Thank you, Jane, that was good. Wasn't that good? You can give a holy grunt or something, act like you're alive. Turn please to Acts chapter 3. Acts chapter 3. Last week and the next few weeks we're dealing with the subject of persecution. things seem to be changing in our country. There seems to be now a resistance to the gospel. These things are documented. I don't have to tell you about the furore at Christmastime over singing carols at the VA hospital and having manger scenes at the courthouse and all the things that are allowed to happen and not allowed to happen in our country. Of course, when the duck guy, what's his name, Phil Robertson, quoted Romans chapter 1, it really set a firestorm going because it seemed like that was a hate speech. And we need to understand what's going on. First of all, none of this surprises the Lord. None of this is going to be something that surprises him. And I want to look at the first incident of persecution in the Bible in the New Testament after the Day of Pentecost because I think it's important. There are some things there that help us to understand a biblical perspective of why persecution happens and how we are to deal with it. And I think it will be helpful to us. So in Acts chapter 3 we see the very first incident in verse number 1, and now Peter and John together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour." That was three o'clock in the afternoon. And a certain man laying from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which was called Beautiful, to ask alms of them which entered the temple. Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple to ask an alms, and Peter fasting his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none. but such as I have give I unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones gained strength and he leaping up stood and walked and entered with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. So the first question we ask ourselves is was there anything not benevolent about what they did? Was it a good thing? Here's a guy who could not walk, who had lain there for years as a beggar, and they through the power of God healed the young, healed the man, and he rose up praising and thanking God. Anything wrong with that? So they did nothing wrong. Now immediately they were asked why this had happened. and we will identify what the problem was. In verse number 1 of chapter 4, why did the Sanhedrin become so angry? What caused the furor in such a way that they were arrested, and brought, and questioned, and threatened? What was it that made them so angry? Chapter 4 verse 1, And as they spake to the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead. So what got them upset? Preaching the resurrection. Preaching the gospel. Were they trying to cause trouble? Did they go to the temple to create a scene? I think they were as surprised as anyone when they came into the temple and here was this guy laying there. They had I you know, I speculate this is speculation but Jesus had said as we looked at this morning in John chapter 14 that the works that I do you will do and Greater works than these you do and I suppose they may have thought well Maybe we can heal this guy and they did in the name of Jesus. So they weren't looking for a fight They weren't trying to be obnoxious They simply did what they thought was best and there was nothing wrong with what they did as a matter of fact What they did was benevolent. It was a good thing was there anything selfish or self-serving about what they did? It's okay to respond. It's okay. Was there anything self-serving about what they said? No. They weren't looking for praise. They weren't looking for anything. They just did what they did. So what was the problem? Well, it says in verse number 2, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So, the question is obvious then why was that offensive? What did they find about that that was offensive? They were preaching the resurrection from the dead through Jesus. Well, that's a great way to say it. It's great to say it made them murderers. They had just crucified Christ. What are you going to say? It wasn't what they thought. It was not their way of thinking. they were in control. They were in charge. So suddenly they had crossed the line, had begun to be a threat to the powers that be, the prevailing culture of that day. So they were brought in and they were questioned. So look at... now we want to look a minute at Peter's defense. By the way who said this? Who was the guy that did the defense? It was I just said it. Who was it? It was Peter. What do we know about Peter? By the way, when they came to arrest Jesus, the temple guard came to arrest Him in the garden, who pulled out the sword and tried to cut off the guy's head? Well, he wasn't very good at it. He only cut off his ear. But it was Peter. Who was it when Jesus said, I'm going to go to the cross? He said, No, you're not. I'm not going to let you. Who was that? It was Peter. Now something has happened to Peter. If you just think about that, this is Peter, the same guy that was swinging the sword not many days before. So let's see. Well, he must have really set some outlandish things. He must have gotten up there and just blasted these guys and just slew utterly. Well, let's see what he did. Verse number 8, first statement, then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, okay, What do we know about