Our passage today comes from Acts chapter 12 through 42, which Anthony read for us earlier. I'm just gonna read a couple of verses from the heart of this passage that I think are really the key verses to this passage. So verse 41 and 42. So they went on their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing, that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, according to your word, you are slow to anger and great in power. And yet you will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. A whirlwind and storm are your way and clouds are beneath your feet. You rebuke the seas and make them dry. Mountains quake because of you and hills dissolve. the earth is upheaved by your presence, the world and its inhabitants. Who can stand before your indignation? Who can endure the burning of your anger? So then why are the nations in an uproar and the people devising a feigned thing? You say, but as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. you have said to your Son, ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. Therefore, Father, we worship you with reverence and rejoice with trembling. How blessed are all who take refuge in your Son, for in him you have blessed us with every spiritual blessing. In Him, we have redemption through the blood of your Son, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of your grace, which you have indeed lavished upon us. In view of these truths, O Lord, would you cause this morning your word to pierce our hearts. Would you cause your word to bring rebuke, admonishment, and encouragement according to the need of each person here. And would you cause those who might yet be without Christ by the powerful operations of your spirit to be drawn to him in faith that in him they too might be reconciled to you and in him they would find life eternal. It is in the precious name of Jesus that we submit our request before you and have boldness to enter into your throne room this morning. And for your glory and honor in his name, amen. You may be seated. Eradication isn't always easy or even possible. So, let me define eradication, particularly for some of you children here. That's a big word. Eradicate is a verb that according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary means to do away with as completely as if pulling up by the roots. Well, that sounds simple enough. We can think of perhaps some weeds in the garden that we can grab ahold of and just yank them right out by the roots. But there are other species of plants that are not so easily managed. the sort that where you try to remove them, they just seem to multiply all the more. Take, for example, musk thistle. So Kansas law actually requires that if you have musk thistle on your property, that you are responsible for eradicating it. And on that note, I recall a particular event early on in the adventure of my parents purchasing the farm that they still live on north of Keats, where we also reside now. And it was pretty run down and had been overgrazed in many areas. And as I recall, one of our neighbors had brought to our attention the fact that those really tall, pretty purple flowers growing on prickly stalks in one of the cattle pens was actually a noxious weed that needed to be killed. So, being good neighbors, we went to work and we cut down all of these fully bloomed thistles. Mistake one. We loaded them up in a truck and hauled them to another location, mistake two, and attempted to burn them in a big pile there in yet another location, which was mistake number three. By the next year, we realized the fruit of our efforts. We had effectively spread musk thistle to many places, not only where they were originally growing, but to various other locations along that path as well. As it turns out, Eradicating them usually requires the right herbicide application at the right time, otherwise you just end up spreading them all the more. Now, the point of this illustration is that some things are difficult to eradicate, much like the kingdom of God that we see in our text here today. That said, there is, of course, a distinct difference. You see, obnoxious weed should be, eradicated because it has harmful effects. It chokes out the life of other more helpful species, and this way it's a detriment to the inhabitants of the land of where it's growing. In fact, I would say it's even a token of the curse that we read in Genesis when God said, cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you. The gospel of Christ and his kingdom, on the other hand, are the exact opposite. They cause the goodness of God to thrive, and they are the best possible thing for the inhabitants of any land. In fact, I would say this is the anti-curse. And unlike the spread of thistles, which occurs by natural means, the spread of God's kingdom is owing to a supernatural and a Spirit-empowered work of God Himself. And those who seek to eradicate it shall find themselves fighting against God Himself and are likely to see it spread all the more. So the theme this morning is along those lines. From our passage this morning, Any attempt to hinder the spread of the gospel is but a futile battle against God himself. The three headings this morning from the narrative at hand are these, the enraged authorities attempting to eradicate with unanticipated results. So first, the enraged authorities. As we walk through the passage this morning, the whole episode springs from the anger of the Jewish council, because the ministry of the apostles was really boiling their pot. Let's begin by looking at chapter five, verses 12 through 16. It says, at the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were taking place among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico, but none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women were constantly added to their number to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also, the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed. So here we have the backdrop given for the anger of the council. First of all, it was in view of the empowered ministry of the apostles. You see, the apostles were not only empowered to speak forth the word of God in boldness, but they had also been given gifts of the Holy Spirit to provide signs and wonders among the people. In fact, so great were these wonders that people would even bring their lame and lay them in a place hoping that the shadow of Peter might fall upon them, that they would be healed. And if we stop and think about this for a moment, it's really according to the word of what Jesus had told them, as recorded in John 14, 12. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these, he will do, because I go to the Father. Once again, this brings us back to the opening statements of Acts, when Luke begins this sequel to his gospel by saying, the first account I composed, Theophilus, about all the things that Jesus began to do and teach, all things that he began to do. The saga Luke recorded in his gospel continues. in the book of Acts. Now, the ministry of Jesus through the empowerment of his disciples. In fact, it's a saga that continues even to this day. On this point, I wanna just return for a moment to review what I propose as the theme to the book of Acts at the onset of this series, sort of the bird's eye view, and we see how our passage fits into the theme of Acts. Acts is the account of the ongoing ministry of Jesus ruling from on high and working through the Holy Spirit empowered apostles he has chosen to initiate the global advance of God's kingdom until he returns. It's precisely what we see happening here in our passage. The apostles are preaching the kingdom of God. They're performing signs and wonders, healing the sick, casting out demons. And these miracles are signs given to attest to the fact that Jesus was truly the promised Messiah and that he was now exalted and reigning from on high. You see, the rulers thought they had rid the world of Jesus, but indeed they had not. Along these lines, we find the second cause for the anger of the Jewish leaders, which was in view of the enlarging ministry of the apostles. Now, we can see this both in terms of esteem and scope. Verse 13 reads, but none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people held them in high esteem. Now, there's differing opinions. as to what is meant by Luke when he refers to none of the rest here in regards to their attitude towards the apostles. But I think the most natural interpretation is that he refers here to the various Jews in Jerusalem who were curious but had not yet joined with the congregation of believers. For these, the ministry of the apostles evoked a sense of fear and even dread. They wanted to keep a little distance between themselves and this peculiar power that was being exerted through the apostles, and understandably so, particularly in view of the death of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. Therefore, the general attitude among the people was that of a sense of reverence. There was reverence toward the apostles, not only by the believers, but by the Jews at large. They held them in high esteem. Again, if we stop and consider this for a moment, we really see the reflections of the ministry of Jesus himself. Now, I want to provide a side note here. There are ways in which a good testimony will produce a good reputation among even unbelievers. In fact, this is one of the standards for an elder listed by Paul in 1 Timothy 3, 7, and he must have a good reputation with those outside the church so that he will not fall into reproach in the snare of the devil. Schnabel in his commentary writes, authentic, consistent Christian behavior should establish a good reputation for Christian believers in the surrounding culture. Enjoying the favor of the world is not automatically worldliness, but may reflect the respect that unbelievers have for the love they see Christians have for each other and for their selfless giving to others. So there was an enlarging ministry by way of esteem and influence. And also we see here in the text by way of the scope of their ministry. We're told that multitudes of men and women were constantly being added to their number. Furthermore, we also see here that people from some of the surrounding areas in Judea are being affected by their ministry. They're gathering up their sick in public areas, in small villages and towns where the apostles would pass through. So here we see the first signs of the scope of ministry moving outward as Jesus had instructed them from Jerusalem into Judea. The ministry of the apostles was both empowered and enlarging. And this backdrop then exposes the cause of the anger among the Jewish leaders. It was rooted in jealousy. coming to verse 17, but the high priest rose up along with all his associates, that is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy. Now the high priest noted here is likely Caiaphas, who belonged to the sect of the Sadducees, one who had a very prominent position among the Jews in Jerusalem, He and his fellows were filled with jealousy in view of this empowered and enlarging ministry of the apostles. So the Greek word translated jealousy in the NASB is the word zelos. It's a term that actually mimics the sound of water bubbling over from heat, in this context they are boiling over in anger, particularly from that of jealousy. Jealousy can be defined as an intense negative feeling over another's achievements or success. Jealousy was at the heart of the persecution, as it had been with Jesus as well. These prideful men who were addicted to the esteem of the Jewish people were losing their prominence to the apostles, and they just simply couldn't abide by that. They wanted to be the top dogs. They wanted to be the focal point of admiration. rather than to stop and consider the merits of the apostles' claims concerning Jesus as the Messiah, and then to weigh those claims against the miracles that they were performing, all they could think about was how they were being overshadowed by the ministry of the apostles. Such jealousy tends not only to blind those within whose bosom It belongs, but it directs them upon a path of evil, which leads me to my second heading this morning, attempting to eradicate. So now we come to the central portion of our text this morning. I'll pick up reading again in verse 18 through 26. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in public jail. But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and taking them out, he said, go stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life. Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now, when the high priest and his associates came, they called the council together, even all the Senate, the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought. But when the officers who came did not find them in the prison, and they returned and reported back saying, we found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we had opened up, we found no one inside. Now, when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what could come of this. But someone came and reported to them, the men who you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence, for they were afraid of the people that they might be stoned. So we see here the first method employed by the high priest and his associates to try to eradicate this thriving ministry being done in the name of Jesus was by the imprisonment of its ringleaders. This seemed like a good way to shut it down. So they arrest the apostles and they put them in jail. And the results of their action is really rather quite comical. During the night, God sends an angel and he opens the gates of the prisons and releases the apostles. And the angel then tells him to go right back to preaching again. Now I want to pause the story here for a moment to draw out a particular phrase worth noting. The angel instructs the apostles, go, stand, and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life. The whole message of this life. In other words, don't omit anything concerning the way of salvation that is found in Jesus Christ. Give them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And herein is the message. Life in the risen one, Jesus. As Peter declared in a moment of faith, where else would we go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life. Or as John would later write, in him was life, and that life was the light of men. or Jesus himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Go proclaim the whole message of this life. So the apostles listen to the angel and they immediately go, they obey what the angel has told them to do. By daybreak, they're right back in the temple preaching again. And next we see the council gather together, it seems like somewhat smugly, calling for the apostles to be brought from the prison to stand before them, but of course to no avail, because when the men that they send to go find them get there, they realize that they're actually gone, in spite of the fact that the door is locked and the guards are still standing there, which clearly baffles them. And worse than this, it's also reported to them that now the apostles are right back in the temple preaching again. So, if we stop and think, this should give them some sort of pause, right? This miraculous release and their holy boldness to continue preaching, but they proceed to bring them right back again. Now, they do so cautiously and without any violence because, as it says in the text, they were fearful that the people might stone them if perceived as mistreating the apostles whom they revere. So having failed in eradication by imprisonment, the religious leaders then attempt eradication by edict or command. So returning to our text, verse 27 through 32. When they had brought them, they stood them before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things. And so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. So having brought the apostles back before the council, they now refer back to the command that they had previously given Peter and John during the episode following the beautiful gate healing. At that time, Luke records, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Now, in that situation, Peter had provided a very similar answer, saying, whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. As you might recall, I described this as simple obedience, which was born of simple faith. They were respectful, but very clear in communicating their intention of obeying the higher authority in the matter because he had explicitly commissioned them to do this very thing. So the high priest says that not only did they not heed his initial command, but they had filled Jerusalem with their teaching. In other words, they did precisely the opposite. and by his own admission, with considerable success. Furthermore, the priest expressed his opinion that they were seeking to bring the blood of Jesus upon the council themselves. The implication of the apostles' teaching is that they stand guilty before God for shedding the blood of not only an innocent man, but the Messiah himself, whom they had crucified, which in fact was true. However, the council failed to see how an atonement for sin was being brought through his sacrificial death by the sovereign hand of God, even through their ignorant and sinful actions. In this exchange, Peter responds in a very similar manner to the former situation. He says, we must obey God rather than men. Since God is the highest authority, if man contradicts what he has said, then we must obey him instead. It's very simple. In so doing, he doesn't deny that they had disobeyed the edict, but he actually contends with the legitimacy of their edict. Here are the facts that he lays before them. This Jesus, whom they had crucified, Peter says, was raised up by the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Moses and of David and of all the prophets. This should have triggered among them sort of an oops response, right? Furthermore, God had seated him upon the throne at his right hand as a prince and savior. In other words, he was the promised Messiah, and he has been vindicated by God himself. But he goes on to tell them the good news. He says, through him, God has granted repentance to Israel. Through him, he has provided forgiveness for sins. In other words, in spite of their grave mistake done in ignorance, they had a means by which they could repent and find forgiveness from God whom they had offended. This is a statement of great grace and mercy to the council. And finally, not only were they witnesses of these truths, but so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. So why on earth are they fighting against him? They are clearly on the wrong side of this equation here. In all of this, we see that the attempt to eradicate by edict was entirely futile. The apostles weren't going to stop. They could not stop. Because the love of Christ compelled them onward in the power of the Holy Spirit. After some further deliberation, we'll see the final attempt of eradication in this text, and this through flogging. So continuing now in verse 33, but when they had heard this, they were cut to the quick and intended to kill them. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up in the council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. And he said to them, men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago, Theodos rose up claiming to be somebody and a group of about 400 men joined up with him. But he was killed and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him. He too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown." But if it is of God, you will not only be able, you will not be able to overthrow them or else you may even be found fighting against God. They took his advice and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and then released them. So Peter's response to the council infuriated them all the more, and they were actually ready to put them to death right there on the spot. However, a certain Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, the same one that had trained the apostle Paul, at that time Saul, as we'll learn later, interposed with some wise counsel. Now Gamaliel was a Pharisee, and he was considered among his brethren as a sage. And the counsel that Gamaliel gives is really very pragmatic. and he bases it upon past situations or case history, if you will. There had been other notorious men among the Jews who had collected great followings and led people astray, but those uprisings all ended in failure because they weren't aligned with God, they weren't of God. And Gamaliel points out that this whole movement is likely to end the same way if it's merely of men. So I wanna interject here for a moment that this half of Gamaliel's counsel While it seems reasonable, was not entirely accurate. While it had gone that way in those particular cases that he cited, we know there have been many other false prophets whose followings have endured. For instance, the prophet Muhammad, who initiated the Muslim faith in the 600s, which has been perpetuated ever since then. And we could name several other religions of like sort. So we don't need to necessarily take Gamaliel's word as being 100% accurate, it's not. But I would give to you the second part of his counsel was 100% accurate. Gamaliel says this, but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, or else you may even be found fighting against God. Again, this is one of the key passages here in the text. but if it is of God. If what the apostles say is true, if all of this was predestined and sovereignly executed at the hand of God, and indeed, it was. He says, you will not be able to overthrow them. You couldn't possibly succeed in your endeavor to squash this movement. He says, or else you may even be found fighting against God. and this would be the pinnacle of folly. As Jesus said, do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. So while the council seems to accept this sage advice, and it did stay them from executing the apostles at that time. We see in the text, the response was really just pragmatic. There was no pause given to consider the weight of the possibility that it really was of God. And certainly their attitude towards Jesus and his apostles was entirely unchanged. In fact, in spite of what Gamaliel said, they had the apostles beaten and then reiterated their gag order concerning Christ. Now the beating was probably just a way to sort of satisfy some of their jealous anger towards them and also to give more bite to the edict that they were going to be imposing. It was yet just another iteration of their attempt to eradicate the following of Jesus, now by flogging, and with the hope that this movement would burn itself out. So finally, let's look at the unanticipated results in the last couple verses here of Acts 5. So they, the apostles, went on their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. So after having them flogged, they released them. The council seemed satisfied that they had done due diligence in their efforts to eradicate this movement, but the result was entirely opposite of what they had hoped for. Joyful and effective continuation of the Lord's kingdom. First, we see the apostles return joyfully to their mission. It says that they went on their way rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. So let's take a moment just to unpack this statement here. First of all, they went out rejoicing. Now, while this doesn't necessarily mean they were skipping down the street, certainly it speaks to the frame of their hearts and their attitudes and their countenance. They weren't melancholy. They weren't discouraged by the poor treatment they had received or the further threats that were given to them. They weren't enraged or embittered even by the injustice that they had endured. They weren't fearful of further retribution. They weren't despondent in self-condemnation or doubt. No, they were rejoicing. Their backs were stinging, but their hearts were filled with deep delight and satisfaction. Their hearts were happy as they went about going again to the task that God had called them. And again, I would say this is closely tied to that simple faith and simple obedience. And notice the reason they rejoice, because they had been considered worthy. to suffer shame for His name. To them, the mistreatment of the council was an honor because it was done in service for the precious name of Jesus. God had set them apart to suffer for His name, for the King of glory. And they knew that they were on his side and that they had the smile of God upon them. And that was enough to bring them joy. In fact, Jesus himself had taught them, blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and insult you and scorn your name is evil for the sake of the son of man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy. Maybe they were skipping, I don't know. For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. So the result of this whole affair was that the apostles were rejoicing and secondly, they continued effectively in their mission. The text reads, and every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as Christ. They kept right on sowing the gospel. They kept right on ministering according