Resist the Irresistible? (Acts 4:1-22)

Transcript

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And so if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn with me to the Gospel or Acts. The book of Acts. That's right after the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Acts chapter 4. And we're going to be reading verses 1 to 22 this morning.

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And um we gotta get we gotta get it going.

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Alright, so if you wouldn't mind, would you stand for the reading of God's word here at Vintage Church? We gotta we stand because we believe that the scriptures are given to us to equip us, encourage, and empower us, and ultimately that we would encounter the risen Christ in his word by the Spirit. So starting in verse 1, this is the word of the Lord. And as they were speaking to the people, the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed that the number of the men came to about five thousand. On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power or what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that which was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished, and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people. For all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. Pray with me this morning. Holy Spirit, we need you. We need you to be the spirit of wisdom and revelation in this room, in our hearts and minds, that we would know Jesus Christ better. Open the eyes of our understanding that we would see the gospel, be penetrated by the Spirit, provoked, challenged, search us and know us. Every anxious thought, every hardened heart, we ask you, Holy Spirit, to come do the work that only you can do by the grace of God and in the gospel of Jesus. We pray these things in your name. Amen. I don't know, you may be seated, thank you. I don't know what annoys you. Anyone have like some pet peeves that really annoys you? You're just like, oh, it's like nails on the chalkboard, that kind of annoyance. And when you hear this word that the Pharisees and the Sadducees, really the rulers of Jerusalem and the religious, they were greatly annoyed. For some of us, we may think that they were just annoyed, and it was somewhat petty. But when you look at the Greek word for greatly annoyed there in the text, it means to be deeply disturbed, agitated, troubled at a very core level. It was more than just annoying. Because here is the truth: there is a problem with the gospel, not the gospel in itself, but that the gospel can be resisted, even though the gospel is irresistible. And what we will see this morning is that the religious, both on the left and the right, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Scribes, the Sanhedrin, the very ones who crucified Jesus and put him on trial, Peter and John are standing in their presence. You gotta get this. They were the same ones who put Jesus on trial, mocked him, falsely brought witnesses against him. And what we have to understand this morning is that when we have experienced the risen Christ, we will annoy people. When we have experienced the gospel, not like in an annoying way, we don't want you to be jerks, but we do want you to share what you have seen and what you have heard, what you have experienced in Christ. And that's exactly what Peter and John are doing. And we as we will see in a little bit, that they they say to them when they're like, don't do this anymore, they're like, You judge between yourselves. We cannot but say what we have seen and what we have heard, because we are eyewitnesses to the resurrection. And so we have to understand that this morning that the gospel does not just comfort people, uh sometimes it confronts people. The gospel confronts beliefs, authority, and ultimately control. Who is in control of your life? Who is in control of your destiny? Who is in control? And if any of you are control freaks, when someone tries to take control from you, you probably get a little annoyed, a little agitated. Nobody should be like elbowing their spouse right now. But remember, people may tolerate religion, but they will react to resurrection truth. What do I mean by that? If you tell someone, hey, be a good person, that's acceptable. No one really is going to resist that. But if you say to them, there's a new king in town, there's someone who is worthy of all your obedience and all of your life, and you will have to give an account before them one day. Well, that's a whole different story. You see, the gospel doesn't just inspire us, um, it can actually disrupt our life. And if your life hasn't been disrupted by the gospel, I would ask you this question. Maybe you've got the wrong gospel.

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Maybe it's Jesus my buddy, not Jesus my king.

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The gospel that is true, the gospel, the announcement, the good news that Jesus is king, it does disrupt, it does find resistment. And so here's my question for you this morning.

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Who am I annoying greatly with the gospel? Who am I annoying greatly with the gospel?

