Amen. First Sunday of Advent season. In Matthew 2, verse 1, it says, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. The wise men come to Herod and they say, where's the king? This is my translation here, and Herod says, say what? The king? You might not think that this has anything to do with Acts chapter four, where I ask you to turn there, please, but it has everything to do with that. As we celebrate the Advent season, as we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the coming of, the arrival of a king. And not just a king, but the king of kings and Lord of lords. Hebrews 12, 28 says, Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe. The king has come. The king has given his life. The king has won a righteousness, fulfilled all righteousness. The king has laid down his life for sinners, bearing the wrath of God. The king has risen again, and the king has established a kingdom, and the church is that unshakable kingdom. Nations are shakable. The stock market, shakable. Your Christmas plans, shakable. Christ's kingdom unshakable. We see that today in our text. Acts chapter 4, Peter and John have just finished this intimidating meeting with religious leaders. They've been threatened. They've been commanded to silence the preaching of the gospel. So what is the church going to do now? I'll tell you what she's going to do, friends. She will continue. She will press on. She will face opposition, but she will not falter. She is unshakable. This is the call of every church, and this pattern from the first church here is the pattern that we must imitate today. The church continued. That's the subject of our text today. So I invite you to stand as we read Acts chapter 4, beginning verse 23 through the end of the chapter. When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage in the people's plot and vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. Let's pray. Father, would you help us to understand our text today and think about what was prayed in the text. Sovereign Lord, you are the one who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. You control time, control galaxies, you control nations, you control souls, control the angels, control even the demons, you control it all, you're in control. Sovereign, What a glory it is that You, our gracious God, have poured out great grace upon the church through Christ. We pray, O God, as the song said, that You would open up our ears, that we would hear what You have to say, what the Spirit of God, Holy Spirit, what You have to say to the churches. Let us hear through the faithful preaching. Let us see Christ, show us His glory, and let us understand how it applies this morning. Lord, we are needy, but we know that you have all that we need. And so speak to us from your word. Help us to prize the beauty and glory, importance of the church. Lord, I pray even today that you would call sinners to yourself, perhaps a young child, perhaps a visitor, perhaps even someone who's only professed faith with their mouth, but not been born again. Even today, that you would draw them to Christ. They'd believe. Lord, this time of year, let us remember that we're celebrating the arrival of a king. And looking toward. The return of said king. May the preaching of the word be to the glory of this king and we pray in his name, Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. The church continues in the face of persecution, in the face of prosperity, in every high and every low, the church of Jesus Christ presses on, and she always will, until our Lord Jesus returns from heaven for her. We have a great example of this in our text today. I'll draw your attention again to verse 23. When they were released, they went to their friends. And Luke shows us that after Peter and John were released, they went together here with the church. The ESV says they're friends and really the word just literally means their own. So Luke is making a distinction. They left one place and they went to another. They left these people, they went to these people. Friends is a good translation if you understand that Luke is showing us that this is the church. The church in Acts is clearly distinguished between those who are in the church and those who are not. We'll see that later in the message. So they were in captivity under the authority of the Sanhedrin, and then they go to their own. Now listen, I think it's important. They go to their own people. When they were released, they went to their friends, they went to their own. There's a note here. Their own cannot mean the Jews. because the Sanhedrin is the Jews, right? So what does it mean? They were Jews too. So what does it mean that they went to their own, they went to their friends? Clearly, these people is the church. This is the church. Don't miss this beauty and acts as we go through, as we continue. The whole series is the church that Jesus builds, and this is what He's doing. He's building His church. This here, these friends, this is a new community. It is the people, the new temple, the kingdom, the body of Christ. This is the first local church. Jerusalem Baptist Church, right? And this brings us to our first point. The first thing that I want us to see in the text is this. Number one, priority. When they were released, I'm in verse 23, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. So Peter and John are released, they go back to the church, and there's some sort of meeting here. Maybe it is a special called meeting, but the text says that they report these events, and the word for report is more than just kinda casual conversation, it's more than just chit-chatting here. They give an official account, if you will, of the events that they had experienced. And this, of course, includes that they told the church that they had been threatened. Hey, listen guys, we have been told by the authorities to not preach or teach in the name of Jesus. Now, I'm calling this first point priority because of this. Where else can you imagine the apostles going? Verse 23, when they were released, where did they