Sunday, April 14, 2024 AM

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank

You for gathering us here together on this day for Your purposes.

Why should the nation say, where now is their God? We know that You are in the heavens and You do whatever

You please. And all that You please is good and right and holy and true.

We thank You for this day, a day that You have made. A day that is crafted and prepared and proceeding all beneath the sovereign gaze of our

King Jesus Christ. You have given us to Him and You have given Him to us.

For this we give You praise. We ask that by Your Holy Spirit, as we turn our attention to Your Holy Word, that what

You have to say to us here would find a warm welcome in our hearts.

That it would be planted deep, that it would be tilled and watered, and it would give increase so that we would not remain the same, but evermore conformed and renewed into the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

The glory of Your name. We pray all these things for the sake of Jesus Christ, the

One with whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13, we'll begin reading in verse 49.

Proceed on into chapter 14 in verse 7. We have a passage here that details three stories of persecution.

Three related incidents of gospel opposition.

We find the Christians, we find that the saints respond in three different ways.

And yet, they are all consistent with the truths of Jesus Christ.

All consistent with considering who He is and the reality of His good news.

The good news of Jesus Christ. The good news of the Kingdom. Gospel opposition, gospel persecution is not a new phenomenon.

We know from sources like Voice of the Martyrs and the

Joshua Project and so forth, that there's been more persecution of Christians in the last hundred or so years than in all the previous centuries combined, if you just do it by the numbers.

That just shows you how far Christ is casting the seed. How wide

He is building His Kingdom. How many are coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

The fact that persecution is worldwide means that the church is worldwide. Wherever the gospel goes, there is a conflict that occurs.

It's not a bug, it's a feature. Because there's an authority conflict that happens.

The good news of Jesus Christ cannot be biblically expressed without emphasizing His authority as King.

And anytime there is a claim to ultimate authority, there is conflict.

So it's not new in the world, and it's not new in the book of Acts. We've seen the church come under fire already.

Acts 4, Acts 7, Acts 12. Many examples of systematic, state -sponsored, religious persecution.

This is the environment in which the early church was forged where we began to grow up.

It is not foreign. It should not be thought of as an anomaly, but as the norm.

Not in a sense of despair, but in a sense of hope and recognition that Christ is

King, and we're to expect resistance to that claim.

Last week we looked at Acts 13, verses 49 -52 about how to get kicked out with joy.

And the next portion of our passage, verses 1 -3, is how to stick it out in faith.

And the last three verses of the passage, the last four verses of the passage, is how to bail out with hope.

I invite you to stand with me as we read our text this morning. This is the word of the

Lord, beginning in verse 49 of Acts 13. And the word of the

Lord was being spread throughout all the region, but the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the

Holy Spirit. Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the

Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the

Greeks, believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.

Therefore, they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the

Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

But the multitude of the city was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles.

And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region.

And they were preaching the gospel there. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

You may be seated. Our Savior teaches and provides all we need to respond to gospel opposition.

There has not been a generation of the church that has been without the resources and the understanding from Christ.

He is not left as orphans. He has not said, you're on your own. He has provided us with the

Holy Spirit. He has given us His word. We may proceed in confidence.

And we must have confidence. It has been fashionable in the last couple of generations to envision

Christianity, especially in the Western world, as owning a booth and selling our wares in the marketplace of ideas.

Amongst the various world religions, amongst the various philosophies, different systems of ethics, here are the

Christians. We have our program. We have our style.

We have our truth. And we compete in this mystical, neutral space called the marketplace of ideas.

Hold on to that thought for a moment. Let's say you were offered tickets to attend a performance featuring twirling and dancing, leaping on stage, music, lots of emotion, a blend of culture and athletics and story.

And you were all prepared for the ballet, but you showed up to a professional wrestling contest.

It's not a marketplace of ideas. It is a battleground filled with truth claims.

It's not a marketplace of ideas, a mystical, neutral area where everybody gets their shot and their sales pitch.

It is a battleground of truth claims, one in which

Christ alone remains standing when it is all said and done. We need to understand that every marketplace of any kind, every marketplace of any kind, because of human nature being made in the image of God, is religious in nature.

That marketplace may hide its ultimate value. It may advertise its ultimate value.