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What do I mean by that? Who are you sharing the gospel with? And they're just like, dude, chill it on the Jesus talk. I've had enough. I don't need to hear any more about how Jesus is faithful and Jesus is awesome and Jesus is good. Chill it with the Jesus talk. And we're we're we're gonna get there in a little bit, but yesterday was Love Lodi. So if I'm a little tired or you you give me some grace, we just finished our citywide volunteer day. Um, but one of the cool things that happened yesterday at the nonprofit fair is one of the nonprofits in town um was talking to Marvin um and said, Hey, it just feels like everyone's talking about Jesus here. And it was so awesome because Jesus was on the lips of almost 80 to 90 percent of the nonprofits there and the people. And even though it Jesus wasn't like explicitly said in the program, he was everywhere. For us, we're making Jesus irresistible, but for others, we're making him known in our acts of love and kindness and service. But Jesus was everywhere. But there are those that will be interested, but then there are others who will resist. Um, but we do have to ask this question if no one is unsettled at any time, maybe we just are avoiding the real gospel. So, who are the players in this particular text? You have the Pharisees, you have the Sadducees, and you have the scribes. The Pharisees were like the um right wing of the religious party. They were very conservative, they went above and beyond, they were strict rule keepers, they did believe in the resurrection, but then the primary um enemy or voices in of descent in this particular text were the Sadducees. Um, and these were like the elite later uh leaders, they were more of the left wing of the religious party, um, they were more liberal, um, they did not believe in the afterlife, they did not believe in the resurrection, and so that's why they were greatly annoyed, because um Peter and John were saying that because Jesus raised from the dead, there is the resurrection. And so not only was it disrupting their beliefs, but it was disrupting their power because they were the political power of the day and the Sanhedrin. And so, because Jesus was king, not them. And so they were threatened by the message of the gospel. And you got to see this when the gospel was pronounced in the um in Acts and in the New Testament era, and they said Jesus is Lord, that wasn't just a theological statement, that was a political statement because Caesar was also referred to as Caesar is Lord. And so you have to think that even here in the temple context, when they said Jesus is king, Jesus is Lord, they were like, Well, we're the ones in control. And the Romans were being were persecuting the church not because of the good deeds that they were doing, but because they said Jesus is king, and Jesus is Lord. You see, the gospel claims allegiance, it exalts Jesus as king. Jesus is not just your savior, Jesus is king. That is the fundamental announcement of the gospel. And then you have the scribes, they are like the experts in the law, they're the intellectual elite of the religious party. Um, and if you ever need a little help in remembering the difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, um, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection, so they were sad, you see. Deep stuff this morning at Vintage Church. So again, they were being accused and asked these questions in front of the Sanhedrin. There were 70 religious leaders of different parties, much like our Congress, and there was one, the high priest, and then he brought in his family. And so what's being set up here is very much giving us echoes of Jesus' trial in the Gospels. And what's so amazing here is that Peter and John, who fled at Jesus' trial, are now standing boldly in front of Caiaphas and Ananias and the Sanhedrin. There's something happening. The power that came in Acts chapter 2 is in Peter and John, and they are boldly proclaiming and boldly confronting with the gospel the announcement that Jesus is king to the rulers of their day. So taking some notes, you could write down this point one, the message that disturbs. We've already kind of talked about this a little bit, but again, when you think about the content of their message, it is at the very core, Jesus is king because of his resurrection. And we're going to see that happening all throughout the book of Acts. That the resurrection of Jesus Christ doesn't just mean we get to go to heaven. It means that Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, who walked on this earth for 30-some years from Nazareth, who lived in Galilee, who was crucified and raised from the dead, he is the king of the world. And that was a very offensive statement to those who think that they were in power or they were in control of their own life. It's the resurrection, it's what we celebrate on Easter that validates Jesus as Messiah and Jesus as Lord. So if we can get that next slide that said, Jesus is king because of his resurrection. So again, I want you to think with me this morning. Why would that offend someone? Why? Why would it offend you? You see, we were talking about this in our leadership cohort. We do a cohort, it's a 12-month development uh discipleship leadership program. Uh, it's really great. You should join. Um, it can be like a fire hose sometimes, but it's truly an amazing experience. And we're talking about the gospel, and we're talking about the gospel that you know, many of us when we hear what is the gospel, we hear God loves me. God loves you. What's the difference between Jesus is king and God loves you?

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Those are two radically different announcements.