go? When they were let go of the captivity of the Sanhedrin, they go to the church. And it's not just a people, by the way, it's a place. I just want to bring this up because I know there's a lot of error out there. Verse 31 says, And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken. So the church in Acts is not merely a people, though certainly it is, but these people, the importance about these people is they gather often in the same place. Right? It's not that the place is the church, but there is a designation. There's a place where the church gathers. And they have a priority. They go to this place. They meet with these people. They tell them, this is the local church at Jerusalem. They tell them the truth of what has happened to them. Jerusalem. Remember, it's not an insignificant city. Jerusalem is the Old Testament city that points us to the fruition, which is the kingdom, which is the church, the bride. Not that each local church is all of these things, but that each one, but each local church is a vital part of the visible manifestation of these things. Benjamin Keats defines a local church this way. A church, according to the gospel institution, is a congregation of godly Christians who, as a stated assembly, being first baptized upon the profession of faith, do by mutual agreement and consent give themselves up to the Lord and one to another according to the will of God, and do ordinarily meet together in one place for the public service and worship of God, among whom the word of God and sacraments are duly administered according to Christ's institution. That's a great definition. What I'm saying is this is the church and this is the priority. I'm saying that this is the apostles priority. The first place that we have these men going after their confrontation is back to the church to make a report. I'm making the argument from the text that these men's lives were oriented around the church. But it's not just these men's lives, because, again, verse 23, you have to understand, when they were released, they went to their friends. This implies so much. There's a gathering here. Maybe it's like, hey, Peter and John are getting out. Let's go to the place that we meet. They gather together, and here comes Peter and John, and they make a report. And all these people are meeting together. Why? Because there's a priority of the church. It's not just the apostles. If only the apostles had a priority of the church, they'd show up and no one would be there. It would just be them, right? But all these people have a priority of the church and they meet together because their lives are oriented around the church. This is the priority. And it ought to be your priority. The church is our excuse to miss other things. Rather than how often is the case in the Bible Belt, we use other things as an excuse to miss church. If the apostles' first instinct, if their first reaction, if their desire after they're released is to meet with the church, What does it say when your first instinct after a hard week is, you know what, I'm just gonna sleep today. I'm just gonna go to the lake. You know, I just don't feel 100%. The Bible Belt gives some very odd reasons for not prioritizing the meetings of the church. I have heard people say things like this. You know, I just need a break on Sunday. If you need a break on Sunday from the church, then consider, do you understand this beautiful place? Do you understand what God is doing in Christ? Do you understand verse 23, when they were released, they went to their friends, or again, they went to their own. They went to their own people. Let me put it to you this way. You people are my own. Not that I own you and not that you own me, but that God owns us together. These people, these people here, these are my people. I'm yours, yours mine. God's people are my people. Blood-bought, imperfect saints growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And think about this, where else am I gonna go? Right? I didn't choose you. This isn't like the elementary playground where you line everybody up on the wall and you start picking the cool kids, the athletic ones, so you can have a game of dodgeball together. God chose this team. We would have never assembled this ragtag group of people in and of ourselves, different backgrounds, different interests, different ages, different levels of spiritual maturity, but God has put us together. You are God's own, friends in Christ, family in Christ, separated from the world, called out of the world and into the kingdom of Christ. Does any of this make sense? Okay, amen. Praise God, right? We are God's own. This is the church. Don't take this lightly. This is a priority. I'll put it to you this way, and I think every Christian should have this mentality. I'm willing to stand alone. If, come what may, If the authorities in town, the authorities in the state, the authorities in Washington come what may, if they say, this thing, you can't do this, or you have to do that, I'm willing to stand and just say, no, I must do what Christ has said. I'm willing to stand alone, but also within my heart, I have a desire never to have to. Because I would know that I could look around and I could say, you know what? I'm willing to stand alone, but I know that there are brothers and sisters who will stand by me. and I hope that's your mentality too. There's a willingness to stand alone, but there's also a desire that you'd never have to because you look around and you say, these people are my people. This is the priority of the church. Secondly, prayer. We move into verse 24, and I'm gonna come and visit this again next week. So one more week in chapter four, I'll visit the prayer again. But I just want to give a few truths about this prayer. So, verse 24, And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage in the people's plot and vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed. For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. Now, I have three points about this prayer, but before I get to that, can I just mention this? Do