Nicholas Cruz, and it might be a familiar name to you. Nicholas Cruz is an infamous name. He's the young man that went into that school in Florida about, I guess, two weeks ago now, killing 17 students. But what has come out this past week that is new to the story is that an armed deputy that was there stationed at the school arrived at the building where the shooting was taking place within just over a minute of the first shot fired. He proceeded to stand outside the building for four and a half minutes. He did take up a position, but he never went in. And in the next five minutes in that school, Nicholas Cruz continued to kill students as he stood outside. The sheriff, as he answered questions and talked about it, he said, his name's Sheriff Israel, he said, I'm devastated, sick to my stomach. He never went in. They asked him again how he felt about the footage, and he said, there are no words. These families lost their children. We lost coaches. I've been to the funerals. I've been to the homes. I've been to the village. It's just there are no words. And if you remember hearing about the football coach that died, apparently he shielded students with his body. He didn't even have a gun, but he tried to do something. And we can give this morning all sorts of excuses, and I did read a psychologist's idea about what took place, that there is fear that can grip us, even though we're trained to do something. They're trained to overcome that fear by what they know to do, not based upon how they feel, right? I mean, there are things they go through. It's like airline pilots. They can't panic, they can't freeze, they gotta fly that plane no matter what's going on. Law enforcement have to be that way. This man had been in duty for like 30 years, and he was commended just a couple years ago for his dedication. But here at this point, sadly, he failed. And rather than us hearing about his heroism as he went into that building, Sadly, this past week we've heard about his failure to engage that shooter and to seek to save the lives of those that he should have saved. You know, as a child, sometimes we played some sports. We played baseball and some things like that. Playing baseball, sometimes you get up to that plate and you strike out and you might say something like, I want a do-over, right? You ever say that? It might have been a game that you played as a child. You say, I want a do-over. You know what? There is no such thing for much of our life as a do-over. We can't just go, oh, you know, I'd like another chance at that. Some things in life just don't come with that, and serving the Lord certainly is that way. We've got one opportunity to serve God, one opportunity to seek to save people, not from physical harm, but from spiritual, and yes, physical, eternal harm, to save them from hell. And so, One chance to do that. You know, in Scotland right now, there's very little risk to us. As we seek to serve God, there's very little jeopardy that we put ourselves in, but that's not the way it is in all the world right now. I heard a story this past week, and this is from the past week, from a friend of ours that sends out updates. We pray for him Christian way, and we share his updates occasionally. He's in Saipan, the closest U.S. territory to China. And they go in and they train home churches in the underground church. And they start church schools. There's been a lot of persecution associated with that. And the Chinese government has really been cracking down on what they're seeking to do in China. And one man, Tom, this past, just a week ago, suffered the whole night. in jail. The NSB, that's the police, pretended that they are the employees of Hotel, and I'm going to read this as he wrote it, because he writes in broken English. When Tom opened the door, they rushed all in. Tom said there were about a dozen of them. Two of them pushed him down, then searched the whole room to find Kent and other co-workers. In the beginning, they thought Tom was Kent, but Kent left when they sent the Kimmels and Tom to the airport, so Kent escaped the torture. Otherwise, it would be worse for Kent since Kent is a native of Henan province. We are advising Kent to flee from his hometown. Please pray for Kent." The NSB told Tom they've already watched Kent and his group for a long time. Tom then asked to take off all the clothes and they took pictures. After that they took different pictures and arrested him. Of course, they kicked him, slapped his face, beat him. Tom was tortured for sure. When they went back to the detention center, they handcuffed him and bound his feet, placed him in a dark room. The NSB spoke through a microphone and Tom was locked inside the dark room with a strong light. They treated him like a criminal. They persecuted Tom for 10 hours and then in the morning, after the whole night interrogation, they asked Tom to find 10,000 R&B, that's Chinese currency, I guess. Then he was released. Then Tom quickly took the taxi and went straight to the airport and waiting for the flight to go back to Beijing. I mean, you read that and you go, wow, that is happening. That is an R.D. These men are putting their lives on the line because they're engaging the enemy. Because they're not standing outside. They're not standing out ashamed, afraid to go in. They're actually doing something. You know, I want to preach a message this morning. You ought to engage the enemy. We ought not be the one that will stand before God and hear what this chief