Every heart is thine to use, Lord, thy living sacrifice be. Trust in Thee, I place my life in Thy hands. I will follow Thee, my Savior, Leon, my Shepherd, Leon. Amen. Thank you for your good singing. And you can set your candles aside. And open your Bibles to the book of Acts, okay? Tonight, Acts chapter 5. And I'll let my family get again downstairs, get set up here. This Sunday, we're looking forward to live services. 5 p.m. at the Glencore Center here in Occondinny. 5 p.m. is our Sunday school. and 6pm is our Sunday worship service. lockdowns or anything like that. Lord willing, we'll see you next Sunday here in Auchindee. All right, when God called her family to Scotland, I know our church is pretty familiar with the happenings around that, but we were praying about church planting. God had called me to that in grad school, and Katie and I knew that we would do that at close to 30 years of age for me. She was much younger than I, so it was earlier for her. But 30 years of age for me. So we're seeking that and seeking God's will about that. We're praying about New York City, Tucson, Arizona, and then Edinburgh, Scotland. And as we're praying about that, we came across some biographies that I was reading. And every single one came to Scotland. And it's not that surprising to me anymore because there's so much Christian history. from Scotland, but one in particular God used, and it was the biography of James Stewart. And in the early 1900s, he was an up-and-coming footballer, very talented at the age of 14, playing in front of huge crowds, and he was on the youth international football team. And he got under intense conviction on the football pitch, and at 14 years of age, told the Lord, as soon as the whistle blows, I give my life to you. And when he did that, that was not just his salvation, but also his surrender. God begins to use him as a child, if you want to call a teenager, a child evangelist. Preaching on the streets, even I think at 15, 16 years of age. Up through 19, and then God takes him at 19 to Latvia, to the capital city Riga, and God begins to use James Stewart, and this is like 1930s, mid 1930s, just before World War II. and used him to see a lot of Europeans get saved. I saw revival scenes. But anyway, as a teenager, he's preaching on the streets and the story is told of him with two young girls that were there with him and he decided he's gonna preach on the street and just kind of spur the moment. And as he begins to do that, they go running home because they're too scared to stay there with him. And they're crying. They come into the house and their mom says, what's the matter? Why are you crying? And they said, Jimmy's there preaching on the streets and we're too ashamed to stand with him. And so the mom leaves and goes and stands with Jimmy on the street as he is preaching. You know it's too often the case that we're ashamed. of Jesus. Too often the case that rather than being bold like James Stuart, filled with the spirit of God, we tend to be often times timid. But praise God there always have been some that have been very bold for the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was that way and we are reading 2 Timothy in our morning devotions with our family. And Paul is writing from the Mamertine prison in Rome. Our church would know this because we studied 2 Timothy recently. But there in that pit prison, he speaks about the fact that some people, because of him being imprisoned and suffering for the faith, they had turned aside from him. They were ashamed of him. He said this, Thou knowest that all they which are in Asia, They were ashamed. They didn't stand and preach Jesus and the day of persecution, but Paul did. But then he said, For he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, he found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. And so Onesiporus, on the other hand, was bold. For the Lord Jesus Christ sought Paul out, was unashamed. Paul uses that example and says to Timothy in the next chapter, Thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He said, get in there, be bold for God. And Timothy is the one that Paul said, preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all lung suffering. And a preacher boy that certainly would preach Jesus. Paul had cut his spiritual teeth on adversity. From the day he got saved, he begins to preach Christ and he begins to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, the book of Acts is the birth of the church. It's the church age has begun. And it's the stories about how the churches were established. So what we have when we come to Acts 5, is a story from the days of the early church. The apostles, Peter and John in particular, and some of the others not yet, Paul, Paul gets saved later on in the book of Acts. But they are facing adversity for God, praise God, and they preached Jesus. And that's my message tonight. My message tonight is preach Jesus. And basically this, you should not cease to teach or preach Jesus Christ. Okay, have you ceased to preach or teach Jesus Christ? Have you started to teach or preach Jesus Christ and giving the gospel, letting it be known that you're a Christian? Let's pray and ask the spirit of God to help us as we come to the word of God. Father, we thank you that we have the privilege tonight of looking into the Word of God. Thank you for this precious book. And Father, thank you for those that have boldly preached Jesus Christ. And Father, we confess, we can't. We're