we not see the centrality of prayer in the early church? Do we not see in Acts chapter one, even prior to the day of Pentecost, they're huddled up in the upper room and they're praying? Do we not see in Acts chapter two, after the day of Pentecost, how the Bible says clearly that they were devoted to the prayers? Do we not see in Acts chapter three and four, after this great event and the first real outward persecution of the church, do we not see the church respond by praying? Look, prayer was a centrality and must be a centrality in the church. It's a terrible thing in our world today that in many churches, and of course, when I say that, I'm not just talking about the liberal churches. I'm talking about many what we would consider on the outside conservative churches. They don't even have any kind of prayer meeting. You count the number of prayers in their service and you may come up with one or two. Friends, we must not be a church that doesn't pray whatever else it looks like, whatever else it may be doing on the outside. A church that is not praying is not a healthy church, may not be a church at all. That's why it's important, I would argue, if you can, to make it Sunday nights. We read our prayer list, we pray most Sunday nights. Sunday mornings at 8.45, there is a men's prayer meeting. I know about once a month or once every couple of months, there's a ladies' prayer meeting. And then periodically as a church, we give over a portion of, whether it's all of Sunday school or all of Wednesday night. I know there's one coming up. It will be right after the end of the year, at the beginning of the year. There'll be a Sunday school prayer meeting, but it's important that church prays. And we see this in Acts. Now, let me just give you three quick truths about this prayer. Number one, adoration, so you look there in verse 24, and how they begin their prayer. The church hears the threats of the Sanhedrin, and the first thing they do is what? Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. That's what the text, I mean, it doesn't say that verbatim, but look what it says. Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. They are adoring God, the sovereign ruler of the skies and the seas and the universe. And it's quite the Trinitarian prayer, I might add. Verse 25, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, And then it talks about Christ in verse 27. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus. Right? Prayer is praise, adoration to God. We don't just pray to give God our list of needs. Prayer is not something, you know, some people say things like this, well, I don't pray a lot because I don't need a lot. You understand, prayer is not just bringing your list of needs to God. Prayer also is praise. It's adoration. It's adoring God. It's worshiping Him. Prayer is part of worship. Let us prize prayer. Secondly, not only adoration, but also application. So you see what they do here is they take Psalm 2, and they pray this Psalm, and they apply it to their situation. Now, I understand that there's apostolic authority here in applying this specifically, but there's a point here I want to make. So they quote Psalm 2 in their prayer, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed. The church applies Scripture, I'm saying, to their situation. Scripture ought to fuel the prayers of the church. These are the words, the Scriptures are the words, as we heard last Sunday, the very words that the Holy Spirit wrote through men, the God-breathed words. This is the Bible. We pray God's Word back to Him. We pray the promises of God. We pray the warnings of God. We take the Scriptures and we seek to apply them to our current historical moment. There's application. I might say this, too. The application of praying the Psalms. The early church prayed the Psalms. So, too, we should pray the Psalms. But the point is, when the church prays, we ought to hear the Scriptures coming out. We don't abandon God's Word when we pray, we apply it. So adoration, application. Thirdly, action. we're talking about their prayer. In verse 29, it says, Now I'm going to address this more in the next point. But two things here I want you to note. First, remember that there is a lot of prayer made before we get to the request. Let this inform our prayers. Let our prayers be full of praise and Scripture, and then we will get to our request. Secondly, you see here the church's resolve to the Sanhedrin's threats. Now remember, put all this together. It's a danger of preaching in chunks like we do and sometimes only a verse, sometimes only the portion of verse. Don't forget the big story. So go back to verse 18 for a moment and let's refresh ourselves. In verse 18, they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. So now they have a mandate from the Sanhedrin. They have a mandate from these authorities, do not speak, do not teach at all in the name of Jesus. Now, I don't think Peter and John were like this. I think that they were bold and they said, no, we're not going to do it. But in essence, they come back to the church, and if I have a little liberty here, I might say, it's almost like Though this is probably stretching a little bit. But it's almost like, did we do the right thing? Right? Should we have been bold? Should we have stood before them in all boldness like we did? And here we have, if you will, if you just allow that a little bit of liberty there, because I'm saying the church gives a resounding response. And what is its response? Well, again, verse 29, Lord, look upon their threats. and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness." In other words, what is their response? God, we are not stopping. Please keep working here in the name of Jesus. I'm gonna elaborate that in just a minute. Priority, prayer. Third point this morning, purpose. So priority, prayer, purpose. Now let me elaborate on verse 29 because this one gets me, right? I'm just gonna tell you, you know me well enough that you know I'm not just playing around here, but this is in all honesty. If I've been