But every marketplace is, by nature, religious. The worship switch is hardwired on.

We're always breathing in worth and exhaling worship.

So this is not a neutral marketplace of ideas. This is a battleground where truth claims are being made.

And that's important for us to know because we need to understand the conflict that we're in.

If someone becomes very angry at the claims of Christ and points the finger at the clear teachings of Scripture and describes it in immoral or unethical terms, it isn't that we have failed to do a good job in selling it.

It's a matter of authority conflict. We need to understand the conflict.

Notice that Paul and Barnabas get kicked out of Antioch and the region in which

Antioch had jurisdiction, which was called Pisidia. They got kicked out of the county.

It was like the sheriff and his deputies saw them to the county line and said, don't come back.

We'll see later on in chapter 14 that that wasn't enough. And in fact, the sheriff and the deputies formed a posse with others and came pursuing

Paul and Barnabas with a warrant for their death. This is how vigorous they were kicked out of Pisidia.

So now, 90 miles later, Paul and Barnabas stop in Iconium, the county seat, if you will, of Phrygia.

You first hear about the Phrygians in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 2, where there was a wide assortment of Jews from all over the

Roman Empire who had grown up in these different local areas and had their own best -known dialects.

And as the apostles began preaching the gospel of the kingdom in these known dialects, the

Phrygians were there and they heard the gospel preached to them in their own heart language.

You know, that's something the churches never gave up on. You know, to this day, Christians go out to all the regions of the world and we preach the gospel and translate the

Word of God and learn the dialects of the natives who live there so we may preach the gospel to them in their own heart language.

Again, in Acts chapter 2, and God has blessed that work. Ninety miles away, several days' journey away,

Paul and Barnabas come to Iconium, to the Phrygians, and there they enter a city that is very pro -Rome.

They are a patriotic city. They were recently commended by the emperor

Claudius for their loyalty. They would soon become an official

Roman colony, just like Antioch of Pisidia. They were very pro -emperor, very pro -Rome, which means that the imperial cult was present there.

People worshipped the emperor and were fond of saying, Caesar is lord, and throwing a pinch of incense upon the pyre to give obeisance and worship to the emperor.

The Greeks who were there also worshipped a local goddess. They also worshipped Hercules and Zeus and Apollo.

The Jews who lived there had a very influential synagogue, and they were obviously no friend of the pagans, but these were the two groups that Paul and Barnabas preached to.

Notice in the text it says that they went together to the synagogue of the

Jews and so spoke. They spoke in such a manner that a great multitude heard.

Not just to the Jews only that were within the synagogue, but they spoke in a way that there was a great multitude who received the

Word of God. Not just the Jews, but also the Greeks. The Greek -speaking folks, not the

Aramaic -speaking folks and the Hebrew -speaking folks alone, but the Greek -speaking folks also heard.

Paul and Barnabas did not simply preach in Hebrew or preach in Aramaic. They preached in Greek so that everybody would know what was being said.

Preaching the gospel in the well -known trade language. And so the people believed, a great multitude, not just of the

Greek -speaking folks, but also of the Hebrew -speaking folks, the Jews and the Gentiles. A big group of them believed, and yet there was another big group that did not believe.

We see that as well in the passage. It may be a pattern that is familiar to you if you've been following along in the book of Acts, especially recently.

Notice verse 2, but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.

They poisoned their minds. Do you see it's a battle for the mind? Do you see that lies were being inserted?

Deceptions were being used. Slander was being employed. They were poisoning their minds so that any time that these

Gentiles would encounter Paul and Barnabas or any of the new converts from the local church, they would know automatically that whatever they said would be wrong.

They were not going to listen. They were going to walk in with their preconceived notions that were fed to them by the local

Jews and they would be ready to oppose them no matter what was said. People can be as close -minded about Christianity today as they were some 2 ,000 years ago.

Because their minds perhaps have been poisoned by others who hate Christ and have been trying to do whatever they can to oppose the kingdom.

Jesus said in Matthew 23, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.

For you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

They didn't want anyone to worship Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ, the

Son of the living God. They didn't want anyone to believe this good news. Because, as we've spoken about before, if Jesus is who

He says He is, and if His Gospel means what He says it means, then the

Jews, like John the Baptist, should say, we must decrease. He must increase.