inspector, the sheriff said about that deputy, I'm sick to my stomach, I'm gunning. He could have gone in, he didn't. You know, we want to hear God say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And so I want to look at this idea from scripture, Acts chapter five. By the way, read the book of Acts if you want to be encouraged about the power of evangelism. The power of the gospel, the power of God to awaken hearts and minds, the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do what God's called us to do, read Acts. We're going to talk about some of that this morning. These guys engage the enemy, and so should we. Let's pray again. Ask God to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Father, may your spirit give grace this morning. Tons of distractions today. It's just the way it is. It's the nature of ministry as well that sometimes, Lord, that happens. And it could have to do with what we're going to even talk about today. And that's the fact that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And so, Father, we ask that your Spirit would have his way in our hearts and our lives. Give us grace. to attend upon the word without distraction. May the spirit of God greatly gift us with the ability to focus upon your word. Help me please, as I preach, give me liberty, give me wisdom, help me to speak with the authority of God, and I pray that you'd be glorified. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen. We ought to engage the enemy, all right? They did, they engaged the enemy because they were delivered to declare. As they looked at why they were set free, we read the story, didn't we? I mean, there they are, they're in prison, and the angel of the Lord, by night, opened the prison doors, brought them forth, and said, go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. Okay, imagine, I mean, they've already been imprisoned. Now the angel comes, sets them free, and says, go back to what you're doing. Don't quit, don't stop, don't say, well, hey, let's go get a safe place and get away from here because our lives in jeopardy. No, go back to the temple, stand and preach everything having to do with this life, everything having to do with the life of Christ. What a bold challenge they were given and they just go back to it. And so they do that, the officers come. look at the prison, and they go, hey, we found the prison shut with all safety, the keeper standing without before the doors, but when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the chief priest, high priest, and the captain of the temple heard these things, they doubted of them, whereinto this would grow. Then came one and told them, saying, behold, the men whom he put in prison are standing in the temple teaching the people. Then went the captain and the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Do you like irony? Like reading the story of Esther in the Bible, that great irony that here you got Haman, the man that hates Mordecai, the Jew, and he's gonna kill Mordecai by making this great gallows, he's gonna hang him on this gallows, and lo and behold, Haman is hung on the gallows that he created for Mordecai. There's something wonderful about irony when it, disturbs Satan's plans and makes God's plan go forward. Isn't that a wonderful thing? And that's what we see in this story. In this story, Satan is trying to bind the gospel. He's going to take care of the gospel by taking the preachers and putting them in prison and making them suffer. And surely, you know, if they suffer and if they're in bondage, surely they're going to stop. They're going to quit. But rather than being that, they're set free physically. And the angel goes, go do the same thing. The messenger of God says, go proclaim all the words of this life. And they just go, why? Because they were delivered to declare. You know, why did God set us free from sin, death, and hell? If you're saved this morning, was it just hell insurance? Was it just get out of hell free through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross? Or is there a greater purpose for us this morning that God has set us free to do something? You know, there are two games that are some of the kids' favorite games that we could play during Holiday Bible Club and things. One of those games is dodgeball. Kids love dodgeball, but you know, when you get, play dodgeball, if you just play it normal, when you get out, you are out. So what do you do? You go stand on the sidelines. There's another game that we play sometimes called palm, palm, pull away, and I don't know what you guys call it over here. It's the game where you run back and forth and the person tries to tag the other person. Everyone starts on one side, runs across. I'm looking at my kids. You know, you guys play it all the time. Sharks and something. All right, we got that person that's it in the middle, and you're running from one side to the other side. You don't want to get tagged. If you get tagged, what happens? You become a part of the team that's in the middle trying to capture the other people. Guess what? When you got saved, it wasn't dodgeball. It wasn't that, oh, now I'm saved. Now I'm out. Now I'm sidelined because I'm saved. It's that God saved us to join his team so that we're part of those that are seeking to capture people with the gospel, trying to save people's lives with the truth. That's what happened with Paul, isn't it? Remember the story of the Apostle Paul? His name was Saul before he got saved, but