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God loves you, that is true, but if that's all that we hear of the gospel, yeah, God loves me because I'm awesome. Jesus is king and repentance is needed, and faith in the king and allegiance to the king. Well, that's a whole different message. You mean you get to tell me what to do with my time, treasure, and talents? You're the king, not me? That's a whole different gospel. It's a whole different message, it's a whole different announcement. Because the gospel comes not just with forgiveness, but it comes with authority.

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It comes with authority.

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Right after Jesus rose from the dead, what did he say? All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go make disciples. And and and for us who are in the church, for those of us who are believers, do you hear that as marching orders or do you hear that as a suggestion?

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If God loves me, well, he'll, you know, he loves me. I could do whatever I want.

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Jesus is king, they're marching orders, right? See, we we gotta we gotta wrestle this morning with our vision and our view of who Jesus is and the gospel that we believe because this offends us because it challenges our personal autonomy, it confronts religious systems, it declares an exclusive truth, as we will see later. You see, the resurrection doesn't just give hope, it demands allegiance. Point number two, if you're taking notes, we we see the conflict of authority. Remember, I said this before, but Annas and Caiaphas, they represent the same leaders at Jesus' trial. And these religious leaders are most threatened by the apostles because they are pronouncing a news that will disrupt their control and disrupt their authority. And the religious of the days were so consumed with control and power and influence, and they were using that position of power to fleece the flock of God's people. It's why Jesus, before he went to the cross, he flipped over the tables in the temple because they had taken something that was supposed to be for the good of people and they had made it unrecognizable to the Son of God. And he goes in there and he flips over the tables and he says, This is not right. My house should be a house of prayer, and yet you've turned it into a den of thieves. And so that's why the authorities they say, by what name or power did you do this? Because they're threatened. They recognize that the lame man is healed. They can't deny that. But they're like, So what name? A name and when you pray in Jesus' name, you're praying in his authority, right? It's not like some magic incantation you throw onto your prayers. You're saying, I am a delegate of Jesus and I am praying in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ, not by my merit, not by my righteousness, but because I have the blood of Jesus Christ, I'm coming to the throne of grace and I'm praying in Jesus' name. And there's a whole lot more faith behind that than just Jesus, please help. Right? It's an issue of authority. And if your authority is in you and your good works, then that has no authority. But if it's truly in the name of Jesus and you're on his behalf, then it carries all authority. So for them, this issue was not about even the lame man being healed, it was about power and control. They weren't curious, they were threatened. So the real issue here again is authority, and it forces this question upon us this morning. Who has the right to define truth in my life? Who has the right to define good in my life? Who has the right to define what is beautiful in my life? If Jesus is king, he does. If you are king, you do. So we should examine our own hearts and our own minds and our own lives and ask the question: Is Jesus King of my life? Because every conflict with the gospel is ultimately about authority. Who gets to say so? And I would imagine anytime that the hairs behind your neck bristle because of a command in the scripture or even a command from the pulpit that's not based upon his opinion, but based upon the word of God, it's because you think you're an authority of your own life. You think you're king, and you haven't yet submitted all of your life to King Jesus. If you're taking notes, point number three is a spirit-fueled boldness as we work through the text this morning. I loved that it says that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. Where did this boldness come from, Peter? Remember, Peter cowered at a little teenage girl in the Gospels, and now he's standing in front of Caiaphas and Annas and the whole Sanhedrin, and he's boldly saying, You crucify Jesus, knowing that they have the power to stone him, to present him to the Roman authorities to even face death. And yet there's a boldness in Peter. Get this, not of himself. Not of himself. I'm not asking you to go be bold for the gospel in your own strength this morning. This is why Jesus said, You must wait in Jerusalem so that you would receive power from on high to be my witnesses. You cannot be a bold witness of Jesus Christ in your own strength. You must have the Holy Spirit filling you up. This is not. Some personality-driven boldness. It's not like they were charismatic and they're like, hey, they knew the cost. They knew that they could face execution and punishment and even jail time. And which is clearly we see as the story unfolds, and yet they boldly proclaim the gospel, the announcement that Jesus is king because of the resurrection. This is spirit-empowered proclamation. And here's the thing: Jesus promised this to them. This is a prediction of the promise and prophecy of Jesus. In Mark 13, 9 to 11, it should be on the screen behind me. This is what it says. Let's read it together. It says, This is Jesus talking to his disciples. He says, Be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils. This just happened. And you will be beaten in synagogues. This will happen to Peter and John in just a little bit. And you will stand before governors and kings for my sake to what? Bear what? Witness. Key word, you should underlie that before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. So please hear this. Who's speaking in Peter at this very moment? The Holy Spirit. That's the boldness that we see.

