It was just two Sundays ago I had the privilege, the opportunity. Thank you to the church for letting us have that time, but we got to go to Friendship Baptist Church in the Grand Metropolis of Pine Prairie, Louisiana, about an hour, 45 minutes south of Alexandria. There's a brother in this church, his name was Sheldon, and one of the first people I met, a little bit older gentleman, and faithful to the church, a friendly man, but one thing that I learned to love about this brother was hearing him talk. Because by his accent, there was no doubt where this man was from. He couldn't have fooled anybody. This man, this man was from Southern Louisiana. It reminded me of something that happened to Stephanie and I, I guess a number of years ago, I believe it was in maybe 2010. But we had the opportunity to go to a conference. We went to Chicago. And we went to this store. It actually might have been a Lifeway, maybe Steph remembers. But this lady in the store, she kept asking Stephanie to talk. It's like, say something else. Say something else. Because there was no hiding our Arkansas accent in Chicago. We couldn't get away from it. There was no doubt. We weren't from around there. Now there's this old saying, you're probably familiar with it. It goes like this, it's gonna serve as the title for today's sermon. You're known by the company you keep. And there's a broad truth in that. Even in a person's accent, right? It's hard to hide where you were born and raised when you open your mouth and talk. The company you keep affects your accent. But as we'll see in our text today, we're in Acts chapter four. Most of you probably knew that, but maybe I should let everybody else know we're in Acts chapter four. It doesn't just affect your accent. It affects what you say. It affects how you say it. It affects why you say it. You see, the company that Peter and John were recognized as having kept, the company that they were in communion with, Christ. So as we open our Bibles this morning, we're going to consider that truth together. Known by the company you keep, would you stand with me? Acts chapter 4. Here's what we do. We finished verse 12 last week. Now we're on verse 13. And we'll read down through verse 13. 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. I'm going to read that last line again. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. Father, help us to understand our text today. And Lord, whatever else people in our community people in our family, our friends at work, people outside the county, whatever else they may recognize about us. We like to hunt. We like to watch football. We like to wear our team colors. Whatever else they may recognize about us, oh God, may they recognize this one great truth that we've been with Christ. Lord, help us. Not only to understand the text, but to apply it. As we learned in Sunday school today, we're completely and utterly dependent on you. Holy Spirit, would you work today? There's nothing we can offer. Even the obedience that we long for, we can't even muster in and of ourselves without your mercy and your grace and your working, as the Philippians 2.13 says, in us, both to will and to work for your good pleasure. We just pray You would do what the Scripture tells us and promises that You'll do, Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, we pray that Your Gospel would be made plain here. Let us not just say Christian sayings and even biblical sayings and truncate or obscure the Gospel. May the Gospel reign here. I mean, know what it is. And not just know what it is, but apply it. And not just apply it, but live out what it works in our hearts. Oh God, build your church here. We believe that Christ is worthy of a healthy church. That's not just something that we just want to go around saying and a fun little saying we could put on a t-shirt. We believe it and we want you to build it here. And I think that we have moved in so many positive directions as a church, God, but we never want to just sit back and press the cruise control and just say, well, we're good now. We always want to be reforming according to Your Word. Lord, would You save more people? There are some 10,000 plus people in this county. Is it wrong for me to ask You, O God, that You would save every soul? I know that You can. I know that You have the power to do that. And so Lord, I put that before you and I pray that we would live as though you're going to save every single one of them until you show us plainly that you're not. That we'd live and have an expectation that grace is going to reign. And I pray, oh God, that that would motivate the way we share the gospel. Lord, thank you for these people. Some today are here. They need to be saved. And I pray, oh God, that you would issue that sovereign call. Wake them up, that they would call upon Christ. Believe, repent. Lord, some today need to be encouraged. I pray that would happen. Some today need to be challenged. They haven't been with Jesus like they need to be. And I pray, oh God, that they would repent. Unify us, grow us. We pray it all in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. by the company you keep. Okay, just for context, just quick, just quick, 30 seconds. You remember that we've had the day of Pentecost, and then sometime after, though it seems pretty quick, that Peter and John have gone to the temple, God has healed a lame man, now they're in trouble over it, now they have spent the night in custody, now they're on trial, as it were, before the religious leaders, and this is the interaction that we have. That gets us to verse 13, that was the quick part. Known by the company you keep, we love little compliments. Don't we? I mean, these aren't bad. We love when someone says to us, hey, have you been working out? Well, hey, we like to know. It's encouraging. Have you been losing weight? Have you been eating better? We make important lifestyle changes. And frankly, it's really encouraging. And there's maybe a bit of application there. Encourage one another. When we see changes in one another's lives, it's good. It's encouraging to see these things and recognize these things. That's good. But listen to me, this morning, church. Here's what the Jewish leadership recognized about Peter and John. Not that they'd been working out, not that they'd been eating better, not that they'd gone and bought some new clothes. Specifically, here's what they recognized, the latter part of verse 13. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Luke is not telling us here that the leaders came to a sudden realization, oh, I remember where I've seen you before. You were some of the guys that were hanging around Jesus of Nazareth, who we crucified. No, no, it goes deeper than that. William Grinnell puts it well. When the high priests and elders saw the boldness of Peter and John, they soon knew where they had got this heroic spirit. They were recognized by the way they talked, if you will. There are some specific details about this whole ordeal that clues these leaders into something. Wait a second. This is not the first time we've heard such boldness. This is not the first time we've heard this kind of preaching and teaching. We actually know the source of this behavior. These men have been with Jesus. Now, I have two overarching thoughts as we kind of wade in to the sermon this morning. The first overarching thought, and not to just come out heavy swinging, but you need to hear this and you need to consider it in your mind. So would you just take a moment and consider this in your mind? When is the last time that someone recognized that you had been with Jesus? Now, I'm not talking about your church family, okay? This isn't Peter and John's church family. These are unbelievers. These unbelievers, by the actions of these men, there were some things, that's what the sermon's gonna be about, so we're gonna get into that. But by the actions of these men, these unbelieving, frankly, religious hypocrites, recognized that these people had been with Jesus. And so the question is, as we get into the sermon, When is the last time that someone has recognized this about you? They recognize that you've been eating better. They recognize that your home has made some lifestyle changes. They recognize that your child or your nephew or your cousin or whatever is a great athlete. They recognize maybe that you got a raise at work. They recognize that you've got some better clothes. They recognize that you killed a big buck. this weekend. But when is the last time, friends, that they recognize that you had been with Jesus? I'll give a little tie-in to last week in verse 11. This Jesus is the stone that 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. There's a lot of information there about Jesus. He is the Christ. He is the promised Messiah. He is the stone who actually the whole kingdom is about. He is the cornerstone who is building His church. He is the greater Hosea. Remember that story in the Old Testament? He's the greater Hosea coming down from heaven to seek His unfaithful bride who has adulterated herself with the world. But He comes to her not in judgment. He comes to her showing her mercy, showing her the way and the truth and the life, and that it is actually Him. He is the righteous one. Obeying the law and then stepping into her place on the cross taking God's wrath dying in her place rising again on the third day for her justification to credit her with his righteous life and To wash away all of her sins and shame and guilt all of it. That's the information That's the information but you can know this information and never be with Jesus You understand? To be with Jesus means being born again and embracing these truths by faith alone. It means to be united to Christ, to trust Jesus Christ alone as your only suitable and all-sufficient Savior. Providence, what I'm asking you this morning first here is, have you been with Jesus? Are you in union with Christ? And then even beyond that, this is for the Christian for a moment, Is this a regular time? Like, are you regularly with Jesus? Communing with Him in His Word? Sitting at His feet in the Bible? Gathering regularly with His body in the church? Sitting under His voice during faithful preaching of God's Word? These sorts of things change a person. I'm just not where I need to be with the Lord. Yeah, you know what? Maybe because you're not putting yourself under the ordinary means of grace. Be with Jesus. Well, I can be with Jesus on the deer stand. Well, I'm just telling you, you can be with Jesus on the deer stand. We prayed at deer camp yesterday before we all went out. But God has given us ordinary appointed means of grace where we're to spend time with the Lord. And these things change us. So when is the last time someone recognized that you'd been with Jesus? Overarching thought number two. What does it look like to have been with Jesus? That's a big question. Okay? Now you need to listen carefully. Don't just grab onto one word here or there. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. What does it look like to have been with Jesus? Because there is, without a doubt, been a feminization of Christianity in our nation in the last hundred years. The dominant message has become something like this today. If you want to be like Jesus, just be nice. This worldly idea of niceness has knocked out Christianity's teeth. This worldly idea of niceness cannot face the coming onslaught. I'm not trying to worry you. I'm not trying to be a doomsday guy. I'm just trying to prepare you. And have you not already seen it already? Have you understood some of the wicked things that are out there in our world today? Have you understood the strategy and the formulation, all the coalitions that seem to be railing against the church? And you stand in front of those, and you just try to be nice, and you're going to be obliterated. You can't. This idea has created a version of Christianity that has an allergy