Saul hated Christians. He hated them so much that he went everywhere, hailing men and women, committing them to prison. He stood as Stephen was stoned, and they laid the coats at his feet, showing that he was the authority behind the stoning of Stephen, and he consented unto his death, the Bible says. But that wicked man was confronted with Jesus Christ and his glory. That proud man's bowed. I praise God for the power of the gospel because I look at that and say, that's not possible. If I trusted myself in evangelism, I'd look at it and say what the disciples said, who then can be saved? Hey, nobody can get saved but by the power of God. By the power of God, Paul is face-to-face with Jesus Christ and he says, who art thou, Lord? He acknowledged he's master as he did that. He got saved. Why did God save him? Did God save Paul so that Paul would stop? You know, Paul was winning, right? Paul's on the opposite side. Paul's somehow winning for Satan, and so God has to save him to set him on the other side. No. I mean, God did, but that's not why God did. God set him on his side because Paul, having been forgiven much, what's the Bible say? The same loves much. And Paul and his great love for God, you know what he's gonna suffer? 195 stripes, his body's gonna be beaten, his body's gonna be bruised, and that's exactly what God said is the reason that God saved Paul. It says it, Acts 9, Ananias. was a prophet that was called to go to Paul, Saul, you know, he was called at that time. And he's told to go to him and Ananias says, God, I can't go to that man and talk to him. And Paul was blind after he saw God in his glory. He was blind from that experience. He's in the city of Damascus, but he came there to put people in jail. And Ananias says, man, I can't, I can't go and talk to this man. Everybody knows he's come to persecute Christians. And the Lord said, I gotta fast forward in my notes here. He hath authority from the chief priest, okay, to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my namesake. God, why did you save Saul? It became Paul. Why did you save the apostle Paul? Because I gave him as a vessel the gospel, and in his vessel he carried my name before kings, before Jews, before Gentiles. You know, why is it that God saved us this morning? And I praise God. God loves sinners, doesn't he? While I was a yet sinner, Christ died for me. God wants you to get saved this morning if you're not saved. But if you're saved or you're gonna be saved, God saved you to save others. Isn't that it? Weren't we delivered to declare? And so we think, you know, how am I gonna engage the enemy? Listen, I gotta understand that when I got saved, there's a purpose to my salvation. The purpose is evangelistic. That is what it is. And so we're delivered just like that angel setting them free, said, hey, now go preach. That's what God would say to us as well. Delivered to declare. And then they were set free to submit. Secondly, they were set free to submit. They engaged the enemy for that reason. Verse 29 says, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. What a statement. Hey guys, didn't we tell you not to teach or preach in this name? You have filled the whole city with this doctrine. We ought to obey God. I submit, they're looking at earthly authority saying, you know what, I submit to God. I obey God, I please God. They'd already told them that in a more gracious way. In Acts chapter four, verse 19, Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether 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." What did they say? They said we are under Authority to God. Imagine this. Imagine walking along, you got a note from God. God said, deliver this note. And anybody tries to stop you and say, hey, stop that. No, you can't do that. And what are you going to say? Listen, if you understand who God is, you're going to stop and go, wait a second. Wait a second. God gave me this. See, I was set free to submit. Remember what Paul said? I already mentioned it. But he said, who art thou? Lord. It means master. Paul put himself under God. That's why Paul immediately began to preach and teach in Jesus' name, because he understood that God was his master. Last Sunday, I preached on getting into evangelism, right? Is evangelism getting into you? And so how we need that evangelism, but you know what I preach from? I preach from the great commission where God said, go and preach. And I think I could hear the Lord saying this morning to us what he said in Luke 6 46, why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say. See, as Bible believers this morning, we're not just Jehovah's Witnesses that say to those that are in their church, look, you've got to go out and you've got to cross all these boxes off. I've done this much time, this much time, this much time, this much time. But I can hold up the word of God saying the authority of God. God has said, go and preach. And if you're not following that, then you're refusing to submit to God. And if you're refusing to submit to God, stop saying Lord, Lord, because he's not. There's a saying, he's either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. This morning, is God your authority? Is he over you? We're gonna look at that a little bit more tonight. as it comes into our Psalm 119 passage as well. But is God able this morning to say to you, look, do this, and it's as good as done? See, we're set free to submit. Romans 12 says, It's not this morning exceptional for somebody to say, I'll