weak. Father, we get it wrong so often. We're timid. Maybe like those little girls that weren't bold enough to stand with Jimmy. But Jimmy didn't stand in his strength. James Stewart was a man. that was filled with the Spirit of God. Father, he was baptized with power. He had the unction of the Spirit of God upon his life, and we praise God for that. And Father, that's what we need. We need the power of the Spirit of God. Fathers, we come and look at this story tonight, and really, we're going to look at it in story form. Father, give us grace to say, by the grace of God with my life, I'm not going to cease to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Father, we can't listen without your enablement. I can't preach without your enablement. So I just ask both ways. God, open our ears tonight to hear the word of God. Open my lips to preach Jesus. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Alright, so again, we're gonna look at it tonight in story form. And so, you should not cease to teach or preach Jesus Christ. And chapter one, if you were to look at it in that regard, is good things were happening in the church. Okay, good things were happening. in the church. The early church did not start with a whimper. The early church started with a bang. I mean, there was power. As soon as the church was birthed at Pentecost, they had the power of God in their ministry. Sins were forgiven, people got saved, people were baptized, and all this is taking place in our story as we come to Acts chapter 5. And so we see, first of all, good things were happening in the church. They had spiritual power. It says in verse 12, and by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. Okay, there were some great testimonies to the fact that this was not natural, but that this was supernatural. The miracles and the signs and wonders that the apostles were doing, they weren't doing those acts in their own power, they were doing those things in the power of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the spirit of God. In fact, one of the key stories that just happened is there was a lame man that was set at the temple that was lame from his mother's womb. Peter and John on their way into the temple, the man begged money from them and Peter looks at him and he says, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And as he gets up, he doesn't just stand up, does he? He doesn't kind of hobble to his knees and then to his feet. The Bible says that he leaps up and then he walks into the temple with him, leaping and praising God. And everybody saw that taking place. I mean, just think about it. He'd never walked. He had no muscles, but God gave him muscles, God gave him coordination, God gave him balance, and it's amazing what people are seeing of the power of God. But remember Peter said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. When the multitude comes, in verse 12, Peter says, ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son, Jesus. Okay, there is spiritual power. It's in the name of Jesus. It's the power of the Spirit of God. These men had gotten what Jesus said when he said, ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost will come upon you and you shall be witnesses. Secondly, they had spiritual unity. It says, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. Okay, this is happening, the preaching is taking place, and they're beginning to congregate. They're beginning to unify and come together. The infant church is assembling, and they're interested in what is taking place. The place that they're meeting is a portico on the eastern wall of the temple. It's called Solomon's Porch. Okay, so it's a long covered kind of walkway. that's there and they're all assembling in that place. The Bible says in Psalm 133, 1, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Alright, there's a sweetness about this staying place. I mean, in our days, in our terminology, it'd be The church is packed out. People are thirsting for God. They are hungry for God. They are congregating and they are there. It's really days of revival that we're seeing. And so they have spiritual unity. And then they have spiritual honor. It says in verse 13, It says, and of the rest, Durst, no man joined himself to them, but the people magnified them. It's saying some were scared to attach themselves to this movement, but it was a respected movement. They looked at it, they thought, this is of God, these men are prophets. In fact, if you look down ahead in our story, Then went the captain and the officers and brought them, they arrested the preachers without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And it's kind of like this, people were respecting it. People were looking at Christianity and what was taking place in the name of Jesus Christ and they were seeing something that was genuine. So there was some respectability or you could say some spiritual honor that was there in what was taking place. And then fourth, We see that there was spiritual growth as well. Spiritual growth, it says in verse 14, women. This text came from my devotions with my wife this past week. We started reading through the book of Acts, and as I read that statement, were added to the Lord, I thought about the statement after Pentecost that says they were added to the church. It's the same thing. They're added to the body of Christ. They're added to that sacred assembly that is the born-again a church and the people that are genuinely saved. It's like what Reverend Sabine Gold wrote in his hymn Onward Christian Soldiers. where he wrote, like a mighty army moves the church of God. Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we, one in faith and spirit, one eternally. And I praise God tonight, the body of Christ is big. Now there's local assemblies, but there's born again believers all over this world that are part of that same living reality of Christ. Now the thing to note in our text is that there in that place, there was spiritual growth taking place. Multitudes, both of men and women. Again, we gotta put ourselves back in that day. We don't see that taking place in our day. We're not in a season of revival. Would to God that we were in a season of revival. But imagine, I mean, this is amazing what is taking place there, spiritual growth. And then spiritual victory, okay, spiritual victory. It says in verse 15, in so much that they brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and them that were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one. I like that statement, they're healed everyone. They've got physical infirmities, they've been bound by Satan, and they've got physical infirmities, or they are people that are demon possessed. And the Bible says every single person that came that had a need, God met the need. Praise God tonight, that's the power of God. If somebody's got a spiritual need, they desire God to set them free. God has the power to set them free. And in this story, it's taking place. There is incredible spiritual victory. You know, you remember the story about the Pool of Bethesda and Jesus coming there. and the story was that an angel would come down and trouble the waters, the first person into the waters would be healed. But if you weren't the first person, you didn't get healed. These weren't pool of Bethesda days, these were the fountain of the waters of life opened up to mankind days where by God's grace multitudes were being healed of physical infirmities. So you read that part of the story, and again, we're looking at it in story form tonight. Chapter one is good things are happening in the church. If you've been saved very long, you might suspect what the next chapter is gonna be. So chapter two, as it were, point number two, Satan does not like it when good things are happening, all right? Satan does not like it when good things are happening. In verse 17, you've got one word that starts that verse, and the word is, All these good things are happening, incredible things that God is doing and then it says, then. There is envy. It says the high priest rose up and all that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees. The Sadducees were like Pharisees, but they were false religious leaders that taught outward works, salvation, but they didn't believe in resurrection. They didn't believe in this idea of life after death. And so you got the high priests and the Sadducees and they're envious because what they see taking place in the lives of these ministers of the gospel is incredible. And now let me say this, if those ministers didn't have power, if nothing was being done, They would have cared less. I mean, they wouldn't have been bothered. They wouldn't have thought anything, but because they could see what you and I see as we just look through it, all those great things are taking place. There's a balance of power. And if the populace switches to the side of the apostles, then the populace is going to stand against the side of the Sadducees. And so there is an envy that comes up. Secondly, there's anger. It says, and they were filled with indignation. Indignation is jealousy, but it's jealousy that can no longer be contained. They can't take it anymore and they're going to do something about it. You can almost feel bad for these Sadducees and the chief priests. It had been a rough three years. I mean, Jesus Christ had been ministering the gospel, he'd been preaching, they would try to thwart him, they'd try to stop him. Everything that they threw at the Lord Jesus Christ would turn around and make them look very foolish in the eyes of the people. They thought they won when they crucified Christ, but they couldn't even keep him in the grave, and his resurrection testified to the fact that what they taught as Sadducees was incorrect because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And so they have anger. And again, as we seek to preach Jesus Christ, there's gonna be this envy, there's gonna be this anger that comes up in the heart of those that are anti-Christ and anti-God as they were even in this day. So there is envy, there is anger, and then there is abuse. In verse 18 it says, And they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. It's gone beyond, I just despise you, I can't stand you, it's physical now. They take them physically, they put them in prison because they think, In prison they can't preach. That's their thinking about that. We'll see that they're wrong. Paul spoke about that idea that God's word cannot be down. Praise God it can't. From prison in 2 Timothy 2 verse 9 he said, but the word of God is not bound. They treated Paul, they treated these Bible-believing preachers of the gospel as if they were wicked men. They took them, they bound them, they put them in prison. But again, I say tonight, praise God, God's word can't be bound. We could get frustrated about some of the things I might talk about tonight, about our government and decisions that they're making. And yet, it does not limit the gospel or the power of the gospel, but we understand this tonight, They are certainly seeking to put the gospel in a box and put it off limits to those that need it. very easy in our day. This is an easy day to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. 