to confrontation. It has a voice that is too soft to be heard through the chaos. There is a difference. Now, just hear me. I don't want to nuance this, I'm just not. But listen, just know, there's a difference between Daddy's voice and Mommy's voice. And we live in a day that we need Daddy's voice. I'm not saying let's be mean. I'm saying there is a definition of niceness that simply does not square in our text. I'll sum what I'm saying here, summarize. The religious leadership recognized these men had been with Jesus for specific reasons. And it wasn't because they had a warm smile, a K-love song in their heart, and they were giving out toys off the angel tree. I am not saying that those things are bad. There are some K-Love songs that are heretical, so we don't want those. But the point is, unbelievers do those things, right? I know some really nice people. I know some really generous people. I know some people that do generous things around this time of year, Thanksgiving and Christmas and all those things, and so do you. But from the world, and they do these things from the world's perspective. But they're not born again. They've never been with Jesus. No, these apostles, I'm telling you, had some specific characteristics that are likened unto Jesus, and I'm gonna break it down this morning into two categories. First, there's some things missing. Secondly, there's some things present. So, let's jump in. Number one, what's missing? They recognize that these people have been with Jesus, and the reason they recognize it is there's two things I'll highlight here that are missing. Two things that are not present in their life, they are missing, and so they recognize they've been with Jesus. What are they? Well, let's read the text again. 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. What's missing? How did the leaders know these men had been with Jesus? Well, at least two things missing. First, Compromise. What was missing from their life? Compromise. What do I mean by that? These men did not care who was watching them. They did not care who was saying what. They did not care the cultural atmosphere. If someone could have came to them and said, hey, read the room, buddy, they wouldn't have cared. I'm not reading the room, I'm reading the book, if you want to make a juke like that. I'm thinking about what Jesus has said. I don't care about what is going on around here. They're going to preach Christ, no compromise. In Matthew 22, 16, this is like Jesus. This is what they say about Jesus, to Jesus. They say, we know that you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. How are they making this connection between Jesus and the apostles? Because they said these very same things to our Lord Jesus. We recognize that you don't care about men's opinion, and you're just going to do what you want. Now, they were saying that as a slight, but they see that, the same sort of spirit, the same sort of tenacity in the apostles. You're like this, too. This week, I read this line from Valley of Vision. says this, it's a prayer. Thy cause, not my own, engages my heart. Thy cause, not my own, engages my heart. And that is the resolve of these men. The Lord's cause is what engaged their heart, no compromise. What's missing from their life? Compromise. But this is not always the case with you. You get around that crowd, might be your co-workers, young people, it might be your teammates. You get around that crowd, maybe it's your co-workers, it's your teammates, it's your friends outside of church, maybe it's your family. You get around those people, and all of a sudden, there is compromise. You flip the prayer. My cause, not thine own, engages my heart. And this is why you say, well, I want people to recognize that I've been with Jesus. The problem is, when you get around these crowds, you compromise, and they never recognize that you've been with Jesus. Your boldness... Your boldness, you're here. You sing loud. Man, the singing today was great. I'm being 100% serious. I love it. I love it every Sunday. I love it. I can't wait every Sunday till my watch give me that notification. It's too loud. Your ears are going to get hurt if you keep being this loud. I love it. 20 years, none of us can be able to hear. Why? We sing so loud at church. I love our singing. I love when we go and we do evangelism, and we write evangelistic letters, and we knock on doors, we preach in the streets, we do a lot of things together. We do these bold things, but I'm just telling you, your boldness around the church does not serve those outside the church unless it carries over to them. It's easy to be warm by the fire. But what about when you go out into this cold, dark world? No compromise. Listen, there is a gospel that's big enough to cover that sin, and I invite you, if this is you, if you're guilty of this, repent, take it to the Lord. Let others know that you've been with Jesus because compromise is missing from your life. Something else is missing here. Number one, compromise. Secondly, number two, credentials. The text says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, I think that King James says ignorant, common, King James I believe says unlearned, men. The word for uneducated literally means, if you're gonna just interpret it literally, it means unlettered. So I'll make an analogy to today. They had no letters behind their names. They had no formal training. They're common men. They did not say, trust us, we're the professionals, right? Trust the experts, and we're the experts. That's not what they said. In many places today, the ministry has become professionalized. We care about someone, we care more about someone with degrees than we do devotion. We care more about someone's grades and class over their godly character. This text is not a proof text for dismissing seminary. You guys know I'm a fan of seminary. It's not a proof test for balking at education altogether. We're going to get to a man in the New Testament. I'm