Greater is He (Acts 5:12-42, Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered from the east, coming over the

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Mount of Olives, and he was greeted largely by Galileans who had gathered to cheer for him.

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And in their worship, in their exuberance, he was delighted. In fact, he said that if these didn't cry for him and sing his praises, then the very stones themselves would cry out.

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But a mere five days later, this same crowd was nowhere to be found.

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On the crucifixion Friday, when Jesus was being tortured and hung on a cross, they were nowhere to be found.

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The same people who cheered praises for him disappeared when suffering came.

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They couldn't be found. What is a pure worship? The words that we sing, or the suffering that we are willing to endure for his name?

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In Acts chapter five today, we're going to learn about suffering. But before we go into that text, let's begin with a word of prayer.

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Father, we thank you for your word to us. Your word is life to us, better than bread or water.

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It's the very word of God, which nourishes our soul and wells up in us to eternal life.

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We need it more than we need food. And yet, Lord, we confess we're often distracted. And even on a

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Sunday morning, it's hard for us to get our minds set into your word because of the distractions of our lives.

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So this morning, Lord, we pray right now that you would take control of our thoughts and focus us for these moments that we have together to look into your word.

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Lord, I pray that we would come out of this study stronger than we went into it. I pray that we come out braver, more courageous, more willing to endure suffering for the sake of the name.

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I pray that you would raise up from among us a people who are strong and mighty in the word, who are fitted with the armor of God.

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The breastplate of righteousness, carrying the sword of the spirit with the belt of truth, the helmet of salvation, that we would be a people that prays and moves forward in power, because greater is he that is in us than he who is in the world.

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Meet with us now in your word, Jesus, we need you. In your name we pray, amen. In contrast to those who fled, the

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Galileans and those who worshiped on Palm Sunday, but ran away when the going got tough. After the resurrection of Jesus, everything was different for the believers.

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Peter, who once cowered on that day, denying Christ three times, would stand up and preach boldly.

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What was the difference for Peter? It was the resurrection of Jesus and the Holy Spirit coming on the day of Pentecost.

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In the late 1940s, communism began to take over the country of Romania. Russia was already a communist government and Romania was turning also red, taking up the sickle.

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Well, they called a council, what they called the Congress of the Cults, and they invited all

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Protestant and Orthodox and Muslim and all faith together to come to this great

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Congress to affirm that the church will work with the state and the state will honor the church.

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But the problem was, communism had done this before under Stalin and even before that under Lenin. In Russia, there was a great lip service given to the church until the hammer fell and Christians would be persecuted.

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In truth, communism was an atheistic religion. So this great

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Congress of the Cults in Romania was a show. It was an attempt to subdue the people under the communist rule.

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And the Christian pastors in Romania at the time knew it. However, there was great danger looming.

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So many of them accepted the invitation to the Congress of the Cults. And on that day, an

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Orthodox bishop stood up and said that the streams of Christianity flow together into one great river and communism is perfectly compatible with the

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Bible. Others stood up and were even more compromised than that.

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There was a Lutheran bishop. He was a deputy bishop among the Lutherans that stood up and said that God has given three great revelations.

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One through Moses, another through Jesus, and this through Stalin.

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The so -called Christian leaders were pandering to the state, afraid to speak the truth.

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Meanwhile, Richard Wurmbrandt was sitting in the audience representing a Swedish mission. And he was a prominent pastor, he was well -known.

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As he sat and listened, his heart was stirred with the gospel.

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And his wife sat next to him, more stirred than he was. He determined that he would not speak in agreement with the communist party.

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He would be silent and refuse to bow to the communist regime.

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But his wife would have none of that. She reached over to him and grabbed his arm and encouraged him, do not be silent, go and preach the gospel.

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Richard Wurmbrandt listened to his wife and then whispered back to her, you know, if I do that, you will lose your husband.

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To which Sabina replied, I wouldn't want a husband who is a coward. And so he submitted his ticket to stand before the audience and speak.

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And when Richard Wurmbrandt stood before the Congress of the Colts, rather than pandering to the communist party, he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ and the freedom that comes in him.

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He was a marked man from that day on. Not long after, he was arrested and was tortured for 13 years by the communist government.

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His wife, Sabina, was tortured for three years, almost died, and yet they came out of that victorious because greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world.