threatened by the officials, One of the things that we're going to pray for at church is God, shut their mouths, right? God, overthrow their authority. Overthrow these officials. Get them out of our way. Open up a clear and easy and wide path so that we can easily go through and preach the gospel. But this is not what they prayed. Look at what they pray. And now, Lord, look upon their threats. That's important. God, you can do something about it. But secondarily, and primarily, grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. What am I praying? God, end the threats. Now, I don't think it's wrong to pray that, by the way, and we see that through prayers and scriptures. We have those kind of prayers, and it's good to pray. But what stands out to me in verse 29 is that the church is not primarily praying for deliverance, but boldness. Think about that. In the face of these threats, what is their response? Help us, oh God. Don't let us get fined. Don't let us get thrown in jail. Don't let us be persecuted. They don't pray any of that. They say, God, give us boldness. Quote of glory. The threats are coming. You know them. You see them. You're sovereign. You're sovereign over creation. You're sovereign over it all. And we know that you're in control, and you can stop them if you want. But what we ask is that you would enable us to be courageous in the face of intimidation. God grant us boldness. Why would the church pray like this? Why not just pray to end the threat? I really wanna know that question, the answer to that question. But I think I have it. There is great gospel witness when you are bold during adversity, during threatening. It brings glory to Christ when in the face of intimidation, you have gospel clarity, gospel conviction, and gospel courage. No one cares that you go to church when going to church is the end thing. When I was in high school, there was a man from this community, I won't tell you his name, it's irrelevant for the point. But I was in high school, there's a man from the community, I was talking to him, much older than me, he said, the reason I go to church is because come election time, I get votes. That's what he told me. No one marvels when you go to church like that. And frankly, to some people, that's all the church is. The bride of Christ is treated, if I may speak frankly, like a harlot. Shamelessly. But listen to me. Here is why they didn't pray, Lord, just end all the threats. Because when there is a threat against Christianity. and you stand up anyway, and you go anyway, and you bear witness anyway, then what you are doing, remember Jesus says in Acts 1A, you're gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem. How are you gonna be my witnesses? Because in the face of the authorities, in the face of persecution, in the face of intimidation, in the face of, well, we've got the authority over you and you have to, in the face of these things, you're gonna keep preaching Christ. And when you do that, you testify to the veracity of the gospel. And for God to remove the threat is for God to remove the opportunity for His people to be bold and bear gospel witness. I don't think it's wrong to ask God to remove the threat, but I do think this, churches have spent too much time praying for the removal of threats and not enough time praying for gospel boldness. Has prosperity choked the life out of too many churches in America. at the slightest inconvenience. Now, I'm not trying to step on your toes, but I'm just going to tell you, at the slightest inconvenience, a snowflake falls, it's just had a hard week, it's just, you need a break. At the slightest inconvenience, people in the Bible Belt will not gather with the church. What do we think is going to happen when there is even more intimidation? We need to pray not just for the ending of threats, I'm saying, but for boldness. God, whatever else they say about Providence Baptist Church, may they at least say this, we were bold for Christ. We wouldn't say no. We continue to say yes to the preaching of Christ. Let this text recalibrate us. Verse 29, Look, you don't need holy boldness when there's not danger. It's nice. I'm not going to complain. It's nice to live in prosperity. But sometimes in prosperity, the gospel doesn't shine so brightly. But when there is adversity and darkness, and the church meets the adversity and the intimidation and the darkness with gospel courage, with boldness, with boldness in preaching, Even just think about when there's compromise, and when there's, even in our world today, when there's so much compromise with wickedness, and even compromise with abortion, and even compromise with church membership, and compromise with church discipline, for a church to come together and say, you know what? Enough is enough. The answer is no. We're not going to slide anymore. We're not going to compromise. We're going to be bold in the preaching of the gospel. We're going to be bold in biblical worship. We're going to be bold in the roles of men and women. We're going to be bold in biblical membership. We're going to be bold in biblical discipline. We're going to stand here because Christ is worthy. When a church does that, it brings glory to Christ. In the face of a culture that says, no, When the church meets these threats with boldness, Christ is honored and the gospel goes forth. Because this is the purpose of the church. One of the purposes, to make Christ known right where they are. Look at verse 31, and when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Filled with the Holy Spirit! And continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Again, you should not think of the Holy Spirit as, you're filled, you're not filled, you're filled, you're not filled, but that the church of God, through the mercy and grace of the gospel, is full of the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God is fueling us, not so that you get a raise or a Christmas bonus at your work tomorrow. The Spirit of God is in us to embolden us to proclaim the excellencies of Christ. Friends, to be very blunt here, to proclaim that the wages of sin is death. That the law of God has been broken repeatedly and indifferently by every man, woman, boy, and girl. That all persons, the Spirit of God is in the church within us to help us proclaim that all persons deserve the wrath and judgment of God. And this judgment is coming when Christ returns. But the Spirit of God is within us to keep preaching. There is a name. Remember the name? Again, remember not to dissect this all too much. Go back to verse 12. 