400 years ago in the killing years in Scotland, covenanters that said we're not going to yield to the King of England as our religious leader. He cannot say to us we can't worship God as the Bible says that we ought to worship God. They took a position against him. In doing so, they were treated as traitors. and they were persecuted. Here in Edinburgh some 18,000 were put to death, one of those was a man by the name of David Haxton. He wasn't a minister, but he went to hear a minister preach. He didn't even know that he was on the radar of the enemy, but they picked him up and they put him in prison. He's got a marvelous testimony of saying to them, do whatever you want it to do to me, I'm gonna stand with the covenant that we've taken, this position, and I'm gonna honor that relationship that I have with God over my relationship with the king. He challenged those that, He wrote to them and said, you know, be prepared to stand, honor the Lord, stand with the Lord in these days. They did torture him. They cut off his hands before they put him on, and I think they might have used the boot on him as well before they put him on. to the gallows and hung David Haxton for his stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what? Abuse comes. It's happening right now. You know, as I read stuff like that, I read that this past week, you just think about people in China, people in Iran, people in countries that we don't understand what they're suffering for Christ and what they're willing to suffer for Christ because Satan is very actively opposing them even to the point of abuse. Now I'm going to skip ahead in the story just because we're looking at what Satan is doing and so the next thing is oppression in verse 28. Oppression. It says in verse 28, saying, Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. And they're saying it's oppression. Did not we command you? We said do not preach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and several things about it, your doctrine, well it was the doctrine of Christ, it's the doctrine of the word of God, it's the main theme of the bible they said they professed to preach. So it wasn't their doctrine. and tend to bring this man's blood upon us. Yes, because you're guilty of the crucifixion of the Messiah, but they're oppressing them, right? Again, we're getting into these days of muzzling the church and trying to put that mask on and say, you can't speak about Jesus. You can't say that. That's not allowed to declare what the word of God says. And so oppression. Then we see under Satan's attack here, conniving in verse 33. It says, to slay them." You know, I love that statement, they were cut to the heart. The apostles speak and there is conviction. I mean, it's like a knife just was wielded by them and it slit them wide open. Now, there's two responses to that. If somebody is going to get saved, that wound is going to heal them, right? That's conviction. Praise God tonight for conviction that somebody might feel like that really hurt, that was really sensitive, it really impacted my heart, but it's a wound to heal. but there's a wound that festers. There's a wound that is grievous to the person that receives it in the heart of the person that is gonna push off God, no matter what, and reject Jesus Christ. In them, that conviction, they can't handle it, and so they're gonna connive. They're gonna stop and think, how can we plot against them? How can we silence them? How can we effectively mute them? And so tonight, You know, you look at this story and think, God by your grace, give us power. God by your grace, give us that message that is indomitable because it's a message empowered by the spirit of God. That being the case, we ought to look at chapter two as we've looked at it and say Satan's going to attack. So why tonight am I surprised and feeling bad for myself as a Christian if there is an attack? The attack is a testimony to the fact that by the grace of God, something effective is being done, some stand for God is being accomplished. And so good things were happening in the church. Satan doesn't like it when good things are happening. And then chapter three, God expects you to preach Jesus Christ anyway. All right, good things are happening. Satan's come, it's getting really tough. The conniving and the persecution and the muzzling is taking place, but God expects you to preach Jesus Christ anyway. And somebody could say, wait a second, pastor, isn't God our father? Doesn't he care for his children? Doesn't he understand that we're suffering? But it's kind of like this, if a father was also the commander in chief, then there is an objective that is so important that has to be taken, that even though it is his own son, that son has to risk everything. for the sake of the mission that the Father has given as Commander-in-Chief. You know, if you and I, militarily, were in charge of the church, we might do something like this. Hey, don't be that bold. You might end up in prison. Don't be that bold. You might get an injury. Don't be that bold, because you're gonna get hurt physically, right? We might take that position as humans. But God, understanding the eternal value of a soul, and the fact that his son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for their sin, The mission has not changed, the mission remains the same no matter what persecution is taking place. So God told them to fight on to save men's lives. And so he gives them the mission. And God expects them to preach Jesus Christ anyway. So he gives them the mission. Verse 19. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And if you just step back from the story and think about the angel coming, he didn't come to sympathize with them. He didn't come to commiserate with them, he didn't come and put his arm around them and say hey guys this is really tough and I just feel badly for all the sorrow that you are facing and the heartache that you are facing and boy isn't it tough and I really sympathize with you. And I'm gonna give you again the message, go and preach all to the people, all the words of this life. He's reiterating what Jesus said in Mark 16, 15. He said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. You know, tonight, as we think about it, God didn't set us free from sin and the punishment of sin and the wrath of God and eternity in hell so that we could go on holiday, right? So that we could have a good life, have a blessed life, have an easy life. God set us free by his grace to go and preach Jesus Christ and testify to this world that there is a need to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. And so he reiterates that mission. to them. Then secondly, he trusts his children to fulfill his instruction. He trusts them to fulfill his instruction. Verse 21, it says, and when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. I don't know about you, but I got to ask myself the question, what would I have done? If I was there, I'd been in prison. It was really a bad day. You know, I was preaching the gospel. I was doing what God told me to do. I was put in prison for it. The angel comes and sets me free and setting me free says go back and preach in the very place where you got in trouble. I don't know about you, but I think I'd be thinking about that a little bit. But the Bible says that very early they got up and they entered into that place to preach Jesus. As a college student, we would travel to Demarest, Georgia and do an extension ministry, it was a two-hour drive to this church that God led us to work at. And I was teaching Sunday school there and I was telling the story about the three Hebrew children that were cast into the fire because they wouldn't bow down to the idol that the king wanted them to worship. And as I'm telling that story, I said to the students, I said, would you, you know, these are primary age kids, would you stand with them or would you bow to the idol? And this one kid, I would stand with them, you know, very vocal. This child was very vocal. I will stand with them. And I looked at him and I, and sadly, even a child is known by his doings, whether it's worked to be right or not. And he was a rebellious child. And I said to him, look, if you're not gonna stand for God now, You're not gonna stand for God in a situation like that. You know, very sadly tonight, I could say about that young man, unless something's changed very recently, he's married, he has kids, but he's still not standing for God. Why? Because there's this hero ego in our hearts that says, I will be that person that stands for God, and there's this idea, that romantic idea, that I can do that, but if we're not doing it in the easy day. then there's no way that we're gonna do it in the hard day. And so I wonder tonight, is God's trust in our generation with the gospel, I don't mean this in any way towards God, but is it, are we faithful with that trust? Is it a worthy trust that we're somebody that's gonna take that and preach that gospel no matter what? And then third, Satan ought to be surprised by our obedience. Okay, Satan ought to be surprised by our obedience. You know, again, of all interesting stories, I just named one. This is a very interesting story in the Bible, just as far as just reading this story. And so verse 21, it says, but the high priest came and they that were with him and called the council together and all the Senate of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. It's kind of like this, you know, it's another normal day at the office for the Sanhedrin. You know, he's had his coffee, he's had his breakfast, you know, he's coming in, he's got his newspaper, he sets his newspaper aside, he says, okay, bring the prisoners. And then the story is going to get interesting. It says in verse 22, but when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told, saying, the prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keeper standing without before the doors, but when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these things, they doubted of them wherein to this would grow. And as I read that, I think these guys are having flashbacks. They are thinking back a month ago, seal the tomb, put soldiers around the tomb and then it's crisis meetings that they are having trying to manage the fallout from the Lord Jesus Christ rising from the dead. It's reminiscent of that, the man that they thought was imprisoned and in that case dead. has gotten free. And here in our story, these men that they had bound with iron bars are set free. And then in verse 25, Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. And again, as you read that they're thinking