sure you've heard of him. His name is the Apostle Paul. He was a highly educated man. We'll get to that later. Education is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. You don't need letters behind your name. You need to be called by his name. And our text reminds us, credentials are worthless without consecration to Christ. Be educated, amen, but be known for Christ, not credentials. I think there's another application here. There are too many in the church today that are too beholden to the approval of the scholars. They want to put forth something that these unconverted, rebellious, so-called elites of society, it'll be palatable to their taste. And this has led churches and pastors and biblical scholars, it has led them to compromise scripture in order to be accepted by the university. But in our text, listen to me, church, these leaders are not astonished at the great learning of these men. They're not astonished at that. It's the lack of credentials that shows that these men have a sole source for their boldness. They've been with Jesus Christ. And so let me push some of you. Some of you might be here today and you say, you have no education. You have no training in ministry. You have no letters behind your name. Your collar's blue and your neck is red. You're not a professional. I knew somebody would like that. Okay, good. Okay, you're not a professional. So what? Have you been with Jesus? Have you been with Christ? Have you been with His people? Have you been in His Word? Have you sat under sound preaching? It is enough for people to recognize. The text says so. 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. You'll like this. I want to be careful the way I use this because they weren't calling them this. It's just the Greek word. you understand how language works, things come to mean various things, but let me just put it to you this way. The word for common in the text, in the Greek, see if this sounds familiar to any English word. The word for common in the Greek is idiotes. Now, we can't be anachronistic and read that back into the text. They weren't calling them idiots, but there is a sort of reality that there are too many professing Christians in the world today that are afraid of the world looking at them like that. I don't want to be an idiotes, right? But Paul says in 1 Corinthians that the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to the wise. You're going to have to embrace that. We don't get to the 21st century all of a sudden and we just say, well, guess what? That was true back then. But now the wise and the elites and trust the experts and trust the science and now when we give them the gospel, they're going to say, oh, amen. No. Idiotes. And also foolishness. You can be thought, you will be thought a fool for the sake of Christ. Embrace it, it's okay. That's what's missing from these men. Compromise and credentials. Okay, what's present? What's present? Second point. What's present? 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'd been with Jesus. Okay, here's what we're saying. When we come to the text, we don't all get to take a vote. Right? So, hey, let's all vote what do we think it looks like to be with Jesus. All right? And so these people say this, and these people say that, and the ones in the back say that, and we all just come up with, okay, this is what we think it looks like to be with Jesus. No, no, we're taking very specific evidences from the Word of God, and we're saying this is what they had noticed about these men. Okay, let me give you a few things. The first is kind of big picture. But number one, what's present? Community. Just a minor thing, but you guys know I'm going to jump when I see something like this. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they, plural, were educated common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they, plural, had been with Jesus. Listen to me. I'm just going to put it out like this. You hardly see a lone sheep. They gather in flocks. This is just reality. These leaders, had undeniably seen the church. This wasn't Lone Ranger Christianity, because there's no such thing. I don't mean that there won't be times that you have to stand alone, maybe at your workplace. Maybe in school, whatever, you have to stand alone. I get it. That happens. But there is an unmistakable realization here of the church. Even if I haven't convinced you, go down to verse 23, which we'll get to in a couple of weeks. Verse 23, when they were released, where'd they go? The ESV translates it a little bit odd, maybe. When they were released, they went to their friends. But who are we talking about there? We're talking about the church. The church. These men's walk with Jesus was irrevocably connected to the local church and its regular gatherings. Okay, number two. What we're asking here is, what are the things about Peter and John's life that were recognizable to these religious leaders that they were, had been with Jesus? Okay, so first we have community. Secondly, this is what's present, confession. How did they know that they had been with Jesus? Because that same gospel that Jesus Christ was preaching, these guys are preaching too. They confess the same truth. Confession. Go back to verse 10 for a moment. These men say this, 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 has raised from the dead, by Him this man is standing before you. The Gospel. The Gospel. Confession of the Gospel. Confession. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, has secured salvation for His people, all those who have turned from their sins, put their faith in Christ, by His perfect life, where we have sinned, we have fallen short, by dying in our place as our substitute, paying the penalty for our sins under the wrath of God, our sins imputed to Him, laid upon Him as it were. He Himself bore our sins in His body, and then He died under the wrath of God, and He rose again the third day in victory. The proper response to this gospel is repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we trust, listen to this, don't miss this, when we trust Jesus, this isn't just, I hear language, even close to home, even in our community, I hear language about transformation and being set free and all that. Let me be as clear as I can to you. When we trust Jesus, God accepts us on Christ's merit alone. and then we are forgiven of all sin, all of our sins, all of our shame, all of our guilt. Am I being clear? It's all washed away and we're clothed in Christ's righteousness. What does that mean? It means His active and passive obedience. Forgiven, redeemed, justified by all that. I'm sick and tired of hearing people talk about the gospel and I'm not even hearing a tip of the hat to justification. Our Baptist forefathers, our Christian forefathers died for this truth. We must live for it. Justification. Justified. Just as if I'd always obeyed. Why? Not because of me, but because of Christ. And God looks at Christ in my stead. Because of His life. because of His death, bearing the wrath of God for my sins, because of His resurrection over death, hell and the grave. I'm not saying we have to say the word justification every time we talk about the gospel. I get it. But I should be hearing this good news. This is the message that Jesus preached. And the religious leaders know that these men had been with Jesus because they're boldly confessing the same thing. And I'm just telling us, Providence Baptist Church, here we must stand with clarity. They didn't merely have a sign in their yard that said, Jesus loves you. They weren't saying, trust God and everything will work out. They weren't just saying, God bless our nation. They didn't merely say, Jesus will transform your life. Listen, I'm not railing on those things. I'm simply showing you that these men had a very specific confession. Jesus alone is the Savior and you must repent of your sins and put your faith in Him. Follow Him, join His people. It's not that the other things are necessarily wrong. It's just a lot of people who've never been with Jesus. There's kind of a cultural idea in our, especially in our area, Bible Belt, a cultural idea of Christianity. I'll tell you what happened the other night. It was like, It's just kind of a thing, I don't know. We go to McDonald's on a Friday night after the ball game, which, not a great place to go, McDonald's, but anyway, when you're hungry and it's like, we gotta get something. So we go Friday night after the ball game, and there's just all these people, chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter, I mean, I don't know, 40 people in this small little room. Just ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. So I looked at Kermit, I gave him a wink, I said, watch this. And I just started praying as loud as I can. And I don't know if you guys know, I can elevate my voice pretty high. I just started praying. And I prayed for our food. I prayed the gospel. And the whole room shut their mouths. It's wild. They just stopped and listened to me pray. And I'm like, you know what? I'm very grateful to live in Arkansas. I'm grateful. But listen, Not all those people, by hearing the way that they were dressed and the things that they were talking about and all that, not all those people were Christians. And yet, they stopped and they heard me pray. Well, what I'm saying is, all these little Christianese sayings that people say, a lot of people will say them and even wear a shirt, put a sign in their yard, but they've never been with Jesus. And I'm telling you that what sets a person apart who is really walking with Christ, you want to know? You want to know what sets you apart? It's not going to be the t-shirt. It's not going to be the station that you're listening to in your car. You want to really set you apart is a bold confession proclaiming the true gospel. The gospel is everything. I understand that we like to do something nice for people and we say, well, I just did this in the name of Jesus. It's not merely doing that, though. It's not merely saying, I'm going to pray for you. It's actually and unapologetically giving the gospel to people, including the necessary response of repentance from sin and faith in Christ. Now, listen, I'm not saying, I understand that practically we're not sharing the fullness of the gospel in every conversation. I get it. And I'm not even advocating for that. But I am saying this, steering conversations to the gospel is something people who've been with Jesus do. Did that come out right? One of the things that it looks like to have been with Jesus is that we're willing to take conversations and make a beeline to Christ. That's what we do. And then taking the gospel to homes, taking the gospel to the streets. It's something we do. Passing out tracts, which, by the way, is something incredibly very, very simple. I'm just saying these are just things. Confessing the gospel is something that it looks like for you to have been with Jesus. What was present in these men's lives? Confession of Christ. Not a private belief, but a public one. Let me say this before I go on. I've talked a lot about the appeal and all that. Let me issue an appeal right now. You've heard the gospel. You've heard the gospel. We're not going to do something at the end where we say, okay, now, now believe. No, no. Believe now. Right now. The gospel is for you. If you'll have it. Jesus Christ is your Savior. If you'll have Him, repent and put your faith in Him. Children that go to you, adults that go to you, don't just hear about the gospel. Come be with Jesus. Know Him. Okay, third, what's present? Third. So we have community, we have confession. Third, we have correction. Correction. Look at verse 10. Again. Remember, they're not just saying this in front of anybody, they're saying this on trial, as it were. Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man is standing before you. Well, I'll just make a note again, we've already made it, but this is the same dude, this is the same man, this is the same Peter that just a few weeks ago wouldn't even recognize that he'd been with Jesus. The little servant girl comes up and says, hey, I can tell. By the way, we talk about accents. I can tell by your accent. You've been, you're one of those guys. No, no, no. I mean, immediately, the rooster crows. But now, now, this man stands on trial before the religious leaders and he says, you crucified Jesus. You crucified him. But God raised him from the dead. Don't forget chapter 3, verse 19. Now here he's back among the crowds. In chapter 3, verse 19, he says, repent. What does he say to the crowd? I've actually had people say, you shouldn't use repentance because people don't know what it means. So you should use different words. No, no, no. What does Peter preach? Repent, chapter 3, verse 19. Repent and turn again that your sins may be blotted out. The feminization of Christianity tends to take truth and work to mold it over someone's life just as they are. So let me give you some examples. You have the extreme examples of people saying, well, you can be pro-abortion and a Christian. You can be a homosexual and a Christian. Of course, this has crept into conservative circles too. Churches that are dodging loving confrontation over folks who are living together outside of marriage. That's been going on for a while. There are even in churches, conservative churches, there are people who are openly, again, I remind you, I'm not talking about 50 years ago, 100 years ago, I'm talking about today, this day, 2025, there are people in conservative churches who are openly of the Democratic Party, supporting its platform, and we're afraid to address that. We're afraid to confront it. It's manifest in some cultural conservative circles, I mean, with people saying, well, you know what, go to a gay wedding of your friend or your family member, just show support, show love. I'm just going to tell you something. You know what Jesus did? He corrected people. He told the woman caught in adultery, what? Go and sin no more. He told the woman at the well, you're right in saying you don't have a husband. You have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. You know what the Gospel Coalition, they would have written an article that said, you're not being nuanced enough, Jesus. This is not the way, friends. He pronounced woes upon the religious hypocrites. What does it look like to be with Jesus? There is a love and readiness in your heart to correct error in doctrine or lifestyle or policy. I'm not talking about an overzealous critical spirit. Don't misunderstand me. You're not better than everyone else. That's not what we're talking about. But a humble love for and commitment to the truth. We live in an age, and I'm talking about the Christian age. Listen, we live in a cultural aspect of Christianity that is afraid of confrontation. It's afraid. It'll drive out of its way to avoid it. We will compromise to avoid it. We'll put on, you got the Southern charm, right? You know this. Bless your heart. We'll put on the smile. We'll say, oh, yeah, yeah. And we'll just say, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. And we know our heart is burning. Tell them the truth. But we won't. We're afraid. Confrontation. Even people will slip out of the church and stop going to church or go to another church just to avoid it. But hear me this morning that there are times that confrontation is necessary. Jesus did it and I'm showing you from the text, the apostles did it because they learned it from him. I'm not talking about be combative. Right? Picture some of you, you're dusting off your Doc Holliday, I'm your Huckleberry shirt so you can wear it to Thanksgiving. Be like, oh yeah, preacher gave me a license to be a jerk. No, I didn't. I didn't, I'm not. Okay? But at the same time, we cannot be a people who will just listen to lie after lie after lie after lie without saying, hey, you know what? That's actually not true. And here is my standard. Here's what the Bible says. Have you been with Jesus? We will be willing to correct. Frankly, you're too silent with those around you who are in error. Fourthly, compassion, compassion. These men, at the end of verse 13, recognize that Peter and John had been with Jesus. And one of the ways they'd recognize this is their compassion. And let me explain that. First of all, the mercy of Jesus toward poor sinners is a wonder to behold. He's so long-suffering, so patient, And we see this compassion in this whole event that the apostles did. What has compelled them to spend their entire day out here in the afternoon in the temple complex? What has compelled them to bring a healing word, if you will, to this lame man and bring him to his feet? It's compassion. the willingness to labor among the people in the face of ridicule, and now, even in the face of persecution, they're not shutting their mouths. And one motivation here is compassion. And so I need to bring this up to kind of balance the last point, and that is, if you are with Jesus, if you've been with Jesus, you're not just a cranky old man. There is a compassion in your heart for sinners because you know Jesus had compassion on you. I'll make a couple of applications. Moms, let me make an application to you at home. Generally speaking, it's a natural thing that in the home, the mother is more compassionate. She is full of compassion. This is a good thing. But let me just encourage you that you have compassion on your children, but don't let it stop there. Let that compassion be coupled with explicitly giving Christ to your children. give them the gospel. So just be careful, especially like in conservative circles, even reform circles. You may think, well, it's dad's job to come home in the evening after all day at work and to lead us in family worship. And so that's when we hear the gospel. No, moms, you have a responsibility in your compassion to bring Christ to your