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They started a ministry called Voice of the Martyrs in 1967. You've probably heard of it. God is greater, but it takes courage to stand and the kind of worship that the

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Wurmbrandts offered that day was stronger than our songs.

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Although our songs are important, the worship that they offered was the willingness to suffer and even die.

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They said by their actions that they value Christ more than this life.

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They stood for the gospel. Let's turn to Acts chapter five. That's what we have today.

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The main idea is that our God will always prove to be a sufficient help for us to overcome our trials.

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We need to value Christ more than this life and be willing to suffer for the name that is above every name.

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I won't read it through because we're gonna take a large chunk. Instead, what I'll do is I'll read and then comment as we go.

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This text moves me. It always has. Every time I've read this story, it's moved my heart.

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It's made me recognize how little passion I actually have compared to what the early disciples had.

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It stirs me up, and I want it to stir us up as a church today to make us stronger.

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Let's begin. We'll take the first five verses at first, 12 through 16.

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Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles, and they were all together in Solomon's portico.

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None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever, believers were added to the

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Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

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The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

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This is a picture of the power of God. Signs and wonders being done in the name of Jesus, and we can't understand why this happens like this unless we're following the flow of the text.

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Back in chapter three, there's a crippled man healed in the name of Jesus, and because of that,

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Peter and John are arrested and are commanded to speak no more in that name, to which they say, there's no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.

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Judge for yourselves whether it's right to listen to you or to listen to God, and they go on preaching.

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As a result of that, many are coming to faith, but they return to their own and they offer a prayer.

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We studied this at the end of Acts chapter four. They pray to the sovereign God, confessing his sovereignty over all things, but then they say,

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God, stretch out your hand to heal and to perform miracles, and give us boldness to speak.

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Here, what we read is the answer to that prayer. God is stretching out his hand to heal and perform wonders and signs in the name of Jesus, and they have boldness to preach the gospel.

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If we turn to 1 John 5, 14 and 15, or at least make a note of that, notice that the prayer that we are to offer as we seek

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God is to be according to the will of God. God is sovereign, and they are asking him to do according to his will, and in this case, it's his will to heal ubiquitously.

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Every person who comes, even if Peter's shadow passes over somebody, they're getting healed.

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This is an amazing outpouring of God's power. So everything is gravy, everything is going really well.

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Don't you love, church, when everything is going well in our life together as a church? Don't you love it when your life is going well and everything that you set your hand to turns to gold?

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This is good times for the church. This is fun, but the next verse starts with the word but.

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Let's read it, 17 through 21, the first part of 21. But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him, that is, the party of the

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Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

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But 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 heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

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But, things are going great, life is running smoothly, but opposition arises, attempting again to silence them from preaching the name of Jesus.

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But the high priest rises up, and who are these who are leading the charge? It's the

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Sadducees. Sadducees were a party, one of the four major parties within Israel, you have the

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Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes kind of live off by themselves in the caves, and then there's the Zealots who wanna overthrow the

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Roman government. What do the Sadducees believe in particular? No resurrection, very good.

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There's no angels, there's no miracles. And so ironically, leading into this, we see miracles happening all over the place.

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Very bad for Sadducee theology. So these are the ones who are stirred up, and ironically, as you look into the text,

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God chooses to send an angel to rescue from those who say there are no angels.

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And they're preaching the resurrection of Jesus, so the Sadducees are very jealous and very angry.

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Strong opposition. In our lives, the harder we run after Christ, life does not get easier, but harder.

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The more zealous we are for the gospel, the more risk we take for the name of Christ. I think of this guy that the

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ACLJ is defending, a North Carolina man who decided to leave country and go to the land of Turkey.

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He wound up in Izmir and started a church there. The Turkish government has arrested him and thrown him in prison.

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Life has gotten very hard for him. He took a risk for the gospel, and he's suffering because of it.

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It's not an easier road, it's a harder road. But there's greater opposition.

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Now notice in the text, though, that there's a but to the devil's but. Verse 17, but the high priest.

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Verse 19, but during the night. The tables are turned again.

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We go strong for Christ, opposition will arise, but greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world.

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No matter what trial comes into your life, if you have Christ, you have the resource in you, the resurrected

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Christ living on the inside, the power to overcome that trial, whatever that trial is, and especially trials that come against the name.