we're losing control and they are, they don't have the situation managed at all. And then in verse 26, 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. You know, I want to ask us tonight. When is the last time you surprised Satan by your obedience to God when Satan's crew expected you not to do it? It might be somebody tonight that needs to get saved, and Satan thinks you're not gonna get saved, that there's no chance in the world that you're gonna step out onto Jesus Christ's side, the Son of God that died for you and rose from the dead, and that that person has that opportunity tonight to surprise Satan. or Satan thinks that person's not gonna get baptized. There's no way they're gonna follow the Lord in believer's baptism. I've got them too afraid of stepping out and identifying with Christ and making a public declaration of their faith in Jesus Christ. You know, put the opportunities there tonight for somebody to step out by faith and obey Christ. What about church membership? What about getting up and serving God? You know, there's so many ways, getting the gospel out, knocking on doors in God's timing when we're allowed that privilege because of the COVID-19 situation, right? But boldly witnessing for Christ, taking that opportunity. God help us when Satan thinks that we're gonna be quiet by God's grace, God help us to speak more. And so we see good things were happening in the church. Satan does not like it when good things are happening. God expects you to preach Jesus Christ regardless. And so chapter four. We have several things on our side to help us not to be silenced. There's several things on our side that can help us tonight. And that's the main point of the message by God's grace. Let's preach Jesus. There are several things that can help us. When Satan's opposing us, the pressure's coming in. God still expects us to get the message out. There's several things on our side that can help us. And so as you look at this story, the apostles also understood what was happening. And you wonder, what were they thinking? What were they meditating on that would help them to stand and preach Christ despite this? They're the same things that we ought to consider tonight. And the first is that reason is on our side. Reason is on our side. It says in verse 29, then Peter, And the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. It's just a simple formula they had and it was this, what does God want me to do? They knew that the command of God, very clearly to them, understand. I mean, they had been in prison. The angel had come and said, hey, go into the temple and preach Jesus. And so they say to the Sanhedrin, look, you know what? We ought to obey God rather than men. You know, so often Satan is gonna seek to take an authority and undermine the authority of God through that earthly authority. We see it often in the life of Daniel. Remember Daniel as a teenager is taken into Babylonian captivity and he's under a heathen king. And the king says, you gotta eat my meat. And Daniel says, no, I gotta obey God. I'm not gonna put anything into this body that defiles this body. You know the story there in Daniel chapter one. Then he has a king that says, you can't pray to anybody other than me. If you got something you need, you gotta ask me. You can't ask anybody else. And Daniel, the Bible says, opened his window and he prayed just like he had prayed before. You've got Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whom I've already mentioned, the three Hebrew children that were commanded to bow down to the idol. And they stand before the king and they go, hey king, we're not careful to answer you in this matter. In other words, we don't even have to think about it very hard. Because if there's an authority that undermines God's authority, we're gonna obey God. You know, tonight, we've got a lot of things that are coming out in legislation. We've got hate crime legislation. We've got the conversion therapy legislation that's coming. There's gonna be people in authority saying to us, you can't counsel a homosexual about his sin and let him know that there's victory in Christ, that they could be set free. You can't say that. But by the grace of God, we gotta stand up and say, this is what the word of God says. They're gonna say, you can't say a man is a man, a woman is a woman, that they are God-given gender, that that has been given to them. You can't say that. But by the grace of God, we gotta go to what Jesus said, male and female created he them. They're gonna say, you can't say a woman can't murder her baby in her womb. And by God's grace, we gotta say, God says, life begins at conception. By God's grace, we got to preach because reason is on our side. The simple answer is God said it and so we stand with God. Then secondly, right is on our side. Right is on our side. It says in verse 30, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom he slew and hanged on a tree. Right is on our side. Think about in the verse there, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus. God honored the Lord Jesus Christ and proved the fact that his side was right and they were the ones that had put Jesus Christ onto the cross. Tonight, as we think about it, does our Does our legislature stand for right sometimes, or do they stand for wrong? And I'm not saying that human legislation is always in error, but I'm saying tonight on these issues that we're speaking about, that is very soon and happening right now, being