his ultimate plan for the earth. You remember 2 Peter 3, it talks about how the elements are gonna burn with the fervent heat, everything that we see around us, all the systems of man, all the things of this earth, they're gonna be dissolved, it says. It literally uses the word dissolved. It says, therefore, since all these things are to be thus dissolved, what sort of people ought we to be as we await the coming of our great Lord and Savior? We get caught up in so many things around us, and we think it's so important that we're willing to die on these hills, and those hills are gonna melt before the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes in glory. And everything is gonna bow and every tongue is gonna confess, regardless of where the allegiances fell before the moment he came. It's all gonna fall before him. So the apostles are respectful. They're not being rude, they're not calling them names, they're not over there uh accusing them or anything like that, other than what's true. You crucified Jesus, and God raised him and exalted him to his right hand as Lord and Savior. And he did so to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We're witness to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. What's it mean that the Holy Spirit is witness to these things?
SPEAKER_02The Holy Spirit is watching over and who has it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the Holy Spirit was given to the church. It's it's Ezekiel again, and I'm constantly bringing up Ezekiel 36, but it's because it is really the picture that the prophet shared is the picture of what's been done now, what we've received. That he said, I'm gonna sprinkle you with clean water and you'll be clean. I'm gonna remove your heart of stone and I'm gonna put in its place out of flesh. I'm gonna put my spirit in you and cause you to walk in my statutes and obey my commands. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a seal and it's a sign that we're gonna actually receive the fullness of our redemption. We're gonna receive our full resurrection. We're gonna receive our new bodies in heaven that are not subject to the things that our bodies are now. Hank and Marie, you're not gonna have back pain ever again.
unknownOkay?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Our memories will be perfect. We will not have neurological disorders. We're not gonna have the physical challenge that we face today. That full restoration, even where our souls will be clean and our minds will be clean, and we'll no longer have a nature that wants to sin. We're gonna be perfected. That's the guarantee, but he's also the source of our power. He comes into our lives and he transforms us into the image of Jesus. He is the one that proceeds from the Father, who's sent by the Son as the true vine into the branch in order to cause us to bear the fruit of the Spirit. And so as the apostles moved in the things that Jesus had commanded them to do, and even now, as he commanded them through the angel to go back to the temple and preach, it's like the Holy Spirit is bearing witness. And it's yes, one of those things that have come up repeatedly because that's part of what is in the first part of Acts is signs and wonders and healings and all these things, but there's more than that. It's their boldness. The ones who were previously hiding and running away are now bold and courageous. They're standing and they're preaching, they're preaching with power. It's their transformed lives. It's the lame man suddenly being able to walk and jump and leap and praise God and enter the temple on his own two feet. It's all those who were laying on the street as Peter passed and the shadow would touch them, they'd become healed. You know, and it's more than that. It's people who had addictions. It's people who were just lost in some hopeless religion. And now they're becoming spiritually alive. It's the evidence of lives that are changed and transformed too. Bad attitudes that are changed. And, you know, it's like us being changed. And it's also how the gospel continues to advance despite all the powers that try to stop it. We're going to talk about that more on Sunday. But in all of these things, the Holy Spirit is really testifying to the truth of what the apostles are saying. It says, when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in honor by all people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while, and he said to the men of Israel, Take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days, Theudis rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him, and he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail. But if it's of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God. And so they took his advice. Gamaliel was a pretty important guy, and he actually is a guy that he ended up being, he's the teacher of Saul of Tarsus, the guy who became the apostle Paul. Paul even says, I sat at the feet of Gamalia. So he's a really highly respected, revered teacher in Israel. So when he speaks, the people listen. And he was not a follower of Jesus, but he's wise. And so he's looking and he's saying, You guys, you're getting mixed up in this. He's seeing what's happening. He sees, hey, look, you put them in prison, and now they're just out. We don't know how that happened. They were, they saw a lame man told him to be to rise up, and he was healed before the. So he's seeing there's stuff going on here, and he's smart enough to recognize, hey, you guys need to stop because if you if you if this is of God, you know, you're not gonna be able to stop it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. He brings up all the ones that failed, too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Because, you know, I mean, if an uprising starts happening and it's not of God, then Rome's gonna stamp it out. They're gonna say, hey, you know, send in the soldiers, and boom, they're all they're all crucified and everybody's the whole problem solved. But what's so interesting about this is how it's also sort of a prophecy. If it's of man, it's gonna perish. And that's true of us today. We're trying to do things in our own power and try to start some movement, and we're gonna, hey, we're gonna revive this place here, and we're gonna bring, and we're gonna do, and we're all trying to do it by our own ideas and our own power and our own strategy, but we think is gonna do be the trick. If that's all there is, it's gonna come to nothing. Because we don't have the power to do what we see here of lives being changed, of people being drawn to the presence of God, of the Holy Spirit being sensed in our midst, that people sense that this is where I need to go in order to hear this gospel, this message of life. You know? There needs to be something that's beyond just us and the fact that we're nice people and we'll be loving to them. There has to be Jesus here. And so, sorry, I was reading something that I saw in the text. It's interesting that Gamaliel, although he wasn't a follower of Christ, he says, if this is of man, it's gonna come to nothing. But if it's of God, you won't be able to stop it. And his prophecy ended up coming true, didn't it? Because the very next chapters we're gonna start to see serious persecution. And we saw a little bit when Peter and John got thrown into the prison cell and then released. We saw a little bit on the inside of the church, as Ananias and Sapphira probably plants, you know, of Satan trying to start a corruption on the inside of the church. That gets stamped out. But now we're gonna see it really start to come strong. Verse 40, and when they had called the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ, the Christ is Jesus, the Messiah is Jesus. Why were the apostles able to rejoice after being beaten?