that? The Holy Spirit was speaking through him. Now don't misunderstand this. This is not spooky. This term simply means that a person is under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. His eyes didn't roll back in his head. He didn't mumble. He is speaking things for God. He is being strengthened and empowered by God. Just like we talked about this morning. God works in us and God works through us. And so the Lord had a message to deliver and He filled Peter with His Spirit to deliver the message. So what we're hearing here is the message that the Lord wanted Peter to fill, to give. If he was not filled with the Holy Spirit he was filled with himself. Now we have question marks if he were filled with himself. But it plainly says he's filled with the Spirit. So listen to what he says, "'Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined for the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucify, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, and has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Okay, what he said was it clear? I mean it was understandable. It wasn't mysterious. He said plain words. Was it appropriate? Was it an appropriate defense? Sure. I mean he was simply saying what happened, why he did it, what he explained, what his motivation was, and what he needed to say. Was it bold? Absolutely. I'm sure that my knees would have been knocking together, maybe his words too, but he was filled with the Spirit so he said what he had to say. And he said the truth and he said it. And was what he said authoritative? salvation in the other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby he must be saved." But here's the most important question, was what he said true? Yes, it was. So, he spoke. He spoke boldly. He spoke clearly. He spoke appropriately. And he spoke the truth. So, what was their reaction? Well, the reactions were several. Look at verse number 13, "'Now when they saw the Boldness. Now let me ask you a question. We'll get to this in more detail in a minute. From where did the boldness come? From the filling of the Holy Spirit. We'll see that in detail in a moment. But Peter spoke boldly because he was filled with the Spirit. If we are filled with ourselves we tend to be afraid. protect ourselves. We tend to not want to do what we have to do. But when you're filled with the Spirit you deliver the message in the way you're supposed to deliver it. And that's exactly so they recognize the fact that Peter and John spoke with boldness and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. What do you think about that? What does that suggest to you? When does the Holy Spirit come include that in this thing. Why is that important? To show the power of God. By the way they were speaking in front of the Sanhedrin. Educated men, leaders. What were they? Basically before Christ called them they were fishermen. They were just common fishermen. They were not educated men. It says that. When it talks about being unlearned and ignorant, that's not necessarily put down. They just were aware these men had not been to school. They weren't speaking boldly because they had great education. They were speaking boldly for another reason. They marveled and took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Wow. Isn't that a good thing? Here's why they're speaking so boldly. They know what they're talking about. They had been there. They had been with the Lord. And beholding the man which was healed, standing with them, they could say nothing against it. One time when I was in Chicago, Illinois, I was appointed to the Governor's Commission on Children. I forget why that was, but I was appointed anyway. We spent three glorious days in one of the downtown hotels discussing the problems of Georgia. I mean Illinois. We need to discuss the problems of Georgia too, but that was in B. Illinois. And we had some people came and talked to us. One of them was a state legislator. Never will forget it. He came in, very open guy. And we were there, you know, doing all the stuff we were doing. And he said, when people come to see me, I only think of two things. Can they help me or can they hurt me? If they can't help me and they can't hurt me, I don't listen to them. I thought wow that is an honest politician. Now these men who were in a sense politicians. In other words you understand the Roman structure. Here is the Roman structure. The Roman government was over the whole thing. But Rome had a unique way of doing things. They allowed the substructure to be the culture of the people and the rulers of those people. Therefore the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, which was made up of the Sadducees and Pharisees they were kind of ruling beneath the Roman culture. take life you had to get Rome's permission. That's why the Lord was taken to Pontius Pilate from Caiaphas house. So these were the leaders under the auspices of Rome. But they could not say anything against it. Why not? Huh? Well there wasn't anything to say against it. They found something to say against it. Why were they afraid to say something? Well first of all there was a guy standing there and he was healed. You know that's hard to argue about that isn't it? Here's a guy, and by the way as I said even in Jerusalem today there are beggars like this all up and down the streets. Here's a guy who had been there forever and they brought him there for years and suddenly he's walking around and he's jumping praising God. What are you going to say? The power of God had been demonstrated. They were afraid of the people. They were afraid of what the people were going to do. I mean even when they crucified Christ they were afraid of what the people were going to say. Now look, when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council they conferred among themselves. So obviously they told everybody to leave except just the council there. Saying, what shall we do to these men? For indeed that a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all of them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it. So they said, you know, what can we say? We don't like it, but there's nothing we can say because it's obvious it really happened. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth no more, speak to no man in his name. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. What was their problem? Why did these rulers threaten them? Don't talk anymore in the name of Jesus. What was their problem? Afraid of rebellion. Afraid of the people uprising. They were afraid they wanted to keep everything the way it was. I'm sorry? They challenged their authority. They challenged their thought. What they believed. And suddenly someone is coming in and preaching something contrary to what they had thought. So they found it a great threat. So they began to threaten. Now this is an important thing I want you to see. I think this is very important. Peter and John did not force themselves into this situation. They did not go to the temple looking for a fight. They did not have, this was not a demonstration. went there to pray. And all this happened. Now the reason I say that is because those who are willing to take a stand and do the right thing sometimes get combative. Can I take you back in time in the 60's when the Christian school movement started? By the way I was alive and alert in those days. I heard pastors say, the government is not going to tell me how many toilets I've got to put in my building. Just let them come over here and try to tell me how many toilets I've got to have in my building. Now you've got to be alert for this one. Are you ready? Does the government have a right to tell you how many toilets you can have in your building? On what basis? Well that's right. That's what they say. Huh? Yeah, that's part of the government's responsibility. God, the government's not going to tell me how to run my cafeteria. You know, we won't have roaches crawling on the food. That's all right. They didn't really say that. But you know what I'm saying. Now the fact was that was wrong. Now let me ask you another question. Suppose the government came in and said, you can't teach the Bible anymore in this Christian school. It's against the law. You can't teach it. What's happened then? Huh? Yeah, they've gotten to an area they have no business being in. Now, at that point, at that point, let me ask you another question. Let's suppose you have no control over who you hire in this Christian school. We'll tell you who you can hire and who you can't hire. It means you've got to be diverse. You've got to have people with different religious beliefs. I don't care if they're not Christian or not, if they're Hindu or Buddhist, whoever they are, it doesn't matter. You've got to hire them. What do we say then? Talk to me. Well, probably what has to happen if that were to happen is you have to shut the school down. Now, here's the question. Do you continue to teach this truth of Scripture? How do you do it? Carefully and quietly. In other words, now, folks, here's the point. Now, listen to what I'm saying. There are things that God mandates us to do. are things that we have no choice about. I was speaking in the island of Antigua. I was brought down there to speak on the family and children, and I did. And I think it was Thursday night, I believe, one of the uppity-ups in the government who came to the service, they were so thrilled to have her there. And so I've been speaking all week on children and I told them that on a certain night I was going to talk about discipline of your children. And that's what I spoke on that night. And she got very offended at me at what I said. And she proceeded after the service was over to tell me that what I had said was wrong and that I should not be saying that because it was leading people to do wrong things. And she just could not understand why I would say that. exactly what i said to her ma'am i have no choice i only said what the bible says now if i didn't say what the bible says and you've got a right to be angry with me but the fact is i only said what the bible says and therefore you really i i mean i'm sorry you're upset i'm sorry you didn't like what i said but the fact of the matter is that's really not that important because I'm here as a preacher to say what God said. Now, this is exactly what happened here. They told them, don't preach anymore in the name of Jesus. Now, if you go back, the last instruction the Lord gave was, all power is given unto me. If you look that word up, the word is authority. So, who has the authority? Talk to me. Christ has the authority. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. So what did Jesus tell him to do? Come on. To go teach all nations. Did he have the authority to say that? Did the Sanhedrin have the authority to tell him not to do that? No. So notice Peter's answer. Verse 19, Then Peter and John answered and said unto them, it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Was what he said appropriate? Was it respectful? Was he looking for a fight? He was only telling them exactly what the truth was. God told us this. You're telling us this. Who should we obey? Well, he knew what I mean. That was a rhetorical question. Obviously I'm told by God I have to obey God that I have no other choice Now I don't have time to go into all the ramifications of that but to understand that's where the problem lay God had given them instruction and the and the powers that be had told them no you do this and you can't do that. A believer, a Bible believer, an obedient Christian cannot disobey God at the request of government. Now how this has been applied I'm telling you. We had a, there was a school in Indianapolis I suppose maybe 15 years ago I'm not sure of the time. And they said the government can't tell us we're supposed to pay Social Security for our employees. We're a church. We don't have to pay Social Security. Well I remember seeing a picture of the church with a chain on the door, locked up. They lost the church, they lost the school, they lost everything. That was wrong. God didn't tell them to not pay Social Security. Matter of fact, the Bible says the opposite, doesn't it? So sometimes believers have gotten into things that really are not mandated by God. So here's the thing that we have to understand. There are things we can be careful about and there are things we cannot be careful about. preachers are perhaps in greater jeopardy in the sense that there are some things that I must say. And there are some things that I will not say, and there are some things I cannot do. And whatever that means, and I'm not looking for a fight either, but whatever that means, that's what you have to do. Because God mandated it. It's like that message in Antigua. I couldn't change the message because that woman was sitting there. I had to say what God, what the Bible said. It offended her, but I was sorry it did, but that's really not my concern. I had to preach what God said. So to them they said, are we supposed to obey you or obey God? Now look down if you would. Well in verse number 21, so when they had threatened them, further threatened them, they let them go finding nothing how they might punish them because the people for all men glorified, whoops, what? All men glorified Peter and John. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You know, there was something, there was something in the Sermon on the Mount that said, let me see if I can remember. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Boy, that sounds like that might be what they did. They did something good. In spite of the problem, the people were glorifying God. So what they did brought glory to God. So should they have gone to bed that night with satisfaction in their heart? They did the right thing. They were threatened. So here is their response. And this is important. And being let go, they went to their own company and reported all the chief priests and elders said unto them, So they said, now the chief priests and elders told us we can't preach anymore in the name of Jesus. They warned us, they threatened us, they said you can't do it anymore. So all the people are sitting there listening to what they're saying. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God. So who was praying? Everybody. They started praying together. Here's what they said, with one accord and said, Lord, Thou art God which made heaven, and earth, and sea, and all that in them is. All power is given unto me." The one they were praying to they acknowledged that He was the Creator God He was the one who had created all things. He was the one who was the leader of the world, the controller of the world. Who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said. So they're quoting now from Psalm 2. That's what we talked about last Sunday night. They are quoting from Psalm 2. Why did the heathen rage? and the people imagine vain things." They go back to Psalm 2 and they read, they quote Psalm 2. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. So the problem was not with them, it was with... This is not a hard question. It was not with them, it was with Christ. Their problem was with Christ, not with them. Now again David had said in Psalm 2 that that's the problem. Why do the heathen rage? He says. Why do the people imagine vain things? Because they want to cast off his courts. They don't want to live the way he wants them to live. So there are two lessons and I'll just stop. This is by the way, this is a little parenthesis. Number one, the application of Scripture. is a vein of thinking that says the preacher is only to explain what the Bible says, he is not to apply Scripture to popular culture. Let me ask you a question, did they apply Scripture to popular culture? They applied it to the situation that was going on that very day. And there's another by the way here, they prayed the Word of God back to Him. I think that pleases God immensely when we pray His Word back to Him. There are little books that are praying God's Word for your children, praying God's Word for your family. You know, all these books. And I think it's a wonderful thing where we take the Word of God and we pray it back to God. Lord, You have said, this is what You said to us. And here they're doing that very thing. They're rehearsing for God what God wrote down for them. The kings of the earth stood up. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the children of the people of Israel that were gathered together. This is interesting. For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Did this persecution surprise God? Did the death of Christ on the cross by Roman hands surprise God? Not in the least. This was God's plan. And so they reminded themselves by their prayer to God that God was in charge and none of this was a surprise. God had determined this was what was going to be done. And now, Lord, they said, behold their threatenings. And grant unto thy servants What did they pray for? Oh, they prayed for boldness that they may speak thy words. Isn't that... doesn't that say a lot? They didn't pray for relief. They didn't say, Lord, strike down those gods with your lightning. They said, Lord, help us to speak with boldness. Now, they understood popular culture through the lens of Scripture. They identified it exactly the way it was. The problem wasn't with them. The problem was with their message. The problem with their message was they were holding up Christ as the only way to heaven. They were saying His name and through His name only can people get to heaven. That offended them. But now instead of asking for the circumstances to change they said, Lord, change us. Help us to speak with boldness. by stretching forth thy hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done in the name of the Lord Jesus." That's exactly what just happened. They had just healed a man. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Spirit. And they spake the Word of God with boldness. Look at verse 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace came upon them all. Now understand, historically, persecution has been the lot of the church. There's some marvelous things, marvelous books being written about the situation in China which, as I said this morning, is an amazing thing. It hasn't happened in the history of the world. There's been great persecution, but there's been amazing things going on with people being saved in China. It's an astounding thing. It's never happened before. And God does what God does. And the fact of the matter is, saying what God wants said, Lord, give us the boldness to speak and to do what you want done. There are brothers in Christ, I saw it just today, On some website I looked at a Christian in the Central African Republic being beaten with the stock of a gun. It's happening today in Nigeria. It's happening in the Central African Republic. It's happening in many places in Africa. I've talked with people who are missionary leaders and many of them question whether in the years to come if things do not change if missionaries will even be allowed to be in Africa. Maybe that field is closing. Many of the countries now are completely shut. And some are now closing because of the Muslim influence in Africa. But God knows. And these people are putting... they're put to the test that we never know. We haven't yet had to face that. We haven't yet been persecuted. We haven't yet been beaten. That hasn't happened yet. But it might happen. And it was with great grace, the great power did they give witness to the resurrection. Historically, when the church has been persecuted, two things happen. It happens in the persecuted countries of the world today. Number one, the church is purified. Why is that? Why does the persecution purify the church? It drives away those who are hypocrites. I mean why suffer if you not really believe what you say? It shrinks the church. It drives away those who are not true believers, true witnesses. But the second thing that happens in history is in times of great persecution the power of God falls on the churches. And little groups preach the Word and the Gospel goes out. I remember reading a book called Back to Jerusalem. It was written about the Chinese movement, things happening in China. And the guy said, of course the reason it's called Back to Jerusalem is they believe, the Chinese Christians believe that the Gospel has to go around the world and it stopped in China. And they're convinced it's got to go on down through the stands and through that part of the world back to Jerusalem and when it does Christ is coming back. Now that's not biblical, that's what they think. But that's not the point. Here's the point. They said, we know that Americans are afraid to die. We're not afraid to die. We're in jeopardy every day. So for us to go to Kazakhstan or Pakistan or any Afghanistan, it doesn't bother us because we're subject to death anyway. So, we're not afraid to go. And I understand that that is happening even today as men and people, Christians are going into places we would never go because we're afraid to die, and they're not afraid to die. So, they with great witness. So, the two things that happen to the church in times of persecution is it purifies the church, and the power of God falls on the church. And then the church begins to accomplish what God wants it to accomplish. This week as I was preparing the message this morning, and of course that sounds stilted, it wasn't like that. But when I began to prepare and began to study a passage of Scripture and think about the tremendous task that we have in front of us to take the Gospel to the world. That we have to show, demonstrate Christ. We have to finish His