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Next verse. It goes on to say. No, that was it. Oh, it lumped it all in there. Good job. I want you to please hear this. Boldness is not natural, it's supernatural. God doesn't just send you, He speaks through you.

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That's the whole point of Acts. He sends you as witnesses, not because you have to like muster it up in your own strength, in your own intellect, and your own studies and your own knowledge. As we'll see in a little bit, these were uneducated, meaning they didn't go to seminary. You don't have to be a seminary and to be a witness for Jesus. You just got to spend time with Jesus and encounter and experience the risen Christ. He has promised to speak through us. And so he sends the church, his hands and feet, his mouthpieces to do what he's accomplishing on the earth until he comes again. Point number four, if you're taking notes, gospel momentum. Gospel momentum. I love it because what you see here is that anyone remember how many men confessed, repented, and were baptized on the day of Pentecost? Anyone remember? What is it? Three thousand. Three thousand. Now it's what? Five thousand men. Which means most likely you're talking about ten thousand men, women, and children. The gospel is moving, the fruit is multiplying, gospel momentum is happening. And what I love about this particular text is that the good deed, the miracle, the healing of the lame man, the good deed. And I think if you look at the text with me, what did they say? They go, verse 9. If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, that's where I get that idea of good deed. Good deeds done in the name of Jesus are kindling for the gospel. I was praying about this morning. I was praying about Love Lodi. I was praying about what I would be preaching today, and this is the image that I got.

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Was that all of these good deeds that are being done all over our city are kindling? It's kindling.

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Only God can light the match through the gospel, through the preaching of the gospel and the Holy Spirit, and that's exactly what's going to happen here in the book of Acts. But all the good deeds, like, like it's awesome that the lame man was healed. But what's even more awesome is that was kindling that would spark revival through the preaching of the gospel. And so when I mentioned earlier that I loved that someone was like, Jesus is on the lips of everyone at this nonprofit fair and community picnic. We had about 600 people at the community picnic and nonprofit fair at Hutchins yesterday. And I love that Jesus was on the lips of so many people and there it's recognizable. And I was like, that's kindling. There's kindling all over Lodi. Through the Lodi Center Access Center, through the community service team, through Love Lodi, through all of the acts of kindness when you do good deeds, when we pray for healing, when we do good deeds, when we all of you that served that bread of life yesterday, that's all kindling. My daughter Savannah asked me, Dad, why is Love Lodi for Jesus? Like, how is it for Jesus? It was a just genuine question. And I said, first and foremost, it's a command to be in the city for the city, out of Jeremiah 29, to seek the welfare of the city. I said, and then secondly, it opens doors to meet people in the city so that we can share the gospel and they can see that Jesus is truly irresistible. But then the third that I didn't get a chance to tell her, so now I'm telling her and you is that good deeds are kindling for revival. And so what do we pray for? What do we preach for? And I'm not just talking about preaching from the pulpit here. I'm asking that you, as witnesses of Jesus, would go and make disciples and preach the gospel and share the gospel. And as you share the gospel, that becomes the fire, that becomes the ignition of all the kindling everywhere. And when people have Jesus on their lips and then they hear the gospel, life, regeneration. Only God can light the match for riots or revival. What does that mean, riot? Because you're gonna see throughout the book of Acts, it's either a revival or a riot. Riot are those who resist the gospel. They're threatened by the gospel. Like, for example, later you'll see that in, I think it's in um Ephesus, that they're threatened because people are turning from their idols and witchcraft. And they're threatened by it because they're making money off of people's idolatry. It's almost like every I don't even have time this morning to go here, but like just look around. People are making money off of your idolatry. And when you stop and repent and start living for Jesus, and they start losing money, they'll freak out. And so the opposition from the religious and from the riots that happen, they only accelerate the gospel and the healing that we see and the good deeds. They begin to create a platform for the preaching of the gospel because miracles may gather a crowd, but the message of Jesus, the gospel, builds a church.