How happy and joyful were the Jews who believed in their Messiah. How miserable and defiant and bitter were the

Jews who did not believe. Now we see what happened here in Iconium that a great multitude came to faith in Jesus Christ.

They were both Jews and Gentiles, all together, believing in the same Savior. There was one

Savior. There was one mediator between God and man. The God -man, Jesus Christ.

And so these Gentiles and these Jews were both believing. And at the same time, there's another group made up of Jews and Gentiles who are opposing.

A great division, we find in verse 4, has been entrenched now in the city of Iconium.

Before Paul and Barnabas came and preached the Gospel, notice, before they preached the

Gospel, there was a divide in town. There was a railroad track that ran straight through town.

There were the Gentiles over on this side of the tracks, and then there were the Jews who were on this side of the tracks.

And everybody knew the division and were just fine. That's the way it works. The Jews like being separate.

We like being separate. We get along fine. And then when

Paul and Barnabas come preaching the Gospel, all of a sudden, there's a new division in town. Rather than being cut up and down like this, all of a sudden, everything's sliced sideways.

Now you have Jews and Gentiles together believing in Jesus Christ, and Jews and Gentiles united together to oppose

Jesus Christ. Do you remember when Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace but a sword? The sword cuts differently than the divisions that man may make.

Man is always wielding the sword to cut along the easiest dividing lines.

Jesus cuts a whole different direction where we have

Jews and Gentiles loving Him and serving Him, and Jews and Gentiles now opposing

Him. Consider the condition. Gentiles who worshipped a local false goddess would often go to the little shrines of Hercules and Apollo and Zeus, who were always dedicated to throwing that pinch of incense to Caesar because they were a very patriotic city.

And now, they're turning away from dead idols to serve the risen, living

Lord Jesus Christ. And they know hardly any of the background of the

Messiah and the prophecies from Genesis to Isaiah, from Samuel to Malachi.

They don't know all of those promises. They're not steeped in the rich history of the

Old Testament. But alongside them are the Jews who have come to faith, who by God's grace have seen indeed that Jesus of Nazareth is the

Messiah promised throughout all the Old Testament Scriptures. And now they're all together in one group.

And I reckon, based on all the evidence in the New Testament, that the newly converted

Jews and the newly converted Gentiles are not going to mesh all that easy.

Oh, they agree that Jesus is the Christ. But how are they different?

Culturally, they are different. Their expectations are different. How are they going to be discipled in such a way that they may prove the

Word of Jesus? By this, all men will know that You are my disciples by the love that You have for one another.

These new converts are going to need someone to stick around and disciple them and to help them grow and show them what it is like to live for Christ and love one another.

That's why in verse 3 we have the word, therefore. A great multitude came to faith.

Therefore, Paul and Barnabas stayed there a long time.

But also, you notice the opposition. A great opposition has arisen against this new church.

Jews who have the Old Testament Scriptures and are bent on trying to showcase them as proof against Christ.

Proof against Jesus. And then all the Gentiles who are very pro -Rome.

And what is this? You're saying that Jesus is Lord? That's not very patriotic.

That's not gaining favor from the Roman Emperor. That's not the program we've installed here.

We're supposed to be pro -Emperor. Why are you saying Jesus is Lord? No, no, no. Caesar is

Lord. So there is an agreement that the Christians, the followers of the way, that they're a problem now in Iconium.

And great opposition is rising up against them. And that's why we have the word, therefore, in verse 3.

Therefore, they stayed there a long time.

You see it? There is the need of adequate discipleship.

There is the need for apologetic defense. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas stayed there a long time.

This expression in our English translations stay there a long time.

One word in the Greek from which we derive our modern English term, diatribe.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a diatribe? Not exactly pleasant, even if the diatribe isn't really aimed at you.

What does someone do in a diatribe? They talk about one thing.

That's how you can tell a difference between a litany of complaints and a diatribe. People who give a diatribe stay focused.

And they go over that one subject matter every possible way that they can.

I have 12 different angles on this same issue that I'm going to share with you. I'm going to go over it again and again and again.