legislated against, do they stand on the side of wrong or on the side of right? Do they defend the ungodly? or the godly? Do they defend marriage or do they abuse marriage? Do they stand with the life of that child or do they stand against the life of that child? And very easily, the disciples could look at it and say, look, guys, you're on the wrong side. You're on the side that is anti-Christ. And I'm just saying this tonight, we can look at this world and say, you know what, it's very clear that they are standing on the side that is against God. And so when it comes to what am I gonna do, I'm just gonna go, you know, I'm in the right, I'm standing with the Bible and I will die there and stand there because that is right. Right is on our side. And then royalty is on our side. The third thing there is that royalty is on our side. It says in verse 31, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior. Verse 32, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. All right, notice three persons there, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and they all stand with the apostles, all right? They got God on their side. They're looking, and I think it's a bit intimidating standing in front of 70 learned men, that Sanhedrin was made up of 70 individuals, but as they looked at that and looked past that and saw God. I mean, that Sanhedrin was nothing. And that again is like the Hebrew children. They looked at the king and they looked past the king and they saw God and they go, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. They went into the fire and the king looked in the fire and said, behold, I see four men loosed in the fire. And the fourth is like the son of God. God's on our side. You know, tonight I am not ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of any word of God. Why? Because it is the word of God and those that oppose it are nothing to God. Royalty is on our side. Matthew 10, 28. It says, and fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Who do we want to fear tonight? Some earthly government that can say, go to prison? Some earthly government that could fine us some amount of money? Or do we fear God that has the power to cast men eternally into the lake of fire? Royalty is on her side. Responsibility is on her side. For to give, repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. They were filled with the spirit of God. The spirit of God in them was declaring the gospel. And what it was, was they were giving it so that those people could receive by God's grace, forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. Think about it tonight in this sense, preaching is giving out the water and words of everlasting life. What's more important, bowing down to an earthly authority that hates God and despises God, that the last thing they want is somebody to receive from the lips of a preacher the gospel of everlasting life, to save their soul from hell, having them repent of their sin that the world embraces and the world says is fine. We've got a great responsibility that God's given. Romans 10, 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? You know, our friends, our neighbors, our community, our country, this nation, this world, if we're silenced, then the whole point of the cross is mute. It's pointless. They're gonna be damned. Christ died in vain, right? Unless by God's grace, we say, hey, you know, I've got a responsibility. It's a responsibility. That person, that person, that person, that person, they need Christ. I will preach Christ because they need to hear. Responsibility is on our side. Then lastly, there's a rule on our side as well, a rule, and it's Gamaliel's rule is on our side. And so it says in verse 33, when they heard that, they were cut to the heart. This is where the conviction takes place. They've been, the rebuttal of the apostles cut them to the heart. And they 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 said unto them, ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Theodos, 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, and let them alone. For if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught. but if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it. Less happily, you'd be found even to fight against God. You know, Gamaliel, he's not even saved, but he says, hey, if this is of God, you're not gonna succeed. If it's not of God, it's not going to succeed. And I say, Gamaliel's right. You know, praise God tonight. God doesn't look down and say, my preachers aren't preaching, my preachers aren't preaching. God always, by his grace, has preachers that are faithful that are preaching. So it's kind of like this. If we're in Esther, hey, if you're not gonna go venture yourself before the king, then salvation shall rise up from another place, right? But perhaps you're at the kingdom for such a time as this. And the thing is tonight, somebody in their heart could say, but preacher, pastor, I am too shy. I don't wanna get out there. I feel like the world is against it and we've looked at it tonight and of course they are. But Gamaliel's rule stands. God's doing it. And because God's doing it, it's not going to fail. And so we can stand with confidence tonight and say, I'm not afraid that our church isn't gonna succeed. I'm not afraid that we can't do this in our day and age. We can succeed because God is for us. And if God is for us, who can stand against us? And so don't miss the opportunity to see God