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 is a name, you sinners. The wages of sin is death. You deserve the wrath of God. But guess what? There's a name. There's a way. It's King Jesus, God with us. The second person of the Trinity took on human flesh, was born of a woman. Mary, the virgin, was the epitome of holy boldness. He kept the law in the face of religious hypocrites. And he kept the law in the face of wicked tax collectors. He kept the law in the face of pagan Rome. He never wavered. He never gave an inch. Righteous in every way. Bold even in the garden. Praying, thy will be done. Knowing that he was set to face not merely the nails through his hands and his feet, the crown of thorns upon his head, but he was facing the very Wrath of God, despised and rejected of men, beaten and battered and bruised, nailed to a cross of wood, but above all, taking God's wrath upon Himself as our propitiation, wrath-satisfying sacrifice, substituting Himself in the place of His people, standing condemned in the place of His bride. He died, Ephesians 5, 2 says, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. On the third day, He rose again from the dead. The Spirit of God, I'm saying, is in us to proclaim this message, the gospel. He rose for our justification, to impute His own active and passive obedience to our account, to credit us with righteousness, those who trust His name, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The Holy Spirit is in us to boldly preach imputed righteousness. That's the one area missing in many gospel presentations. There's no hope without imputed righteousness. It doesn't matter how many chains you've had broken. You understand that people... Look, I would be very, very kind the way I say this, just work through this. People can stop drinking alcohol without Christ. They do it all the time. People can stop using drugs without Christ. What happens is, people get free from their drugs, free from their alcohol, and they say, that was all Jesus. But they've never had the righteousness of Christ imputed on their account. And when they die, if nothing changes, they'll meet God's wrath for eternity in hell. It doesn't matter how many chains you've had broken, how many deliverance you've had, confessions you've made, ordinances you've participated in. Heaven only opens to those clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And this is credited to you only in one way, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. and the Holy Spirit is within the church to declare to our neighbors and the nations in holy boldness, repent and believe the gospel. This call rings forth in here too. Children, adults, whoever needs to hear it, you are a sinner clothed in filthy rags. There is nothing that you can do. This is the hopeless news. You have done so much against the good and holy God, and there's nothing that you can do to undo your rebellion and what you deserve, which is eternal hellfire. But here's the good news. Christ offers to needy sinners his pure white robes of righteousness. to be washed in His blood, to be forgiven, to be reconciled to God all by His work alone. You may have Him as your advocate, your mediator, your Savior, your righteousness, your King, but you may have Him in only one way. Belief. Faith. Will you turn from your sin, even any in here, and turn to Christ? Will you trust Him alone as your only suitable and all-sufficient Savior? And I was thinking through this, and I thought, what if there's someone in here? What if there is someone in here who's thinking, what will Jesus do with all of my sins? If I come to Jesus and I say to Him, Oh God, my heart, look at it, it's impure. My thoughts, look at them, they are wicked and depraved. My actions, consider them, they are sin-stained. The things that I've done, the things that I've thought, the things that I've looked at, the people I've lied to, My parents, I was disobedient, I've broken all the commandments. Oh God, what will you do with all my sins? I'll tell you what Jesus will do with all of your sins if you come to him in faith right now. He will forgive them, forgive them all and clothe you in his perfect work. Church, this is our message. This is the gospel we proclaim. This is our purpose. And I'm arguing here from the text. Don't get lost in this. This is why the church is praying for boldness. It's not wrong to pray for deliverance. It's not wrong to pray that the threats would end. It's not wrong to pray that the mouths of wicked men would be shut. We can pray for these things, but look at verse 29. And now, Lord, look upon the threats and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. boldness. So if we're going to pray those other things, we have to keep this one as a priority, that we pray for God to give us boldness, to never shut up the gospel, to never shut up the gospel in this place. I pray that in Perry County, Arkansas, in Perryville, Arkansas, that the gospel of Jesus Christ would forever echo off the Ouachita Mountains. That it would be higher than pedigee. That it would be louder than the turkeys that are gobbling in the spring. that it would last longer than the greenness of the evergreen pine trees in our area. That the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the witness to Christ and the witness to the gospel would never cease in this place. Christ is worthy of big churches and big cities. Yes and amen. Praise God. And may God multiply His churches across the cities, across the face of the earth. But God is worthy of a healthy church in Perry