You may think I'm repeating myself, but I'm just showing you from every angle why

I think the way I think about this particular issue. There's a passion to it. You get to think to yourself, you get to have a conversation with yourself as you're just marveling at this person's depth of the diatribe and wondering at the intensity of their passion and say, you must have studied a great deal.

How many months and years have you been studying this and learning this and testing these very things that you're saying to me against others who may have opposed you, but you've figured out a way to express yourself in a convincing way?

This is what Paul and Barnabas did. They stayed there a long time. The word picture in the

Greek is that they stayed in the same place for so long that they packed the ground down so that there was no more dust.

They just stayed right there. To and fro, back and forth. They stayed put.

They wore down the ground of their place teaching and defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They were persistent. They were persistent. And they spoke boldly.

They spoke boldly. If you remember, this was the prayer in Acts chapter 4.

Peter and John had been arrested. They were threatened by the Sanhedrin to never again preach and teach in the name of Jesus Christ.

They were threatened with an understanding that if they were to do that again, they would face even more severe penalties than being arrested.

They would face beatings. Perhaps they would face exile. Perhaps they would face execution.

And Peter and John came back to the church when they had gathered together and they told them what had happened.

The Sanhedrin was the ruling council of the Jews. They had authority granted to them by Caesar himself to govern the affairs of all the

Jews throughout all of the empire. They were an elevated civil magistrate who had imperial sanction to govern all the

Jews. It wasn't just the mayor and the city council.

This is more on the level of the entire house of representatives and the senate of your state.

Came together, had you put before them in a joint caucus, and they all pointed the finger at you and said, you will not preach and teach in the name of Jesus of Nazareth ever again or else.

Of course, to which John and Peter said, should we obey

God or should we obey man? We'll let you be the judge. But this is serious.

They go back to the church, share with them what happened, and what do they do? They pray. They pray and thank

God for being in charge of everything. How none of this has escaped His notice. He knew it was going to happen and He always works the evil for good.

And they prayed for boldness to continue to preach the gospel despite the warnings.

And it says that God granted them power and boldness by the Holy Spirit. Well, what goes on here?

Verse 3, Therefore they stayed there a long time speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

So they preach boldly. They speak boldly. They know that they have the word of the

Lord. So they're not going to be shy about it. They're not going to say...

They're not going to try to sell it in the marketplace of ideas and say,

I think this might be a good option for you. Would you care to check out our flyer?

They're not salesmen. They're heralds of the King. What is their message? Wherever they go. Jesus of Nazareth is the

Christ, the Son of the living God. He was dead, but He's alive now, and He's ascended to the right hand of the Father to reign forevermore.

This is good news. There's a new King at the highest throne, at the highest level. This is good news.

Rejoice with us. Kiss the Son. Do homage to the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way.

How blessed are all who find refuge in Him. So they speak boldly.

As Peter said in his letter, 1 Peter 4 .11, those who speak should do so as with the very oracles of God.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit. And we see that the risen

Lord Jesus Christ, He is not asleep. He is not out of focus.

He is not absent from this moment. We see that Paul and Barnabas are speaking boldly in the

Lord. Notice who, you see this in verse 3, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace.

Where is this Jesus of Nazareth? He's ascended at the right hand of God. He was taken out of the sight of the apostles by the

Shekinah glory cloud. He has ascended just like Daniel 7 said, the Son of Man at the right hand of the

Father. He has received for Himself a kingdom and He will return, but He's not sleeping.

He is not absent. He's very much present and active.

These are the acts of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. He is bearing witness to the word of His grace.

How? Granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. Why? Well, it's the same issue all throughout the book of Acts.

The issue is, as the new covenant has been inaugurated by the blood of Jesus Christ, He said, this is

My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. And He sheds

His blood and He is raised up from the dead, the first fruit of the new creation. And so, we have a new covenant, a new creation that has been inaugurated, it has begun.

There's a new anointed, and His name is Jesus of Nazareth, at the same time that the old covenant is still functioning and is circling down the drain.

Biggest question in the New Testament is, who are the people of God? And who has the right interpretation of the

Scriptures? Why do you think that Jesus and the apostles quote so much of the

Old Testament? Because they're saying, this is the right interpretation of the

Old Testament. The Jewish -centered, Israel -centered reading of the

Old Testament was what was being taught in the synagogues and at the temple. And when

Jesus and the apostles said, actually, as important as Israel is in the plan of God, it's actually about Jesus.