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When you stand for the name that is above every name, believe that the power of God will strengthen you to endure whatever comes your way.

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So he sends an angel who opens the prison door and brings them out. Now put yourself in the shoes of the 12.

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This is the 12 apostles now. The first imprisonment, the first capture was Peter and John.

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Now you have all 12 apostles. They're in prison.

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And we think of how strong they are in the faith, but put yourself in their shoes. These are the same ones who ran when

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Jesus was arrested. They watched how nails were driven through his hand, through his hands and his feet.

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How that crown of thorn was pressed on his head. And they know full well that this could be their fate in the morning.

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There is real human emotion here. There is fear. And yet, verse 21, when they heard the order to go stand in the temple again, they enter the temple at daybreak and began to preach, to teach the gospel.

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They didn't even, you know, that ordeal, as hard as it would have been, they didn't go home and take a nap.

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They say, no, we're going now. Just like Abraham in Genesis 22, at the break of dawn, they're there obeying.

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What does that tell us about our Christian walk? I think the

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Christian walk requires grit. It requires strength.

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I think of the poem by Robert Service, which talks about the people who went to conquer the

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Yukon, which is that frozen tundra up there by Alaska. Not anybody could go and conquer that land.

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The poem says this. This is the law of the Yukon. And ever she makes it plain.

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Send not your foolish and feeble. Send me your strong and your sane. Strong for the red rage of battle.

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Sane for I harry them sore. Send me men girt for the combat. Men who are grit to the core.

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Swift as the panther in triumph. Fierce as the bear in defeat. Sired of a bulldog parent.

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Stealed in the furnace heat. Wild and wide are my borders. Stern as death is my sway.

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And I wait for the men who will win me. And I will not be won in a day. And I will not be won by weaklings.

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Subtle, suave, and mild. But by men with hearts of Vikings and the simple faith of a child.

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Desperate, strong, and resistless. Unthrottled by fear or defeat. Them will

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I gild with my treasure. Them will I glut with my meat. Takes a certain kind of man to go and conquer the

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Yukon. It also takes a certain kind of man and woman to go and conquer in the name of Jesus.

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It takes resurrection power. It doesn't take weakness or subtlety or the suave or the mild.

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The men that we see standing at daybreak in the temple are desperate, strong, and resistless.

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Unthrottled by fear and defeat. I notice a friend and brother who

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I would never play in Mercy. Mercy is the game where you lock hands and the stronger of the two bends the other back.

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There's a couple people in this church I wouldn't play in that game. Now recognize, when

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I go camping, I bring a blow -up mattress. And I put that in the tent.

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So I don't conquer the Yukon, okay? But there are certain men who are strong.

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The kind of spiritual strength it takes to conquer in the name of Jesus requires suffering.

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It requires strength. I see in these men that kind of grit.

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And that's what I want us to find from the text today. I want it to stir up in us that kind of strength.

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First Peter 4 .1. Sense therefore Christ suffered in the flesh. Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking.

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For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Discipline is painful.

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When a father disciplines a son, it hurts. But Hebrews 12 says it produces a harvest of righteousness.

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Psalm 126, verse three. My wife and I, that was our marriage verse. The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.

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But the passage goes on to say in four and following, the last three verses. He who goes out sowing in tears will reap in joy.

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The farmer who spends the time in the suffering to go out sowing his seed in tears in the spring and in the summer when that harvest comes in will reap with joy.

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The Christian life involves suffering and it does involve a willingness to suffer.

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And I would go so far as to say this. The degree you're willing to suffer for the name of Jesus is the degree that you worship him.

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What you are willing to suffer for him indicates how much you love him. It's not how loudly you sing or how high you raise your hands.

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You could dance in the aisles but not necessarily love him. What you are willing to suffer for him is the level of your worship.

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You hear that? What does the word worship mean? To ascribe worth. Worth is measured by what it's greater than.

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I say, Jesus, you are worth more to me than my very life. Philippians one.

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To me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. That's what we're called to.

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A worship that goes deeper than words. That's stronger than mere words.

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It's a willingness to suffer for the name. That's what we're seeing in the text. These are men who are willing to suffer and die.

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They fully expect going back into the temple that they will be arrested again and they have no reason to think that the same fate with which

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Jesus was met wouldn't meet them as well. They're counting the cost, they're taking their cross, they're following Christ.