to his name. The very next verse in chapter six begins. Now, at this time, while the disciples were increasing in number, So not only did they keep right on doing what they were doing, but their labors were being blessed of God and fruitful. The efforts of the council to eradicate the spread of the gospel through imprisonment, edicts, and floggings resulted in joyful disciples laboring on fruitfully in the name of Christ. And God was bringing more and more into his fold. It was exactly what Gamaliel had said. Stay away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. Or else you may even be found fighting against God. So let's close with just a few points of application here this morning. First application. Oftentimes, the greatest hindrances to the gospel come from those who claim to be serving God's interests. Let me say that again. Oftentimes, the greatest hindrances to the gospel come from those who claim to be serving God's interests. And that was certainly the case for Jesus, wasn't it? It was the religious establishment who sought vehemently to destroy him, his brethren. The Roman rulers, on the other hand, they were largely ambivalent to Jesus. And we'll see the same pattern continuing here throughout the book of Acts. And then, in fact, when we come to the epistles, as we kind of think through the epistles and the problems that are being addressed by the apostles, not all but most of the problems that are being addressed actually are coming from internal sources. False teachers leading the people astray and repeating and reaping all sorts of havoc within the church. And I would say that this has been my own experience as well. The worst grief and turmoil that I have experienced in my faith journey has actually come from those who bear the name of Christ. R.C. Sproul comments, if we study church history, we will note a pattern. Those most hostile to the purity of the gospel have been clergy. This is as true today as it ever was before. Most of the guns aimed at the scriptures in our day do not come from secularists who could care less. They come from unbelieving seminary professors and ministers who simply will not identify with the truth of the gospel. Second application, we have cause for joy when we suffer for the name of Christ. We have cause for joy when we suffer for the name of Christ. I love the example given to us here in this story of how the apostles respond to the scourging, how these spirit-filled apostles, how they react to what's happening, rejoicing that they have been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. What a wonderful example for us to emulate. And we ought to pray that God would make us of that caliber, that God would so fill us with his spirit that that's what comes out of us when we do suffer, should God lead us on a path of suffering. A.W. Tozer said, our great honor lies with being just what Jesus was and is, to be accepted by those who accept him. rejected by all who reject Him, loved by those who love Him, and hated by everyone that hates Him. What greater glory could come to any man? But on this point, there are some caveats worth noting. This is true to the degree our suffering is for His name. It's been my observation that many who account their sufferings in accordance to their faith are actually suffering primarily from actions or attitudes that were not truly of Christ. They've been pernicious, malicious, spiteful, rebellious, self-centered and attention seeking. And they bear the consequences of such. If we are to suffer for his name, then let's do it in the manner that Christ himself did. Secondly, And on the same note, if we should have occasion to suffer for the sake of righteousness, then we should also respond with the same joy and humility that's expressed by the apostles. In fact, Peter addresses this issue later in one of his epistles. The same Peter who left from this flogging rejoicing and continuing in the ministry. Peter writes, who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you're blessed and do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. Yet with gentleness and reverence. and keep a good conscience, so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right, rather than for doing what is wrong. Final application, don't allow persecution to alarm you, because the kingdom cannot be shaken. Don't allow persecution to alarm you because the kingdom cannot be shaken. Now, this is not to say that it might not be costly. It will. It might even cost us our lives. But if our true ambition is to see the gospel spreading, to the glory of God, then we have no cause for long. I mean, as I say these words, I think back upon Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries. There was a great cost when they were killed by the Aucheninians. But through it, God spread the gospel into that region and his kingdom was advanced. You cannot fight against God and win. The roots of this plant are embedded in a rock, and its seed is dispersed by the very wind of the Holy Spirit. At the end of chapter 12 in Hebrews we read, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Let's close in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for your word. We're so grateful for the example of these spirit-filled believers that you empowered, Lord, at the onset of the church age to bring your message to the nations. Lord, we take great courage. and encouragement by their example. And we plead with you, Father, that you would give us a heart like theirs, simple faith resulting in simple obedience and great joy in proclaiming Christ. And God, we can do these things in view of the fact that Christ is seated on his throne. and that through him you will accomplish your purposes, and there is no power in heaven or on earth that can thwart your plan. Whether or not we die or suffer, Lord, your plan will be carried out, and that gives us great cause, Lord, for joy and for confidence and for hope. So, Father, do a work in our hearts. Transform us, I pray, that we too, in whatever capacity you have called us, Lord, Whatever of the manifold gifts that you have bestowed upon us, Lord, let us employ them with hearts, Lord, that are given to these truths, that we should joyfully serve you, Lord, knowing that we are on your side and you indeed are victorious. It's in the name of Christ we pray, amen.