That was the contention. That is where the fight was. Because John the

Baptist got it, He must increase, I must decrease. But all we have in this moment are these folks over here saying, no, our reading is correct.

Our interpretation is correct. And these people over here saying, no, no, our reading is correct. Our interpretation is correct.

And these people over here saying, no, no, we're the people of God, the Jews that can trace our circumcision back to Abraham.

And then this group of people over here are saying, no, no, no, our circumcision is in Christ, Jew and Gentile. And now, we're the people of God because we're in Christ.

You see the problem? There's an incompatibility with those two claims. Well, who's right?

So Jesus, King of the universe, is not keeping His hands out of the issue. He is getting directly involved.

And the apostles are going out and doing amazing things. Healing and casting out demons and pushing back everywhere just like Christ did when

He came. And it's very clear who has the power, who has the favor of heaven, who has the authority of God Himself.

Later on, we'll have another little contest between the unbelieving

Jews, mind you, and the believing Jews and Gentiles. And there'll be the casting out of demons successful by the power of Jesus Christ.

And then the sons of Sceva will try it and it was a disaster. Why are those stories there in the book of Acts?

It's very clearly stating, Luke is writing to Theophilus, his patron, and saying it's very clear whom heaven favors.

And heaven favors Christ. And heaven favors all who are in Him. It's very clear who has the right reading and the right interpretation of the

Scriptures. We have to understand the conflict. It's an authority conflict.

Who gets to say what the Bible means? That authority conflict is still going on if you haven't noticed.

Who gets to say what the Bible means? Well, I guess the author of it. I guess the one who it is all about gets to say.

I guess the one who is the actual very Word of God in human flesh gets to say.

He is the light of the world. He is certainly the light of this Word. And so it's an authority conflict.

Understand the conflict that you may undertake it for Christ. Understand the conflict that you may undertake it for Christ.

Let us not undertake the conflict for self -vindication. I always knew

I was right. Boy, it bugs me when people tell me I'm wrong. It gets me so aggravated.

I want to prove them wrong when they say I'm wrong. Self -vindication will leave you bitter.

You undertake a conflict for your own vindication, you will end up bitter. Not for self -actualization, to use a word from modern psychological parlance.

Let's just say this, I feel really alive when I'm in conflict. Don't undertake the conflict because it makes you feel alive, like something is really happening in your spiritual life.

That will burn you out. Undertake the derby, the gospelization demolition derby, wherein authority is in conflict, undertake that conflict for Jesus.

Let us labor for His glory, not our own. There's a story in Luke 19, one of my favorites that Christ tells.

Jesus says to the crowds, He says essentially once upon a time, there was a nobleman who went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

Now who is he talking about? He's talking about himself. He's going to go to a far country, receive for himself a kingdom, all authority in heaven and on earth, and he's going to return.

I love that verse. And then he begins to show the importance of that story. He says that when this nobleman went off to the far country to receive for himself the kingdom, planning to return, there were some back home who sent messengers after him to let him know, we will not have this man rule over us.

Just so you know, it doesn't matter who gives you authority, we're not going to respect that authority.

They were rebellious against his authority. Jesus tells the story that while he was away, before he left, he had entrusted some money to three servants.

Three examples for us to consider. They each received the same amount, and the master said, do something with this while I'm away.

In other words, he's saying, submit to my authority, do something for me and for my name and for my kingdom before I get back.

So he goes, and he had these three servants. They each have one mina, one coin each.

When the master returns, when the nobleman returns, he says, where were those who said that they would not serve me, who would not submit to my authority?

And he destroys them all. As is his right as the king, exercising justice against the rebels.

And then he says, okay, what about those I've entrusted things to? Where are they at? And then there is this first one. He says, oh, master, your one mina has earned ten more.

Oh, well done, good and faithful servant. And the next one comes and says, well, this one, your mina, earned five more.

And he says, well done, good and faithful servant. And the last one came and said, you're a jerk. I mean, you're laying claim to things that I don't think you have a natural right to.