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Physically, literally willing to die for his name. Let's keep going. Verse 21, the second half.

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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.

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Now this is really funny here. This is good Bible humor going on. Verse 22. 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 the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.

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Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.

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Can you imagine? They come to take them out so they can put them on trial and there's nobody in the tomb, but the guards are still standing there.

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Evidently, when the angel brought them out, he sent them into some kind of trance or something. They didn't even know that their prisoners were gone.

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So what's gonna come of this? Verse 25. Someone came and told them, look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

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Wow. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

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Who's in control in this story? You have authorities,

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Sadducees, who were in the ruling party at the time, the high priest is with them. They seem to have all the power, but let's be honest, who's in control?

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If God is able to do this, to send them into some kind of trance and to rescue his people with an angel, he has as many angels at his disposal as he wants.

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God can do anything. Notice also that he's able to use the circumstances of this life to restrain evil.

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Look at verse 26. They brought them, but not by force.

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Not by force. The evil of these leaders is restrained by the circumstance, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

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God is in control. He's the restrainer of evil. We learn that in 2 Thessalonians.

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He's able to restrain evil. Chapter two, verse seven. One day the restrainer will be taken out of the way, which is,

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I think, a picture of the rapture. It's the restrainer, the Holy Spirit, working through his church, is restraining evil in the world, but one day when the church is raptured up to heaven, all hell breaks loose on earth.

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The restraint is taken away. That's what we call the tribulation, the seven years of disastrous punishment, the wrath of the

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Father and of the Son, the wrath of the Lamb, poured out on the earth for those seven years.

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But as it is now, we have the restrainer. He will not allow you to suffer beyond what he is willing that you suffer.

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So yes, trials and oppressions and all kinds of victimization happens at the hands of godless men, but never apart from the plan of God.

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He always has a purpose for what he allows to come into your life. What are you suffering with right now?

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God is in control of that. Even if you are a victim of something, that does happen in this world, yet God is still in control.

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In 1 Corinthians 10, 13, we learn that no temptation has befallen us except what is common to man, and with the temptation he always provides a way of escape.

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That word temptation in the Greek is the same word that we get trial. So it can refer to a temptation as in you're feeling lustful toward something that's not yours to take.

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It can also refer to some kind of trial that comes. God will not allow anything into your life except what he has a purpose for, and he is able to keep you through it.

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He is the one in control. Now verse 27, when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, we strictly charge you.

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Remember this from Acts chapter four? How strong they got, and the disciples weren't hearing it.

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They said, look, judge for yourself. Should we listen to you or to God? We strictly charge you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled

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Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. By that they mean you want us to be guilty of his blood, which they were, but there's a prophetic meaning in that text as well.

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It is the intention of Christians to bring the blood upon anyone who will hear and believe the gospel.

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I'll tell you what my desire is right now. I want to bring the blood of Jesus upon each one of you and upon myself.

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How so? I want the blood of Jesus to wash you of your sin. And how does that come about?

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By believing in Christ, his blood cleanses you from all unrighteousness. The priests didn't know what he was saying.

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He was more right than he knew. Verse 29, but Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey

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God rather than men. And here is the great struggle and the reason for so much opposition in this world.

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There are different sources of authority. There's different bases of authority.

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The Sadducees have their power structure being in power in government.

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They also have their traditions and their theology, which they derive from their own minds.

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They do accept the Torah, the first five books, but they reject the rest. So their authority is based on their own traditions and their own understanding.

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It's also true in our world today. There's as many opinions in this world as there are people, right?

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What determines what is true and what is false? The authority that you're trusting.

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I'll just mention this briefly. The Roman Catholic Church differs from us on a number of things.

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In fact, I was just in the car less than a week ago and I had the Catholic radio station on and the kids got in the car.

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I was listening to it just to hear what they're teaching and they said, oh no, let us listen to it. I almost turned it off. So I said, all right, you can listen to it for one minute.

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In that one minute, the man on the radio talked about Joseph and he talked about how he prays to Joseph and the more he prays, the closer he feels to his patron

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Saint Joseph. My kids were blown away.

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They actually teach that? That you pray to Joseph and you get closer in relationship to Joseph?

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They were blown away. The Catholic Church, of course, teaches many doctrines that are different from what we teach.