prevail. All right, now conclusion of the story. And you might think story over, they slapped their hands and said, go on, we're gonna let you go because Gamaliel said to let you go, but no, it's not over. The disciples are right, they're bold, they're obedient, but they don't get off that easy. They suffer for being vocal for Jesus. But I wanna point this out as we think about these thoughts in conclusion, first of all, they had no regard for the devil. They had no regard for the devil. It says in verse 40, They agreed with Gamaliel, and when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. Now don't think this tonight, that they took a cane and they went whack, or they had them hold out their hands and they went whack. These men were beaten immeasurably. They were wounded, they were bruised, they were hurt. But you know what? They had no regard for what the devil had said. The devil said, don't preach Jesus. The devil said, you're gonna get another beating like this. And they don't walk out of there thinking, oh, I guess we can't preach Jesus. They had no regard for it. I say this to us tonight, we ought to have no regard for this stuff that's taking place and coming out. They're saying, you can't say this. You can't stand with the Bible. You can't say what Jesus Christ said. We've got no regard for it. Why? Because it's of the enemy and we'll take what the enemy dishes out and we'll do what they do. And that is this, they have no regret for the shame, no regret. Verse 41, it says, and they departed. from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." They had been given a badge of honor. They identified with the Lord Jesus Christ in his crucifixion. They had suffered for Jesus Christ. I wonder tonight, have we ever suffered for Christ? I mean, what is the worst thing that has ever happened to us because we're a Christian? And think about this, that thing, little itty bitty thing has stopped some people. from standing with the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than having a badge of honor tonight, that person has a badge of shame or a tarnished badge. Matthew 5 verse 12 says, when you're beaten or you suffer for my name, rejoice and be exceedingly glad. For great is your reward in heaven. for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. If we've got it right tonight, it's this, God, if I suffer for Christ, then God, I rejoice and I say, praise God, and God, by your grace, we might even want to pray this way. God, let me suffer for Jesus Christ, because it's a badge of honor. They have no retreat from the mission entrusted to them. Verse 42, it says, and daily in the temple, And in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. They got out there in public in the temple again, they stood in the very place where they've been arrested, they've been beat and they preach Jesus. They went from house to house and they preach Jesus. And it's no wonder we read in the book of Acts, these that have turned the world upside down have come hither. I just look at us tonight and I say, Satan worried We ought to pray and say God we want to see these good things happen for God's glory We want to do something that stirs up Satan's nest Because frankly, I think this a lot of our generation we're not facing it because it's not happening And so God help us to make it happen. God help us to get it out there. Then when it happens by the grace of God, God help us not to falter. God help us not to change course. God help us to examine our heart right now and say, is there anything that's keeping me from preaching Jesus Christ? And there's a lot of people tonight that ought to search their heart and say, Jesus Christ died on the cross for me. He paid the ultimate price for my sin. He offers me his gift of everlasting life. He died naked as a thief on the cross for me. By God's grace, I'm gonna accept Jesus Christ as my savior tonight, and I'm gonna identify with Jesus. I'm gonna make it public. I'm gonna get baptized. I'm gonna join a local church, and I'm gonna stand, and I'm gonna preach Jesus Christ. May God help us to see that in our day. Let's pray. Father, I praise you for the great men of God that had the power of God. And Father, do it in our day by your grace. Father, I think Satan laughs at us more than fears us. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would give us grace to stand And I pray for an outpouring of your spirit. And I pray for a gospel that'll shake this world. And I pray if in the heart of anybody tonight, the spirit of God is speaking to their heart, I pray that their heart would break and that they say, you know what? I'm gonna get saved. I'm gonna get baptized. I'm gonna join a local church. I'm gonna preach Jesus Christ. I'm gonna be on the winning side, the side that God is on, the side that's right, the side that fulfills the responsibility that God has given. Oh Father, would you work even tonight, even in hearts right now, may the spirit of God work. And so Father, we commit this message to you. and commit the impact of this message to you and by your grace, for your glory. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen, all right, praise God. And let me just say to those that have been listening, thank you for joining us online. We would love to have you come and visit our church, the Glencore Center in Auchindit, starting next Sunday, 5 p.m., 6 p.m. And anytime, FaceTime Live, we'd love to have you visit us again. Thank you for visiting tonight.