go as a missionary to Africa, I'll go as a missionary to South America, I'll go as a missionary to China, I'll go as a missionary to Name it. It doesn't matter what place that is. That is not exceptional. You know, we praise God today. We rejoice today to say, hey, you know, God's really got a hold of our young people. And they have said to God, God, wherever you want us to go, we'll go and we'll say, hey, that's great. And God says it's not. Why? Because God says it's reasonable. See, it's not exceptional. It's not something that anybody ought to come and pat us on the back and say, wow, you have sacrificed so much, you've done so much. No. What could we begin to do that God didn't do for us? What could we begin to do that Christ didn't do Himself for us? So we ought to look at it this morning and say, you know what? Why am I going to engage the enemy? Why is that guy going to risk his life, go into that place, put it all on the line for somebody else? Why? Because we're set free to submit. Because we have a master in heaven that told us, go. Go. And so the song says it well, I surrender all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. The God who took away all my sin, the God who took away hell from me, God who gave me his gift of everlasting life, that put Jesus Christ in me, that put the righteousness of Christ into my heart, doesn't he deserve today for me to say, God, I surrender all? I surrender all, set free to submit. Thirdly, they were called to testify, and they weren't shy about it. They were called to testify. Yes, they were delivered to Claire, but more specifically, they were called to testify. Verse 30, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom he slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things. Stop and look at that again. What a bold statement. He said, guys, remember that Jesus that you crucified? That Jesus is God. That Jesus is risen from the dead. That Jesus is your judge. It's like a man looking a murderer in the eyes and saying, hey, buddy, I got your number. I saw what you did. That's bold, isn't it? That's bold to face those that crucify Christ and say, guys, you were wrong. You've killed the prince of life. And testifying, they saw it and so they told it. Remember what they said, we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Oh, they're bold. Jesus had told them that they would have this boldness to speak what they had seen and heard. Acts 1.8 says, but ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me. both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. By the way, what did they witness? What they saw, what they heard? What did Paul witness? I shared Paul's testimony. It's because we have it recorded in scripture. Do you know that Paul's testimony, his personal story of salvation, is recorded three times in scripture? His personal testimony, what him sharing it, him talking about it twice when it happened once, and at other times Paul refers to it. He said in our, I think Sunday school we're talking about, yeah, humility, he's the chief of sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world as safe sinners, of whom I am chief. Paul referred to his testimony more than that. What does that tell us this morning? Do you know it tells us that sharing our personal testimony is important? But this morning, it's not just for you to say, well, I need to tell people the gospel, so I need to know the Romans wrote. I need to know how to introduce them to the fact that they're a sinner, that Christ died for their sin, that He didn't stay dead, but He rose again, and that by faith in Him, they can have God's gift of everlasting life. But that God also wants me to say, you know what? I got saved when I was, in my case, five. I heard my dad preach a message on hell, and the Spirit of God, Convicted my heart nobody told me as a little kid. You got to go do something about this I mean I'd heard it preached that you need to accept Christ as your Savior But nobody said go talk to your dad, but I went and talked to my dad And I asked him how to be saved and dad showed me I was a sinner on my way to hell But Jesus Christ died for me And that if I'd asked him to forgive me of my sin and save me he wouldn't I bowed my head as a little kid and I prayed and I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and that's when I got saved and That's when I passed from death unto life. That's when I had God's gift of everlasting life. That's when I was no longer on my way to hell eternally, but that's when I was on my way to heaven for all eternity. Why did God save me? To testify. How? You know, it's as simple, can I say this morning, sometimes people are intimidated about sharing the gospel, or I don't know what to say. Well, start with this, just tell people what God did in your life. Just share, you know, this is how God worked in my life. Now your life's different than my life, but God did this. I've tasted the apple. It's what I've said to a lot of unbelievers. They say, there is no such thing as God. You know, it's atheism, this world. And I say to them, don't tell me my apple tastes bad when I can taste it. You need to taste it too. Taste and you'll see that the Lord is good. See, the world criticizes what we eat as believers, having put our trust in Jesus Christ, but they've never tasted it themselves. And those who have tasted it know that it's real, exactly like God said. And so we share a testimony. This is personal. This is how God has worked in my