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And this isn't to attack anybody. This is to just tell the plain, honest truth. They teach that you have to go through sacraments in order to be justified and you maintain your justification by the works that you do.

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That's the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church but I bring it back to this point. Why do they think that?

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Because their basis of authority is not the Bible alone. It is the magisterium, the church, speaking with equal authority to the

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Bible. And so what happens in practice is that the church interpreting the Bible becomes the authority and the traditions of the church are placed on equal footing as the word of God.

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And so for 2 ,000 years, the Roman Catholic Church has been developing traditions that do not meet with the standard of the word of God.

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We must understand, we have but one basis of authority. It's the same as what the apostles had.

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It is the word of God. Sola Scriptura, if anything I ever teach does not line up with this word, rebuke me for that.

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If anybody else teaches another doctrine that doesn't accord with what's taught in the scriptures, rebuke them for that.

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This is our only authority. And see in verse 29, we must obey God rather than men.

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This is the bottom line of the conflict. The Sadducees have their basis of authority, the apostles are standing upon the word of God.

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My question for you is what is your basis of authority? The more firmly you stand planted in the word of God, the more opposition you will face from this hostile culture.

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But this authority is true and it's sure, it's like a rock. It never shakes and can never be broken.

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So verse 30, the God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

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God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sin.

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Those two verses blow my mind. They're amazing.

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Packed in so few words with such an economy of words. The gospel is unfolded in all its richness.

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We've talked about from earlier sermons and acts that the gospel is about the person of Christ, the work of Christ according to the scriptures promising forgiveness of sin and eternal life to those who repent and believe.

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All of that is in these two verses. The person of Christ seated at the right hand of the father.

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That means he's God, the deity of the son of God. The work of Christ, leader and savior.

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He came to work for us as a savior. According to the scriptures, do you recognize that the apostles here are drawing from Old Testament language?

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In Deuteronomy, we're told, cursed is everyone who is hung upon a tree. And when

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Peter, probably speaking here, yeah, Peter and the apostles, says to them, you killed by hanging him on a tree.

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He's saying, Jesus became that curse of Deuteronomy. When it says,

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God seated him at the right hand of the father that's Psalm 110 language. The Lord said to my

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Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. According to the scriptures,

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Jesus is who he claims to be offering forgiveness of sin right there in verse 31. But it comes to those who repent also in verse 31.

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The gospel in so few words. It's amazing. Brothers and sisters, learn the gospel well.

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Love it, know it, be ready with an answer, even if you have but a minute. I remember one time when we were missionaries, we were on a subway and the doors were opening and someone felt prompted to share the gospel with someone before getting off the subway.

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And he just quick preached the gospel in about 20 seconds and then stepped out right when the door closed.

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He just felt led to do it, but it was a clear, concise gospel that the Lord gave him. He had very little time to get it in.

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That's what the apostles do here, quickly preaching the gospel. Then verse 32, and we are witnesses to these things.

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And so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. I'd like to spend more time on verse 32.

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Talk to me later about it if you have questions about regeneration and faith and how those two things play together.

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But notice there's an outward call. They are witnesses. They are there to preach the gospel.

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And the Holy Spirit is the one who gives an inward call, an inward witness. Part of our outward witness is this promise of Acts 2, 38 and 39, that God will give the

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Holy Spirit to those who believe in him. That's the outward call that we make, but it's only the

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Holy Spirit who's able to draw someone on the inside. Okay, we're almost done, but this gets very important here.

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And I think that the key part of the text is down here at the bottom. Verse 33, when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

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There is a rage inside of the unregenerate heart. 34, but a

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Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

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And he said to them, men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

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For before these days, Thutis rose up claiming to be somebody. And a number of men, about 400, joined him.

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He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him,

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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 who followed him were scattered.

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So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone.

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For if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.

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You might even be found opposing God. So they took his advice.

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Again, we see here the restraint of God working through this man Gamaliel, who's not even a believer, to bring wisdom and to bring their release instead of their death.

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Notice in verse 39, if this comes from God, you will not be able to overthrow it.

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We have 2 ,000 years of church history now. Demonstrating that this verse is true.

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We mentioned earlier that in Turkey right now, the government has outlawed the preaching of the gospel.