children. Dads, you have a responsibility to compassion, but let me make an application to you. You have a responsibility to be compassionate on those at work. Some of you, I know, I know, you work and it's hard and you work all day and it's like you just can't wait to get rid of those people and to get back home to your family. There's a natural... Order to that, that's good. Okay, I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong. It's good that you don't want to go out to the barge with these guys after work and forsake your family. Amen. That's good. That's good. That's godly. However, let me say this. What if God, and there's no what if, God has placed those people around you for a specific reason? Where are they going to hear the compassion of Christ from? It's you. It's you. And I might mention here there is compassion in Jesus even now for lost sinners in this room. Is there one in here today in need of mercy? Is there one in need of grace? Do you need someone to carry you to the Father? Do you need your sin atoned for? Do you need your shame covered? Do you need your guilt alleviated? How could you forsake a compassionate Savior? Look to Jesus and you'll be saved by His perfect life, by His atoning death, by His victorious resurrection. Go to Christ, the compassionate. Now let me mention this and then we'll move on to our last point. There is, you know how I've talked about the feminization of Christianity, there is a response to that in some circles that I think we need to be careful of and I would call it the hyper patriarchy camp. And that is we're gonna respond to this by being just loud, crude jerks. That's not the way. That's not going to win. We need to keep all of these together. You can't lose the voice of compassion in Christianity. Okay, let's move on. Community, confession, correction, compassion. Number five, conviction. Now notice the first part of the text. This is driving, I think, a driving point. Now when they saw the boldness So one commentator says this, they realized who their master had been and the influence he had on them. Look at these poor, uneducated, blue-collar fishermen standing before the religious elites. Stephen Charnock, the Puritan, said, folly outwitted wisdom and weakness overpowered strength. The conquest of the East by Alexander was not so admirable as the enterprise of these poor men. What was it that the church flourished? Yes, we're talking about the Holy Spirit. We're talking about Christ. It's all God. It's all God. It's all God. But what he did in these men, what was it that caused the church to start with just 120 people and to explode to over 3,000 and now at this point explode to over 5,000? What was it? It wasn't because these people were cowards. They had conviction. The text says in verse 13, boldness. Boldness! The idea of this Greek word is to say what needed to be said and that without fear of any other authority. Christ was their master. They had the freedom to say what they needed to say. And by the way, so do you. You have that freedom. Well, I can't. No, no, no. You can. You don't want to. You have the freedom. Let's be bold. Let's be convictional. They were going to proclaim Christ, not for notoriety and not by the permission of anyone, but simply because they had been with Jesus. And they knew Him. They knew His power. They knew His glory. They knew His mission. And they knew that He was worthy. They were not afraid to speak the truth. They didn't have to nuance every single thing that the culture might not like. They just said it. They didn't have to worry about winsomeness, right? Someone said it this way, win some, lose all, right? Just speak. Just tell people. Yeah, but they might get mad at me. Yeah, but let me just tell you this. You always were, imagine, the worst thing in your mind. They might get mad at you, but they also might be converted. They might come to Christ. Yes, there may be friction in a relationship. Yes, there could be suffering at your job. Yes, it could be difficult at Thanksgiving. But if you'll just be convictional and keep the focus on Christ, who knows what God might not do with such a church? conviction, boldness. You want to astonish the world? Let our lips and lives say, Christ is King. Look at the text. It says at the end of the first sentence, they were astonished. You want to be bold here? Okay. You wanna speak up in Sunday school, say some things, okay. But it's not just here. They need your conviction out there. You wanna just be nice, you wanna just fall in line with the world, you wanna just peddle for the world's approval, here's what's gonna happen. And historically, I'm right. Here's what's going to happen. The world will cozy up to you, and then it will leave you like all the mainline Protestant denominations, with big beautiful buildings and now no one's going. You'll be destitute and forsaken, just like has happened decades ago in those places, and just like is happening in too many places before our eyes in the Southern Baptist Convention. But if you'll stay with Jesus, if you'll be a man of conviction, if you'll be a woman of conviction, if we'll be a church of conviction, I don't know all that will happen, but I can tell you one thing, the world will be astonished. Astonished. You know what will make the world astonished today? It's not your compromise, it's conviction. You say, well, you know what will make the world astonished if we do summer movies theaters? If we have less and less church, if we stop going out in the world and giving the gospel, then the world will take notice and the world will love us. False. False, false, false. But if you be convictional and you give Christ, the world will be astonished. Now, you've got to note something here. Note, very important. Marveling doesn't equal repentance. Now, you remember from Acts chapter 2, when Peter preached, the crowd was cut to the heart and they're like, what must we do? And these people ain't asking that. These hard-hearted leaders, they don't respond in contrition, but they did take notice. The church that will stand before the authorities and say no, that will declare the truth of Christ will get the world's attention. It may not result in every person coming to Christ, but it will, I promise you, advance Christ's cause just like it does here. And there will be people, I firmly believe, and it's borne out in history, there will be people who do come to Christ because they recognize who He is by the church's actions that back up her message. You even see it in Jesus' day. Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus. Because of Jesus' boldness, there were people even among the religious elites who came to Christ. And there will be people, even hard-hearted people maybe in the world, that will come to Christ if we're willing to hold the line on biblical conviction. You just believe too often the easy way. Let me stop talking about evolution. Let me stop talking about homosexuality. Let me stop talking about abortion. Let me stop talking about these things, because they're not winning things, and we're just going to drive people away, and we're just going to make them feel uncomfortable. No, there is a wrong way to talk about them. But I want to tell you, one wrong way to talk about them is to not talk about them. Another wrong way to talk about them is to talk about them without the mercy and gospel of Jesus Christ. But the right way to talk about those things is to stand upon the truth of God and to be men and women of conviction. Their boldness. The text says, 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. We're not politicians. Our ultimate goal is not to make friends or create a voting block. It's not even to make people like us. Our ultimate goal is to glorify God in Christ. Communion with Christ will lead to conviction for Christ. Befriending Christ will result in boldness for Christ. This is not brashness. Any college football player can score a touchdown and be brash. It doesn't take Jesus to be brash. But if you spend time with Jesus, you can't help but be convictional. In fact, I'll say it's so clear. The Bible says it this way. Some people don't even recognize this, but in Revelation 21, eight, there's a list of sins of people that will be in hell. And one of those is the cowardly, the cowardly, you look it up. Revelation 21 will be in the lake of fire. And the very reason why some have no conviction for Christ is because they're not born again. They can sing loud in church. They can say, amen. They can feel encouraged, but when they go out from us, there's no holy boldness. You use one accent in here, but out there, the world recognizes your voice as one of its own. If this is you, then here's the great proposition. Join this uneducated, common fold by repenting of your sins and trusting Christ alone. as your only suitable and all-sufficient Savior. Bow the knee to Jesus Christ as King, be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, join this church, and let's march on together. It doesn't sound like much of a proposition, but I'll tell you this, let me warn you that all the world has to offer you if you just catch it. You just catch it. It's a terrible story and it's way too soon to be telling this story. We had a dog. Her name was Molly. We had over 12 years. Always chased tires. Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark. Chased tires, chased tires, chased tires. I told her, although she couldn't understand me, but I told her, you catch a tire one day, you're going to be sorry. Well, this summer she caught a tire. She perished. What do you think you're going to do when you catch the tire? You're chasing after the world. You're going, you're going, you're going, you're going. The worst thing in your life is not that you won't catch it. The worst thing in your life is that you do. Because it all turns to ash. But here is the truth. And here is the kingdom. And this is what Jesus is doing. Will you see it? You must be born again. You're known by the company you keep. Are you in company with Christ? People will notice by the absence of compromise and credentials, and they'll notice it by the presence of community, confession, correction, compassion, conviction. Have you been with Jesus? The world will notice that your eternal residency, it just ain't from around here. You're known by the company you keep. May those outside these walls recognize that Providence Baptist Church has been with Jesus. Father, thank you for your word. We pray this would be true for each family. Lord, may we understand the truth of your Word, and may the Holy Spirit apply it rightly. Bless us, O God, grow us. Lord, some today, they need to be repentant, and I pray they would. Right now, even as I pray, they would just acknowledge, you know what? He's right. Not because I'm right, but because the Word is right. They let go, whatever it is they're holding on to, they'd repent, you'd restore them. Lord, some need to be encouraged. They say, I am living like this, but I just don't see the fruit. Lord, would you encourage them not to put their plow, their hands to the plow and look back, but to keep plowing, keep pressing. Lord, some today need to hear this and they're just so wicked and foolish to reject the compassion of the gospel. Maybe repent even today and believe on Christ. Lord, do all these things and more, not just today, but we just pray like when your word is preached that day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year, we just see fruit. We see fruit, we see fruit, we see fruit. It's like when I was out by that rock the other day and I saw this flower and I'm like, where did that come from? I pray this sermon would be like this in some people's hearts. We might see fruit tomorrow, but even two years from now, we'd see the flower and we'd say, where'd that come from? We don't even remember where it came from, but we just know it's there. And so God, would you continue to work in your church? In Jesus' name.