life. It's like that demoniac of Gadara, the man that was naked in the tombs, cutting himself. No man could bind him with chains, and he'd break the chains asunder. And when he got saved, he was set free, put in his right mind and clothed by the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember, Jesus goes down, they're on the Sea of Galilee, he goes to get in his boat, and that man says, I want to go too. And Jesus says to him, In Matthew 519, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him and all men did marvel. Why? Because they looked at that guy's life and they go, wow. Any testimony is that way. We discount our testimony sometimes and say, oh, but I wasn't in drugs. I wasn't in sin. I wasn't an adult. My life messed up. I wasn't in unbelief. But you know what? God's given us a testimony for a reason. This man just shared what God had done. Remember that woman at the well? She comes back and goes, hey, I just met a guy. I think he's a Messiah. He told me everything about my life and what happened. Everybody responded. They came out there and they said, you know, at first we trusted because you told us, but now we've seen for ourselves and we believe because we've seen it. You know, this morning, we're not going to engage the enemy. If we hide our light, if we hide the fact of what God's done in our life, these men understood that they were called to testify. And then they were filled to fulfill. They were filled to fulfill. Verse 32 says, and we are his witnesses of these things. And so also is the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. See, as they, I've already mentioned this this morning as I've talked about them, as they began to speak, I mean they're exceptionally bold as they looked those men in the eye, those men that had killed Christ and said, you know what, you have killed Him. That's bold. They're talking to guys that have the ability to whip them, they have the ability to beat them, they have the ability to put them in prison, they have the ability to put Christ on the cross. And they're just standing there declaring Jesus Christ to them. How could they do that? It's because of what we see here in verse 32. It's what we already read in Acts 1.8. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses." You might be here this morning, and you might say, but I'm a shy person. I'm just kind of a quiet person. I don't like to talk. In fact, I prefer to stay to myself. I can't go and do what the Word of God is talking about here as we see these men engaging the enemy. I can't do that. Listen, nobody can. It would be, what we saw this morning in Sunday school, it'd be pride for a man to think, I can go do that on my own. Humility understands, look, I can't do that, but you know what, God can. God can. And that's what God did. You know, we know that this morning as we look at these men, because who am I talking about this morning? I'm talking about Peter. Is Peter, of himself, you know, a great man? He was a fisherman. He was an uneducated fisherman. And I thought this morning as I was praying about this message, you know, if anybody says, oh, I can't do that because I'm not as great as those men. Think about who those men were. He's a fisherman. Others were tax collectors. These were working men. These weren't dynamic speakers. But they were men that were filled with God's spirit. How do I know? Because Peter, before Christ died and before the Holy Spirit came, what did Peter do? Denied Christ. Oh, he thought he was big enough. And by the way, he was a fisherman, so I think he was kind of tough. Remember, he's also the one that took a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus as the soldiers came to get Jesus. He's a man's man, but when it came to his life being on the line, he failed. And he denied Christ to a barmaid and to a couple other people because he feared them. So what do I know about Peter? Peter, without the Holy Spirit, couldn't do what God expected them to do when the Holy Spirit came. What happened to the disciples as Christ is taken there in the Garden of Gethsemane and the soldiers come and Jesus says, let these go, you've got me. But the Bible says about the apostles that all men forsook him and fled, Mark 14, 50. His men that he had trained for three and a half years, they all forsook him and fled. But now we're after Pentecost. We're after the coming of the Holy Spirit. And in Acts chapter 4, it says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they'd been with Jesus. Acts 4.29, after that takes place, and they're already beaten and they're already told not to preach in Jesus' name. They said to God, God, Lord, behold their threatenings. Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of the holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. The early church knew, hey guys, we need boldness. What do we do? We get on our knees and we begin to ask God and say, oh God, give us boldness. And when God did, God sent his spirit. He filled them with his spirit and they changed. And again, we look at ourselves this morning and say, but I don't think I can do that. Listen, we can't. But God has given us all the power and all the authority that we see these men possess in the person of the Holy Spirit who ought to be in us if we're saved. Paul said of himself, 1 Corinthians 2, 4, my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of men's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. As people looked at Paul's preaching, they think, there's something different about that. It's not that he's clever. It's not that he's wowing us with great eloquence. It's that there is an authority that is behind his speaking. And Paul said, I'm unashamed to say, when I stood before you declaring the word of God, it was there with demonstration of the spirit and a power. What's that? It's God the Spirit empowering and enabling. Listen, we talk to people, there might be a time where you get to experience this. Once you experience it, you'll just ask God, God, do it again. That we have a boldness that is not of ourselves, it is God-given. It's one of the greatest testimonies to us that we're a child of God. What know you not? That your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God. That encourages us in our salvation, but that sweetness of the Spirit of God enabling us Acts 1.8 again, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. You know, do others see Christ's Spirit in you? If you're saved, the Spirit of God should be visible in us. See, if there's no evidence of the Spirit of God, and if in your heart you just go, is the Spirit of God there or not, there ought to be a soul searching saying, am I really saved? Why? Because the early church were men filled with God's Spirit. Acts 6.3, Wherefore brethren, look ye out among you, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Paul himself said, Ephesians 5.18, Be not drunk with wine, wherein is success, but be filled with the Spirit. And so don't be controlled with wine. Don't be intoxicated with alcohol. Be intoxicated and controlled by God's Spirit. That's when the fruit of the Spirit's evident, right? Fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, patience, temperance. Fruit, not fruits, because it's one reality that somebody that has the Spirit of God has the evidence of the Spirit of God if they're filled with the Spirit. And so this morning, does the Spirit of God control you? We think this morning about engaging the enemy, the importance today, and it's no day more important than our day to stand up and be counted for Christ and to think, I wanna do that, I wanna have the courage to do that. But listen, it's only as God the Spirit fills us that we have that ability to do that which God has called us to do. So they were filled to fulfill. And as they engaged the enemy, they were opposed but not overthrown. Verse 33 says, when they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and it took counsel to slay them. Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had a reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space. And he said unto them, you men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Thutis, boasting himself to be somebody to whom a number of men, about 400, joined themselves, who was slain, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered and brought to naught. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing and drew away much people after him, he also perished, and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, let them alone. For if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest happily ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed. It's like they're not even saved. Now maybe there's an inkling of something going on in the heart of this man as he says this, that there's a conviction taking place, but he just looks at it practically and says, you know, other people have risen up and they failed because God wasn't with them. So just let it be, and if it fails, then we know it's not of God. But if it's of God, you're opposing it, but there's no way you'll overthrow it because you're fighting against God. Aren't you thankful tonight, or this morning, as you think about the gospel and what we desire to do in taking the gospel to the world and engaging the enemy, that as we do so, we stand with God? This morning, it would be, again, futile for us if it wasn't that God had called us and that God was for us. But you know, the word of God says in Romans 8.31, what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? If God's for it, don't get discouraged this morning and think, you know, it can't happen, you know, it's not gonna get done. If God's for it, it's gonna happen. We know God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. We know that he desires the world to hear this morning the gospel. God's for us. And so praise God we can rejoice this morning. Even what these unbelievers said as they looked at that. And by the way, these guys of all men ought to have realized the futility of trying to stop Christianity. They'd already tried, remember at the tomb, when Jesus Christ was crucified, they tried to guard it. They came to Pilate and said, Sir, we remember that this deceiver said while he was yet alive, after three days I'll rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the people, he is risen from the dead, so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, ye have a watch, okay, a guard, go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So a watch, I think two or four soldiers. So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. Matthew 28 says, Behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake. and became his dead man. You read the story, and it's almost humorous again, the irony. They try their best, and I like what Pilate said. He said, make it as sure as you can. So they set a watch, they put wax on the stone to make sure nobody tampered with it, they sealed it, and then they