SPEAKER_01They had freedom.
SPEAKER_00One was that they were free to go, okay. What else?
SPEAKER_02That God took care of them while they were doing his will.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's another one. That's sort of like a Daniel in the lion's den, you know? Daniel got through thrown in the lion's den, and he could have just been lion food. But God preserved him in the midst of it and brought him out. That's sort of like that. I mean, what else? Why else would they rejoice?
SPEAKER_02That their message was being heard.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think, yeah, in that, there's a couple things. There's the fact that they were given the courage to be bold and to continue preaching the gospel even to the very men who have the power of life and death over them. You know, they think they do. Unless God allows it, and they ain't going anywhere. But that they were given courage to be faithful to God. So they knew that they stood in that place and that they were faithful by the power of the Holy Spirit. Why else would they rejoice? It says it in there in the actual verse. They were counted worthy by the Holy Spirit. They were counted worthy by God to suffer dishonor for the name. Do we have the same attitude? When someone reviles us for our faith, when someone is rude or mean to us, because we're living the way we live, saying the things that we say because we believe what we believe, do we have this attitude of rejoicing that we, you know, we don't face persecution here in America. We do not. And the most we might face is maybe some mockery. And occasionally something violent will happen to somebody. But we really don't face persecution in the United States of America. And so if we whine about it, we're really big giant babies, right? But even in the little bit that we might experience, first of all, are we willing to just not bow to cultural pressure and just speak the words of this life publicly? I'm not saying we need to stand on the street corners and with big signs. I would say probably don't do that.
SPEAKER_03I mean, we keep we keep ourselves comfortable by not being around non-cristians.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And if we have the opportunity to speak, do we speak? God will open up opportunities even to the people that we think, ooh, that person's never gonna, but he'll give us opportunities. And it's not that, you know, I'm always against the, hey, you need to, you know, pray the sinner's prayer and you need to, you know, these and start, you know, being obnoxious. But like Paul the Apostle said, it's it's grace seasoned with salt that we, you know, sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and we uh be ready at all times to give an answer to anyone who asks us a reason for the hope that is within us. And then you do it with gentleness and respect. Like Paul told, I remember which it was in Colossians or Philippians, he said to pray for him that a door would open for the gospel. And that's what we wait for. It's like we don't, you know, we live the gospel of our lives. We do speak it, like I'll speak it on social media or whatever. But it's it's more than that. It's in the midst of our lives, he gives us opportunities, even with unlikely people, and we can try to, as graciously and kindly as we can, we can try to share the words of the life and just be bold and step into that, be courageous like they were, and say what we can and what we know to be true. And then if we receive pushback or aggression toward us because of that, would we just go, thank you, Lord, that you counted me worthy to be dishonored like my Lord was? That's really what it's like. Because Philippians, you know, he also said, not only has it been, it's been it's been entrusted to you not only to believe, but also to suffer for the name. It's been granted to you, like it's been gifted to you to believe and also to suffer for his name.
SPEAKER_02But you know, we don't stand on the street corner, but it's also the way we live our lives.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
unknownSome people see that.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh. That's true. Yes. I think it's more that. More often it's that, you know, and it I I was convicted a while back about just, you know, like the way I would talk to you guys about, hey, I was praying the other day and like I felt like kind of led to do this or something, or, you know, I've been praying for so and so, or how can I pray for you? It's like the same way I would talk to you, or I was reading the scripture and the Lord showed me this, you know, and I would talk to you guys that way, but when I'm just talking to everybody else, do I change the way that I talk? Again, not trying to just be pushy with the gospel everywhere, but just being the same. Being matter-of-fact. I say the things to you because I know they're true, you know, and to the people I know that are Christians, but when I talk to a non-Christian, do I just speak the same way? That's hard to do.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Because you know it'll rub people the wrong way sometimes. But it's not, you're not doing it to be obnoxious, and you're you're trying not to be obnoxious about it even, but that you don't change the way you say things or speak. Um what we're gonna see Sunday as we move through this again and just a different, we're gonna look at it from a different angle, but is the earthly powers rise and fall, rulers believe they're in control, opposition comes against the church, and yet the gospel continues spreading, the church continues growing, Christ continues reigning, and the apostles are slowly learning that they no longer need to fear the powers of the world because they belong to a greater king. I would say this is something that should speak to all of us, that should speak to all of us, no matter where we stand, on whatever side of culture we stand on, that our hope can't be in any of those things, and that we shouldn't fear. You know, whoever is in control or in power, the apostles weren't trying to gain power over anybody. They were just they were just being faithful to their Lord in the midst of whoever was in control and in power. Um, because their focus wasn't on that. They know that those things are going to come and go, and all the earthly powers are gonna eventually fall. But their hope is in the gospel and in the Lord and what God wants to do on this earth while there's still time to do it. Amen?
unknownAmen.
SPEAKER_00All right.