You're reaping, you're trying to reap and take from places that I never saw you so.

I mean, you're laying authority claims all over the place, and I don't think that you naturally have a claim to those things.

And so I went and buried mine in the backfield, because I think you're a jerk. And he was judged, because one of the rebels against his throne.

Jesus lays claim to all fields everywhere. It's all his turf.

It's all his turf. Understand the conflict. His authority claim is on everything.

His authority claims are totalizing. And that's why people complain.

That's also why we can have confidence and have faith and boldness to continue to work wherever we're at, because it all belongs to Christ.

Undertaking the conflict for Christ means laboring for his glory. The work that I do is not for my own sake, for my own name, but for his.

Therefore, I can continue on for his sake. And I can stay put.

I can stay put, stick it out, both in position and in principle. A vast majority of politicians make staying put their principle ethic.

Right? It's quite a different thing to stay put in position and principle.

Many make keeping my position their battle, but how many of these also keep their principles as well?

The same goes with your relationships. We talked about how to get kicked out of a relationship with joy last week.

How do we stick it out in a relationship with faith? Jesus says, when he slaps you or she slaps you on the one cheek, turn the other.

Why would you stick it out? Because somebody needs help. Somebody needs the gospel.

Somebody needs encouragement in Christ. Somebody needs someone saying, no, no, those who are denying

Christ and feeding that into your life, don't listen to them. Here's why. Apologetic defense. Stick it out.

Stay put both in position and in principle. Many people say, well, if I speak up, if I say something, then

I'll lose all my relational capital and they won't listen to me anymore.

Well, that's getting kicked out with joy. But try to stick it out with faith. Keep talking to them about the things of the

Lord. Just like Paul and Barnabas, their diatribe, they're going over and over the same ground again from every single angle.

I've got one topic. I've got one subject matter, and it's Christ. And if you're going to talk with me, we're going to end up on that subject matter.

Speak boldly in the Lord. Speak boldly. Why? Because in our passage, we see the multitude of the newly born again.

They need it. The deceivers need to be boldly countered. Boldness is important.

Let us not avoid the bold words of Scripture. Let us not avoid the bold words of Jesus Christ.

We do not need mealy -mouthed equivocations. We must echo the text.

The scepter of the Lordship of Jesus Christ is bold. It is not weak.

It is not limp. His arm is not so weak that it cannot save.

His Word is powerful, sharper than any two -edged sword. We do not have a broken reed.

Let us also trust greatly in His power. We can recognize that our conflict is for Christ and not really about us, so our suffering can be for Him.

And we can try to stay put, both in position and in principle, and stick out tough relationships and tough situations for the sake of Jesus' name.

And we can try to speak boldly and stop all the cautious walking around on eggshells, but honestly, we're not going to succeed in the least if it's not for the power of Christ, which it's not.

We can have our ducks in a row. We can have all the wisdom we need. We can have good principles.

We can have a good aim. But if we don't have the power of Jesus Christ granted to us by His Holy Spirit, we are not going to succeed, which is why we should pray.

We should pray and pray like toddlers. How did

Jesus teach us to pray? Like insistent children confident that their father will give them what they need.

As toddlers become humbly saying, well, I don't really know what I need, but I think I need this. And daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy.

How did Jesus say to pray? Persistently, knock, knock, knock, knock. Someone's going to finally answer the door, right?

Pray like a toddler. You may not really know what you need, but you know that you are in need.

Pray. Ask for God's power. Ask for God's help.

Unless the Spirit moves, unless the Spirit blesses, we don't have that hope of success.

This is how we stick it out. This is how we stick it out in faith.

We know how to get kicked out with joy. We know how to stick it out with faith. As the Lord wills.

We will talk about how to bail out with hope next time. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for the time that you've given us in your word. I pray that you would help us to stick it out with faith. Where we're at, is it our job,

Lord? Is it our marriage? Is it our family? Is it our friends?

Is it our church, fellow church members? Is it our neighbors?

What is it? Lord, you have us here, each of us in our own position and connection for a purpose.

Lord, help us to stick it out with faith. Help us to have that wisdom. Help us to have that confidence.

Help us to make it about you instead of ourselves. We pray all these things for the sake of Jesus.