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And those who preach are thrown in jail. Won't be able to stop the gospel. In Egypt, not long ago, just less than a couple years ago, there was, there is a decree that Christians who preach the gospel are pretty much fair game to be persecuted by the

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Muslim majority. There was a man named Walid, who was a painter. And his friend,

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Haytham, was listening to Christian worship in his headphone, but blaring it so loud that Walid could hear it.

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This happened day after day as they painted together on a housing project. Till one day after work,

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Walid followed him home. And in an alleyway, he jumped him and stabbed him in the side, thinking he was dead.

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Haytham survived the attack. And 15 days later, Walid was hit by a truck.

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Guess who showed up at the hospital and took care of him? And even provided money to pay for his recovery?

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It was Haytham. Months later, Walid came to faith.

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Within the last decade, according to Voice of the Martyrs, there have been more converts to Christianity in Egypt than in the 1400 years since Muhammad brought his doctrine.

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There is a massive movement to Christ in Egypt. As there is in Iran, in India, in China. The gospel is continuing to go forward.

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No one can stop it. I read another story of a woman named

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Dura in Egypt. She became a Christian, and so she got a tattoo of a cross on her shoulder.

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Her family gave her in an unwanted marriage to a Muslim man who required her to be silent about the gospel.

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In fact, he took acid and tried to burn the cross off of her back and disfigured her that way.

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She refused to be silent. She kept preaching the gospel. This is what's happening around the world.

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They will not be able to silence us. And our culture has a different way of telling us to be quiet, because we live in a free country.

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Our culture presses us with the social norms. Not to push your religion on someone else.

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Be quiet about what you believe. Don't criticize anybody else. Tolerance is the buzzword. Don't be silent.

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Remember the suffering of our brothers and sisters around the world. In closing here,

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I think this is the key point. The last few verses, notice the reaction of the apostles when they get set free.

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It comes on the other end of a beating. And I'm sure it was a violent one, like Jesus endured, but notice how they respond.

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We'll be done after this. Verse 40, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.

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Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

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And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the

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Christ is Jesus. And this is the big point

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I'm trying to communicate. They counted themselves blessed and honored that they suffered dishonor for the name.

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Philippians 1, 29, for it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.

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What a privilege it is for us to be willing to endure suffering for the sake of the name, because in that we say that we worship him who is more valuable than anything else that we have.

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This is how we declare his worth. We endure suffering for the sake of the name.

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That's what I take from this passage. I hope you take it too. This world will not be won by weaklings, the suave and the mild.

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It's gonna be won by people like Wurmbrandt, Sabina, as well as her husband,

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Richard. By people like Hatham, who loved the very people that tried to kill him.

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By people like Dura, who endured punishment from her own husband.

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By disciples like this, who would not stop preaching and teaching from house to house and in the public places.

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There's a movie in the theater now that I really recommend you go see. It's called, I Can Only Imagine.

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Story of Bart, I don't know his last name. Miller, the guy from Mercy Me.

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Okay, so he endured suffering from an abusive father, but he went on to preach the gospel, and he won't stop.

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I love the words from the song, Lifer. No, I'm not gonna stop. Whatever might come my way, no matter the high or low, you know it don't change a thing.

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Because it ain't what happens to me. Yeah, that don't define me. It's what I got inside me. Remember, greater is he who is in us than he was in the world.

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And before I was created, you already knew, yeah, ain't nothing gonna separate us, hallelujah.

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And as long as my heart is beaten and my lungs are breathing, I'll keep on singing for you.

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Even right through the moment you call me home, I'll be singing for you, because that's what lifers do.

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Because that's what lifers do. Are you a lifer? No matter what comes, you're in this for life.

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No matter what suffering comes into your life, it doesn't matter, because greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world.

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Let's close in a word of prayer. Father, thank you that you give us this food,

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Acts chapter five, to nourish us and to make us strong. I pray that you make us willing and able to endure persecution for the name.

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In fact, Lord, I thank you for the honor and the privilege that is ours, not only to believe in Jesus, but also to suffer for him.

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And I pray that this will be a people that goes forth from house to house and in the public places, teaching that the

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Christ is Jesus. Equip us with that gospel to speak of the person of Christ, the work of Christ, to know the scriptures, that we can show that these things are according to the scriptures, to preach forgiveness in his name, calling people to repentance and faith.

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Equip us now with courage and bravery and strength through the matchless name of Jesus Christ, amen.