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Does that make sense?

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Only God can light the match for revival. Yet sometimes it's the same gospel that sparks revival, that is, provokes intense resistance and persecution. We have brothers and sisters all over the world dying for their faith. Um, 2 Corinthians 2, 14 to 16, let's read it on the screen. It says, Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession. Amen. And through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. Yes, that's what we get to do. Make Jesus irresistible, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing, to everyone, to one, a fragrance from death to death, to the other, a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? In other words, to those who are perishing, your gospel message that Jesus is king will be an aroma of death. But to those who God is saving in that moment, it will be an aroma of life. And I love that the apostle Paul says, Who is sufficient for these things? Meaning, oftentimes I'm asked, you know, make Jesus irresistible. How do you make Jesus irresistible? I can't. It requires the Holy Spirit. I am not sufficient for these things. You are not sufficient for these things. We need the Holy Spirit of God to live within us so that we can make Jesus irresistible. And so I love point number five: courageous clarity. Courageous clarity. I love that Peter in this moment, filled with the Holy Spirit, he is not afraid to confront, to contradict, and to correct. What do I mean by that? He confronts the Sadducees' belief that there is no resurrection. He contradicts it by saying, historical fact, Jesus Christ got up out of the grave. And we have seen him 500 at one time seen the risen Christ testifiable. Jesus Christ actually got up out of the grave. So they're contradicting their beliefs, and then they're correcting it by saying, and here is the truth the the Jesus that you cried crucified, God raised from the dead, and we are witnesses of that.

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I love it. This was not a Jesus loves you gospel. It was confrontive.

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Even a little combative. Now I'm saying go be combative and troll people online and social media comments. No. What I'm saying is when you feel the Holy Spirit saying now is the time to speak the truth of the gospel, do not bow to saying that Jesus is king. He's king of the earth. You either believe that or you don't. And I feel like now is the time, and the time is urgent, church, that we boldly stand up and we say, Jesus is king, and he's coming soon to make things right. And you will either be on Team Jesus or Team World. And Team Jesus has already won, and God has given proof because he raised him from the dead. Do you believe that, church? And he confronts them with scripture too. He references Psalm 118, which says that the builders rejected the cornerstone. And so what he says here, he says, You, the builders, religious leaders of Jerusalem, you crucified the cornerstone. And what you thought would stop the advancement of the gospel, that Jesus is king, has only served to be the foundation and the platform. Because God has made this Jesus of Nazareth the cornerstone and of the whole temple that God is building. And oh, by the way, in 70 AD, this temple that you think has all this power so that you can use for your own greed and ambition, God's going to destroy it too. Because the new temple of God is living stones being built up by the Holy Spirit of God. And Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. And I love this. He says in verse 12, and there is salvation in no one else. I'm sorry if you struggle with that, but it's the truth. And it is not offensive to say that. I know there are many, even quote unquote Christians, who will say there's many ways. There's no other way. Jesus Himself said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No one gets to the Father except through me. Yes, there are different Jesuses and different gospels and different spirits, but this Jesus that we read about in Acts and in the Gospels, this Jesus is the only way. There is no other name in heaven or on earth or under the earth by which someone may be saved.

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And I love this part. And I want to say this clarity is kindness. Don't wiggle. Clarity is kindness. Clarity can be costly, though. It was costly for them. But it's necessary. You don't have to hem and haw.

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Speak truth. If you believe that Jesus really did get up out of that grave. Truth without courage is silence.

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Truth, you're like, yeah, I believe the truth, but do you have the courage to say something? Point six is visible boldness.

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Look at that with me. Verse 13. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, you see boldness.

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I'm a bold believer of Jesus. Oh, let me see it.