work. To carry on the work that He did. To show people who God is. And then to reach out to lost people. I thought to myself what a task that is But even more I thought about this. How much am I doing? To make that happen And I thought even further how much is the church doing? Are we doing all that we could do? Are we are we involved? Are you in individually? Are you involved in that process? Are you doing what that what what god called us to do? and there are a number of things we need to do to do that, but the fact of the matter is that's our task, that's our job. The interesting thing was the anger and the persecution directed these people back to Christ. When they were persecuted, when they were threatened, they go to the Lord and say, Lord, help us. We know you're in control. We know you're the God of heaven. and all we're asking for is boldness. So we'll have the courage to do what we have to do. What a good prayer that is. Not for an easy road, not that people leave us alone, but Lord give us the boldness to say what we need to say. And by the way, next week, Lord willing, we're going to talk, we're going to look at, you're going to read ahead of time, first Peter chapter two, that whole book of first Peter is about people in persecution. And Peter makes some astounding statements. Remember, this is Peter talk. how we under or how believers in persecution should behave themselves and again it's not with a chip on your shoulder it's not looking for a fight it's behaving yourselves in a proper way and we'll look at that Lord willing next Sunday night but this persecution drove them back to Christ and they prayed for boldness but God gave them more than that he gave them power with great power they gave witness to the resurrection hallelujah So, the question is I remember years ago studying the life of Joseph. And we studied the life of Joseph when we were children. We heard the stories of Joseph being sold into slavery, and Joseph being put in prison because of a false accusation from Potiphar's wife. And all those stories we heard about Joseph. And then in every one of those stories on the flannel graph remember there was Joseph the third ruler of Egypt, and powerful, and rich, and all those things. And I thought to myself, would I be willing to go through what Joseph went through in order to be in a place of impact like he was? And I wasn't sure I could answer that question in the affirmative. And I would say to you and to say to me as a preacher, would we be willing to go through what Peter and John did in order to have the right testimony, in order to be a powerful witness, in order to have the power of God in our life? in order to be filled with His Spirit, in order to speak the Word of God with boldness. What would it take? Are we willing to pay that price now? Again, you say, Pastor, that's not happening. No one's having to pay a great price. Well, if I'm not wrong, the judgment of God is on America. And we have seen things in the last five years that I never even imagined 20 years ago. popular culture is changing, and the changes are turning against the Bible standard of living. Even marriage of all things, the basis of our lives, the basis of what God has said. The first relationship that He established in the whole world. And now who knows where this will go, and the fact of hate speech, and all those kinds of terms that are becoming popular today. We don't know where that's going, but I'll tell you something, what we need to pray for is, to do what I can do, to stand where I need to stand, to say what I need to say. Now here's the problem we have and I'm through. In Matthew chapter 7, I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 5, Jesus said we are to be salt and light. That is not conditional. It is not you ought to be. It says you are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. Here's the problem. John chapter 3 says, men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. He says, wicked people don't come to the light because they don't want their sins to be made manifest. But people who want to do right come to the light that what they're doing is seen. So as we go out as light, there'll be times that people will not appreciate what we say because light exposes sin. Light exposes a lifestyle that is contrary to the work of God. Light exposes moral failures. Light exposes ethical failures. All those things. And men do not like that. So there's the dilemma. We walk in a nation, in a world of darkness. And we're to be light. But people don't always appreciate the light. But that doesn't matter. That's our job. to tell people, to speak to people with love and kindness, to speak the truth of God, but to speak it in love. Father, thank you for the challenge of your word. Help our spirit to be kind, to be loving, to be compassionate, even as Peter and John gave us the example. To be bold, to be clear, to speak with authority, and yet, Lord, to speak the truth, and yet speak it with compassion on those who don't know you. Use us, Lord, we have no way of praying appropriately because we don't know what you're going to put us through. But we join Peter and John and these dear people to pray for boldness so we might say and do what we need to do and that you might fill us with your Spirit so we'd have the power and the authority and the strength to do it, to be strengthened by our might in the inner man. Lord, use us for your glory in Jesus' name.