County, Arkansas too. On the outskirts of Toadstook, God is worthy of a church that will be bold and proclaim his gospel. Lord, give us boldness. Where God's presence is, there will be boldness in the gospel. Priority, prayer, purpose, finally this morning. Participation. We move down to verse 32. By the way, God answered their prayer in verse 31. They continue to speak the word with boldness. They continue to speak the word of God with boldness. I believe that to ask God for boldness in the church, not boldness to be a jerk, not boldness to get a new car, but boldness in proclaiming the name of Christ. I believe God is faithful to answer such a prayer. Now we see in verse 32, now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony. The word is their witness. Remember, you'll be witnesses. they're witnessing. To the resurrection of Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles feet and it was distributed to each as any had need. And then you're gonna get this story that's gonna bleed into chapter five, which will be a few weeks before we get there, a couple weeks anyway. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levi, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. Okay, what we have here, remember the point is participation. What we have here is a similar account that Luke has already given us in Acts 2. But it is a reiteration for a moment that the church is not only a people, it's not only a place, but it's also a life. The word in verse 32 for full number, Luke uses that elsewhere, it's translated as multitude. Today's an appropriate day to mention Luke 2.13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. Multitude, that's the word here, full number. Now the multitude, verse 32. Remember, by the way, that there are over 5,000 members of this church now, and there is a qualifier about this multitude that I don't want you to miss in our verse. It's not a mixed multitude, if you will, but the multitude has a very important descriptor. They what? They believed. Now, the believing multitude, we could say it that way, the full number of those who believe, the multitude of the believers, This is not doing any violation or injustice to the text. This is what Luke is telling us. It is a believing group. It is a regenerate church. And if you haven't picked up on this already, let's just do some quick review. So go back to chapter 2 for a moment. We'll just go through a few verses. Chapter 2, verse 41. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Who was added to the church? Those that believed. And then they followed the Lord in believers' baptism. Look at chapter two, verse 44. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. Look at verse 47. Praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number, who? Day by day, those who were being saved. Luke couldn't be more clear, could he? Look at Acts chapter four and verse four. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of men came to about 5,000. Okay, verse 23. When they were released, they went to their friends, or I've already said, their own. It's a distinction, differentiation between those who believed and those who didn't. And then finally, we get to our text that I just read, verse 32. Now, the full number of those who believe. This is a regenerate church. This is it. This is the group. Look, The qualification, the nuance I'm gonna give at the beginning, and then I'm gonna set it aside, and then I'm just gonna preach. Qualification and nuance is this. I understand what churches are trying to do. I understand their welcomingness. I understand their desire. Okay, but there are many places, and we will never have a sign like this at our church. There are many places when you walk in, you see a sign, and it says, You belong here. Now, I'm gonna preach. We want to be a welcoming church. If you are a visitor of our church, if you're not a believer and you're here at the church, I wanna make it very, very plain, you are welcome to be here in this place. We're not going to kick you out. We want you here. We want you to hear the gospel. We want you to believe. We want to show you the hospitality of our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to give you Christ. You're welcome in this place. But do you belong here? I don't know. I don't know if you belong here. Because I can tell you this, the only people who belong in the church are the people who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm not saying you're not welcome to visit. You're welcome to visit. But we're not going to compromise the clear instruction of the Scripture and say, you know what, you need to belong before you believe. There are churches that do that today. We need to create an environment in the church where you belong first, and then as it comes around, then you believe. That's not the model and acts. You don't belong, and then you believe. Because if you don't believe, you don't belong. You understand? Now listen, the church is not for everyone, but it is for anyone. Does that make sense, the way that just came out of my brain? It's not for everyone, but it is for anyone. What I mean is, the church is set apart from the world. But if anyone would come to Christ, repenting of their sins, and put their faith in Jesus Christ, they'll belong. You understand? But you don't belong if you don't believe. Again, please don't hear me say, well, he's saying I can't come visit. He's saying I can't come to part of the things that we do. Yes, you can. You can. We want you to hear the gospel. But we do not want to create the impression that you're part of us. Because you're not part of us. You can be part of us. In fact, it's not us that is causing the friction. We're just aligning ourselves with the Word of God. You can be part of us, but you have to go in the same way we all went in. It's like Pilgrim Progress. Some people, he finds these people that are jumping over the wall, or climbing over the wall to get in the way to the Celestial City. And Bunyan here, the Christian in that, he's just like, what are you guys doing? And they're like, well, people have always come over this wall. He's like, no, you can't come over the wall, man. You gotta go through the gate. The gate is Jesus Christ. You're welcome here. But if you're not in Christ, you don't belong to the church. Because who belongs to the church are those who believe. I don't know how to say that any more plain. This is what God is doing. This is King Jesus building his church. And there is life in this place, a participatory life. And don't be scared about this, but there are four points I want to make about this participation. They're important. Number one, there is a goal. It's interesting. Verse 32, it says, now the full number of those who bleed were of one heart and soul. Wow. Look back at verse 24. It's already been mentioned there and in other places in Acts. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together. So what I'm saying here is there's a goal, there's unity, there's one heart, there's one mind, there's a holy togetherness, and this is because they have the shared goal of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So think about here, Providence Baptist, let me speak to the members for a moment. What do you care about here above all? Above all else, I want you to think this morning, what do you care about at Providence Baptist Church? And if it's not the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as the top above all, then even now, take a moment and repent. and ask the Lord to have your heart and your mind recalibrated to this overarching goal together, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. One heart, one soul, one mind, together. May Christ be magnified here because everything else is going to flow from that. You want unity in this church? Well, if we have disagreements over this issue or that issue, I can tell you this, if both of us are coming at it from a sincere and genuine desire for the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we will find a way forward together. The unity of the church matters so much to God. and not just superficial unity, but unity around His glory. This is their goal, one heart, one soul. Secondly, generosity. We've seen this already, but it's important. We see in verse 32, no one said that any of the things that belonged to Him was His own, but they had everything in common. You see in verse 34, there was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold, laid it at the apostles' feet, and was distributed to each as any had need. And then you have this story of Joseph, who is called Barnabas, the son of encouragement, selling a field that belongs to him, and he brings the money and he lays it at the apostles' feet. Now, this is similar to Acts 2. And we should see why. This is generosity. A generosity that we must have well flows from the gospel. And they don't become communists. None of the Bible supports the force-taking of possessions. Rather, what these people are doing is out of God's work in their heart, they're giving out of their own accord. In fact, we'll see next, in a few weeks, next chapter, we'll see that Ananias and Sapphira, they didn't have to do what they did. Their whole problem wasn't that they didn't give all the money. The problem was they lied to the church. They lied to God. And I might say this, God takes very seriously sin in the church. If we're going to say that we're a community of believers, then it is our responsibility to live like believers. And if we don't, it is the responsibility of the church to take corrective, restorative, and if necessary, excommunicative action. But we see the generosity. It's funny how having a priority on the glory of God above all things will start to sort of loosen your grip on your stuff, on your time. It's all for God's glory. We give for God's glory and the good of one another and the furtherance of the gospel. And it is the gospel itself that produces generosity because the gospel is the very proof that God is a generous God. which leads to the next point about this participatory life together. So we have goal, generosity, number three, gospel. Look at verse 33. This is interesting maybe to some of you. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. The gospel is not just being proclaimed outside the church. Think about this for just a moment. But inside. So if you're out there on the streets of Jerusalem and you hear these crazy people, they're out there preaching about the resurrection of the Messiah. That Jesus Christ of Nazareth, born of... Mary, the son of David, is truly God and truly man. He has won all righteousness and died on the cross for sinners under the wrath of God. And he's risen again from the dead. He lives, he lives, he lives. You come into the church, what are you going to hear? Not to bore you, you're going to hear the same thing. Jesus Christ is alive. He has defeated death, hell, sin. His righteous life is credited to our account and we are declared righteous by His work alone. The gospel changes everything. Everything in the church, every single blessed thing in the church flows from the resurrection of King Jesus Christ. It all flows out of it. The unbeliever needs to hear that and fall on his knees and go to Christ, repenting of his sins and trusting. But so does the believer. You need to hear this too. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not something that you can ever get over. I need it every day, every week. I need to hear the hammer hitting the nails. I need to see the blood flowing from his wounds. I need to know that it was for me he died. I need to understand that the tomb is empty. Now, there are many reasons that we don't have a crucifix in the church. There are many reasons why we don't walk around looking at Jesus hanging on the cross. It's a violation of the second commandment, for one. There are other reasons, but let me give you another main reason. Because He's not there anymore. The cross is empty, but so is the tomb. Because Jesus Christ lives. He's resurrected from the dead. I have victory in Jesus. God accepts me based on the life of another, the living Jesus Christ. I need to remember this morning, and so do you, that it was His work that brought me to God. His work will keep me. I need to remember that the life I now live is a life of faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. And I carry my cross in joy, seeking to align myself with His will. by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to align myself with His will in all things. And I have a resurrection day that is coming as well, bodily from the grave, because Jesus lives. And this is what they were preaching, even among the believers. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They were being His witnesses, as He promised in Acts 1-8 in Jerusalem. And then a final point here. So we have gold, generosity, gospel. And fourthly, we'll finish out verse 33, grace. And great grace was upon them all. And by the way, this is how I know that the preaching of the resurrection wasn't just outside the church, but inside. Because he's talking about the church here. Great grace was upon them all. In the gospel, there is not just mere grace, but mega grace. Unmerited favor, great grace. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ has opened the great door of God's grace to be poured out upon the church. You are here this morning for one reason alone. Grace. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we have grace. Justice was satisfied so that grace may be multiplied. And now we live and we move and we have our being in great grace. Don't be foolish and think this is a license to sin. That's an abhorrent thought. Grace is not a license to sin, it is my fuel to strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Are you living today in this great grace? God is not standing over you, dear Christian, with a scowl upon His face, just wondering, how are they going to mess it up today? God's grace has justified you. By grace, your justification is secured. By grace, your sanctification is ongoing. By grace, your glorification is locked in. All because of grace. All because of God's undeserved kindness poured out upon you because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished by His life, death, burial, and resurrection. This is the grace of God that washes over the church. Even as we walk together in unity, it is because of this grace. As we walk together in holiness, it is because of this grace. As we find boldness in the darkest of days and the trying of times, it is all because of grace. In all seasons, there is nothing that a local church cannot endure when the grace of God is poured upon her. Do you need to understand moms? Dads? You don't have to live in the rat race of comparing yourself to other people, seeing other people's Christmas tree on Facebook and you're like, why can't mine be like that? Why can't my life be like that? Why can't I do that? Why can't I do this? We just look at each other and we compare one another and then there's the opposite. Well, I'm not doing great, but I'm better than that person. Perish it all. God has given us grace. We're accepted with God. What more do you need? You've got the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus at the right hand of the Father who is interceding for his own. What more do you need this morning, church? What is it? How could you be beaten down and just feel hopeless? And I know this time of year, there's depression and darkness and sadness, and we get worried about what's going to happen with the stock market and what's going to happen. 2026 is an election year. Not looking forward to all that. We get nervous about all these things, but we can face it all with joy and triumph because of the great grace of God that is poured out on the church because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We're not excusing sin with grace, we're using grace to defeat it. To walk together in humility and repentance and to lift one another up and to sharpen one another and to admonish one another and watch over one another in love. His grace is sufficient. Christ is worthy of a healthy church. It's never gonna happen here in your power or my power, but his grace is enough. Grace is enough. And by the way, God's grace to us means that we ought to interact with one another with grace. Grace. Unbeliever, you need to partake of this grace. You need to go to Christ. Church, you need to live in light of this glorious grace. Let it wash over us again this morning as we look to the resurrected Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit, seeking to put sin to death in our lives and live unto holiness individually and corporately as a body. This is the church continued. This is the participation of life in the church. This is the church in the New Testament. Man, if you thought it's just I show up on Sunday, you missed it. It's not it. It's not less than that. But it's so much more. Look at what God is doing. Lock in all the more. Go all in. Christ is worthy. And the good news is he gives more grace. For some of you, you need to make the plunge. For some, that means repenting of your sins and stop calling Jesus a liar. He will save you. Stop running and trust Him. For some, that may mean stop playing games with the church. Commit and let us press on together. I'm going to end this sermon with a unique verse. It's going to be Haggai chapter 2, verse 9. It says this, The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of Hosts. You know what that new house is, that greater house, the anti-type of the type which is the temple? You know what it is? It's the church. It's the most beautiful place on earth. This is the church continued. May God grant us the grace to be the people that he would have us to be, to have the priorities, the prayers. The participation. The purpose. That we would be the church that our God has called us to be through the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ, knowing that Christ is worthy of a healthy church, let's pray. Fathers, we preach through acts and it's just narrative after narrative and learning.