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Boldness can be seen at work, in your home, in your kids' room, when you're talking to them about Jesus in the church, in the city, in your neighborhood. Boldness is seen. Boldness is observable, not theoretical. And here's the thing you gotta get this morning. What is the foundation of their boldness? It tells us right there in the text. They saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated. Some of you tell me all that, I can't talk to anybody. I didn't go to seminary, I didn't go to school. I am uneducated. Common men, I don't have like all this experience. Common men, fishermen, tax collectors, fishermen, tax collectors, common men and women, they were astonished. They're like, these didn't go through our schools of religion, but they had something that the religious seminarians of their day didn't have. It tells us right here in the text, they had been with Jesus. So my question this morning is have you been with Jesus? Have you been with Jesus, not in your intellect? Have you been with Jesus? Have you experienced the resurrected Christ? He really did get up out of that grave, he really is king and he really is coming back. Have you been with Jesus? That was the foundation of their boldness, not seminary, the savior. What is their source? They had been with Jesus. Please get this boldness flows from relationship, not training. Is training good? Yes.

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We have the cohort, we have Bible studies, but the most sometimes educated people are the most cowards.

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Because they have not experienced or encountered the risen Christ, and the Spirit of God does not live in them. They've got a lot of intellect, but not a lot of spirit. You need spirit and truth. And Peter and John had both. They had been with Jesus, and now Jesus was living in them. You can't fake what comes from being with Jesus. Can't fake it. Point seven, the failure of religion. I love this. They're just like at loss. They don't even know what to do with Peter and John. And they're like looking at the lame man that was healed, they're looking at Peter and John. They're looking at all of the people responding, and they're just like, this is too much. We can't control this. So we just got to tell them stop it. Stop it. They can't deny the miracle, they can't defeat the message. They try to silence the speakers. That's not working. Because ultimately, religion without relationship with Jesus resists truth.

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The religious could not resist the irresistible.

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The religious could not resist the irresistible. They tried to restrain it, but it only grew. They tried to murder Jesus at his death and crucifixion, but like a seed buried in the ground, it began to bear much fruit and multiply. And it's being seen here in the book of Acts, and it's bearing fruit in all the earth. And we are the recipients of that same multiplication here this morning. So the religious, when you can't refute truth, you try to mute it. And that's what they exactly do to Peter and John. And oh, they will throw them in jail. They will beat them. And I love it. We'll read about it in a little bit next week or so. They get out of jail and they go back and they, you know what they pray for? Not that they would not go to jail again, but that they would have even more boldness. Because theirs is a point number eight, unstoppable witness. This is what they say. They're like, don't do this. Who are we to obey man over God? This is the key right here. We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. They are witnesses, eyewitnesses of the gospel. And you, my friends, if you have experienced Jesus Christ and the risen Lord in your heart, my friend, you are eyewitnesses of the gospel. And that is your testimony. And this is why in Revelation chapter 12 it says that we overcome the enemy by what? The blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, and not loving our life so much as to shrink from death.

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Do you have a testimony? Because witness is overflow, not obligation.

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If you hear me saying, Oh, I guess I gotta go out and go evangelize, stop it. I don't want you out there. But if there's something in your heart like bursting at the seams right now, because you know Jesus, go speak the truth, share the gospel. Now is the time. Because when you experience the irresistible Jesus, you will make Jesus irresistible, even in the face of fierce opposition. And when you've experienced Jesus, you don't have to be told to speak about what has changed your life. Some of you, my life's been changed from this medicine or this shot or this thing. And you go tell everybody about it. Here's the hard truth this morning. Maybe you're not sharing Jesus with everyone you run into because you haven't been changed by Jesus. And if you have been changed by Jesus and you're just a little bit afraid, then here's my plea with you this morning. Go pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and ask him to give you boldness to share the gospel, no matter the cost. Because the gospel is irresistible, even when it's resisted. So ask yourself this morning, why are you tempted to stay silent? And then maybe where do you need the Spirit to empower you for boldness? Because here's the last thought, then we're going to pray. A gospel that produces fruitful and flourishing lives makes Jesus irresistible and makes Jesus unstoppable.

SPEAKER_00 43:10

And that's our vision, finished church.

SPEAKER_01 43:14

Our vision is a gospel renewal that makes Jesus irresistible and produces fruitful and flourishing lives that make Jesus irresistible in our city, in our neighborhoods, in our home.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

But it all starts with the gospel.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

Jesus is king. Will you repent? Will you believe in the gospel? Let's pray.