said, ah, he's dead, he's in the tomb. And then God sent an earthquake, he sent an angel, and the keepers fall down as dead men, and God, the son, walks out of the tomb as he rises from the dead. See, this morning we could hold our heads in shame and say, God, it's just not possible for us to do what you've commanded us to do. Or we can say, hey, if God be for us, who could be against us? We can stand, okay, we're opposed. But let me say about the opposition, that's not a bad thing, is it? It's not a bad thing when the world is fighting against us. because they fought against Christ, they fought against the apostles, they fought against others that have stood for God. We ought to almost pat ourselves on the back and say, hey, this isn't a bad thing, it's a good thing. And that's why the disciples next, they had bleeding bodies, but not bleeding hearts. They had bleeding bodies, but not bleeding hearts. Verse 40, it's when they had called the apostles and beaten them. They commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. All right, why were they back before the council? because they obeyed the angel that came that set them free. They went and they actually, they preached. They could have run for their lives, but they stood and they preached. And so now they've been beaten and they're walking out, what, rejoicing? Doesn't that remind you of Paul and Silas in prison later in the book of Acts, Acts 16, verse 25? And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoner heard them. See, our list of complaints gets pretty small about what people do to us as we stand for God, as we look at what others have suffered for God. See, I, this morning, I don't even know if I can find it. I'm trying to remember. I think it's on my thumb. I can say this morning, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's very little. I got this little scar somewhere, somewhere on my hand. from a dog that bit me when I was doing evangelism. All right? I can say that this morning. I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul could take his shirt off this morning, turn around with his back to us, and we could hardly look at it because of the scarring on his back. And he said, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ought to look at that. opposition, whatever it is, that I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to look at it as a badge of honor and say, praise God, at least I'm doing something for God. Praise God, you know, that Satan sees fit to oppose me because of how little I'm doing for God. But others have given so much more. They have bleeding bodies, but not bleeding hearts. Their hearts rejoice in the grace of God. And then last this morning, They accelerated, they engaged the enemy by accelerating through the world's red light. They accelerated through the world's red light. Verse 42 says, and daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to preach and teach Jesus Christ. Wait a second, I mean, they've been put in prison now, what is this, three times, kinda? I mean, twice overnight, and then now they're brought before the Sanhedrin again, and they've been beaten, they've been commanded not to teach or preach in Jesus' name, and what do they do? Daily. Where? In the temple. In Jerusalem? I mean, in the central place, they've been commanded, don't go there, they're there, preaching Jesus Christ. What are you letting stop you this morning? See, our world, tolerance is the chief virtue. Intolerance is frowned upon, and they say, away with the intolerance, away with absolute truth, away with ideas that homosexuality is sin, away with ideas about the family and raising a family, away with creation. And the world says, stop, I don't wanna hear, stop, I don't wanna hear. And a lot of Christians go, hey, they don't wanna hear, I'm not gonna tell them. And then you got men that suffered beating, they started for an imprisonment, but they heard the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, say, go, and preach. See, our world is really becoming that way. I mentioned this morning, already, I think, Mike Pence, our Vice President of the United States, he's a believer. And a talk show in the United States that is a popular liberal talk show, very liberal, not just in politics, but wicked, They said about Mike Pence, I mean, he's basically talking to God and God talking to him, and that's mental illness, is what they said. And by the way, Rebecca is training to be a mental health nurse. In her coursework, they teach that somebody has a sudden religious experience, conversion, to flag that as a sign of mental illness. Isn't that interesting? Our world is so anti-God. We have street preachers in England this past year that at their trial where they were baited by a homosexual and a homosexual got upset and chased them through a park and they were charged instead of the homosexual. They were told by the attorney for the homosexual, he said to the judge, he said, in our society, quoting parts of the King James Bible, such as Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. ought to be considered a hate crime is what he said. Stop sign. See, we got stop, the world is gonna put up stop sign after stop sign after stop sign, but does it matter what the world says to us as believers when Jesus Christ has said go and preach? Or are we gonna stop? You know, I look at Deputy Peterson, that's his name, I didn't share his name earlier, and I feel bad for him. I think if he could do it again, that he would do it again, and I think he would wish that he could do it again. I think he'd say, I wish I could relive that moment when I stood outside that place and children. were being shot and killed, and I stood out there with a gun, and I didn't engage the enemy, that he'd look at it and say, I wish. Not just for the fact that the shame of that as well, but for the sake of those that died, that he wishes, I wish I would have gone in there. And see, I wonder, when we stand before God, we give an account to God, are we gonna be like the guy that took a talent, and hid it in the ground, and buried it, because he knew his that his master was an austere man? Or is he gonna be like the guys that invested in? Are we gonna stand there ashamed before God and say, oh man, you gave me the gospel and I hid it from everybody? Or somebody that could honestly say, God praise you for giving me the gospel, I gave it. Think about these men that engaged the enemy. They knew they were delivered to declare. And so are we. Are you preaching the gospel? See, I could be easy on us this morning, and I could be easy on Peterson and feel bad for him. I mean, there's some people that are very strongly standing against him, but they never stood in his shoes at that place at that door, right? I could almost feel bad for him. But should I really this morning feel bad for Christians that are nominal Christians that haven't taken a stand for God, haven't obeyed God's command to go? When Jesus Christ died on the cross so that they could, when he sacrificed so much, should I really apologize and say, you know, I'm sorry for emphasizing the fact that this morning that you're in disobedience for not declaring the word of God like Jesus said? Delivered to declare. We're set free to submit. He's Lord. He's master. He said, go. He said much more than that, but he's our master. They understood that Jesus was their master. They were called to testify. They shared what they'd seen or heard. You know, that's us as well. God's given us a testimony for a reason. They were filled to fulfill, and we can look at that and say, but we can't speak in tongues, but we can't heal. We can't do some of the sign gifts that God gave, and yet God gave us the same Holy Spirit. We have power today. We've got authority. And we can hide our candle and say, but I can't, or we can trust in God and say, by the grace of God, I can. God's powerful. They were opposed, praise God. They weren't overthrown, and so are we. We could look at it and say, well, I quit because it's so tough. Or we could look at it and say, they're never gonna win. I'm just gonna stand for God. They had bleeding hearts, but not, or bleeding bodies, but not bleeding hearts. The outside was bruised, but the inside was fine. You know, can we rejoice today about anything, anything that we suffered because of our identification with Christ? And they accelerated at the world's red lights. See, we can say today, well, I can't do it anymore, because people are offended, and people, they're gonna be bothered by the fact that I tell them about Jesus Christ. Or we can look at it and go, that's just the devil's red light, I'm just gonna run it. I'm just gonna continue on, I'm just gonna be faithful to God. Oh, I don't wanna hear our Lord say, about us not engaging the enemy. I'm devastated, sick to my stomach. There are no words. Families lost their children. We lost coaches. I've been to funerals. I've been to the homes. I've been to the vigils. It's just there are no words. It's a very sad, sad statement. I think this morning, you know, rather than that, I want to hear God say, hey, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And you know what I can say with authority from the Word of God? We can hear that. Nobody here this morning has to think, well, I can't do that. Listen, if you're not saved, get saved. Join God's side. If you are saved, stand. Having done all to stand so that people can get saved, God can be glorified. And God helping us, we can do that, all right? Let's pray. Father, I pray, may the Spirit of God stir us up. Lord, I pray we need it. Oh, we need it. Father, I need this message this morning. I need to be reminded. that Satan's gonna try to stop me. He's gonna oppose me. But Father, I pray, help us to be faithful. And Lord, the more the world says stop, I just pray by the grace of God, we'd run the way of your commandments, that we'd obey you. And Father, it might be this morning that somebody can't engage the enemy because they're on the enemy's side. They've never switched sides. They've never gotten on the side of capturing people with the gospel and telling people about Jesus. So I pray for that person this morning. They need to obey the Holy Spirit convicting their heart right now that they need to get saved. They need to receive God's gift of everlasting life. Father, if we're on your side, you don't want us on the sidelines. And so I pray, God, help us to engage the enemy. Father, help us never to be like this man that sadly didn't engage the enemy and people died. And yet, Father, what we're involved in, as much as the world wouldn't understand it, And seemingly, sometimes we don't understand it. It's much more important than what that deputy was there doing. And so I pray, Spirit of God, give us grace to understand we're accountable for men's eternity, not just their lives. And so may the Spirit of God speak to our hearts. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Let's stand, please. We'll sing.